Chapter Text
Hot, bright, humid.
It honestly shouldn't even be this hot during fall--but yet, it is. The humidity is high enough to make fabric stick to the body. The increasing heat was almost unbearable without any shade. The number of people around made it worse. Being sat next to two older ladies and a person directly in front of him, Chris couldn’t really do anything about it. He could only keep his bag up to his chest and try to practically shrink into the seat.
‘Should’ve just walked.’
He wasn’t a fan of most things. Did he tolerate them? Of course. He just hated being able to tolerate them. He would rather die.
Gazing at his phone screen, a sigh escaped his lips. He still had about fifteen minutes left on the subway, not including the ten-minute walk to campus from the station. Despite his complaining, the subway was objectively the better choice. The downside was the number of people. Taking a look around, everyone is invested in their own space. High scholars interacting among themselves, adults typing on their phones. It only made Chris want to observe more. His heterochromic eyes gazed over the train car before turning to look out of the window at the darkness that enveloped the train.
The darkness from the tunnel gave the windows the ability to reflect. Staring at his own reflection made him feel sick. Honestly? He should’ve tried a little harder with his appearance. His shabby hair was all over the place. The eyebags he tried to cover up were showing. It was like all his bad habits were coming back to haunt him. To pool him back into certain memories he didn’t want to reopen. To him, it was all about being perfect. After his parents' deaths and acquiring large amounts of debt, he needed to be nothing but perfect. To be less than perfect was to fail–and Chris Redfield does not fail.
“Excuse me–is anyone sitting next to you?”
The voice was close. Close enough that Chris thought the person was referring to him. Thankfully, when he checked, the man who had spoken was asking the person who was only two seats down from him. Chris was even more confused that he would even think the man would’ve been talking to him.
‘Why would he even ask me? Isn’t there someone already next to me–’
Right. The train stopped at a station while he wasn’t paying attention. The lady must’ve gotten off there, and he hadn’t even realized it. Although this just meant he could put his bag on the seat, and no one would try to sit there for now. A light grin spread across his lips as he moved the bag from his lap to the chair.
‘One less thing to worry about now–’
He could barely finish his thought. His lips agape as he stared at a certain face from across the train car. He had put his bag down, and once he lifted his head, he was there. That punk that ruined everything.
Leon S. Kennedy
Biting his lip, Chris tried to look away but failed to do so. He just couldn’t look away. Not because Leon was handsome or anything–but because he was the one who threw everything off balance. Transferring in at the end of the year? Who even does that? On top of that, he was the only person whom Chris ever stressed about taking his spot. If he thinks that Chris Redfield is giving him the satisfaction of taking the top spot in anything after the stunt he pulled last year? He was sadly mistaken.