Exodus
God has sent me to you

         Melanie decided to stay behind after their practice session in the music room. She watched her friend leave through door before stretching her fingers and pressing them against the black and white piano keys. She enjoyed playing hymns for Genesis, but she enjoyed playing classical music even more.

         As she pressed the keys a soft melody floated through the room. The light notes echoed back to her and reverberated through her chest. This is how Melanie felt whenever she was playing the piano. Although many people saw her as a loud and boisterous person, she was completely different when she sat down to play.

         Genesis had recruited her to play for her church when they weren't able to afford a pianist. Playing for a gospel church was a lot different than playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, but despite the difference in musicality, Melanie was as close to professional as Genesis needed her to be.

         A stark rumbling sound jolted her out of her groove. The vibrating was coming from beneath her. When she searched curiously for the offending sound, she found a sleek cellphone inside the seat of the leather bench she was sitting on. Somebody must have forgotten it.

         When the phone vibrated again, she plucked the phone from inside the piano bench and examined it. The caller ID read "D.O." Her fingertip grazed the screen, accidentally touching the "receive" button. 

         "Chanyeol?" Came a voice from the phone.

         From what she could hear, it sounded like a boy's voice.

         Melanie held her breath, fearing that the owner of voice would hear her.

         She heard a deep sigh on the other end of the phone.

         "F-fine, I’ll do it." 

         Something about the reluctance Melanie could hear in the voice made her want to listen more. There was something intriguing about listening in on a stranger's conversations.

         To Melanie's surprise, the boy began to sing. And he was good. Like ically good. Could you get pregnant from hearing someone sing? Melanie felt like she would.

          Melanie found herself gaping in awe. If only Genesis was here to witness what she had just heard. Whoever D.O. was, he was now her newfound idol.

         The singing stopped short.

         "There, I did it. Are you happy now?"

         Melanie quickly picked up the phone.

         “Hi!” The girl blurted out.

         “Hello? Chanyeol?”

         "No sorry, I’m not Chanyeol. I actually think he left his phone here"

         "Here? Where’s here?"

         "Oh the music room, he must have left it behind when he was practicing. I thought your singing was amazing by the way"

         "Who is this?"

         "This is Melanie. I came into the music room after Chanyeol came in, he left his phone. You probably don’t know me. Do you go to school here?

         The voice on the other line was quiet. 

         "Hello?"

         After a beat, the voice on the other end spoke up.

         “Yes. I go here”

         "I’ve never heard anyone who sings like you do. Do you think you’d want to collaborate or something? We really need a singer for our choir, but if you’re not into that we could just freestyle or something."

         Melanie didn’t realize she was talking at a mile a minute.

         "I don’t know about that..."

         "Totally fine!  Are you a junior? I don’t know if we’ve met before."

         "Uh no, I don’t think we have."

         "Then let's meet right now! I’m still in school, are you here?"

         "No, I went home already." He said effectively cutting her off. "Listen, it was nice talking to you Melanie, but I really have to go."

         "Wait!—"

         She heard a click on the other line.

         Melanie spoke into the receiver again, but to no avail had hung up on her already.

         She’d never even gotten his name. What kind of name was D.O. anyway?

         Melanie immediately thought of initials. Who in this school could have the initials "D.O."? She wanted to find out.

         After hearing this mysterious boy sing it was all she could think about, and she couldn’t wait to tell Genesis about it too. She pocketed Chanyeol’s cellphone and ran out of the room.

          Genesis watched in horror as Jongin slumped forward against her. The document he was holding in his hands fluttered to the ground. She almost fell down against his weight. 

         “Hey, are you alright?” She asked trying her best to steady him.

         Jongin stumbled forward, catching himself before he hit the ground. He wobbled to the end of the pew and rested his back against it.

         "Just read the document I gave you."

         Genesis, still worried, eyed Jongin carefully before snatching the fallen document on the floor. Her eyes scanned the the words on the page quickly. She scanned them once more, and then another time for good measure. Aside from the legal jargon and circular language, she could discern what it was saying.

         From now on, her father was Kim Jongin’s legal guardian.

         "Wait, what?" she couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. "When the hell did this happen?"

         Jongin didn’t give a reply, he merely gave her a blank look.

         "Is this some sort of joke? Am I being punk'd?" Genesis looked around for cameras.

         "You think I’m doing this on purpose?"

         "N-no, I just--" 

         "Let's see what he has to say."

          "Who? My dad? You can't be serious."

         Jongin gave pointed look to the phone vibrating in her pocket.

         She looked at her phone. Sure enough, it was her dad.

         She cautiously put the phone to her ear. “Dad?”

