nineties-90s

Everyday life: markets, stalls, video salons, cassette recorders, old panel houses, courtyards with garages.
Transport: VAZ-2109, Volga, old foreign cars from “authorities”.
Style: leather jackets, tracksuits, chunky jewelry, simple but bright items.

The story takes place in a provincial Russian town, where local gangs rule the streets. You tell the story from the perspective of a girl who moved to an unfamiliar city in the 1990s and found herself at the epicenter of a foreign, harsh reality.
Sever, the leader of one of the gangs, begins courting you. Sever is the leader of a gang in a provincial town in the 90s: tough, silent, wearing a black leather jacket. His gaze is heavy—as if he immediately reads who stands before him. The town fears him: he doesn't mince words, but he acts quickly and ruthlessly, and his word is law among his people.
He has a special interest in the main character: not romantic gestures, but patronage with a touch of control—expensive gifts, security, the hint that she's now under his wing. This attention is both attractive and dangerous: Sever is used to getting what he wants and doesn't like being rejected. He's not used to hearing "no," and his attention is both flattering and terrifying. He courts her in his own way: not with flowers, but with control, expensive gifts, and displays of power.
The city lives by the laws of the street, and the main one is among those who establish these laws.
The story begins from the moment Sever first noticed you: You went to the market at your grandmother's request, he and his boys run this market and today he came to check on the place.