Chapter 7
Character:
Thuy: Classmate of Van Thac and Ngoc Lam. Waist-length hair, cheerful personality, average academic performance but poor in Chemistry. She admires Ngoc Lam very much.
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On a Friday evening, everyone in Van Thac's family except his younger sister, who has an extra class, goes to the City Theater to listen to symphony music. Luyen and Thuyen invited them to attend the event that aims to introduce potential new faces. The event is also part of a series of events that commemorated the death anniversary of Frederic Chopin.
The performance begins with a piano solo of Chopin's most popular Nocturne, Nocturne Op.9, No.2. The audience listens focused as a young female artist takes the stage wearing a white knee-length tuxedo, a high collar, and a large bow tied at the back of her neck. As she starts to play, her fingers move softly on the keys, creating a beautiful melody that fills the entire theatre.
Van Thac can't help but remember the video of Ngoc Lam sitting and playing the piano before she retired. As a child, Ngoc Lam's fingers often couldn't reach the far-away notes. Her hands moved a bit hastily, sometimes like a child jumping between the notes, which looked quite fun. Van Thac wonders how the current pianist would perform if she were Ngoc Lam right now.
Although he doesn't want to, subconsciously, Thac implicitly compares the current pianist with Ngoc Lam. Sometimes, his heart crunches every time he discovers some parts that the pianist did not perform as well as she did. Despite this, he enjoys the performance and feels grateful for the opportunity to witness such a beautiful performance.
Most of Chopin's works are for piano, with only two pieces for orchestra. Of course, this performance will not be just for piano, some works will be rearranged to create more opportunities for other instruments while still keeping the piano's most important position.
Looking at the musicians playing, Van Thac's thought is accidentally provoked by the idea of Ngoc Lam performing again in magnificent theatres with a famous orchestra. He wants to once see her outstanding piano performance in person. Thinking of this, Thac's heart beats strongly. Each thud resonates in Thac's mind with the belief that Ngoc Lam belongs here. He wants to convince Ngoc Lam to return to music again.
Recently, Van Thac has improved significantly in playing the trumpet. This is not just a polite compliment from the teacher's teaching assistant. Everyone feels it.
Although sometimes still clumsy and unable to fully harmonize with other musicians, the sound of the trumpet has become much more flexible.
Fast forward to Tuesday, Van Thac has to go to the extra class again in the morning. Recently, Chemistry and Biology are no longer difficult for Văn Thac so he can keep up with the lectures at school. Overall, everything goes very smoothly.
This afternoon, the weather is dry and cool, as if it's making up for the long days of rain. The music as usual still sounds in the back hallway, Ngoc Lam still has to open the classroom door to call Thac into class to review his lessons as usual.
"Ngoc Lam," says Thac, "Do you think I have improved more than before?"
The woman's intuition tells Ngoc Lam not to answer this question. She has the feeling that if she responds to Van Thac, she may open the door for him to step into her invisible territory.
"You have a teacher at the Conservatory, why don't you ask him?" Ngoc Lam asks Van Thac
"I already commented, but the more people giving their opinions, the better." Van Thac looks at Ngoc Lam expectantly
"So why don't you just go to the Conservatory?" Ngoc Lam frowns slightly impatiently.
"The teacher said I still need to improve, so I can't enrol at the Conservatory yet," Thac answers honestly.
Hearing this, the girl looks at Thac suspiciously for a moment and then, as if nothing happened, takes the books and places them on the table.
"Thac, concentrate on your studies!" she says.
In only 15 minutes, the class bell will be ringing soon. A few students have arrived. Thac is still absorbed in listening to Ngoc Lam re-tell the lesson when a girl stands in front of their table.
"Lam, could we study together?" The female friend, Thuy, said
Van Thac immediately realizes that this girl named Thuy was the one who threw him a piece of paper, begging him to "give up" Ngoc Lam to her. She then got assigned to another student in the class who was also very good in the class. Unfortunately, that student had to change school because his parents changed their jobs. Thuy currently has no one accompanying her.
Van Thac doesn't like it much, not because he has any grudge against Thuy, but because if Thuy also participates, he is afraid he will have a hard time talking to Ngoc Lam and convincing her to return to music.
"Please!" Thuy says with an earnest voice, "All I want is to study with Ngoc Lam."
At her friend's insistence, Ngoc Lam speaks softly
"I tutor Thac in two subjects: Chemistry and Biology. What if you need help in others?"
Thuy's eyes light up
"I just need your help in Chemistry. Is that okay?"
"That's OK"
So, on Tuesdays, Van Thac has to go from studying with a friend to being in a group of friends. He has the feeling that it was still a long way from persuading Ngoc Lam.
Looking at Van Thac's depressed face, Ngoc Lam feels a bit interested. If she knew the expectations in his heart, she probably wouldn't be able to laugh anymore.
Ngoc Lam has been retired for almost five years now. During this time, she has chosen to live a quiet life, away from the limelight and the thousands of compliments that she used to receive. However, every now and then, she finds herself transported back to her former life, standing in front of flashing cameras. These moments leave her feeling panicked and alone.
To help her escape from the past, Ngoc Lam has turned to studying. She now studies with the same diligence that she used to do with music. She does it as a means of distraction. Sometimes, to shake herself out of her obsessions, she stays up all night studying until her mother forces her to rest. During the first two years of her retirement, her mother had to stay up with her, trying to coax her away from her desk. When Ngoc Lam woke up from a nightmare, her mother would comfort her and cry with her.
It took Ngoc Lam a long time to calm down like she is now. She's also gradually forgotten how she used to play musical instruments.
Then one day, her brother was recruited by the school's traditional martial arts team and had to go to practice early. She also had to get to school early with him and then saw Van Thac playing the trumpet in the back hallway.
His music is medium, somewhat clumsy, but ...