Na Ri didn't tell her friends about the bet. She could already hear Ten's laughter if he found out about it and she figured the more she pretended it didn't exist the easier it would be for her to win. Her test the next day went surprisingly well except for one annoying fact, her mind kept straying to Taeyong and his stupid bet. She knew she should have never let him sit with her. NCT 127 was quiet the rest of the week and slowly everyone stopped talking about the photo from the game which Na Ri was extremely grateful. Well everyone except Ten and Seulgi. Ten had promplty made it his computer and phone background to laugh at and Seulgi had printed out several copies and would hang them around their dorm room almost as fast as Na Ri could tear them down. Yeah it was for the best that she didn't tell them about the bet. 

Monday finally rolled around and when she was well into her morning class Na Ri recieved a text from Taeyong. The text tolled her that they would be meeting at 6 and included the location where they practice. Na Ri groaned inwardly at the reminder, but new there wasn't anything she could do about it. She barely heard the rest of the lecture and when it finally ended she found Seulgi waiting for her in the hall. 

"So, guess what's showing on the campus lawn tonight at 6:30!!" She said bounding over to Na Ri her face beaming. 

"I don't know what?" Na Ri replied threading her arm through Seulgi's and allowing herself to be led away from the classroom.

"Jurassic Park! I know you love those American movies so we definitely need to go." Seulgi replied "Wait why do you look like you're about to say you can't come."

Na Ri sighed in frustration. "Cause I can't. I have to work on my idiotic article" 

"What! noooo. Just work on it afterward!" Seulgi cried. "I already invited Ten and Yuta!" 

"Sorry Seulgi I can't tonight. Just hang out with Ten and snuggle up to Yuta if you can." Na Ri replied causing Seulgi's face to turn a bright shade of pink. 

"Wh-what I don't, I have no clue why you would say that. Stop being weird. Oh my God. Yuta can't go tonight anyway he's got practice for something" Seulgi flustered looking at anything but her best friend. 

"Yeah well that , enjoy your date with Ten then." Na Ri smirked earning a hard punch in the shoulder from Seulgi.

"I can't believe you're going to abandon me to hang out with Ten all by myself." Seulgi moaned dropping her head onto Na Ri's shoulder.

"Then extend an invite to Johnny" Na Ri offered poking Seulgi on the forehead.

She frowned smacking her hand away. "Oh yeah...why didn't I think of that?"

"Probably because you were so excited about inviting Yuta and then subsequently depressed when he couldn't come." Na Ri pointed out chuckling

"What was that? Oh sorry I couldn't hear you over the complete and utter betrayal of you choosing to work on that stupid Taeyong article instead of coming to watch dinosaurs eat people with me." Seulgi replied ignoring Na Ri's comment and crossing her arms.

"Ah so even you admit it's stupid." Na Ri said nodding her head feeling vindicated.

"Only because its getting in the way of great friend time." Seulgi responded rolling her eyes.

"I'll take what I can get." Na Ri shrugged.

The rest of the day passed by rather quickly to Na Ri's disappointment, she wasn't looking forward to going to this practice. Eventually though the time came for her to get over herself and it up. Walking the few blocks to the address Na RI found herself outside what looked to be an old warehouse building. Na Ri was beginning to think Taeyong had set her up by sending her to the wrong place when she saw Taeyong and Yuta approaching. 

"Oh hey you're here!" Taeyong said brightening up upon seeing her. "Sorry we ran a little late cause someone-" he said giving a pointed look at Yuta. "Was going to try to skip practice to hang out with some girl named Seulgi." Yuta's face was turning bright pink at the accusation and Na Ri felt herself smirking. Those two were head over heals for each other and they had no clue. "You didn't wait long did you?" Taeyong asked looking worried.

"No I just got here." Na Ri replied honestly.

"Ok good." Taeyong sighed looking relieved. "I should warn you before you go in, the guys can be a little...intense."

