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Jimin was not looking forward to saying goodbye to Eileen.  They were coasting through the French countryside, and they were drawing ever nearer to Paris.  Soon they would overtake it.  He sighed as he watched the scenery flying by.  His eyes moved from the fields outside his window to her face.

“You know,” he spoke up after several minutes of silence.  “I don’t have to hurry back to the hotel.  This morning’s meeting was the only thing on our schedule today.  We were going to go sightseeing for the rest of the afternoon before meeting up for dinner to celebrate my birthday.”

“But won’t your friends be worried about you?”

“Well, I did call Yoongi and leave a message on his room’s voicemail.”

“So…What did you want to do?”

“I want to visit the Champs-Élysées, the Arc de Triomphe, and the art district.”

Her eyes lit up when he mentioned the art district.

“Ok.”  She glanced over at him.  “Do you need a disguise?”

Jimin looked down at his wrinkled clothes.  “Maybe just a pair of sunglasses and a hat?”

She looked over at his jeans and white muscle shirt.  “Aren’t you cold at all?  You could pick up a long sleeve shirt too.”

He nodded.  It had gotten quite cool last night in the open air.  He smiled as he remembered her shivering had been his excuse to hold her in his arms under the harvest moon.  He wished he could enter a time machine and return to that moment to relive it.  

His eyes devoured her face as she concentrated on the empty road before them.  He was attempting to memorize every intriguing line of that beautiful face.  He studied the oval outline of her countenance, noting her pale skin, rosy cheeks, and those enchanting, emerald eyes.  He was fascinated by her auburn hair.  Even her eyebrows matched that stunning shade of dark red.  They arched gracefully over wide eyes.  Her eyes amazed him.  Even when she smiled, they were still so large in her face; they didn’t disappear like his did.  Her pale pink lips and her cute button nose completed the beautiful picture that was her face.  And the rich, wavy tresses of hair falling over her shoulders complemented her complexion perfectly.  

He sighed.  Then he realized he wanted to keep a picture of her.  But he had no phone!  It was so aggravating!

“I want a picture of you.”

She glanced over at Jimin.  “Uh…ok.  But how?  You don’t have a phone.”

“You can give me your phone number.  When I get a new phone, I’ll call you.”

Her heart shot through the roof of her car and went careening out past the clear, blue sky to fly into outer space.  Jimin had just asked for her picture and her phone number!  Was he that serious about her?  She glanced sideways again to find him studying her face.  She smiled at him then shifted her focus back to the road in front of her.

“So…is your dream to become a world-famous artist?” Jimin’s eyes disappeared as he grinned at her.

“I…I guess.  Mostly, I just want to touch someone with my art.  And I want to make a good living, so I’m not dependent on anyone else.”  She had found it very hard to be dependent on her da.

Jimin understood the implication.  “You’ve already touched someone with your art.  Me.”

She glanced his way to discover the sweetest expression on his beautiful face.  “Thank you, Jimin.  That means a lot to me.”

It did.  It really moved her heart.  He was so sweet.  And she had loved painting that portrait of him and the brilliant sunrise that had greeted his birthday.

“How old are you today?”

“In Korean years I’m 25, but you would probably say I’m 24.”

She nodded.

“Shall we head to the Champs-Élysées first?  We can find a shop there to buy your clothes.”

“Ok.”

—

Tae had returned by ten-thirty the previous night.  The boys had spent a couple of hours searching for Jimin.  They had retraced his steps with Tae before they were separated.  Then they had taken Jimin’s probable route after they’d parted ways.  Nothing.  They had come up completely empty.  They were all very worried about Jimin.

“Maybe he found a cute girl, and they are just hanging out,” Yoongi offered in an attempt to comfort everyone.

“What exactly did his message at the front desk say?” Jin asked.

“That he was ok, and he was hiding out in some girl’s apartment.  He said that as soon as it was safe, he would head back to the hotel,” Tae replied.  

“Well, maybe it wasn’t safe.  What if that crowd followed them and camped outside of her apartment?  Maybe they’re still holed up there.” Jungkook postulated.

“But why didn’t he call us again if he’s ok?” Jin interposed.

“I think Jungkook and Yoongi are right.  I think he’s fine.”  Hobi optimistically opined in keeping with his stage name, j-hope.

“I think we should head back to the hotel and sleep.  Jimin is a big boy.  He can take care of himself, and we have our meeting in just a few hours.  It’s already nearly one in the morning.” Namjoon was getting really tired.

“Let’s hurry!  I want to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at one!” Tae suddenly exclaimed.

They had made it back to the hotel in time for the six of them to observe the tower in all its shining glory in the semi-darkness of the early Parisian morning.  But as they stood looking out at it, they all felt the absence of their seventh and last member.

—

Jungkook had remained on the balcony as the others headed to bed.  He was gazing up at the full moon as it hung over Paris, casting it all in an otherworldly light.  He was thinking of Jimin and wondering if he too was staring at the same stunning, glowing globe right now.  

Then his thoughts shifted to Hyejin.  He wished she were here sharing that sweet, dream glow with him.  He would hold her hand and watch as the moonlight caressed her face with beauty.  How was she?  Was she still sleeping now?  As he glanced at the time displayed on his phone, he realized that she was probably being dragged around the park by her positively portly puppy.  It was after eight o’clock in the morning back home.

He unlocked his cell phone and hit her code name on his favorites list.  The phone rang five times before she answered, sounding out of breath.  “Twenty-two, you naughty puppy!  Get back here!”  Then suddenly her voice sounded nearer as she purred in Jungkook’s ear.  “Kookie!  How ARE you?  I miss you SO MUCH!  Please tell me you called me to tell me you came home early!”

