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Kitty can’t help but bounce on her feet a little as she and Min Ho wait in line to go through security. The next stop on the tour is Paris, which Kitty has never been to, and Min Ho surprised her with plane tickets for their flight rather than them using the Moon family jet. When she asked him why, he told her that if she was going to go to Europe, then he wanted her to have the full experience.
A part of her wondered if he just wanted some more time to themselves away from his family on their ten-hour flight.
So, they go through TSA and make their way through the airport to get to their gate, and Kitty takes a picture of their departure time to send in the group chat with Lara Jean and Margot. Lara Jean admitted to being a little jealous that Kitty is getting to go to Paris without her, since when they visited Margot in Scotland they didn’t have enough time to get to Paris before they had to head back home. Kitty promised that she would eat all of the pastries for her and send her a French care package.
“You’re excited,” Min Ho says, smiling. He’s lounging beside her with his carry-on nestled between his legs, and a pair of headphones around his neck. It’s been just over two weeks since her birthday, but there’s an ease in Min Ho that Kitty is sure she’s never seen before. He looks more relaxed and even happier than he did before. Though when she thinks about what exactly has made him relaxed, her cheeks heat.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Paris.” Kitty grins. “I made a Paris itinerary when I was thirteen with everything I wanted to do and see, because I was convinced that I would jet off to Europe for at least two months after I graduated high school and I wanted to be prepared. I had printed out maps, created a daily schedule, and watched so many videos that I felt like I knew everything to have a great trip.”
Min Ho chuckles softly as he gazes at her, ducking his head a little.
Kitty feigns a frown. “Why are you laughing at me?”
“Because you’re adorable.” Min Ho’s smile is wide. “Do you still have your itinerary?”
“No,” Kitty admits. “But I did spend some time this morning when you were in the shower making a list of everything I wanted to do. Which has cut down a lot of things.”
She pulls out her phone and hands it to him. He told her the other day that he’s been to Paris quite a few times and has done a lot of the main attractions, and Kitty tried to hide her excitement at getting another Min Ho Moon tour around yet another city she’s always wanted to visit.
“The Catacombs?” He raises an eyebrow at her. “A little macabre, don’t you think?”
“A little, but I’ve always wanted to see it.” She raises her eyebrows back at him, a teasing smile sliding onto her face. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of a few bones.”
“It’s not just ‘a few bones,’ Covey. It houses the remains of six million people. Haven’t you ever seen As Above, So Below?”
Kitty bites the inside of her cheek. “Yes, but that’s just a movie. Besides,” she knocks her knee into his softly, “I’ll have you to protect me, right?”
Min Ho sighs exaggeratedly, but Kitty loves the way he can’t help but smile a little. “Yes, because I very well can’t let you go alone.”
“Yay.” Kitty grins and when Min Ho holds his hand out for her, she laces their fingers together then leans over to rest her head onto his shoulder.
They still have an hour before they’re supposed to board, and Min Ho goes through her itinerary slowly. She wants to see the Louvre, that’s a given, and visit the Eiffel Tower, and go to Notre Dame and see the steps where they filmed A Midnight in Paris, and if they have time—which she doubts they will—she wants to see Versailles. It’s a much smaller list than she once had, but her thought was that if she never got to go back to Paris, she wanted to be able to say she saw the big items.
Min Ho mentions that there are a few restaurants that he would like to take her to, and that he has something planned for tomorrow night after they’ve recovered from jet lag. Kitty’s heart flips at the anticipation. Ever since their love confession, Kitty has leaned into Min Ho’s desire to do things for her. Whether it be getting her a new pair of sunglasses because she left her peach festival ones at the penthouse, or taking her out to Broadway so she can see Wicked one night after she mentions wanting to see it. She never knew just how deep his confession of gift giving being his love language ran until she was on the receiving end as his partner, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t like it.
When their plane lands and it’s time for boarding, Kitty isn’t ready for when first class is called, and Min Ho gets up. Of course, she knew that he got them first class tickets, but she’s never had to listen for that announcement. So, she follows him to the gate and their passports and tickets are scanned, and then they’re walking through the hall and onto the plane.
Min Ho leads the way and they pass through the “premium” seating and go all the way down to where the flat beds are. Kitty’s jaw drops a little when they get to their seats. There’s a large screen on one side and two large chairs that will clearly fold out, and they’re even given sleep masks, a blanket each, pillows, and there’s already a large glass bottle of water chilling for them.
“Wow.” Kitty looks around. Min Ho stows his carry-on then turns to Kitty to grab hers.
“If you’re going to travel across the Atlantic, you have to do it right.” Min Ho smiles.
“I’ll say.” When she, Lara Jean, and their dad traveled to Scotland, they got to have a little extra leg room, but paying for first class for everyone was certainly out of the question.
They settle in for the rest of boarding and Kitty can’t help but look around. Even when she tries to look across the aisle, there’s a bit of a wall to give them a little more privacy. It’s already more than she expected, and when they get ready for takeoff, Kitty finds herself slipping her hand into Min Ho’s.
