Prologue

Our story took place in a small town in a small European country on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and it concerns an ordinary guy named Oleksandr.

It was a summer morning. Sasha woke up from the sun rays falling directly into his eyes and, yawning, lazily got out of bed. First thing, he reached for a comb and began to tidy up his long, shoulder-length brown hair.

As the teeth of the comb slid through the thick brown strands, Sasha looked at his reflection in the mirror with displeasure. Nature had endowed him with a very specific appearance, of which he was a little self-conscious — he had delicate, somewhat female-narrow shoulders, a slim waist, and surprisingly wide, rounded hips. No matter how hard he tried to work out, his figure remained distinctly feminine, an impression only reinforced by his long hair, which contrasted with the complete absence of facial and body hair.

Having combed his hair, guy started getting dressed. He had recently turned 18 and would have loved to go to the beach right now, swim in the sea, and drink a bit of beer with friends. However, Oleksandr’s parents had plans for his future — they wanted him to get a degree in physics at a respectable university. Since the young man’s academic performance was average, he needed to earn extra admission points. For this, he was forced to participate in the summer activities of the school he had officially graduated from last week.

Dressed in his usual clothes — baggy pants and a loose, slightly oversized T-shirt — Sasha left his room and headed to the kitchen. Silence reigned at home; his parents had left early in the morning to visit friends, leaving a note for him on the table.