"And what exactly has been asked of you?" an edge had crept into his voice, eyes no longer seeking escape just past the man but focusing in challengingly. He wanted to demand just how long Kyu-Sik had known any of this was going on, but he understood the need for secrecy and not wanting him involved. Though he thought he'd come to know the other boy quite well, there was a difference between expressing fears of growing apart from siblings or disappointments in not getting into special schools, and the sort of thing that got you accused of being in a cult.
He laughed at the awful irony of it, because he thought all this time he'd been the one from a history of crazed fundamentalists, and now Kyu-Sik was apparently some sort of leader of another religion that probably wanted nothing to do with him. Donovan clenched his teeth, couldn't believe this was a pattern in his life that he couldn't escape.
There was a growing feeling that Kyu-Sik's apology and honesty about the situation was a red flag that something was more wrong than he could quite pin down. Kyu-Sik wasn't the type to be so careless with his secrets. That was the kind of information that nobody was supposed to have, unless you intended to keep them close. And he already had the impression that wasn't the case, that it was the entirely wrong tone for any attempt at recruitment. He'd greeted enough missionaries at the door to know this wasn't the script for conversion.
"Your god," Donovan tried to say it respectfully, because it didn't matter if there was a truth behind it when the matter was only how strongly the belief influenced Kyu-Sik's actions. His own belief in whether or not Kyu-Sik was delusional or divine had absolutely no bearing, so he refused to come to any conclusions. "Doesn't want you having new friends, then. Am I some kind of dirty influence?" He took a step closer. "Does your god think I'm a filthy harlot too? Unworthy of your holy presence?"