Cheshire spent most of her days in her dorm. She knew that she was able to leave and that if she wanted to that Ezra or Changkyun or, now, Shownu would happily go with her. It had actually taken Chess a lot to accept Shownu being around. She had literally run and hid in her room for the first hour that he was there and it took about a hundred notes being pushed under the door by Changkyun to get her to come out. Now Shownu came over everyday that Changkyun had extra practice or when the guys had a day off. He made sure that Chess knew he was there if she ever needed him. It was helpful in her recovery to let him in even just a little and Chess knew that. She just didn't feel comfortable with the part of her recovery that required her to leave the safety of her dorm.

Today was a special day though. Today was the day that Giriboy came back from his Korean tour. She was finally a bit more accepting of allowing herself to see people that she knew were on her side. Shownu's appearance had helped to calm that bit of her anxiety and Giriboy was definitely one of the people that was always on her side. He would be the first person she went to see of her own accord.

Ezra was quick to meet Chess at the front of the building before quickly ushering her into the car that was taking them to Giriboy's apartment. Chess was really nervous and she hadn't realized that it would be that nerve wracking to see her best friend. Ezra lightly patting her shoulder was the only thing keeping her from jumping out of the car before it started moving. The vibration from the engine starting seemed to set her into place no matter how nervous she was.

'Just breathe and remember that he's your best friend. Remember what Dr. Kim said.' Ezra gently sat his note in Chess's lap and she quickly wrote her own reply.

'You're right. I have to tell my friends what happened and try to let them in again.' Ezra gave Chess a gentle side hug. He felt her stiffen at the closeness but it was much less pronounced than it had been for the past two weeks.

As the car pulled to a stop Chess took a deep breath. She mentally prepared herself fo whatever may come from this meeting. She had to admit she really was scared that Giriboy would turn on her. She had no idea why he would turn on her but she just felt like he could. Waiting for the elevator, she kept reminding herself that she needed to trust her friends. Trust, it was a word that she didn't really believe in anymore.

When they made it to Giriboy's door, Ezra knocked and Chess waited for the rapper to open the door. When he did, Chess gasped, his hair was very red. She hadn't ever really seen him change his hair this drastically. She knew that he had been blond before but that wasn't really that strange for some reason. Without really thinking about it Chess reached out and touched his hair, holding it between her fingers to inspect the color, and giggled.

“Hi there Chess. What are you doing?” Chess hadn't seen Giriboy's lips moving so she hadn't realized that he was speaking. Ezra was on top of it though. He used his limited Korean and explained as best he could.

“Annyeonghaseyo, Ezra-ibnida. Chess can't hear right now. We use these notebooks to talk to her,” Ezra's Korean was pretty bad but he was at least managing to get fluent in those sentences.

“What do you mean she can't hear?” Giriboy said as he took a notebook from Ezra.

“I don't know what you just asked me. I just learned those phrases in Korean,”Ezra said with a shrug. Giriboy gave a confused look before simply writing down his thoughts in the notebook for Chess.

'You can't hear? What the hell happened Chess?' Giriboy held the notebook up in Chess's face. He didn't fail to notice the way her smile faltered before she took the notebook from him.

'A lot happened. Don't worry, the deafness isn't permanent apparently.' Chess watched as Giriboy's face went from confused to relieved to sad. She quickly scribbled another response. 'Don't worry Giri. I'm strong enough to make it through this. I've got you and all my other friends and Changkyun helping me get better. I'll be fine.'

“Why do you always have to be the strong one?” Giri hadn't meant to say it out loud but he did before quickly pulling Chess into a hug.

The two spent a long time just sitting on the couch writing back and forth about what had happened. Giri was the first one that Chess had told without prompting. He was worried and scared for her, but Giri was the one person that Chess could always count on to be a shoulder to cry on. He was always strong when he thought that she needed it. He felt like she needed his strength now more than ever.

He promised her that he was going to be there for her for every step of her recovery. Chess giggled and told him that he didn't have to. He couldn't take her seriously though. He knew that she was going through hell. He knew that she was simply trying not to burden him. He wasn't letting her do that to him this time.

Their reunion was much too short for their liking but Changkyun and Shownu had messaged, telling her they were on their way to her dorm. Giri couldn't keep her from them but he did promise to come see her regularly. Chess had tried to push away his offer but he wasn't having it. He was going to do everything he could to be able to help her. If that meant he had to take up residence in her dorm then he would.

As Ezra and Chess made their way back to the dorm, Chess noticed that Ezra was fidgety. He was constantly looking behind them and telling something to the driver. Chess couldn't tell what was happening and Ezra wasn't answering. It wasn't until they drove past the dorm that Chess started worrying. That was what made her figure out that something was seriously wrong.

While Ezra was giving instructions that Chess couldn't understand to the driver, she turned to look behind them. There was a black car following them and Chess could still tell that something was wrong but she couldn't see how the press was a problem for her going home. That's when she noticed what was wrong. Hamilton was the driver.

