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The call ended.
Minh sat down on the doorstep.
He opened his wallet.
Three banknotes and a handful of coins.
He counted them again, even though he already knew the result would not change.
Hạnh walked over and sat beside him.
“What’s wrong?”
Minh shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Hạnh looked into his reddened eyes.
“Minh, don’t smile at me right now.”
Those words made Minh lower his head.
His shoulders trembled slightly.
“My younger brother…”
He stopped, swallowing the lump in his throat.
“He’s in the hospital.” This story is hosted at g.com.
Hạnh didn’t ask anything else.
Minh stared at the curtain of rain before them, his voice growing hoarse.
“Ever since we were little, he’s always believed that his big brother could do anything.”
He gave a faint laugh, but tears fell onto the back of his hand.
“I can’t let him know that his brother is helpless.”
Minh covered his face with both hands.
All the laughter and jokes he had shared over the past few days seemed to be washed away by the rain.
Hạnh looked at the man in front of her.
Those shoulders had once carried sacks of rice, hauled water containers, and pushed broken carts… but now they were bent beneath something heavier than anything else: the responsibility of being an older brother.
His phone vibrated again.
Minh startled and looked at the screen.
It was his younger sister, Linh.
He wiped away his tears, took a deep breath, and answered.
“Big brother, what are you doing?”
Minh turned his face toward the wall.
“I’m eating.”
Linh laughed.
“You’re terrible at lying.
I can hear the rain.”
Minh smiled, but tears began to flow again.
“You can even hear the rain?”
“Yes.
It’s the rain back home.
Did you forget?
When we were little, we used to run out into the fields and play in the rain together.”
Minh closed his eyes.
In his mind appeared the red dirt road, Linh’s bare feet running ahead of him, and the sound of her laughter echoing across the fields.
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