"Lola," Sunghoon's soft voice comes through to me. Blinking, I open my eyes and look up at the young man standing in front of the large double bed with a tray in his hands and lovingly returning my gaze. The scent of toast and cocoa rises to my nose and my mouth immediately waters.
"What is it?", I inquire with a growling stomach. Still a little sleepy, I rub my tired eyes and sit up, allowing Sunghoon to place the tray on my lap and then join me at the bedside. "Breakfast by the bed," he replies, wrapping a strand of brown hair that has come loose from my braid around his finger to tuck behind my ear.
"I just wanted to do something nice for you," he adds with a charming smile on his lips. "Thank you," I reply with a smile as well. I reach for the cup of delicious smelling hot cocoa and sip it before taking a bite of toast, which is spread with a generous layer of strawberry jam.
"When is your cousin coming?", I change the subject after we just sit in silence for a moment. "Not for a few hours," he replies with a wave of his hand. If I'm going to be honest, I'm a little nervous. After all, this is the first time Sunghoon has introduced me to his family. Although it is only his cousin, however, I am worried that she might not like me.
"Eun-ji will love you," says Sunghoon, who must have noticed the worried expression on my face. He clasps my hand with his fingers and strokes the back of my hand reassuringly with his thumb. "I hope so," I reply, smiling away the nervousness.
"Aside from my uncle, who I have almost no contact with anymore, Eun-Ji is the only family I have left," Sunghoon tells me, lowering his eyes sadly. "What about your family on your mother's side?", I want to know. Sunghoon sighs. This topic doesn't seem to come easily to him and immediately I regret even asking him about it.
"I only know them from stories," he goes into the subject, to my surprise. "My father was like poison. Everything he touched broke sooner or later. So did the relationship between my mother and her family. In the end, even she herself..."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your day. We really don't have to talk about it any further if you don't want to," I say, feeling that it's taking a lot out of him. But Sunghoon lifts his gaze to look at me. The corners of his mouth twitch up into a slight smile, while his eyes reflect pure pain over the loss of his mother and simultaneous hatred towards his father.
"If there's anyone I want to talk to about it, it's you," he replies to me. Now it is me who reaches for his hand and carefully strokes the back of his hand with my thumb. As I do so, I keep tracing each of his knuckles, which protrude slightly.
His gaze softens and his muscles relax. Sunghoon tells me what it was like to grow up with his father; how often he saw his mother crying because of him and how often she left the house head over heels with Sunghoon when his father drank too much alcohol again and became aggressive. He tells me that his mother had to bear the consequences for this when she returned. And all because she wanted her only child to be safe.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper honestly, averting my gaze from Sunghoon as a tear escapes the corner of my eye and I feel it make its way inexorably down my cheek. "Don't be," he replies firmly. He pulls my face back in his direction. Wiping away the tear with his thumb, he scrutinizes my face. "I'm a much happier man today. Thanks to you."
Smiling, he places his index finger under my chin and brings my face closer to his to breathe a kiss on the tip of my nose. "By the way, there's one more thing I've been thinking about a lot in the last few days," Sunghoon continues after a brief silence. Still holding my chin with his fingers. "When we first met, you were talking about a degree program you were going to start this summer-"
"I didn't get the spot," I immediately retort, lowering my gaze. I put a hand to my stomach. "Besides, it's not going to work out with my studies anyway in my current state." "But you still want to study, don't you?", Sunghoon asks, reaching for my hand, which I continue to rest on my stomach.
Painting is my passion. And of course I would love nothing more than to start this study. However, my plans have changed quite a bit over the past weeks and months. "I don't know," I sigh.
"Nonsense," Sunghoon replies, squeezing my hand gently. "We both know you'd love nothing more than to study. You have so much talent... It would be terrible if you didn't share that with the world. Don't give up on your dream."
It makes me happy that Sunghoon is considerate of my desires and dreams and supports and encourages me to pursue them instead of talking them down like my father always did.
Sunghoon is right. It would be foolish of me to give up on my dream. Of course, it will be a challenge to balance child and studies, but with him by my side, everything feels so easy. When I am with him, all my doubts and fears vanish into thin air. I love him. And with each passing day, my feelings for this man only grow more.
So much has happened in the past few months; both good and bad things. But Sunghoon has always stayed by my side. I can't even imagine my life without him. Especially now that a part of him is growing inside of me. Sunghoon and my child. Our child.
"I want to be there for our child first.... But then I can well imagine enrolling in college," I explain to Sunghoon, who reaches for my face with a smile. "Together we'll figure it out, Lola," he assures me, placing a gentle kiss on my lips. "Together we'll get it all done," he breathes into the kiss.
