Chapter 4 — Fake Kisses with My Ex's Best Friend

Tưởng Bách Nhân did not sleep well that night. He lay on the bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. The image of Khả Tâm sitting quietly crying alone at Gió Sông shop kept appearing in his mind, refusing to go away.

He and Thành Kiệt have been close friends since their first year of university. They lived in the same dormitory, spent sleepless nights studying for exams, and shared a package of instant noodles at the end of the month when they were both out of money. That ten-year friendship, with Bách Nhân, is a precious thing that cannot be easily exchanged. But also because he understood Thành Kiệt so well, he realized more clearly than anyone else his friend's habit: always wanting to hold on to everything good at the same time, afraid to let go of anything that could bring benefits, whether it be love or career.

The next morning, he called Thành Kiệt to a coffee shop near the company before work and told him frankly what he knew.

"I saw Tâm sitting and crying alone at Gió Sông yesterday afternoon." Bách Nhân looked straight into his friend's eyes, his voice unable to hide the severity he rarely showed. "How long are you going to hide from her?"

Thành Kiệt was stunned, his hand holding the cup of coffee stopped midway. "You... you already know?"

"I've known for a month now, ever since the night you got drunk after the company party and accidentally said something," Bách Nhân replied, "I kept quiet because I thought it was your personal matter and you would handle it properly yourself. But now looking at Tâm like that, I'm not sure if you're planning to solve it or you're planning to prolong it."

Thành Kiệt bowed his head, rubbed his forehead, "I know I was wrong. But you don't understand, between Tâm and Bảo Ngân, I don't know what to choose. Tâm is stable, gentle, with her I feel safe. But Bảo Ngân is different, she is dynamic, has wide connections, her family is also a big partner of the company. Going with her, my career path will open up much faster."

Hearing this, Bách Nhân felt a dull anger rising in his heart. Not because of jealousy on anyone's behalf, but because of the nakedness in the way my friend weighs feelings as a matter of benefit.

"Are you telling me that you chose Bảo Ngân because of promotion opportunities?" Bách Nhân asked, his voice cold.

"Not really..." Thành Kiệt was confused, "I also have real feelings for Bảo Ngân. It's just... I'm not ready to completely give up what Tâm and I have built for three years. I need more time to arrange everything properly, so that no one gets hurt too much."

"The longer you wait, the more people will be hurt, not less." Bách Nhân stood up, looked at his friend one last time before leaving the shop, "I won't say anything to Tâm, because it's your problem, you have to solve it yourself. But I hope you remember, every day you delay, is a day you are deceiving someone who once trusted you absolutely."

Thành Kiệt did not answer, just sat quietly watching his friend's shadow disappear behind the glass door.

Throughout the entire working day that day, Bách Nhân could not concentrate. The design sketches for the new campaign kept coming to a dead end, he erased and redrawn them countless times. Hồ Gia Kỳ, sitting at the next table, noticed something unusual and stopped by to ask.

"Mr. Nhân, what's wrong with you today? Your face is staring all the time." Bách Nhân sighed, put down his pen, "Nothing. Just thinking about a few things."

"What about Mr. Kiệt and Ms. Bảo Ngân?" Gia Kỳ lowered her voice, "The whole office is buzzing, but everyone thinks it's probably nothing, because Ms. Tâm and Mr. Kiệt have been together for so long."

Bách Nhân did not answer, just remained silent, making Gia Kỳ even more curious but also observant enough not to ask more, just patted his friend's shoulder and returned to his desk.

In the afternoon, after work, Bách Nhân stood in the lobby waiting for the elevator and happened to encounter Khả Tâm walking out of the meeting room. She seemed to have regained her normal appearance, cheerfully greeting her colleagues as if nothing had happened, but her eyes still had a hint of fatigue that only observant people would notice.

"Hello Tâm." Bách Nhân nodded, trying to keep his voice natural.

"Hello Mr. Nhân." Khả Tâm smiled, "Are you okay these days?"

"It's okay. As for you, I heard you fell last week. Are you better now?"

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied, her eyes slightly questioning as she looked at him, perhaps because her hunch told her there was something different in Thành Kiệt's close friend's attitude today.

