“Yes? Yes. Yes! I’m… I’m speechless; I don’t know what to say. Thank you so much. Yes, see you next week.”

Angel just received a call from the company she had applied internship for. Angel has dreamed of becoming a designer since she was just 16. It was never easy for her. Her family opposed to it because “it wasn’t practical” and taking nursing for college was “the best choice for a career”. She endured studying the course that she did not want for four years. She finished college on time when she turned 20 despite the fact that nursing was never her choice and that she had to do a part-time job to save some money, and even got her nursing registration at one take. Every time she was praised for her achievement, she would say that she was desperate rather than diligent. Now at 23, Angel is on her 2^nd year in fashion school. She did exceptionally well on all her classes despite her lack of background in fashion designing. In fact, if it wasn’t for her friend’s connection, she would have never entered the academy in the first place. Angel showed so much potential despite all the endeavors.

D-day has finally arrived. Angel will be in Paris for the whole month. Passenger boarding for her flight has been announced. “This is it”.

Angel’s first week as an intern was not bad at all. She enjoyed the stress that it caused her. She spends 12-16 hours everyday in the company and her bed was just very welcoming every time she goes home to her apartment. And just when she thought it could not get any better, came her 2^nd week. They had a visit from someone who, she thought, looked very familiar. “Yang Seung Ho? Who is he? Where is he from? Is he ‘big’?” Angel curiously and excitedly whispered to her co-intern. “Hmm.. ‘big’? let’s put it this way. He’s a stylist of a kpop girl group called 2NE1, who are under YG entertainment, which is one of the big 3 in the kpop industry. He’s also a close friend of GD who happens to be the leader of BIGBANG who are also under YG.” Her co-intern explained. “Oh, 2NE1. I know them. Sandara Park. She was a very famous actress back home. And BIGBANG, I heard they had a world tour and one of the stops was in our country last year.”

“Oh my god, GD’s here too.” Angel’s co-intern squealed. They could see GD coming out from the van, outside the glass window of their work shop. He wore Balmain from head to toe. His fingers were filled with chrome hearts and his wrist was wrapped with his Rolex watch. He stooped probably because of the weight of his customized ambush diamond necklace, which looked like it weighed more than a kilo.

GD walked in behind Seungho. They greeted the manager and chatted for a while. After that, GD went to scan the racks of designer clothes. He was full of charisma that Angel misunderstood for cockiness and snobbishness. She did not know him and she was not a fan. Angel was assigned to follow GD around to assist him and answer his inquiries regarding the clothes. She could not understand what was up with him. She could not understand what was up with HER. She just felt irritated and annoyed the whole time, when GD wasn’t really doing anything. He didn’t even ask her anything. Perhaps she felt like she was being ignored. After almost an hour, GD and Seungho were able to gather the clothes that they picked and completed their purchase.

That day finished earlier than usual. A little bit too early. Angel was not used to it. It was a new feeling and she was half scared and half excited. Will she finally have this time to explore a bit of Paris? She thought to herself. She went back to her apartment to freshen up and change to comfortable clothes and went out again. It was only 8 in the evening. Usually she would still be in the workshop. On top of that, it’s her first day off tomorrow so she did not have to worry about sleeping in.

Angel walked the streets of Paris, enjoying and savoring the Parisian atmosphere. She walked in to small alleys which had some street food stands. She tried almost every one of them. Angel walked on and stopped at a park. It was getting late and dark but the city lights made the darkness look pretty. She was not afraid since there were other people too, some of them were couples. She sat on one of the benches facing the fountain that presented beautiful colorful lights. Angel felt happy and satisfied to be where she is right now. She never thought being alone was this fun. She finally had the time to slow down and breathe for the first time in 7 years. She leaned back and looked up to the sky, and closed her eyes for a silent prayer. After her prayer, her lips unconsciously curved to form a smile. “Amen.” A man’s voice said which caused her to open her eyes to look. “Were you praying?” the guy asked. He was sitting beside Angel. He was wearing a black hoodie, knee-leveled shorts and a pair of chucks. He was wearing a round black-framed eyeglasses and his headphones were hooked on his neck.

“How did you know?” Angel asked.

“So you were really praying. I do that too when I’m in other places by myself.” The guy looked away and smiled. “sorry if I startled you. You did not seem to notice when I sat beside you.”

“You sound like you travel a lot.” Angel smiled. “Asian?” what a stupid question to ask, she thought.

The guy chuckled. “could it be any more obvious?”

Angel felt a bit embarrassed for asking such a question when the answer was, indeed, obvious.

Ironically, that embarrassing moment brought them to feel comfortable with each other’s company.

“I’m Jiyong, by the way. I’m from Korea.” He introduced himself.

“I’m Angel from the Philippines. I mean, I’m Angel and I come from the Philippines. *sigh*Just call me Gelly.” It did not sound quite right, another embarrassing moment for Angel.

Jiyong chuckled again. “Do you recognize me? At all?”

Angel confusedly stared at the guy. “Why? Do I look familiar to you or does my name sound familiar to you? Have we met before?”

“Well, not really. I don’t know. I’m not sure.” He answered.

“Ahh. It’s just because I don’t think I’ve met a Korean before. Well, not till this afternoon at the workshop, actually.”

“hmm. Too bad. I could have been the first Korean you’ve met.” He smiled.

“Jiyong, was it?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I just say this, no offense meant, but your English is really good.”

“Haha thanks. But the accent though.”

“Yeah, there is still a bit of accent but it’s not that bad.” Angel nodded. “So, what brings you here, in Paris?”

“A bit of vacation, and a bit of work.” He answered.

“What’s your work about?”

“Hmm, well, something fun but complicated sometimes.”

“It’s not illegal, is it?” Angel joked.

