Chapter Text
The priest raised his hands up, a chalice in one hand and a wafer in the other. Jeon Jungkook waited patiently for his turn, hands folded together in front of his heart just as he held them every night before his bedtime prayers.
“The Body of Christ,” Father Jung spoke as Jungkook opened up his hands to receive the Eucharist, placing it gently on his hands, then allowing it to dissolve slowly on his tongue before chewing softly. When he had gone through his first communion, his teacher in elementary school had stressed how important it was to chew in a dignified manner. “You don’t want to go up there and look like a goat chomping on grass,” was what she had told him. It had stuck with him all the way into his adult life.
Finding his seat then kneeling for silent prayer, he thanked the Lord. Head bowed with his rosary in hand, he started with a Hail Mary, then moved on to his own personal prayer.
Dear God, I am so thankful to be able to receive Your love today and every other. Thank you for sending Your one and only Son so I may be forgiven for my sins. Although I am not perfect, although sometimes I may stumble, I know Your grace and-
A loud slam shook him from his prayers, small gasps rang out amongst the usual mass crowd. He tried his best to ignore it and finish what he was doing, but whispers were invading his ears persistently. Slightly annoyed, he turned his head around to investigate. His mouth dropped as he saw a man standing in the doorway, hair styled and colored in a way he had never seen before and clothes very unfitting for mass.
“What is the meaning of this?” the priest’s voice rang out, calm, yet firm. Jungkook’s focus shifted back towards him momentarily, but he found himself turning around again to hear the unknown presence’s response without much thought at all.
“What, a guy can’t be a little late to mass?” he scoffed. Jungkook knew the man wasn’t being genuine, but he was very curious about how this would progress nonetheless.
“You barge in here and dare to act so nonchalantly in front of the Lord?” the priest roared. The entire chapel was stunned, as they were not used to such anger from the usually calm and kind man of God.
“Did Jesus not barge into a temple and flip the tables of those preaching evil?”
“How dare you-”
“Father Jung, was it not you who preached a sermon on acceptance just the other day?” He spoke calmly, but there was a snide aura to his words— a “gotcha” moment, indeed. “Or was my grandmother simply lying to me so that I would come here?” Jungkook’s mouth fell into a soft “O”; he had never seen anyone challenge Father Jung in this manner. But was the stranger really wrong? He had just preached a lesson on acceptance just last Sunday! “I hurried in here because of the rain, yet you have clearly judged me for the way I look.” Small gasps could be heard from the crowd again. “Not very Christlike of you, I’d say.”
When those words left his mouth, it was as if a bomb had gone off in the chapel. Even the usually reserved woman sitting next to Jungkook stood up and shook her fist angrily as her cries mixed in with all of the other disgruntled churchgoers. He was not one to engage in petty arguments or gossip, so he stayed quiet in his seat like always, hands moving up and down his beads softly. It was a ritual he had picked up whenever he felt any sort of discomfort, and one he relied on very often. All of this was ridiculous to him. Yes, the new man should not have disrupted mass, but Father Jung should not have been so quick to judge his intentions.
“Silence!” the priest called out, and everyone hushed in an instant. Jungkook smiled softly. Leave it to Father Jung to take command of a whole room with just one word, he thought.”Mr. Kim, please take your seat now so we can continue.”
“Mr. Kim” rolled his eyes and moved towards an empty seat near the back not too far from Jungkook, huffing as he sat down. He took it as an opportunity to turn around and flash the new man a gentle smile and a hesitant, but relaxed wave. After being met with nothing in return, he turned back around and tried to push down his embarrassment of not being acknowledged.
The rest of mass carried on smoothly with no interruptions from the new man again. At last, Father Jung said his final remarks. The truth was, Jungkook was tired. On top of long hours during the week, volunteering took up most of his weekends. God did not rest for more than one day, therefore he believed he had no right to complain.
“Go forth with peace,” his voice boomed out. “And don’t forget we have our children’s ministry dinner led by Mr. Jeon tonight at six!” Several people around the doe eyed man turned towards him and smiled brightly, pumping their fists up lightly in support before gathering their things to leave.
