In the dark

50

Peri and Tae left the hotel lobby and stepped outside to find a light breeze flowing through the air. Peri looked around, expecting a waiting car for them. Instead, she saw Tae taking a few steps away from her. He looked behind him to find Peri standing still. Tae jerked his head at Peri to suggest she follow him. Peri caught up quickly with him, and they began their walk side by side.

"I hope your shoes are comfy," he told her.

"They are," Peri replied.

"Good, because we are going to be doing a lot of walking around tonight."

"Are you going to give me a private tour of Paris?" Peri beamed.

"Yeah. I know how much you love to walk, plus you have been dying to see the city. I figured it would make a perfect date night. Me. You. And the city of Love," he told her with a smile. 

"That does sound perfect," she said tenderly. 

Tae and Peri walked around quietly. Peri's eyes were focused on the sights before her as Tae led the way to their first stop. The paved streets were covered in fallen flowers and leaves that seemed to dance in the wind. The old buildings glowed with the neon lights of store and restaurant signs. Small chairs and tables lined the sidewalks with people sitting down eating a meal or casually talking amongst friends. No one seemingly cared that Kim Taehyung was walking among them. 

While they walked, the view of the Efil Tower grew larger. Over the rows of brightly lit lamp posts and tall, skinny tree lines, the large structure glowed brightly. The pathway opened up to a sizeable park surrounding the Efil Tower. Tae and Peri walked past a squared-off pond with fountains of water shooting off in different patterns. 

Peri craned her head as far back as she could go when they stood at the base of the building. The tower's lights glowed a beautiful golden hue that illuminated the grounds below it. "It's so beautiful up this close," she told him as she brought her head back down.

"Do you want to take some pictures?" He asked her, then slid a bag from behind his back. 

'Where did that come from?' she asked herself. To be honest, Peri didn't really notice Tae before this moment. She was too nervous to look at him when they were in the hotel. She barely glanced at him when they were walking. But she could see him now. 

His hair was jet black at the root with honey-brown highlights on the ends. His hair was long enough to cover his eyes and curled at the ends. He was wearing a black blazer with a cheetah print underneath, black slacks, and patent leather loafers bent at the heel so he could slip them on and off. 

"I'm sorry I didn't say this before, but you look very handsome. Well, you're always handsome."

"And you are stunning as always," he told her with his boxy grin. "Here," he told her and handed Peri a camera he had fished from his bag. "I saw you playing with one when we did our photo shoot. I thought maybe you like to learn?"

"You like photography? I didn't know that about you," she told him in surprise when she took the camera in her hands. She felt the heaviness of the camera when she examined all the buttons and do-hickeys on it. 

Tae came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her hands, and she held the camera. "There's a lot we can learn from each other," he whispered in her ear. His deep voice sent chills down her spine. She glanced over her shoulder to look at him. He was looking directly at her. Peri closed her eyes when she felt his warm lips press against her cheek. "Focus," he told her when he was finished.

Peri cleared her throat and fluttered her eyes a few times before she looked into the camera lens. She felt Tae's hands on her waist as he turned her body toward the structure. She kept herself focused as Tae continued to talk in her ear. He told her which button did what. How to set the camera setting into night mode. He showed her how to angle her body, not the camera, to achieve the right angle for the photo. She snapped a few test shots and peered at the screen to see what she did. Peri smiled in satisfaction when she saw what she had created.