He stood on balcony looking down at the street, watching her take the scooter out. Ao Dai, traditional long dress was a bit entangled, making it a bit difficult for her. She put her dress’s back flap on the seat of the scooter, then sat on it and ran out of the house’s gate. He really likes seeing her in Ao Dai. In the past, he saw her at first sight was also in this traditional long dress.

At that time, a friend invited him to his birthday, she was also a mutual friend of both of them. It seemed that she went to the party after finishing her teaching and was still in her teaching outfit. That was the first time he met her, gentle and pretty. He was attracted by her elegant beauty mixed with a bit of childishness and gentleness right from that moment.

She was still very young, it seemed like she had been teaching for two years only. He remembered she was a timid girl. When the friend introduced her to him, she looked at him, smiled and nodded instead of a greeting. Then she sat down in a corner, neither excited nor trying to impress his doctor friends like some of her other female colleagues.

She quietly smiled when someone joked. She had an inherent timid personality, but her face and smile easily win other people’s affection. Whether in the past or present, she was still very timid. But that day the smile was timid but carefree, not melancholy, but now the smile is still such gentle but sad, with a hint of loneliness, the sadness hidden behind. In the past, she was not lively, now she is even more quiet.

He remembered she sat there, isolated from everyone. When the friend brought the microphone to her and asked her to sing, she smiled and gently refused. But the friend was stubborn and still forced her to sing. Her gentle nature stopped her to refuse again, and she chose a song. Her voice was very nice and clear. The only strange thing was that at such a young age, she only liked singing sad songs.

When he heard her singing, he thought she had just broken up with her lover. He was impressed by her modesty and then haunted by her singing voice. He was also attracted by the songs she performed that evening.

“If tomorrow we are apart, I would like to say something to you one last time. If tomorrow we are apart, I will love you forever... Now we have last two or three minutes only together, say it, say you will never be sad..."

He listened to the entire song she sang. Knowing that there are many friends who sang better, but for some reason he was obsessed with her melody. The voice was sad and deep, the lyrics sounded passionate.

He still remembered himself sitting and listening very attentively, discreetly looking at her a few times. She still focused on the song, as if immersed in some heart-break, not realizing that there’s a man watching. Later that evening, he asked the friend about her, and her phone number to contact. At first she didn't recognize who he was, nor did she want to make friends with him.

He thought hard about how to message her to make an impression without being too rude. He texted then deleted, deleted then texted again. In the end, the message consisted of just a few words, "Sorry, is it Lam's phone number?"

He knew for sure it was hers, but to create an opportunity to talk to her, he had to ask such a stupid question. According to the usual communication’s procedure, he thought this girl would answer roughly, "Yes, who are you?"

However, he waited all day and still did not receive any feedback. He wondered if the service provider blocked such stupid flirting messages like this? Did she receive his message?

He patiently sent another message, "Did Lam receive my message? Why don't you reply me? I’m Quan, a friend of Trinh and her husband. We met at Trinh's birthday party yesterday."

The second message was sent, but after waiting for a while, still no response. He texted Mai Trinh to ask. He was afraid she gave him the wrong number. How can he send Lam two messages and still no reply? Is she such arrogant? One second after he sent message, Trinh immediately called him back.

“Quan, you texted Lam, right?”

“Right, how do you know?”

“That cowardly lady asked me whom I provided her number to.” Trinh giggled.

“So that girl doesn't remember who I am?” He's a bit embarrassed.

His appearance isn't bad. He still remembered that a bunch of doctors and nurses in the hospital were crazy about his handsome appearance. Why did this girl seem to have no impression on him?

“Hahaha!” Trinh laughed. "Don't be discouraged. Lam is timid as a rabbit. She’s not used to socializing so she’s scared. She thought you were just trying to harass her.”

“Does she often get flirting messages from other men?”

“Too many. She is often texted by guys." Trinh's voice was cheerful.

“So why do you say she has no boyfriend yet?” He was confused. Did he meet the girl who is the pursuit target of the guys?

“It's true that she's dozens of admirers, but she's shy and has not fallen in love with any guy yet.”

“I thought she had ever loved and been betrayed. From her favorite songs, I think she’s experienced several relationships."

“Hahaha! It's not just you who said it. She likes sad melodies, she always sings the sad love songs. Anyone who has just met her would think she was heartbroken. But she has no experience with love before. I guarantee that Lam is as gentle as sister of mercy. The soul is like a blank sheet of paper, it's not like you." Trinh joked.

“Yes, I know.”

“Hey, I need to warn you first, my friend is very gentle. Are you serious? Don't make her sad. Poor Lam!" Trinh worriedly advised.

“Do you think I'm the person who likes to be promiscuous, Trinh?”

Trinh was still not reassured, "That's because you're different from those doctors. You're honest, so I gave you my best friend's contact. Remember that she is the most precious of all my friends. She is very kind, sincere and not calculating. Please don't make her sad."

He almost swore that he would cherish Lam. But Trinh still asked him to commit, “Don't love for fun or find casual relationship please. Lam is deep and faithful in love. If she loves some guy, she will love him with all her heart.”

