Bold - English
Normal - Korean
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"Nara," a voice greeted upon entering the practice room, just as the music ceased before a joyful scream erupted, eliciting laughter from the dancers. She hurriedly approached and warmly hugged him. "Aigoo~"
"Will you be taking me home tonight?" she asked cutely, prompting giggles from someone who nodded. "I thought Kyunnie was coming, as usual?" He shrugged and affectionately patted her head when she pouted.
"Changkyunnie is busy tonight, so he asked 오빠 to come and send you home," he replied, lightly pinching her cheeks. Nara giggled before pulling away to pack her belongings, thanking her dancers. "Thank you for being patient with my little sister. Please continue." He also expressed gratitude to the dancers as they left, causing them to chuckle while Nara playfully stomped her feet.
"Yah, Sohn Hyun Woo!" she called, glaring at his smiling self, clearly enjoying every moment of teasing her. "Just so you know, I'm a professional. I'm never rough on the dancers, and vice versa," Nara confidently stated, sticking her tongue out at him. Shownu simply nodded as he went to help carry her duffle bag. "오빠, I'm just going to change for a while, okay? You can wait for me in the hallway." She grabbed a few clothes from her bag and rushed to the restroom after the male nodded.
"She's changing right now. I'll get her home in 20," Shownu informed Changkyun over the phone, updating him about Nara as he waited in the hallway, as she had requested.
"Thank you for picking her up tonight, 형. I really appreciate it," Changkyun replied before hesitating to say something after. "Could you bring her to eat something light like soup? Nara won't have dinner if you just drop her off. She hasn't been eating lately. I tried talking to her, but she won't listen."
"I can see that. A baby is heavier than her," the leader commented, recalling her petite features from earlier. This concern wasn't exclusive to him; in fact, everyone shared the worry. "I'll make sure she eats something before I send her home." The rapper expressed gratitude before ending the call, and Nara returned in fresh clothes. "All done?" She nodded, and the two exited the building. "I'm suddenly hungry. Let's go for rice cakes first." Nara agreed without much thought.
Shownu stopped at a street rice cake stall, and they found a table for themselves. They greeted the friendly lady and placed their order to share. When the order arrived, Shownu began eating, while Nara only took small bites from one rice cake.
"Bebe, why aren't you eating?" He used the nickname Changkyun gave her, which had grown on them. "Do you want something else? Mandu? Odeng?" He was ready to order when Nara stopped him.
"오빠, I'm fine." She grabbed his hand to prevent him from getting up. "I just don't have the appetite to eat tonight." She offered a small smile, assuring him she was okay and not hungry, prompting a sigh from him.
"Bebe, a baby weighs more than you right now. Why aren't you eating?" He sternly inquired with concern. Nara bit her bottom lip, fidgeting with her fingers. "Please tell me. You can't handle this on your own. Are you worried about the trial?" She mumbled something, causing him to sigh heavily. "Bebe..."
"I've gotten so used to not eating when I'm stressed or worried, but... I didn't expect to lose this much." She finally confessed, her eyes becoming glossy. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can force myself to eat, not until we know the result of my job as the boys' caregiver if the contract is terminated. I don't want to be separated from the boys. They need me, and I can't help but worry, even though I know their brothers are taking good care of them. I mean, they update me every hour, but it doesn't feel the same."
"Bebe, the contract won't affect your caregiver's contract. You don't have to worry about that, okay?"
"But 오빠, what if they decide to terminate both contracts? I won't be able to see them again." She started to panic, and Shownu quickly went beside her to calm her down.
"They can't terminate both contracts because you've only filed to terminate the idol's contract. If they terminate both, then that will be a problem." He knelt beside her, gently grabbing her hands and caressing them. "But remember, that's only if that happens. It won't happen unless you want it to, okay?" He wiped away her fallen tears, giving her a small smile, which she returned.
"Also, you need to eat too. Not eating will get you sick, and you know we know that you wouldn't like to be cooped up in a white room." She immediately pouted and shook her head.
"I'll order some mandu with broth for you, but you don't have to finish it, okay? All I want is for you to eat something, at least one mandu. Okay?" She eventually nodded, and he went to order after planting a kiss on her head.
