Chapter 11

 

An Airbnb off Boulevard Saint-Martin

08:30 AM

 

Herin woke up facing an unfamiliar beige ceiling. Still in a daze, she looks around and found a head with jetblack hair sticking out of the blanket covering a figure curling in a fetal position.

 

Sighing contently, she welcomes the rays of sunlight coming through the full-sized window on her right. After stretching her muscles inside the blanket, she uncovers herself and gets out of the queen-sized bed, silently tip-toeing towards the washroom to freshen up a bit before settling herself in their kitchen area.

 

After finding what she’s looking for, Herin takes out 2 mugs and brews some coffee beans, pouring the warm, comforting liquid into the mugs before setting one of the mugs on a small table in front of the sofa and taking her own mug with her and head towards the mini balcony, which fits enough for two chairs and a small coffee table.

 

Soaking up the morning sun, Herin closed her eyes and breathes the fresh morning air. She can’t comprehend how she’s in Paris, the city of love. With him.

 

Mark groggily pulls his blanket off his face after smelling the familiar scent. He sits up and notices that the balcony’s glassdoor is open, with the mosquito net closed.

 

“I must still be dreaming”

 

He rubs his eyes to get sleep out of his face and get a better vision. However, she’s still there, closing her eyes, her long blonde hair resting on her back, not perfectly combed with a few strands effortlessly being blown away by the gentle gush of wind. Still dressed in his loungewear, he could see the corners of her lips pulled up, forming a relaxed smile.

 

Mark turns and looks at the source of the familiar scent which woke him up. Coffee.

As her whips the cover off his body to head to the washroom, Herin turns to look at his direction with her own coffee mug as she holds it with both of her hands.

 

“Good morning” she smiles at him, sunrays hitting her face so perfectly.

 

“Morning” he manages to utter a response before heading to the washroom.

 

Only when Mark sees his reflection on the bathroom mirror, he realizes he had been smiling the whole time. He tousles his jet-black hair and brush his teeth, still smiling.

 

“I could get used to this”

 

Feeling a bit more refreshed, Mark grabs his mug and joins Herin on their balcony.

 

“What should we do today?” Herin asks with a hint of excitement in her voice.

 

“Well, first. Let’s go shopping because a certain someone is crazy enough to travel without a baggage” He replies playfully before sipping his coffee.

 

“Good idea” Herin tries to sound offended but failed anyways.

 

“Such a good weather today, isn’t it” She added.

 

Mark nods, “I can’t remember the last time I woke up whenever I want, and go with my day without planning anything”

 

Instead of responding instantly, they both inhaled the fresh air and just sit there, side by side, with coffee steaming from their mugs.

 

“How do you feel?” she finally asks.

 

“Great. Actually no, I feel amazing” he replies, looking at her.

 

“Good” she nods.

 

 

10:30 AM

A café near the Musée du Louvre

 

The pair sat down in a Parisian sidewalk café, with some tartines and fresh juices in front of them.

 

“Should we go to Musée du Louvre? It’s pretty close from here” Herin asked as she enjoys her breakfast.

 

“Sure, I haven’t been. Is it cool?”

 

“Yeah, it’s magnificent. There are so many paintings and artworks that are exclusively curated there” Herin’s eyes sparkles as she talks.

 

Mark finds this especially adorable. Whenever she talks about something she’s passionate about, her eyes would sparkle, she would speak faster due to excitement, and he absolutely adores her for that.

 

He learns that Herin loves to learn theatre arts despite being a public health major. Although he can clearly sees that she cannot let go of her passion towards theatre arts and performing, he didn’t say anything. But Mark swears that he would support her in any way he could.

 

After finishing their hearty breakfast, the duo stops by Kiliwatch, a local shopping district in Paris.

 

 

Kiliwatch

11:30 AM

 

“Hmm..” Herin can’t seem to pick anything although they’ve been strolling in the store for the last 5 minutes. But then an idea struck her.

 

“Hey, Mark”

 

“Hmm?” He raises his eyebrow and looks up from the vintage jacket he’s holding.

