Ear splitting rock music thumps a little louder though the looming speakers of the concert hall, as your boyfriend’s starting rap for No Mercy comes on. He smoothly calls the start, yelling and hyping the crowd, leading in for Yongguk.

 

“Wooh!” you cheer, waving a glowing neon lime and black banner with a hand drawn Zelo Mato on it, “go Zelo!”

 

Once his part is over, he moves to the left while he scans the crowd for you, knowing that your somewhere in the front row. Even as the effects of the tasking chorography swims though his limbs, he still manages to keep hold of his mic, not make a mistake in the complicated dance steps, and catch your eye. He winks, and grins a little, being subtle in his public affection. But you still get the full on butterflies and swoons. Meanwhile, the fangirls around you argue about who he was sending that wink and grin to, elbowing each other and shouting claims.

 

You wanted to laugh. Zelo sent that to none other then you. Soon however, No Mercy ends with BAP all standing in a chic, bad boy pose.

 

They relax out of it, as they all wave, wink, and do other various forms of fan service. Many of the screaming girls throw gifts up on the stage. The gifts varied from foods to stuffed animals, which were all received with a smile and a quick thank you.

 

Finally, the manger gives them the, “get off the stage already,” look, and Yongguk says thank you to the all the fans that came out, ending his speech with, “thank you Paris! Y’all are awesome!”

 

Everyone rolls their eyes at the dorky leader as BAP bows 90 degrees, and the lights flash out. When they come back on, BAP is gone and everyone begins to leave, chattering about the concert and how hot their “bae” was. You quietly move backstage to go and congratulate your boys.

 

“Hey! You guys rocked the stage!” you cheer as you slam open their dressing room door in your excitement. It wasn’t until the door was fully open that you realized that it might have been a good idea to knock.

 

Yongguk is shirtless and in plain red underwear, Himchan is with his pants half way off, and the DaeJae pair are snuggling it all up in a spinning chair. Only Jongup, your older brother, and Zelo are presentable and not in the process of changing or spooning anyone.

 

Yongguk and Himchan both jump at the sound of the door slamming open in unison, but upon seeing you, they hurriedly tried to cover their bare bodies with nearby objects. Meanwhile, the DaeJae pair when on with without a care in the world.

 

Zelo, who was taking off his eye makeup when you barged in, drops everything and covers your eyes, while Jongup, who was also just taking off his eye makeup, propels you out the door.  

 

Once safely out, Zelo uncovers your eyes, and Jongup stops pushing you. Although they were both relived that they got you out before anything majorly life scarring happened, they are both slightly ticked off.

 

“What did I tell you about knocking?” Zelo reprimands, his eyebrows knitting into a furrow, “Yongguk was almost in his birthday suit, my gay hyungs were each other’s faces off, and Himchan had his pants nearly off for god sakes!”

 

Jongup nods with Zelo, as he frowns at you. “Zelo has told you many times to knock before you come in, and yet again on almost every time, you tend to forget. Every time,” Jongup scolds, not at all pleased.

 

“Wahh~ I know. I’m sorry,” you apologize sheepishly, fiddling with your sleeves, and avoiding eye contact.

 

Zelo exhales loudly, “Just please remember. I don’t want you learning about the birds and bees of the DaeJae couple yet, and I certainly don’t want you falling for any of my hyungs because of they have a better body then me!” He then punctuates his point with a cute pout, just to let you know he wasn’t mad at you anymore.

 

Jongup snorts at this. “You should work out more then, if you don’t want your girlfriend to fall for Yongguk hyung. He has way better manners, body, and appeal then you,” he teases.

 

You laugh and smile angelically at Zelo. “But if I had to pick on body, I’m picking my brother,” you deadpan with a low laugh, “your last.”

 

Jongup laughs with you, and nudges your shoulder with his as he turns around and walks back into the dressing room, but not before mouthing, “thanks sis.”

 

Beside you, Zelo deflates.

 

“Aww. Babe, I was kidding. You’re my one and only, you’re my 1004, it doesn’t matter to me what body type my brother or your other bandmates have. I love you,” you said, reaching a hand up to cup the side of his face.

