A/N: LEMME EXPLAIN MYSELF!! School has started for both authors, obviously since it's like December, so we haven't gotten the time to update as much. To add on, we each have different stories we're working on and haven't found much time to work on this story. BUT NEVERTHELESS, I GIVE TO YOU CHAPTER 6!!

 

 

Nabi groaned out loud, a sigh slipping past her lips - did you know that sighing could reduce your lifespan? If that was the case, she probably lost a few years off of her life - as she ran her hand through her hair. She had been staring at the ceiling so much that it was actually affecting her thoughts (her serious thoughts).

This white ceiling is too plain boring. It doesn’t even have little cracks in it…. and Nabi, you’re not supposed to laugh at ‘cracks!’ she thought as she giggled. It’s so funny though! ‘Cracks.’ Hahahahhaha. 

After laughing like a maniac for a while, she sat up from her bed that she had been lying in for the past hour since she was trying to figure out what she should perform for the audition. Why is this so hard? It’s just an audition. Nabi scratched her head. It made a mess out of her already messy hair, if that was possible.

Nabi lazily reached over to where her phone lay on the bedside table and moved her hand aimlessly around before she found and grabbed it. She opened up her lock screen, and she facepalmed herself. She couldn’t see without her glasses.

Again, she extended her arm to her bedside table and seized her black glasses. Ah, my worthy and beautiful glasses. How could I had forgotten? Nabi thought as she slipped them on. This is much better. 

Then she gazed at the family picture she had put as her wallpaper when she reopened her lock screen. Nabi smiled slightly when she saw her parent’s smiling faces. 

Mommy is so pretty, as always. Why is she so pretty? It’s not fair! People always think that we’re sisters. But it’s actually pretty cool! She would totally pass as me! Ah, if only my mom would go to school for me, heheh. Anyways, why is daddy barely smiling? He should have smiled more. I should have made him smile more, damnit! 

The smile on her face slowly went upside down as she sighed sadly. She knew that even though they thought that she was going to a school trip (completely unharmed and doing everything legal) and not missing her as much if they knew she snuck out to go to Seoul, Nabi still missed her parents very much since she’s never been away from them. 

They had been annoying at times with their overprotective nature and was constantly on her tail to remind her that she needed to study and not do anything that might affect her grades. Despite that, she loved them. They were her family, and family stuck together no matter what.

Sure, she went to Areum’s house to sleepover a plenty amount of times, but her parents were just down the street (that was the only reason why they let her go anyways). Nabi took off her glasses and wiped away a stray tear that fell when she wasn’t paying attention and wondered if Areum ever felt the same way as her.

If Areum ever considered that her parents missed her or if she ever missed her parents. Nabi scoffed at the ridiculous thought. Her parents probably don’t give a about her. That’s why they dumped her all alone in Daegu.

Nabi continued to think deeply about how her parents must feel when suddenly a phone call interrupted her train of thought. Nabi checked the caller ID and her eyes widened at what it said. 

Mommy. Nabi started to panic - what was she supposed to say?- but she took a deep breath to calm herself down - it was still her mom - and answered the call.

“Hey, mommy! What’s up?” Nabi answered excitedly, pretending as if nothing was going on. 

“KIM NABI!” her mother yelled, her voice echoing through Nabi’s right ear as she slightly moved away from her phone.

Nabi started to panic again. I don’t know what to say! Please, the universe, SAVE ME GODDAMNIT! she begged. Right on time - what great timing, Areum, Nabi thought - Areum entered the room and was about to speak when she saw Nabi put her finger to her lips. 

Areum nodded and mouthed, Who is that? 

Nabi hesitated before mouthing back, My mom.

Areum’s eyes widened and quietly crept to where Nabi was sitting, took her phone out of her hand, and put it on speaker. 

“KIM NABI! ANSWER ME!” her mother screeched, the walls threw back the echoes of her shouting. Both Nabi and Areum flinched at the high-pitched screech of Nabi’s mother. 

“U-uh yes mom, what did you need?” Nabi stuttered.

