Taking Changkyun to the airport and waving him off at the gate had been the hardest thing Chess had had to do in a long time. She had wished she could have had more time with him, that she could have kissed him more, that she could have held him longer but he did have a tour to finish and she wasn't going to stand in the way of that. As she left the building and hailed a taxi she kept reminding herself that Monsta X only had a few more weeks before they came back to Korea. They would be back before she knew it and then they would have a two week break before they were back in the studio. She'd have plenty of time with him then. She told the driver to take her to Starship and sighed looking out the window, she would just have to try to find something to take her mind off of it until Changkyun was back.

When Chess finally got to Starship she went directly to Sajangnim's office to see if there was anything she could do, a variety show, a new recording, anything time consuming. She was told to enter his office to find Sajangnim standing, facing the windows looking out over Seoul. He turned to face her when he heard the door shut and the look on his face was filled with sadness.

“Cheshire, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be resting?” Chess couldn't help but grin, he really was very caring.

“I've just got a few bruises and scratches, gwenchanio. I was wondering if there was anything I could do. I don't really want to just be waiting for Changkyun to get back from tour and I know that RI5E doesn't have anything planned for the next month because of Sumi's drama. I can't just sit still like this,” Chess said sitting in the chair in front of Sajangnim's desk.

“Well, you're not exactly fit to go on tv right now and we've had you release quite a few solo songs now so I don't want to over do it there. Why don't you take a couple weeks to go home?” Sajangnim held up a hand when Chess opened to reply. “Not Seoul. Why don't you go back to the states for a while? Didn't you say that you wanted to see your old friends?”

“I... I guess that's a good idea,” Sajangnim's eyes widened a bit, he hadn't been expecting her to agree so quickly. It had always been a fight when it came to anything about her past.

“Arrasseo. I will book the flight and hotel for you. Will you be okay leaving tomorrow morning?” Chess simply nodded with a small smile on her face before standing and bowing before heading for the door. “Chess?”

“Ne, Sajangnim?” Chess turned to see a light smile across his face.

“I'm glad that you're finally letting people see the real you,” Chess smiled a little wider and bowed again before leaving the office.

Something that never changed was how awful the flight from Seoul to the states was. Even sitting in first class and being able to sleep it was the worst. Chess wasn't claustrophobic or anything but being cooped in an airplane for nineteen hours was practically torture. When she finally exited the plane and entered into RDU she sighed in relief. There was nothing quite like the stuffy smell of an airport after not being able to really stretch for that long. Chess put on her hat and face mask before quickly heading to customs to be able to leave and after the arduous process finally made her way to baggage claim. Apparently news of her stay in Raleigh had been leaked though as there were numerous camera clicks and flashes when she grabbed her luggage. To be perfectly honest, Chess was surprised that they even cared that much. North Carolina wasn't really known for having much of a Kpop following and she's not even that famous in the U.S.

“Cheshire! Are you taking a break from your music?”

“What was the cause of the accident?”

“Are you really in a relationship with Im Changkyun from Monsta X?”

Chess rolled her eyes a bit as she grabbed her bag. Couldn't they at least wait until she was facing them to start asking her questions? She turned around and waved with a smile on her face. She pulled down her face mask so that she could answer their questions and smiled widely at the cameras.

“Nice to see you all! RI5E is currently on a break because our leader, Sumi, is currently starring in a drama that is releasing soon. We should be back in the studio in a couple months. The car accident that I was involved in was caused by the paparazzi that were continuously following me trying to find out more information about my past. They clipped the rear end of my Jeep making me hit into the paparazzi in the lane next to me making me flip three times before finally coming to a stop. I was lucky enough to have only sustained minor scratches and some bruising,” Chess answered with a small smile before waving and attempting to leave to only be stopped once more.

“Is it true that you're dating rookie group Monsta X's Im Changkyun?”

“Yes, it's true. Changkyun and I are in a relationship though we are trying to keep our private lives just that, private. Now if you will all excuse me I've just had a nineteen hour flight and would really like to just get some sleep. Thank you for all of your support and RI5E will continue to work hard to make all our fans proud,” Chess waved and finally four big bodyguards came over and finally pushed back the reporters so that she could leave the airport.

As soon as Chess was out of the terminal and in the bright morning sunlight of Raleigh, she took a deep breath and smiled. She didn't necessarily miss this place but it was good to come back knowing she wasn't hiding anymore. She felt like the weight of her past had finally been lifted from her shoulders and she couldn't help but be truly happy. There wasn't very much else in the world that could make her feel like this.

A bodyguard gently tapped her shoulder and Chess turned to look at him. He was definitely an intimidating man, standing a full head and a half taller than her with dark eyes and dark skin that was stretched taut over his large muscles that were still visible in his uniform. Chess was very happy that he was protecting her and that she didn't have to try to get around him.

“Miss Cheshire, we're in that black car over there. I'm Ezra, the head of your team while you're here,” The man smiled gently and while it didn't look in character for him it did make Chess feel a little better to know he was trying.

