If he were being honest with himself, Jimin would have to admit that he had hoped, perhaps even expected, that Eileen hadn’t forgotten him. That she was, in fact, nursing a passionate love for him as he was for her. Why else would he have planned to find her on this hill a full two days before he had to be at that photo shoot? He and Tae had planned to spend the entire weekend in Paris. And Tae would be fully occupied entertaining Tia. That left Jimin to his own devices. Alone. Unless Eileen would have him.
And clearly, by the eagerness he experienced in her kiss, she would. After a few moments, they broke away from each other. Eileen began to pack up her paints.
“What are you doing?” Jimin asked.
“Taking the day off, of course! It’s not every day that the South Korean boy I like comes to Paris to see me. I’m not missing one second of my time with you to paint on this hill. I’ll come back next week.”
“Can I carry something for you?” he asked.
She nodded as she began to hand him things. Finally, she picked up her easel and his portrait. Together, they walked back down the hill, stashed her belongings in the back of her car, and headed for her apartment.
She had something to show Jimin.
—
After they entered her apartment, Eileen set her easel and her painting down and gestured to Jimin to put her paints on her kitchen table. Then she turned excitedly towards him.
“There’s something I want to show you.”
“So, show me,” Jimin responded, a wide grin on his face as Magic Shop played in his head.
“Ok, I’ll show you,” she replied, smiling sweetly at him.
Fairly certain she was unfamiliar with Magic Shop, he laughed.
Eileen led him to her bedroom. On the wall over her bed, she had hung up three paintings: the one of her and Jimin that the artiste had painted at the top of the hill in Paris, the one Eileen had painted of Jimin in that same art district, and the depiction of a Korean “I love you” that she had painted into a sunrise.
Visibly surprised, Jimin turned towards her. “You figured it out!?”
She nodded. “I figured it out that night.”
She reached up and traced the Korean characters on his cheek repeatedly. Just as Jimin had done to her. The third time, he put his hand over her own, stilling her movements. He was gazing down at her with an intensity in his eyes that thrilled her. She could get lost in those amazing, chocolate depths.
“I love you, Eireen.”
She grinned at her name on his lips, the name Jimin had given her. “I love you too, Jimin.”
His hand still covering her own on his cheek, he bent his head and claimed her lips once more.
