Chan’s apartment was nice. More than nice really, Chan’s apartment screamed ‘wealth’. The ceiling-to-floor windows overlooked the city and Mijoo was amazed with how small the city looked, the lights mirroring the night sky above them. His apartment was kept immaculately clean, to the point where Mijoo wondered if he actually lived there at all. She was suddenly all the more aware of the blood covering her arm and the white marble flooring just daring her to drip blood on it. The men with her didn’t seem to care about the perfect picture in front of her as Changbin and Jisung threw themselves down on one of the couches disrupting the placement of the pillows. Chan walked in, loosening his own tie and throwing his suit coat over the back of one of the stools at the island in the kitchen, letting out a long sigh in the process. She saw Jeongin was in the kitchen making ramen. 

Mijoo didn’t know what to do, so she continued to stand in the middle of the room, afraid to move.

“Woo has already texted me like 20 times asking me what the hell happened and that he’s never seen Hongjoong so angry before,” Changbin spoke up, breaking the silence as he looked at his phone.

Chan ran a hand through his hair, messing it up in the process as he let out another sigh. Going over to the mini bar that was by the kitchen he poured himself a drink out of something in a fancy bottle and drank it one shot before pouring himself another. Letting the glass dangle from his fingertips he made his way to the other couch and sat down.

“I’ve never seen an angry Hongjoong… I bet it’s scary,” Jisung added. 

Jeongin shuffled out of the kitchen with his cup of ramen. He gave Mijoo a smile, before stopping and blinking, “Oh? What happened to your arm?” 

“I,” Mijoo tried to speak, but the rest of the words seemed to catch in . She felt a familiar burning at the back of her eyes, and she clenched her teeth in an effort to keep the tears from coming. She was so tired of crying. 

“Where’s Felix?” Chan asked from his spot on the couch.

Jeongin turned his focus towards Chan and Mijoo felt like she could breathe again. “He’s on his way. Because of all the first responders shutting down the roads near the gallery, traffic is terrible.”

Chan nodded before closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the couch. A few moments later the sound of the front door opening drew everyone’s attention. Hyunjin and Minho entered the apartment looking annoyed.

“Seungmin had to stay behind and give a statement since he was a server,” Minho answered the unspoken question.

Chan frowned, “Just another complication we’ll have to deal with later, but fine. Hyunjin, can you do something about Mijoo’s arm?”

Hyunjin nodded, already taking Mijoo by her good arm and leading her further into the apartment. “If I didn’t know better I would say you keep getting hurt because you love seeing this beautiful face of mine,” Hyunjin tried to joke. Mijoo gave him a weak smile at the attempt. “Chan, I'm stealing one of your shirts to replace Mijoo’s!” He called out behind him before shutting the two of them off from the rest of the group by closing the door.

Mijoo looked around and saw that she was in a bedroom. It was the first time since she had entered Chan’s apartment that it looked like someone actually lived there. The large bed had obviously been slept in and no attempt had been made to make it. The closet had been left open and she got a small glimpse of the rows of fancy suits hanging inside. Hyunjin led her to the insuite bathroom and sat her on the edge of the bathtub. Mijoo couldn’t stop looking around in awe at the absolute lavishness that made her apartment look no better than a shack. On the vanity Mijoo spotted a hair brush and toothbrush haphazardly splayed out amongst a variety of products, proof that Chan was human just like her.

“Okay, I need to take off the tie and your shirt so I can see just what I’m working with here and get you cleaned up,” Hyujin said, motioning to her arm. Mijoo numbly nodded and lifted her arm. Hyunjin deftly undid the tight knot Chan had tied around her arm and let the tie fall to the floor. The throbbing in her arm continued and as the physical shock began to slowly fade away she was becoming more aware of how much pain her arm was in. “Do you think you can take your shirt off on your own?” He asked, ducking his head to look her in the eye.

“Yes, I think so,” Mijoo said, her voice small in the large bathroom.

“Okay, then,” Hyunjin looked around for a moment before spotting what he was looking for. Opening the linen closet he pulled out a clean towel and handed it to her. “I’m going to turn around while you take off your shirt and you can cover yourself with this while I work.” Mijoo took the towel and Hyunjin turned around to face the door.

It was difficult getting her shirt off. Her arm was in pain and mostly useless to lift very far. Eventually however she was able to get it off and let it fall on the floor with the tie. Wrapping the towel around her chest and making sure it was secure she spoke up, “Okay, you can turn around.”

