/due/

It was several more hours before they arrived in the village and it was already early afternoon. When the bus reached its final destination, the priest got up to leave and gathered his belongings. Grabbing his small backpack, he opened the side zipper and got out a small stack of cash. The same cash he had hidden from the thieves that entered the bus. Handing it to the elder man who sat in his seat with slumped shoulders since the incident happened, he smiled, "Take it. It looks like you need it more than I do."

With teary eyes, the elder man nodded in gratitude and took the money. It wasn't much, but Jongdae thought it would help get them started.

From the bus station, there was a short walk to the church where he would be meeting Father Cesar, the man whose place he would be taking in a year's time. It was Father Cesar's job to prepare the newly ordained Korean priest so that he could take over as head of the community upon his retirement. Jongdae didn't mind the walk from the station to the church, since the weather was nice and the village was quaint. It gave him a chance to see the village and its people.

The walk took him almost twenty minutes and he arrived at the back doors of the church after crossing a little dirt parking lot riddled with mostly old cars. Outside were children playing soccer on a grass patch in front of the building near a dilapidated water fountain that didn't seem to have been used for years.  Two women were supervising them. Both were young, about his age, or maybe not much older. They were trying to stop their game when he walked in, their eyes watching him with curiosity and a hint of confusion. The ball fell in his direction and he picked it up, holding it over their heads with a laugh as the children jumped to try and take it from him.

He handed the ball to the younger of the caretakers, a beautiful young woman with long brunette hair and dark eyes. She was dressed almost like a Sunday school teacher--a flower patterned dress, church shoes, a head band pushing the stray strands of hair out of her face--and there was a sweet innocence in her eyes.

"Thank you." She smiled shyly at him as she spoke in Spanish, taking the ball from his hands.

"I'm looking for Father Cesar." He informed them with a polite smile. 

Jongdae instantly noticed how they were both taken by surprise when they heard him speaking Spanish. He had a slight accent, but he was fluent for the most part. They had never seen a foreign person in their village before, much less an Asian who spoke fluent Spanish.

"He's inside." The younger girl said to him, still in a surprised daze. She had also been captivated by his good looks. "They're having a small party to celebrate the arrival of our newest priest."

Jongdae nodded and followed their direction to head to a small activities room behind the church. On one side was a buffet styled table, and everything was decorated with balloons and banners welcoming the new priest. Welcome Father Kim, the banners read. The priest walked in shyly, and headed to the back of the room where he saw a middle aged man talking to a group of people. He assumed that he was the person he was looking for, judging by the clerical outfit he was wearing.

As soon as Father Cesar saw the clearly foreign young man, the older priest smiled at him. "You must be Father Kim." 

"Please." Jongdae smiled and gave a polite shake of his head. "My name is Jongdae, but you can call me Matteo if its easier. Its my Catholic name."

Father Cesar nodded. "The arch bishop of Seoul called and told me all about you. You know, before he was ordained, he spent a lot of time here in Valle Daza, serving the community." He informed Jongdae, matter of factly.

Jongdae gave a nod of his head. "Yes, he told me about his time in this village too."

"We've been waiting for your arrival." Father Cesar continued in English, showing much enthusiasm. He had automatically assumed that the younger priest didn't speak the same language as him. Gesturing to their surroundings, he added, "That's why we organized this party for you."

Jongdae smiled at the older priest's kindness. He had heard from the arch bishop that Father Cesar had quite a temper, and he wasn't sure what to expect upon his arrival. "Thank you for receiving me in your town so warmly. I was a bit worried that the people wouldn't want a new priest. Especially a foreign priest like me." He thanked them in Spanish, getting the same surprised reactions from them that he got from the two girls outside.

"The community understands that this will be a positive change." Father Cesar said.

"And," One of the older women in the group cooed at his handsomeness, "He'll surely attract more young girls to church services with that handsome face of his." Jongdae almost felt like she was about to reach over and pinch his cheek.

The rest of the people in the group laughed whole heartedly. And Jongdae felt like he was one step closer to being accepted by the community.

-

He had been at the party greeting people and talking to people he didn't know for hours. The sun had gone down and the moon dimly lit up the sky when he left the activities room. The young priest felt like he needed some fresh air.

As he headed outside, he spotted the young woman again. This time she was outside by herself, the children and her friend who had been helping her were long gone. She was sitting on her own by the stairs that led up to the room and it seemed that she was waiting for someone. She now wore a cardigan sweater to cover her from the cold that was beginning to pick up. Her legs were exposed and he saw her playing absently with the hem of her dress.

He passed her, heading in search of his new room when she stopped him. "Hey there again." She smiled and gave a small wave of her hand cutely. "You're that new guy from earlier. I'm Fiorella. What's your name?"

Jongdae stopped in his stride and turned to her with a smile. "Yes. Hello, I'm JD Kim." She still didn't seem to be able to connect that he was the new priest, even after having seen the banners in the activities room welcoming him.

"What are you doing in Valle Daza?" She asked curiously. Her index finger went to twirl a strand of her long brown hair subconsciously. "You don't look like you're from around here."

Though his Spanish was fluent, there were still tiny hints that he had learned it as a second language. She noticed these subtle differences that only a native speaker could hear, and she concluded that he was probably not from Argentina. But she was able to guess it from his mere appearance. He wasn't even Latin American. He was from somewhere in Asia.

Nodding in agreement, he answered, "I was sent from South Korea by the arch bishop."

That was when her smile dropped and a small gasp escaped her lips, realizing her mistake. "You're the new priest?"

-

when you flirt with a cute guy and then you realize he's a priest. bahaha. my poor fiorella. she is clearly a bit slow. maybe seeing those fab cheek bones got her all wrecked. that would totally be me.

i go kind of stupid and clumsy when i talk to my crush. and i also get super red so i think he knows that i like him.

but anyway, i hope you're all liking this story. it means a lot.

-clary