Chapter 36: It Seems Like I Traded Everyone Around Me for a Distant Love
It felt like something had just slipped through my fingers again.
I stood there under the dormitory trees, catching the falling hoa sưa petals in my hands. They were still as pure, as gentle, and as peaceful as ever. But to me, they had become a symbol of distance, of separation.
When I got back to the room, I found Duyen packing her things.
"I'm sorry," she said without looking at me. "I just… I can't face this right now. I'm moving back home."
I sank onto my bed, stunned.
Had I really given up everyone around me… for a love that was so far away?
No.
I didn't want things to end like this.
I immediately messaged Duyen:
"We need to talk."
She was sitting on the top bunk, and I was on the bottom. We were only a few feet apart, yet neither of us had the courage to speak out loud. So we resorted to Facebook messages instead.
Duyen was the first to type:
"You've been hiding something from me, haven't you?"
Her words surprised me.
At this point, everyone in school already knew that Mr Aunt and I were together. What else was there to hide?
I quickly replied:
"Hiding something? What do you mean?"
She took a long time to respond. I could see the typing indicator flicker on and off, as if she kept writing, deleting, and rewriting her message. My heart pounded as I waited.
Then, finally, a long paragraph appeared on my screen:
"Mr Phong pursued me for five years. He was cold to every other girl, but to me, he was always kind, always considerate. And then suddenly, he started chasing after you. I know you must have done something. He isn't the kind of man to fall for someone so easily. That alone… I could let go. But then, almost overnight, mr Chung became your boyfriend. I've known for a while that something wasn't right. I kept waiting for you to tell me the truth. But you never did. And now, I feel like you took everything from me—like you stole something that was supposed to be mine."
I froze.
So… Trần Hùng Phong had been after Duyen all along.
And me? I had used him. I had deliberately let Duyen see me with him.
Without realizing it, I had taken something from her—blatantly, selfishly.
She stopped typing.
I knew she was holding back her emotions, not wanting to cry. But even if she did, I wouldn't be able to see from my spot on the lower bunk.
But I wasn't going to let this conversation end like this.
We needed to be honest.
If we were going to break, then let it be a clean break. If we were going to fight, then let's fight it out properly. I wasn't going to let this fester in silence.
So I finally admitted:
"I'm sorry. But do you think it was easy being just a shadow? Hải Anh only ever saw you. He never saw me."
Duyen took a moment before replying:
"But Hải Anh was never yours."
I hesitated, then typed and hit enter:
"And mr Chung was never yours either. I didn't steal anything from you."
It was a poor attempt to justify myself, a way to ease my own conscience. But deep down, I knew it was a weak argument. The two situations weren't the same at all.
And somehow, sending that message only made my chest feel heavier.
Duyen didn't reply.
Her silence was suffocating.
A cold war? Again?
If we left things like this, they would never be resolved. I knew that much.
Because my crush on Hải Anh had been nothing more than admiration from a distance.
But Duyen's love for Mr Aunt? That had been real. It had been growing since high school.
Hải Anh and Duyen had never been a couple. But I had actually taken Mr Aunt away from her.
No matter how I tried to justify it, the pain she felt was real.
Before I could explain more, Duyen went offline.
She closed her laptop, packed it into her bag.
I had moved into the dorm because of Duyen.
If someone had to leave, it should've been me, not her.
As I watched her go, I thought to myself: Maybe we were never meant to be friends. Or at least… not best friends.
Vy, who had been helping Duyen pack, sighed and said:
"You two are idiots. Seriously. Fighting like this over a guy?"
I stood beneath the hoa sưa trees, watching the Camry drive away, feeling as if my heart had sunk to the pit of my stomach.
Was it wrong to love someone?
If I had the chance to choose again, between my best friend and my love, what would I pick?
I didn't know.
And I was too afraid to find out.
I sat down at the base of the tree, leaned my back against the rough bark, and closed my eyes. I let the petals fall onto my hair, let myself be surrounded by the faint scent of the earth.
Empty… Hollow…
Everything had left as if it had never been there in the first place.
After Duyen moved out, I left the dorm too. I couldn't bear to look at the empty top bunk, at the room that held so many memories of our friendship.
In class, I couldn't even look Duyen in the eye.
She now came to school in her family's car—sometimes with a driver, sometimes driving herself. Sitting inside, with her hair tied up in a high bun, her gaze straight ahead, she looked elegant, untouchable.
But the more I saw her like that, the more guilt I felt.
Because behind all that refinement was a lonely fortress.
No one could breach it.
Not even Hải Anh, who had once chased her so persistently.
Much later, I learned the truth.
Duyen's father was a bank director.
Trần Hùng Phong's family were business partners with them. Their families had a long-standing relationship and had subtly hinted at a marriage alliance.
Trần Hùng Phong had pursued Duyen.
But Duyen had only ever seen him as an older brother.
Her heart had long belonged to her tutor.
During the scandal, Duyen had begged Trần Hùng Phong to drop the lawsuit.
But he refused.
He was determined to protect his younger brother—and to drag Mr Aunt, his rival, down with him.
That was the moment Duyen had cut ties with him for good.