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‘So what is the worst that could possible happen on a Christian picnic?’

‘I could show up, for one.’ Seungwan, who has been standing next to the cookie table, turns around abruptly at the voice. She doesn’t really have a habit of talking to herself out loud, but every once in a while she will murmur an ironic comment under her breath, and that’s exactly when one of her friends will arrive and inevitably start judging her. This time it’s Minseok.

It has been exactly a week since the girl last talked with her older friend and she knows that a lot still remains unresolved between them - right now, however, the keyboardist walking up to her and starting a normal conversation feels like an olive branch offering, so despite the slight astonishment, Seungwan tries to fall into their regular rhythm. Lightly snorting, she looks back at the original object of her attention.

‘I’m sorry, Mr. Kim, but this time you’ll have to throw in the towel. Hellions beyond your wildest imagination have decided to join forces today.’ She points ahead, to where two females in elegant dresses and blue aprons busy themselves around the stand with savoury pastry. Minseok takes a double take before whistling lowly.

‘Blimey. Joohyun Bae and your own dear mother, hand in hand, smiling and selling bread. I am not sure if this is the reality that I want to live in.’

‘Joohyun ended up talking my mother into not only donating her products, but also helping with the sale.’ Seungwan admits reluctantly.

‘Your mother is so weird, Seungwan.’ Joy Park joins them right then, entering through the back door of the auditorium hall, where the picnic was eventually relocated. Seungwan’s own stall with cookies is just to the left. ‘Hi, Minseok.’ The youngest promptly adds, acknowledging the only member of her roommate’s group that she isn’t completely disgusted by.

Seungwan turns to her sourly.

‘Cheers, dude, I must have missed the first fifty times you said it.’

‘But it’s true. Just coming into our room like she owns the place! And on top of everything, she kept calling you Wendy. How creepy is that.’ Joy’s choice of words stands in complete contrast with less than agitated expression that the girl is sporting. In fact, she looks beyond bored. With a side of annoyed if you squint.

It’s enough to make Minseok react, though, for he finally grins amused, showing his gums in the process.

‘Right. The realisation that somebody as coarse as you may have a name as soft as that is like a brick to the head - every time. I’ll stick to calling you Seungwan, thanks.’

‘Same here.’ Joy agrees. ‘I’m gonna get going. Have you seen Yerim? She was supposed to meet me here somewhere.’

‘Not today, sorry.’ The vocalist replies. Joy shrugs and grabs two round choco chip cookies before sprinting away.

‘Thanks!’ Is the only thing the older girl manages to catch and she grits her teeth.

‘Those are not free, you little-‘

‘I’ll pay for her. Gotta stay in her good graces - might come in handy one day when she takes over the world.’ Minseok chuckles, before approaching the stall himself. Seungwan follows him quietly, standing behind the table like the sales person that she is supposed to be.

‘I thought I wouldn’t see you today. Or anytime soon.’ She finally admits, voice soft. He takes his time before replying.

‘It’s not every day that you decide to bake – in fact, even my mum made it a point to give me her wish list for this particular occasion. Now tell me which ones Joohyun Bae poisoned personally, so I know what to avoid.’ He points to the sweets.

Seungwan lets out a short heaved chuckle despite herself.

‘She didn’t touch anything. After performing what can only constitute as arson on two subsequent batches of pastry, we agreed that I could handle it myself. I baked for nearly two days, but it’s all me.’

‘Perfect. I’ll take 6 Bakewell tarts, 4 clangers, two slices of the chess pie and the brownies.’

‘How many?’

‘How many do you have?’ He replies, making her smile. She quickly packs what he asked for, making sure to be as generous as she can with the chocolate cakes. She hands him the box.

‘It’s alright. It’s on me.’ She refuses the payment, but he puts the money on the table anyway.

‘I can pay for them myself. I don’t need your charity, Seungwan.’ He looks her in the eye, somberly. ‘What I need is my friend back, all right? You know that Joohyun Bae doesn’t give two balls about you, but we do. I do. So don’t make choices that you will later regret. I’ll be expecting you at the rehearsal tomorrow. With a darn good apology.’ She looks down, feeling remorse again.

‘The brownies are for the guys, aren’t they?’ She says before he makes way to leave. He nods.

‘I wouldn’t wait for them today if I were you – well, maybe save for Sehun, he’s probably around. I highly doubt he’d get away with not coming, it’s practically his family gathering.’

