#tlontl

            There wasn’t much in the small room you had been placed in. Just a bed, a small nightstand and a wardrobe. Naturally you snooped through everything, trying to find anything that you could use to your advantage, but as you had suspected; nothing. It occurred to you while snooping through the draws, even if you were able to break out of this house, you wouldn’t know what to do from there. You don't have any sort of cell phone, you don’t know anyone's numbers and you have no clue where the base is actually located, so it's not even like you could just find you way back to seventeens base. Monsta X had to have some sort of way to get in contact with your boys. If they are actually as close as they had made it seem, they have to be in contact pretty often, right? Maybe your first step was to try and figure out how they got into contact with others. Seventeen all had cell phones, but you rarely saw them messaging anyone outside of their own group. Honestly, a majority of them just seemed to use their phones to play games. Then again, if Jihoon really was that good at tracking down people, maybe all you needed to do was get in the view of some sort of security camera and he would be able to find you. While that might make it look like you ran away, at least they would have a rough idea of where you were? Maybe Mingyu would come and find you? You decided this would be your first plan of action. 

            You stayed in the room for what seemed like an hour or two. If you wanted to make this plan believable, you couldn’t jump into action to fast. You heard a few of them in the hallway a couple times, but no one came to see you. Not even Hoseok. You finally decided it was a good time to get the ball rolling, so you ventured out of your room. You eventually found Hoseok in the kitchen, messing around with something in their fridge. The house itself wasn’t that big compared to seventeens. Afterall, Monsta X’s base was more or less a fancy apartment, but it was definitely on the small side. Hoseok stopped what he was doing when he saw you. 

“If I’m going to stay here than I expect to be treated like a normal person and not someone you kidnapped.” You declared, making Hoseok straight up and close the fridge. 

“Of course,” Hoseok said, “I never planned on treating you like anything other than a normal person.” 

“Good. Then if that’s the case I want to go shopping and get some stuff for that plain room. It’s too depressing.” You said. Hoseok thought for a moment, a tiny bit of skepticism dusted across his face. “Oh come on, even seventeen let me go outside every now and then. How else do you think I was able to go to the ball. On top of actually needing things I just want to soak up the city life. It’s been so long since I’ve been around other people. Plus, where am I going to go? You’ve been stalking me for years apparently, it's not like I’d be able to run away…” you mumbled. Hoseok seemed to be wavering a bit. Your plan was working. “Come on Hoseok! Let’s go out! I might not mind it here if we do fun stuff like this!” You say in a sing-songy voice. 

“Alright, alright fine. Let me go tell Shownu and then we can go.” Hoseok finally agreed. You jumped up and down and clapping your hands. 

“Yay! I’m excited! It’s been so long since I was in the city.” you say before he heads out of the room to find Shownu. Your heart was pounding in your chest. This was actually going as planned; you honestly couldn’t believe it was going this well. Something had to be wrong, there was no way it was going to work this well. Maybe it was going to go so well because Hoseok knew seventeen wouldn’t actually be able to find you. 

When he got back, he passed you a black baseball cap to stay “inconspicuous” but you seriously doubted that was going to stop Jihoon from noticing you. You headed towards the front door before you noticed a minor issue. 

“Uh, I don’t have any shoes…” you pointed out. 

“Ah right,” Hoseok sighs, “you can borrow an old pair of mine, they might not fit but it’s better than nothing. We’ll get you a new pair first thing when we go out.” He finally decides, already on the hunt for a pair. You nodded, and then suddenly felt like you had been struck by lightning. Of course! You only had one pair of shoes back at seventeen, you only ever needed one so there was no need to have more. They would see your shoes by the front door still and know you didn’t leave on purpose! They were going to be looking for you for sure! At least you knew Mingyu would at the very least. You felt like you could explode with joy upon realizing that there was a solid clue as to what had happened to you. Because of this you weren’t that bothered Hoseok's shoes didn’t fit you at all. All that mattered now was to find some surveillance cameras to stand in front of. 

Of course, as soon as the two of you headed outside, Hoseok began taking you through dark alley ways and sketchy back roads that wouldn’t have any sort of camera set up. It’s only natural that someone from the mafia would know how to avoid the cameras on the streets around their own house. You had sort of figured this would happen. However, there had to be at least one functional security system set up at the various stores you would be going too. One of them was bound to pick you up. Also, in order to get to these stores, you had to leave the back alleyways eventually. Sure enough, the two of you emerged from the dark streets and slowly started to enter a more populated area. You kept your eyes out for any sort of camera as well as possible without being too noticeable about it. You figured looking around at a new town was only natural, so you weren’t to lowkey about it in the end. 

“It’s a cute little city, isn’t it?” Hoseok said, clearly noticing you looking around. You only nodded, eyes flicking from him and then back to examine the area around you. 

“I think you’ll like it here. You always talked about how you wanted to live in the city back when we were in school together.” 

“You remember that?” You questioned. You don’t even remember much about what happened back in those days. After all you had been through it didn’t even feel like your past. You felt as if you had always been forced to live in someone else’s house. always trying to earn people’s trust to have a little bit of freedom. Always on the verge of being in a dangerous situation. 

“Of course, I remember, you were special to me even back then.” Hoseok exclaims. You gave him a weak smile back, trying not to show just how uncomfortable you were when you started to think about just how long he’s been stalking you. 

