Bonus Chapter 1: The Heartfelt Thoughts of an Innocent Boy

For many reasons, Sorkov was actually very resistant to social interaction.

Specifically, he truly doesn't participate in any social activities, his communication with others is almost zero, and he reflexively disappears during holidays. In Reina's words, he's like an elusive mole.

Such a somewhat aloof personality was understandable during his youth, since no one would care about it back then. But everything changed after he came to Belgrade.

Due to the nature of the Elberlints' work, their home was frequently visited by guests, and they often hosted various banquets, both large and small. The couple, who always enjoyed lively gatherings, naturally reveled in these events. However, this time, it was Solkov's turn to suffer.

After being caught trying to sneak out the back door for the third time, he finally behaved himself and was forced into a chair in the kitchen by his wife, who cheerfully tidied his messy hair.

"You should try to fit in a bit, Andrei," she said with a hint of reproach. "Where are you planning to sneak off to this time? Go swimming in that lake again?"

No, Solkov answered silently in his mind. Because she had already figured out the location, he had to give up the wild swimming activity and planned to find a place to sleep for the afternoon.

However, he only gave a hasty smile, somewhat flusteredly dodging the woman's hand holding the hairspray, and raised his eyebrows in alarm, "Does it really have to be this way?"

“These are all guests of our home, you should at least meet them.”

The lady deftly pressed his head down, used a comb in her left hand to comb his hair back, and quickly sprayed a large can of hairspray on it with her right hand. She took a small step back, looked at the somewhat neater hairstyle, and nodded appreciatively.

"You should get a haircut, honey."

"I will." Sorkov tried his best to suppress the urge to sigh, and carefully touched the top of his head, which felt like a steel helmet, and might only be useful in a fight.

To be honest, he has indeed been somewhat unkempt lately, a fact he himself has noticed. Although his wife only called it "the eccentricity unique to young people," Solkov knew that she was just using a euphemism.

"Let's go out and see my friends."

The lady smiled kindly at him, but her strength was merciless. She dragged and pulled him out of the kitchen. Sorkov lost his balance and almost tripped over the threshold as he went out, staggering several steps.

When he finally managed to stand up, he looked up again and suddenly met the gazes of more than a dozen people in the living room. Everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing and silently watched him appear in such a disheveled state.

Solkov straightened up and subconsciously began to look around, trying to find a convenient escape route. However, as if he had read his mind, Mr. Elberlint appeared just in time, laughing and patting him on the shoulder.

"Friends, this is my little boy!"

Sorkov was taken aback by the cheesy address. He tried to suppress the goosebumps on his body and forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace, making a sound like "hi" in his throat.

However, he was certain that no one understood what he meant, because those people were stunned for another three seconds, their gazes lingering on his neat hairstyle and casual clothes, before finally coming to their senses and resuming their lively activities with smiles that were hard to believe were genuine.

Professor Elberlint raised an eyebrow. "How's it going, young man? Are you adjusting well?"

"I'm going to die."

Here we go again, Sorkov rolled his eyes discreetly.

It's unclear when it started, but after realizing he was all alone in Belgrade, the professor and his wife had been trying to find him a suitable friend for a long time, but with consistently poor results.

At the party two years ago, Sorkov was forcibly introduced to a tall, muscular 15-year-old man. As the man turned around, he accidentally hit Sorkov in the face while swinging his arm, causing him to bleed profusely on the spot.

When it came time for the last gathering, the couple learned from their mistake and found him a boy of similar build and age, so there was no danger to his life. However, the boy began to reveal his true nature after less than half an hour of conversation, and Sorkov couldn't hold back. The two fought to a standstill, and the befriending plan fell through again.

This time, it seemed that the boys were not very reliable. So, the wife had a flash of inspiration and specially invited her friend's daughter out, thinking that at least this time there wouldn't be any major disputes.

Solkov, however, was quite dismissive of the two men's insistence.

He knew, of course, that it was well-intentioned, but sometimes such good intentions could also be a burden. He felt that these so-called friends were meaningless, and he never felt lonely.

