LV Chapter 3.1 || My Daddy-Long-Legs

Sasya, crouched in his hideout under the sofa, opened his eyes at the faint sound of a mechanical device operating from far away.

He then focused his keen hearing on the strange sounds outside the door.

A whirring sound… slicing through the air smoothly and quietly.

After a moment, Sasya identified the source of the weak noise. It was the sound of an elevator rising at high speed.

Sasya pressed his phone to check the current time. It was almost 1 AM. Normally, he would have been asleep by now, but today he had fallen asleep earlier while thinking about how to reply to Karel, and now he couldn’t sleep. In fact, after taking a nap, his vision had become even clearer, allowing him to distinguish objects clearly even in the darkness.

The elevator stopped at Sasya’s floor.

This floor only has a penthouse.

When that thought crossed his mind, Sasya, who had been lying carelessly, quickly lay face down and covered himself with a blanket, tensing his body while staring at the entrance.

Soon, the familiar arrival chime he had heard several times before rang from the distant corridor.

‘The door is opening.’

Immediately, the elevator doors opened, and the sound of movement inside spilled out. It was the footsteps of an adult male. Hesitating and occasionally stopping, the steps approached closer to the entrance.

Sasya became even more alert. Hotel staff didn’t walk like that. They moved smoothly and silently, as if they had memorized every path.

Then, could it be the original owner of this room?

Sasya shook his head. He had imagined Karel’s footsteps many times—the sound of heavy leather soles stepping on the floor, the slow, confident stride, the polite knock at the door… Although he had never seen it, the actions were vividly imagined as if happening right before his eyes. his actions were always precise and deliberate. There was no reason for him to stumble carelessly at the door or fumble around for his keys.

As soon as he determined that the visitor was neither staff nor his sponsor, Sasya quickly slipped out from under the blanket and hid behind the sofa.

‘Where’s the key? Hey… Just let me grab the wallet. Straighten up a bit.’

A muffled voice came from behind the closed door. Then, a beep—the sound of a key touching the door.

In the darkness, the door lock briefly flashed green before disappearing. The doorknob turned smoothly, and the door opened. Sasya took one last deep breath.

Two people entered. Sasya held his breath and watched them closely.

“Phew…”

The first to enter was a tall, slender man with dark hair. He let out a sigh while running his hand through his hair, looking tired. The long city night view light from the window illuminated the man’s white neck. The man’s face was pale like a vampire. Sasya watched the stranger warily.

And the person he was supporting… had his head bowed so his face wasn’t visible, but even in the darkness, his blonde hair was recognizable. His large build somehow felt familiar, and Sasya’s heart beat strongly.

‘Mr. Clements?’

It was natural that Sasya hadn’t noticed his sponsor’s arrival. Karel currently looked almost unconscious. He could barely stand on his two feet and was completely relying on the weight of the man supporting him.

“So heavy. Ha… When did you get this drunk?”

The black-haired man complained.

“Hnnn…”

“What’s the point of drinking if you end up like this?”

Despite his grumbling, the man couldn’t just leave Karel on the floor, so he mustered a bit more strength and dragged him into the living room where Sasya was. As the two men approached, Sasya could only crouch lower behind the sofa, unable to move.

“Here, lie down.”

The man’s voice came from right above Sasya’s head, startling him. Sasya quickly crouched under the shadow of the sofa. Immediately after, the man dumped Karel onto the sofa. The impact felt like dropping a heavy sack of flour, and the shock traveled through Sasya’s shoulders. The smell of alcohol wafted over.

How much alcohol would it take for such a large man to get this drunk? His sponsor must be a heavy drinker.

“…”

“…”

The two men were silent. Karel didn’t even groan, and the man who had been muttering to himself all the way here was now quiet.

During the prolonged silence, Sasya worried about whether his presence had been discovered and looked up at the ceiling. The sound of his hair brushing against the leather sofa could be heard.

Tap, tap.

The sound of fabric being pulled. More precisely, the sound of buttons being undone.

Then, the sound of fingers brushing against the shirt collar as it was straightened. Next, the sound of shoes being removed from the legs at the far end of the sofa.

