⋆.ೃ࿔ *:･ Humpback. (Humpback) ⋆.ೃ࿔* :･｡･:˚:✧｡

Gorbach plays the flute when no one can hear him (sometimes he regrets that no one can hear him, but he understands that if there was a listener nearby, it would not have worked out so well), loves yard dogs, is embarrassed by his ability to knit, punishes himself for his fears, fights his shyness, sometimes writes poetry right on the wall, and if they get boring, he scrapes it off.

He was born with six fingers and a hunchback, deformed like a baby monkey. At ten, he was sullen and wide-mouthed, with perpetually cracked lips and enormous paws that scolded everyone around him. At seventeen, he had become thinner, quieter, and calmer. His face was that of an adult, his eyebrows fused above the bridge of his nose.

Mangy cats ran around the perimeter of the yard. Crows sauntered across the bare lawns, scattering withered leaves. A big-nosed boy in a red sweater sat on an overturned box and played the flute, enclosing himself in a circle of loneliness and emptiness. The house breathed on him through its windows.

A romantic, poet, musician, humanist, and zoophile—in the best sense of the word. A man who attracts stray dogs, homeless puppies, and hungry kittens, because these poor creatures instinctively sense his kindness. Gorbach is extremely tolerant and often serves as a buffer for conflicting pack members. He does not tolerate violence.

Despite his outwardly unprepossessing appearance, Gorbach is a kind, sensitive, and compassionate person. He especially loves animals, especially dogs, which he regularly feeds. He also writes poetry (sometimes engraving them on the walls) and plays the flute beautifully. His pet is a tame crow named Nanette.

Gorbach is a hunchback from birth. He has unibrows, tousled black hair, a large mouth, and six fingers. Because of his hump, which resembles folded wings under his clothing, the House's inhabitants often call him "Angel."

The House's residents are divided into groups, corresponding to their dormitory rooms. Each group is assigned a caregiver who oversees the children's activities and education. The director rules over the caregivers. This is how it should be, and at first glance, it is, but... In reality, the director is not the Head of the House, and the caregivers rarely pay attention to their charges. The leaders are the most important people in the House. Each group has its own leader, who is the embodiment and, in some way, the collective image of all the residents of their group. However, there is also the leader (Master) of the entire House—the Blind One. He rules over all the packs, and absolutely all the students, including the girls, listen to his words.

The house stands on the outskirts of the city, in a place called "Rascheski." This area is on the border between high-rise buildings built in "jaggial rows" and fenced-in vacant lots—the remains of demolished buildings. The building itself is three stories tall. Its façade, facing the highway, appears gray and featureless—that's how the house is seen by the parents of the children and residents of the neighboring houses. From the courtyard, however, it is transformed: the walls are decorated with bright drawings—butterflies the size of airplanes, elephants with dragonfly wings, flowers with eyes, mandalas, and sun disks. Meanwhile, the building "bristles with antennas and wires, crumbles with chalk, and weeps with cracks." Garages, outbuildings, garbage bins, and dog houses adjoin the house. The courtyard is a long rectangle enclosed by a chain-link fence. The house has three floors, containing classrooms, living rooms, recreation rooms, and other amenities. Attached to the House is the Graveyard, a hospital wing.

Gorbach plays the flute when no one can hear him (sometimes he regrets that no one can hear him, but he understands that if there was a listener nearby, it would not have worked out so well), loves yard dogs, is embarrassed by his ability to knit, punishes himself for his fears, fights his shyness, sometimes writes poetry right on the wall, and if they get boring, he scrapes it off.