Chapter 9 — Fake Kisses with My Ex's Best Friend

Two weeks after the exchange at Gió Sông restaurant, the "fake date" between Khả Tâm and Bách Nhân became a familiar part of both of their office lives. They have lunch together several times a week, occasionally stop by Gió Sông restaurant after work, and fully participate in company meetings as a couple. But the longer she continues, the more Khả Tâm realizes that what was initially just acting is gradually becoming so natural that she no longer has to try to remember what she should do in each situation.

What surprised her the most was Bách Nhân's silent thoughtfulness, an unobtrusive thoughtfulness that didn't need anyone to witness to appreciate. One afternoon, when Khả Tâm was busy completing a content plan before the meeting, she suddenly realized that the familiar cup of milk coffee she often drank had been placed on the table, along with a small piece of paper hastily written: "Drink and continue, don't let your stomach be hungry and distract you."

She looked around and saw that Bách Nhân had returned to his desk on the other side, engrossed in an unfinished drawing, with no intention of waiting for any thanks. She recalled that in the three years she had been with Thành Kiệt, he had never done such a small thing without a subtle reminder about how much he cared for her, as if every act of kindness needed to be publicly acknowledged to have value.

Another time, when Khả Tâm accidentally mentioned during a conversation that her mother in the countryside had just been hospitalized for high blood pressure, even though it was just a fleeting statement with no intention of complaining, that night Bách Nhân texted her to ask about the specific situation, and even sent her the phone number of a friend who works as a doctor at a hospital near her house to conveniently ask questions when needed. He didn't do it to please her, he didn't bring it up again after that, as if it was just the obvious thing to do when he knew someone else was worried.

"Thank you for yesterday," Khả Tâm said when she met him again the next morning, her voice was a bit hesitant because she was not used to being cared for in such a quiet way.

"It's nothing," Bách Nhân replied, without looking up from the computer screen, "Is your mother better?"

"I'm much better, thank you for asking." She smiled, then returned to her desk, but inside, a warm feeling kept spreading.

On the evening of her mother's hospitalization, when Khả Tâm was sitting alone in the apartment, worried because she couldn't return home right away due to scheduling conflicts with an important campaign that was about to expire, Bách Nhân suddenly called, without asking for polite words, but went straight to work.

"Do you need to take a few days off to visit your mother? Can I help you rearrange your work schedule with Ms. Bích Thủy, saying it's an urgent family matter." His voice was calm but firm, as if he had planned every option.

"I... I don't need it, the project is urgent, I can't skip it," Khả Tâm replied, her voice a bit choked with emotion at that unexpected concern.

"Then let me help you with the work that can be done, focus on taking care of your mother first," Bách Nhân said, not waiting for her to agree before deciding, "I will inform Bích Thủy that I have family matters and need to postpone a few not-so-urgent items until next week."

Khả Tâm didn't know what to say other than a choked thank you. She realized that this was probably the first time in many years that someone proactively shouldered part of her difficulties without her having to ask for help, without her having to show weakness first to receive help.

That weekend, she arranged to go back to her hometown to visit her mother for two days, and when she returned to the city, she discovered that Bách Nhân not only reported for her to Lâm Bích Thủy, but also silently completed the draft of the image idea for the campaign that she should have done herself, along with a short note: "I'm not good at writing content, but the image part should be okay, please look at it and edit it to your liking." She sat looking at the carefully prepared set of drawings, every detail of the layout carefully considered, and felt a sting in her nose, a feeling of gratitude mixed with something much warmer than ordinary gratitude.

The more she was with Bách Nhân, the more Khả Tâm realized the clear differences between him and Thành Kiệt, not to compare, but to let her look back at her old love more objectively. Thành Kiệt is good at making an impression, good at saying sweet words at the right time, but often forgets the little details she once shared, like the fact that she is afraid of the smell of durian, or that she always needs quiet time alone after a stressful day at work before she can have a happy conversation. Bách Nhân, on the other hand, rarely says beautiful words, but remembers exactly what tea she likes to drink, what perfume she hates, and always knows when to be quiet so she can have her own space.

One weekend evening, a group of close friends in the company, including Nhật Hạ, Gia Kỳ and a few other colleagues, invited each other to watch a movie and then eat late at night. Khả Tâm and Bách Nhân, as a couple, were of course also present. While watching the movie, when it reached the scary climax that startled the whole theater, Khả Tâm reflexively held Bách Nhân's hand sitting next to him. He did not withdraw his hand, nor did he show surprise, just gently squeezed it as a way of reassurance, his eyes still looking straight at the screen.

After watching the movie, when the group sat down to eat late at a nearby snack bar, Gia Kỳ, who was usually observant, blurted out a comment, "Mr. Nhân and Ms. Tâm seem to be getting along really well these days, as if they understand each other without needing to speak." Khả Tâm laughed it off, but in her heart, she couldn't deny that comment was partly true. She realized that she was gradually getting used to Bách Nhân's presence in a way that she had never anticipated when she started this plan, a familiarity that did not come from acting, but from the small moments of truth that accumulated day by day.

That night, after saying goodbye to his group of friends, Bách Nhân took Khả Tâm back to his apartment door, a polite gesture he had maintained regularly since they started "fake dating", even though sometimes it made the journey home significantly longer for him.

"Thank you for taking me home," she said, standing in front of the door, "And you don't have to do that every time, your way home is in the opposite direction."

"No problem," Bách Nhân replied, his voice gentle, "It's like a habit."

He turned around to walk away, but then stopped and looked back at her again, "Tâm, are you happy today?"

The unexpected question made Khả Tâm pause slightly. No one, including Thành Kiệt during their three years of love, had ever asked her such a simple yet sincere question after a date out. She nodded, "It's fun. Thank you."

Bách Nhân smiled, a gentle smile in the pale yellow streetlight, then actually turned away. Khả Tâm stood watching his shadow disappear behind the corner of the street, her heart filled with emotions that she did not dare to name, only knowing that the boundary between the play she was performing and something much more real was fading day by day, and she was not sure if she still wanted to keep that boundary as clear as in the beginning.

She went up to her room, sat down on the bed, took out her phone and intended to text Nhật Hạ to thank her for inviting everyone out today, but her finger unconsciously opened the chat box with Bách Nhân, typing and deleting a simple message countless times, just because she didn't know how to express what she was feeling without making things strange between the two of them.

Finally, she only typed one line: "Thank you for today. Come home safely." Then she put down the phone, lay still and looked up at the ceiling, heard the sound of car horns far away on the street, and wondered when, waiting for a text message response from someone who was originally just a "stunt actor" in her revenge plan, made her heart beat so fast, a beat that she had never felt so clearly during the three years she was with Thành Kiệt.

The phone vibrated gently just a few minutes later, a short response from Bách Nhân: "Good night. See you tomorrow." That's all, but it was enough to make Khả Tâm smile alone in the dark, a smile she didn't even realize had appeared.

She lay there for a long time, listening to the steady rotation of the ceiling fan above her head, trying to sort out the confused thoughts in her heart. She reminded herself that this was still just a plan, that the original goal was still to make Thành Kiệt regret it, and that she shouldn't let herself be carried away by unclear emotions just because of a few kind gestures. But the more she tried to convince herself like that, the more she realized that argument became weaker and weaker in the face of what her heart was really feeling.