Chapter One

Two weeks earlier…

Sehun found himself standing with a camera in his hands facing Notre Dame while people around him kept walking by. His hands were a bit shaky when he held up the camera for his right eye to look through the lens. He snapped a picture but felt a bit disappointed when he saw that the outcome was blurry so he snapped another picture. The result was better. He was staying in Paris for two months, alone, and he had yet much to visit. He had promised his family that he would take lots of photos so that he could show his family when he came back to Seoul.

For the moment he lived in a rented apartment in Pont de Neuilly, not far from the actual city. The apartment was perfect for someone living alone as he usually never brought home any people. In Seoul he worked at his father’s company and he was never a person that usually had to worry about money. He was spoiled but then again he was really shy. He had always been shy – it was his nature.

A couple past him and he decided that he had been staying outside in the cold long enough so he walked over to the big church and had to show the inside of his bag to a security guard before he was allowed to walk inside. As he walked around looking up at the big colorful windows he remembered their summerhouse in Busan they usually spent their summer holidays at when he was younger. He used to love looking up into the ceiling in his bedroom where he had a big window facing the sky and he would count the stars from his bed before he fell asleep. Seeing the colored windows in Notre Dame gave off the same feeling and he snapped a couple of pictures of it as well.

He took a walk over the bridge to the Latin quartier and as he passed a woman he was handed a piece of paper that he crumbled and placed into his right pocket. He didn’t bother look at it right now as he was going to throw it out later anyway. Sehun put down his camera inside his back as he rounded a corner and found himself in the middle of food-stands and restaurants. Outside each restaurant was men standing, screaming out “Bonjour” to every person passing them or they pointed at the menu next to them to show the tourists what kind of food they offered. Sehun wasn’t really sure what he was doing here since he already had eaten lunch so he took a turn to his right and walked past a book shop. There he saw the big road and a bus stop. As he looked to his right he saw a bus standing next to the bus stop and in a blink of an eye he jumped onto the bus and sat down at an empty seat. Sometimes you just had to take a chance. Sehun wasn’t sure where the bus would take him or what number he was on but he enjoyed the feeling of not knowing where he was going.

He passed several areas in Paris such as Musée du Louvre and Marais. He found himself leaving the Inner Paris behind him and when he finally found himself in a completely new place he jumped off.

“Belleville.” He read on the bus stop and looked around. He was in the middle of a long hill and surrounded by long walls filled with street art. It was beautiful and he reached for his camera when Sehun felt his body crashing onto the pavement with his body first. Luckily he didn’t take out his camera but he could feel the pain from his higher body racing inside of him. Who pushed him and why? He looked over to his left side and saw a man in a suit looking down on him. He said something in French and Sehun shook his head painfully. He might know some phrases in French but he wasn’t fluent.

“I’m Korean.” Sehun mumbled in French and tried to sit up on the pavement. The man looked at Sehun before saying “Sorry” in French and left him sitting there. Sehun didn’t have any words for how rude the man that bumped into him just acted.

“Yah!” he screamed and pushed his hands onto the ground before standing up and wobbling a little. His left arm was hurting like hell thanks to that man who was running down the hill. Even though Sehun had the urge to run after the man to make him apologize like a real person would, his body was telling him other