“WHY DID I GET A CALL FROM YOUR TEACHER SAYING YOU’RE NOT AT THE SCHOOL TRIP?” Mrs. Kim shouted hysterically. 

“W-what d-do you mean m-mom? I-i-” Nabi stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Areum shaking her head, meaning that trying to convince her it won’t work. Well, thanks, I’m going to get skinned, Nabi thought. Alive, she added.

Nabi sighed and gave in, “I’m not going to the trip, eomma.” 

“WHAT?! WHERE ARE YOU THEN?” 

“I-I’m with my friends,” Nabi answered. Technically not a lie.

“WHO? ARE YOU WITH AREUM?” Mrs. Kim screeched. 

The girls’ eyes widened when Mrs. Kim mentioned Areum’s name. It seemed she had gotten used to her. Nabi looked helplessly at the said girl when Areum nodded, signalling Nabi to do it. To tell most of the truth. Most.

“N-neh, eomma.”

“WHAT! HAND THE PHONE TO HER!” 

Areum shook her head and Nabi made up a quick excuse, “She’s not here right now. She’s in the restroom… doing some urgent business.”

Did you really need to add that? Areum mouthed, her face unreadable.

Uh, no, not really. I just did it… ‘cause. Nabi answered, a sheepish smile on her lips. Areum shook her head as she quietly laughed at Nabi.

“NOW, WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?” 

Areum nodded and gestured for Nabi to tell her mom honestly, “I’m in uh….S-seoul.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY? SEOUL? SEOUL! OH MY LIFE. HOW DID YOU GET THERE? DID AREUM TAKE YOU? WHY ARE YOU THERE? WHERE ARE YOU STAYING?” Nabi’s mother bombarded Nabi with a million questions. 

“Eomma, one at a time please-”

“ANSWER ME!!!!”

Nabi sighed, “I said I’m in Seoul, Areum….found us a ride to get there, we’re staying at Areum’s home in Seoul, and we’re there….to audition.”

“AUDITION? FOR WHAT? WHAT KIND OF RIDE DID AREUM GET YOU? IS HER HOME SAFE? IS THE AUDITION FOR SOME MOVIE?”

“EOMMA!” Nabi screeched, appalled that her mother would even consider that she would do such a thing. I know what I’m doing eomma! I would never do that! “I’m auditioning for an entertainment company to become an idol, the ride was….well we made it out and we’re not in jail so we’re fine, and yes, mom, her home is very safe.”

Mrs. Kim, after a moment of silence, finally calmed herself enough to have a serious conversation with Nabi without her screaming in the poor girls’ ears. “Okay, so... Nabi. You and Areum want to be idols so you pretended to sign up for the class trip but ended up sneaking off somehow to go to Seoul. Now you guys are staying at Areum’s house?”

Nabi gave Areum thumbs up. Looked like my mom calmed down.“Ye-” she tried to answer.

“ARE YOU CRAZY, KIM NABI?!!?!? WHAT HAVE I TAUGHT YOU?”

Oh… nevermind, Nabi thought. She’s not calm at all. “Eomma, let me-”

“YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR WHY YOU DIDN’T TELL ME! I’M YOUR MOTHER!”

“WELL, I KNEW YOU WOULDN’T LET ME!”

“WELL, YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT KID! YOU GOT A BETTER FUTURE AHEAD OF YOU IF YOU FOLLOW THROUGH COLLEGE AND NOT FOR SOMETHING INCOMPREHENSIVE AS AN IDOL! DO YOU KNOW HOW UNSECURED THAT JOB IS?”

Areum just sat on the bed dumbfounded (and tired) while trying to follow Nabi and her mother’s screaming contest. 

“MOM, JUST LET ME DO THIS!” 

“NO! YOUNG LADY, YOU BETTER GET BA-”

Nabi hung up and threw her phone somewhere to the right in frustration, it landing somewhere in the midst of the wide seas of blanket. Suddenly, her eyes widened in realization at what she just did.