As they get to cruising altitude, the conversation drifts easily and the two of them decide what movie to put on. Kitty takes a couple of pictures, and lets Min Ho take one of her shortly after their dinner is served. The picture he currently has set as his home screen is the one she took on her birthday of the two of them in the mirror, but she has a feeling he’ll be updating it soon with the amount of new pictures he’s been taking of her.
Kitty loves it, of course. She loves the fact that Min Ho wants to document everything with her, and how even though they’ve decided against posting pictures of each other to the social media until they can find a time to talk to Dae, he still finds ways to let others know that she’s his girlfriend. She even saw him put a small polaroid he took of her one morning with his mother’s camera into his wallet the other day. Of all the things that Kitty thought of Min Ho when they first met, playboy that he was, she never would have assumed he was such a lover boy too.
Then, it comes time to settle in for the long flight over the ocean and their two beds are laid down to make one, and Kitty can’t help the way her heart jumps into her throat as they both roll onto their sides to look at each other.
“Did you get us first class tickets so we would be alone?” She whispers.
The lights are dimmed but she can clearly make out his features as he gazes at her. His dark eyes and the curve of his lips and the dark strands of hair that brush against his forehead. She reaches out to move them away from his eyes and Min Ho reaches up to hold his hand in hers.
“Yes, I did.” He smiles. “We couldn’t very well get away with sharing a bed without others noticing on my father’s plane.”
Kitty bites the inside of her cheek. Thinking about it, she supposes that’s true. Even though Min Ho’s dad got them a single bed in Los Angeles, there hasn’t been any other mix-up like that and as far as Kitty knows, it’s never been brought up.
“How do you think we’ll deal with having to sleep apart once we get back to K.I.S.S.?” Kitty whispers.
The way Min Ho’s lips press together is enough to tell her that they probably won’t do a great job with it. They haven’t talked a whole lot about what their fall semester will bring. The beginning of their senior year. They agreed that they should wait to tell Dae until they can see him in person and lay everything out properly. Though Kitty doubts there would be any way for them to explain anything in a way that wouldn’t hurt Dae’s feelings. Not to mention that she knows he and Min Ho have been talking more recently.
Kitty leans up on her elbow and presses her lips to his. It’s a soft kiss and she tries to tell him that she understands. And that she loves him. And that no matter what September brings, they’ll face it head on together. When she settles back into her spot, Min Ho brings their joined hands up to kiss the back of hers. The sleep medicine she took is definitely kicking in, and Kitty fights to keep her eyes open.
“Goodnight, Covey.”
“Good night, Min Ho,” Kitty whispers, and then she lets sleep take her away.
One thing Kitty has come to find is that Min Ho loves when he has something planned but doesn’t want to tell her. He always wants it to be a surprise, and he laughs endlessly when she huffs and gets frustrated when his lips are sealed. The most recent thing is where they’ll be staying. Once again, they won’t be staying in the same hotel as his dad and Joon Ho, and he won’t tell Kitty where they’ll be.
It drives Kitty a little crazy with the way he looks at her and how he laughs, and her cheeks flare every time he pulls her close with that easy smile that she could trace in her sleep now. He presses his hand into her lower back to pull her closer as they wait for their car to pick them up from the airport and bring them to their hotel.
Kitty tries to glare at him, but Min Ho’s soft laugh as he leans down to kiss her cheek breaks her resolve almost instantly. When he pulls back, Kitty leans up on her toes with her hands on his chest to silently ask for a kiss, which Min Ho gives her.
“You’re cute when you’re frustrated.”
“Then I must look absolutely adorable,” she mutters.
“Come on, Covey, you said you trusted me.”
Kitty’s eyes flick up to his for a moment. Obviously, she’s not actually upset, but she does like knowing things. “I do, but it’s just a hotel, why can’t I know?”
“Because it would ruin the surprise.” Min Ho rolls his eyes, but as usual he’s fighting his smile. “As your personal travel planner, it’s my job to make sure you make the most of your time with every city we visit, so just trust me when I say that I won’t let you down.”
Their car arrives, their luggage is loaded, and then they start the hour long drive to the hotel. Kitty rests her head on Min Ho’s shoulder, content to sleep a little longer despite the fact that it’s late morning, and Min Ho rests his head atop hers. She doesn’t know what exactly he has planned for her first trip to the City of Love and Lights, but as she runs her thumb over his, she can’t help but be excited at all of the ideas.
The hotel that Min Ho has for them is only a block away from the Eiffel Tower with a fantastic view of it. Since Kitty was asleep when they arrived, and she couldn’t see over the buildings, she didn’t know where they were exactly until they got into the room and Min Ho asked her to open the curtains.
Then the surprise he had planned for tonight is a boat trip around the Seine, complete with drinks and some snacks, and followed by dinner reservations at a restaurant not too far from their hotel once they’re done.
