ATEEZ 9th Member AU

Working Together

ATEEZ comes together

ATEEZ was currently gathered in the practice room. An awkward silence was filling the silent space. San was still sulking, glaring at the ground. Yunho, Wooyoung, Mingi and Yeosang were currently quietly going over choreography, too afraid to actually speak words. Hongjoong was still furiously trying to find the source of the information.

Seonghwa was nervously glancing between everyone, waiting for someone just to blow up. Jongho was awkwardly getting the music set up on the computer, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. He was hiding his head behind the screen, daring to even breathe. Nari was currently sitting in the corner, twirling her braid with her fingers, mind racing a million miles a minute.

"Alright! Everyone in the middle of the room. Now." Hongjoong's loud voice rang over them and Mingi and Yunho flinched, reluctantly making their way to the center of the room and sitting down in a half circle. San grumbled under his breath but took the spot next to Wooyoung and Wooyoung patted his back, a half-smile making it's way on his face.

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Nari sighed, sitting next to Seonghwa. She glanced at San who was looking at her but as soon as their eyes met, he looked away, furrowing his brow. She chuckled a little. Being mad was never something San could do, no matter how angry he was feeling. His heart was too big for that. "We need to talk this out. We're a team." Hongjoong said, leadership taking over his voice.

A few of them hummed in agreement but no one dared say the first word. Nari sighed, leaning back on her hands and looking at all of her members. "I'm sorry," she said and everyone looked at her. Seonghwa patted her hand, small gesture to urge her to continue. "I was angry and hurt and I said some things I shouldn't have. I know you all don't have control on who has access to things. And I know none of you leaked the story."

"Thank god," San breathed, reaching over and grabbing her ankle. He pulled her across their circle, placing her in between his legs and leaning her back against his chest, his chin resting on the top of his head. Nari giggled, patting his hands that were on her stomach. "I swear I'll hit you next time you want to be mean to us." San muttered and thankfully, it got a laugh out of everyone.

"Back to the matter on hand," Hongjoong said, clearing his throat. "I talked to Sean-hyung. He isn't sure of who sold the story to the press either, but he is trying to figure it out." Nair narrowed her eyes on the floor. If they did find out who it was, she hoped that her boys had enough sense to not let her get near them. "Nar, is there anyone here that you think might not like you? Or that you rubbed the wrong way?" Yunho asked. Nari shrugged.

"I'm sure there's plenty of people in the world who don't like me, oppa. I'm famous, hot and surrounded by boys all day." She teased and Yunho and Mingi laughed. Hongjoong shook his head but there was a small smile on his face. "In all seriousness though, no. Not anyone I can think of. And I'm sure if the press offered someone enough money anyone would jump on it."

Hongjoong nodded, gears turning in his head. "I think we're all forgetting something though." Jongho spoke up, clasping his hands together in his lap. Seonghwa looked at him, raising a brow. "What's that?" Jongho looked up at Nari, taking a deep breath. "How are you, noona?" The others made an 'o' shape with their mouth. They were all so caught up in finding the person responsible, they hadn't even thought about the person it was about.

Nari shrugged, wiggling out of San's grasp, to which he whined slightly before Mingi lightly smacked his back. "Honestly?" She said, thinking about her words. "It was going to happen eventually. I knew that. Whether it be this way or some crazed fan or me just talking about it; it couldn't stay hidden forever." Seonghwa smiled. Sometimes he could forget how sensible Nari could be.

"I'm not that upset that the world is going to know. Maybe it's actually better that they do, ya know? I'm just really angry about the way it was found out. And if I ever find out who that person is that leaked it, I swear to all things holy they will never see the light of day again." Wooyoung cheered a little. "That's my girl." Hongjoong even agreed.

"And if we never find out?" Yunho chimed in. It was the pressing question that he was sure everyone had on their mind but didn't want to think about. "Then we don't find out. But I'm placing my trust in our boss and I'll let him handle it how he sees fit. I just think we should figure out something to do any type of damage control." Nari said and Hongjoong beamed in pride. Happy that at least one of his members were listening when he would rant.

"I agree. And boss man said the same thing. We thought of something but we want you to be comfortable with it." Nari hesitantly nodded her head. She could at least hear the plan out. "He had manager-nim schedule an interview for later on this evening. For you to talk about this. It would be run tonight, before the other articles go up. Get the true story out there." Hongjoong said.

Everyone looked at Nari with worry. This wasn't something she talked easily about, even with them. Half the time just even the mention of it would send her in a panic attack. "You wouldn't be alone." He found himself saying. Nari looked at him, eyes showing a little bit of fear. "We'll all be there. With you. I'll even sit out there with you if you need me too." The others quickly nodded their head in agreement.

Nari took in a shaky breath, reaching behind her and finding San and Wooyoung's hands as if they were waiting for her. She squeezed their hands and they both squeezed back, reassuringly. "We will be there every step of the way, noona." Wooyoung said and Nari felt a sense of relief. Wooyoung only called her noona when he was being serious. She nodded her head, looking at her leader.

"I guess we have an interview to prepare for."