Sweet Caffeine | Park Sunghoon ◇

Chapter 13

Timeskip
(7 months later)

Hoyeon's pov

My relationship with Sunghoon has been going smoothly. I've never felt more loved by someone than him. We were basically inseparable.

Sometimes Mrs Hye would call me over for dinner and let me sleep over with Sunghoon so I wouldn't feel lonely. It feels like she's my second mother, and I've grown to love her too.

Niki on the other hand has become best friends with Sunghoon, sometimes dropping by the cafe for a chat before he leaves for work at his own place. He turned out to be nicer than expected.

Because of him, the business expanded as Niki convinced his father to open other outlets around Seoul, which allowed me to get a pay raise. We were more than grateful to him.

I thought he was full of nonsense at first, but in reality, he was just a loner who had nothing better to do than cause trouble for the thrill of it. With Sunghoon around, he changed for the better and sometimes I'd strike up a conversation with him too.

Life was going much better than I predicted it to be. The only thing that I'm quite saddened about is how I've been living without my mom.

She never tried to reach out to me to ask where I've been or how I'm doing. Sunghoon was always there to comfort me about it, but it never sits right with me that we distanced apart.

She's still my mother, and I don't even know how she's coping alone the past few months. I haven't forgiven her for what she'd done, but it's wrong to push her away forever.

One day, I was chatting with Sunghoon for a while until a woman walked in. When I saw her face, my smile slowly dropped. It was mom, and she had a sorrowful look on her face.

“Hoyeon”
She said softly as she came towards the counter.

I pushed open the side door and took her into my embrace. She wrapped her arms around me, patting my back.

“I'm sorry. I didn't through what I said to you back then”
She said.

“I had a hard time recovering from your father's death, but I forgot that you must've had it harder than me. I didn't want you to struggle like I did, so I pressured you to do something without asking about your interests”
She continued.

“It's okay, what's important is that I'm doing well now. Business here is doing well”
I pulled away from the hug.

“That's great. This is your colleague? What a handsome young man”
She looked at Sunghoon.

“And um…he's also my boyfriend”
I said nervously.

“Really? Nice to meet you..Sunghoon”
She read the name tag on his apron.

“It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Kim”
A warm smile made its way on his face.

“It's been 6 months since we were together. And, his grandmother runs this place. She treats me nicely too”
I said.

“Thank you for taking care of her. I've been upset with her for far too long, I'll be a better mother to her from now on”
She told Sunghoon.

“It's okay, we all make mistakes. Would you like some coffee? It's on the house”
Sunghoon offered.

My mom ordered black coffee and sat down with me to enjoy it.

“So where have you been staying? With your boyfriend?”
She asked.

“No, I actually live in the apartment right across the street there. But sometimes I do sleepover at Sunghoon's”
I said.

“You can afford to pay rent there?”
She sipped on her coffee.

“Actually, someone else is paying it off. Sunghoon's friend is really rich and offered to rent out the apartment and take care of the expenses. His dad owns half the town”
I explained.

“I rejected it at first, but he was insistent on it because he was worried, so I accepted it”
I added.

“You have such nice people surrounding you, Hoyeon. I'm so grateful that you have people that could take care of you while we were apart. I'm so sorry once again”
She apologised a second time.

I consoled her, and reassured her that it wasn't too big of a problem. I was relieved to have her back in my life again.

“I'll continue living in the apartment, is that okay with you? It's easy for me to get to work”
I questioned.

She nodded her head and I said thank you. I looked back at Sunghoon and he put a thumbs up while raising his eyebrows. I gave a thumbs up back.

Timeskip
(8pm)

I offered to let Sunghoon sleep over at my apartment this time. He walked back to the apartment with me and we cooked up some ramen for dinner.

As he was helping me put some ramen in my bowl, I grabbed some water for each of us. Then he sat down next to me, both of us starting to enjoy the food. Any day is a good day for ramen.

“Your hair, it's getting in the way”
Sunghoon tucked my hair behind my ear.

He then stood up, noticed the hair tie on my wrist and took it out. Gathering all my hair, he tied it in a low ponytail.

“Thank you, darling”
I said, tightening the ponytail as he sat back down, smiling.

After eating and washing up, we went straight to my room to sleep. I changed into my pajamas and came out of the bathroom to see Sunghoon already in bed. He saw me and made space for me.

“Hey, isn't this the set you bought at the mall?”
He asked.

“Yeah, you remember”
I put the blanket over myself.

“Of course. I remember everything so clearly that day”
He rolled onto his side.

“Then what colour pants were you wearing that day?”
I challenged him.

“Not like that. I mean the series of events. When I got flustered from your question and then after Niki was trying to get you lunch. It was a lot to take”
He said.

“Yeah, how did you know I was in trouble? I thought you'd go straight home after buying your lunch”
I was curious.

“I just sense trouble. How's that for an answer?”
He teased me.

“Okay ‘prince charming’. I totally buy it”
I said sarcastically, cupping his cheek.

I caressed his cheek with my thumb, looking at him with so much adoration. How did I score myself a man like this? I never thought love could come in this form.

Sunghoon suddenly pulled me closer to him by the waist, his hand running up and down my back slowly.

“I love you”
He mumbled, burying his head in my neck.

“What's that?”
I asked, lying just so I could hear it again.

“I love you darling”
He left a few light kisses on my neck as he said it again.

“One more time”
I giggled, now with butterflies erupting in my stomach.

“I love you so much”
He craned his neck up to say it clearly and surprised me with a passionate kiss on the lips.

“I love you too”
I said through the kiss as we continued.

After a while, I relaxed again and got comfortable in Sunghoon's arms as he cradled me. We both fell asleep in the serenity of the night.

My eyes were closed, but I started to hear soft snores. He has that little habit when he sleeps, but I still find it cute.

After all, he's still a precious darling to me.