Bet On Love

1. Acceptance Letter

"Arghh! Why won't my computer turn on??" Wayo yells while slapping his laptop keyboard. Of course, this does nothing to help his situation. Ming walks in Yo's room with two cold water bottles in each hand and sets one down next to an aggravated Yo, and opens the other to take a long sip.

"I need to know if I got accepted! This is my dream school and acceptance letters have already ben sent out. How will I know, if my computer is broken?"

Ming shrugs. "Go take it to a tech shop. They should be able to fix it." Ming brings the bottle back to his lips to take another sip when Yo suddenly grabs him, making him spill his water down his front.

"Hey!" Ming yells.

"You're going to be an engineering major! You fix my computer." Yo says shaking Ming's arm. Ming snatches his arm away.

"Let go of me! You're acting like a lunatic. And look what you've done to my shirt." Ming looks down at his wet shirt in disgust. "Why don't you borrow your dad's computer to check your email?"

"My dad doesn't allow anyone in his office. Not even the maids." Yo says, plopping himself back down in his chair. Yo's father was a big-time business man which allowed Yo to be born into a rich family. They have a mansion of a house with maids, ground-keepers, and personal drivers. The one place in the house that is always off limits to everyone, is his father's home office.

Just then, someone knocks on Yo's bedroom door.

"Sir N'Yo?" One of Yo's maids pokes her head into Yo's room. "A letter came in the mail for you." She walks in quietly, hands Yo the letter, then leaves the room. When Yo sees a particular university seal posted in the top corner of the envelope, he jumps up from his chair, squeals in excitement, and begins to rip the envelope open.

"What does it say?" Ming asks, but Yo only puts his hand up to stop him from talking so he can continue reading.

"I did it! I got in! I'm going to my dream school!" Yo begins shouting. He runs over to Ming and throws his arms around his neck in a very tight embrace. Ming winces but cannot not pry Yo's hands off of him.

"Wayo." Ming calls out in a strained voice. "You're going to kill me!"

Yo finally lets go and stares at the letter with a wide grin on his face. Ming rubs his neck while frowning at Wayo.

"Is this how you treat your best friend?" Ming asks sourly.

Yo continues to grin. "We'll be together for four more years. We're going to the same university."

"Great. More chances for you to choke me in your happiness." Ming grumbles sarcastically, but Yo ignores him.

"Let's go out to eat to celebrate." Yo says as he pins the acceptance letter to his vision board over his desk, then turns to Ming.

"Sure. But you're buying."

"Says who??"

"Says the one you just tried to choke to death." Ming glares at him.

"Fine. But you're paying for desert." Yo says as he grabs his wallet and they both head for the door.

~~~

Ming and Yo are sitting in a small noodle shop eating their meals and chatting. Yo is chattering away to Ming but Ming is distracted by his phone. He keeps checking it every few moments. Once in a while, he gets a message from someone and he spends a long time reading it then takes just as long to reply.

"Who are you talking to that you have to blatantly ignore me?" Yo says in an annoyed voice.

"It's Pang. She's upset."

"Again?" Yo frowns and turns back to his noodles. "She is never in a good mood. She should be happy that the both of you will be attending the same university so you can see each other more."

Ming twirls his noodles around his chopsticks but says nothing. Pang has always been a difficult girlfriend to please.

"What's the matter this time?"

"...I don't know." Ming says honestly.

"Such a crazy woman, that girl."

"Hey! Don't bad mouth my girlfriend. I didn't pester you when you had a crush on P'Pha back in school, and all he ever did was bully you."

"Don't speak to me about him!" Yo says stuffing noodles into his mouth. "Hmm wmm a dig hermm!"

"Stop talking with food in your mouth."

Yo continues to chew his food then swallows. "He was a big jerk! I stopped liking him after freshman year and you know it."

"But you still tried to hang on, even when he would embarrass you."

"Well not now. That's all in the past. I moved on....maybe you should too."

"What if P'Pha is at our university?"

Yo begins to shake his head. "He wouldn't...would he? He wanted to be a doctor. Why wouldn't he go to to a medical school?"

"Maybe he wants to follow you." Ming wiggles his eye brows mischievously at Yo. "You used to tell everybody what your dream school was. Maybe he beat you to it so he can bully you again."

Yo looks off into space as he thinks this possibility over. There is no way he and Phana would wind up at the same university. Phana made his days in high school so hard to deal with, he often spent his days trying to avoid Phana and his friends.

As a freshman, Yo was completely infatuated with Phana. Phana was tall and athletic and was one of the most popular boys in the entire school. In fact, all three of them were; Phana and his two friends, Beam and Kit. They drove all the girls crazy with a just a single look. Tall Phana, with his model looks; Pretty Beam, with his slim body and white skin; and tiny Kit, with his small stature and adorable dimples. They were all completely different from each other, but beautiful just the same.

Yo shook his head. "That's crazy! Phana is the past, and the past is over. I will never see him again."

But even as he brushed away the idea, a small thought lingered in the back of his head. Phana couldn't possibly be at his dream university, could he?