“Alright, first I’m going to clean your arm and see whether I need to give you stitches or if you just need to be bandaged,” Hyunjin informed her. He grabbed an unused rag and wet it in the sink before turning back to Mijoo. Kneeling next to her he went to work quickly, but carefully. The rag was cold against her skin as he wiped away the blood and she appreciated the silence. When Hyunjin reached the bullet wound he took care to be as gentle as possible, but Mijoo still hissed in pain as the rag came in contact. She closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip trying to endure the pain for the next few minutes as he worked. 

“Okay, I’m done.” Hyunjin said, sitting back. “I doesn’t look like it needs stitches, but-”

“But it’s going to scar,” Mijoo interrupted, finishing his sentence.

Hyunjin nodded, “but it’s going to scar. I’m going to put some disinfectant on it then bandage it. I’m sure Chan has a shirt around here somewhere that you can wear.”

By the time Hyunjin was finished, Mijoo had a new bandage wrapped around her arm and the knowledge that she was going to have a new scar on her body sitting heavy in her chest. This world she had entered couldn’t seem to stop leaving a permanent mark on her. Even if she did find a way out of this life someday, it would always be with her. Hyunjin disappeared for a moment to find a shirt for her to wear before reappearing a few minutes later with a black hoodie that Mijoo had a hard time picturing Chan wearing. She had thought the only clothes he owned were expensive suits.

“Put this on, and then come on out to the living room; Felix should be here any moment so they can get started on the debrief,” Hyujin told her before slipping back out the bathroom door and then out of the bedroom. 

Mijoo slowly put on the hoodie, appreciating the way it dwarfed her frame and the sleeves fell past her hands. Before she left the bathroom, she kicked off the uncomfortable heels, breathing a sigh of relief at the feeling of the cool tile against her hurting feet. She shuffled her way out of the bathroom and back to the living room, the long pants dragging against the floor.

“Mijoo! I’m so glad you’re ok!” The exclamation from Felix came as she reemerged in the living room. He must have just shown up because he was still standing in the entryway. Chan gave her a once over as she walked through the living room, before downing the rest of the alcohol in his cup.

Mijoo took a seat on the other side of the couch from Chan, trying to give him as much space as possible while Felix bounded over to sit next to her. He gave her a small reassuring smile before taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze.

“Can we get started or do we want to wait for Seungmin, who might take forever,” Jisung asked from his reclined position on the other couch, letting his phone fall against his chest as he looked over the coffee table at Chan.  

“I’ll talk to him later about everything, let’s get started,” Chan answered, setting his empty glass down on the coffee table.

“Well, tonight someone tried to kill Mijoo, but the question we need to be asking is was she their main target or was it someone else. Chan should have been there with her, but we were conveniently pulled away right before the incident,” Changbin spoke up, sitting up straight.

“Either way this was targeted at Stray Kids, whether it was an attempt to kill our leader, or our leader’s girlfriend. Both are attacks against us,” Minho pointed out from where he was leaning against the kitchen island.

“What happened when Seonghwa pulled you away? Changbin, you mentioned that Hongjoong might kill Seonghwa for this,” Jisung asked, turning his gaze towards Changbin.

“That was just me speculating, I mean the guys an and he pulls Chan away right before his girlfriend gets shot? Seems suspicious to me. Plus he and Hongjoong haven’t been getting along recently,” Changbin explained. “If he didn’t know what was about to happen, then he picked a hell of a time to be lucky.”

“Changbin don’t make accusations when we don’t know anything,” Chan sighed, running his hand through his hair again. “Besides, it’s not like we don’t have our fair share of enemies. Im Jaebum was literally there at the auction and got a good look at Mijoo. I passed him and Hongjoong when I went back with Seonghwa. He knew I wasn’t with her and could have made the call.”

“Literally anyone could have made the call; we need more information,” Hyunjin retorted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking out the window. “Not just anyone can handle a sniper rifle. Who are some that we can think of off the top of our head.” Mijoo brought her knees up to her chest as she listened to the men talk. Felix gave her hand another squeeze and another reassuring smile. 

“Mark,” Jeongin spoke up from the kitchen.

“Mark was with Jaebum,” Chan pointed out. 

“Hwall,” Minho added.

“Is Hwall even in the country? Last I heard he was in the UK,” Changbin asked, looking at Chan.

“Hwall’s still in the UK,” Chan provided. “Plus he’s a free agent now, and extremely expensive. No one hires him unless they're planning on killing someone extremely high profile and I doubt anyone would want to spend that kind of cash on us. He’s not great, but I know Jackson trained with Mark. So even though Mark was with Jaebum it still could have been GOT7.”

“The sniper did use a laser, could be because he’s not as skilled,” Jisung said.

“What if he wasn’t trying to kill Mijoo?” Changbin asked. “I mean yeah he could just be unskilled, but maybe he used the laser as a way of giving you a heads up. From the info I’m getting no one died tonight, there were injuries, but nothing fatal.”

