I wake up to see Eunwoo’s bed empty. Where is he? Maybe he’s just changing…?  I get up and check to see if the bathroom door is closed, it’s wide open with the lights off and a vacant room.

            I walk around the room to see Eunwoo nowhere. I sigh in frustration as I run a hand through my hair as I glance at the large window across the room. What’s Eunwoo doing on the balcony?

            I stare at the back of his head for a moment. I wish I knew if he felt the same way about me… I continue to admire the beautiful man in front of me as I watch him lean himself on the balcony railing and drop his head low.

            I quietly open the door leading to the balcony; Eunwoo doesn’t notice my presence next to him right away. “Hey,” I get his attention.

            “Hey,” Eunwoo startles. He wipes at his eyes and sniffles quietly. “Can I ask you another quick question?” He nods. “It’s been in the back of my mind for a couple days but I have to ask; were the tickets you bought just one way?”

            He nods again and sniffles. “Yes,” he hangs his head low again.

            “Why would you buy one way tickets? How are we supposed to get back?” I snap a little.

            “I don’t like constraint, okay? My life was feeling too constrictive and I needed to get away from it!” Eunwoo snaps back, “This is why I bought one way plane tickets; to get away from my problems and baggage.”

            “Wait, have you been crying?” I ask him. I observe his face in more detail. His eyes look swollen and red with tears stained on his cheeks.

            “No,” he denies as he continues wiping his eyes with his sweater sleeve.

            “You have been crying out here; why?” I need to know why he’s so upset because it breaks my heart.

            He sighs. “Like I said, I needed to leave behind the constrictive life I was living back home.”

            “Are you going to tell me everything now?” He nods.

            “I’m going to start back when we were in high school, it’s a big bomb to drop but I want to tell you now.” I nod as I place my hand on his that rests on the balcony railing. “Ever since I was born I’ve been in an arranged marriage. I don’t want to be in this arrangement at all. My parents told me about it right before we started high school so I had a lot of anger building up inside me during those years. I’m sorry I took my anger out on you… I’m so sorry for the way I treated you and I can’t say I’m sorry enough. Anyway, my parents have started to try and get me to help actually plan the wedding and reception and all that but I don’t want to deal with it; they’re going to make me go and get married to someone I barely know and have met a handful of times nevertheless. Recently, helping Rocky and Eryn has just reminded me of my own ‘wedding’ in about a year or two, plus my parents starting to bug me about my own plans has really made me stressed over the whole situation.” I see a tear fall from Eunwoo’s eye onto my hand. “I don’t think I can deal with this right now so I thought running away and travelling to Paris would help… I’m good with dealing with stress and all that so my first idea was to run. I’m sorry I dragged you along with me but I didn’t want to be alone and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner.”

            I don’t know how to react to all of this information. Now I know why he would tease me and mock me throughout high school though; he was dealing with his own issues, an arranged marriage, and had a lot of anger building up. I forgave him a long time ago, the first time he apologized.

            I can’t even imagine what he’s going through. I don’t know how I can help him at this point; I’m too shocked to think straight at his struggling. “Eunwoo?” I get his attention.

            “Yeah?” He wipes his eyes with his sweater sleeve and looks at me now.

            “I’m sorry you’re going through all of this. And I’m sorry I don’t really have much else to say other than ‘I’m sorry’.”

            “It’s not your fault,” he turns his body to face me now. “But you needed to know why we came here.”

            “Thank you for telling me,” I smile. He smiles back ever-so-slightly. “Let’s just have fun while we’re here,” I tell him. He nods in agreement. “We can stay as long as you need to,” I tell him sincerely.

            “If it’s okay, I’m going to go for a little walk alone,” he speaks again after a brief silence. “To clear my head.”

            “Do you want me to go with you?” I ask.

            “No, that’s okay,” he smiles. “If you don’t mind, would you stay here so that if I call while I’m lost you can help me find my way back because there’s wifi here?” he laughs.

            “Of course,” I respond, a smile never leaving my face. “Just call if you get lost or when you’re on your way back.”

