My Little Mind Reader

14. Attraction

Kit's POV

The last few days had been pretty difficult for Pha. He watched Yo doing Moon and Star practice, but he wasn't expected to be there all the time anymore. The new semester had started so Beam and I forced him to attend. We didn't think that watching Yo dance was a good reason to fail all our classes by skipping lectures. Pha didn't agree, so we spent a lot of time arguing about it.

Whenever we did have free time, Pha wanted to be near Yo. He would stare in hopeless adoration. It was a little bit disgusting, but I envied the way Pha loved Yo. He seemed to love him completely, beyond reason or logic. I wanted to feel that for someone and I hoped someone would feel that way for me someday. In the meantime, I just hoped that Yo would eventually return my friend's affection.

When Pha first started following Yo, I didn't think the kid even knew that Pha liked him. He was polite, and friendly, but never seemed more than that. It had come as a shock to know that Pha had been stalking him. Why didn't he just ask Yo out? Beam answered that for me, Pha always had people asking him out, but he never had to make any effort before. The poor guy just had no idea what to do.

"Hey guys," Forth walked up, talking to us. "Still stalking Yo?"

"It's not stalking if you don't hide," Pha said quickly. Forth and Beam had been teasing him relentlessly. For Pha's part, he was definitely annoyed by all the laughter at his expense, but he refused to give up the chance to see Yo, so he was putting up with it.

"I never thought I would live to see the day when you liked someone else as much as you like yourself," Forth said, watching Pha, who was trying to ignore him. "Not so easy when it's your heart on the line, now is it?"

"Give him a break," I stepped in, feeling a little bad for my friend. True, he'd never risked anything in his past relationships because he never cared that much, but everyone was afraid of rejection.

"Fine. I just wanted to say that I'm weirdly proud of you, Pha," Forth said. "I thought you'd give up at the first sign of resistance, but you been handling all the taunting about your stalking activities pretty well and you stood your ground with New."

"Thanks, I think," Pha said. Even I was not sure if that was supposed to be a compliment about his current behavior or a slight about his past. "I know that no one thinks I'm good enough for Yo. But I'm going to do whatever it takes to deserve him."

"I wish you luck," Forth replied. "Just don't forget what I told you before. Don't hurt him, or I'll hurt you."

Threats now? I didn't realize how much Pha liked that kid. I'd never seen him willing to risk being mocked or even being doubted for anyone before. In any of his prior relationships, I was sure Pha would have given up already.

We all turned our eyes back to the Moon and Star practice, where Yo was happily dancing with his little partner. From the looks Pha sometimes gave that poor girl, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he was sending her hate mail. She hadn't done anything other than dance with Yo and talk to or smile at him. But Pha was definitely wishing she would suddenly drop out of school and move to another country. He would probably pack her bags and pay for her taxi.

At each break, Yo and Ming would drink some water and sit down to talk, often with Forth or one of the bodyguards and some friends. Pha didn't seem as concerned about Ming, but I couldn't help wondering. Ming was tall, good looking, protective, and always there. In fact, I'd rarely seen Ming at all when he wasn't right next to Yo. Ming's devotion was another thing that Yo had that I envied. Envy wasn't an emotion I was used to feeling and it made me slightly uncomfortable.

I watched Ming for awhile, focusing on his dark brown eyes and silly grin. I had to admit, he was very handsome. He must have felt my staring, because he turned to look at me. His smile brightened and I couldn't help smiling back. As soon as I realized what I was doing, I quickly turned my smile into a scowl and looked down. Why was I even thinking about him?

When I looked back up, Yo had his hand on Ming's arm and was looking at me earnestly. As he watched me, Yo's eyes took on a decidedly mischievous twinkle. He stood up quickly, said something to his friends, then walked over to our table.

"Can I sit with you?" Yo asked, standing next to Pha and me. There was room for him to sit on the other side of the table, but Pha immediately made room between us and Yo sat down. Pha looked thrilled. Yo looked at me and asked, "I know Pha was the Moon for the Medical Faculty last year. Are you in the same faculty?"

"Yeah," I responded, "we're all planning to be doctors."

"Is that how you met?" Yo asked, looking between the three of us, but his eyes settling on me. "In your classes for med school?"

"No, actually," I answered again, "we all went to high school together and then got into the same program here."

"That's really lucky," Yo said, still looking at me. "What are the odds that three friends from high school would all want to become doctors and all get into the same university?"

"Well, we're all good students," Pha said, trying to draw Yo's attention to him, but Yo immediately returned his gaze to me.

"Are any of you in a relationship?" Yo asked. I choked a little on my drink when he seemed to be looking at me in particular.

Yo's hand was laying casually on the table next to mine, our fingers just touching. I was pretty sure that he was just making conversation, but I definitely didn't want him to be hitting on me. I mean, the kid is hot, but Pha was my friend. Pha was starting to look upset and as much as I was hoping to find someone to love, I didn't want to get between Pha and the object of his affection.

Before any of us could answer his last question, Yo turned toward Pha and asked, "The Moon and Star Competition is in a couple of days and I still haven't decided if I should play the piano or the guitar. You were there last year. What do you think would be better?"

The two of them started discussing the pros and cons of each option, and I felt like I could relax a little now that Pha had Yo's attention. Yo stayed with us for the rest of the break, talking mostly to Pha but including all of us in the conversation. He was good at that, making every one feel included. My thoughts turned back to Ming several times, but I was determined to keep my eyes on my own group of friends.