Taemin was sound asleep when the alarm on his phone had started to go off. He hit the snooze button to pause the song, but within a few seconds later, he immediately jumped up and looked at his phone to check the date and time. It read that it was 8:30 AM on Sunday morning. His face had lit up when he realized that it was the day that he was going to church. He immediately got up out of his bed and started getting ready for the day. Throughout the entire time, he was singing and dancing and just being so jovial. He had spent the last few days thinking about the messages he had received from Jinki. Taemin was so excited he was going to get to see the elder again since their time at the coffee shop. 

     After about half an hour, Taemin was finished and he was ready for the day. Not long after, he heard his phone vibrating and saw that he was getting a call... from Jinki! He quickly answered him. "Hello?"

     "Hey, Taemin, it's Jinki! I was just calling to let you know that I'm outside. You're still coming, right?" Jinki had asked.

     He didn't know why, but Taemin felt himself becoming so much happier he had been in quite a while after hearing the other's voice. "Yeah! Of course, I'm still coming. I am walking out of my dorm room as we speak." 

     "Okay great. I'll see you on the bus then?"

     "Yeah, I'll be there in just a second." Once Taemin had made it outside, he immediately saw the bus. As he was walking towards it, he felt his heart beat faster the closer he got. Once he saw the doors to the bus open, Taemin felt himself smile harder than he ever had before. He was greeted with Jinki's bright smile that he had been replaying in his head every day since they last saw one another.

     "Hey, Taemin! How have you been? How was your weekend?" Jinki had asked the younger.

     "My weekend was great, and I've been pretty good. Nothing special going on so far. Haha!" Taemin had responded. "How about you?"

     Jinki had smiled and replied, "Honestly, I have been good. My weekend was very peaceful. I just spent time with my family, you know?" 

     Taemin just nodded his head and they engaged in a bit more conversation while waiting to see if any more students would load on the bus. After about seven minutes, Jinki decided that it was time to head to church. He and Taemin were still making small talk, but Taemin was a bit distracted by the seat that was sitting next to Jinki. The way the bus is set up it that right next to the driver's seat, there is a passenger seat. He wanted to sit there next to the elder, but he was too scared that it might be weird or awkward since they were the only ones on the bus. Plus the bus was already on the move anyway. But what he heard Jinki say almost made his heart stop.

     "You wanna come sit next to me? You can come up and sit in the passenger's seat if you want." Jinki had looked up at Taemin through the mirror in front of the bus. The younger had nodded his head and got in the passenger's seat next to Jinki.

      Taemin didn't know what to do with himself now. The elder continued to talk and make conversation, and although the younger was responding, he was still a bit overwhelmed with the fact that was even getting to see Jinki. He didn't know why, but he just felt like Jinki was so important to him, even though they had only met once and this was just their second encounter with one another. He tried pushing those thoughts to the side and just paid attention to the conversation until they made it to the church. 

     It took about twenty minutes to get to the church. Once they were there, Taemin felt a sense of anxiety wash over him when he landed his eyes on the building. The feeling only intensified when he saw how many cars there were parked in the lot. He did not feel ready for this.

     Jinki had looked over at the younger and saw that he seemed a bit tense. He laid his hand on his shoulder and asked, "You good, bro? Everything alright?"

     Taemin had looked over at the elder and almost immediately felt calm. "Yeah, I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Though he was excited over the past few days, he had forgotten that with the church came a lot of people. And those people are Christians. And what comes with Christians, at least Taemin thought, was judgment. He was afraid he was going to be judged because he knew his uality was rather obvious. 

     "Just stick with me the whole time. You'll be alright. I promise it's not bad," Jinki tried to console Taemin as they were heading inside. Once they entered, they were greeted with some of the college students that were speaking with everyone who was arriving. Taemin felt himself becoming more anxious once he started noticing how many people there were just at the entrance. He began to lose himself in his thoughts: 'What if they don't talk to me?' "What if they don't like me if they do speak to me?' 'Are they gonna judge when they realize that I'm gay?' 

     Noticing Taemin was just staring off into space, he went over to the younger. "Hey, what's up? Why aren't you introducing yourself?" Jinki had asked.

     "I'm sorry," Taemin replied, "I'm just a bit overwhelmed with this many people."

     Hearing this, Jinki nodded his head. "Okay, well that's alright. Everyone here is super chill and cool. Come on, let me introduce you to a couple of people." He had lead Taemin over to a couple of students talking amongst themselves. "Hey guys, this is Taemin. You might have seen him last week at the coffee place near SM. Taemin, this is Suho and this is Key." 

