Changkyun had just arrived at the airport when his manager got a call and handed the phone to him. He was being called into the company. Changkyun wasn't quite sure what was up but he wasn't happy about this. He had wanted to go straight to see Chess. She had been all he had thought about for the last leg of the tour and he just wanted to be able to see her face.

“Changkyunnie, it'll be fine. I'm sure he just wants to talk to you about time management,” Shownu said with a smirk and light smack to his arm once they were in the van.

“But if you don't spend enough time with Chess, I'll break you,” Jooheon grumbled from the back seat. Changkyun knew that Jooheon still wasn't all that happy about not being the one Chess chose but he rarely voiced it. Changkyun and Jooheon were irrationally close considering the amount of resentment that Jooheon still had on the subject.

“Don't worry hyung, I'll make sure to keep her happy and not take away time from the band,” Changkyun said with a bright smile to Jooheon, who simply glared back before looking out the window and smiling lightly.

“Why the hell are you still up in arms about this Jooheon? How long have they been together again? Pretty sure that Chess chose Changkyun about six months ago,” Hyungwon said with and eye roll before leaning back into his seat.

“Three months. She only made that decision three months ago,” Minhyuk said as he scrolled through the notes on his phone.

“Why do you even know that? Is it even any of your business?” Wonho asked, though he leaned over to look at the notes that Minhyuk had taken.

“Why does anyone in this car need to put their nose into me and my girlfriends's business?” Changkyun asked, crossing his arms and sulking in his seat.

“We're your bandmates. It affects us, and Jooheon is just jealous, of course it's our business,” Kihyun's answer didn't make Changkyun feel any better.

The rest of the ride to the company was quiet. The boys were still tired from their plane ride and Changkyun was only able to focus on Cheshire. Once they reached the company, Changkyun got out of the van and headed towards Si Dae's office. He was really wanting to just leave faster than he was going to. Once he made his way to Si Dae's office, the secretary told him to head in.

“Sajangnim? You wanted to see me?” Changkyun tried to reign in his irritation at being there but knew that his voice was still frustrated.

“Come sit down. We really have to have a talk,” Si Dae motioned to the seat across the desk from him as Changkyun fully entered the office.

“If this is about time management, you don't have to worry, I've already got a plan for how to handle all of my responsibilities,” Changkyun said as he sat down. He bounced his leg up and down, anxious to get out of the office as quickly as possible.

“That's not what this is about. We need to have a very serious discussion,” Si Dae ran a hand down his face before continuing. “I know that you care about Cheshire and I know she cares about you. I'm going to have to tell you something that I'm pretty sure she would have rather told you herself but I don't really think that's possible at the moment.”

“What's going on? Is Chess in the hospital again? How'd she get hurt? Has she not woken up? Where is she?” Changkyun became more and more upset and worried the longer Si Dae spoke. It wasn't something he was prepared for.

“Calm down Changkyun. She's not in the hospital and she is awake, but she went through a really bad ordeal while she went to the States. She was kidnapped, Changkyun. She was missing for thirty-six hours and during the time that she was being held captive... Changkyun, this isn't easy and it's not something I ever wanted to have to tell anyone,” Si Dae took a deep breath and looked as deeply into Changkyun's eyes as he could. “Cheshire was .”

“M-m-m-mwoh?” Changkyun froze. He no longer was bouncing his leg or even breathing. Every muscle in his body was tight and strained to prevent movement.

“Chess was and is suffering from PTSD. She's lost her hearing because of it. We've got the best psychologists and therapists in Seoul looking after her and they all say that her hearing will return. It's just going to take some time for her to recover. Chess is going to be taking a break from promoting with RI5E once their all back from their individual promotions in a month. She won't lose her spot because of this, it was in no way her fault that this happened to her. We have a new personal bodyguard for her, apparently he was friends with her brother from a young age and knows her pretty well. We honestly have no idea how long she'll be in this state but it's going to be a very difficult time, no matter how short,” Si Dae paused and rested his forehead to his clasped hands.

“What are you getting at sajangnim?” Changkyun took a deep breath, anger beginning to replace the fear and worry inside him. If Si Dae was getting at what Changkyun thought he was, then he had every right to be angry.

“I mean to say that Cheshire needs a very strong and unbreakable support system right now. You have a choice to make and it's not going to be an easy one. You either have to let your feelings go and leave her so that she can recover, or you have to devote yourself and all of your time with her to helping her recover. I know that the second option sounds easy but trust me, it's the harder of the two choices. Chess can't speak to you while her hearing is gone, she probably won't want to be touched, she'll be distant and guarded, and she will have a very hard time allowing any form of intimacy,” Si Dae watched Changkyun's expression as it went from angry to hurt. It wasn't exactly the shift he had really imagined but it was something that made him realize that Changkyun understood the severity of the situation.