Chess screamed and pulled her legs up to her chest trying to hold herself together. She couldn't even recognize when Ezra had pulled her to his side. Ezra held her tight and pat her back trying to calm her screams, there was nothing more heartbreaking to him. When the driver finally turned into the company parking lot, he watched as Hamilton drove past. The sigh of relief was short lived though as he needed to get Chess into the building, but Chess was having none of it. Eventually, Ezra just picked her up and carried her in.

“What in the hell happened to Cheshire?!” Jooheon was the first person that Ezra came across but Ezra couldn't really understand him.

“The guy that kidnapped her followed us,”Ezra confessed hoping that if he understood any English that he'd be able to help get Chess to Si Dae. Chess was slowly coming back to herself in Ezra's hold, though tears were still flowing down her face. As she felt Ezra stop moving she looked around and found herself looking into Jooheon's worried eyes.

“Jooheon!” It had been the first word that Chess had said since her stay in the hospital. It was loud and caught both Jooheon and Ezra by surprise, but Ezra let her down to go into Jooheon's embrace.

It didn't take long for the three to make it to Si Dae, who gave the explanation of Chess's situation to Jooheon before shooing him out the door with her and a couple of bodyguards to get her home. Si Dae kept Ezra behind to get the full story behind what happened on their way back to the dorms. Both groups went about their business not realizing how much danger was around the corner.

Hamilton had driven past the company and found a lot to park the car in. He wasn't just going to let Scarlett go like that. He was going to find her and he was going to keep her this time. She was the only thought in his mind as he made his way towards the company. He stood outside of the gates, just out of the sightline of the guards and entrance, to wait for her. Finally she came out, but she was with three men, one holding her close. The rage that he felt in his heart made him freeze. He watched for a while as the three moved down the sidewalk before he began to follow.

Hamilton had followed them for the entire walk back to an apartment building where two more men were standing outside waiting on them. Hamilton recognized the one as the kid that the press said Scarlett was dating. Finally the angry fire in his core bursts free and he was running towards the other man. Scarlett didn't even flinch when he ran past her screaming at the idiot that had tried to take her from him. It gave him hope that maybe she really did love him.

Yes, that had to be it. She loved him and this had to be the reason she couldn't be. Well, Hamilton would fix that problem. He pounced on the smaller man, wrapping his hands around his neck and trying to squeeze as hard as he could. His attempts were halted though by a pair of arms wrapping around his own neck and squeezing as hard as they could. He released the man on the ground and turned to grab his assailant.

As he brought the owner of the arms around to face him, he discovered it was Scarlett. The confusion that came over Hamilton killed the fire in his veins. How could Scarlett do this to him? He was trying to save her! How dare she attack him! With that thought the fire was back but it was too late.

Chess's bodyguards pinned Hamilton to the ground as Shownu called the cops. Chess moved quickly over to Changkyun, who was still laying on the ground, and checked him over as best as she could. She tried to be as gentle as possible but the shrill piercing noise that she kept hearing sporadically caused her to be a bit rougher than she intended. She wasn't sure if it was a complication of her PTSD or not but it was definitely not helping.

Chess looked up to see that the cops had apparently arrived while she was trying to help Changkyun. Two were putting Hamilton into cuffs as another two were asking the bodyguards questions. Another cruiser pulled up as the one with Hamilton in it went off towards the station. This time the officers came over to Chess and Changkyun and while they were talking the noise was becoming unbearable.

Chess reached to clutch her hands to her ears trying to block the painful sounds. Changkyun didn't miss the motion and quickly leaned up to try to hold her and calm her down. The motion caused Changkyun to feel light headed and he almost pulled Chess to the ground with him. The cops that were attempting to help the two, quickly called for a couple ambulances to be sent to their location as they tried to help the injured idols as best they could.

The ambulances arrived and quickly pulled the two idols off the street and onto the gurneys. The noise filled Chess's head and came to such a crescendo that the pain was too much to bear. She screamed at the pain and it was so loud and painful, she finally lost consciousness. In the blackness that enveloped her, it was finally quiet again. She could finally relax.

Changkyun's ride was much different. He did nothing but try to find out how Chess was. He refused to answer the EMT's questions. All he wanted to know was how she was. He needed to know how she was but they wouldn't tell him. Finally the EMT's had had enough, they pumped a sedative into Changkyun's IV and he slowly fell into darkness. The blackness wasn't comforting though, if anything it made him feel more anxious. He worried more and more until he fell entirely into a blank space in his mind.

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A/N hey guys sorry it's taken so long for me to update this. At first it was because I was not sure how to write it and I got writer's block but then I went through something pretty traumatic a couple weeks ago and I've just gotten back to myself... Kind of... As always Thank You for Reading! Kamsamnida!