✝️🔥 CHAPTER 1 🔥✝️
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It was seven in the evening, and the Busan air had already lost the heat of the day, replacing it with a sea breeze that drifted through the neighborhood's alleys. The main street had been transformed; the streetlight bulbs flickered over a sea of people filling the plastic chairs arranged in front of a makeshift altar. In the center, beneath an arch of colorful flowers, the grand statue of the Virgin Mary presided over the scene, her hands joined and a gaze that seemed to come alive under the dancing flames of hundreds of candles.
Park Jimin was sitting in the front row. Beside him, his mother held a silver rosary, murmuring prayers with her eyes closed. Jimin, on the other hand, kept his eyes wide open, though his mind was miles away. He wore a dark silk shirt that accentuated his pale skin and androgynous features; he was a man of dual beauty, with a jawline that denoted strength but lips and a gaze that radiated an almost feminine and dangerously sensual softness. He had an annoyed look etched onto his face, an expression of boredom he tried to camouflage beneath a mask of distant courtesy whenever a neighbor greeted him.Suddenly, the murmur of the crowd fell silent. The sound of a small bell announced the beginning.From the back, cutting through the crowd as if they were walking down the main nave of a cathedral, the priest and his assistant appeared. Father Song walked in front, but every gaze—including Jimin's—drifted toward the young man escorting him.Jeon Jungkook walked with his eyes cast down, holding the liturgical book tightly against his chest. At twenty-four years old, Jungkook was on the verge of being ordained as a priest, and his bearing already carried that blend of humility and authority. The white tunic and alb failed to hide his athletic build or the firmness of his steps.As they passed right by the front row to step up onto the altar platform, Jungkook looked up for a second to orient himself. That was when his eyes collided with Jimin's.Jimin lost his breath. He hadn't expected to find someone so young, with a gaze so profound and a face that looked as if it had been carved by the very angels they were praying to. Jungkook, for his part, felt a strange jolt. Something about that boy in the front row, the way his clothes clung to his body, and the intensity of his hooded eyes felt magnetic. It was just a second, a single blink, but the air between them grew heavy.The Mass began beneath the starry Busan sky. Father Song officiated with his tired voice, but for Jungkook, the world had shrunk down to the few meters separating him from that strange boy.Jungkook tried to focus on his duties: assisting with the incense, moving the linens, preparing the chalice. However, every time he moved across the altar, he felt Jimin's gaze pinned on him like a needle. Jimin wasn’t hiding it. Despite being right next to his mother, he watched Jungkook's every gesture with blatant fascination.The moment for the scripture reading arrived. Jungkook stepped forward, stood at the ambo, and opened the book."A reading from the book of..." His voice echoed through the speakers, deep and velvety.As he looked up to address the faithful, Jungkook noticed that Jimin wouldn't take his eyes off him. There were no smiles, no gestures; just pure, silent observation. Jungkook felt an unusual heat creep up his neck. Diverting his eyes toward the rest of the congregation and then looking straight ahead again, he realized Jimin was still there, analyzing him, tracing the contour of his jawline and his hands resting on the paper. Jungkook had to grip the edges of the lectern tightly so as not to lose his place in the reading. It was an internal struggle: his sacred duty against a human curiosity urging him to cross paths with that boy's gaze over and over again.When the Mass ended, the people slowly began to stand up to touch the Virgin's mantle or light one last candle. Jungkook was helping Father Song pack away the sacred objects before leaving.Jimin and his mother stood up. The woman stopped to greet one of the ladies from the parish support committee, putting them right in Jungkook's path.Jungkook passed beside them, carrying a box with the remaining altar candles. In that tight space, the scent of incense mingled with the subtle, expensive perfume emanating from Jimin. For an instant, time stood still. Jungkook paused and looked at Jimin again, this time with a curiosity he didn’t even dare to fathom. His eyes swept over the boy's beautiful, androgynous face, wondering what kind of storm was hidden behind such a perfect appearance.Finding himself observed in such a direct, deep manner by the future priest, Jimin felt his confidence crumble. His cheeks flushed a deep crimson. Embarrassed and overwhelmed by the intensity of the eye contact, Jimin quickly lowered his head, ignoring Jungkook and pretending to be thoroughly interested in what his mother was saying.Jungkook stood there for a moment longer, watching Jimin walk quickly away into the crowd, leaving behind a trail of confusion that Jungkook wouldn't know how to confess in his prayers that night...
