Mr. Nikiforov
chapter twenty // someplace special

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[Victor's P.O.V.]

I pushed my hair back and let out a long breath, staring into my own eyes in the mirror. I looked over my own appearance and nodded, still unable to ignore the nagging worry of what Yuri might think of my outfit.

I normally wear button up shirts, dress pants, nice shoes, and if possible, a tie. But Yuri insisted I should wear something more casual and warm; so here I stand, in front of my restroom mirror, wearing black jeans, gray shoes, a matching gray sweater, and a thick black coat to top it off.

This would be the type of outfit I used to wear on a weekend during my college years. It was after graduation when there was nothing but fancy clothes and countless ties to wear, not that it's a bad thing--I happen to like my style. Even so, it feels pretty good to wear something less formal once again.

"I finished getting my clothes packed, dad!" Anton exclaimed, coming into the restroom with his small backpack already hanging from his back.

"You're such a big boy, already." I smiled, kneeling down and signaling for him to turn around. "You'll be wiser than me soon if you get any smarter." I chuckled as I looked through his bag, making sure he had everything he needed to spend some time with Jumin and the night over at V's place.

"But uncle Min-min says I'm already smarter than you." Anton giggled, sneakily stealing a glance at my reaction over his shoulder.

I zipped his backpack shut again and shook my head. "Well, you make sure you tell Uncle Jumin that he doesn't know what he's talking about."

Anton nodded and zipped his jacket up, "I'll get to see Elizabeth today and Uncle Min-min said I can feed her when I get there."
(A/n: Elizabeth is Jumin's cat :))

"Ohh, that sounds fun." Anton beamed. I got back up from my knees and turned off the lights, following Anton downstairs, making sure he wouldn't trip over his own feet. "How does some cheesecake sound, baby?" I asked as we reached the living room.

Anton turned around in interest, his eyebrows furrowing a bit in confusion. He looked lost, unable to decide what to say.

"I do want cake, dad. But I'm not a baby anymore." Be mumbled softly, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

I smiled. "But you'll always be my baby!"

Anton rolled his eyes as I snatched him up, walking over to sit him on the kitchen island. "Don't roll your eyes at me, mister."

"Sorry, dad."

I pulled out a slice of cheesecake from the fridge and handed the plate over at Anton, giving him a fork to eat with. While he happily ate his cake, I checked my phone for any messages from Yuri.

♡Yuri♡:
ill start heading out now,
see you over there :)

Me:
Alright, I'll see you soon~♡

I caught myself smiling down at my phone as I slid it back into my pocket once I heard the doorbell ring. I went over to the front door and greeted V with a smile.

"You look good." He complimented, coming inside. Makka ran around V's legs, barking happily as Anton managed to get off the counter and run over to us.

"Uncle Hun! Hi!" Anton exclaimed, jumping into V's arms and hugging him tightly. V smiled wide.

"Hey, buddy. Ready to go?" Anton nodded proudly, telling V about how he got himself and all of his belongings ready all on his own. Once their conversation ended, I told Anton to go and finish his cheesecake, which he didn't argue with and quickly ran off again.

"Thank you for taking him today. Make sure you also say hi to Jumin for me." I sighed and V smiled, shaking his head.

"You know I don't mind, and Jumin had been wanting to see Anton for a while, so it's alright. Just have fun today, yeah?" I nodded, not even bothering to lie about my plans. V knew about Yuri by now and it doesn't take a genius to realize I was heading to a date with him.

"I will." I smiled softly, surprised when I heard Anton run back again. We both looked down at the small boy as he struggled to talk through filled cheeks.

"Fi-nished!" He exclaimed. V and I chuckled.

I went out along with Anton and V since it was time for me to go as well. I scooped Anton up once more for one last goodbye kiss, to which he blushed at, stating softly that he was too old for kisses. I teasingly placed butterfly kisses all over his face getting him to giggle and smile before placing him back down on his feet.

"See you guys later!" I waved as we parted ways, heading over to my own car.

"Bye-bye, Dad!" Anton waved back.

Once I reached my car and turned on the engine, I googled the adress Yuri had sent me. It wasn't a part of the areas I have familiarized myself with yet so I set up the GPS and drove away.

I'm on my way, Yuri. I smiled softly.

I have to admit, I was a bit surprised to hear Yuri wanted to go somewhere with me. He never mentioned this was a date, but the whole situation is making think he was just too shy to admit it.

But where is he taking me? I understand it's cold out now, seeing as it's mid-december already, so why would he emphasize I wear something warm?

During the drive there I thought of different places he might have given me directions to, but none came close to the actual destination.

