Kai had a habit of choosing the same seat every evening in the metro. Not because it was special but because it saved him the trouble of thinking. Same metro, same time, same corner near the window. Earphones in, head slightly tilted down, just enough to avoid eye contact with anyone around him. It wasn’t that he disliked people, he just didn’t feel the need to engage with them. Conversations felt unnecessary and silence had always been easier to handle for him.
That routine stayed untouched for months until Lia walked in. You know the Chaotic girl?
Well, She didn’t hesitate even for a second before sitting next to him even though there were other empty seats.“Do you always look this serious” she asked casually like she already knew him “or is today just a bad day?” Kai ignored her at first, assuming she’d eventually stop but she didn’t. Instead, she leaned slightly closer and added “If you can hear me at least blink or something. This is getting awkward bro.”
He let out a quiet sigh and pulled one earbud out. “…what?”
That was enough for her. She smiled instantly like she had achieved something. “Nothing. Just checking if you’re alive.”
“…unfortunately I am.” he replied and put his earbud back in.
That should have been the end of it. But the next day.... she was there again. Same seat. Same energy.
She talked. A lot. Like A lot.
About things that doesn't really matter, things that probably mattered too much, random observations, stories that had no real ending. Kai didn’t respond much in the beginning but he didn’t stop her either. And slowly without realizing it, he started listening. Not fully at first but enough to remember small details. The fact that she hated early mornings, that she always forgot to carry an umbrella and that she had somehow invented an imaginary cat named Kiwi that apparently had opinions about everything.
One evening, when she was going on about how Kiwi was judging her life choices, Kai muttered “…Kiwi has valid reasons.”
She turned to him so quickly that he almost regretted speaking. “You talk?” she said half surprised and half amused.
“Sometimes” he replied, already looking away again.
After that... their conversations found a rhythm. She would talk, he would respond in short, sarcastic lines and somehow it worked. It didn’t feel forced. It didn’t feel like effort. It just… happened.
There were small moments too. the kind that don’t look important from the outside. Like the day she didn’t show up and he noticed the silence more than usual or the way she would pause before getting off at her station... as if she didn’t want the ride to end just yet. Or the way he stopped putting his earphones back in when she sat beside him even if he pretended not to notice it himself.
Lia was the first one to realize something had changed. Not in a big or dramatic way but quietly. She started looking for him before even stepping into the metro. She started noticing when his replies were softer, when his sarcasm wasn’t as sharp, when his presence felt… familiar. And that realization scared her a little.
So she pulled back.
At least, that’s what she told herself.
But the truth was, it started the day she saw him with someone else.
She had entered the metro like always, already expecting to see him sitting there probably pretending not to care. But that day, there was a girl sitting next to him. Close enough to matter? Talking to him. And what stayed with her wasn’t the girl?? it was the fact that Kai wasn’t ignoring her. He was listening. Replying. Not much but enough.
It felt wrong in a way she couldn’t explain.
She stood there for a moment hoping he’d look up, notice her, maybe react. But he didn’t. So she turned around and got off at the next station without even thinking twice.
After that... she stopped going.
She told herself it didn’t matter. That he wasn’t hers to begin with. That she was overthinking. But the days felt strangely incomplete. Even her own voice felt quieter, like it had nowhere to go.
Kai noticed her absence almost immediately tho he didn’t admit it to himself at first. The empty seat beside him felt too almost noticeable. He caught himself looking at the door every time it opened, expecting her to walk in like she always did. By the third day? he had stopped using his earphones completely. By the fourth? he started reaching earlier than usual as if that would somehow change things.
By the fifth day? he gave up pretending it didn’t matter.
It was raining heavily when he finally reached her apartment building. She had mentioned it once in passing in between a hundred other things and somehow he had remembered. He didn’t think much before coming there. He just knew he needed to see her.
When Lia opened the gate and saw him standing there, completely soaked, she looked genuinely shocked. “Kai? What are you doing here?”
“You talk too much” he said, almost automatically. “Not hard to find you.”
She frowned, folding her arms. “That’s not funny. Why are you actually here?”
He stepped closer, rain dripping from his hair. “Why weren’t you coming?”
For a moment... she didn’t answer. Then she let out a small but dry laugh. “Why would I?”
Kai didn’t respond. He just looked at her.. waiting for something.
“I saw you that day...” she finally said. “With that girl?”
He went still.
“You looked fine..” she continued, her voice quieter now. “Talking to her like… like it didn’t matter who was sitting next to you.”
Kai ran a hand through his wet hair, clearly frustrated. “That was my ex.”
Lia blinked, surprised.
“She came to talk. I didn’t call her. And I wasn’t ‘fine’.... I just didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of the metro.”
She didn’t say anything but her expression shifted slightly.
“She cheated on me.” he added after a pause. “With my best friend.”
The words were simple but they explained more than anything else could.
“I stopped expecting people to stay after that,” he said quietly. “But you did.”
Lia looked at him, unsure of what to say.
“So what am I supposed to think?” she asked softly. “That I’m just… someone who filled that gap?”
“No” Kai said immediately. “You’re the reason I even noticed there was a gap.”
That silenced her.
For once, she didn’t have anything to say.
Kai let out a breath, like he’d been holding it in for too long. “I don’t know how to say this properly.”
“Then don’t,” she replied, just as softly.
“I didn’t plan to like you,” he said, looking straight at her now. “But I don’t think I can stop.”
There was something about the way he said it... no sarcasm, no distance that made her chest tighten.
She took a small step closer, rain soaking through her clothes as well now. “…I like you too.”
That was it. No long speech. No dramatic buildup. Just the truth, finally said out loud.
For a second, they just stood there, neither of them moving, as if the moment might slip away if they did.
Then Kai reached out, slowly, giving her enough time to step back if she wanted to.
She didn’t.
And when he kissed her, it wasn’t rushed or perfect. It was quiet, a little unsure at first, but real in a way that made everything else fade out.
When they pulled apart, Lia smiled faintly and whispered, “You still think I talk too much?”
Kai shook his head slightly. “…don’t stop.”
And for once she didn’t argue.
