Chapter 13 — The Language of Hands

During the next three weeks, Thao Nguyen's life revolved almost entirely around the No Distance Festival project. Every morning, she wakes up half an hour earlier to post on social networking sites to raise funds, update progress, and tell small stories about the Deaf community that she has collected from conversations at Lang Coffee. Every recess, she and Minh Thu set up a table selling cookies and handmade bracelets right in front of the school gate, shouting with tired mouths to attract the attention of passing students.

"You look so haggard lately," Hai Yen commented when she saw her best friend's dark eye circles during recess. "Do you need to rest a bit? I can't stand working like this for a whole month."

"I'm fine," Thao Nguyen replied, although her voice was somewhat tired. "There are only two weeks left until the final data is due, I want to make sure everything goes smoothly."

The cookie stall in front of the school gate gradually becomes a familiar spot every recess. At first, only a few classmates came to buy and support, but gradually, thanks to the stories Thao Nguyen told with each box of cakes - about Binh An, about the exchanges at Lang Coffee, about the true meaning of the No Distance Festival - more and more students from other grades also came curiously, some bought to support, some simply stopped to ask, asking to participate as volunteers for the event.

"I didn't expect so many people to care," Minh Thu said to Thao Nguyen as she counted the money at the end of the session, her voice full of excitement. "At first I thought it was only the clubs we knew about."

"Because people have never had a chance to understand, it doesn't mean they don't care," Thao Nguyen replied, recalling what Ms. Xuan had said in the first lesson. "As long as someone tells the story the right way, people will automatically want to listen."

In addition to the cake booth, the fundraising team also contacted three stores near the school who agreed to sponsor a small portion of the costs, in exchange for their logos to be printed on the event standee. Duc Anh, who was initially the most skeptical about the project's ability to succeed, has now become the most enthusiastic in negotiating with store owners. His attitude changed completely when he saw the actual fundraising numbers increasing day by day.

Media work brought her and Gia Bach closer together than ever. Almost every night the two texted back and forth to update progress, discuss the content of the post, and edit each word to be both attractive and respectful of the spirit that Ms. Xuan and Mr. Phuc had advised. Some nights, the conversation lasted until nearly midnight, starting from work but gradually turning to everyday stories and idle jokes that made them both laugh alone in front of the phone screen.

One Thursday afternoon, when the two stayed late at school to complete the final poster design for the event, the classroom was deserted, with only the table lamp shining down on two laptops placed next to each other. Gia Bach sat next to Thao Nguyen to review the poster layout together. The distance between the two was so close that she could clearly feel the warmth radiating from his arm.

"Do you think it's okay to put the Deaf community logo in this corner?" Gia Bach asked, pointing at the screen, accidentally touching her hand holding the mouse.

They both paused for a moment, their eyes met in the quiet space of the room where only the two of them remained. Thao Nguyen felt her heart beating so fast that she could almost hear her own heartbeat.

"It's... fine," she stammered, quickly withdrawing her hand, trying to hide her embarrassment by looking at the screen more intently than necessary.

Gia Bach was also somewhat embarrassed, scratching the back of his neck and laughing to dispel the embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't mean it," he said.

"It's okay," Thao Nguyen replied, trying to keep her voice normal even though her ears were still burning.

The two continued to work, but the atmosphere between them was different, a sweet awkwardness crept into each exchange, causing both of them to occasionally catch themselves accidentally looking at each other longer than necessary, then quickly turning away when discovered.

At nearly eight o'clock in the evening, when the final design was completed, Gia Bach offered to take her home because it was late at night. On the way, the two were silent for a long time, only the sound of footsteps echoed steadily on the empty sidewalk.

"Thank you for doing this with me," Gia Bach suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence. "Honestly, without you, I'm not sure I would have been motivated enough to continue after meeting Mr. Dung that day."

"Don't say that," Thao Nguyen shook her head. "You're the one who started all of this, I'm just trying to play a small part."

"No, I'm serious," Gia Bach stopped walking, turned to look straight at her, his eyes in the dusk becoming deeper than usual. "Since the day you joined the club, everything I do seems to have more meaning. I... I don't know how to express it properly, but I'm happy to have you by my side on this journey."

Thao Nguyen stood silently, her heart pounding at those sincere words. She wanted to say something similar in response, wanted to say that she felt the same way, but the words stuck in her throat. She could only smile, her eyes sparkling under the streetlights.

"Me too," she finally managed, her voice quiet. "I'm also happy to have you."

The two stood there for a while, the distance between them seemed to narrow with each heartbeat, but then a motorbike passed by, its horn honking loudly, breaking that fragile moment. They both laughed awkwardly and continued on the way home, even though in their hearts they both knew that something had been silently acknowledged, even though no one dared to name it out loud.

When she got home, Thao Nguyen couldn't hold back and immediately texted Hai Yen to recount the moment just now, her typing fingers trembling with emotion. Hai Yen texted back a long, excited message, urging her not to hesitate any longer, to let things happen naturally.

The next morning, when she checked the fundraising page again, Thao Nguyen was happy to discover that the donation amount had far exceeded the original goal, thanks in large part to a post telling Binh An's story that was widely shared, attracting the attention of many sponsors. She immediately took a screenshot and sent it to Gia Bach, along with an excited message: "We did it!"

"It's thanks to you," Gia Bach texted back immediately, along with a celebration emoji. "I told you, as long as we unite, we can do something meaningful."

That evening, when telling the good news to his family, Binh An jumped up with excitement, immediately took out his sketchbook, and began to put the final touches on the painting he planned to bring to the exhibition. He drew passionately until late at night, occasionally running to his sister's room to show off his progress, his eyes sparkling with a pride that Thao Nguyen had rarely seen in her before.

"Do you think people will like my paintings?" Binh An asked, his voice showing a bit of nervousness mixed with hope, as he showed the nearly completed painting to her again.

"I'm sure," Thao Nguyen replied, looking at the painting with increasingly more delicate lines than the first ones she drew a few months ago. "Not only because the painting is beautiful, but because it tells a real story, my own story."

Binh An smiled, hugged the notebook in her arms, returned to her room to continue her unfinished work, leaving Thao Nguyen alone with chaotic thoughts about the last evening with Gia Bach. She lay down on the bed, reopened the text messages between the two of them, read and reread the sentence "I'm happy to have you by my side on this journey", her heart was both warm and nervous, not knowing what would happen next between the two of them, when both of them were still too busy with the project ahead to have time to think thoroughly about the feelings growing in their hearts.

Looking at the radiant happiness on her face, mixed with the mixed feelings about Gia Bach in her heart, Thao Nguyen felt that her life, despite being so busy and exhausting, had never been so full of meaning.

Before turning off the lights and going to bed, she spent a few minutes scrolling through the entire fundraising page one last time, reading every encouraging comment from strangers she had never met but were still willing to contribute a small part to the project. Someone wrote that their child was also a Deaf child, thanking the Club for doing what for many years they wished their child's school could do. Reading those words, Thao Nguyen became more and more aware of the true meaning of what the group was trying to build, not only for her family, but for many other families out there who were silently waiting for a similar bridge.