Even though such a farewell feels meaningless, we ended up meeting again from Sunday morning.
And it’s at the church, a place I thought we would never have any connection with for the rest of our lives.
Let me say upfront, I’m not particularly interested in religion.
It’s true I turned away just because it was a hassle, but also because everything gets exhausting when you get involved with religion.
From short conversations to relationships, and even the life before and after marriage.
I’ve heard plenty of stories about how it gets more intense the stronger one’s faith is.
It was a huge problem back when the plague was going around too.
Things like praying to overcome illness, or that if you believe in me you’ll be healed…
Bullcrap, does the virus care about your beliefs?
Despite Siyeon having her share of minor ailments, she doesn’t really harbor any strong prejudice against religion.
Still, she doesn’t make a point to wake up early on Sunday mornings to go.
“From the bottom of my heart – I love you -”
Anyway, the reason why both Siyeon and I ended up at church singing praises.
It’s not like we went willingly; it was thanks to the suggestion of Tae Hyun’s aunty.
Even though they call it a religious activity, it’s really not much at all.
After a few songs filled with strangely uplifting drum sounds.
We sit down randomly on long benches, open our Bibles, and listen to the talks, and that’s about it.
Under the name of being “born into faith,” you can even see kids running around in between the long benches during praises or sermons.
It’s a pleasantly naive and generous scene, almost like a kindergarten.
“Parents are devoted to their families…”
As the church sermon begins to drone on, my eyelids start to sag like I’m in class at school.
I shook my head vigorously since I didn’t want to look bad from day one at church but could only manage to lift my head slightly.
As I surveyed the area with sleepy eyes… I spotted some people already asleep, and to add to it, Tae Hyun’s aunty was nodding off too.
‘Seriously, why is she dozing off?’
Seeing the person who brought us to the church actually snoozing was absurd enough to poke Tae Hyun in the side.
He shook his head as if waking his mom would be useless and just fiddled with his smartphone under the bench.
Well, no surprise there… Trying to wake a sleeping student in class wouldn’t last more than five minutes either.
It’s probably not much different here.
And so, the eternal thirty minutes slowly passed.
“When we bless our lives over the coming week, let’s pray together.”
When that phrase came out of the pastor’s mouth about praying for the week ahead, the sermon was finally nearing its end.
Still, the church didn’t just sneak in extra sentences like a school lecture at the end, so it was bearable.
At the call to pray together, I brought my hands together and rested my forehead on the small space that stuck out from the front bench.
Though it’s called a prayer, I pretended to monologue without any real thoughts.
It was really just a moment with a few seconds of borrowed sleep.
“Well then, we’ll conclude the morning service with a closing song.”
With those words, the back door of the worship hall opened.
Creak, clunk, clunk.
As if the credits of a movie had started rolling, people began to stand up one by one instead of singing the song all the way through.
Finally, it was over, and stretching my arms, I stood up.
Just as I intended to leave first, it was as if it wasn’t really over because the aunty, who had been dozing off, spoke up.
“Don’t you guys have to meet for the youth group afterward?”
“Huh?”
I had assumed it was finished and was about to catch the bus home, so a confused sound escaped my lips.
Wait, it’s still not over? The youth group?
This isn’t school, and what else do they expect to do after the service based on age?
‘What more is there?’
“Tae Hyun, since it’s their first time, you take Mari and Siyeon and come back, okay?”
“Okay.”
Naturally, he responded to his aunty’s words, and off he went, opening the door to the building next to the church and climbing the stairs.
Meanwhile, the aunty gracefully walked toward the bus stop after enforcing another service after the main one.
Seriously, why is she going back?
‘I’m about to lose it.’
Following the flow of consciousness, I trailed behind Tae Hyun, taking one step at a time up the stairs.
With me following Tae Hyun, Siyeon predictably followed along too.
If I’m the hamburger, Siyeon feels like the fries or cola tagging along.
After trudging up the steps, we reached the door on the third floor of the building.
When I opened the door and walked in, contrary to the narrowness of the stairs, a surprisingly spacious area appeared.
