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‘What are you doing here again?’ No matter how fast Joohyun attempts to walk, it’s simply impossible to shake Seungwan Son off. The latter can easily match the rhythm of her steps despite being of a rather fragile frame.

‘I’m part of the Union now. I came to help spread the word of Lord.’ The red head reminds the president patiently, shaking his head lightly in mock disappointment.

‘You don’t know the first thing about the Lord. And that hair makes you look like a spawn of Satan. Nobody is going to take me seriously if you continue following me.’

Earlier that morning, Sehun rang Seungwan to ask whether she wanted to join the Union in their evangelic mission to indoctrinate pliable minds (his words, not Seungwan’s) and although the events of the previous night are still fresh in her memory, something in the boy’s voice told the singer that he really needed her to be there. So she got out of bed and put her most conservative clothes on. There was no getting rid of the hair colour on such a short notice, though.

Curious looks thrown over her own shoulder seem to confirm her theory now. Sehun’s expression could match that of a stone, that’s how cold he looks right now. He refuses to look at either Junmyeon - who fails to recognise his brother’s condition and instead, carries on with a monologue about the importance of prayer, directed at no one in particular – or Yixing, who dejectedly walks on the other side of his best friend. The atmosphere between the three is quite heavy, even if the vice president isn’t really aware of it, but neither the secretary, nor Joohyun, who walks ahead of the boys, seem to in any way acknowledge each other which leads Seungwan to the only logical conclusion.

Joohyun lied to her parents.

Which means that she’s not taken, her uality is technically still ambiguous, the world can continue turning like it always has and Seungwan doesn’t need to throw herself to the bottom of the ocean just yet. Which is good, because the ocean is actually quite far away from Trent College, now that Seungwan thinks about it, and recovering from such a fall would surely take more than one and a half days that he has left of her weekend. Even the resurrection took three days.

Yeah, the singer has downloaded the Bible on her Samsung. Mostly out of boredom but some parts are actually more exciting than the latest Jason Statham film.

‘I can just observe and you know, learn from the best.’ Seungwan grins, to which Joohyun only shakes her head an sighs deeply, but she doesn’t roll her eyes. The red head takes it as a sign of getting used to Seungwan’s annoying presence. That makes her grin even harder.

‘Do something about your hair, Seungwan. I need you to be decent for the picnic. I mean it.’

‘Sure thing.’ She agrees easily and the president immediately realises that her words fell on deaf ears.

Joohyun and Junmyeon split up every time, individually approaching encountered houses - Seungwan Son sticks with the president throughout the morning, while Sehun and Yixing drag their feet behind their male leader and pretend that everything is fine and that the only thing they need to worry about is heavenly salvation.

If only.

Just before lunch, they arrive at Cunning Circus, which marks the end of the so called university student area and further leads to the city centre. Joohyun confidently crosses the concrete pavement of a miserable looking little yard and knocks on the door. The pair has been shot down quite a few times already – mostly a combination of it being Saturday morning and students aka people generally disinterested in the mysterious ways of God – so Seungwan doesn’t really count on anyone even opening the door to them, let alone listen to what the president has to say. To be perfectly honest, the latter is actually quite admirable in her persistence and unbreakable spirit. The rejection and sometimes humiliation that the Christian faces with understanding patience, Seungwan would have long reacted to with anger and frustration.

Joohyun knocks again, while her red head companion idly examines the single flower pot standing on the exterior window sill. Whoever lives here seemed to have forgone taking care of the lawn, but instead, pays particular attention to that one plant that they can apparently handle.

Finally, an Asian looking boy of average height appears at the door, clearly trying to stifle a yawn and failing badly. He sports a long t-shirt and boxers, his brownish hair sticking out in every direction possible. He looks at the two girls standing at his threshold.

‘Can I help you?’ His voice is deeper than expected, but strangely familiar. Seungwan, who until now has been standing on the side, does a double take.

‘Kyungsoo Do? You’re Kyungsoo, aren’t you?’ She asks, inspecting the boy carefully. He frowns, shifting his attention from the brunette in front of him to the red head at the back.

‘Do I know you?’

‘I’m Seungwan. Jongin’s friend from school? We met at that barbecue in Minseok’s house back in May. Or was it June…?’ Kyungsoo squints his eyes briefly before recognition downs on him.

‘Hey, you’re the girl who puts too much ketchup on everything she eats.’ He chuckles. ‘You were a lot less… red back then.’

Seungwan purses her lips, feigning offense.

‘Ketchup is good for your body, ok? It’s practically a vegetable.’