“What exactly are you telling me sajangnim?” Changkyun's pained voice hurt Si Dae as well but he knew that this had to be how things were.

“Either you go see her, meaning you are committed to being the support system she needs, or you don't go see her at all,” Si Dae gave Changkyun the ultimatum with a straight face and waited for his answer.

'That's three times that I've beaten you at this! I thought you said you were good?' Ezra pushed the notebook over to Chess who was clenching her hair in frustration.

'How do you keep beating me???' Chess's response made Ezra laugh as he brought theSorry! board closer to himself to put it away. Chess got up with a light stomp of her foot and headed into her room to grab some movies.

While Chess was gone and Ezra was cleaning up, Young Ji made her way into the living room. She was carrying her phone close to her chest and looking at Ezra with a very nervous look. Ezra was taking a crash course on Korean but was definitely no where near able to hold a conversation yet but Young Ji had taken it upon herself to try to help when she could. Ezra was being housed in the apartment next to the girls so that if Chess ever needed him she could reach him. It was pretty difficult to live in a country where you didn't know the language though, so Young Ji tried to make sure he had food and everything he needed.

“Food? You have eat yet?”Young Ji asked as Ezra looked at her with a bright smile. In the short time he had known the girls, Ezra had already come to see him as his younger sisters. They were sweet just like Chess and made life in a new country easier.

“No I haven't eaten yet. What are you thinking about ordering?”Young Ji's smile took over her whole face as she showed him the menu that she had pulled up on her phone. “Ooo, that all looks yummy. You order, I'll pay today. Get enough for all the girls too.”

Young Ji smiled and bounced away down the hall to tell the girls about what they were having for dinner. Cheshire made her way out of her room as Young Ji was making her way down the hall. She simply turned to Ezra and raised her shoulders while pointing to the younger girl as a way of saying 'What's all that about?' Ezra simply mimed eating and Chess understood. She nodded her head and mouthed 'Oh' as she went to put a movie into the blu ray player. Chess took her seat back on the couch and Ezra joined her as she reached down to bring up a new game.

'Oh so you think you can beat me at Monopoly instead?' Ezra chuckled as Chess sneered at his comment.

'I'm the master of Monopoly. I'm going to have you begging for mercy.' Chess took out the board as Ezra configured the movie to have subtitles for Chess.

'I'm gonna be the boot.' Chess laughed and tossed the boot to Ezra while she took the race car and put it on GO.

Their first round lasted the entirety of the first movie, given neither of them really paid attention to the movie in the first place. Chess got up to put in the next movie in the stack and stopped when she saw what it was. She stared at the case for a while, running her fingers over the picture. Ezra watched as a small sad smile came across her face. He had no idea why she looked so sad looking at The Hunger Games though.

Chess finally came back to herself and put the movie in the player before returning for the second round of Monopoly. Her grim expression didn't change as they played though and Ezra didn't fail to notice. He tried to keep himself from prying too quickly but after thirty minutes of Chess being distracted he had to say something.

'What's got you so worried now?' Ezra pushed the notebook until it was practically on her lap. Chess didn't even bother to answer. She just looked over at Ezra with a minor eye roll.

'Changkyun. Will. Be. Fine. Stop worrying about him. I'm sure he'll be here in no time to fawn over you day and night.' Ezra patted Chess's shoulder and rubbed her back a bit as she started writing.

'I'm terrified that this will be too hard for him. I'm broken Ezra. I'm not the person that he fell in love with anymore and I can't ask him to put up with all of this. He doesn't need this in his life, it's too much to handle while also being an idol. He needs to worry about his fans and band, not me.' Chess stopped writing for a moment but continued shortly after. 'Even knowing all of that I don't want to be without him. I'm so terrified of this being too hard but I'm even more scared of being without him. He's what kept me alive through this whole thing.'

Chess turned to watch the movie as Ezra read her note. She couldn't help but think of Changkyun during this movie. All the jokes he made about her obsession and how it wasn't all that interesting to begin with. All the times she would hit him over the head with her pillows for insulting The Hunger Games and calling it boring. The two of them imitating Hawkeye and Katniss to figure out which would be a better ally. It was harder than she thought it would be. Before she realized it the notebook was pushed back into her lap but this time the writing was in Korean.

'The Hunger Games? Jinja?'

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A/N Well we are getting very, very, VERY close to the end of this fic and it's really starting to make me sad but I really do love this entire story. As always Thank You for Reading! Kamsamnida!