The trial was in a week and Cheshire was going to arrive the day before. As much as Changkyun had fought, he wasn't going to be able to go with her either. Only Ezra would accompany her on the trip. The summons had stated that she needed to appear to give a proper testimony though she wasn't quite sure how she was going to be able to do that if her hearing didn't return. She wasn't really ready at all for any of it. She just wanted to curl up at home and forget that the whole thing was happening.

Changkyun had been almost violently angry when he found out that she was being summoned to the trial. He had started yelling and Chess's hearing had come back for a few seconds of his half hour long screaming. She had heard a few Korean and English curses but missed most of it. He was so loud that Shownu, who had gone out for food, immediately knocked the Maknae over the head when he came into the dorm. Chess figured that he had told Changkyun to shut up but it didn't stop the yelling.

It hadn't taken very long for the rest of the guys and RI5E to find out what had happened. They were all about as angry as Changkyun but were trying to think of more practical solutions than just yelling and cursing. They had even suggested that Chess get in touch with the prosecutor on the case to see if they could have her appear via video call rather than in person. That hadn't worked though. She still had to go.

'I'm sorry that you have to go Unnie. I wish we could go with you,' Alice's messages had been the only ones not offering some form of advice the whole time. She simply wanted Chess to know that she was supporting her.

'Thanks Alice. I know you guys would come if you could but you guys need to work on your own promotions. I want all of us to be able to make our biggest comeback yet when I finally get better, and for you guys to be able to have a successful comeback without me if you have to,' Chess replied with a soft smile to the Maknae.

'Don't say that Unnie! We won't comeback without you! You're important!' Alice sent and huffed at the elder who simply ruffled the young girls hair and chuckled.

'Jagi, what do you want for dinner tonight? It's going to be the last dinner we can have together before you go back,' Changkyun's message was a bit out of the blue but Chess had kind of expected it. The boys were supposed to be fully booked on their schedule for the next couple of weeks because they were coming out with a new music video for the album and they were going to promote it heavily.

'Hmmm, sushi?' Chess replied with a kissy face emoji. Changkyun's answer was a simple eye roll emoji but she knew that meant she was getting sushi and perked up quite a bit.

'Chess, do you have anything specific you'll need while we're in N.C.?' Chess sighed deeply. She knew that everyone was worried about her and that they were trying to just be helpful, but she really missed having a moment to breathe without people texting her constantly. Ezra had been bugging her about this trip because he really wanted to be prepared and Chess understood that but it was annoying.

'No. I'll be fine. I'm going to pack three outfits and the necessities. I only have to be there for two days so I'm not doing anything other than what's necessary.' Chess stood up, garnering everyone's attention and made a big show of turning off her phone and walking to her room. Changkyun followed behind her quickly, making sure he made it into the room before she could close the door.

Chess rolled her eyes and went over to her bed and curled herself up into her blankets, covering her head and face so that she didn't have to deal with anyone anymore. Changkyun knew that she was upset and just irritated about everyone being over the top again. He sat down on the bed and gently rubbed Chess's back. He took a moment and reached over for the pad of paper and pen that was on her nightstand so he could ask exactly what sushi she wanted.

'Let me get your order and then I'll go get our food and we can watch the Hunger Games in the nest. What do you think Jagiya?'

'Really?' Chess wrote quickly and handed back to him without moving the blanket.

'Really.' Chess pulled back her blanket and turned over to face Changkyun. She slowly sat up and pulled him into a hug. He happily reciprocated and her hair.

After a few moments of comfort, Changkyun pulled back and got Chess's order before heading out to get their food. He was caught by both groups and Ezra before he left the dorm. They were all concerned and he knew that but he was also irritated with them too.

“Why's she so upset?” Minhyuk asked as he looked up from the magazine that him and Bei Lee were reading.

