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‘This better be bloody good. The bell is gonna go off any moment and I can’t afford to be late again, you know that.’

Seungwan is heaving – her entire silhouette bent over, her hands on her knees for better support. Her class starts in a few moments and yet here she is, running all the way from the girls’ dormitory towards their little hangout place behind the gym, when she could – and should - be slowly making her miserable way towards the Social Sciences classroom.

All in the name of a good gossip.

‘So? What is it?’ The red head girl looks to Tao who has started it all. It was his Have News. Gym Now that prompted her, along with the rest of the company, to go that extra mile and get out of bed, when they could as well just ignore the message altogether and spend those five more minutes in a deep slumber.

She is the last one to arrive and having taken a quick look at her friends’ faces, she gathers that they have all already heard whatever it is that the guitarist has to say. The boys’ expressions oscillate from amused (Jongin and Tao), to bewildered (Chanyeol), to bloody bollocks, is this what I was dragged here for? (Sehun).

So all in all, Seungwan doesn’t really know what to expect.

‘Hear this. The word on the corridor is that Saint Joohyun approached Yixing Zhang yesterday after class.’ Tao chirps, his eyebrows all wiggly. Jongin just snickers quietly by his side. The girl frowns, the lack of comprehension drawing thick on her façade.

‘Yeah, so? I was there, I saw them. Sehun saw them.’ She adds, nodding towards her peer, who in his usual fashion is idly plucking the ever offensive weed from between the pavement bricks. Called out, the boy doesn’t even care to look. ‘They went out for a while and came back sorta flustered.’

‘Yeah, and there was a bloody good reason for that, too. Joohyun asked the poor lad out, but he refused.’

Tao makes a dramatic pause for a bigger effect, but they all know that he cannot contain himself for too long. Soon, both his and Jongin’s robust chuckling interrupts the dead silence around them. Chanyeol looks somewhat uncomfortable as his eyes dart between Sehun’s passive expression and Seungwan’s frozen one.

‘Joohyun… chatting Yixing up? Whom did you hear that from? You’re seriously off your rail with this one, Tao.’ Seungwan bursts out laughing, even though there is no real reason to. She has witnessed it herself, after all – the older girl’s clumsy ways of trying to capture the secretary’s attention and engage him in a flirtatious banter. The red head remembers noticing how unskilled the president’s attempts were and clearly, the former was right – Yixing neither appreciated not welcomed the affection.

But more importantly, Joohyun’s interest in her Union colleague seemed so sudden, so painfully awkward, that it didn’t seem genuine at all.

‘Oh, come on, Wan.’ Tao gets all defensive at the dismissing tone of his friend’s voice. Because he doesn’t like getting his thunder stolen, especially when it comes to juicy rumours overheard at the corridor that might not even be entirely accurate. ‘I know you live your life convinced that  Joohyun Bae secretly wants you, but for those of us that are not delusional enough to join you in this ride to the loony land, this makes perfect sense. I mean, just imagine being her. School, God, Union. School, God, Union. Rinse and repeat. Being this repressed – in every way - can’t be good for you. At some point, you’d go randy for anyone. Even a bloke like Yixing Zhang.’

Sehun, who in his boredom has moved on to extracting moss from the lower part of the gym’s wall with a piece of rock he’s found lying around, hits the wall a little too hard, and the dull sound ends up resonating among them, briefly drawing their attention to the fact that the boy is still with them.

The group looks away in favour of continuing the interrupted conversation.

‘Bollocks.’ Seungwan refutes her friend’s elaborated theory regarding Joohyun’s supposed concealed desires. And not only because of her own amorous intentions.

No, Seungwan has spent enough time blatantly ogling the Union’s president to be able to tell that until most recent time, the latter has harboured absolutely no interest in Yixing. Granted, the red head doesn’t spend all the time by the other girl’s side, but it’s hardly plausible that Joohyun be actively flirting with the secretary in the presence of God and then completely ignore the boy outside of their Christian mission. No, the president must have had an ulterior motive behind her behaviour and Seungwan is not delusional enough to believe that Joohyun is doing it on her account.