However, the lady and the professor clearly thought so.

Sorkov was shoved to stand in front of the girl. He forced a smile, which he could only manage as a forced laugh.

The girl briefly introduced herself, then stared at his hair with interest. "Has anyone ever said this doesn't suit you?"

"Apart from the person who sprayed my hairspray, I think everyone in the world thinks that way."

Maria laughed heartily. "That's interesting. You're the one who fought with Peter? He doesn't really like you."

Sorkov could barely contain himself and almost sneered, "Really? This is the biggest coincidence in the world."

Maria remained unmoved by his sarcasm, crossing her arms and giving him a look that was so familiar it bordered on rudeness. "Do you participate in any clubs at school?"

No.

“No wonder,” she said thoughtfully, “they all say that about you…”

Sorkov grunted in response, said nothing more, grabbed a biscuit from the table and started eating, glancing around absentmindedly.

Maria blinked, seemingly quite surprised by his overly cold attitude. "Why don't you continue asking?"

He finally glanced at her and answered her, quite bewildered, "Why do you want to ask further?"

"You don't care what they say about you?"

"not give a damn about."

She paused for a moment, seemingly trying to understand the situation, and then asked with some surprise, "Completely indifferent?"

"Completely indifferent."

Sorkov reached out and precisely killed an insect on his arm. Holding the banquet in the garden was certainly unique, and the flowers that the lady cultivated were truly magnificent. However, it was a real pity that he was about to become the insect's meal.

He shook his head, picked up another cookie, and planned to fill his stomach and then make a quick getaway.

“Your personality is indeed…not very easy to get along with.” Maria gave this objective assessment, and I nodded in deep agreement.

Sorkov glanced at her, then suddenly smiled, but said nothing, continuing to eat intently.

He was suddenly slapped on the back, which startled him so much that he almost choked on his own. When he turned around, he saw the lady staring at him with a forced smile. Sorkov was so frightened that he almost thought she had discovered his escape plan. But thankfully, she was just there to remind him not to be too rude to the girl.

"What an annoying fellow, isn't he?" The lady smiled awkwardly at Maria, as if to apologize on her behalf. Before leaving, she gave Sorkov a light tap on the buttocks, lowering her voice to remind him to be mindful of his hospitality.

Sorkov's biscuit was now completely stuck in his throat. He reached for a glass of water (he didn't know what it was) and drank it all in one gulp.

“This is wine,” Maria suddenly said.

"I understand now."

Although he didn't know exactly how much alcohol he had drunk, Solkov clearly noticed that he started sweating the moment he took a sip, and ominously, he was sweating cold sweat.

However, at this moment, Maria suddenly asked without warning, "Are you in a relationship?"

Sorkov felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat even more, and gave her a strange look. "What are you doing?"

"I didn't mean anything by it, I was just curious," she said honestly. "What an unlucky girl..."

Sorkov almost thought he had misheard. "What?"

She pointed to the corner of the photo peeking out from his phone case, "Honestly, putting a girl's photo behind your phone case sounds like something someone from the last century would do."

He closed his eyes, not knowing why he suddenly had to explain, but he did it anyway, saying, "Your imagination is too rich."

Maria looked knowing and chuckled softly, though it sounded more like mockery. "You'll never get a girl like that."

I really don't know why the lady thinks the girl is easier to get along with. At least from Solkov's personal perspective, this girl is much more difficult to deal with than the previous two.

Seeing his obviously depressed expression, Maria laughed heartily, but soon patted his shoulder as if in sympathy.

"Don't be discouraged, there might still be a chance. Why don't you tell me what kind of girl she is? Maybe I can give you some advice."

Sorkov subtly moved to the side, away from where her arm could reach, and breathed a sigh of relief before speaking again.

He originally wanted to refuse outright, even retorting with a sarcastic smile, but for some reason, those words circled in his mouth and when he actually said them, they turned into, "You can't give advice, it's simply impossible."