At first, Sasya thought the black-haired man might be one of Karel’s secretaries like George. But…

“Wake up, darling.”

Darling? What a strange form of address.

Between two men, using darling… it was like calling a lover.

A tingling sensation ran down Sasya’s spine. He unconsciously hugged his arms.

Then, low moans and wet sounds that tickled his ears made him anxious. Not only was he getting goosebumps, but his body was twisting unbearably, and Sasya suddenly stood up.

“Ah! What the—! You scared me!”

The man who had suddenly poked his head out from behind the sofa fell backwards, hitting the floor. Sasya thought he was fortunate to have laid out blankets there. Since he had laid out two, the impact probably wasn’t too severe.

And Sasya’s gaze immediately turned to the man lying long on the sofa below.

‘Mr. Clements.’

Up close, it was indeed his sponsor, thoroughly drunk and unconscious. Sasya observed him with the curiosity of seeing something rare and unusual.

One thing that caught his attention was that his sponsor was in the middle of undressing. The slightly darker skin of Karel, illuminated by moonlight, was shining like honey. The vest buttons and shirt buttons were undone from the top, revealing the curved, deep contours of his chest. Of course, this wasn’t how he looked before entering.

Feeling like he had stolen a glimpse of an adult magazine, Sasya stared at the black-haired man with a stiff face.

Is this man gay? So he’ll secretly kiss these lips while my sponsor is sleeping… touch him… especially when Mr. Clements won’t notice anything.

Taking advantage of someone who was unconscious was cowardly. Fueled by a sense of justice, Sasya clenched his jaw and glared at the man with even colder eyes.

“What? I thought you were a ghost, but you’re a kid?”

“…”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Sasya…”

The man’s hand, which was brushing off his legs, stopped for a moment.

“Sasya?”

“Yes. Sasya Shchedrin. Alexandre Shchedrin. From Russia.”

“…You’re Sasya?”

The man’s brow furrowed. Looking closely, the man’s face was paler than he had thought.

“How old are you exactly?”

“Six…teen.”

“Really? You look younger. Are you staying here?”

“I’ve been here for 3 days.”

“3 days…?”

The man stared at Sasya with a complicated expression for a while, then picked up his wallet and phone that had fallen earlier. Sasya just watched his actions. He had been wondering how to get him kicked out, but it seemed he would leave on his own. That was fortunate.

“I can’t do it with a kid around. I’m leaving.”

“…”

“Ugh, what a waste.”

The man grumbled while rummaging through Karel’s pockets. Sasya was greatly shocked by the man’s bold actions. He wanted to stop him, but seeing the blatant theft, his breath caught in his throat and he couldn’t speak.

The man reached into Karel’s jacket, pulled out a wallet, and checked each card. The cards he picked up and discarded fell onto the blanket—thud, thud. As he filtered through the cards, his expression grew increasingly dissatisfied. Finally, he took a few bills and one card, then stood up.

Without a word, he walked toward the front door.

“W-Wait a moment!”

Sasya followed the man, biting his lip, aware that his voice sounded more servile than like a citizen trying to punish a thief.

“Why are you taking that? You can’t just take someone else’s money. Mr. Clements is asleep… He doesn’t know anything. Why are you taking it? That’s Mr. Clements’ money… I’ll call the police.”

“What?”

The man waved his hand as if Sasya was annoying and walked briskly to the entrance.

“I’ll report you to the police.”

Sasya said once more with courage. But…

“Do whatever you want.”

With those words, the man quickly went out the door.

The faint sound of the elevator echoed from outside. Well, Michael, the security guard, had said he memorized the faces of everyone allowed to come and go here. If the man had been a stranger, Michael would have stopped him first.

While listening to the fading mechanical noise, Sasya dazedly returned to Karel.

He crawled over the blanket, picking up the cards the man had carelessly thrown. He put various colored cards – black, silver, gold – back into Karel’s wallet, but the section for bills was empty.

When Karel wakes up, he’ll realize the money is missing from his wallet. He won’t remember the man taking it…

Then the only person he would suspect would be Sasya. After much inner conflict, Sasya took out the $525 he had hidden deep in his bag and carefully put it into Karel’s wallet with trembling hands. Unlike the money the man took, these bills looked like they had been around the world, but at least it was better than having nothing.

