Author's note: Thanks for reading and voting! Enjoy!

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One month later...

CRUNCH.

Stringing the melted, gooey cheese along, her taste buds burst with flavor. Gooey, juicy bits of scrumptious beef mixed with the crisp lettuce and the previously mentioned melted cheddar cheese ended up reminding her of the quesadillas con carne her mom used to make all the way back in Texas.

Devouring her street taco like there was no tomorrow in sight, the ravenous customer on the bench made sure to savor each bite. In reality, it did not really matter if the taco had been good or not.

Not like she would remember it after today anyways.

Having come to the first ever music festival of her life, she had for sure been expecting an overwhelming amount of sensations flooding her senses. However, that did not prepare for the exploding cacophony surrounding her from head-to-toe. From the booming music to the smoky atmosphere to the sticky ground, there was hardly a place except behind the food stalls where she could just rest without feeling crushed.

Even the sight of bare ringed nipples, that had at first sight both shocked and disgusted her, would not deter her from enjoying herself on this fabulously sunny day.

Fellow music-lovers strolled by her bench, holding hands with a significant other, and laughing at nothing at all while enjoying artisan souvenirs they bought from the local vendors.

She herself had bought an ornate fan made by a local craftsman. It looked well-worn but was probably brand-new; covered with fine gold thread, swirls encircled the fabric, adding to the effect of the fan to appear as if it was ripped off an abstract painting.

Sighing, she covetously eyed a nearby food stall that sold liquid nitrogen-based ice cream. Drooling but hesitant to buy due to only having grabbed a small wad of cash off her cousin before fleeing their premises, she glanced away to try and ease her suffering.

Amid the crowd, a Korean doctoral student named Dan Geum spotted the taco aficionado sitting on a bench sporting a straw sun hat and wiping the remaining bits of taco off her lip with a napkin.

"Bracelet girl?", he crooned. He swore he could see the top of her wavy blonde locks from here.

What was she doing in the Midwest?

Suddenly grasped tightly by the hand, Dan turned to face one of his friends.

"Dan, what you looking over there for? The set for the band starts in a few minutes, and it's all the way across the park from here!", pleaded Josh, another GTA in the Math Department.

Rubbing his eyes, he stated, "Yeah, I'll be there in a sec. Wait for me."

"Okay. Your prerogative," Josh said, leaving him alone to his devices.

Leaving his viewing spot, he scrambled over to the young lady only to see her dragged away by another man.

"Olivia!", Steven cried, taking her in hand as he attempted to leave the packed venue.

Approaching the pair, he observed them from a distance and accidentally ended up overhearing part of their conversation.

"But Steven...it's been over a month since I was out and about like this. Can't I just enjoy myself for once?", Olivia pleaded to her indifferent cousin.

Steven snorted. "This is outrageous even for you, Olivia. Do you have any idea how worried sick I have been?"

"What? That detailed note on the kitchen table wasn't enough?"

"Not when you up and leave to go unaccompanied among strangers after..." Steven's voice quieted as he reached the end of his thought.

"After what happened, you mean? I wasn't the only one there you know," she remarked.

Sighing, he snapped, "This isn't the time or place to talk about this. Right now-we're going home, no questions asked."

Regardless of Olivia's protests, he continued his way past the cones that marked the exit, and hurriedly left the music festival.

By this point, Dan was sure that girl-Olivia-was the one who had dropped both her shamrock-colored hat and scarlet bracelet that day at the airport.

He had no idea who this 'Steven' guy was, but he was determined to bring her back her bracelet.

It turns out coincidentally that at the airport, he had forgotten to place the piece of jewelry in lost-and-found and discovered it still in his possession during the flight back to South Korea.

In his wildest imaginations, he had never expected that, from what he reckoned, she lived in the Midwest, let alone in Ohio, where he had happened to be spending his graduate school years at.

"It's a small world after all", he sang under his breath.

Letting his feet guide him to where he needs to go, he arrived at sound stage four in the nick of time.

"Wow. You made it...you had us going for a second there, Dan," joked Leslie, a junior research assistant to his mentor, Professor Sapolsky.

He chortled. "As if, who's the one here with the least sense of direction?"

Josh grimaced. "Hey, it's not my fault," he answered back.

"But it is your problem!", yelled the whole group at their now very annoyed companion; the phrase being an inside joke between these gang of hooligans dating all the way back to their very first meeting together.

Professor Matthews would probably never live that down.

Giggling, Dan momentarily forgot his troubles and let himself enjoy the show. It was only when a cover of a love song came on that he made excuses to go take a breather.

Cramped seats and the smell of cigarettes could be handled only for so long before his discomfort squashed all his earlier enthusiasm.

"DAN...you'll miss the most important part-the encore and fan meeting," whined Josh.

"Get it for me then. While you're at-get a t-shirt for my new roommate, Jon. Maybe that'll cheer him up," he mockingly said.

The whole gang stopped cheering and faced Dan with worried glances.

"Dude, if that man ever cracks a smile, that'll be the day hell freezes over," taunted one of them.

"Remember how he looked at us when we helped you move?", Josh relayed.

"Yeah, he thinks with those brown leather jackets, high boots, tattoos, and earrings that he could scare us off...actually, he does scare the **** out of me at least."

"Only you?", Dan teased. Once out of sight, he grimaced.

In his heart, he was sure Jon was an alright dude. Although their interactions were brief...and unpleasant, it wasn't like his current roommate had it out for Dan.

At least he hoped not.

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Author's note: If there is one message of the story I want to leave readers with, it is this. "We all need that someone who gets you like no one else right when you need it the most. We all need a soul to rely on, a shoulder to cry on, a friend through the highs and the lows."

Author's note: Here's another picture of Olivia's current faceclaim cuz why not?