Eyes Full Of Stars || Park Sunghoon

53 ¦ Pray For Me

A/N: Have fun ^-^

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"Hey," Leela greets me with a broad smile on her lips as I enter the small café and approach the table where she is already sitting with a cup of tea waiting for me. She rises from her chair to pull me into a brief embrace in greeting. 

I breathe in her familiar scent before breaking away from her and settling into the rickety chair across from her. It's as if we've never lost sight of each other. Leela tells me about her studies, which seem to be going well, and a new project she's working on. I'm glad things are going so well for her right now and that she's happy. 

"So how are things with you and the handsome Korean?", Leela asks, wiggling her eyebrows. Grinning, she sips her tea. Smiling, I lower my eyes and place my hand on the table where my engagement ring is on my ring finger. 

The last time we met, I told Leela that Sunghoon and my engagement weren't official yet. Which was true. His proposal came later. "Oh my God," Leela murmurs in amazement. Her eyes widen. She reaches for my hand and pulls it closer to her face to take a closer look at the ring on my finger. 

"You're really getting married," she states, holding a hand over her mouth. A smile creeps onto my lips. "I'm really getting married," I confirm her words, nodding affirmatively. 

"Excuse me ladies, can I get you anything?" inquires the waitress; a young woman with long, black hair. "A hot chocolate, please," I reply, smiling politely at her. She makes a note of my order. One hot chocolate, coming right up," she announces and slides the pad into the small pocket on her apron. She then leaves Leela and me alone again and disappears through a door behind the counter.

"I can't believe it," Leela starts again. Her eyes sparkle with joy. It makes me happy to see how excited she is for me. "Tell me more." "More of what?", I want to know. "More about Sunghoon. About the proposal, about your plans for the future...", Leela explains to me her definition of more. 

"Sunghoon is really a great man... I love him very much," I begin, feeling the tingling in my stomach as I think about the young man who turned my whole life upside down. Sunghoon makes me feel special. Also, he is the first man for whom I don't have to pretend or be merely fooled by. I feel good when we are close.

"You look really happy," Leela says with a smile on her lips. Meanwhile, the waitress has brought me my hot cocoa, which I sip carefully. "I'm really happy," I say, smiling back. I put my cup down and enclose it with my fingers. "There's one more thing I need to tell you..." 

"That sounds serious," Leela states, raising her head. Concerned, she draws her perfectly traced eyebrows together and examines my face thoughtfully. "It's not," I reassure my best friend, nervously sliding back and forth on the chair, which creaks softly. "Actually, it's really nice."

"Come on out with it," Leela says impatiently, making a motion with her hand to prompt me to keep talking. "I'm pregnant," I inform Leela without hesitation and pull the ultrasound picture out of my jacket pocket to place it on the table. 

With her lips slightly parted, my best friend stares back and forth between the ultrasound picture and my face. But instead of saying anything, she remains silent. It's a long, nerve-wracking silence. I can't tell how she feels about it. Is she shocked? Is she happy for me? 

"You're still very young," Leela finally says. "Are you sure you're ready to raise a child?" The heart in my chest skips a beat. I expected, of course, that not everyone would be happy for me. But I didn't think Leela, of all people, would be one of them. 

I reach for the ultrasound picture and pull it closer to me. I run my fingers over the small shadow depicted in the picture. "I'm ready for this," I reply. "Besides, I'm not alone, I have Sunghoon." 

Leela snorts softly. With my eyebrows drawn together, I look at her. "What's that about?", I want to know. "You want to marry a man you've known for less than half a year. And now you're pregnant, too," Leela brings out, shaking her head violently. 

My stomach tightens. Her words feel like a thousand knife wounds in my heart. "I love Sunghoon," I affirm. It doesn't matter to me how long we've known each other or how we met. The fact is that I've never felt as happy as I do with him by my side. It feels right and easy. With him by my side, I have no doubts whatsoever. 

I don't let anyone talk me out of that. Especially not from my best friend, who should be supporting me when something feels as good to me as Sunghoon. 

"I really hardly recognize you," Leela says, shaking her head vigorously. "Things just change, Leela. People change," I retort angrily, rising from my chair. I feel misunderstood and oppressed by my best friend. Of course, I'm grateful for her advice and I believe she merely means well, but she doesn't know Sunghoon at all and has no right to judge our relationship like that. 

 "Lola, I didn't mean it that way at all...," Leela begins, now rising from her chair as well. "I just meant-" "I think you made yourself more than clear," I cut her off before she even has a chance to finish her sentence. I shove the ultrasound picture back into my jacket pocket and throw it over my shoulders before rushing toward the door. 

"Dolores!" shouts Leela after me, but I don't even think to stop. I run out of the café and pull my cell phone out of my pocket to call Sunghoon to pick me up. 

A loud honk and the squeal of brakes sound as a hard bump hits me on my left hip. In the next moment, I'm already lying on the asphalt. Motionless, I stare at the faces of the people who are leaning over me worriedly and talking at me. 

I tilt my head to the left and see Leela, who is in tears, running into the street and kneeling on the ground with me. Blinking, I try to keep my eyes open as Leela pats my cheek and talks excitedly to me, but even though her lips are moving, the beeping in my ears drowns out all the sounds around me. 

"My baby," I whisper over and over, placing my trembling fingers against my aching belly. But no one seems to notice my words. Everything around me moves further and further away from me and becomes more and more indistinct until I have no strength left. 

My head falls to the side and I close my eyes.

A/N: The end......?