Unrequited Love | MYG ✅

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Ha-Kun and I meet up in Los Angeles for the festival; I'm so excited to see him and feel like I have a little piece of home. He has a handful of fantastic managers running the restaurant now, so he has the freedom to invest a good chunk of time into my career.

I've been here a few weeks working with some studio musicians and a couple of backup singers we've put together to perform with me at the festival, and they have been wonderful.

The night of the show, I'm a ball of nerves. There are a lot of great performers playing, and I have no idea how I ended up in the mix; it's surreal. When it's our turn though, all my nerves melt away after the first verse.

I see a few LGBTQ+ signs with my name on them in the crowd up front, and I'm taken by complete surprise.  I try and make eye contact with those people to show them my appreciation. I wasn't expecting anyone even to know who I was out here, so finding some fans is phenomenal, and it gives me the courage to just be myself.

We are only contracted to play a few songs, and for the last one, the band leaves the stage, and I just come to the middle of the stage with an acoustic guitar and sing my last song. Of course, it's a song I wrote about heartbreak and trying to move on because, at this point in my life, I need to channel those emotions somewhere.

During the bridge, I stop playing and just sing, trying to emote all the desperation I've felt over the past year, just like I did that night Tae, JK, and Seijin first saw me play at the bar.

The crowd is deafeningly quiet, making my pulse quicken. I have to fight to keep my nerves from creeping up in my voice. When I reach the end of the bridge, I start playing my guitar again. Luckily, I hear some cheers and screams of support, ushering waves of relief over me, sweeping away my anxiety.

I finally look out beyond the people in the front with the signs and let my eyes stretch out into the distance, and that's when I spot them four forms off to the side, masked, wearing hats, but unmistakably my guys. I could spot them anywhere.

My eyes gleam with a new found happiness. I nod slightly, seeing Hobi's eyes meet mine. Just behind Hobi, JK, Jimin, and Tae, I see a few security guards and Jae. My heart skips with joy. My people are here!

As I take a slight bow, the crowd is overwhelmingly kind, and it is humbling to have had this experience. I walk off stage, giving a warm thanks to all the musicians that worked with me with promises to stay in contact if another project comes up in the area again.

"Lily, some fans were asking if you would sign some autographs," Ha-Kun says while leading me away.

"Me?" I chuckle, "That seems highly unlikely."

"Really, I don't think so!" I hear in Korean, then I'm being tackled by Hobi. I'm so happy I'm jumping up and down with him, and then I realize I'm surrounded by Jae, Jimin, Tae, and JK. A few happy tears slide down my face.

"I'm your biggest fan!" Hobi is cackling.

"Lily, don't cry," Hobi says, wiping happy tears from my cheeks while we just stand there clutching each other like we haven't seen each other in a thousand years.

To physically be in each other's presence feels surreal. I'm shaking all over, completely overwhelmed from handling my first big stage, but also relieved to have my favorite people surrounding me after going at it alone for so many months.

"I can't help it. This is the first time I've had a sense of home in ages," I smile while Hobi pulls me into him for another tight squeeze, and for the first time since I left Korea, I feel the tension evaporating from my shoulders.

Tae sneaks up to us, whispering, "You guys have to stop. People are looking. There are too many cell phones around." Grateful Tae has enough sense to bring us back to reality, I smile and give him a quick embrace.