RussiaXReader: Strangest Night

What the heck am I doing here? you asked yourself.

In the outskirts of the city. At this time of night. All alone. You were in dire need to get out of the house, so imprisoning and boring, and feel and see and hear the city lights and sounds around you. The adrenaline had already turned cold in your blood; you needed the excitement back in your system.

Then why am I here? you ask again.

If you came looking for the noise and stir of the city, then why were you in the middle of who-knows-where that showed no signs of life whatsoever? Thank God the street lamps were still on at this part of town, and thank God you knew enough self-defense to be able to walk through these streets with some confidence. But nevertheless, the streets were empty, the skies were dark – the whole neighborhood was dark – with only the streetlight as your guide; you couldn't help but be apprehensive. Turning past a curve, a shot of light caught your eye. You looked straight ahead and saw a convenience store at the end of the road. Suddenly, you felt a slight rumble in your stomach. A midnight snack sounded really good to you right now. You fastened your pace. Once you got to the store you noticed the sign that read 24 HOURS and walked inside.

It was freezing.

You held your shoulders and rubbed your arms to feel warm. Why did a convenience store have to be so cold? How low was the air-conditioning? You looked at the counter and saw no one at the cash register. Your eyebrows furrowed. Now wasn't really the best time to take a break and leave the air-con running.

"Добрый вечер," a voice called in a thick accent. You turned, startled by the sudden greeting, to see a tall, fully-clothed man eating some sort of candy at the other side of the store. His greeting was too easy to decipher, his accent was too familiar; he was Russian, and he just said Good evening.

"Are you the clerk here?" you ask the man.

He shook his head and walked towards you, holding the plastic bag of candies and smiling. When you said he was fully-clothed, you weren't kidding. Huge khaki trench coat, boots, long scarf, gloves – all he was missing was a hat to cover his beige-blonde hair. You would've been really weirded out by his attire if not for your frozen fingers.

"Mr. Wang went on his break, so he put me in charge at the moment," he said politely, now in your native tongue. "How may I help you?"

You wrapped you arms around yourself, "I'd really appreciate it if you could raise the temperature of the air-conditioning. It's fre–"

"But there is no air-conditioning," he interrupted while blinking, seeming confused. "Mr. Wang says it's a waste of electricity to turn on the air conditioning at this time."

You looked around. He was right. You saw that the air-con was off. You looked back at the tall man. "Then why is it so cold?" you shivered.

The man blinked again, showing his deep violet eyes, as if he just realized something. "Oh… you are cold?" he asked and began removing his scarf from his neck. "It must be the ventilation…"

"You don't have to, mister!" you refused, stepping away slowly.

But he insisted, using his height to wrap the scarf around you. "This will keep you warm," he said, smiling warmly.

You blushed. The man just let you use his scarf to wear and keep warm. A complete stranger just lent you his scarf. Considering that you two just met and you didn't even know his name that was pretty kindhearted of him. "Thank you…"

"Oh," he just realized you were asking for his name, "I'm Ivan."

You smiled, "Thank you, Ivan." The way the man smiled was quite unusual. It was happy and sunny, but there was a mysterious and… sinister feel to it. You didn't want to think about it too much though, seeing how friendly the Russian man was. You noticed Ivan was still holding his little bag of candies; your stomach rumbled again. The man saw you hold your stomach and thought you were hungry – which you were. He held out his hand and offered you a seat somewhere at the corner of the store. You smiled gratefully, sat, and gladly took a handful.

They were chocolate-covered sunflower seeds.

"They're actually quite good," Ivan said, his Russian accent getting sexier by the minute. You put a few in your mouth and began chewing. They were quite good. "What's your name?" he asked as you ate, happy that you liked the seeds.

"My name is _______," you said after finishing the amount in your hand. He offered you some more, and you quickly accepted.

"I wish you could try the poison-flavored ones," he whispered quite softly. "Those are my favorite."

You didn't quite hear him, "What?"

"_______ is a very pretty name," he said casually and smiled, "A very pretty name for a very pretty woman."

