Chapter 4 — Betrothed to the Song Heir

My parents were startled out of their chairs by the sudden, piercing shriek from Tong Duong Trach. They rushed over to him, faces pale with concern.

"What is it? Where are you hurt?"

They quickly spotted the tiny poodle, My My, standing nearby. It turned out that Tong Duong Trach had been profoundly rattled. He had scrambled onto my lap in a princess-style pose, clutching me tightly, his face buried deep into the crook of my neck.

"Boo-hoo!"

I was rendered speechless.

"Big sister, big sister, who is this man?" the little neighbor girl asked, walking over while holding the poodle.

"Aaaah!"

Tong Duong Trach, having only just begun to calm down, nearly fainted again. I had to quickly tell the girl to take My My away.

"This man is my fiance," I explained to the little girl. "He can't help but scream whenever he sees a dog. Please keep My My away from him."

"Eww, what a coward," the girl muttered, pouting. "My My is so cute and well-behaved."

Tong Duong Trach clung to me, desperate to retort but unable to find the words; he could only glare fiercely at the departing dog. Once the poodle was out of sight, he finally dared to climb off me. He leaned against the table, blew a stray lock of hair from his forehead, and tried to hide the fact that his legs were still trembling. My parents moved to support him, but he raised a hand to stop them. He crossed his legs, scanned the room to ensure there were no flowers—or threats—in sight, and then, with a pair of chopsticks held firmly between his lips, began performing the eighth set of national radio gymnastics right there by the dining table. He claimed it was for physical conditioning and desensitization training.

"Don't mind me, don't mind me! I'll be perfectly fine once I finish the final move!"

The dinner finally came to an end. I was forced to take Tong Duong Trach for a walk to settle the meal. I sat on the swing while he stood behind me, pushing it with gentle, measured force. Still, his intense gaze felt as though it were burning holes into my back. This arranged fiance of mine was terrified of dogs, yet he clung to me like a stray puppy. He was a bit foolish. No, that wasn't quite right—he was actually quite adorable.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

"Aaaah!"

"Sorry, brother and sister, My My’s toy fell over here."

I tumbled off the swing and landed hard on the grass. I shut my eyes in sheer defeat.

Just as I caught sight of the dog, my body’s self-preservation mechanism kicked in, moving faster than my brain could process. I shot up from the swing in a flash. However, my reactive instincts were no match for the mechanism that had been honed by Tong Duong Trach for twenty-two years. He was exactly 0.0001 seconds faster than me; he let go of the swing and let out a scream, only to be struck by the momentum of the swinging seat. He went rigid, sprawled out in a perfect star shape, and crashed onto the lawn.

I scrambled to pull him up from the ground, checking his face to make sure he hadn't injured himself. I laid him flat on the grass and pressed firmly on his philtrum.

"Tong Duong Trach, Tong Duong Trach, don't scare me like this!"

I shook him repeatedly. If anything happened to him at my home, the Tong family would never forgive me. When he showed no reaction, my palms began to sweat. I pressed my ear against his chest to listen for a heartbeat. It was still there. I let out a sigh of relief; at least I wouldn't need to perform CPR.

"Tong Duong Trach?" I leaned in closer, patting his cheeks.

He remained motionless, but then, two thin trails of blood began to seep from his nose.

"Thuy Ham… you smell so good…"

Tong Duong Trach kept his eyes closed and murmured, "Could you give me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?" He puckered his lips.

I poked his forehead with my finger. "Get up already. You scared me to death."

He leaned into me, rubbing his cheek against mine. "Poke me again! Your fingers smell so, so good."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "No."

"Big sister, Thuy Ham…"

"No."

"Big sister, big sister!"

I turned his head and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "It's late. You should go home."

His entire face turned beet red. He sat in the car in a daze, letting me fasten his seatbelt without a single protest.

The good news was that Tong Duong Trach was physically unharmed. The bad news was that being terrified by a dog twice in one day had left him in a state of nervous agitation. Now, he spent his days at home singing songs from children's cartoons. The elder Tong couple reached their limit and summoned me to their home that night. I delayed as long as I could, waiting for the noise-canceling headphones I had ordered online to arrive before finally heading over.

"Don't look at me like I'm just a sheep, the intelligence of the sheep is hard to imagine…"

As soon as I opened the door, I was greeted by the loud, "soul-stirring" singing of Tong Duong Trach. He was wearing a shirt printed with a cartoon lamb, shorts decorated with the entire village of lambs, and watermelon-shaped flip-flops. Seeing me enter, he fell silent instantly.

"Big sister, big sister, big sister…"