Mijoo lay on the table taking ragged breaths. She had no idea how long she had been there, but it had felt like days. She had been drifting in and out of consciousness so time seemed like a foreign concept to her. Every time she thought she couldn’t take any more pain, Jaehyo would move back, choose another instrument, and introduce her to the word all over again. Her vocal chords had given out a long time ago and she couldn’t think past the burning sensation that crawled over her body every time she tried to move. 

If Jaehyo and Jihoon were still in the room she had no idea. They hadn’t said much once they started, but every once and a while Jaehyo would start to giggle before using an instrument that would almost cause her to black out from the pain. They had been silent now for some time and Mijoo hadn’t felt any new cuts or bruises added to the ones that were already littering her body. She had no energy to try and lift her head from the table however, and no desire to see their satisfaction at her pain. She wasn’t sure which scared her more, the look in Jaehyo’s eyes as he hurt her or the way Jihoon salivated over her as he ran his hands over her wounds. 

She felt herself drifting again and her vision was hazy. She needed water, but she couldn't call out even if she wanted to and she doubted that they would give her any if she asked. She wondered if Seungmin or Chan had noticed that she was gone. Not that it would have mattered; how was anyone going to find her? She vaguely wondered what happened to the groceries she had bought. Were they just laying in the entryway of her apartment? The thought made her giggle, her laughter sounding delirious even to her own ears. 

It was in this state that she heard the door slam open followed by a shout of surprise. She thought she heard someone cry out, "I found her, she's in here!" But she must have been mistaken. No one was looking for her.

She absolutely knew she was delirious, because with her head painfully turned towards the door she was able to see Felix enter the room and run over to her, followed closely by Hyunjin. Her vision was starting to blur and she knew she was imagining it, because there was no way Felix could be there. She heard her imaginary Felix swear loudly and say, “Oh my god, what have they done to her!?”

“Felix help me get these bindings off,” Hyunjin spoke, his voice sounding like he really was standing next to her instead of just being a figment of her imagination. “Chan’s going to be so pissed when he sees this. I wouldn’t be shocked if he goes after Zico himself.” 

As if she had conjured him up in her mind at the mention of his name, she saw Chan enter next. He approached with even steps, his eyes raking up and down her body as if analyzing what he was seeing. He stopped next to where her head lay against the table and his eyes met hers, a look of concern rested on his face as his brow furrowed. Mijoo felt the bindings around her wrists and legs fall away, but Mijoo couldn’t bring herself to try to move them against the pain.

“Are you…real?” She tried to speak, but it came out a whisper, almost inaudible.

Chan lifted up a hand and hesitantly ran his fingers delicately through her hair, almost as if unsure about the gentle gesture himself. “Yes, we’re real,” He said quietly. Mijoo closed her eyes in relief as she felt tears gather at the corner of her eyes again. She thought she had cried herself out already, but apparently not.

“Chan, we need to get her out of here, but moving is going to be difficult for her in this state,” The voice of Hyunjin came from the other side. With her eyes closed like this he sounded far away. Mijoo decided to focus on the feeling of Chan’s fingers in her hair.   

Suddenly the sound of Felix’s deep voice filled her head, “Mijoo, Mijoo open your eyes!” He sounded frantic and her eyes opened at the noise. He was loud. Why is he so loud? I’m tired... She just wanted everything to be quiet so she could sleep. Felix looked down at her and she could see the fear on his face. She wondered if that’s what she looked like leaning over Felix as he bled out in her entryway. She closed her eyes at the thought and felt herself giving into the comfort of the blackness but she was roughly shaken back by the loud voice of Felix. "Mijoo! You can't fall asleep! You need to stay awake!" But sleeping was much more peaceful. Why did she need to stay awake anyway? She felt herself falling back into the welcoming darkness, the last thing she registered was the feeling of Chan still carding his fingers through her hair and against her scalp. Yes, sleep was much more peaceful. 

When Mijoo opened her eyes again the first thing that registered was that her arms were no longer reaching above her head but laying by her sides. Then she felt the soft mattress underneath her and the feeling of cool sheets against her fingertips. Looking around from where she lay, she saw that she was no longer in the warehouse, but rather laying in her bed in her bedroom. For a second she wondered if it all had been a bad dream, but then she went to move her arm to try and sit up and hissed as pain erupted across her side and in her arms. 

“Hey, don’t try to move the painkillers haven’t kicked in yet.” A voice came from her left. Mijoo turned her head to see Hyunjin sitting in her moon chair, a book in hand. “Plus some of your wounds could reopen and I’m really trying my hardest to keep you from scarring any worse than you will.” 

“Did that-” Mijoo spoke, hurting at the effort. “Did that really happen?” She asked. Her voice came out scratchy, unrecognizable to her ears.

Hyunjin stood up and laid the book on her nightstand, before coming over to look at her arms. As he lifted her left arm, Mijoo could see that it was covered in bandages. “It did,” was all Hyunjin said in reply as he looked over her bandages. Laying her arms back on the bed, he stood up straight, and pulled out a syringe from some medical equipment nearby. Checking the liquid inside, Mijoo barely felt the needle as he gave her the shot. “I’ll let everyone know you’re awake. Although I just gave you a sedative, so... not for long.” 

Mijoo wondered what he meant by ‘everyone’ but was too tired and hurt too much to ask. As he opened her bedroom door and stepped halfway out, she could see a few Stray Kids members loitering in her living room, but she couldn’t identify them from where she lay. “She’s up,” Hyunjin announced to whoever was in her apartment.

