Unexpected Encounter

Knowing that it was impossible for him to go back to sleep after that call, Ryan no longer bothered to try. He stood up and gave his body a nice stretch before glancing at the phone on his hand once more. One of the candidate profiles was still open, seemingly mocking him.

After a second thought, he threw his phone on the bed. His brain needed some fresh air.

Ryan walked towards the window and pulled on the curtains to let in more light inside the room. The sun rays fell on his naked chest, exposing his carved abs and fair skin to the world. Many girls envied his smooth and spotless skin, but even if they asked what skincare routine he was doing, he had no answer. There was none. The only routine he followed was a casual workout routine.

He opened the window and the cool morning breeze immediately greeted his face. Taking in a big breath, he released the air from his lungs as if he was trying to empty his thoughts. After a couple of more breaths, he felt it still was not good enough—he had a baffling sense of being stifled.

"Maybe I should shower…?" Ryan muttered, brushing his fingers through his somewhat greasy hair. However, he decided to go for a quick run instead. Morning jogs were part of his routine—although, he was not keen on doing them daily—and surprisingly, those runs were all he needed to keep himself fit.

As he had no plans to talk and flirt with any girls along the way, he dressed sloppily, only putting on his yesterday's outfit along with a red hoodie to cover himself from the cold. He was used to walking in sweatpants almost everywhere so it was also his go-to outfit when running.

He purposely ignored his phone on the bed as he put on his running shoes and locked the door as he left, leaving behind the window slightly ajar to ventilate the room. In fact, locking doors was merely a habit of his. It was not necessary as there was nothing expensive inside the room. Even if a robber were to break in, he would leave disappointed. Ryan's phone was old and cheap, and perhaps, the robber would have owned a better and newer model.

Even though his grandma was said to be filthy rich, Ryan lived a commoner's life, struggling financially like any other student studying in Phoenix University. Not that it was a private institution; truth be told, it was the opposite. It was a public one, funded by the local government.

However, ever since he moved out, he had never asked for extra money from his parents. His grandma left the country ten years ago and ever since then, he had never heard from her again. Even if she was sending money to his parents, he had seen not a cent of it.

"Where should I run today?" Ryan asked himself out loud as soon as he stepped out of his dorm. Students normally go for a run at the University Track, but he finds that boring. He preferred to explore different parts of the city during his workout.

He looked left and right. As soon as he stepped out of the campus area, he licked his fingers to check the direction of the wind only to chose the path at random. It led him to run along the main street at the center of the city, a route he rarely took.

Despite it being a sunny Monday, the temperature was still a bit chilly outside due to the season being early spring. Good thing he had worn his hood up to cover his head. It was late in the morning and there were very few people on the streets at this time of the day, as most of them were already in their respective schools and offices. It was a perfect time to jog.

He had just ran past two intersections when he discovered something interesting. Huh? This wasn't here before…

He saw an unfamiliar street. The pavement looked pristine, as if its construction was finished just yesterday. Along this road, a row of fancy villas stood, some gated, while others had automatic lawn mowers cutting the grass of their front yards.

"Is this the new residential area they talked about in the news recently? Looks like some rich peeps have already moved in there."

As Ryan tried to estimate the cost of a residence in the central district of the city, his body instinctively turned to change his course. He was curious by nature, and it would not hurt to take a look.

After passing by six properties, he was in awe. He could not help but be envious just by the amount of greenery in the area. Every two or three villas, there was a small park for the residents to chill and rest amidst various colorful flowers and bird sounds.

Even though he was far from getting tired, he sat down on the bench inside one of the parks. He leaned back, shoulders relaxing, as his body seemingly melted along with the lovely sounds of hidden wildlife.

It must feel nice to be rich… They can enjoy this every day…

Ryan closed his eyes, giving up on continuing his run. He found the perfect place to relax and think about his future.

His mom had placed him in front of an unusual situation. He must present a perfect girlfriend by next week—he either had to find one for himself or choose one from his mom's candidates. This was no simple thing, especially since his grandma was involved. If he actually won and inherited her company, it would entail that not only his grandma, but all of the Morgans have approved of her.

Then, wouldn't that mean he has to marry that girl?

Would he not be a butt of the joke if he were to find himself stuck with someone who he would later regret?

But then, one week seemed too short to make such a lifechanging choice. To marry a person he only knew for a week and be forced to spend the rest of his life with her… Even though getting so much money sounded nice, Ryan believed his happiness should not be traded for any amount of money.

Ryan took a deep breath before finally deciding how to deal with the situation.

He would at least try to meet the three girlfriend candidates and give them a fighting chance. There was always a possibility that he would like at least one of them. After all, recalling how beautiful they are from the pictures, all of them surpassed his minimum standards.

The wind was so refreshing against his face that Ryan did not want to move from the bench. He casually wore his hood down to, as there was literally no one in the area—

Or not.

With perfect timing, someone came out from the corner of the street, running straight towards his direction. To make matters worse, the person seemed to be a skirt. It was a young woman, no, a girl around his age.

Ryan grabbed his hood, planning on wearing it back, but his hand halted mid-way.

Something was wrong with the girl.

Although she was keeping her head down, she was sprinting at full speed as if she was running for her life. She did not seem to care where she was going. Looking at her skinny frame, he could not help but be bothered.

Something must have happened!

Ryan grew more alert. He looked behind the girl to check if she was being chased by someone, but there was nothing of that sort. He left the bench and stepped towards the running girl, all the while thinking on how to ask her what's wrong without sounding like a busybody. Coincidentally, she stopped right in front of him.

Hu… Hu...

The girl was panting too much, she had to support herself on her knees. Ryan guessed she emptied her energy tank with that sprint.

"Are you all right?" Ryan asked politely, although he could not help but check her out. She wore an elegant short-sleeved white blouse and short blue skirt with a logo on it. It looked like a uniform from a private university.

Her long brown hair cascaded down in a tangled mess which made it impossible to see her face.

Sniff...

The girl reached out to wipe her face before standing straight and glancing at him. Her eyes were all red, her cheeks stained with tears.

Ba-dum!

Ryan's heart skipped a beat, stunned by her gaze. Her big, blue eyes seemed to be silently asking—begging—for help. He was a person who hated to see girls cry, especially if they were beautiful girls. And the girl in front of him was no doubt beautiful. She could not hide her beauty even with the messy state she was in.

She opened her cherry-soft lips to speak but a sudden melody disturbed the two of them. Ryan looked at the source, and the melody came from her phone which was vibrating inside the pocket of her blouse. It had two small chains attached to it with cute bears at the end that jiggled each time she moved her chest.

He was tantalized.

Instead of picking up, the blue-eyed girl grabbed onto the edge of her skirt and squeezed the material, waiting for the call to end. The phone stopped vibrating after a while, but in the next second, another call came in.

After two more unanswered calls, Ryan finally spoke up, "They won't stop calling unless you pick up. They might be worried about you."

Ryan softly smiled before sitting back on the bench, letting himself appreciate her doll-like face from a different angle. Based on her state, he figured out she might have ran away from home after a fight with her parents.

Surprisingly, the girl listened and pulled out her phone. She already calmed down a bit and the tears had stopped rolling down her cheeks.

"W-What do you want…?" she asked as soon as the call connected, her voice weak but sweet and pleasant to hear.