Sasya, feeling deeply depressed about losing his entire fortune, approached Karel on his knees with the wallet.

He was sleeping so peacefully that he didn’t look like someone who was heavily drunk.

“Ugh…”

But getting closer, the smell of alcohol was overwhelming. Sasya stopped breathing and put the wallet back inside Karel’s jacket.

“Mr. Clements. Please wake up and clean yourself, then go to bed.”

Sasya gently shook him with his arm, but the massive man like a bullfighting arena’s ox didn’t budge at all. Instead of giving up on waking him, Sasya buttoned his shirt, and then buttoned his vest. He didn’t want him to misunderstand his actions as something he had done voluntarily.

However, unlike unbuttoning, re-buttoning required more strength. The sponsor’s chest was so large that he had to pull the vest sides tight and lock them as if squeezing. Groaning and tightening his clothes to restore them to their original state before he touched them, Sasya felt a sense of satisfaction.

And Sasya quietly observed the sponsor for a while. He was sleeping peacefully, his breathing even quiet.

‘I’ll sleep too.’

Feeling sleepy next to him, Sasya crawled into the blanket piled up in the hideout.

At that moment, the mountain-like massive man rolled over heavily to his side. Sasya froze in place.

“Huh…”

A sigh escaped, accompanied by the smell of alcohol. Sasya pinched his nose again at the alcohol scent spreading in the air.

“…Water.”

Water?

Sasya jumped up and quickly ran to the refrigerator. He took out the water bottle with the hotel logo and waved it in front of the sponsor’s eyes, even trying to place it in his hand, but he showed no intention of waking up to drink.

Should I pour it into a cup? But I don’t have the strength to lift him up.

The sponsor just lay there, blinking, and Sasya brought his face close to see if he would recognize him.

“Mr. Sponsor?”

“…I drank too much alcohol.”

His voice was muffled, but surprisingly, his pronunciation was clear. Sasya nodded.

“Drinking water will make you feel better.”

“…”

“Please drink some water, Mr. Sponsor.”

After a while, Karel raised his heavy upper body. Sitting up with his head bowed, his disheveled blonde hair cascaded over his forehead. Sasya handed him the water bottle again.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I usually sober up quickly.”

He then lightly opened the water bottle Sasya handed him. Without seeming to apply much force, the bottle cap popped off in his large hand. The entire water bottle was instantly sucked into his mouth. Sasya watched his Adam’s apple moving up and down in amazement.

“Would you like more?”

Karel shook his head.

“I’m sorry. Excuse me. I didn’t mean to come here.”

Raising his head and saying this, Karel’s eyes now seemed to have completely regained their focus. When their eyes met, Sasya wanted to shake his head. That it absolutely wasn’t an intrusion, that this was originally his house, so he could come anytime… that it was okay.

But when their eyes met, Sasya found himself unable to speak. It was the first time he had faced his sponsor’s tired, guarded face head-on, without a smile.

But at the time, Sasya didn’t understand why he was speechless. He had no way of knowing that Karel, who usually exuded an overwhelming presence, had been deliberately gentle with the young boy until now.

Karel’s sharp golden eyes, scanning him like a crouching lion, felt unfamiliar. Sasya fell silent, lost in thought.

Why is he looking at me like that?

Even though it was scary, Sasya couldn’t look away. It was as if he was hypnotized, his gaze locked onto Karel’s eyes. Barely, he raised his hand to rub his chest, feeling his heart pounding heavily.

After a long time, the only words Sasya could muster were,

“D-does your head hurt?”

It was a clumsy attempt to ask if he was feeling unwell. Stuttering like a fool, Sasya watched as Karel slowly blinked and let out a sigh. Then, he raised a hand to cover his face and rubbed it.

“Seems like something was mixed in.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t just alcohol.”

Slowly understanding his incomplete explanation, Sasya couldn’t close his mouth. The black-haired man earlier was indeed a calculated thief.

He felt like a fool for trying to understand his actions. He had watched him directly remove the wallet from the sponsor’s chest and drain all the cash, yet he hadn’t stopped him. However, he didn’t want to admit that fact, fearing the sponsor would see him as pathetic.