         “Genesis, I’m just calling to check in on you. Did you lock the church?”

         “Yea, I just did” Genesis eyed the boy who was nodding off against the side of the church pew. “Hey, so..." She began. "Kim Jongin is here. He says you’re his legal guardian…” She couldn’t believe the absurdity of the conversation she was having with her father right now. 

         She could hear the noise of a crowd through the cellphone. He was probably at some sort of reception. 

         “Oh yes, thats right. I forgot to tell you” Her dad was speaking louder to drown out the noise. "You know him, right? You two were classmates.”

         She could hear the noise behind her father begin to quiet down. It was likely that he went to a quieter place to talk with her.

         “He’ll be staying with us for a few days. I’m sure you know what happened to him.”

         “Y-yea I know but” She lowered her voice a bit, and turned away from Jongin. Cupping her hands around the phone, she resumed speaking. “Why are you his guardian? I’ve never heard you mention him before.”

         “Genesis, I can’t explain now. I’m coming home tomorrow. I'll tell you everything then. Until then, please make him feel at home. He’s had a rough time.”

         “Ok...” Genesis hung up the phone and watched as Jongin got up to his feet with a grunt and began walking towards the church doors. He looked at her from over his shoulder. 

         “You coming?”

         Nervously, she tightened fingers around the papers in her hand. Genesis took a reluctant step forward to join him. 

         Jongin fiddled with the tv remote on his lap. He was on Genesis' couch, glancing around the room.

         Genesis let out a nervous laugh as she moved quickly to tidy up the living room. She wasn’t expecting to have any guests in the middle of the night.

         She set a small aluminum box on the table and took out a bandage along with a sanitizing wipe. It was the best she could do on such short notice.

         She was going to give it to Jongin and have him do it himself, but when she looked him, his eyes were already squeezed shut in expectation. Swallowing her saliva and reached up to dab the boy’s forehead with a wipe.

          It was the first time she was alone with a boy. Scratch that, it was the first time she was alone with a boy in an empty house. She knew the played out scenarios. In the movies, it would always start with the guy making the move. Then the lovestruck (or lust-struck) teenagers would proceed to each others faces for an hour or so.

         She wasn’t worried about Jongin making a move. Rather, she knew he wouldn’t. From the time he was still in school with her, he was always the quiet guy who kept to himself. You would never know that he had a trust fund. 

          When Genesis placed the wipe on Jongin’s forehead he winced. His fingers curled tightly around the edge of the couch cushion.

         “Sorry”, she stammered, quickly replacing the wipe with a neon pink Band-aid.

         Jongin opened his eyes. That was when Genesis realized how close they actually were. Her face was growing warmer, but she couldn’t help but stare back. He was so familiar to her, and yet, at the same time, he wasn’t.

         Clearing , she quickly flattened the Band-aid on his forehead, before her embarrassment could show. The loud beeping of the microwave was her method of escape. She shot up quickly to retrieve the food.

         "I thought you might be hungry", she said with a smile, setting down the steaming plate of leftovers in front of him. She figured if Jongin was going to be a guest, she might as well be as hospitable as possible.

         Jongin gave her a small smile and dug into his food. 

         Genesis sat on the couch next to him, but a good distance away. She ate her food quietly, glancing over at Jongin every so often. The television flashed in front of them providing some much needed background noise. It made things a little less awkward. 

         “I won’t ask you what happened” She said between bites.

         Jongin didn’t look at her.

         “Thank you” he murmured softly.

         From the corner of her eye, Genesis could see his shoulders relax a little.

         She returned her attention to the television, and tried not to look at Jongin again. Unconsciously she leaned away from him, laying her head on the couch armrest. She felt her eyelids pulling downwards and lulling her to sleep. 

         When she opened her eyes again it was morning, and Jongin was nowhere to be found. Genesis was no longer on the couch, she was lying in her bed, still in her clothes from last night.

         Maybe her encounter with Jongin was just something she'd dreamt up. Of course, that didn’t explain why she was dreaming about him in the first place.

         As she descended the stairs she could see her father’s leather loafers placed neatly beside her own flats at the front door. She made her way to the kitchen, tying her frizzy hair up into a low pony tail.

         She saw her dad, tall and statuesque, standing in the kitchen in a black suit. Standing beside him was Jongin, also in a black suit, but his tie was loosened, and the top of his shirt was ed.

         They both looked drained.

         “Morning sweetie” Her dad looked over at her with a tired smile. “I didn’t want to wake you, there’s food on the stove” He pointed to a simmering pan of stir-fry.

         Genesis nodded dumbly and made her way to the stove. She could feel Jongin’s eyes following her. 

         It seemed that this whole thing wasn’t a dream after all.