Playing For Keeps

5. The Breakup

Wayo arrived at the canteen and immediately began scanning the tables for Ming, but he could not find him. He checked his watch and could feel himself growing impatient. Of all the times Ming chose to be late, why did it have to be this time?

Yo decided to take a seat in an empty spot at the end of a table. As he sat, he continually bounced his leg up and down in agitation. Where was Ming? He had something important to tell him!

It felt like hours had passed before Ming finally showed up, even though it had only been five minutes.

"Ai'Ming, over here!" Yo waved him over. Ming bounded over and smiled when he reached him.

"So, what's the big news? I also have some pretty big news to share." He said taking the seat across from Yo.

Neither of them noticed the three girls at the end of the table grow excited and start whispering and giggling after Ming arrived. Yo was used to the attention that Ming received on the daily. Ming had been getting attention like this since they were in high school together. No matter where Ming went, girls took notice and never hesitated to make it known that they were available.

Ming may come off as a super charming player, but he was faithful and never cheated on anyone he was dating. He was always polite, but never gave other girls more attention than necessary. So, it was a surprise that Ming wasn't in a happy relationship with his current girlfriend, Pang.

"So, tell me what's up." Ming asked as he placed his bag on the table beside him. He was happy that Yo wasn't yelling at him. Any other time, he would scold him first for being late. So, he figured that whatever he had to tell him must be really important.

"I'm going to be the Moon representative of my faculty!" Yo blurted out in a rush. He took a deep breath as if he had been waiting hours to get it off his chest.

Ming let out a cry of surprise. "Haha, brother! So, we will be in it together then!" He said happily.

Yo looked confused. "Do you mean...?"

"Yup. You're looking at the Moon representative for the Faculty of Engineering." Ming puffed out his chest proudly.

Yo was instantly comforted by the fact that he would know someone in the competition, and suddenly, being in the competition didn't seem so frightening anymore.

"Ming, how can I represent my faculty? This is a pageant. Don't you have to be good looking and have special talents to be in a pageant?" Yo's voice was laced with worry.

"Don't be silly! You have good looks. You might not be as handsome as me but you're cute enough." Ming teased.

"Aye!" Yo raised his fist as if he were going to hit him and Ming laughed.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! But really, you're not ugly, Yo." Ming said seriously. "You have always been insecure about your looks, but you should really do away with those negative feelings. And you have talents!"

"Yea, right. Name one." Yo rolled his eyes.

Ming felt a little irritated at his friend. It was common for Wayo to say some self-deprecating things about himself because he was insecure and had been for many years. In high school, Yo had been short, skinny, wore glasses, had acne, and a mouth filled with braces. But he had gone through a huge transformation this past summer and now that they were both freshmen in university, he was a little taller, his acne was gone, he wore contacts instead of glasses, and he had thickened up a bit so he wasn't so skinny.

He wasn't athletically fit like Ming was though. Where Ming had firm muscle tone, Wayo was soft. He hated working out, so he had never developed any muscles.