Bao The Boss, standing beside us, shouted,

  “So what about you?”

  Minh Thanh stepped forward and stood between me and B?o, staring straight into his face. Her beautiful black hair was only half a meter away from me. Instinctively, I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me.

  “Sorry, but she’s my girlfriend now!”

  Bao The Boss’s face twisted with anger. He grabbed my collar and shoved me backward. Thanh was standing right behind me, so I couldn’t dodge in time. Both of us fell onto the hard tiled floor. The crowd stepped back a full meter from where we fell.

  “Thanh, are you okay?” I scrambled to turn around, and a scratch on her slender arm caught my eye.

  A rush of hot blood surged to my head. I sprang up and threw a punch at Bao The Boss’s left cheek before I even realized what I was doing.

  It was a decent punch—it would have hurt at least a little if his huge hand hadn’t blocked it. He clenched my fist tightly and grinned wickedly.

  “That your strongest punch?”

  “Yes,” I replied. “But I’m left-handed.”

  And I drove a powerful hook straight into his jaw.

  B?o staggered back about a meter. Thanks to the crowd behind him, he didn’t fall. He looked surprised—but I was just as shocked.

  I did it again.

  You didn’t have to be smart to guess he was about to roar and charge at me. But I wasn’t going to let that happen. I didn’t want to spend my precious date writing a self-criticism report in the office. This was enough.

  I grabbed Thanh’s hand and pulled her toward the stairs. Behind us, Mr. Minh, the math teacher, waved around his legendary ruler—one that had apparently existed for twenty years—to disperse the crowd. It took three other people to restrain Bao The Boss as he struggled to chase after us.

  “Hey, isn’t that him?”

  “The guy from the karate finals two years ago?”

  “I heard that he—”

  I pulled Thanh to run faster so she wouldn’t hear the whispers behind us. We ran all the way to the alley behind the school before stopping to catch our breath. Just then, the class bell rang. The grumpy security guard shut and locked the back gate. Only then did I realize I had made Thanh late for class.

  “I… I’m sorry… We’re late now.”

  Our school rules were strict. If you were late, your name would be recorded, and after class you’d have to stay behind to write a report and sweep the schoolyard. Thanh hesitated, tugging at my sleeve.

  “If we go back now, it’ll just be troublesome…”

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  Of course I didn’t want to go back either. Who would want to waste half a precious date doing math and sweeping the yard? There’s school every day, but going on a date with Minh Thanh—there’s probably only one day. Maybe the only one.

  Just thinking about it made my stomach twist.

  “I want to skip class. What about you?”

  Thanh narrowed her eyes and smiled.

  “I’ll skip too. So where do you want to go?”

  The question hit me by surprise. I’d imagined going on hundreds of dates with her—coffee shops, amusement parks, the zoo, chasing each other across a meadow, walking along the beach. But when asked directly, my mind went completely blank.

  “I… I don’t know. I’ve never dated a girl before. You choose.”

  “Really? I get to choose?”

  “Yeah.”

  She took me on three different bus routes across Ho Chi Minh City, crossed a boulevard twice, turned into two alleys, and after nearly forty-five minutes, we arrived.

  A cat café.

  Minh Thanh surrounded by adorable cats would’ve been heaven—if I weren’t allergic to pet fur.

  “Are you okay? Should we leave?” she asked, sitting in the middle of the room with one cat on her lap and another cradled in her arms, while I hid in a corner wearing three layers of medical masks. A tabby cat was playing with her beautiful hair, and several others rolled around on cushions and sofas. My iced milk coffee had gone cold, but I didn’t care. The cat in her arms lay belly-up as she scratched it, its face buried in her chest.

  Damn it. I wanted to be that cat.

  “No, no! As long as the fur doesn’t fly into my nose, I’m fine. You keep playing.”

  Seeing the happiness on her face among the cats—who could possibly make her leave?

  Thanh set one of the cats down and lowered her voice.

  “Nguyên, you’re really kind.”

  I was surprised. “What?”

  “This is the first time someone’s stayed with me in here for more than half an hour. And you’re even allergic to cats…”

  I waved my hands. “I don’t hate cats—I’m just allergic!”

  She smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.

  “Today has a lot of firsts for me. The first time someone fought to protect me. The first time I skipped class to go on a date…”

  I was surprised again.

  “The first time someone fought for you? I thought—” I’d heard at least three stories about people fighting because of her.

  Thanh kept stroking the cat, her face expressionless.

  “They fought to prove themselves. I don’t think that was for me. You’re the first person who got angry on my behalf. That punch was amazing. Do you practice martial arts?”

  I shrugged and looked away.

  “No… I don’t. That punch was just luck.”

  “Even if it was luck, it was still amazing!” Thanh looked at me with sparkling eyes.

  I had to use all my reason to suppress the emotions rising inside me. H?i once said that Thanh had a way of making people develop the illusion that she liked them back. That was exactly what was happening to me. Even knowing it was probably just an illusion, I still couldn’t stop the floating happiness in my chest.

  After two hours at the café, Thanh insisted I choose the next location. Honestly, anywhere would’ve been better than the cat café, but after thinking it over, the amusement park seemed like the top choice.

  In my perfect date scenario, Thanh and I would start gently by chatting on the teacup ride, then move on to the roller coaster for some thrills, experience a bit of the “suspension bridge effect” in the haunted house, and finish romantically with a swan boat ride across the lake.

  Reality was completely different. Thanh dragged me to try every physical activity game. She wanted me to test my punching power, try indoor rock climbing, whack-a-mole, zombie shooting, basketball shooting. We even spent half an hour playing paintball. New discovery: Thanh was a master at paintball. Within the first fifteen minutes, I’d been hit three times, while she only got grazed on the arm at the very last minute.

  Still, it wasn’t a big deal—we were having a great time. But in certain moments, her gaze seemed to be measuring something, sharp like a wild cat observing its prey. Yet whenever I looked back, her eyes instantly returned to their bright sparkle and cheerful smile.

  It made me uneasy.

  As if she had discovered my secret.

  But maybe… I was just overthinking it.