Mijoo heard the sound of shuffling and the thundering of footsteps. Hyunjin quickly moved out of the way as Felix and Jeongin burst through the door first, followed by Changbin and Seungmin and then the rest of the Stray Kid members. Mijoo felt self-conscious as the nine men surrounded her in bed.

Felix sat down on the edge of her bed and took her hand in his own, “How are you feeling?” He asked earnestly, his brow furrowing in concern. 

Mijoo wanted to reach up and soothe his worries, but she couldn't lift up her arm. “Tired,” She rasped out.

“I gave her a sedative, so she’ll be out soon so she can rest and heal,” Hyunjin told the boys before turning to Mijoo. “But they wanted to see for themselves that you were going to be fine.”

“We were so worried when we heard,” Jeongin exclaimed a little too loudly, making Mijoo wince at the noise. Changbin nudged him slightly as if telling him to be quieter. The young boy held his hands over his mouth and nodded. 

“What happened?” Seungmin asked with his arms crossed over his chest. Mijoo felt a little guilty looking at him, her gaze quickly moving away from his own. 

“Maybe right after she woke up from a traumatic experience isn’t the best time to be interrogating her, Seungmin,” Felix spoke up defensively, Mijoo barely registered that his grip on her hand seemed to tighten. 

Jisung scoffed, Mijoo hadn’t even noticed that he was there as well. “I think now is a perfect time to ask her what happened. She was the that got herself kidnapped in the first place even after I told her, her life was in danger. But does anyone listen to me? Noooo,” He was speaking too fast for Mijoo to fully understand what he was saying, but she was pretty sure that he had just insulted her. 

“Give her a break Jisung, she’s not like the rest of us, she’s not used to this,” Felix argued back. Jisung just rolled his eyes in response. 

“-my groceries...” Mijoo said softly, interrupting their squabbling, her mind again wondering about the fate of her purchased goods. “I- They were waiting for me... in the lobby.” It was not getting any easier for her to speak, her tongue felt like lead in .

She heard Chan sigh from the foot of her bed where he was standing, a sound she was getting much too accustomed to. She heard him say something to Woojin who was standing next to him, but couldn’t make out the words. Her eyelids were getting heavier and harder to keep open as she blinked.

“-’m sssss,” She mumbled out trying to speak, but she couldn’t seem to form the words. 

“Come on..... leave her be... let.... rest,” She heard the sound of someone speaking, but she only caught snippets of it. She felt Felix’s hand slip from her grasp and she realized her eyes were no longer open. She wanted to stop Felix from leaving and ask him to stay, but she couldn’t open to speak. As she once again slipped into unconsciousness, she could have almost sworn she felt someone brush their fingers through her hair, but she let sleep claim her before she could think too much about it.

The next time Mijoo woke it was dark outside. There was no one waiting in her room this time, but as she looked around she spotted a glass of water waiting for her on her nightstand. Groaning, Mijoo sat up as far as she could and reached for the water. She quickly drank the whole glass before setting it back down and collapsing back against her pillow. Moving was painful. What time is it? How long was I gone? Does Nayeon think I went missing? Did I get out of taking that test that was on Monday? She wondered looking up at the ceiling. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her bedroom door opening and Hyunjin stepping inside. “You’re awake,” He noted, “and you drank the water I left for you, good. How are you feeling now?”

“What day is it?” Mijoo asked, noticing that wasn’t hurting as much as it had earlier. 

Hyunjin chuckled as he sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. “Would you believe me if I told you it was only Sunday?”

“But... it felt like I was there for days...” Mijoo replied, blinking in shock. 

“No, just a few hours, but pain has a way of altering time,” Hyunjin responded. “Seungmin tried calling you and you didn’t answer. He checked your apartment and you weren’t there either and so he started to worry. He called Felix just as Zico was calling Chan.” 

Mijoo frowned, “Who’s Zico?” 

Hyunjin grabbed the empty glass from her nightstand and stood up, “He runs a smaller gang nearby. They probably heard about you and thought what better way to move up the ladder than go after Chan’s girlfriend. Zico told Chan where to find you. They wanted to make a statement... show that they were testing Stray Kids’ limits.” 

Mijoo thought back to the feeling of steel against her skin, of the pain she experienced that had felt like days, but had only been hours. “I’m sorry...” Mijoo said softly. 

Hyunjin blinked and looked at her confused, “Why are you sorry?” 

“I went out... without Seungmin, without anyone, with me. If I hadn’t then they wouldn’t, they wouldn’t have...” Mijoo broke off as tears began to gather in her eyes again.

Hyunjin sat back down on the bed and grabbed her hand. “Hey, don’t think like that. It’s not your fault. They would have tried something whether Seungmin was there or not.”

Mijoo gave a half laugh, that sounded a little strangled to her ears, “That’s not reassuring at all.” 

Hyujin laughed as well, “You’re right, it isn’t.” Hyunjin stood back up, “I’m going to get you some more water. Chan and Woojin will be back tomorrow to talk with you and you’ll want to be as rested up as you can be.”

Mijoo nodded as Hyunjin left her room with her water glass. She felt the bed dip and looked down to see Brian had jumped up in bed with her. He let out a small meow at her. “Hey there Mister...” She said as he came to lay down by her side. “Did you miss me?” Brian just looked at her and blinked before his paw and washing his face. “Yeah, I missed you too.” She sighed and leaned her head back against her pillow as Brian curled up in her side. By the time Hyunjin returned with her water she was fast asleep again. 

Another update?? So soon??? i know I'm shocked, but I immedaitely started writing this chapter after finishing the last one and go carried away. I'm loving where this story is going!

Much Love,

Ashton