As promised, your first stop was to get new shoes. Thankfully, there were cameras installed in multiple places throughout the store, and you made sure to tilt your cap back just enough to reveal your face without catching Hoseok’s attention. You stared straight into each camera and prayed Jihoon would somehow see. After paying for the shoes, you were starting to think maybe looking into them wasn’t enough. You had seen in some tv show one time that someone had blinked sos to people until someone finally noticed. Thankfully, Morse code for sos was something you had picked up after watching so many true crime shows. You decided the next time you found a camera you’d try that. 

Throughout the entire shopping trip, you were able to find a good handful of cameras. Some were in stores, and some were outside along the roads. You weren’t sure if all of them were actually recording but it was worth trying anyways. Whenever Hoseok wasn’t looking you were blinking sos at them. There had been a terrifying moment when Hoseok had turned around to see you blinking up at the sky weirdly and asked you what you were doing. Thankfully your brain was feeling extra quick today, and you quickly lied that something had gotten in your eye and you were trying to get it out without rubbing it. You even went as far as to ask him if he could see anything just to be on the safe side. Had you not been secretly trying to get a message through to Seventeen, the outing would have been really nice. The city was pretty, and it felt so nice to be able to walk for a long time and get a constant change of scenery. You had really missed your freedom and being able to walk around like this. Your mind drifted to your coffee shop. How was everyone doing there? What would they say if you went back all of the sudden? You missed making all the different drinks and meeting new people every day. Deep down inside you knew there was no point in pining after it, because even if you could free yourself from both Monsta X and Seventeen, your life would never be the same. You weren’t even sure you would be safe if you left the country. Someone would find you eventually, so you were just going to have to make the best of it. And the best of it was with Seventeen.

Wonho paid for the last bit of shopping the two of you had done, and then you started the journey back to the apartment. Please, you thought to yourself, please god let one of those reach seventeen. Hoseok must have noticed your change in attitude as the two of you got closer and closer to the apartment.

“We can go outside a lot more often than when you were with Seventeen. We’re a lot closer to stuff than they are, so it isn’t as big of a journey.” Hoseok pointed out. You faked a very weak smile and nodded a little, your mind somewhere else entirely.

You spent the rest of your day milling about the house. None of the other members tried to talk to you, and you certainly didn’t go out of your way to talk with them. More often than not if they walked into a room that you were in, you would just end up leaving. You could tell they were all on edge because of you. Rightfully so too. You had practically become a member of Seventeen at this point, and they just kidnapped you. It wasn’t going to be received well. If they were all so on edge, why would their boss let you leave? He had to know that Jihoon was good at tracking people, right? Maybe he was purposely trying to have you found, or maybe he was just that confident no one would be able to pinpoint their base, let alone break in. You eventually found yourself in your room and ended up staying there for the rest of the night. You didn’t go down when Hoseok invited you for dinner, and you didn’t eat anything when he brought some food up for you. You had no reason to fake being overly complacent with them anymore. If your camera idea didn’t work, there was nothing else that would work. All that was left to do was to wait and see what came of your hard work. You were just going to have to survive a couple days with them, and then everything would go back to normal…hopefully.

When you woke up the next day, there was no reason for you to get out of bed, so you just laid there. You drifted back in and out of sleep, but the time you were awake was spent looking around the small room or listening to the movements around the house. After about an hour or two of lying there, you got hungry so decided to get up. Your entire journey to the kitchen you didn’t see any of the members, so you ended up helping yourself to a bit of food. You could have sworn you had heard the members walking around earlier this morning, but know the house was silent. You shrugged your shoulders and headed back to your room. You climbed back in bed and grabbed one of the books Hoseok had gotten for you and stayed that way for a long time.

This wasn’t like when you had first been taking by Seventeen. Then you were scared to do anything, scared to even move. You had felt betrayed and had no hope. But now, there was nothing but hope in you. You were positive Mingyu would come bursting through the doors at any minute and come rescue you. Having a reason to be hopeful in this situation really made everything different. You made it through the first time okay because everyone in seventeen was nice to you, or rather, almost everyone. Most importantly you had Joshua there to help. You had no idea how he made it through his kidnapping, without the comforting thought of being rescued or nice people.

Your second full day at Monsta X’s base had almost passed by. You still hadn’t heard anyone else in the house since early morning and were starting to wonder if you should go investigate. If no one was home, who was going to stop you from just walking out the front door? Eventually, you decided you should do just that. First, you checked all the other rooms upstairs. As expected, they were empty. Then you headed downstairs and started checking the other rooms. Absolutely no one was home, unless there was some secret room you didn’t know about. Hesitantly, you headed towards the front door. This was almost too easy, it had to be a trap. You slowly twisted the doorknob, as if at any second it was going to electrocute you. The doorknob twisted, but the door didn’t budge. You adjusted the various locks on the door, but even then, the door didn’t move. Of course, it wasn’t going to be that easy. It’s not like you could just slip out of a window either since you were so high up. You let out a loud grown and began pacing around the room. Within the next five minutes, noise began to come from the door. Someone was outside. All your senses went on red alert. You heart was in your ears and you felt like your breathing was the loudest thing on earth. If it had been one of the members, they would have just unlocked the door and walked in already. Was it someone else? Were you finally being rescued, or was it a third party all together? You didn’t know what to do, so you just stood there like an idiot.

