ATEEZ 9th Member AU

Predebut: Throwing Fists

Nari gets into a fight

A/N: this is set in Predebut era, mentions of bullying, physical altercation, swearing, mentions of weight

Nari kept her head down as she scrolled through her phone. They had a break time in their class schedules and instead of running down to buy bread with friends, Nari was still sitting at her desk and listening to music. Mentally, she was going over choreography through her head. Their debut was fast approaching, and she didn't want to fall behind just because she had to go to school during the day.

Her classmates knew that she was an idol trainee and while most people thought that would mean people jumping to be her friend, it was quite the opposite. It seemed to only make the other girls jealous—three of them in particular. Nari wasn't even quite sure what their names were. She went to classes, yes, but she barely interacted with most of her schoolmates.

She was more focused on preparing for debut and doing the bare minimum to pass her classes. Plus, she had already missed a month of classes while she was overseas filming KQ Fellaz. It wasn't that she didn't talk to anyone, there were a few people that she would talk to and were nice, but she wouldn't consider them friends. More acquaintances. These three girls though were not very nice and seemed to pick on her any chance they could.

Which led to right now, one of them yanking the cord of her headphones and pulling them out of her ears. "Nari-ah," one said in her high-pitched voice. Nari did her best to not scowl at the shrill sound. Every time she spoke it seemed to make her ears bleed just a little more than the day before.

"You should run down and get us some bread. Our bread shuttle. You could use the exercise anyways, being an idol and all. You need to maintain your weight." Nari balled her skirt in her fists, biting down on her tongue. She was over this months ago and she didn't understand why the three just couldn't leave her be.

"Nope. I'm fine. You could probably use it though. I heard your size went up one." Nari hadn't thought before she spoke. The three girls gasped dramatically and Nari only sighed, placing her chin in her hand and staring up bored at the three girls. "You're such a bitch. You really think that's how idols are supposed to act? Especially towards fans?"

Nari couldn't hold her eye roll back. "I guess it's a good thing I'm an idol-in-training then. Guess I have more to learn. I wouldn't call you fans, really. But to each their own. Now, if you'll excuse me." She slipped her head phones back in as the three stared at her in shock. They were ripped out again and Nari was on her last strain of patience.

"Yah, Kim Nari!" The girl, Nari presumed to be the leader of the three, spoke. She sighed again, looking up through her bangs at the girl. There was only a few minutes of break left and then she'd be left alone again. "Is that how you talk to your seniors?" The girl pushed her head back a little.

"If how you act here gets out, you'll ruin your group before you even start."

"She probably already did. I mean a girl with eight guys? You really must have no self-respect to be living with them. You're just their plaything probably," another girl, Nari was pretty sure that her name was Yuna. The third girl who usually just stood and scowled at Nari scoffed and pushed her forehead. "I guess she would only be there to please them, keep them from getting into any scandals with other girls."

"They probably get you as a reward for practicing hard, hmm?" The first girl snickered and that was it for Nari. She didn't care much if they talked bad about her. They could talk bad about her all she wanted. When it came to the boys though, there was no way she would ever let anyone bad mouth them and get away with it.

Without thinking, Nari stood up and slapped the leader of the trio across the face. The whole class had become silent, the girl clutching her cheek and seething. Th other two looked shocked, obviously not have expecting Nari to slap one of them. "Shut your fucking mouth. You know nothing about them," Nari sneered.

"Yah!" Yuna—or that was her name now to Nari—grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her forward, almost yanking her over the desk. "Did you really just slap her? Are you fucking psycho?" Nari didn't even bother with a verbal response, blindly throwing her clenched fist. She must have hit her because her hand had a dull pain and her hair was released, almost releasing her face first to the tiled floor.

She looked up to see the girl with tears in her eyes and clutching her nose. Nari only grinned. That started the all-out brawl. The other two started swinging their hands and Nari felt a pain in her cheek and her neck. She didn't waste time in swinging back, knowing she had hit someone because she heard a screech and her hand was now throbbing a little.

It only lasted a few seconds before two teachers had run in and separated the four of them. Now, Nari was sitting in the car on the way back to the dorm with an ice back to her bruised cheek. Hongjoong and their manager were sitting in the front with scowls on their faces while Seonghwa was inspecting her slightly swollen knuckles.

"What were you thinking, Kim Nari?!" Hongjoong finally shouted from the front, throwing his hands in the air. She swallowed the lump in her throat and stayed quiet. She knew she was in trouble not just with the school, but with the company too. "I told you to just ignore them! Why didn't you go to a teacher?! Do you know how much trouble you're in right now?!" She bit down hard on her bottom lip.

"And what if you're knuckles are broken or something?" Seonghwa spoke in a hard voice. It was better than yelling but Nari absolutely hated when the two older boys were disappointed in her. She felt her stomach drop and angry tears burned her eyes. They weren't there every day. They didn't know what the three girls said, how much they actually picked on her. Nari hadn't told them this was more than just a daily occurrence.

"You're suspended from school now too! For a whole week! What is your grandmother going to say?" Seonghwa scolded and Nari felt her stomach drop even more. Her grandmother wasn't the nicest to her and this would just be another reason for her to tell Nari that she couldn't do this.

"I'm sorry, oppa!" She cried out, "Please don't tell my grandma! Please! I'll do better! I'll apologize!" Hongjoong scoffed from the front, not even sparing and angry glance over his shoulder. "You're not apologizing. They started it!" Nari felt her chest warm a little. He was pissed—royally pissed—but he was still on her side.

"But that didn't mean you had to go around and finish it!" He quickly said and Nari sighed, sinking back into the seat and pulling her hand away from Seonghwa. She mumbled something under her breath and Seonghwa's sharp eyes were trained on her. "What?" He barked and she groaned.

"They were talking about all of you! That's why I got so angry!" She crossed her arms over her chest and stared angrily out the window. It was silent in the car, the two boys having some kind of mental conversation before she heard Hongjoong sigh. He finally turned around to look at her. "You can't go around hitting people, Nar. Even if they talk about us. You have to ignore it." His voice was gentler and a little calmer, but she knew he was still angry.

They reached the dorm and their manager said he'd back after talking with the rest of the company. "How's your cheek?" Seonghwa asked, still a little cold but more lovingly than before. "Sore. But I'm okay." He sighed, peeling the ice pack away and wincing a little at the sight of it. "That's really bruised," he breathed and Nari only shrugged. "I' m okay, oppa, really."

"Go change and clean up," he said, "I'll make a snack and then wrap your hand, just in case. You're doing all your homework, right now. We'll figure out how we're getting your assignments you're going to miss for you to do." Nari groaned and went to complain but Seonghwa only held a hand up and she stayed quiet.

"No arguments. This is punishment. All your homework, Nari. And in the kitchen or living room. Not the bedroom. Hongjoong or I will keep an eye on you for the rest of the day." As much as she wanted to protest and complain, she had no space to do that right now. "Fine," she muttered, walking off to change.

The front door slammed open and she squeezed her eyes shut. There was no way that the others hadn't heard about this. "Yah! Kim Nari! Where are you?!" She groaned again at Wooyoung's loud voice. Two seconds later, he was racing through her bedroom door, San and Yeosang right on his heels.

"You got in a fight?! I want to know everything! You better have kicked their ass!" Wooyoung shouted, San and Yeosang nodding furiously by his side. Yunho was now peaking his head through the doorway.

Hongjoong shouted from down the hall.

"JUNG WOOYOUNG DON'T ENCOURAGE HER!"