Anyway, despite his clearly low-spirited face, Karel didn’t seem to be greatly angry about what happened to him.

“Now I feel a bit more aware.”

“…That’s good.”

Karel sat up slowly, his face softening. His eyes looking at Sasya now resembled the kind sponsor he remembered.

Staring at him intently, Sasya suddenly asked a question.

“Do you drink often?”

Today was a Saturday night. José would want to sneak over the dormitory wall and roam around on nights like these. Maybe Mr. Clements was similar to José in that regard.

But at Sasya’s question, Karel chuckled and shook his head.

“Occasionally.”

“…”

“I don’t like this feeling, so I don’t drink much.”

“Is that so?”

Sasya recalled his father, the person he knew who loved alcohol the most. His father, who would scream like a demon loud enough for the neighbors to hear when drunk and unbuckle his belt to beat his son, would also feel ashamed when sober. When neighbors would glance at him with cold looks, he would play innocent. However, instead of promising never to drink again while sober and hugging Sasya, he would drink again to forget his shame.

But seeing Karel say he dislikes the feeling of being drunk, Sasya felt relieved.

So he wanted to talk more with Karel.

“Why did you drink today then?”

“It wasn’t my choice. There are times when I have to drink.”

“Even though you don’t want to?”

“Sometimes it’s necessary. I’m also a regular at the bar downstairs…”

Then, before Sasya had started living here, Karel must have come up to this room after drinking at the hotel’s basement bar. Sasya had suspected as much, but having it confirmed made him feel excited.

Sasya hoped that like before, he would comfortably rest here today and then leave.

“Then don’t worry about me…”

As he was about to step back into the blanket nest, simultaneously, Karel looked away from him.

With a short sigh, Karel got up and crossed the living room. Sasya unconsciously climbed onto the sofa and sat, watching his distant back. Perhaps feeling uncomfortable with the shirt Sasya had buttoned up to his neck, Karel unbuttoned it himself and took another water bottle from the refrigerator.

Just then, their eyes met, and Karel asked as if he had just remembered something.

“Did I come up here alone?”

“You don’t remember?”

Karel was frowning, trying to trace the fragments of his memory. Recalling the man who had stolen money from his wallet, Sasya answered in a small voice.

“You came with a friend.”

“A friend?”

“Yes… I don’t know his name. He had black hair and a white face…”

“Never mind. I think I know who it is.”

Even though he himself had asked the question, Karel waved his hand before Sasya could finish answering. Once again, his cold reaction made Sasya hold his breath.

He emptied another water bottle at once and threw it in the trash can. It was a light gesture, but the way he discarded something was decisively cold. The sound of the empty bottle rolling and lightly bouncing in the metal trash can made Sasya feel inexplicably deflated.

Karel pressed his temples as if feeling a headache, then brushed his chin with his large hand. And another sigh.

Then Karel approached Sasya. More precisely, he came to the sofa. He picked up the necktie lying on the sofa without particularly looking at Sasya, who had turned and crouched. Then he walked around the sofa and lightly caught the heel of his shoe with his fingertips from the floor.

Contrary to Sasya’s hope of continuing their conversation, he seemed about to leave immediately.

And Sasya, who had been staring at Karel walking away without hesitation, suddenly jumped up and hurriedly followed him.

When Karel slightly bent down to place his shoes side by side on the floor,

“Mr. Clements.”

“Yes.”

“Where are you going?”

Karel, who had just put his foot in his shoe, lightly tapped his heel on the floor and turned halfway. The sponsor’s brow was furrowed again.

Sasya wondered if the reason he kept frowning was because he was annoying. In reality, it was due to the oncoming hangover, but whenever he saw his somewhat unfriendly response, his heart shrank.

“It’s really late now, isn’t it?”

Karel blinked slowly, his hand in his pocket, as if urging Sasya to continue.

“The subway has stopped running by now.”

“I have a car. I can call George.”

“George must be asleep…”

“…”

“If you suddenly wake a sleeping person and make them work, wouldn’t they be angry? I would be. I get angry every time I wake up in the morning.”

“Unlike others, George is diligent and won’t get angry about being woken up.”