Inside, there were no chairs or anything, just a small desk and computer on the tatami mats.
And a white screen with a projector hanging from the ceiling.
A few adults overseeing the worship for the youth group, with us starting from first-year middle schoolers all the way to third-year high schoolers widely distributed.
While there was a goal of mingling, it was truly a group gathered to do worship after the main worship.
Empty-headed.
I just cleared my mind, reciting Bible verses and praises as instructed, with only one thought lingering in my head.
‘I really want to go home.’
After finishing the second worship and praise of the day, I felt mentally and physically drained… in other words, I was in a fragile state.
That feeling of exhaustion lingered for just a moment.
“Tae Hyun mentioned you were friends from school; what are your names?”
As we sat in a circle, the conversation made its way around to us according to the predetermined order.
It was only natural for attention to focus on us, the fresh faces of the youth group following Tae Hyun.
In this circle, a girl looking in her mid-twenties led the questions and conversation.
Pointing at herself and Siyeon, she continued with the introductions.
“I’m Kim Mari, and this is Lee Siyeon.”
“Oh, are you two acquainted?”
“We’re sisters.”
“Oh, is that so?”
After a few short questions and answers passed.
From the other side, a boy who seemed to be in high school stood up, walked over to Tae Hyun, and casually draped an arm over his shoulder.
“Hey, Tae Hyun, looking pretty good! Who’s your girlfriend?”
Out of nowhere, he comes in asking who Tae Hyun’s girlfriend is.
With a tilted head and a casual attitude.
To put it simply, he looked like the type who’d be smoking a cigarette.
I didn’t know if he was joking or being serious, but Tae Hyun jumped in surprise and said.
“Ah, no, it’s nothing like that!”
It was a rare sight to see Tae Hyun flustered like that.
Looking blankly, the two had a conversation that was clearly not just a joke, and I glanced around.
It seemed this kind of joking around was pretty normal; no one looked uncomfortable, laughing and enjoying the atmosphere.
I’d heard that some come to church secretly hoping for romance, and judging by the vibes, it didn’t seem like a wrong assumption.
“Both of you are really pretty; you’re not really dating, right?”
“I told you it’s not…”
The high schooler named Tae Woo sitting next to Tae Hyun subtly glanced our way, not holding back on the compliments as he coaxed Tae Hyun for an answer.
Was he just trying to get us to like him with unconditional praise?
Siyeon, in my eyes, is cute enough to go with the flow, while I see myself as average when I check my reflection.
So I definitely wouldn’t be the type to blush like a romance game heroine saying thank you for flattering compliments.
“Thanks, even if it’s just empty praise.”
“It’s not empty praise, it’s the truth!”
Treating the guy’s attention like a compliment from someone I hadn’t seen in months, I brushed it off nonchalantly.
Why, it’s the kind of question someone asks after months of not seeing each other.
“Hey, have you lost weight?” That sort of thing.
Whether it’s truly meant or not doesn’t matter; it’s just a passing comment to lift your spirits.
Just like someone hearing that would typically reply, “Lost weight? What’s that about?” I treated his flattery the same way, cutting it down swiftly.
After a light question about my relationship with Tae Hyun, the conversation turned to our recent happenings.
Each of us shared something like where we went or what good things happened in school…
As we took turns talking about good and bad experiences in the students’ view and completed a round.
We prayed to thank God for the good things and reflected or forgot the bad things.
I personally wondered why one would thank God for something good that happened to them, but I held that thought back inside.
Isn’t that more in the realm of luck than divinity?
“Let’s pray individually and wrap up.”
When the word came out that we would each pray, I pressed my palms together and lowered my head, squeezing my eyes shut.
With everyone mumbling their individual prayers, a sound of the door creaking open echoed late.
The rustling of plastic and the aroma of delicious food wafted in.
Peeking with half-opened eyes, I subtly turned my head towards the door.
Just after lunch, at the entrance piled high with pizza boxes.
The grace of God that can turn even an atheist into a faithful believer.
“Hallelujah, Amen!”
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.