“Hey!” Hobi asked Jin, “Where is Tae?”
“I don’t know. He thought he saw Jimin and took off after him.”
“Huh.”
Hobi looked around. Eileen had wandered off before she could order any tea. She had said she wanted to walk back outside for a moment. Now she’d been gone for over ten minutes. What on earth could she be doing? He shrugged his shoulders. If she wasn’t back in five minutes, he’d go look for her.
—
Jimin stood next to Eileen watching Tae.
Eileen leaned towards him. “Is that Tae?” She inclined her head towards Tae.
Jimin nodded.
“He’s your best friend?”
“Yes.”
She wished they were still in the country. She wanted to slide her hand into Jimin’s. She wanted to be closer to him again. She had a sudden flashback to this morning when she’d awoken to find his heart beating into her ear. Why was she still craving such intimacy with him?
She tamped down on her impulses and contented herself with standing right next to him. Their shoulders were almost brushing each other. At least she had found him again.
Finally, Jimin decided to break the spell. “Tae?”
Tae dragged his eyes from Woong’s face.
Just then her phone rang. Woong glanced at it. “I’m sorry! I have to take this call. It’s my sister.” She stepped a few feet away from him. “Hola, Juju. Qué pasa?”
Tae turned towards Jimin. Then his eyes slid to the girl standing so close to Jimin that they were almost touching. His eyes met Jimin’s with a question. This was an interesting turn of events. This must be Eileen.
Jimin finally spoke, “Eireen, this is my best friend, Tae. Taehyungie, this is Eireen.”
Tae smiled openly at the pretty girl. He could see why his friend was smitten. She grinned at Tae, and he noticed her beautiful, emerald green eyes. They were the perfect complement to her auburn hair. She greeted him in an Irish accent.
“Goodday, Tae. It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m so glad you’re all right. Jimin was quite concerned about you last night.”
Tae glanced at Jimin. “It seems we were both rescued by a lovely lady.”
“Tae? Eireen and I are going to visit the art district before dinner. Do you want to go with us?” Jimin glanced at her. “You still want to go, right?”
She nodded. Anything to spend more time with Jimin.
Tae glanced towards Woong. “Uh…no, that’s ok. I should find the other guys.”
“They’re at Starbucks. Just through there.” Eileen pointed to a little gallery of shops a few feet away.
Tae nodded his understanding. “Thank you.” Then he turned towards Jimin. “Go! Have fun! Just don’t forget to meet us at six at the restaurant.”
Jimin spared another glance for the girl on the phone. Who was she? He really wanted to ask Tae, but right now didn’t seem like the right time. “See you in a couple hours.”
Jimin and Eileen melted into the crowd. Tae turned as Woong spoke into his ear, “Sorry. Hey, where’d your friends go?”
“To the art district.” He squinted at her. “Would you like to get something to drink with me?”
Her heart rose with his question before dipping back down as reality settled in. “I would love to, Tae, but I have to keep working. There are so many places I have yet to photograph that I must visit today. And I’m running out of time.” She gestured at the sun. “The light, you know?”
His heart sank. He did know. Light was essential to a photographer. He wanted to tag along with her, but he still needed to buy Jimin’s birthday present. He sighed. What did it matter? Even if he spent another hour or two with her, he’d still never see her again after today.
But…how to say goodbye?
“It’s ok.”
“What?” He furrowed his brow at her.
“You’re trying to figure out how to say goodbye to me.”
Tae hid his surprise behind a blank stare. Was she a mind reader?
“But I think we just have to say goodbye. So, I’ll do it. Goodbye, Tae.”
It took every single ounce of her self-control not to stand on her tiptoes and kiss his cheek. She could almost feel his smooth skin under her lips as she looked longingly up at him. She had said goodbye, but her feet would not obey her. She hadn’t budged an inch. Neither had Tae. They just stood on that sidewalk in the middle of Paris, surrounded by a sea of people rushing by them, and simply stared at one another. Both were trying to memorize the facial features of the other. To commit to memory the shade of the eyes, the cast of the nose, the angle of the cheek, the wrinkles of the lips, the whole, beautiful picture. To forever tuck away this priceless moment in their hearts. Convinced that this was the last time they’d share the same air.
Tae gazed down at his little beauty. Tears were filling her eyes and tugging at his heart. He couldn’t take it. He reached out to her with his long, slender fingers. Suddenly, she pivoted and stepped into the sea of humanity flowing past them. His eye followed her for as long as it could. Until she disappeared from view completely. Why was his heart now breaking?