Kitty leans onto the boat railing as they undock, the cool evening air wrapping itself around her. She can still see the Eiffel Tower, and apparently the boat tour will take about an hour and they’ll have a guide explaining some of the different landmarks they’ll be passing. She’s already taken more pictures than she probably should have, given that her phone is actually running out of storage, but she can’t help it.
“Here you are, love.” Min Ho appears beside her with two champagne flutes and Kitty can feel herself blush as she takes her glass.
Of course, he’s called her ‘darling’ before, but he called her ‘love’ the morning after their love confession and Kitty was a little embarrassed at just what that word did to her. It was different from what she was used to, and she knew that he called most other girls ‘darling’ when he was with them, like Stella. But she had never heard him call anyone else ‘love’. Or ‘baby’ for that matter, but that seemed to be a normal pet name for a partner.
“Thank you.” Kitty smiles as she takes it, and then Min Ho is standing a little behind her and reaching around her back to hold onto the railing. She’s boxed in by him as they gaze out at the river. She sighs contentedly as she takes a sip of her champagne. “It’s beautiful.”
“You like it?” Min Ho asks. He’s leaned down to talk over the sound of the wind and Kitty can feel his breath fan out over her cheek.
“Yeah.” She turns to look at him.
Kitty is pretty sure she’ll never get over the way Min Ho looks at her. How his brown eyes take in every inch of her face and always linger on her lips for a moment longer than could be considered normal. The boat accelerates and Kitty’s balance falters, but Min Ho is there with a steady hand on her hip.
“Steady on.” He smirks.
Kitty rolls her eyes, but when Min Ho leans down for a kiss, she reaches up to cup the side of his face. He hums against her lips, and when they pull apart, he looks angelic in the setting sunlight.
“I’m glad I’m here with you,” she says softly. “I wouldn’t want to see Paris with anyone else.”
Min Ho smiles and ducks his head, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. “Me too.”
They stay at the railing for a bit, talking and taking pictures, and when the guide takes their spot at the front of the boat, the two of them move to some seats to better hear them. Min Ho keeps his arm around Kitty’s shoulders and he leans his head against hers when she wants to take a picture of the two of them, and they even get to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle when dusk sets.
Eventually, the boat tour comes to an end and they dock back where they began, but Kitty smiles from ear to ear as she places her feet back on dry land. Her cheeks are a little wind burnt and she can tell that her hair has some knots in it, but then Min Ho is slipping his hand into hers and Kitty is guiding him towards the gift shop.
The only problem Kitty has with being on the tour, is that they’re only going to be in Paris for a total of five days, including the day they landed, and three of them are going to be filled with tour stuff and meetings and photoshoots. She’s currently in their bed as she tries to journal their first day in Paris in Hangul which was requested by Min Ho, but he’s out at some brand deal meeting with his dad and Joon Ho. He asked Kitty if she wanted to come, but she waved him off. She’s been to more than enough of those at this point and all she does is sit off to the side on her phone. Even when Min Ho tries to reach her in between changes, someone’s always yelling at him to come back.
She knows it frustrates Min Ho too, having to be away for so long, but he promised her that tomorrow, their second full day in Paris, he’ll be just hers. Kitty bites the inside of her cheek as she looks out of the window and towards the Eiffel Tower. He also said that when he gets back, they’ll go there before they have to be at the venue for the concert.
When she’s almost done with her “journal,” her phone rings. Q’s picture stares at her and Kitty smiles as she swipes answer.
“Kitty!” Q grins. “Ugh, you look so glowy.”
Kitty laughs. “And you sound like you’ve had a few drinks.”
“Only a couple!” Jin pops up behind Q’s shoulder. “Hey, Kitty.”
“Hey, Jin.” She waves. “Are you visiting for a bit?”
“Yeah, we get a week together.” Jin smiles then kisses Q’s cheek. “I’ll be out in the hot tub.”
“Okay.” Q watches Jin as he walks away and Kitty tries to hide just how big she’s smiling.
When she hears a door open and shut, she laughs. “Okay, y’all are super adorable.”
“I know.” Q sighs. “I would argue that we’re almost as adorable as you and Min Ho.” Kitty watches as her cheeks turn pink, but they almost hurt from how big she’s smiling. “Those pictures of you two on the Seine are perfect.”
“You think?” Kitty bites the inside of her cheek, but then she takes a deep breath and sinks back into the pillows. “Is it weird that I feel so relaxed? And happy?”
Q smirks. “Having sex will definitely do that to you.”
“Okay, we’re not talking about that.” Kitty blushes down to her chest, and it makes Q laugh. Of course, she told him that they confessed they still loved each other and what happened after, but she still felt a little shy talking about it. “But, I mean it,” she says, going back to her original statement. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt this at peace before.”
