6 months later:
"Your tea," Sunghoon informs me as he sets the cup of steaming, deliciously scented tea down on the small shelf next to the table. I'm just putting the brush with the red paint to the canvas when Sunghoon wraps his arms around my waist from behind and pulls me to his chest.
"Hoon!", I say upset and pull the brush back before I lose control of it and the canvas lapses. Immediately, he loosens his arms and recoils. "I'm sorry, Lola. I wasn't thinking," he immediately apologizes and looks at the half-finished painting inquiringly.
"What are you working on?" he wants to know in the next breath. "On a paper that we have to hand in to one of the professors," I reply, looking at my painting, which I myself don't quite know what to make of yet.
"We're supposed to depict our lives using colors." "Color symbolism," Sunghoon states quietly, wrapping his arms around my body again to pull me close. "My area of expertise."
Instantly, memories of that day Sunghoon took me to his good friend Taehyung's art gallery come flooding back to me. I think of how he explained to me the meaning of the painting based on the colors and how fascinated I had been by it. Not to mention how nervous Sunghoon made me at that moment.
"Shoot away," I challenge him. A sly grin graces my lips. Sunghoon laughs softly, his warm breath brushing the back of my neck, on which he spreads soft kisses. He squeezes me a little tighter against him so that I'm leaning with my back against his chest.
"Orange-," Sunghoon begins quietly, pointing his finger at the orange color. "The color represents the joy of life, but also creativity. In reference to that, I guess for you it symbolizes your passion for painting more than anything else."
Nodding, I agree with his conclusion. Laughing, he breathes more kisses on my neck, reinforcing the goosebumps that have formed on my body. "Green-", Sunghoon continues. Gently, he runs his fingers over my arm. "Stands for happiness, harmony but also life...Daniel. Definitely."
"Very true," I reply, pressing my lips together. "And finally, red-" His lips are now right by my ear. Transfixed, I stand there staring at my painting as Sunghoon once again savors his effect on me, completely captivating me. "Stands for courage and strength. On the other hand, also for passion and love. I'll assert confidently that it symbolizes us."
"Correct again," I reply and turn to around him, wrapping my arms around his neck. I lose myself in his beautiful brown eyes. A smile steals onto my face as Sunghoon pulls me closer to his body by the waist.
"And what's my reward?" he wants to know with a cheeky grin, eyeing me lustfully for a moment before his brown eyes meet mine again. My gaze wanders from his brown eyes to his slightly parted lips.
Carefully I pull his head down to me to kiss him. Quickly, the gentle, careful kiss turns into a passionate, greedy kiss. Sunghoon slides his hands under my shirt and tenderly feels his way along my skin with his fingertips, leaving a fiery goose bump on my skin that spreads rapidly over my entire body.
Consciously, I press my hips against his, eliciting a soft sigh from him. He lifts me off the floor and I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me toward the table, where he sets me down and playfully tampers with the bow of my sweatpants.
At that moment, a soft whimper sounds from the baby monitor. We break away from each other and glance back and forth between the baby monitor and us.
"False alarm," Sunghoon murmurs contentedly, pressing his lips to mine again. At that moment, Daniel begins to cry. Sighing, Sunghoon disengages from me again. "I'll go check on him for a minute," I say, sliding down from the table.
While tying the waistbands of my sweatpants back into a bow, I walk toward the closed door. Suddenly, Sunghoon grabs my arm and pulls me back, shaking my head. "I'm going," he decides, smiling at me.
"You keep painting your painting, Jagiya." He runs his thumb over my cheek before he breathes one last quick kiss on my lips and leaves the studio. Smiling, I sip my tea and finally reach for the brush to continue painting.
"Come here, you little tease," I hear Sunghoon's calm voice speaking through the baby monitor and turn to face him with the brush in my hand. For a while Sunghoon says nothing and gradually our son's crying subsides.
Suddenly, Daniel laughs. "You think that's funny, huh?" asks Sunghoon, laughing as well. "We'll go see what Mommy is doing." Smiling, I turn back to my painting and dab some red paint on it.
Not half a minute later, the door opens and Sunghoon comes into the room with our son in his arms. I put my brush down again and press a kiss to Daniel's forehead. He grins at me. "Someone's in a good mood," I state, nudging his nose.
"He rolled over on his belly again by himself," Sunghoon proudly informs me, glancing back and forth between Daniel and me. At this, a wide smile graces Sunghoon's lips. "Really?", I ask in amazement, stroking Daniel's head. Sunghoon nods.
"I think I'll go change his diaper and then we can go, right?" my husband inquires. We have a coffee date at my mother's house today. Jungkook and Teresa, who now live together, are also coming.
"Yes. I'll tidy up then," I inform Sunghoon, who leaves the room with Daniel in his arms to go change him.
Sunghoon is so loving and patient with Daniel. He is happy to see any progress in his development and engages with him a lot. I couldn't be happier that he is Daniel's father.
Sunghoon is the kind of father we both would have liked to have had. My life has turned from a walking nightmare into the life I always wanted. And I am glad and grateful for everything we have accomplished together that has led us here.
All my dreams and deepest desires have come true. I am married to a man whom I love more than anything and who carries me on his hands, I have a wonderful son, I study, I make my hobby my profession.
All this would not have happened if it were not for my father. I will hate this man for everything he has done for the rest of my life, deeply loathe him. And at the same time, in a way, I will always be grateful to him for bringing Sunghoon and me together.
But even if my father gets out of prison one day, I will not let him back into my life. He won't get close to me or Sunghoon or our son. He has ruined that for himself, just as he destroys everything he touches.
And me? I will live my life. I will love Sunghoon and Daniel with every day I get to be in this world as if it were my last day. I will do all the things I have always dreamed of doing. I won't waste another second because life is too precious to let my past hold me back.
Life is now with Sunghoon, Daniel, and all the other people I care about. And now is all I need to be happy. And I am happy. I am endlessly happy.
The end.