Chapter 19 — Appointment Under the Stars

In the days after her father's call, Ngoc Han tried to bury herself in work more than ever, as a way to avoid having to face directly the insecurity that was still smoldering in her heart. She took on the additional responsibility of checking the entire presentation content, volunteered to stay late to support the technical team, and even arbitrarily contacted two other small sponsors without consulting Nhat Quang first.

On Wednesday afternoon, when Ngoc Han went to the club room after school, she overheard the conversation between Nhat Quang and Thanh Ha from outside the door, when neither of them knew she had arrived.

"I think we should reduce Ngoc Han's work next week," Nhat Quang said, his voice filled with worry. "He looks so tired, and with family matters, I'm afraid if I let him take on so many things, he'll collapse before the event."

"Are you going to do that without consulting him first?" Thanh Ha asked again, a bit surprised.

"I think just deciding first and announcing it later will help him avoid having to argue or feel guilty," Nhat Quang replied. "Ngoc Han is the type of person who, if asked first, will definitely refuse and try to take everything into her own hands, even though she's exhausted. Sometimes she has to decide for him because she's worried about him."

Hearing that, Ngoc Han felt a stream of complex emotions welling up in her heart - both touched by Nhat Quang's concern and a bit uncomfortable, as if she had just been put in the position of someone who was not capable of deciding for her own life and her own limits.

She entered the room, trying to keep a neutral expression, but Nhat Quang, who was sensitive to the slightest changes in her expression, immediately realized something was wrong.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, his voice a bit confused.

"Yes," Ngoc Han replied, her voice unable to hide the hurt. "Are you going to make decisions for me without consulting me first?"

"I'm just trying to protect you," Nhat Quang explained, his voice somewhat confused at the unexpected reaction. "I see you're under too much pressure at the same time. I don't want you to collapse because you're taking on too many things."

"But that's my choice," Ngoc Han said, her voice starting to tremble with pent-up emotions. "Over the years, I've gotten used to having every important decision in my life decided by someone else - my dad deciding when to come home, when to be absent, never asking me first. Now, when I first started learning to be independent, deciding for myself what I would do, how much I could endure, you did the same thing, albeit for better reasons."

Nhat Quang was stunned by that unexpected comparison, realizing the seriousness of Ngoc Han's feelings was far beyond what he initially imagined. "I... I didn't mean that," he said, sounding somewhat panicked. "I just simply wanted to lighten your burden, I didn't think it would make you feel that way."

"I know you mean well," Ngoc Han said, her voice softening a bit but the hurt still intact. "But being good doesn't mean you have the right to make decisions for me without asking. I need you to trust me enough to ask me first, to give me the right to choose, even if that choice may not be the best in your opinion."

The atmosphere between the two became more tense and heavier than at any time since they started this relationship. Thanh Ha, feeling the necessary privacy of the conversation, quietly left the room, leaving the two people facing each other in the oppressive atmosphere.

"I'm sorry," Nhat Quang finally spoke, his voice sincere but still a little confused. "I won't arbitrarily decide for you anymore. But I also hope you understand, sometimes I worry about you so much that I don't know how to express that concern properly."

"I understand," Ngoc Han replied, her voice had softened a lot, although there was still some turmoil in her heart. "But next time, please talk to me first, instead of making a decision yourself and then announcing it. That's the most important thing I need from you right now."

The two stood facing each other in silence for a long moment, both realizing that this was the first time they had truly seriously disagreed since their relationship had begun to become special. Unlike previous petty misunderstandings, this one was a real clash over how each person viewed boundaries and respect in a relationship.

"Are we okay?" Nhat Quang asked, his voice a bit worried when he saw Ngoc Han still keeping a certain distance.

"I need some time to think," Ngoc Han replied, her voice honest. "Not because I'm angry with you, but because I need to sort out the mixed emotions in my heart right now, both about my father and about what just happened between us."

Nhat Quang nodded, although his eyes were still slightly worried, not daring to force him further. "I'll wait, no matter how long it takes you."

Ngoc Han left the activity room earlier than usual that day, walking in the deserted hallway of the school late in the afternoon, her mind filled with hundreds of tangles. She wondered if she was overreacting to an act of sincere love, or if this was truly a problem that needed to be thoroughly resolved before it became a deeper rift in the relationship she cherished so much. The sky that afternoon was tinged with a light gray color, dense clouds completely obscured the sunlight, as if reflecting the gloomy mood that was covering her heart at the moment, amid all the pressures from family, study, and now even emotions, seemed to be forcing her into a corner with no way out at the same time.

On the way home, she stopped by a small park near her house and sat down on the familiar stone bench where she and Nhat Quang had had many warm conversations before. She took out her phone, intending to text Yen Nhi to vent her feelings, but then stopped, put the phone in her pocket, just sat quietly watching the flow of people passing by, letting her mind freely drift with endless thoughts that had no beginning or end.

She thought about her father, about the years growing up with an empty space in the form of someone who always promised but was rarely present. She thought about how she gradually learned to be independent, to make her own decisions for her life, sometimes to the extreme, always trying to prove that she did not need to rely on anyone. And now, when Nhat Quang, the person she trusted and loved, accidentally touched that deep fear - the fear of someone else deciding on her fate without being consulted - her violent reaction was probably not simply about the incident that had just happened, but also a layer of emotions that had accumulated a long time ago.

Realizing that, Ngoc Han felt her heart calm down a bit. She understood that Nhat Quang had no bad intentions, but simply did not know how to show concern in a way that was appropriate for the private wounds she carried. But at the same time, she also realized that, in order for this relationship to be truly sustainable, both of them need to learn how to communicate more frankly, instead of letting one person silently shoulder the burden or decide for the other, no matter how good their intentions.

It was already dark when Ngoc Han stood up to leave the park, walking slowly on the familiar path leading home, her heart still in disarray but less heavy than before. She told herself that tomorrow, when her mind was calmer, she would proactively find Nhat Quang to talk frankly, not to blame, but to find a way to understand each other better together, before today's small gap had a chance to grow into an unbridgeable abyss.

When she got home, she saw her mother waiting at the dining table, on the table was a bowl of porridge still slightly steaming. "I heard you said you didn't have lunch, so I cooked some porridge for you to eat," Ms. Lan said, pushing the bowl of porridge toward her daughter. "What's wrong with your sad face?"

Ngoc Han sat down and briefly recounted the conversation with Nhat Quang, not hiding the conflicting emotions swirling in her heart. Ms. Lan listened attentively, did not rush to comment, just quietly scooped another spoon of porridge for her child.

"You know," Ms. Lan finally spoke, her voice thoughtful, "in the past, your mother and father also had similar conflicts. Your father often had the habit of deciding everything in the house and then telling me, because he wanted to be good for me and the family. But gradually, that made me feel like an outsider in my own marriage."

"So what did mom do to solve it?" Ngoc Han asked, listening attentively.

"I told your father directly, just like you just did with Nhat Quang," Ms. Lan replied, her eyes distant as if recalling an old memory. "There were periods when it worked, your father changed and asked my mother's opinion more. But then the pressure of work, the long trips to the beach, gradually pulled the two of you apart in a different way. I don't want to tell this story to make you pessimistic about Nhat Quang, I just think, the most important thing is not that there is never a conflict, but whether you are both willing to resolve it together or not."

Ngoc Han nodded, feeling somewhat comforted by that rare sincere sharing from her mother. She scooped a spoonful of porridge, feeling the warmth spread throughout her body, like a small relief in the middle of a day full of emotional turmoil.