NaRi kept her arms wrapped around Ni-Ki, mumbling little words of comfort to try and alleviate his sadness. she lifted her head off the boys shoulder, eyes wandering around the 10 remaining contestants. something shifted inside her— the sadness she'd kept in for so long suddenly becoming too overwhelming to handle.

no, NaRi. this isn't about you. it's about Ni-Ki. you have to stay strong for Ni-Ki.

she watched as the eleven flags dropped, her picture with the number 2 above it. still can't believe they actually heard me, we're gonna be besties if i make it out of here frfr

her eyes skimmed through the group, still not really understanding how some of the most talented boys got such low votes.

the first place I-LANDER, Sunoo, now had to choose between taking someone from the Flame On unit or staying with his current members. please pick SungHoonie please pick SungHoonie... she watched as the boy stood up, ready to announce his decision.

"i'm going to... pick I-Lander Park SungHoon." Sunoo announced with a smile, making NaRi burst out into laughter.

while the boys were quiet because of the shock, viewers heard NaRi's loud laugh, the girl completely satisfied with Sunoo's choice. as the boy sat down, NaRi reached her hand out, giving the boy an enthusiastic high-five, now catching her breath.

she stood up, now standing around SungHoon with the rest of her unit. "i'm sorry for laughing but- THAT WAS SO FUNNY," NaRi told the boy, making him send a glare to her.

as the youngest boy was shown sitting in the lowest-ranking room by himself, the tiny girl suddenly came into view, lightly skipping over to him.

"hi, twinnie~" she cooed at the boy, lightly pulling him into her embrace. "why so sad?" she pouted, now holding his face so she could look down to him.

"i'm just scared, 누나, i'm leaving next... these are the only things giving me hope right now," he said, showing his notebook filled with letters from fans across the world.

NaRi's pout slightly expanded— mind forcing her hands to somehow take all sadness away from who she saw as her younger brother.

"stop saying that, okay? you have nothing to worry about. it'll all work out in the end." she whispered to him, hand moving to pat his head.

NaRi ran to her room, immediately going for the 1st place bed. Sunoo, being too distracted with the two older boys, failed to notice the dashing girl who was already getting comfortable on his bed.

"ya! NaRi~" he said with a pout. "aish" was heard from the same boy after failing to drag her out of the bed. she smiled in victory.

she eventually got up, fishing for her letter before seeing it in HeeSeung's hand, waving it around in front of her. "to HeeSeung, from Jay."
"to NaRi, from Jay." the two read concurrently.
"oh my-" the boy said, head falling backwards.

before the eldest boy began reading, NaRi said quickly spoke. "i got mad at him when he came to give this to me," she was then interrupted by Jay, "YEAH! i've never seen her that mad before. it scared me." he spoke honestly, making her jump over to where he was and bring him into a hug as she watched HeeSeung read his letter.

"to Jay NaRi is? the best little sister ever!" she read aloud, voice an octave higher than usual. "ew why'd you read-"
"sh!" she said, putting her hand over his mouth.

NaRi listened to Sunoo read his letter, laughing loudly while falling back onto the bed at the boy's hilarious interpretation of the writing. she read her letter out loud, sucking in a deep breath before starting.

the letter read,

NaRi, i could never find the right words to express to you how much you mean to me. although i was a little hesitant of competing against you,

she suddenly stopped reading to lightly slap the boy's shoulder. "i knew it! rude."
"just keep reading, won't you?"
she rolled her eyes, "fine."

i feel nothing but happiness when i see you always ranking high, realizing the world loves you just as much as i've grown to. i've always known you as the "talented performer who no one will ever be able to beat", but i've recently grown to know and love the Kim NaRi who acts older than her age by acting like all of our mother. my life wouldn't be the same if i didn't know you, you have a special place in my heart. thank you for everything, i'm always rooting for you from wherever i may be.

— 'jay hyungie'

tears 'suddenly' appeared in NaRi's eyes, the boys barely noticing.
"SHE'S CRYING!"
"AM NOT." she said, dramatically falling back onto the bed.

she slowly lifted herself back up as the boys laughed at her strange antics. "thank you, hyungie." she whispered, earning a soft kiss on her temple.

NaRi sat in the kitchen with the boys, lightly picking at her food. her head suddenly perked up as she heard SungHoon's screams. she lightly giggled at the boy, already making her way to the pantry.

