The Mystery Smell on Line 1
Wells knew two things when he left the gym at Bloor-Yonge.
First: leg day had been brutal.
Second: he looked incredible.
Both facts were equally true.
His black athletic tank clung to his chest like it had signed a long-term commitment. His metallic gold shorts caught every flicker of fluorescent light. His calves were still pumped. His thighs felt like they had been personally redesigned by punishment. Sweat had dried, returned, dried again, and then surrendered completely to the humid June heat pressing down over Toronto.
He had considered showering.
Briefly.
Technically.
In the same way a person considers making one responsible choice before deciding destiny has other plans.
Queen Station was only a few stops away.
He could make it.
Probably.
Wells tapped his Presto card, moved with full post-workout confidence, and stepped onto the southbound Line 1 train.
The doors closed.
The train lurched forward.
And then Wells smelled it.
He froze.
Something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
The scent moved through the car with silent, invisible confidence. It was not subtle. It had layers. Gym bag. Wet pavement. Hot sidewalk. Protein shake regret. A faint note of old soccer cleat. Something masculine. Something dangerous.
Wells narrowed his eyes.
Somewhere on this train, someone had committed a crime.
A humid, muscular, post-leg-day crime.
He glanced left.
A student with headphones stared at a laptop bag.
Possible, but unlikely.
He glanced right.
A man in a suit held a takeout container.
Suspicious, but the smell lacked garlic.
Near the doors, a cyclist leaned against the pole with one hand on his helmet.
Could be him.
Wells studied him carefully.
No.
Too obvious.
The real culprit would be hiding in plain sight.
The train rolled into Wellesley.
The doors opened.
A few passengers stepped in.
One stepped back out immediately.
Wells frowned.
Coward.
The doors closed again.
The smell remained.
Stronger now.
Almost personal.
Wells shifted his gym bag from one shoulder to the other and subtly checked under the seat across from him.
There it was.
A backpack.
Dark.
Damp-looking.
Unattended.
Wells’s eyes sharpened.
Evidence.
His phone buzzed.
Coach Stone: Shower before transit?
Wells stared at the message.
That was specific.
Too specific.
He typed back.
Wells: Why would you ask that?
The reply came almost immediately.
Coach Stone: Because it is June. Because you trained legs. Because you believe confidence is deodorant.
Wells blinked.
Rude.
Accurate, but rude.
The train pulled into College.
More passengers boarded.
The smell expanded, as if pleased to have an audience.
A woman near the pole wrinkled her nose.
A guy in a Blue Jays cap looked up slowly.
The cyclist moved down the car.
Wells watched him go.
Interesting.
The suspect was fleeing.
Then his phone buzzed again.
Trey: Bro.
Wells closed his eyes.
Nothing good ever started with Trey texting only “Bro.”
Wells: What?
Trey: Did you gas Line 1?
Wells looked up sharply, as if Trey might somehow be hiding behind an advertisement for summer festivals.
Wells: I am conducting an investigation.
Trey: Into yourself?
Wells did not answer.
The train moved again.
College to Dundas.
The smell followed.
Not drifted.
Followed.
Wells slowly looked down at himself.
Black tank.
Gold shorts.
Sweat-slick skin.
Gym bag pressed against his side.
His body still radiating heat like a public infrastructure issue.
No.
Impossible.
He was Wells.
He was gold.
He was disciplined.
He was...
His phone buzzed a third time.
Gabe: Hey, are you on Line 1 right now? Someone just posted in the group chat that there’s “a hot gym bro causing atmospheric disruption between Bloor and Queen.”
Wells went very still.
Wells: Define atmospheric disruption.
Gabe: Bro.
Wells: That is not a definition.
Gabe: It means shower.
Wells lowered the phone.
The truth arrived slowly.
Station by station.
Cruelly.
Wellesley had known.
College had suffered.
TMU station, formerly known as Dundas was about to bear witness.
The mystery was not the backpack.
It was not the cyclist.
It was not the takeout container.
The call was coming from inside the gold shorts.
The train pulled into TMU (Dundas).
The doors opened.
A teenager stepped in, paused, looked around, and whispered to his friend, “Yo, what is that?”
Wells considered leaving.
Immediately.
With dignity.
Maximum dignity.
Golden dignity.
But Queen was one stop away.
He had committed to the route.
A Golden Bro did not abandon the mission at Dundas.
Even when the mission had become surviving his own consequences.
So Wells stayed on.
The doors closed.
The train rolled south.
The smell came with him.
Of course it did.
His phone buzzed again.
Alton: Babe. Be honest. Did you season the subway?
Wells looked at the message.
Then looked straight ahead.
He would not be broken.
The train pulled into Queen.
The doors opened.
Wells stepped onto the platform with the controlled urgency of a man making a tactical withdrawal from a situation he had personally created.
The train doors closed behind him.
Line 1 continued southbound, carrying innocent passengers and the last traces of his shame.
Wells stood on the Queen platform, sweat cooling on his skin, gym bag hanging from his shoulder, gold shorts still shining under the lights.
He inhaled carefully.
The air was better.
Not perfect.
But better.
His phone buzzed one last time.
Coach Stone: Hydrate. Go home. Shower. Then apologize to Line 1.
Wells stared at the message.
Then typed back.
Wells: Yes, Coach.
A moment later:
Trey: Golden Army public service announcement: no shower, no subway.
Wells groaned.
But he was smiling by the time he climbed the stairs toward Queen Street.
Outside, Toronto hit him with hot June air, traffic noise, sidewalk heat, and the smell of summer garbage trying its best.
For once, Wells had no judgment.
He had learned something today.
Leg day required discipline.
Gold required confidence.
Toronto required transit etiquette.
And if a mysterious smell followed you all the way from Bloor-Yonge to Queen on a humid June afternoon?
Sometimes the mystery was you.
Confidence is golden, but discipline still showers before transit. Train hard, laugh harder, and let the brothers keep you humble from Bloor-Yonge to Queen. Join the Golden Army. Contact: @alton-gold77, @polo-drone-125
Featuring: @hero21us, @alton-gold77, @polo-drone-075