Getting used to having to write down what he wanted to say to Cheshire rather than actually saying it was difficult for Changkyun. He had yelled to get her attention more times than he really wanted to admit but he was finally getting used to it after a week of knowing that she couldn't hear him. He had definitely cried more times that he would ever tell Chess or the guys. It was desperately sad to see Chess so quiet and closed off. 

Cheshire had jumped when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and shied away when he leaned in to kiss her cheek. Chess would immediately start apologizing to him but Changkyun wasn't upset that she did that, he was upset that she was feeling hurt and scared. He wanted to hold her and protect her from the world but he couldn't. He didn't even have anyone to ask for advice, or at least that's how he felt.

The guys knew that Changkyun had cried himself to sleep every night that first week. They knew that Chess wasn't the same. They hadn't been told everything that happened to her, but they knew that she had been kidnapped when she went home. They wanted to talk to him about it but they also knew that they had to wait until he opened up about it.

Shownu was particularly anxious to talk to him. He had never been in the same situation but when he was in school one of his friends had gone through the same things Chess had, and worse according to what Shownu knew about the situation. Shownu wanted to be there for Cheshire and Changkyun the way he hadn't been able to for his friend. It was one of his biggest regrets but he wasn't willing to let that happen with Cheshire. She might as well have been his older sister for the way he cared about her.

About two weeks into being back in Korea, the guys had gotten used to not seeing Changkyun outside of practice, except for Minhyuk who had finally admitted his feelings to Bei Lee and would see Changkyun at the girls dorm briefly. That night however, Shownu stayed up waiting for Changkyun to come home. He had waited more than long enough for Changkyun to open up about what was going on. When the door opened, Changkyun jumped seeing Shownu sitting cross armed on the couch.

“Hyung! You scared me! Shouldn't you be asleep? We have an early practice tomorrow morning,” Changkyun said as he clutched his chest.

“I know but sit down. We really need to talk,” Shownu said, waiting for Changkyun to come sit next to him on the couch.

“Hyung, I know that I've been out late since we got back but I thought I was doing really good about getting up and working my off at practice,” Changkyun said as he plopped down, hugging a cushion to his chest.

“It's not about that Changkyun. You've been doing really good,” Shownu said as he patted Changkyun on his shoulder. “Changkyunnie, we all know that Chess was kidnapped.”

“Hyung, that's not even the half of it, but I can't... I can't really talk about it,” Changkyun said as he moved to get up, being halted by Shownu before he could stand.

“Look, if it's what I think it is, then you both need to know that I'm here,” Shownu said huffing out a breath that he had held deep inside of him. “I had a friend go through the same thing when I was in school and maybe worse.”

Changkyun tried to open his mouth to stop Shownu but he was having none of it. Shownu simply held up his hand and took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. He hadn't talked to anyone about this since he had graduated. He wasn't sure that he had ever planned on it either.

“My friend was a great girl. She was a part of the dance crew with me and everyone loved her. She was bright and sweet, with the kind of smile that lit up a room. We had done a couple performances in an underground dance club and she got a lot of attention from guys, but there was this one guy. No one really knew what his deal was but he was really creepy. He did nothing but stare at her for a long time but one night she told us that he had actually followed her to her apartment complex. We all thought that maybe she was overreacting a bit because he was creepy, so we didn't do anything. A week later, she didn't show up to school for a few days. I went to her house to take her homework to her but her parents said that she hadn't been home, that they had reported her missing and the police were looking for her. I immediately went to the station and told them about the guy that had followed her home. A few days later they found her, locked in his apartment, tied up. She... she had been and tortured,” Shownu stopped and ran his hands down his face before resting his face in his hands. He took a few deep breaths and continued. “She wasn't the same after that, but who would be? She was closed off, she quit dancing, and she didn't talk to anyone. Instead of trying to talk to her and let her know we were there for her, we all just let her be alone. I didn't try to help her. I regret it more than anything. She actually jumped from Mapo Bridge six months later.”

“Hyung, that... That's horrible. Mianhae,” Changkyun said while reaching over to rub Shownu's back.

“I didn't tell you that to get sympathy. I told you that because I want to be there for Cheshire too. Cheshire is my Noona and I don't ever want to see anything like that happen to her. I'm not asking your permission but I am telling you out of courtesy since she's your girlfriend. I also need to know what she needs from me,” Shownu said with a fierce look at Changkyun.

