Chapter 11

Ngoc Lam is having a dream.

She is standing in a very dark place, surrounded by pure black. She gropes around and walks aimlessly until she hears the familiar sound of Van Thac's trumpet. She looks around in panic, but all around her is still black. She takes a deep breath, listens to the direction of the trumpet sound, and then slowly moves towards the sound.

Gradually, in front of Ngoc Lam, a faint halo of light appears in front of her, and as she moves closer, the light grows brighter until she can see a large rectangular arch covered by a thick curtain. When she gets very close to the curtain, the sound of the trumpet fades away.

Ngoc Lam is about to open the curtains with her hands, but to her surprise, they open to both sides automatically, exposing her to the dazzling light. She quickly closes her eyes tightly, using her hand to block it. As her eyes adjust to the brightness, she slowly opens her eyes to look towards the light. It turns out that the light source is dozens of stage lights shining towards her. Across her line of sight is a stage with a complete orchestra waiting. Ngoc Lam can't recognise any of them. Their faces are all blurred. Amidst the confusion, loud applause fills the hall. Ngoc Lam finds herself wearing a splendid performance outfit, holding a violin in her left hand and a bow in her right hand. From where she is standing, a small path leads her to a circular performance platform as if it appears that she is the main character today. 

Ngoc Lam walks towards the platform, but with each step she takes, her legs feel the heaviness growing. She looks down at her feet, a black sticky material wraps around her feet. Ngoc Lam's speed gradually slows down, but she still grits her teeth, purses her lips, and tries to drag herself to the place. A faceless conductor taps his baton, and he starts the intro part of a symphony. Ngoc Lam focuses on listening to the music and waits for her turn. She begins to pull the bow, the melodious music blends in perfectly with the orchestra. But then the sound of the orchestra fades away. Ngoc Lam turns back. The orchestra has disappeared, leaving her and the conductor who is waving his baton to conduct. She turns to the audience, everything is utterly black. Her violin's sound is swallowed by that blackness, to the point where she can no longer hear her music.

"Ng..oc….Lam…."

Ngoc Lam hears a whispering voice that frightens her, causing her to play the instrument harder. As a result, a few horsehair strands on the bow break. The sticky substance under her feet begins to rise and eventually transforms into a human face. This face is bumpy, sticky, and gross-looking. 

Despite her efforts to pull the bow and create sound, Ngoc Lam cannot hear anything except the vibration in her hand due to the friction of the bow and strings. The face continues to stare at her menacingly and eventually speaks.

"Mons…. ter…"

Ngoc Lam is fully awake. She is in her room and notices that the sun has just risen from the horizon. There's no more endless darkness or violin music playing. Ngọc Lam stares at the calendar on the table for a while, lost in thought.

A Friday morning passes peacefully. The midterm exam has ended, the results have been announced, and the students are only eagerly waiting for the dismissal bell to freely follow their plans for the weekend.

Van Thac is cycling excitedly towards the Conservatory. His friends Luyen and Thuyen will return in a few days, so he wants to practice even harder. As time passes, he cycles back home in the afternoon. Normally, he only needs to follow the old road for about 20 minutes to get home, but today he decides to cross a large bridge. The bridge has sidewalks for pedestrians, with rows of trees planted on both sides. During spring, the flowers will bloom gorgeously there. This bridge is also a popular place for Conservatory students to check in and take photos to share on social media. That's why it is known as the Conservatory Bridge.

Van Thac is pushing hard on the pedal, intending to gain momentum to go downhill when he sees a familiar figure. Ngoc Lam is standing close to the edge of the bridge, facing the river. It seems like she is staring at the water, her lonely shadow slouching on the sidewalk, with the tanned light of the autumn sun. A gust of wind blows, creating the illusion that her body is falling.

"Ngoc Lam! Watch out!"

From behind, a muffled voice of Thac starts Ngoc Lam. She turns around and sees Thac eagerly pushing the bicycle to the edge of the bridge and rushing towards her. Before she's able to understand what is happening, she sees his arm wrapping around her stomach and pulling her backwards.

Unfortunately for Ngoc Lam, who is clinging to the bridge rail, when she is pulled back, her right leg gets caught in the bars of the rail. In her ears, she only hears her ankle "snap" and her whole body immediately loses momentum and falls. At the same time, because Van Thac just happened to rush too fast, he loses his balance and falls to the ground, too.

"Ngoc Lam, are you okay?"

Van Thac is preoccupied and doesn't have time to think about the pain in his back and butt. He quickly asks Ngoc Lam, who is struggling to sit up. However, he cannot see her facial expression due to his angle.

With eerie silence.

The sun gradually disappears on the horizon. The bustling crowd of people come and go, ending a long Friday. Bicycle wheels spin round and round through the streets. At the moment, Van Thac is carrying a girl in the back seat of his bike.

"Sorry" - apologises Thac with a red handprint on one side of his cheek - "I thought you were... thinking about jumping down."

Ngoc Lam doesn't want to reply, her eyes are staring at her right ankle which is gradually swelling.

"If you go to the hospital... Thac will tell my mom... to pay the hospital fees" - The more Thac speaks, the smaller his voice sounds

"Forget it."- Lam says with her voice as cold as ice

The atmosphere became even more gloomy. Thac knew he had just done something extremely stupid and also injured Ngoc Lam.

As they ride their bikes down a small street, Ngoc Lam suggests that Thac should stop and let her go home alone. However, Thac refuses, insisting on taking her to her house. Being someone who caused the trouble, he doesn't want to let Ngoc Lam walk on her sprained foot.

Ngoc Lam stops giving any ideas to Thac anymore, she simply says, "It's your choice, Thac."

She'll never say the latter part "Some consequences are waiting for you."

But Thac need not wait for a few minutes to experience those consequences. He did forget that Ngoc Lam's father is a martial arts master, and Ngoc Lam's older brother is his father's teaching assistant.

That evening, Thac finds himself in a dangerous situation. He is crying in front of Ngoc Lam's father and brother who have murderous expressions on their faces, while Ngoc Lam's mother is helping her with her injured ankle in her room. 

Thac is desperately trying to come up with a plan to save his life from mortal peril. However, he is unaware that Ngoc Lam is secretly smiling.