Chapter 7 — The Lost Brother

Bui Nhai Thanh accepted the wedding candy, slipping it slowly between his lips. There was sweetness lingering on the surface, yet mixed beneath it lay the abrasive, biting saltiness of tears. And then, right at the very end, as the confection dissolved, he tasted only a profound, lingering bitterness.

Slowly, Bui Nhai Thanh rose to his feet, his limbs feeling heavy and unresponsive. He walked out into the shifting light, his footsteps unsteady and faltering, drifting away from the celebration like a ghost fading into the mist. From that day onward, no one ever saw him again, and the paths he chose to walk remained a secret lost to the wind, swallowed entirely by the quiet void of the world.