Exciting; Illegal

What people don't often realize is that that the original humans, Adam and Eve, were not cast out from the Garden of Eden, the Terrestrial Paradise, for being tempted. God put the Tempting thing within their reach, asked them to trust Him not to eat it, and then left, rarely to be seen again unless to deliver some Divine and Mighty Wisdom or Punishment.
Even later, when the Snake crept up on its many legs and whispered to Eve about how juicy and delicious the apple looked, how Tempting, God stayed quiet. You get one Warning in His world, it seems.
Eve sinned not by being Tempted, but by Giving In to Temptation, failing to listen to God's Holy Word and then convincing Adam to do so as well.
The Apple brought shame.
It brought consciousness, some would argue.
You see, what people boil down to "an apple" today was, in its beginnings—The Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was only after the Eating of the Fruit that Adam and Eve conceived of such earthly emotions such as Shame and Evil. Only then that they tried to clothe themselves.
Only then that they felt pain.

"....Woah, In," Beomgyu says from atop the bed, "Got a lot on your mind?"

"Do you think we get one warning? Do you think the Bible is it, and that's that? That what's written there is law, and most of the world is going to Hell for cheating or lying or drinking or not believing? Do you even believe in God?" Jeongin can't seem to look anywhere but at the rug directly in front of her, but she feels Beomgyu's presence behind her regardless.

Beomgyu sighs. "I don't know. At least not as firmly as you do. I believe in...something, I think. Some great sort of...energy that connects everyone as humans, and the plants, and the animals, and sort of cosmically...balances out. But if you're asking if I think people are going to Hell, no. I don't."

"Even if they're gay? Even if they act on it?"

The pause this time is long enough that Jeongin starts to panic.

"Look, if this is because Yeonjun's gay and you're not okay with it, then—"

"No! It's just—" weren't words supposed to be easier once you became an idol? "I think...I might be."

"Oh. Well, that's...different. Aish, Jeonginnie, I'm not good with words, but I think...there comes a moment when you have to decide for yourself what you believe versus what you were led to believe, right? I mean, people once thought the Earth was flat, and that man would never walk on the moon, you know? I mean, those are different a little because they're science and stuff...agh, I don't know, Tyun's better at this than me, but...in my mind, at least...nothing can be bad if it's about loving another person, you know? I mean, the ahjummas these days....they still don't trust Japan, you know? And I don't know, there's probably ahjummas in Japan who still don't trust Korea! It's just...how the world turns. Big picture: distrust, and that distrust gets passed down from generation to generation. But every generation realizes a little more...that they would rather be happy? Make cute videos and watch feel-good stories, instead of hurting still? I mean hey, x person from x clan never wronged me personally, you know? Not that that's their fault either, because fear...when people are afraid, it's so much easier to band together out of fear and turn that into hate than to love, because love requires an authenticity and a vulnerability that will always be more difficult than hate, but last longer....I don't know...I just feel that way, sometimes. That...everything will be okay, if everyone just focuses a little more on making other people happy."

The air conditioner kicks in as the room pauses to breath.

"Ah, Jeonginnie, pitch in so I know I didn't lose you with my rambling there?"

"Ah, sorry, yeah. Just thinking."

"Okay. Wanna pepero?"

It's 2 am. All of them struggle with insomnia from time to time—obviously Chan has it the worst, but they're familiar enough with each other that Jeongin, at least, can tell which of her apartment mates are creeping down the hallway for a midnight glass of water. Innie's personal opinion is that it's because they don't have enough time in the day to think, so they have to spend those hours at night.

It's easier, in the grey light of past-midnight in the city, to admit it.

Jeongin likes girls.

Jeongin's liked girls for a while, her whole life probably.

And...it's okay.

Or going to be, with her friends around her supporting her like they do.

Whiskey, Jeongin is discovering, makes her sleepy.

Hongjoong-unnie had brought some for Changbin-unnie to try, and Jeongin had tried a glass when they ran out of their favorite soju flavor. It wasn't bad, she's cozy and warm where she's nestled next to Chan, she's just pleasantly at the doorstep of dreamland, eyelids heavy and brain running in 0.5x time.

Too slow to get her out of the game of Truth or Dare that the Gremlin Twins are orchestrating.

It's fine, though. She puts up the cursory grumbly-fight, but Beomgyu's overseas with the rest of TXT and Jeongin's sleepy enough—and in love with her members, with the world, with being alive—that everyone there knows it's a front. They usually take it easy on her, anyway. Still, she's adamant that she's not moving for the rest of the night, and the others easily agree to her concession.

Something about this particular night makes them more wild than usual. Changbin leaves a voicemail for Yeonjun, long and sappy and embarrassingly proud and sincere, a particularly evil and yet sweet brand of torture devised of course by Felix. Hyunjin puts up a fuss about what a dumb dare showing off her current in-progress artworks are, but is red the whole time her sketchbook is being passed around and seems incredibly relieved when she's allowed to put it back in her room. Hongjoong smacks Wooyoung on the back of the head when she even suggests Hongjoong have to text their manager and ask to delay their next comeback, and Chan quickly steps in to agree to a blanket no-manager-interactions ban, trustworthy friends only. Seungmin gets Han with a particularly good truth—requiring her to admit how many photos of Lino she has on her phone, and Han, desperate, swerves to Jeongin.

"Innie-yah, truth or dare?"

She crinkles her nose. Privately, she doesn't think she has any truths left to spill, and that's no fun. The adrenaline while having to reveal something is half the game, so—

"Dare, I guess."

"Really?" Han lights up. "I dare you to let me kiss you!"

Felix butts in from next to Chan, an unreleased cackle bright in her eyes. "Ah, but then Minho unnie will be jealous," she pouts. Jisung yells, crossing the room to clamber in Felix's lap, faces an inch away, giggling, "I have just as much dirt on you as you have on me."

"I can do it," Seungmin says from her armchair perch next to Wooyoung.

Is Jeongin's face red? It feels warm, warmer than with just the alcohol. Suddenly she realizes she's sweaty from where she's koala-ed to Chan-unnie and sits up, self conscious.

"Um, that would be the best option, if I had to kiss one of you, I guess," she hears herself say. There's a damp circle on her sweatpants, from where Chan-unnie briefly rested her sweating coke can. It's wet, she knows it from seeing it, but running her thumb over it she can't tell the difference between damp and dry. She looks up, and Seungmin's in front of her, where her crossed legs leave a Seungmin-sized open space. Seungmin's always been good about talking with her eyes, and she's doing it now. Is this okay? her eyes ask Jeongin. Jeongin can only nod.

Seungmin's fingers are cool and dry as she cups Jeongin's jaw. Their eyes meet one more time before Jeongin's flit away, focusing determinedly at some spot on the wall. It's soft, how Seungmin's lips press against her cheekbone, somewhere in between her eye and her ear. She feels Seungmin breathe, then another soft kiss, this time low on the cheek, right next to the mouth. She stays there for a moment, mouth against cheek, then pulls back, eyes meeting from mere inches apart. This is it, Jeongin feels herself sway, she's going to kiss me for real, but Seungmin just...runs a thumb across her cheek and steps away, picking her way back to curl up in her armchair.

Jeongin can still feel her lips.