“Nice to meet you Ezra, please just call me Chess,” She gave him her biggest smile as she bowed her head slightly while shaking his rather large and calloused hand.

“Okay Chess. Let's get you to the hotel and away from the vultures 'ight?” Chess nodded as Ezra led her to the big black suv that was going to be her transportation for her two week stay.

As soon as the car started to move, Chess fell asleep with her head resting against the headrest. It really had been a long flight and she was more tired than she could ever remember being. The drive wasn't very long though so she was soon awakened by Ezra gently shaking her shoulder. Chess got out of the car and moved quickly inside of the building, heading to the front desk. She dealt with the perky counter girl quickly and went straight to the elevators. Once she was finally in her room she collapsed on her bed to fall asleep.

The one downfall to falling asleep so early for Chess was the hours she would end up waking up. She woke up to find that it was four thirty in the morning and was not very pleased. She walked around her room after figuring out that she was definitely not getting any sleep and took to the balcony to smoke a cigarette.

“Why is there never anything happening in this town?” Chess sighed as she puffed on her cigarette. The rest of her time was spent silently, wondering what she would do with all the time on her hands. There never really had been much to do in NC and now even more so considering that her family wasn't there anymore. She would be reconnecting with some old friends hopefully but that didn't necessarily mean that was going to happen anytime soon. She took her time to finish her cigarette before heading back into her room to change. Once she was in a decent outfit she headed out into the hallway and to Ezra's room. She had been told that she needed to have her bodyguards with her at all times outside of the hotel to try to prevent another accident from happening and it was the first time that she would agree, though she wasn't going to sit around the hotel room to wait for them to wake up when all she really wanted right now was coffee.

“Please forgive me but why the hell are you awake this early?” Ezra said when he opened his door after Chess's loud knocks woke him up.

“Well considering that it's now five thirty and I've already had my cigarette, I really wanted to go get coffee but I have to have you with me remember? I'm sorry I woke you up but I'm not ready for the scolding that I will get if my boss finds out that I didn't take you with me after all the that's happened,” Chess replied with an apologetic smile to the large man that looked so done with her already.

“Alright. Give me ten minutes to get ready,” Ezra didn't wait for Chess to answer and closed the door to get ready. Chess simply leaned against the wall next to his door and began to scroll through her instagram feed. She came across a few pictures that Changkyun had taken and smiled lightly. They were all of him and Jooheon at the hotel and there was even a video. They were both being complete children and it was endearing. Chess was happy to know that the two were friends now, especially considering their rocky start. Had it really been almost a year since they had finished filming for No.Mercy?

Before she could reminisce too much Ezra emerged from his room, giving Chess a strange look for the way she was smiling. He simply nodded towards the elevator before Chess started skipping, literally skipping, down the hall. Chess was sure that there was nothing that could bring her mood down now.

“Okay I don't mean to be a buzz kill or anything but it is too damn early in the morning for anyone to be this happy,” Ezra said in a gruff voice once the doors to the elevators closed.

“Normally I would agree with you but I'm still on Seoul time and it's only, like, six at night there. Don't worry I'll splurge and get you a couple extra shots of espresso big guy,” Chess said with a bright smile patting Ezra's shoulder.

“More like a fifth of Jack if you expect me to deal with you being... bubbly...” Ezra visibly shuddered at the word bubbly making Chess giggle.

“Where are the other guys?” Ezra gave Chess an almost offended look when she mentioned the other bodyguards.

“You think I can't protect you on a simply coffee trip?” Ezra's tone was serious making Chess's eyes widen and her wave her hands frantically in front of her face.

“No! No no no no no! That's not what I meant! I just... I mean... I didn't know if I had to have a full detail at all times or not! I wasn't questioning your ability to protect me!” Ezra's hardened expression cracked and he even let out a snicker at how upset Chess was.

“Oh god you should have seen your face! That was priceless!” Chess's jaw dropped as she realized what had just happened. When she recovered she slapped Ezra's shoulder and complained loudly about his joke.

“That wasn't nice! I thought I had actually made you mad! I can't believe you would do that to me!” Chess squawked out, laughing the whole time at her own reaction.

“Hey! It's only fair! You woke me up at five in the morning!” Ezra replied trying to escape Chess's attack on his arm, laughing just as much as the strange girl.

The coffee trip went in much the same way but neither of the two noticed the eyes that lingered on them as they made their way back to their hotel. Neither was aware of the nightmare that was coming for them.

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A/N Sooooooooooooooooooooooo.............. I haven't abondened this story, just in case you were curious... Also I've been saying that this was probably only going to last for a couple more chapters but apparently my hands had other plans... I'm probably looking at another five to ten chapters at the least... I didn't mean to add a new character... I didn't mean to bring more angst into it.... I also didn't mean to finish this chapter at such a god awful hour on Easter... Happy Easter btw lol... As Always Thank You for Reading! Kamsamnida!