You stare at the man who's now smiling eagerly in your direction. Giving an uncomfortable smile, you see everyone already judging you.

"I like your outfit!" he says.

"Thanks." You respond before gesturing towards his. "Uh... how come you came as a superhero?" you question, unsure of a nicer way of asking about this.

"Oh, I always come to festivals like this." He states. "This is how I promote my music. I know my business card that I gave you had my real name but I go by 'F-bomb' on all music platforms." He states.

"Oh." You say, unable to think of anything else to say.

"So, are you ready to go to the main stage?" he asks you.

"Let me check with my friends really quickly to make sure they're alright being alone." You respond. He nods and then points towards a nearby porta potty.

"I'll use the bathroom really quick and then we can head over there." You nod before turning around and walking back towards where Seulgi and Sunmi are.

The two are dead silent for a few seconds as they stare over at you.

You can feel the pity radiating off of them.

"Alright, go ahead and let it all out." You immediately state.

Seulgi doesn't hold back her laughter as she stares over at you before shaking her head.

"Y/N, we thought we fucked up. You picked a guy who's wearing a superhero costume to a festival." She states. "Clearly, we should be the ones in charge of who you date. You're even worse at picking out guys than we are."

You immediately roll your eyes and look at Sunmi. Sunmi remains quiet while staring over at you. You tilt your head to the side, cocking an eyebrow as your eyes continue to stare at her. She gulps.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What? No sarcastic remarks from you? No jokes? Nothing?" you interrogate.

"Y/N, you know me better than that." Sunmi responds. "I'm not like Seulgi. I don't find your misery funny." This causes Seulgi to narrow her eyes at Sunmi.

"Hey, we all know I need to laugh first before I help her out of this situation." She states before looking down at the ground, pressing her lips together to avoid letting out anymore laughter. "Then, when Y/N's over it, I use it to make fun of her in the future... when she's not still sensitive about it, that is."

Sunmi rolls her eyes before looking back at you.

"I'm not laughing because this is the third bad date now, right?" you nod. "I just want you to find someone so you don't deal with this weird shit anymore." She states.

"He's asking if I want to go to the main stage with him."

"Please don't tell me you're actually considering it." Seulgi immediately responds.

"It's just a weird outfit," you say before looking back at the porta potty as he steps out of it. "He was really sweet the other day." Seulgi lets out a groan before shaking her head.

"Y/N, a guy dressed like that can't be normal." Seulgi states. "If you go up there with him, he's going to do some other crazy shit that freaks you out."

You bite onto your lower lip before looking back at him as he smiles over at you, waving as he starts approaching.

"I want to go. I feel bad just ditching him." Seulgi shakes her head before speaking again.

"Fine, but we're going with you." Sunmi nods in agreement.

"Hey Y/N, are you ready to go?" Felix now questions as he steps up to you.

"Oh, um, my friends wanted to join us, if that's okay?" you ask while looking over at him. He glances at them before nodding his head.

He removes his mask and gives a friendly smile towards Seulgi and Sunmi.

"Hello, I'm Felix."

"I'm Sunmi." Sunmi kindly greets him.

"Seulgi." Her face lacks emotion.

He nods his head before pointing towards the main stage.

"Well, let's get going then, shall we?" he questions. The three of you nod before walking with him to the main stage. He's on your left while Seulgi is on your right, her hand in a death grip on your arm in case he tries anything.

You're thankful for the fact that she's keeping such a close eye on you.

Once you get to the back of the crowd at the main stage, you begin dancing along to the music with Felix.

For the most part, the date is normal. You're dancing together, enjoying the music together.

That is, until he decides to prove Seulgi right.

"I'm going to move closer to the front! I'll be right back!" he says.

"Are you sure? That doesn't seem safe to be pushing past all of these people!" you respond loudly so he can hear you over the music.

He shrugs you off before doing it anyway.

You, Sunmi, and Seulgi watch as he makes his way towards the front.

Surprisingly, he did it. However, not without pissing a few people off in the process.