"Oh please I deal with you both of you on a semi regular basis, I think I can handle it." Na Ri retorted. Yuta and Taeyong shared a look but didn't say anything. 

"Well then, right this way Miss Na Ri" Yuta said leading her to the door and opening it for her. The street had been quiet before but as soon as he had opened the door and she went to step in her ears were assaulted with the sounds of screaming, singing, and trumpet playing all at once over the steady beat of music.

The shock must have shown on her face because Taeyong smirked and leaned over to shout so he could be heard. "We had to install a sound proofing system because we were getting so many complaints from the neighbors and the city."

It was complete chaos before her. One boy was playing the trumpet while chasing another around. Yuta had rushed forward immediately upon entering and jumped up on another boys back almost knocking the boy to the ground. She had noticed that he had been the only one that looked like he had been trying to practice when she entered. Three of the boys were having some sort of singing contest, but it was hard to tell who was winning. It was impossible to tell where the screaming was coming from because it seemed to be everywhere. There were several different languages being thrown around and it seemed like a blend of Korean, English, and Chinese.

Taeyong shut the door behind them and walked over to a station where they seemed to keep all their bags and things. Dropping his bag on top of several others he picked up a megaphone and held it up, looking over at Na Ri, waiting. Na Ri noticed and quickly held her hands over her ears just a split second before Taeyong began to sound the siren. Slowly the boys stopped what they were doing and turned to face Taeyong. He let it run for quite some time before deciding he really did have everyone's attention and turning it off. 

"Alright idiots, get in line" He said through the megaphone. The boy with the trumpt let out one final note before joining the rest of the boys. "Idiots, this is Na Ri, the girl from my school that will be doing an article about our competition." The boys began to murmur amongst themselves looking excited and Taeyong held up the megaphone again as a warning quickly quieting them down. "I expect you to be nice to her and give her some time to talk with you. Now please introduce yourself and don't be an embarrassment."

"Aw come on when you put it like that you're practically begging us to do something." The first boy in line spoke up. Na Ri had the presence of mind to quickly pull out a notebook to write down names. "I'm Lucas, foreigner, Justin Bieber impersonator and all around handsome guy." The boy said blowing her a kiss. Na Ri saw Taeyong bury his head in his hands. 

The boy standing next to Lucas just shook his head before turning to Na Ri. "I'm Jungwoo, you can just ignore him." He said nodding at Lucas.

They continue on down the line like that, some with flashier introductions than others. Jisung, Taeil, Jaemin, The one with the trumpet introduced himself as Haechan which caused the next in line to role his eyes and say "His name is actually Donghyuck but for whatever reason he thinks he's cooler being called Haechan. I'm Mark." Then came Sicheng, Jaehyun, Kun, Jeno, Chenle, and Renjun. Na Ri realized that a lot of them looked like they were still in high school and wondered how they all met. She made a note to ask them later.

"And you already know myself and Yuta." Taeyong winked making Na Ri go slightly red with embarrassment. Why on earth did she have to make that bet. "We're going to go ahead and get started and then we can talk more afterward. Sound ok to you?" He asked, the rest of the boys were starting to shuffle and get impatient. Na Ri noticed that Mark and Donghyuck had been slightly pushing one another in line and were getting more and more aggressive. 

"Sounds fine." Na Ri shrugged. "Just point me to a good place where I can sit and watch."

"Donghyuck stop antagonizing Mark!" Taeyong shouted at the boy almost interrupting Na Ri.

"Why are you only picking on me? Mark was doing it too!" The boy whined back. He definitely still had to be in high school.

Taeyong didn't bother with a reply instead giving them the most tired "I'm-so-done-with-your-" face she had ever seen. To which Donghyuck just huffed and crossed his arms, although it seemed like he wasn't really that mad.

