Warning: Profanity ahead.

 

 

--

Dara was hugging her knees with her head in between them, sobbing silently to herself. She was huddling on a bench in front of the Han River at 9:00 PM. It had been six days since the doctor had told her the news. She started to cry louder when she remembered the exact moment when he had told her. Eight months left.

 

She heard someone clear beside her but she didn’t even bother to look up. “May I sit here?” the person asked.

 

Dara shrugged her shoulders and muttered, “Why don’t you sit at the other benches? If you can’t already tell, I want to be alone.”

 

The figure chuckled and sat down beside her anyways. “But the other benches are occupied by the homeless.”

 

“Then sit on the floor.” Dara bluntly replied.

 

“But my will freeze. I’ll just sit here. I’ll be quiet, I promise.”

 

Dara grunted in response. She had given up in trying to get rid of the nuisance. She continued to sob and curse silently.

 

After a couple of Dara’s sobbing, the person beside Dara had spoken again. “So what happened?”

 

“I thought you said you’d shut up.” Dara mumbled in between her sobs.

 

“I’ll shut up after this, I promise.”  Dara took a deep breath in and then slowly breathed out.

 

“Six days ago, I had gone to the doctors’ with my boyfriend.”

 

“Uh huh.” Dara could picture the figure beside her nodding, urging her to go on with her story.

 

“The doctor told me that I was pregnant.” Dara said as she felt a lump coming up .

 

“Isn’t that great though? You should be happy that you’re pregnant.”

 

“I am,” Dara whispered in a barely audible voice, she was unsure if the person beside her had even heard her.

 

The figure beside her stayed silent for a couple of seconds. “Those tears don’t seem like tears of joy.”

 

“’Cause they’re not tears of joy.” Dara screamed angrily into her knees. “My boyfriend ran out of the doctors’ office. I’ve been with him for six ing years and he bails on me when he finds out that I’m pregnant. He promised me that he would stay by my side for the rest of my life. ing .”

 

Five minutes passed before Dara continued. “I mean, I would be less pissed at him if he had tried to contact me or answer my calls but did he? No ing sir.”

 

Another 2 minutes passed until the figure spoke. “He does sound like a .”

 

“No .” Dara screamed and started crying again, this time, louder than before. She didn’t care if she wakes up the homeless sleeping beside them or the entire city of Seoul for the matter of fact.

 

“But you shouldn’t be here crying over that jerk. You should be at home getting some rest. It’ll benefit you and your baby.”

 

“You have no right to tell me what I can and cannot do. Go away.”

 

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer.” Dara felt the figure drape a warm piece of fabric over her shivering body. She didn't even realize that she was cold until now.

 

“I don’t need your pity,” Dara snapped back and threw the fabric onto the floor.

 

The figure sighed. “Dara…” it muttered, trying to control the anger in its voice.

 

Dara finished lifted her head up and glared at the figure beside her. “What do you want Jiyong?” Jiyong was her boyfriend—her boyfriend that bailed on her.

 

Jiyong cupped Dara’s face in between his warm hands and smiled sadly at her. “I’m sorry I bailed.”

 

Tears filled in the brim of Dara’s eyes for the nth time that night but she refused to shed another tear. “Sorry doesn’t solve everything.” She whispered as the tears overflowed and started running down her cheeks.

 

Jiyong let out a bitter chuckle and wiped Dara’s cheeks with his thumbs. “I know but I don’t know what else to say.”

 

Dara gritted her teeth and pulled her face away from Jiyong’s grasp and started punching his chest. “How about why you ran out the office, why you didn’t even answer a single one of my calls or even tried to contact me, or how you broke your promise you made six years ago when we started going out. Or-or-or-“ Dara screamed, still punching Jiyong’s chest has hard as she could.

 

Jiyong winced in pain from all the punches Dara was throwing at him, She may be petite and fragile looking but she can throw strong punches when she wanted to. He took her into his chest, wrapped his arms around her and hugged her as tight as he could without hurting her.

