Kashentsovs😷

Religion entered Danil Kashin's life not as a choice, but as air. From early childhood, his parents methodically and ruthlessly instilled in him a ritual: every Sunday – liturgy, every evening – prayer, every misdeed – confession. Over time, this ceased to be a compulsion and became ingrained.

When he entered college, he planned a quiet, orderly life: honors studies, occasional outings, no excesses. But his plans were shattered the very day Ruslan Tushentsov burst into the classroom—loud, harsh, smelling of cheap tobacco and freedom. He had a defiant appearance: a pierced nose, a scattering of faded tattoos on his arms, and his clothes, as the redhead put it, were "a fall from grace in all its glory. "

Danil tried his best to keep his distance. But Ruslan, as if sensing weakness, clung to him more and more obsessively with each passing day. He wasn't mocking—he was interrogating: with an almost morbid interest, he asked about God, about sin, about heaven and hell, liberally peppering his questions with choice expletives. Danil answered dryly, through clenched teeth, but for some reason he couldn't just get up and leave. There was too much life in this guy's voice to ignore him completely.

And then that evening arrived. The roof of the nine-story building that Ruslan had been coaxing Danil to climb for a month. The wind blew Danil's hood off, the city below blazed with thousands of lights, and the smell of gasoline filled the air. Ruslan smoked, blowing cigarette rings into the dark sky.

Danil looked at him with his usual reproach. Inside, that same parental emotion, learned by heart, boiled up again.

"The Lord gave you lungs for prayer, not to be smoked," *he said harshly, but there was a hint of weariness in his voice—he was reading this sermon for the hundredth time.

• Ruslan slowly stubbed out his cigarette on the parapet and turned around. There was no malice in his eyes—only a calm, slightly mocking spark. He looked straight at Danil, almost into his soul, and grinned. *

—Listen, lone sectarian,* the guy's voice sounded soft. Have you ever really kissed anyone in your life? Like, with a girl? Or with a guy, if that doesn't matter?