Taeyong turned back to Na Ri and that must have been some sort of sign because the boys all dispersed from their line and, much more calmly than they had been before, started stretching and getting warmed up. "You can sit over here by the mirror." He said lightly putting his hand on her back to guide her, surprising Na Ri at the contact, but when she looked over at him he wasn't looking at her or giving her a cheeky wink or smile like she expected. He led her to a chair that was sitting in the center of the big mirror that lined the wall. "This will give you a perfect vantage point to watch us dance." He said before leaning in closer to whisper in her ear. "Plus you'll get to see me in all my glory." He muttered his breath tickling her ear to which she immediately pushed him away, ignoring the little shiver that ran down her spine. Taeyong just laughed seemingly expecting that reaction from her before walking over to the sound system that was hooked up in the back.

"You know he wouldn't mess with you as much if he didn't know that he would get a reaction out of you." Yuta commented walking over, practically dragging Sicheng with him, his arm wrapped around his shoulders. Na Ri realized Sicheng had been the one that had been practicing when they entered.

"I think it's a little too late for that now don't you think?" Na Ri replied crossing her arms. Her eyes being uncounsciously drawn to where the offender was standing. 

"Taeyong told us a lot about you." Sicheng spoke up capturing Na Ri's attention again with his quiet voice and accented Korean. 

"Like what?" Na Ri asked curious to what had been said about her. 

"He told us about how passionate you were about writing and how that for whatever reason a beautiful girl had decided to hate him." Sicheng continued. "But I don't understand, why do you hate him?" 

Na Ri could feel her face turning bright red, wondering why Taeyong had told them she was beautiful. It had to be some sort of joke or something to him. Before Na Ri could reply to Sicheng Yuta spoke up. "You're asking one of the great mysteries of the world my dear boy. The only person who knows why she hates him so much is herself and she's never told anyone." 

She bristled at his statement. "How could you know whether I told anyone or not?" She asked. 

Yuta shrugged. "I asked Seulgi if she knew and she told me you had never told anyone." 

"Oh so now you're having secret rendezvous with Seulgi now are you?" Taeyong spoke up walking back over to the three of them, having heard Yuta's last statement. Yuta quickly looked away trying to hide his face mumbling to himself. "We need to get started or else we won't finish until late." Taeyong continued motioning to the rest of the boys in the room who shuffled around seeming to get to their place. 

Na Ri sat down in the seat provided for her. And watched Taeyong take charge of the large group of boys. He gave some directions to a few of the boys Before taking his own place in the center and starting the music. It wasn't a song that Na Ri was familiar with but it had a good beat. Na Ri watched as the chaotic group suddenly melded together into one unit that seemed to have almost the same mind. The first run through of the dance Na Ri was so caught up watching the dance she forgot to take any notes or analyze anything. So when they finished, breathing hard, Na Ri quickly realized her mistake and turned a shade of pink. The boys didn't pay her any mind however and continued with their practice; immediately they started the song over and ran through it again. Na Ri was thankful and this time made sure to take notes. 

The rest of the evening proceeded much the same way. Na Ri was surprised at how well Taeyong took charge of the large group of boys and kept them under control. "Chenle, get back over here! Lucas what are you even doing??? Donghyuck you pick that trumpet up one more time so help me..." Na Ri frowned to herself as she realized her eyes were being drawn to Taeyong again throughout the practice, but even she couldn't deny that out of everyone he was the best dancer there. 

Three hours after they had arrived Taeyong finally ended their practice with almost all the guys falling to the ground breathing heavily and sweating profusely. "Hey, don't forget to give Na Ri some of your time before you leave today guys." Taeyong said speaking up picking up his water bottle from next to his bag. 

Na Ri approached Yuta first since she actually knew him. "Well, the great journalist approaches me first. How can I help you?" Yuta smiled at her cheekily as he grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face. 

"I just have a couple questions for right now. How long have you been apart of this group? What made you join?"

