TW: domestic violence, anxiety, anger, mentions of online harassment and stalking
Chapter Text
Cleo leaned her forehead against the window on the plane. It had been late by the time she convinced the boys she needed to be alone for a bit. A quick email to the assistant who had booked her flights was all it took. She assumed the speediness was thanks to Chul, he had to be happy to see her gone. Rain beaded on the outside of the window and she allowed herself a single tear as the plane took off.
Chan had only been mildly concerned when he received no answer at Cleo's door that morning. He figured she needed the sleep after the excitement of the past few days. It was lunchtime before he started to become worried. Felix and Han both asked if he'd seen her yet, Felix had tried to bring her coffee but also received no answer. Breaking down, Chan requested another key to her room from the front desk and the three of them met outside her door. When there was still no response to their knocking they let themselves inside. They were greeted with an empty room.
Allie picked Cleo up from the airport. The ride back to her apartment was mostly silent after Cleo had given her the basic run down of everything that had happened. Allie had expressed appropriate outrage at Chul's words and how the media had treated Cleo, but she couldn't understand why Cleo was running.
"Look Allie, there's no point in pretending I was anything more than a novelty to them. It was a fun few days, but it didn't mean anything to them. And if me being there is going to cause issues with their manager or the public then all I'm doing is hurting them."
The look on Cleo's face had Allie holding her tongue. From what Cleo had described of her interactions with Chan, she knew feelings ran deeper than Cleo was willing to admit. As they arrived at Cleo's apartment, Allie offered to help carry her luggage up the three flights of stairs. Cleo declined, wanting to be alone.
Stray Kids were headed to Japan for the next leg of their tour. Cleo's unexpected departure had affected them more than they cared to admit. Felix was devastated and clung to Hyunjin more than usual. Han was more subdued than usual, preferring to fade into the background more often than not. Chan tried not to let his feelings show to the rest of the group, but the members could tell he was on edge. When not performing he was nearly always locked in his hotel room, refusing invites to participate in games or eat meals with them.
If anyone brought up Cleo, Chan would leave the room. This particularly distressed Felix who felt the need to dissect what had happened and if he'd done anything wrong to drive her away. Despite Hyunjin's reassurances, Felix felt like Chan blamed him. He'd started sleeping with Hyunjin and I.N. instead of with Chan and the fact that Chan didn't ask after him just confirmed his suspicions.
When Cleo arrived home from work she was greeted by a bouquet of roses on her welcome mat. The card was blank, but she couldn't shake the chill that settled over her as she picked them up. She whipped around, convinced someone was watching her but saw only the empty stairwell of her apartment building. Gripping her keys tightly between her fingers she quickly grabbed the bouquet and tossed it down the trash chute before shutting herself in her apartment and locking the door.
Chul released a statement regarding the "Stray Kids Mystery Girl",
We take full responsibility for the security breach at the Seoul concert. The woman pictured in the media was an overzealous fan that took advantage of the situation to get close to Han. Our team has reviewed the incident and has made steps to prevent future accidents.
Chan refused to leave his room that night.
Every day felt the same since coming home from Seoul. Cleo went to work and came home. She tried a few times to hang out with Allie and Katie, but they asked too many questions about her trip. The media's stance had shifted to a sympathetic one towards Stray Kids after their official statement. The shift of the blame towards her had renewed the public's interest in identifying her. Despite the growing threats she faced on social media, Cleo welcomed the change in public opinion. Fans were supporting the boys and demanding enhanced safety measures.
It took two weeks for fans to identify Cleo as the mystery woman.
Stray Kids are in Jakarta when Han has another panic attack. A slight stage malfunction lead to a light falling and breaking while the group was on stage. Although the accident posed no immediate danger to the members, Han found himself crouched on stage and frozen in place. After trying to gently lead him away, Minho resorted to picking him up and carrying him off stage. Together they ran through calming techniques until the stage was cleaned and they were given the green light to continue with the performance.
Chan went looking for someone to take responsibility for the accident. The anger radiating from him was enough to warn the members out of his path.
Cleo deleted her social media accounts. That same day she was called into Maria's office and asked to take a leave of absence. The hospital had been receiving hundreds of calls calling for her to be fired and HR thought this was the best course of action.
When she arrived home, it was to a poorly wrapped package on her apartment doorstep. Numb, she scooped it up and deposited it on the kitchen counter. After changing out of her scrubs and taking a shower, Cleo poured a glass of wine and opened the package. Inside was a cut-up bouquet of roses. The petals were dead and dried.
Cleo checked the wrapping, there was no address written on the outside of the package. Disturbed, she looked through the peephole of her door. Seeing the hallway was empty she quickly padded to the trash chute and shoved the box inside. Back in her apartment she shut off the lights and curled up on the couch with her glass of wine. She didn't bother turning the TV on and stared at the wall.
Staff began separating Felix and Hyunjin. They felt the two were behaving too "close" on camera and fan speculation was running wild. Felix waited for Chan to intervene, he knew how important Hyunjin was to Felix. Instead Chan was nowhere to be found. It felt like everyone Felix cared about was leaving him. He became more subdued in front of cameras. Hyunjin and him continued to behave normally when at the hotel but Felix hated having to pretend.
Felix and Han tried to find Cleo on social media, thinking they could convince her to come back. None of the profiles matched and searching her name only brought up horrible Twitter threads or articles. Chul still refused to give them her contact information, stating that it was "for the best". The sole source of optimism for Felix was the knowledge that both he and Chan had programmed their numbers into her phone, holding onto the hope that she might reach out.