“I mean, given the year you had, I’m not surprised.” Q rolls onto his back and hugs a pillow to his chest. “You’re with the person you love, jet setting across the world in an epic summer romance. If there was ever a time to feel happy and at peace, it would be now.”
“Yeah.” Kitty nods. Her heart is beating wildly in her chest, and smelling Min Ho’s cologne on his shirt that she’s currently wearing doesn’t help the butterflies she’s feeling.
Q frowns. “Okay, what’s with that face?”
“I think I’m just worried that I’m going to do something to mess it up,” Kitty admits. “Or maybe we’ll get back to K.I.S.S. and Min Ho will realize he made a mistake? I mean, stuff like that happens.”
“Kitty, he loves you. Like is head over heels in love with you. I get where you’re coming from, you know I feel the same way sometimes about Jin, but you can’t let those thoughts take over.”
“No, you’re right.” Kitty sighs. “I guess I’m just sitting in the hotel room thinking about things and I get too caught up in my head.”
“I know. Same here.”
The two of them smile at each other.
“I’ve missed your face,” Kitty says.
“I’ve missed yours, too.” Q’s smile widens. “So, in Paris, what—”
Kitty’s phone starts ringing. “Oh, it’s Min Ho.”
“Tell him I said ‘hi.’ I’m going to go have hot tub sex,” Q says.
Kitty snorts. “Bye, bestie.”
“Bye, babe.”
Their call goes dead and Kitty answers Min Ho’s.
“Hey.” She smiles.
“Jagiya. Are you still at the hotel?”
Kitty’s heart flips at the Korean word.
“Yep, right where you left me.” She holds the phone with one hand and picks up her letter with the other. “Are you done with the meeting?”
“Almost. I snuck away for a minute.” Kitty can practically hear the smile in his voice. “I was calling to see if you wanted to meet me for lunch in an hour. We should be done by then, and then I’m all yours.”
Kitty bites at her bottom lip. “Your dad won’t be angry?”
“No, Joon Ho said he’d keep him occupied for a few hours so I can show you around Paris.” There’s some voices on his end, one being Young Moon’s, and she hears Min Ho’s name. “So,” Min Ho drops his voice, “what do you say, Covey? Want to spend some time running around the City of Love with me?”
Kitty can’t help the giggle that bubbles up in her chest. “Duh.”
“Perfect. I’ll have the car pick you up, but that means you have forty-five minutes to get ready. No hour long shower like you usually do,” he teases.
“If you were here I’d stick my tongue out at you,” Kitty mutters.
Min Ho laughs. “Saranghae.”
“I love you too. I’ll see you soon.”
When they hang up, Kitty smiles at the ceiling. She’s in Paris with the guy she loves. What else could she have wanted out of this summer?
They get lunch from a cute little restaurant not far from where the meeting was, and then they go to the Eiffel Tower. Min Ho takes quite a few pictures of Kitty and when they’re in the small gift shop, he spares no expense as he grabs some souvenirs for her, and Kitty buys some stuff for her family. They also walk around for a while, but their fun time comes to an end when they have to make their way back to the hotel to get ready for the show.
Kitty can’t complain, since she agreed to help out with the tour wherever she could, and it doesn’t hurt to also be able to spend more time with Min Ho when he isn’t pulled away for one emergency or another. She also gets to spend some time with Eunji and she finds that she likes being in the other girl’s company. The dancer is older than her, which is a given, but she’s easy to talk to and she doesn’t laugh when Kitty tries practicing her Korean.
But then Joon Ho’s first set is done and there’s the halftime show playing, and Min Ho takes Kitty’s hand and leads her towards the floor.
“Will you dance with me, love?” He asks when they walk through the door that leads backstage.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Kitty follows him and then Min Ho twirls her before bringing her to him. She rests her hands against his shoulders and Min Ho wraps his arms around her waist to bring her close. They haven’t had a chance to really dance together recently, but Kitty likes it when they do. She thinks back to the first ever party she went to when she was at K.I.S.S., thrown by the guy currently trailing his fingers down her back, and how she was the one that got them all put in detention. At that time, she wasn’t thinking of Min Ho as anything other than one of Dae’s friends, even if he did help her with her first Chuseok.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Min Ho asks. The corners of his mouth turn up as he looks down at her, and Kitty’s fingers play with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“I was just thinking about the party you threw,” Kitty says.
Min Ho hums. “You know, that day was when I had my dream about you.”
Kitty’s eyebrows shoot towards her hairline. “Really?”
“Mhm.” Min Ho laughs softly, but she can’t really hear it over the music, she can feel the vibration in his shoulders. “And when I saw a gorgeous girl walk into my party I was going to go talk to her, but then I saw it was you and I stopped that very quickly.”
Kitty gasps. “I’ll try not to be offended.”
Min Ho raises an eyebrow at her. “You can’t expect me to believe that if I had tried to hit on you then, that you wouldn’t have laughed in my face.”