Not even for a split second do I doubt his words, because I'm convinced they're true. Smiling, I bury my fingers in his brown hair and pull his face closer to mine to return the kiss. I open my lips a little more and feel our tongues join together.
Soon after, however, Sunghoon pulls away from me again. "I don't want to stop you from eating, after all, you're eating for two," he says a little breathlessly, eyeing my face. His golden eyes sparkle with joy and his slightly swollen lips form into a wide smile.
After I finish my breakfast, I take a shower and get ready for his cousin's visit. Although Sunghoon has assured me that she will like me, I want to make as good an impression as possible.
TimeSkip:
"She's here," Sunghoon informs me as I descend the stairs to the first floor. The heart in my chest skips a beat before continuing to beat at least twice as fast. "Don't be nervous. You'll love her and she'll love you," Sunghoon assures me with a smile.
"I won't bite either, I promise," a voice sounds from the living room. Shortly after, a beautiful young woman with dark eyes and long black hair that falls curly over her shoulders enters the hallway. In her arms she holds a little girl who looks at me with wide eyes before shyly hiding her face.
"Don't be afraid, dear. This is Uncle Sunghoon's fiancée. Her name is Dolores." Obviously, Sunghoon seems to have already told his cousin more about me than I previously thought. It relieves me, because this way we don't have to explain it to her.
My gaze falls on Sunghoon, who accepts his cousin's daughter. "Come to me little one," Sunghoon says in her direction. His voice sounds soft and soothing as he looks at the little girl. Immediately, she starts laughing and wraps her little arms around Sunghoon's neck.
"My name is Eun-Ji, by the way," Sunghoon's cousin informs me. Before I can even consider whether or not to offer my hand in greeting, she is already pulling me into a tight hug. Immediately, I feel accepted and welcomed.
"I'm very happy to finally meet you. Sunghoon has told me so much about you" "I'm glad too" I say a little shyly and return her hug. Shortly after, we break away from the embrace as well.
"You're even prettier than he described to me," Eun-Ji remarks, smiling broadly and giving Sunghoon a slight side blow with her elbow. He flinches briefly and then rolls his eyes with a grin.
"This is my daughter Iseul, by the way," Eun-Ji introduces me to her daughter, who Sunghoon is still carrying in his arms and who keeps looking at me out of her small brown eyes.
Sunghoon nudges her nose, whereupon she shakes her head, giggling, and reaches for his nose. "Oh no, you stole my nose," he says, playfully stunned, holding his nose with his free hand. "What am I going to do without my nose?" He raises his eyebrows and grins broadly at Iseul, who reaches for his nose again. "There," she gives, patting his nose as if to give it back to him. "Thank goodness I got my nose back."
I can't help but smile. It makes me happy and fills me with confidence and warmth to see how lovingly Sunghoon treats his cousin's daughter. If he treats our child like this too, I have no doubt whatsoever that he will become an excellent father.
"Look, Iseul," he says, standing immediately in front of me. The little girl looks at me curiously out of her brown eyes before looking at Sunghoon. "This is Dolores but you can also call her Lola. We're getting married really soon."
"Lola," Iseul says, smiling shyly at me. Sunghoon laughs softly before nodding affirmatively. "That's right, Lola," he repeats before squatting down on the floor in front of me and pointing at my stomach. "And in there is your cousin."
"What?", Eun-Ji speaks up. Her eyes wide, she looks back and forth between me, my belly, and Sunghoon. She doesn't seem to have known about the pregnancy until now. Sunghoon turns his head in her direction before rising from the floor and putting his arm around my shoulders. He places a kiss on my temple.
Eun-ji turns to me. "You're...?" I nod before she can even finish the sentence and put my hands to my stomach. "Oh my God," she says excitedly, waving her hands around in front of her face as tears well up in her eyes. "I can't believe this. I'm really happy for you two," she informs us, falling around my neck first and then Sunghoon's.
"How far along are you?" she asks me. "As of Saturday in week seven," I inform her. "I can't believe this... First Sunghoon tells me he's engaged and now this," Eun-Ji informs me, shaking her head in bewilderment. She wipes the tears from her face with the back of her hand.
"I'm so happy for you two," she says again. We make our way to the living room, where I spend the entire afternoon chatting with Eun-Ji and watching Sunghoon as he engages with Iseul. I can't wait to hold our child in my arms and watch Sunghoon be just as loving with her or him for hours.
But there is one thing missing. One person, to be more specific, Leela. Since our last meeting, which Sunghoon arranged, we haven't had much to do with each other except for a few WhatsApp messages.
The last few months have pretty much driven us apart. But I would like to reestablish contact. Especially now that I'm getting married and pregnant, I miss sharing all this with my best friend.
A/N: Think I'll add some new drama to this story otherwise it'll get too boring and we dont want that :))