I tried to message Kara.
Over and over, only to be ignored.
Surely she was okay.
She was probably busy looking after Gabs.
But still.
It never took her more than an hour to respond.
By now, it had been three.

"Ji Woo, have you heard from Gabs or Kara?" I asked.
She poked her head from her room, lipstick and mirror in hand.
"No, I haven't- oh, I've got a date with Tae tonight, so you'll have to cook- or I could order food for you!" She asked.
"I know how to cook, Ji! Seriously, don't worry about me, and go and have fun!" I called, smiling towards her.
Once her head vanished, that smile faded.
I still wasn't comfortable about how much time she spent with Taehyung.

Especially since I was almost certain he was a member of BTS.
A mafia gang.
One of which I would imagine would do anything to get what they like.
If what they wanted had something to do with me, all they had to do was get to her.
Although, surely they weren't like that.
Surely they had morals, and would leave her alone.

But I knew deep down they didn't care.
I was sure Taehyungs love for Ji Woo was a whole ruse.
Well, about 50% sure.
He had slept with her, after all.
You can't tell me that was all part of the act.
But, who knows.

"Namjoon! The schools unregistered Kara as a student- that must mean they're taking her in from the mission. Something must be happening." Jin yelled, as he scanned through school records.
That was his job, accessing information.
Not the most useful, really, but effective when necessary.

"Do you think it's because of Jimin? She was going to meet with Y/N today. Maybe they don't want her to say anything." Namjoon responded.

"Maybe it's so I can't spoil anything more." Jimin chuckled.
"If they've placed her under say, house arrest, I reckon she'll get bored quickly.. we could always help her escape.. you know, and stay here.." Jungkook suggested.
"Now how would that work? She hates Jimin, and is already suspicious of us and everything we say. She'd probably think we're kidnapping her again." Yoongi scoffed.
"Plus it could cause problems with Stray Kids.. unless they don't know. We make it look like she escaped on her own." JHope said.
"Whatever we do, let's give it some time. We need to see if she is under house arrest- problem is, we don't have anyone to tell us. I doubt Y/N or Ji Woo will know, and it's not like Stray Kids will tell us." Namjoon sighed.
"We could always just message Kara herself and see..? She might refuse to talk to us, though." Jimin said.
"If she has our contacts saved, she'll message us when she's ready." Yoongi said. "Trust me on that."

As soon as Kara had gone inside, she hid in her room.
It was all utter bullshit.
She kept clawing at the collar, her nails rough, scratching at her skin, leaving blood-red stains on her neck, and on her clothes.
It wouldn't budge.
A knock rang from her door.
She rolled over, facing the wall, as Felix poked his head inside.
"Hey.. dinners on the table if you're hungry. It's your favourite!" He smiled.
She lay there in silence.
She didn't want to talk to Felix. He was just as adamant to keep her trapped.
To keep her imprisoned.

He wandered further inside her room, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"The hospital called. She woke up. Lack of nutrition, they blame was the main reason. She hit her head earlier, trying to reach to the top of the pantry for food, then fell back, and hit her head on the corner of the table. Then she was out. She only stayed unconscious for so long because she hasn't been eating properly. Chan's going to scold her when she comes back. I imagine you'd laugh at her, she'll tell the story as the victim, but really, she could've asked someone else to grab food for her." Felix chuckled.
Kara rolled over, looking to Felix.

"If you're not helping me get this dog collar off, go away." She grumbled.
Felix put his hand near her neck.
"Oh my god Kara.. what have you done.. you're bleeding so much." He mumbled, using his other hand to pull her up, into a half hug, as he pushed her hair aside, clicking the collar undone.
"Stay here, okay?" Felix said, rushing off.
She picked the open collar up.
There was a number combination on the back.
It had reset back to 0000 when he had put it down.
Of course, it wouldn't be that easy.
Bang Chan wouldn't have made it some random number.
Her birthday, perhaps.
She would have to try it later, when no one was around.

Felix came back, medical box in hand.
"Oi, that's my medical stuff." She scoffed.
"Well, it's my med kit now." He chuckled, grabbing out a wipe, moving her hair, his face close to hers.
As mad as she was with him, she couldn't help herself from admiring his features, his freckles, and his beautiful eyes.
But that all felt weird to her to be feeling. Felix was like a brother, really.
But maybe she wanted something else.

He wiped around her neck, rubbing most of the blood off, getting alcohol on a towel.
"This is going to sting.." he whispered, as he placed the towels on the open scratches.
"Fuck!" She grumbled, wincing.
"Warned you." Felix said, finishing cleaning.
He got a bandage, wrapping it gently around, before he placed the collar back on, with a sigh.