You blushed. Was Ivan flirting with you? The thought made you blush even more. Despite his height he still looked like a young man – a very handsome young man at that. You thanked him softly, and he kept the conversation going with questions. You, entranced by his charisma and kindness, dutifully answered them and helped continue the conversation. You learned that indeed he was Russian, and he was dressed like that because in his home country, it was always snowing, and he still hasn't gotten used to the weather here. That was also the reason why he liked staying in this convenience store, aside from the fact that it sells his favorite brand of sunflower seeds. And speaking of sunflower seeds, it took you a while to notice that you had eaten a lot already. You knew that because your stomach was already full from eating so much. But the weirdest part was that Ivan's bag of sunflower seeds was still very full. You didn't point this out to him though, afraid you were just imagining things.

"_______?"

"Yes, Ivan?"

"I think you should be heading home now," he looked outside. "It is very late. A young pretty girl like you shouldn't be out so late."

Again, you blushed. You loved the way Ivan called you pretty without any effort. It was so innocent and pure. And you smiled at how he was actually concerned about you. You looked at your watch. You jumped to stand once you saw how late it was. You two had been talking much longer than you thought. "Wow, it is late." You turned to face Ivan, "I have to go now."

He stood up and smiled his sweet smile. He was really tall now that he was standing right in front of you. You guessed it was because he was Russian. He was such a nice man. You wished you didn't have to part ways.

"Will I see you again?" you asked, trying to hide the desperation in your voice.

But Ivan pursed his lips, looking disappointed, "I'm sorry, _______, but I don't think so. I'll have to leave very soon."

"Oh," you didn't want to look too sad. "So, I guess it's goodbye then?" He was leaving. He was leaving to go to a place far, far away from you, you guessed. How depressing is it that the man you thought to be one of the nicest, most handsome and interesting men ever leaves the day you meet him? You didn't know what kind of feeling it was that harbored in your heart. It was a different feeling, one you don't feel every day, but you didn't have time to figure out what it was. You just wanted to look into Ivan's deep violet eyes a little longer. And what you wished even more was that Ivan felt the same somehow.

The Russian looked at you earnestly, "Goodbye and goodnight, _______." He smiled as he inched closer. It took you a while to understand what he was doing. You were still absorbed in your thoughts. He had to bend so that his face was in front of yours. You just stood there frozen. Then he said, "I'm really glad I met you, _______," before pulling up your chin with his warm hand and kissing you gently on the lips.

He said, Goodbye and goodnight…

You closed your eyes, completely flustered and speechless.

Then everything turned pitch black.

Goodbye and goodnight…

You opened your eyes as if you were waking up from a dream.

What the–?!

You were completely confused. Everything was still pitch black, and you needed a minute to adjust your eyes to the dark. Ivan was gone. You were alone in the convenience store.

At least you thought it was a convenience store.

The walls were lined with peeling paint and ashes. The shelves were burned and disheveled. The whole store was dirty and dismantled and about to fall to pieces. Certainly it looked more like a bad nightmare, remembering the clean white appearance of the convenience store when you stepped in. And the fact that Ivan was gone made the nightmare even worse.

"Hey!" you heard banging on a glass door. "Hey you!" You looked for the source and saw a Chinese man with long black hair banging the door of the convenience store. "Get outta there!" he said angrily, and in a really funny Chinese accent.


That night the Chinese man, who called himself Mr. Wang, was nice enough to escort you home and try to make sense of what had happened to you. After trying to understand his broken English, you found out, stunned, that the convenience had burned down years ago in a horrible fire.

That explained the burnt walls and appearance of the store.

Mr. Wang had gone out on his break and he told a young Russian man named who was there to buy some sunflower seeds, to watch the store for him.

Ivan.

Since Ivan was a regular there, he trusted him. When Mr. Wang had come back from his break he found the store engulfed in flames, leaving nothing – and no one – from its destruction.

You closed your front door and dragged your feet as you walked into your room. You slid down to the floor just as you closed the door.

Goodbye and goodnight…

Your fingers trembled as you touched your lips ever so gently. You tried to push away the confusing, unbelievable, frightening thoughts from your head and fill it with the beautiful memory of your kiss.

It was real, you told yourself. The kiss was definitely real.

Suddenly, you felt something soft brush against your arm. You looked down, your eyes widened, and you couldn't help but smile and shed a tear of joy.

You were still wearing Ivan's scarf.

You kept it wrapped around your neck and squeezed it tight.

This was, by far, the strangest night of your life.