Chained by Expectations | Park Sunghoon

Ten

"have you been sleeping okay?" Sunoo asked concern written all over his face as he sipped on his bubble tea.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired from having to study for the upcoming exams." Haneul lied as she sipped on her Iced americano hoping it would help keep her heavy eyelids open.

"Haneul...It doesn't look like you've been sleeping at all though." Sunoo insisted.

"Yah! What are you trying to say? That I look terrible?" She asked annoyed.

"Yes, exactly." Sunoo said. "But seriously, what's going on? The last time you looked like this was when...you're not experiencing that again right?" Sunoo asked trying to be as sensitive to the topic as possible.

"Sunoo, I'm okay. There's no need to worry about me. It's just school nothing else." She tried convincing her cousin.

"How are you and Sunghoon?"  Sunoo asked trying to shift the conversation.

"The same as always. I haven't seen him the past few days. " she admitted as she continued writing down notes in her journal not looking up at Sunoo.

Sunoo was worried for his cousin. He could tell that she was not doing okay and he was one of the few people who knew she suffered from sleep paralysis. He was the one who would accompany her to doctors visits when they were younger because she was scared. Her appearance now was the same as back then when she stopped sleeping in order to avoid her sleep paralysis.

"Haneul, you're not seeing her again are you?" This time Sunoo asked directly.

"Who?" Haneul asked this time looking up at Sunoo. Sunoo just gave her a knowing look.

"I already told you that it's just school Sunoo!" Haneul lashed out causing for some of the people around them to look over in their direction. She let out a breath of frustration before starting to stuff everything into her book bag. "Look I'm just really overwhelmed and stressed out with things okay. I have a lot on my plate right now. I have school, and dad's events, the company, not to mention that the media is waiting for Sunghoon and I to fall out, and he doesn't seem to care at all. I'm just... I'm a little tired. " She said running her fingers through her messy hair almost as if trying to convince herself that that's all it was. 

Truth was she hadn't been sleeping for the past week. She would occupy herself with school work and drink endless amount of caffeine to attempt to stay up. She had been experiencing her sleep paralysis since that night of the banquet and this was the only other way she knew how to make it stop.

She did not want to go to the doctor like she had done when she was a kid, she knew that all they would do is run a whole bunch of medical test on her and put her on a lot of medication and that was the last thing she wanted.

However, the sleepless nights were beginning to become extremely evident in her appearance. She had dark under circles under her tired eyes and messy hair that didn't seem possible to tame. Her collarbones became more prominent as she had began to lose weight from the lack of appetite and sleep.

"Haneul you can talk to me about it. It's not healthy to just bottle it all up okay? You tell me not to worry but how can I not when you look like this?" Sunoo said now slightly annoyed with her.

"Sunoo, don't worry. I will figure it out okay? I'm going back now, it's getting late." She said as she made her way towards the exit of the cafe.

"Let me know when you get home." Sunoo called after her.

Time Skip:

Sunghoon typed away at his computer trying to get done with the needed paperwork. He glanced over at his clock seeing that it was about to be 1am. He signed a few more contracts before sliding them into a folder and packing up his things.