Sitting in the dark, you keep drifting off. It’s been days since you had any real sleep and it was starting to take its toll on your body. You’ve gone days without proper sleep before, but also being kidnapped and dealing with psychotic teenage boys wasn’t helping. You didn’t want to let your guard down in front of Stray Kids, but your body wasn’t cooperating. As soon as your eyes closed, the room’s bright light , causing you to jolt awake. You look up to see Lee Know himself walk in, closing the door behind him.

“Well, Mr. Lee. Nice of you to grace me with your presence. Are you here to let me go?” You give him a tired smile.

Lee Know chuckles, taking the chair that was once occupied by Changbin and pulling it up close to you. He sits directly in front of you. “Now, you should know me better than that, babygirl. I’ll only let you go when you give me what I want.”

You roll your eyes. “And you should know me better than that, thinking I’ll give you anything that easily.”

He smirks and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. You shiver at his touch, not going unnoticed by the boy. “We’ll see about that.” He leans back in his chair, his arms crossed. “But, I didn’t come here to try to coax anything out of you, as much fun as that would be.” He his lips and winks at you, causing you to growl. “I hear you want to know why we are called Stray Kids.”

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “And you’re going to tell me?”

Lee Know shrugs, “well, you told Changbin about your history, it’s only proper to return the kindness.”

You your head, waiting for him to continue. He chuckles and starts his story. “Well, you could say it’s similar to yours, I suppose. I was also born into the gang life, however a much smaller gang than 0325. My parents were part of the lesser known gang called ‘N/S’ back when I lived in Daegu. There were very few members, but considering the town wasn’t very large, it didn’t matter. I wasn’t the best kid, to be honest. I would get myself into a lot of trouble at school, at home, just being outside. I was stealing money from my parents, smoking, underage drinking at times.

Once the rebellion happened was when it got worse. One day I woke up and my parents had left. The entire gang had left. I found myself alone. I wasn’t too worried, however, considering I had saved most of the money I had nabbed from my parents. But finding myself alone was torturous. I went out to find myself a new gang. I found Hyunjin on the streets. I saw him running out of one of the weapon shops, having stolen a knife set. I helped him escape from the cops. We bonded almost instantly and he became my weapons expert.

Changbin, Chan and Jisung were something else. I actually caught them trying to steal from me.” He chuckles. “It was quite interesting actually. Hyunjin and I were coming back to the house when the three of them were rummaging through our belongings. We caught them in the middle of the act and I was able to talk them into joining me. Turns out, all four of their families also left them here to fend for themselves. I got lucky, seeing as each boy was smart is different aspects. Changbin was a blackbelt in Taekwondo, Jisung was trained in chemistry, and Chan had a degree in computer science. After they moved in, I named us Stray Kids.”

You two sit in silence for a moment as you absorb everything he just told you. You never realized how similar your story is to Lee Know’s. The respect you had for him grew a little more, knowing that he was more than just a gang leader. He also did somewhat have a heart.

“That would explain why Changbin was quiet after I explained my situation,” you mumble. “It reminded him of the time you gave them a home.”

You look up into Lee Know’s eyes. While they remain dark and uninterested, you now notice a flash of pain and helplessness behind them. It’s something you never noticed before. You can see he really cares about s, just as much as you care about yours. Though the two of you would never admit it to one another.

Before anything else can be said, a loud siren interrupts the moment you two were having. Immediately the two of you snap to attention. Behind the siren, there is a number of loud beeps.

“One, two, three…”

You count the number of beeps as they echo through the room, totaling a number of nine. The two of you look at each other, both looking confused.

“Nine?! What gang has nine members?”

District 9 contains two sirens, one at the north entrance of the city, one at the south. When another gang enters either of your territories, the siren is played and the number of members in that gang is represented by a horn. The siren that is ringing now is the siren for the north side of the city, which means that Stray Kids’ territory is being invaded.

Just then the lights go out, leaving you two in pitch black. The two of you hear a loud bang somewhere inside the building. You struggle against your restraints.

“Minho, let me out. I can help you fight.”

He hesitates, not sure if it’s a ruse to try to escape. You roll your eyes in the dark. “Oh my god, I’m not going to run. This is my city too and I don’t need a third gang coming in here and taking it.”

He nods sharply and feels along the chair to find the knots. He fumbles around in the dark before finally untying you. You stretch your arms and legs a little, having had been tied up for so long.

“Where are my pistols? Hyunjin confiscated them when you guys took me.”

“They’re in my room. The emergency backup lights should go on right about-”

~Click~

“-now. Thank god for Chan’s backup light system.”

A light has , leaving the small room dimly light. While it wasn’t the best of lighting, at least it wasn’t pitch black anymore. Lee Know opens the door and peeks into the hallway, making sure you were in the clear.

“We’re good for now, let’s go.” He grabs your hand, pulling you along to make sure he doesn’t lose you. You blush at the contact, thanking the lords it’s too dark for him to see your face.

Your heart was racing, you’ve never been in a situation where you were without your pistols or your body guards. One or both were always accompanying you, so right now you feel slightly helpless. However, you weren’t about to let Lee Know find that out. You hear footsteps pounding behind you and turn sharply. Immediately you duck, as you see a fist swinging for your head.

“What the !”

You stand up straight and raise your arm to block another attack, bruising your arm in the process. Lifting your right fist, you swing and land a punch on the intruder’s jaw. They stumble backwards a few feet and shake their head.

You hear a grunt and a smack from behind you. You glance back to see Lee Know locked in combat with a second intruder. A cut had appeared on his cheek, blood dripping down. He grabs the intruder by the collar and pushes them against the wall, landing a punch to their gut.

Lee Know looks over to you, his eyes growing wide. “Y/N, behind you!”

But before you can turn around, you feel a sharp pain to the back of your head and suddenly your world turns black.

~~~

“Y/N…ke…p.” Your consciousness fades in and out, barely hearing the voice next to you. “Y/N, wake up!”

You open your eyes, the world a blur and blink a few times, chasing away the haze.

“Hey, are you alright?”

You process the voice that’s speaking to you and come to the conclusion that it’s Lee Knows. You raise your head and turn to look at him but not before a sharp pain shoots through your head.

“Oh god, what the !” You reach up to rub your head but found your wrists once again tied behind you.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t even try.” He chuckles in disbelief. “Whoever took us knows how to tie a good knot.”

You look next to you to see the leader of Stray Kids in the very same situation that you are currently in. “How the hell did we get here?” You glance around to see yourself trapped in an underground bunker and you couldn’t help to think it looked awfully familiar to you.

“They blindsided us, whoever they are.” He glares around the room.

You two hear the click of a lock and whip your heads towards the door. A group of boys file in, filling the front of the room. Your eyes narrow as you look at each person, your teeth grinding together.

“Ah , who the hell invited the Dreamies?”