the 12 watched the screen as the midpoint of the global votes were being announced. currently, Sunoo, HeeSeung, SungHoon, and Ta-Ki had been called— making NaRi feel that much more nervous.

c'mon guys did y'all not get the telepathic message about the rings-

"fifth place I-LANDER, Kim NaRi."

hehehehe... about the rings.... hehehehe....

as she watched K, Jay and Ni-Ki not get placed within the debut group, her eyebrows furrowed. are they not looking at skills when voting? they all need to be in the top 5 at least. okay now PLEASE read my mind, viewers... please get those three a higher ranking and i'll but you a necklace </3

NaRi felt no ounce of happiness as she put her nameplate on the 5 chair and the debut group badge. she flicked her eyes back and forth from the floor and the three lowest ranked boys, feeling a mix of both sadness and anger.

she watched as the screen announced the third test: Concept Test. excitement started building up in her system, anxious to see what their next task would be. the groups were announced as one of 6, the other of 5.

"we will now reveal the mini-mission to decide the units." mini mission? what would we do- her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a "say the name, seventeen. hi, we're SEVENTEEN!" coming from the screen.

"HYUNGIES!" NaRi said upon seeing SEVENTEEN'S Performance Unit. her eyes sparkled with pure joy, a moment viewers fell in love with.

during the time of I-Land, very few people knew NaRi was close with the 13-membered SEVENTEEN. since her brother trained with them, she spent a lot of time around the group— especially Performance Unit.

she'd even received a mini version of their team ring because she was considered their unofficial maknae. when she wasn't with either of the BigHitEnt groups, she was in Gangnam-gu with the large group either practicing with them, in the studio with Woozi, or even on the set of their GoSe episodes.

she watched her hyungies with wide eyes, mouth falling to the floor when she heard they'd be visiting in 24 hours. NO WAY. NO WAY. NaRi intently watched the screen, eager to find out what song she'd be performing. she saw her picture flip over on the HIT side, energy boosting up immediately. another truth, NaRi had practiced the song with the group countless times, so she had no worries about how she'd do.

hmm.. i wonder how the Pretty U unit's doing....

as the HIT unit sat watching SEVENTEEN's practice video, NaRi danced along with them in the video. the boys switched their gazes back and forth from the video, to NaRi, back to the video. she was matching along perfectly.

"wow NaRiii~!" they cheered her on, stunned by her abilities. the boys finally got up, deciding to make the formation first. "i'm gonna play as MyungHo, okay? okay." she said brightly, already in her spot.

the next morning she stood in the bathroom with the boys, intently watching Sunoo do everyone's hair. she then went with her unit, laughing at the boy's failed attempts at doing their own hair. "ahhh cute~" she cooed, taking the heating tool from their hands and fixing their hair for them.

since she was so much shorter than all of them, she had found a stool to stand on so they wouldn't have to bend every which way to come eye-level with her.

she lazily practiced with the boys, a smile on her face as SEVENTEEN's Performance Unit came on the screen. oh, what viewers were in for.

"Jun and MyungHo, I-Land has a lot of foreigners.. maybe you can give them some helpful advice." Hoshi told the 'China Line' of SVT.

"guess what else..." the youngest began, "...our baby is here too!" he lightly shouted, making the other three lightly jump up and down.

NaRi was looking in the mirror when the egg began to move out of nowhere, mouth dropping to the floor as her eyes went huge. she slowly turned around, refusing to move as she watched the egg spin, finally revealing four of the people she'd been dying to see for months. as opposed to the boys bowing and giving timid greetings, NaRi was shown jumping up and down, lightly chanting "hyungies! hyungies!" as her eyes laid on the four idols.

the unit's eyes laid on the young girl, instantly lighting up at the sight of her. as they walked into the main practice room, NaRi quickly ran up to them as she called their individual nicknames, giving each a tight hug and saying 'i missed you' with a light pout. she stood with them as they asked how the unit's practice was going, giggling at the boys' sudden awkwardness.

as the Pretty U unit came into the room, NaRi still stood with the four, not wanting to leave their presence. as The8 suggested they introduce themselves before starting, Hoshi signaled NaRi to start their introduction. "say the name! SEVENTEEN! hi, we are SEVENTEEN!" she said with the four, along with their respective hand gesture. as the I-LANDERS clapped, she jogged back over to where they were.