‘I wasn’t waiting for anyone.’ She murmurs, more dejected now. On impulse, she grabs a small box and, making sure that nobody sees her, puts a few extra pieces of cake in. ‘Pass this to Chanyeol, will you? He hates me now but once we’ve made up, I’ll never hear the end of how I didn’t save him anything from the stall.’

Minseok chuckles again, accepting the favour and waving as he leaves.

Seungwan sighs again and turns around to check on her mother and… well, whatever Joohyun is to her now, and she nearly chokes when she realises that they are no longer alone. In fact, there is a formidable crowd forming around the place, and they are all people that - according to Seungwan, anyway - should never be allowed together.

Good thing that Maggie, the girl assigned as her shift change, happens to join her right then, because with or without the upperclassmen there, Seungwan would leave the table all the same. She rushes towards the pastry stall, looking alarmed.

‘…completely understandable that you would feel this way. I don’t practice, but perhaps I should have started when I had a chance. Maybe then my only daughter would have at least an ounce of respect for me.’ Seungwan steps into the circle as her mother finishes what seems to have been quite a tirade. The middle aged woman that the vocalist immediately recognises as Joohyun’s mother (they’ve met before but either way, the resemblance is almost too spooky to miss) readily agrees.

‘We’ve never had any problems with our twins. They’ve both grown up to be respectable people, and they’ve found other, similar young Christians to surround themselves with. Morals are everything these days.’ She gives Junmyeon and Seulgi an approving look. The couple just stands there, not saying anything, but Seungwan can sense how much pride the boy takes in his mother’s words.

‘Ah, Wendy.’ Seungwan’s mother finally notices her and that forces the girl to look back. ‘I am so glad that you are now friends with pastor Bae’s children. Irene is a lovely girl.’ She adds, looking at Joohyun’s mother. Seungwan isn’t surprised by the name used – their entire family have Christian names, very reluctant Sehun included. ‘Perhaps she can help Wendy find a nice boy like your daughter’s boyfriend. She really needs to stop meeting those dangerous punks… I don’t mean your other son, of course.’

Joohyun’s mother waves her away like it’s nothing. Perhaps she is too used to Sehun being the black sheep of the family.

‘My youngest is still lost, but we are all praying. I believe…’ The rest of the woman’s speech fades in the background as Seungwan belatedly registers her mother’s words and finally takes notice of Joohyun – and Yixing, standing right next to her. Looking at his somewhat resigned, bordering on distressed, expression, Seungwan can easily guess that all he really wants is to be anywhere but there. Joohyun, however, clutches his arm in the way that reminds Seungwan of survivors holding on to their last life line. The older keeps looking around nervously, until she catches Seungwan’s gaze. They stare at each other for a moment, before something else over the vocalist’s shoulder ends up distracting the president, for she smiles widely.

‘Father, you came.’ She chirps, and although Seungwan has seen her put up a cheerful front many, many times before, this act is, admittedly, on a completely different level. Stepford wife level, perhaps, if they ever decided to convert into Christianity.

Sure enough, Joohyun’s father approaches them in a few unhurried steps, nearly dragging along his youngest offspring, who looks anything but happy. Pastor Bae’s gaze never wavers, never softens; save, perhaps, for Junmyeon, who is his clear favourite - that much is clear to even an unsuspecting eye. But Joohyun is trying hard nonetheless, wanting to rise to her parent’s expectations, whatever they might be. Some of them must involve a nice Christian boy, Seungwan finally comes to this abrupt realisation, because really, what else is Joohyun doing right now, if not showing Yixing off to anyone that would look, and especially to her father?

Except that the boy suddenly brings all her efforts to a halt. He will not budge one bit, when he has gone along with Joohyun’s actions the entire time; on the contrary, he pales impossibly, looking ready to flee.

‘Of course I’m here. Why wouldn’t I be? I already said I would.’ To Seungwan, his manner of speech seems convoluted and redundant, but then again, it is nothing that she has not already seen during the previous gatherings she witnessed. She also doesn’t miss the strict tone that the elder uses with his daughter. ‘Is your boyfriend going to help Junmyeon during the sermon today?’ His attention switches to Yixing, who barely even acknowledges what is happening in front of him, his eyes locked with the other newcomer in what looks like an unspoken plea.

Seungwan narrows her eyes, still trying to make sense of the scene before her eyes. The continuous tension between the two boys is nothing new, they have pretty much been on each other’s throats since Wednesday, but-

Sehun chooses that moment to turn on his heel, and walks away without as much as a word. Both his parents purse their lips, trying to refrain from creating a scene.