At that, Kitty’s cheeks heat. “I wouldn’t have laughed at you,” she says. “I would’ve thought that maybe you hit your head or something though.”
Min Ho laughs a little louder as he pulls her ever closer. “That was the night I gave Madison a chance, after I saw how close you and Dae were,” Min Ho admits.
“Min Ho.” Kitty frowns at him.
He sighs, shaking his head a little. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.”
“You didn’t.” Kitty assures him. They look at each other for a beat, and then she leans up to give him a kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Min Ho smiles as he gives her another kiss.
The music is loud and Kitty can feel the bass beating within her body. She keeps smiling as she pulls Min Ho close and gets back into the rhythm they had before. Over the past two weeks she has tried replaying all of their interactions in her head, but she keeps coming back to the plane at the end of their first semester and the conversation they had when all of them went out to eat on their first day back.
She had thought about him all break, watching him travel from afar as she debated on whether or not she could at least like his Instagram posts without it being weird. She thought of him in California with his mother on Christmas and when their group chat came alive at various points, she waited for him to respond, just to see if he would. He did, of course, but every time she saw his name on her phone her heart skipped a beat. It was never a text directly to her, though. And then when they talked her eyes drifted to his lips, which she had thought about more than she would have ever admitted, and she wanted to kiss him. Now, she can kiss him whenever she wants.
With all of the courage that a single vodka cranberry drink can give her, Kitty takes a deep breath and turns around in Min Ho’s arms. His hands stay on her hips and she’s acutely aware of just how warm his body is at her back, like all of the nights they’ve laid wrapped in each other’s arms.
“What are you doing, Covey?” Min Ho asks. His lips graze the shell of her ear and Kitty fights a shiver.
“Dancing.” She tries to sway her hips a little, but she’s nervous. “I’ve never had a dance partner to do this with.”
Min Ho laughs softly in her ear. “Well, as long as you don’t step on my toes, you’re doing wonderfully.”
Kitty rolls her eyes but then Min Ho’s hands tighten on her hips and he moves in time with her. It’s different, dancing this way. She can feel every scrape of his clothes against her body and feel his breath fan out over her shoulder. With her heels, their hips are about at the same level and, really, she wonders how her classmates were able to get away with a grind train in middle school. Not that she ever participated, but still.
“Where am I supposed to put my hands?” She asks after a moment.
Min Ho doesn’t miss a beat as he takes her right hand and guides it up and to his neck. “You can put your left hand on mine,” he says softly into her ear.
Kitty does as he says, and then they’re back to dancing. Like this, she has to lean back into him which presses their bodies closer, but she likes it. Min Ho’s head stays dipped down towards hers, his cheek grazing against her temple.
They stay like that for a while. Their bodies moving together and Min Ho’s breath fanning out over her exposed skin. When he presses a kiss to the soft spot just behind her ear, Kitty bites the inside of her cheek. She had one drink about an hour ago so she wouldn’t even say she’s buzzed, she’s just…really attracted to her boyfriend.
She’s not sure how long they dance, with their hands on each other and Min Ho pressing soft kisses to her exposed skin, but then the set ends and the music dies, and whatever bubble Kitty was in pops as turns around to look at Min Ho.
His skin shines in the multi-colored lights and his cheeks are flushed. Kitty is pretty sure she looks the same. Her eyes flit over his face and down to his lips.
“How was that for a dance?” He asks, tilting his head to the side a little.
Despite the fact that Kitty can tell she’s sweating from how hot she is, she can still feel when she blushes. “It was fun,” she says softly. “Now, I know what I was missing all those years.”
Min Ho laughs but Kitty can tell it’s a shy one. It’s the way he blushes and ducks his head, then clears his throat and brings his eyes back to hers. Ever since they confessed their feelings, she’s been seeing it a lot more. His smile makes her heart melt.
“Min Ho!” Young Moon’s voice rings out and the two of them turn to look at him. “The press would like to talk to you and Joon Ho before he goes on again.”
“I’ll be right there.”
Min Ho’s lips press together as his dad turns and heads backstage, and Kitty reaches out to squeeze his hand. “I’m going to go get a water.”
“Okay.” Min Ho leans down and kisses her cheek. “When I’m done, why don’t we get out of here?”
Kitty tries not to look too excited as she says, “What about your dad?”
“He won’t need me once Joon Ho gets back on stage.” He bites at his bottom lip. “So, you want to?”
“Yeah.” Kitty nods. “I’ll be waiting in the green room.”
“I’ll see you soon.” Min Ho turns to go, but Kitty tightens her hold on his hand and pulls him back for a kiss.
When he’s gone, Kitty lets herself giggle a little before she heads to the green room for a collagen water.
The talk with the press takes all of ten minutes, and before Kitty can fully comprehend that they’re leaving, the two of them walk out into the balmy Parisian night air. Her hand is in his and her heels sound on the cobblestone street as Min Ho pulls her towards their waiting car. In any other circumstance Kitty would have wanted to walk, but she’s wearing heels and after dancing her feet kind of hurt.
