61. that was the team's score. how did we do so bad? how are we supposed to be able to eliminate six people?

"how are we supposed to do this?" she said to no one in particular, barely being heard.

"what were the highest and lowest scores?"
"85 was the highest, 40 was the lowest."
"85?!"
"i think Ni-Ki got that score, right?" NaRi said looking over at her partner.

NaRi sat in the purple room with HeeSeung, Jay, and SungHoon.

"HeeSeung hyung we all know you're never getting sent to the ground, please stop saying such negative things about yourself!" NaRi shouted from a bed the boys weren't sitting on. "if anyone's getting sent down, it's me. i was on part 1 and feel as if i didn't live up to what was expected of me." she said, worry evident in her voice.

like the group of boys in another room were discussing the individual scores, this group began doing the same.

"who ended up getting the 85? has anyone said?"
"no, i have a few guesses on who it could be, but i'm not exactly sure"
"did NaRi fall asleep again? in my bed?"
"this is gonna be a tough time."

unbeknownst to them, NaRi ended up getting the 85. the next clip showed NaRi's saddened face clicking on the screen to reveal her individual score.

"now, NaRi. she didn't shine through as much as i'd hoped. but there isn't really a good place in the song to shine through."
"she did a better job with part 1, for sure. you could tell when she and NiKi were singing who had the better feel to the song."

she clicked on the screen, hands beginning to shake. she sucked in a breath as she waited for the number to pop up on the screen. 85. once she saw the number, she crouched down on the ground, quickly thanking God. "oh no way."

"i just couldn't believe i got the highest score, truly. i'm so thankful," she told the camera, a small smile coming onto her face.

out of nowhere she awoke from her mini nap and left for the blue room. once she walked in and saw Daniel hugging the others, she immediate turned to walk out. nope no- "NARIII!" she heard the younger boy exclaim. "oh gosh-" she was suddenly cut off, being tackled to the floor.

NaRi walked through the living room, seeing Ni-Ki
sitting on the couch alone, in his thoughts.

she debated on whether or not to go to him, but her legs thought quicker than her mind. she found herself slowly walking over to the younger, debating on what to say.

before she could say anything, though, NiKi began. "NaRi, i'm so.. sorry. if i would've trained with you more and matched up with you we would've made a better score and-"

"RiKi, what are you doing? you're not the one to blame for this, okay? you did your best. that's all any of us could ask for, okay?" she lightly scolded him, putting her arms around his waist. she truly didn't want Ni-Ki to blame himself for anything, she didn't believe he was at fault for anything.

the time to eliminate six others finally came. NaRi still had not made up her mind, and she didn't think she'd be able to anytime soon.

God, how am i supposed to do this? she whispered to herself while starting at the small screen. hesitantly, she decided on her final six. Seon, Nicholas, Geonu, Jake, Youngbin, and Daniel. none of them deserve this. "oh gosh, please forgive me! i'm so sorry," she spoke to the camera.

anxiously waiting for the results to be announced, NaRi kept her eyes on the floor— she couldn't watch. she had to keep herself from bursting into tears as more and more contestants were announced. why does this have to happen?

"the sixth eliminated received 8 votes.. Ni-Ki."
the camera suddenly showed a clip of NaRi suddenly raising her head, physically, literally gasping. why did it have to be him?

once again, she physically could not watch as the eliminated participants turned in their nameplates. this was hurting her more than she'd hoped, she didn't want to see anyone, especially Ni-Ki, leave. at this point, she couldn't hold her tears back. viewers could hear tiny, high-pitched sniffles while watching the six turn in their nameplates — undoubtedly from NaRi.

she immediately stood from her seat to hug Ni-Ki after K. "i'm so sorry," she repeated a few times, "please come back soon." she said, still sniffling a little.

she then went to the youngest of the contestants, tears threatening to pour out a little harder than earlier. "i'm so, so sorry. i'm so sorry."

afterwards she went to Jay, again, lost of words. "come back soon, okay? you promise?"
"of course, and stop crying, please?" the older said, wiping her tears with his thumbs.

finally, she trudged over to Jake, not wanting to face him. "hyung, i'm so sorry for failing yo-"
"NaRi, no. you're not to blame for this, okay? you did great, it was all me. i'll be back soon, okay?" he said, cutting her off, pulling her into a long hug. she did blame herself for him leaving, even though she's also partly to blame since she voted for him.

she needed comfort, so she went to HeeSeung and clinged onto his frame, not wanting to let go. she couldn't bare to watch them disappear from the egg, it would've just broken her a little more.

NaRi sat in her seat, knees pulled into her oversized sweater. with tears still pouring down her face, she couldn't stop internally blaming herself. if i would've just done a little better with Jake or NiKi they wouldn't have left. God, why'd it have to be them?

"i wonder who the new ones are?" she asked the rest, anxiously awaiting the new recruits arrival.

"SUNOO!" she exclaimed once she saw the older boy's face. she immediately brought him into a hug, not wanting to let go. NaRi smiled watching Sunoo be so happy after he arrived. i missed having energy around.

"another test?" she loudly exclaimed as the familiar robotic voice came on once again.

once the next challenge was showed on the screen, NaRi could not stop smiling. it was a BTS song, she needed to get a good part.

we have to vote again?! haven't they already read my mind, now knowing i don't like this? ugh. PNation wouldn't treat me like this. :[

"anyone who wants to volunteer for part 1?"
"can we recommend?"
"i'd say, NaRi and HeeSeung, again.."
all I-Landers, once again, collectively agreed on the two splitting part one. the two smiled, thanking the others.

