After Daniel left her lonely in the parking lot,

(Y/N) decided to head back to the festival and ignore the notifications that were beginning to light up her phone's screen.

Before entering the masses of people, (Y/N) stuck her phone in her backpack to ensure that it wouldn't bother her. She walked through the school gates again, prepared to look at a few more stalls and maybe get a snack before going to the concert.

She was looking at some unbelievably ugly embroidered shirts designed by some upperclassmen in the fashion department when somebody from the crowd called her.

"(Y/N), Over here!"

She turned to see Zoe bouncily walking over to her, not paying any mind to the perverted stares of guys around them. (Y/N) gave a small smile and waved.

Once Zoe reached (Y/N), she hugged the slightly taller girl's arm and pouted up at her.

"What are you still doing here? We should get good seats for the concert, Danny is performing~"

(Y/N) hummed absentmindedly in response, too busy sending chilling glares at the guys drooling over Zoe. She only stopped when some of them seemed to get even more excited.

"I don't know if I'm scared or aroused!"

"Look at the way she's clinging to her!"

(Y/N) scrunched her nose in disgust and grabbed Zoe's wrist to drag her away from the gross stares.

"Let's go get some good seats." She said as an excuse.

Zoe giggled and cheered, allowing (Y/N) to lead her through through the different stalls.

"Yay~!"

Once they reached the temporary venue, (Y/N) was surprised to see a good amount of people already rushing to get their seats.

"Zoe, where do you want to sit?" (Y/N) asked.

"Nowhere, if we stand in the front we can be closer to the stage." Zoe explained.

(Y/N) looked to the area that Zoe was talking about and frowned.

"It looks like the pit is already filled."

"I'll get us in, follow me!" Zoe chirped, and skipped off to the front of the venue. Once the crowd became thicker, Zoe stopped frolicking and (Y/N) put her hand on the small of Zoe's back to make sure they stayed together.

Zoe easily took advantage of her feminine charm, acting cute to bribe people into letting her and (Y/N) through the crowd and getting as close to the stage as possible. The two ended up at the very front of the crowd, Zoe turned around to give (Y/N) a giddy smile and a high five.

Zack, however, did not have such an easy journey to the stage. He glared at the crowd in front of him and glanced down at Mira.

'I have to get the best view for Mira... she won't be able to see from here.'

Because Zack didn't have the same... assets as Zoe did, he chose to do what he knew best to get Mira and himself to the front.

Throw punches, threaten people and glare.

He pretended he didn't notice Mira's piercing glare when they did reach the front, but when he felt her eyes leave him he turned to see what she was looking at.

'I'd rather have negative attention than no attention at all.'

Mira grinned when she saw (Y/N) nodding along to whatever Zoe was rambling about, looking a bit overwhelmed. Mira reached out and tapped the girl's shoulder, making her turn around to see who dared touch her.

(Y/N)'s face lit up like a christmas tree when she saw Mira, not really acknowledging Zack, who was awkwardly standing behind her.

"Hi!" Mira laughed, waving to Zoe as well, who had begun to pout again.

'Stealing (Y/N)-ie's attention...'

"Hello." (Y/N) replied.

"Are you excited for the performances?" Mira asked.

(Y/N) nodded excitedly, "Duke and Daniel are going to perform later."

Zoe decided to barge into the conversation at the mention of her precious's name.

"Oh! I can't wait to see Danny~"

"Me neither." Mira agreed.

Zack flinched, 'This newbie, stealing Mira's heart!'. Before he could speak up, the lights went out and the crowd began screaming.

The concert began, Zoe and Mira were having the time of their lives, dancing and being silly. Zack and (Y/N) stood back and watched, though Zoe or Mira occasionally tried to get her to dance.

She was waiting for once specific performance. When the announcer came back onto the stage, he had her full attention.

"Todays's last performance! A collaboration of the fashion and vocal department! Daniel Park and Duke Piyon!"

She stood on her tippy toes to try and see over the stage and saw Daniel and Duke coming out.

Daniel strode onto the stage after Duke, his heart pounding when he saw the cheering crowd. It was like nothing he had ever seen before.

"He's so handsome!"

"Who is that?"

"Looks like an idol star..."

"His face shines!"

'They were all staring at me!' He looked down at his outfit, 'I followed the picture that Jay gave me... Is this okay?'

Jay beamed with pride when people in the crowd complimented Daniel's fashion.

"His clothes are super sweet!"

"He's got sense!"

"You're handsome. Do you have a girlfriend? I think you can choose anyone today." The announcer rambled, shoving a microphone in Daniel's face.

"W-What?" He stuttered.

"I heard you made the song. You're multi talented!"

Daniel shook his head. "What? No, that was my friend."

In the crowd, (Y/N) wore her own proud grin as well, though it was less noticeable.

The announcer looked over to a dejected looking Duke.

"Okay! Your friend looks like a great singer."

The crowd began to snicker when they took in Duke's appearance, and unfortunately (Y/N) could only glare at so many people.

"Who's he?"

"Haha. Looks like a pet."

"Geez, look at the size difference!"

"Haha he's an orc."

"Okay! Let's hear it! The title is Beautiful Day!"

Just at the right moment, Daniel remembered Duke telling him to improvise some "hoo" and "yeah" sounds for a few seconds.

When Daniel opened his mouth and sang, it sounded like a dying cat.

Duke almost gasped into the mic, 'He got off pitch!'

"Haha, I knew it. He's just a straw man. Don't you think so, 50 cents?"