In the backseat, Kitty leans across Min Ho to look out the window at the city as they drive by. The beautiful lights, small restaurants, and she loves all of the hanging flowers and plants that adorn the buildings. Her breath catches when she sees the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
“It’s beautiful at night,” she says. Her hand is pressed on his knee to prop herself up, and Min Ho’s hand rubs small circles at her side from where his arm is wrapped around her.
“Not as beautiful as you,” Min Ho murmurs.
Kitty’s smile widens, but she huffs, still looking out the window. “You’re cheesy.”
Min Ho places two fingers under her chin to tilt her face to his. They’re so close that their noses are almost touching, and Kitty can barely hear her breathing over the way her heart thumps wildly in her chest. All of this is still so new, but she wonders if there will ever be a time where she doesn’t feel butterflies in her stomach any time Min Ho looks at her like this.
“What did I do to deserve such a mean girlfriend?” He teases.
Kitty smirks. “I’m payback for all of the broken hearts you caused in your playboy years.”
Min Ho sighs dramatically. “You enjoy my pain, don’t you, Covey?”
“Maybe a little,” Kitty teases. When Min Ho gapes at her, Kitty laughs as she leans forward to give him a kiss.
Min Ho hums when she runs her tongue along the seam of his lips, and then his hand moves to cup the back of her neck as he deepens the kiss. Their mouths move against each other easily, having probably spent hours now learning every way that they fit together seamlessly, and Kitty tugs at his lip a little. It makes a small noise come from the back of Min Ho’s throat, and then he’s practically pulling her into his lap.
Kitty kisses his jaw and trails kisses down to his throat, and Min Ho’s hand tangles in her hair when she sucks lightly at his pulse point. She loves the way he holds her as she sucks a little harder, and she may or may not be determined to leave a hickey. He left one on her collar bone a week ago, which he said was an accident, but Kitty didn’t miss the way his eyes kept moving to it whenever her shirt collar revealed it.
They make out until the car pulls up in front of their hotel, and then they’re both clambering out of it. Kitty regains her composure enough to walk as calmly to the elevator as she can, but when they get in with a group of other people, Min Ho wraps his arm around her waist to pull her against him so they can make room. Kitty’s breath catches but when she looks in the mirror beside them, Min Ho seems completely fine as he gazes up at the increasing floor number.
On their floor, they can slip by the handful of people still in the elevator and Kitty already has her key card out before Min Ho even reaches the door. She swipes them in, and then right as she turns around, Min Ho crowds her against the wall and Kitty moans softly as his lips crash to hers.
The next morning, Kitty is just waking up when their room service breakfast is being rolled into the room. Since they’re staying at a boutique hotel the room isn’t as big as some of the other ones they’ve stayed at, and they have two queen beds rather than two separate rooms or one large king bed. The guy wheeling in their food nods towards Kitty as she throws her hair up in a haphazard bun while still in bed.
“Mr. Moon,” he says.
“Thank you.” Min Ho gives him a tip.
The guy smiles. “Mrs. Moon.”
Kitty can feel herself blush scarlet as the guy turns to leave, and she also sees the way Min Ho blushes too, but he’s grinning from ear to ear. When their door is shut and it’s just the two of them, they laugh.
“Okay, that’s a first,” Kitty says as she kicks back the covers and moves to the end of the bed.
“Yeah, I can’t say I’ve had that happen before.” Min Ho shakes his head a little as he removes the cover from the food. There’s a smirk playing on his lips as he looks at her through his dark eyelashes, his head tilting to the side a little. “You seemed to like it though.”
Kitty can feel her neck and chest turn hot. “It just caught me off guard.”
Besides, they’re both way too young and everything is still way too new for them to even be considering that. There’s still so much for them to talk about, and consider, and Kitty doesn’t even want to begin to think about what will happen when it comes time to go to college. She should be sending out applications this following semester, and she and Min Ho haven’t even talked about what will happen when they graduate—
“I was just joking,” Min Ho says quietly.
Kitty is pulled out of her thoughts as she looks up at him. There’s a crease between his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth are tugged down as he looks at her. He looks almost sad.
“I’m sorry, it’s not that,” Kitty says quickly. “I promise. I was just thinking about college and what will happen. I mean, we haven’t even talked about going to college yet or how we’ll navigate it if one of us goes to one place and the other somewhere else. Lara Jean and Peter made it work despite being on opposite sides of the country, but what if we’re on opposite sides of the world? We’re still young and while I can’t imagine not having you in my life, I don’t want you to feel obligated to stay with me if there’s something you want, and—”
“Kitty, stop.” Min Ho comes to stand in front of her and Kitty blinks away the tears threatening to form. She worries at her bottom lip, and all of her thoughts regarding the future crash into each other. “You’re right, we haven’t talked about university, and there are a lot of things to consider, but I’m not worried.” He tilts his head to the side a little and takes her hand in his. “Whatever it is we both decide to do, I know we can figure it out together. I have a private jet and houses on both sides of the country.” He smiles. “Wherever you go, I’ll be there too. Yeah?”
