Chapter 14 — Fake Kisses with My Ex's Best Friend

The Monday after the year's half-way anniversary event, the office atmosphere was still buzzing with talk about the "almost kissing" moment of Khả Tâm and Bách Nhân on stage. The short video spread in the internal chat group became a topic of constant discussion all week, making both people involved feel a bit shy every time they passed by any group of colleagues.

For Thành Kiệt, every time he heard someone recall that moment, the uneasy feeling in his heart became even more intense. He and Bảo Ngân, after the night of the event, could almost no longer talk normally to each other. The short conversations between the two always ended in heavy silence or half-hearted sentences that went nowhere.

For several days in a row, Thành Kiệt could hardly sleep, his mind kept spinning with images of the moment on stage, with Khả Tâm's red face, with Bách Nhân's eyes looking at her respectfully. He realized that the fear of losing Khả Tâm forever, decisively and irreversibly, was growing into an obsession that he could no longer control with his mind. He told himself he had to do something, had to say it before it was too late, even though in his heart, he also vaguely realized how selfish his actions were right now, when he still hadn't definitively ended with Bảo Ngân but was in a hurry to win back Khả Tâm.

The night before the summary meeting, he texted Bảo Ngân a short sentence, "I need time to think over everything", received no response, but did not bother to explain further, his mind was only thinking of one thing at the moment.

On Wednesday afternoon, the company held a mid-quarter review meeting in the large hall, gathering almost all employees from both the Communications and Sales departments to evaluate the progress of running campaigns. After the official report, Lâm Bích Thủy spent the last few minutes for everyone to share their thoughts and congratulate individuals with outstanding contributions in the past quarter.

No one expected that, when the meeting was almost over and everyone was preparing to get up to leave, Thành Kiệt suddenly stood up, holding the microphone left on the table, his voice trembling because of an emotion that had been pent up for too long.

"Sorry everyone, I have something to say, it might be a bit sudden," he said, causing the entire hall, which was busy preparing to leave, to suddenly stop and turn their curious eyes towards him.

Khả Tâm, sitting with Nhật Hạ in the middle row, felt an uneasy premonition rising as soon as he saw Thành Kiệt holding the microphone with an unusually serious expression.

"Tâm," Thành Kiệt continued, his eyes looking straight at her despite the presence of hundreds of colleagues around, "I know I was wrong, very wrong, in letting you suffer all this time. But I realized, I have never truly let you go. I want to ask you for a chance, so we can go back to the beginning."

The whole hall was silent for a few seconds, then there were endless whispers. Bảo Ngân, sitting in the back row, his face pale, stood up, without saying a word, rushed out of the hall amid the hopeless calls of a few close colleagues.

Khả Tâm sat numb in the chair, feeling like hundreds of eyes were focused on her, waiting for her reaction. Nhật Hạ held her friend's hand tightly under the table, whispering, "Tâm, are you okay?"

She didn't answer right away, just stood up slowly, all eyes in the hall were focused on her, waiting for an answer to the unexpected public confession that had just happened. Bách Nhân, sitting not far away with the Design group, also stood silently, his hands clasped tightly on the edge of the table, his eyes never leaving Khả Tâm, waiting in a tension he had never experienced.

"Hero," Khả Tâm spoke up, her voice shaking slightly but still trying to maintain the necessary calmness, "I think this is not the place and time to talk about this."

"I know, but I'm afraid if I don't say it now, I won't have the courage to say it anymore," Thành Kiệt replied, his voice still filled with urgency, despite the awkwardness that was covering the entire hall, "I just need you to give me an answer, no matter what it is."

Lâm Bích Thủy, realizing that the situation was going beyond the control of a normal company meeting, quickly intervened, "Okay, let's talk about personal matters in private. The meeting is considered over, everyone can leave."

But the reminder from his superiors did not seem to be enough to stop Thành Kiệt. He stepped down from his position and walked towards Khả Tâm amid the constant gazes of his colleagues, making the atmosphere in the hall even more stuffy.

"Tâm, can you give me an answer?" He asked again, standing just a few feet away from her, his voice already somewhat pleading.

Khả Tâm looked at him, then glanced at Bách Nhân who was standing silently not far away, clearly feeling the weight of this moment on his shoulders. She knew that whatever she said now, in front of everyone, would determine not only the fate of her revenge plan, but also the true feelings that had been growing in her heart over the past weeks.

"I need time to think," she said, trying to keep her voice steady, even though her emotions were racing fiercely inside, "You can't force me to answer right away, especially here, in front of everyone like this."

Thành Kiệt was about to say something more, but Bách Nhân's eyes, now closer, standing next to Khả Tâm with a clear protective look, made him pause, not daring to take another step.

Around, colleagues remained behind and whispered endlessly. Some people took out their phones to record this rare moment, but quickly put them away when they met Lâm Bích Thủy's stern eyes. Gia Kỳ stood nearby, his face tense, whispering to his colleague next to him, "Oh my god, this drama is even more intense than the TV series, who would have thought that this would happen right in the middle of the summary meeting."

"Kiệt, you should let Tâm have his own space," Bách Nhân said, his voice was low but powerful, a severity he rarely showed in front of such a crowd.

Thành Kiệt looked at his friend, his eyes mixed with anger, shame and an indescribable pain, then finally nodded and quietly left the hall, leaving behind a tense atmosphere that none of those present that day could forget for a long time.

After everyone gradually dispersed, Khả Tâm stood silently in the empty hall, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally. Nhật Hạ hugged her friend's shoulder, said nothing, just quietly accompanied her out of the building. As for Bách Nhân, standing and watching from afar, his heart was confused, not knowing whether to be happy because Khả Tâm did not accept Thành Kiệt's invitation right away, or worried because her answer "needs time to think" still left open a possibility that he did not dare to think about.

On the way home, sitting in Nhật Hạ's car, Khả Tâm leaned her head against the window, looking at the flow of people passing by on the street with her mind blank. Nhật Hạ glanced over, saw that her friend was unusually silent, and asked softly, "What are you thinking? Are you considering Thành Kiệt's words?"

"I don't know," Khả Tâm replied, his voice tired." I just find it... funny. In the three years we've been together, he's never said anything like that in front of anyone. But now, just because he sees that I can be happy with someone else, he's willing to do everything to get it back, including risking his own face in the whole company."

"So how are you going to answer?" Nhật Hạ continued asking, his voice cautious.

"I don't need time to consider my answer," Khả Tâm said, her voice suddenly became unusually certain, "I just need time to choose the right time, the right way, to say clearly once and for all, that I will never go back to someone who only knows how to appreciate what I'm about to lose, not what I have."

Nhật Hạ remained silent, looking at her friend with a new respect, realizing that, through everything she had gone through, the current Khả Tâm was much stronger and clearer than the girl who cried quietly alone at Gió Sông shop a few months ago.

"So what about Mr. Nhân?" Nhật Hạ asked further, her voice gentle but full of meaning, "Have you thought about telling him clearly that your feelings are no longer simply part of the plan?"

Khả Tâm was silent for a long time, looking out the car window, the streetlights passing continuously on her face. "I'm afraid," She finally admitted, her voice quieter, "I'm afraid if I tell, and he doesn't feel the same way I do, not only will the plan fall apart, but this precious friendship will be lost as well."

"But seeing how he stood up to protect you just now, I think you don't need to be so afraid," Nhật Hạ said, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder, his eyes full of sincere encouragement.