A/N: LMAO I usually hate stories, where the female MC gets pregnant so I have no fucking idea why I'm writing this... Hope u guys are still enjoying it somehow.
- - -
"That's what you get for getting drunk," I inform Sunghoon, who with half-open eyes reaches for the glass of water I bring to his bedside along with an aspirin. With a big gulp, he downs the tablet and sets the empty glass down on the nightstand.
Sighing, I sit down at the edge of the bed and reach for his hand, with whose fingers he massages his throbbing temples. I pull his hand away and place my lips against his temple instead.
"That's better," Sunghoon murmurs softly. His full lips form into a wide smile. Blinking, he opens his brown eyes, out of which he eyes me longingly before pulling me closer to his face by the chin to place his lips on mine. I return the kiss tenderly before breaking away from him again and looking at Sunghoon.
"I'm hungry," I inform him, whereupon my stomach growls as well. "Then I guess we should have some breakfast," Sunghoon states, groaning as he rises from the double bed. When I try to match him, he holds me by the shoulders and pushes me back into the mattress. "You stay down for now, Lola. I'll make us breakfast."
Smiling, I lean back and pull the covers over my body. "All right," I say contentedly. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy being pampered by Sunghoon. Breakfast in bed is definitely one of my favorites.
"Don't make me wait too long," I joke. "No way," he replies, still completely hungover, and walks toward the door. With one last glance in my direction, he leaves the bedroom to head downstairs to the kitchen while I grab my phone and scroll through my home page on Instagram. I finally pause at a new post from his cousin Eun-Ji. It shows her with Iseul on her arm.
At her side is a man who definitely must be in his fifties already. Since I don't think this is her daughter's father, I take a look at the description, which only has the word Appa with a white heart behind it. Eun-ji's father.
This must be the uncle Sunghoon once told me about. The one who took over the company temporarily after Sunghoon's father died and got involved in one of my father's businesses to help pay for the expensive treatment in the US.
It took a long time for Sunghoon to introduce me to his cousin. But what about the rest of his family? His uncle? His mother's side of the family? There must be more people. It's not long until our wedding, six days to be exact, and so far we haven't said a word about who else we'll invite from Sunghoon's part of the family aside from Eun-Ji and Iseul.
After thinking about it for quite a while, Sunghoon pushes open the door with his foot and enters the bedroom with a fully packed tray. Immediately, I grab my phone aside and make some space for him. He sets the tray down on my lap and sits back down on the bed with me.
"What were you looking at?" he asaks, ripping off a grape to put between his lips. I swallow hard, not knowing how responsive he is to the subject. He doesn't often talk about his uncle, and when he does, it doesn't exactly sound like they have the best relationship.
"Your cousin posted a picture on Instagram," I reply, reaching again for my phone, which I've placed on the nightstand with the screen facing down. I unlock it and turn the screen in his direction to give Sunghoon a look.
His expression changes abruptly. But instead of commenting, he reaches for one of the glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice and sips it. "That's your uncle, isn't it?" I ask him. He, however, merely nods.
"I've been thinking again, and we haven't even talked about who all from your family will be attending our wedding," I try to approach the subject. In doing so, I am direct, yet cautious.
Sunghoon wraps his fingers a little tighter around the glass. "Eun-Ji and Iseul, as discussed," he replies taciturnly. "Yes, but what about the rest of your family?", I ask, biting into my strawberry jam spread toast. "What about them?", Sunghoon retorts.
He seems cool, yet he doesn't avoid the conversation, for which I'm very grateful. After all, Sunghoon tends to avoid not only his feelings, but also any problems or topics that make him uncomfortable.
"I would just like to get to know them," I reply with a shrug, stirring my cocoa that Sunghoon has made for me. "I don't want you to meet them," he replies directly, shaking his head. He looks distinctly tense and avoids looking me in the eye.
His words hit me.
"Am I not good enough to meet your family?", I ask, putting my toast back on the plate that is on the tray. All appetite is gone from me.
"I didn't say that, Lola. Now don't take it so personally again. It's really annoying," Sunghoon says annoyed and throws his head back with a sigh. Ouch.
"I'm sorry, that I'm obviously so insufferable," I say offended, pushing the tray off my lap to get up from the double bed. "Wait," Sunghoon says immediately, holding me by the wrist to prevent me from getting up from the bed. I turn my face away from him to avoid his brown eyes, which are scrutinizing me intently.
"Leave me alone," I whisper in a quivering voice. I'm on the verge of tears. Why is he so irritable lately that even a topic like getting to know his family ends in an argument between us?