Not trusting herself to speak, Kitty nods. Min Ho wraps her up in his arms and Kitty inhales the scent of him deeply as she buries her face into his chest. She’s done a good job at not freaking out any time her thoughts turn to “what if’s” and the worst possible scenario, but Min Ho seems more than happy to reassure her when they bubble up too fast for her to tamp down.
He kisses the top of her head. Then when Kitty leans back and tilts her face up to his, he gives her a proper kiss.
“I’m sorry. I worry a lot.”
Min Ho cups the side of her face, his thumb running along her cheek bone. “I know. You don’t need to apologize.” He gives her another kiss. “Now, we should eat because we have a museum to get to.”
Kitty smiles as she slides off the bed, then goes for the chocolate filled croissant she saw Min Ho eyeing a moment ago.
Today is a day set aside solely for the Louvre, with Min Ho’s dad even agreeing to give them the day off from tour obligations since he thinks Kitty should make the most of her time here, and then they have tickets to visit the Catacombs in the evening. Since Notre Dame still isn’t open to the public, Min Ho also said that they could stop by to see it on their way to the Catacombs, too.
Just as Kitty has been amazed by everything she’s seen, she’s awestruck when she finally walks into the Louvre. Min Ho took pictures of her in front of the glass pyramid and then a lovely older couple took pictures of the two of them. They stop by the audio desk to pick up maps and digital guides with headphones, and then Kitty grabs Min Ho’s hand and leads him towards one of the exhibition halls.
Sculpture after sculpture, painting after painting, Kitty takes it all in one step at a time. They’re not rushed, aside from their selected time for the Catacombs, and Kitty is determined to see as much as possible. Most guides she saw said that they would need two hours for the museum, but she knows that she could easily spend days trying to see everything. So, she’s going to aim for four hours at the very least.
She and Min Ho talk a little as they look at everything, though they’re both occupied with their digital guides. The museum seems to go on forever and Kitty is pretty sure she could happily get lost in it for a while. When they eventually make their way to the Mona Lisa, Min Ho takes her picture in front of it. It is smaller than she originally thought, but at least she can say that she’s seen it now. She also sends the picture to Margot and Lara Jean.
Miss Mona Lisa says hi xo
After a few hours of walking and taking pictures, they make their way to the café that’s situated near some stairs. They grab a few pastries and some sandwiches, with both Kitty and Min Ho each getting a glass of wine as they go, and then they head outside to find a table. It’s overcast and Kitty made sure to put on sunscreen before they left, so she tilts her face towards the sky and sighs.
“I think I want to move to Paris,” she says, bringing her gaze to Min Ho.
He’s already looking at her, a soft smile on his face. “Do you now?”
“Yeah.” Kitty smiles. “I don’t suppose you already have a place here?”
She’s teasing, obviously, but Min Ho’s throat bobs. And then: “I could get one.”
He watches her closely, and Kitty’s heart jumps into her throat as they gaze at each other. Like most times, Kitty can feel herself blush and she bites the inside of her cheek. “Did you want to move to Paris?”
“I’m partial to London,” Min Ho says with a little smile, “but I do love the food of Paris.” Kitty’s heart flips in her chest. “We may need a place to stay if you still want to spend two months in Europe after graduation,” he continues.
Kitty runs her hand along her glass of wine to try and distract herself. “Does that mean you’ll be coming with me?”
At that, Min Ho tilts his head to the side a little, a smirk tugging at his lips. “You honestly can’t expect me to let you loose on Europe by yourself. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb and I would feel bad if you caused an accident because you looked the wrong way.”
Kitty huffs, and it only makes Min Ho smile wider. “Like you would sacrifice your beauty sleep and ruin your designer shoes walking with me.”
“Perhaps I could be persuaded.” Min Ho knocks his knee into hers softly beneath the table and it makes Kitty smile.
They turn their attention to their food, with Min Ho checking his watch and saying that they could still spend a few more hours walking around if they wanted before they make their way to Notre Dame and then the Catacombs. Kitty reaches out beneath the table and takes Min Ho’s hand where it’s resting against his knee. He squeezes it, smiling, and then Kitty finally picks up her wine.
After five hours, they walked out of the Louvre and then took a car to Notre Dame. There were a lot of people milling around outside, taking pictures and looking out at the water. When they had seen all there was, Kitty expected there to be another car ready to pick them up and take them to the Catacombs, but then Min Ho asked her if she wanted to walk. Considering that she wore sneakers in an attempt to stave off any blisters or aching feet, Kitty was more than happy to do that. But when she asked Min Ho about his shoes, he only said: “Shoes can be replaced.”
