Eyes Full Of Stars || Park Sunghoon

27 ¦ Please Stay

I protectively hold my arms in front of my face while my father keeps hitting and kicking me. I open my lips to scream, but no sound comes out. "You are a disappointment," he says. Again and again, he kicks me hard in the ribs until I can't breathe. One last kick makes me cry out loudly.

Bathed in sweat, I tear open my eyes, from which tears stream inexorably down my cheeks. The pain in my ribs seems stronger than ever and breathing is difficult, so I sit up in a panic. My heart beats rapidly against my chest, which rises and falls erratically. "It was just a dream...", I tell myself, trying to think of something soothing.

Immediately, I think of that night at the beach house when I also had a bad dream and Sunghoon calmed me down by singing to me a Korean song that his mother used to sing when he had a bad dream.

The pressure in my chest dissipates and my breathing and heartbeat also gradually calm down. With my eyes closed, I take a deep breath through my nose and hold it for a count of ten before slowly letting the air escape through my mouth.

When the pain also subsides, I wipe the tears from my face and lie down again. I toss and turn restlessly for at least half an hour until I sit up in bed and turn on the bedside lamp. For a moment I remain sitting motionless at the edge of the bed before I rise and walk towards the door. Quietly, I open it and leave the room to go downstairs to the kitchen to get myself a glass of water.

As I do so, I avoid turning on any of the lights and try to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake anyone. Once in the kitchen, I grab a glass from the wall cabinet and fill it with water. "Dolores?", Sunghoon's voice suddenly sounds behind me.

Startled, I flinch, almost dropping the glass. I whirl around and catch sight of the shadowy outline of Sunghoon standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. "You scared me," I reproach him, putting a hand to my racing heart.

"I'm sorry," he replies. Although I can only dimly make out his face in the darkness, I can hear by the sound of his voice that he's grinning. "Why are you awake?" "I had a bad dream," I reply, putting the empty glass in the sink before turning back to Sunghoon, who approaches me and stops just a few steps away. "And you?" "Me too," he confesses to me.

"Oh," I merely make, not knowing what to say. Of course, the thing I'd most like to do is ask him what he was dreaming. But just like me, I'm sure he wouldn't want to talk about it, so it's not my place to ask.

Obviously, Sunghoon doesn't know what to say either, which is why he takes a glass from the cabinet and silently stands next to me to fill it with water. I turn to him and place my hand on the kitchen counter. Sunghoon seems to have the same thought, and as our fingers graze, we both freeze for a brief moment and look at each other.

The moon bathes the kitchen in a soft light. Gradually, my eyes have become familiar with the lighting conditions, so I can now make out Sunghoon's face a little better. His eyes are fixed on me and his lips are slightly parted.

"I'm sorry," I murmur and want to pull my hand away, but he holds it tightly and places it back on the counter, where he gently strokes the back of my hand with his thumb. As he does so, he doesn't take his eyes off my face.

My breath quickens a little and I feel the blood in my veins heating up. We linger like this for a moment, until I feel this strange desire inside me to get even closer to him. I don't know if Sunghoon feels the same way, and that's why he suddenly backs away from me, taking his warm hand from mine.

"We should go back to sleep," Sunghoon says in an occupied voice, clearing his throat quietly. Within seconds, he empties his glass and puts it in the spool with mine.