Chapter 26: Chapter 26 Confront Kiên — Rebellious Symphony

Minh met Kiên again at the old internet cafe, where they had two tense conversations before. This time, the atmosphere between them was different, no longer threatening or defensive, but one of caution mixed with hope.

"Sit down," Kiên gestured, pushing his laptop towards Minh. "I spent all week following the trail. Look here."

Minh attentively looked at the screen, where Kiên had compiled all the evidence: the IP address that posted the old video matched the area near Thanh Âm Art School, the conversation mentioned "being paid to spread news", and a few small but suspicious transfer transactions.

"How did you find these things?" Minh asked, unable to hide his surprise.

"I have a few connections in the amateur hacking world, people who specialize in tracking people online to get revenge on blackmail or scams," Kiên explained, his voice a bit proud and embarrassed. "After hearing the news that you abandoned your contract with WaveSound, I felt terribly guilty. I realized that my previous threats, even though they did not directly cause this leak, also contributed to putting you on the defensive, having to hide more, making you more vulnerable to those who really have bad intentions."

Minh looked at his old friend and felt the rare sincerity in those words. "Thank you, Kiên. Really."

"Don't thank me yet," Kiên waved his hand, his voice becoming serious. "I haven't determined exactly who is behind that anonymous account. But based on the IP location and a few other details, I have a pretty solid suspicion."

"Who is it?" Minh asked, even though he already vaguely guessed the answer.

"Ngô Vĩnh Phong," Kiên said, pushing the laptop screen so Minh could see another screenshot more clearly. "I found a secondary social network account, created at the same time as the other anonymous account, sharing the same recovery email address. That secondary account, despite trying to delete traces, still retains a few old comments on the official personal page of Ngô Vĩnh Phong, a student at Thanh Âm Art School."

Minh was silent, all the disparate pieces suddenly fit together: Phong's calculated "sincere warnings" for Linh, his unusual interest in her love life, and now, evidence that he was behind the dissemination of information that caused a storm of public opinion.

"That bitch," Minh gritted his teeth, anger rising. "He did this to eliminate Linh from the scholarship race."

"It seems so," Kiên nodded. "But you need more solid evidence before direct confrontation. What I have is just an inference from technical data, not enough to use as legal evidence or present to the competition organizers."

"I understand," Minh nodded and thanked Kiên again before standing up and preparing to leave.

"Minh," Kiên called back as he stood up, his voice becoming serious and somewhat shy. "I'm sorry, for everything I did before. Threatening you, trying to force you back into the group with bad words. I just... I was afraid of losing the only thing I had, and I vented my anger in the wrong place."

Minh looked at his old friend, a sincere sympathy rising in his heart. "I'm also sorry, for leaving without explaining clearly that year. We both made mistakes. But I hope, from now on, we can be true friends, not enemies or emotional creditors of each other." Kiên nodded, a rare smile of relief appeared. "Agreed. And about the promise to help Neon Tide, I won't force you anymore. But if you're free in the future, you can come by and visit sometimes."

"Sure," Minh replied, shaking Kiên's hand sincerely before leaving the internet cafe, feeling relieved after resolving an important part of his past that had weighed heavily on his shoulders for many months.

***

Right after leaving Kiên, Minh immediately went straight to Linh's house, even though it was late, even though he wasn't sure if she still wanted to see him after what had happened.

He stood in front of her gate and texted: "I know it's late, and I know I have no right to appear suddenly like this after what happened. But I need to see you. I found an important clue about the person behind the rumor."

A few minutes later, Linh appeared at the gate, quickly wearing a thin sweater, her eyes still red from continuous sleepless nights. "What did you say?"

"Kiên helped me find evidence," Minh said, his voice urgent but sincere. "The person behind the distribution of the old video, causing this entire storm of public opinion, is most likely Ngô Vĩnh Phong."

Linh was stunned, many mixed emotions invaded at the same time - anger at the betrayal of her old classmate, and also a fragile glimmer of hope when she saw Minh reappear. "You... you came here just to talk about that?"

Minh looked at her, his eyes filled with regret. "No. I came here because I realized that my previous decision to retreat was a mistake. I let fear control me, instead of trusting in you, in us. I'm sorry, Linh. I'm really sorry."

Linh's tears began to fall and she couldn't hold back anymore. "Do you know how much you hurt me?"

"I know," Minh replied, his voice choked up. "And I will spend the rest of my life making amends for that mistake, if you give me the chance."

Linh looked at him for a long time, amidst tears and anger that was still smoldering, but the love and trust she had for him, despite being hurt, never really disappeared. "We need to talk seriously about everything. But first, let's go inside, before you catch a cold out here." Minh nodded and followed her into the house, filled with a fragile but certain hope that, although there were many things that needed to be mended, they still had the opportunity to continue writing their unfinished symphony together.

Fortunately, Mr. Đạt was away on business, Mrs. Lan Anh was the only one still awake, reading a book in the living room. Seeing Minh appear, she was not surprised at all, just smiled slightly, as if she had predicted this situation a long time ago.

"You two, sit down and talk," she said, standing up to make each of them a cup of warm tea. "I'll go to my room first, so you two can have your own space."

When Mrs. Lan Anh went upstairs, Linh and Minh sat opposite each other at the dining table, the atmosphere was still a bit awkward and tense.

"I've been thinking a lot these past few days," Minh said, breaking the silence first. "My mother told me something that made me rethink my entire decision: sometimes, the way we protect the people we love the most accidentally becomes the way we push them away the farthest. I did exactly that to you, and I truly regret it."

Linh took a sip of tea, trying to suppress her rising emotions. "I also wondered if I was being fair to you, being so angry when you were just trying to protect me the way you thought was right. But Minh, I need you to understand, I don't need to be protected from all risks. I need to be trusted to face them together."

"I understand," Minh nodded, his eyes determined. "And I promise, from now on, no matter what happens, we will decide together, no one will act alone anymore." Linh nodded. A gentle smile, though still a little hurt, appeared on her lips. "Okay. So now, tell me the details about the evidence Kiên found. We need a clear plan to confront Vĩnh Phong."

Minh opened his phone and showed her everything Kiên had collected. Linh attentively examined every detail, her face gradually becoming serious and decisive.

“We can't rely on technical reasoning alone for direct confrontation,” she said, thinking quickly. "If Phong denies it, we won't have any convincing evidence before the organizers or the school. We need a way for him to admit it himself."

"Do you have any ideas?" Minh asked.

Linh was silent for a moment, her eyes flashing with a familiar decisive light that Minh had missed during the past few days of separation. "Yes. But we need to prepare carefully, and perhaps, need more help from Bảo Châu." Minh nodded, feeling a new breath of life rush into his heart. After days of suffering and loneliness, he and Linh finally found each other again, not only as lovers, but also as true teammates, ready to face the final challenge together before entering the fateful finale.

Before Minh left, Linh saw him off to the gate. It was late at night but neither of them wanted to rush to break up. "Thank you for coming back," she said softly.

"Thank you for giving me the chance to come back," Minh replied, holding her hand one last time before leaving. "Tomorrow, I will let you know as soon as I finish discussing the specific plan with Bảo Châu. This time, we will do everything together, from start to finish." Linh nodded, standing and watching his shadow disappear into the night, feeling more relieved than at any time since the painful breakup. She knows that there is still a tense confrontation with Vĩnh Phong ahead, and a stressful finale, but at least this time, she does not have to enter those challenges alone anymore.