Chapter 2 Same Carriage
You Again
Kai Voss left the tattoo studio a little after seven, locking the front door behind him and checking it twice before slipping the keys into his pocket.
The street outside was still busy, filled with office workers heading toward the metro, delivery riders weaving through traffic, and shopkeepers pulling down shutters for the night.
Kai stood for a moment beneath the faded sign above his studio and looked through the glass at the darkened reception area.
He had spent most of the afternoon working on a large back piece, but the last appointment had cancelled without warning. Another client had postponed until next week. The numbers in his head refused to add up no matter how many times he ran through them.
Rent was due soon.
The supplier wanted payment.
The landlord had already sent one reminder.
Kai pushed the thoughts aside and started toward the station.
He didn't want to think about money on the train.
He especially didn't want to think about the redevelopment notices that had been appearing around the neighborhood.
Every time he saw one, his stomach tightened.
The studio wasn't just a place where he worked.
It was the place his father had built with him, the place Kai had spent years turning into something that belonged entirely to them.
If the neighborhood changed, everything could change with it.
He wasn't ready to deal with that tonight.
The metro arrived just as Kai reached the platform. He stepped into the carriage with the familiar ease of someone who had taken the same route too many times to count.
Then he saw him.
The polished young man from the previous evening.
Kai recognized him immediately.
There was no mistaking the dark-framed glasses, neat hair, formal clothes, and the careful way he carried himself.
He looked exactly like the kind of man Kai imagined spending his entire day inside an air-conditioned office, surrounded by people who used words like deadlines and deliverables as if they were important life events.
Kai's mouth almost curved into a smile.
Almost.
The interesting part was where the man had chosen to stand.
Near the same vertical pole.
The same section of the carriage.
The same place where Kai had stood yesterday.
Kai slowed for half a second before moving farther inside.
He wondered whether the choice was deliberate.
There were plenty of other places available.
The young man glanced around as if looking for someone.
Then his eyes landed on Kai.
Recognition flashed across his face.
There it was.
Kai had been right.
He hadn't imagined yesterday's interest.
The man's expression changed almost immediately. His eyes widened slightly before he looked away and pretended to study something on his phone.
Kai nearly laughed.
He walked over and stopped a short distance away.
He didn't say anything.
Neither did the other man.
The train began moving.
Kai leaned against one of the poles and watched the city slide past the windows. He could feel the young man's awareness of him without even looking directly at him.
It was almost funny.
Yesterday, the man had stared at him as though he had never seen a tattoo before.
Today, he was trying very hard not to stare.
Kai wondered what had brought him back.
Curiosity?
Attraction?
Or maybe the man simply took this route every evening.
The last possibility disappointed Kai more than it should have.
He glanced sideways.
The young man was looking at his phone.
The screen wasn't even lit.
Kai looked away before the man noticed.
A few seconds later, he looked again.
Still pretending.
Kai knew that trick.
He had used it himself plenty of times.
The carriage rocked gently as the train gathered speed.
The young man adjusted his grip on the pole, and Kai noticed that his sleeves were rolled or removed again, revealing more of his arms than the previous evening.
He looked softer in person than he had from a distance, despite the fact that there was clearly some muscle beneath the formal clothes.
Kai's attention lingered longer than necessary.
He wondered what the man did for a living.
He wondered what his name was.
He wondered why he cared.
The young man suddenly glanced up.
Their eyes met.
He looked away so quickly that Kai almost smiled.
This was becoming entertaining.
Kai had spent years dealing with people who judged him within seconds.
Parents sometimes pulled their children closer when they saw his tattoos.
Wealthy clients occasionally arrived expecting him to behave like some polished artist in a luxury studio.
Strangers assumed he was trouble because of the way he looked.
Kai had learned not to care.
But this man didn't seem frightened of him.
Nervous, maybe.
Curious, definitely.
And apparently attracted enough to deliberately choose the same spot on the same train.
Kai decided to test that theory.
He waited until the carriage moved into another station and several passengers shifted around them. When the space opened slightly, he stepped closer to the pole.
The young man noticed.
Kai watched him try not to notice.
A quiet laugh almost escaped him.
“You again.”
The man looked at him.
For a moment, he seemed genuinely surprised that Kai had spoken.
Then his mouth curved into a small smile.
