A few days ago at an art gallery

This happened just a few days ago, so excuse me for the lack of details, but it has really disturbed me. I had been having a tough week and it was my birthday, so a few friends and I went to an art gallery in downtown Chicago. It was a fun night, and there were a lot of people - a lot more than you would expect for an art gallery show.<br><br>It had just gotten dark, and a few of us went outside to smoke. We were talking and I turned to light a cigarette, and that’s when I noticed this person right behind me. I was taken aback, because I hadn’t noticed them, and they were too close to be just walking by. I turned and saw a guy who looked maybe a bit younger than me (20s-30s), dressed in a black hoodie and white jeans. I immediately got a weird vibe from him. <br><br>I looked a moment longer and went back to talking, thinking he was probably just passing by or walked out to smoke. But the person I was talking to noticed me looking and asked what was up. I just sort of nodded my head, and he turned to look. And the guy was still standing there, just sort of...watching us, but not really doing anything. <br><br>I made a few more short glances back a him, and he was still just standing there. Not smoking, not doing anything on his phone, no sign of being drunk/high. At one point he took a step closer and that was a little too much for me, and I turned and asked him if he needed directions to something. I was already getting very uncomfortable, but was trying not to be paranoid. <br><br>He seemed slightly taken aback that I talked to him, and said that “no” and he was just walking by and he “saw a friend.” I told him that I had never seen him before at any of these gallery openings, and he said that he hadn’t been before. Then he made some comment about how I should go back inside because it wasn’t safe out here. I said “okay”, sort of confused and still a little uncomfortable, and he still just stood there. I tried to go back to talking to my friends, but I could feel his eyes on us. <br><br>I was really starting to feel unsafe at that point, and kept thinking about the worst case scenarios. I made an excuse that I had to go to the bathroom and said I would see them inside. The person I was talking to said he was also going inside, and as we turned to go in the guy sort of murmured “see you later” or something like that. I didn’t respond because I didn’t think it was worth engaging. <br><br>As we walked in I turned and looked back, and he was walking away. My friend asked me if everything was okay, and I told him what had happened. I wasn’t sure how to feel, but I just tried to brush it off. <br><br>I stayed in the gallery for another hour after that, but he never reappeared. The whole thing still has me on edge, though.