The elevator opened and they both stepped in, only two people in that small space. Bách Nhân stood silently for a while, then finally couldn't hold back and spoke up, his voice low.

"Tâm, I was at Gió Sông restaurant yesterday."

Khả Tâm was stunned, turned to look at him, her face gradually turned pale when she realized what he wanted to say.

"I'm sorry for not proactively approaching you at that time. I didn't know what to do," Bách Nhân continued, his eyes avoiding looking directly at her because of shyness, "I'm also sorry for knowing about Thành Kiệt and Bảo Ngân's story a long time ago and not telling you sooner. I thought it was his personal matter, but looking back now, maybe I was wrong."

The elevator stopped on the ground floor, the door opened, but both remained standing still, no one came out immediately.

"Since when did you know?" Khả Tâm asked, her voice hoarse.

"About a month ago," Bách Nhân answered truthfully, without avoiding it," He was drunk and accidentally spoke. I advised him to tell you the truth as soon as possible, but he kept procrastinating."

Khả Tâm was silent for a long time, then suddenly burst out laughing, a bitter laugh that could not hide its bitterness. "So almost the whole office knows, you're the only one who knows."

"I'm sorry," Bách Nhân repeated, his voice sincere, "If there's anything I can do to help you feel better, just say so."

The elevator door began to close, Khả Tâm quickly held it up, walked out, then turned back to look at him, her eyes were complicated between hurt and a bit like she was considering something. "Thank you for telling the truth. At least there's someone who won't hide it from me."

She walked away, leaving Bách Nhân standing there, still in turmoil. He did not know that, just a few days later, that very statement "if there is anything I can do" would be taken by Khả Tâm, turning into a proposal that he had never imagined, a proposal that would drag them both into a new drama, much more complicated and dangerous than the past amnesia drama.

In the evening, Gia Kỳ invited Bách Nhân to eat hot pot after work, a weekend habit the design team still keeps to relieve stress after tight deadlines. Sitting in front of the steaming hot pot, Gia Kỳ picked up the food and chatted, unaware of his friend's troubled mood.

"Mr. Nhân, I see that you and Ms. Tâm have been talking a lot more lately." Gia Kỳ narrowed her eyes and teased, "Is there something you're hiding from me?"

"Talk nonsense." Bách Nhân tapped his friend's head with his chopsticks, trying to act normal," She's Kiệt's girlfriend. I only asked after the fall down the stairs."

"Yes, I know that, but I admit that Ms. Tâm is really cute, gentle and straightforward. Anyone who can catch her must be very lucky," Gia Kỳ spoke carelessly, completely unaware that his careless statement would make Bách Nhân pause for a moment, a strange feeling passing through that he hadn't yet had time to name.

He pushed that thought aside immediately, telling himself he was just sympathizing with Khả Tâm's situation, nothing more than that. But that strange feeling, even though it was only fleeting for a split second, still left a small residue that he couldn't completely ignore.

He remembered the first time he met Khả Tâm, in his third year of university, at a small party of Thành Kiệt's class. At that time, she was a lively girl, confidently defending her point of view in front of a larger group of male students, making Bách Nhân, who was usually a quiet person, somewhat respectful at first sight. During the years that followed, every time he went out with a group of mutual friends, he saw Thành Kiệt proudly boasting about his girlfriend, telling her how talented and thoughtful she was, and Bách Nhân, as a close friend, was always secretly happy for both of their happiness. He never thought that one day he would stand in this position, witnessing firsthand the collapse of the love he once admired.

There was one thing that bothered him the most: if in the past, he had recognized the signs of deviation in Thành Kiệt's personality sooner, perhaps he could have given his friend advice to change, instead of letting things go this far. But friendship sometimes also has hidden corners that people choose not to see, just because they are afraid of hurting a relationship that has been together for too long.

That evening, returning home, Bách Nhân sat alone in his room, looking out the window at the city lights, with a heavy heart. He thought about his ten-year friendship with Thành Kiệt, about his friend's selfishness that he had clearly witnessed through the conversation this morning, and about Khả Tâm's hurt eyes in the elevator that afternoon. He did not know where the road ahead would lead him, he only knew that, from that moment, he could no longer stand on the sidelines as an innocent observer.