"Stop calling me 50 cents."

'The response is icy!' Daniel thought nervously. 'I don't have what it takes! All of Duke's efforts... I've wasted them!'

Both Daniel and Duke hesitated.

"You've got this, Daniel! Knock 'em dead, Duke!"

Both of their heads snapped to see who the only person cheering was, and saw (Y/N) with her hands cupping her mouth as she encouraged them, ignoring her obviously burning cheeks.

Zack's eyes widened as he looked down at her, 'That's the loudest I've ever heard her voice get.'

On stage, Duke bit back a smile and stepped forward, holding the mic to his mouth as he began to spit his verses.

The crowd, including Vin Jin, was shocked when they heard Duke's rapping.

'Du... Duke?!'

Duke sent Daniel a wink as he raced through the verse as if to say 'Don't worry, I've got your back!'

Once the crowd had processed the fact that the lyrics were coming from Duke's mouth, they began to make comments. Most of which were backhanded compliments.

"Woah!!"

"Who's that pig?" A guy standing next to (Y/N) wondered aloud.

"He has a name." She snapped.

When it was Daniel's turn to sing again, he remembered Duke telling him to pretend he was singing his heart out to someone important to him.

He glanced at Duke, who was beaming at (Y/N), who was holding her phone up to record the performance with one of the proudest expressions he had ever seen.

'Now I feel safe. Those two are trustworthy. There's no doubt he's thinking of (Y/N).'

Daniel closed his eyes and put some thought into he would think of. 'A special person. Someone to sing for.'

The passion that filled Daniel's voice totally knocked the crowd's socks off.

'That's it!' Duke thought excitedly.

The power the two held on stage was unbelievable. Daniel sung his heart out as he thought of his mother, who struggled every day to ensure he was happy and keeping a smile on her face all the while.

Duke poured his emotions out as he thought of how he's struggled to get to this point. He remembered being bullied by classmates, rejected by companies before they could really judge his talent and working for hours to perfect the music that may never get the chance to be heard.

But one of his main focuses was (Y/N). He thinks of how she'd do anything for him and those she cared about without ever expecting a thing in return. How she allows her kindness to be overlooked and keeps her struggles to herself in fear of burdening her friends.

The two ended up having the entire crowd on their feet, dancing and chanting along to the lyrics.

Before Duke and Daniel even had a chance to catch their breath, a crowd of girls came storming up to the two of them.

"Daniel!"

"Amazing! Let's take a picture!"

"The bomb!"

"Wow, Danny!"

(Y/N) had managed to get herself through the crowd as well, she went up to Duke and ruffled his hair, ruining the spike he had styled it into.

"You did great."

Duke smiled, but grew anxious when other girls began to direct their attention towards him.

"Duke is good!"

"I had no idea."

"Way better than Vin Jin and Jeon Gi!"

"Totally!!"

"Hey..." said the man that Duke recognized. He was the guy that had rejected his audition based off of his appearance alone.

'Oh!'

"You're the kid who came to the last audition, right?"

"Y-yes!"

"You were pretty good. Sorry about before."

'He remembers me! I got credit!' Duke thought happily.

"That was nothing..." he said humbly.

The man held put a business card.

"Here's a card with my direct number."

Duke put out his hand to take the card. "Oh... thanks."

"Please contact me." The man said, walking right past Duke and handing the card to Daniel.

Daniel laughed in disbelief. "Sorry? What about Duke?"

"What's a Duke?" The man asked.

(Y/N), who had been watching, spoke up.

"You just met him." She said, clenching her fists to keep herself from saying something rude.

"Oh, that guy? He's good. But he isn't fit for this field." He said coldly.

"You're kidding, right?" (Y/N) asked, her voice just as icy, if not more than the man's in front of her.

"Look at him. How could he make it in this field?" He said, trying to defend himself as he waved his hand at Duke, who looked utterly heartbroken.

"You're not too pretty yourself, but you still made it. Why don't you start thinking about talent instead of looks."

The man shrugged. "Don't blame me. The public is cold hearted. I've gotta give them what they wanna see."

"Yeah, well you don't have to be such a dick about it." (Y/N) hissed. The man shrugged again and walked away.

(Y/N) went to go comfort Duke, but when she did, she saw Duke wipe tears from his eyes before storming off.

Instead of following after him, (Y/N)'s face lost all signs of emotion and she marched up to the man, ready to make him feel the pain Duke felt, but physically.

Before she was able to grab the guy's shoulder, a strong hand grabbed her wrist. She glared at the person who grabbed her, ready to fight anyone who got in her way as well.

She faltered when she saw Zack's stern gaze looking down at her.

"Don't do anything stupid to get yourself in trouble." He said lowly.

(Y/N) looked from the man, who was now storming away from Daniel, then back to Zack. When she realized Daniel had rejected his offer, she sighed and let her arm go limp in Zack's hold.

Zack dropped her hand and awkwardly watched her for a second. (Y/N) rubbed her wrist and side eyed him.

"Uh... thanks."

Zack stiffly nodded and walked away to find Mira. 'That must be one of the most awkward interactions ever..'

(Y/N) wandered off to find Duke as well, promising that if she ever saw that guy on the streets she'd make him regret going outside.

Duke had already gotten on a bus to go home before (Y/N) was able to find him. He easily ignored the two girls whispering about him and wrote in his note pad.

'Let's express this feeling in a song.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HELLO

2292 WORDS BABEY!!

I FEEL LIKE THIS IS KINDA CORNY

BUT HELLO

GET SOME REST