‘I’m terribly sorry, Sehun is being incredibly rude. He’s going through some sort of rebellious phase, please understand.’ His mother eventually says, looking at other woman apologetically.

‘Please, don’t worry. It’s nothing I haven’t seen with Wendy. I keep thinking that I should send her to the US instead, they still run those military academies for troubled teens there. Some discipline would certainly do her good.’

‘Perhaps you should take under consideration one of our Christian camps, we sent our Sehun..’ The women’s voice are drowned by Junmyeon’s louder one, making it impossible for Seungwan to react to her mother’s offensive remarks.

‘I’ll go talk to him, father-‘ Junmyeon frowns, displeased with his brother’s behaviour, but somebody else cuts in.

‘I’ll go.’ Yixing interrupts him. Too quickly, judging from a surprised frown he gets from his best friend. ‘I-I mean, you’re with family and have to take care of the sermon. I’ll go. He usually listens to me.’ Without another word, he disentangles himself from Joohyun’s grip and nearly runs after the younger, who has already disappeared, having left through the door leading to the school yard.

Pastor Bae nods to no one in particular, putting a stop to any further commotion.

‘Let’s not waste time on your brother. You and I have to prepare for the gathering, son.’

‘I’ll help you.’ Joohyun eagerly responds, momentarily forgetting all about Yixing – his presence did not, after all, leave the desired impression; hence, he was no longer needed.

Her father shakes his head once, but categorically.

‘It’s not for women. You have enough work here. Let your brother concentrate in peace, he will lead the prayers today.’

‘Yes, father.’ The girl murmurs, dejectedly looking at the retreating backs of the two males and Seungwan would feel bad for her, except that she can’t, because her mind is still processing the haunted look that marred Sehun’s usually stone expression when he locked gazes with Yixing.

Could it be..? No way…

‘Shall we also go? We haven’t tried the salads yet.’ Joohyun’s mother offers and Seungwan’s agrees with a smile. The latter turns to her daughter with a barely visible scowl.

‘Wendy, please behave for once. Go and help your friend with the stalls.’ Seungwan makes a face at her the moment the woman’s back turns.

‘Are you all right?’ Seulgi asks her best friend, her features full of worry. She is still there, temporarily abandoned by Junmyeon. ‘You never told me that you started going out with Yixing. That’s wonderful.’

‘Huh? Oh, yes. Yes.’ The president nods, distracted. She quickly changes the subject. ‘Listen, how about you go and check on the stalls with sandwiches? I’ll meet you there in a bit. I need to clean up here first.’ Seulgi, who is not used to not following Joohyun’s orders, immediately nods and does as she is told.

Seungwan, who on the other hand is not used to following anyone’s will other than her own, is not buying the sudden, empty cheerfulness of Joohyun’s behaviour. She steps right in as the older girl mechanically moves away to re organise the food on the nearest table.

‘What was that?’

‘What was what?’ Joohyun repeats, mindlessly working on the task at hand. She barely acknowledges the annoyance at her side.

‘That. You and my mother. You and Yixing. Just what in the bloody hell is going on?’ Seungwan demands to know, no longer caring to curb either her tongue or curiosity. She is confused and upset at the turn of events.

‘Stop cussing, Seungwan. And your mother is a sweetheart. I have no idea what you dislike her so much. In fact, it almost seems like the two of you are not related at all, that’s how little you have in common.’ She conveniently leaves out the part about her love life.

‘My mother is a hypocrite, as so are you.’

Joohyun ends up following Seungwan to her dormitory – must be sheer interest, more than anything else, because when asked, she is not able to explain it otherwise, not even to herself. Parents appearing in their dormitories on a weekday is not something that she sees every day.

Of course, the alternative is to not stop on Seungwan’s floor and just continue walking up, to not take interest into anything Seungwan Son related and to just mind her own business, of which she still has a lot left to mind. Three days till the picnic and still so many problematic issues unresolved. Yet here she is, peeking into the vocalist’s bedroom.

She has no time to assess the state of the place, though, because Seungwan’s booming voice interrupts anything else that Joohyun might be thinking.

‘What are you doing here?!’ The younger girl demands to know as soon as she steps through the threshold. Joohyun timidly proceeds right behind her.

‘That’s more or less what I said.’ Joy chirps from where she is seated at her desk, browsing through Twitter. Her eyes never leave the screen.