“Holy mother of , I just hung up the phone - the ing phone - on my mom!” Nabi screamed while pulling at her hair. (And kids, this is why you shouldn’t read fanfiction. You will be bombarded with inappropriate language and uncensored stuff because.... how the hell are you supposed to censor stuff on paper? Is that even possible? You can’t really beep bad words like in videos….- your weird author) 

Areum laughed, “Hahaha, hell yeah you did! Up top!”

Nabi didn’t high-five the overly excited girl back and sat still with a feared expression on her face. What the hell am I going to do now? Nabi thought. 

“I-I’m so dead. my life.”

Areum shrugged, “Probably. Unless you make that audition!” 

Nabi groaned and fell back onto her bed, already snuggling with her pillow and blanket, “I’m so boned.”

Areum fell back with her, throwing a pillow over to Nabi which the cat gladly took, “Don’t worry. I am too.”

The two girls faced each other and laughed at the predicament they just put ourselves.

“Aigoo, let’s hope we pass so I don’t die by the wrath of my parents,” Nabi said in between giggles.

Areum softly smiled, “Yeah, let’s hope.”

*Time Skip*

Areum headed downstairs, her footsteps resonating, to the kitchen to meet up with Nabi for dinner and to discuss their audition performances. They really need to step up their game if they want to pass with a sureness of a 100%

When Areum made it down the last step, she marveled at the food that Nabi made for them which was a simple meal of beef, rice, and some side dishes that she was too lazy to name; but Areum being Areum, thoroughly enjoyed anything that was edible. 

Nabi was sitting at the table, waiting for Areum to come and her expression immediately brightened when she saw the singer. She already had food on her plate as she tapped her chopsticks on it impatiently.

“Okay,” Areum started as she took her seat, “we have less than a week to prepare for our audition. What are we going to do?” She dug in her food, eating so fast it was like she was inhaling instead of chewing.

“Well, I was thinking of rapping to Baddest Female by CL,” Nabi replied. “Well, if I can remember the lyrics.”

Areum choked on her rice, “Seriously? Baddest Female? Aigoo, how can a little girl like you do Baddest Female?” 

“Aniyo! I can do songs like that too! Trust me! I can be badass if I want to!” Nabi complained. “What about you? What are you doing?”

“I was thinking of dancing to Paradise Lost by Gain.”

“Wait, isn’t it like the super ual one?”

“Yup.” (Areum so da y)

“Yah, and you say my song is too strong?” Nabi scoffed.

Areum just shrugged as she stuffed the last couple grains of rice in . “Well, starting from now, we will be practicing every single minute.”

Nabi's expression finally turned serious and nodded with determination shooting through her eyes. It’s time to do this! she thought. 

The girls quickly cleaned their plates (not guaranteed that it was clean, but who cared anyway?) and made their way up to their rooms to start their very first practice session. Nabi immediately rushed over to where her phone was - the door slamming closed behind her - furiously swiping through the playlist until she found the song. 

CL Baddest Female blasted into the room loudly as she searched up the lyrics. She sat down onto her bed, mumbling along with the song. It was the first time she tried so hard to try and engrave words into her mind. Her life depended on this.

Meanwhile, Areum gently closed the door and unlocked her phone. She pulled up a YouTube video of the choreography for Paradise Lost. After trying to dance at the song at its normal speed, she decided that she needed to make it slower to make sure she was doing it right.

She set the speed slower as she followed along and aimed to get the move perfectly. She needed to use this opportunity to its fullest. The two girls practiced hard into the night, with the motivation of their dream keeping them going through their tiring and restless self-practice. 

Nabi decided to finally stop practicing since her voice became very hoarse from rapping way too much. On the way to kitchen to get herself a nice, cold glass of water to quench her thirst after rapping for hours on end, she was still murmuring the lyrics under her breath. 

Her eyes landed on the dark kitchen as she searched around for the refrigerator using her senses. When she found it, she reached up to the cupboard where the cups were and took one. Then she got herself some refrigerator water. 

