Mr. Nikiforov
chapter nineteen // hopes

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A few days had gone by and not much had happened. I had been spending my time by lazing around the dorm, finishing up homework, and watching shows on Netflix. Basically anything that could keep my mind off things.

There were a few text messages from Victor, asking if I was alright or if I wanted to talk about it, but I was still pretty unsure on how I felt about this situation. Those messages were left unanswered.

So far I've concluded that, yes, I like Victor. Very much so. And that's something I never thought I'd feel again... but I was still a little thrown off at the being a father deal. I'm just not so sure how I feel about it.

I knew I had to decide eventually though, but I never thought I'd have to decide so soon!

It was a Friday afternoon and I had just finished up cleaning the kitchen after having lunch. There aren't many students in campus during the holidays, meaning I was not expecting any visit; so when there was a knock on my front door, I was pretty surprised.

I turned to look at the front door, wondering who it could be.

My heart sped up as an image of Victor flashed across my mind.

It can't be.

I took a deep breath and went over, checking through the peep hole to see who it was. My eyebrows furrowed.

"Yuri? I know you're in there, please open up." V said, knocking again.

What is V, of all people, doing here?

"I just want to talk for a few minutes and then I'll be going. Please, let's talk." He glanced up at the peep hole, his light colored eyes staring at me as if he knew I was watching him.

I looked down and sighed, deciding I had nothing to loose by talking to him. So I opened the door and our eyes met.

He looked a bit surprised to see me, as if he hadn't been expecting me to actually open the door. Alas, he composed himself and flashed me a small smile.

"Come in." I said softly, stepping aside and motioning for him to enter. He thanked me and walked past me, looking around the dorm in curiosity. "You can sit down." I added.

We each sat down on opposite ends of the long couch, both of us unsure on what to do--or so I thought. I was looking down at my hands when from the corner of my eye I spotted him extend his own hand.

"I guess I should introduce myself formally." My eyebrows furrowed. "My name is Jihyun Nikiforov, I am Victor's younger brother, and Anton's uncle."

"Jihyun?" I asked, still shaking his hand so I wouldn't be too rude. V nodded, our handshake ending.

"I go by V for the most part, but my real name is Jihyun." He shrugged with a sigh. "Although that wasn't what I came to talk about."

"I assumed as much." I hummed, knowing what was coming.

"I understand this isn't really any of my business and I might be overstepping, but how do you really feel about my brother, Yuri?" He asked and I bit my bottom lip, unable to answer the question out loud.

V stared at me for a few seconds but I couldn't say anything. With a small sigh, V added, "I'm assuming Victor never told you anything about his ex-husband. So if you'd like, I could answer any questions you have."

My lips pursed into a straight line, unsure. "Victor mentioned that you didn't like him..." I turned to face him hesitantly. "..Why?"

V nodded, answering my question right away. "He was a very...unique man. He wasn't a bad person, but there were a lot of things he and Victor didn't see eye to eye. I'm not so sure what their problems really were about but I could see Victor would get hurt every time, and that created the grudge I had against him.

"I've always been very protective over Victor, so I guess you could say my feelings towards that man weren't exactly justified. But ever since their divorce, I've been wary about Victor's romance life. That's probably why Victor also didn't tell you about me, which also explains why he didn't tell me he was seeing someone either. But the thing is, Yuri..." V leaned back against the couch, smiling softly at his hands to my surprise.

"It's been pretty long since I've seen Victor so happy over someone else other than Anton. Even before I found out about the two of you, I could tell there was something different about Victor. I just thought maybe it was his new job, or it had something to do with Anton. I never thought it would be a guy. But I'm happy for him."

"I see." I whispered softly. V nodded and looked back at me again.

"I understand you might be angry that he didn't tell you about Anton sooner, but I can tell he really likes you. Maybe you could consider giving him another chance." I sat back, speechless. V kept looking at me with that hopeful and warm look in his eyes.

A question came to mind. "Don't you feel wary about me?"

V shook his head. "Actually, since the first time we met with Zen, I could tell how happy you were about the plans you had later on that evening. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what they were. I could see you're a genuine guy. I just never thought it was my brother you were seeing." He chuckled.

My cheeks heated up a bit and I stared at the TV across from us, wondering if I was actually so open about how I felt. If V noticed, has anyone else?

"I could also tell you anything you want to know about Anton." he offered, reminding me of something that had confused me a great deal.

"Actually, that day I thought he was your son...and when I asked if you was his dad, he said yes?" I said a bit awkwardly. V hummed in realization.

"Did yoy refer to me as 'V'?" I nodded, awkwardly. Was I not supposed to?

V laughed softly, "Anton doesn't call me V, so he must have gotten confused and thought you were referring to Victor. He's a good kid, I know he didn't mean to confuse you. I promise."

"Oh..alright... Uh...why did you have..." I trailed off a bit, trying to articulate my words right. "Why did you come in with Anton that morning then?"

"Whenever Victor goes to work, I help him take care of Anton if he's not at the daycare. The day before your date, he told me he had an important meeting with some teachers and asked if I could take Anton for the day. I went the next morning to drop off Anton at home." He explained, giving me a bit of an apologetic look.