I try to break free from his grip, but Sunghoon wraps his fingers a little tighter around my wrist. "No," he says. "Listen to what I have to say first." "Oh believe me, you've said enough to make me understand that I'm a total pain in the ass that you don't want to introduce to your family," I draw my conclusions.
The first tear rolls down my cheek. I'm reacting way too emotionally again. It's probably the hormones. Again, I want to break free from his grip, but Sunghoon doesn't let go.
"Do you think you're the only person whose family is broken, Dolores?!", Sunghoon wants to know and raises his voice. Immediately, I stop and look him in the eye. His chest rises and falls erratically.
"My uncle is a damn hypocrite, at least he has enough decency to take reasonably good care of his daughter and granddaughter. My paternal grandparents are dead and my maternal family?" A contemptuous snort escapes his lips. "When my mother took her own life, they didn't even think it necessary to show up at her funeral. They said she was a disgrace to the family.... That's what they called her."
Silently, I listen to what Sunghoon has to say and immediately I feel bad for not simply asking him why I haven't met his family and why he doesn't want to invite them to the wedding.
"These people are not my family anymore, you know? Eun-Ji is my family, Iseul is my family-" he finally continues, loosening his grip on my wrist to place his hands against my cheeks instead. "You and our child... You are my family. All the family I need to be happy. I don't want to fight with you, Lola. I don't want to lose you."
"I'm sorry," I whisper. Sunghoon shakes his head. "I'm sorry, you couldn't have known any better," he says, planting a kiss on my forehead. "And you're not annoying... You're perfect and I love you just the way you are. Please forgive me for hurting your feelings."
"It's okay.", I whisper and wrap my arms around his neck. Sunghoon pulls me close to him. "I just don't want to fight with you anymore, we're getting married in six days," Sunghoon murmurs, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
"Arguing is part of any relationship," I reply. "The most important thing is that we get along and communicate again." "You're right...as always," Sunghoon whispers, breathing a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. "I love you for that," he adds, finally placing his full lips on mine.
Gently, I return his kiss and bury my fingers in his brown hair. The kiss tastes like freshly squeezed oranges. His fingers make their way down my waist, where they leave a pleasant tingle on my skin.
A slight squeeze in my belly makes me pause. "What is it?", Sunghoon asks, eyeing me anxiously. There it is again. Gentle, barely noticeable.
"I feel it," I whisper and reach for his hands, pulling them to the spot on my belly where I think I can feel the tender kicks of our baby's tiny little feet. It's still so small, I don't know if Sunghoon can feel it too.
I feel it again. "There it was again," I say, highly focused on this barely perceptible feeling in my belly. But he doesn't seem to notice it. Maybe it's still a bit too early for that, after all, I'm only in my twentieth week.
"That's coming," Sunghoon assures me, gently kissing my belly as he draws little circles on it with his finger. I love it when he does that. The tray then pulls up to us again.
We calmly finish our breakfast and the argument from before is blown away. That afternoon, we meet with the catering service we chose for our wedding to talk about the menu. Sunghoon and I want a mix of Spanish and Korean cuisine, since in addition to his cousin Eun-Ji, many of his closest associates as well as friends will be attending our wedding who also have Korean roots.
On the advice of the caterer, we agree on a mixed buffet, in which the starter, main course and dessert are already openly available, because there is always something for everyone and so everyone can decide for themselves what, when and how much they want to eat.
The closer this big day for us gets, the more excited I am and the more real it becomes that a week from today I will no longer be Dolores Rey, but Dolores Park. Sunghoon's wife.
When I first saw Sunghoon six months ago, I wouldn't have believed in my life that it would once happen like this. The past few months have taken many drastic turns. Starting with the news from my father that I have to marry a man I don't even know, that my father almost beat me to death when Sunghoon wanted to take the wedding out of the contract, that Teresa is really my mother. Sunghoon, who I kiss. Sunghoon who returns my kiss. My father, who almost killed Sunghoon. Our first time. His marriage proposal. My father's trial and conviction. My pregnancy.
"What are you thinking about, Jagiya?" Sunghoon asks, looking steadfastly at me across the table of the small restaurant where we are having dinner after our meeting with the caterer. "I love you," I answer his question.
The word love doesn't even begin to describe what I feel for him. There is so much more to it, so much that any words in the world would not suffice. "I love you too, Jagiya," Sunghoon replies, reaching for my hand. Gently, he strokes the back of my hand with his thumb and smiles warmly at me.
A/N: 7 chapters left my lovies