"So, you're telling me that he managed to find you during a fourth bad date now?" Sunmi questions.

"She's definitely fucking him and just not telling us." Seulgi states. Sunmi eyes Seulgi before looking back at you.

"Well, if she is, she better say so." She says while giving you a knowing look.

"I'm not fucking him." You immediately respond before rolling your eyes. "He was eating with his group of friends at the diner I was supposed to meet Alex at and came up to me. Alex stood me up, so Taehyung wanted to be nice and get me somewhere safe since I didn't have my car."

"Whoa, he stood you up?" Seulgi questions before looking over at Sunmi. "Wow, and you still believe in fate, huh?" Sunmi's jaw drops as she furrows her eyebrows while looking over at her.

"Hey, fate can still exist!" she states. "Besides, one could argue that fate was working its magic since Taehyung was there to get her here safely."

"Whatever you say." Seulgi states.

"She wouldn't have met Taehyung if it wasn't for all of these bad dates! You can't tell me that's not fate." Sunmi argues.

"Oh, please! Taehyung's literally our age and he told Y/N he lives in this same area. Everyone our age hangs out at the same places when they live around this area. Same cafes, same restaurants, same everything. That's not fate, it's expected that she'd see him in all of these places."

"Okay both of you just shut up!" You immediately interject the argument. "Despite it being fate or not, I was lucky he was there. I'm sick of all of these ridiculous bad dates! I'm finding myself a date from now on." Seulgi widens her eyes and immediately points her index finger at you.

"Oh, no you don't." Seugli scolds. "You said I can get another chance. You don't get to take back your word." You immediately roll your eyes and then let out a soft sigh. Reaching your hand up to your face, you pinch the bridge of your nose between your thumb and index finger out of frustration.

"This isn't a competition of who wins, you know that right?" you ask her while looking up at her. "It's my love life we're talking about." You respond. Seulgi rolls her eyes.

"I know it's not a competition but you told me I could set you up and I haven't gotten to redeem myself. You can choose your own date after this if it doesn't work out but I'm going to pick an incredible guy to redeem myself for you." You let out a soft sigh.

"You're acting like a five-year-old who was told they can have ice cream after dinner if they stop screaming." You say, causing Sunmi to almost laugh. She immediately covers her mouth with her hand in an attempt to muffle the sound of her laughter.

"But you love me and you know I just want to make sure you have a good looking guy at that party." she responds. You sigh and nod.

"Alright. Knock yourself out." You state. "But background checks need to be done better from here on out. I don't want to go on another date with someone who's in a relationship already, tells gross sex stories, wears capes, or stands me up."

"Deal." Seulgi immediately grabs her phone and starts looking through an app. "I'm going to go through mutual friends. That should ensure that you won't have any other bad dates."

"None of Lucas's friends though, alright? I don't want to end up on a date with one of his friends." Seulgi merely scoffs before looking over at you. She arches an eyebrow at you.

"Wow, set you up on one bad date and you think we don't know what we're doing." She says before shaking her head.

"To be fair, you two really messed up." You respond. "But I also didn't pick the best dates either..." you mumble.

"Well, even if we did mess up, we still know the end goal: to set you up with Lucas. I wouldn't set you up with one of his friends. That's the complete opposite of what we're trying to do."

"Y/N, are you sure you don't want to try just asking Lucas out?" Sunmi suddenly chimes in. "It seems like the simplest thing to do right now. I know you're shy when talking to him but it wouldn't hurt you."

You look over at her before biting onto your lower lip.

"It would be the easiest thing, wouldn't it?" you question. "Maybe I should."

"Oh, so when I tell you to do it, you don't want to but the minute Sunmi does, you're more ready to do it?" Seulgi shakes her head. "We should've told you at the same time weeks ago to stop you from going on those shitty dates." Sunmi nods.

You stare down at your phone, contemplating the decision. Yes, it'd be simpler to do. However, the rejection that comes in hand with it if he says no is something that makes you hesitate.

You don't know why you automatically assume he's going to say no. Maybe it's out of insecurity. Maybe it's because, from what you've seen, he's never been out on any dates so you're unsure of his relationship status. Maybe it's because your overthinking is just making you imagine the worst possible scenarios that are unlikely to happen in the first place.

Whatever it is, you find yourself unlocking your phone and staring down at Taehyung's number.

He's put his name as "Bad Date Bodyguard" in your phone. This causes you to laugh for a second, bringing you out of your bad thoughts as you see a small preview of this man's humor in black and white on the screen.

Locking your phone once more, you look up at Seulgi and Sunmi who are now silent, staring in your direction.