He smiled as he pictured her beautiful face, her wide, dark eyes glowing in her pale skin, her long, raven tresses kissing her cheeks.  He wished he were those midnight locks right now, wrapped around her lovely head and brushing the soft skin of her face.  He sighed.  He’d only known her for a few weeks, but he was already head over heels in love with her.  She was everything he’d ever dreamed of in a girl.  Brilliant.  Sweet.  Funny.  Beautiful.

His soft voice floated to her, “I called you to tell you that you look beautiful in the Paris moonlight.”

Hyejin’s heart melted.  This boy was so romantic.  She sighed with pleasure and disappointment.  “Ohhhh!  I wish I were gazing up at that moon with you!”  Then she paused before exclaiming, “Wait!  I am!  Mine just appears to be glowing less.  The sun is outshining it here!  But I can see the full moon still fairly high in the sky!  It hasn’t even approached the horizon yet!  You called me at the perfect time.  Kookie, we’re looking at the moon together!  I’m staring up at an ethereal, wispy, white ball surrounded by a baby blue sky.   What do you see?”

Jungkook gazed up at the shining globe in the midnight sky, his heart yearning for this sweet girl who had appeared out of nowhere to grace his life right before his twenty-second birthday.  As he stared up at the moon, he saw Hyejin’s face superimposed over it.  He smiled at the fanciful image.  More and more she interrupted his thoughts these days, slipping in quietly to bless certain moments with memories of a sweet love.  She was his best kept secret.

“I see the round moon radiating a gentle light that enhances your beauty.  It’s illuminating a raven sky as Paris glows with its own lights.  This harvest moon promises moonlit walks on a sandy beach and soft kisses under its benevolent gaze.  Will you kiss me goodnight, Hyejin?”

She blushed as she stood in the well-lit park nearly nine thousand kilometers away.  They had not kissed.  She wasn’t sure why, but it hadn’t happened yet.  But she wanted it to.  Every single moment she spent with him and all the seconds in between.  She decided to be provocative.

“Well, why don’t you come home and find out?”

Jungkook laughed, his face splitting into his beautiful grin, his white teeth glowing back at the moon shining down on him.  “I might just have to hop on a plane right now.  If I do, will you make it worth my while?”

She grinned as her fabulous sense of humor came to her rescue.  “What if I kiss like Twenty-two?”

Jungkook barked with laughter as he remembered the many times her silly dog had slobbered into his mouth.  He cringed as he thought of it. “You could never be that bad of a kisser.  You lack the essential requirements: an excessively long tongue and sharp, canine teeth.”

She laughed.  Then a wide smile graced her lips as she thought of Kookie.  Beautiful Boy.  She wanted to slide her fingers through his ridiculously long hair.  Along with all his fans, she’d been watching his transformation this year from darling boy to sexy idol.  She’d come late to the party, having just discovered him in late August.  But she’d since watched countless videos of him and his friends.  She’d seen him as a middle schooler and then at this year’s Muster.  Those clips always made her sigh with longing.  It disturbed her that the rest of the world was sighing with her.  She cringed a little.  She wished the world could see only the beautiful boy.  She wanted the gorgeous guy all to herself.

“Kookie, don’t you need to sleep?”

“I don’t want to.  I want to see you.”

“I see you, Kookie.”

Her words wrapped around his heart in a gentle embrace.  He knew she was thinking of Decalcomania, the song he’d released on his birthday.  Particularly the lyrics, “Do you even see me?”

“I see you too, Hyejin.”  

He wanted to tell her that he loved her again, but it didn’t seem to be getting easier.  The first time, fear had forced the words between his lips.  The dread of losing her had given him a momentary courage to be completely honest with her.  Then, the second time he’d confessed his heart in a song he’d composed for her.   The third time had been over the phone.  He’d felt so sheepish still that he had only whispered his true feelings to her.   

Part of him was afraid her feelings would change over time.  That as his career pulled them further away from each other for longer periods of time, she would become bored with him.  Perhaps she’d find someone else.  Someone better than him.  Someone more present than he was.  Maybe he just wasn’t brave enough yet.  All the bungee jumping and skydiving in the world couldn’t compare to the way his heart pounded when he considered saying those three little words.  So he said the next best thing.  “I like what I see.”

“Kookie?”

“Hmm?”

“I need to get ready to head out with a friend.”

“Oh.”  A friend?  What friend?  But once again, he wasn’t brave enough to ask.  Was her friend another guy?

“Kookie?”

“Hmm?”

She paused for a moment.  Was something bothering him?  He was suddenly so quiet.  She was still trying to figure him out.  Sometimes he would say quite a lot to her.  Other times, he simply stopped speaking.  

She swallowed, once again finding the courage to put her heart on the line.  “Kookie, I love you,” she whispered.

Her words wrapped around him, comforting him like a warm blanket on a cold night.  

See, JK, you’ve got nothing to worry about.  This girl loves you.

But JK answered back.  It’s not me she loves.  She loves the real you, Jeongguk.

If only he could be sure of that.

—

Namjoon impatiently waited as the phone rang and rang.  Then he realized Breeze must be sleeping in since it was Sunday.  He locked his phone, a little disappointed that he couldn’t hear her voice.  But he was extremely tired, so he set his phone on the nightstand and fell headlong into bed, rather like he had fallen for her over a month ago.  As he drifted off to sleep, three of her opening words in one particular letter echoed back to him: “I see you.”  

He smiled as he drifted off to sleep, deepening two dimples that Breeze, had she been awake, would have been disappointed to miss seeing make an appearance on his sweet countenance.