Finding Stardust

\"Wow... Bianca, you got an upgrade!\" Bianca's two friends were so impressed when they saw her waving the boarding pass she just received from Madame Delaval.

\"Well, my father travels a lot for business and has accumulated so many miles. So, I asked him to get me upgraded to business class with his privilege,\" Bianca said with a shrug. \"I should have upgraded it on my trip to Paris, but all the business seats were sold out. Fortunately, there are still a few empty seats this time.\"

\"Ahhh ... this is amazing,\" Sandra took out her cellphone and took a picture of Bianca showing off her boarding pass on her chest. \"Let's post this to social media first.\"

The three girls were giggling and chattering nonstop while taking various photos and uploading them to social media to show off their trip to Paris, which ended today.

[Aww... we'll miss you, Paris!! #bestripever #summerholiday #studytour #bff #businessclassflight #paris #singapore #gohome]

Almost all students who took part in the study trip to Paris are children of well-off families. Still, their parents didn't deliberately buy business class tickets for them. So, the fact that Bianca would be flying in style in business class made many of her friends jealous.

\"Sorry, friends. I can't sit with you this time. My mother said I need my beauty sleep,\" Bianca said with a smile, showing off her pearly white teeth.

\"Hey, are you in business class too? Then, we might sit together,\" blurted Cedric. The boy waved his boarding pass too. \"What is your seat number?\"

Cedric was the only son of an international bank CEO. He was also very smart, and his parents always gave only the best for him. Apparently, after hearing Cedric's complaint that he could not sleep well in coach on the last flight, his mother decided to buy him a new ticket in business class.

\"That's none of your business,\" Bianca replied. She felt annoyed because she was no longer the only student flying in business class.

Emma, who stood in line waiting for boarding with Alex and David, just watched their banter earlier while shaking her head.

\"Ugh ... I want to sit in business class, too,\" David grumbled. \"My father said that as long as I am still in Class F, I would not get any additional facilities from him. My back hurt sitting for 13 hours in a cramped economy seat.\"

Alex also pursed his lips. \"My father said I had to learn to live a difficult life so that I would appreciate my life more.\"

\"Eh, by the way, where is Haoran?\" asked Emma. She realized that Haoran was not among them. They entered the gate together, but now the young man had disappeared. Dinh was still busy snacking croissants in front of them, and Eric was calling his parents on the phone to give news. Did Haoran go to the restroom?

Alex looked at Emma in surprise. \"You don't remember? Just like in the previous flight, he entered the plane first, together with other passengers in suites and first-class. He must be chilling out on his cozy bed now, as we peasants wait for our turns to get in.\"

\"Bed?\" Emma didn't understand what Alex just said.

\"Oh .. I forgot. Haoran said you had a fever and lost some of your memory.\" Alex facepalmed himself. \"Haoran already boarded the plane. He's flying in the suite class. He gets his own room the size of a hotel room complete with a nice bed and private bathroom.\"

It took Emma a few seconds to digest Alex's words. Ah ... suite class? She had read of it. Some commercial airlines provided a suite option for their ultra-rich customers who didn't want to use their private jet.

These airlines would have economy class, followed by business class, first-class, and a few suites. The price for one suite was equivalent to six business class seats or all the seats in the economy class.

Emma knew Haoran's family was very wealthy... but she hadn't expected it to be THIS wealthy.

\"I didn't know that ...\" Emma said with a frown. \"Do our teachers know about it since they are the ones who handle the boarding passes?\"

Alex nodded. \"Of course. But they have all promised to keep it a secret at Haoran's request. So far, Haoran has never bothered them. Moreover, our study trip to Paris this time also received a discount from the airline. Our school gets a 50% discount for the return flight tickets. That's why students only need to pay 2000 dollars for hotel, food, travel, tips, and flights. The actual costs are a bit higher than that.\"

\"We got discounts? Why?\" Emma asked in surprise.

\"Uhm .. because this airline belongs to his family?\" Alex just laughed when he saw Emma nodded as she slowly grasped what he meant by his words. \"Gosh .. you never try to find out how wealthy your future husband is? What's his will be yours, you know!\"

\"Hey ... what do you mean ?!\" Emma hit Alex on the shoulder. The boy was just laughing at her reaction and made her exasperated. \"What future husband...? What did Haoran say to you guys?\"

\"I'm just kidding. Gosh, Emma ... Don't be so serious.\" Alex groaned while protecting his shoulder from Emma's punches. \"He didn't say anything. I was just teasing you. I'm joking...\"

Emma's face turned red. She felt embarrassed when she thought of Haoran telling his friends that they kissed earlier that day. She looked into Alex's eyes and tried to read his mind.

She must find out what Haoran had told them. Ugh ...

-- Wow ... !! Emma is blushing!! Did something happen between her and Boss Haoran? Whoaaa... this is so juicy! Finally, progress. Hmm... I wonder what they have done? Could it be... that they kissed? Wow... I'll have to trick Haoran later to tell me what happened ... muahahaha--

Instantly Emma held back her punches and furrowed her brows. \"Nothing happened between Haoran and me. Don't assume anything weird.\"

She then ignored Alex and pretended to focus her attention on her boarding pass.

Pfew... It turned out Haoran didn't say anything to Alex. That's a relief.

Unfortunately, Emma's reaction just now was giving her away. Now her friends suspected that she and Haoran had done something. Damn. She must pretend nothing happened now.