‘If you say so.’ He chuckles again, sleepiness leaving him for good. He turns around, looking up to the stairs. ‘Jongin! Jong, your friends are here!’

Now, that is admittedly a twist that Seungwan couldn’t have predicted, although she probably should have, the moment she saw Kyungsoo Do at the door. Because Jongin no longer lives at the dormitory and instead, formally resides at his cousin Minseok’s house. Informally though, he spends almost 50% of that time staying the night at his boyfriend’s shared house.

Kyungsoo Do is Jongin’s boyfriend. Because, duh.

But before the singer has a chance to react and in anyway prevent the inevitable disaster, the heavy thud of Jongin’s running down the stairs can be heard, and he appears next to the older boy in his fully, equally dishevelled glory. He immediately catches Seungwan’s eye, his expression one of a pleasant surprise, but that lasts but a mere second. The moment he registers the other girl standing right in front of him, he freezes.

‘I swear I had no idea that Kyungsoo lived here.’ Seungwan immediately pipes in in an unnaturally high pitched voice, trying to prevent the impending disaster, but it’s of no use. Jongin doesn’t seem like he’s heard a single word. Realising the silent staring match between Jongin and Joohyun, Seungwan eventually trails away and quietens. There is nothing that she can do for either of them, because it’s not her business. Or it shouldn’t be, at least.

‘You have got some guts to come here.’ Jongin hisses eventually, leaning against the frame with his left forearm. If there would ever be the time that Seungwan could describe her usually soft spoken pink-haired friend as threatening, it would be now. Right now, taking one step towards the girls and towering above everyone present, Jongin doesn’t resemble his familiar self at all.

Judging from the way that Kyungsoo looks at his boyfriend’s ice cold gaze and angry sneer, the former is of the same opinion.

‘Jong, what in the world…?’ The older boy is searching Jongin’s face for anything that would help him understand the situation, and he isn’t meant to wait long. The younger replies quietly, his eyes never leaving the Union president.

‘She’s not my friend, Kyungsoo. This, right here, is Joohyun Bae.’

Jongin unconsciously fists his palms, but Seungwan is the only one to notice. Not that it matters, anyway. The university student nearly snaps his neck, that’s how fast he turns back around to look at Joohyun, this time to really look at her. He regards her with a combination of what can only be described as horror, disgust and even a little pity.

Rather than blushing hotly, blood drains from her face completely, leaving her pale as a sheet. But she maintains eye contact, this time with the older boy, her expression seemingly indifferent.

‘You foolish, foolish girl. How could you do something like that to another person? Are you in your right mind..?’ The brunette’s voice turns into near whisper, but it still rings as loudly as a church bell due to the deafening silence among them. More than angry, he just looks astonished. Astonished and totally disappointed in humanity.

Kyungsoo then turns to Seungwan, frowning.

‘And you, are you not Jongin’s friend? What are you doing here with her?’ Seungwan bites her lower lip, side eyeing Joohyun. To a regular person, the latter’s face might probably look stoic, but the red head has spent more than enough time observing the older to tell that she is actually deeply shaken. Perhaps she is actually more affected by her holy deeds that she lets on, because this isn’t the Joohyun that orders her minions around on a daily basis. She seems more like a person who’s never really made peace with the ghosts of her past.

The vocalist looks back at her friend’s boyfriend.

‘You know that it was Junmyeon who went to your parents.’ She says, immediately regretting the words. Jongin sneers, hitting the door frame with an open palm in anger. The girl winces.

‘That wanker merely does what she tells him to! How can you be so bloody blind, Seungwan? Do you think that this is a joke to me?!’ The younger student nearly yells in fury. Kyungsoo puts his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, but Jongin barely notices the gesture.

‘Jong, I think you should calm down first...’ Jongin looks at the shorter boy as if he’s lost his mind.

‘I cannot and will not calm down. Do you really expect me to just calm down?’ He blabbers, now bordering on hysterical.

‘I didn’t know that Kyungsoo lived here. If I had, I would have never even let them come close-‘ Seungwan’s weak explanations are harshly interrupted.

‘That is so not the ing point here.’ Her classmate laughs drily, not even an ounce of humour in his voice. ‘The point is that you’re associating with them at all. Sehun – Sehun I can understand. But you? I’ve heard all about your chapel adventures and chummy poster painting from Chanyeol all right. He said that you were doing it for laughs, but I know better. You believe that you can change her, perhaps even make her love you, but let me tell you this: I’ve known her for fifteen years and she doesn’t love anyone but herself. Look at Minseok and Yoona. Look at Sehun. Look at me. She’s ed everyone over just because she could and she’s going to do the same to you. I don’t know how or when, but you just wait. She will.’

