12 February 2020, Paris, France.

Taemin was walking across the street near his hotel.

He had planned for that evening, to just walk down the lane to escape from the bulk of thoughts of how the shoot went, what mistakes he did today, what was required, what was missing & what is he going to do for next promotions?

Camera in his right hand, and backpack hanging on either side of his shoulders, he stopped at the center of the four-lane street, admiring the sunlight coming in, breaking into slits through the high buildings that blocked it from above, making them shine brighter due to the golden-orange hue of the beautiful evening.

He had always loved watching the beautiful skies & he was seeing one right now to his heart's satisfaction, blissed in that moment.

He decided to click some photos of the skies in his camera to keep them as a memory.

He started with focusing the lenses to click the pictures, and took some shots from the angle & turned around slightly for few different angles, taking some shots of the street too, as he admired them through the lenses.

After taking some shots, he turned for another angle, watching the view through the lens searching for more picturesque sights, till his lens were now focused on an enchanting figure in front of him, which made him stop there & take a shot of her.

A girl, probably just an inch shorter than him, was standing in front of the counter in a kitchen section inside a café which was visible through the long glass window.

He was standing across the street in front of the cafe, in front of the window, right now.

She was whisking something like chocolate in the bowl on the counter when Taemin took his first shot of her, so subconsciously, he didn't realised he had pressed on that button so easily.

Her medium-length brownish hair were tied up in a high ponytail with a sky-blue scrunch releasing the light sleek bunch of waves on her neck, a light-yellow apron soiled with flour & chocolate stains all over, was hugging her body tight showing her curves from top to bottom, black headphones hanging on her head-top, as her shoulders were swaying gracefully in the beats of the song that was possibly playing on her headphones.

He moved forward in the direction of the café, to be closer & focused the lens again, standing in the middle of the street now, as the street barely had any vehicles moving, being a small lane.

This time he zoomed in on her face, to capture a better shot with the side-angle of her face being the center of focus.

A slender jawline was joining her neck behind blending smoothly but distinct upto her ear, where a single curly strand of hair was tucked behind her small ear making it look cute & adorable with a star earring tucked on the ear. It was indeed a beautiful view he wanted to remember & capture as a memory, so he took a quick second shot without thinking much.

He didn’t even realize for an instance that he was capturing someone without their permission, as his eyes were stuck on her as if an invisible pull was holding his eyes on her face. 

She is Beautiful!! 

His eyes trailed down from her face to her body, which was dancing along the beats of the music she was listening to.

First time Taemin knew he could hear the music without actually listening to it, a grin formed on his lips in response, as he was still observing her through the lens.

Her beauty was feast to his eyes right now, and he was surely enjoying the taste of it.

She dipped her hand in the dense chocolate-puddle in the bowl she was whisking for a while, to bring that chocolate covered finger to , putting it into to get the taste of it. She smiled as the sweetness of the chocolate probably was now spreading in , making her cheeks grow up as redness crept over them in bliss, when she the finger out, his smile grew as he lowered the camera feeling his heart getting light as feather & that lightness was spreading to his gut making him feel butterflies in his tummy now.

He surely didn't expected to have such weird thoughts about a stranger but he was definitely wishing to be something like that chocolate at the moment.

She was just too mesmerizing to look away.

Taemin gulped his breath that was stuck for a while in his throat, leaving out a heavy gasp. 

His heart was thumping faster & loud unlike the calm one before, when he was watching the skies.

His brain was visualizing all the beautiful colors around the girl he was watching work in that kitchen of the café, from where he could smell cinnamon rolls now, as he was quite near the café to take the scent coming out of the entrance.

Once he even thought of going inside to lead an interaction with her, but stopped thinking that it would be just foolish to drool like this on a first sight attraction, that too in a foreign land, which he was going to leave in next 2 days.

He was still happy to watch her for a while then, standing there outside the door, which he didn't want to ruin by interrupting her by going in.

She didn’t look like the French girls he had seen around, and now that he was observing her distinctly, she had some exotic features, but she definitely was very close to the Asian beauty, but as she is working in this café, she must be definitely living here for a long time now.

His curiosity was getting him now as he made few guesses.