“Because you're all bugging her about the trip. Ezra, you need to chill out. You're asking the same questions over and over and it's driving her insane,” Changkyun said while rubbing his temples. He wasn't really upset with them because he knew it was all good intentions but he also saw Chess's view too. “We need to let her deal with this. I know that everyone is just trying to help but it's just making it worse for her. She won't be happy until her part in this trial is over and she's back home and recovered. Ezra just watch over her, don't treat her like a child. I know that she's like your little sister but you have to let her be an adult. She just needs to handle herself for a bit.”

“Okay. I'll try to do that,” Ezra was the easiest to convince which was a bit surprising. He was the most invested in Chess's well being outside of Changkyun and seemed to want to treat her like an injured puppy most of the time. He seemed to recognize the truth in Changkyun's words though and it definitely helped relieve some of the pressure that Changkyun was feeling.

“Should we leave then?” Jooheon asked looking up from the puzzle him and Hyungwon were working on.

“I think the only person who could have reason to stay would be Minhyuk hyung. Pretty sure only Bei Lee Noona could tell him to leave,” The rapper shook his head exasperatedly and turned to leave the dorm, grabbing his wallet on the way out.

“You heard him guys, we should get going. After all we start promotions tomorrow so we should probably get some sleep anyways,” Wonho was surprisingly the one that spoke up, as he and Shownu stood and stretched.

“They're right. I'll try to call you tomorrow,” Minhyuk said to Bei Lee as he stood to join the other members.

“Don't worry about it I'm pretty sure you'll be so tired you won't even be able to think straight. Besides I'll be on a plane most of the day for the charity event in China,” Bei Lee waved Minhyuk's offer off as she tried to shoo the guys away.

As the guys left, the girls started to relax a bit into their seats again with a glum cloud hanging over all of their heads. None of them really understood what was happening with Chess since she seemed to stop talking about everything as soon as they were around. All the girls wanted to do was support her but if they didn't know what was going on in her mind then they didn't really have any idea how to do that.

“I wish she would just tell us what she's thinking. It's not like we're mind readers,” Sumi said with a huff.

“It's not her fault. Would you really want to talk about it? We all know that it's bad enough that her brain decided to shut down her hearing. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't talk about it either if it was that bad,” Alice said giving the older girls a hard look.

“Even if it's that bad she doesn't have to talk about that but just give us a hint about how to help her. How are we supposed to know what to do in this situation?” Bei Lee asked exasperatedly.

“We aren't,” Young Ji's comment stopped all the girls short and they turned to look at her. “I read something the other day that said that our job as her friends is to just sit here awkwardly and let her be upset. We're literally just supposed to be here.”

“Well I don't like that idea,” Bei Lee's response was defiant but her face gave away that she just felt useless.

“It's all we can do at this point though. So it up buttercup, we have to be an awkward support system for her and maybe just let her be the one to tell us what she needs from us when she's ready,” Young Ji was so resolute that the other girls simply nodded their heads in agreement before they the tv waiting for Changkyun to get back.

Chess's mind was filled with all the things that had gone wrong in her life. She tried to remember what her therapist had taught her and all the coping mechanisms that she was learning but it was as if the news of having to appear in court had taken her all the way back to ground zero. She knew it was pathetic and that she seemed like all she was doing was constantly whining or crying over something that had happened to her but that just made her feel worse. Her thoughts hadn't just kept replaying her confinement though, she kept reliving the night her family was massacred too.

Chess's chest was tight as she tried to breathe through the memories. The memories began to blend together in her mind to the point that all she saw was the blood from her family and the way Hamilton's face looked while he was on top of her. The thoughts were so disturbing and vivid that Chess was scared that she'd forget where she was at any given moment. She did everything she could think of to keep herself grounded in reality and not get lost in the memories. She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt the blanket being pulled off of her head.

Changkyun almost immediately pulled Chess into his chest. He had known that Chess was going to be a bit panicked by the action but with her phone off he didn't have any other way to get her attention. He gently rocked her back and forth while her hair. He even started to hum a bit hoping that at least the vibrations would calm her. It seemed to work as her shaking died down. He hadn't even realized that he had started to actually rap his part of a song that was going to be released on their new album.