‘Is this the way to greet your mother?’ The woman stands up from the only other free chair in the room. The president notices the air of dignity that surrounds her – so unlike the havoc that always follows her daughter. ‘I had a party to attend around here last night, and then the deal closure took ages, hence the late arrival. Or do I have to apologise for wanting to see my own daughter, too?’

Joy snorts, and Mrs Kim looks at her sourly.

‘Wendy, your roommate is very rude.’ Joy snorts again.

‘That’s why I like her.’ Seungwan murmurs, looking around in indignation. As Joohyun is not privy to the previous state of the girl’s side of the room, she cannot guess just what sort of changes the singer’s mother has introduced, but judging by the dissatisfied expression on the girl’s face, they seem to be drastic.

‘We should move you to another room.’ Her mother continues without as much as a blink.

‘How about you just don’t come in here and rearrange everything, offending Joy in the process. These are my things!’ Seungwan looks close to exploding.

‘Making your bed and putting away dirty clothes into the laundry basket can hardly be called rearranging your possessions.’

‘And you bought more clothes I don’t want or need! Mum!’ Seungwan whines. Joohyun spots a few bags lying at the feet of the bed. She can vouch for the fact that those brands sell nothing close to what the vocalist would ever call her own style. No ripped denims or oversized hoodies.

‘I see that you’ve at least given up that awful red hair colour. Does it mean that you’ve stopped hanging out with those dangerous boys who live on the street and play loud music?’ The woman observes calmly, trying to get a hold of a strand of her daughter’s hair but the latter brushes her off immediately.

‘Mum! None of my friends live on the street, ok?!’

‘The new hair colour was my idea.’ Joohyun responds at the same time, although in a much calmer fashion. That draws Mrs Kim’s attention.

‘And who might you be?’

‘She’s..’ The vocalist hesitates. Yeah, just who is Joohyun to her?

‘She’s Seungwan’s lady friend.’ Joy supplies, always helpful, yet not even bothering to turn around. Joohyun immediately reddens at the words, while Seungwan’s mother frowns.

‘That is not true.’ Joohyun nearly stammers. ‘I am her friend from the church. I believe that she has talked to you about the picnic we are organising this upcoming Sunday?’

‘How exactly is your mother a hypocrite for wanting to take care of you?’ Joohyun asks with the last bit of calmness that he can muster. She is tired and annoyed, although for two different reasons. ‘You’ve painted a terrible picture of her, when in reality she’s a sweet lady who wants to get closer to her own daughter. Why do you feel the need to push her away so badly, Seungwan?’

‘Of course you’d see her that way, of course. For you information, she doesn’t want to take care of me – she wants me to be her bloody doll to dress and do what she feels like with. You’ve known her for virtually five seconds, you know nothing about my life with her.’

‘I know that you don’t even bother trying to understand her. You’re just stuck in your tiny narrow world, where everything is black and white. There is no in between.’

‘Funny, that should be my line.’ Seungwan chuckles humourlessly. ‘And what’s there to understand, huh? That she didn’t want me in the first place and now pretends like I’m her precious child? 17 ing years too late, mate.’ Seungwan grabs her little rucksack from the floor, not wanting to be there any longer.

‘You’re proving my point to the T. Newsflash – people change, Seungwan. Did it ever occur to you that she’s not the same person that she was ten years ago? Five years ago? Even one week ago. Pull your head out of your bloody arse, Seungwan Son, and open your eyes. You’re not alone here – relationships don’t work if you’re not even trying.’ The president hisses, completely forgoing the etiquette.

Seungwan regards her for a second, taken aback, before allowing a tense smile grace her own expression.

‘But you are, aren’t you? You’re so good at arse-kissing that nobody can compare – and all that trying for a person who clearly won’t give you the time of day. You don’t like Yixing at all, do you? You’re just using him to meet some unrealistic expectations that your parents have for you. Newsflash, Joohyun,’ Seungwan mocks. ‘no matter what you do, you will never be able to satisfy them. Now tell me, who’s happier between us?’

Joohyun drops the paper plates she is holding in an abrupt movement, pieces of runny cake splashing all over the floor. She faces the singer, anger burning her to the core.

‘I resent that. I resent your constant judgement – yours and your friends’. I work hard for what I want, family or friendship. Perhaps my life goals are not to your liking, but at least I have them. Unlike you, who seem to be drifting around without any purpose whatsoever. At least I give a damn about something, Seungwan.’ She spats, heaving. This is the first time in her entire life that Joohyun Bae has allowed herself to appear this furious in public.

It’s a miracle that nobody has noticed yet.