 

He suddenly grabs you around the waist, pulling you into his somewhat built chest, and burying his face into your short locks. You wrap your arms around his middle as well and cuddle up to him. You could hear his fast paced heartbeat though the thin material of his white undershirt.

 

“I love you too, but you know…” Zelo says, slowly rocking you side to side, as he leans back against a nearby wall, “we are in Paris…it would be a waste to just be in the hotel the whole time with the hyungs...”

 

“Choi Junhong. Are you asking me out on a date?” you tease, leaning back out of his arms so you could see his face. He was blushing red like a cherry tomato. But he regains his cool composure after a moment.

 

He beams, pecking you on the forehead. “Only if you accept.”

 

“In that case, I accept,” you smile, pulling out of his arms, and grabbing his hands, “come on! If you want to go on a date, you need to hurry up and take your makeup off!”

 

He chuckles at how excited you were, as he let himself get dragged back to the dressing room.

 

!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!

 

 “Wow…daebak,” you whisper, as both of you step out of the back door to the concert hall. It was nighttime, and the whole town was aglow. The air was chilly and the clouds above were overcast, but you were too happy to be on a date with Zelo to pay the weather any attention.

 

The lights shimmer on the slow moving canal water, as you and Zelo walk across the bridge. He tries to play it cool and casually reaches down to hold your hand, but misses and ends up grabbing your wrist instead.

 

You giggle while pulling your wrist out of his grasp, and taking his hand, not missing. Zelo blushes madly, and looks away, beyond embarrassed. You nudge his shoulder a bit telling him it was okay.

 

“Aish. My girlfriend is better at this stuff then me,” he whines. You grin while pecking him once on the cheek. You guys didn’t have to worry about being noticed by fans, it was very well past the time for people to be taking romantic strolls around Paris. But Zelo was still wearing a hat just in case.

 

“It comes with practice baby,” you say, kissing him on the cheek again, “also good aim would also be great.”

 

“I have good aim!” He cried defensively, swooping down to kiss you on the lips, and this time, he lands it spot on. After a while, Zelo pulls back, but rests his forehead against yours, looking into your eyes. “I love you.”

 

You smile, and press your forehead against his a little bit harder, “I love you too,” you whisper, pecking him once again, before pulling away.

 

“Have you eaten yet?” he asks, as you two continue your stroll down the lit streets of Paris.

 

“I ate a pizza at your concert a while ago,” you answer, mesmerized in the entire beauty of the town in shimmering lights.

 

“Translation: I’m hungry,” Zelo says, in his Ta-Dah It’s BAP robot voice.

 

You chuckle. “Where should we go? Almost everyone would be closed right now.”

 

Zelo smiles, and grabs your hand, dragging you up the street. “But lucky for the prettiest girl in the world, the hyungs and I found this place yesterday, and its open 24/7,” he nearly shouts with excitement.  

 

You let yourself be dragged up the street, almost tripping several times due to Zelo’s haste, but when you got up the hill, there was a cute little coffee shop waiting for the two of you with it’s lights on. Above its unadorned glass windows, hung a large wooden sign in French that you couldn’t read. But inside it looked bright and inviting.

 

Zelo opens the door for you as the both of you move into the warm radiance of the coffee shop. The scent of ground coffee beans wafts around the store, as both of you chose seats by the plain windows that had pointless white paint around the windowsills. The windows were high, and covered much of the wall, but there still was enough room for the two pictures hanging on either side. One was of a yellow tabby, and the other was an abstract piece of a tree.

 

You were just taking off your coat, when the waitress came up with two menus. She was a plain looking girl, her eyes were stormy grey; her hair, which was tried up into a messy bun, was strawberry blonde; her uniform was buttoned up to the collar, and her smile while bright, looked fake and a bit forced.

 

“Hi. I’m Amy. I’ll be your server tonight,” she says enthusiastically, “and here are your menus. And I’ll be back in a second with your water.”

 

“Thank you,” you say, smiling back at her. It was hard to believe that even at this time, people would still be trying to be cheerful.

 

“So, what do you think?” Zelo asks, taking off his hat and coat, and draping them both over his chair before sitting down.

 

“Its super inviting,” you say, while giving the place a wide look around. The wall of the shop where painted with soft pastels that seem to make the place glimmer even more with light and warmth. “The oppas made a good find.”