As she was chugging down her glass, she heard the doorbell ring and made her way downstairs to answer it. Nabi happily skipped over to the door and opened it. 

“Hello-” Nabi said as she looked up and saw 7 kids dressed in all black with fierce, intense gazes. She froze in her spot and stared in awe at the scary kids. Then, she realized….There’s scary kids are outside our house.

“AREEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUM!” Nabi screamed in fear as she ran away, forgetting to close the door behind her. 

Areum ran down the stairs, her eyes looking around frantically to try and see what made her friend screamed her name, only to have Nabi hide behind her like a frightened cat.

“What’s wrong?” Areum asked, her voice laced with concern.

Nabi just whimpered and pointed at the door in fright, speechless. 

Areum looked up and what she saw made her freeze and so did the kids. Nabi buried her head behind Areum’s back, clinging to her shirt. Wah, are they here to kidnap me? It doesn’t matter if they are kids! Nabi thought, shivering in fright.

Slowly, after no one moved or talked, she gaining the courage to look over her shield’s - she meant her friend’s - shoulder and watch the crowd at the door. Nabi saw the kids start to smile brightly which confused Nabi a lot. Uh, stalkers?

“Areum? What’s-” Nabi looked back at Areum to see her smiling widely as well. What is going on?

Nabi blinked in disbelief, Areum’s smiling? She never smiles in front of anyone except for me.

Nabi released her grip on the other’s shirt, and with no more constrictions, Areum immediately ran up to one of the kids and bear hugged him. The boy caught Areum easily and spun her around with tears on his face. 

“Taesuk oppa! I missed you!” Areum said with tears of joy running down her face as well. 

“I missed you too kid,” the so-called Taesuk replied, Areum’s hair. 

The other kids started crying as well and enveloped Areum in a large group hug before noticing Nabi standing awkwardly and playing with her glasses. 

“Hey, Areum,” a pink-haired boy said, “who’s this chick?” 

Areum looked back at Nabi and smile apologetically. “Sorry Nabi, these are my old friends.” She gestured to the 7 kids standing behind her.

“Guys, this is my friend Nabi,” Areum said turning her direction to face Nabi. 

“Annyeonghaseyo, I’m Kim Nabi!” Nabi brightly introduced herself, a bright smile plastered on her face. She wasn’t feeling scared anymore now that she knew they were Areum’s old friends. 

A short and lean girl with dark plum hair and a perfect -face scoffed, “Damn Areum, I wouldn’t think you’d make such prissy friends.”

Areum punched the girl hard in the arm causing the speaker to wince and rub her arm. “Yah, since when were you guys good friends huh?” Areum accused.

No one dared to talk back to Areum, not because of fear, but because they haven’t seen their precious girl maknae in so long. They were just… staring. 

“Anyways, Nabi, let me introduce you to my childhood friends,” Areum started. “This is Taesuk oppa. He’s 16 and he’s the ahjussi of the group.

Areum pointed to a tall boy with jet black hair and tan skin, wearing a leather jacket, black jeans, a black tee, and black combat boots. 

“Aish, kid I'm not an ahjussi I'm only sixteen!” Taesuk complained.

Nabi only grinned like the creep she was. 

“This is Sangchul oppa and his fraternal twin Sanghoon oppa,” Areum said, ignoring Taesuk and pointed to the two guys standing next to Taesuk, who seemed to be poking each other in the sides. 

If no one told Nabi that they were relatives or even more unlikely twins, she would never have been able to tell. The one named Sangchul was tall, well-built, extremely handsome, and had great looking, black hair whereas his brother, Sanghoon, was shorter, had shorter blonde hair swept to the side due to the wind, and looked more average than anything. 

They both had matching clothes; they had on black leather jackets with studs on the shoulders, ripped black jeans, and black, sleek high tops. Nabi could guess that they were pranksters due to the fact that they kept annoying their hyung, Taesuk, by poking him continuously. 

“This is my adorable dongsaeng, Kangminnie!” Areum cooed as she pinched the said boy’s cheeks. 

