The One in My Heart

2

An did not hesitate and immediately rejected the call. However, the person on the other end persisted and kept calling non-stop, making An a bit annoyed. He pursed his lips and blocked the contact. Thy, sitting next to him, raised an eyebrow.

"Did you break up?" she asked, causing An to be a bit startled, then he answered in a flat voice: "Yeah... yeah, we broke up. If we didn't, I'd be in deep trouble." An smiled coldly, looking at the phone screen showing a picture of the two of them. Not long ago, they had just celebrated their one-year anniversary, but now, he had to say goodbye.

Thy patted her friend’s shoulder, not intending to console him seriously. They had already warned An about his ex, but An insisted that his boyfriend was great and everything. He didn’t believe his friends, so they didn’t say anything more, just waited for the day he would break up with him to celebrate.

"Are you happy?" An suddenly asked. He knew that if news of his breakup got out, the people who would be happy would be his friends. Kieu laughed but replied, "Not happy at all, my friend is breaking up, how could I be happy?"

An rolled his eyes. It sounded too fake. The food arrived, and Thy rolled up her sleeves, taking on the task of grilling meat. An was in charge of cutting the meat, and Kieu was assigned the task of enjoying the meat.

"Hey, save some for us!" Thy yelled when she saw Kieu picking up meat continuously. Kieu nodded but kept grabbing more, slyly removing the fat so An and Thy started plotting to pinch her.

"Stop picking!" Thy yelled again, making An laugh out loud.

Their grilling table was louder and more lively than the table of adults next to them. An, worried about disturbing the other table, nudged Thy: "Keep it down a bit, you're bothering others." Thy frowned at Kieu but didn't raise her voice anymore.

"These kids today are well-behaved, they even know how to remind each other not to disturb others," one man from the adjacent table said, sounding impressed.

"Is it because your sister can't do that, and now you're jealous of these kids?" someone retorted.

The man frowned. "At least my sister didn’t run away from the marriage!"

"Shut up!" someone snapped, making the man fall silent.

The one who told him to shut up was clearly not happy. It was an arranged marriage for the sake of business interests, yet it still ended with a runaway bride. He didn't care much for the marriage anymore, and if the other family wanted to go bankrupt, so be it!

"Sorry, Brother Tan, I didn’t mean to rub salt in your wounds!" The man who had spoken earlier immediately apologized.

"Yeah, just don't let it happen again," Brother Tan replied coldly, taking a large gulp of beer. He still had to talk about the marriage later, maybe he should just tell his parents to call it off.

An sneezed. It seemed like someone had just mentioned him. He looked at his phone. It was a message from his dad about the time for the upcoming meeting. It was fine, though, since he had just woken up from a nap, he wasn’t worried about it.

"An, do you have any plans?" Thy asked excitedly, "Ms. Mien wants to introduce us to a few small roles in a TV series, all minor characters, but they’re all challenging!"

Kieu, intrigued, asked, "Ooh, challenging in what way?"

"Roles like a rain girl, a neighbor's brother who secretly likes the female lead, or a criminal's younger brother... it’s all about challenging roles." An spoke slowly, and Kieu raised her voice in surprise, "Oh, that's really challenging, those are all roles with weird personalities. You need to make people hate you after you act, and that’s when you succeed."

An wasn’t interested in playing such roles, but in his past life, he had missed so many opportunities. He couldn’t afford to miss out again this time, especially since no one would help him. He just hoped that the choices he made this life wouldn't hurt anyone else.

"The food is so good... I don't want to be a ballet dancer anymore," Kieu sighed, rubbing her stomach.

Thy looked at her own round stomach, then glanced at An's flat one. Jealous, she poked his belly, making An burst into laughter.

"Alright, I’m out of here, I need to go take a nap!" An pulled out his card and placed it on the table. Kieu and Thy did the same, waiting for the server to pick up a card. Whoever’s card was picked had to pay.

"My card!" Kieu yelped, struggling to keep her card. Thy and An stopped her so the server could take Kieu’s card. This was their group's rule – no one could escape it.

After paying, An and his group left the restaurant, chatting happily. As they passed the next table, An unconsciously made eye contact with the serious-looking man sitting in the middle. Their eyes met, but An quickly looked away, not sure why, but it felt like he was being scrutinized.

After leaving the restaurant, An went to Thy’s house before heading home.

"Just dress normally this afternoon, the other family isn't too strict," his mother smiled and said. An nodded in understanding, then slowly headed upstairs to rest.

In his past life, after running away to follow the call of love, he didn’t get to nap anymore. He worked as a stuntman and janitor... studying and working to cover expenses for both of them. Luckily, his parents didn’t cut off his tuition fees.

Love made people happy, but whether it lasted depended on whether the couple was a good match. He and Phuc were never a good match, but An was too in love and too trusting to see that.

Lying on the bed, An slowly closed his eyes to sleep.

It was just a short nap, but he unexpectedly dreamt of his past life. On the first day he moved out, Phuc had comforted him as he fell asleep, while Phuc left to work.

"An, I’m not as rich as your family, so this kind of sleep might not last long..."

What had he said? "It’s okay! I love you, so I can work with you! We can share our money!"

Then he had sold his youth to do menial jobs and lived with a love that was full of manipulation.

An was jolted awake by his alarm. He stared at the ceiling, sweating profusely, breathing deeply to check if he was really still alive.

It wasn’t until he heard his mom knocking on the door that he slowly sat up. After a quick shower, he felt like he was reborn. He loved taking a bath, and he lingered in the tub, reluctant to leave, but finally forced himself out just before it was time for the meeting.

Wearing a t-shirt and comfortable pants, An hurried downstairs.

"Slow down, sweetie!" His mom called out after him when she heard his footsteps clattering on the stairs.

"Sorry, I took too long in the shower!" he replied, looking at the stairs. When he finally reached the ground floor, he noticed that both families had already gathered, and they were just waiting for him.

An thought, could he still run upstairs to hide?

"Haha, your youngest is so energetic!" A stranger’s woman laughed, breaking the awkward silence.

"Come sit down, we’ll discuss the marriage arrangements," his mom said. An hurriedly followed and sat down in the empty space.

As soon as he sat down, he realized the man across from him looked familiar. They must have met earlier at the restaurant.

"Uncle, Aunt, I heard you’re the ones who arranged this marriage, right?" His voice was calm, but the content was anything but.