 

By now, the waitress had came back. “Here are your waters,” she smiles, setting yours down in front of you, but when she moved to set Zelo’s down, she looked up, and her movements skipped a beat. She then smiles again nervously at him, and hurriedly walks away. Zelo frowns, but doesn’t say anything, so you didn’t either.

 

Instead you look at the menu. Scanning over the foods that you didn’t care for. “Hmm. That Ham and Swiss Panini sounds really good,” you say, looking up at him.

 

“Oh! I was just thinking the same thing!” Zelo gushes, “but I really like the spaghetti that I had yesterday. I think I’ll get that.”

 

You nod in agreement, and close your menu. As if on cue, the waitress walks up. But this time, her shirt is ed at the collar, her hair was down and slicked with water, and she was walking with her shoulders thrown back, only looking at Zelo.

 

“Are you guys ready?” she asks, her smile much brighter then before. Something in the air changed about her, besides her looks. It seems like she was much more cheerful now.

 

“Yeah. I think so. I’ll have the Medium Meatball Spaghetti. And, she’ll have…” Zelo said, looking at me. 

 

“Um, the Ham and Swiss Panini please,” you say, but she doesn’t even look at you. She hastily writes down the orders, shoves the notepad into the front pocket on her apron, and grabs your menu, tucking it under her arm. All the while, looking flirtatiously at Zelo. He smiles uncomfortably and hands her his menu, which she takes with both hands, unnecessarily touching his. He doesn’t say anything; he just slides his hand away from the menu and grabs yours. 

 

“Um…I’m on a date. With my girlfriend,” Zelo unsmiling, looking her straight in the eyes. Amy freezes, and starts blushing a beet red. She apologizes a couple of times, and runs away to the back kitchen.

 

You frown at him, at a lost for words. He turns to look at you and notices your frown. Zelo squeezes your hand gently. “I wanted her to know I was taken,” he explains.

 

You nod gradually. This was the first time ever, that Zelo had said you were his girlfriend out in public, and to someone who wasn’t another idol, or a family member. And you honestly didn’t know how to feel about it. Part of you was screaming with joy and butterflies, I mean, he did just call you his girlfriend. And part of you was troubled about his image and status. Amy could tell someone, and it would be a worldwide scandal.

 

Zelo must have seen the wave of different emotions roll over your face, because he squeezes your hand again. “It’s okay. Trust me. She doesn’t know who I am. She just thinks I’m a hot guy,” Zelo says, smiling at you reassuringly.

 

“I trust you, hot guy. I just don’t want to you get caught up in a scandal because of me,” you say trying to laugh it off. But looking down at your interlaced hands, you feel so protected. You could feel the heat radiating off his callused palms, and you never wanted him to let go. Your lips move into a faint smile.

 

When you look up from your hands however, you are surprised to see Zelo looking at you like you’re a complete idiot. “Babe…I would gladly go though scandal after scandal then lose you. I want the whole world to know that I have already given my heart to someone, and that I don’t intend to change that person. It’s only because Jongup would murder me if I said anything, you would get harassed, and I would lose my job, that I haven’t pulled you up on stage and shouted it out to the world that you’re my girl. Honey, I love you,” Zelo vows, his eyes full of sincerity and tenderness. If this wasn’t true love, you didn’t know was.

 

“I love you too. But I truthfully don’t think Uppie would kill you if you told the world,” you laugh, your worries rolling off your shoulders easily.

 

“You underestimate your brother. He might have a kind face, but inside…” Zelo shudders, “I had a hard enough time just getting his blessings, so I could date you.”

 

“Hmm. Was I worth the trouble?” you tease, winking at him.

 

“All day, everyday babe,” Zelo says, leaning over the table to kiss you. But at that moment, Amy came back with the food.

 

“Um…sorry to interrupt, but here is your food,” she says, awkwardly placing your food in front of you with a clank.

 

“Thank you,” Zelo says, politely, already digging in. She nods once, and hurriedly dashed away, blushing again.