"Tell me when it gets too irritating anytime through the night, and I'll come fix it." He said, to which she nodded, as he brushed her hair behind her ear.
"Do you want to know a secret?" Felix asked, leaning in close.
"What..?" Kara asked.
His breath was warm against her chilled neck.
He poked her gently on the nose.
"Nothing, I just wanted to say you're pretty." He giggled, packing his box up, and rushing off.
Kara tapped her nose.
"Pretty? I wouldn't say that.." she mumbled.

Another half hour later, Hyunjin came in, plate in hand.
"Karaaaaa. I brought you dinnerrrr. I heated it up just now, so it should be warm-ish. Enjoy!" He smiled, placing it on her bedside table, starting to shuffle off.
Kara grabbed his wrist.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" She asked.
"Not as pretty as me." Hyunjin scoffed.
Kara turned away, letting him go.

"No I mean- Kara, you are very pretty. What's this about though?" He asked, grabbing her hand, rubbing circles.

"I don't know.. I just feel like shit. I'm covered in scars, now I'm stuck here.. Felix called me pretty earlier but I think he was just trying to cheer me up." She explained with a sigh.

"Maybe he was just being a big flirt, he is like- oh shit never mind." Hyunjin started, clapping his hand over his mouth.
"This is exactly why I don't trust you with my secrets." Kara chuckled dryly.
"Take the food back to the fridge. I'm not hungry."
"Bang Chan says you have to eat." Hyunjin frowned.

"He can come and talk to me himself. I'm angry with him for condoning this order from the boss." She scoffed.
"I know.. it's only going to be for a little while, okay?"

A week passed by.
No Kara.
Originally I didn't want to ask, but it was bugging me.

"So, uh, Jeongin, how come Kara isn't here?" I asked.
"Something important came up in Australia. She's meant to be there for like the next year or something. She was very secretive about it. Bang Chan knows though, he's been like sworn to secrecy, and hasn't told us a thing." Jeongin whined.

"That's because you can keep your mouth shut as long as a cow can." Seungmin scoffed.
"How long is that?" Jeongin asked.
"Like one second. They're always eating. Dumbass." Seungmin said, earning him a slap on the shoulder.
Seungmin glared at him.
"Sorry.." Jeongin mumbled, looking down at his food.
For the first time in a week, I saw Gabs wander through the cafeteria, coming to sit with us.
"She's back!" I said.
Gabs glared. "Don't make a big deal of it. I had some medical check ups, then I went to visit Kara in Australia quickly because she needed help, now I'm back. No big deal." Gabs explained quickly, almost automatically digging into her food.
"Aish Gabs, eat your greens first." Jisung said, pushing her salad towards her.

"No, I'm good, thank you." She scoffed.
"I'll eat it if I have the room later."

"You have like a three course meal here, I don't think you will have the room, just saying." Felix said, eyeing her plate.

"Don't doubt me and my black hole of a stomach, thank you." Gabs said.
"You sound so proud of that." Hyunjin said, his expression clearly disgusted.
"Well, I am. You're just jealous you don't look as good as me." She chuckled, before ignoring the group, and eating her food once more.

"So Kara's really going to be gone a year?" I asked.
"Apparently so, but who knows. Could be less, could be more. We'll see." Hyunjin shrugged.

"Could you tell her to message me? It's worrying me."
"She's really busy, but we could try." Felix responded, sipping his iced tea.

Jimin came over.
"Ah it really does suck that Kara's gone. Now I can't shoot my shot. She sure is a lovely girl." Jimin smiled.
"She wouldn't be interested in you, anyway." Felix scoffed, glaring him down.
"I believe she would be. I would say I'm very.. freeing." Jimin chuckled.
Hyunjin rolled his eyes. "Good for you, buddy, but I believe you weren't originally included in the conversation, so back off." He snorted.
Jimin frowned, before backing off back to his table.

"Hannieeee, I want to ask you something." Gabs said, bringing her face closer to his.
"Mhm??" He asked, bringing his face closer to hers, as well.
"I was thinking of asking this special someone out.. I don't know if they like me though.. I don't want to make things awkward, you know!" She said, pouting slightly.
"If you're close friends, I doubt things will be awkward if they say no. It'll just be a small laugh and it'll be over and done with! I think you should ask them out!" Jisung smiled.
Him and Gabs had been so close, for so long.
He always felt butterflies around her.
Maybe, she felt the same.
Maybe, finally, he could stop being so awkward, and they could finally go out together.

But the thing is, there was still seven other boys it could be.

As selfish as it was, he didn't want it to be anyone else.
That would break his heart.