 

“Let’s play a game”

“How about we choose an outfit for each other? The one who can’t own is the loser, and has to wear the outfit for the rest of the day”

 

“Alright, cool” he laughs. “But don’t back down after you lose”

 

“Oh don’t worry, I won’t lose” Herin challenges back.

 

 

A store in Kiliwatch

11:45 AM

 

Herin looks down at the long, maroon dress Mark picked out for her. The dress has small daisies all over it, with a V neckline followed by a couple small buttons towards the waist area, where it hugs her waist to accentuate her sillhoute and flows down again from that point to her ankle. Not gonna lie, the dress is cute and feminine.

 

But one problem is, she isn’t feminine. At least not in front of him.

 

She puts a casual cream-colored blazer that comes with it and proceeding to put a dark brown Chelsea boots to complete the look.

 

Herin raises her eyebrows and chuckles as she is reminded of how she dissed his fashion sense last night.

In all honesty, she never doubted his fashion sense. He always looks good, at least from the last few days she spent with him.

 

On the other fitting room, Mark looks down at the white jeans, a blue dress shirt with yellow flowers on it, a black leather jacket, and a pair of black suede Chelsea boots. On its own, it looks like an outfit he could confidently flaunt.

 

He looks at the last item on the hanger, a small red handkerchief to tie around his neck.

 

“She really wants to win, doesn’t she?”

“Well I’m not gonna give what she wants” he smirks and proceeds to put it around his neck.

 

“You ready?” Mark could hear her call from the other fitting room.

 

“Yeah” he confidently opens the his curtain and strikes the most confident pose, as if he’s a runway model.

 

“Hey that’s not fair!” He barks as she’s only showing her face from between the curtains as she watches him pose.

 

“I never said I’d go girst” she laughs in amusement at his pose.

 

“Give me a runway walk”

 

Mark laughs but obeyed her request anyway and even did a killing pose at the huge mirror in the middle of the hallway.

 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so done with you” Herin laughs loudly and wipes a tear from her eyes.

 

“Come on young lady, it’s your turn” he approaches her fitting room and challenges.

 

“Promise me you won’t laugh”

 

“I can’t promise you that, you laughed at me. You even cried” Mark stated.

 

Herin gives him a look, but slowly opening her curtains, revealing her outfit.

 

Mark’s smirk fades into a stunned look.

 

“I’d rather you laugh at me. Say something” Herin walks warily towards him.

 

Mark looks at her, finally opening his voice, “What makes you think I’d laugh at you?”

 

“You look beautiful”

Herin looks at him, surprised.

 

But she tries to play it off as she could feel her cheeks getting warmer.

 

“You’re only saying that because you chose the outfit!”

 

Mark lets out a snort and shakes his head, “No seriously, you look stunning, Herin”

 

Herin finally stops her runway in front of him and open her arms awkwardly to show the full outfit.

 

“But I win because I owned the look” he continues.

 

Herin fake barfed at him, but nods anyway, “You’re right, I give you that”

 

“Oh sir, Mark Lee. I am ashamed to fight your narcissism; thus I declare defeat against you” she said dramatically as she puts a dramatic gesture to match.

 

“Alright silly, we got more shopping to do” Mark playfully nudges her forehead and grabs her elbow, dragging her towards the cashier.

 

Herin takes out her card but he beats her to it. Mark takes out his YSL cardholder and takes out one of his cards, before handing it to the cashier.

 

“Mark—”

 

“I won, and I wish to buy you the outfit” He interrupts her lightly.

 

The cashier gives him back his card, “vous faitees un couple merveilleux” as she looks at Herin and holds her hand.

 

To which he replies, " Je vous remercie "

 

Herin smiles back, despite not understanding what she said.

 

"What did she say?" she asked, as they came out of the store.

 

"Not telling you" Mark teased and walks away.

 

"Hey, wait up!" Herin jogs to catch up with him as he carries both of their shopping bags and walks towards another store.

 

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