How on earth am I supposed to contact Stray Kids? I don't know anything about them, I have no way of getting to them. If the police can't find them how am I, a lowly college student, supposed to find them? Mijoo wondered to herself. She had waited thirty minutes in the bathroom before finally peaking her head out, hoping that was enough time for Mark to have left the library. She returned to the computer she had been at and signed in again. Let's see what Google can tell me about Stray Kids, it's a start at least... This time entering the name "Stray Kids" into the search bar she waited as the site refreshed and gave her new results. 

"Gang Wars: Stray Kids vs. GOT7"

"New Gang Terrorizing the Neighborhood"

"Gang Opens Up Club: Why the Police Still Can't Catch Them" 

Reading through the articles for a while she clicked on one that talked mentioned a club. "Stray Kids have been known to frequent the Club Miroh which they opened last year"..Miroh.....I don't want to go, but if I need to. Maybe someone there can at least pass the message along for me. Looking at the time she realized she was going to be late for her first class if she didn't get moving. So grabbing her things she headed out of the library, ignoring Jaehyun's smile and wave goodbye and his subsequent confusion when she didn't look his way.

All day she was a nervous wreck, afraid that she was being followed, feeling like there were eyes following every move she made and every person she came in contact with. She didn't hear a single thing in any of her classes, was certain that she failed a quiz in her political theory class, and almost walked out in front of a car which honked at her angrily as it swerved out of the way. Taking the long way back to her apartment, she was checking over her shoulder constantly. Once back at her apartment she began rummaging through her closet looking for something that she could wear to a club. Nayeon has been dying to get me to go clubbing with her, I can't believe I go to my first club and it's so I can find a gang. What is happening to my life. Mijoo finally settled on an outfit that she figured wouldn't make her stand out too much. She changed quickly and then headed out of her apartment. For a half a second she considered walking, but decided to take a taxi instead. The wind was already biting against her skin, she would probably be blue by the time she arrived if she tried to walk.

The whole ride to Club Miroh Mijoo was a nervous wreck. The taxi driver had given her a few funny looks as she wrung her hands and shifted nervously in her seat, but didn't say anything, eventually dropping her off at the curb outside of the club. Looking around Mijoo was surprised. It looked like they had taken an old movie theater and re-purposed it for their club. The marquee was lit up in bright lights announcing to the world that this was Club Miroh. There were two doors at the front of the building. The door on the right was marked "General Admittance" and a long line of people extended from the entrance, wrapped around the building and down the adjoining alley waiting for the bouncer to let them in. The entrance on the left was marked VIP. A tall, angry looking bouncer stood there with his arms crossed, but there was no one entering through that door. Mijoo approached the VIP entrance, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. She figured if she tried to wait in the line of people she would never get in and miss her chance to pass along her message. 

The bouncer raised his eyebrows at her as she came closer. "If you want to get inside the club you'll have to wait in line like everyone else, little girl. This entrance isn't for people like you." The man barked out at her. 

Mijoo rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. Be confident, confidence is key, you can do this! She told herself despite her heart beating erratically in her chest. "For people like me? Don't you know who I am? I'm Chan's girlfriend, and I'm supposed to be meeting him inside. If you keep me waiting much longer you're going to be looking for a new job!" Mijoo spit out.

The bouncer's eyes opened up slightly in surprise. "Boss has a....right... sorry miss, please go on in. We don't want to keep the boss waiting."

Mijoo gave him as big of a smile as she could muster as she passed him by and entered the club. Once inside with the doors shut and away from the eyes of the bouncer Mijoo leaned against the nearest wall and took a few deep breaths trying to steady her pounding heart. I can't believe that worked. She stayed there a few seconds trying to get her breathing back to normal before taking in her surroundings. While the outside of the club still looked like an old movie theater they had done major remodeling on the inside of the building. She was currently in a hallway that was completely separated from the rest of the club. The sounds of the DJ and the vibrations of the music faintly seeped into the hallway but otherwise it was quiet. There was no one else that she could see. Mijoo began walking down the hallway, her legs shaking with every step. What am I doing here? This is insane. What am I doing getting myself entangled with gangs. 

At the end of the hallway she found two doors waiting for her. One obviously led to the main part of the club with the loud music and erratic lights seeping in from underneath the crack, while the other was quiet in comparison with only some muffled talking heard from behind the door.

Taking a few deep breaths she pushed open the quiet door. Inside five heads turned at the sound of the door opening and five pairs of confused eyes looked back at her as she stepped into the room. The sound of the door closing behind her made her wince as it echoed throughout the quiet room. Two of the men she recognized, one being the blonde man who had come to her apartment with Hyunjin and the other being Jisung, who's look of confusion was quickly turning to one of annoyance.

The man closest to the door stepped closer to her, his hand reaching to his hip. "Who let you in here?" He growled out. He had dark hair that was even longer than Jisung's and his muscles were practically straining against his shirt. Mijoo could now see that he was reaching for a gun that was holstered on his hip. 

"Um the guy at the front let me in cause I said I was Chan's girlfriend." Mijoo squeaked out. "Please don't shoot me!" 

One of the guys who had been sitting with the blonde man didn't seem too concerned with her arrival and had gone back to his drink, but upon Mijoo's confession that she had said she was Chan's girlfriend he spit out his drink and began choking with laughter.

Jisung stepped forward as well. "Mijoo what are you doing here?" He asked, not trying to hide the annoyance in his voice at all. 

"You know this girl?" The man who still had a hand on his gun asked, looking over at Jisung. 

Jisung sighed dramatically, "Unfortunately. This is the girl that saved Felix's life." He said motioning half-heartedly at Mijoo. The man looked at her surprised, and he seemed to back off a bit.

