It was nearly dusk when I walked out of the campus after my last class of the week. It had been a gruelling academic day, having had to attend additional courses to meet my credit requirement. There was nothing I wanted more than a warm bath and restful sleep.
I walked down to the metro station, passing by the lit-up streets of the shopping district thronged by the weekend crowd to be met by the peak hour rush of people there. I sighed and resigned myself to an hour-long journey in the claustrophobic conditions.
I got on to the last coach, which was usually slightly less crowded than the first few, but given my luck and the weekend rush, there was barely enough space for me to squeeze in.
The train started to move, and thankfully, I was able to move to a corner and lean against the window at the back of the train.
I felt the crush of bodies around me. I turned my attention to the world zipping past outside the window when I was jerked out of my reverie by a rather persistent body crowding into me. I felt myself being pushed further into the corner but chose to ignore it, considering the tightly packed atmosphere.
But the person behind me became more insistent as the train rushed past the city, and I soon felt the person put their hands on my waist. I jerked at the touch and craned my neck to look at the person behind me. I saw a middle-aged man wearing a mask, and he seemed to have lost his balance as the train had rounded a curve.
I forgave him, thinking it had been unintentional, but the man didn't remove his hands from my waist. So, I tried to pull his hands off my waist after a beat, but this only made him push himself completely against me and wrap his arms around my middle.