There was more rattling at the door, as if someone was trying to pick the lock. You could make out some murmuring, so it had to be more than one person. The rattling felt like it was going on forever, and then the voices raised.

“Come on, we don’t have time for this! Here, move over.” The voice said. Your heart felt like it was going to explode. You knew that voice. Before you could do or say anything, there was a huge BOOM, and then the door creaked. One more strong BOOM and the door flung open, a part of the lock clattering to the floor. Along with the swinging door came none other than Mingyu. You instantly ran forward and tackled him with a hug, catching him off guard and making him stumbled back slightly. As soon as he realized it was you, if being tackled had bother him, it didn’t anymore. He wrapped around you and clung on as if you were going to disappear into smoke at any second. You were instantly surrounded by his warmth and comforting scent, and all your worries and stress melted away instantly.

 “(Y/n)! Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they? I’m so sorry.” Mingyu gushed in a frenzy of words. You barely understood half of them he was speaking so fast.

“Mingyu, we need to go. Now.” Came Minghao’s voice. Mingyu didn’t wait for an answer from you. His brain was going a mile a minute. All he could think about now was getting you back to safety, he could talk with you after that. Before you knew it, you were behind pulled along at the speed of light by Mingyu, Minghao in front of the two of you, leading the way. The three of you were soon piled into a small car, and then Minghao floored it. Driving through a city can already be nerve wracking, but speeding through a city? Oh no, you were at peak anxiety. On top of that, you were still shell shocked they had found you. Even with all the hope that you had, there was still a part of you that had felt like no one would come to look for you, like the first time. Mingyu was talking in a stern voice with someone over the phone, relaying different bits of information to Minghao. You caught that they knew the current location of everyone in Monsta X and everything was going according to whatever plan they had come up with. All in all, you were safe now, you were going back home.

Mingyu didn’t end the phone call until you were well out of the city, concealed in trees that no doubt concealed the base as well. There was silence for the first time since they had come to get you. You could tell Mingyu had a lot on his mind and judging by the sympathetic looks Minghao was giving him, he could tell too. After what felt like years of driving through the bumpy forest road, you finally come up to the base and Minghao stopped the car. You had never been so happy to see a building before. You were finally starting to feel like everything was right in the world again. The three of you got out of the car, and Minghao headed inside. Mingyu lagged behind, and so did you. He turned to face you with a somber look on his face. Before he could actually say anything, your emotions finally caught up with you, and you lost all control. You burst into uncontrollable tears, in a state Mingyu had never seen you in before. He didn’t know what else to do other than to hug you close to him.

“You found me…” you finally manage to choke out, making Mingyu pull you closer. “I was so worried you would think I ran away and wouldn’t try to look for me.” You sobbed. Mingyu doesn’t say anything, but doesn’t stop hugging you, giving your back small pats until you calm down a little.

“How did you find me?” you ask, pulling away a little to look at his face in the dim light of nightfall.

“Well, first of all, who would run away without their shoes? And that would be thanks to your quick thinking and Jihoon’s skill.” Mingyu smiled as he wiped away a stray tear.

“My camera trick worked!” You smiled.

“We would have found you even without that, but we were able to find you a lot quicker thanks to that. Smart thinking!” Mingyu chuckled, pulling you in for another hug. “He shouldn’t have been able to get you in the first place though. You shouldn’t have had to gone through that.” He said, his voice suddenly becoming pained. He buried his face in the crook of your neck, and there was silence for a moment.

“It’s okay, because in the end you found me.” You said softly. The two of you stayed that way for a while before Mingyu finally straightened up.

“We should probably get inside; the others are all waiting to see you. They were all worried too.” He explained.

           “(Y/n), we’re mafia members, not some lowlife thugs.” Mingyu said with a chuckle.

           “Right…” you rolled your eyes, “of course, how silly of me.” Mingyu gave you a look but said nothing. “Good luck with everything, even though I’m pretty sure this is all illegal. Just come back to me safe, okay?”

           “Well, know that you’ve told me that, I have no choice but to come back unharmed.” Mingyu said with a cheeky smile.

           You and Seungkwan watched as they drove down the long path, and eventually disappeared into the woods, while Jihoon headed straight for his “office” as he called it.

           “Seungkwan, what are you going to be doing here?” you questioned after silence had finally settled into the house.

           “That’s a secret.” He said with a smirk before disappearing into his room as well. Then, you were met with complete and utter silence. A quiet, still, empty silence you hadn’t heard in months. With thirteen boys in the house, there’s never silence, from snoring at night, to yelling during the day, and the constant background music playing, there is never silence. You hadn’t realized just how much you had missed it. The first thing you did? Sleep of course. Because why not. You woke up around lunch, bored out of your mind. At least when the guys were here you had someone to talk with. Sitting around the house like this was excruciating. The once blissful silence had become stifling.

You tried to listen through the walls to Jihoon’s office but heard only the clicking of keys. No sound came from Seungkwan’s room, leaving you alone for sure. You snuck into Mingyu and Wonwoo’s shared room and pulled a few books you had never read before and settled down on the couch to read. Jihoon only came out of the office once, he shuffled into the kitchen, grabbed a donut, and shuffled back to the office, not staying a single word. You heard a few crashes from his office not long after that but didn’t bother to go investigate. If something during the mission went wrong, you didn’t want to be anywhere near the short boy.

