The train station was full of busy people, it was a Saturday morning, and someone was always going somewhere.
Kian pressed through the many people, eagerly looking around for even a hint of Jaiel anywhere. Why hadn't he asked for his number, so they could text in a situation like this.
He cursed a bit, stumbling into someone, and apologized while continuing.
"Kian"
The voice was close, and he turned, easing up his nervousness instantly when he saw into those blue eyes.
Jaiel grabbed him by the arm, moving Kian with him to a more open area.
"Hey give me your phone number, I will add you, I should have asked for it last night when asking you to come with me." Jaiel reached for his phone.
"Here you can add it in."
Jaiel gave Kian, his phone, the front already on a page with Kian's name added to it.
"Sure."
Kian replied adding in his digits on the phone before handing it back.
Jaiel made a small smile when taking the phone back, looking down at it for a bit.
'ding'
Kian pulled out his phone, seeing a text from Jaiel.
"Now you have my number too."
They made their way to the place of the match.
Jaiel was leading the way through the place til they found their seats on some bleachers set up in a rectangle, with a boxing ring in the middle of the place.
Kian sat down and looked around.
The place was not crowded but not completely empty either, he estimated around 1/3 of the place had filled seats.
The lights dimmed, and spotlights were added to the ring in the middle. There wasn't any big fanfare or loud music playing like on tv, but the tension was there as both fighters entered the room.
He heard a sigh coming from his side and eyed Jaiel, who had put his forehead down in his hand.
"Every time..."
Kian looked back at the ring seeing Arnie waving at them eagerly, sending blow kisses from his hand with a big grin.
The other fighter was looking at him as if he was some kind of circus show, obviously getting agitated from the show.
Kian could not help but laugh and waved back at Arnie, who noticed him and seemed to be even more energetic.
At least he seemed to have the energy to fight.
A loud bell rang, and the two fighters slowly approached each other from their respective corners.
Arnie was against a boxer about the same height and build as himself.
He paced around in a half-circle keeping his front towards the other boxer, moving with light footsteps.
Kian recognized it as footwork he had seen Jaiel do as well.
The people in the room were cheering the boxers on, and Kian sat with his eyes glued to the ring as the boxers started exchanging blows.
He felt a rush he had not felt before, getting into the fight as the two continued on, with no clear outcome yet.
After a few rounds, Jaiel nudged his side and he looked over curiously.
"Arnie is gonna get him in this round, it will be over soon."
Kian nodded excitedly, ignoring Jaiel and focused back on the fight.
Arnie swung, connecting his fist to the skull of the other boxer, in the tiny instant he had lowered his guard.
The guy went down hard, the sound of the big body hitting the floor of the ring resounded in the room, and the cheer got loud. The guy on the floor was not getting back up.
"He won?"
Kian exclaimed half in cheer and half as a question, as he was not sure about the exact rules, but Arnie was the only one standing.
The bell rang again and the referee entered the ring, proclaiming Arnie as the winner.
Kian got up from his seat and turned to Jaiel.
"He won!"
He repeated his words from before but no longer as a question, receiving a smile and nod from Jaiel.
"Yeah, let's go see him."
They went outside, standing next to the place while waiting for Arnie to exit. Kian was checking out his phone when he heard whispers nearby.
"look at him, he is really handsome"
"Should we go talk to him?"
Voices were close, and Kian could hear squealing girls, who had noticed the sight of the tall young man standing next to him, staring at his own phone like Kian, while waiting.
The casual pose didn't diminish the look, it was as if like he was posing for a photoshoot.
Kian had noticed it earlier and looked down at himself.
'So what' He thought. He was dressed ok, maybe not as fancy as Jaiel, who seemed to come out from some young men's clothes magazine, but he didn't think he looked too shabby.
Was Jaiel texting that girl from his class?
He had to admit he was curious.
Jaiel looked up from his phone at Kian.
"You hungry?"
"Yes, but weren't we gonna wait for Arnie"
Jaiel lifted his phone showing the screen to Kian.
"He is already out drinking, he slipped out back apparently"
Kian heard Jaiel sigh and gave him a slight smile.
It seemed the day was not over yet.
The match had ended and they had no reason to continue hanging out, but Kian wanted to take the chance to get to know this tall walking blue-eyed guy and followed him to a restaurant.
The place was a bit too fancy looking for Kian's liking, but somehow Jaiel seemed to fit right in.
The food was delicious and Kian eagerly started eating.
"Why boxing?"
Jaiel had asked him a question and he quickly finished chewing.
"After I came back from the hospital my dad left a note with the address of the gym for me."
He swallowed and continued.
"I think he got tired of watching me get beat up"
It was silent for a bit.
Jaiel had stopped the movement of bringing his fork to his lips, letting it hover there while staring at Kian.
