Two weeks passed and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Mijoo passed her comparative politics exam, much to her surprise since she had been a nervous wreck and barely studied after what had happened. She had mostly put the events of that Saturday out of her mind, thinking that maybe she was finally in the clear. She decided against telling Nayeon what had happened, knowing that her friend would probably tell her to go straight to the police or that she needed to move apartments immediately. Like she had promised herself in her moments of panic while running from Mark, Mijoo had taken up running. She hated every second of it. She had never visited the schools gym and indoor track before the events of two weeks ago, never really seeing the need, but now she was an early morning regular.

She was halfway done with her normal routine one day when she felt someone start running in step with her. Looking over Mijoo almost tripped over herself when she saw Jisung keeping pace beside her. Coming to a stop in the middle of the track she looked in surprise at the boy standing next to her. "What are you doing here?" She asked flabbergasted, having come to believe that she had seen the last of him.

"Man you run kinda slow, no wonder Mark almost caught you..." Jisung snorted putting his hands on his hips. 

She opened and closed a few times like a fish before she was able to speak again, "What are you doing here?" She asked again.

Jisung sighed, "Yeah I'm asking myself the same thing. Trust me when I say I don't want to be here, but Felix kept annoying me. 'Hey Jisung is Mijoo ok? What do you mean you haven't checked on her? She saved my life you know. Hey Jisung when are you going to go check on Mijoo for me? Hey Jisung! Hey Jisung! Hey Jisung!' It was seriously so annoying." A few other runners ran past them, giving them dirty looks for blocking the track.

"So Felix is ok?" Mijoo asked. She had wondered about the fate of the boy who had almost bled out in her apartment several times over the past two weeks but resigned herself to the fact that she would never know.

Jisung waved his arm in the air, "Oh yeah he's peachy. Back to normal and already driving us all crazy. He probably would have come himself but Cha-....but he's not allowed back in this neighborhood anytime soon" Jisung seemed to catch himself on his words, but played it off. "Anyway seems like Mark hasn't come after you yet so obviously you're fine and Felix can get off my back. Now if you'll excuse me I have better things to be doing with my time."

Mijoo frowned, "Wait...what do you mean yet?" She asked, but Jisung was already walking away. She chased after him, "What do you mean yet!?" She asked grabbing his arm, pulling him to a stop.

Jisung sighed again, looking around. "What did you even hear in the first place? I doubt much....Mark's always been jumpy, there's always the chance he tries to find you again, but I'd say it's low." 

Jisung started to walk away again, but Mijoo grabbed his arm and yanked him back pulling him off his balance. "I HEARD him say that the guy I saw running away that night had been trying to kill Felix but he left before the job was done." She spat at him, frustrated that she was being blown off, this was her life at stake after all. 

Jisung raised his eyebrows at her. "You saw the guy and you overheard Mark and they still haven't tried to kill you yet? Wow...I'm impressed. GOT7 really has lost their touch..." He mused as if almost to himself. 

"What's a GOT7?" Mijoo asked. "What do they have seven of?" 

Jisung blinked at her. "Um....forget I said that, it's not important..."

Mijoo stamped her foot in frustration. "Just tell me! You don't get show back up after two weeks, say vague and stupid things and not give me an explanation!"

Jisung stepped closer to Mijoo and got in her face, suddenly he felt much more dangerous, similar to how Hyunjin and the guy she only knew as 'Big Bro' had seemed that night. "I don't owe you an explanation" Jisung growled at her. "Honestly I don't owe you anything. You saved Felix's life and then I saved your's, I'm just here as a favor to him. So hopefully that means when I leave here, I never have to see your stupid face again....understood?"

Mijoo gulped. What is with these guys and the tough guy act? "Understood..." She replied reluctantly. 

"Good." Jisung nodded leaving Mijoo's personal space and letting her breathe again. "Now I'm leaving. Don't expect to see me again." Jisung turned to leave yet again and started walking away. 

"Wait!" Mijoo called out after him. He turned and gave her an annoyed look. "Just...tell Felix thank you.....for checking on me..." She said. Jisung rolled his eyes, but nodded before leaving the building.

Mijoo hurried back to the locker room to grab her things and change before heading to the library. Got Seven....Got Seven??? What on earth is a Got Seven? Did I mishear? was it Caught 7? Well no that doesn't make sense either...Did he not finish his thought? Got Seven what? She was deep in thought as she entered the library almost walking right past Jaehyun without noticing him. 

"Hey Mijoo!" He said pulling her from her thoughts. "Is everything ok? You look super serious this morning..." He asked giving her a concerned look. 

She smiled at him, "Oh no, I'm fine. Just a lot of things on my mind that I'm trying not to forget about."

"Well then don't let me get in your way, would hate to make you forget something important," He smiled back.

She gave him a quick wave and smile before heading straight to the computers and logging in. "Ok...I actually have something I can look up this time..." She muttered to herself before looking around to make sure there was no one else around. She started out by simply googling "got seven" and was surprised when she was met with a barrage of headlines.

"GOT7 Strikes Again! How Gangs Are Terrorizing Our Neighborhoods!"

"GOT7 Member Escapes Jail Time"

"Gang Signs and How to Recognize Them"

"Gang Wars: Stray Kids vs. GOT7" 

A gang? This is about a gang? She thought to herself as she clicked on the article about gang wars.

