Chapter 4: The Rainy Night Without Goodbye
Ha ran through the rain.
The rain in September wasn't heavy, but it was cold enough to soak through her school uniform.
She didn't know where Khoi was, either.
She kept calling, but no one answered.
Only a long beep sounded before the call ended.
She ran past the library, her shoes slipping on the tiled floor.
At last, she saw Gia Bao.
He was standing outside the emergency room.
Alone.
Ha ran toward him.
"Gia Bao!"
He turned around.
His face was pale.
"Where's Khoi?"
Gia Bao didn't answer.
"Where's Khoi?"
Ha asked again, her voice rising.
"In there."
She looked toward the closed door.
"What happened?"
Gia Bao lowered his head.
"I don't know everything, either."
"What do you mean, you don't know everything?"
"This afternoon, Khoi was at home when his dad got drunk."
Ha froze.
"His dad..."
"He was taken to the hospital."
Ha stood motionless.
She looked through the small glass window in the door.
Inside, doctors hurried around.
The red light above the door was still on.
She turned to Gia Bao.
"What about Khoi?"
"He's in there."
Gia Bao shook his head.
"Khoi was hurt."
Ha felt her heart stop.
"What happened?"
"Before his dad was brought to the hospital, the two of them got into an argument."
"They argued?"
"Yeah."
Gia Bao looked down at the floor.
"Khoi ran outside. He was hit by a motorcycle. I didn't hear the rest."
The rest of his words faded away.
Ha's ears rang.
She could hear only one thing:
Khoi was hurt.
Ha sank into a chair.
Both her hands were cold.
She blamed herself.
*Why didn't I call again that afternoon?*
*Why did I keep thinking he was busy?*
*Why...?*
Tears began to fall.
Gia Bao sat down beside her.
"Don't worry."
Ha shook her head.
"I don't know what to do."
"All we can do is wait."
"He'll be okay."
Gia Bao spoke as if he were trying to convince himself.
"Ha, Khoi will be okay."
She nodded.
But deep down, she didn't believe it.
Two hours passed.
Finally, the emergency room light went out.
The door opened.
Ha immediately stood up.
A doctor stepped out.
"Are you family?"
Gia Bao moved forward.
"I'm his friend."
The doctor looked at the two of them.
"The patient has soft-tissue injuries and a few external wounds. Nothing too serious, but he needs to be monitored for a while."
Ha let out a breath.
"Can we see him?"
"Yes, but don't agitate him."
Ha nodded repeatedly.
The door opened, and she stepped inside.
Minh Khoi was lying on the bed.
A wound on one side of his forehead was bandaged.
His right arm was in a cast.
His eyes were open.
Ha stood in the doorway for a long time.
She couldn't take another step.
This was the first time she'd ever seen him like this.
The person who was always calm was now lying in a hospital bed.
The silence was terrifying.
Ha walked over.
"Khoi."
His eyelids moved.
A moment later, he opened his eyes.
When he saw her, he looked a little dazed.
"Ha Nguyen?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you here?"
Ha didn't answer.
Tears fell from her eyes.
Minh Khoi frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"I was so scared..."
Her voice broke.
"What happened to you?"
"I'm still alive."
"Don't say it like that."
He fell silent.
Ha wiped away her tears.
"Does it hurt?"
"Not much."
"Don't talk."
"Okay."
She let out a small sob.
Minh Khoi looked at her.
After a moment, he held out his left hand.
"Come here."
Ha looked at his hand.
Then she took it.
His hand was cold.
She held it gently.
"Khoi."
"Yeah?"
"I was scared."
He said nothing.
"You made me so worried."
"I'm sorry."
"I thought something had happened to you."
"I'm sorry."
"And Gia Bao told me..."
She couldn't finish.
Minh Khoi looked at her.
"Don't say anything else."
"Why?"
"Because I don't like seeing you cry."
Ha lowered her head.
Tears continued to fall.
He warmed her hand in his.
"I'm here."
Those words sounded exactly like the words the boy had once said at her mother's hospital bedside.