“So we’re back to square one is what you’re saying,” Minho scoffed.

“I’m saying that maybe they wanted to send a message or wanted to cause chaos at Hongjoong’s auction,” Changbin replied.

“San knows how to use a sniper rifle,” Jisung said suddenly. 

“San is an Ateez member idiot,” Changbin rolled his eyes, hitting Jisung on the leg.

Jisung sat up, incensed, “Yeah, but so is Seonghwa and you were ready to blame him! You’re just biased because you’re friends with Wooyoung.”

Chan let out another sigh, letting his head drop back against the couch, “Guys, this is getting us nowhere.” Lifting his head back up, he took a moment to look at all of the members before speaking again. “I’m going to talk to Hongjoong tomorrow and see what I can find out. Changbin, you talk to Wooyoung and see what he says, and Minho, reach out to some of your contacts. I’ll make sure Yeosang makes it as if Seungmin was never there and get him up to speed. As for tonight, Mijoo will stay here with me til we know which of us, if either of us, were the target.”

Jisung let out a groan, “Does that mean I have to stay here too? Your couches are not comfortable to sleep on.”

“I’m aware, and yes I want you to stay here,” Chan answered.

“Yeah, you can’t leave Chan alone in his apartment with a girl. Then he’d have to like, talk to her or something equally as impossible,” Minho laughed.

“I think Chan would rather get shot,” Jeongin added, making several of the men in the room snicker.

Chan closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Very funny, you all are comedians. Now are you all going to do what I asked or do I have to kick you out of my apartment myself.” 

“We’re going, we’re going,” Hyunjin said, putting his hands up in mock self defense, a smile pulling at his lips. 

“Ugh, I’m so tired of sleeping on couches. Will I ever get to see my bed again? Why can’t Jeongin stay here to chaperone or something,” Jisung whined. 

“I’m literally a child,” Jeongin deadpanned.

“You think Jeongin can chaperone?” Minho asked, laughing.

“Good point, we don’t want to corrupt the child,” Jisung rolled his eyes. 

The members of Stray Kids all stood and began making their way to the door, all except Chan, Jisung and Felix. Felix leaned in closer to Mijoo to whisper, “Hey, are you doing ok? Are you sure you’re ok with staying here tonight? Want me to send Jisung back to your apartment to get anything?” 

“I don’t know,” Mijoo responded quietly. 

“Do you have your phone?” Felix asked. Mijoo pointed listlessly toward her purse which was laying on the coffee table. “Ok, I have to go, but call me if you need me for anything.” Felix gave her hand one more squeeze before standing up from the couch and following the rest of the Stray Kids members out the door. 

Now it was just Mijoo, Jisung, and Chan left in the apartment. Chan stood up running a hand through his hair again. “Do you want Jisung to go to your apartment and get you any pajamas or do you just want to borrow some of mine?”

“I’ll just borrow yours,” Mijoo mumbled. She was already wearing his hoodie; what did a pair of pajama pants matter? 

“You better let me borrow some too, Chan. I’m not sleeping in these clothes,” Jisung said adamantly.

Chan sighed and rolled his eyes, but acquiesced, “Fine, you and I are staying out here in the living room, and Mijoo can take the bed.” Chan retreated into his bedroom and was gone for a few moments before returning, throwing some articles of clothing at Jisung’s face and then handing a pair of pajama pants to Mijoo. “Go ahead and get some sleep, we should have some answers in the morning. You’re safe tonight,” he told her. 

She took the pair of pants and slowly stood from the couch, feeling very uncomfortable being alone with Jisung and Chan in Chan’s apartment. Keeping her head down she shuffled off to the bedroom to put on the pajamas and fall asleep. 

Shutting the bedroom door she took a deep shaky breath once she was alone. Leaning back against the closed door she took a few moments to just breathe, holding tightly to the pajama pants in her hands. Mijoo changed into the pajama pants after a few minutes, the hem falling well past her feet. Going into the bathroom she used Chan’s hairbrush to brush out her hair and then washed the makeup off her face before returning to the bedroom and crawling into the large bed. Snuggling into the middle of the bed she pulled the covers up to her chin and closed her eyes, trying to give into sleep. 

The sheets smelled slightly like Chan’s cologne that he always wore and something else that she couldn’t identify, maybe his shampoo or soap. The smell was comforting in a way that Mijoo didn’t quite understand. She laid there for a while wondering if she would even be able to fall asleep in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar apartment when she couldn’t even fall asleep in her own bed anymore. She could hear the voices of Chan and Jisung talking to one another from the living room. She tried to listen to what they were saying but couldn’t make out the words.  Without even noticing she slipped into a quiet slumber as the eventful evening came to a close.