Chapter 4 Meteor Shower

Phoebe's POV

"Be careful! You spilled water all over me!" Richard snapped, glaring down at his soaked shirt.

"I'm sorry!" I gasped, still holding my hair with trembling hands.

"It's late already. Can't you just control yourself?"

I pouted, brushing wet strands of hair out of my face. "But I can't stand it when my hair is wet. Aren't you going to dry yours? You'll catch a cold."

He gave me a blank stare. "No need. I'm already in my worst condition."

Right then, I sneezed. Hard.

To my horror, tiny drops of my sneeze landed right on his face.

I froze. "I'm so sorry!" I cried and reached out to wipe it off, but he grabbed my wrists.

"Whenever I'm with you, something unlucky happens," he said with a scowl, letting go of my hands as if they were cursed.

"I'm sorry," I whispered again, cheeks burning.

"If you really feel sorry, tell me about your string of disasters. Maybe I'll have a laugh," he said, the corners of his lips twitching like he was trying not to smirk.

"You're really sick," I muttered.

"Fine, don't tell me. Then tell me about the letter. The one you've been chasing me down for. What's inside?"

"It's... just a normal letter," I said carefully.

"A normal letter? Come on, it's obviously a love letter to some guy."

"It's not!" I snapped. "It's an IOU. Yeah. That's right. An IOU."

He raised a brow. "An IOU... in a pink envelope?"

My head shot up. "Wait-how did you know it was pink? Did you see it?!"

He didn't even flinch. "When I was cleaning the guest room, I saw the letter. I threw it away."

"You what?" My heart dropped. "You threw it away?"

"Yeah. I think it's already in the furnace by now. Probably turned to ashes."

He said it so casually, so smugly, like he'd just thrown away a used tissue.

"You have no idea how much time I spent on that letter!" I yelled. "It's all gone now!"

"How was I supposed to know it was your love letter?" he said, folding his arms. "Why did you even leave it in my room? Wait... did you write that for me?"

"What?! Of course not! Who asked you to stay in my room? You ruined my confession! And you're the reason I'm even in this mess!"

We both went quiet.

The rain was still falling hard outside-or so I thought. I looked up and noticed the drizzle had stopped. The sky had cleared.

"It's not raining anymore," I said softly. I stepped out from under the shelter. "When did it stop?"

The clouds were gone, and tiny stars poked through the sky like glitter.

"We can even see the stars now," I whispered. "The weather report was right."

Richard stepped beside me.

"I was supposed to meet him here," I said, eyes fixed on the sky. "We were going to watch the Perseids together. And I was supposed to confess to him."

I let out a shaky laugh. "I didn't expect you would be the one here."

"Me neither," Richard muttered. "I should be sipping wine in a hot spring. Not... waiting for a bus with you in muddy shoes."

"Is confessing your feelings that hard?" he added.

I gave him a side-eye. "It's not easy."

He shrugged. "Let me guess. The guy you like is probably a student too, right? Guys at that age-even if they seem romantic-it's all just illusions made up by girls like you. Like gift wrappers. Pretty, but useless. Why don't you just be direct?"

I turned sharply to him. "Stop! Don't lump him together with playboys like you! He's not a pervert!"

"I'm a pervert?" he said with a half-smile. "You're the one who pushed me to the ground today. Judging by your moves, you seem pretty familiar with being a pervert yourself."

"Stop that!" I snapped.

"Girl. What now?"

"Stop talking! I know you're going to insult me again.

I turned my face away from him. "I don't want to see your annoying face."

Richard didn't even blink. "You really don't want to see it?" he asked.

Right then, the meteor shower began.

I kept my hands over my eyes. "I don't!"

Suddenly, he was tugging at my wrists, trying to uncover my face.

"What are you doing?" I asked, annoyed, but he didn't stop until he pulled my hands down.

"Look," he said.

I looked up, and my breath caught. Stars fell across the sky in long, slow streaks. I had only ever seen pictures of meteor showers online. Seeing it with my own eyes felt like a dream.

"It's beautiful," I whispered. "So this is what it really looks like..."

For a moment, I forgot about Richard. Forgot everything.

