"Demons like us ruin everything we touch,"
"Don't touch me then,"
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It's been two years since Park Jimin fell from Grace. Two years that he's worked hard to win back God's favour and return home. It's not easy, yet Jimin feels somewhat...
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2 years later
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—A BUSTLING CROWD OF FAMILIAR FACES SWAM ABOUT THE CRAMPED SPACE; a long line of people shuffling down the row, bowls already waiting in outstretched arms for their portion of today's meal. The Soup kitchen was hot, steamy and smelled strongly of broccoli and chicken broth courtesy of tonight's dinner: chicken and veggie soup. Despite sweating somewhat profusely, his heart was full as he poured soup from a ladle into an expecting bowl. The man bowed his head in thanks, and moved further down the line.
Jimin had been coming here for months now — a little side gig he'd picked up in his free time at the suggestion of Pastor Murphy. He liked it here, even if it was always hot and sticky. Jimin didn't come for the environment, he came for the people, who were always so incredibly kind and gentle. The stories that people would tell him, despite some of them being at their lowest points in life, were somehow heartwarming, and filled with so much hope that Jimin took pride in knowing that he was making a difference (no matter how small it might be) and that one day he could be part of the reason someone made it through. He was helping him in the best way he knew how to.
His favourite part was when someone would return, after their life had turned for the better, to thank him and the others, even if they didn't do more than give them a glass of water — because in the end he had been a part of their journey, and he had helped them in the end after all. Jimin felt grateful.
Jimin smiled warmly at a little girl who came bounding up the line towards him, followed closely by her mother. Her pigtails bounced wildly as she did.
"Hi Grace! Look at you! You've gotten so much taller!" he said, recognizing her almost immediately.
"Hi Chim Chim!" she responded, using the affectionate nickname she had given him
"Did you have a good week?"
"Mmm hmm!"
"That's wonderful! Did you learn anything new in school?"
"I learned that five times five is twenty-five," she said, with a proud smile.
"Hey, that's pretty cool!"
She giggled and Jimin filled her bowl up with soup.
"Be careful now, it's how and I don't want you to get burned," Jimin warned. "Why don't you go see Irene, I think she has bread today,"
"Okay!"
With careful hands he watched the little girl push her bowl further down the line to where Irene was.
"Hello Jimin," Grace's mother said, holding her bowl up with a tired smile.
"Hey, tough week?"
"They're always tough, but things are starting to look up. I started a new job a few days ago — the people there are so lovely, and I really think that maybe, I can start looking for a place of our own soon,"