"he's just mad Sunoo-hyung picked him for our team.." she dragged out a bit, playfully rolling her eyes as she struggled to get something off the shelf.

she stood close-by as SungHoon laughed while washing the dishes. a creeped-out expression making its way onto her face. "yeah.. this one's weird.." "HEY!"
"hi!"

NaRi danced in 'tiny' as their leader taught SungHoon the moves, laughing at his confused expressions and Flame On-esque interpretations of the choreography.

she stood quietly by the table, silently watching the older fall into his 'cute' mode. this one's ... weird.

later that night after NaRi found a snack in the kitchen, she followed HeeSeung and JungWon to the room, already noticing there was something bothering the younger boy.

her head perked up from it's position on the first place bed, upset at JungWon's insecurities for getting to him. "you're not going anywhere. just because you don't have a badge doesn't mean it's the end for you," she stopped for a moment, slamming her face back into the pillows,

"so stop saying these things or i'll kick you." she finished her thought, not at all joking about the last comment.

the boy barely mustered a quiet laugh, making NaRi's head perk up once again. she sighed, "come here," she said, opening her arms for him to lay with her. once he was comfortable, she lightly pushed his head to her chest. "you," she told him, beginning to caress his hair, "need to stop worrying."

throughout the night, NaRi went throughout each room, checking in with each of the boys. her inner maternal instincts kicked in more than usual that night, knowing they almost all needed comfort more than ever that night. she brought them all into her arms, even if they were almost double her size, playing with their hair and giving them words of encouragement— along with some light scolding.

once she got to Ni-Ki, the one she's been most worried about, she took a deep breath in, ready to let him cry onto her chest again. "RiKi, you've gotta stop worrying. you know you're good— all of us know you're good! you're so talented and it hurts seeing you slowly lose your confidence... you'll debut no matter what, i hope you know that. hm?"

she told him, suddenly lifting the boy from her body, forcing him to look into her eyes. "yeah.." he said in the quietest, weakest voice she'd ever heard from him. her heart shattered.

"now stop being so down! you know you're good! you'll be okay! i can send another telepathic message to the viewers to vote for you. okay?" she told him sincerely, earning a light chuckle from the boy.

she smiled at him, lightly closing his eyes with her hands— she placed light pecks on his very evident eyebags, pulling him to snuggle into her even closer.

none of them mentioned it, but every one of the boys watched her as she left, desperately wishing she would've stayed with them longer.

there was a small scene, a compilation of NaRi comforting the 10 boys.

she was asked why she did that— she carefully thought about her answer.
"i..." she hesitated, "just want to be here for all of them. no matter what happens, if i for some reason mess up and get eliminated after this test.. i want to go with no regrets. i wouldn't want to leave this group without knowing i might've done something to help them, i guess. yeah." she finally finished, the tiniest ghost of a smile on her face.

with three days now left until the test, NaRi smiled fondly as she watched SungHoon's cheerful moves in the mirror. he's definitely gotten better! when the time arrived for the midpoint evaluation, NaRi was the only one dancing up to Sung Deuk's expectations— her facial expressions all natural, not too forced nor awkward.

she watched as Jake crashed onto the couch, a breathless laugh spilling from the girls lips.

"jakey-hyung~ don't stress~ i'll help you!" she said, kneeling down in front of him. when he made the comment about him "rooting for them (HeeSeung, SungHoon, NaRi) when they debuted", he earned a slap on his side. "what have i told you all about saying things like that?!" she exclaimed, getting up to leave the living room. "i'm tired of hearing that from you all!" the boys heard from a distance, her already going downstairs. "she spoke Mandarin again.."
"oh i know, she's mad."

after walking down the stairs, though, she quickly saw the producer in the main practice room, making her little legs quickly scurry up the stairs into the living room once again.

she slung herself on the couch, head barely peeking over the glass to see what the Flame On unit was doing. she quietly watched the unit below them show their dance, nerves suddenly raising. oh they're good.

later that night, she smiled at the monitor as she watched her unit practice their 'refreshing' and 'bright' facial expressions.

she was the last one to show her own, making the boys gasp at her ability to naturally pull off the facial expressions.

"what? im just naturally cute." she said, flipping her hair.

Sunoo looked at the girl with a judgemental look, scoffing at her sudden self-praise.

when the I-Landers were shown cleaning and dancing to different artists' songs, viewers saw NaRi right in the middle, doing nothing but dancing and singing. as she loudly sang with Dynamite, Jay suddenly turned the music down.

