A peculiar notion had taken root in their minds: to poison the cockroaches. Perhaps a temporary retreat to their parents' home would offer a fresh perspective.

Vera suspected he found little joy in family time. He resolved to work from home.

A quiet shift occurred within the household, a subtle rearrangement of affections. The children, once devoted, now found themselves drawn to a new presence, a comforting figure who seemed to eclipse their mother. Vera, observing this change…

They arrived at Voroniny, the family gathering in a restaurant.

At the evening party, Kostya recalled a time when his parents had nearly separated. It was their fortieth wedding anniversary, a milestone that brought a bittersweet reflection on their past. He remembered stories of a near divorce, a chapt…

The Voroniny family waited, poised in a studio, for the New Year. A captured moment, a domestic scene framed by light and shadow.

She told Kostya she wanted to celebrate without his parents. He had to come up with a plan.

The weight of duty settled upon them both. As Lenya apprehended the robber, Kostya resolved to chronicle his brother's actions for the newspaper.

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. A subtle shift, yet undeniable. He felt it in the way his clothes hung, in the unfamiliar angles of his reflection. It wasn't a dramatic change, but a quiet erosion, a gradual receding. The landscape of…

She offered to prepare with Vera and Galina Ivanovna. Kostya, with his father and Lenya, went to play football. And Vera and Kostya were expected by someone that very day.

She no longer cared for Nastya, nor for Vera, Galina Ivanovna.

He took a room.

Vera’s family fixated on professions of healing: doctors, psychologists. She felt herself to be lacking in any compelling quality.

A quiet resolve settled upon Lenya; he felt himself ill-suited for domesticity. The parting with Nastya was a soft severing, a mutual acknowledgment of diverging paths. He sensed, with a certainty that surprised even himself, that he wasn't…

He sought her out each day, drawn by an admiration that bordered on obsession. Kostya arrived at Lenya’s new apartment, a familiar visitor now, as she settled into her life. Almost all the neighbors seemed to know him. He came to see her, …

She had come to the birth, a friend's, and something within her shifted. A strange, unsettling development had occurred – a breast had grown, inexplicably, on her own body. Vera wrestled with the change, subtly manipulating Kostya with her …

He feared the solitude of night, the stark reality of being alone. So he sought out companionship: first Lenya, then his parents, desperate to avoid the isolating feeling of singularity. Kostya couldn't bear the thought of being just one pe…

She had always taken pride in her cooking, and especially in her goulash – a dish that brought warmth and laughter to her family. But lately, whispers had reached Vera, carried on the wind from Kostya’s workplace: that her goulash was not f…

A comprehensive complaint was filed against Lenya with the neighbors, resulting in his need to seek alternative housing.

She remembered a long time ago when Kostya had made a suggestion to her.