So, they walked the forty minutes to the Catacombs and even stopped to see the Panthéon on their way. All the while Min Ho held Kitty’s hand in his and told her some stories about the first time he visited Paris and the interaction his father had in one of the markets when he tried to buy some things.
Then when they reached the Catacombs, Kitty bounced on her feet while they waited in line to take the steps down. She had seen some videos on YouTube about the Catacombs, but she wasn’t prepared for the amount of steps that she would have to take down, or the amount of walking they would have to do once they reached the bottom.
The instructions were clear: don’t touch the bones. But that was perfectly fine. Kitty didn’t want to touch them anyway.
In a few parts she could feel water dripping from the ceiling and onto her head, and when the first drop landed on Min Ho he jumped enough to make Kitty laugh, then he glared at the lines of water running along the old stones. He kept glancing up to make sure nothing else was going to fall on him, but Kitty didn’t mind nearly as much. As long as the water wasn’t dripping from bones onto her, she was fine.
The tunnels went on and on, and Kitty took pictures of some of the plaques that were put up but took pictures of the bones sparingly. She and Min Ho even took their time reading some of the informational walls that had been put up explaining how the Catacombs came to be, and Kitty refrained from telling Min Ho that he looked really interested for someone who didn’t want to come in the first place.
Then, when it came time to walk through the entryway that says “Arrêtez : C'est ici l'Empire de la Mort,” Kitty stopped to look up at it with her hand on the wall. It was only after they passed through that Min Ho showed her the picture he took of her. She’s standing below the sign with her face tilted towards it. It looked like a picture she would have reblogged on her Tumblr in a heart beat back in middle school. She loved it.
In all, they spend just over an hour walking through the Paris Catacombs and when they come out, they land in the gift shop. Once again, Min Ho seems more than happy to pick up nearly everything Kitty touches, as he did in the Louvre giftshop, and at least this time they would be going to the hotel rather than sending their bags with the driver to be dropped off.
By the time they’re back in their hotel room and Min Ho is ordering dinner to be brought up, Kitty kicks off her shoes and flexes her toes on the thick carpet. Her feet are definitely aching now, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
She yawns. “I’m going to take a bath.”
“Okay, but the food should be here within an hour, so don’t fall asleep.” Min Ho stretches. “Where’s the letter I asked you to write yesterday?”
“With the rest of my stationery.” Kitty leans up and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be out soon.”
Min Ho kisses her temple and then Kitty shuffles towards the bathroom.
For the last full day of their time in Paris, Kitty wasn’t sure what else to expect. They did a lot of the major things, and she knew that Min Ho had to catch up on some things with his dad since he took the day before off, but little did she think that they would get the afternoon together–and another day off of going to the concert.
So, they walk the streets of Paris. They stop for coffee and pastries and any other thing that catches their eye. Kitty takes an ungodly amount of pictures–a lot of which are of Min Ho–and they walk to the steps where Owen Wilson’s character sat in A Midnight in Paris.
She didn’t think she would get to see Versailles, and that’s fine, but Min Ho tells her that he’ll bring her back. “For more than just a few days, and with no concert to worry about.”
Then, they head back to the hotel because Min Ho tells her that he has dinner reservations. Once again, he won’t let on to where those reservations are, but when she asks if she can wear heels he tells her yes. So, Kitty assumes they won’t be going too far.
And they don’t. The dinner reservations are for Madame Brasserie inside the Eiffel Tower.
Kitty’s cheeks hurt from just how much she smiles while they wait for their table, and then they’re seated by the window with a view of the gardens. As the sun sets and the lights of the city begin to shine, Kitty looks from the window to Min Ho. He hasn’t stopped looking at her since they sat down, and it makes her skin tingle.
“You look handsome,” she tells him.
“Oh, I know.” Min Ho smirks, and Kitty rolls her eyes, but they both laugh softly. He rests his arm on the table and opens his hand for her, and Kitty rests her hand in his. He runs his thumb over her knuckles. “You look stunning.”
“Thank you.” Kitty picks up her glass of wine. “See, that’s how you take a compliment.”
Min Ho continues to smile as he picks up her hand and brings it to his lips to kiss the back of it. “Saranghae.”
“I love you, too,” Kitty says, and then she brings Min Ho’s hand up to kiss it like he did hers.
Their waiter arrives, they order, and then like many other nights at this point the two of them sit across from each other and talk about anything and everything they can think of. Paris goes on beneath them, sparkling and continuing on while they get lost in their own little pocket of time.
It’s a perfect ending to a perfect trip to Paris, and when they’re in bed later that night, with Kitty having stolen Min Ho’s shirt after it was discarded when they got back, she lays her head on his bare chest while he wraps her up in his arms. She’s exhausted after the last few days, but she would do it all over again. Especially if Min Ho is with her.
Their next stop is Amsterdam for a day, and she wonders what kind of experience Min Ho will bring her on then. Something tells her that even with the short amount of time they have, they’ll make the most of it.
After all, there’s no one else she would rather travel the world with.