"then let's start with HIT team!" NaRi lightly smiled towards her unit, ready to begin their mini-mission performance. she did The8's iconic 8 hand gesture, sort of as a signal she'd be doing his part. "watch me, Minghao!" she said in Mandarin, causing the boy to break out into a smile.

she performed what she'd practiced, happy with her personal outcome at the end. she clapped as Hoshi finished complimenting the team as a whole, slowly walking to Jun's side to latch onto his body.

she smiled as the next unit started their performance, already knowing Sunoo would pull it off perfectly. she cheered on the unit as they began the point choreography, surprised at SungHoon's rare brightness.

she once again returned with her unit their Nano Dance began, mouth falling wide open as she watched HeeSeung's... that dance ... after he forgot the moves to HIT.

"grand finale, grand finale!" the four chanted as NaRi prepared for her Nano Dance. she completed the song's choreography, adding in an extra 'horanghae' hand gesture at the end, blowing a kiss and wink at the four.

"aish NaRi," Dino said at the young girl, getting cut off by the tiger himself.
"HORANGHAE~~" Hoshi suddenly yelled out loud, picking up NaRi and spinning her around.

she cheered for Jay and Jun's dance, suddenly being dragged out by The8 and Dino to do it with them as well. the song started again, NaRi being in between her fellow maknae and her Chinese Twin as they all referred to the pairs.

she clapped for the winning team, sadness slowly creeping up on her as she knew the group of fours' time in I-Land would shortly come to an end. as they said their goodbyes to the group of trainees, NaRi sadly trudged up to the group, wishing to drag her time around them as much as she possibly could. "i'll see you all soon~ tell the others hello for me!" she quietly said with a sad smile as she forced them all to a group hug.

NaRi quickly made her way to the living room, confused at the sudden alarm. she put all her focus on the screen, becoming more confused as time went on. they all jumped up as they heard "go outside" were said, NaRi still very confused...... but even more intrigued. should i just make a run for it?

"as i always say, these things aren't always necessarily good... and there goes NaRi."
Jay said, all eyes on the tiny girl running downstairs.

her eyes landed on the chair outside, once again, making her super confused.
"what's this?" she said in the tiniest voice possible. NaRi sat between HeeSeung and JungWon, leg unconsciously bouncing up and down. her eyes focused on the screen in front of her, lightly jumping as it switched to static.

she watched with love-filled eyes as more and more video messages for the boys popped up, happy so many people had fallen in love with them. deep in her heart, she greatly wished a video message would pop up for her, but she pulled herself out of that unrealistic mindset, knowing it'd never happen.

towards the end, though, two videos were shown for the girl.

"hello, NaRi!," a slightly older-looking girl popped up on the screen, "i'm here to tell you i've cheered for you since the first moment you were shown on the screen!" this made NaRi laugh, knowing her first moment on the show was from where she almost slipped down the rocky path. "you've given me so much inspiration for doing new things in life, and i'll always be rooting for you! i love you!" the Mandarin-speaking girl said, bringing tears to NaRi's eyes.

the next one was a Spanish-speaking viewer. "hi NaRi! i'm so proud of what you've done so far and i can't wait to see how far you get! you've inspired me so much and i'll continue to always support you! i love you! fighting!" the girl finished off, camera now showing NaRi's face nuzzled in HeeSeung's shoulder.

"it meant so much to me.. you know, seeing such different people telling me how much they support me. this definitely helped bring my mood up." she spoke to the camera, a shy smile on her face.

her head was still hidden by HeeSeung, not wanting to show herself in a vulnerable state.

although, when she heard the noise from the screen, all that worry vanished. she read the screen, suddenly excited for the upcoming Q&A. she cheered as the question for HeeSeung came up, excited to see the olders' aegyo after such a long time.

as he said his "heedeungie~", she squealed. "OHH CUTE!~" she exclaimed, almost falling back from the excitement. HeeSeung suddenly pulled her body towards him, practically throwing his head onto her shoulder.

she continued to cheer as Jay's famous 'RAS' and crying scene were shown on the large screen, almost falling back once more.

when K's question 'can you show your killer smile?' came up, he suddenly pulled the young girl up, knowing she could be easily flustered with intense flirting.

she cautiously walked up to the older, nervous for what he'd do. he lightly pulled her chin up to make eye contact with him, her expression staying still. K maintained eye contact with the girl, quickly sending a teasing wink, smiling wide as her face spontaneously turning a deep shade of red. the girl suddenly crashing onto the ground, majorly flustered because of the boys' teasing.