     Both guys looked at Taemin and smiled. "Hey Taemin, nice to meet you," said Suho. Both he and Key had stuck their hands out for a handshake.

     "Hi. Nice to meet you, too," Taemin responded to the handshake. 

     "He goes to SM Academy. This is his first semester, right?" Jinki looked over to the younger for confirmation. "Yeah, so this is his first time here at Dawson."

     Key and Suho both nodded. Key then spoke. "So, did you enjoy yourself so much at the coffee shop, you decided to come check us out?" he had asked the younger.

     Taemin nodded. "Yeah. I had a great time that night, so I figured why not come see what it's like." 

    "That's good. So, have you ever been apart of a church that has a college ministry?" asked Suho.

    Taemin started to worry about the answer to that question. Should he be honest and tell them he's rarely been to church in his life and risk the possibility of being judged? Or, should he just simply say no? 

     "Honestly, not really," said Taemin. "I have never even heard of a college ministry, to be honest." This was not a lie. It was technically true.

    The others nodded their heads in understanding. 

     "I feel you," said Jinki. "I honestly didn't know what it was either until I came here." 

     After a few more minutes of the boys talking, someone appeared at the front of the room with a microphone. 

     "Hello everyone! I hope everyone got a chance to talk and get acquaintanced. My name is Choi Siwon. I am the college minister at Dawson Baptist Church. I see a few new faces today, and I am so excited that you have decided to come check out this church." 

     Listening to this, Jinki and Taemin had gone to find a place to sit down and enjoy the rest of the service. They had spent close to an hour with the college ministry and headed over to the worship service that was being held in a different building at the church. Taemin had noticed that Jinki made sure they never separated from one another. He thought the elder was very kind for wanting to make sure he was comfortable and enjoying himself. After half an hour, the service ended and they found Suho and Key again and talked to them for a bit before heading off.

     "We're just gonna take my car back to school if that's okay with you?" Jinki had asked.

     Taemin was perfectly fine with that. "Yeah, that's fine."

    "Good. I just didn't think it would be necessary to take the bus back since it was just us two." They both hopped into the elder's car and went on their way. "So, what did you think about today? Did you enjoy yourself?" Jinki asked.

     Taemin thought a bit about what to say. "I thought today was good. I enjoyed the college ministry service and the worship service. I thought that what was being discussed was interesting." After hearing himself say those words, he didn't think he was telling the truth. He barely remembered anything that was talked about during the service. The only actual memories he had of that morning were of him being next to the elder at all times. 

     "I'm glad you liked it, man. That makes me happy." Jinki had a big smile on his face and Taemin couldn't help but smile in response. 

     After another ten minutes passed, they finally returned to SM. 

    "Um, thank you, Jinki, for bringing me back to school. I enjoyed today." Taemin didn't really want to leave yet. He wanted to spend a little more time with the other.

    "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hey, how do you feel about you and me getting together and just spending time to get to know one another? Does that sound good?" 

     Taemin's face lit up after hearing the other say that. "Yes! Of course! I'd be happy with that. I'm free whenever, so you can just let me know when you're available." 

     "Alright, great! Hey, I'm glad you came today. It was nice seeing you. You have a good one, Tae." After that, Jinki had driven off campus.

     Taemin had walked to his room with a bright and blinding smile on his face. He was overly excited about Jinki asking him to spend time with him. Minho noticed that when the younger walked in, he seemed rather happy.

     "What? Did Jinki ask you out or something?" he had joked with the younger. After seeing the other nod his head, his mouth had dropped. "Wait, seriously? You and Jinki are gonna go on a date?"

     After hearing the word 'date', Taemin heard a record scratch sound in his head. "No no no no no! It is not a date, Minho. He just simply asked me if we could get to know each other better. Nothing more, nothing less." 

     Minho only rolled his eyes. "Oh please. You two seemed to hit it off pretty well at the coffee shop last week. Plus we still don't know how he got your number. That man likes you. Just watch."

     "No, he does not. How could he like me when we've barely spent time together? We've only been around one another on two occasions, both church-related, for goodness sake. He is just being nice, that's all." Even though he said those words, he didn't fully believe them himself. Upon hearing his roommate mention even a possibility that Jinki might be even a little bit interested in him made him happy. He was excited that he was going to get to know the other. He just hoped everything ends up going well for both of them.