And even if, it is definitely not to make Seungwan jealous. More like to spite her.

But in Tao’s opinion, the red head’s divagations prove nothing.

‘Let’s ask Sehun; he has no choice but to stick with them like a piece of spoilt gum all day long. Is your big sister hot for Yixing or what?’ Tao looks at his fellow band mate, expecting a confirmation of his extravagant theories, but that’s when Sehun abruptly abandons his Sisyphean activity, stands up from the pavement and having quickly brushed his backside off, motions at the school building.

‘Don’t know, don’t care. Let’s get going, I can’t be late for Calculus.’ Then he leaves, not really waiting for anyone.

‘Hey. Hey!’ Tao grabs his own bag and runs after his classmate, throwing a quick later over his shoulder. The rest follows suit.

‘Sehun really don’t like Yixing, does he?’ Seungwan observes as she walks alongside Chanyeol, who has his own class to get to.

‘Seems so.’ Chanyeol replies quietly, shrugging. The frown marring his forehead tells the girl that he’s busy making sense of something that he’s noticed, and there is no point probing further, because he is not ready to share his observations just yet.

But it’s there, and it’s enough to confirm Seungwan’s uneasy suspicion.

Dear God, I did it.

Well, not exactly that, but I was alarmingly close and this really needs to stop. I feel the sin weighing down my shoulders and I keep looking around in anxiety, half expecting the entire school population to see it written on my forehead. Although in the sea of sinners, yet another one doesn’t really stand out, I suppose.

Then again, not that I want to compare myself or anything, but my crime is not that grave when You think about it. And unlike them, I’m really striving to correct myself. So You should probably take interest in those other people first.

But I digress.

As far as I’m concerned, Seulgi has been doing everything that I asked her to. Her uniform skirt is even longer than the school regulations indicate – the whole 21 inches. It looks appropriately modest and I shouldn’t be complaining, except that I must, because her calves still seem too enticing for my own good. Not only her legs, but even her… well, other covered parts that I probably shouldn’t mention in Your presence.

So two nights ago, I walked my girlfriend back to her dormitory and we shared a good night kiss, and then my hand just slid down there, squeezing the soft flesh lightly and Seulgi moaned. It was a quiet sound, but I’m certain that she did. Imagine this, she moaned at my touch. Then I snapped back to reality and abandoned her at the threshold in haste. But since You are aware of everything, You probably knew this. You know that I left as soon as I realised what was happening.

Because this shouldn’t be happening. Heavens only know what we might do the next time we see each other, so I’ve been avoiding her. I think she’s upset and I don’t know how to explain to her that we’ve committed a major sin.

Not as big as those other sinners at our school, though, but You know what I mean.

I don’t know what to do. For the time being, I shall schedule an additional prayer session. It will be for the best for all of us.

Joohyun Bae’s patience is really wearing thin today and it’s not even a novelty.

When the former president of their Union graduated last year, Joohyun wasted no time putting forward her own candidature, simply because she felt that she truly deserved the position. She had always worked hard for the betterment of the school community and excelled academically, as well as socially. She had the personality of a leader and a grand gesture of a friend. She’d always been a person that evoked warm feelings in others and it didn’t surprise anyone that she was elected almost unanimously.

Their father had probably expected the spot to go to Junmyeon, his clear favourite, but Joohyun has always thought that her twin is too uptight and radical to attract followers. A congregation, however small, always needs to be ruled by a strong hand; but that same hand needs to wear a glove of kindness and empathy, otherwise it will be rejected. So all in all, Junmyeon just couldn’t become the new face of the Union, and it actually wasn’t particularly hard to persuade him to drop his sudden power hungry quest.

Either way, she’s made her twin her vice president – she’s come to have some use of him, while keeping his arduous ambition contained.

Joohyun Bae has always been eager and ready to help those that need her assistance – unfortunately, sometimes it is rather difficult when those same people are either unaware of their own problems, or worse, outright reject the helping hand. That’s when it gets particularly annoying, but she always tries her best to endure; after all, the Lord never said that it would be easy to spread his Word among the sinners.