Most of the congregation met in the lobby of the church, while some lingered behind to stay in the pews and pray. Jungkook quickly finished up his previously interrupted prayer, then joined the others, immediately searching for his dear friend, Miss Moon, to chat about her children who would be attending his lesson later.
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As he made his rounds slowly, waving and saying hello to anyone who stopped him, he finally set his eyes on Miss Moon, running up and tapping her shoulder. Ever since her husband had passed after her last child had been born, she had grown reclusive, opting to stand off to the side and wait for others to approach her first. Jungkook was certain he would turn out the same if he went through what she did.
“Hi, Jungkookie,” she smiled softly. “You know my little ones will be attending later, of course.”
“I actually wanted to chat with you about that real quick if you have a moment.” Worry painted her poor face, but Jungkook immediately jumped into reassuring her that there was nothing wrong. “I know you’ve been dealing with a lot after hours, and I wanted to offer up watching them until we start. They could just stay here with me and our other volunteers until it’s time, and I can take them home right after.”
“Bless you, Jungkook, you‘re too kind to me,” she grabbed his arms and jumped a little in her spot. “What have I ever done to deserve a friend like you?”
All Jungkook could do was smile and say it was no big deal. He knew it had been extremely difficult for her and the kids ever since their great loss, so this was one of the ways he could relieve her burdens.
“Jaehyun! Junho!” She called to her boys, and they came tumbling over immediately, hugging him tightly. The bonds he had created with these events were so special to him. It gave him a sense of purpose, kept his heart full to the brim with love. “You’re going to be staying here with Uncle Kookie for dinner!” The kids erupted, jumping up and down and screaming excitedly. “Now come with Mom for a second, we’ve got to drop off the tithings. See you in a minute, Kookie!”
“Bring them to the kitchen! I’m on prep duty!” He called out as they ran off.
Chuckling softly as they left, he turned around and was stopped dead in his tracks, running straight into a spiked jacket.
“Oh! I’m sorry!” he gasped. Realizing who he had run into, he went pale. It was Mr. Kim, and he was glaring at him intensely with furrowed brows and his arms crossed. “Sorry, sorry! Let me get out of your way!”
“You people are all the same,” he scoffed. “Preaching love and acceptance, then acting like you’ve seen a ghost whenever you spot anyone who is slightly different from you.” Jungkook’s mouth fell into a small “o” as he was rendered speechless. He threw his hands up in front of his chest erratically, fumbling over his words. Why was he acting so ridiculously?!
“It’s not like that, Sir, I promise,” he finally sputtered out. The man scoffed again, muttering to himself. He had to compose himself immediately, breathing deeply for a second before continuing. “I know some of our members can fall victim to the sin of judgement, but I can assure you that I try my best to be the exact opposite of that.”
“Sure you are,” he rolled his eyes and looked away. Jungkook scrambled for a way to pick up the pieces of the miserable excuse of an attempt to make a new acquaintance.
“We g-got off on the wrong foot,” he stuttered out foolishly. God, please grant me strength to make this right, he prayed quickly in his head. “My name is Jeon Jungkook, what’s yours?”
“Kim Taehyung,” was all the taller said. The way he stood made Jungkook nervous, off-put by his slight slouch and dark aura that surrounded him.
“It’s nice to meet you, Taehyung. I hope to see you around more so we can get to know each other.” Looking around, he noticed a few members were eyeing them cautiously, seemingly nervous for him.
“There’s no reason for you to get to know me,” Taehyung muttered, annoyance steeped deep into his voice.
“Well, I try to get to know anyone who comes,” he pouted slightly, shrugging off how badly it hurt for him to hear. “You may not want to know me, but that doesn’t mean I won’t at least try to get to know you.”
Taehyung huffed. “I don’t care. I know your end goal,” he got a little closer, shoulders raised like an angry dog with its hackles up. “You just wanna convert anyone who walks through that front door.” He pointed to the entrance harshly as he spoke. Jungkook stepped back in shock, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as he gripped the cross that hung around his neck. “Now that I’ve made myself clear, I’m volunteering tonight, so just hurry up and tell me what I need to do.”