"How do you know? Your friend hasn't had a relationship yet." He doesn’t believe Trinh fully understands Lam.

“I know Lam well. Her personality never changes. I have already told her about you. She'll probably reply you soon.”

Indeed, as soon as Trinh hung up the phone, he saw Lam's message. She apologized to him for not responding to his message sooner. It turned out that she was actually a coward rabbit, just because she was afraid of being harassed by strangers, and had to ignore his messages. Even though he was a little embarrassed, he was still in the flirting stage, and can’t care of his personal feelings. He continued texting her:

"No problem. Does Lam remember who I am?

“Yes, I asked Trinh. Are you Quan, the friend of Trinh's husband?"

“Thanks God! You remember me. Just now you make me so sad to cry." His flirting knack naturally develops.

“Sorry, Quan!”

“Are you going to teach today?”

"Yes. Today I teach five classes."

She’s the type of person who doesn't like talking to strangers. With just a few sporadic messages from her, he didn't know how to continue texting. He felt that she always built an invisible wall when talking to the opposite sex.

When texting him, she was very reserved. If someone lacks perseverance, he will immediately feel bored, because he can only go around the outside, there is no way to penetrate deep into her heart. But when he gained her trust, he would discover that she was the person who extremely intelligent, also very witty and mischievous.

After a few times, he wanted to give up because she didn't give him the feeling that she wanted to continue being friends with him. It's just that from Trinh's Facebook, he saw many nice photos of her. He was in love and didn't want to give up any more.

Looking at the way she commented on Mai Trinh's page, he felt that she was extremely cute, unlike her pretending to be cold towards him. So with perseverance, he slowly conquered this timid girl but loved with all her heart. Then two of them spent a long, happy time together.

He seemed extremely moody this evening, naturally thought a lot about old memories. He knew he shouldn't, but somehow he couldn't stop himself. He just stood there looking at her figure until her scooter was out of his sight.

He is living in a separate villa. The economy is now abundant, the place he chose is safe, luxurious and comfortable. Living conditions are so good, there's nothing to complain about. It's just that now looking at the spacious house, he feels alone in the dreary evening, an indescribable loneliness.

He returned to his room, opened the medical book and read for a while, still unable to concentrate. He then turned on the phone, wanted to call the daughter, but she probably hasn't yet woken up there. He couldn't help but wait until the right time to call her. He read messages in the doctors’ chat group on Facebook, surfed internet till he got bored. He was about to go down to water the plants, Thanh called, "Honey, what are you doing?"

“I'm gonna water the plants.” His voice was indifferent.

“Oh, are you there?” Thanh was surprised.

“Yes, you are not in the flat, so I'll go back to this house.”

“What about this house and that flat? I thought you went back to our own apartment.” Thanh started to feel unhappy.

“Without you, I would be too lazy to go there.” He gave an excuse.

“So you miss me, right?”

He doesn't want to answer this question, because right now he really doesn't miss Thanh at all.

“Do you want to join us? My friends remind you, come here and enjoy with us." Thanh suggested.

“No thanks! Just relax with your friends. I want to rest, I have an early surgery tomorrow."

“What? the surgery isn't until 8 a.m. tomorrow morning.”

He really doesn’t want to leave the house right now. Maybe he is upset tonight, he's no mood to talk to anyone. He gives an excuse to keep Thanh from whining, "I'm a bit tired today, and your ladies should relax and be comfortable without me."

"Then you stay there and rest. I'll call you when I'm almost back, then you can run back to our place." Thanh reluctantly stopped forcing him.

“Oh honey, I'll sleep here tonight. Anyway, I have to go to the hospital early tomorrow morning, moving back and forth will take time.”

“But… don't you miss me?”

“Sure… we both will meet each other tomorrow morning at the hospital. Have fun with your friends tonight.”

Even though she didn't volunteer, Thanh didn't know what else to do, she hung up the phone sadly. He went downstairs, headed to the garden and started watering the plants. After completing, he went back to the living room and suddenly felt time passing very slowly. He sat in the living room, turned on TV and looked at the clock, as if waiting for someone.

He felt extremely empty inside. If asked if he was waiting for Thanh, he would definitely shake his head immediately. Actually, even though he doesn't want to admit it, his heart is clearly longing for her. He kept pacing back and forth in the living room until 9 p.m.

As soon as he heard the scooter’s noise outside, he pretended to accidentally go to the front yard to water the plants. She stopped her scooter in front of the house, and just as she was about to open the gate, she saw him and was startled.

“Why are you here?” She looked at him strangely.

In the past, when he returned from the hospital, he always stayed in his own room reading medical documents, or his eyes were glued to the phone screen, texting to someone. It's rare to see him appear outside the room door, let alone stand here at this hour.

“I'm getting ready to water the plants.” Without thinking carefully, he blurted it out.

The feelings of the plants, “You watered us once just some mins ago. If you do it again, our roots will be waterlogged.”

"Ah, I see!”

“Let me help you take the scooter in.” He quickly threw the water pipe on the ground and walked to her motorbike.