“Is that so? That’s convenient…”

Sasya clasped his hands together, pinching his own fingers while trying to think of another excuse. And unlike before when Karel was turning towards the entrance to leave, he had now completely turned towards Sasya, arms crossed, looking down at the boy whose eye level was far below him.

“There are many beds in this house…”

“I know.”

“If you want to sleep, you can do that. It was originally your room after all, Mr. Clements.”

“This is now your house.”

Sasya looked up at him desperately.

Karel’s eyes already held a subtle laugh, but Sasya didn’t notice.

“T-Then, I’m giving you permission.”

He wanted to say he didn’t want to be alone. Even if they slept in separate rooms with the doors closed, he wanted to be together. It might have been easier to be more childlike and wheedle. However, for Sasya, who had never been allowed to act childish even with his parents, found such a simple request difficult.

And when he felt he might not refuse his request, Sasya finally uttered the words closest to his purpose,

“Please stay and sleep the night here.”

“…”

“Sleep here, Mr. Clements.”

Karel raised his hand and rubbed his own forehead. Sasya looked at his face closely with wide eyes. Although his expression was hidden under his large hand… the lips beneath the covered hand were smiling.

He didn’t know where he got such courage. Impulsively, Sasya grabbed the hand he had casually dropped. His sponsor’s skin was hot with fever, presumably due to being intoxicated. He grabbed his arm with both hands and pulled him into the living room, and Karel slowly let himself be drawn along.

Sasya again took off Karel’s necktie from his hand, like before, and placed it on the sofa. Then he looked up at Karel, who was staring at his actions, with a nervous heart.

“Are you sleeping here?”

Karel was the first to ask.

He was looking at the scattered blanket under the sofa. Two large black umbrellas with hotel logos were spread out by the window, perhaps to block the morning sunlight. Sasya nodded. He explained that when morning comes and the sunlight becomes strong, he just puts his head under the umbrella to make himself more comfortable.

“The house is too big, and it’s too quiet if I sleep in the bed. I find it more comfortable here.”

Sasya spoke quite confidently, as if he had never been afraid of sleeping alone.

“Yeah… I see.”

Karel muttered in a low voice, stroking his chin.

Sasya thought he might have upset Karel by complaining about the room, so he quickly spoke again. Even if the timing was a bit off, he wanted to say something he had been meaning to say.

“I… thank you for providing such a wonderful place. I could never repay this kindness. I’m truly lucky.”

“…”

“I’ll become an excellent dancer. I absolutely won’t disappoint you.”

His trembling voice was desperate.

A large hand gently tapped his shoulder and then withdrew.

“I understand. Go to sleep now.”

“What about you, Mr. Clements?”

“I’ll sleep here tonight too.”

Then Karel made eye contact with Sasya to reassure him as he took off his jacket. Sasya was internally greatly relieved to see him removing his outerwear. The heavy fabric was draped over the sofa, and Karel soon entered the nearby bathroom.

With a sharp sound of the bathroom door closing and three seconds later, Sasya rolled on the blanket, screaming internally. The thought that his sponsor would sleep here tonight made him incredibly happy, and his heart wouldn’t calm down. He was more excited than on the first day he entered this marvelous place. He punched the blanket with his fists, silently screaming internally.

The sound of water falling from the bathroom followed. Sasya, wanting to look good in front of his sponsor, quickly ran to the practice area. He attached himself to the bar by the window and began bar stretching. He wanted to show his dedication to practicing day and night. With his right leg raised on the bar, he did a plié and maintained the raised leg, moving only his heel back to do a cambré stretch. The fine hairs near his forehead were soon damp with sweat.

When the sound of the door opening was heard, Sasya’s head unconsciously turned toward the bathroom. Karel was just coming out wearing a robe.

He looked somewhat flustered and said while looking at Sasya stretching in the middle of the night, “Why aren’t you sleeping.”

To his brief question, Sasya casually replied, “I practice at any time.” Karel then approached. His strong bare feet stepped silently on the floor. As he came close enough to touch him, a faint herbal scent emerged.

As Karel reached out his hand, Sasya quickly dabbed his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand.

“Night exercise disrupts the autonomic nervous system. It’s good to sleep before midnight.”