"ouu, hyungies!" NaRi exclaimed after seeing the purple-themed Samsung phones in the upgraded item room; immediately opening the camera to spam the phone with pictures of herself and the others.

NaRi grabbed piles of food, feeling starved after not eating for so long. she began spacing out at the table before she heard her name being brought up in the conversation, pulling her out of a trance.

"i knew NaRi was a good performer, but i didn't expect her to do that good." now shy, the girl buried her face into HeeSeung's shoulder, a muffled 'thank you' coming from her mouth.

while the I-Landers were practicing individually, they were suddenly cut off by NaRi's voice. "if you guys let me fall to the ground i'll never forgive you!"

NaRi practiced the dance break along with HeeSeung and K, including her flips. after finishing, she noticed the new I-Landers struggling with their parts, so she decided to be a good teammate and work with them since she'd already learned her parts.

out of the blue, HeeSeung dragged NaRi to a private practice room, with no explanation.

"you better have a good reas-"

"will you let me speak please?.. thank you." he began explaining what he'd said to a few other I-Landers the previous night. NaRi listened, but became confused by his words.

"of course we need to be in sync? yeah, individual scores effect the overall score a lot but still.."

"NaRi, just please go along with me? we need to make our part as good as it can be, please?" hesitantly, she finally agreed after rolling her eyes at the older.

[midpoint evaluations d-day]

NaRi was in one of the boys' arms, ready to fall into the formation beneath her when Zico walked into the room. "you guys better not- oh my-"

once they began getting into the starting formation, one of the boys looked towards NaRi. "are you gonna go up?" she thought for a moment, "do you think it'd be safe? i'm okay with doing it, but it also depends on you guys.."

they proceeded with the dance, NaRi doing her flips during the break dance, and going to the boys who were supposed to hold her up, but they didn't.

she was confused— a bit upset at the guys, and you could tell. but she continued with the performance until the very end anyways. she did, although, get in her place during the pyramid formation, not wanting to disappoint their evaluators anymore than they already were.

once she heard Son's feedback, her heart dropped to the floor. "why didn't you guys do all of the collaborative moves? where you hold a part 1 up?"

we could've done it, we should've. i was ready! i don't know why they didn't want to do it.. she couldn't even look at the area where they were standing.

"i was just really sorry for not showing the entire performance when we could've."

NaRi couldn't hide her disappointment after the producers left. she knew they could've performed the entire thing, everyone just wasn't in the right headspace. "hey, cheer up, okay?" she told HeeSeung, attempting to somehow cheer him up as well.

NaRi continued helping the new I-Landers with their choreographies, continuously throwing encouraging words at them to help them feel at ease.

the group began attempting the collaborative move again, meaning NaRi would have to trust the boys with her entire being. she wasn't nervous at all, it was the boys who were nervous.

"please just don't drop me! otherwise we should be fine!" she said as she began climbing on the boys backs.

she fearlessly fell forward, and when she jumped down, she tripped on another human being. "taeyong! are you okay?!" she called out from the floor.

"NaRi, are you okay? you just crashed into the floor?" "yes i'm fine, why didn't you move?!" she asked in a frantic voice while getting up off the ground.

"i really feel sorry for Taeyong, he keeps having to act as a step for us, i just don't want him to get hurt from this.." NaRi spoke to the camera.

after the group announced dance practice was over, NaRi ran over to Taeyong, pulling him into a hug, repeatedly apologising to him.

during the groups discussion about getting closer, NaRi decided to speak up.

"i know when you first see me i look sort of.. yeah.. but i promise im not like that once you get to know me! i want nothing more than to get along with all of you, so if that means you need me for help on anything, please ask me! i want you all to feel comfortable around me, considering, you know, i'm the only girl in this competition.. and also you all see me being more comfortable with certain people, but that doesn't mean i won't talk to and get along with others!"

NaRi now sat in front of the camera, "being the only girl in this competition, it's harder for me to get along with the others. i'm obviously very close with a few people, but i don't want others to feel as if they can't speak to me for whatever reason.. you know? so i just wanted to clear that up for everyone so we could all get along more easily in the future."

"how am i supposed to finish a whole pizza?! K, do you want some of mine? i won't finish all,"

now was the last moment for NaRi to get her nervousness out before having to put on a powerful, flawless performance. truly, NaRi had no reason to be nervous. this was her style of performance. she was incredibly familiar with this song by Bangtan, having practiced it with the group themselves when they had just released it.

NaRi walked on the stage, her cold gaze catching both the producers and GROUNDERs eyes.

the GROUNDERs had no idea who was doing what part, so when NaRi did her flips during the dance break, as well as the flips throughout the rest of the performance, they were astonished at what the young girl could do. and when it came time for NaRi to 'fly' into the air, she showed no signs of fear. her deep vocal range truly shined through in the performance, leaving the producers very satisfied.

when NaRi performed, she'd slip away into a specific headspace where no one could disturb her. it's only her and what she trained to do. her facial expressions never fade, always fitting with the song, her body line always perfect, her voice staying within the correct key of the song.

so when the camera showed her final facial expression alongside HeeSeungs, the producers were heavily impressed. "both part 1's final facial expressions can be the highlight of this stage."

"please let it be better this time.." NaRi desperately said while awaiting the results.

the team only got high votes, NaRi anxiously watched the screen, hoping her score would be higher than the first test.

🦇  ...  I-LAND 3화, 끝!