The Bad Boy's Dirty Little Secret BL Chapter 86: Trust

Kai’s P.O.V

For a moment, we both just stood there, the silence between us almost suffocating. But then the sound of boiling water reached my ears, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Fuck!” I yelped, then sprinted out of the room to get back to the kitchen just as Night snorted and placed the phone on the table. I grabbed the carton and dumped the elbow macaroni noodles in the pot and watched as Night casually stalked over to the bathroom, where he began brushing his teeth.

His casual demeanor surprised me. Was he trying to ignore his emotions and internalize his pain? If he continued to do this, it would only hurt him more in the end. I couldn’t help but worry about him as I watched him go about pretending as if his modeling career didn’t just come to an end.

I continued to prepare the Mac and cheese as I waited for Night to finish cleaning up and come out of the bathroom. By the time he did, I had already finished assembling our breakfast and it was all neatly laid out on the tiny table by the side of the kitchen.

He sat at the table, getting his fork and spoon, getting ready to dig into the food. But he stopped with the spoon half-way to his mouth when he noticed me staring at him intensely. “What?” he asked, frowning. “Just say it, Kai.”

“Are you alright?” I asked, not knowing how else to start.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he shrugged casually, as if we were simply discussing the weather or the chores of the day. It felt like just another question…something that didn’t need to be given much importance. But that only made me worry even more.

“Night…” I said, hesitating, “you just lost your job as a model. I thought you would be a bit more… bothered.” I tried to be as polite as possible, worried that he just might be ready to burst at any moment and any word could trigger a breakdown. “You’re calmer than I expected. Are you really okay?”

He shrugged, scooping the pasta into his spoon once again and started digging in happily. “This is great,” he commented, nodding at the bowl. “How did you know I was craving some Mac and cheese for breakfast?”

“Night…you’re trying to diffuse the situation, but I’m not giving up until I’m sure you’re fine.” I said, more firmly this time. “Talk to me. Tell me how you’re felling. You know I’m always here to listen to you, right? You need to count on me too.”

Night took in another mouthful of food before shrugging yet again, “I just lost one job, but there are still thousands more opportunities for me out there. I knew something was gonna happen the moment Rosalie showed up, so I was mentally preparing for this already. But that doesn’t mean we need to ruin our morning by talking about something we have no control over.”

I nodded, feeling a bit more relieved as I took a spoon and started to dig into my own food, sighing as the cheese melted in my mouth.

Night watched me help myself to a couple more mouthfuls, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“That’s better,” he commented. “Anyway, this isn’t the first time that my father has tried to get me to lose this job. He has sabotaged my hobbies more times than he tried to be my father, so no, I am not surprised this happened. In fact, I won’t be surprised if the University called and told me that I was suspended or some shit.”

My eyes widened in horror. “Can he really do that?”

“Fuck no!” He scoffed. “I was already prepared, so I paid my tuition fees in advance, so he doesn’t have shit over me and my studies. And since we are no longer living in the dorms and this place is actually under your name, I think we’re safe…for now.”

“So… what now?” I asked, taking in everything he said with a grain of salt. “What do we do going forward?”

He shrugged again. “In the end, I always found my way back, one way or another. Don’t worry about this too much, alright? We’ll always bounce back from this, even more so now that I am not going through this alone. Instead, we should focus more on the Campus Hotshot competition more than anything else, since we only have a couple more days left before it starts.”

I wasn’t entirely convinced, and it was clearly written all over my face. If I were in Night’s shoes, no matter how many times this happened to me before, I wouldn’t feel good knowing that my father was out there, praying for my downfall.

How does he manage to handle this so well? Doesn’t he feel a little bit angered? Disheartened? If he wanted to break down, I was more than willing to lend him my shoulder for him to cry on.

I didn’t want to make him feel like he was alone in this, the same way he must have felt, carrying his secret about Rosalie for so long, thinking it was going to push me away. I wanted to be there to reassure him that everything was going to be alright…but how could I convince him of that when I wasn’t entirely convinced of it myself either?

Night laughed at my expression, nudging my knee with his own. “I’m fine, really, Kai,” he smiled, and it seemingly looked genuine. “You worry more than me. Trust me on this, okay? Soon enough, there will be more doors opening for us. I’m not worried about losing one job, because I know it’s not the end of the world. I’m only nineteen; I still have plenty of opportunities to build my future—our future.”

He reached over with his other hand to squeeze mine. “For now, we should concentrate on our studies, as well as the contest. Okay?”

I didn’t like the sound of that. For some reason, I couldn’t help but feel like Night wasn’t really okay with this, but he was trying to appear nonchalant and cheerful for my sake alone. “Just… promise me this,” I said. “Whatever happens, you must tell me everything, alright? Don’t try to act alone, and don’t keep it all in. Like you said, we’re in this together. Remember that.”

“Yeah,” Night nodded, giving me a reassuring smile. “You don’t have to worry about me keeping things from you anymore. I already learned my lesson. But if it helps to make you feel even a bit better, I’ll say it again. I promise to never keep secrets from you from now on. And no matter what happens, I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Thank you, Night,” I said, grateful. “Let’s trust each other, okay? Always.”

“Yes. Of course.”

I took his hand in mine and brought it to my lips to press a kiss to the back of his hand.

The road ahead of us will no doubt be filled with thorns and traps from now on, but I was willing to walk over all of them, even barefoot, for Night.