"NaRi if you don't start helping me over here i will-"

"OKAY OKAY STOP I WILL GEEZ" she quickly cut him off, not ready for another tickle attack from the older boys.

as the boys were shown distributing the cleaning roles, NaRi suddenly spoke up from the ground where she was laying. "i'll just stand here and look pretty!"

the boys all groaned at her statement.
"WHATTTT?"

she was eventually seen in the rooms helping the boys clean, anyways.

she calmly ate, excited to see the boys play their suddenly-suggested game.
"who seems to be most different now compared to the beginning?"

NaRi pondered on the question, not really sure who the answer was. as HeeSeung gave his reasoning for choosing K, he stopped for a second.

"well, for everyone else it may be NaRi to be honest.." "yeah, NaRi!"

she looked up from her pizza, all fingers suddenly pointed towards her. "why, why?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"it's cause it felt like no one could approach you at the beginning.. you felt scary!" Daniel explained, causing NaRi to chuckle a bit.
"next question!" she said, quickly wanting to get the attention off of her.

after a few more questions, the boys decided to base one off of NaRi. "okay, let's say NaRi is everyone's sister! who would you introduce her to?" they all agreed on the question, NaRi's eyes almost falling out of their sockets.

"okay, whatever. it doesn't matter if they're older or younger!" she said, lowkey excited to see who they boys would choose.

contrary to the earlier similar question, almost everyone pointed their finger to Ni-Ki, making NaRi's face turn a light shade of pink— although it was hard to see because of her skin tone, it was definitely there. "OKAY NEXT QUESTION!" she once again exclaimed, wanting the attention off of her, again.

"first through fourth places, please go to your room." the voice suddenly said, making NaRi's eyes go wide. she looked at the boys she shared the room with, all evidently sharing the same thoughts as her.

she went up to the room, two phones on her and HeeSeung's shared bed immediately catching her eye. her mouth fell to the ground once she saw she could call someone, her mind immediately going to her older brother.

"i wanted to call my brother. my mind went straight to him." she said, lightly smiling towards the camera.

NaRi sat in the room with the boys, watching as their eyes all lit up at the thought of speaking with a past contestant, her heart filling with joy.

the scene cut to NaRi holding the phone to her face, hands lightly shaking.

"hello?" a male voice was heard from the phone— a voice that made a smile make its way onto NaRi's face.

"hyungie~!" she lightly exclaimed, giggling when the caller on the line gasped.

"MIREIA?"
"yes.. your favourite little sister!"
"...you're my only little sister?"

hearing this, NaRi suddenly shifted from a happy, bright smile to a bitter face, slightly 'upset' at her older brother's remark.

although the rest of the audio was muted, viewers were gifted with the scenes of NaRi's bright eye smile, making her look brighter than the sun. the Arredondo-Kim siblings chatted, cracking a few jokes and ultimately telling eachother how much they missed the other.

"i know you'll make it through with this. you're so, so talented. don't doubt yourself, okay? you know how much i've been rooting for you, my little baby."

she silently laughed at the nickname her brother had given her, a stray tear escaping her eye.
"i'll continue rooting for you! tell HeeSeung i said hi!" "i will, hyungie."

"i love you, you know that?"
"yes, always."

the audio once again cut off, NaRi's saddened face taking over the screen.

"yeah, it definitely helped me. recently i've been in this weird mood but hearing Samuel-hyungs voice helped cheer me up." she spoke, a happier expression now shown to the viewers.

later that night, she found herself in between two of her BigHit friends, once again, consoling them to help lift their falling spirits.

"you two are the ones i thought i'd never have to do this to," she told them before beginning her comforting-mixed-with-scolding session. "you guys know you're some of the people that have to worry the least, right?" said NaRi, already snuggled on her side of the shared bed.

HeeSeung and Jay slightly propped themselves up, confused as to what the girl was talking about. "c'mon, guys! i know i've done pretty well throughout the show but.. you never know. the producers might not want to risk there being a girl in a boy group."

she finished as she sat up, breathing patterns slowly becoming irregular as she sunk deeper into her thoughts. HeeSeung noticed this, immediately taking her hand into his. the boys stayed silent, watching NaRi's pent up emotions slowly begin to show.

she kept her eyes on the comforter, breathing becoming a harder task as the seconds went by. tears she'd bottled up began to sting her eyes, desperately asking NaRi to release them. noting the fact that she was not about to calm down anytime soon, HeeSeung pulled her body closer towards his own, not wanting her to have a full-blown anxiety attack.