‘You’re unusually quiet today.’ Joohyun is seated in the front row, with her head half turned to the back of the hall and diligently observing the gathering for any signs of disruption of the upcoming service. She sends one of the girls in the fourth row a condemning look – Joohyun instinctively knows who proves to be continuously noisy – and the girl blushes in shame.

Of course.

‘Am I? Sorry.’ Seulgi shrugs, looking down on her lap. Joohyun properly faces her best friend.

‘No need to apologise. I was merely curious whether there was something wrong.’ The other girl opens and closes several times, eventually unable to utter a word. Joohyun frowns in genuine concern. ‘You know that you can tell me.’

‘I wouldn’t want to worry you. You’re having enough of a day today as it is.’ Seulgi sends Joohyun a pitying look, which the later recognises in an instant; mostly, because she’s been receiving them all day long and it’s becoming tiring, not really understanding what they mean.

‘I’m fine. Just tell me, perhaps I can help.’ The president urges and her friend relents.

‘I-I think that Junmyeon doesn’t like me anymore.’ She whispers, her tone so low that the president needs to lean in closely to be able to make out the words. She sees the redness on her best friend’s cheeks.

‘What makes you think that?’ Joohyun replies in an equally hushed voice, wary of being overheard. Perhaps it is not the best idea to discussed something so private with so many students around, but it was the brunette that asked first, and it looks like her friend might not open up to her again. The girl has always been shy and very proper; it was, in fact, one of the reasons for which she was bound to attract the attention of somebody like the president’s twin brother.

‘I haven’t really seen him in two days. And the last time I did, he- He practically ran away from me. Just now I tried to approach him again, but he merely nodded and turned back to his preparations at the altar. I know that he’s been praying for me, for us, a lot and I got an impression that he thinks that I’m… making him stray off the right path.’ Seulgi’s voice gets more urgent with every word voiced out and it doesn’t take being her best friend to notice that she’s close to tears. ‘Am I doing that, Joohyun? Do you think that Satan has found a home in me? Do I need more prayer? I want to be strong for him.’

Joohyun’s frown becomes deeper at the question, until she tsks in displeasure.

‘I think that Junmyeon became too caught up in his self imposed moral code. Don’t worry, after service I will talk to him for you. You’re not doing anything wrong, that much I’m certain of. My brother tends to overreact sometimes, but that’s his problem; it has nothing to do with you. You need to accept that, but you also need to know when to stop him before it gets too much. I’m sure it’s just one of his temporary insanities.’

Just then, the door to the chapel opens a tad bit too loud and several pairs of eyes, including Joohyun’s, turn to see what the commotion is all about.

Seungwan Son, figures.

‘Don’t worry.’ Joohyun pats Seulgi’s shoulder in reassurance and the other girl nods weekly, not entirely convinced by the speech, but not wanting to object to it, either. ‘It’s nothing major.’

Just then, the red head appears in front on them, dragging Sehun behind her in a familiar fashion. The mood immediately turns awkward – it was uncomfortable enough the first time Seungwan crossed the threshold of the hall two days ago, but right now the tension could be cut with a knife. Joohyun is already irked with the singer as it is, but this time there are more issues at hand. Her own problems with Yixing, who is seated at the far corner of their bench and pretends that he doesn’t notice any of them, for one; Sehun’s permanently bored expression that Joohyun knows is not really boredom, but hurt and general annoyance; Seulgi’s distress with Junmyeon.

Joohyun feels an impending headache, but she really can’t afford one right now.

‘What’s hanging, guys?’

‘Nothing is hanging, Seungwan. And you can’t sit here. We’re full.’ Joohyun said straight off the bat and Seungwan’s eyes dart to the side, taking in the virtually empty bench.

‘…I see. Well, I just came to say hello and to remind you of our date after this.’ The red head really doesn’t want to grin too hard, but she can’t help herself. ‘Sehun wants to sit at the back, so we will be there, listening attentively.’

Joohyun almost rolls her eyes at the statement.

‘It’s not a date – and I hope you did prepare the menu I asked for and are not going to waste my precious time. As for my brother, it would be good if he could sit with his family every once in a while, for the Lord to see.’ Although the president refers to Sehun in third person, she is looking at him directly. It doesn’t come across as stern as she wants it to; instead, it feels more like a quiet plea.

