Students (Part I)

He traveled, from Monday to Friday, the route between Los Dominicos Station and Universidad Católica on line 1 of the Santiago Metro. He found it entertaining and wasn't bothered by it much. He lived in the luxurious neighborhood of La Dehesa, along with his parents and some of his siblings, who would take him from the family residence to the station, and in the afternoon, the routine would repeat, but this time he would request a ride-hailing vehicle to return home, unlike in the morning when one of his siblings would take him to board the train.

He liked the Metro because it was fast, secure, and saved time, apart from giving him a certain independence. He traveled alone and would put on his AirPods and listen to music.

He was studying law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He had always known he would study law, like his father and grandfather. His other siblings were studying Commercial Engineering at the Universidad de Los Andes, and another was studying Civil Engineering at the same Universidad Católica, but he would commute in his own car, and Raimundo didn't like traveling with him: there was a natural animosity and distance between them, and they avoided each other. The eldest of the siblings was already a civil engineer and worked at their father's vineyard in the Curacaví valley, near Santiago, halfway to Valparaíso. His mother was a doctor and worked at the Clínica Alemana, in her specialty: anesthesiology.

He had studied at the Verbo Divino school, and his best friends were from that school, although now they were studying at other universities: Adolfo Ibáñez and the Universidad del Desarrollo. He was a mediocre student, but it was enough to get him into the first or second university in the country.

Raimundo was the youngest in the family, but he felt uncomfortable, although he kept it to himself. He felt suffocated in that narrow family and social circle. He didn't like parties and preferred to go out with his few friends to go hiking at Cerro Manquehue or spend weekends in Zapallar or Cachagua, the exclusive beach resorts in the northern area of the Valparaíso region, watching the waves, listening to music, or just walking. He also didn't feel comfortable smoking or drinking. When his friends did, he would go for a walk alone or go to sleep. There was a time when his mother thought that her youngest son had depression and took him to a psychologist, but the verdict was clear: the boy was a bit of a misanthrope, but not depressive.

Raimundo's great secret was a fact that had haunted him since childhood and adolescence, and he didn't dare to assume and process: he liked men. He was a homosexual, a gay man. Any of those labels would be his civil death, and it tormented him. No one knew, and he made an effort to hide it.

His mother was a deep and devout Catholic, very close to Opus Dei, and his father, although not religiously practicing, made sure that no on...