My eyebrows furrowed when a saw a large building come into view as I made a right turn. I kept checking the directions on my phone, wondering if I made a wrong turn somewhere, but according to my phone, I was in the right place.

The building was large and old. It looked like it hadn't been used in a long time, and if it wasn't for Yuri's car parked in front of the main entrance, I would have believed I was definetely in the wrong place.

I slowly drove up next to Yuri's car, expecting to see Yuri sitting inside, waiting to give me further instructions, but his car was as empty as the parking lot.

I turned off the car and sent Yuri a message.

Me:
im next to your car
what do I do?

♡Yuri♡:
Go inside the building and
turn left until you see the
large entrance

I stared at my screen, hesitant in going through with his instructions. My phone dinged in my hand again, calling my attention.

♡Yuri♡:
im inside

That was all the persuasion it took for me to get our of my car and start approaching the front doors.

Unlike what I was expecting, the front doors opened easily and the inside of the building was like entering a completely different establishment. The floor was waxed, the walls were a bright white and the few furniture was well taken care of. It looked like a lobby of some sort.

I remembered what Yuri had said in his message and went left, surprised at the sudden drop in temperature with every step I took.

Soon, I came across a large entrance, the doors held open for me as if expecting my arrival. Unable to stop myself, I went in.

Seats, large lights, and a chilling, yet familiar sound.

It was an arena.

With a few steps I was able to see what was in the center. And gracefully skating toward the other side of the rink was Yuri, gloves on his hands, a warm sweater hugging his curves, and a focused look on his face.

I watched in awe as he jumped, spinned in the air, and landed back safely on the ice.

Quietly, I approached the entrance to the ice rink and watched as Yuri lost himself in his skating. It wasn't anything too elaborate or advanced, but the way he effortlessly jumped and skated around the ice rink made it look like a perfectly choreographed routine.

I had never seen Yuri look so focused (despite being his teacher, which would make you think he would wear that face when studying). It made my heart feel a certain way I hadn't felt in a long time.

To think I met this guy by chance at a gay club and found out he was my student only a few hours after making out. I didn't know what good deed I had done in my previous life to be able to be in the presence of such a beautiful man, but I was eternally grateful.

At that moment, I realized something that had been floating in the back of my mind for some time.

"Oh, Victor." Yuri greeted, spotting me and skating over to me. I smiled, trying not to show how flustered I actually was.

"Hi..." I gasped, clearing my throat. "You--Um, that was great. I didn't know you could skate." I motioned at the ice below him.

Yuri gave me a small smile, almost like he was embarrassed of me seeing him like this. He nodded softly, stopping in front of me.

"I haven't done it in a while..." he chuckled, but I was able to notice the sad look in his eyes as he averted his gaze down for a second. "But now I want you to come in." He changed the subject quickly, his attitude changing as well. He gave me a smile. "Have you done this before?"

I stepped back, letting Yuri come out of the rink. He was a bit taller than me now thanks to the couple of inches the skates provided, and perhaps it was how he had to look down a bit so we could make eye contact, or the sweet smile he was offering me that made me shake my head.

"Not really." I mumbled. Yuri nodded, pointing at the chairs behind me.

"It's okay, I'll help you. Now come." I quietly followed him to one of the seats and took off my shoes, sliding into some skates that fit me perfectly. I went to tie the laces but was instead surprised when Yuri got down on his knee and tied them for me.

"Good?" He asked as he tied it. I nodded bashfully.

I had to force myself not to squeal as he tied my other skate and helped me get on my feet, holding on to my hands with bright, pink cheeks of his own.

"Careful." Yuri reminded me as we stepped on to the ice. I smiled, flashbacks of my old high school days in the hockey team back in Russia flooded my mind.

I held on tightly to Yuri's hands, letting my shoulders stiffen and my legs drift apart a bit.

"What if I fall?" I asked, holding back a shit eating grin. Yuri looked at our hands, a determined look on his face.

"I won't...let you fall." He replied, burning red.

Although this was a very special moment we were having, I couldn't ignore all the things I wanted to talk about with him. I wanted to get to know Yuri more, open up his secrets and listen to the things he has ever been afraid to share with any one else. So I sure as hell was going to take advantage of this time and ask as much as I could.

As I was (basically) dragged along by Yuri slowly across the ice, I decided I should start the conversation.

"So...how did you get into this place?" Was the first thing I could come up with. Yuri kept his eyes glued to my feet and our hands, focusing so intensively I almost thought he didn't hear me.

"I know the owner of the arena. We're old buddies." Yuri shrugged, unsure if it was a good enough response. I took it.