You fixed yourself a small, late lunch, then returned to your book. Nothing much seemed to be happening, that is, until late afternoon. All of the sudden, Seungkwan busts out of his room, dressed in a sweater and pulling on his long tan coat before flying out of the front door, hopped on a motorcycle and tore down the road. Curses erupted from Jihoon’s office, and you decided it would be best if you retreated into your room. Hopefully everyone was alright. The thought of Mingyu was constantly floating around in the back of your mind after that. The sun had finally set and the moon shone brightly outside. Your peered out of one of the front windows and saw a small light coming towards the house, which you assumed was Seungkwan coming back. You moved from the window and around the house, cleaning up little things here and there since you had nothing else to do. You threw yourself down on the couch, waiting for Seungkwan to come through the front door. You hoped that he would finally be free and the two of you could talk, you were even willing to cook up some sort of dinner for him if he wanted. He never came however. Instead you were met with creaks in the house

That was a lot more creaking then the house usually made on its own though. Maybe Jihoon had come out of his office for dinner? You stood up from the couch and slowly headed towards the door leading to the rest of the house. You peeked your head around the corner and saw no one. But what you did see made your heart jump into your throat. The front door was open. Wide open… any normal person would have stayed put. If the front door was open and you could hear someone moving around, not good to go blindly walking in. Then again, it’s not like you could call the police if anyone had broken into the house. You didn’t even know where the dang house was, let alone bring the police straight to a mafia base? Not smart.

You snuck further through the door a little further to see if you could catch a glimpse of whoever was in the house if anyone at all. Your heartbeat seemed to be right in your ears, and you felt as if your breathing was now the loudest thing on earth. You tiptoed around, hoping to at least get to the stairs and rush up to Jihoon’s office unnoticed and some backup. After all, someone breaking into a base of a mafia by themselves doesn’t really stand a chance at all. If there were others…now that’s a different story. You had almost made it to the base of the stairs when you heard someone whisper your name. you physically jumped upon hearing it and whipped around to see none other than Hoseok standing there. Your Hoseok…Monsta X’s Wonho, standing in Seventeens base home.

           “What are you doing here?” You whisper, not moving an inch from where you stood.

           “I came to get you.” Hoseok whispered, moving closer towards you.

           “Uhhhh… no thanks?” you whispered. “you need to go, Jihoon’s still here!”

           “I know, that’s why you have to come quick, he won’t notice for a while if we go now.” Hoseok whispered in a rush, already making a move towards the door.

           “Hoseok, I’m not going to leave.” You stated.

           “Why? They kidnapped you, I’ve been planning to come get you today ever since the ball.”

           “Because even if I do get out, I can’t just go back to my normal life. Not now, not ever. I’m stuck like this forever now, there’s no point in running away.”

           “But you could at least come with me and stay with someone you actually know. The other guys in my gang are super nice.” Hoseok explained.

           “But Seventeen is just as nice, I like it here with them. Plus, if you take me, that will just ruin the relationship between the two groups.” You whispered, still worried Jihoon would come down and find Hoseok in his house. “How did you even find me?”

           “I’ve been tracking you for years now. I knew the exact moment you got tangled up with seventeen. I knew when Mingyu kept coming to your café that something was up. I should have pulled you out before anything happened but I was too late. It was a bit harder to find you after seventeen had taken you to their base, but I found you eventually.” Hoseok explained, moving away from the door and closer to you once he realized you weren’t going to follow him.

           “Wow, that’s…that’s really creepy.” Was all you could say.

           “Look, I didn’t come all this way to leave without you, (y/n).” Hoseok said in almost a growl. Now you were starting to get a little freaked out. The Hoseok you knew in high school was so different from the Hoseok you were seeing now. It was starting to scare you. You were contemplating running up the stairs to get to Jihoon, but right as you were about to bolt up the stairs, Hoseok grabbed your arm, yanked you back and clamped his hand over your mouth. You tried to break free but he was to strong compared to you. There was no way you were going to be able to break free. You thrashed around, hoping that your thumbing against the floor would catch Jihoon’s attention, but you had the feeling he had his headphones on to fully focus on their mission. Amidst the horrible feeling of being betrayed by your once close friend and not being able to break free, you were being kidnapped again. You shouldn’t have even been kidnapped once, why did you have to say again. Before you could put up even more of a fight, a cloth was held against your face. You held your breath for as long as possible while you tried to pull your face away from his strong grip, but eventually you had no other choice but to breath into the cloth, leading you to black out not much longer.

           When you woke up you were met with a very familiar feeling. The familiar feeling of waking up sore, confused and very, very unhappy. You had been kidnapped yet again. However, this time you felt a little calmer than before. You didn’t wake up in a car this time around though. You woke up in a bed in a rather small room. You sat up and rubbed your temples, becoming painfully aware of the throbbing headache. You rolled out of the bed and headed towards the door and were surprised when you found the door to be unlocked. You slowly opened the door and poked your head out and glanced around. You could hear people talking downstairs, but other than that there was nothing else. The halls were empty save a few shut doors and big windows. You slowly crept over towards the stairs and peered over the railing, trying to get a better view on where you were. You couldn’t believe you had gotten kidnapped again. Right under Jihoon’s nose as well. Was Mingyu going to think you ran away? Both him and Joshua knew you had been thinking about it… were the going to come look for you? Would they even bother to look for you? It’s not like you were technically part of their gang, in all honesty, you were essentially dead weight to them. Maybe Seungcheol would be glad to finally have you off his hands.

