Tae stared at the lovely girl looking at the skyline of the City of Lights. It was a beautiful view, he knew. But right now, he was more captivated by the scenery closer to him. It was his turn to gaze upon her face. His eyes were combing her hair where it fell across her eye. She shook her head back and blew a puff of air out of her lips in an attempt to dislodge her long tresses. She wanted to see all of Paris with an unimpeded view.
So Tae did what he’d been longing to do. He reached out and slid his fingers through her hair to comb it back behind her ear. Startled, she turned towards him. Her eyes had grown wide. Amber flames were leaping out of them.
That’s better. Now I can see all of your gorgeous face again. And those eyes! Oh! Those eyes! And her hair was every bit as soft as he’d imagined it to be.
His treacherous eyes found those pretty, pink lips again. He groaned. He had to stop thinking of kissing her. He had amazing powers of concentration. Where had his focus flown tonight? But he knew. It was all centered on her lovely countenance.
Now she was gazing back up at him. Her face was sweet. He hadn’t been entirely honest when he’d described her nose. It didn’t relieve her countenance of that precious sweetness, and he wouldn’t want it to. She reminded him of spring on his grandma’s farm. Of the sweet cherry blossom petals that filled the air with their presence and fragrance. Woong reminded him of all the priceless things in life. All the treasures he found with his camera in the most unexpected places.
Why was his heart hurting? He knew. Tonight was all they would have. This beautiful dream would come to an end soon. Midnight would strike the clock, and her ornate carriage would turn into a pumpkin once more. But the beautiful girl would still be lovely. Would she leave her shoe behind so he could find her again?
Suddenly, she grinned at him. “You still owe me that picture.”
“What’s your phone number?” What was he doing?
“Hand me your phone, and I’ll put it in there.” She held her hand out. He opened it and pressed it into her palm.
He wanted her phone number! He could have just given her the link, but he’d asked for her number!!!!! Did this mean he was serious about her?
He watched amused as she typed “Woong” in the name space and then entered her phone number. He didn’t recognize the area code.
“Where are you from?”
She glanced up at him and smiled, “Argentina.”
Argentina? Nooooo! That was on an entirely different continent! Not just different from Paris, but different from Korea too! So, so, so far away. The flight time there was twice a trip to Los Angeles.
She saw the distress in his face.
“What’s wrong? You don’t like Argentina?” Her stomach hurt suddenly.
He shook his head. “It’s so far away.”
She heard the despair in his voice. “Yes, it is, but I’m rarely there anyway. I travel all over the world, you know, for my job. You’re only a flight away if you ever really want to see me again.”
He stared at her. It wasn’t feasible. It wasn’t practical. He’d been feeding her false hope without meaning to. He needed to end this encounter quickly. The clock was striking midnight sooner than he’d expected. How on earth could he let her down easily?
She handed him his phone back. Just then it buzzed. It was Jungkook. Tae closed his eyes as he sighed. Thank you, Kookie. You just rescued me in the nicest way possible.
“Hey, Jungkookie. What’s up?” He was speaking in Korean, and she couldn’t follow a word.
“Jimin is still missing. It’s ten o’clock, and no one has heard from him except for a message he left at the front desk hours ago. We’ve tried calling him several times. He’s not answering his phone.”
“You mean, he’s not at the hotel?”
“No. Where are you? I tried calling you several times, but it went straight to voicemail.”
Tae looked down at his phone. “I don’t know. I’ve had my phone on me the whole time. I just felt it vibrate. “Oh. I was holding it. Before it was in my pocket. It’s on silent, I guess.” Truthfully, he’d turned it off. He hadn’t wanted to be interrupted tonight.
“Can you come back now? We’ve been watching fan Twitter feeds, and there have been several Jimin sightings. We’re going to go check them out and see if we can find him.”
“Yes. I’ll be at the hotel in a few minutes. Unless you want me to meet you elsewhere.”
“No. We’ll wait for you at the hotel. See you soon.”
Tae closed his phone and looked at Woong. “I’m sorry, but my friend is still missing. We’re going to go look for him. I need to head back to the hotel.
“Look, I know you need to get your photographs from up here, so I’ll just catch a cab. But thank you for a wonderful evening. It was so nice to meet you.”
Her heart was sinking to her toes again. He was leaving? And so abruptly? Then she did something she’d later regret.
“Do you need help? I could come with you.” Did she sound as desperate as she felt?
“No. No.” He was shaking his head. “I know you have work to do, and we waited in line a long time to come up here. I’m sorry, but I really need to go.” He smiled at her in a pained way before spinning around. She snapped a quick picture of his back as he walked away. Then, he was just gone.
Woong felt tears sliding down her cheeks as she turned to photograph the Paris skyline. She was in the City of Lights. So why did she feel like everything had just gone dark?