Karel had actually reached out to hand Sasya a dry towel. Sasya, receiving the towel, repeated the difficult word he just heard and asked, “Autonomic nervous system?”

“It means you won’t grow tall.”

“…”

“Do you want to stay here and not grow?”

Suddenly being critiqued about his height, Sasya was taken aback and shook his head. This was something Vadim always talked about. Of course, there were excellent dancers who were short, but that meant their role options were limited, so they had to work twice as hard. Those with perfect proportions naturally stood out.

“How tall are you now?”

“167 centimeters…”

Sasya said in a small voice. He had grown a lot compared to last year, but he was still far from his ideal height.

“That’s 5 feet 5 inches… You’ll need to reach at least 6 feet, right?”

“Yes…”

There was nothing wrong with the sponsor’s statement. Even now, most girls standing on tiptoe in pointe shoes would have a higher eye level than Sasya.

Sasya’s goals included passing the year-end test with top honors, graduating as the top student, performing the lead role in the graduation performance, and joining a ballet company. Additionally, he aimed to reach 6 feet—182 centimeters—in height before graduation.

“Wash up and come. Are you sleeping here again tonight?”

Karel pointed to his hideout. Sasya nodded.

Sasya had always liked getting into spaces under desks or tables. It was a problem that he wouldn’t come out for half a day once he got in, though… Unlike his mother, who detested this habit, Karel was tolerant and nodded without saying anything.

Following his suggestion, after washing off his sweat in the bathroom, Sasya noticed a quiet melody playing in the room. It was an old pop song with noise in its audio quality. Just having music fill the empty space made the lonely atmosphere dissipate. Sasya wondered why he hadn’t thought of this method before and approached the center of the living room.

Then he slowly crawled into his hideout under the sofa, curiously watching where Karel would sleep, his heart racing.

But Karel just poured water into a glass and sat on the sofa. When their eyes met, he said, “Go to sleep.”

“What about you, Mr. Clements?”

“I’ll be here until you fall asleep.”

Sasya wiggled, deeply burying himself in the blanket, too happy to contain himself.

In the room where only moonlight softly descended, Karel sat on the sofa, flipping through a newspaper that was invisible in the dark with uninterested eyes. Realizing he was wasting a precious part of his time because of him, Sasya pulled the blanket up to his nose and closed his eyes tightly.

A female actress’s soft, low voice lingered in his ears.

Anyone can see I love you

Anyone can see I care

The way I hold your hand

And smile in your direction

Tells the world my heart is filled with

Nothing but affection.¹

“Sleep well.”

And a moment later, warm, dry lips descended on Sasya’s forehead.

In an instant, a sensation like being engulfed in flames made a small moan escape from Sasya’s mouth. It was truly fortunate that he had already covered his mouth and nose with the blanket.

***

The next morning, Sasya woke up to a soft hand gently shaking his shoulder.

The first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was the inside of a black umbrella. Sunlight penetrated through the tightly woven fabric between the umbrella’s layers, its path distinctly visible even after being filtered.

In his dazed state, he heard careful footsteps on the floor. Someone wearing slippers.

As soon as he realized someone who had just moved away must have woken him up, Sasya quickly sat up. He had some soreness in his glutes from the unwarmed stretching he had done before sleeping.

“If you’re awake, come eat breakfast.”

Sasya wiped his slightly damp mouth with the back of his hand and followed Karel’s back with his eyes as he approached the table. Looking at the pillow, he saw a small drool mark. Embarrassed that his sponsor had seen his foolish appearance, Sasya flipped the pillow over.

A wagon with a white tablecloth, which wasn’t there last night, was now placed next to the dining table. Someone seemed to have visited while he was sleeping. On it was a simple tea set and dishes. Sasya couldn’t take his eyes off Karel’s back as he neatly arranged the food on the wagon.

As he was struggling to get up, he accidentally kneed the blanket and fell over.

The dull thud made Karel briefly turn back. Sasya grabbed his aching knee, though he didn’t notice.

“The employee who brought breakfast said this is the first time breakfast has been brought to this room.”

“I didn’t eat nothing. I bought and drank a latte on my way to school…”

Sasya sat across from Karel, speaking in a small voice.