*I'm here.*
Ha burst into tears.
She didn't know that, years later, she would remember those words until they broke her heart.
The next morning, Ha returned to the hospital.
Minh Khoi was more alert by then.
But she didn't see him in the room.
"Where's Khoi?"
A nurse pointed toward the end of the hallway.
Ha followed her gaze.
She saw Minh Khoi standing in front of another room.
He had been standing there for a long time.
Ha walked over.
"Khoi."
He turned around.
"Yeah?"
"How's your dad?"
He didn't answer right away.
"He still hasn't woken up."
Ha looked at him.
"About what happened yesterday..."
"What about it?"
"I just wanted to..."
"Ha, don't ask."
It was the first time he'd spoken to her in such a cold voice.
Ha fell silent.
Minh Khoi turned away.
After a moment, he said, "I'm sorry."
Ha lowered her head.
"It's okay."
"I haven't..."
"Yeah."
"I need some time."
"Okay."
She didn't ask anything else.
But when she turned to leave, she saw something on Minh Khoi's hand.
She knew he was trying to hide something.
Three days later, Minh Khoi's father woke up.
But his condition wasn't good.
He had suffered a stroke and would need long-term treatment.
The family began to face one problem after another.
Ha only heard part of it from Gia Bao.
Minh Khoi's family company was in trouble.
A large debt still hadn't been settled.
His father had been overworking for months.
On the night everything happened, he'd wanted Minh Khoi to study abroad after graduation.
Minh Khoi had refused.
The two of them had argued.
That was the cause of everything.
Ha listened without knowing what to say.
A seventeen-year-old boy had been forced to stand in the middle of problems far too big for him.
Perhaps he'd already grown used to handling everything on his own.
A week later, Minh Khoi returned to school.
Everything went back to normal.
But it wasn't the same as before.
He no longer stayed at school late.
He no longer walked home with Ha after class.
His phone kept ringing.
Some days, he had to step outside during class to answer it.
Ha didn't question him.
She knew he was dealing with something.
But she began to feel the distance between them.
A distance neither of them had created deliberately.
It simply kept growing.
One afternoon, Ha stood in front of the school gate.
"Khoi."
He turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to go home with me?"
"I can't."
"Why?"
"I have to go to the hospital."
"Okay."
He was about to leave when Ha called out.
"Khoi."
He turned back.
"Do you remember last week?"
"What about it?"
"We were going to talk."
He was silent.
"Yeah."
"When can we talk?"
Minh Khoi looked at her.
"Give me some time."
"How long?"
"I don't know."
Ha lowered her head.
"Okay."
He left.
Ha remained where she was.
For the first time, she understood that some doors stayed closed, even when someone waited outside for a very long time.
By the end of the month, Ha's mother was getting worse, too.
The hospital required more tests.
The expenses kept rising.
Her father spoke less and less.
One night, Ha heard him say, "Maybe we should sell the house."
Her mother was silent.
"What else can we do?"
"If we don't sell it, where will we get the money?"
"This house is where our daughter lives."
"I know."
"She's still in school."
"I know."
Ha stood outside the door.
Then she quietly returned to her room.
That night, she opened her phone.
Her chat with Minh Khoi was at the top.
She wanted to text him that she was tired.
But she deleted it.
*Are you there?*
In the end, she couldn't send anything.
Ha set her phone down.
She began to understand something painful.
When the person you love is drowning in hardships, sometimes you can't lean on them.
Not because they don't love you.
But because they're trying to survive, too.
That month, the school organized an educational field trip.
Everyone was excited.
An Lam tugged on Ha's arm.
"Are you going?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I have to take care of my mom."
"But it's only two days."
"I can't."
An Lam looked at her.
"Then I'll stay home and take care of her with you."
Ha laughed.
"What are you going to take care of?"
"Well..."
An Lam thought for a moment.
"Order food."
"Forget it."
They both laughed.
But Ha didn't know that Minh Khoi had heard them.
"I'm not going, either."
Ha turned back.
"Why?"
"I don't want to."
"Or is it because..."