"All you have to do is say the words and we'll give you a chance to ask Lucas before setting anything else up for you." Seulgi states. Sunmi nods in agreement, a look of hope in her eyes.

You can tell based on Seulgi's tone and Sunmi's look in her eyes that the two would rather you just gather up a little bit of confidence to ask Lucas the simple question. It's only eight words. Eight simple words that could change you from "girl who helps Lucas with school" to "girl who Lucas is dating."

~~~~~

"Will you go to the party with me?" you ask, biting onto your lip.

You inhale a deep breath before shaking your head as you stare at yourself in the mirror.

"No... I can't ask like that. When I bite my lip like that, I look terrified." You mumble to yourself before taking another deep breath.

This time, you stand up straight, stand with your shoulders pushed back, head held high and plaster a smile on your face.

"Will you go to the party with me?" you practice once more before immediately going back to your relaxed posture.

No, you can't do that either. The posture was good, the head held high made you look confident. However, the smile that was on your face in that moment looked far too desperate. You hate to admit it, but for a few seconds there, you even thought of yourself as a "pick me" girl.

You take a deep breath before deciding to get dressed and not think further about this.

Your next college course starts in ten minutes so there's no time to overthink or run through multiple scenarios in your head.

Grabbing a coat, you make your way towards the door and leave the dorm room, locking it behind you.

You make your way out of the dorm room and start walking through the pathway in the grass area of campus. Once inside the building where your class is located, you see Lucas already standing there. He's on his phone, not paying attention as he waits for the professor to get there and open the door.

You glance around and see that no one else is waiting outside this lecture hall. Everyone else walks past, minding their own business as they go to their own classes.

Tilting your head to the side, you don't give yourself another second to wait. You walk over to where he's standing, grabbing his attention as he sees someone approaching. He immediately smiles as he sees you before tucking his phone into his pocket.

"Hey, Y/N." he says.

"Hi, Lucas." You say before glancing at the door to the lecture hall. "Are we early today? Normally, there's a ton of people already here."

"Oh, yeah. Class was moved by thirty minutes but I didn't see the email until I already got here." He states.

"Oh. I didn't see that email either. Guess we're stuck standing here for a bit." You say, causing him to nod his head. It gets quiet for a moment which causes you to bite on the inside of your cheek as you think about what to say next. "So, I heard that someone got a local DJ to come to the party coming up... is that true?" you lie to change the subject to the party.

This causes Lucas to raise his eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" he asks, causing you to nod as you press your lips together for a second. "Well, I haven't heard anything about that... I wonder if that's something we're trying to do but not telling too many people about in case it doesn't work out. It'd be cool if we do get a local DJ there, though." He states, laughing softly. You nod your head.

"Yeah, it'd definitely make the party more fun." You say before glancing around the hallway. You see two girls walk past, talking to each other. One glances at Lucas, checking him out for a second before the two continue on their path towards a different room. Once they're gone, you look back at him and smile softly. "You know what'd make the party even more fun?" you question.

"What?" he asks while smiling once he sees that you're smiling.

"If we went together." You state while smiling up at him.

Please work.

He smiles when you say this before raising his eyebrows. He then glances to the side for a second.

Oh no. Bad sign.

"Oh!" he says before you watch his smile drop a little. "I'd love to but Yuqi asked me a few days ago and I already told her yes." You hold your breath for a second before smiling up at him, gulping before you speak.

"That's totally fine, I didn't know she had asked you." You state before glancing to the side for a second.

"We could always go to the next party together if you want. I would like to go with you." He insists, staring down at you. You nod your head and grin.

"Yeah, sure. Sounds fun." You state.

Luckily for you, the professor shows up to unlock the door for the two of you. He holds the door open for you and Lucas to go inside. Lucas immediately steps into the room, giving you a polite wave as he steps in. You watch him walk in before the professor speaks up.

"Are you going into this room?" he questions. You glance up at him and nod before pointing down at your phone.

"Oh, yes. I just um... I have to make a quick phone call before class. I'll be in there in a few minutes." You say, giving him a polite smile. He nods before stepping into the room with Lucas, letting the door close behind him.

You immediately take out your phone and go to your contacts. Clicking on the first person you thought of the moment he politely declined, you call the person.

"Hey," you say before glancing through the window of the lecture hall, seeing Lucas sitting on his phone in one of the rows in the far back. "I know this is super last minute but are you free?"

*****
I hope all of you are doing well and taking care of yourselves.

I know for some the holiday season can be the loneliest time of year and I hope none of you are feeling isolated or unloved. You all mean so much to me and seeing your positive comments on my stories always makes me feel so happy and I can only hope that my stories make you feel happy. I hope you're all okay. You're not alone.

I purple you.
Kim 💜