‘What for? It’s not like God can’t see right through hypocrites.’ Sehun bites back with far more resentment that he probably intended to, and Joohyun, who has thought all along that nothing he said could faze her anymore, is left feeling mildly hurt.

He’s not there to witness her change of expression, though, for he leaves before his words have had a chance to sink in. Seungwan follows the boy with her eyes, clearly concerned, and ultimately rushes to catch up with him, sparing Joohyun one apologetic glance that the president doesn’t really know how to interpret. She purses her lips, now upset for good.

Seungwan thinks this is what hell must  feel like. For her, it’s not really pain or torture, or even loneliness. No, her personal hell have always been long periods of inactivity and boredom.

Presbyterian service seems to incorporate both. 

Tuesday was not so bad, since everything was new to her, and swiftly wrapped up within the span of half an hour. Today, however, appears to follow an entirely different order. They did pray a little at first (and Seungwan earnestly tried to repeat whatever she could), but the moment the pastor told them to sit down and make themselves comfortable, the red head realised that something was going terribly wrong.

That was forty minutes ago.

Seungwan is dying to just stand up and leave, but she knows she can’t. The pastor’s sharp eyes dart around the room as he talks about the Christian responsibility that we should all take for one another, and the singer wouldn’t put it past him to call her out in front of everyone and put her back in her place. Not to mention, Joohyun would probably never look at her again, not even with contempt.

Sehun is seated next to her - his gaze fixed on something ahead of him, his breathing very even -  and Seungwan just knows that he’s in fact dozing off; it’s just that he’s long mastered the difficult art of sleeping with one’s eyes opened. More often than not, it also comes in handy during their long History lectures and a part of the red head is actually impressed.

Some of the students around them don’t look any better – a few has apparently decided to treat the service as the perfect time to reenergise and take a nap; some are praying, or contemplating life in general; some, similarly to Seungwan, look around uneasily, their skin itching for some activity. The only people who remain concentrated seem to sit in the first row. The red head can’t exactly see their faces, but the four of them look at the preacher, nodding every now and then in attention, with Junmyeon leaning in further with what can’t be anything other than diligent excitement.

Sehun is still sleeping and Seungwan is about to go crazy.

She touches her companion’s elbow delicately, as not to jolt him awake in an abrupt manner and he blinks a few times before slowly turning to her, the lack of comprehension hazing his vision.

‘Is this a sermon or a hostage situation?’ She whispers to him, her voice hoarse. She suddenly feels inexplicably dizzy, as if those long forty minutes of sitting still have really taken their toll on her. Maybe they did, actually. She’s mentally exhausted.

‘It’s always like that when they send pastor Jones.’ Sehun fights a big yawn. ‘The two closest Presbyterian parishes are on Banks Road and Marian Maiden Way, and their preachers are assigned to help with the service and counselling here at Trent. They are supposed to have a rotational schedule, but in reality whoever is going to be in charge of the service remains a mystery until the last moment.’

‘Are you having a laugh?’ Seungwan looks at her companion is disbelief. 

‘No joke. It’s always been a major up, but I guess my siblings hadn’t been aware of it until they practically took over the club. Now Joohyun stays clear of it and Junmyeon has no other choice but to deal with it himself.’ That would explain why Joohyun, with all her OCD and controlling urges, remains inexplicably calm in the face of this havoc. However…

‘I’m assuming that your brother is bonkers over it, then?’

‘No, actually. Well, he does tend to whine about it every once in a while, but I think it’s more fishing for compliments on his part. As if his ego needed any more .’

‘Is this finishing any time soon? Because I need to go to the loo. Not to mention, if I’m forced to sit still like this for much longer, I might just run out of here screaming.’

‘Humph.’ The boy muses, appearing to briefly focus on the preacher’s lecture. ‘Oh, I know. Looks like we’re about done.’

‘Really? How do you know?’ Seungwan frowns in curiosity.

‘It’s easy, because his teachings are always the same. Listen closely - he’s already at the part where he’s condemning murderers and thieves. All that’s left are homouals and satanic rock music, and then they’ll take a break for tea and biscuit before the choir performance.’

