Chapter 16 — Music Without Chorus

Gia Linh disappeared from calls for two days. She did not respond to An's messages, did not go to the studio, and did not appear at the apartment registered with the company. Quang sent a notice that Linh was taking a break to "stabilize her mind", and asked An and Nam to stop communicating directly.

I don't believe it. She called Linh's number three times, then sent a short message: "Just letting you know you're safe." No response.

Vy found an old post from Linh about vocal classes in Tan Phu district. An arrived at the address, but the class had moved. The landlord said Linh used to rent a room to teach children on the weekends, then pay it off early. On the whiteboard there is an unerased line: "Don't sing the verses that others wrote for you."

Nam stood outside the gate, not entering. “Do you want me to look for someone you know?”

“No. If the company watches, they will think we are putting pressure.”

“Maybe they applied pressure first.”

“We need proof.”

Hanh called from the car, reporting that Linh's bank account had just been frozen at the company's request. She couldn't withdraw money, couldn't pay the room rental contract. This is no longer an ordinary professional dispute.

“She might be with her family,” Tung said.

An remembers Linh saying her parents live in Dong Nai. They went to a small garment factory near the industrial park. Linh's mother opened the door, looked at An and then at Nam. She didn't invite me in right away.

“Linh is not here,” she said.

“I just want to know she's safe.”

"He called me last night. He said he didn't want anyone to find him."

“Did she say where she was?”

She shook her head. “It just says to return something.”

“What?”

“A card.”

An and Nam looked at each other. Tung immediately called Hanh and asked to check the list of equipment Linh had received from the company. There is a memory stick used during the last recording session, marked as Milky Way property. Linh kept it when she left the room.

Nam said: "If the card has a leaked version, the company will want to get it."

“Or Linh wants to pay in exchange for freedom,” An replied.

Linh's mother gave them a piece of paper with the address of the new Eastern bus station. Linh texted that she would send the card to a middleman there. An didn't want to go, but couldn't leave Linh alone in an unknown conversation.

The bus station is crowded and noisy. An wears a low-level vibration transmitter, but does not use headphones. She and Nam stood some distance from the entrance gate, Vy at the ticket counter, Tung observing from the luggage area. A man wearing a brown coat appeared and called Linh's name on the phone. Linh walked out of the restroom, wearing a large hat and mask.

An stepped forward before the man received the card.

"Sacred."

Linh was startled. “You shouldn't have come.”

“Are you being forced by anyone?”

"Not yet."

The man in the brown shirt stepped back, holding the phone. Nam stood between him and Linh. Tung took photos, Hanh was on her way.

Linh took out the memory card. "The company said that if I deliver it, they will delete the statement and return the account. I don't believe it, but I don't know what to do."

“Have you backed up yet?” An asked.

“Yes. But the copy is with someone else.”

"Where?"

Linh looked at the man in brown shirt. "An old technician named Phuc. He said he would protect the original."

The man turned away. Nam held his arm, but An stopped him.

"Don't touch. We have cameras."

Hanh arrived, presented his business card and asked the man in the brown shirt to confirm his identity. He said he was the company's shipping representative, without authorization. Hanh asked him to leave. He called, then left the station.

Linh handed over the card An. “I don't want to keep it anymore.”

An did not accept it immediately. “This is your data. You have the right to decide.”

“If you keep it, they will find a way to take it.”

“So we make a record, make a copy with a code, and then send the original to an independent place.”

Linh nodded. Hanh noted on the spot. The card contains raw recordings, export logs and a video clip from the control room. The video shows Duc Minh opening the folder with Le Chi's voice, while Quang Vu stands next to him. Nam is not present.

Quang looked at the camera and said: "Don't let the young lady know what she's singing on."

Linh stood behind An, covering her mouth with both hands. She didn't cry. She looked like someone who had just lost the ability to fool herself.

“Have you seen this video?” An asked.

"Not yet."

“Do you want to continue watching?”

Linh shook her head. “But I want it to stay.”

Hanh sent the confirmation code to the lawyer. Tung made three copies. Men stand far away, do not touch the card. When everything was finished, Linh turned to him.

“Do you know how long they have been doing it?”

Nam replied: "I know they wanted to use a sample. I didn't know they used Le Chi's voice in my song."

“You still stay with them.”

"Correct."

“Do you see yourself as different from them?”

Nam looked down. "I'd like to think I'm different. But I make the system work."

Linh nodded, it seemed like that answer was painful but necessary. "So when you go to trial, don't say you're innocent. Say what you did."

Nam agrees.

That night, Hanh sent the video to Le Chi. She responded that the voice in the original was definitely hers, but she didn't want to appear right away. She suggested that Lam's family sign the confirmation.

An asked Linh if she wanted to continue the album. Linh thought for a long time.

