1. A Stormy Beginning

The rain had been relentless all evening, drumming against the windows of the small café on Trang Tien Street. Minh set down his guitar case and ordered the cheapest thing on the menu—a cup of jasmine tea—while he waited for the downpour to ease. He had been playing at the same underground bar for three years now. Three years of the same smoky stage, the same half-drunk audiences, and the same empty wallet at the end of each night. His mother called every Sunday to ask if he had "found a real job yet." His friends from university were posting photos of new apartments and company cars. Minh had a secondhand guitar and a collection of songs nobody had heard. Across the café, a woman in a white coat sat hunched over a stack of papers, a half-eaten bánh mì abandoned beside her laptop. Her hair was coming loose from its clip, and there were shadows under her eyes that told a story of too many night shifts. She looked up once, caught him staring, and returned to her papers without expression. An hour later, the rain showed no sign of stopping. Both of them stood at the café entrance, staring out at the flooded street. "Do you have an umbrella?" she asked without looking at him. "No," Minh admitted. She opened her bag and produced a small blue umbrella. "I only have one." What happened next surprised even Minh. He heard himself say, "We could share it." She looked at him then—really looked at him—and he noticed that her eyes were not the sharp, dismissive eyes he had expected. They were tired, and a little sad, and unexpectedly warm. "I'm going to Bach Mai Hospital," she said. "It's a twenty-minute walk." "I know a shortcut," he lied. They stepped into the rain together. The umbrella was barely large enough for one person. By the time they reached the hospital gate, both of them were soaked on one side. She handed him the umbrella—just handed it to him and walked through the gate without saying goodbye. Minh stood in the rain, holding the blue umbrella, water dripping from his collar. He realized he had never asked her name. He also realized he was smiling for the first time in months.