She saw him coming, and her heart flew straight out of her mouth. Was she some kind of idiot? She didn’t have to touch him to tell how incredibly strong he was. The shirt he was wearing left little to the imagination. It was a muscle shirt, and his clearly defined biceps had been staring at her all night. She imagined that shirt hid a washboard stomach as well. If he decided he wanted something she was unwilling to give, she’d be in trouble for sure. Instantly, she rolled away from him and sprang to her feet.
“Uh…I need to find a bathroom. I’ll be back in a while.” A very long while. Long enough that he would fall asleep by himself. She could sleep in her car. She turned back towards him. “Make yourself comfortable. There’s a blanket there if you get cold.”
He was all alone. She’d left him. Jimin despised being alone. He was cold too. He grabbed both of the blankets and pulled them over himself. He had scared her. He wasn’t sure why. Or how. But she’d intuited his intent, and she had fled from him. Had she believed he would force her to do something she didn’t want to do? He shook himself. He was an idiot. He’d met her three hours ago, and he’d already tried to kiss her. While lying next to her on a blanket in the middle of nowhere. Of course, she’d thought he was thinking of other things too. What on earth had he been thinking?
It wasn’t like him. He hadn’t been himself. It’s just that she’d gotten his goat by saying he wasn’t attractive. Honestly, that had hurt. She’d touched a nerve that had been raw from a long time ago. A nerve he had thought had healed as Jin had coaxed him into eating food again. It was an image of himself he hadn’t expected to see again since he’d begun building his body into something that he found more beautiful. But apparently, even that hadn’t been enough to draw this lovely girl to him. He was still found lacking.
He thought of all the girls around the world who said they’d give anything to be with him. Why was it that all those lovely ARMYs couldn’t solace him in this lonely moment? He had craved the attention of just one girl, but she had refused him. And somehow knowing he was loved by thousands of others didn’t help him one iota as he lay all alone on a blanket under an autumn sky.
He felt like crying. Her response had been preying on all his insecurities. He closed his eyes as he tried to forget all the years when he’d been teased for being girly. All the boys that had made fun of him for pursuing ballet and wearing makeup. But he wasn’t a girl. He just loved to dance, and he wanted to be beautiful. And he didn’t feel the least like a girl tonight. As he had lain next to her, the emotions coursing through his veins would have been foreign to the female persuasion. Perhaps Eileen had been wise to flee from him.
He stared up at the dark canopy overhead pierced by tiny pinpoints of light. “I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.”
He wasn’t too fluent in English, so he was uncertain why those words came back to him. But they begged a question. If he could have anything he wished for tonight, what would he ask for?
—
The two newly dubbed Woongs had sat enjoying the crisp autumn air for a long time as they shared an entire loaf of French bread. Tae was feeling much better. He’d been so hungry. Now he leaned back, but not too far; he didn’t want to fall into the fountain.
Miss Woong was polishing off the last of her baguette when a group of rowdy teenagers passed by them. They were jostling each other and goofing around. As they came up close by Tae, one boy shoved the other. As he went flying forward, his body contacted Tae squarely in his chest. Tae was propelled backward into the fountain. A moment later, he stood up, dripping wet from his hair to his toes. His new sweatshirt was shedding water at a great rate of speed. He stood glaring at the boys who suddenly ran off in four different directions. Miss Woong was staring at him, her eyes wide.
“I’ll be right back!” she yelled at him before pivoting and running off too.
Tae stepped from the fountain looking down at his shoes. Even they were soaked. Every time he walked, they squished. He sat down and peeled off the sweatshirt before proceeding to wring it out as best as possible. He took off his shoes and poured the water out. Then he put them back on. They weren’t really any better. He sat there in the now cool night air and noticed that he was becoming cold. He was clothed in a wet T-shirt that many passing girls had noticed wasn’t leaving too much to their imaginations. They smiled at him in appreciation. He kept his head down. He didn’t want any more rabid fans chasing him tonight. But he had nothing to worry about. Not one girl recognized him.
Miss Woong returned a few minutes later carrying a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt. It was a hoodie identical to the one he’d just bought, except this new one was white. Because she had already determined that he looked really good wearing white. It contrasted nicely with his raven hair and exotic, dark eyes. That hair was wet now and plastered to his forehead. As his dark eyes rose to meet her own, she had to admit that he was stunning. She was having difficulty breathing.
“Come on. Let’s find a restroom where you can change.”
He smiled at her, following her down the street. A few moments later, he emerged feeling better. He was now dry…well, except for his feet and his hair, which was still dripping down his forehead.
He looked so adorable. Be careful, girl. Don’t lose your heart to this living doll. It might already be too late. She shook her head. That was a ridiculous notion. She had just met him an hour or so ago, and they’d be saying goodbye forever in a little while. She was NOT going to fall for him. But she would let him be her tour guide if he still wanted to.
“Do you want to head back to your hotel?”