"I've been dancing with Taeyong for a year and a half now. We locked eyes on the campus green one day and knew it was meant to be. We ran towards one another in slow motion and I caught him in my arms. It was beautiful. People cried." Yuta answered smiling at Na Ri. Na Ri gave him her best I'm-so-done-with-your- face, one she had perfected after years of knowing Ten. "Ok, but I really have known him for a year and a half. He was the first friend I made on campus, and when he found out I could dance he practically begged me to join. At the time I really wasn't interested, I wanted to focus on football and my scholarship, but Taeyong was so passionate and after seeing a practice I couldn't say no." 

Na Ri scribbled down her notes as he spoke. "What are your thoughts about this competition?" 

"Oh man, I'm more nervous about this than any football game I've played in. They've been hoping and working towards this competition since before I even joined. Jaehyun told me that if they had been expecting to have to travel over to America and had been saving their money like crazy for plane tickets. When our school was announced as the location everyone went crazy, Taeyong started crying cause some of the guys were having trouble saving money. It was like fate." Yuta answered seriously. 

"Wow, really? He cried?" Na Ri asked expecting Yuta to be joking again, but he shook his head completely serious. 

"Yeah, we didn't want to leave anyone behind. We're a family. So he cried, and so did a few others." Yuta answered. Na Ri nodded mulling over this information. 

"Thanks Yuta, who do you recommend I talk to next?" She asked looking around at the boys spread about the room, some talking, some laying down resting. Yuta pointed out Mark who was talking to Donghyuck....or Haechan....or whatever his name was so Na Ri headed over to him. 

"Hey Mark right? And.....Hae..chan??" She asked approaching the boys. 

The two boys smiled at her, "That's us, but seriously. Don't call him Haechan, it gives me a headache." Mark replied. 

"Don't listen to him. I only reply to Haechan." Haechan replied elbowing Mark. 

"Uh...ok" Na Ri nodded. "Anyway, could I get a few comments from you all today?" the two boys shrugged and nodded yes, so Na Ri continued. "How did you all meet Taeyong? And how old are you? You guys don't look like you're in college." 

"I met Taeyong first" Mark started. 

"But he asked me to join first" Haechan added.

"He asked us at the same time idiot." Mark grumbled to Haechan before turning back to Na Ri. "Taeyong is an old family friend, known him for most of my life. Feels like he's my dad at this point. I'm from Canada so when I came to Korea I moved in with Taeyong's family. We've always danced together, but he asked me to join SR15B about three years ago with Donghyuck-"

"Haechan" Haechan interrupted. 

"-who's a classmate of mine." Mark continued as if he hadn't said anything. "I'm 18 and He's 17. Still in high school." 

"Why did you guys join?" Na Ri continued as she wrote. 

Haechan answered before Mark could. "I was promised fame and fortune." He said matter of factly. Na Ri glanced over at Mark who just shook his head no. 

"Any other reason?" Na Ri asked. 

"Well I also like to dance and I thought it would be fun." Haechan added shrugging his shoulders. 

"I joined entirely cause of Taeyong. If it wasn't for him I would have given up dance a long time ago." Mark shared. 

"Why's that?" Na Ri questioned looking up at the boy.

"He pushes me to keep going and to be better. There were a couple of years when I just wanted to give up and move back to Canada but he convinced me to stay. I owe him a lot." 

Na Ri hummed to herself as she wrote some more. "I think that's all I need for right now. I'll let you guys go. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me." 

The rest of the interviews went about the same, the boys talking about how Taeyong kept them going and kept their dreams alive. The more she heard the more incensed she became. Was this guy some sort of angel? Why did everyone love him so much? It was like he could do no wrong. By the time she had finished the last interview she needed for the evening she was bitter. Mr. Do-no-wrong Taeyong was apparently perfect according to everyone else in the world. She was ready to leave and go pass out in her dorm room, but Taeyong had other plans. 

"Hey wait up!" He called after Na Ri who had slipped through the doors to leave. She had noticed that he had been hanging around and had a terrible feeling that he would try to talk to her. After hearing everyone sing his praises, she wasn't sure she could handle that. 

"What is it Taeyong?" She asked turning to face the person she had decided was the bane of her existance. 

