Chapter 5

Recently, Van Thac has been acting a bit strange.

At the start of the week, the homeroom teacher conducts class activities for the first 15 minutes. The school has launched the 'Study Better Together' movement, where good students assist weaker ones. The tasks are simple, mainly reviewing old lessons, and sometimes asking a friend for help with a part that they haven't yet mastered. The teaching aspect is taken care of by the teachers.

Van Thac is not a bad student, but he has been struggling with subjects in Block B, particularly Chemistry and Biology. On that morning, the entire class was surprised when Thac raised his hand to ask Ngoc Lam for help. Ngoc Lam is a good student. Thac's request was met with admiration from his classmates as if he had just unlocked a new realm.

A few students, including some girls sitting near Ngoc Lam, expressed regret.

Even though Ngoc Lam rarely 'helps' anyone during exams, no one has ever seen her lose patience when helping them with their homework. Some people even passed notes to Thac with messages like "I want to study with Ngoc Lam too! Your abilities are not bad either!"

After the 'Study Better Together' assignment, Van Thac finds one more thing about Lam: she may seem unapproachable and has an exceptionally strong brother, but she is a very kind person. Everyone around her keeps their distance, but at the same time, they want to get closer to her without crossing any invisible boundaries. So, even if they wanted to be tutored by Ngoc Lam, the girls did not dare to volunteer. Instead, they hoped to be assigned near her so that the teacher would consider them as her study partner.

Yet Van Thac cuts off their little hope.

He looks at the girl who threw him the paper, smiles and says, "Sorry! The homeroom teacher has finalized the list!"

Because of the two subjects Chemistry and Biology, he has to go to remedial classes, which are on Tuesday mornings. The class is only from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., he still stays at school until the afternoon class though.

At noon, Ngoc Lam often comes an hour earlier before the afternoon shift because of her brother's study and practice schedule. Van Thac used the excuse that he wanted Ngoc Lam to re-teach the lesson he had learned and begged her to lecture him for half an hour.

Before that, he spent time playing basketball with the boys in the remedial class, eating lunch, taking a nap, and then starting to practise his trumpet.

Although Luyen and Thuyen often grumble about Thac playing the trumpet too independently and not being able to coordinate with others, the two friends often emphasize that if Thac perseveres with music, after graduating from high school, he will have a chance to enter the Conservatory. Mr Woods also agrees with what they say.

Thac's mother was always open-minded and supportive from the beginning. She believes that Thac has many advantages and will succeed no matter which path he chooses, whether going to college as an ordinary person or becoming a trumpet player. Thac's father also shared this view and joked that as long as Thac lived comfortably, he could take his time and didn't need to strive to be an outstanding person.

Thac is practising trumpet from his music book filled with notes and instructions from his master. He is so engrossed in his practice that he doesn't hear the alarm ringing, indicating that it's time to study with Ngoc Lam.

Ngoc Lam is a punctual person and arrives on time to study with Thac. As she enters the classroom, she sees Thac in the hallway, completely immersed in his music. She stands there for a moment, watching him play. It seems that even Ngoc Lam is caught up in his performance. It isn't until Ngoc Lam accidentally drops her pencil case that she snaps out of it. She checks the time and realizes that a few minutes have passed. Ngoc Lam walks towards Thac, opens the door leading to the hallway, and calls out to him, "Thac!"

Thac suddenly stops blowing his trumpet and checks his phone. He realizes that he has played for longer than he intended. He quickly puts the trumpet in its case, grabs his bag, and rushes into the classroom to catch up with Ngoc Lam.

"When did Lam arrive?" Van Thac asks as he runs.

"Five minutes ago," Ngoc Lam replies.

"Really?" Thac speaks quickly, "Have you heard me play? Was it better than yesterday? Can you leave a comment-"

Before Thac can finish his sentence, Ngoc Lam places a Chemistry book in front of him.

"If you say anything else, I'll report to the homeroom teacher that you're not taking your studying seriously!" she warns.

Van Thac understands what she means. He obediently sits down next to her and takes out his tutorial book from the morning class.

In the quiet classroom, only the sound of Ngoc Lam's gentle lecture can be heard: "This reaction is based on the principle... To find the first bottle with the missing label, you must... The way to balance the equation according to the number of electrons is..."

Half an hour passes quickly, and more students start to arrive, making the classroom noisy. Ngoc Lam's table mate nudges Van Thac to give her seat back. Van Thac stands up and takes his bag back to his seat.

As the school day comes to an end, the sky darkens, and raindrops start to fall. Thac puts on a raincoat and cycles to the Conservatory of Music. Under the thick rain, the Conservatory appears dimly like a mysterious villa in the middle of the city. Thac passes through rows of ancient trees on both sides of the road, turns into the parking lot, leaves the bike in the bicycle area, and then quickly runs to the section for trumpet players.

Today, Mr Woods's teaching assistant, a senior student who is also a trumpet major like him, is in charge of instructing him. They practice for an hour when Luyen and Thuyen enter the classroom after finishing their rehearsal for the concert. The two greet the teaching assistant and then sit down to practice with Van Thac.

"Van Thac, you have improved so much today, have you?" The teaching assistant praises him before ending the class.

Luyen and Thuyen both nod in agreement. Although his music is still inharmonious, they both felt Van Thac's self-adjustment when he harmonized with them.

The three greet the teaching assistant and leave the classroom. The Conservatory's hallway in the evening in the rain is colder than usual. Luckily, the row of recessed lights on the ceiling is always clearly lit. In the classrooms, music from the evening classes also echoes. Luyen puts his elbow on Thac's shoulder:

"I tried to find some information about Ngoc Lam," Luyen says

"I also asked my parents." Thuyen continues

"I also asked Mr Woods." Thac also says.

The three people look at each other and seem to understand the results of these inquiries.

Unfortunately, they didn't find out much at all.