“Oh,” he replied timidly, a little frightened to speak. “Just follow me to the kitchen.” He turned around quickly and led the taller one around, going down a couple of hallways that were decorated with the signs of the cross. Jungkook thanked God that the kitchen was barely a minute’s walk away. “And here we are!” He said awkwardly with a smile as they walked inside.
The church kitchen was older, damn near falling apart. Of course they made do with what they had available, but sometimes Jungkook wished there was something he could do to fix it up all nice and pretty. While some Catholic Churches were big and bold, theirs was quaint— more inviting that way, many said. There were two old, steel tables for prep work, rust and grime stuck to the legs of it, and a large stove next to them that looked as if it hadn’t been thoroughly cleaned in over a decade. Across from those was a double door fridge— that same grimy sludge that the tables wore sadly coating it as well— next to a large sink with a classic dish sprayer and drying section.
He expected Taehyung to wrinkle his nose in disgust, but instead he got right to work, walking over to the knife rack that hung on the wall by the dish pit, and setting a knife and cutting board on one of the tables.
“So, what am I making?” He said simply. A fleeting thought that maybe Taehyung just needed a sense of purpose crossed Jungkook’s mind, but he quickly shut it down. Being different doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a purpose, he corrected himself.
“They’re having spaghetti tonight,” he replied. “All we need to do is heat up the sauce and boil the noodles.”
“We?” Taehyung asked, then muttered some things Jungkook couldn’t hear. His heart rate sped up, embarrassed and wishing he could be anywhere but there. It had to get easier eventually, right?
“Well, I usually help the cook prepare what the kids are eating, but if you think you can handle it, I can go set up for my lesson. I wanted to teach Miss Moon’s kids a few kitchen tricks today, though.”
Before more words could be exchanged, Miss Moon waltzed in, Junho and Jaehyun following behind her quietly. “Go over there and see what Uncle Kookie needs, okay? I’m going home, but I’ll see you both as soon as dinner is over, okay?” Both of her kids responded politely and hugged her goodbye, running over to Jungkook as soon as their mother turned around and left after mouthing a “thank you” to him.
“Alrighty, kiddos,” Jungkook said as he picked up Junho— the youngest of the two— and held him snugly on his hip. “Today we’re gonna be great helpers to Mr. Kim-”
“No need for formalities, Jungkook,” Taehyung blurted out suddenly. “You boys can call me Taehyung, okay?” He spoke softly as he bent down to Jaehyun’s level. The two kids shook their heads up and down, giggling softly. Jungkook was shocked— Taehyung was amazing with kids. His heart beat a little faster, but it wasn’t anxiety that rippled around his body. Despite it being rather unfamiliar to him, it made him feel warm.
They got to work, setting out a big pot and letting the water come to a boil slowly as the dark red sauce heated on a deep pan next to it. After the water began to boil, they set the noodles in and started a timer. The kids didn’t do much, of course, just simple tasks that were played off as very important ones, like making sure the heat was adjusted when needed, and the sauce was stirred occasionally. Taehyung was great with everything, and Jungkook watched him work, dipping his finger into the sauce and placing it in his mouth. He couldn’t help but notice that his lips were thin, yet plump at the same time. The two boys giggled as some of it fell onto his shirt, but Jungkook stayed quiet, still too nervous to upset him.
Their laughter tapered off slowly, and Jungkook set Jaehyun down on a stool since he looked a little sleepy.
“Kookie,” he said from his seat. “Do you think Daddy is with Grandma in Heaven?”
The man paused, heart beating quickly in his eardrums. It hit a little close to home, but he fought through the pain in his chest. Kids always asked the most random of questions, and he knew it was best to answer them even if he was unprepared.
“Yes, Jaehyun,” he said softly, placing his hands on his shoulders. “In Heaven, God has set up many rooms for his children, and it’s full of love and people like your Daddy and Grandma!”
“Does that mean I’ll get my own room one day?”
“Of course! And your Daddy and Grandma will be waiting for you the second you get there too!” Taehyung chimed in, rustling Jaehyun’s hair around swiftly. The little boy was quite pleased, swinging his legs without a care in the world. Kids needed their questions answered, and it brought a certain warmth into Jungkook’s heart to see the taller cater to that even though he wasn’t entirely sure he was a man of faith. “Now, how would you want your room to look?”
