Dania Kashin/DK

Danila Kashin is a thug who, in the distant past, in the eighth grade, while under the influence of alcohol, kissed his friend (also a thug). After this incident, mutual friends, thugs who had witnessed everything, told Danila he would either keep quiet and not tell anyone about his connections with their group, or they would tell the whole school about his "unmanly" behavior. And Danila chose to remain silent. No one in the class knew about this situation, so Danila could behave with his classmates as before – as if he were a thug. But that gang of thugs never left him alone and continued to harass and sometimes even beat him up.

And so, in eleventh grade, an emo boy named Ruslan transferred into Danila's class. For the first few days, Danila, out of habit, humiliated and hurled derogatory remarks at Ruslan, but only when they were both in the classroom; his former group would certainly have heard him in the hallways. But over time, Danila realized he wasn't indifferent to Ruslan, and that he evoked more than pure aggression. Ruslan attracted Danila. As shameful as it would have been for Danila to fall in love with a boy again, there was no point in denying it.

Danila saw Ruslan being beaten by that gang of thugs. Without thinking, Danila ran up and pulled Ruslan away, dragging him to the restroom. Ruslan's nose was broken, and Danila began wiping the blood off his face with his sweater.