Chapter 5 — The Day I Left University A

The line on the other end went completely silent. After a few agonizing seconds, Ha Linh’s voice changed register, rising in sudden panic:

“You knew everything?”

I did not bother to deny it:

“That scholarship money, you probably won’t be able to use it anymore.”

“What do you mean…”

Ignoring her frantic interrogation, I hung up the phone. Immediately afterward, I composed an email addressed to the admissions office, the academic affairs department, and the disciplinary committee of University A. The subject line was chillingly concise: A formal report on current University A students, Diep Thua Huan and Ha Linh, for conspiring to alter another person’s college entrance examination preferences. Within the body of the email, I meticulously detailed the entire sequence of events, attaching the video I had secretly recorded during my conversation with Diep Thua Huan, as well as the audio recording of the phone call I had just finished with Ha Linh.

The next day, Diep Thua Huan did not return to City A. I had no idea what method he used to slip past security and wander freely into the campus of University S. He clung to my side like an unshakeable specter. During our specialized major lecture, he sat right beside me and slid a brand-new notebook across the desk:

“Tri Vu, I bought the exact same notebook as you.”

“Even though we aren’t studying at the same university, I can still easily fly over here to be with you whenever I want.”

With a completely expressionless face, I shoved the notebook back to his side. As soon as class ended, I gathered my belongings and prepared to leave, but he sprang up in a rush:

“Tri Vu, let me treat you to lunch. I wonder how the cafeteria here at University S compares to the one at University A?”

“Diep Thua Huan,”

I paused in my tracks, turned my gaze upon him, and spoke with profound implication:

“You don’t need to waste any more of your time on me.”

“With all this misplaced effort, you really should be figuring out how to salvage your own university career.”

Yet he utterly failed to grasp the warning hidden beneath my words, only looking at me with a pitiful, aggrieved expression:

“I don’t consider it a waste of time at all.”

He stared at me, his eyes filled with a heavy, earnest pretense of deep affection. It was a tragedy that looking at him now, I felt nothing save for a profound sense of amusement. That very night, Diep Thua Huan sent me an exceptionally long text message from a local number he must have just purchased.

“Tri Vu, I know I was wrong. I never should have gotten involved with Ha Linh, and even less should I have kept it a secret from you.”

“But I truly cannot live without you. Do you remember that winter in the eleventh grade? The evening self-study session suffered a blackout, and the classroom was lit only by candles. You used a flashlight to illuminate your physics workbook to teach me how to solve problems, while I sat right beside you just watching you.”

“And during our twelfth grade year, every single time I performed poorly on the monthly exams, you were the one who ran alongside me on the sports field, helping me relieve the stress.”

“We have been through so much together. The feelings I have always held for you were never a lie.”

“Ha Linh was merely a mistake on my part, a moment of weakness where I was momentarily blinded by her.”

“Everyone makes mistakes, Tri Vu. Can’t you give me just one more chance?”

I did not even possess the patience to read the entire message. I blocked the number instantly, rolled over, and went straight to sleep. Diep Thua Huan, perhaps a fraction of your affection for me was once genuine. But that tiny speck of sincerity has already been thoroughly obliterated by the joint efforts of you and Ha Linh. Over the next few days, Diep Thua Huan clung to me like a stubborn, foul-smelling plaster. Yet I couldn't even be bothered to chase him away. For I knew that in just a few days' time, someone else would naturally step forward to deal with him. Sure enough, today, Diep Thua Huan was following close behind me as usual when his phone suddenly rang. He answered it:

“Advisor, yes, it’s me. I took a leave of absence, I’m not on campus right now.”

“What? What do you mean I violated the law and university regulations, and the school wants to expel me?”

He snapped upright, rising to his feet in a single, violent motion:

“Alright, I’ll head back to campus immediately.”

Ending the call, he looked at me with a panicked expression:

“Tri Vu, something has happened at my university, I have to go back immediately.”

“Wait for me! I’ll come back to find you in a couple of days!”

With those words, he hurried away in a frantic rush. I watched his retreating back and murmured softly beneath my breath:

“Have a safe trip. Don't bother saying goodbye.”

“And honestly, you'd better never come back at all.”

Barely had Diep Thua Huan been gone for any length of time when my phone vibrated in my palm. I hesitated for three seconds before finally pressing the answer button.

“Duong Tri Vu!”

Ha Linh’s voice was high-pitched, shrill, and piercing, exploding violently through the earpiece:

“Did you report us? Have you lost your mind? Do you realize that if University A expels me, I will literally have nothing left?”

I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear.

“Say something! Exactly what is it that you want? Do you know the academic affairs office just called me in for a talk, saying someone reported us for altering your college entrance exam preferences? Was that you? Tell me, was it actually you?”

Only after she had finished her screeching tirade did I calmly open my mouth to reply:

“It was me.”

“What is the matter? Could it be that my report was based on fabrication?”

The other end of the line plunged into a sudden, stunned silence.

“But you… didn’t you retake the exams and get into a good university anyway? Even if we did tamper with your preferences, it didn’t end up affecting you at all!”

Her voice abruptly dropped in volume, laced with a heavy undercurrent of a guilty conscience.

“That was the result of my own capability, not because you chose to show mercy.”

She still tried to argue further:

“Can’t you at least consider our years of friendship…”

I cut her off mercilessly:

“Do not speak of something that never existed in the first place.”

Another heavy silence stretched across the line. Perhaps finally comprehending the sheer gravity of the situation, Ha Linh burst into tears:

“Tri Vu, I’m sorry, I truly know I was wrong!”

“Can’t you forgive me just this once? I swear I will never go near Diep Thua Huan ever again, just let me off this one time, please…”

Hearing those pathetic pleas, a sudden, cold sense of amusement washed over me.