Jaehyun and Junho both started firing away with their answers, and Jungkook could hear talks of Spiderman and dragons weaving their way into the conversation as he kept stirring the sauce slowly. Life was much slower for him now. Just like the noodles took their time to loosen up, he had found that he had taken his own time to soften up as well. Finding the church was like running home and seeing that everything was okay. No one fighting or yelling anymore, and nothing to be afraid of, because The Father was there, overlooking everything and foreseeing his great, calm future.
Out of everything he had been through, there was a kindness in his heart that persisted. And perhaps that was what set him apart from others. He did not run in the face of struggle— he embraced it. His mother had once told him that to be brave was to be kind, and who was he to distrust his mother? His mother, who was so beautifully selfless and forgiving. The woman who tucked him in, and told him it was okay to be himself.
And now his life was full, filled to the brim with laughter, joy, and family. As he watched the setting before him, he took a deep breath in, exhaling slowly soon after. The kids were happy, and Taehyung’s spirits seemed high.
“Let me take over,” Taehyung said cooly, and Jungkook handed over his spoon. It was time to drain the noodles, so he got right to it, sifting the water out into the big, dirty sink. Hauling it back to the prep table, the other man met him, pouring in the marinara. “Where do we take this?” he asked as he stirred it together.
“Jaehyun, Junho,” he smiled as he called out to them. “Let’s show Taehyung where we set up!” The boys pulled them both by the arms and they all ran out swiftly.
Down the hallways, and then through a large doorway, they made it to a bright, colorful room, clearly set up for child gatherings and learning sessions. There were rainbows hung around an old, beaten up white board, and a few rows of desks— about ten, or so. Everything the church had to offer seemed to be wrapped up in homey, feel-good decor to make up for the run-down, battered building. They just had to make do with what they had, and Jungkook frequently had to remind himself of it, too.
Junho and Jaehyun ran to the window where a few planters were, aweing at the fact that not just one, but two new sprouts had emerged! Jungkook watched quietly, content at the calm, yet bubbly atmosphere in the classroom.
Soon, the rest of the kids would be arriving, so he needed to take a bit of time to review his lesson plan. It was nothing major, but it could be difficult to keep a class full of little ones engaged fully. Myers-Briggs tests in the past had bestowed the label “INFP” onto him. Jeon Jungkook, A.K.A., the dreamer.
“There are no plates,” Taehyung broke through his train of thought bluntly.
Jungkook’s mouth fell open slightly before he ran over to a cabinet in the back corner of the room where a cabinet hung out of reach. It was supposed to be out of reach for the kids, but, as embarrassing as it was to admit, it was too high up for him to reach as well. He reached over and pulled out a chair from the nearest desk, lining it up to prepare to get on top.
“I got it,” the other interrupted his plans, going over and reaching the little door with ease. He pulled out a stack of paper plates and passed them down to the shorter one, moving on to the plastic forks and doing the same with them after.
“Thank you, Taehyung,” Jungkook smiled. His exterior was still ice cold, but the teacher felt so warm inside.
“I’m going outside to have a cig,” was the only thing he said in return, turning to leave.
“Wait,” he protested. Taehyung spun around, gaze irritated and a little erratic. “It’s… It’s bad for you…” His eyes were piercing, cold and frightening as he huffed in annoyance and bore holes into him. “Sorry… It’s none of my business.”
“You’re right, it isn’t.” The spiky redhead turned and left the room, not giving him any time to utter another word. He wondered if the only time Taehyung was nice was when he wanted something.
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Kids began filing in one by one, greeting “Mr. Jeon” excitedly as he directed them to take their seats. There weren’t many kids at church anymore, and while he’d prefer there to be more, it made his job a hell of a lot easier.
Taehyung manned the dinner station, plopping the spaghetti onto their paper plates with little enthusiasm. Jungkook could tell he was tired, but didn’t dare to say a word about it. Eventually, the kids took their seats, chatting about whatever kids did as they ate.
“So, what now?” Taehyung asked, leaning beside the cabinet next to the other man.
“Why, you want a break?” He teased in response, looking away as he giggled.
And for the first time all day, he heard a deep, raspy chuckle slip out of the other man’s mouth.