“Hyung,she... She was too. I don't even know what she needs from me. I just show up and watch movies with her and play games. She won't even answer my questions. She won't tell me what happened or what's going on in her mind. She only writes me notes about how she's so thankful that I'm there. I think that's all she needs, people to be there,” Changkyun responded with a touch of exasperation.

“Why is she writing you notes and not telling you? That's a little odd,” Shownu said giving a confused look.

“Hyung... She has PTSD and it's caused her to lose her hearing. She can't hear anything. Everyone says that it's only temporary and that there's nothing physically wrong with her ears,” Changkyun hadn't really wanted to open up like that but he had been bottling everything up about it that he was just happy to talk about it to someone.

“She's deaf? How does she feel about that?” Shownu asked. Changkyun knew that the leader had a tendency to be pretty robotic but he was showing more emotion on his face than he had the entire time that Changkyun had known him. His face was full of sadness and worry, it caught Changkyun off guard.

“She hasn't talked to me about it. She hasn't even talked to Ezra hyung about it,” Changkyun responded.

“Ezra hyung?” Shownu asked, curiosity written across his face.

“He's her personal bodyguard. He had been the one that tried to catch the guy that had kidnapped her but the police hadn't got the warrant for his arrest before he made his escape,” Changkyun answered.

“They didn't catch the er?!” Shownu's anger, while justified, startled Changkyun. He'd never seen Shownu like this.

“No... They didn't catch him. If they find him then they'll arrest him, they even have our police on the lookout just in case he shows up here to try to find her again,” Changkyun wasn't sure what Shownu was thinking honestly. His face was difficult to read.

“I'll kill him if I ever see him,” Shownu's face was calm as he spoke and it really terrified Changkyun if he was honest.

“Hyung, what do we do? How are we supposed to help her get through this?” Changkyun redirected the conversation for the sake of his sanity and to bring Shownu back to the point.

“I'm not really sure but we'll figure it out Changkyunnie. We're going to bring her back to herself and we're going to do it together. We're going to let her know that she's not alone,” Shownu answered and pulled Changkyun into a side hug.

“Thank you, hyung,” Changkyun said as he fought back tears.

“Don't worry. We're going to get Noona back,” The two stood and hugged before heading to bed for the night.

Across the city, in a small studio apartment, Hamilton was setting up his 'Scarlett Wall'. He had had it up in his house and had refused to leave Raleigh without it. Scarlett had been the only person he had ever loved and he loved her with his whole being. There was nothing in his life that he had done that wasn't for her. He had gotten into business to make enough money to find her. He bought a house to keep her in. He hired Charles Giuseppe to kill her family so that she didn't have anyone holding her back. The fact that he had killed the bastard that had stolen her from him.

Everything in his life was done for Scarlett. Everything he was, was for Scarlett. Scarlett was his entire world and all he really cared about. He made sure that he had all the pictures that he had taken of her from high school on the outside edge of the wall, then the pictures from her house that he had taken, then he had all the pictures from her new career, but now in the center of everything, he had the pictures that he had taken of the time she had spent in the storage room with him. He was still angry that she hadn't realized that he had stolen her away for her own good. He had torn up and burned all the pictures of her crying. They pissed him off.

His favorite though, was the picture he had taken when he first walked into the storage room when she had woken up. She had bright, big, hopeful eyes, and a look of relief on her face. It was beautiful and he loved it. He made sure to make copies of it, one for his wallet, one for his nightstand, and this big one for the center of his 'Scarlett Wall'.

Hamilton had promised himself that he was going to find her again. He was going to find her and take her away again. She needed to be reminded who she was and he was the perfect person for that. She needed to be with him. These people in Korea had made her into something she wasn't, and he needed to fix that.

Hamilton walked out to his balcony and stared out into the city. He hadn't been able to find the address for Starship Entertainment, but he was going to find it. He was going to find it, and he was going to find Scarlett. There wasn't anything that was going to stop him and Scarlett being together. Hamilton refused to give up. He wasn't the type of person to let go of the things he loved and he loved Scarlett. Staring deeply into the sparkling lights of the dirty city that had stolen Scarlett from him, he made a promise to himself.

Hamilton would get his woman back.

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A/N okay guys it's a bit shorter than other chapters but I didn't want to force anything. I feel like this managed to get the point across. I'm really proud of this story and what it's become, even if my hands have gotten away from me a few times lol. I really am very close to the end of this one and I hope you all have loved it as much as I've loved writing it. As always Thank You for Reading! Kamsamnida!