What's the point of going back and forth?
Does your heart no longer have feelings?
Did you hear the sounds of rival people screaming?
Huu Quan finishes the song and pauses to look up. Thai Thuy is approving the paper when he notices Huu Quan stops. Thai Thuy asks:
"Did you finish the song?"
Huu Quan feels a little bit upset, but he doesn't show it on his face:
"I can only sing that song, if I stay in Yen Hoa for a while longer, I'll probably learn a few more."
Thai Thuy called him to Ki Liem Palace so early in the morning, saying nothing but instructing him to sit on one side and singing Hong Tuyet to him while he sat on the dragon stool to approve papers. Huu Quan doesn't question anything and simply follows orders, believing that His Majesty has invited him in so early for a reason.
But, aside from singing Hong Tuyet five times over, there's nothing else.
Thai Thuy feels Huu Quan's pout in his voice and slyly laughs:
"Your voice isn't that good, but the strange thing is, without it, I can't concentrate."
Huu Quan arches his brow:
"Are you complimenting or criticizing me?"
Thai Thuy walks down from the dragon stool, clasps his hands behind his back, and approaches Huu Quan:
"I'm complimenting you. You're like the air, when you're around, it's natural to feel like you're there, but when you're not, I miss you terribly."
Huu Quan puts the concussion sticks away and looks straight at Thai Thuy:
"Is that all you called me today for?"
Thai Thuy pauses briefly, looks down at his sleeve, and then at Huu Quan:
"Obviously not. Hoang Chinh has already done everything you asked."
Huu Quan is startled for a moment before standing up and walking closer. The walk is still neat as usual, but it's longer and hurried.
"Did you find it out?"
Thai Thuy nods, a little concerned in his thoughts. Khac Tuan rushed to meet him at midnight last night. He gave him every information about Huu Quan's father's case without reading a single word.
Thai Thuy was aware of this, despite Khac Tuan's silence. Because he has spent the entire night reading every word in that thick file, amazed at every detail, but when he handed it to Thai Thuy, Khac Tuan showed no surprise.
That made sense, if he read it, Khac Tuan might die of shock.
"Of course I found it." Thai Thuy says "I'll hand it over to you but for one condition."
Huu Quan doesn't pause to think before nodding.
"All right, whatever it is."
"Would you like to spend a day with me?"
It's no big deal to spend a day outside the palace with the Emperor. That's why Huu Quan nods. Thai Thuy soon let someone prepare the car and the two drive straight to Da Nang.
Huu Quan frowns when he hears the wave sound in the distance. Why go to the beach at such an early hour?
He simply smiles, as if he reads his confused expression:
"Change your clothes, you won't be able to run around wearing them like that."
He then hands several large white paper bags to Huu Quan. Huu Quan's eyes widen as he notices the Gucci embossed letters on the side of the bag.
"I've seen you a lot, but I've never bought you anything. This is for you." Thai Thuy states.
Huu Quan is well aware of the high value of the items in the bag. Before, when his family was still well off, Huu Quan was given a few items every month. If it's not shirts than pants, pea coats, or glasses. But the current circumstances do not permit it, especially since each of these items must cost up to a couple dozens of Indochinese coins.
"Is it okay for me to accept these valuable gifts?" Huu Quan is worried.
The Da Nang sky's bright sunlight draws a beautiful long streak on Huu Quan's cheek. Thai Thuy gives a nod:
"Of course. If you're shy, you can give me a gift later when your family is plentiful again."
Huu Quan considers for a moment, then nods his head, and asks to change clothes. Thai Thuy walked out of the car and lit a large cigar.
The car door creaks open after a long time.
Thai Thuy is taken aback, partly because the clothes he chose fit Huu Quan's slender figure so perfectly, and partly because the clothes reveal aspects of Huu Quan he has never seen before.
Huu Quan shows his maturity and discipline when he wears traditional clothes, whether loose or tight sleeves. Huu Quan dresses in Western clothes, on the other hand, is not much different from the seventeen and eighteen-year-old boys. Not formal, but carefree, not rigid, but relaxed.
"Do I look alright?" Huu Quan inquires.
The turban is gone, revealing his high forehead, the bun is still up, and the short bangs hanging down on the sides of his ears look so docile and gentle. Huu Quan is stunning, his beauty is unusual and attracts him more than any Linh Nam or Western girls he has ever met.
"You look beautiful." Thai Thuy answers.
He leads him along the beach, and contrary to what Thai Thuy thought that Huu Quan would probably happily run back and forth and dive into the seawater playing until his pants were wet. But in reality, Huu Quan in front of him is quietly watching the waves crash on the shore and sometimes reaching out a foot to gently touch the white foam.