NaRi could feel her throat slowly closing itself, restricting her airway. she closed her eyes again, begging her brain to give her a break. she attempted to go through her 'checklist' she did whenever this happened... but nothing worked. she abruptly tore herself from HeeSeung's embrace, quickly making her way down to the kitchen.

the show showed nothing else of this, respecting NaRi's wishes to never release it to the public.

one boy, though, did end up knowing what happened— solely because he was the one who comforted her.

Ni-Ki.

he was there. he was getting a bottle of water when he suddenly heard crashing footsteps coming down the stairs and someone place themselves harshly on the couch. he hid back in the pantry, not sure who was there.

he listened for a moment, quiet sobs immediately catching his attention. he slowly made his way to the doorway, eyes immediately drawn to the petite figure on the couch, a head full of black hair.

NaRi.

he slowly made his way to the older girl, deciding it was now or never to help her like she'd done to everyone else. "why are you crying?" he gently asked, lightly bringing her face up to scan it.

she had light tear marks staining her flushed cheeks, his heart feeling heavier the longer he looked at her broken image. she didn't answer, breaths still coming out irregularly.

"breathe with me," he told her, making her follow his breathing pattern. once she finally calmed down, he lifted her into his grasp, arms holding on tightly to her smaller figure. by this point, he'd noted she didn't want to talk— she just needed someone there with her.

so that's what he did.

he gently mumbled words to try and make her feel better, sometimes getting her to crack a smile. the pair stayed there for a while, Ni-Ki helping NaRi eventually forget all the worries she'd had stored deep inside of her for a while.

it was finally here, D-Day. NaRi wore a slightly oversized lavender sweater, white pants, and a pastel yellow beret— all of the boys melted at how adorable she looked. she wiggled around as she waited for the countdown to reach it's end, as she called it 'letting the nerves out.'

she watched the screen, mouth turning to a light pout as she watched her picture drop from the 2nd ranking.

"now, let the third test begin. the first unit... Chamber 5 unit."

NaRi let out a loud groan, nerves still very high. okay no you got this. she immediately got into her performance mindset, her internal 'cute' switches also turning on. she suddenly turned to the other unit, a cheeky smile plastered on her face.

"goodbye my dear hyungies and little ones, i'll see you all afterwards!" she said, then giving a salute, turning around, and marching onto the egg. the boys all giggled at her antics, noting she was obviously trying to work her nerves off.

she walked onto the stage, her face remained firm while her deep dimple mysteriously popped up on her face, making the producers gush over her cuteness. "hello, we are the Chamber 5 unit!" the unit greeted, all offbeat. after doing it two more times, they finally got it... well, sorta.

"i have a question for HeeSeung, JungWon and NaRi," Wonderkid started, making NaRi's attention go to him.

"this concept is a lot different from what you've done so far. have there been any challenges?"

after HeeSeung gave his answer, the producers' attentions switched to NaRi, waiting for her response. "mm...." she began to think, placing her hand on her chin, "..no. im just naturally cute." she said in the calmest voice she could give, making everyone die at her cuteness.

she prepared for the performance, almost falling asleep under her blanket. woops... she performed just as she'd practiced, remembering to keep her facial expressions as natural-looking as possible.

when it came time for her solo parts, both the producers and I-Landers gushed at the girls' cuteness, being too much to handle at once. she ended the performance contented with her own job, now desperately wishing and praying the producers had liked the final outcome.

"now, NaRi." Bang started, looking at the girl. "yes?" she perked her head up, not sure of what he was going to say. "aish, you were right. okay, Jake!" he told her, making a bright smile come onto her face. told them i was cute. heh.

once her unit returned onto the egg, NaRi's arms found themselves immediately wrapping around HeeSeung and JungWon's disappointed figures. "you two did well, don't worry." she told them, sad they hadn't received such positive feedback.

as the Flame On unit was called, NaRi sent cheers of encouragement to the boys, knowing they were also nervous.

she watched their stage intently, lighting shouting 'woo!'s and various compliments towards the boys. a bright smile made its way onto her face as Bang complimented the entire team, her heart feeling happy for her fellow contestants.

her heart's happiness suddenly got chopped in half as she heard their feedback for Hanbin, her internal motherly instincts already kicking in. i have a feeling this won't end well at all.

she received Ni-Ki with a tight hug, hand finding it's way to his hair. she ruffled it a bit, whispering "told you you'd do great."

she went to JungWon, seeing his sudden distressed face. she once again brought him into her warm embrace, her heart hurting knowing he was feeling unconfident about his future in I-Land. she also made her way to Hanbin, speaking to him in the little Vietnamese she knew, also helping bring comfort to the older boy during this time of uncertainty.

once she finished packing her bag and returned to her chair, she began praying with the boys, begging for some sort of help— any sort of help.

