The Stade de France or France Stadium was huge but not as huge as other American stages that the idol group had walked on. So they were not impressed by this gigantism. That night, the stadium would host more than 70,000 enthousiastic fans but for the moment it was empty except for the artists, the staff who accompanied them from Korea and the staff who would take care of the security of the venue for this event.

     The stage BTS was currently rehearsing on was amazingly shaped but similar to the one they used to walk on. There was a first big stage above the backstage with trapdoors to slip away but also a giant screen in the background. 

     That stage like always had an extension, a smaller stage in the middle of the crowd and the two stages were linked together by a high path, a walkway that would cross the human sea like a pontoon rushing from the bank to the sea. 

      The boys had planned several moments of their concert on this small stage and they would therefore have to run across the pontoon several times during the evening.

     The day passed surprisingly quickly. The boys, in great shape, rehearsed flawlessly and at the end of the day, felt completely ready for this first concert of the European tour.

     Fans of various nationalities arrived in droves, armed with their army bombs, coming from all walks of life, not only from France, as evidenced by the discussions which took place in various languages ​​– French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin, Danish Arabic and even Korean. Everyone's excitement was palpable and everyone was eager to finally see their idols appear before their eyes.

     "Un ! Deux ! Trois !" Jungkook shouted, counting down the start of the singers speaking with his fans.

    "Bonjour, we are BTS!" shouted Namjoon, before continuing: "Enchanté, je m'appelle RM, nice to meet you!"

     "Bonjour, je m'appelle V," Taehyung continued, in a more pronounced Korean accent than that of Namjoon and Jungkook, his deep and sensual voice bringing to the French language a new charm full of mystery which he accompanied with his boxy charming smile and the "V" sign that he stuck near his right eye and which was also his trademark. "Nice to meet you guys!"

     "Bonjour!" Yoongi said in turn, before pausing for a moment to wait for the end of the ensuing yelling, then: "Nice to meet you guys, I'm suga!"

     When the camera focused on him, Jin frowned and put on a mysterious expression before blowing the crowd a flying kiss that caused another wave of hysterical screaming across the stadium. Then, he introduced himself in an almost childish tone with the first part of his presentation, waving his hand in greeting to his fans:

     "Bonjour! Hello, I'm Worldwide Handsome Jiiiiin!"

     "Bonjour, je suis Jimin !" Jimin added simply with a candid smile.

     "Bonjour Paris!" shouted Hoseok with his bright smile, "I'm your hope, you're my hope, I'm J-hoooope!"

     "Bonjour... Je m'appelle Jungkook... Enchanté !"

       Fans squealed in delight at the end of each of those three sentences, causing Jungkook's bunny smile to widen consequently. It was too much for the fans: these boys definitely made their language much too sensual or cute in their ears.

      The boys continued their discussion for a while longer to enthuse the crowd and set things on fire at the start of the evening.

     "Army, are you readyyyyyyyy?!" Hoseok yelled.

     The show was on.

     For nearly three hours, and five different acts cut by intermissions, they performed with energy in their sumptuous costumes, under tremendous light effects across the two stages. 

      The army bombs never ceased to light up the stadium and the successive waves made it a real stormy ocean on which the seven idols sailed, delighted with this atmosphere which seemed in turn to bring them out of the fire of passion to plunge into this sea ​​of ​​love that enveloped them in the same way with shivers of excitement.

     The moment of the solos arrived and each one performed alone under the eyes of the 70,000 spectators. When it was finally Jungkook's turn, he revealed a surprise to the fans:

     "For this first step of the European tour, I wanted to present you instead of Euphoria an exclusive song that I wrote one day when I felt alone. But today, I don't feel alone anymore, Army, so..." He slightly turned to Jin to finish his sentence: "...I dedicate this song, Still with you, that comes from my heart, to... you."

     The rest of the group members looked at him with wide eyes as they knew that Jungkook had not received permission from the managers to sing this song. He had to go and ask the sound and light engineers himself to do him this favour. Behind the scenes, Han and Lee had to rail furiously against Jungkook. Jin, meanwhile, had perceived Jungkook's message and he was eager to hear this song.

     As the excited crowd cheered on Jungkook's lyrics, Jungkook motioned for his six hyungs to stay on stage with him to check out his song with the fans. So, they stayed in their places and waited for the musical accompaniment to start.

https://youtu.be/djKdPZiJdvA

     When it was done, Jungkook immediately immersed the France Stadium in a bath of emotions with his song "Still with me" which seemed to have a double meaning in the ears of the members. 

     While for the fans who adored Jungkook and that Jungkook uncompromisingly adored too, the song was explicitly dedicated to them, for the members there was no doubt that this song, written just before the reconciliation between Jin and Jungkook, was dedicated to Jin.

     Jungkook also kept looking away from the crowd to look at his members who discovered the song at the same time as the rest of the spectators, but it was obvious that it was Jin's gaze that he was constantly looking for.

     This song was for the whole group a terrible reminder of past events, of the virtual break-up of their group, of the loneliness of some, but it also reminded them to be grateful for the affection that united them all, thanks in part to the music that bound their hearts to each and now poured into this sea of ​​fans, the content of their hearts.

     Each word weighed heavily in Jin's heart and came up to his eyes which misted and were ready to pour Jin's emotion on his cheek. Jungkook's poetry overwhelmed him with its beauty but above all with its meaning because he understood each of the words as a bandage directly applied to the wounds of his heart and Jungkook's reassuring voice as the one that was to lead him away from his misery and his loneliness. 