"I should make a wish," I added with a small smile.

He laughed. "You're really naive. Those aren't stars. They're just garbage floating in space. Maybe it's the toilet bowl of a space station. You made a wish with a toilet bowl. That's a smelly wish."

I frowned at him. "Stop talking! You're such a dirty adult. Can't you say something nice just once?"

He raised his hands like he was giving up. "Fine, fine. I'll make a wish too."

He looked up at the sky and said dramatically, "First, I wish a bus shows up right now and takes me away from this awful place."

He turned to me. "Hey... what's your name again?"

I crossed my arms. "Why should you care?"

He shrugged. "Whatever. My second wish is-"

"The bus is here!" I shouted, pointing as headlights approached.

He blinked, surprised. "No way. My wish came true?"

I laughed. "See? The universe really is magical. And if that wish came true... maybe your second one will too."

We got on the bus together. I sat by the window, and for a while, we were both quiet.

Then I turned to him and pointed at his head. "You know, you have a good head-to-body ratio. But it's such a waste. You're a total scum."

He sighed. "When we get back to the hotel, don't ride in my car anymore. People will think you're dating me."

"What?" I raised my voice a little.

"I mean, unless you want to be famous overnight," he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. I have my own place. I don't need your fancy hotel or your fancy car. And I definitely don't want to wake up next to a calendar."

"Calendar?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah," I said. "The netizens say you change your girlfriends monthly. So if you can change girlfriends like that, I guess you change your calendars too. You like changing things, don't you? Maybe you should be a spokesperson for disposable lenses."

He let out a short laugh. "People online sure have weird ways of complimenting. But listen, a nameless person like you-if you were on my calendar, no one would even care."

I turned my head sharply. "Who are you talking about?"

"You," he said. "Tell me your name."

"My name is Phoebe Harper!" I shouted.

He laughed. "In the end, you told me."

"You tricked me!" I pointed at him, furious.

He shrugged. "So what? Every debt has its debtor. At least now, if I ever see your name again, I'll know to stay far away. You know what I wished for before the bus came?"

I didn't look at him. "How would I know?"

"My second wish," he said as the bus started slowing down, "was to never see your name again. Ever. Thank god. Goodbye!"

He gave me a smug smile and got off the bus.

I leaned out of the window. "I don't want to see anything about you either! Not even a word or a pixel! You're wasting our air and space! Be mindful of your body!"

He turned back slightly and murmured "Don't worry about that". The bus had already started moving again.

After the bus left him behind, I slumped in my seat, arms folded. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or scream. Everything that was supposed to be special tonight-watching the Perseids, confessing under the stars-it had all gone wrong.

All because of him.

Richard.

He had hijacked my moment, teased me, annoyed me, and still somehow, my heart was beating too fast.

Why?

He wasn't even nice. He was rude, arrogant, and careless. He threw away my letter. He called my wish a toilet bowl.

But the way he looked at the sky, the way he was surprised when the bus showed up... It didn't feel fake.

Still, I couldn't forgive him for ruining my night.

Meanwhile, Richard stood outside a small shop under a flickering streetlight. He looked annoyed and tired. He walked inside and asked the seller, "Excuse me. Can I borrow your phone?"

The man behind the counter nodded. "Okay, here."

Richard took the phone, dialed a number, and waited.

When the call connected, his voice changed. "You... Stop asking questions. Just find me a hotel. By the way, how's Dawn Williams?"

His personal assistant, Mason, answered, "After you left, Miss Dawn threw a tantrum and stormed off. She twisted her ankle by the lake. Luckily, her schoolmates found her. She's back at the hotel now. But they're all looking for someone else... I think it's the girl who used to work as your housekeeper. She only came to find a place for stargazing."

Richard frowned. "She came to the hotel for that?"

"Yes. But she's not a paparazzi or anything. Just... a little strange."

There was silence for a second. Then Richard said, "Contact Supervisor Arthur."

"Understood," Mason replied quickly.

"I didn't even say anything yet," Richard muttered. "I need to find something. It might not appear, but tell them to look anyway."

Then he hung up.