I decided to be a bit more bold with my questions. If I wanted to get to know Yuri well, I obviously couldn't beat around the bush. Yuri was clearly pretty oblivious to that type of thing. Which only made him that much cuter.

"I never took you for a skater." I mentioned. I truly never imagined Yuri could skate, let alone be so good at it, but seeing him on the ice now seemed so natural of him. Like he belongs here.

Yuri's eyes flickered up to meet mine and he looked away shyly, nibbling at his bottom lip nervously. I knew he would be scratching his neck if only he weren't holding my hands.

"Tell me about it?" I asked, testing the waters. I didn't know if it was something he didn't like to talk about, or maybe he needed to hear that I was interest in knowing, but I took a shot.

Yuri nodded after a few seconds.

"I learned how to skate from a really young age. Back in my hometown there was a local skating rink which I would visit often with Phichit, and I soon grew really fond of it. But...with time I started to grow apart from it." He explained, a subtle, but still present, sad tone on his voice. "Even before I moved here, I had spent a good time without skating. But one day I ran into an old friend from my hometown and I learned that his father owned this arena, so I started to visit this place every few months or so."

I listened closely to every word he said and nodded along, letting him know I was listening. My eyebrows furrowed and I started to wonder what happened that made Yuri stop skating for some time. Judging by what I saw earlier, he obviously spent a great part of his childhood skating to be that good--so what would make Yuri stop just like that?

Was it okay to ask?

Would he even tell me?

My thoughts were interrupted by a question that almost made me loose my balance, "Are you sure you've never skated before?"

"Uh, I have a few times, but I was never really too good at it." I tried, finding it impossible to look him in the eye.

"Well, you're doing great." Yuri beamed.

"Th-thanks."

I felt bad for lying, I truly did, but I was enjoying this too much to come out with the truth. I at least want to enjoy this a bit more.

"So I guess it's my turn to ask a question." Yuri smirked, catching on to what I was trying to do. I smiled back and nodded.

"Shoot."

Yuri skated over to my side so he could skate beside me instead. He had released one of my hands but held on tightly to the other. I felt my face warm up despite the cold.

"It is okay for me to ask...about Anton?" He hesitated, trying his best to word the name. My eyebrows raised and I felt the smile on my lips grow along with the warm feeling in my chest.

"Yeah." I nodded, "What would you like to know?"

"Everything, I guess." Yuri chuckled, avoiding my eyes and trying to hide his red face (although he failed terribly).

"Alright...so Anton is four. He'll turn five in April. He spends most of the time living with me, but his Dad does take him every once in a while. I try to spend as most time I can with him, but he is over at V's place pretty often because of my work. Maybe that's why he has a pretty extroverted personality, as you probably saw. His favorite food is cheesecakes, even though I've told him many times that he can't eat it for all three meals." I laughed to myself, remembering our small argument over how bad cheesecakes really are. "There's a lot more that I cant really summarize well...I just love him so much."

Yuri smiled as I spoke and I noticed ourselves slowing down our pace. I sighed and looked at Yuri with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I'm such a dad." I joked, getting a laugh from Yuri. "I just rambled a bit there."

"No, it's okay. I like listening to you talk about Anton." Yuri assured me and we returned to our skating.

After a few simple, light questions, I decided to ask about something I've never heard Yuri talk about. I hoped I wouldn't cross a line and he wouldn't be upset, but I was really curious and couldn't help it anymore.

Yuri finished chuckling as he finished telling me about the time he and his friend Phichit, got lost when they first moved to the city. I bit my bottom lip and stopped skating, catching Yuri's attention.

His smile faded as he saw the serious look on my face.

"What's wrong?"

"You don't have to answer this but I've been wanting to ask.. Why don't you ever talk about your family?" I waited to see his reaction, but even after a few seconds of silence, Yuris face remained the same.

Just when I was going to apologize for asking, Yuri sighed and looked away. "I guess that question was bount to come around, huh?" He chuckled.

"I understand if you don't want to talk about it, you dont have to explain--"

"It's alright." Yuri cut me off, tightening his grasp on my hand a bit to assure me it was alright. "I stayed in my hometown until I graduated high school, and that town was not very accepting of homosexuals, so you can guess how it went when I came out during my senior year." Yuri's face fell a bit and I could feel my heart wrench.

Yuri is such a nice and caring guy, he didn't deserve to go through what he did. I myself had a difficult time being accepted when I came out during my early teen years, so I know how it feels to be rejected, looked down on, and be unfriended by those who you thought were once close friends. I remember crying at night because I thought I was wrong, or because people couldn't just understand that this is who I am. And imagining Yuri hurting for those same reasons made my blood boil and my heart fall to my stomach.

