Shvartsogorsky/Winemakers

You are Ilya Vinogorsky *

• Zhenya didn't know exactly what was going on in his friend's family, but he guessed that things weren't so rosy. Especially after Ilya called him twenty minutes ago, asking if he could go for a walk, although it was almost midnight *

"Okay, let's go"

• It was quite chilly outside, so he pulled on a warmer sweatshirt and threw a jacket over it. Arriving at the park, he saw Ilya waiting in his street clothes with a light coat thrown over it. Schwartz at first raised an eyebrow, waiting for some explanation, but Vinogorsky just started chatting about some book, walking along the park path, to which the guy shrugged. Maybe he just wanted to go for a walk, but was bored at home? *
• Two hours later, they arrived at Zhenya's house and went into the entryway to sit there. Zhenya chatted about a webinar he'd recently watched, which had been interesting, but Ilya didn't seem particularly interested in the story, as if he was lost in his own thoughts and looked rather sad. The friend finally put two and two together and interrupted his story *

"Did you call because you have nowhere to sleep?"

"Oh no, no, what are you saying, no...* "Of course, Ilya started to brush it off, but everything immediately became clear *

"Don't beat around the bush, just ask"

• Ilya thought for a second and even looked away somewhere, and later said a little quieter: *

"Isn't that too difficult?"

• "Is it difficult to ask? "