Chapter 22: Night Flight

As Shu Li drove fast swerving through Y City traffic, Miyeon felt a familiar sense of lull overcame her. She stared at the blurry scenery with her chin propped up on her palm oblivious to the gaze of the man sitting beside her. The young woman's side profile appeared delicate and lovely basked under the sunlight sweeping through the glass windows of the vehicle.

In fact, Jesse's eyes were immediately drawn to Miyeon as soon as she had boarded the car. After a few minutes of silence, Jesse reached out to tap the woman's fingers resting on the car seat. This caused Miyeon to turn her head and tilt it slightly in question.

"You alright?" Jesse asked in a low voice.

"Hmmm," Miyeon gave a soft humm in response.

"Just checking. You look lovely by the way." Jesse complimented her shyly.

"More than this morning?" Miyeon countered teasingly causing the man to blush. His cheeks and ears turned a light shade of pink. Before Jesse could answer, a voice sounded from the front.

"What are you two whispering about over there?" Stella inquired out loud while glancing at the rear-view mirror.

"Yeah, care to let us in on it?" Rich asked with a knowing wink.

Miyeon remained nonplussed despite their teasing while Jesse gave out an unnaturally loud cough. It wasn't until her best friend had been driving for a good 20 minutes that Miyeon noticed something off.

"Wait... Which sushi place did you say we were going to?" Miyeon asked suspiciously.

"I didn't…." Shu Li answered sporting a sneaky smile.

"Isn't this the way to the airport?" Jesse asked in a baffled tone.

"Mate, you realized pretty quick!" Rich said laughingly.

"Dammit! Now I owe you lunch! We were betting on which one of you would notice first," Shu Li spoke, miffed at having lost a bet.

"Stella Wei... You said we were having sushi," Miyeon spoke calmly with no inflection in her voice but her gaze was cold.

"Mmhmm! We are! In Japan!" Shu Li furtively avoided her best friend's eyes in the rear-view mirror as she continued on in a chirpy note. 'No matter what I am taking you to eat Jiro's sushi tonight," thought Shu Li with determination.

"...." Miyeon narrowed her eyes and kept her gaze fixed on Shu Li. And after a few seconds, the latter eventually gave in.

"I'm sorry! But I already borrowed daddy's private plane and all the reservations are made! So you have to come!" Shu Li sulkily argued.

"One last time. Next time you'll need to ask permission. Otherwise, don't bother to come see me. And acting cute won't work," her calm tone carried a strong warning. Sometimes, Miyeon doesn't know if Shu Li is a kid hiding in an adult's body.

"Dammmmmn! Baby girl. You're ice cold," Rich commented with a shake of his head.

"[Sniff] Yeah. She is. But I'm a masochist." Shu Li admitted with nonexistent tears causing Miyeon to roll her eyes in response. 'You're not scoring any sympathy points that way.' Miyeon thought without batting an eyelash.

Seeing this exchange between the two, both Rich and Jesse couldn't help but make a mental note not to cross Miyeon. On the other hand, Miyeon didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her best friend is flying to Tokyo on a whim just because she wanted to eat at Sukiyabashi Jiro.

"By the way, you do realize passports are needed to travel internationally." Miyeon reminded Shu Li as they pulled into the airport parking lot.

"Mmhmm and I know you always carry yours in your bag. Work habit." Shu Li quipped with a confident smile.

"...." (Miyeon)

"Sorry. I have very good selective memory," she continued with a completely unapologetic face.

"Waaait.. What about," Jesse began.

"I grabbed yours when you were in the shower, mate." Rich interjected with a smug smile.

"Oh by the way, Tian and Ruhe are meeting us there on Saturday. They have a shoot in Shibuya. I got us suites at Aman; we can fly out on Sunday." Shu Li explained.

"Remind me again why we are staying extra days?" Miyeon inquired.

"Of course, I'll be there to discuss a collaboration as well. I'm taking you as my fitting model. The other party really liked your appearance." Shu Li explained innocently.

"Right. Be your human coat hanger. Got it." Miyeon nodded with a smile.

......…

The group headed to a private boarding terminal and went through a quick and secure customs and immigration process. The entire time from airport arrival to boarding was less than 30 minutes. Money talks and the heiress of the Wei Family has a lot of it.

The Falcon 7X owned by the Wei Family has a configuration that comfortably seats 11 passengers and allows for direct flights from Dubai to London and Y City to Paris without any inconveniencing fuel stops. There are fully reclinable leather chairs in the cabin as well as a large square dining table for any meetings or a more comfortable dining experience. It was a personal favorite of Shu Li.

Miyeon lay comfortably in her seat and swore to herself that she will be more vigilant in the future. She didn't think that Shu Li would even drag Rich and Jesse to her escapades though Rich appeared to be quite the willing victim. She quickly fell into a light slumber and didn't wake up until the aircraft landed in Tokyo.