Chapter 14 — Appointment Under the Stars

Late one afternoon, when the club had ended its meeting and the other members had left, Ngoc Han was left alone to rearrange the equipment warehouse, preparing for the final technical inspection before the event. She didn't notice that Thuy Trang was still lingering, until she heard footsteps approaching.

"You stayed so late?" Thuy Trang asked, sitting on a nearby chair, observing Ngoc Han struggling with the cables.

"Yes, there are still a few things that need to be done," Ngoc Han replied, without stopping.

Thuy Trang was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke up, her voice somewhat serious, different from her usual cheerful attitude. "Ngoc Han, I think we should talk frankly with each other a bit."

Ngoc Han stopped, turned to look at Thuy Trang, a feeling of nervousness rose in her heart at that unexpected suggestion.

"I noticed that you seem uncomfortable every time you see me and Nhat Quang talking," Thuy Trang said directly, without beating around the bush. "I don't blame you, I just think I should clarify everything to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings."

Ngoc Han was silent, not knowing whether to deny or admit that feeling, in the end she just nodded slightly, waiting for Thuy Trang to continue.

"When we were kids, Nhat Quang and I were very close, so close that many people around us teased us and said that when we grew up, we would love each other," Thuy Trang said, her voice slow and full of nostalgia. "One time, right before I moved away, we... joked that we would keep in touch, that we would realize our dream of starting an astronomy club together, and maybe in the future we would become a real couple."

That sentence made Ngoc Han's heart tighten, even though she tried to prepare herself before hearing Thuy Trang speak.

"But that's just a joke for twelve-year-olds," Thuy Trang continued, her voice becoming softer. "After I moved away, we gradually lost contact, and each of our lives took a different direction. I have no intention of bringing it up again, and to be honest, I no longer have those feelings."

"So why are you telling me this?" Ngoc Han asked, her voice shaking a bit.

"Because I think you deserve to know the truth, instead of always guessing in your heart," Thuy Trang replied, her eyes sincere. "I clearly see how much Nhat Quang cares about you. The way he talks about you, the way his eyes light up every time he talks about what the two of you have built together — that's not the way a person talks about normal friends."

Ngoc Han remained silent, her emotions mixed between relief and a bit of guilt for doubting someone who honestly had no bad intentions.

"I'm sorry for having bad thoughts about you," Ngoc Han said softly, bowing her head.

"It's okay," Thuy Trang smiled and waved her hand. "If I were in your position, I would probably think the same way. My boyfriend suddenly had a close old friend appear, who wouldn't be a little worried."

They both laughed, the tense atmosphere gradually dissipated, giving way to a new understanding between the two girls.

"So... you really don't like Nhat Quang anymore?" Ngoc Han asked, even though she knew this question was somewhat sudden.

"To be honest," Thuy Trang thought for a moment, "maybe there's still a little bit of it, a kind of nostalgia for what could have been. But I'm alert enough to know that nostalgia is not love, and I don't want to destroy the present happiness of a friend I cherish just because of a vague feeling from the past."

That sincere and mature answer made Ngoc Han admire Thuy Trang more than ever. She realized that, instead of continuing to harbor unreasonable insecurity, she should appreciate the straightforwardness and nobility that this new friend had just shown.

"Thank you for saying everything," Ngoc Han said, her voice sincere. "This really helps me a lot."

"Don't be polite," Thuy Trang replied, smiling. "We're all friends, right? Besides, I think you and I can become really close friends, not only because of Nhat Quang, but because of who you are."

Ngoc Han nodded, feeling a new warmth spread in her heart, different from the persistent feeling of insecurity that had followed her for the past few weeks. She realized that sometimes, the best way to resolve a fear is not to avoid it, but to face it directly, and in this case, Thuy Trang's sincerity helped her do that much easier than she thought.

The two continued to sit for a while, the conversation gradually turned to lighter topics - Thuy Trang talked about her years living abroad, about the initial feeling of being lost when having to learn a new language, making friends in a completely strange environment, without a single person she knew before. She talked about the evenings when she called home, crying because she missed Vietnam, missed familiar streets, and missed the childhood friends she was forced to leave.

"Maybe that's why I cherish old relationships more than others," Thuy Trang confided, her eyes slightly distant. "But I also learned that sometimes you have to know how to let go of things in the past to be able to truly live fully in the present. The Nhat Quang of now, the person who is building this club, the person who has you by his side, is very different from the boy I knew in seventh grade."

"Are you sad, when you realize things have changed so much?" Ngoc Han asked, her voice full of sincere sympathy.

"A little bit, but it's also more fun," Thuy Trang smiled. "Because I see him growing up in a beautiful way, finding something — and someone — that makes him truly happy. That's the most important thing, more than any childish promise from ten years ago."

When the two left the club room, the afternoon sky had turned pale orange, the last sunlight of the day spreading across the deserted schoolyard. Ngoc Han felt much lighter than when entering the conversation, as if an invisible rock that had been weighing heavily on her chest for the past few weeks had just been removed.

On the way home, she immediately texted Yen Nhi, recounting the entire conversation with Thuy Trang. "I feel so relieved," she wrote. "It turns out it was all just my imagination and worrying too much."

"I told you it would be better to just talk frankly," Yen Nhi texted back, along with a triumphant smile emoji. "Now you can wholeheartedly focus on the upcoming event, no more worries."

Ngoc Han smiled looking at the phone screen, her heart filled with an indescribable feeling of gratitude - not only for Yen Nhi for always patiently listening, but also for Thuy Trang, who was courageous and sincere enough to clear up a misunderstanding that could have smoldered forever if no one had spoken up first.

That evening, when Nhat Quang called as usual to update work progress, Ngoc Han decided to recount the entire conversation with Thuy Trang, without hiding any details, including the selfish and jealous thoughts she had been harboring in her heart for the past few weeks.

"Did you really think like that?" Nhat Quang asked, his voice mixed with surprise and guilt. "I'm sorry for not paying enough attention to realize you were upset inside. I should have taken the initiative to speak more clearly from the beginning, instead of letting you guess on your own like that."

"It's not your fault," Ngoc Han reassured, her voice gentle. "That's my own problem, the old insecurity that I've been carrying around for a long time. Whenever there's something uncertain, I quickly imagine the worst. I need to learn to trust more, instead of letting fear control my thoughts."

"Even so, I still want you to know," Nhat Quang said, his voice becoming more serious and sincere, "that you have nothing to worry about. Thuy Trang is a precious old friend, but you — you are the person I choose to look up at the sky with every night, the person who makes me want to become a better version of myself. No amount of the past can change that."

Those words made Ngoc Han's heart strangely warm, completely dispelling the last remaining ripples of insecurity in her heart. She realized that perhaps love is not about never feeling insecure or afraid, but about learning to face those feelings honestly, finding ways to overcome them together, instead of letting them silently gnaw at the relationship from the inside.

"Thank you," she said softly, her voice filled with emotion. "Thank you for always being patient with me, even though sometimes I know I'm not always easy to understand."

"That's what I want to do," Nhat Quang replied, his voice as gentle as the moonlight filtering through her room's window at that moment. "We still have many starry nights ahead to explore together, right?"

Ngoc Han smiled, looking out at the night sky gradually dotting the first stars, feeling more at peace than ever since the day she reluctantly stepped into the Astronomy Club living room not long ago.