Jongin spits the last words like fire. A single tear rolls down Joohyun’s cheek, but her eyes never leave the boy in front of her. Seungwan cannot tell for sure what is going on in the older girl’s head, but the latter looks sorrowful, taking the outburst like she actually deserves it.

When no further words follow the outburst, Joohyun takes a deep breath.

‘I’ve already explained it to you. What you’re doing with him…’ She eyes Kyungsoo, her voice wavering just a tad. ‘You know what our religion says. I couldn’t just keep quiet. And your parents… I just never thought that it would come to this-‘

‘Our religion? Our religion, Joohyun? A religion which asks parents to reject their children because of something that they were born with? Which tells fathers to hit their sons for something that is beyond their control? Which turns family members against each other? That is not my God, Joohyun, and that is not my religion.’

Joohyun looks like she’s been slapped, and quite frankly, Jongin might as well have.

‘You can’t see it now, but later on, you’ll realise that what you’re doing is wrong. And your parents love you, they just don’t want you living in sin. If you just repent-‘

‘My parents don’t love me – they are hypocrites. Parental love is supposed to be unconditional, not dependant on what the neighbours will say. And if being biual is what you call living in sin, I’ll gladly stay this way for the rest of my life. At least when I burn in hell, I’ll be in good company.’

Joohyun finally breaks their eye contact, no longer able to maintain her superficial calmness.

‘I think I should go now.’ She mumbles to nobody in particular, pursing her lips and leaving without another word. Seungwan catches her looking for a tissue in her purse just before exiting the gate. When the vocalist faces her friend again, Jongin looks almost hostile, while Kyungsoo is plain uncomfortable.

‘And you. Don’t talk to me until you’re decided which side you are on.’

‘I’m on nobody’s side.’ She insists, almost wincing at how dumb it sounds. The pink haired boy seems to be of the same opinion.

‘Yeah, you can keep telling yourself that.’ Then he shuts the door in her face.

On her way out, Seungwan encounters the male counterpart of the their Word spreading mission. Sehun’s eyes widen and he drops his indifferent façade as soon as he connects the dots.

‘Isn’t this-‘

‘-Kyungsoo’s house, yes.’ She admits grimly, leaving the three of them astonished; all for different reasons.

It’s not hard to find Joohyun Bae. As soon as the red head vocalist gets off the bus, she heads straight for the school chapel. And she’s not mistaken - the older girl is there on her knees, her eyes closed and her hands tightly put together in a prayer. She’s calmed down now; in fact, she looks so peaceful that to Seungwan, she might as well be a personification of an angel. It’s so hard for the younger to believe that Joohyun is guilty of all the things that Jongin accused her of, even though she knows the victims personally.

But even a fallen angel is still one. Joohyun Bae is a living proof of that statement.

Seungwan takes a seat behind Joohyun, for once not trying to interrupt whatever is happening. It takes the older another ten minutes before she finally stands up from her knees and sits down on the bench heavily. She sighs deeply.

‘You are all wrong, you know that, right?’ The brunette says, still not really acknowledging the younger girl.

Seungwan shrugs in response, even though the president can’t really see her. It doesn’t matter, though, because Joohyun doesn’t seem to be looking for any kind of response. She just needs to get it off her chest to reassure herself, and the red head happens to be there.

‘Jesus says that you are all wrong. And if I can’t trust Him, then I certainly can’t trust anyone else.’ She adds, more urgently now.

‘Well, technically Jesus tells you to love everyone…’ Seungwan ponders without her usual sarcastic spin on things. She doesn’t know anything about Christianity and she doesn’t even want to pretend that she understands what drives people like Joohyun, but something tells her that this is as close and honest as she will have the president talk to her.

‘I love everyone! Or at least, I try to love everyone.’ The older’s voice falters. ‘I try so hard, but Jesus doesn’t tell you to love sin. Just the person. So you and Jongin, and that… boy that he’s spending time with. You are all wrong.’ She repeats stubbornly, sounding frustrated and most of all, tired. She doesn’t turn around.

‘If you say so.’ Seungwan ascertains casually, leaning away from the girl and onto her own bench.

‘Do you know how hard is it to see people leaving you one by one?’ Joohyun presses on, content with just letting it all out. ‘Jongin used to sit behind me in church every Sunday. He’d attend the dance club with Sehun. Then he’s suddenly become.. this. God has lost him and now He’s losing Sehun. I am losing Sehun. This is all wrong.’ She adds with more might, shaking her head as if the current state of things offended her by simply daring not to follow the holy plan that Joohyun Bae prepared for them.

