24 Sunsets

Emma rolled her eyes at Haoran's comment. Friends who grew up together truly think alike.

After Haoran had entered his own suite, Emma closed the door and admired her room. This place was very comfortable and luxurious.

She wondered what Bianca and her friends' reactions would be if they found out Emma was staying in a 30,000-dollar suite on their flight back home. They might faint, or if Bianca was in here, she wouldn't stop taking videos and a gazillion of photos to show off in Splitz.

When Emma was done admiring the suite, she took a shower and changed into her pajamas before finally lying down on the soft, wonderful daisy smelling bed. She had put up a do-not-disturb sign at the doorknob, so flight attendants wouldn't wake her up for dinner. She was still full because she and the boys had dinner before they boarded the plane.

Right now, a comfortable rest was far more important than food. Not to mention, tomorrow morning, she would have breakfast together with Haoran.

Ahh... the bed felt like she was in heaven. Although it was meant for two people, sleeping alone in it and enjoying the extra space was really nice to have. It couldn't compare to the flatbed seat in business class. In the suite, VVIP passengers got to enjoy real mattresses from the world's best mattress manufacturer.

Her mind wandered to why wealthy people placed such importance on quality sleep. For them, time is money. If they didn't sleep well, then their minds wouldn't be at the top of their games. For every discomfort they experience in life, they wouldn't be able to function optimally, and in the end, it might affect the livelihoods of many people.

Wealthy people who had businesses that employed tens or even hundreds of thousands of people must ensure their businesses were running well because the employees and their families depended on them.

'Haoran must be used to living like this,' Emma thought. Although he was still in high school, one day he would take over the leadership role in his family's businesses. Emma had heard from Alex that Haoran was the only grandson in his family. So, even though Haoran's relationship with his father wasn't the best, Haoran still remained his father's sole heir.

Haoran's father and his new wife had been trying to conceive for many years but always failed. Unless Mr. Lee produced another heir, Haoran's plan to take over his father's properties would succeed since he would be the only heir.

"Ahh... why should I care about other people's wealth," Emma muttered, yawning. She took out the painting of her parents from her backpack beside the bed and stared at their faces with moist eyes. "I really want to see you, Mother and Father. I don't care about other things."

She hugged the painting to her chest and closed her eyes. Emma really wanted to use her powers right now, so she could see another flash of memory about her parents. She really missed them but who knows what would happen if she used her powers while the plane was on the air. 

She didn't know whether the plane would be affected or not, but she didn't want to risk it and cause the death of all the passengers, including hers, if the plane crashed. In the end, she had to be satisfied by looking at their painting.

Emma fell asleep five minutes later.

***

After eight hours of sleep, Emma woke up energized and decided to read a book to pass the time.

Haoran knocked on the door shortly after, and Emma invited him inside.

"How's your sleep last night?" Haoran asked. "Luckily, it's summer in France. We'll not be hit by jet lag after traveling to a place six hours behind Singapore. The weather in both countries is currently similar. If we went to Paris in the winter, the jet lag would be quite a nuisance."

"My sleep was comfortable," Emma nodded, smiling. "Yours?"

"Not bad," Haoran said. "It's a pity though that we weren't together in the suite on our way to Paris. Seeing the sky as we fly westward would be awesome because we'd be able to see several sunsets and sunrises. But because the time zone in our destination is behind Singapore, our plane would have to fly the opposite of the Earth's orbit. We would be chasing the sun as it rose since we're flying eastward, so when we move forward, the clock is also advancing ahead of us."

"It must be beautiful," Emma commented. "To watch several sunsets in one day."

Haoran nodded. "Technically, people are able to see up to 24 sunsets in one day, one for each timezone. But to fulfill that, we'd have to fly the same way as the Earth orbits around the Sun at the speed of 1,000 mph or 1,600 kph through the equator. If I'm not mistaken, there once was a photographer who did it decades ago, named Simon Roberts, but he used a smaller aircraft and did it from the north pole because the distance between time zones there is small. Somehow though, nobody has ever done it again."

Emma tilted her head. "Uhm... maybe because it's not easy to do? It must have cost a fortune to do it. He has to get the airplane and two pilots who can take turns to fly it for 24 hours, the petrol, permits, etc. probably cost an arm and leg. You talked like it was so easy to do."

Haoran laughed, "You're right. It won't be easy. But someday, I will accomplish it. A man should have a bucket list, don't you think? It'd be nice to see 24 sunsets with you one day."

Emma smiled at Haoran's words. "You're so sweet."

Haoran's face beamed as he stared at Emma with a smile. This was the first time Emma complimented him and he was glad to hear it.

He approached the girl and gently touched her chin. Haoran tilted his head to kiss Emma when a soft knock behind the door disturbed their budding moment as the flight attendant's muffled voice greeted them.

"Good morning, Young Master and Miss. Are you ready to order breakfast?"

They both sighed in unison and immediately let go. Haoran shook his head and sighed one more time before opening the door and inviting the flight attendant to enter.

"Hi! Can I have the menu?" Haoran asked politely.

The flight attendant nodded respectfully and handed the two menus to Haoran. Haoran passed one to Emma, while reading the menu in his hand. A moment later, the two placed their orders.

The flight attendant took note of everything and excused herself.

After the flight attendant had left, Haoran and Emma sat together on the sofa. They chatted while waiting for their breakfast to arrive. Emma and Haoran didn't mention their kiss in Paris and how they almost did it again just now.

Emma was tempted to read Haoran's mind to find out what he was thinking about her, but she held back and didn't do it. She didn't want to invade Haoran's privacy.