Once at the front, you all watch as he climbs onto the stage, somehow getting past the security guards trying to grab him. He runs up the stage towards the performer, who is now cautiously backing away and going towards security.

Felix has a wide smile on his face as he runs towards the now open microphone. He takes it in his hands and cuts the music, causing everyone to start booing immediately.

"I can't watch." Sunmi states while covering her eyes.

"How's everyone doing tonight?!" he yells into the microphone. Security guards start rushing towards where he is on the stage, ready to grab him. You and Seulgi are cringing immediately.

"Oh gosh, it's the stupid F-bomb boy." You hear someone yell from the crowd.

"Get off the stage, loser." Someone else yells.

You and Seulgi look at each other before looking back at the stage, seeing him now plugging his phone into the DJ system that the artist was using. He starts playing, what you assume, is his own music.

To be nice, you'd describe it as something you've never heard before.

"Oh fuck, his music is trash." Seulgi states.

"So, uh, my name is F-bomb and this is my latest single that's out now!" he says into the microphone.

You look around and watch as the crowd begins covering their ears at the sound of the horrible beat.

"Turn it off, bro!" someone yells from the crowd.

"Your music sucks!"

More and more people continue to bash his music. Frankly, you've seen enough. You look at Seulgi, who makes eye contact with you before nodding your head. You two start leaving as Seulgi touches Sunmi's arm, gesturing for her to come with you two. The three of you walk out of the crowd of the main stage and don't take a second look back as you hear people cheering while security kicks Felix out of the event.

You eventually make it back to where Seulgi's car is parked and the three of you are speechless. Even Seulgi doesn't have anything to say about this.

The drive home is quiet until Sunmi suggests that the three of you go to get some ice cream.

Seulgi stops at the nearest ice cream and boba shop that's about 15 minutes from the university.

The three of you get out of the car and make your way into the shop, ordering your ice cream and sitting down.

You spend about thirty minutes there before Seulgi and Sunmi are ready to leave. You, however, still haven't touched your ice cream. You had just been staring at the icy, sweet treat for the past thirty minutes. It's now almost completely melted.

"Y/N?" Seulgi speaks up, causing you to look up at her. She has sympathetic eyes as she looks down at you. "Sunmi and I are going to go to the clothing shop next door and get you something nice to cheer you up, okay?"

"What about me?"

"You can join if you like and help us pick something for you." Sunmi states. "Or if you want to finish your ice cream, we'll come get you once you're finished." You nod.

"I'll stay here." You say. The two nod before giving caring smiles and making their way out of the shop and into the place next door.

You now pick up your spoon, gathering the sweet, now liquid, dessert. Starting to eat the treat, or rather slurp it now that it's a liquid, you look around the shop.

"Hyung, I'm going to order our food, okay?" you hear the only other voice in the shop speak. You ignore them and instead look back down at your dessert.

You can't help but feel bad for yourself.

As you start to eat the treat, you think about how lucky Sunmi and Seulgi are.

Seulgi has had a steady friend-with-benefits relationship with a guy for years now. They're on the same page, don't want any commitment but also know not to sleep with others without telling... for obvious reasons. However, despite not being exclusive, you can see that Seulgi is content with it.

Sunmi, on the other hand, has had a steady boyfriend for about two years now. They rarely fight, he always treats her well, and the two are a couple that you can tell is end-game.

You don't have anyone. You're trying to gain the courage to talk to your crush but just don't have it. You try going on dates with guys but don't ever find the right one. Something is always wrong with them.

You take a deep breath as you feel your eyes tearing up. A tear runs down your face and you quickly shake your head before closing your eyes to stop the rest from falling.

You lower your head, not wanting anyone near you to see you crying.

"Another bad date?" you hear a deep voice saying near you. This causes you to look up and see Taehyung standing near you.

You slightly sniffle before quickly looking away, not wanting him to see you crying.

"Oh, uh, yeah." You respond before taking another bite of your ice cream. Taehyung stares down at you sympathetically before sitting on the seat directly across from you.