           You stood at the top of the stairs, contemplating what you should do. Should you stay in your room and refuse to come out, try and make a break for a door or window and escape, or just walk down in and see all the members of Monsta X again. Eventually you decided to go downstairs and just see what happens. If you saw a place to get out, you’d go for it. Even if you had no idea where you were, getting out would be a good start. If you didn’t find a way out, maybe you would be able to get in contact with seventeen somehow through one of the members. If these two gangs really were as close as they’ve said before, there should be a way they contact each other. Maybe you would be able to get a message to them and let the seventeen members know who had you. Whether your idea was complete impossible and dumb, it was better than anything. Then again, you thought as you slowly crept down the stairs, if Hoseok could track me so long, seventeen should be able to find me, right? After all, if Jihoon really was as good as tracking and Joshua said he was, shouldn’t he be able to find you? So many thoughts were swirling through your head you hadn’t even realized you’d already made it to the room were all the voices had been coming from. You stood in the frame of the door as you stared at seven boys, who were looking back at you.

           “Oh, you’re up.” Hoseok declared.

           “Yah.”  You replied, all nervousness leaving you and becoming replaced with annoyance. “Take me back home please.”

           “Home?” Hoseok repeated. “How did that place become your home?”

           “Probably the same way this place became your home.” You said, frustrated.

           “Then you should easily be able to adjust to this place and make it your home. You’ll be happier here, honest.” Hoseok declared.

           “Yah right.” You said before turning and heading upstairs. However, something caused you to stop at the foot of the stairs and listen. A little bit after you had left the room you heard hushed voices talking.

           “Wonho, I still don’t think we should keep them here.” A voice said.

           “I know what they mean to you, but maybe you can just let them go back to their normal life? They don’t have to go back to seventeen…” you wanted to stay around and here the rest of their conversation, but upon hearing the scrap of chair legs and footsteps you quickly launched yourself upstairs so no one would find out you had been listening in on their conversation. You sat down on the edge of your bed and ran your fingers through your hair. It’s not like anything bad was happening to you, but god you wanted to leave. You wanted to go home. Not your original home, no, you wanted to go to your home were your family was. Where Seventeen was.

           “You just look really good. We only ever get to see you in baggy clothes, it’s weird to see you dressed so nicely.” He stated.

           “If you hadn’t trapped me here you could have seen me in some cuter clothes yah know.” You sang, teasingly punching his arm.

           “Well I mean it was either this or death, so I’d say I picked right.” Mingyu laughed, walking towards the door. You puffed out one of your cheeks and scowled, not at all amused by Mingyu’s comment, but reluctantly followed him out the door.

           Dang it was nice to walk in the grass. You never thought you’d miss it. Even the little walk between the house to the car in the grass was enough to make your heart beat faster. You were so tempted to just lay down in the grass right then and there. To slip off your heels and let your feet feel the grass like you’d do every now and then, but alas, that wouldn’t fly with Seungcheol. Between the time you had been taken and now, the pretty, healthy colors of summer had faded away, and even the crisp reds and oranges of autumn were starting to turn into the dull browns and disappear into the all to dead winter. The air was crisp and far less humid than how it had been the day you had walked to the small shop of yours. It made you sad that you had missed one of the most beautiful seasons, but as it was dusk already and the dark blue of the night was starting to swallow up what little color there was, it would have been pointless to try and stay.

           After all the guys had climbed into the two vans, you hiked up your big ball gown and clambered into the car, not caring at all about being graceful and lady like, like one should be in a fancy dress of the likes you were wearing. You rolled your eyes as you heard Junhui snicker at you from the back seat, obviously amused by your struggled. By the time you had made sure your dress wasn’t in the track of the door, and had actually closed the door, everyone was situated and ready to go. You buckled up as the car slowly rolled forward and down the bumpy path that lead into a thick wood.

           You took so many twist and turns that with that, along with the darkness, you had no idea how to get back to seventeen’s base. They sure had hidden their base well. They guys talked among themselves as Mingyu drove, following Seungcheol’s van in front of him. You had sat diagonal to the driver’s seat, and every now and then you would catch Mingyu’s eyes looking at you through the rear-view mirror, and then quickly dart away as his eyes crossed with yours. You smiled and shook your head after it happened a few times. He really was just one big puppy. Honestly you had to admit, all the feelings you had for Mingyu that you worked so hard to suppress had bubbled up again, and you had made no attempt to stop them. The more time you spent with Mingyu, the more you realized that the personality he had shown you at the little shop was his true personality, the person you had fallen so hard for. Along with this happy, extroverted personality however, came a lot more. But with each passing day you found yourself coming to love those parts of him too. As much as you hated to admit, Mingyu had your heart. But no one was going to hear those words come out of your mouth for a long, long time, or at all if you could help it.

           When Mingyu saw the soft smile spread across your face, the same soft smile that he had seen so often at the shop, his heart felt like it would explode. He knew that taking you out of the base would make you happy, but he didn’t think it would bring you this much genuine joy. Little did he know that some of his joy was simply because he was with you. (How cliché) you thought, (the captive falls in love with the kidnapper, what is this, some sappy drama?) but you couldn’t help but smile.

