The Bad Boy's Dirty Little Secret BL Chapter 93: Seize the Day

Kai’s P.O.V

Time flies pretty quickly when you wished it wouldn’t. I had dreaded the day that the Campus Hotshots contest would come; to be honest; I didn’t want to see Night, or see anything at all that reminded me of him, which was pretty impossible, since virtually everything reminded me of him.

But the Campus Hotshots contest was something that Night had been interested in, so I wasn’t even sure if he was going to attend or not. And when I thought about all the trouble we had gone through in preparation for it, as the Student Council Vice-President, it would be stupid not to attend. The only thing I could hope for was that this year would be my last and I could finally pass the crown to someone else.

My heart thudded with anticipation in my chest as I got ready to return to the campus. For the past two days, I had been staying with my parents’ at their house. They didn’t hesitate to open the doors for me, much to my gratitude. Going back to the tiny apartment I used to share with Night felt too painful, so much that simply stepping inside for a second made it difficult to breathe.

That’s why I was glad for the distraction, for the way I had shut out the entire world and focused only on myself and what to do next.

Now, I heaved myself out of the bathtub, wiping the water off my skin briskly before wrapping the towel around my waist. I sighed as I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I looked like a mess, but I was putting myself back together the best I could.

Getting out of bed was pretty challenging recently; I had no energy to move, to think. But I always forced myself up because I knew that if I let myself spiral downward there would be no getting back up.

And now I forced myself out of the bathroom to get dressed.

It took a while for me to become satisfied with the way I looked in the mirror, but I managed to do so. After styling my hair, I came out of the room, only to find that my entire family was waiting for me in the living room, all sighing in visible relief upon seeing me.

I fought the urge to smile at them, knowing that they would be observing my reaction, probably worried that I would be showing symptoms of depression. And I didn’t feel like smiling just yet, because I knew it wouldn’t be genuine.

Kia was the first out of her seat as she rushed to hug me. “Kai, are you alright?” she asked, her voice muffled as she pressed her face against my shoulder.

“I…” I hesitated. Was I alright? I couldn’t say. But I was up and outside my room, wasn’t I? That must count for something. “I guess I’m doing better now,” was all I decided to say.

I saw a sad shimmer in her eyes as she released me and I knew she was about to ask me what I was going to do about the breakup, so I interrupted her before she could say anything further. “So what are you guys doing all dressed up today?”

“We are all going to watch the contest at your university, to cheer for you,” mom said, trying her best to put on a confident smile.

I couldn’t help it; I felt the tears well up in my eyes before I could even think of blinking them away.  Feeling overwhelmed by their support, I went over to envelop them all in a hug. “I’m so grateful for you all,” I told them, my voice trembling from the force of my emotions. “I’m glad I have a family that never gives up on me. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.”

“Aw, how sweet of you,” Kia said, lightheartedly tapping me on the back. “This is nothing; it’s the bare minimum.” But even as she says that as a joke, I knew she understood the depth of my gratitude for their support. For so long, I thought I had no allies in my family except for her. But now it turned out that all of them had my back.

“I have something special for you, Kai,” my mom said, then retracted herself from the hug to walk over to where her bag was. As she dug through her clutch, my dad and Kia sat back down, and I took a seat on the couch as well. “Aha!” she said under her breath as she seemed to finally find what she was looking for.

“What’s that?” I asked as she walked over to me and handed me a small package wrapped in Kraft paper.

“Just open it,” she said; so I did, and after unwrapping the paper, I found a sapphire brooch inside a small wooden box. Holding it in my hand, I admired its deep, mesmerizing blue. The stone at the center caught the light, and scattered hints of royal blue and  purple onto the walls, a wondrous sight to behold.

The blue stone was set in a frame of cool white gold, with curves and swirls that made its overall look seem priceless and timeless. Tiny and subtle diamonds encircled the sapphire, making the brooch look even more sparkly under the light.

“That brooch once belonged to our grandfather,” Kia told me, a fond smile on her face. “It will bring you luck, as it did with me on my graduation day. You’ll win the contest with or without it, but I think it’ll up your chances significantly.”

“But the luck part isn’t just for the contest,” my mom piped up. “It’s also for all the aspects of your life and love. It’s a family heirloom that will guide you when you feel lost and give you comfort when you need it.”

“I used to be the one holding that,” my dad added. “And whenever I felt sad and lonely, I would look at it, and I would imagine that the people I loved were around me, embracing me and telling me it was going to be alright. And it worked. It gave me strength when I was away from my family. Now, it belongs to you.”

They didn’t have to say it outright; but I already understood what they were trying to tell me. I knew they were trying to be indirect for fear that addressing the elephant in the room would cause me to break down again, but I appreciated that even without saying the words out loud, I could feel their support. And that’s what mattered the most.

“Thank you,” I said once again. “Don’t worry, I got this. I’ll seize the day in the blink of an eye.”

When I left the house with the brooch close to my chest, I noticed that they still had worried looks on their faces, but they smiled encouragingly at me anyway, urging me forward.

I got to the University relatively quickly. My chest wasn’t as heavy now as it was before, which was one more good news. I took it as a positive sign that nothing would ever go wrong today.

Hopefully.

I entered the council office a little hesitantly, knowing what was awaiting me, but I was immediately humbled when everyone inside rushed over to swarm and fuss over me.

“Kai, where have you been?”

“You didn’t pick up our calls or answer our texts for days—!”

“Dude, are you alright?”

“—and you show up now like nothing happened!”

Tina and Yin were the first to actually come forwards and hug me instead of running their mouths. “If you are going through something, Kai,” they said, voices muffled, “just remember that we are always here for you, okay?”

“Yes, yes,” I said, feeling overwhelmed by so many people talking all at once, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel grateful for all the fuss. “Thank you guys, but you’re crushing me.”

Tina and Yin let go of their monster hug, but they still giggled as they saw me smiling slightly. It was a lot easier to breathe now.

When they finally relaxed, I said, “Thank you for your concern, everyone. Really, I am grateful. But don’t worry; from today onwards, everything will be fine.”

Zach looked skeptical, but he didn’t voice out his hesitance, so I didn’t address it either. Instead, I just asked him, “Do you need any more help in any way? Last minute preparations?”

Zach waved me off with a lazy hand. “Thanks to your earlier instructions, everything has been smooth-sailing even though you weren’t here for the past few days, so you don’t need to worry about the organizing part of Campus Hotshots. Actually, an audience has already been building up; they’re all eager to see the contestants even though there’s still over two hours left for the program to begin.”

“Ah, that’s good,” I nodded, and I was about to ask him if the contestants were already settled into their designated preparation rooms when the squeals of two girls caught my attention. It seemed that they were gushing over something from the magazine rack situated just outside the office. I assumed that this was the magazine we were selling featuring pictures from the photoshoot as an income-generating project.

Curious, I went to the stall to pick up a copy. I noticed that the girls whispered something like, “it’s him” to themselves, but I paid it no mind, thinking they were just surprised to see one of the contestants photographed in the magazine in real life.

The magazine was top-notch. Tina and Yin had really outdone themselves this time. No wonder people were already gushing over this.

But as I flipped through the pages, I stumbled across an entire spread of pictures that caught me completely offguard.

Because they were pictures of me and Night.