 

Zelo looks up at you with his mouth full. “Well…dig in,” he invites, after he had swallowed. You grab your sandwich with your hands, while your mouth waters at the rich smell of the Swiss cheese, as you took a bite. The crutch of the toasted bread is music to your ears, as the flavors dance around in your mouth.

 

Both Zelo and you continue to eat and talk. Exchanging sly touches and sweet nothings. Outside the weather was turning sour, and beginning to rain in gallons, but you two didn’t notice a bit.

 

“Ahhh. I’m stuffed,” Zelo groans, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his stomach with much exaggeration. You both were finished eating, and ready to leave. Amy came back, and shyly placing the check on the table, she nods at the both of you again before running away. You were reaching for it, but Zelo got there first.

 

“I’m playing this time!” you complain loudly, reaching over the table to snatch it back.

 

“You can get in next time,” Zelo waves you off, distractedly reading the check, while using his long arms to keep it away from you.

 

“You say that every time we’re on a date. And I still haven’t paid yet,” you whine again, “at least let me get the tip.”

 

“You can’t,” Zelo smirks.

 

You glower at him. “Why not?”

 

Zelo lowers the check and turns it over, so you could see. There was a small note at the bottom of the receipt in sharpie.

 

‘I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier; I didn’t know you were with your girlfriend. Please forgive me. Also, do not pay for your meal or tip us. I have paid for it already. Again, I am very sorry,’ the note read.

 

“Oh. That was nice of her,” you say, taking the receipt from him and placing it on the table. Then, grabbing your jacket, you grabbed some money from one of the jacket pockets.

 

“What are you doing?” Zelo asks, as you put 4 dollars down on top of the receipt.

 

“Getting the tip,” you answer, pushing your chair in and putting on your jacket. Meanwhile, Zelo gapes at you, and shakes his head in defeat.

 

He follows your suit, and grabs his jacket, putting on his hat. But you notice one of your shoelaces came undone, so turning around to tie your shoe, you kneel down.

 

Zelo, seeing an opportunity, quickly grabs the money, shoving it into his pocket, while making a mental note to return it to you pocket once you were asleep.

 

Then, pushing his chair in, he take you hand, and opens the door for you, trying to get you out before you notice the cash is missing from the table.

 

“Thank you!” he shouts, as he follows you out into the night, but being the clumsy one he is, he didn’t notice that you had stopped, and ran straight into you. Pushing you out of the shelter of the coffee shop’s roof, and into the pouring rain.

 

Your face scrunches up, as your entire body becomes soaking wet with arctic rainwater. Meanwhile, your boyfriend, who was safe under the overhanging roof, takes out his phone to snap a picture, his faces covered with mischief.

 

“Choi Junhong. Don’t. You. Even. Think. About. It,” you threaten, pointing menacingly at him. But he only smiles wider, and the flash goes off. Telling you, for sure, that your boyfriend had taken a picture of you. “Your so going to get it now!” you shout, running to him and grabbing him by the sleeves, yanking him into the pouring rain with you.

 

“Aaaaah!” he shrieks, as he too felt the skin numbing coldness to Paris’s rainwater. He blinks the water from his eyes, as he grabs for you, missing by just a hair. You giggle and smile uncontrollably as you dash around trying to evade your boyfriend. But, Zelo, being faster, caught you.

 

“Let me go!” you yell, struggling as he began to tickle you. “Zelo!”

 

He only snickers evilly, and tickles you more. Your loud laughter carried into the night, along with Zelo’s. But, finally, when you thought you were going to pee yourself, Zelo stops and pulls you into his embrace, while the rain continued to pour on your heads.

 

He looks down at you with a big goofy grin that had never looked more childish then it did now. He looks impossibly happy. “Did you like the date?” he asks, hugging you a bit closer to him.

 

“Of course I liked the date,” you say, smiling at Zelo, “the food was great. And I love spending time with you.”

 

“Good. I’m glad you liked it,” Zelo whispers, as his smile grew even bigger. He was practically glowing with happiness.

 

“I’m glad you asked,” you reply, smiling back. His smiles were so intoxicating.

 

He blushes brightly; looking so cute you had to kiss him. So, standing on the tips of his shoes, and on the tips of your toes, you kiss him full on the lips. In the pouring rain, on a beautiful night in Paris.