Don't Be Too Serious, Emma

The next morning, the students were gathered and were given time to buy souvenirs, and later in the afternoon, they would head to the airport to fly back to Singapore.

Haoran refused to go with his friends because of a splitting headache. Not to mention, he didn't have anyone back home to give souvenirs to, anyway. Emma, on the other hand, had already bought a small present for Grandma Lin the other day, so she didn't feel the need to shop again.

"Let's just make plans for our project while waiting for the boys to return from shopping. What do you think?" said Haoran, finishing his breakfast.

For the last two days, Emma had been having breakfast with Haoran and his friends because Nadya had somehow started keeping a distance from Emma.

Ever since Emma had tried to defend Haoran from Nadya because of Mary becoming ill in China, Nadya had been suspecting whether Emma had a thing for Haoran or not and that caused an awkward tension between them. Although Emma didn't want to lose her friend, she couldn't accept Nadya mistreating Haoran because of Mary.

She also didn't have time for drama. Like always, Emma's highest priority was to find her parents. Hence, she and Haoran had to spend more time together discussing what they should do to contact AWA, track her parents, and much more.

She also needed to prepare to enter SpaceLab after she graduated from high school. She would have to study a particular course in a university to pave her way of going to or working in SpaceLab.

And one more thing, she wanted to return the favor to Haoran who had always been supporting her all this time. Emma wanted to help Haoran meet his mother one day. She also had to make plans and think about how she could do it.

She knew Haoran hadn't seen his mother in five years. And if Haoran waited until he was 25 years old, he would've been missing his mother for eleven years. Emma understood how heartbreaking it was to miss someone for such a long time.

Since Haoran didn't need anything else in this world, Emma knew she wouldn't be able to repay his kindness with money or other material things. However, she had special powers. There must be something she could do to make Haoran's wish come true, and she would try with all her might.

"Okay. I've nothing to do this morning," Emma nodded. "Let's go to your place."

Alex coughed. "Ahem, ahem... are you two an item now? Should we call Stardust, Mrs. Haoran Lee?"

Haoran grinned, while Emma frowned.

"Why do you want to call me Mrs. Haoran Lee? I'm not married to Haoran," Emma asked in puzzlement.

"You're too serious," Alex replied with a laugh. "I was just teasing you."

Emma was stunned for a moment before nodding. Alex was right. She was always serious. Haoran had said the same thing to her once and how she always had a frown on her face.

Realizing this, she touched her furrowed brows and slowly relaxed her forehead before gradually curving her lips up a little. Finally, she nodded while smiling at Alex and said, "I know you're joking."

Her friends chuckled. They knew she was trying hard not to look too serious.

"Nah, it's okay. Just try smiling more, so you won't have to deal with premature wrinkles," said Alex before changing his facial expression like a mime with his curled lips forced upward.

"Ignore them, Stardust," Haoran said, shaking his head. "You don't have to force yourself to smile if you don't think there's anything funny. You don't have to conform."

After saying that, he shooed away his friends to immediately head shopping for souvenirs. Haoran knew how Alex and Dinh loved deliberating which item they should buy at a store, so Haoran was worried they might rush packing their stuff once they got back.

Haoran rose from his chair and walked with both hands in his pockets.

"I want to lie down for a while to ease my headache." He turned to Emma, ​​who also stood up and followed him. "Have you finished packing?"

Emma nodded, walking beside him while waiving the boys at the hotel's lobby. "I finished it last night. I won't add any more items to my suitcase."

"Good. Do you want to go straight to my place? Or later? I'll just lie down for half an hour while you read some references I collected last night. There are several summer programs for students to learn computer science at the National University of Singapore. You can enroll there. I'm sure you'll learn a lot in two months," said Haoran, before pressing the open button of the elevator door.