"the 3rd survivor announcement of part 2 will now begin." she nervously made her way back to the stage, anxious to see what the new rankings and results would be.

NaRi listened carefully as the MC repeated their rankings after the global vote, now watching her 2nd place flag fall. "now, we will announce the new rankings of the eleven participants, as determined by the producers following the concept test. only the nine I-LANDERs who survive after these results may participate in the live, Final Test performance which determines the eight members who get to debut."

here we go. it's now or never. her fingers began to fidget, anxiety slowly rising as the first place I-LANDER was about to be announced. she heavily doubted it'd be her, only hoping she'd end up in the top five.

she clapped for K as he placed first, not surprised since he'd done extremely well. she watched the older boy walk back onto the egg, desperately wishing she'd be in that position soon.

"we will announce the second place I-LANDER who may advance to the Final Test. this is the score of the second place I-LANDER."

a 91 appeared on the screen, making everyone's eyes go wide.

one point difference?! knowing how it's gone that might be for me. LMAOO NAHHHH there's no way.

the screen then showed the producers discussing the next survivors' score, saying "this song was probably made for this person. i really liked their performance." by now, both the viewers and I-LANDERs were dying to know who it was.

"second place I-LANDER... Kim NaRi."

her eyes went wide. dude i meant that as a joke.. she slowly climbed onto the small platform, already bowing to the judges.

"thank you.. i didn't expect to get that high of a ranking, if im being honest. im very grateful you liked my performance.." she said smiling.

the I-LANDERs all cheered for her as she walked down the pathway, excited to return to I-Land. K received her with a hug, both of their attentions soon switching to the big screen.

she excitedly watched as the third survivor was almost announced, anxious to see who had gotten an 87, four points short of her score. her eyes widened as Ni-Ki's name was announced, her knees giving out and gently making her fall to the floor, her voice whispering out strings of 'thank you's as the boy was cheered for. she watched with happiness as the younger went to hug K, pure happiness radiating from him. he then went to the girl, pulling her into a tight hug.

she lightly smiled as Sunoo received 4th place, heart lightly breaking after seeing HeeSeung's saddened face. she felt a tear threaten to escape her eye as she watched HeeSeung receive fifth place, silently saying another string of thank you's for his high score. she watched as his voice began to break, the tear finally escaping despite her efforts. she leaned to K for support, considering HeeSeung wasn't with her.

she watched him from a distance as he returned to I-Land, waiting for the right time to go to him. after he was released from K's hold, he went searching for NaRi, immediately being grasped in her comforting embrace he knew too well.

she continued welcoming the following survivors with hugs and words of encouragement, knowing they needed them.

as the time for the final three arrived, her nerves were even higher than before. as the 9th place was given to Daniel, NaRi's mouth fell to the ground. okay i love both of them but JUNGWON BABY YOU CANNOT LEAVE YOU HAVE TO STAY ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

she couldn't even focus on the youngests' return as a survivor, all of her attention now on the silent prayer she mouthed as she crouched onto the floor. tears were once again threatening to slip from her eyes, the only thing on her mind was JungWon getting the last survivor ranking. she reluctantly lifted her eyes to the screen before her, mind now blocking out everything besides the scene unraveling before her eyes.

she sucked in a breath as the 76 was announced, upset it had been so, so close to the higher ranking scores.

"the last survivor, who may advance to the Final Test... Yang JungWon."

that was her breaking point.

she finally allowed the tears to trickle down her cheeks, happiness mixed with slight sorrow mixing inside of her.

thank you, thank you, thank you.

she allowed her eyes to shift back to the screen, right as JungWon went to the older boy— Hanbin's usual bright smile placed on his face.

more tears fell.

both she and HeeSeung were the first ones to embrace the final survivor into a welcoming hug, both of their tears falling onto his vest and shirt.

she was happy he'd survived— happy she had received a chance to potentially debut with him.

but she also felt sorry. sorry to the boy who's bright smile and cheerful giggle never left, no matter how difficult the circumstance could be.

she watched as the boy walked off the platform, the ghost of his smile still there. i'm sorry we failed you.

the girl walked out alongside K and Ni-Ki towards Hanbin, her tear-stained cheeks making him chuckle. "don't cry~" he told her as he pulled her into his embrace.

"you'll make it. i know you will."

🦇  ...  I-LAND 11화, 끝!