“Looks like it.”
His voice was softer than Kai expected.
Not weak.
Just gentle.
Kai raised an eyebrow.
“You following me?”
The man's eyes widened.
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Kai's mouth twitched.
“Relax. I was joking.”
“I know.”
“You didn't look like you knew.”
The young man adjusted his glasses.
“I was deciding whether you were joking.”
Kai laughed under his breath.
That was better.
Yesterday, the man had barely managed a sentence.
Tonight, he had an answer.
Kai looked him over again.
“You always this serious?”
“Only when I'm being interrogated by strangers.”
That caught Kai completely off guard.
He stared at him for a moment before a genuine laugh escaped.
The young man smiled.
It changed his entire face.
Kai hadn't noticed that yesterday.
There was something almost unfair about it.
The man looked too composed until he smiled. Then he seemed younger, warmer, more approachable.
Kai leaned one shoulder against the pole.
“Strangers, huh?”
“We haven't been introduced.”
“Fair point.”
The man looked like he was waiting for something.
Kai knew exactly what.
He wasn't giving it yet.
There was no reason to make things easy.
Instead, he looked toward the route map.
“So you always stand here?”
The man followed his gaze.
“Usually.”
“Usually?”
“Yes.”
“Convenient.”
The man looked at him again.
“What is?”
Kai shrugged.
“This spot.”
A faint flush appeared across the man's cheeks.
Kai noticed.
He definitely noticed.
The train moved through another tunnel, and the windows became dark mirrors. Kai caught their reflections side by side.
They looked completely different.
Kai's tattoos and dark clothes made him look like he belonged somewhere rougher, louder, less controlled.
The man beside him looked as though he had stepped out of a corporate building and accidentally wandered into Kai's world.
Kai found the contrast strangely appealing.
He glanced at the man's shirt.
“You work in an office?”
The man looked down at himself.
“Is it that obvious?”
“Painfully.”
The man laughed softly.
Kai liked that sound more than he should have.
“What's wrong with office work?”
“Nothing.”
Kai paused.
“Just seems boring.”
“Maybe it is.”
The answer was unexpectedly honest.
Kai looked at him.
The man's smile had disappeared.
For the first time, Kai noticed the tiredness behind his eyes.
Something about it felt familiar.
Kai knew what it was like to spend a day pretending everything was fine.
He didn't ask.
Their rules hadn't been established yet, but Kai instinctively understood that there were things this man wasn't ready to discuss.
So he let the silence settle between them.
It wasn't uncomfortable.
That surprised him.
Most people filled silence because they were afraid of it.
This man seemed capable of sitting inside it.
The train approached another station.
The announcement echoed through the carriage.
Kai watched the man check the route display.
Not yet.
He wasn't getting off yet.
Kai felt a strange sense of relief.
He immediately disliked himself for feeling it.
Why should he care whether a stranger stayed on the train?
He had enough problems already.
The studio needed money.
The redevelopment notices were becoming more frequent.
His landlord was becoming impatient.
And he had spent most of the day tattooing someone's initials onto their back while wondering whether his own business would still exist next year.
He didn't need another complication.
Especially not one wearing glasses.
Yet when the man shifted slightly closer because another passenger moved behind him, Kai noticed immediately.
Their shoulders nearly touched.
Neither moved away.
Kai looked at him.
The man looked back.
There was that nervous curiosity again.
Kai wondered how far he could push it.
He decided to find out.
“You stare a lot.”
The man's eyebrows lifted.
“I do not.”
“You do.”
“I was looking.”
“That's a fancy word for staring.”
The man tried not to smile.
Kai waited.
Finally, the man looked directly at him.
“Maybe I was wondering what happened to your manners.”
Kai blinked.
That wasn't the response he expected.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
“Office boy has teeth.”
The man's cheeks colored again, but this time he didn't look away.
“Office boy has a name.”
Kai raised an eyebrow.
“So does tattoo guy.”
The man smiled.
“Good for him.”
Kai laughed again.
He had been right about one thing.
This man was interesting.
Very interesting.
The train continued through the evening city, carrying them toward their separate destinations.
Kai looked at the stranger beside him and felt the first stirrings of curiosity become something more deliberate.
He wanted to know his name.
He wanted to hear that soft voice again.