‘You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?’ The girl slits her eyes, trying to decide if she can believe her companion. Sehun shrugs innocently.

‘Tune in to find out for sure.’

‘That was actually better than I expected.’ Seungwan says after the choir has finished their chants. The service finished just as Sehun predicted, the exact way that he predicted. Seungwan made a beeline for the toilet and emerged some minutes later, only to approach the refreshment table and stupidly consume an indecent amount of sponge cake. Sehun is standing by the side, observing her in mild amusement.

There’s a reason why nobody touches that sponge cake, he warned her before but Seungwan didn’t care. She doesn’t pride herself in her iron cast stomach for nothing.

‘It usually is, actually.’ Sehun agrees, his eyes on the group of people gathered across the room.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never heard you sing. I thought your siblings always try to rope you into anything that they can think of.’ Sehun snickers, not taking his eyes off the object of his interest.

‘They do love torturing me, but they are not masochists. You see, musical talent doesn’t exactly run in our family. The first and only time I was pushed to perform in the parish choir, about a hundred people decided to change their religion.’ Seungwan guffaws. ‘And the school’s choir is good, because the former president went to great lengths to ensure the quality, as she herself has a rather pleasant vibrato.’

‘Oh, yeah. Taeyeon, right? I’ve heard her sing before.’

Sehun nods.

‘Joohyun can’t sing to save her life, though, so Yixing is in charge of that lot now, with Junmyeon breathing down his neck every rehearsal. He loves to give his opinions, especially about stuff that he has no business in.’

Seungwan follows her friend’s line of vision, taking in the sight of the secretary calmly tuning in his guitar and the vice president, excitedly explaining something to him and tapping the page of a songbook for better effect. She imagines that their friendship must be a real test of patience sent straight from Heaven – and probably for both of them, too.

‘Listen, about Yixing-‘

 ‘Seungwan.’ The singer turns around and notices Joohyun several feet away, with an expectant expression on her face. ‘I have a moment now, so let’s sit down and look through your cooking ideas.’

‘Er, just a second.’ But Joohyun is having none of that stalling.

‘I don’t have a second. I want you to come here and enlighten me as to how you’re planning on feeding 250 people next Sunday. And you better have a plan B, in case something goes wrong, like it usually does with you.’ The president doesn’t wait for Seungwan – she makes her way to the round table in the other corner of the room, taking a seat on a red, wobbly chair.

‘You heard her, she wants me.’ Distracted from the originally intended topic, Seungwan giggles shortly, wiggling her eyebrows at Sehun. He merely rolls his eyes and walks away without commenting on the singer’s delusional ideas.

‘Took you long enough.’ The president looks at the other girl in exasperation, the notorious clipboard already in her hands.

‘But I’m definitely worth the wait.’ Seungwan grins and Joohyun rolls her eyes, making her own resemblance to her younger brother truly uncanny. The latter gestures at the list in front of her, prompting the younger to return to the topic at hand and the red head clears , smiling sheepishly.

‘I’ve brought a list. Mind taking a look at it first?’ She suggests, passing the other the sheet that she had merely folded and put into her denim’s pocket, but that ended up looking like something chewed on it and spit it out. Judging from Joohyun’s expression, she harbours suspicions of similar nature.

‘You have an awful handwriting, Seungwan.’ The older scowls. ‘How on Earth do any of the teachers understand these scribbles?’

‘Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. The upside is, they are always reluctant to take away points for something that is potentially not even there.’ The red head laughs at her own joke and Joohyun rolls her eyes again. She probably shouldn’t be doing this in the temple of God, but she’s very certain that if God met Seungwan, He’d more than understand Joohyun’s behaviour.

‘All of your suggestions sound very fancy. How do you expect us to produce Apricot-Prosciutto Focaccia?  And what exactly is that? It seems expensive and we are on a strict budget.’

‘Oh, no worries. They are just sandwiches on that funny thin bread that made my mother’s products famous. Not pricey at all.’ Seungwan dismisses the president’s objections. ‘The golden rule of picnic planning is that you prepare food that people can eat without using utensils. Saves them trouble and you, the hassle.’