           The drive itself wasn’t long, but your excitement made it feel like ages. You loved being able to look out the car window again, even if it was tinted beyond anything normal. Seeing the sprawling country side and trees, and the occasional car filled you with the most simply of joys. The more you drove the closer to the city you got, and the brighter the lots got. By the time you arrived you could barely keep yourself together. You had waited so long for this moment, and now it was finally time.

           “So, the Monsta X gang is nice right? They’re not like the group that got josh right?” you whispered to Hansol as you stood next to him in the parking garage. Hansol nodded.

           “We wouldn’t have brought you along if they weren’t nice. I think you’ll like them, Seventeen and Monsta X are quite close after all.”

           “By the way, how many other gangs will be here?” you asked.

           “Hm,” Hansol thought, “A good amount, maybe around fifteen? Along with being a social event, a lot of business goes down here too, so it’s a pretty important event to get too.” You nodded as Hansol explained a little further into detail about the ball as more of the members climbed out of the car and fixed their suits. Jihoon looked down at his watch and grunted.

           “Right on time.” He declared, as he and Seungcheol lead the way towards the door. You fell in place beside Mingyu, happy that you could stand beside him.

           Even after everything everyone had told you, the shock you received after entering the building was unlike any other. Even from the outside of the building you could tell it was going to be breath taking inside. Upon walking into the main ball room, you were meet with tall ceilings with huge crystal chandlers hanging from them, casting a sparkly warm glow over the just as shinny floor. You weren’t even aware there were buildings like this in the area. Having such a fancy building like this seemed to be a thing of the past to you, but apparently it wasn’t.

           “Do all gangs have a place like this?” you whispered to Minghao as the two of you walked further into the busy room.

           “Not all of them are as fancy as this one, but we do all sort of have something like this. When we meet up with other gangs we can’t have them coming to our base after all. All gangs under Starship use this as their meeting place.” Minghao explained. You nodded, your mind wandering off for a few seconds, wondering if the Pledis groups had a building like this. As expected, the ball room was already full of people. You had expected it to be filled with sketchy looking buff dudes with a bunch of scares and tattoo’s like it was often depicted in books and movies. Even after meeting Seventeen and the other Pledis gangs, who all looked very sweet and kind, you still expected the others to look different. However, you were totally wrong. Everyone looked similar to the Pledis gangs.  

           You followed along with the rest of the gang, sneaking glances at the many other well-dressed people, still in total shock. Thank goodness Nana had helped you pick out the dress. You weren’t overdressed or underdressed. You blended in perfectly, and the dark color helped you mix in with everyone else even better.

           “We should go find Monsta X.” Mingyu said as he came to stand next to you. Seungcheol glanced back at the two of you and gave Mingyu a look that you couldn’t place. Mingyu scowled a bit.

           “What’s with the look boss? They are the ones hosting it after all, whether we wanted to or not we’d have to meet with the eventually.” Mingyu said, puffing out cheek. Seungcheol pressed his lips together in a tight line while the other members looked at him, waiting for a command. Seungcheol glanced over at you and quickly looked away, but not fast enough to avoid catching your attention, and Mingyu’s at that. You looked at Mingyu to see if he caught Seungcheol’s look as well, and found Mingyu was already searching for your eyes.

           “If we see them, then we can talk with them. As for right now let’s just go find our table, I’m sure they’re busy right now.” Seungcheol decided, already on the move.

           “I thought we had come here because boss wanted to talk something over with Monsta X…” you heard Seokmin whisper to Jihoon, who only gave him a shrug in response. You looked back and Mingyu, who looked just as confused as you were feeling. Why was Seungcheol so hesitant to introduce you to Monsta X. It’s not like they were some crazy group that killed people left and right. Everything you had heard about Monsta X made them sound exactly like Seventeen. Seventeen’s table (or rather two tables) sat right next to Pristin’s table, so you were happy to have friends nearby. As the night went on, you only had more fun. You weren’t sure if the night was actual as fun for everyone else, or if it was just because it was the first time you had been out of seventeens base since they had gotten you. During the dinner Junhui had pointed out EXO, sitting across the ballroom, totally unaware of Joshua and the rest of Seventeen. Thankfully Joshua had landed in the sit with his back towards them, and you and the other members had no intentions of telling him about them.

           After the dinner, the tables were cleared and the floor opened up for dancing. Soft music filled the grand hall, and most people took to the dance floor. On the outside it seemed like a simple party, but standing next to Junhui and Minghao made you realized it was much more than that. They’d point out a couple dancing together and it explain how each were heads of a group and most likely making some type of alliance or another. Everyone was here to make deals and alliances, no one was actually there for fun.

           “It’s all business here to be honest.” Junhui said with the shrug of his shoulder. “Boss came here to do business, but I don’t know why he hasn’t sought out Shownu yet…”

           “He seems nervous about something.” You mused, staring blankly out into the dance floor, watching all the girl’s long dresses swoosh around with each movement.

           “Oh hey!” Minghao explained, looking behind you, “they finally decided to show up.” He laughed. You turned around to see seven very attractive guys walking towards you, all sporting a suit flawlessly.

           “wow…” was all you could manage to say as you watched them exchange handshakes with the rest of seventeen. Minghao and Junhui left your side to greet them, leaving you to stand awkwardly on the outside of the circle of people. A guy with prettiest face you’d ever seen looked over Junhui’s shoulder and straight at you and raised one of his eyebrows.

