Summary

The break between the narrator and Mitko continues for three months until the narrator misses being around his young male associate. He is lonely at home one evening and sees Mitko online on Skype. He decides to call him and see how he is doing. The narrator learns that Mitko has been in the hospital for close to a month. He has severe liver damage and he has left the hospital to recover in his hometown of Varna. Desperate to be with him, the narrator offers to travel to Varna and book a hotel room for the two of them. Mitko quickly accepts this offer.

The narrator takes a long and scenic bus ride to Varna, where he notices the beautiful landscape against the harsh, Soviet architecture. He arrives in Varna. It is a very chilly and rainy evening, but...