NaRi's eyebrows furrowed at the unfamiliar notebook sitting on her bed, immediately tearing up as she opened it. "they're letters.." she whispered with a slight pout, already beginning to read the first page. she skimmed through the book, finding many letters written in various languages. she looked up towards the boys, eyes turning to crescents as she watched their smiles grow at the sweet gesture.

wherever she was needed as a translator/interpreter, she was there.

"we'll reveal the third test song in a moment. please come to the lobby."
"oh my gosh!" viewers heard the girl say, lightly jogging towards her seat. she closely watched both songs' choreography video, ultimately coming to the conclusion that she didn't mind either concept. although, she did like 'Flame On' the tiniest bit more.

one team would have 6, the other 5. the I-LANDER who placed 11th would be eliminated and not get to perform. even though she was still placed pretty high, that couldn't stop the negative thoughts running through NaRi's mind. what if they decide to not like me anymore and that they don't want a girl to debut with a bunch of guys and what if-

"I-LANDER Kim Sunoo, who placed first in the mini-mission, may go to the second floor and choose your song and members." NaRi watched as the boy walked past them, mind still roaming all over the place.

the camera showed Sunoo holding up five fingers, contemplating which I-LANDERS to choose.
"well, also, NaRi's cute and she hasn't done anything like this before. maybe Sunoo will pick her!" Jay said, forcing the girl out of her thoughts. she laughed it off, 'playfully' rolling her eyes at the olders' comment.

NaRi was the first to go upstairs to check her unit, anxious to see what concept she'd end up with.
"i chose this person because they've never done anything like this before.. and i think she'll be good at it." Sunoo said with a teasing smile.

the camera showed NaRi peeking into the Chamber 5 practice room, visibly confused after she saw an empty room. oh maybe he didn't choo-

"SURPRISE!" Sunoo yelled, quickly opening the door. she jumped back, surprised at the boy's surprise attack. "i knew you'd do this.." she said, crashing to the floor.

she then helped Sunoo surprise Jake, JungWon, HeeSeung and Ta-Ki. i like this group... kinda wish SungHoonie was here though :[

she sat with her new unit, trying to pull herself into her rare "cute" personality. she followed along with Sunoo, both singing to the song with bright facial expressions, leaving the others, especially HeeSeung, stunned.

"c'mon it's not too hard, hyung. try it!" she said to the older, lightly nudging his arm.

she watched HeeSeung's attempt at mirroring Sunoo's facial expressions, both nervousness and excitement flowing through her body. she 'judged' the unit's tries at the facial expressions alongside Sunoo, also giving feedback to the boys every once in a while.

NaRi hugged the pillow, already practicing the moves she'd watched in the video. she watched the boys' attempts, crashing onto the floor, laughing, after watching HeeSeung's very failed attempt.

"hyungie, that's not how you- HAHAHAHAHAH- that's not- HAHAHA" she choked up between breaths, eventually cut off by Sunoo.

"too intense! that's too much!"

after a few minutes of practicing with the pillows, the camera showed the boys attempting, but failing, at lifting NaRi up from the tiny 'bed' she'd made with her pillow. "NO! NO!" was all they heard from the ground.

[cue the scene where Jay writes the I-LANDERS their letters with his puffy hand 🥺]

Jay eventually found NaRi in her room, handing her the letter.
"wai- why? what's this?" she asked, backing away from the boy.

"just-"

"no! you're not- why are you doing this? you're not going anywhere." she said, voice becoming a tad bit harsher by the end of her sentence.

the boy was finally able to put it in her hand. "just take it.." he said, backing out of the room so she couldn't say no. she looked at the letter she'd thrown on her bed, deciding not to open it. i'm not crying anymore in this episode.

as HeeSeung read what seemed to be the last question off the screen outside, NaRi pondered on the question, failing to notice when it changed to K. she controlled her tears the best she could as more videos were shown, unfortunately failing when her video popped up on the screen.

her video was the last video shown, completely unexpected by the boys. her face appeared on the screen, a small smile adorning it.

"hello, I-LANDERS! it's NaRi." she started, making NaRi turn her back towards all the boys who'd turn to look at her.