‘So all of these vague names are…?’

‘Sandwiches, pastries, pies, dips, this sort of thing. Salads work too. You need some sort of a soup and of course, the main dish – I was thinking cold meat and roasted potatoes, since it’s still pleasant enough outside.’

‘We need cake.’ Joohyun looks at her companion unsurely, because the names on the paper tell her next to nothing.

‘Right here.’ The red head points out. ‘I’ll ring my mother about it – she’ll be so happy to hear about my attending your club, she’ll give you a good discount on bread and such.’

‘Why? Is your mother a Presbyterian?’ Joohyun asks, despite her better judgement. She really doesn’t need to know anything about Seungwan.

She already knows more than she would appreciate, actually.

‘No. She just wants me to give a about something for once.’ Seungwan murmurs with a light grimace forming on her face. Her words sound strangely like a direct quote from a conversation that Joohyun is definitely not privy to.

‘All right, then. Explain from the beginning, please. I need to write it all down.’ Joohyun bends her entire body to the side, retrieving her thick, black leather bound planner from the bag standing at the feet of her chair. In her haste, she doesn’t notice several objects dropping to the floor, including a pen and a page ripped out of a notebook.

Seungwan’s only intention is to help the girl pick them all up, but she ends up catching a glimpse of the message, nonetheless.

Serves you right.

Seungwan frowns, handing it back to Joohyun. The latter snatches it away, an expression of utter humiliation passing through her face.

‘Not this again.’ She mutters, crumpling the paper in her delicate fist.

‘What was that?’ Because Seungwan can never leave something like this alone. Obviously.

‘None of your business. Just concentrate on the menu, will you?’

‘Looks like somebody’s not that fond of you.’ The singer takes a wild guess, pressing the matter.

‘Of course they’re not. People always fear what they don’t understand and they attempt to disguise that fear with excessive use of sarcasm. Just look at yourself.’ Joohyun sends Seungwan a sour look, turning her attention back to her clipboard.

‘You don’t see me sending you hate mail.’ The read head rightfully points out, and the president sighs at the other’s persistence.

‘Yes, I’ve got a few of these today. Along with a few more funny looks at the corridor. No, I don’t know why and quite frankly, I don’t care to find out. Now, can he finally drop the subject?’

‘Humph.’ Seungwan makes a noncommittal sound, which has the older raise her head again. ‘If it’s only about today, I might have an idea.’ She admits bashfully and the president sends her a sharp look.

‘What did you do again?’ Joohyun wants to scream, but at the last moment remembers where they are and whom they are still surrounded by. Seungwan sends her an offended look.

‘Me? It’s all on you. The entire school is talking about you and Yixing.’ Seungwan voices out the defensive words before she can think better of it. All blood drains from the president’s face and she slowly stands up from her seat.

‘What do you mean..?’

‘You know, how you asked him to-‘

‘Hush!’ Joohyun hisses at her, nervously looking around. How…? Why…?  But either way, it seems that the milk has already been spilled. Suddenly all those unpleasant smirks and occasional consoling words that she’s been on the receiving end of the entire day start making perfect sense.

A great amount of her peers like and respect her. To the rest of the student body, though, she comes across as a, well, self involved slag, if you will.

Just perfect. Now things got awkward with Yixing, half of the school probably pities her and the rest has a field day, watching the ever perfect president of the Christian Union trip and fall on her arse.

And all she wanted was to impress her parents.

‘We are not done here. In the meantime, I better not catch you spreading those ugly rumours, Seungwan Son.’ Joohyun purses her lips in frustration and stalks away who knows where, in search of who knows what.

The red head only sighs, looking around for any other source of entertainment. But Sehun is gone and she doesn’t see anyone else whom she is even remotely interested in talking to, so she decides to take flight while she can.

Nobody needs her and her job here is done, anyway.

Uh, this came out wrong.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I hope this unusually long chapter makes up for it, at least a little bit. I'm in the process of moving flats and it's difficult to concentrate.

I think I'll be able to update by 09/02. Thanks for reading and please upvote if you like?