Page 9 of From Paris to Seoul

And suddenly, a wild idea popped into my head. I grabbed my phone, opened the map, and said, “Alright, let’s see where my finger lands. Random choice… here we go.”

I closed my eyes, held my breath, and randomly tapped a spot on the map.

I looked down, smiling. “Oh look, my finger’s got good taste. It says… Europe.”

I felt a spark of excitement. “Of course. Paris. It’s been way too long since I’ve been there!”

“But wait…”

And even before Ji-a finished her sentence, I already booked a return ticket to Paris for next week.

For a moment, as the adrenaline coursed through my system, I felt a rush of satisfaction.

So who’s boring now?I muttered to myself, a grin tugging at my lips.

4

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Baekhyun

Paris is everything I imagined… and so much more. After 15 hours on the plane and battling exhaustion (since, naturally, I couldn’t sleep on the flight), we finally arrived at a beautiful boutique hotel downtown, along with a bunch of other models, all courtesy of Sun-hee’s agency.

The next day, despite the jet lag, we dove into exploring the city. My first impression of Paris is pure amazement at its breathtaking architecture—the centuries-old buildings, majestic cathedrals, iconic museums… even the bridges are a sight to behold.

I could lose myself for hours at the Pont Alexandre III, watching the sunlight dance on the Seine below and waiting for the streetlights to flicker on.

I’m starting to think this might be the most beautiful city in the world. Though, to be fair, I can’t really compare it to anywhere else, since this is the first time I’ve ever left Korea.

But the city also has its surprises: smelly metro stations, food that’s a world away from what we’re used to in Korea, and… that complicated, seemingly impossible language.

I was so excited when I first spoke very broken French at the airport, and people actually understood me! And I understood them too! But as I continued, some French people scrunched uptheir noses. I didn’t take it personally, though; I know my French is far from perfect.

Sun-hee praised me, pleasantly surprised that I could speak a little French. For a moment, it almost felt like I was living in my own Western TV series.

But, as with everything, there’s a downside. Traveling with influencers and models means every second of the day turns into content creation. Sun-hee had been busy the entire trip, spending nearly all her time vlogging and taking pictures for her followers.

And when I sayeverythingis content, I mean everything. Airplane food? Gotta find the right angle! Our hotel room in Paris? That’s at least ten minutes of footage right there. First croissant? Get ready for twenty minutes of reactions, angles, filters—and oh, now she’s going into full “review mode.” I can already imagine the title of a video on her channel: ‘I tried the 10 best croissants in Paris’ or something like that.

The rare times she actually speaks to me are usually to ask me to take countless photos of her or to grumble that the angle makes her look fat. How a 45 kg grown woman could possibly look “fat” in a picture is beyond me.

And then there’s the shopping situation.

I get that Paris is basically a sacred site for luxury-brand lovers, but they’re genuinely more excited about queuing for hours in the freezing weather outside designer stores than they are about exploring the city itself.

I could probably point out Notre Dame right next to us, but they wouldn’t care unless a luxury bag store was in their line of sight.

So on the third day, I actually felt a bit relieved to explore the city on my own while Sun-hee attended Fashion Week.

“Oppa, let’s meet tonight after Fashion Week at a restaurant near Opéra Garnier?” she suggested.

“Sure, just send me the address and let me know when you’re almost done,” I replied as we left the hotel. She nodded and headed off with her loud influencer-slash-model friends, all busy commenting on each other’s shoes.

I watched them leave for a moment. I really don’t get that obsession with fashion and designer brands.

I can appreciate a neat or cool outfit, of course. But for me, fashion is just… fashion. There’s no deeper meaning behind it.

I continued walking in the opposite direction, considering the metro, but the weather was too perfect to be stuck underground.

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