Chapter 5 — Cooking for you for the rest of your life

I said nothing. Bow your head to drink soup. The soup is a bit hot. On Wednesday afternoon of the second week of September, the company holds an annual health check. The group took the bus to the health examination center in the suburbs. In the car, I sat next to the window. Kieu Mong sat down next to me. She smelled faintly of grapefruit on her body. Not a perfume, more like a lingering shower gel scent.
“Mr. Ky.”
"YES."
“Do you have a girlfriend?”
She asked very suddenly, but her tone was extremely calm. It's like casually asking what's for lunch today. I tilted my head to look at her. She leaned against the back of the chair, facing forward, not looking at me.
"Not yet." I said.
“What about before?”
"There was once someone in college. After graduating, they broke up."
“Why did you break up?”
"Long distance love, then feelings fade away."
"OH."
Silence for a few seconds.
“So have you ever thought about what kind of person you want to find in the future?” she asked.
I think.
“There are no special requests.” I said. “It's okay to get along.”
“What is considered compatible?”
“For example…” I looked at the rapidly receding signs outside the window. "We can eat together, we don't need to talk too much and we don't feel embarrassed. When I cook, she just needs to sit next to me and doesn't need help. In the evening, everyone looks at each other's phone, occasionally saying a few words to each other. Things like that."
Kieu Mong turned her head to look at me. His eyes fell on the side of my face, feeling a bit heavy. I felt it, but I didn't turn around.
“Mr. Ky.” she said. “Aren't we still doing the things you just said right now?”
My breathing stopped for a beat. I turned my head. She is looking at me. The eyes were extremely serious, not smiling, not joking. The bus ran over a speed bump, the body of the bus jolted slightly. Her shoulder touched my upper arm.
“Kieu Mong.” I call.
"Yes?"
I opened my mouth. I wanted to say something, but I felt like there was a group of people on the bus and it wasn't appropriate to talk about this.
“Let's get there and talk.”
"Okay."
She didn't ask further. Turn forward, close your eyes and lean back in the chair. The shadow of the eyelashes falls on the cheekbones. I looked for three seconds then moved my eyes. The health examination ended quickly. On the car ride back, she fell asleep, her head tilted to rest on my shoulder. Her hair brushed against my chin. The smell of grapefruit immediately becomes much clearer. I didn't move. It wasn't until the bus stopped under the company building that I gently pushed her.
“Here we are.”
She opened her eyes sleepily, her eyes still unfocused. Then she saw the position she was leaning against me, her shoulders immediately stiffened.
“Did I oversleep?”
"YES."
“Still leaning on me?”
"YES."
Her ears quickly turned red. She immediately picked up her backpack and stood up, walking quickly toward the car door. Take two steps and turn around.
“That… sorry.”
"No problem."
“So, then I'll go down first.”
"YES."
She jumped out of the car, almost running slowly into the building. Luong Vien poked his head up from the backseat: "Damn, what just happened?"
“Shut up.”
“Lean all the way, brother.”
“She fell asleep, not on purpose.”
"She's sleeping, but you're not sleeping. Why don't you push her away?"
“…I'm afraid she'll wake up.”
Luong Vien made a sound between a pig's cry and a goose's cry.
“Ky Hoan, Ky Hoan, don't you understand anything in your heart?”
I don't answer. Take your bag and get out of the car. When entering the building company, I unconsciously touched my right shoulder. There was still some warmth left there. 【Chapter 7】 Late September. Seventh month feeding. I began to admit something—perhaps the way I defined Kieu Mong was problematic. Not a “feral cat”. Not "the object of hunger eradication and poverty reduction". Not “new colleagues”. So what is it? I can't say clearly. But some signals were so clear that I couldn't continue to play blind. For example—recently she started finding all kinds of excuses to go on a road trip with me. Before, after work I went left to the subway station, she went right to the bus stop. Two different directions, do not affect each other. But since mid-September, she suddenly "changed her route".
“Mr. Ky, I'm going to take the subway today.”
"It's not convenient to take the subway to your house? You have to change lines three times."
“I want to try a new route.”
So we went to the subway station together. She swiped her card at the station, sat on the same line as me, and changed lines after three stations. The next day it was still the same. The third day was the same. I'm not exposing it. When we're together, she doesn't say much, sometimes she says a few words about the company, sometimes she doesn't say anything, and just walks side by side. The sound of footsteps intermingled, as steady as a metronome. There is another more obvious change. She started giving me things in the afternoon. Not anything precious. A bottle of water, a pack of tissues, sometimes a peeled tangerine. Very natural movements. Place it on the corner of my desk, tap it on the table once.
"Drinking water."
"YES."
Or—
“Tangerine, very sweet.”
"YES."
Everyone in the group sees it. Even the team leader started looking at us with eyes like an old father. But from beginning to end, I still haven't taken that step. The reason is very simple.