"I want to record another song, without using any of Le Chi's vocals. If the album is still made, I want my name to stand under my name, not stand for anyone else."

"Okay."

Nam said: "I will find another company if Milky Way terminates the contract."

Linh looked at him. "No need to promise. Need to do it right."

An laughed softly. Linh also smiled, for the first time in many days.

When they left the bus station, An received a text message from Duc Minh's number: "You got the card. So prepare to hear the final version." Attached is a warehouse address and preliminary hearing time. The last line reads: “Nam will be the first to be questioned.”

Nam read, then turned off the screen. “I will say.”

An looked at him. “Saying the whole part makes me embarrassed.”

"I know."

This time An did not edit his answer. She just gave him a memory card containing a copy of the report, so he could check it himself. The boundary between them remains, but is no longer a closed wall.

After the memory card was sealed, Linh did not return to the company's apartment. She temporarily stayed at the house of a friend who teaches singing, sleeping on a couch next to a bookshelf. An sent her the collection schedule and bus fare, but Linh only accepted the schedule.

“I can pay myself,” Linh said.

“I didn't send it to buy your right to make a decision.”

“I know. But I need to clarify.”

An agrees. She realized that what Linh needed was not a rescuer but someone who did not turn help into debt.

Tung analyzes the video in the card. The images of Duc Minh and Quang are noisy at the beginning, but the sound is clear. Quang said "accent layer", Duc Minh said "old name", then a third person asked if the metadata should be deleted. A third voice belonging to the communications assistant sent the contract to Linh.

Hanh invited his assistant to work. She admitted that she was asked to create a "GiaLinh_demo" account and post a leaked version if there was a dispute. She doesn't know anyone will be released, just follow the email from Duc Minh.

“Why didn't you say so sooner?” Hanh asked.

“I'm afraid of losing my job.”

“So now?”

"I'm still scared. But I don't want another day to remember I pressed the button."

Hearing that sentence, An missed Hoang, missed Nam, missed himself. Buttons rarely make total mistakes; they are just moments when one can stop without stopping.

Linh agreed to sign the report. She requested that her name not appear publicly unless necessary. Hanh respects.

Nam asked An if he wanted him to withdraw from the album to relieve pressure. An answered no immediately.

“Did you withdraw because you wanted to or because they forced you?”

"I do not know."

“So it hasn't been decided yet.”

Nam looked at the autumn calendar. “I wanted to stay to do the music, but I didn't want to be the reason Linh was attacked.”

“Linh said she chose it herself.”

“She might change her mind.”

"Everyone can. So the contract must allow for a change of mind."

They revised the internal agreement: any artist can withdraw their recording if the source of the data is found to be illegal; The person withdrawing is not subject to a penalty other than the proven costs incurred. Nam signed first.

The next recording session took place in a small room on the university's rooftop. The wind blew strongly, but An kept the microphone in the blocking area. Linh sings the new song, Nam only plays one note in each part. No one tried to cover up the city's noise.

In the middle of the session, Linh received a call from Quang. He asked her if she wanted to return to the company, saying everything could "start over". Linh turned on the speaker and asked everyone's permission.

“Do you agree to cancel the clause on using accent outside the contract?”

Light silence.

“Do you agree to return the original to the owner?”

“We can discuss.”

“So we don't have to do it again.”

Linh turned off the phone. She trembled, but did not cry. An gave her a bottle of water without saying "you're very good".

“Don't you compliment me?” Linh asked.

“Do you want to be praised or do you want to be left alone?”

“Saddle first.”

An nodded, leaving her to sit alone by the railing.

That night, Duc Minh sent a request to meet Linh privately. Linh refused and forwarded the letter to Hanh. In the letter, he said that if Linh testified, he would release the recording of her receiving the recording from Phuc. Hanh determined this was a threat and filed a file.

Nam was angry and wanted to call Duc Minh. Stop it.

“I don't use anger as a substitute for a lawyer.”

“He is threatening Linh.”

“And we'll take note, not give him an argument to cut out.”

Nam sat down and sent all messages to Hanh. He has learned not to turn reactions into evidence against him.

Le Chi texted Linh a short sentence: "You don't owe me to continue singing." Linh read it, then took the initiative to call her for the first time. The call lasted less than five minutes. At the end, Linh said Mrs. Le Chi did not ask if she was worthy or not; She asked her what she wanted her music to sound like.

An looked at Nam. “That's what you have to learn.”

"I know."

“I'm making progress.”

“Don't turn me into a project.”

An smiled. “I just record the data.”

At the end of the week, Hanh announced that the official hearing had been scheduled. Video evidence, tapes, payment books and statements will be reviewed. Before that date, the group must complete the album so that no one can say they created it just to create pressure.

An opened the schedule and added a rehearsal. No day off was long enough, but she knew they needed an ending so the story wouldn't be dragged by someone else.