Chapter 6: Fragile Love
At that very moment, she saw her boyfriend's account light up online. She quickly sent a message:
"Are you in class right now?"
It was 10:30 PM in Vietnam, which meant it was 10:30 AM in the U.S.—likely during one of his lectures.
Her boyfriend, Do Hoang Anh, had once been a heartthrob at school: handsome, smart, and from a wealthy family.
So when he confessed his feelings to her, Hoang Kieu Ly instantly became the object of jealousy for countless girls.
Of course, she said yes—she'd had a crush on him for a long time but never dared to say it first.
Still, after getting together, life pulled them in different directions.
He left to study abroad, and she moved to Hanoi for university.
After a short wait, Hoang Anh replied:
"Yeah, I'm in PE class. You heading to bed soon?"
"It's only 10:30. Can't sleep yet—I still have to prep for tomorrow's lesson."
"Lesson?"
"Yeah, I took a tutoring job for a rich family. The pay's good, but the kid is such a little devil—super hard to teach."
Kieu Ly was about to vent a bit more, but his reply came back quickly, like he wanted to cut the conversation short:
"If he's that hard to teach, maybe just quit and find an easier student."
Kieu Ly had never been one to give up without a fight.
That stubborn streak had even earned her the nickname Ly-ly among friends.
Hoang Anh knew this about her too.
But still, it seemed like he just didn't want to hear more.
Suddenly, this relationship felt like a thread—fragile and thin, as if it was just waiting to snap.
Or was she just being too sensitive?
They'd been doing long-distance for over a year now.
There wasn't much shared life between them, not many things to talk about.
She'd only shared her own struggles to bridge that gap—to let him understand her daily life more.
But it seemed like he didn't really care to listen.
Kieu Ly didn't know what else to say.
After a moment of silence, Hoang Anh sent one last message:
"Anyway, I gotta go. The teacher's calling me."
She felt a sharp little sting in her heart but forced herself not to dwell on it.
She replied:
"Okay. Have a great day."
Then she opened up her 11th-grade textbook and started preparing her lesson.
It only took her about half an hour to finish.
Once done, her thoughts turned to analyzing Nguyen Toan Phuong's behavior.
He was in 11th grade—an age known for rebellion.
Maybe that was why he deliberately refused to cooperate in class.
Still, when she was his age, neither she nor her friends acted out like that.
At her school, a few troublemakers were quietly moved to other classes every year due to poor academic performance.