My Little Mind Reader

26. When It's Over

Kit's POV

One day, everything was fine. Pha was so happy it was like he was on cloud nine all the time. The next day, Pha was more angry than I'd ever seen him. He wanted nothing to do with Yo. He stopped responding to Yo's texts and wouldn't answer his calls. In the past, he'd been relieved when he finally ended things with his girlfriend. But when he ended things with Yo, he was constantly furious. Like a wounded animal, clawing at anyone who tried to get close.

Beam and I had been walking around on eggshells for the past two days, trying not to upset Pha. He didn't give the impression of someone who had moved on. It was more like he felt betrayed, but we didn't know what Yo could have done to deserve this attitude. When Yo came over to talk to him at lunch, we couldn't understand Pha's reaction. He barely even spoke, but his eyes were like ice.

"Then I won't ever touch you again," Yo said as he walked away, Ming right behind him. Pha's eyes filled with tears as he watched Yo leave, but Yo never looked back. What was happening?

"Pha," Beam said, watching as Pha sobbed with his head on the table. "What's going on?"

"You've never been like this before," I said, wishing I could help my friend. I'd never seen him so hurt.

Without speaking, Pha pulled out his phone and showed us a picture. It was a picture of Yo walking into a hotel with two boys. They looked like identical twins, about the same age as Yo. One of them was clinging tightly to Yo's side. It wasn't a very clear picture, but you could see that both boys wore shirts that exposed too much skin.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, looking up at his tear streaked face.

"Someone sent it to me," he replied.

"Who?" Beam asked, looking carefully at the picture.

"I don't know," he said miserably. "I've never seen the number before and when I called back it said it was no longer in service."

"This could be a fake," I said, trying to reason with Pha. "A picture doesn't prove anything."

"He didn't tell me where he was," Pha said, his tears coming back full force.

"You showed this to him?" Beam asked. "Did you ask him what happened?"

"No," Pha said, putting his head back on the table to hide his face. "He was walking into a hotel! It's obvious isn't it? I asked him where he was and he didn't answer. That's all I need to know."

Pha kept his face down on the table, holding back more sobs. I wanted to help him, but I had no idea what to do. We had all seen how Yo and Pha looked at each other. I didn't think Yo would hurt Pha that way. Cheating wasn't something I could imagine Yo doing. He was too sweet, too innocent. Something was definitely off. A person who had nothing to hide wouldn't have sent that picture anonymously.

Before handing Pha's phone back to him, I sent a copy of the picture to my phone. Pha skipped the rest of our classes, heading to his dorms to try to get some sleep. It looked like he needed it. From what I had seen, I'm betting he hadn't had much sleep since he received that picture.

"Kit, there's something weird going on with that picture," Beam said as we walked out of our last activity for the day.

"Do you think it was altered?" I asked, hoping we could find some proof that would vindicate Yo and make Pha happy again.

"No, but I don't think Yo would do something like that," he said, rubbing his temples like he had a headache. "And I know I've seen those boys before."

"Where?" I asked. If we could find them, maybe they would tell us what happened. Beam looked confused for a minute, then his expression cleared.

"At the Science Faculty, I'm sure they were helping Yo prepare for the Freshman Games," he said, sounding excited. "If we find them, at least Pha would know if it's true or not."

That night, I texted Ming. What Pha had done didn't seem fair, so I wanted Ming to know what was going on at least. I sent him the picture and told him what Pha said. His response was five words, "Thanks for letting me know."

Fifteen minutes later I got a text from Beam telling me that Forth was livid about Pha's behavior. In a fight between Forth and Pha, I wasn't sure who would come out on top, but I knew it was coming. I could only hope we could keep those two from killing each other and somehow maintain our friendship.

It wasn't long before we found out how bad it could be. On Wednesday, Forth caught up to us as we walked over to get some breakfast before we had to go to classes.

"We need to talk," Forth said. He stood in front of Pha, blocking his way, with a look full of anger. Pha tried to ignore him, using his shoulder to nudge Forth out of the way, but Forth wasn't backing down. "You didn't even have the guts to break up with him in person. You're just going to act like he never existed?"

Pha looked up, standing tall, but before he could say a word, Forth punched him in the face. Pha fell backward, dropping his bag and Forth immediately punched him again. Pha went down, not even having thrown a punch. It didn't even look like he was trying.

"Too much of a chicken shit to fight back?" Forth demanded, looking annoyed. "I was going to break your bones, like I promised, but it won't be fun if you don't fight back. Get up! Go ahead, I'll give you one free shot."

That was it for Pha, he jumped up and rammed right into Forth's stomach, knocking them both down to the pavement. Unfortunately, Pha didn't seem to have much of a strategy, he just knocked them both down and then took a couple of punches from Forth before crumbling again.

Before Forth could make good on his promise to break bones, which appeared to be imminent, Yo came running up. He was breathing hard and Ming was right behind him.

"Stop!" Yo said, standing between Forth and Pha. "Please."

"Why are you protecting him?" Forth cried out, trying to reach for Pha. "This piece of shit never deserved you."

"If you do this, you're going to get in trouble," Yo said, continuing to stand in Forth's way. "You might even be expelled. Please, Forth. He's not worth it."

Up until now, Pha was just sitting on the pavement, staring at Yo. But when he heard what Yo had to say, he suddenly stood up again.

"I'm not worth it?" Pha yelled, pushing Yo into Forth. "You're the one who isn't worth it!"

Forth caught Yo before he could fall. I expected Yo to be angry, but he turned around calmly, facing Pha, "I thought we understood each other. I actually thought you were someone I could trust. Now I know better."

Then Yo walked away, followed quickly by Ming and Forth. Pha stared after them, tears in his eyes again. He was completely shattered.

Author's Note: I haven't said before, but someone asked a question about the location of the bodyguards when certain things are happening in the story. For example, when Pha kisses Yo earlier, where are the bodyguards? Well, they're watching out of sight, like bodyguards do. They aren't supposed to interfere in Yo's day to day life. Yo thinks of them more like his brothers, and even if I don't mention them, they are in the background. Occasionally, I am sure they want to kill Pha or get embarrassed when they see things they don't want to see, but that's the job. So in case any of you are wondering, yes, the bodyguards are always there, in the background, keeping baby Yo safe from physical harm. Too bad they can't keep him safe from pain and sadness though.