"Jagiya," I hear Sunghoon's calm voice. He gently shakes my shoulders to wake me up. Tiredly, I rub my eyes before blinking them open and looking at Sunghoon. His face is inches from mine.
"I'll be going over in a minute," Sunghoon informs me quietly. Gently, he brushes my brown hair out of my face and tucks it behind my ear before blowing a kiss on the tip of my nose.
"Okay," I whisper. Actually, I would prefer that he stays here. I enjoy being close to him, it feels good. But Teresa and my mother will surely be up soon, and then I don't want them to find us like this. I want what happened last night between Sunghoon and I to stay between Him and me.
"I would love to wake up next to you every morning," Sunghoon sighs longingly, eyeing my face. He runs his thumb over my lower lip before placing his lips on mine and kissing me. It's a gentle kiss, full of love and longing.
My gaze wanders past Sunghoon to the nightstand, on which is still the small box containing the ring Sunghoon proposed to me with a few weeks ago. He said that the ring was a promise and we didn't have to get married unless I wanted to.
When I first met Sunghoon, he acted heartless and selfish. But the more time we spent together and after everything that happened in the past few months, the more I discovered his true colors.
Sunghoon is not a heartless person and certainly not a selfish person. He would do anything to protect me. He would even lay down his life to keep me safe. No one has ever done that for me. And if I needed any proof to be sure that Sunghoon's feelings towards me were genuine, that would be it.
"What are you thinking about?", Sunghoon's soft voice brings me back to reality. He follows my gaze and lingers on the ring box. "I love you," I murmur.
Sunghoon's brown eyes meet mine and the corners of his mouth pull up into a smile. It takes all my effort to withstand his gaze and say the following words. "I don't know when it will be, but I want to marry you someday."
"Jagiya," Sunghoon murmurs, putting his hand to my cheek. "You would make me the very happiest man on earth if I could call you my wife someday." The heart in my chest beats faster when Sunghoon says that. My lips involuntarily form a broad smile and I can't help but kiss him.
As I do, I move closer to him so that our bare skin touches under the covers. It feels good and right to be so close to him. Sunghoon breaks away from my lips to reach for the ring box sitting on the nightstand behind him.
"You are the only woman who ever made my heart beat since my mother died," Sunghoon begins softly. His voice trembles with excitement and he looks deeply into my eyes as he does so.
"At first, these feelings scared me and it took me a while to realize that you are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life side by side with. And for real, not as part of some stupid contract."
Tears run down my cheeks as his words fill me with so much emotion it's just overwhelming. "So I ask you-" Sunghoon sits up and animates me to follow him. Hiding my naked torso with the blanket, I stare at him as if mesmerized.
"Whenever the time comes, would you like to be my wife?", Sunghoon wants to know, looking at me with hope. For a brief moment, I am unable to open my lips and say anything because the feelings overwhelm me.
"Yes," I finally say with an affirming nod as I find my voice again. His brown eyes fill with tears and I hear him sniffle softly before he takes the ring out of the box and twirls it briefly in his fingers.
Sunghoon takes a deep breath before reaching for my left hand and putting the ring on my ring finger. With his thumb, he gently brushes away the tears that are making their way down my cheek. "I love you, Lola," Sunghoon breathes, looking deep into my eyes again.
I feel the butterflies in my stomach as he leans in to kiss me. Shortly after, we break away from each other and Sunghoon rises from the large four-poster bed. "I'm making breakfast," he informs me, throwing himself back into the clothes spread out on the floor.
Smiling, Sunghoon gives me one last look before pulling the door shut behind him and leaving me alone. I stare at the ring on my finger and can't believe this is really happening right now; Sunghoon and I are engaged.
My lips form into a smile. No contract between him and my father. No deals decided over my head. A thing that happened only between Sunghoon and me.
Really engaged.