Paris (1/1)
Ahra bent down to smell the tulips and Heechul strolled along the path behind her, watching her as she admired the flowers. “You said this reminds you of Paris but I don’t see the connection. There are flowers blooming all over the world right now.” “It isn’t the flowers that remind me of Paris but your excitement over the spring weather,” he answered her. “And you look so beautiful surrounded by blossoms.” Ahra walked over to him and slipped her hand into his. “We could sneak off to Paris now if you wanted. Now that we know Kyu and Wookie have worked out their problems, there’s no reason for us to stay.” He’d received a text from his brother telling him that Ryeowook was back and apparently dating Kyuhyun, which managed to happen with minimal interference by him. Perhaps Kyuhyun was just waiting for the right person to drag him out of his funk. “Actually, there’s no reason for us both to be here anymore,” Heechul said, correcting her. “Exactly,” she said. “I mean, if we were wise, we’d part ways now,” he further explained. Ahra released his hand and quit walking, forcing Heechul to stop short as well. “Are you going to sneak off again?” Heechul thought about this for a moment, not wanting to lie to her. “No. I was hoping I could talk you into walking away this time.” “What if I want to be where you are?” Heechul reclaimed her hand and drew her closer to him. “I don’t have the willpower to say no anymore. This last year was so long,” he said, reaching up and tucking her hair behind her ear. “I want to go back to the way things were in Paris.” “That’s impossible.” “Then what? Stay like this forever?” “We’re at an impasse.” “I’m not willing to wait for years on end. What do you expect me to do?” she demanded. “If I knew the answer to that I would have already acted on it,” he said, trying to get her to continue on with him but she stubbornly refused and held her ground. “Do you want me to leave?” Heechul dared not to answer her. “Should I walk away and try to forget you? Should I find a lover and marry and have kids? Should I go back to thinking of you as nothing more than my cousin and forget that Paris ever happened? Is that what you want?” When he said nothing, she began to head back to the entrance to the park gardens. The thought of her with someone else ate away at him. The whole year they’d been apart he’d wondered if she’d found another man. The idea of someone else holding her hand, kissing her, touching her, sleeping with her, drove him insane. If he ever found out that there’d been someone else, he didn’t know what he’d do. She told him that—although she’d been rather promiscuous prior to their rendezvous in Paris—she hadn’t been with anyone since. Heechul ran after her and grabbed her arm, stopping her. She struggled to get out of his grip for only a moment. Heechul turned her to face him and then pulled her against his chest. When she looked up at him with questioning eyes, he couldn’t resist her anymore and bent his head down, pressing his lips against hers. He’d been resisting his urges since her arrival and had barely maintained his distance from her. This was the problem with wanting her close. Ever since Paris, it was impossible for him to refrain from acting on his feelings anymore because now he knew she felt the same. He should have never asked her to come. He never should have told her where he was. And he never, ever should have gone to Paris. But he could never regret it either. The best moments of his entire life took place there and if that was the only moment in which he could indulge in the desires he’d harbored all those years and all those yet to come, it just might be enough. Or not… One year ago in Paris… Ahra had begged him to come to Paris to meet up with her once he was done filming and he initially told her that he couldn’t. He had to stop seeing her. His heart would never recover if he was around her constantly. But after refusing to join her, she sounded so brokenhearted; he couldn’t bear to disappoint her and flew into France as soon as he could. When he arrived at her hotel, they informed him that she’d snuck off to an outdoor café down the street and he checked his bags before heading out to look for her. He never had trouble finding her. It was as if he had some kind of radar that automatically tracked her whether or not he wanted to. She was sitting at a small table under the sun, sipping on some kind of iced coffee and reading a book. Her hair was shorter than it had been in years, above her shoulders, which made her look a little older than she was. Normally he tried to view her as his younger sibling in order to keep himself in check around her but she didn’t look young now. As she was absorbed in what she was reading, he carefully snuck around the tables and came up behind her. He crouched down and covered her eyes with his hands. Ahra gasped in surprised and leaned back in her chair. Her hands came up and touched his, shaking just slightly. “Heechul,” she quietly breathed out. Heechul lowered his hands and released her, standing back up. “How did you know?” Ahra jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around him tight, pulling him into a suffocating hug. With her high heels on, she was almost the same height as him and easily turned her head to kiss his cheek. “You came!” It felt so good to hold her like that, he couldn’t let her go. “Against my better judgment.” “I was worried you were going to leave me here by myself.” “You didn’t come with anyone else? You don’t know anyone here?” “No,” she admitted, releasing him only enough to look at him. “Then I’m glad that I came. I’d be worried if I knew you were all alone.” “Where are you staying?” “I don’t know. I brought my bags to your hotel.” “Then you ought to stay with me. I got a suite this time and there’s plenty of room for both of us. Okay?” she asked, her eyes pleading with him, watering up for some reason.<