ATEEZ 9th Member AU

Eavesdropping

Nari overhears some comments from her members and San is there to have her back

A/N: This was requested by @milliehatake; I hope you like it and it's what you were looking for!

Nari quietly army crawled her way down the hallway to the bathroom. She didn't want to use the crutches anymore. They were annoying and they hurt her armpits. She figured as long as none of the boys saw her, she would be fine. He only issue was getting past the kitchen. She held her breath, trying to be as stealthy as possible but paused when she heard voices in the kitchen. She smirked, wanting to listen in and get all the tea but quickly wished she hadn't been so nosy.

Mingi, Yeosang and Hongjoong were currently in the kitchen and talking about her; and not good things, at least to Nari's ears. "I know she's hurt and can't do much, but don't you think she could at least practice her vocals?" Yeosang said. "She did fine, but there were parts where you could tell she was a tad off key." Mingi hummed in response. "Well, I mean, she was brought in as a rapper, not a singer." Hongjoong scoffed. "Yeah, but so were you and I and we can still sing. We took classes. It's like she's lost all motivation to keep improving herself since she got hurt."

Nari felt the warm sting of tears in her eyes, forgetting about the need for the bathroom and quickly crawling back to her room. She lifted herself on the bottom bunk that Hongjoong had graciously let her use until her knee was better. She pulled the covers over her, crying silently. She knew her vocals weren't the best, she was known for her rapping and dancing. She had tried vocal classes when she first entered KQ, but she didn't like it and it was to frustrating so she stopped going. She was fine if she didn't get lines in a song because there was no rap part for her. But she wished that her members would have talked to her about it to her instead of behind her back. She deserved more than that.

San came back from his vocal practice, with some food for Nari and the rest. He placed the bags of takeout on the counter, grabbing a plate and bringing it to Nari. He knocked on her door but didn't get a response. He walked in and dimmed the lights; she was turned towards the wall and silent and San assumed she was sleeping. He quietly set the plate down on the end table next to the bed and went to tiptoe out when he heard her small voice, "oppa?" San turned around, a frown on his face as he heard her voice waver. He sat down near her head, playing with her faded red hair. "What's wrong, love?"

Nari turned over, burying her face in his stomach. San sighed, wrapping an arm around her awkwardly. "Do you think my vocals are bad?" She asked quietly and San raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She sighed, sitting up and pulling her good knee to her chest and resting her chin on it. "The last show we had, when I was singing. Did my vocals sound bad?" San stared at her for a minute, unsure of how to answer the question without hurting her feelings. Her dark eyes met his, "please just be honest with me." San sighed again, running a hand through his hair.

"They weren't bad, Nar. But sure, there were some parts were you were a little off key. Not to where ATINY would notice unless their music majors. It was nothing big; nothing that some vocal lessons can't help you with." Nari nodded, grateful San could at least tell her to her face. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "Nar, you have to remember, you're a rapper, not a vocal. It's going to be harder for you to learn vocals because rap is your natural calling. Why are you asking me this?" Nari was silent for a moment, wondering if she should tell him or not but she took a deep breath and told him.

"I was crawling to the bathroom,"

"WAIT. Crawling?! Why didn't you use the crutches?!"

Nari narrowed her eyes, "let me finish, oppa." San pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand but nodded for her to continue. "As I was saying, I was crawling to the bathroom and I went to go past the kitchen and I heard Yeoasang, Joong and Mingi talking about how my vocals weren't great at the last show and how I should work harder and take more lessons. Hongjoong-oppa thinks that I've lost motivation to get better for my career." She laid her head on his shoulder, sighing.

San was beyond pissed; he was livid. The least his brothers could have done was talk to her about with her, not behind her back. She always told them to their face if something they did in a performance or practice was wrong. San got up, making a beeline for the kitchen. "Oppa, where are you going?" Nari called but received no response. She sighed, sitting back and grabbing the food and eating. San entered the kitchen and Wooyoung stared at him, practically feeling the anger flooding off of him. "San, what's wrong?"

Hongjoong and Seonghwa stood up, thinking it was something with Nari. "Is she okay? Do we need to go to the hospital?" Hongjoong asked and San scoffed at him, glaring. "Now you act like you care?!" Hongjoong looked confused and Seonghwa tried to be the voice of reason, "San, calm down. What happened?" San glared at Yeosang, Mingi and Hongjoong. "What's the matter is," he pointed between the three perpetrators, "these 3 think it's okay to talk about Nari's performance behind her back when they made their own mistakes too." Mingi looked down, clearly uncomfortable. "I didn't know she heard," Yeosang said quietly.

"Regardless if she heard or not! That's your member, your teammate. Our sister! She always talks to us when she feels there's a problem with something, never once has she gossiped behind our backs. You 3 need to go fix this, now." He stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door to his room. Seonghwa fixed his narrowed eyes on his 3 members. "Go apologize. Now." The three nodded and headed towards Nari's room, not bothering to knock and entering. Nari stared at them with wide eyes and a clearly fake smile. "What's up?"

Mingi ran to the bed, wrapping his arms around her waist and practically in tears. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for you to hear me and I should have came and talked to you about it first." Yeosang and Hongjoong came up, sitting on the side of the bed. "We're sorry, too, we all made mistakes and we shouldn't have picked on you for yours." Nari frowned a little. "But you all think I have no motivation to enhance my skills." She put air quotes around motivation and Hongjoong scratched the back of his neck. "That's not what I meant, Nar. I just think that you being hurt has taken a toll on you a little because you can't do much and it's like you're slowly giving up." Nari sighed, not disagreeing with him.

"I can take you to vocal lessons, Nar. I can do them with you, too, if that makes you more comfortable." Yeosang said and Nari smiled slightly. "I'd like that." Mingi tightened his hold, "and I'll take you out to eat once you're feeling up too it! I'm sure hanging around the dorm all the time gets stuffy and lonely." Nari smiled, humming in agreement. Hongjoong kissed her head, apologizing again and then taking her plate out. "Mingi," Nari said and he looked up, a bright smile on his face.

"Instead of taking me out to eat, can you carry me to the bathroom? I forgot I had to go." Mingi laughed, picking her up bridal style and carrying down the hall to the bathroom. "I'm still taking you out to eat, pabo." Nari smiled, closing the door before she threw it back open and yelled out to Mingi.

"I hope you're ready for a lot of meat and beef!"