-

            Eunwoo left a few hours ago and I haven’t heard from him in a while. I turn on my phone’s screen to check if Eunwoo has called or texted and I missed it being in my state of boredom but nothing from him yet. I see a missed call notification from Eryn but I decide to ignore it for now. Sorry Eryn but I’ll call you back later.

            As if thinking about it somehow did something, my phone lights up with Eunwoo’s name flashing on the screen. “Hey, did you get lost?” I ask him, giggling.

            “No, but I’m on my way back,” he tells me. “Get ready though!” He sounds enthusiastic.

            “Why?”

            “We’re going on a date!” My feel my stomach drop. My heart rate quickens and my cheeks heat up. They’re probably bright pink right now… I can tell he’s smirking right now.

            “W-what?” I stutter.

            “Just get ready; I’ll be back soon.” The phone line goes dead before I can say anything else. Well this could get interesting… Never thought I’d hear those words come out of Eunwoo’s mouth.

            I quickly start doing my makeup like I usually do. It’s nothing to fancy or plain but it’s makeup nonetheless, I can’t help but laugh to myself.

            I’m curling my hair as I hear the door to our hotel room open. “Eunwoo?” I call just to make sure it’s him.

            “Madi? Where are you?” he yells back.

            “Bathroom; I’m just finishing curling my hair,” I tell him. I see Eunwoo appear in the doorway of the bathroom as I finish curling the last piece of hair left. I glance at him and see him holding a shopping bag. “Did some shopping while you were out?” He nods.

            “But not for me,” he adds. “You look beautiful by the way.” Okay, now my cheeks are definitely bright pink! “Put this on,” he instructs as he holds the shopping bag out towards me. What? Before I can object, he closes the bathroom door. “I’m going to change as well so just yell when you’re done,” I hear Eunwoo’s laugh through the closed door and I can’t stop the smile from appearing on my face.

            I look inside the bag at what he could’ve possibly got for me. I take it out of the bag to reveal a beautiful navy blue dress. I clasp my hand over my mouth in shock. This dress is absolutely beautiful. It’s a little more formal than a sundress that I would typically wear to dinner but it’s not an extravagant ball gown either.

            I quickly change out of my sweatpants into the beautiful dress. I still can’t believe that Eunwoo would do this; this is beyond sweet of him. I call for Eunwoo before exiting the bathroom. I walk out into the room to see Eunwoo standing there in a suit. Whoa! “You look very handsome,” I tell him honestly.

            “And you look absolutely stunning,” he smiles.

            “So, where are we going?” I ask him.

            “We’re going for dinner and then I’m going to take you to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up with the lights,” he never stops smiling at me. I cover my mouth with both my hands in shock I can’t believe what is happening right now. “Shall we?” he extends his arm for me to take and he leads me out of the room and out of the hotel.

-

            “Dinner was amazing!” I exclaim as we exit the restaurant.

            “You enjoyed it?” he asks, almost sounding unsure.

            “Yes, I really did,” I smile.

            “Well the night is about to get better,” he winks. My heart flutters every time he does that. “Are you okay to walk there though?” his voice now sounding concerned.

            “It’s not that far of a walk, I’ll be fine,” I reassure him.

            It doesn’t take us that long to find our way to the Eiffel Tower. Considering that I’m wearing high heels, my feet don’t hurt very much when we approach the beautiful monument.

            I look up at the tower in amazement, “It’s so beautiful. I can’t believe I’m here.”

            “Madisen,” I turn to look at Eunwoo with the use of my full first name. “I have something I’d really like to tell you and I’d really like it if you would just listen until I finish saying this because now that I’ve started talking, I really don’t want to chicken out,” he chuckles quietly.

            “Okay,” I nod.

            “These past few days with you in Paris have been amazing and I’m so happy you re-entered my life and were able to forgive my stupidity in high school.” Eunwoo reaches into the inside of his jacket and pulls out a single rose and hands it to me. “I can’t describe in words how much you mean to me so what I would really like to say is… I love you.”