"Let me walk you back to your dorm." Taeyong said fidgeting with the strap of his bag. 

"I'm fine walking on my own." Na Ri replied turning back around and starting back to campus hoping that he wouldn't follow her, but knowing that he would be anyway.

Taeyong quickly caught up to her. "I know you are, but we're both going the same way, plus it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me not to."

Na Ri gave him an exasperated look. "The only reason we have to walk back is cause you were waiting on me."

"For your information I had to lock up the studio, so I'm always the last to leave." Taeyong said brushing his shoulder up against hers.

"...Oh." Na Ri replied dumbly. 

"But I was also waiting to walk you back." Taeyong smiled smugly before Na Ri pushed him and rolled her eyes.

The walk back wasn't at all as horrible as Na Ri expected it to be. She thought Taeyong would annoy her the whole way, but he stayed relatively quiet until they were back on campus. 

"So how is the article going? Was today helpful?" He asked looking over at her. 

"Surprisingly....today was helpful actually." Na Ri nodded. "I got a lot of good interviews today and a lot of good material." She paused a moment before continuing. "They all seem to really respect you." 

"They're my family. It feels like we're all a bunch of strays who didn't have anyone else and we stick together to survive." Taeyong answered honestly. Na Ri nodded but didn't reply. 

"Well, here's my stop. I'll text you about the next time I can come to a practice."  Na Ri said awkwardly. 

Taeyong nodded. "Alright, see ya around Na Ri. Night!" He said giving her a wave before heading off in the direction of his dorm. 

Na Ri sighed and entered the building, showing her school ID to the front desk clerk before heading up the stairs to her room. She was ready to collapse on her bed, but of course Seulgi had other plans. 

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!!!" Seulgi yelled as Na Ri entered the room throwing her bag onto her desk. 

"Uh what was what??" Na Ri asked confused sitting down on her bed. 

"Why was Taeyong walking you to the dorm???" Seulgi asked crossing her arms and raising her eyebrow.

"Oh that? It was nothing. We just walked back from his practice together. I was the last to leave and Taeyong had to lock up, it was just a coincidence." Na Ri replied brushing it off and laying down to look at the ceiling. 

"Uh uh....sure it was." Seulgi said. "This is supsicious activity and I will be reporting it to Ten. He'll want to know about this."

Na Ri groaned. She was never going to hear the end of this. 

DJPringle: TEN TEN TEN!!!

DJPringle: GUESS WHAT

DJPringle: You will never guess what just happened

DJPringle: TEN RESPOND THIS IS IMPORTANT

Tenoutof10: Dude I'm trying to watch a movie what is it

DJPringle: Taeyong walked Na Ri home tonight

Tenoutof10: HE DID W H A T

Tenoutof10: Taeyong...and NA RI?????????????

Tenoutof10:????????????????

Tenoutof10: Did I read that right!!!!

NaReally: Guys it's really not that big of a deal

DJPringle: Yes it is shut up 

Tenoutof10: THE WORLD IS ENDING WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NA RI 

NaReally: I'm trying to sleep, I'm muting you all

Tenoutof10: Johnny just spit out his drink when I told him

Tenoutof10: NO Na Ri come back here and face us liek a man!!!

Tenoutof10: *like

DJPringle: She just turned her phone off. 

Tenoutof10: Coward

wow wow wow it has been a minute. It's been a long time. I know. There's been a lot going on recently in my life and I just completely got out of Kpop. I lost what made me love the music and love the groups. All the music started to sound the same, my groups didn't feel the same anymore and I just lost a lot of joy. I started listening to kpop again recently because of Day6. I've always been a My Day since their debut, but idk listening to their songs again after so long just breathed life back into me. I started thinking about my writing again, specifically this story and how much I absolutely love it, and just how much fun I have writing. So if you've been waiting...thank you. I don't know what the future holds, but for now I'm happy. I'm back. I'm writing. 

Much Love,

Ashton