‘Right.’ Seungwan absent-mindedly agrees, sighing. She feels dumb for sitting there with the one person that hates everything that Seungwan represents with herself, but unfortunately, feelings are a little more complicated than that. Perhaps Jongin is right; perhaps she really is stupid enough to think that she can change Joohyun’s mind.

The thing with Seungwan Son is that she’s always only really minded her own business. She doesn’t like speaking up for other people, and she’s surely not about to do it now. Sure, she’s a bit of a busy body, but she’s never advocated queer rights and she’s never tried to persuade anyone to do that, either. Heck, she doesn’t even bother labelling herself most of the time. The only truths that she’s ever lived by are to live and let live. Treat others how you want to be treated. Respect other people’s boundaries.

Although if you get in her way, Seungwan Son will not hesitate to go as far as punching you in the face.

But all in all, she sees very little point reasoning with her adversaries and even less with know-it-all little Christian girls who treat homouality like a deathly disease.

The ease with which she lets the issue go clearly must have surprised Joohyun, for she finally takes a look behind, an intrigued frown marring her face.

 ‘You’re not going to disagree with me.’ It comes out more as a statement than a question.

‘What for? You let an ancient book dictate you what to think and you’re determined to judge people without really getting to know them. Just like Jongin predicted.’ She mumbles the last words more to herself, but Joohyun catches it anyway.

‘He’s your friend, yet you tried to defend me. You don’t hate me. Why?’ She probes further. More than offended, she looks intrigued. Seungwan sighs, resigned.

‘Because I’m an total moron, that’s why. Something that Jongin also already knows, by the way.’ She spits out despite herself. Because I’m an idiot who always falls for people she’s not supposed to fall for. First Sunyoung, and now this. Must I always be so ridiculous?

Joohyun regards her for a short while, before turning back to the altar. They don’t say anything for a while. Seungwan notices the fidgeting of the older girl – the discomfort that she feels upon realising that she’s just poured her frustrations out in front of the one person that annoys her the most. The red head generously tries to give her some space, but it doesn’t last long.

‘Did you ever apologise to him?’ She can’t help but ask. ‘To Jongin, I mean.’

‘Didn’t you hear me back there?’ The older girl eventually replies, exasperated.

‘That was not an apology. That was a litany full of bloody excuses.’ The other refutes, raising an eyebrow pointedly.

‘Well, I don’t think I have anything to be sorry about. I’m not the one who parted ways with Him.’ Joohyun hedges. ‘And Seungwan, you’re in front of the Lord. Can you stop being vulgar for five minutes?’ There is a sharp edge to Joohyun’s voice and Seungwan realises that just like that, their bizarre heart to heart has finished. The president of the Christian Union is back, perhaps more judgemental than ever, and there is nothing that Seungwan can do about it.

‘Maybe not as a Christian. But as a friend, yeah, you kind of do.’ The upperclassman doesn’t respond and the younger student doesn’t press any further. It’s not fair to Jongin to meddle into his affairs behind his back, anyway.

She herself will have to find a way to make peace with the boy after her involuntary betrayal of his feelings.

‘Fancy hearing a joke, Joohyun?’ She says instead, in attempt to lighten up the mood. Leaning in, she grins at the other girl who doesn’t even bother to turn around – she can probably hear the grease of her tone even without looking.

‘No, I really don’t.’ The president immediately replies, standing up and trying to distance herself from the blasphemy that will inevitably be whatever comes out of the red head’s mouth. Seungwan is quick to jump to her feet and follow, not discouraged by the already familiar distaste and lack of interest.

‘What did an atheist say when his Christian friend invited him to his church?’

‘I really don’t want to know.’ But Joohyun’s plea falls on deaf ears as Seungwan announces:

‘Well, I’d join, but I’m allergic to nuts.’ She guffaws so loudly at her own words that she draws attention of a few people passing them by the corridor. Joohyun stops and gives her a scolding look, but the red head thinks that she sees the left corner of the president’s lips twitching lightly. How’s that for a small victory?

‘That is not funny.’ Joohyun feels obliged to say and hastens her step again. Seungwan takes it as a sign not to egg her on any further and slows down instead, letting the older go. Just as the brunette is about to disappear around the corner, she turns her head a little and says, as if despite herself:

‘Yoga at the gym tomorrow, 9 o’clock sharp. Don’t be late.’

Thinking of all the positions that she will possibly see Joohyun in tomorrow, Seungwan feels closer to God already.