Chapter 14 — The Finish Line of Years Gone By

One week after the first meeting, Son sent an official email agreeing to cooperate, along with a detailed proposal that Bạt Phong Club would send three athletes to participate in the professional category of the Bình Minh International Marathon, and at the same time provide technical consulting support for the organization of the run. Khang Vinh's team, led by Khue, arranged a face-to-face meeting at the group's headquarters to finalize the contract terms.

The meeting took place in a large meeting room on the twentieth floor of the Khang Vinh building, overlooking the entire city through transparent glass. Son came with Huan, and on Khue's side Ky came along as a project assistant - the first time in thirteen years that all four old friends had the opportunity to sit together in the same room.

"Weird! Oh my god, do you work here too?" Huan exclaimed as soon as he entered the room, immediately recognizing a familiar face even though he was much more mature than he remembered.

"But where do you think I disappeared to?" Ky replied and smiled, although her eyes still maintained their familiar sharpness. "Khue and I have worked in the same department for three years now. You're a real coach now, you look so mature."

"You have to be mature, right now there are dozens of young athletes looking at you and learning." Huan smiled proudly, then glanced at Son who was sitting quietly next to him. "Hey, the atmosphere is so tense you two, it's like going to a press conference instead of meeting old friends."

Huan's joke made both Son and Khue a bit awkward, their eyes accidentally met and then hastily avoided. Both tried to mentally prepare for this meeting, telling themselves to maintain a professional attitude, but in reality, sitting across from each other in an official business meeting, after everything that had happened, was still a big challenge for both of them.

"We start with provisions regarding the training schedule of club athletes before the official competition day," Khue spoke up, trying to keep her voice calm, her eyes glued to the documents in front of her instead of looking directly at Son. "Our team needs to know the exact schedule to arrange media work and interviews before the tournament."

"Your team will be at the competition venue ten days in advance to familiarize themselves with the terrain and climate of the area," Son replied, also trying to keep his tone purely business. "I want the athletes to have enough time to adapt, especially on coastal roads with strong winds, which greatly affect the speed and tactics of competition." The meeting continued with many complex technical terms, both of them showed remarkable professionalism in their fields, although occasionally, between business exchanges, there were still short moments of silence, eyes passing each other carrying a whole sky of unspoken memories.

In the middle of the meeting, when discussing the issue of budget funding for the club, an assistant entered the room and whispered something in Khue's ear. She frowned and asked permission to go outside to answer the phone for a few minutes.

That call, although Khue did not make it clear to everyone in the meeting room, actually came from Mr. Uông Đắc Thành's assistant, announcing that the Deputy General Director wanted to meet her right after the meeting to "discuss more about the estimated budget for the next quarter" - a familiar understatement that Khue had enough experience to understand that it was essentially a questioning about the project's spending efficiency. She suppressed a sigh, trying to keep her face calm as she returned to the meeting room, not wanting to reveal the pressure weighing on her shoulders right in front of Son.

During that time, Ky pulled her chair closer to Son and lowered her voice, much more serious than her initial joking attitude. "Mr. Son, I speak frankly because Khue and I have been close since childhood. The past thirteen years have not been easy. There were periods when she almost didn't mention your name, but I know, she never really let go."

Son was silent, not knowing how to respond to that unexpected frankness.

"I don't mean to blame you," Ky continued, her voice softening. "I understand the situation at that time, no one is at fault. I just want you to know, if you two have a chance to reconnect, don't let work, don't let your male pride get in the way again. There aren't many second chances like that in life."

"I get it," Son replied, his voice thoughtful. "But now everything is much more complicated than before. She has a position and responsibility for a large project. I don't want to affect her work because of personal matters, or make others think I took advantage of my old relationship to get this contract." Ky looked at him for a moment and nodded. "I still have that personality, just like before — always afraid of others thinking I'm taking advantage of someone. Sometimes, I should trust my own feelings rather than worrying about other people's eyes."

Khue returned to the meeting room at that moment, her face a bit tense after the call. "Sorry everyone, there's a problem with the main sponsor, let's continue," Before ending the discussion about the budget, Son also asked one more question that surprised Khue. "I want to ask directly, does this project really receive absolute support from the company's board of directors? I don't want to put my athletes in a tournament where the budget could be cut off or plans suddenly changed midway, affecting their preparation process." Khue paused for a moment before that straightforward question, then replied, trying to maintain confidence in her voice even though inside she was not completely sure. "My father, Chairman of the Board of Directors, fully supports it. Internally, of course there are also opposing opinions, because this is a completely new business for the company. But I commit to you that all commitments in this contract will be fully implemented, no matter what happens."

Son looked at her for a moment, recognizing the determination in those eyes - the familiar look he had seen in the sixteen-year-old girl who persistently asked Mr. Khuong to let him be the team secretary that year. "I believe you," he said, simply but firmly, making Khue feel a warmth spread in her heart that she did not expect such a short sentence could bring so much comfort while she was alone shouldering pressure from many sides.

The meeting ended after nearly three hours, with most of the terms of cooperation agreed, with only a few small details remaining to be finalized via email. When everyone packed up their documents and prepared to leave, Huan came up with an idea.

"How about the four of us haven't seen each other in a long time like this? Let's go out to dinner, like meeting old friends?" He proposed, his voice excited.

Khue glanced at Son, whose eyes were questioning. Son nodded slightly, although he was still a little hesitant. "Okay, if everyone's not busy."

That evening, the four of them sat at a small restaurant near Khang Vinh headquarters. The atmosphere gradually became more comfortable as Huan and Ky, with their inherently lively nature, constantly reviewed old memories, from practice sessions on the clay court to the birthday party that year made Son feel out of place.

"Remember the time you read Son's breathing while trying to wake him up?" Huan asked Khue, laughing loudly. "At that time, the whole audience thought you were an assistant coach, not a normal student."

"Remember?" Khue smiled, her eyes flickering with nostalgia. "At that time, I only thought about how to keep Son from giving up, but I didn't think much about it."

Son sat and listened, a gentle, genuine smile appearing on his lips for the first time since the tense reunion a week ago. There was something in the warm atmosphere of this evening, between old stories told by two close friends, that helped the defensive wall that both he and Khue had built up over the past week gradually come down, even if just a little.

At the end of the meal, when Huan and Ky scrambled to pay the bill at the counter, leaving Son and Khue sitting across from each other in a rare moment where they were alone, Khue spoke softly, her voice small but sincere.

"Thank you for agreeing to cooperate," she said. "Not only because of work, but I'm really happy to see you again, even though the circumstances are somewhat unexpected."

"Me too," Son replied, his eyes were sincere and did not hide anything. "Even though I'm not sure I'm ready to face all that needs to be said between the two of us, at least I'm glad to know you're okay, still living well like this." Khue nodded, didn't say anything more, just let that moment of silence say all the things that neither of them had the courage to express in words, in the middle of a small restaurant noisy with the laughter and chatter of diners around, completely unaware of the thirteen-year long story that was quietly being written right on that small table.