Byeon Gap-tae of Seongmul Church 1
"Yeah, me too."
So-jo wrapped her arms around him.
Han Pan held her just as tightly in return.
They stayed like that for a while.
After a moment, Han Pan eased his hold and said,
"Mom's going to be waiting… We should hurry."
"Yeah."
The two of them headed for the living room and found Mi-ho already started on breakfast.
"When your little brother wakes you up, try getting up a little faster, So-jo."
So-jo flashed a bright smile.
"Ah… sorry, sorry…"
And so they sat across from one another and cheerfully shared a Sunday morning breakfast.
"Han Pan, we're going to be late! Hurry up!"
"Uh, just a sec! Coming down now! Sorry, Mom!"
Han Pan pulled on a pair of neat camel-colored cotton pants and a white shirt, fastening the buttons as he hurried down to the living room.
Mi-ho let out a sigh, confirmed he was on his way down, then slung a large handbag over her shoulder and rose from the sofa.
She hurried down to the underground garage.
Han Pan followed her.
Mi-ho climbed into the car and quickly turned the ignition.
Catching up at a brisk pace, Han Pan got in after her and said,
"Mom, do I really have to go?"
Mi-ho pulled out of the driveway as she answered.
"You can't just stay cooped up in the house forever. You should meet some people… There are a lot of good folks there. It would be nice if you got to know them too."
With that, she put on a hymn.
The sudden swell of sacred music left Han Pan's head swimming.
"Mom, when did you even start going to church like this?"
"…"
When she hesitated, Han Pan pressed her.
"What? You don't want to say?"
"Mmm… a little over half a year now…"
"Really? You know this kind of thing isn't really my speed, right? And why aren't you taking So-jo unnie?"
Mi-ho answered in a rush.
"First of all, So-jo said she had something urgent today… And church isn't something you go to as a hobby. Once a week, you reflect on everything you've done wrong over the past seven days and pray that you'll live the next week well… Mom has found a lot of comfort at church."
Han Pan let out a sigh.
Once breakfast was over, Mi-ho's relentless persuasion had worn him down into agreeing to go to the church she attended.
He had known she went to church, but being asked to come along had caught him completely off guard.
Mi-ho wanted to introduce her son to good people, draw him into the church, and let him know the love of God.
Han Pan had been more than a little flustered by the sudden invitation.
He had known she attended services, but he had never imagined she would try to bring him along.
Looking at the demure woman beside him now—so far removed from the woman she had been only yesterday—he wondered if she might be psychologically unstable.
The wanton woman of Saturday night vanishing so that a churchgoing lady could step out on Sunday morning felt like a contradiction. But every person carried their own contradictions, so he decided not to dwell on it too deeply.
What did weigh on him was his afternoon appointment with Hye-su.
If it came to it, he would just push that back, he told himself. For today, he would play the good son and go along with her.
Han Pan had always been skeptical of religion.
But the look on his mother's face made it clear that Sunday worship mattered a great deal to her.
So he changed course and decided to grant her wish.
The car arrived at the church.
It was not all that far from home.
The parking lot already looked close to full.
Attendants bustled this way and that, directing the incoming cars into neat rows.
Following one attendant's guidance, they parked in an open spot.
Mi-ho got out and headed toward the church, and Han Pan climbed out after her.
The grounds were already thronged with people. This must be a fairly well-known church, he thought.
With its towering sanctuary and the lavish exterior of a modern building, the place did not sit well with Han Pan.
Rather than anything sacred, the church flaunted the sleek design language of high-end contemporary architecture.
Its sheer scale alone was impressive, and the luxury cars lined up across the parking lot made it obvious that this was a congregation of considerable wealth.
He shook his head and followed his mother toward the main sanctuary.
Along the way, Mi-ho exchanged warm greetings with several people who recognized her, and Han Pan offered them a slight nod in turn.
