Chapter 8 — Fake Kisses with My Ex's Best Friend

After the exchange at Gió Sông restaurant, the entire Hưng Thịnh building seemed to revolve around only one topic all week: the unexpected love story between Đỗ Khả Tâm and Tưởng Bách Nhân. Some people complimented the two of them for being compatible, some people curiously asked for details, and some people also regretted the old love between Khả Tâm and Thành Kiệt, but no one knew the real reason for the breakup.

For Thành Kiệt, that week passed like a dull torture. He still went to work normally, still held meetings, still laughed and talked with his colleagues, but in his heart, a feeling of uneasiness kept rising every time he accidentally heard someone mention the names Bách Nhân and Khả Tâm in the same sentence.

He began to find enough reasons to appear near the work area of the Communications department more than before. Sometimes I bring project documents over to "ask for more advice on content", other times I stop by to ask to borrow documents, but in reality all it takes is just a text message. Each time, his eyes wandered towards Khả Tâm's desk, observing to see if she was texting anyone, laughing and chatting happily with any colleagues.

"Mr. Kiệt came here again today," Gia Kỳ whispered to Khả Tâm when he saw Thành Kiệt appear for the third time this week with a vague work reason, "He's been stopping by my room a lot lately, he's never been like that before."

Khả Tâm just smiled and did not answer, but in her heart she clearly understood that this was the first sign that her plan was working.

That afternoon, while eating with Nhật Hạ in the cafeteria, Khả Tâm told the story of Thành Kiệt constantly finding excuses to stop by the room, his voice was both a bit gloating and a bit confused.

"You see, it's only been a few days and he's already so impatient." Nhật Hạ shook her head. "When you and he were still in love, I never saw him so diligent. Now that he's gone, he is sorry."

"I didn't expect to react so quickly," Khả Tâm replied, her eyes slightly complicated, "But I don't feel as happy as I thought. There's something bitter about it, like I'm important to him now, just because I seem to be happy with someone else."

"That is the nature of people like Thành Kiệt," Nhật Hạ spoke frankly, not hiding the frustration in his voice, "They don't appreciate what they have, they only regret when it's at risk of belonging to someone else. Don't let those reactions make you waver, remember what your original purpose is." Khả Tâm nodded, but in her heart, she also began to realize something she had never anticipated: seeing Thành Kiệt return to care for her, even if it was just out of jealousy, no longer brought her the same feeling of satisfaction that she had imagined when she first created this plan. Instead, it only made her see more clearly his selfish nature, and made her appreciate even more the sincerity she was gradually feeling from the person who was playing the role of her fake boyfriend.

Not only stopping at finding an excuse to stop by, Thành Kiệt also proactively texted Khả Tâm much more than after the two "broke up", with innocuous content such as asking about his health, asking about work, or sometimes just a random question about the weather. At first, Khả Tâm answered lightly, but gradually, she realized that the more indifferently she replied, the more Thành Kiệt texted, as if her coldness was arousing in him a real fear of being abandoned.

One Thursday afternoon, when Khả Tâm and Bách Nhân met at Gió Sông restaurant after work to "maintain their image" in front of a few colleagues who also frequented this restaurant, Thành Kiệt suddenly appeared and sat down at the next table with the excuse of "coincidentally coming here for a drink".

"Is it really by chance?" Bách Nhân asked directly, his voice unable to hide the slight sarcasm as he watched his friend pull out a chair and sit down without waiting for an invitation.

"Well... I also visit this shop often, have you forgotten?" Thành Kiệt smiled wryly, but his eyes kept glancing at Khả Tâm who was sitting opposite Bách Nhân, their hands naturally placed close to each other on the table.

"Then you sit at that table, don't squeeze into our table," Bách Nhân replied, his voice still gentle but with a clear reminder.

Thành Kiệt was silent for a while, then finally stood up, found another table to sit at, but throughout that afternoon, he couldn't focus on the cup of coffee in front of him, his eyes kept stealing glances at the two people who were chatting loudly, occasionally bursting out laughing at something he couldn't hear clearly.

As for Bảo Ngân, she also began to notice a change in Thành Kiệt's attitude over the past week. He became more distracted when he was with her, frequently checking his phone, and once, while the two were having dinner together, he accidentally blurted out Khả Tâm's name in the middle of an unrelated conversation.

"Why are you mentioning Tâm?" Bảo Ngân asked, his voice a bit unhappy, placing his chopsticks on the table.

"Ah, nothing, just randomly thinking about work." Thành Kiệt quickly defended, but the awkwardness in his answer could not escape the delicate eyes of the other person.

Bảo Ngân did not say anything more, but from then on, she began to pay closer attention to every gesture and every word of Thành Kiệt whenever Khả Tâm was involved, a silent vigilance that she herself did not yet clearly realize what it would lead to in the following weeks.

Having been accustomed to being noticed and pampered since childhood, growing up in a well-off family, Bảo Ngân was not used to the feeling of having to compete for the attention of the person he loves with anyone, including someone who had broken up with him. She began to be more proactive in expressing her feelings in front of her colleagues, intentionally mentioning future plans with Thành Kiệt in group chats, as a way to affirm her position, even though she herself did not completely understand why she felt so insecure about a relationship that Thành Kiệt always insisted was completely over.

That weekend, Thành Kiệt met Bách Nhân privately and invited him out for a beer after work with the excuse that "we haven't sat down and talked properly for a long time". Sitting opposite each other in a restaurant familiar from their student days, Thành Kiệt wandered around for a while before getting straight to the point.

"How honest are you and Tâm...?" He asked, his voice trying to sound calm but unable to hide his tension.

"Why did you ask me that question?" Bách Nhân looked straight into his friend's eyes, "You've already chosen Bảo Ngân, haven't you? Why do you still care who Tâm dates?"

"I don't care about it the way you think." Thành Kiệt tried to justify, "It's just... you're my best friend, I find it a bit strange that you know my ex, even though we broke up."

"How is that fair, Kiệt?" Bách Nhân asked, his voice starting to get a bit harsh. "You abandoned her to be with someone else, and now you don't want her to be happy with someone else? Do you want her to continue suffering alone so you can enjoy your new life in peace?"

Thành Kiệt was speechless, unable to find a response, just picked up the beer and took a long drink, avoiding his best friend's eyes. Deep down, he knew Bách Nhân was right, but the feeling of discomfort, the feeling like he was losing something he once firmly held in his hands, still gnawed at his heart, even though he himself couldn't clearly explain whether it was true jealousy or simply selfishness that didn't want to lose anything he once owned.

That night, after saying goodbye to Thành Kiệt, Bách Nhân drove home with a heavy heart. He realized that this seemingly simple plan was starting to stir up much more complex emotions than originally expected, not only in Thành Kiệt, but perhaps, in himself.

He remembered Thành Kiệt's question earlier, "How sincere are you and Tâm?", and realized he had answered evasively, not daring to face that question directly even in his own thoughts. If it were a few weeks ago, he could have confidently asserted that this was just a plan to help his friends, nothing more than that. But after the party at Gió Sông restaurant, after brief meetings with Khả Tâm to "maintain image", he began to realize that the line between acting and reality, in his heart, was fading every day.

Returning to the apartment, he sat down at his desk, trying to focus on a few unfinished sketches for the upcoming campaign, but his mind kept wandering to other things, Khả Tâm's words, and smiles during the afternoon at Gió Sông restaurant. He put down his pen and told himself that he needed to stay more alert and not let a plan that was originally just to help a new friend regain justice turn into something that could hurt him if he wasn't careful.