"i wanted to thank you all for helping get me to where i am today. you've all been a huge part in helping me advance this far, i'll forever be grateful for you all. thank you a million times for treating me as one of you. you have no idea how much that's meant to me throughout this journey. no matter what happens after you all see this.. you'll all have a huge place in my heart forever, let's continue working hard! fighting! i love you!" she exclaimed, finishing the video off with a balloon heart.

the boys all turned to look at her, face now deep inside her hoodie. HeeSeung lightly tackled her into a hug, knowing how hard it must've been for her to open up like she'd done. they cried on one another, both needing a hand of comfort.

"...with 6 in refreshing and 6 in explosion concepts, they've been preparing for the third test. tonight, the 11 I-LANDERS who will survive and continue to perform will be revealed. among them, who won't be able to make it to the next performance?"

NaRi's fingers unconsciously began fidgeting, suddenly feeling nervous when Bang began speaking.

"before we start the announcement, let's take a look at their current ranking determined by the midpoint results of the global voting. rank 1, Kim Sunoo. rank 2, Lee HeeSeung. rank 3, Park SungHoon. rank 4, Ta-Ki. rank 5, Kim NaRi. rank 6, Jake. rank 7, Yang JungWon. rank 8, Daniel. rank 9, Hanbin. rank 10, K. rank 11, Ni-Ki. rank 12, Jay..."

"we'll now show the global viewers' final choice." oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh

she anxiously stood, waiting for her name to be called. maybe they won't call my name? what if they don't? oh no. what if they don't? what will i do then?

apparently she visibly spaced out once more, considering HeeSeung lightly rubbed his thumb on the back of her hand, helping bring her out of her sudden trance. she sent a small, grateful smile towards him.

"we'll now announce the second survivor. the second survivor received 1,698,876 votes, and ranked 2nd among 12. the second place survivor was part of the 'Flicker' unit in the 'Chemi Test.' the second survivor of the global voting. second place I-LANDER. Kim NaRi."

she let out a breath, looking up from the floor. she looked towards HeeSeung, him already looking towards her direction with a small smile. she nodded a bit, receiving his hug.

"i just want to thank everyone who voted for me, no matter where you're from. you have no idea how much this all means to me. i'll continue to work hard to make you all proud. again, thank you all so much. i'll try my best to not let any of you down, thank you!"

she smiled up to the producers, seeing Bang pick up his mic. "you know i'm always proud. congratulations." he said with his usual dad smile, proudly looking at the girl. she gave a small bow, walking towards the egg back to I-Land once again.

she cheered on HeeSeung as he was the third one to be announced, pulling him into a hug once he returned. she watched as they announced the fourth place, already waiting for SungHoon's name to be called.

when Jay's name was called, her mouth once again fell to the floor. she loudly cheered for the boy as he returned in the egg, immediately running to tackle him into a hug. "told you you weren't going anywhere" she said into his chest.

when Jay complimented SungHoon on looking so cool, NaRi was apparently the only one who heard HeeSeung's 'what about me?' towards the boy.

she let him say it two more times before putting her hand over his mouth, asking "did y'all hear something? or was it just the wind?"

she welcomed the next survivors with hugs, happy they'd survived. as time went on, though, there was one name on her mind. "Ni-Ki.. please.." she quietly said, barely being picked up by the mic. as only four I-LANDERS were left, she quietly asked,

"what about Ni-Ki and JungWon-hyung?" with a slight pout, immediately going to HeeSeung's side. once JungWon returned with the 8th ranking, she pulled him into a hug.

"Ni-Ki... please. you can't go." she said, tears somehow threatening to escape her eyes.

"the ninth survivor... Ni-Ki."

she fell to her knees, quietly repeating 'thank you' over and over again. NaRi welcomed the younger back by embracing him in a hug, neither wanting to let go.

she reluctantly watched the screen, anxious to see who the last survivor was. i have a feeling everyone's gonna get crushed by this. NaRi kept her eyes glued to the floor, not being able to watch. "the last survivor. Daniel."

what?

she still stood by Ni-Ki. his growing sobs broke her heart, making her pull both him and K into a hug. "why'd he have to go?" she asked, mind clouded with a million thoughts.

she continued comforting the younger boy, letting his tear fall on her shoulder.

NaRi listened to the eliminated's final words, the same three words running through her mind. "you'll make it."

her own tears began to fall as she watched Ta-Ki's steps out of I-Land. she knew it'd eventually be time to say goodbye to someone else .. she just wished it wouldn't have had to been like this.

she stepped outside with the other survivors, not truly read to say goodbye to the cute locking boy she'd gotten so fond of.

"you'll do great. i believe in you, always."

🦇  ...  I-LAND 10화, 끝!