           “Who’s this?” He questioned, gesturing towards you. Junhui stepped to the side and gestured for you to step forward. You slowly made your way further into the circle of people, nervous looking around at the seven new faces. Your eyes landed on someone with very bright red hair and you almost gasped out loud. It couldn’t be… was that Hoseok? The Hoseok that you had gone to school with all those years ago? The two of you locked eyes and he smiled. Yup, that was diffidently Hoseok, no one else would have such a beautiful smile like his.

           “Hey,” he said, walking towards you, totally unfazed, “It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

“So, I lived a pretty well-off childhood. I spent most of it with my mom, because my dad was always in and out of the house on his so called ‘business trips.’ Only later did I find out that he was actually a part of a gang, and actually held a pretty high up position in that gang. He’d managed to keep it well hidden from me, so well hidden that even after they got me, I didn’t know what was going on. Apparently, my dad rubbed the wrong group the wrong way, and to retaliate they came after me.

“I was on my way to school one day when this group of people showed up and started chasing me. I didn’t even know what was going on but I just ran for my life. I was able to outrun them for a little, but well, as you can tell I didn’t get all the way fast enough. They ended up cornering me and then managed to knocking me unconscious, and before I knew it I was being held hostage at the base camp of one of the most infamous gangs to this day. At the time however they were still growing, but they were big enough to seriously give my dad some issues. Honestly, I’m not sure how hard my dad tried to get me back, I’ve not heard or seen him since that day they pulled me off the street.

“My living conditions were almost a hundred times worse than yours. Rather than just letting me adjust in with their daily life like we have for you, they just threw me in one of the empty rooms and almost never let me out. And if they did let me out, it never ended up being a plus for me. I’d usually end up going back to that room in worse condition then when I left. I somehow managed to stay alive for maybe a year? Time was never a concept in that room for me. I didn’t even have a window, let alone a clock. When one of the gang members would get extremely bored they’d come and mess around with me, but after a while I finally just stopped responding to everything, partly from lack of energy, partly because I simply didn’t care anymore, they soon lost interest in that. Thankfully the oldest member of the gang was decent enough to make sure I would at least get one meal a day, but he never bothered to stop any of the other guys from beating me up just for their amusement. However, I think once they realized that my dad wasn’t going to risk his entire gang just for to get me back, they soon forgot about me, and the meals became less and less.

“On top of all this, I tried to escape a few times, which only pissed them off more. I’m surprised they didn’t just kill me off after the second time I tried to run off. I never did make it very far… The furthest was to the front lawn, but the base was located somewhere in the middle of the woods, so even if I did make it away from them, I wouldn’t have the strength to travel all the way through the woods and get help. No matter what I was going to do, I was going to end up dead. I had pretty much accepted my fate when Jeonghan suddenly showed up.

“Apparently one of the members from the gang that had captured me was feeling extra blind that day and thought Jeonghan was a member from one of their branch groups when he found Jeonghan snooping around their base. Thanks to that, Jeonghan was able to use it to his advantage and get further into their base. He never did tell me what he was doing at their base, but when he suddenly slipped into my dark room and realized I was there, barely holding on, his entire mission changed. Honestly, I barely even remember what happened that night. Jeonghan had to carry me out on his back, and I remember hearing gunshots, so we must have just barely escaped. Jeonghan brought me back here, and I basically went into captivity, part two, but this time around was much nicer. Naturally Seungcheol had the same reaction as when Mingyu brought you. The only difference was he thought that I wasn’t going to last very long given the state I arrived in, and let me stay. Ah, I had so many broken bones and was so malnourished it took me so long to get back up to normal health, even now I still have some health issues.

“Of course, similar to what you’re experiencing right now, adapting to this style of living took a while. I never wanted to become part of a gang. I just wanted to get back to my normal life and go to college and get a decent job. I guess it was just meant to be, seeing as how my dad was already in this line of work…There were a lot of trust issues between both me and Seventeen. For the longest time I only ever talked with Jeonghan, and very little at that. To me, it was going from one captor to another, but to Jeonghan, he had saved someone. Because we had such different views on the situation it caused a lot of issues between everyone. I guess that’s how you and Mingyu are right now… It took a good while for me to get to trust everyone, and there were some pretty intense after effects of living as a captive that for so long. Jeonghan would stay up with me all the nights I couldn’t sleep because of the nightmares, and eventually, very slowly, I’ve made it to where I am now.” Joshua said, his clementine long forgotten on the table in front of him. He suddenly laughed. “Honestly when I first saw Jeonghan standing over me that night, I thought he was an angel and I had finally died. In a way I guess he was a sort of angel...”

           You were at a complete loss for words. His story gave you a whole new perspective on life. He had been through hell and back and had never once complained about it to you. He barely even showed that he had once been held captive like that. He seemed to fit in so well you had never expected something like this. No wonder none of the other members wanted to talk about what had happened. You couldn’t imagine what they would have done when Jeonghan showed up with Joshua looking like that.

           “It’s not too bad though, at least I gained twelve good friends from the whole ordeal, and I can always be here for you when you need it. I know it’s not easy to go through something like this.” He said, gesturing vaguely to the entire house. You opened your mouth to respond but nothing came out. Finally, you were able to form some words.

           “Is that group that did that to you still out there?” you questioned. Joshua ran his fingers through his hair.

