[One Week Later]

'The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens.'

-

As Taehyung's mother sat opposite him, watching as he aimlessly pushed his food around his plate, she sighed internally. He had returned from the camp a changed man, but she wasn't sure if she recognised the person he had become.

She would see him sitting around the house staring out the windows, his eyes looking like they were miles away. Occasionally she would stand by his door as he slept, listening as he unconsciously whispered a boy's name over and over again. She had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stop her sobs waking him up.

A mother always knew. She knew Taehyung had fallen in love. She knew he was hurting. But he clearly wanted to brave it alone, wrapping himself in melancholy sadness as he dealt with the pain of separation.

For a week, Taehyung had wished for nothing else but to reverse time. Much to his disappointment, Jungkook was too busy moving and unpacking to speak for long periods of time. As Taehyung had suspected, the pair were already drifting apart as they returned to the normality of life.

His friends from home had tried to text and call him to go out partying, but he could think of nothing worse. The idea of returning back to the way he was - sleeping with a new person every night and never truly getting close to anyone - was something that held no appeal to Taehyung anymore.

Now all he wanted to do was hold Jungkook in his arms. Run his fingers through the boy's hair. Kiss his cheeks. Talk with him about the world.

He had lost his appetite, and he had lost his sense of purpose. He felt like he was falling off a cliff and wasn't able to hold onto anything to stop himself falling. Despite knowing he needed to adjust back into normal life, he didn't want to lose the memories that dominated his head.

"I'm going to church this morning," Ms. Kim said, trying to stimulate some reaction in her son, "They say there's a new pastor."

Taehyung bit his lip in intense thought. He was still not religious by any means, but he craved the comfort of singing hymns and listening to the stories in the bible. There was something about it that made him feel closer to Jungkook.

"I'll change my shirt," Taehyung said, and for the first time since he returned Taehyung seemed to have a faint glimmer in his eye.

Ms. Kim didn't want to question her son's new change of heart as he ran upstairs to find something more Church appropriate. She wouldn't have cared if he had come naked, just as long as she got to spend some more time with him.

Despite his sadness, Ms. Kim knew that the camp had fundamentally changed her son. It had unlocked a side of him that she had always known was there - the side that cared.

As they walked towards the church, the bells already ringing and a crowd of people congregating outside, Taehyung felt his stomach churn. The sound of those bells brought him right back to the camp, and for a minute he closed his eyes and allowed himself pretend that he was still there.

He politely stood by his mother as she gossiped with her church friends who were all talking about the new pastor. Taehyung wanted to roll his eyes about the frivolity of these women, but there was also something rather charming about listening to them. He was tired of being seen as a trouble maker, and would much rather associate himself with middle aged women than his past self.

Filing into the spacious room, Taehyung felt like he was six again. The first time he had ever gone to church. Two months after his father had left them. He clasped onto his mother's hand, overcome by the swelling of his heart.

Taking his seat, his eyes scanned around the room to see the blissful smiles on all the congregation's faces. He found his heart stop as he stared at the back of a boy's head on the front row. For a brief moment it looked like Jungkook.

Taehyung had been seeing Jungkook everywhere. In the local shop. In films. On the street outside. In books. In his dreams.

The congregation stood as the organ began playing, and the room was filled with the voices of a hundred passionate believers. Taehyung remained silent and listened, feeling like both an outsider but also incredibly touched by how included he felt. He didn't need to be the same as the people around him for them to love him. They loved him for merely existing.

"As you may have heard we are welcoming a new pastor today at church," the mayor said, "And so it is with great delight that I invite Father Jeon to the stage."

Father.

Jeon.

There are plenty of people with the surname Jeon, Taehyung thought to himself to stop the racing of his mind. However the beating of his heart was only quickened at the sight of the familiar face walking to the front of the room.

Next to him, standing as perfectly as he had looked on the first day they had met, Jungkook also smiled shyly.

His eyes scanned the room of faces staring at him, yet his whole body froze when it landed on one face.

As Father Jeon had predicted, this was merely the beginning for the pair.

-

lowkey Father Jeon knew all this before.

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