Eyes Full Of Stars || Park Sunghoon

16 ¦ Nightmare

"You were just a bet for me.... I wanted revenge, nothing else." Yeosang pushes me against the wall. "Scream as loud as you want, this time no one will be here to save you."

"No, let go of me." My voice is nothing more than a soft whisper and I feel myself trying with all my might to free myself from Yeosang's grip.

"Stop it. leave me alone." Panicked, I look around for Sunghoon, who doesn't appear as Yeosang slides his hand under my dress and presses me harder against the wall as he kisses along my neck.

"Sunghoon...", I press out with all my might, hoping that Sunghoon will hear me and rush to my aid, but he doesn't appear. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut and press my lips together as I feel a heavy blow to my face and go down.

When I open my eyes, I am no longer in Yeosang's house, but in my father's office, looking down at me with a hateful expression. "You're the biggest disappointment of my life, you know that?" he asks, kicking me hard in the ribs.

"You're a worthless, stupid child, and I wish you'd never been born." He gives me another kick and I writhe on the floor whimpering as tears stream down my cheeks.

"Dolores,"Sunghoon's soft voice comes through to me and I tear open my eyes. "No...no," I keep saying, whimpering softly as I turn back and forth.

"Dolores!!!", Sunghoon now says loudly after all and I feel two strong hands grab my shoulders, bringing me back down to earth.

I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hand and look around the dimly lit room. I am either in Yeosang's house nor in my father's office, but in the cottage where Sunghoon took me for the weekend. Although I'm beginning to realize that all of this has just been a reality-based nightmare, I can't stop crying.

"What's wrong?" asks Sunghoon anxiously. Sobbing, I look into the worried eyes of the young man standing bent over me in front of my bed, his brown hair falling into his forehead.

"Nothing," I reply, averting my gaze from him. Carefully, Sunghoon releases his hands from my shoulders and reaches for my chin with his right hand instead, which he pulls up so I have to look him in-the eye.

"I heard you screaming and crying all the way next door."Gently, Sunghoon wipes away the tears with his thumb, which continue to run down my cheek. "And you're still crying..." he states in a calm, quietvoice.

For a moment, I silently return Sunghoon's gaze to sort out my thoughts."I had a bad dream," I finally confess to him, my voice no more than a soft whisper. 

"About what?", he wants to know. "I don't want to talk about that...", I say. Sunghoon nods in understanding. "Okay," he replies quietly.

He lets go of my chin and pulls his hand back. "Close your eyes," he prompts me. Suspiciously, I look at Sunghoon, whose face I can only dimly make out in the dim light cast into the room by the small lamp sitting on the nightstand.

"Trust me." he sighs as he notices my suspicion. Slowly, I comply with his request and close my eyes.

"When I was little, I used to have nightmares almost every night too...", begins Sunghoon and I feel him tuck me in neatly. "My mother would sing me a song to help me fall asleep."

Sunghoon gently strokes a strand of hair from my slightly sweaty forehead and tucks it behind my ear. His hand strokes my hair while he begins to sing softly.

As if spellbound, I listen to the Korean song he sings to me. His voice makes my stomach tingle and although I don't understand Korean, I don't want him to ever stop singing this song to me. My heartbeat becomes calmer, my breathing shallower, and I feel all fear leave my body.

I feel as if I have just gotten to know a completely different side of Sunghoon. A side that I didn't know existed before. And I like this side of him.

Sunghoon is still stroking my hair as he finishes the song in a calm, soft voice. He then sits silently by my bedside for a few more minutes and seems to be watching me.

I continue to keep my eyes closed during this time until I notice Sunghoon rise from the bed. I immediately open my eyes and reach for his hand, which feels pleasantly warm.

"Wait," I say softly. Sunghoon tilts his head in my direction and looks down at me. As crazy as it sounds, I don't want him to leave yet. "Stay."

"Dolores," Sunghoon says quietly emphatically and I see him eye me with his golden eyes before he shakes his head and wants to pull his hand out of mine to leave, but I continue to hold his hand.

"Please..." The heart in my chest beats excitedly against my ribs as Sunghoon turns to face me fully. "Are you sure?" he asks, looking deep into my eyes.

Nodding, I return his eye contact. "I don't want to be alone...", I whisper softly. "Okay," he then replies and briefly disappears from my room to grab his blanket and pillow before joining me on the bed.

The heart in my chest beats very fast and I have the feeling that all this is still part of my dream and this is just my wishful thinking of Sunghoon.

The man lying on his back next to me in bed, his gaze fixed on the ceiling, is a different man from the one I met that day when he first stood before me.

"Where is your mother?", I ask Sunghoon cautiously. I know that his father died in an accident a few years ago. But Sunghoon has not said a word about his mother.

Despite the dim light, I see the expression on his face turn serious. "Sleep now," he murmurs dismissively, turning his back on me.

There he is... the Sunghoon I know.

Though curious, I accept that he doesn't want to talk about it and turn my back on him as well. It doesn't take long for me to fall asleep again, with not a single nightmare plaguing me throughout the night.

A/N: What do u think happened to his mom?