ATEEZ 9th Member AU

Closer

The day Yeosang and Nari grew closer

Nari sighed, mindlessly flipping through the TV channels. They had a rare off day and she was bored. Hongjoong had told her she was not allowed to practice anything and use the day to relax and take care of herself. All the other members had gone out, doing whatever it is men do to relax themselves. She groaned, tossing the remote on the ground and hanging off the couch. She hated off days.

The door to the dorm swung open and Nari sat up, happy someone was finally home. She frowned a little when she saw Yeosang making his way in, tossing his skateboard on the ground. His skin was glistening in sweat and she giggled a little thinking he could pass as a vampire. Yeosang looked at her and smiled politely. "What's so funny?" She stopped laughing, just shrugging her shoulders. "S'nothing, oppa." She wasn't dumb; she knew Yeosang still wasn't the happiest about her joining the group. But she also paid enough attention to know that he usually skateboarded when he was angry to help relieve his anger.

"Everything okay?" She asked and he simply nodded, making his way further into the dorm. A few minutes later she heard the shower turn out and she sighed again, getting up and going to lay in her bed. She wasn't sure how to approach Yeosang. She wanted to be friends, right now they could pass as acquaintances that lived together. She mindlessly scrolled through her phone, not looking at anything in particular. A few minutes later she heard a soft buzzing sound and peeked over her top bunk. She laughed as she saw a drone flying around the dorm.

Yeosang peeked his head in. "What's so funny?" Nari stopped laughing again but answered. "You're like a child, with your robots and stuff." He frowned and walked out and Nari groaned internally. It seemed like anything she said made him annoyed or angry. She wasn't sure how to make this better or if it even could get better. Yeosang walked back in, staring at Nari with a blank face. "Can we talk?" He asked suddenly and Nari nodded enthusiastically. Perfect.

Yeosang walked towards her bunk, pausing hesitantly at the ladder. "Can I come up?" Nari giggled a little and nodded, moving over to make room. Yeosang climbed up and sat down, leaning against the wall. Nari noticed how he kept quite a gap between them and frowned a little but brushed it off. They aren't that close anyways. "Can I ask you a question, oppa?" She said and Yeosang nodded, looking at her then back at the comforter. "Why don't you like me?" She put her head down, feeling her cheeks heat up. She wasn't good at this kind of thing, but she needed to know what she had to change so they could get along better.

Yeosang's head shot up and he looked at her with his dark eyes. "What do you mean?" Nari looked up, hiding behind her black hair. "W-well I know that you're not entirely happy I joined the group. You've been nice and polite, but I just feel like you'd rather not be around me unless the others are here." Yeosang frowned, scrunching his brows together. Sure, he wasn't exactly thrilled when she joined their group, but he was trying. But never did he think that she sat here everyday and thought he didn't like her.

"I don't not, not like you." He said slowly and Nari looked at him, patiently waiting for him to continue. "I'll be honest, I wasn't exactly happy when you joined, at first." Nari's shoulders slumped a little and he didn't miss how she broke eye contact and fidgeted with her hands. "To be honest, I thought that you only were joining because we had just debuted and had a pretty large fanbase for rookie group. I thought you were trying to raise your own popularity and image through us and then would just leave." Nari's shoulders slumped more and she started playing with the hem of her shirt. How did she give him such a bad impression? That was never her impression at all.

Then she became angry. He just assumed all these things about her without even asking her why she decided to join. "Did you even think to ask me why I chose to join, oppa? Or were you just going to believe your assumptions for the rest of the time we're a group?" She couldn't help the venom in her voice. She had given all of them the benefit of the doubt, Yeosang included and she would be lying if she said his assumptions didn't hurt her. Yeosang felt his stomach drop a little; he didn't mean to hurt her but hurt was written all over her face. He timidly reached for one of her hands that was furiously playing with the hem of her shirt. "You're going to rip it." He said, quietly and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers. "I didn't ask, you're right. But that's what I want to ask you. Why did you decide to join us?"

Nari took a deep breath, she needed to control herself if this was going to go anywhere. "I was training under KQ for a while, but I trained at SM for almost 2 years before. When I joined KQ, they had me watch videos of your guy's debut. I thought it was absolutely amazing. Your dance was powerful, your voices were pure perfection. And I really admired Mingi's rap skills. He sounded so unique and different. I wanted to be able to learn from him. I wanted to learn from all of you. That's why I joined." Yeosang smiled, looking at her. "I'm sorry for assuming. I was just confused, we all were. We weren't even told they were looking to add another member."

Nari sighed, "they didn't know either. It was kind of on a whim. They asked what I thought, and I told them honestly. They asked me if I would be okay working with an all boy group and if I could keep up. I said I wouldn't know unless I tried and the next day, I was in the practice room meeting all of you. But I'm so happy I joined. I think of you all as family and you're all my only family. Literally." She closed her eyes, not wanting to cry. But she was being honest with her emotions. "I'm sorry, Nari. I didn't mean to hurt you. And I'm sorry I didn't ask and just assumed." He said, wiping away a stray tear she didn't even know had fallen.

She smiled, looking up at him with glossy eyes. "It's okay, oppa. I just want to know what you need me to change so that you can like me." Yeosang's eyes went big and he couldn't talk for a second. "C-change?" She smiled, nodding. "Yep! Obviously, there's something about me that you don't like or vibe with and I'll change that so we can be closer." Yeosang blinked, flabbergasted. "I don't want you to change. I like you as you." Nari smiled even bigger, "good. Changing is a lot of work and I kind of love who I am now." Yeosang laughed, letting go of her hand. "Then why even ask, you pabo?" Nari giggled, throwing herself on top of him and both falling onto the bedding. "I'm not a pabo! I'm just trying to get along!"

"We do get along, you're just like the little annoying sister that we can't rid of sometimes." Nari glared at him and Yeosang laughed, ruffling her hair. "Like those annoying little flies no one can get rid of!"

"OPPA!"

"I'm only being honest, Nar."

She smiled at the nickname; happy he was becoming more comfortable. "You looked like a stupid vampire when you first walked in after your skateboard riding." She said, turning away. It was Yeosang's turn to glare. "I'm older than you." She stuck her tongue out, not caring. He rolled his eyes and adjusted his position. "I'm tired. I'm sleeping here." She groaned, slapping his back. "It's not big enough, you're fat oppa!" Yeosang glared at her again over his shoulder. "Says the elephant beating my back right now."

Nari huffed and pouted,giving up and turning over. Eventually she fell asleep. When the other members returned home, they found Yeosang and Nari curled on each other in her top bunk. "How do they even fit?" Mingi asked. Hongjoong shrugged. "I don't know but I'm not waking them up. They're both angry elves when you wake them up." Yunho laughed quietly and closed the door. "At least they're not fighting!"