Chapter 5 — Journey of Love

I was not entirely sure whether he was referring to the time Lu Dinh Chu blocked my path, the time I snatched the top ranking away from him, or perhaps both of those instances combined. "Where do you usually study after class? In the classroom? Or at home?" I decided to probe. "Is there something you need?" "Nothing much, just that you happen to be better at Physics than I am, and I was quite curious about your study methods." I made my proposal with candid directness, "I would like to study alongside you, so we can exchange ideas and learn from one another. You wouldn't mind, would you?" "You aren't..." He trailed off as if he wanted to say something, only to stop himself mid-sentence. "What about me?" "It's nothing. Suit yourself." "Suit yourself" was practically a tacit agreement. I slid my piece of scratch paper across the desk and looked at him with a soft smile: "Go on then, write down your contact information, and I will add you as soon as I get back." Song Minh Xuyen stared at me for a few lingering seconds before lowering his head to scribble a string of digits onto the paper. "This is my number. You can find me using this."

Lu Dinh Chu had always approached his studies with a fleeting three-minute burst of enthusiasm. Having grown thoroughly accustomed to his lack of commitment, he found more and more excuses to skip my tutoring sessions altogether. Sometimes he would sneak off to an internet cafe to play video games, sometimes he would roam the streets to pick fights with local hoodlums, and at other times, his absence was entirely due to Suong Ky Tuyet. Whenever he vanished like that, I would repurpose those vacant hours to study earnestly with my classmate, Song Minh Xuyen. In the eyes of everyone else, Song Minh Xuyen and I constantly huddled together during breaks to debate academic problems, and after school, we would slip away to an empty classroom for private study sessions, growing increasingly inseparable with each passing day. I must admit, brainstorming and exchanging concepts with him genuinely brought those sudden moments of absolute clarity. How should I put it? It was a true meeting of kindred spirits.

The school cafeteria served hot meals at noon, and on several occasions, I ended up sharing a table with Song Minh Xuyen. Without fail, the group of friends lingering around him would cast knowing, deeply suggestive glances in our direction. "I heard the sweet and sour spare ribs at the cafeteria today are exceptionally good. You should try some." I picked up a piece of meat and placed it on Song Minh Xuyen's plate. He lifted his gaze to look at me, once again wearing that hesitant expression as if he were holding something back. I arched an eyebrow: "What is it? I haven't even touched it myself." "...It's nothing."

Right beside us, a metal lunch tray clattered onto the table with a sharp, echoing clang. I jerked my head around, and a pair of eyes burning with unrestrained fury instantly locked onto mine. "Diep Cam Hoa, why on earth are you tangling yourself up with this guy?" Lu Dinh Chu bit out every single word through clenched teeth. The commotion was loud enough to draw the attention of the surrounding students, causing many to turn and stare. I signaled for Lu Dinh Chu to take a seat: "You are frightening the others." With a face carved from ice, Lu Dinh Chu dropped heavily onto the bench beside me, his hostile glare fixed unblinkingly on Song Minh Xuyen across the table while he silently demanded an explanation.

"It is simply because you have been far too busy lately," I retorted calmly, "and since I happened to be studying with Song here, the two of us have been helping each other out. Do you honestly see a problem with that?" Lu Dinh Chu: "......"

Opposite us, Song Minh Xuyen glanced from me to Lu Dinh Chu, before lowering his gaze and quietly resuming his meal. At that exact moment, another lunch tray was slammed down right beside him. I raised my head and arched a single brow. The young woman standing across the table looked directly at Song Minh Xuyen, her voice soft and tentative: "Song Minh Xuyen, would you mind if I sat here?" Song Minh Xuyen: "Do as you please." And just like that, directly facing Lu Dinh Chu, Suong Ky Tuyet took a seat. This celebrated campus beauty cast a glance at Song Minh Xuyen, her expression unmistakably laced with shyness and unease.

Lu Dinh Chu abruptly broke the silence, gesturing toward her as he spoke: "Diep Cam Hoa, this is the Suong Ky Tuyet I told you about." There was a strained irritation in his tone, though it was impossible to tell whether he was annoyed with me or with Song Minh Xuyen. I offered her a polite, amiable smile: "Hello there, Suong." "Hello, Diep." Suong Ky Tuyet’s eyes swept over me with a pointed, complicated meaning: "I heard that you only transferred to this school less than a month ago, yet you have already managed to grow so close to both my brother and the students in my class." The "brother" she referred to was none other than the bleached-blond knucklehead sitting right beside me. "......" Did people nowadays actually fight over who got to claim an older brother? I let out a dry, dismissive laugh: "What can I say? I simply get along well with them."

Song Minh Xuyen kept his head down and ate in silence throughout the entire ordeal, before abruptly standing up and gathering his lunch tray. "I am finished." "Song Minh Xuyen?" Seeing him make a move to leave, Suong Ky Tuyet instinctively rose as if to follow him, but seemingly restrained by the presence of Lu Dinh Chu and me, she awkwardly sank back down.

Lu Dinh Chu shoved a brand-new pair of earphones into my hands, muttering under his breath: "I distinctly remember you telling me you lost one of your earbuds, yet here you are clinging to that guy all day long. Don't you feel even a tiny bit guilty toward me?" I felt not a shred of guilt as I comfortably accepted the high-end earphones worth thousands of yuan, delivering a slightly sarcastic parting shot: "Thank you so much, dear brother."

To everyone's surprise, the young woman sitting opposite us instantly welled up, her eyes turning red: "Brother, didn't you promise me that you would only ever treat me like a younger sister? Lam Chi Nguyen told me you bought these earphones specifically for me, and I was looking forward to them so much... It turns out they weren't meant for me at all." Lu Dinh Chu opened his mouth, desperately searching for words to defend himself, but the girl he secretly fancied had already stood up with tear-filled eyes, turning sharply on her heel to leave. Panicking, he scrambled after her: "Xiao Xue, please don't be upset. If you like them so much, I will just buy another pair for you..." But she refused to spare him even a glance, storming away into the distance.

He whipped his head around to glare at me, opening his mouth to vent his frustration, but I cut him off smoothly: "Your precious Suong is throwing a jealous fit. You had better hurry up and go comfort her." "......"

As evening descended, I easily located Song Minh Xuyen inside our usual empty classroom, where he sat quietly with his head bowed over his textbook. "Song Minh Xuyen, I sent you messages earlier, why didn't you reply?" I strolled over with a beaming smile. Though he initially gave the impression of wanting to ignore me entirely, he eventually raised his head, his voice level and composed: "You were just using me." "Oh, come on, since when did studying together count as exploitation?" I rested my chin in my hands, leaning in close beside him, "Haven't our joint study sessions lately been wonderfully productive? We learn from each other and progress together." Song Minh Xuyen cast a sidelong glance out the window: "Lu Dinh Chu is here."

No sooner had those words left his lips than my bleached-blond brother burst through the doorway, storming in with an entire stack of reference books in his arms. It was entirely predictable. Even though we had only recently restored our sibling relationship, my brother was a painfully simple and utterly transparent creature. Viewing Song Minh Xuyen as both his ultimate romantic rival and his sworn nemesis, how could he possibly sit idly by and watch his own younger sister grow increasingly intimate with the enemy? As long as Song Minh Xuyen and I remained side by side, he would inevitably drag himself to these tutoring sessions, no matter how much he loathed the idea.