She didn't finish.
"Because of me?"
She fell silent.
"My dad still isn't better."
"Yeah."
"And the company is having problems."
Ha looked at him.
"Khoi."
"Yeah?"
"If you need money..."
He immediately shook his head.
"No."
"I haven't finished."
"I know what you're going to say."
"I don't want you to get involved in my family's problems."
Ha felt hurt.
"But I'm your friend."
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Because I don't want you to suffer."
Ha fell silent.
Khoi looked at her.
"You already have enough to worry about."
The words hurt more than she'd expected.
She heard them as a request for her to stay away.
That night, Ha received a text message.
It wasn't from Khoi.
It was from an unknown number.
"Can't you see? He's starting to leave you behind."
Ha stared at the screen.
She didn't reply.
The next message read:
"Don't expect a person who can't choose you in the future."
Ha turned off her phone.
She didn't know who had sent the messages.
But for the first time, she began to feel afraid.
Afraid that those words might be true.
A week later, Ha met Uyen Tong.
The two of them stood in the hallway after class.
Uyen said, "Khoi is about to leave school."
"Why?"
"His family wants him to focus on the business."
Ha fell silent.
She lowered her head.
"I see."
"It's what his family decided."
"How do you know?"
"I know."
Ha looked at Uyen.
"How do you know?"
Uyen was quiet.
Only after a while did she answer, "I heard his father say it."
Ha didn't ask anything else.
She went looking for him.
He was in the back schoolyard.
"Khoi!"
He turned around.
"What's wrong?"
"Are you leaving school?"
Minh Khoi was silent.
"Tell me the truth."
"I haven't decided."
"But if no one else had told me, you wouldn't have said anything, would you?"
"I don't know."
"What does that mean?"
Khoi didn't answer.
Ha smiled.
It was a deeply sad smile.
"I understand now."
She turned away.
"Ha."
He called after her.
She stopped but didn't turn around.
"Wait."
Khoi walked toward her.
"I never said I was going to leave."
"But you've already thought about it."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"Because of my family."
"And what about me?"
He was silent.
Ha turned back.
"Of everything you have to choose, where do I stand?"
Minh Khoi looked at her.
His eyes were filled with exhaustion.
"Don't make me answer that right now."
Ha lowered her head.
"Okay."
She turned away.
This time, he didn't stop her.
That night, Ha opened her diary.
She turned to a page she'd written months ago.
*I hope these ordinary days will last forever.*
She stared at the words.
It turned out even the simplest wish could be so difficult to fulfill.
She picked up her pen.
Beneath it, she wrote:
*October 28.*
*The first day of fear.*
That night, Minh Khoi couldn't sleep, either.
He stood on the balcony.
His phone displayed a message from his father.
"You have to go to America after you graduate."
He stared at it for a long time.
The next message read:
"This isn't up for discussion."
Minh Khoi put down the phone.
Ha's image appeared in his mind.
The girl who sat by the window.
The girl who always said she was fine even when her eyes were red.
The girl who had held on to the same old umbrella for more than a year.
She had asked him:
"Of everything you have to choose, where do I stand?"
Khoi lowered his head.
He knew the answer.
But he also knew—the answer couldn't change what was happening.
The next day, Ha came to class.
The seat beside hers was empty.
Minh Khoi hadn't come.
She looked at the chair.
A chill ran through her.
She took out her books.
When she opened her desk, she found a piece of paper inside.
This time, she recognized the handwriting immediately.
It was Minh Khoi's.
Only one sentence was written on it:
"If I ever have to leave, don't hate me."
Ha stared at the words.
Tears fell onto the page.
She crushed the paper in her hand.
Outside the window, the first leaves of autumn began to fall.
Summer had ended long ago.
But she understood—perhaps what had ended that summer was the last of their peaceful days.
And for the first time, Ha knew that love didn't always begin with a confession.
Sometimes it began with a boy sitting by the window.
A carton of milk placed on a desk.
An umbrella on a rainy day.
And sometimes...
it could end with a small piece of paper lying silently on a desk.