ATEEZ 9th Member AU

Awkward

Little snippet of when Nari first arrived at the dorm

Nari took a deep breath and she stared up at the building before her. She still couldn't believe that this was real. In a few short weeks she was going to debut with ATEEZ and make her official debut. She was excited and nervous all at the same time. The company wanted her and the rest of her new members to have a week to build some bonding. She was determined to do the best she could in order to grow closer with them and not to burden or hinder their rising fame. "Nari?" Someone said and her eyes dropped from the tall building to meet San's. "Uh, hi!" She said awkwardly, bowing slightly.

San bowed in return, offering her a small smile. "Let me help you with your bags." He offered and Nari stepped to the side. "O-oh. Thanks! But I just have this one. I can bring it up." San took the suitcase out of her hand and her backpack off her shoulder. "C'mon. I'll take you up. We've been waiting for you." She followed behind him, thanking him quietly. He opened the door to the building, holding it for her until she walked through and led them to the elevator, hitting the number 9 button. She laughed a little and San raised an eyebrow at her. "Care to share?" She nodded her head, "just ironic how we live on the ninth floor and now there's nine of us."

San nodded, hearing her say we sounded a little odd, but it was something he had to get used to. And he wasn't upset about it. His little crush he had when she walked into the practice room a week go to be introduced had quickly grown into a full-blown liking. "Oh, right. I never thought about that." He said, cursing at himself in his head for sounding so awkward. But who could blame them? They'd been training with all males for years, female interaction was limited and when it was it was family members or staff members. The awkward silence consumed the elevator and Nari fidgeted with the hem of her shirt and San averted his eyes everywhere but to her.

Nari breathed a silent relief when the ding signaled their floor and probably walked out of the machine a little quicker. However, if San had noticed he didn't say anything about it, silently leading her to the dorm. He opened the door, announcing their presence. Nari looked in awe at the dorm. It was bigger than she thought it would be, but she had to remember there was 8 grown men living here before her. They were going to need space. "Welcome!" Her eyes shot to Hongjoong and she smiled, bowing politely. "I'll show you to your room. You'll be with me and Seonghwa." She nodded as Hongjoong took her bags from San and she followed him down the hallway to the spacious and very clean room.

"Uhm, so, Seonghwa hyung cleaned the top bunk. If you want it. Or you can take the single bed. Whatever makes you more comfortable." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, averting his brown eyes to the floor. "The top bunk is fine. Thank you." She said, bowing her head. "I'm sorry if it's awkward for a few days, we're not used to being around, uhm, girls." He said shyly and a small blush rose to his cheeks. She giggled a little, causing him to blush more. "It's okay. I just hope you don't change how you act just because I'm a girl. I'd like for us all to be close one day. We're going to be working together for a long time." Hongjoong nodded, agreeing. "I'll leave you to get your stuff unpacked." He said and walked out of the room, softly closing the door behind him. Nari let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She felt just as awkward as they probably all felt.

She quietly started unpacking her stuff when a soft knock was heard at the door. "Come in!" she called and the door opened to reveal Yunho and Mingi. "Hi! We just w-wanted to welcome you." Yunho said, bowing slightly. She stood up, bowing as well. "Thank you." They stood there awkwardly for a few minutes until Mingi cleared his throat. "So, uh, how do you feel about being here so far?" Nari shrugged, turning back to her luggage. "It's a little awkward to be honest. But I'm hoping that we can get to know each other." She smiled softly and Yunho perked up, nodding his head quickly. "Yes! Of course! It's just going to be weird for a few days is all, until we get used to it, ya know?" Nari nodded in understanding.

They left her be to finish unpacking. A few hours later she had just put the last of her clothes away when there was another knock at the door. It was Hongjoong again. "Seonghwa hyung told me to tell you that dinner is ready." Nari smiled happily, following him out of the room and into the kitchen. Conversation ceased when he entered the room, none of the boys making eye contact with her. "You can sit here," Seonghwa said quietly as he pulled up another chair and placed it in between San and Wooyoung. San blushed and Wooyoung smirked at him. Nari said a small thanks and sat down. She noticed how San and Wooyoung tensed up, both of them trying to subtly move farther away on their chairs.

Nari rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to bite. You don't have to move." She said bitterly as Seonghwa placed a plate of food in front of her. "T-that's not it; we w-weren't trying to-" Nari held her hand up, silencing Wooyoung from his stuttering mess. "It's fine. I get it." She said, waiting until Seonghwa had sat down to start eating. All 9 of them ate in silence, the only sound heard was silverware scratching across the porcelain dishes. "Okay. This to much." Hongjoong said, leaning back in his chair and eyeing everyone. "Nari, we need you to understand, we've been training for a while and as you know female contact is very limited." She nodded in understanding.

"However, we all need to accept that she is a part of ATEEZ now and do our best to make her feel welcome. I know it's awkward, but that's never going to change if we don't try to act normally." He finished, raising his hands and the others nodded in agreement. Mingi was the first one to speak up, voice filled with relief. "Thank god. I thought I was going to have to think about everything I say first before I said it." Nari laughed lightly, shaking her head. "Please, just be yourself. I don't get offended easily." He smiled happily, clapping Yunho on the back. "Hyung! Did you hear that?! We can still be loud!" Yunho started coughing as he had a mouthful of food when Mingi decided it was the best time to clap him on the back. "Oh my god! Sorry!"

When Yunho was finally able to breath, Nari let out laughter. "This is so much better." The table instantly became more lively, most of the boys asking Nari a bunch of questions about her life and whatnot; the only that didn't really say much was Yeosang. Nari answered everything, making sure to get in a few questions of her own. She sat back as Mingi and San had a hot debate on whether cold sake or hot sake was better, laughing along with the others.

"I think I'm going to fit right in." She declared suddenly and the others briefly nodded before Mingi and San started arguing again about something else. She smiled to herself, she was definitely in the right place.