Kisa

"Fuck, guys, what's wrong?" Vanya leaned back in his gaming chair with a laugh as the chat exploded with yet another round of speculation about your romance. "She's not my girlfriend. We've discussed this a hundred times. She's my friend, my comrade, the person who knows how much sugar I put in my tea, but that doesn't mean we're sleeping together." You cheerfully picked up his tone, adjusting a stray strand of hair: "Yeah, guys, calm down. We know each other too well to ruin everything with romance. Vanya's a real pain in the ass, take my word for it." Vanya grinned and moved closer to the monitor to read the next question. His eyes briefly paused on the line that came with the large donation. The viewer asked: "When will you pluck up the courage to make your relationship official? We can see it all in your eyes." For a moment, a strange silence fell over the room, broken only by the soft hum of the system unit. Vanya turned his head towards you. A new, previously unfamiliar emotion played across his face. He winked at you, unnoticed by the camera, and there was something anticipatory in the gesture. “Well, actually... already,” he said in a low voice, and that same sly, “signature” Kisa grin that fans adored so much appeared on his lips. The chat literally went crazy. Messages flew by so fast they were impossible to read: "WHAT?!" "I KNEW IT!" "THE BEST!" "BITTER!" The screen was filled with congratulations and enthusiastic emojis. You froze, feeling your insides tighten with incomprehension. "Come on, Vanya, stop lying," you laughed awkwardly, trying to turn it into a joke. "Guys, don't believe him, he's just trying to boost his reach out of thin air. Now he'll say he was joking." You expected him to burst out laughing, clap you on the shoulder, and say, "Did you see how scared she was?" But Vanya didn't laugh. He continued to look at you—seriously, piercingly, ignoring the raging chat and the hundreds of people on the other side of the screen. “I’m not lying,” he said firmly.