The clock struck nine in the morning. For certain, those who worked white-collared jobs were already sitting in their offices. They wouldn't be taking the subway around this time. Besides, Michelle's club was located in a quiet old district, and so there would be fewer people taking the subway.
As expected, there were few people in the carriage, and there were empty seats everywhere. They decided to sit near the exit. Michelle sat on the inner side by the door, while Leon sat next to her.
The air conditioner was turned on fine in the subway, which gave the whole cabin a cool atmosphere.
For Leon, it was his very first time to try the subway, and so he felt a little novel and could not help but look around with curiosity. Since it was clean and quiet, he accepted the experience as okay.
The only thing that he was dissatisfied about was the advertisement that played on the small screen stuck at the top of the wall across them. He found the advertisement inferior overall. Both the shooting method and the design itself made him frown. He didn't agree with the company's chosen aesthetic and concept for its advertisement.
Because of that, he looked away with dissatisfaction on his eyes.
As for Michelle, she wasn't able to sleep well last night. She kept on turning and rolling around on her bed, wondering if she should grab her phone to contact Leon. She wondered whether she should already confess her love or wait for the right time. She didn't know when the right time was, though.
After all, it was the first time she had felt this feeling of love for someone. She tossed and turned until the sun was almost up that dawn. All she decided was to grab her phone and contact Leon. She was still thinking about it while she was taking a shower that morning and almost scratched her scalp because of how bothered she was.
She hadn't been sleeping well during the last month because of Leon.
Since she was sleepless and with the cool breeze of the air conditioner, she felt sleep and exhaustion embrace her. She yawned and said, "Leon, if you won't mind, I'll just take a nap. Wake me up when we're close to the transfer station."
Without waiting for him to reply or say anything back, she closed her eyes and leaned her head on the pole beside her. As soon as she did, she let sleep take over.
Leon wanted to say something, but after seeing how tired Michelle looked, he decided not to say it. Then, he took his phone out to check on the subway route. He had never taken a subway before, so he didn't know which stop was the transfer station.
After reading about it on the Internet and figuring out the route, he recited the place softly, just in case he would make a mistake.
The subway had passed two or three stops by now, and people came in and out one after another. There were more people now than when they got on it. By this time, all seats were filled, and many people had to stand.
Being in this situation made Leon frown slightly. After another three stops, the carriage began to be uncomfortably crowded for Leon. Although he was relieved not to see the inferior advertisement anymore, since it was being blocked by the people standing, he still felt uncomfortable from smelling a weird mixture of different kinds of perfume to catching someone take stolen photos of him with their mobile phone.
The satisfaction he felt the moment he settled down in this seat was nowhere near the uneasiness he felt now. Then again, he couldn't directly express his anger and discomfort, since he had always been a gentleman. He politely confronted the girl and requested for her to delete the photos, but the girl denied and refuted that she didn't take any.
Because of the denial, Leon was now completely angry, but he still kept his composure and did not argue with the girl about this matter anymore. He then decided to inform Bryant about it and asked him to monitor the Internet for any stolen photos of him inside the subway. Once the girl was proven guilty of taking photos of him, he would not hesitate suing her in the name of violating the portraiture right.
As soon as they were arriving at the transfer station, Leon woke Michelle up. When they got off, Bryant informed him that his photos were exposed on the Internet, and the girl was sued as planned.
The overall experience of his first subway ride made Leon very unhappy and uneasy. Meanwhile, during the whole situation, Michelle was unaware and asleep.
As soon as they arrived at home, she woke herself up by splashing a handful of cold water on her face. When the water slid down her eyes and down her cheeks, she rubbed her face with her hands, and she realized too late the mistake she did. Her make-up was now completely ruined. Seeing her messy face in the mirror, she was frightened, taking two steps back. With her sudden move, she hit her back on the door, which made a loud noise.
"Michelle? Are you okay? What happened?" As soon as Leon heard the noise, he rushed over and opened the door. He came to face a frightened Michelle with her ruined make-up, which made him giggle gently.
When their eyes met, Michelle's eyes went wide and she immediately turned her back at Leon. Then, she saw her face in the mirror, which he could see as well, and so with no place left to hide, she pushed him with her head down and closed the door quickly.
"Leon, tell me! You didn't see anything, right?" Michelle said, feeling annoyed with herself as she turned the faucet on once more and started to wipe the mess out of her face.
Leon chuckled at this and left without saying a word.
Inside the bathroom, Michelle made sure to wash her face and remove her make-up. Because of how embarrassed she was, her face was still flushed red.
As she stared at her clean face, she thought, 'Ugh, this is so embarrassing!
Leon won't think I'm beautiful anymore.
Boys like beautiful girls.
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