Chapter 10 — Appointment Under the Stars

A month passed quickly in the non-stop busyness of event preparation. The club has completed most of the logistics — the rooftop permit has been approved by the school board, the guest list includes a local newspaper reporter who has confirmed attendance, and the number of new registered members continues to grow with each meeting.

Ngoc Han has now become one of the most active members of the club, regularly taking on the role of connection between small groups in charge of different stages of work. She also clearly noticed a change in herself — no longer the closed-off girl who avoided everything related to the night sky like four months ago, but a person willing to stand in front of the crowd, confidently sharing her newfound passion.

"I'm happy because I found something truly meaningful," Ms. Lan commented during a dinner, her eyes filled with pride as she watched her daughter passionately talk about the progress of event preparation. "I'm glad that the decision to join that club turned out to be so right."

"I didn't expect it either, Mom," Ngoc Han admitted, smiling. "At first I only joined because I had to."

"I've noticed that you often mention a friend named Nhat Quang," Ms. Lan said, her voice was slightly probing, her eyes were observant like a mother who doesn't miss anything. "Is he the club president?"

"Yes, mom," Ngoc Han replied, her cheeks blushing slightly at that unexpected question. "He's very good, persistent, kind."

"It sounds like you like him a lot," Ms. Lan smiled softly, without asking further questions, just leaving a vague and meaningful sentence before standing up to clean up the dishes. "Let's have a chance to invite him to our house so mom can meet him."

Ngoc Han bowed her head and did not respond immediately, but in her heart thought that perhaps it was time for her to seriously think about introducing Nhat Quang to her family, a step that she had never dared to imagine with anyone before.

The relationship between her and Nhat Quang also continues to develop at a natural, warm pace. Although no one has officially said the word "love" to each other, they both implicitly understand that there is a special connection growing between them, expressed through every small gesture of care, every glance they exchange longer than necessary during their working sessions.

Yen Nhi, the most astute observer among Ngoc Han's friends, noticed that change a long time ago. "When are you and Nhat Quang going to admit that you like each other?" She asked directly one afternoon when the two of us sat down to eat together.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ngoc Han replied, although her awkward tone betrayed everything.

"Come on, everyone has seen it," Yen Nhi laughed, shaking her head at her friend's unconvincing denial. "The way you talk about him, the way your eyes light up every time you tell club stories, it's clearly more than just a normal friendship."

Ngoc Han was silent, not denying but also not ready to admit it out loud, just smiled shyly, letting that silence speak for itself to some extent.

On Friday afternoon, when the group was meeting to discuss the final preparations before entering the sprint phase of July, Nhat Quang's phone suddenly rang. He looked at the screen, paused for a second before picking up the phone, walking out of the room to hear more clearly.

Ngoc Han, sitting near the door, accidentally heard the first few sentences of the conversation.

"Thuy Trang? You... have you returned to Vietnam?"

That name made Ngoc Han pause, an indescribable feeling of curiosity rose in her heart. She had never heard Nhat Quang mention anyone named Thuy Trang before, but his tone when he spoke was clearly surprised and somewhat emotional.

A few minutes later, Nhat Quang returned to the meeting room, his face still slightly confused, making other members also notice the difference.

"Are you okay?" Thanh Ha asked, looking at him with worried eyes.

"It's okay, it's just... an old friend just called," Nhat Quang replied, trying to regain his familiar calmness, though not entirely successful. "She just moved back to Vietnam after many years living abroad and wants to meet everyone again."

"What kind of old friend makes you so confused?" Another male friend teased, not realizing the hidden sensitivity in that joking question, making the whole group burst into laughter.

"Just childhood friends," Nhat Quang replied, trying to change the subject back to the unfinished work. "Let's continue to discuss the arrangement of the observation area for guests."

The meeting continued, the group discussed in detail how to arrange the waiting area, the main observation area, and even a souvenir photo corner for guests attending the event. Thanh Ha further proposed preparing a small bulletin board introducing the history of the Perseids meteor shower, while the two men in charge of engineering reported on the progress of upgrading the telescope, ensuring the sharpest images possible for the night of the event.

The meeting continued as usual, but Ngoc Han still noticed that Nhat Quang was occasionally absent-minded, his eyes distant as if thinking about something unrelated to the work at hand. She didn't ask further, but she couldn't help but feel a little vaguely worried, even though she didn't quite understand why she felt that way in front of a completely unfamiliar name.

After the meeting, when seeing Ngoc Han off, Nhat Quang still seemed distracted, even though he tried to act normal.

"That old friend," Ngoc Han finally couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked softly as the two passed by the small park near the school, "must be very close to you, right?"

"Yes," Nhat Quang nodded, his voice a bit distant. "Thuy Trang was my best friend when I was little, before she moved abroad to live with her family in seventh grade. We... had many memories in common."

"Did he return to Vietnam?" Ngoc Han continued asking, trying to keep her voice normal even though a vague feeling of insecurity began to arise in her heart.

"It seems so," Nhat Quang replied. "He said he wanted to see everyone again, maybe visit the club next week."

"Are you happy to hear of his return?" Ngoc Han asked, trying to keep her voice natural, even though inside she was waiting for the answer with an inexplicable nervousness.

"It's fun," Nhat Quang replied, without hesitation. "We used to be very close, it's a shame that we lost touch for many years. But..." he hesitated for a moment, as if he was pondering something, "it's a bit strange, because we haven't talked for a long time, I wonder if we're still as compatible as before."

That answer, even though there was nothing suspicious, still made Ngoc Han feel a vague insecurity continuing to creep into her heart, like a small cloud suddenly covering a corner of the already clear sky.

Ngoc Han nodded and did not ask further, but in her heart, a small question still silently lingered endlessly: what would the unexpected return of that childhood friend bring to the relationship that is gradually becoming special between her and Nhat Quang, and whether the vague feeling of insecurity creeping into her heart right now is a foreshadowing of the storms to come.

That night, she texted Yen Nhi to tell this story, not hiding the feeling of insecurity creeping into her heart.

"It's just childhood friends, nothing to worry about," Yen Nhi reassured via text message. "Maybe they're just normal friends, don't think too much."

"I hope so too," Ngoc Han texted back, although there were still some ripples in her heart that couldn't be completely dispelled. "It's just the way he reacts when he answers the phone that makes me wonder."

"Just let things happen naturally," Yen Nhi advised. "If there's anything to really worry about, trust me, you'll know right away."

Ngoc Han put down the phone, looked out the window where the night sky was gradually darkening, the first few stars began to appear. She took a deep breath, trying to put aside negative thoughts, telling herself that perhaps she was worrying too much about something that was unlikely to happen.

But even though she tried to reassure herself, when she lay down to prepare for sleep, the image of Nhat Quang pausing for a moment before answering the phone, his voice carrying both surprise and emotion when mentioning the name Thuy Trang, still appeared clearly in her mind, like a small speck that could not be completely removed from the clear blue sky that the two had built together over the past few months.