00. unfamiliar faces

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[ 00. unfamiliar faces ]
P R O L O G U E

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Something feels off when Jeongguk sits down after his mother in their reserved pew at the very front of the church, the brunette boy brushing aside his fringe as he casts a brief glance over his shoulder, his wandering stare surveying the building crowd of Christians flooding the aisles, awaiting for another one of his father's sermons after a seemingly endless week.

Nothing seems to be particularly out of the ordinary besides the occasional greeting both his mother and he receives. Jeongguk's oh-so familiar to the older women and their small children strolling up towards them, giving their praise and warmth for them and his father's many achievements as their local pastor.

This goes on until the choir begins playing their modernized music, announcing for everyone to settle down and ready themselves for the following prayer, but for the meantime, his lips are stuck in a taut smile that aches at the skin around his mouth while the group of women obliviously swarm his mother and him.

"Jeongguk's getting older!"

"You surely will excell in college!"

"My, your son is growing into a handsome young man!"

Many of them exclaim boisterously, each one constantly reaching over and gently patting his shoulder approvingly in some sort of pattern before dawdling off elsewhere, giving Jeongguk the opportunity to breathe.

It's all boring, monotonous, the exact same chatter he pays no effort to listen on to except to nod along and smile whenever he notices someone's talking to him. His mother, on the other hand, enjoys the attention more than her timid son, practically basking in the presence of being the pastor's wife with sugary, humble responses and dainty chuckles fit for a proper woman like herself.

Though Jeongguk still can't seem to focus. It's as though someone's boring holes into the nape of his neck, staring darkly, intensely at him. His mother's growing annoyance having to tap his side to garner his attention more than usual is prominent in the way she says his name with a bit more force, yet nonetheless he ends up being distracted, confusion crinkling his brow in an attempt to figure out what's wrong.

"Apologies Katherine, for my son here is a bit overwhelmed with school and such," Jeongguk tosses another look over his shoulder, ignoring the partial lie his mother has spent on him, his gaze lingering longer on the familiar faces of his neighbors.

His brows crease further as he continues to search between the growing pool of individuals for one he can't recognize, paying no attention to the conversation between his mother and this Katherine Scott. Fortunately, his memory is sharp, precise, remembering each and every person his parents have associated themselves with in Sunday dinners or church related activities.

Jeongguk's irises flit quickly between the Jones, Browns, and Millers, the boy politely flashing them a crooked grin whenever he accidentally catches their gaze. But when his stare settles on the pew in the center of the aisle, he pauses before he can will himself to face the altar and attempt to immerse himself once more into the small talk his mother's attracts quite often.

For a moment, he meets the dark, hooded eyes of a stranger.

In between an elderly couple and a few elderly ladies, is a family Jeongguk has never seen in the years he's lived in the rural suburbia of Memphis. Like his own, they're a small family of only three - a husband, wife, and a son that looks older than him. They don't seem to have the same aura most people have in their cozy town, that being the laidback, country-esque vibe that hints at a faint southern accent in their speech, but one that radiates fine literacy, professionalism, and power - like residents from the city.

City people don't usually settle here, though it only adds to the growing curiousity licking flames in Jeongguk's belly, the young boy unable to break away his gaze from their only son, who seems keen in keeping their stare off.

Who are you, Jeongguk swallows awkwardly as the boy's lips tug upwards into a smirk, subtly mocking him for staring, a practice his parents have taught him as rude and improper, that he snaps his attention away and towards the front to mask the embarrassment upon realizing his mistake.

As the band at the front being to play their music, Jeongguk attempts to relax his tensed shoulders, his mother's light yet firm hold on his forearm his tether to reality. If it isn't for her, his ability to restrain himself from stealing another glance over at the new family would certainly overpower his will to focus.

Contemporary hymns blaring over the speakers, Jeongguk attempts to swat away the thoughts manifesting in his mind by tuning himself into the performance, especially the vividly painted image within his memories of the stranger smirking wickedly, shamelessly at him, mocking him silently without using a single word.

Although that isn't the true reason why he's forcing the thoughts of another man out of his mind, the boy being quite baffled himself for allowing a person of the same gender to occupy his thoughts when he's never looked at a girl and developed such intense, profound interest in them right away.

Who is he to get distracted by a male and not a woman of all things? Thoughts about another man is much worse than illicit thoughts about a woman's body, but he presumes it's just him overthinking, his brain wired to warp the most innocent of things into the most horrible, frightening alternatives.

Whatever this situation is probably isn't that bad- all men have curious thoughts about another man right? But why does it feel like the beginning of a sin, temptation almost? For him, it's terrifying, unbearable to think about. Maybe to others it's nothing to fret over, but for Jeongguk, the slightest of errors are treated like some monstrosity from hell. Jeongguk's never sinned in his life, and that is something he'll never ever let happen, something he's been programmed to avoid since birth.

And plus, he knows very, very well sinning comes with only the worst of consequences.


|| updates will start to come during
february, but for now, here's a taste
of what WORST BEHAVIOR will be (:
i love you guys and thank you for bein
patient with me ! mela 💛

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