"Hospital? I knew you had some issues with that Chad guy, but that seems excessive"
"Yeah..." Kian felt uncomfortable, he had meant to enjoy the day and get to learn more about Jaiel, not sharing his embarrassing history.
'would Jaiel turn his back, if he knew Kian was gay?'
His mood soured and Jaiel put his fork down, the 'clink' sound, making Kian focus back on him.
"Call me if something happens..." was all Jaiel said.
Kian was not sure if he should be happy with that comment, he wanted to take care of it himself, this was not Jaiel's issue, and he could not keep relying on this guy to show up whenever he needed it.
"Sure" he just replied.
Kian had lost his appetite and was picking at the food, remembering the words of his dad echoing in his mind to not do that bad habit.
"Why is he after you?"
Kian looked up at Jaiel, his mood getting worse.
Until now he had been grateful that Jaiel had not asked directly.
He did not want to lie to the guy, but at this moment he could not get the words out and simply kept silent.
Jaiel got the message or at least he did not ask again and also got quiet.
They left the place together but no one said anything.
Jaiel had paid for the full meal, something that made Kian's stomach turn even more.
They started walking back to the station.
"Let me walk you home" Jaiel offered.
"I am not that far from your place anyways" He continued.
Kian just nodded, walking alongside each other. The silence was getting heavy and he cleared his throat.
"Why do you want to become pro?" He suddenly asked.
There was little wait before Jaiel responded.
"Cause I want to."
Kian realized it could be that simple of a reason to do something because you wanted to, instead of out of necessity like he had.
They got back to Kian's apartment complex, greeting the old man by his cart on the corner of the street, receiving an enthusiastic nod back.
Kian noticed there were several customers by his cart.
'It must be a good day for him today.'
"Hey, I had a good time."
Jaiel suddenly sprung out with the words in front of the entrance to the complex.
Kian had to agree, it had been fun, and he had enjoyed watching his first fight.
"Yeah, it was really fun."
His mind was less clouded and he smiled remembering the match and the exciting feelings it had given him.
The smile must have been a surprise because Jaiel looked taken aback, covering his face with his palm for a second.
'Is he ok?'
"See you Monday." Jaiel then said and turned quickly walking off, leaving Kian standing.
Kian felt confused about the whole day. It had started so well, and the mood had been good.
He stared at his phone a bit.
'Why did I have to get all moody and spoil the fun.'
He wondered if Jaiel would even want to hang out again.
He changed out of his clothes, and laid down on the bed, messing around on his phone.
'Maybe I should just say it?'
He opened the text message page from Jaiel, seeing the message
"Hi," he had received during their outing.
He started typing out a few words, reading them over, again and again, his stomach turning into a knot.
He pressed send. He decided to trust this guy and there was no reason to hide it either. There was nothing wrong with the truth.
Jaiel picked up his phone, it seemed he had gotten a notification while he was in the shower and opened the message from Kian, reading the content. He held the phone with one hand while he was trying to dry his hair with a towel in the other.
"Because I told Chad I was gay."
He replied...
"What an asshole"-
A few seconds later, he saw the message had been read, and the words; 'Kian is typing' were at the bottom of the app.
"Definitely"
Jaiel laid down on the bed with his phone.
"Arnie says he will teach you the punch he used to take down his opponent today"
Kian finally breathed in, having held his breath while waiting for Jaiel to respond to his message.
He was relieved. It seemed as if at least Jaiel did not care about him being gay at all and continued messaging about what had happened during their time out.
He soon found himself in a long conversation, texting more than they had talked during the day.
He liked him. He was sure now. As Jaiel had said that he was doing boxing 'because he wanted to.'
Kian felt he simply liked him because he did.
He wished Chad had reacted in a similar way when had told him, he was gay. It had been his first time confessing it to someone, and he had chosen his friend over his dad.
"I like you."
He wrote the 3 words repeatedly, constantly deleting them after writing them.
'Maybe one confession is enough for the day...'
If he admitted it, it could ruin their friendship or at least whatever they were at this point.
He did not want to risk it.
He turned over in the bed looking at the words on the phone, his eyes closing.
'ding.'
Jaiel had noticed Kian had been typing for a while, the 'Kian is typing' kept popping up and going away.
He had been half asleep when the ding woke his sleepy mind, and he checked his phone.
"I like you"
His eyes widened, reading the three words several times, mouthing them in a whisper.
Jaiel's mind was suddenly awake. Had Kian meant like-like?... or was this as friends.
He knew Kian could be short with his words and tried to calm himself thinking he may just be overthinking it.
He didn't respond. He was not sure how. He decided to ask Kian on Monday to figure out exactly what he had meant by it.
But it was too late he was awake now, thinking back on the many encounters they had had in such a short time.
He looked at the phone again, and the message was gone. Deleted.
A new message popped up on the screen.
"Friends?"
Jaiel decided to reply this time, blatantly ignoring the deleted message, like it hadn't happened.
"Yeah."