Yangyang parked on a Midtown street.

Xiaojun was confused.

"Where are we going?" Xiaojun followed Yangyang's gaze out the window and realized that they were parked outside of a dive bar with a rainbow flag above its entrance.

Xiaojun turned back to Yangyang, he saw the guilty look on his face and realized.

"You are insane. No way."

"Come on. This place had great reviews on Google. They're known for their ribs!" Xiaojun stared at the bar.

He was curious.

"Okay. But how are we getting in?"

"I don't see anyone checking IDs..."

Yangyang and Xiaojun entered the dimly lit space with a motorcycle themed decor.

A crowd of older, stocky dudes who wore lots of leather drank and danced.

This was definitely not Xiaojun's scene.

Xiaojun watched two guys his dad's age aggressively make out in a dark corner.

"Uh, should we try the ribs?"

"I guess." Xiaojun answered terrified.

A hairy guy in a leather vest noticed Xiaojun's discomfort.

"You might want to try Joe's."

"Let's try Joe's." Xiaojun grabbed onto Yangyang's arm.

They entered another gay bar/restaurant with a younger crowd - lots of attractive college-age kids, a DJ spinning Calvin Harris.

Xiaojun and Yangyang sat at a table eating fries.

"I think that guy is checking me out."

"You have said that about every single guy."

"I can't help it. The gays love me."

"Jaemin?"

Xiaojun spun around to come face to face with a boyish cute guy with cool hair and skinny jeans.

"I'm not-"

"You're not Jaemin. Sorry, you have Jaemin hair."

"Is that, um, a good thing?" Xiaojun asked nervously.

"It's literally the only good thing about Jaemin. Do you want to dance?" Xiaojun hesitated.

Yangyang was grinning like an idiot, beyond excited by how well this was going.

"Yes. Yes, he does." Xiaojun's head was exploding with excitement and nerves.

He was in a public place and an attractive guy was hitting on him.

The Cute Guy took Xiaojun's hand and lead him out to the dance floor.

They awkwardly danced for a moment, before the Cute Guy turned to a passing waiter.

"Two shots of Patron please."

"Oh, actually-" Xiaojun tried to speak nervously.

The waiter eyed Xiaojun skeptically.

"I'm gonna need to see some ID."

......

Xiaojun and Yangyang were escorted out of the bar by a security guard.

Yangyang felt awful.

"I'm really sorry, man. I dragged you all the way out here so you could get humiliated in front of the first guy who ever asked you to dance. Please don't let this traumatize you-" Xiaojun threw his arms around Yangyang, exhilarated by their disastrous night and incredibly grateful for his friendship.

"Thank you, I love you, man... No homo." Yangyang and Xiaojun bursted out laughing.

......

Xiaojun sat at his computer, writing to King Of Hearts.

"Dear Koh, happy New Year's Eve. I haven't heard from you, so I'm going to assume slash pray it's
because you have no service, and not that you've decided it's too risky to keep e-mailing your innermost feelings to a guy who doesn't know how to log out of Gmail. I came out to my entire family on Christmas. And now, everything is different. It's not like my life has become one big pride parade. "

Xiaojun started to imagine pulling up to the waffle house window to get his order.

"I got the iced coffee."

"Yeah you did, boy!" The waffle house guy hits playon a boombox and it blasts Lady Gaga's "Born This Way".

The Waffle House Guy throws a bunch of rainbow confetti in Xiaojun's face.

Then puts a pair of rainbow sunglasses on him.

Xiaojun spits some of the confetti out of his mouth.

But then Xiaojun thought back to reality.

Xiaojun pulled up to get his order.

"I got the iced coffee."

"Have a Waffle-icious day." The waffle house guy handed him a coffee, bored.

Xiaojun then drove away, like normal.

"It's the little things. Like the way my mom watches me. Or the awkward physical affection my dad has started to exhibit for the first time ever. Don't get me wrong, there are good parts too. My friend even took me to my first gay bar. It was terrible and great at the same
time. But change is exhausting and I feel like there's nowhere to hide from all the new-ness of everything. Except here. With you. And I. Please write to me. As soon get even one bar of service. Love DJ."

......

Xiaojun's alarm woke him up.

It was 7:00 AM.

He immediately checked his e-mail.

Nothing new from King Of Hearts.

Xiaojun got ready for his first day of school as an out gay kid.

He tried on a bunch of different T- shirts, then one tight tank top.

He looked at his reflection like, what am I doing?

Xiaojun crossed through the kitchen, wearing a typical hoodie.

He was visibly nervous.

"Jun, have some breakfast." Xiaojun made a beeline for the door.

"I really can't eat right now-"

"Wait." Mrs. Xiao turned on what was clearly her "therapist voice."

"This is going to be a time of real exploration for you. Sexual and emotional feelings you've been repressing for a long time are going to come to the-"

"Mom." Xiaojun rolled his eyes overwhelmed.

Mrs. Xiao realized that Xiaojun didn't need a therapist right now and frankly, she didn't feel like being one.

"Sorry. Have I ever told you about your first day of pre-school?"

"Mom-"

"I was so nervous you were gonna fall apart when we dropped you off. You loved being home with your baby sister so much and you'd never been without me or dad for more than a couple hours but we walked in and you took in all the kids playing and you proclaimed, 'Hello everybody. I'm Xiao Dejun and I'm here!' And that's when I realized, my son is
brave." Xiaojun couldn't meet her eyes.

He was not feeling very brave.

Mrs Xiao's voice was filled with defiant emotion.

"So today, you go in there, and you remember you're Xiao Dejun. And you say, 'Hello everyone. I'm here.'" Xiaojun and Mrs. Xiao shared an emotional look.

"But don't actually say that. That'd be weird." She said trying to lighten the mood.

Xiaojun forced a smile and left but if Xiaojun had looked at his mother for just a little while longer, he would've seen her smile fading.

She could be more worried for her son.

.........

Xiaojun pulled up in front of Yangyang's house.

He was surprised to see Ryujin, Yangyang, and Lia standing on Yangyang's front porch.

Xiaojum got out of the car and approaches his friends.

"Hey, guys. Sorry I've been MIA. Thanks for all the texts and for sending the friendship ambassador over to check in." Xiaojun smiled at them.

To his surprise, nobody smiled back.

Yangyang cleared his throat.

"Xiaojun, we need to talk."