Chapter 24 — Fake Kisses with My Ex's Best Friend

Exactly one year after the day Khả Tâm fell on the stairs of the sixth floor of the Hưng Thịnh building and set all the past events in motion, Bách Nhân decided to do something special. He silently planned for nearly a month, asking for help from those who had accompanied the two throughout their recent journey.

"Are you sure you want to work at Gió Sông restaurant?" Nhật Hạ asked over the phone, her voice full of excitement when Bách Nhân asked her to help arrange everything without letting Khả Tâm know in advance.

"Sure," Bách Nhân replied, "That's where it all really started, even though at first it was just one evening when I accidentally witnessed Tâm crying alone. I think, that should also be the place where I said what I really wanted to say."

Nhật Hạ contacted the shop owner, a middle-aged woman who had known them both through countless dates, both fake and real, over the past year. She happily agreed to help, even enthusiastically suggested clearing the familiar corner of the restaurant, where the two of them often sat, and hanging a few small strings of lights to create a more cozy atmosphere in the evening.

Gia Kỳ, with the aesthetic eye of a designer, helped Bách Nhân choose a simple but delicate small bouquet of flowers, avoiding overly ostentatious flower styles that did not suit the quiet personalities of both people.

"What are you going to say to Ms. Tâm?" Gia Kỳ asked curiously as she helped him check everything one last time.

"I haven't prepared any lyrics yet," Bách Nhân replied, smiling," I think, the most sincere things should be said naturally, without having to prepare a script like in previous plays." Gia Kỳ nodded as if he understood, although in his heart he still secretly thought that this was the type of answer that "sounds cool but will definitely make him visibly confused" when the moment really comes. But he didn't voice that thought, just quietly helped his friend arrange the final details, from choosing unscented candles to avoid causing discomfort, to timing so that the last sunset of the day could enter the shop's familiar window frame right at the moment Khả Tâm walked in.

That evening, Bách Nhân texted Khả Tâm to meet at Gió Sông restaurant with a simple reason, "I haven't visited the old restaurant in a long time, let's go have a drink." Khả Tâm, without any doubt, immediately agreed, not knowing that ahead was a carefully prepared evening just for her.

Throughout the entire working day that day, Khả Tâm was unaware that Nhật Hạ kept glancing at her meaningfully, or that Gia Kỳ, when passing by her desk, tried to suppress an incomprehensible smile. She simply thought that maybe recently the work of the new project made everyone a little more excited than usual, completely without any doubt about the secret plan being carefully prepared behind her back.

On the way to the restaurant, she even texted Bách Nhân teasingly, "Why do you suddenly want to go to Gió Sông today? Is there anything special?" He only replied with one line, "You'll know when you get there", making her even more curious for the rest of the way.

When she entered the shop, the familiar space appeared before her eyes with a sparkling look different from usual, small strings of lights strung across the familiar corner of the shop, candlelight flickered on the wooden table where she had sat and cried alone exactly one year ago.

"You..." She stood still at the door, clutching her chest with emotion, "What is this?"

Bách Nhân stood up from the table, walked over, grabbed her hand and led her in, "Sit down, I have something to tell you."

She sat down, her heart pounding, not taking her eyes off him as he sat down opposite, his eyes filled with seriousness and tenderness at the same time.

"Exactly one year ago, at this very table, I saw you crying alone, and I didn't have the courage to go and comfort you right then." Bách Nhân began, his voice slow, "I blamed myself a lot for that silence. But looking back now, I think, perhaps, the very moment I stood from afar watching you, worrying about you without knowing what to do, was the moment my heart began to vibrate, even though I didn't realize it at the time."

Khả Tâm listened silently, her eyes gradually filled with tears.

"Then you came to me, proposed a crazy plan, asking me to pretend to date to get revenge on the person I once considered my best friend," he continued, "I agreed, not just because I felt sorry for you, but because deep inside, I wanted a reason to be closer to you, even though I didn't dare admit it to myself at the time."

He stood up, walked around the table, and knelt down on one knee in front of her, causing Khả Tâm to suddenly put her hand to her mouth as tears began to fall.

"From fake kisses on stage, staged holding hands in front of colleagues, to the most honest moments that only the two of us know, I realized, I no longer want to act anything anymore," Bách Nhân said, his voice choked with emotion, "I want everything between us, from now on, to be real, complete and forever. Đỗ Khả Tâm, do you want to continue writing this story with me, not like a play, but like our real lives?"

He took out a small box from his pocket, inside was a simple but delicate ring. The light from the small strings of lights on the ceiling reflected on the small stone, sparkling gently.

Khả Tâm burst into tears, not from suffering like a year ago, but from a happiness so overwhelming that she couldn't speak for a moment. She nodded, several times, before finding her voice again.

"I want to," she said, her voice trembling but firm, "I want, from that first fake kiss on stage, to everything we truly built together, I want to continue writing with you, truly, forever."

Bách Nhân stood up, put the ring on her finger, then hugged her in the midst of sudden applause from the counter, where the owner, Nhật Hạ and Gia Kỳ had been quietly observing from the beginning, unable to hide their own tears of happiness.

That night, under the warm yellow string lights of Gió Sông restaurant, which witnessed the entire journey from the first painful tears to the awkward fake kiss, to the true feelings that gradually grew day by day, Bách Nhân and Khả Tâm shared a kiss, no longer an act, no longer a plan, but the most complete affirmation of a love that had gone through all the challenges to prove its true value. That kiss lasted only a few short seconds, but it was enough to erase any remaining boundaries between what was once fake and what was now completely real.

Outside, the city is still as bustling as ever, but in that corner of a small shop, a new chapter, sincere and lasting, has officially been written, closing a journey that started with a sudden fall and a play of amnesia, and then blossomed into a love that no longer needs any lies to survive.

The shop owner, after quickly wiping away tears of emotion, brought out a small bottle of wine that she kept for special occasions, and poured five glasses for the whole group to raise in congratulations. "You two have been my regular customers for many years. I still vividly remember the night little Tâm sat crying alone in the corner. Now seeing you two like that, I'm very happy for you," Nhật Hạ, unable to hide her emotions, hugged Khả Tâm and whispered in her friend's ear, "I'm so proud of you, Tâm. From the day you decided to pretend to lose your memory until now, I have never regretted for a second that I accompanied you."

Gia Kỳ, standing next to Bách Nhân, patted her friend's shoulder and said, "You finally dared to say it! I'm so happy for you. It seems that from now on, I officially have another sister-in-law." The whole group laughed together, the laughter mixed with the gentle music coming from the small speaker in the corner of the shop, creating a complete picture of happiness, friendship and love, all converging at the very place that witnessed the first tears of this journey.

Khả Tâm looked around, from the kind shop owner, to Nhật Hạ who was always standing side by side, to the funny and lovely Gia Kỳ, and finally to Bách Nhân, the man holding her hand tightly, his eyes full of sincere love. She realized that sometimes, the most seemingly wrong beginnings can lead to the best things, as long as people are brave enough to face the truth, and sincere enough to turn what starts from a lie into something truly worthy of respect.