The man who had been choking finally composed himself, but had an evil grin plastered on his face. "Why did you say you were Chan's girlfriend?" He asked, he eyes filled with mischievousness. 

"Um I heard Jisung and Mark use the name, and I didn't know anyone else and I really didn't want to say I was Jisung's girlfriend and it was the only idea I had and I didn't think it was actually going to work, but I threatened that he would get fired if he didn't let me in but he did so you don't have to fire him." Mijoo rambled feeling uncomfortable with everyone looking at her. 

The blonde man was looking at the ground and rubbing his forehead, but the guy who had asked her the question started laughing again, this time without choking.

"You still haven't answered my question, what are you doing here?" Jisung asked again crossing his arms.

"Oh! Right!" Mijoo realized, remembering why she had come there in the first place. "Um...Mark sent me." She said, suddenly making everyone in the room tense, the man with the gun went back to looking at her suspiciously ready to pull his gun if necessary. "Well he called me and apparently was following me at school. He thinks I'm with Stray Kids cause I helped Felix and then Jisung helped me. He wanted me to pass on a message for him." She continued, wondering if she could start edging away from the man with the gun or if it would be too obvious.

The other man that was sitting with the blonde spoke up. "What was the message?"

Mijoo gulped, "Um...he said...he wanted me to tell Chan and Woojin that if they don't want a repeat of what happened last time then they need to give back their neighborhoods or else...."

The men were quiet and looked between each other like they were having a silent conversation, the man with the gun finally taking his hand off his gun deciding that she wasn't a threat. "Was that all he said?" The blonde man asked finally speaking up, sounding tired.

"Uh he also threatened my life but said he couldn't kill me yet cause I was under the protection of Stray Kids, and that I had to get this message to Chan in a week. I think I did pretty well getting it to you all the same day." Mijoo shared. 

The man who had laughed earlier smirked, "Well now that you've declared that your Chan's girlfriend you're in even more trouble." 

Mijoo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Before you were just some girl connected to Stray Kids but now you've labeled yourself as big fish. The top guys girlfriend goes for a hefty price among rival gangs. I wouldn't be surprised if small time gangs start coming after you trying to take us down." The man answered the smile not leaving his face.

Mijoo felt as if cold water was being poured over her head. "But...but it's not true..." She replied her voice small. 

The man shrugged, "They don't know that, and even if you try to tell them they won't believe you." He leaned back in his chair and threw his feet up on the table.

"Good job idiot, you've just signed your own death warrant." Jisung rolled his eyes.

Mijoo frowned, "So what am I supposed to do?"

Jisung scoffed, "Like I said this morning I don't owe you anything, we certainly don't. So good luck, try not to die out there." He said waving his hand dismissively. 

Mijoo felt like she was going to cry. They were just going to let her die? They were going to let her get kidnaped and probably tortured? Before the tears could actually arrive however the door slammed opened behind her. "Bro!! When did you get a girlfriend! Why haven't you told us?!" A deep and familiar voice said loudly in the quiet room. Mijoo turned to see that Felix had thrown open the door and was strolling in, a Cheshire grin on his face. He stopped short when he saw Mijoo, before an even more blinding smile lit his face "Mijoo!" he exclaimed "What are you doing here?"

The man who had laughed earlier snickered, "Felix meet Chan's girlfriend" The blonde man rolled his eyes and looked like he was biting his tongue to keep from saying anything. 

"Woah what! Did you guys hit it off over my unconscious body or something?" Felix asked looking in-between Mijoo and the blonde man. 

Mijoo's brow furrowed, "What are you talking about? I don't even know who Chan is I just used his name to get in here" Mijoo replied which caused the man to start laughing again.

Felix blinked at Mijoo before turning to the blonde man, "Wait so bro are you not dating anyone?" He asked him. 

The blonde man sighed. "No of course not." He replied.

The wheels in Mijoo's head finally started turning, "Wait...are you Chan?" She asked realization and mortification dawning on her face. If possible the other man started laughing even harder. 

"Minho shut up." Chan barked out at the laughing man who quickly quieted down although the mischievous smile never left his face. "Yeah I'm Chan." The man replied looking back at Mijoo.

Felix looked confused now, "So then why is Mijoo here?" he asked looking around. 

Jisung spoke up, "Mark found her and gave her a message for us. here said she was Chan's girlfriend to get in which means she's as good as dead." 

"Well we have to help her." Felix said matter-of-factly.

"And why do we have to do that? She's not our problem" Jisung argued back as if Mijoo wasn't in the room. 

Felix frowned. "She saved my life. I would be dead if not for her!"

"She's not a Stray Kid!' Jisung argued back

"She became one when she saved my life!" Felix replied, his voice rising in frustration. 

Jisung scoffed, "Oh don't tell me you're going to use the code for...this" He said throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

Felix nodded raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms over his chest, "Yeah. I am actually. I owe her my life."   

The man Chan had called Minho groaned. "Oh great now we have some weak girl we have to take care of. Fantastic. I'm pretty sure the role of baby is already taken by Jeongin"

Mijoo looked around confused. "What are you guys talking about?" She asked. 

The man who had almost pulled the gun on her replied, "Felix just saved your life is what. You're now officially under the protection of Stray Kids. Welcome to the family." 

Mijoo blinked. Uh what?

It's been a long time, I know. University hit me hard and it hit me fast. I was busy with school work and my job and honestly I had no motivation to write. It took me sitting down and forcing myself to write to get back into it and get the creative juices flowing again. I'm hoping that I don't disappear on you all like that again. I know I certainly don't like doing it. 

Thank you for being patient

Much Love,

Ashton