The names GOT7 and Stray Kids may not mean much to the average people of our city, but to the police they are a constant concern. GOT7 is a gang that has been around for several years; really coming into their own five years ago when they carved out a spot for themselves selling and running guns. Stray Kids on the other hand first emerged two years ago, seemingly from nowhere, and claimed a large party of the city for themselves. Since their arrival Stray Kids and GOT7 have been at odds. GOT7 has been losing territory to Stray Kids and so have responded with an increase in violence. One such incident resulted in the death of a student at Hongik University last year. GOT7 may seem to have an advantage over this new gang, but Stray Kids has something that GOT7 has been trying and failing to accomplish for years: international business. A large growing branch of Stray Kids can be found in Australia, opening up their market exponentially. There are even rumors that they plan to move on opening a branch in the Americas, if that were to happen who knows what Stray Kids could accomplish. But don't think the police are just sitting idly by as these two gangs war with each other, sources say that they are hard at work tracking GOT7 and...

Mijoo leaned back in her chair letting out a breath. Got7 was a gang. She had gang members who knew her face and had tried to kill her already. She felt like screaming. If Jisung knew them did that mean he was also in a gang? What about Felix? Did that mean....OH MY GOD DID I HELP A GANG MEMBER???? She thought putting her hands over . What do I do? Oh my god What do I do???? I mean I can't call the police...what would I say? It's been so much time already and I don't know anything....Plus I can't just turn Felix and Jisung in I don't even know for sure they are in a gang...even if they are what have they done? Saved my life? Not died in my apartment? Not exactly behavior you can go to jail for. I mean Mark did try to kill me...not that I know that for sure....Jisung said he was but can I even trust what Jisung says??? Ok yeah sure they definitely tried to kill Felix and then chased me when so that doesn't look very good for them and oh my god I'm doomed....

Mijoo was distracted from her freak out by the ringing of her phone, having forgotten to turn it off before entering the library. A chorus of angry "Shhhhhh" sounded from the people scattered around the library. Mijoo quickly answered the phone and made a dash for the bathroom so she could talk without being glared at. 

"Hello?" She said not even looking at the caller id as she pushed open the door of the girls bathroom. It looked like there was no one else inside, thankfully. 

"Is this Eun Mijoo?" A deep voice asked on the other end. 

Mijoo furrowed her brow, not recognizing who was speaking. "Yes it is...who is this?" She asked leaning up against one of the sinks.

"My name is Mark. I believe we met a few weeks ago." The man replied nonchalantly.

Mijoo froze, how had he found her? How did he know her name? "Um...I'm.. I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about...."

"Oh really...Are you sure Ms. Eun? I could have sworn I just saw you talking with Han Jisung...." Mark drawled, seemingly confident. 

Mijoo felt as if her body had gone numb, "I'm sorry I don't know a Han Jisung. I'm afraid you have the wrong number.." She replied, her voice coming out small.

"Is that so? Then why were you looking up information on GOT7? You really shouldn't leave the computer logged in when you leave the library Ms. Eun. And who was that handsome gentlemen who greeted you earlier. He seems like such a nice boy, I would hate to see something happen to him..." Mark threatened. 

"You leave him out of this," Mijoo snapped. 

"Ah so I do have the right person. You know...you really shouldn't lie little girl, there are always so many consequences for lying. Don't worry I'm not here to kill you...not yet. I would tell you to come out of the bathroom so we can talk, but you probably don't believe that I won't try to hurt you" 

Mijoo scoffed, hugging her arms close to her body to try to stop shaking, "Yea like hell I'm going out there." 

"That's fair, but honestly....out in the open with witnesses is much safer than cornered in the bathroom where no one can see what happens to you..." Mark said, his voice sending shivers down her back.

Mijoo looked around seeing there was no windows that she could crawl out, no one else around to help her, no cameras to record what happened to her. She closed her eyes, "Just....why are you calling me?" She asked hoping that her voice wasn't betraying how scared she was.

"Well we were so rudely interrupted a few weeks ago I never was able to warn you." Mark continued. "You see...I was just going to tell you that if you ever spoke to anyone about what you saw or heard I was going to paint the sidewalk with your blood, but then I discovered you were with Stray Kids and see...that changes things." Mijoo thought she was going to throw up. The pit of her stomach seemed to drop to the floor and she felt very lightheaded, she grabbed onto the edge of the sink hoping it would keep her upright.

"How...how does that change things." She asked her voice trembling. 

"Well I can't just kill someone under the protection of Stray Kids....not yet anyways," he growled. "....so you tell Chan and Woojin that if they don't want a repeat of what happened last time that they'll give us back our neighborhood...or else." There was that name again...Chan. Who was he? 

"Wha-what if I don't....if I don't have a way of contacting them..." Mijoo asked trying to take a deep breath, but finding it difficult. 

Mark sighed, "Well that would be too bad then wouldn't it. I would say figure something out...and fast. Oh and just in case you think about going to the cops, you should know that we'll come after you....and I'll get my chance to kill you.  So I'll give you a week to give Stray Kids my message. Tick tock little girl...tick. tock." Mark ended the call. Mijoo's knees gave out from under her and she slid to the floor clutching her phone. How the hell am I supposed to find a gang in a week?      

Hello everyone, this is my first authors note for this story. Honestly the fact that I'm writing this is shocking. I have a previous fic on here titled The Stolen Heart which is a BTS gang fic and it just was soooo difficult for me to write. I struggled so much with the tone of the story and the pacing and characterization and oh my god did I struggle. It's unfinished, and unless I go back and re-edit the entire thing I will not be finishing it. Anyway long explanation to say that I promised myself I would never write another gang au. But. Freaking. Stray. Kids. Ugh....wow. I watched Victory Song and my brain was like if you don't write this you will die. So here we are... 

I mentioned it previously somewhere but Woojin will still be in this story. I am heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken that he left. I wish we knew more, but I also wish to respect his privacy. I hope that it was his decision and not forced on him. I hope that he is safe and healthy, I hope that his family is healthy and doing ok. Stray Kids will always be nine. 

Much Love,

Ashton