"I forgot, I still haven't asked you." Thai Thuy looks at Huu Quan, it's nearly noon, and the sun is hotter than it has been in the morning. They take a break in a small hut near a waterfront restaurant. "How has your life been since you returned?"
"If you want to ask about substances, my family has never been deprived. Just not as wealthy as before, but not to the point of desperately making a living. Mentally…" Huu Quan says, lowering his face and tucking back his wind-blown bangs behind his ears. "Not so good, my mother cried a lot. My uncle is quiet, but I know he always blames himself. As the eldest son, I must always be strong to carry the family's burden. But, you know, I'm a human, I know how to be tired."
"You can find someone to talk with." Thai Thuy says "A partner, for example."
Huu Quan burst out laughing. His smile tinged with sadness. Thai Thuy forgets about how harsh reputation and status in this world for a moment, especially since Huu Quan's father's case is also entangled with the French.
"I'm just going to be like this, not expecting any girl who wants to marry me. It is said that the High General must adore my sister to keep the marriage going. Who would want someone comes from a family with a history of being involved in labor law and used to be a prostitute like me?"
Don't say anything like that. Thai Thuy wants to show Huu Quan that there are still people in the world who respect, like, and even fall in love with him after only a few meetings. Like him.
Who can define the concept of love?
Small-minded peasants, most intelligent intellectuals, a low-life slave, and even His Highness Majesty, nobody can avoid love. Thai Thuy approached Huu Quan because he was beautiful, and helped him because he was interested and resentful on his behalf, but he couldn't understand the nostalgia and pain every time Huu Quan left, or whenever he thought of the God that Huu Quan always believed in and worshiped, couldn't accept this forbidden relationship.
However, Huu Quan owed him a favor, and he would take advantage of that grace to keep him by his side.
"You've still got me." Thai Thuy states.
Huu Quan turns around and looks at Thai Thuy. What he said lacked credibility, but it's also possible that he was joking, albeit a very funny joke. Huu Quan laughs, his smile as bright as the sun.
"You keep teasing me. Your Majesty, unlike your girls who will laugh when you tell jokes. If you're joking, please stop or I'll get upset."
"I'm not kidding." Thai Thuy sits back, "Be my partner if you don't worry about other things."
Huu Quan frowns, irritated. Because he thinks Thai Thuy is still teasing him. Huu Quan's wrinkled eyelids gradually relaxed after looking deeply into his eyes and seeing the rare sincerity in the eyes of someone who is always joking naturally.
"What if I refuse?"
"Think of it as I'm pleading with you. Or I'll take advantage of wanting to be rewarded? Please repay me by staying with me."
Huu Quan ponders, then shakes his head. The excessive shaking of his head makes Thai Thuy's face quickly sink. Huu Quan replies:
"Are you proposing to me, just asking like that?"
"If you say so, isn't that… what?"
"Are you going to propose to me just like this? No flowers, no rings?" Huu Quan repeats.
Thai Thuy opens his eyes widely and looks at Huu Quan. His unwavering gaze pierced the depths of Thai Thuy's soul as if Huu Quan's rejection of this half-hearted proposal would never come to pass. And Thai Thuy has no idea where he gets that courage, so when Huu Quan asks, he rushes to hug him.
"You accept? Accept to be my wife?"
Huu Quan's voice giggles in his ear, as clear as the oriolus, then blends with the sound of the waves.
"Or you could be my wife, Your Majesty!"
Thai Thuy happily lets go of him and reaches into his pocket for a small brocade bag.
"This isn't a ring, but it'll probably show you that I'm sincere."
Huu Quan opens the brocade bag to find a key and a hard new Indochinese silver coin inside.
"The key is for documents in your father's case. The document box will be delivered to Sir Phat An's house shortly. It's up to you how you use the documents in it. The Ministry of Justice's complaint has also been transferred. Your father will return home today, and there will also be a trial to exonerate him. The silver coin is for you."
Huu Quan's eyes are welling up with tears. He keeps his cool and asks:
"Why Indochinese coin?"
"It's the first silver coin ever. I gave it to you because it reminded me of you." Thai Thuy kisses Huu Quan's forehead. "After your father is honored, I will propose to you again, with rings, flowers, and anything you want."
Huu Quan raises the silver coin to the sun. It appears to have been in the bag for a long time because the sharp edges haven't worn off yet.
Perhaps God sends this man to him for some reason he doesn't fully comprehend. God maybe won't bless the two of them, but God will understand Huu Quan's decision now.
I swear that when I die, I will use all of the time I have left to atone for the mistakes I have made, for only now I can hold hands with the person who understands me the best in this life. Huu Quan thinks in his mind.