           “Yah, god, the first time I ran into them after that I thought the world was going to break open and swallow me. I felt so panicked and sick to my stomach I almost blacked out. Thank god I was with the other members then. It’s been a good few years since that all went down, and since then the two groups have been able to smooth things down enough that we can be civil in public together and not start any petty fights like we used too, but yeah, they’re still out there. And still one of the more powerful groups. I don’t think I could ever be alone with anyone from that group however, it would end badly.”

You didn’t know what to say. The fact that the group that had abused and almost killed someone so nice and gentle as Joshua was still out there made your blood boil. Before you could think of something to say you noticed Joshua’s hands shaking ever so slightly as he reached for a piece of the clementine, and you couldn’t help but feel guilty. You’d made him relive one of the worst memories of his life. Without thinking you reached across the table and grabbed his hands in yours.

           “I’m glad I got to meet you Joshua, and I’m glad you’re doing better now. I’m sorry I made you relive all of that.” you said softly. Joshua smiled, his eyes twinkling brighter than the stars that filled the night sky outside.

           “How about we watch a movie to take our minds off everything? We might as well enjoy our time while out ‘captors’ aren’t awake.” he said with a wink, emphasizing captors. In the end, you realized the both of you were being held by seventeen against your will. Sure, they might be giving more freedom to Joshua then they were to you, but in the end,  you were both “prisoners” there. It crossed your mind for a moment to ask whether Joshua had ever tried to leave svt, but before you could give it anymore thought Joshua beckoned you towards the living room with the tv, heading straight for the drawer where they kept all the movies.

           The next morning you woke up to loud cooing from a few of the other members. When your eyes finally fluttered open and adjusted against the harsh light of the sun you realized that you were still sitting on the couch. Out of exhaustion, both physically and mentally for the two of you, you had both managed to fall asleep halfway through the movie. Somehow along the night, the tv was turned off and the two of you had obtained blankets, and settled down onto the couch, to tried to go back up to your own rooms. It only then occurred to you that you had full on snuggled up against Joshua, who still sat propped up against the back of the couch. He too was just coming back to his senses. You quickly launched yourself away from him, nearly falling off the couch in the process. Leaning against the door frame, staring daggers into both you and Joshua stood Mingyu, his face stone cold. Joshua quickly tried to explain, but Mingyu turned on his heels and walked away before Joshua could even get a full sentence out.  

           A wave of guilt washed over you the second his glance crossed yours as he turned to walk away. It’s not like you had done anything wrong though, did you really need to feel guilty and explain yourself to him? You didn’t belong to him so what did it matter what you did, all you did was fall asleep…

           Regardless of how you felt about the situation, the guilt was still very much present. Mingyu was in a sour mood the entire morning, and Joshua seemed to be feeling just as guilty as you. The awkward air that filled the room at breakfast was stifling. You sat in your seat that had been pulled up next to Hansol and across from Chan. There wasn’t much room there, but it was better than sitting at the other end of the table, staring straight down the table at Seungcheol. You barely had an appetite, but continued to eat anyways, not wanting to show that it had affected you in any way. The breakfast started off extremely quiet, but when Seokmin finally broke the tension everyone started up in the conversation, soon forgetting about the events from earlier that morning. That is all, except Mingyu.

           After breakfast, you helped Chan with all the dishes before heading upstairs to take a shower. Upon finding the shower already being used, you made your way to your room and threw yourself down on the bed. Only a few minutes later you heard your door open. You slowly lifted your head to see who it was, not really bothering to move much. That was, until you realized Mingyu had just walked into your room. You slowly sat up, folding your legs in front of you as you watched him walk closer towards you.

           “So, do you still want to go to this ball? I doubt Joshua will be going…” Mingyu asked, his words laced with spite.

           “Why would Joshua not go?” you asked back, completely ignoring his harsh tone.

           “Exo’s going to be there.” He replied, and once he was you puzzled look he explained further. “The group that got him.” You nodded, now realizing that Josh had never even mentioned the name of the group.

           “I mean, whether Joshua goes or not doesn’t really bother me, I just really want to get out of this house even if it’s just for a few minutes.” You explained, shrugging your shoulders. There was a moment of silence before you finally spoke up again.

           “Anyways, Mingyu about this morning…” you started, only to be cut off by Mingyu himself.

           “Joshua already told me everything.” He said, a little less harsh than the past few times.

           “So, then you know nothing happened, would you stop being all harsh to me?” you asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Mingyu sighed and sat down next to you on the bed.

           “I’m sorry, it just bothers me that I didn’t know you couldn’t sleep well at night…” he finally sighed.

           “It’s fine. Honestly, I thought I would run into you more than anyone else, especially Joshua, but it does make sense. After all he’s been in the same place as me, a lot worse actually. He would know what to expect from me the most, probably even more than I do myself.” Mingyu nodded. “Don’t go bringing your frustration out on Joshua though, he didn’t do anything wrong. In the end, I’m the one that made him come downstairs, and I made him tell me about what happened back then. We both got so emotional last night that we wouldn’t have been able to sleep if we didn’t do something like watch a movie.” You pointed out. Mingyu nodded once more before standing up.

           “I really do want to go to this ball though, Mingyu. I want to meet these Monsta X people too since Seventeen is always spending so much time with them. They must be nice people too.” You said, following him out of your room.

           “We’ll just have to ask the boss than.” Mingyu said with a smile.