Chapter 7 — Contract of the Heart

Rumors at Tan Viet High School spread faster than anyone could imagine, and Thảo Nguyên realized it right from Monday morning. As soon as she entered class, she saw a few curious eyes following her, accompanied by not-so-secret whispers.

"I heard that you and Đinh Việt Anh are dating?" A female student at the school newspaper table, named Kim Chi, leaned in to ask as soon as Thảo Nguyên put her bag down on the table.

"How... how did you know?" Thảo Nguyên asked again, trying to stay calm even though inside she was starting to panic.

"The whole school is rumored," Kim Chi replied, her eyes bright and excited as if she had just caught the hottest news of the week. "Hoàng Long said he saw the two of them studying together in the library, and then someone from class 12A5 said he saw him and Việt Anh eating tea together in the alley near his house. Is that true?"

Thảo Nguyên swallowed her saliva, silently blaming herself for not considering the possibility of being caught at the tea shop the day the contract was signed. She glanced over to look for Bích Vân, saw her friend standing near the classroom door, signaling with her eyes for the two of them to go out and talk privately.

"What now?" Thảo Nguyên asked quietly as the two stood in the corner of the empty hallway. "The whole school is talking about it, I can't deny it anymore."

"Then just accept it," Bích Vân shrugged, looking pragmatic. "Didn't you and Việt Anh agree that you don't need to hide it at school, just not take the initiative to make it public? Now that people are spreading rumors, just let them spread rumors, anyway, at home you're really playing the role of his girlfriend."

"But..." Thảo Nguyên rubbed her forehead, feeling like everything was going out of control faster than she expected. "I'm not mentally prepared for the whole school to know. What if someone is nosy and asks Việt Anh directly difficult questions?"

"Then you should text Việt Anh to know in advance, so he can prepare mentally," Bích Vân advised, her voice matter-of-factly. "It's better than letting him be surprised in a crowd."

Thảo Nguyên nodded, took out her phone and immediately texted Việt Anh: "Rumors about us have spread throughout the school. Someone saw us at the tea shop the other day. Be prepared."

The reply message came after just a few minutes: "I predicted this possibility when signing the contract, although I didn't think it would happen so soon. It's okay, I will handle it properly if anyone asks."

The calmness in Việt Anh's answer made Thảo Nguyên feel more secure, although she was still nervous all morning, feeling like there were hundreds of eyes watching her every time she walked through the hallway.

At recess, the situation she feared the most finally happened. A group of boys in the Robotics class, including the club's vice captain named Quang Huy, pulled up to Việt Anh's table and surrounded him with undisguised curiosity.

"Hey captain, I heard you're dating the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper?" Quang Huy asked directly, his voice full of teasing. "Since when? Why are you hiding it so well?"

Thảo Nguyên stood not far away, pretending to rearrange her books, but her ears were still listening, her heart was restless.

"There's nothing to hide," Việt Anh replied, his voice calm as usual, not at all flustered by the siege of his friends. "We met each other through studying and gradually developed feelings. There's nothing special to talk about."

"That's really your style," another friend laughed, "the love story you tell is like reporting project progress. 'Falling in love' sounds like it comes from some variable in the equation."

The whole group burst into laughter, the atmosphere became lighter than Thảo Nguyên thought. Việt Anh just shrugged, not showing any discomfort at the teasing, continuing to pack up his books as if nothing happened.

"So when are you going to let me eat candy?" Quang Huy continued to tease, "You two secretly love each other but it's only now being revealed, have you been in love for a long time?"

"Not long ago," Việt Anh replied, the answer happened to be strangely true, making Thảo Nguyên standing nearby almost burst into laughter because of the way he skillfully dodged the question without directly lying.

After the group of friends dispersed, Việt Anh walked to where Thảo Nguyên was standing, his expression still calm as if he had never experienced a small "interrogation" in the crowd.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

"Okay," he nodded. "Their questions are quite predictable, I just need to answer the truth to the minimum level necessary."

"You said 'developing feelings through studying' sounds so natural," Thảo Nguyên commented, unable to contain the admiration in her voice.

"Because that's basically almost true," Việt Anh replied, then seemingly realizing that his statement was somewhat ambiguous, he quickly added, "I mean, exactly according to the scenario we agreed upon."

Thảo Nguyên nodded and did not ask any more questions, although a small question flashed in her mind that she did not dare to answer herself: whether Việt Anh's last statement, that "approximately true" part, had any meaning other than the script or not.

That afternoon, at the school newspaper editorial board meeting, the story continued to be a topic of endless discussion. Bích Vân, as deputy editor, had to constantly push the story aside so the group could focus on next week's issue, but the other members' curious eyes still kept glancing towards Thảo Nguyên.

"Do you see," Bích Vân whispered as the two of them cleaned up their desks after the meeting, "this is no longer a secret just between the two of you anymore. The whole school is watching. You have to be more careful in how you behave in front of everyone, otherwise it will be easy to reveal."

"I know," Thảo Nguyên sighed, feeling that the burden of the original lie was now many times greater than what she imagined when she blurted it out in front of her grandmother. "I just didn't expect things to spread so quickly."

"Well, you and Việt Anh are both famous people in school," Van shrugged. "He's the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, he's the Robotics team captain who just won the regional championship. How can two famous people like each other fall in love, how can it not be rumored?"

Thảo Nguyên nodded, suddenly realizing a truth that she had never thought of when she started this plan - neither she nor Việt Anh were anonymous people in school, and that meant that their lie had now become a story that the whole school was watching, making every loophole, no matter how small, at risk of being discovered.

On the way home that afternoon, she texted Việt Anh: "Looks like this is bigger than we thought. The whole school knows. Are you worried?"

A few minutes later, the reply message appeared: "A little. But I think, as long as we remain consistent in our words and actions, there won't be any big problems. Just don't let anyone, including ourselves, forget where the line is between acting and the truth."

Thảo Nguyên read and reread that message many times, feeling there was a strange irony in Việt Anh's words - a reminder of boundaries, written by the very person for whom she felt that boundary was gradually becoming the vaguest.

That evening, while she was eating dinner with her grandmother, the house phone suddenly rang. Ms. Xuân picked up the phone, and after just a few greetings, her face lit up as if she had just received good news.

"Who's calling, ma'am?" Thảo Nguyên asked as she hung up the phone and returned to the dining table with a bright smile.

"Uncle Hoa, my friend at the nursing association," Mrs. Xuân replied, her voice full of excitement. "He heard from his daughter that you and Việt Anh are known to the whole school, you two are very famous, one works as a journalist, the other works as a robot, what a beautiful couple. He even asked me when will I have a wedding for you two."

"Grandma, we're only in the twelfth grade," Thảo Nguyên quickly stopped, almost choking on her half-eaten rice, feeling like her fake story had now spread beyond the school, into her grandmother's social network.

"I know, I was just joking with him," Mrs. Xuân laughed, waving her hand, but her eyes still couldn't hide the sparkling pride. "But you see, having a decent, talented boyfriend who is loved by everyone like that makes me very happy. Let's keep this relationship good, don't miss out on a good person like Việt Anh."

Thảo Nguyên nodded, smiled wryly, feeling both guilty and confused at the breakneck speed of the story's spread that she could no longer control. She wondered, if even her old friends in the nursing community had heard this news, how long would it be before some small loophole caused the entire fake story to collapse in front of everyone, and how heartbroken her grandmother, who believed in that love story absolutely, would be when she learned the truth.