“What? No!” He had transferred the wet clothes into the plastic bag from the shop. Now he was swinging it back and forth. “We have a city to explore.”
But…he needed to call Jimin. He stopped walking and pulled his phone from the bag. Thankfully, it was ok. His case had protected it from the water. Good thing he had recently bought that cover. He dialed Jimin’s number. The phone rang and rang before going to voicemail. Jimin’s cheerful voice greeted him in Korean, requesting he leave a message.
“Hey, Jiminie, are you ok? Call me back!” Then he closed his phone and put it into the pocket of his new shorts.
He glanced over at Miss Woong. “Where to first?”
“Who’s Jimin?”
“He’s my best friend. We got separated by the crowd.”
“Is he ok?”
Tae shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Do you want to go check on him?”
Tae just stared at her.
“Do you remember where you got separated? We could see if we can find him.”
“That was over an hour ago. I’m sure he’s long gone. He’s probably back at the hotel. I’ll call him there.”
Tae called the hotel. Someone at the front desk told him that Jimin had called to say he was fine. Just as Tae suspected. Jimin was probably in the shower or had gone to dinner with someone else.
“He’s fine. Let’s go. Where to?”
“The Eiffel Tower.”
They headed for her motorcycle. This time Tae enjoyed lacing his arms around his driver. He leaned against her back which didn’t seem quite as strong this time. He also noticed how small her waist was. Her long hair was tickling his cheek. He smiled as he enjoyed the feel of both her and the cool night air. It was drying his hair nicely as they sped down the street. And the heat rolling off her body was warming his.
A few minutes later, after parking the motorcycle they walked towards the tower.
“Have you ever visited the Eiffel Tower before?” she asked him.
He nodded. “Almost exactly a year ago. It still steals by breath every time I see it lit up in the darkness. I love it. I also love the art museums.”
“Yeah. Unfortunately, the Louvre closed at six o’clock. Really, I have time only to see the sights outside. I’ve got to take lots of pictures. I need to snap a few now.”
“I’ll go get in line while you take photos.” Tae responded.
He stepped in line behind two girls then turned to face Miss Woong. She was really beautiful, all those masses of chestnut hair and those unusual, fiery eyes. But the most attractive thing about her was something undefinable. It rested in her open countenance and flowed through her personality. He had this sense that she was always forthright and courageous, two qualities he really admired. Obviously, she was kind. She’d rescued him from trouble, bought him clothes, and given him a cute name. He grinned as he thought of Woong.
He watched her tilting her head to the side as she paused to capture the Eiffel Tower in all its stunning beauty with her lens. He wondered who she was and where she came from. All he knew was what her job was and where she was headed next.
Just then Tae was distracted from her beauty by two pretty girls standing in front of him. One turned towards him.
“Excusez-moi, monsieur. Are you Tae?” Thankfully, she was whispering very quietly. She had leaned towards his ear before opening her mouth.
He turned to look at her. Here we go. He sighed. He nodded.
She smiled. “We didn’t know you were going to be here, so I’m assuming this is a secret? We saw someone plastered your presence all over Twitter about two hours ago. But we won’t tell anyone you’re here. Pull your hood down over your face more. And…” She stopped to dig around in her purse. She unearthed a pair of sunglasses. “Here. Wear these. You can have them.” She placed them in his hand.
“Thank you.” Now this was a faithful ARMY! He smiled at her. “I’ll take a picture with you if you’ll promise not to post it until Monday night. Can you promise me?”
The girl was privately wondering how she could deny Tae anything that he asked of her. “I swear! I won’t. Not till late Monday night.”
Tae pulled his hood down and asked for her phone. As the three of them posed for the selfie, he clicked the button several times. “Check them out. If you don’t like them, we’ll take some more.”
Tae pulled his hood back up and put the sunglasses on as she studied her phone.
“No! These are great! Thank you so much. You know,” she whispered, leaning towards him as though she were revealing a great secret, “you are my bias. I’m so excited to meet you. Thank you for being such an incredible person. You’ve given a lot of us hope.”
Tae smiled at her, unsure what to say. It was still strange to have such an immense impact on people who didn’t even really know him.
Miss Woong was approaching him now. She had noticed him taking selfies with a couple of girls. So…Either he had friends in Paris…or he was famous. As she approached them, she heard the girl call him “Tae.” His name was Tae?
She stopped walking and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She googled “Tae Paris” and was shocked when his picture popped up with a million Twitter accounts. She then googled “Tae” and found an entire Wikipedia page devoted to the boy she’d rescued from both a mob and a fountain tonight. He was a K-pop idol?!
What? He was part of the biggest band in the entire world. Her Woong. She sighed. And shook her head. Good thing she’d already decided she was not falling in love with him. He had enough girls in love with him already! Her name would not be added to that list! After all, who was she to date a superstar? With her average looks, she was sure to be found quite lacking!