“Coffee and milk on an empty stomach is the worst combination.”

Saying this, Karel placed a small plate with an omelet, baked beans, fresh tomatoes, morning steak, and a bowl with fresh leaves in front of Sasya. Additionally, there was a surprisingly vivid green juice.

Sasya, watching Karel’s expression, took a sip of the green juice. Surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. It seemed to be a blend of apple and kale.

Though he wasn’t hungry at all, Sasya picked up his fork and began eating the omelet to meet his sponsor’s expectations. As he ate, he glanced at Karel, who was eating breakfast. Even while eating, Karel sat with perfect posture, showing no signs of slouching. The disheveled appearance from last night and the damp hair from the shower seemed like a figment of Sasya’s imagination.

Moreover, despite having slept less than him, Karel was already wearing freshly pressed clothes. It was easy to see that these were the new clothes that were hanging in the dressing room.

“Did you ever do ballet too, Mr. Sponsor?”

Karel looked at Sasya with a face that seemed to say, ‘What are you talking about?’ His gaze then landed on Sasya’s messy plate.

He was eating without looking at the food, and his grip on the utensils was incorrect, causing him to spill food outside the plate. At that moment, a wobbly piece of omelet hanging on the fork dropped with a plop onto the table. Sasya unconsciously quickly picked it up and ate it with his hand.

“Your posture is so straight…”

“I’ve never even thought about trying ballet. Is that a compliment? I’m flattered.”

However, unlike his mother, Karel did not point out Sasya’s table manners at all. Thanks to this sponsor who didn’t bring up his embarrassing appearance, Sasya began to feel more excited.

Sasya’s eating speed increased. At the same time, he became very talkative.

“Male dancers have to do lifting, you know? Oh, lifting means raising your partner into the air. Sometimes I get paired with a partner taller than me. If done wrong, it can put a lot of strain on the waist and knees and cause pain… If the female dancer doesn’t have good balance, she becomes much heavier. That’s why I pray that when I reach pas de deux class, Chloe or Mackenzie, the ones who have good balance, will become my partner.”

“…”

“But you, Mr. sponsor, are tall and strong, so you would probably be good at lifting. Even if your partner’s balance is off, you could endure it with strength. That’s a huge advantage.”

Karel only smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“And you need strong thigh muscles to jump well. I go to the gym three times a week to work on my thighs… You need to stay in the air longer to do more turns in the air… The trainer says my back thigh muscles are quite weak. Did you know? If you have good flexibility, it’s hard to build strength, and if you have strong muscles, you lack flexibility. It’s really difficult to have both. I’m quite flexible, so I need to build more muscle.”

“…”

“Anyway, what I’m saying is… You must have strong leg muscles, so you’ll definitely be great at jumping, Mr. Sponsor.”

“Thank you.”

Sasya felt shy that he accepted his compliment. When he silently scraped the dish with his fork, there was an unpleasant friction sound.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Sasya was startled when Karel suddenly brought up a personal topic.

Of course, sometimes very close classmates would secretly discuss who likes whom. However, because of his lack of experience and being ‘late’ as Manuel said, he didn’t have many friends who would share such things with him.

Would it be okay to think that me and my sponsor have become a bit closer…? Sasya looked at him, feeling uncertain.

“A girlfriend? …No. I’ve never dated anyone.”

“Are there any girls you’re interested in?”

“… I’m not sure.”

“Is there a girl you think is pretty?”

Sasya just fiddled with his fork and pondered deeply…

In terms of looks alone, Sasya’s face, pale like a boy from a Greek myth, was undoubtedly the most striking. But Sasya himself had no thoughts about his own appearance. Having lived his entire life looking at himself in the mirror, his sense of beautiful had become numbed, and he had little interest in others’ appearances. He hadn’t yet realized the reason why he wasn’t interested in others’ looks.

As Sasya maintained his silence, Karel raised his eyebrows slightly and said, “That’s rare. Usually at that age, they’re dying to try dating.”

Even though he was telling the truth, Sasya became anxious. What if Karel thought he was deliberately maintaining silence to hide something, when he was trying to get closer to him?