“Aish, noona! I’m not a baby anymore,” Kangmin complained, trying to slap her hands away.

The others laughed at what he said due to the fact that he was crying hysterically when Areum left but, of course, that was unknown to Nabi.

Kangmin has light blue hair that’s styled like how BTS Rap Monster would style his hair. He was on the short side, even shorter than Areum, but he was lean yet muscular, and he also had a cute face with slightly chubby cheeks. 

Kangmin had on a white graphic shirt on with the front tucked into his behind his black belt that wrapped around his black pants. He also wore white sneakers and had on black fingerless gloves. 

“This one is Junsu,” Areum said, pointing to the pink-haired kid.

“Annyeonghaseyo,” Junsu bowed. 

Junsu had pink hair that covered his forehead, small eyes, well-built, and had on a white tee with a black leather jacket and a flannel tied around his waist. He also had a red snapback (It took Nabi a long time to get her eyes off the hat), baggy jeans, and black Converse. 

Nabi also acknowledged that he had the best sense of style as well. Of course, it was because of the red snapback. Anyone who wore red had a good sense of style, or maybe it was just her. Yup, it’s just me, she thought.

Areum patted her hand on the scary unnie with purple hair, “This is my stick friend, Chaeyoung.”

Chaeyoung scoffed and rolled her eyes before she bowed to Nabi, surprising the cat with the manners.

Nabi bowed as well.

Chaeyoung was extremely thin, Nabi noted, and she was also quite average in height, reaching the same height as Areum. Chaeyoung had dark plum hair, large eyes, a small face, and tan skin. 

She had a denim jacket with one shoulder that accidentally slipped off with a black halter crop top that clung onto her body, exposing her extremely flat stomach, black jeans that ripped at the knees, and black Nike shoes. 

“And finally this is Kyungha,” Areum concluded as she patted her other friend. 

Kyungha had cherry red hair and tan skin like Chaeyoung. She had large eyes and seemed to be average weight, not too skinny like Chaeyoung but not considered “fat” in the slightest, and had long legs. 

Kyungha had on a black leather jacket (seriously, what is it with them and leather? Nabi wondered), a white tee that she tied up to expose her flat tummy, and high-waisted black short shorts that showed off her long legs. 

Nabi bowed once more, “It’s nice to meet all of you!” 

Areum also added, “They’re also our ride to the audition.”

Nabi’s eyes widened, “Ah, jeongmallo? Thank you for helping us!”

“Yeah, it’s no problem,” Taesuk replied, being the one that will be physically driving the girls. 

Areum invited everyone to sit down on the couch, which was so big it fit the nine kids anyways, to catch up on each other and get to know Nabi as well. However, as soon as they sat on the couch, Kangmin immediately jumped onto Areum and hugged her.

“I MISSED YOU SO MUCH NOONA!” the little boy cried.

The sudden tears from the maknae suddenly got everyone emotional as well, even the scary unnie Chaeyoung.

“Yah, I missed you too kid,” Areum replied with silent tears running down her face. 

The other kids hugged Areum again mumbling words of “I missed you” and “I’m glad you’re back” with Nabi sitting next to Areum awkwardly yet again, twiddling with her thumbs, until she decided to cut in.

“Um, can I ask how you guys know each other?” Nabi asked timidly. 

The other kids broke their hug apart to look at Nabi. Nabi slowly shrunk under their gazes because of their scary aura until Areum spoke first. 

“Oh, we’re childhood friends.”

“Childhood friends? Wait, you lived in Seoul before living in Daegu?” Nabi asked in disbelief.

The other kids nodded, already anticipating what Nabi was going to ask next. 

“So….why did you move?” Nabi asked.

At that question, everyone froze, not knowing how to respond without making everyone break down in tears, until Areum responded.

“It’s late cat, you still want to know?”

Nabi nodded slightly, feeling guilty for asking the question, since it seems the question hit a soft spot for everyone. 

“Well….ok. Um, I was ten….”