Her posture wasn't seductive in the slightest. It was dominantly silent, sharp, suffocating.
It is a challenge. A demand without words. And Kai felt every second of it like pressure in his chest.
His breath caught when she placed her foot on the chair, leaning slightly forward, narrowing the distance between them. Not touching him. Not threatening him. Just… taking control of the moment with a confidence that made his heartbeat stutter.
Kai inhaled sharply, chest rising in a sudden jerk so sudden even he didn't expect it. His heart hammered against his ribs, hard enough to thud in his ears. If anyone else had done this, he would've pushed them. Called security. Walked out without making any fuss. Ended the conversation entirely. He didn't tolerate invasion of space, didn't let people get under his skin. He didn't do any of those things because this was Alina.
And in her hand… she held something that froze him. It is the mirror, the same mirror she had gifted him on his tenth anniversary, a gift he had silently treasured, something he kept away from public eyes, something precious not because of its value but because she had given it.
Seeing it in her hands now made his stomach drop. He stared at it, throat tightening. How did this end up in her hand?How could something that was supposed to be in his house, wrapped safely among his things, end up here?
And then, in the middle of his shock, he murmured in anger, "Duffer Ryan… how could he forget something this important to pack?" He cursed Ryan in his mind. He cursed himself for trusting him with packing. He cursed this moment for exposing a truth he wasn't ready to face.
Alina didn't blink. She watched every twitch of his face, and then she tilted the mirror slightly, forcing him to see not her but his reflection, shaken and exposed.
"Remember something?" she asked, voice steady but carrying a sharp edge.
Kai swallowed. His gaze flickered between her eyes and the mirror.
"Isn't it the same mirror that you gifted me?" he asked, although they both knew the answer.
"Correct." Alina's voice dropped like a verdict, cold and unyielding.
She slowly lifted her foot off the chair, not as a retreat but as repositioning. Her stance was still powerful, still controlled, still pushing him toward a truth she knew he didn't want to speak. She didn't step away. Her body remained close enough that Kai could feel the heat from her breath brushing the air around him, close enough that every heartbeat inside him felt louder and heavier.
"What do you think this mirror is doing in my house?" she asked.
Kai exhaled sharply and stood up. The chair screeched against the floor, echoing through the room. He moved too fast, too forcefully, because he needed air, needed distance, needed something to break the panic forming inside him.
"How would I know?" he snapped, though his voice wasn't strong. It was tight. Strained. Cornered.
They walked away from each other, then in opposite directions, both needing room to breathe, but neither actually breathing properly. The space didn't help. It only made the tension sharper, more focused, like the distance stretched the thread between them instead of breaking it.
Kai ran a hand through his hair, trying to gather his thoughts, but Alina didn't give him time. She stepped forward just a little, enough to make her voice reach him clearly.
"After Ryan went away with your belongings from the house…" she began. Her tone was no longer neutral. It was emotional, like she was holding back a storm behind her tongue.
Kai's eyes snapped up to her. Alina held the mirror in front of her chest, fingers tight around the frame as she continued ''.. I walked into my roommate's room."
He didn't move, but his shoulders tensed. She took another step toward him. The air dropped. The temperature. The silence. His heartbeat. Everything fell still.
"I just wanted to check. But when I opened the door…she said. Her breath trembled, but she forced it steady ....I saw this mirror lying near the bed. The same mirror I gifted you."
She lifted it slightly, the silver reflecting her trembling fingers. Kai's throat bobbed as he swallowed. Alina's voice grew stronger, fierce, filled with an emotion that was too complex to name.
''How?'' she asked softly, but there was no softness in the meaning. ''How could something I gifted you end up in his room? Explain that'' Her breathing grew uneven. Her chest rose and fell faster.
Kai opened his mouth, but Alina didn't let him speak.
"And that's when everything started to make sense" She looked directly at him. "Everything that confused me before… every detail I ignored… it all came back."
He took a small step back, and she noticed that. Her voice grew stronger, More provoking, more intentional.
She stepped closer. "When I was at my parents' house, Maya fed me dinner."
Kai's fingers curled at his sides.
"That food tasted exactly like my roommate's cooking," she said. "The same ingredients. The same flavour. The same warmth...When I asked Maya, she told me that my roommate cooked it for me. How could I not understand such a thing?" Her voice cracked.
Kai's eyes widened, a faint tremble moving across his lashes.
Another step. "And when I locked myself in my parents' house, that's when I heard that voice. I knew it, it could only be you who could call my name in that way. That's why I opened the door."
A breath hitched in Kai's chest. He remembered the moment he spent with her and the way she hugged him, as if it were replaying like a video.
Kai had been in countless confrontations in his life, including reporters cornering him, scandals being pressed against him, and people trying to push him into a confession he didn't want to give. And in every one of those situations, Kai had handled them with cold calculation. He always kept his composure, controlled the outcome, and dominated the room without raising his voice.
But this wasn't the case; this was different. This wasn't a scandal, or a reporter, or a stranger with a camera. This was Alina. And she wasn't yelling. She wasn't crying. She wasn't pleading.
Alina didn't stop. "And at the celebration party… When I couldn't eat anything?" Her tone deepened with pain. " Because I was used to his cooking." She took a shaky breath.
"But then I tasted the food there… and it tasted the same. That means...." She pointed the mirror at him. Not threateningly. But like the mirror itself was accusing him.
"You cooked that food. For me. Only me."
Kai's breath broke. Just a little enough to show he wasn't unaffected.
"And why did your silhouette match his?" she continued. "Why did your presence feel the same? Why did the air shift the same way when my roommate entered the room? Why did I feel the same safety around him that I felt around you?
Her eyes narrowed, voice dropping. ''You think I wouldn't notice that?
Kai felt heat rise in his chest, panic? Guilt? Fear? All chasing into each other painfully.
"I don't understand what you're trying to say..!" he shouted, not out of anger, but out of panic.
"...And let me be clear, I was not your roommate," he continued, scrambling to escape her words.
Alina lifted her chin and laughed once, A dry, emotionless laugh "My landlady told me everything," she said. "She said you were the one who took care of me."
Kai shook his head quickly, desperate. "She's old," he said. "She gets confused..."
Alina's eyes narrowed sharply. "How do you know my landlady is old? she asked quietly.
His breath stopped as he got trapped in his own lies
Alina stepped forward. "Caught your lie." Her voice was a blade.
Kai didn't move
"Say you weren't my roommate," she demanded.
Kai's jaw locked. He didn't answer
"Say you weren't the person I lived with," she said again, louder, fiercer.
Kai's lips pressed tightly together "I… wasn't," he whispered.
She didn't believe him, and he knew that she didn't. Alina turned toward him completely. Now they were facing each other across a distance of five steps, a small gap, but heavy like a canyon.
Her voice softened, not gentle, but dangerously controlled. "You were the one who never left me alone… weren't you?"
She stepped forward. "You were the one who never gave up on me… weren't you?"
Another step. "You were the one..."
Kai's chest heaved, his breath trembled. His heartbeat pounded against his ribs like it wanted to escape the truth. He squeezed his eyes shut, shoulders shaking as he exhaled.
Alina moved the last step ''Kai'' she said again, softer ''...tell me''
Kai lifted his head slowly, eyes glossy with the truth he could no longer hide and shouted. "Yes…" His voice trembled. Then steadied."Yes… I was your roommate."