Sasya mumbled uncertainly, “I want to focus only on ballet until graduation…”

“…”

“Getting into a ballet company isn’t easy. I don’t have time to date. I’ll only do ballet.”

“I see.”

Karel seemed to find it hard to suppress his laughter, looking at his own dish. Though Sasya had answered seriously, Karel seemed to take it as a joke.

“It’s true.”

“I never said it wasn’t. Anyway…”

“…”

“One piece of advice, if you want to have a girlfriend, don’t just talk about ballet. Everyone will run away.”

Sasya almost retorted, ‘So what?’, but stopped. It was something he was often criticized about.

In fact, quite a few girls had approached him personally, wanting to get closer —and José couldn’t hide his jealousy each time—, but most would get a bit closer and then say with an angry expression, ‘You only talk about ballet,’ and would afterward act like they didn’t know him.

Would the sponsor also be tired of him in a similar way? Sasya worried a bit.

“If you’re done eating, shall we have dessert?”

Karel said this while clearing away Sasya’s empty plate. Sasya nodded.

When Karel took the plates away, Sasya’s side of the table was a mess, as if a small bomb had gone off. But Karel said nothing and quickly wiped the table clean with a white napkin from the wagon.

Sasya had thought they would eat dessert together, but Karel just placed a slice of pumpkin cake with vanilla ice cream in front of him and then left the table. He picked up his phone and went into the master bedroom, talking to someone.

Karel’s low voice was blocked by the closing door.

The reason for entering the master room to make the call was probably because the content was something Sasya shouldn’t hear.

While trying to understand, Sasya soon felt lonely again.

“If you don’t want to be alone, you can invite a friend,” Karel said after finishing his call and walking back into the living room. His gaze was fixed on the dessert that remained untouched since he entered his room.

Sasya nodded, but wasn’t particularly pleased by the suggestion.

He wished the sponsor would come every day.

No, he was very busy and had many appointments, so he didn’t need to set aside time just for him. He wasn’t so selfish as to want to monopolize his time.

Instead, Sasya knew a great way not to take up his time. That was for the sponsor to use the master room in this space.

If he could just be nearby when I’m sleeping, that would be good enough…

Sasya suddenly imagined. What if he were his father? Or his uncle, or older brother… If he were family, he wouldn’t need to make such requests and could always be together. Sasya suddenly felt envious of Karel’s siblings, if he even had any.

In fact, Sasya did have an older brother. A brother much older, whom he had been separated from very young. Levin, Sasya’s biological brother, had strongly rebelled against his drunk father and nearly been stabbed with a knife, after which he ran away. Sasya had cried so much, afraid of being left alone. Afterward, all of his father’s violence was directed at him, and he would cry both from resenting his brother and from feeling bad about resenting him.

If Karel were his brother, he might have protected him when his father tried to hit him or yell at him. He was much larger than his father, after all.

And if he had a brother like Karel, he wouldn’t have needed to hide under the dining table every day, waiting for his working mother, killing time with fantasies. They could have done so many things together.

“I don’t have any friends…” Sasya said honestly while fidgeting with the napkin. Karel simply stared at him silently, with an expression impossible to read.

“That’s… It’s good to be sociable, but… there’s no problem with not having them.”

“…”

So his passive request that the sponsor should come every day seemed to have been too roundabout, and Karel didn’t seem to understand.

Karel left the house without making any promise about future meetings. When Sasya followed him to the entrance and asked, “Are you working today, even though it’s Sunday?” the sponsor simply smiled and said, “I should go home now” without further explanation.

Slightly shocked by those words, Sasya couldn’t hold him back and just watched the closing door. After the faint mechanical noise of the elevator faded, he quickly crossed the living room to the window, looking down at the street to see when Karel would come out. But among the people looking as small as ants, he couldn’t tell which one was Karel.

He couldn’t ask when he would come again.

Sasya let out a deep sigh and went into his blanket nest, burying his face. He didn’t particularly want to cry, but tears slightly gathered at the corners of his eyes.

If Karel had never visited at all, perhaps he wouldn’t have felt this lonely. Having been together last night and then left alone, Sasya lay there for a while, overwhelmed by a sense of weakness.