"Hello"

"My"

"Dear"

"Teacher~"

Luyen and Thuyen, who are currently in Europe, send Mr. Woods their customary cheesy greeting. Mr. Woods is so used to it that he doesn't bother to react anymore.

"What?" Asks Mr Woods

"Have" - Luyen continued

"You" - It's Thuyen's turn

"Seen"

"Thac"

"These"

"Days"

"Lately"

"Yet?"

"You saw that, right?"

"You saw that, right?"

"That guy"

"Is making progress"

"In the speed of light!!!"

Mr Woods looks at the two boys, who are talking like two talkative seagulls and feels a little hilarious, but he still maintains his serious and cautious look.

"What do you two want to say?" - He asks slowly

"Let Thac" - Luyen says immediately

"Enter the orchestra!" - Continues Thuyen

In front of the four excited eyes of two students, Mr Woods ponders for a moment. "Not yet,".

"Why??????" both students act like they are crying.

"Luyen! You made 10 mistakes, two serious ones" The teacher's face tightens "Thuyen! You had 17 mistakes, 6 serious ones!"

The successful error-catching scene extinguishes the enthusiasm of the two friends, and both of them collapse like two soggy pancakes.

"Take care of yourself first! If you don't do well, someone else will immediately replace you!" - The teacher finishes.

Knowing that it would be of no use to continue begging for Thac, Luyen and Thuyen have to end the call. In the past, the two asked the teacher to let Thac join the orchestra. Although at that time, Thac was still not capable enough, everyone could see his great potential. As a trumpeter, how can Thac coordinate well with others if he has never tried playing in a large orchestra? It's confusing when Mr. Woods always claims it's not possible. Luyen and Thuyen used to accept it because Thac's progress was slow, but recently, the videos of Thac playing by himself have shown his rapid improvement. Mr Woods' decision this time makes both of them even more sceptical about the real reason behind it.

"I think" - Luyen says - "It must have been Thac's mother who intervened."

"What do you mean" - Thuyen replies to his friend - "Are you afraid that Thac will be so busy playing music that he won't study?"

"That's the most convincing. Do you think there's a conspiracy theory?"

"What if it really happens?"

"That's crazy!"

"What we need to do now is work harder so that Mr Woods won't find any mistakes of us so we can ask him to let Thac join the orchestra?"

"OK!"

The two friends, without any redundant words, immediately bring their musical instruments to practice.

Van Thac is currently in class, anxiously waiting for the teacher to read out the midterm exam scores. Although he is worried about the results, he is also concerned about his study partner Ngoc Lam. If he receives good grades, he will no longer be able to study with her, but if he does poorly, he will have to take remedial lessons and extra classes, which he wants to avoid.

"Van Thac," As the teacher starts calling out his name, Thac sits up straight and holds his breath "Literature 7, Math 8.5, Physics 8, Chemistry 7, Biology 6.5, English 7..."

She slowly reads the exam results until the last subject. Finally, Thac may breathe out with relief. All subjects' scores are above 6 points, which meets the expectations set by his mother. Thuy, his classmate, has also passed, while Ngoc Lam continues to excel as one of the best students in the grade.

Ngoc Lam's face is still as indifferent as ever, only this time Thuy notices that she is a bit absent-minded. Lam has been like that since the day she and Thuy witnessed Thac playing the Trumpet. Even though Thuy doesn't understand anything about classical music, she still feels the notes full of vitality flowing through her heart. From that day on, Thuy has respected Thac a little more, well, a little!

Van Thac is free from studying this Tuesday afternoon and is back to his usual schedule. Therefore, he sleeps a little later, goes to the Conservatory to learn the trumpet, and chats with his friends, Luyen and Thuyen. Then, he goes to school to practice. The lonely sound of his trumpet echoes through the deserted hallway. Luyen praised Thac's progress and gave him some difficult music sheets to practice. However, Luyen warned him not to let Mr Woods or his teaching assistant know. Thac kept asking for an explanation, but Luyen didn't answer. Instead, he asked Thac if he wanted to join the orchestra as soon as possible and if he did, he could only secretly practice with the music sheets.

Mr. Woods, on the other hand, continues to teach Thac with repeated exercises that have average and basic difficulty. Thac believes in his teacher's methods because every time he practices, Mr Woods points out his mistakes and meticulously corrects him. However, Thac has a bit of youthful rebellion inside him. He also believes in Luyen and Thuyen's comments about his rapid progress, which makes him even more eager to perform with his two friends.

Thac has been immersed in the melody until one moment he suddenly stops. It's like something prompts him to look at the time. He absentmindedly looks at the clock. There is still half an hour left until the class, and that was when Ngoc Lam started calling him in to review the previous days' lessons a few days ago. There's probably no one in the classroom right now, Thac thinks to himself, turning to face the classroom door. Contrary to his thoughts, behind the glass window was a familiar figure.

“Ah,” they both exclaim in unison.

Habit is a scary thing. Ngoc Lam also doesn't understand why she is carrying her Chemistry book to class this time. She becomes embarrassed when she makes eye contact with Thac for a moment, tries to maintain her composure, then acts like nothing happened and quickly sits down.

“Ngoc Lam” - Van Thac walks into the classroom and called her. As if he wants to say something, but he has no idea what to say, he awkwardly scratches behind his ear and then continues, "I... did my trumpet sound annoy you..."

"It's okay" - Ngoc Lam looks at him then lowers her head to the book page "I don't take nap in the classroom anymore."

“Lam” - Thac boldly calls her - “Am I playing the trumpet better now?”

Ngoc Lam, as usual, hesitates for a moment then says "Yes".

Just that one sound is enough to lighten his mood. He walks out of the classroom, carefully closes the door to prevent the noise of the trumpet for Ngoc Lam, and then passionately practises again.

At noon in autumn, the weather is getting colder, but in the classroom, the music seems to make the whole place where Ngoc Lam sits radiate a gentle, warm light.