"...How did you even know where I live?" I asked suddenly, only now realizing I never told him I came to this college, let alone my dorm number.

V bit his bottom lip, "I asked Victor which college he studied in and I asked the students I saw if they knew which was your dorm...it took me a while before I found someone who did. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." I shrugged it off, not really bothered since I understood why he did it. He cares for Victor.

V and I talked some more after that before it was time he had to go. I promised him I would talk to Victor and set things straight soon.

I spent the rest of that day catching up on any work I had left and pondering on what I would do with this whole situation. Now that the initial shock was gone and I could think straight, I thought about what I wanted to do.

Before I realized it, the sun began to set and I was interrupted by the sound of my alarm ringing. It was Saturday and that meant I had a shift tonight.

I jumped into the shower and cleaned up, washing away my thoughts and getting into the right mindset. Work was the one place where my personal problems could not interfere, I had to keep that going.

After getting dressed in something casual, I took Phichit's car keys and drove to work in peace. I felt at peace after that shower and it was as if my mind had finally cleared up.

Ten minutes later I pulled into my reserved parking space and got out, entering the building through the back doors. To my luck, I ran into Erwin on the way to the dressing room.

"Oh, hi." I greeted him a bit awkwardly. He gave me a courteous nod and motioned down the hall that led to the main area.

"The club isn't too crowded tonight but there's a group of men that came together. Seems like they came to spend money, so keep an eye out for them." He tipped and I nodded, a bit surprised. It wasn't often that Erwin spoke to us about customers, let alone those who didn't come with a reservation before hand.

"Alright. I'll go out once I get dressed." I announced and Erwin nodded, walking away and leaving me to do my own thing.

The trip to the dressing room was a fast one. It was more work taking off my clothes than putting on the simple outfit. Like usual, we were left shirtless, but tonight's uniform consisted of white pants instead of black.

I combed my hair back a bit and put on my contact lenses. Once I was ready, I left the room and went out to the main area, scanning the crowd.

Erwin was right, the place was still busy but there was clearly less people than most nights. I gave an acknowledging nod to a few of the coworkers I recognized and walked around calmly.

"Hey, Yuri!" I heard someone call and I turned around quickly, surprised that someone was addressing me by my real name.

"Oh, Zen." I sighed in relief. "What's up?"

"Could you help me bring some drinks for the table over there, these guys came ready to throw away money." He exclaimed and I nodded, excited at the mention of money. I can always use some extra bills.

I followed Zen to the bar and helped with the few drinks he couldn't carry himself. I counted seven in total. Once we had them secure, we carefully walked back to wherever these guys were.

I focused on staying close behind Zen, keeping my eyes glued to his back so I wouldn't loose him in between the small crowd around us. And I had been doing just fine until I was suddenly pulled back by someone.

I yelped and turned around quickly, slightly frightened. But I was even more surprised to see Victor before me, his eyebrows furrowed.

"What--"

"Sorry but you have to come with me." He said over the music. I frowned. Yes, I wanted to give him a chance, but he can't just get in the middle of my job and pull me away from customers like this. Besides, I was supposed to be helping Zen. "Please, trust me. You need to come with me." He tried again.

"But I'm working." I reminded him, pulling my arm out of his grasp, careful not to spill the drinks. I walked back to where I had last seen Zen and glanced around the tables ahead, looking for his long, white hair.

Oh, there he is--wait..

I squinted my eyes at the person sitting in the table Zen was sitting at. Could it be?

Holy shit.

I quickly spun on my heel and started to speed walk away, keeping my face low. Once again, I ran into Victor who, without saying anything, guided me away.

I realized we were heading to the restrooms and I didn't stop him. The second we went inside and we were safe, I let out a deep breath of relief.

"What are they doing here?" I asked.

"That's what I wanted to say... A few of the staff members decided to come to this club for fun and I just came along because I was worried you'd be working tonight and they'd see you." Victor explained slowly, looking down at his feet. My expression softened.

I really had been an asshole to him.

"Im glad you came tonight." I began.

Victor shrugged, "Im sure it would've caused a lot of problems for both of us if they found out you were working here--"

"That's not what I meant." I cut him off. Victor looked up at me, confused. "I wanted to apologize for how I reacted the other day...and for avoiding your calls." I stared at his black dress shirt, avoiding his intense eyes.

"I get it," he responded after a few seconds. "I know I did wrong by not telling you about Anton from the beginning. And I understand if you think my son being with me is too much and you want to end things completely. I just hope you know that I care about you a lot and I'd love it if this could work out."

I looked up from his shirt and was grateful I wasn't the only one flustered. Victor was looking down at me with a small smile, his face red, and his eyes hopeful.

I felt a slight sweat run down the side of my face as I stuttered to find the right words. "W-w-would you like to g-go somewhere with me? Th-there's somewhere I've been wanting to go.. for a while now."

What I almost said was somewhere I've been wanting to go with you.

Victor's face softened and the corner of his lips tilted upwards. "I'd love to."

