She tried to envision where they were behind the black blindfold, she put all her concentration to listening to the subtle noises around her.

How can it be so quiet here? The only sounds I hear is Oppa and my footsteps.  Where did he take me? Park Shin Hye concentrate, critical analysis is your best skill.  Wait I think I hear something the faint chirping of birds, the ruffling of leaves from the faint gust of wind lightly blowing my hair, light humming noise.  Are we at a park? Out of all places to go in Paris why would he bring me to a park?

He held her hand, with three red balloons still tied around her wrist, and tightly pushed open the black steel gates. 

Creek

‘Oppa, where are we? You’re not taking me to a cemetery right?’ Shin Hye’s hand tugged at his arm.

‘Hmm…maybe? Why are you scared?  We’re almost there you’ll know in a few seconds’ he playfully answered her.

After a few more steps, he stopped and let go of her hand.  Min Ho gracefully pivoted behind her with a smile on his face, anticipating her reaction once he removed the blindfold.  He gently placed a hand over the blindfold’s knot.

‘Shin Hye ah, are you ready? Count down from 3 to 1’ he beamed unable to withhold his excitement.

‘3…2…1…’ Shin Hye loudly counted from the top of her lungs to sprinkle in some cuteness into the quite atmosphere surrounding them.

Min Ho gently pulled on the bow that tied the blindfold securely over her eyes and caught it in his hand as it fell off her face to the ground.  Shin Hye was blinking non stop to make sure what was in front of her was real, after it started blinking and turning she let out a big smile like a little girl who was brought to an amusement park.  She abruptly turned around without warning causing him to take a step back so she wouldn’t crash into him.

‘How did you know?’ she squealed of a delight and look like she was ready to run and attack it.

‘I heard through the grapevine that you liked amusement parks.  I didn’t have enough time to rent out Disneyland in Paris for you.  But I think this private carousel facing the Eiffel Tower will do.  I know it’s not Disneyland, but I hope you like it’ he stuffed the blindfold into his jean pocket and touched the back his neck with his hand to hide his giddy emotions.

‘Oppa ! Gomawo!’ Shin Hye jumped forward and threw her arms around his neck into a warm embrace.

She released him and began to sprint towards the carousel.

‘Wait! Shin Hye ah, we have one more step left to do before you can play’ he giggled at her cuteness.

He caught up to her with a few strides, held her hand and with his free hand pointed to a red balloon fastened to the steel gate.  He led her over and untied the three red balloons on her wrist.

‘First, you take these balloons and fasten it to that one’ he handed the three balloons.

‘Second, we take a picture’ he pulled out his phone from back pocket and waived it in front of her face.

‘Then, we can go play’ he gave her his signature giggle.

Shin Hin pressed her lips together to suppress her laughter and nodded her head in agreement.  She took the three red balloons and tied them to the one red balloon fastened to the gate.  Next, she motioned for Min Ho to come closer for him to take their selfie.  Min Ho positioned his phone so that the picture could capture the four balloons swaying gracefully in the wind as their beautiful photo backdrop.  He lowered his body so that he was the same height as her, put his arm around her shoulder and swayed his head to the right so that their faces were touching.

‘1…2…3…paris’ he snapped the photo capturing them both with a smile as bright as a star plastered on their faces.

‘Oppa, I want one for my phone too!’ Shin Hye playfully whined.  

She took her phone from her backpack and handed it to him.  He crossed his arms to playfully refuse to take another photo.  She put her hand over his arm and slowly pulled it away letting him know that she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.  Once she was able to free his arm from his crossed position, she turned his hand around and placed her phone in his palm.

‘Oppa! Picture!’ she put her two hands in front of her face mimicking and camera and made a clicking noise with her tongue.

‘Aish! What would Park Shin Hye do without Lee Min Ho’ he shook his head and made a slight noise with his mouth.

They got into position, the same one as their last selfie.

‘1…2…3…pa…’ he clicked on the button as she tip toed  and left him a quick peck on his cheek.  His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were amazed from her surprise attack.

‘Yah! Park Shin Hye!’

Before he could say another word she grabbed her phone from his hand, shoved it into her back pocket and ran towards the carousel.

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing on the whimsical attraction.  Who would have thought two famous Hallyu Stars in their mid twenties would look like two teenagers happily chasing each other, laughing together as their dorkiness and snapping selfies with their phones whenever they had the chance.

‘Shin Hye ah, we have one more stop.  This is the last round’ the sun began to set and he realized they needed to get to their next stop to finish the scavenger hunt he intricately put together for her.

Shin Hye nodded her head while pouting, hoping to stay here forever.

‘We’ll come back next time, I promise’ he poked her nose.

‘Oppa! Don’t make promises you can’t keep’ she stuck her tongue out

‘I will always keep the promises I make to you.  Lets go!’

He glided his hands into hers and led her back to gate to retrieve the four red balloons.  He unfastened them from the gate and tied them back onto her wrist.  He rummaged through his jean pocket to find the blindfold and placed it over her eyes.

‘Oppa! Can we do without the blindfold?’ she whined.

‘Shin Hye ah, last time ok?’ he turned her around, lowered his face and made an ok sign.

Shin Hye rolled her eyes and made an ok sign in return.  Min Ho immediately tied the blindfold over her eyes in case she changed her mind within the next seconds.  He guided her back to the vespa and they rode off to their last stop.

***********

Ok Shin Hye, use your critical thinking skills.  Listen carefully…the sound of water moving beneath us, light gusts of wind blowing against my face again, the clinging of something hard, the creaking of wooden panels beneath my feet…are we at a pier? Ohh is Oppa trying to remind me of the pier shooting in Huntington Beach where Kim Tan first saw Eun Sang?

Min Ho gently untied the four red balloons from her wrist and tied it next to the lamppost overlooking the Seine River.  He swung her backpack off his back and searched through it to find the missing two items to complete the scavenger hunt.

Glass star jar…check

Lock and key…check

He carefully took both items out of her backpacking being extra careful not to make a sound to ruin the surprise.  As he placed both items onto the wooden floor, he caught a sparkle radiate from the star jar.  He raised the jar against the setting sun and gently shook it to find the diamond ring he placed into there a couple months ago still hidden amongst the paper folded stars.

Now this has made things much easier.  I can save the ring I have in my pocket for another time.  We can use this one for today.  Good job Min Ho, always one step ahead.  You should give yourself a pat on your back, fighting!

He shook the bottle a little bit more to move the paper folded stars aside and place the ring against the glass jar so she can easily discover it.

‘Oppa! Can you please remove the blindfold now?’

‘On the count of 3, I want you to remove the blindfold from your head.  Ok?’ he yelled since he was a few feet away from her.

‘Ok, here I go! 1…2…3’

Shin Hye reached for the bow securely fastened at the back