sunday mass had just ended. the congregation spilled out onto the church steps, a river of dark coats and murmured blessings, the smell of incense still clinging to the cold morning air.

your family and jungwon's had done this every week for as long as you could remember. the same church. the same parking lot. the same small talk that always ended the same way.

except you didn't go in anymore.

you'd been waiting by the car, scrolling through your phone, when the doors opened and the crowd came out. your parents found you first, then his. and then jungwon appeared at the top of the steps, mid-conversation with one of the altar boys, a black coat draped over his arm.

he looked up.

and just for a second, he froze.

then his jaw tightened and he came down the steps like he was walking toward something dangerous.