As it turned out, his words were definitely just stirring up trouble, because Maria's eyes lit up quickly, and she smiled maliciously, like a hunter smelling the scent of prey, clearly aroused by his competitive spirit.

“Impossible,” she said firmly. “There’s nothing I can’t do. Tell me in more detail.”

Sorkov wanted to laugh at her overconfidence, but he still spoke honestly, saying, "I've never even met her."

"Is it an online romance?"

"Not really, she doesn't know me."

Maria paused, seemingly surprised that the situation was far more complicated than she had imagined. She frowned slightly, looking somewhat troubled. "Don't know you? That's a bit difficult. Are you in the same place as her?"

"Absolutely not."

"Still a long-distance relationship?" Her brows furrowed even more. "How far apart are they?"

After thinking for a moment, Solkov casually replied, "About... more than four thousand miles."

Maria fell completely silent after that.

Solkov knew she wouldn't be able to explain herself, so he resigned himself to his fate and said, "Just pretend I am."

Now it was Maria's turn to quietly distance herself from him.

She glanced at the obviously depressed Sorkov with a hint of pity, cleared her throat, and said, "I can't help you now, but I have one last piece of advice for you."

"What?" he asked weakly.

Maria talked on and on, but the other person seemed to freeze in place as if suddenly losing consciousness, staring intently at the photo in her pendant.

“You, how come?” Sorkov began mechanically, “There’s a photo of us together.”

She finally realized what was happening, abruptly stopped speaking, and slowly looked at Sorkov.

Both of them were stunned. Sorkov stared at the photo with a shocked expression, while Maria stared at Sorkov in disbelief. After what seemed like an eternity, they both gasped at the same time.

Maria covered her face in utter disgust, letting out a roar-like sound, then abruptly turned around, her back to him, and involuntarily made the sign of the cross on her chest.

"My God, I actually wanted to help him pursue Zhou Zeyi! He's not crazy, I'm crazy... No! He's the one who's crazy!"

After finishing her devout prayer, she quickly turned around, pointed at Sorkov, and shouted, "You didn't tell me that the person you like is Zhou Zeyu! Zhou Zeyu! You must be crazy!"

Sorkov practically knelt down before her, "Can't you keep your voice down?"

With Maria's loud, booming voice, many people began to turn their heads to look at the two of them. Even the professor and his wife in the living room heard the noise and rushed out to ask what was going on, fearing that the tragedy of the previous two times would repeat itself.

Fortunately, the two did not come to blows. There was only shock and pain, although this reaction was really strange. Fortunately, nothing serious happened. The couple looked at each other, shook their heads, and went back inside.

Solkov took a deep breath, resisting the urge to run away, and said in a gentle tone, "Please, can't you not be so surprised?"

"If I'm not surprised, then I must be crazy." She said without hesitation, "Dude, I've seen a lot of people's teenage thoughts, but the level of difficulty you're taking is too high. Good luck."

Sorkov crossed his arms and chuckled twice.

However, the next second, Maria put on a smug look and smiled at him with an absolutely malicious grin, "Actually, I also have her autographed photo."

Solkov looked at her warily, instinctively sensing that her words had a hidden meaning. "What are you going to do?"

"Please beg me, and I'll give you this photo."

As expected.

He took a deep breath, turned around and walked away, but after taking only a few steps, he stopped stiffly.

"Are you serious?"

Maria laughed heartily, "Just kidding."

Solkov turned around and looked at her with a cold smile, "You're just as despicable as that Peter guy."

“Of course,” she shrugged. “Didn’t I tell you? We’re a couple.”

As expected... none of them are good people.

Sorkov rolled his eyes, shook his head, and quickly jumped over the fence and disappeared.

He knew he was completely unsuited for any social life, and he vowed that he would never agree to his wife's dating plans again.

However, ten years have passed, and when Sorkov thought of the matter again, he suddenly spoke up and strongly requested that Maria be invited to the next gathering.

The lady asked him, puzzled, what he wanted to do.

Sorkov was certain he had given a malicious smile. "Maybe it was showing off."