A wave of happiness showered me as I flashed him a smile.

  
   
  
  
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Levi' s P.O.V.
  
  
   
      
 
My nose itched as I looked around me, an unpleasant feeling running down my spine as I watched guys gawk at the performers and bodies pressed against each other everywhere I turned to look. I wondered how these guys had the strength to flirt with such dirty men.

A business man is always dirty, and by the looks of it, the majority of the clients here are major pigs.

The place was well kept, but all the heat was beginning to bother me. I unbuttoned the first three buttons of my shirt and looked down at the drink in front of me.

"Sorry for taking long. I got lost." Victor announced as he returned to the table. Our other co-workers didn't even acknowledge him, too preoccupied drooling over the dancers and our escort--what was his name? Beast?

I raised an eyebrow at Victor as he sat down beside me. He had excused himself earlier, saying he would go to the restroom and ended up taking far longer than needed. My eyes trailed over to the lit up 'restroom' sign hanging on the wall a bit ways from where we were seated.

There's no way he got lost, I thought to myself, staring at the entrance to the restroom.

I frowned when I saw a guy peek his head from behind the door, nervously looking at his surroundings before walking out and disappearing from my sight.

Why did he look so familiar?

My thoughts were interrupted by Victor as he cleared his throat and asked me about the lesson plan for once we go back from the holidays.

Ever since Victor first came to the college, I knew he was a good man. I quickly learned a lot about him after only a few days, but I still couldn't ignore the feeling that there was something he was hiding from everyone around.

Normally I'm not one to pry much on other's personals lives, but for some reason, I've been wondering what this secret might be and it's slowly eating me alive.

Well, not like I'll do anything about it though, since I also have secrets of my own and I wouldn't appreciate if someone continuously tried to uncover them.

I glanced down at my cell phone, the slightest of smirks etching on my screen at the message on the screen.

  
  
Brat:
I hate to admit it but yeah
i do need some help with
the last lessons ..
 
 
 
So I was right, the brat wasn't paying attention to my lessons. I should really teach him how to focus properly.

"I'm sorry everyone, I'll have to leave. One of our performers had to leave early and I have to replace him. But don't worry, my friend here will keep you all company." The white haired guy smiled, bringing forward nother guy with long blue hair. I felt a bit sorry for him having to deal with these horny bastards.

A few professors had gathered today in campus to discuss future lessons and somehow a few of the male professors agreed on coming to this club, wanting to see what all the fuzz about it was. I'm simply here because I was dragged along by Victor.

My attention once again shifted to Victor who was looking down at his phone nervously, barely paying any attention to his surroundings.

Why had he been so persistent on me coming along? Why did he even come?

Jesus, why did I agree to this?

"I need some air." I sighed, standing up and walking away.

Yeah I like men, and yes Victor knew that, but that didn't mean I enjoyed spending time under the same building as other men who were most likely married that only came here to satisfy their secret desires.

I walked around for a bit until I came across a back door. Pulling out a cigarette from my back pocket, I exited the building and took a sharp breath of the cold December air. After lighting up my cigarette and taking a few puffs, I was feeling more at ease. My eyes closed and I focused on the silence, listening to the bass echoing in the background from the other side of the closed door.

Suddenly, the peacefulness was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Curious, I turned around to see who came out.

A guy with slicked black hair and glasses stared back at me, looking like a deer caught in headlights. I picked up my foot and pressed the cigarette against the sole of my boot, turning it off before flicking it away. My eyebrow raised.

This was definetely the guy that came out of the restroom earlier. And once again, I still felt like he was somehow familiar.

"Ah, sorry." He stuttered out and I flinched, piecing it together at last.

The surprised boy walked past me and quickly walked away, getting into his car and driving out of the parking lot and into the darkness. I stared down at my shadow against the concrete below me, unable to stop myself from wondering.

Did this mean--

The door opened again for the third time tonight and just as I had expected, I heard a voice nervously ask, "L-levi? What are you doing out in the cold?"

I turned around and stared up at Victor with a blank expression. We only looked at each other for a few seconds and I could see him squirm under my gaze.

At last I pointed at my lips and carelessly answered him as if nothing happened. "I came out for a smoke. I was just going to go back inside."

"Oh." Victor nodded and went back inside as I followed suit. Wondering once again, but this time, it was a new question going through my mind.

How long has this been going on for, Victor?

  
  
 
   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
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A/n: this is a short chapter and I apologize for that but it's more of a filler chapter than anything.  I just wanted to get this done and finally move on and get back to Victor's and Yuris relationship :)

So yep, Levi figured it out>_< but to ease your minds, no, do not worry, Levi will not tell anyone about victuris relationship:3

This book has grown so much since the previous chapter and gosh I can't believe it owo it's suddenly getting a lot of attention lol

Like I said, this bump in Victuri relationship is basically over with, obviously Yuri is still going to have to truly deal with Anton but he's at least accepted him now :)

Make sure to leave a vote on the chapter so it can help the book get more attention! Thank you so much for supporting me! I love how supportive you all are of this story it literally brings a tear to my eye :'D

Till next time babies♡

- Sai