My Little Mind Reader

27. The Truth Hurts

Phana's POV

The world had stopped spinning. Everything in the universe was out of order. Yo cheated on me. Forth hated me. Ming blamed me. My friends were watching me like I was a madman. All I could do was watch the person I loved walk away from me like I meant nothing to him. Why did this hurt so much? Even though I hated Yo for what he did, I was dying without him.

When Forth came, I figured if he hit me enough, eventually I would at least lose consciousness and maybe this pain would stop. Then I saw Yo. For just a moment, I didn't care about his betrayal anymore. I just wanted him to hold me. But his words to Forth had been more than I could take. I lost my temper. Why I am the one who isn't worthy? You're the cheater! You're the one who broke my heart! Then he'd walked away again, and my world went black. Why do I still love him?

"Pha, we need to tell you something," Beam said while I dunked my head in the bathroom sink, trying to clean the blood off my face and clear my head.

"We know where you can find those boys from the picture," Kit added, twisting his hands together nervously. I just stared at them, I had no idea what to say.

"We thought if you talked to them, you could at least know for sure," Beam said, looking worried. "But we can just forget it, if you're not interested."

"Where did you find them?" I asked, suddenly thinking it might be a good idea. No more guessing. Knowing the dirty details would at least help me see how low Yo had fallen. Maybe I could get some closure.

I didn't care about my classes anyway, so we skipped the next one. We went to the Science Faculty and it all came together. I'd seen those boys before too. They were part of the Fairy Angels that Yo was always spending time with. Asking about identical twin boys led us right to them, and within 30 minutes, we were all sitting together in the shade of a large tree.

The boys, Jae and Zee, seemed nervous, but agreed to talk to us if their friends could stay. Zee had a brace on his ankle and both the boys looked like they'd recently been in a fight. They seemed nervous and didn't want to go somewhere private.

Why were they so nervous? Were they afraid I would beat them up for stealing my Yo? Maybe they did this kind of thing often? They were already bruised. Why did Yo want them? They were cute, I could see that, but I was much better looking. Why hadn't Yo loved me enough? What was so special about them?

"You're Phana, right?" Jae asked, looking uneasy. Their friends, Montri and Chang, were sitting with them as some kind of moral support. "Why do you want to talk to us?"

"Aren't you friends with Yo?" Beam asked.

"You're his friends from the Medical Faulty, I've noticed you before," Zee said, suddenly smiling. Both Zee and Jae seemed to feel happier after hearing Yo's name. "I can't believe he sent Med students to check on us. Yo's such a sweetie!"

"How do you know him?" Kit asked.

"Well he saved our lives, of course!" Zee exclaimed happily. "He keeps sending people to check on us too. He's been like an angel."

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling like I was missing something.

"Don't you know? Didn't he send you?" Jae asked, looking concerned again. "Maybe we should call Joss."

"So you know Yo's bodyguards?" Beam asked. They all nodded their heads yes, and seemed to calm down a little.

"Of course we know Joss, he was there that night," Zee said, smiling sweetly. "I was never so scared in my whole life. Yo took us to a hotel and stayed with us the whole time."

"You were afraid of Yo?" Kit tried to clarify. I was confused too. What was he talking about? His words weren't making any sense.

"Aren't you supposed to be Yo's friends?" Jae asked, giving his brother a signal that it was time to go. Zee seemed to be willing to talk happily about Yo, but Jae was looking at us in an anxious way. When we said something that didn't seem right, they both looked worried again. This time, Chang and Montri were moving to help Zee stand up.

"Wait, please," I said, feeling like my last life line was almost gone. "Yo and I are dating. Well, we were dating. Then I got this picture. That's why I came to find out what happened between you."

I showed them the picture and they looked at it for a minute in confusion before they turned back to me. Jae still looked nervous but sat back down. They kept looking at the picture, a strange combination of fear and sadness on their faces. A minute later, Jae finally started talking.

"That night, we were supposed to meet someone at a restaurant, but we got lost. We ran into a blind alley to get away from a group of guys that was chasing us," Jae said seriously.

"How does that relate to Yo?" Beam asked. I shushed him, not wanting to interrupt. I was afraid they would stop talking but I really needed answers.

"That's what I'm trying to explain. There was no way we could escape and those guys grabbed us. They were hurting us, but when they started ripping off our clothes and unzipping their pants, I knew it was going to get worse. I thought we were going to die," Jae said, his voice showing he still felt afraid. Now I understood why they didn't want to be alone with strangers, but it didn't explain why they went to a hotel room with Yo.

"Then Yo was there. He just came out of the darkness, like a guardian angel. He had all these men with him. He pulled one guy off me, while his men took care of the others. Then he and Joss took us to a hospital. He stayed with us, and even paid for our treatment. My ankle was sprained and we had some bruises and scrapes, but Yo saved us," Zee said. That dreamy smile was back on his face. The same smile he had every time he talked about Yo. I knew that smile, because it was the one I used to have when I talked about Yo too. "You're the person he's dating? I asked him out, you know, after he saved us. But he told me that he had someone special. You're really lucky."

"I don't think they're dating anymore," Jae said, giving me a hard look. "You thought he was sleeping with both of us behind your back? I haven't known him for a long time, but I know he's not that kind of guy."

I felt like an idiot. Had I misjudged my Yo so badly?

"He took us to a hotel because we were a both a mess and didn't feel safe. That must have been when this picture was taken," Jae said, moving on to the next part of the story. "He bought us clothes, since ours were ripped up. He even slept on the couch and had his security stand outside the door when we were too scared to stay alone."

"Joss came to double check our dorm rooms and put new locks on our doors. Yo came on Sunday to make sure we were feeling better. He thought of everything just to make us feel safe again. He texted today and said someone would come to check on us and arrange to have my ankle looked at in a couple of days. That's why I thought that he sent you," Zee finished, giving me a dirty look. "You really broke up with him over this picture? Don't you trust him at all?"

I didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound foolish. I hadn't trusted Yo. I'd trusted an anonymous picture. I hadn't even told him what was wrong. Why didn't he tell me himself? When I asked where he was, why didn't he tell me what happened?

"We already knew Yo, before this," Montri said. It was the first time he'd said anything. "We're in the same major, so we've spent time with him. He's a good person. He's our friend."

"Yeah, Yo's a sweetheart," Chang added. "At least we know he's single now."

"Don't even start thinking it, Fatty," Montri said. "That cutie wouldn't even look at you."

"Like you can talk," Chang responded angrily, "he never looked at you twice either!"

"Stop arguing," Montri whispered, but everyone heard him. He looked at the twins who were both cringing. "Jae and Zee are still a little nervous about loud noises."

"Besides," Zee said, straightening his shoulders and giving a valiant attempt at a bright smile, "If Yo's single, I already called dibs."

Yo hadn't betrayed me. He was walking around making the world a better place. He was helping people. Just like when he helped the lady in the mall parking lot. But after the way I've treated him for the last couple of days, I'm not sure if my Yo was ever going to forgive me.

The other boys in the group smiled at me, clearly amused when my expression turned dark. Of course, now that Yo was single, he'd have a line of people asking him out, and I was the idiot who let him go. Why was I so stupid? The boys stood up to go, still talking about the possibilities that Yo would choose one of them. As they left, Jae gave me a look filled with compassion. I didn't want his pity. I just wanted Yo back.