Chess's hearing was playing with her again, going in and out. She could hear Changkyun's voice but her hearing was going in and out so quickly that she couldn't make out the words. It was the most calming thing in the world to her though, simply being able to hear the tone of his voice. It brought her mind out of the memories, washed away the blood and forced Hamilton's face out of her mind's eye. She was so comfortable with him and, as selfish as it sounded, she wished she could have him with her every single moment of the day to have him calm her like this when she needed it.

'I got the sushi. I think the girls feel bad about everything, they were all waiting in the living room when I got back,' Changkyun wrote on the pad and handed to her.

'I figured.... I need to talk to them but I don't know how to tell them what I need them to do because I don't know what I need them to do,' Chess wrote and sighed deeply.

'It's okay. You don't have to tell them anything,' Changkyun wrote and leaned in give Chess a kiss on the forehead. 'I'll separate the food, how about you set up the movie for the billionth time?'

'You love it and you know it!' Changkyun laughed a bit as Chess got up from the bed and set up the movie.

When she was done, Chess moved back to the bed and set up the nest. After she was comfortable Changkyun handed her the food and got comfy with her. They ate and watched the movie, Changkyun rolling his eyes every now and then as he realized he was beginning to actually know the lines. The two finished their food and the movie and Chess moved to clean up.

Changkyun took the time that Chess was out of the room to prepare himself. He was super nervous about what he was about to do but he knew he had to do it today. He couldn't wait any longer or he wouldn't be able to do it for a very long time. When Chess walked back into the room he stood up and grabbed her hand, pulling her attention to him. He handed her a small card and nodded towards it as she gave him a curious look with a small smile.

'Scarlett,

You're everything I've ever thought I could want. You're the strongest and most fantastic person in the world and I can't imagine where I'd be now if you hadn't come into my life.

I love you.

Changkyun.'

Chess smiled brightly at him with small tears in her eyes. It was just such a sweet sentiment that she didn't think she'd get to hear, or read in this case, from him for a while.

“I love you,” Chess said so lightly that Changkyun could barely hear it. It was a bit mumbled and difficult to understand but the fact that, even though she couldn't hear, she said it to him made his heart soar. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box with two silver rings in it. The box had his handwriting scrawled on it and he showed it to Chess.

'Couple Rings' Chess laughed. She realized that he must have realized that this might have come across as a proposal at the last minute and decided to write this for clarification and it tickled Chess to no end. He rolled his eyes and pulled the silver band out to slip it on her finger and she put the matching band on his before he turned the box around to show a bit more of his handwriting.

'Now everyone will know I'm yours.'

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A/N Hi guys! I am so so so so so so so sorry that this took so long to update but life's been insane and writer's block has been real and my hands getting away from me in previous chapters definitely didn't help at all. I haven't abandoned this and I will have it finished in 2020 no matter what but I will try to make it as quick of a wrap up as I can. Also I know every Monbebe is going through it still and guys I cried so hard. I am one of the more lucky Monbebe though because I did get to go to their Atlanta show this year and I had a hi touch with them. Wonho had even come out to do the hi touch after he had dislocated his shoulder during the last bit of the concert. (Also I was limping through the hi touch, because our Uber had gotten into an accident on the way there and the adrenaline from the show wore off while me and my friend were waiting for the hi touch, and Changkyun almost jumped off the table he was sitting on to come towards me and said "Are you okay???" all concerned and everything and I will never forget that and the amount of tears that I cried on the way back home) This has been one hell of a year and it's been difficult and it's been really weird guys but I am going to finish this and I'm going to keep fighting the good fight for Wonho because Monsta X is 7! Anyways I'm sorry for the long authors note this time but I love this story, I love these guys, and I love you all that actually read this and support it! As Always Thank You for Reading! Kamsamnida!