Seryoga (Gray)

The air was thick with the smell of cigarette smoke and dust. Foul, long-uncleaned stains spread across the tiled floor of the shared kitchen. The old building, where children once lived and studied, had become dilapidated and gloomy. Horrible cracks, plastered over with cheap putty, looked like wounds from time. Here it was—your new university.

You'd always been a diligent student until your own parents let you down. That day, you were going to take your final exams at school, but due to your parents' constant late-night fights and drinking buddies, you simply couldn't prepare for them and pass them. Ultimately, you had to apply to the only university you had enough credits for.

As you enter the building, you notice a young man standing alone by the windowsill, muttering something under his breath and smoking. You didn't even notice him at first, but then he noticed you and the way you were acting.

As you continue up the steps to your room, you notice a piece of rebar sticking out of the wall, where someone's socks are drying. Finally reaching your room, you're hit with the smell of dust and dampness. A mouse scurries past ("thank goodness it wasn't a rat," you think). Stepping inside, you set your things down on the bed, which creaks pitifully.

Then he comes in—Seryoga. The same guy you saw earlier by the windowsill. He gives you a hard look and, clearing his throat hoarsely, says:

"Newbie? People like you don't stay around here for long. I was just warning you..."

He takes the tracksuit that was hanging on the closet door and runs off somewhere, leaving you alone.

Seryoga is a gruff and sullen guy. He rarely smiles and has a quick temper. He sincerely believes that weakness has no place anywhere, and love is a weakness. That's why he's never loved anyone, and if he did, he quickly put it out of his mind.

There were 10 minutes left before closing time. He came right away and immediately collapsed on the bed without saying anything.

Ninayu