‘Blimey.’ Seungwan says quietly after a moment, still in disbelief about what she has just witnessed – and how accurately the other girl’s words resemble her own mother’s. ‘They were all right about you. Every single one of my friends. I can’t believe I almost fell for this. I almost told my band to go themselves over you. But you were never even thinking of becoming my friend, were you?’ She murmurs, taking a few steps away. She doesn’t want to fight, when she feels so vulnerable and exposed – she needs to get out and her wounds in private first. But Joohyun is not done with her yet.

‘Friends?’ She grabs her forearm before the younger has a chance to escape. ‘Friends? You and your buddies make my life a nightmare every day. You never let me forget the things I’ve done, no matter how much I regret them or apologise for them.’ Seungwan just shakes her head and wrangling her arm out of Joohyun’s hold, she crosses the threshold and walks onto the backyard. It’s deserted, because the students are either still in the noisy auditorium hall, or have already gone to the chapel.

The singer needs to reach the gym before her legs buckle under her. Behind the gym has always been her safe place.

‘You and I are nothing alike. We have nothing in common. Do you think that I don’t know the only reason you approached me in the church is to make fun of me? To further humiliate me? And you thought I was your friend?’ Joohyun trails after her, laughing incredulously. It feels like the president no longer controls herself.

‘You never apologised for anything, Joohyun, and you’ve ruined lives of half of my friends, your own brother included. Do you expect them to just let it go?!’ She screams in the older’s face. They stare at each other for a moment, before Seungwan snaps out of it and resumes her march. ‘I’m a bloody ing idiot, that’s what I am.’ She mumbles to herself.

‘Did Sehun ever bother telling you what really happened that day? Or are you going to blame me for the rest of your life because it’s convenient?’ Joohyun shouts after her, no longer following.

‘I don’t care, I believe him. You and my mother can both go to hell, or wherever it is that nuts like you have a place-‘

Suddenly there is a low, pained howl coming from the direction of the gym and the two girls stop their argument, looking away in surprise.

‘You bastard! You bloody ing-‘ The wind is knocked off the attacker’s lungs before he has a chance to finish the sentence, the action soon followed by another scream. Joohyun and Seungwan look at each other for a split second, before breaking into a run. They both recognise the voices.

Sehun and Junmyeon.

‘Leave me alone!’ Junmyeon’s muffled voice demands. ‘ Leave me the alone. I’ll kill this ert with my own hands!’ That is how the girls find him – struggling against Sehun’s hold. His younger brother is sporting a quickly forming bruise on his chin, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth. But it is not Sehun that Junmyeon holds so much grudge against; on the contrary, Sehun is who keeps him away from the silhouette on the ground, uselessly trying to get up and failing.

Yixing Zhang looks like death impersonated, with his left eye already black, and his lip split. His jacket is torn and stained with a mixture of blood and soil. When Junmyeon breaks Sehun’s hold and manages to deliver another kick to Yixing’s stomach, the latter makes no move to shield himself, and Seungwan doesn’t know whether it’s because he cannot, or does not want to. It’s all the same to her though, as she jumps right in to drag the ranging boy away from his victim. Unfortunately, she is struck by Junmyeon’s arm in the process and stumbles to the ground herself.

Sehun is also, once again, unsuccessful in his rescue attempt.

‘Junmyeon! What on Earth..?!’ Joohyun snaps out of it, and shouts at her twin brother, now mildly terrified by his behaviour and language used.

‘This… this degenerate,’ he nearly spits the word, pointing at Yixing. ‘I trusted him! I trusted him..!’ He heaves, out of breath. Seungwan belatedly realises that there are tears in his eyes that he is desperately trying to blink away. ‘I trusted him.’ He repeats, before hiding his face in his palms.

A/N: Yeah yeah, we all know what's gonna happen next, but let me have it. I've been dying to write that scene for ages.

On a serious note, I reall hope that you all realise that this is just a piece of fiction. I do not endorse or condone behaviours that I write about, be it Joohyun or Seungwan's side - I just write them, and let my readers decide what they think about charatcers and their actions. I do not hate any of the real life idols that I take as my charatcers' originals, and nor do I claim that they are violent or homophobic, or badly behaved. This is just a story, y'all.

If you want to be friends, hit me up on Twitter: @changdeol . Also, please upvote if you like the story?  Those who already know my handle and recently sent me some concerned DMs - please, rest assure that it is not my intention to demoralise my readers. They all have minds of their own, anyway - it is no writer's responsibility to try and guess the reader's interpretation of the story.