     Each "you" was directly aimed at Jin, he was convinced of it because Jungkook often made sure to meet his gaze when this pronoun reappeared.

     But inside this song loaded with love and happiness in the reunion of hearts and soul, Jin perceived Jungkook's pain all too well at the time he wrote it. The darkness of loneliness, like the one he evoked in his own song Abyss, seemed to dawn in Jungkook's song. This text was an ink-blackened page straight from the bruised heart that Jungkook carried as each of them lived unhappy lonely existences.

      By singing this song tonight after the events of the previous day, Jungkook was applying himself at this moment to chase away the doubts from Jin's heart. They needed each other to be happy, that was his message.

      When the song ended, the stadium was in a religious silence. Everyone was captivated by the words of Jungkook who did not accompany his song with any choreography and let his message reach everyone's heart in a form full of humility. 

     The singer bowed to greet his audience and thanked them with a resounding "Merci!" which suddenly brought the crowd out of its torpor. 

     As a roar took over the bleachers, Jungkook let his hyungs surround him and praise him for such an emotional performance. Each of them had tears in their eyes and when he met Jin's watery gaze, Jungkook was afraid that he himself would burst into tears as the emotion ran through him too.

      But they had no time to waste. The last song of the evening, Mikrokosme, was about to start and they snapped into place. They realized during the performance that the text perfectly complemented that of Jungkook.

https://youtu.be/LXOJk2PFKgY

    During this performance, Jin and Jungkook remained professional and concentrated on the song and the choreography but as soon as the end of the song arrived and that all the members were found on the small stage in the middle of the crowd, they found themselves side by side, arm in arm for the salute in front of the crowd and for a few seconds which seemed like an eternity to them, they did not take their eyes off each other.

     As Yoongi took the stage for their closing speech and exclaimed "Merci, merci Paris, merci. Je t'aime Paris !"Jin realized his shoelaces were undone. After their speech and before disappearing for the last time backstage, they would still have to perform on the song "Love Yourself" so he couldn't let his shoelaces hang out like this because he risked falling during a dance move.

     He bent down to do them again but painfully remembered that he couldn't because his two right fingers were still immobilized and that it was a staff member who tied his shoelaces at each costume change. He made a few desperate movements before angrily tucking his shoelaces inside his shoes.

    "Aren't you going to beg me?" Jungkook whispered with fun in Jin's ear as he witnessed the scene to his left.

     "In your dreams!" Jin retorted similarly before pleading: "please, Jungkook-nim, could you do me the honor of helping me?"

     Jungkook chuckled before kneeling down and tying his hyung's laces. Before getting up, he grabbed a bottle of water and uncapped it before giving it to Jin who, grateful, could finally quench his thirst. 

     When he was done drinking however, he retaliated by squeezing the plastic bottle tightly so that the water was squeezed out and splashed on Jungkook's face.

      He returned the bottle to Jungkook who drank after him before closing it and throwing it away. Surprised, Jungkook counterattacked by grabbing the bottle and pouring what was left of the water over Jin's head, making the onlookers laugh as the goodbye speeches took place and had to stop when tens of thousands of people laughed at the same time facing the chaotic duo whose faces were dripping with water but who wore a dazzling smile.

     "Jin hyuuuung, Jungkoooook! You cut me off again at the most important moment," Jimin whined into his mic, referring to what happened at the press conference, when the conference was interrupted due to Jungkook's catapult and Jin's piercing scream, "why is it always me?" 

    The member and the fans burst out laughing then focused again on the goodbye speeches, also with the last words in French of the evening spoken by the members at the beginning of each of their speeches:

     "Merci merci ! Je vous aime !" Namjoon shouted.

     "Je vous aime," Jimin said.

     "Merci Paris, vous êtes mon espoir et ma raison de vivre. Je vous aime. Un gros merci!" (Thank you Paris, you are my hope and my reason for living. I love you. A big thank you!) Hoseok thanked passionately.

     "Je vous fait une promesse, je reviendrai l'année prochaine ! Je vous aime plus que jamais ! ("I make you a promise, I will come back next year! I love you more than ever!") Taehyung promised.

     "Vous êtes les meilleurs!" ("You are the best") Jin smiled.

     And finally, Jungkook concludes, all smiles:

     « Je suis heureux aujourd'hui. J'étais fatigué et malade pendant le dernier concert mais maintenant je ne le suis plus. Je suis heureux grâce à vous. Je vous aime ! » ("I'm happy today. I was tired and sick during the last concert but now I am not. I am happy thanks to you. I love you!")

_______

(Author's note: all the sentences in French are those that the seven members really pronounced during their different concerts in France and that I compiled).

_______

     As the musical accompaniment to Love Yourself, the last song of the concert, began, confetti began to rain down on stage and almost all of the members, as they took turns singing their passages, made their way to the main stage in the direction of the trapdoor which were to engulf them and bring them back to the backstage.

     Before getting ready to run along the walkway to join the others, Jin and Jungkook as for them, dragged a little on the small stage to greet with a frantic wave of the hand this crowd in front of which Jungkook had finally been able to sing his song to Jin. This scene would forever have a special flavor for them from that moment on. They were convinced of it.

     The glowing of army bombs which glow red was reflecting in their eyes and they wanted to imprint it in their memory. So, they stood for a few more moments gazing affectionately at the crowd one last time.

      That was their mistake.

________

Author's Notes: I leave you with a popular french song that announces the coming storm for the end of Book 6.

https://youtu.be/K5KAc5CoCuk