"Hyung, our ice cream is ready." Someone says to him. He looks over at the other man before looking back at you.

"Jungkook, you can go ahead and find us a table or something. I have to catch up with a friend really quickly." He states. His friend, Jungkook, looks over at you, seeing that you're upset before nodding his head and going to find a table for the two of them. "The past two dates were bad but this one was enough to make you cry? What happened?" he asks.

You take a deep breath before letting out a soft laugh.

"He showed up in a superhero costume and then proceeded to interrupt the entire show for everyone by playing his own shitty music." you state. Taehyung lifts his eyebrows, in shock of what you just said.

"Did... I'm sorry, did I hear that correctly?" Taehyung questions. "Did you say superhero costume?" You nod, causing him to physically cringe. "Wow... sorry to hear that." He states.

You nod your head before reaching both hands up to comb your fingers through your hair, frustrated.

"Third date now." You state. "Third fucked up date."

"There's someone there for you." Taehyung states. "A week from now, you'll be laughing about this." You let out a soft sigh before nodding your head. He continues to stare over at you, tilting his head to the side for a second. You look up at him and see the warmth in his eyes as he stares over at you.

"Are you stalking me or something?" you suddenly say, causing him to raise his eyebrows. "You keep running into me and it's just getting really weird now." You state.

"No, I live near here so every place I've seen you at are places I go to often." He states.

"Oh thank God," you state before letting out a relieved sigh. "Thought I was attracting another weirdo." You state, causing Taehyung to let out a laugh.

"You're lucky you're crying and I didn't get offended by that." He states before shaking his head. "You're something else. A funny girl like you is definitely getting a good date soon." He states before biting onto his lower lip. You look over at him and watch as he smiles while biting his lower lip.

After a few seconds of him staring, he then glances behind you.

"Well, I think I have to go join my friend over there." He states before gesturing towards it. "If you want to talk later on, I can stick around once my friend and I are done hanging out." You look back at his friend before looking back at him.

"Um... I came here with my friends and they're probably going to be back for me soon, so don't worry about it." You state before smiling at him. "Thank you."

"Any time." He grins before getting up and walking towards his friend's table.

*****
Now onto what's going on in the world

TW: LGBTQ+ hate/homophobia, gun violence

There was a shooting at a club in Colorado Springs. The targeted place was an LGBTQ+ club. 18 people were injured and 5 were killed. The shooter is said to be transphobic or homophobic. I'm so terrified and as an ally and member (bi) of the LGBTQ+ community, it disgusts me that there are still people out there who cannot mind their own business and leave people be. If you're not being harmed by someone, why go out of your way to harm others? They were just at a club trying to have a good time and dance and this asshole went in there to shoot people that he doesn't even know. This is horrible and my thoughts and prayers go out to anyone who knows someone who might've been there.

To my dear readers who are also part of the LGBTQ+ community, I really hope that none of you have to experience the homophobia/transphobia that is commonly seen throughout the world. And if you have unfortunately had to experience this, please know that there are people who accept and love you for you. I'm so proud of you, whether or not you're in/out of the closet, despite not even knowing you personally. I'm so proud of you for coming to know yourself. You are valid and you matter and you do not deserve this kind of hatred from ANYONE just because of what you identify as, who you love, etc.

This world is so cruel sometimes but I want you to realize there are people out there who genuinely care and are proud of you for being you. That's why we have the community, to rely on one another and have each other's backs.

My thoughts go out to the victims and those who were present at this shooting. No one deserves this kind of treatment.

And to all of my readers, LGBTQ or not, please stay safe out there. Always go out with someone so you're not alone. There have been so many attacks based on race, sexuality, gender, etc. and I really want all of you to be safe. It's sad that we have to be this alert but I'd much rather know everyone is taking precautions in cases of emergencies like this. Please always know where your nearest exit is, carry pepper spray/anything you can to protect yourself if necessary, and always have someone with you.

I purple all of you.
Kim