He's got the whole world in his hands | Jeongin

Chapter thirty

"Do you realize how stupid the two of you sound?" Seungmin stood in Felix's living room with his eyes drifting back and forth between Jeongin and Felix. "Are you actually hearing yourselves or are those barely working brain cells bouncing around hollow skulls?"

"Seungmin, this is serious! We're trying to save a girl's life here! You don't get it because you're not religious and-"

He scoffed and shook his head. His arms crossed over his chest and his mood swan-dived further. "And you don't get it because you're religious. You're jumping to this crazy and batshit insane theory."

Felix rolled his eyes and sprawled out further on the blue rug in his living room. The rug covered so much of the ugly beige carpet. It was the one thing he hated about living in the apartment. The floor was a disgusting muted beige and the landlord refused to let him change it.

The carpet was beige and the walls were beige. He had to try his best to turn around and make the place look alive. Multicolored posters were shoved up on the living room walls. There were photographs that he had taken from a thrifted vintage camera. He neatly weaved the photographs in between the rest of the decorative art.

Jeongin was sitting on one end of the couch and Seungmin had been sitting on the other. When Jeongin began to admit he thought Minsi was under the influence of the devil, it hit one of Seungmin's nerves. He'd been in a heated argument with Felix ever since.

"Maybe if you went to church and read your Bible, you'd understand."

"Or maybe you just live in your own fantasy biblical world a little too much. Insisting that humans used to live nearly a thousand years old, suggesting that an ordinary man turned water into wine, don't get me started on that one dumbass that was turned into a pile of salt. Do you understand how insane you sound to a non-religious person? What evidence do you have that she's possessed?"

Felix's eyes went back to Jeongin. He gave him a look and gestured him to spit it out. Jeongin let out a soft sigh before he began to speak. Seungmin and Felix were good friends, but they were constantly doing this back and forth stuff. They fought like a cat and dog over religion.

"I keep trying to bring up religion and she gets aggressive and upset," he finally started.

"Well, you said that in the very beginning. You said she already told you that she didn't want to hear about God. Just because her mom is a religious freak, it doesn't mean she is too. Clearly, it seems like she went in the opposite direction and there's nothing wrong with that."

"She glared at her mom while her mother was praying."

"So? She was probably annoyed and upset."

"She glared at me afterwards."

"I'm sure you deserved it. What's the real proof? What do you have that's solid?"

"When I glanced back yesterday, one of her mother's crosses on the wall was hanging upside down. From where I was, it was directly above Minsi's head."

"And that's it?" Seungmin's eyebrows furrowed. "Out of everything that supposedly occurs during demonic possession, that's all you have? She's not walking on the ceiling? Growling and hissing? Speaking Latin or another foreign language?"

"Well..." Jeongin trailed off and his eyes went to the floor. Seungmin was right, he really didn't have much proof that Minsi was possessed at all. "Her mother thinks she's been acting differently since she went to college. Minsi played with a ouija board during that frat party and that's what really kick-started it."

"So you're speculating that this college student is possessed because of a few minor things?"

"I-"

"Hey!" Felix cut in angrily. "A hanging upside down cross isn't a minor thing! An upside down cross is an insult to God. It's a sign of mockery from the devil."

"How do you know the cross was upside down? You weren't even there!"

"I trust Jeongin!"

"And I think Jeongin is full of bullshit! It's a cross on a wall, it could have tilted or flipped. Minsi could have even put it upside down herself to freak her mother out. The two of you don't have anything solid, so you're just wasting your time."

Felix grumbled on the floor as Seungmin dropped himself onto the opposite end of the couch. As much as he hated that Seungmin was right, Seungmin was right. He made a good point and Jeongin couldn't deny it.

His teeth bit down into his bottom lip and he frowned. He needed better evidence and he needed something more solid. As Seungmin and Felix kept at it, his eyes glanced across the room towards Felix's wall.

Off in the distance, there was an oil painting of the Virgin Mary. Muted colors mixed together and a thin black brush created the outlines of her face. In her arms, a swaddled baby was held close against her chest. Nested protectively under her chin, nothing could harm baby Jesus in her arms.

His eyes raked over the tanned skin, rosy-pinked cheeks, and the supple curve of her nose. If she would have known what her son would endure in the future, would she take it back? The baby-powdered scent of a newborn would fade away. In its place, the scent of honeysuckle sticking to four-year-old baby Jesus' fingers as he laughed and sipped nectar.

Did her heart weigh down in her chest? Did she know that birthing the son of God came with horrors well beyond anyone's imagination? Those callused hands used to climb trees before nails were driven through them. Outside of the sandals, Jesus used to be just like any other boy. Bare feet slapping through the mud, giggles filling the air as he danced to the sound of Sunday's worship music; a dirty finger slipping into the bowl of cake batter as his mother lectured him while hiding a smile.

Was Jesus aware that every nail he hammered was one closer to his death? Five hundred or five thousand? Did he know that the vibrations from the hammer would one day reverberate through his palm from the inside instead of the outside? The people he loved the most would betray him.

"Jeongin?" Felix's soft voice cut through his thoughts.

Jeongin glanced up and his watery eyes met Felix's. He blinked a few times and rubbed away the glossiness in his eyes. "Yeah?"

"Why are you crying?"

Jeongin shrugged, but when he saw the concern on Seungmin's face, he forced a smile. "Sorry, it's just your argument." He sniffled and let out a faint laugh. "It reminds me of my brother and I, that's all. I'm sorry, I just miss him."

There was a faint pause in the room before Felix sat up and moved closer. Seungmin stuck out his palm right side up and outstretched it towards Jeongin. Felix's hand found his left and he gripped Seungmin's hand with his right. He squeezed both of their hands lightly and blinked back more tears.

The warmth clutching his own hands was a light-hearted reminder that he wasn't alone.