Jiyong chuckled again but his expression suddenly became serious. He crossed his arms and looked up to the sky took a deep breath.

“Nah. But it can be addictive sometimes, for some people.”

Angel was not familiar of the atmosphere so she asked no more. There was silence for a while.

“How about you? What brings you here in Paris? You mentioned something about a workshop before.” Jiyong broke the silence.

“I’m doing a month-long internship.”

“Cool. For what?”

“Fashion design.”

“Seriously?”

“Ha, I know right? I don’t look like a person in that field.”

“No, I did not mean it that way. I mean, that’s really awesome. Where are you doing it?”

“Byrne de Ville. It’s a newly established designer line.”

Jiyong’s face suddenly lit up upon hearing this. “I know that line. They got mad cool clothes. So, did you say you were there today?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that where you met that first Korean person you were talking about?”

“Yeah, and he wasn’t some random Korean guy. He was some sort of a celebrity.” Angel pouted.

“Some sort of a celebrity?” Jiyong quoted.

“Yeah. G-dragon. You must have heard of him since you’re Korean too. They say he’s quite famous. He was with Sandara’s stylist. They checked some clothes out and purchased some too.”

Jiyong somehow smiled upon hearing ‘Sandara’s stylist’.

“So you didn’t know about him til this afternoon when you met him? He is quite famous. He’s BIGBANG’s genius leader.”

“Yeah, I heard. You sound like a fan.” Angel still had a dark expression on her face.

“You sound like you hate him.” Jiyong chuckled. “Howdo you know about Sandara?”

“She was a mad famous actress in our country before moving back to Korea.”

“Oh I see.”

Jiyong slid closer to Angel, his face right in front of her face which caught her off guard.

“Angel, do you really not recognize my face?” Jiyong asked again, but Angel was too embarrassed to look at him as he was too close.

“Can you move back a little bit? Just a little bit, so I can look at you properly.” Ji did as he was told and he also took his hoodie and glasses off. Angel froze. She just had the biggest Parisian shock of her life. Now, Jiyong looked too familiar with the half brown-half black hair and his ear piercings.

“You..no way.”

“Uhum.” Ji smiled teasingly. “You looked like you were really pissed this afternoon that’s why I didn’t talk to you.”

“I was pissed coz I felt like you were just ignoring me while I was following you around.”

They both laughed it off. Angel and Jiyong became more comfortable with each other and so the conversation just flowed smoothly like the river.

“Jiyong, exactly how famous are you? I mean, shouldn’t you be afraid of going out in public places by yourself?”

“I don’t really know, since you didn’t even know who I was.” He smiled.

“Oh, it’s just that I’m not in to kpop.”

“that’s what I’m saying. I’m not really that famous since only those people who know kpop, know me. And about going to public places, it’s better if I go by myself. Bringing your entourage will only make it obvious and attract people. And besides, it’s more exciting if I’m by myself. I get to meet interesting people.” Jiyong winked at Angel. Angel only responded with a smirk.

“Jiyong, how is life being a celebrity? It must be fun being able to travel around the world a lot, wearing designer clothes, having sold-out concerts and receiving so much love from the fans.”

“It is fun. Traveling is the best part although it is also the most exhausting part. About the designer clothes, I always have to experiment and be fashion forward since I’ve been dubbed as the fashionista leader. I have to live up to that title although there are some times when the fashion styles I experiment on are hard to take in by the fans. Despite my shortcomings, they are still very supportive. They’re love humbles me a lot and keeps me grounded. If only there was another way for me to show them that I love them back and that I appreciate them a lot, I would have done it already. But making music for them is all I know.”

“Jiyong, I am sure your fans know that you love them as much as they love you. I am sure they feel it through your music.”

“But you know what? My life isn’t all fun and fame. It is fun when I’m recording or performing with the other members and when I can greet the fans. That’s when I’m the happiest. But after that, when I get home, it suddenly feels like a different world. It becomes so lonely. I become confused about my reality. Is the fun world of fame my reality, or is it the lonely one, or is it both? Sometimes I get so confused that I feel like I’m going crazy.”

Angel was so impressed with his sincerity that she couldn’t help but stay silent and listen to him intently.

“Am I making you bored?”

“No! I mean, no. I love listening to your story. I don’t know if it’s because it’s the first time I’m hearing a life story from the celebrity himself or because there’s so much sincerity in everything you said, or maybe both. Please keep talking.”

“You sound suspicious. You’re not a tabloid writer, are you?” jiyong teased again, somehow breaking the serious atmosphere but Angel was also quick to answer wittily “Tss. Don’t worry, I have no talent in writing.” They smiled at each other becoming more and more comfortable with each other’s company. Angel wanted to listen more and Jiyong wanted to share more but he got a phone call telling him to go back to their hotel. Jiyong thought of asking for Angel’s number or email but he hesitated, thinking about how burdensome it would be for her. He thought it would really be nice if they met again coincidentally in the future. Angel thought exactly the same way as him. So , they said their farewell and wished each other well for the last time.

“It was really nice talking to you. I don’t know about you, but I’m really happy to meet you tonight. I’m so glad I found you.” Jiyong said with a bit of regret in his voice.

“It’s the same here. I’m sorry if I judged you. Maybe G-dragon and Jiyong are different but have one sincere heart. Just remember whether you are G-dragon or Jiyong, always stay humble and if you get lonely, think of the thousands of people who love you. I’ll pray for you and I’m glad you found me too.”

“I guess we’ll be praying under the same sky wherever we will be from now on. Will you promise to include me every time you pray?” Jiyong held out his pinky finger.

“Remember me when you pray too. I promise I’ll remember you always in my prayers.” Angel locked her pinky finger with Jiyong’s.

They did not want to let go but they had to. And just like that, they turned away from each other and walked their separate paths on to their own real lives.