He glanced at the woman walking a half-step ahead of him. Her outfit today was strikingly demure—nothing like her usual self.
It was almost like looking at the mother he had known before everything changed.
The killer heels she normally wore were nowhere to be seen; instead she had on flat shoes, and the cream-colored dress falling past her knees gave off the classic air of a devoted housewife.
On top of that, she was wearing the lightest makeup he had seen on her in a long time, and her hair was tied back neatly. She looked like a completely different person.
No—this was, in fact, the mother he had known before.
Han Pan wondered if perhaps she went to church so she would never entirely forget who she used to be.
What was certain was that while he had been away in the military, she had attempted an enormous transformation.
And that change had not stopped at the surface; something deep inside her had shifted as well.
He guessed she might have sublimated the pain of that process through religion.
His fingers still remembered the feel of last night's party—working deep into her soaked pussy in the middle of all those people.
But the woman walking ahead of him now was so different that it would not have been wrong to call her someone else entirely.
Watching those two faces coexist in a single person, Han Pan thought that women really were unknowable creatures.
Once they reached the main sanctuary, they were shown to empty seats on the second floor, and shortly afterward the service began.
The church was enormous—large enough that there were seats on a third floor as well.
Decorations suited to a house of worship were arranged throughout, and there was even a dedicated space in front of the pulpit for a full musical performance. It was a massive operation.
It felt like a genuinely sacred space, and yet at the same time it felt a little like walking into a concert hall.
Before long, a hymn rose up and the service began.
The pastor who soon appeared was a man in his late fifties with a dusting of white hair. Whatever he had been eating, he was quite heavyset despite his short stature.
But the moment the sermon started, his voice proved deep, clear, and immensely commanding.
He shifted effortlessly between a gentle, loving tone and a stern one depending on the mood of what he was saying, skillfully capturing the hearts of the congregation.
Han Pan found himself remembering the Muslim mosques he had encountered during his military service.
He recalled the imams lost in religious fervor, pouring out unintelligible prayers with wild intensity.
He remembered clicking his tongue at the raw vitality and energy of those clerics as they conducted their rites, and at the throngs who followed them. A similar scene was unfolding in the church today.
Cynical toward religion as he was, Han Pan refused to be swept up in the atmosphere the pastor was creating. While the heat of the service climbed higher and higher, he only grew colder, and a sigh slipped from his lips.
Compared to him—sitting with his legs crossed and his arms folded—Mi-ho beside him seemed completely absorbed in the pastor's every word.
The pastor launched into an endless, elaborate sermon.
"Brothers and sisters, we must always be on guard against the devil's whisper."
He clenched his fist and cried out.
"That creature may appear at any time, in any place, to tear at the hearts of our brothers and sisters! To overcome the devil's temptation that confounds our hearts, we must all become one—united as one, with the church at our center!"
He thrust his clenched fist skyward.
"Beloved brothers and sisters! Today, tomorrow, and throughout the week ahead, we will overcome and we will be victorious! Even if the filthy devil tries to corrupt us, we must trust in Him and press forward! We will surely be victorious! Amen!!!"
He raised both hands toward the heavens, bowed his head, and declared it with solemn force.
At his fierce cry, the congregation roared back a passionate "Amen," knitting themselves into a single body.
At the same time, a hymn flooded the hall and drove the atmosphere even higher.
Mi-ho too cried out "Amen," clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and prayed.
Han Pan sighed and looked around.
One after another, everyone was offering up prayers, each doing their utmost to prove their own piety.
A short while later the praise team filed in behind the pastor and began to sing, and the fervor climbed to its peak, hotter than ever.
Han Pan thought the pastor was remarkably good at working the congregation's hearts.
Hearing him bring up the devil, he even wondered whether this place might be some kind of semi-cult.
But for all his unimpressive appearance, the pastor clearly possessed a mysterious charisma.
And so the service came to an end.
Han Pan and Mi-ho rose from their seats.