 

“.” He heard her in his chest.

 

“Yah, Ssantokki, you shouldn’t be swearing, what if the baby hears it?” Jiyong laughed at his girlfriend whose face was still buried in his chest.

 

Dara ignored Jiyong’s last statement and whispered softly, “why did you run out like that?”

 

Jiyong sighed. “Because I was scared.”

 

Dara looked up at Jiyong “Didn't you think that I would be scared too? You promised me that you’d be by my side through everything.”

 

Jiyong smiled down at her and pecked her forehead. “I know, I’m sorry. I broke that promise. When the doctor told us that you were pregnant, my mind went blank and I didn’t know what to do so I ran out of the building all the way home. When I got home, I sat on the sofa for countless hours, staring into space. After a day of staring at nothing, it felt like the news had finally processed in my head. You are pregnant.” Jiyong pecked Dara’s head once again before continuing. “Do you know how excited I was? I’ve always dreamed of having a little Dara or Jiyong in our life.

 

“Then, I become scared again. I began to think of how much effort it takes to take care of a baby. Then, I started to wonder if I was fit enough to be a father. Finally, I decided, even if I am not the greatest father in the world, I’ll try my best.”

 

“Of course you will.” Dara snapped. “I would kick you if you didn’t." Earning Jiyong another punch. "But why didn’t you return my calls? I thought we were over.” Dara pouted.

 

Jiyong scratched the nape of his neck in response.

 

“Well?” Dara raised her brow, waiting for Jiyong’s response.

 

“I was busy.”

 

“Busy with what?” Dara asked.

 

“Come,” Jiyong stood up and grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and started dragging hear towards his car. “I’ll show you.”

 

“Where are we going?” Dara asked, trying her best to keep up with her boyfriend’s long legs. “Don’t you remember that I’m pregnant?”

--

“Are you eyes closed?” Jiyong asked, guiding his girlfriend through a hallway.

 

Dara nodded. “It’s been closed for the last ten minutes. Even if my eyes weren’t closed your hands are in front of them so I wouldn’t be able to see anything anyways.”

 

Jiyong nodded. “Good.”

 

After a couple more minutes of walking, they had suddenly stopped. “Are we there yet?” Dara asked, annoyed at how far Jiyong had made her walk. Since she was carrying another person inside her, she found it harder to walk around and she got tired easier.

 

Jiyong nodded again and then realized that his girlfriend couldn’t see his nod. “Yeah, open your eyes.” He removed his hands and watched Dara’s eyes flutter open.

 

“Where are we?” Dara asked, almost emotionlessly as she stared blankly at the empty place.

 

Jiyong pouted. “Can’t you be more enthusiastic? It’s our new place.” Jiyong stared at Dara again, anticipating for her reaction but there was none. She continued to stare at the room with a blank expression. “The reason why I was so busy was because I was looking for a place for the three of us. “

 

Still, no reaction from Dara. Although she didn’t show any, Jiyong knew that she was very emotional at the time, she was just having a hard time expressing it. “I liked it when you were bawling your eyes out better.” He muttered, earning a glare from Dara.

 

Jiyong smiled. “Finally, somewhat of a response.” He walked in front of Dara and cupped her face again. “I figured that neither your apartment nor mine would be big enough for all of us to live in so I was determined to look for a bigger place.”

 

“Although I was scared at first and freaked out when I found out that you were pregnant, when the news had finally sunk into my head, I was excited and I wanted to do everything to make sure you don’t go through your pregnancy alone and with any hardships. I want to be by your side and the baby’s side for the rest of our lives.”

 

Jiyong got down on one knee and took a hold of Dara’s hand. He took out a box with a diamond ring inside. “Although I can’t promise that I will be the best father nor the best husband all the time, Sandara Park, will you marry me? I promise to never break a promise again.”

 

Tears started to blur Dara’s vision again, letting them fall freely down her face, she smiled as she looked down at Jiyong.

 

“.”