"As soon as I graduated, I decided it was better to leave town and move here." Yuri shrugged and simply brushed it off, flashing me a smile. "I'm over that now, though. I've accepted this is who I am and other people's opinions don't matter."

The anger I was beginning to feel evaporated the second I saw that sweet smile, and I could feel my mood lighten completely as I smiled back, proud of Yuri for coming so far on his own.

"And your parents?" I questioned, wondering about their view on this.

"I haven't had the courage to talk to then since." He admitted softly. As a parent myself, I felt the need to tell Yuri he should reach out to them, but I felt that would be too far for someone like me to say. And I'm sure Yuri himself knows this.

I nodded and tugged at Yuri's hand a bit as I took the lead and skated away on my own.

I looked back to see Yuri's eyes widen in confusion, shock, and fear. I spun and began to skate backwards, giving him an innocent smile.

"Y-you know how to skate?" He exclaimed.

I shook my head. "You're an incredible teacher and I'm a fast learner. Who would've thought." I chuckled.

We continued to skate for some time after that, joking, teasing, and flirting with one another until we got tired and decided it was time we should go. As we began to head out of the arena, I built up the courage to ask Yuri something that I had been wondering about since I saw him.

"We'll, I suppose this is goodb--"

"Actually, would you like to come over and have dinner with us? I'm making some miso soup for Anton, I'm sure he'd love it if you came. He hasn't stopped asking about you since he met you; it seems he grew interested in you." I admitted, laughing softly.

Yuri seemed a bit surprised at my invite but he slowly smiled, accepting. "Sounds fun."
  
 

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After Yuri and I arrived at my house, I began to cook dinner, which Yuri insisted he'd help me with and I eventually let him help by setting up the dinner table. We had spend the hour talking about whatever we could think about, mostly revolving about food and our likes and dislikes, not once falling into an awkward silence.

Soon, there came a knock from the door and I went over to take Anton back from V.

"Dad!" Anton had beamed as soon as I opened the door.

"Hey, bug! I missed you!" I scooped him up in my arms and placed butterfly kisses all over his face, earning giggles in return. "Oh, you should see who came to visit." I suggested as I set him back down on his feet.

Anton's eyebrows raised and he raced off into the house to see who was visiting. I looked at V with a big grin.

"Thank you for taking care of him. I owe you one." V shrugged it off, sending me a knowing look.

"It's alright, Vic. You know I'm here if you ever need anything." I nodded, grateful as always.

"Don't go acting like an older brother now." I joked. V rolled his eyes soft heartedly and began to say goodbye.

"I should go now. Have fun, though." V started walking away when he suddenly spun on his heel and gave me a pointed look. "But maybe not too much fun."

I stopped myself from flipping him off and instead waved goodbye before closing the door behind me. Sighing happily, I headed back to the kitchen where I saw Anton sitting on the island counter, already bombarding Yuri with questions.

"So you've met Yuri?" I asked, making my entrance back to the kitchen. Anton nodded excitingly.

"Dad, did you know Yuri used to have a dog just like Makka?" My eyebrow raised and I glanced at Makka who had been sitting on the side, behaving like the good girl she is.

"I didn't." I admitted and Yuri smiled at me, nodding.

"Is he going to sleep over?" Anton asked loudly, interrupting our eye contact. Once Anton's words fully processed in my head, I felt my ears heat up, remembering the last time Yuri had stayed over. "We can have pancakes in the morning! Dad can we have pancakes in the morning?"

"I-i-Uhh... I don't know if Yuri wants to stay over...?" I mumbled, flustered. Yuri was just as red and he simply shrugged, not knowing how to answer. I bit my bottom lip, truly wanting him to accept and spend the night.

"Please, Yuri?" Anton begged, giving Yuri his signature puppy dog eyes. It onky took three seconds for Yuri to agree with a smile.

"Okay, I'll stay."
  
  
  
  
 

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A/n: dam I really enjoyed this ^-^ sorry I had to end it there, but I promise some good smut for the next chapter👌 this was also the first time we see Victor's point of view!!!

We finally got a bit into Yuri's past but that is only the tip of the iceberg🙂

And of course you know I had to add the ice skating into this *wiggles eyebrows*

Just a small reminder-- they are on Christmas break, so Christmas and New Year's is just around the corner🙃

This account is also so close to 1k followers owo I am also so grateful that the reads on the story have been growing lately🤗 thank you guys soo much I'm so glad you enjoy my crappy writing♡

I'll see you next time luvs

-Sai x