Anyway none of that was going to matter when he was going to leave the country & she was probably native here. Also, he won't be able to speak that much English to communicate with her right now. So, everything eventually was useless & hopeless thinking.

Why even consider if nothing is going to go any further in this scenario? he thought as he watched the busy beautiful lady working for a while more standing there in front of the cafe.

His phone was ringing, showing ‘Eui soo-hyung’ his manager’s number,

“Taemin-ah!” the man’s voice on the other side was kind & gentle, “You should be back now” "It's quite late"

"Let's have dinner" the man said in a calm & sweet voice, “You have to shoot tomorrow morning.” he reminded.

The sky was getting darker as the street lamps were already lit up everywhere across the long narrow street.

“Should I send someone to pick you?” Euisoo-nim asked, worried knowing Taemin’s weakness with directions & memory.

“No!” Taemin said, looking at the girl inside the café again for a last glance, “I can find the way back by myself.” The boy was disappointed to go back, breaking this blissful evening, “I’m not so far away from the hotel anyway” "I'll be there in 10 mins" he informed, before ending the call.

Taemin found the girl closer to the window now, as she was near the reception of the café, placing the products on the cabinets before her.

Even her long eyelashes were visible from that distance now & he could see her lip-syncing the song too, as he found himself smiling at the beauty, immersed in her own world, peacefully.

He sighed softly, before turning away to move to the street he came from to his hotel back, which was just a few miles away, visible from the intersection he was standing at.

After walking a few steps ahead, he turned back to walk to the café again, now to find the reception empty, the girl was not visible anywhere from the frame he was watching.

He moved back to his path to the hotel, walking down the lane forward, giving up on his fantasy of asking out someone beautiful naturally, it wasn’t even his home country to think of the possibility of them meeting ever again.

This coincidental encounter was going to stay forever as the enchanting attraction in his memory now.

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“What are you doing, Hyerin?” Mr Anthony entered the café when Hyerin walked to him with the ‘éclair’ she had made a while ago in the tray in her hand. **{‘Éclair’ is a classic French pastry which is elongated hollow baked pastry, made of dough filling it with cream or custard & topped with different icing}

“Ah!” “You came back” Hyerin watched Mr Anthony remove his coat hanging it at the coat-hanger near the door.

“You have your flight back tomorrow to Korea” “You should be packing” “Why are you still here?” Mr Anthony reached the reception where Hyerin was arranging the chocolate in the glass cabinets near the reception.

“Why does it sound like you’re here to send me off?” Hyerin pouted, watching Mr Anthony in disappointment.

“Of course not!” “You know how much I wait for you to visit me” “Who do I have beside you?” Mr Anthony replied, his voice getting low as his heart sank down with the thought of him being the lonely man in the cafe again after the departure of Hyerin.

Mr Anthony was now a 64 year old man running the café, ‘Soiree’ (meaning 'evening') for 15 years now, which Hyerin had joined 5 years back, when she had left her home to come to Paris, to join the baking school in 2015.

She was working as a part-time worker at various places to support her financial needs back then for the beginning, but she was looking out for a good café to work in, as it would help her improve her skills if she could find a café that is owned by some traditional patisserie of Paris, where she could work & learn together.

Mr Anthony who was her teacher in the baking school & owned a café himself, came across Hyerin during the classes in the baking school & seeing her passion & potential in traditional baking, he offered her a job at his café.

As the offer had all kinds of benefits for her she had accepted it right away

Hyerin had grown to appreciate Mr Anthony's teaching style, other than the fact that he was way too grumpy, maybe because of his rising age too, but especially about his particular traditional ways of handling & managing the baking procedures, but a girl like Hyerin who was reading about it since her studies of traditional baking soon came to acknowledge his reasons to stay connected with all these stricter methods, so she became more convenient & comfortable with using those ways precisely with time.

Mr Anthony apart from his cranky & criticizing personality, was positively an upright & self-flourished entrepreneur, who had built this café all the way with his own efforts, he had given his all lifetime to baking, not getting married to his only love from his teenage past, who apparently had left him in those rough days for a stable & well-determined future with someone else.

Mr Anthony, with this sad outcome of his lovelife had trusted no-one all his life, became fond of Hyerin's diligence and loyalty with time, and eventually started to see her as his own daughter. And Hyerin had a fatherly figure again, after losing he