Cleo searched for things to fill her days. She'd always enjoyed running but now it became nearly an obsession. She ran for miles each day, skipping past the songs that used to bring her the most joy. As she rounded a corner she was forced to do a doubletake. The man loitering across the street that looks like⦠She turned around and sprinted back to her apartment. Heart racing, she slammed the door and locked it behind her.
It couldn't be Jason. She reminded herself. He didn't know where she lived.
Minho had enough. He waited for Han to fall asleep before extricating himself from bed and crossing the hall to Chan's room. There was no answer to his knocking, but he wasn't giving up so easily.
"You might as well answer, I can stay here all night"
It took five more minutes of knocking before Chan answered the door. He didn't bother inviting Minho in and just left the door open behind him as he returned to his bed. Chan collapsed on the bed while Minho took the chair next to it. Minho waited for Chan to speak first.
"What do you want?"
"I want you to be our leader again. They need you. Felix needs you."
Chan didn't say anything.
After a prolonged silence, Minho continued, his gaze unwavering as he addressed Chan, "They're falling apart without you, Chan. Felix is struggling, and the group needs the stability you provide as their leader."
Chan sighed, his exhaustion obvious, "I just can't get past how she was treated. How I let her be treated. It's been so long since I felt a connection with someone like I felt with her and I failed her."
Minho nodded understandingly. "Take the time you need, but don't shut us out completely. We're a team, and we need you with us. We're all here for you, not just when things are good, but also when they get tough."
Chan raised his eyes, meeting Minho's gaze, "I know I haven't been myself. I'll try better. I just don't know how to make things right"
"You find her", Minho spoke like this was the most obvious thing in the world.
Chan shook his head, "she has my number. If she wanted to be found she would. And after I've let the media drag her reputation I don't think she would ever want to see me again. Did you see her job released a statement that she'd been placed on leave? That's all my fault."
"You know as well as I do that she doesn't see it that way. The statement was practically her idea. She always cared more about protecting us than herself."
Chan ran a hand through his hair, contemplating Minho's words. "You really think she would want to hear from me after everything?"
Minho nodded. "You won't know unless you try. And remember, you're not alone in this. We're here for you, just as we've always been."
The two friends sat in the dimly lit room, the silence broken only by the hum of thoughts circulating in their minds. As the night went on, their conversation weighed heavily on Chan, knowing that the path to redemption required confronting not only his own feelings but also reaching out to the person who seemed to have slipped away.
-
Cleo hadn't been running for over a week. Despite her logical side repeating that Jason couldn't have possibly found her, she hadn't heard from him in weeks. Something nagged at the back of her mind though. Who had sent the flowers? At the time she'd assumed they'd been from a crazed Stray Kids fan but now she wasn't so sure.
Katie chose that moment to call and invite her over for movie night. When Cleo hesitated, she began to lay the guilt on thick.
"It's been days since we've seen you Cleo. I know things are hard because of social media or whatever but we're here for you! You can't stay hidden in your apartment forever."
Cleo sighed, contemplating whether to share her suspicions with Katie. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately. I'm not sure if I'm up for movie night."
Katie, sensing Cleo's hesitation, pressed gently, "Is something bothering you? You know you can talk to us, right?"
Cleo hesitated before deciding to confide in her friend. "I've been having this weird feeling lately, like someone's been watching me. And the other day, I found roses torn up on my doorstep. It's probably nothing, but it's been making me paranoid
Katie's tone shifted to one of genuine concern. "Roses? That's creepy. Do you think it could be Jason?"
"I don't see how. He's been quiet for so long. Why would he choose now?", Cleo decided not to tell Katie that she thought she'd seen him the other day. It could have been anyone and there was no use scaring her friend.
"You know what, you're right. I'll be over in 20 minutes I just have to change."
"Oh, thank god, I thought I'd have to drag you out. I've got wine and pizza waiting!"
They hung up. And feeling happier than she had in days Cleo got changed and grabbed her keys.
-
Chan called the assistant he knew had set up flights for Cleo. It took some convincing, but she eventually relented and gave him her number. Checking the time, he realized it was extremely late for Cleo's location and he resolved to call her the next morning. Determined to plead for a second chance at their friendship, he hoped to close the gap that had grown between them; if not for his sake than for Felix's.
Cleo climbed the stairs to her apartment. Movie night with Katie had been a success, it had been like any other night they'd hung out. Finally feeling normal again Cleo hoped it was a sign of good things to come.
She'd just gotten her keys out of her pocket when a hand gripped the hair at the back of her head and shoved her forward. Her face made contact with the wood with an unpleasant crack, the pain that followed made Cleo sure her nose had broken. The hand twisted in her hair harder, causing her to spin and face her attacker. Standing in front of her, eyes glinting was Jason. Blood was flowing freely down her face and her ears were ringing from the force of the blow. Her barely restrained panic threatened to boil over as she looked into his eyes, there was little of the man she once thought she knew left. He surveyed her like she was trash and should be treated as such.
"Jason What're you doing! Let me go!"
Her struggles were rewarded with another hard shove into the door. Stars flew across her vision as her skull cracked against the wood.
"I told you," his tone was eerily calm, only slightly short of breath from the exertion of holding her captive, "if I can't have you- no one can"
Before she could comprehend his words, he was dragging her to the stairwell. She fought against him but between his size and determination she might as well have been a rag doll for how easily he picked her up.
"I loved you", he pressed a kiss to her temple before tipping her over the railing.
And she fell.
