The Bad Boy's Dirty Little Secret BL Chapter 96: No Intentions

Night’s P.O.V

As soon as I entered the green room, I felt my body freeze on the spot, a shiver running down my spine. I took one sweep of the room and found Kai in one corner, sitting in front of a booth towards the back. It was like there was a magnetic force around him, pulling me in as soon as I was within his vicinity.

Just like that, I felt my heart thunder in my ribs, threatening to break out of my chest. He wasn’t doing anything—just sitting there in front of one of the mirrors meant to be used by the contestants, not even facing me. But I felt him. His presence was so strong that my eyes were drawn to him automatically, like a moth to the flames.

He sat still, his presence relaxed but commanding, like he owned the space. There was something in the stillness around him, a gravity that seemed to pull at everyone in the room, even though no one dared to acknowledge it. I tried to look away, but it was impossible.

It was like he had anchored the entire atmosphere to himself, and everything—everyone—just revolved around him.

I watched him silently as he closed his eyes, letting the makeup artist apply some foundation to brighten his appearance. Saya was there beside him in her own booth, and she leaned over, saying something to him that had the corners of his lips tilting up as he smiled at her even with his eyes closed.

And it felt like my heart stopped, only to wrench itself from my chest the next moment. There was no warning, just this sudden, violent ache—like someone had reached inside me and yanked it out, tearing through everything in its way.

He wasn’t even looking at me, but just knowing he was there, so close, after everything... it hurt more than words could describe.

But at least he was still smiling…that made one of us…right? I should be happy to see that he wasn’t as devastated, as hurt as I was…but I wasn’t.

My chest tightened, and my mind at war with my heart as I deliberated walking over to him, but I held first, staying rooted to my spot.

I could barely breathe, and all I wanted was to tear my gaze away, but I couldn’t. I felt raw, exposed, even though nobody in the room was probably paying any attention to me, too busy with the pageant preparations themselves.

And then Kai looked up. As though he sensed my presence all of a sudden.

And our eyes met from across the room.

It was just a flicker, a brief moment where his eyes caught mine, but it felt like a knife. A sharp, burning sting that cut through me so fast I almost gasped. It wasn’t just about me seeing him anymore—it was being seen by him, coming face to face after everything that transpired between us.

All the walls I had tried to build around my heart crumbled instantly, leaving me bare and defenseless. His gaze was so familiar, yet now distant, and that distance hurt more than anything else could have. My chest tightened again, sharper this time, as if my heart was being torn apart all over again, piece by piece, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I hoped against all hope that he wouldn’t come forward to talk to me. I didn’t think I was emotionally ready for a head-on confrontation. But in my mind, it was something that I desperately wished for.

I wanted Kai to come up from his seat; I wanted him to confront me. But most of all…I wanted to feel his lips on mine once again, so I could feel alive from the inside out.

However, the next instant…Kai looked away, and the connection I felt was suddenly broken.

It took me a second to realize what had just happened, that Kai had completely ignored me…and when I looked at him again, I saw that Kai had gone back to chatting with his makeup artist and Saya. Like nothing had ever happened.

No acknowledgment, no flicker of recognition—nothing. It was like I didn’t exist in his world anymore. He just went back to whatever he was doing, as if I was just another person in the room, irrelevant…unworthy.

I… didn’t know what to feel. I thought I would be happy because I was dreading any sort of confrontation. But now that I was actually getting ignored instead of being confronted, I couldn’t help but feel hurt…humiliated.

As pathetic as it sounded, part of me had braced for something—a nod, a look, maybe even a cold glare—but this… this complete indifference?

It stung in a way I wasn’t prepared for. My mind scrambled to make sense of it, trying to figure out how he could look at me like that and just… feel nothing. Like we hadn’t shared anything at all.

Like we were nothing but complete strangers to each other…

Still,  I told myself it shouldn’t matter. I reminded myself that this was for the best. After all, I was the one responsible for breaking Kai’s heart. I shouldn’t be expecting anything at all.

But who would explain that to my heart?

Just then, someone came up beside me, tapping my shoulder lightly. "Hey! Come on, we need to get you ready for the pageant," she said, her voice bright and eager, snapping me out of my daze.

Before I could say anything, she was already ushering me toward the back, away from the crowd, away from Kai, rattling off details about costumes and stage positions.

But even as I moved through the motions, nodding at her words and letting myself get swept along, I couldn’t stop the pull of his presence in the room. Every time I glanced over, there he was, sitting as if I wasn’t even here. And maybe that was the part that hurt the most—the way he seemed so unaffected, so completely oblivious to me, like the space between us had become this chasm that he had no intention of crossing.

And that was the last thing I had expected from Kai…for him to give up on us so easily.

I sat on a chair, and the woman started working on my makeup, her hands moving with practiced ease. "Relax," she smiled, sensing my tension, "you’ll be fine."

I tried to focus on what she was saying, but my mind kept drifting back to him, no matter how hard I tried to ignore him. The sting of being ignored kept me on edge, though I tried to brush it off. I didn’t need this right now—not when I was about to head to the stage in front of hundreds of people who could read my emotions like an open book.

"Hold still," she said softly, tilting my chin to apply some blush. "There, almost done. Hold on, let me just go and grab something quickly.”

As soon as she left, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and when I turned, I found Ruby sitting next to me with a smirk on her face. “Have you and Kai already broken up, then?” Her oddly gleeful voice grated on my nerves. “Because it sure seems like that.”

“It’s none of your business,” I spat, but the witch just laughed at my face.

“Now do you realize just how stupid you had been to think that someone like Kai Hunter could ever love anyone?” she said to me with another one of her ridiculous cackles. “He is the kind of person who is always looking for something new, something fresh, something exciting. For a short while, you gave him that excitement, but now that the thrill has faded; it's time for him to move on.”

I shook my head, looking away. “You have no idea what you are talking about.”

But she scoffed at me. “Might I remind you that I am one of his many exes,” she retorted. “And if you were hoping that Kai would come back to you groveling and on his knees, then you are mistaken, because once Kai Hunter cuts someone out of his life, they are gone forever.”

Even though I tried not to let her words get to me, I couldn’t help it. She wasn't entirely wrong or spewing bullshit. Kai really had that stubborn tendency.

I had seen it when he had dumped Ruby and now, he was making an example out of me as well. I should be happy, right? That at least one of us had that talent to cut off the world completely and just…move on?

But… even as I think such things… deep down… I couldn't fight off the feeling of wanting Kai to fight harder for us, no matter the odds.

Which was stupid, because I was the one who had decided to end it, and for good reason.

But even then, selfishly, I wanted him to use that stubbornness of his to fight for us, or at least what’s left of us.