Chapter 6 — A Little Sweetness

21But now I cannot understand what Tham Mu is doing. I don't understand why you're still so nice to me. Is it because you like me? But you didn't like me in high school, how can you like me now? I'm afraid that if you continue to treat me well, I won't be able to stop relying on you. So I chose to stay away and keep my distance immediately. When I had difficulty with documents and didn't understand them clearly, I no longer asked Tham Muc, but looked up each one myself. But as soon as I frowned a bit, he, who was busy handling work, immediately stood up: "Don't you understand something?" Seeing him approaching, I quickly sat on the other side of the table: "No need, Mr. Tham, I can look it up myself." Seeing my determination not to come closer, Tham Muc frowned slightly, his voice softened: "Is something wrong?" Tham Muc's eyes were full of fatigue. Recently he was busy with a cooperation project with the Tran family. He hadn't had a proper rest in a few days. He must be very tired. I didn't dare look at him, my voice lowered: "Nothing, I just don't want to bother you." Tham Muc stood still, it seemed he noticed my distance. Tham Mu's eyes darkened, he was silent for a long time before saying: "Okay." 22 For several consecutive days, I intentionally avoided Tham Mu. But I do my work very meticulously, without making any mistakes. There were a few times he wanted to say something to me, but hesitated, and every time he called me back, he didn't know what to say. Those days, the atmosphere in the company was very heavy. I realized Tham Muc was sad, but still tried to keep my distance. Then one day, because of processing documents, I had to stay very late. At this time, there were only a few lights left in the office, Tham Muc had gone out to meet his partner, and there was only me left in the entire large building. I'm inherently afraid of the dark, so when I saw it was about to get dark, I quickly turned off the computer and prepared to go home. Arriving at the elevator, I saw a familiar figure, he seemed to be waiting for someone. The dim light made his face look colder, but his figure slightly bent down, not doing anything, just standing there quietly waiting. He looked a bit lonely, and it was difficult to describe the gentle feeling emanating from that image. I paused: "General Shen." 23 Shen Mu held a cigarette in his hand, the small flame in the darkness stood out strangely. Seeing me, he immediately stood up straight: "You're done, right? Let me take you home." "What are you doing here, didn't you go out to eat with General Manager Tran?" Tham Mu confusedly explained: "Finished early." He unconsciously reached out to take my bag: "I'll take you home, it's hard to catch a taxi now." I took a step back and shook my head: "No need, it's too much trouble." Tham Muc's eyes darkened: "Giang Dao, you've been avoiding me for a week now." I have never seen Tham Muc like this, for some reason my heart aches. I looked straight into his eyes: "Tham Muc, you like me, right?" Tham Muc pursed his lips, then he calmly admitted: "Like." My heart felt like someone had punched me hard, I was in debt, what was there to like? I tried to suppress the choking feeling in my throat, saying one word at a time: "But the person who rejected me in high school was you." Seeming to think of something, Tham Muc's hand tightened at his side: "I'm not refusing you." I smiled faintly: "Is that so? It's not important anymore. It's just teenage love, not worth worrying about. I just think we should keep our distance." Tham Muc's voice became hoarse and low: "So you want to have a cold war with me again like in high school, right?" I calmly replied: "Maybe." Tham Muc laughed, raised his head a bit, then looked at me with eyes that had regained their usual calmness.

His voice was low, a bit self-mocking: "Okay, that's good." Then he threw something in the trash. Under the light, I clearly saw that it was the key chain that I arbitrarily gave him in high school. Do you still keep it? Obviously very angry, but before leaving, he still couldn't help but turn around and call me: "Giang Dao." "My driver is waiting downstairs, he will take you home." 24 On the way home, Tham Muc's driver seemed to know something, and kept telling many good things about him the whole way. And I was silent and didn't say a word. It's clear that everything is over, between me and Tham Muc, it's considered okay at this point. Perhaps a miss is a miss, the time we met was not right, the time we met again was not right. I hugged my chest, but why does it hurt so much here? The car stopped in front of the apartment complex gate, I got out and was about to close the car door. Suddenly, the phone rang continuously, announcing a text message. I opened it and saw all voice messages from Tham Muc. The person who had just spoken so firmly, now the voice in the messages was filled with emotions, as if trying to control his sobs. "Giang Dao, I'm sorry, I regret it. I was just pretending, in fact I didn't want to keep a distance from you at all." "You said I rejected your confession in high school, which is completely wrong!" "I was just too stressed, my brain froze, I didn't know how to react properly. I didn't expect you to be the one." The person who confessed first, it should have been me!" "I was going to wait for you to finish your college entrance exam before telling you that you liked me, but you said it first. I was so happy that day that I didn't know what to say." "I kept thinking about seeing you again tomorrow, but when I got home, you blocked me right away." "I'm really inexperienced in love, at that time I didn't understand why you didn't answer my call, I was afraid you didn't like me anymore." "I really want to find you." to ask clearly, but it's an important stage for you, I don't dare to bother you."... Listening to his voice, it seems like he's been crying for a long time? I silently listened to all those voice messages, and didn't know how to react. I picked up my phone and started typing a message: "Don't you hate me? My family stopped helping you when you needed money the most. Your grandmother may have had surgery." Tham Muc replied immediately: "Giang Dao, your family has helped me, that is already very good, even if it stops later, it is reasonable. I was able to study thanks to Uncle Giang's help, how can I hate it?" His voice was gentle: "Don't worry, my grandmother is fine." I snorted, then typed again: "So why did you leave Tinh Thanh then? Why did you have to leave?" Tham Muc was silent for a moment and then replied: "Because I realized that in my situation at that time, I was not worthy of you. You were too young at that time, I had no right to stop you from meeting better people." "But Giang Dao," Tham Muc's voice trembled, "I never wanted to give up on you, you are really important to me."