Nara ate one mandu out of four, making Shownu proud of her, and he sent her home afterward. In the following days, the Monsta X members took turns bringing her breakfast, snacks, lunches, and dinners, ensuring she ate, even if it was only a quarter of the food they brought. Some might wonder about Nathan or Joshua or even their mother. Nathan was busy with work and the lawsuit with his team, Joshua had a packed schedule and tours, while their mother was busy preparing food for her and having the Monsta X members deliver it. They confronted her about eating, but it didn't register until Shownu did. They were happy to see her eating again, even if just a little.
From being introduced to her and now being their "little sister," they took pride in taking care of her alongside her brothers and would do anything for her. They also maintained a good relationship with their mother, who was pleased to have them looking out for her daughter.
"Make not to call or text her whenever you're with the management team," their manager said, returning Jeno's phone after it was confiscated for a phone call with her. "Remember, you're not allowed to have any form of connection with her until the case is settled." He reminded the boys, and they let out a heavy sigh before nodding. "Get back to practice." The seven boys slowly made their way back to the room.
"Why is it wrong to contact her when she's just terminating her idol's contract and not her being our caregiver?" Haechan annoyingly expressed his disapproval. "We're just making sure of her well-being and vice versa. I mean, is it wrong?"
"Haechan..." Mark called, and he sighed. "Just calm down and do as you're told. We don't want any more trouble with them." The younger rolled his eyes and eventually nodded.
"Isn't the trial for the case tomorrow?" Renjun stated, and Mark nodded. "I hope everything runs smoothly, and we can have 누나 back again." They nodded as they agreed.
"Well, that went unexpectedly well, better than I anticipated," Nathan remarked, buttoning up his suit after rising from his chair. He shook hands with their lawyers, expressing gratitude. "We'll meet again in a few days at SM for the new contract signing, and hopefully, they don't mess up the second time." The lawyers nodded once more before packing up their papers into their suitcases.
During the trial, Nara sat in the audience seat with their mother, observing as her brother sternly argued with SM's representative about the loopholes in her contract that didn't align with their initial agreement. It was a private hearing, so no media was allowed to be there. SM lost the argument, and the judge favoured Nathan's side, considering the evidence of the many terms he had negotiated before Nara signed with the company.
Despite winning the case, Nathan decided to give SM another chance to have his sister as their artist, provided they agreed to the new terms he outlined.
1.𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝙼 𝙴𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌.
2.𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢’𝚜 𝚂𝙼 𝚃𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝙼𝚛. 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖.
3.𝙾𝚗𝚕𝚢 10% 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚜' 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚂𝙼, 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 40% 𝚝𝚘 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌, 35% 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 15% 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚛. 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚐’𝚜 𝙰𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜. (This is just a made up thing, don't take it seriously)
4.𝚂𝙼 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 or not 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚐. 𝙰𝚗𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 and 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍𝚞𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚢 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚛. 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚐.
5.𝙰𝚗𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.
“You’ll be back with the boys in a few days.” Nathan said to Nara as they walked toward the door with their mother and their lawyers following behind. Nara just smiled and whispered ‘Thank you' to his ear as the two shared a hug. “Anything for you, Nana.”
“Hey... Congratulation on wining the court case.” Monsta X came to the apartment as Nathan decided to have a small victory dinner at home and invited them and their lawyers. Joshua couldn’t make it due to still being on tour, so he just video called. Nara ran to hug the members when they entered, but hugged the rapper longer. “You must be thrilled to see the boys again?” He asked as he hugged her tighter.
“Being two months away from the boys is long enough for me. Basically it had been 3 months, but you know what I meant.” Replied Nara and pulled away from him after making him giggle. “I just can’t wait to see my babies again.” Changkyun nodded and kissed her forehead before helping to prepare for dinner.
A few days later, Nara walked into SM with Nathan and their lawyers to a meeting room where the contract's signing was being held. Nathan set the new contract on the table and had them read it. The management team eventually agreed with the new term before signing. After the signing was done, Nara and Nathan went to find the NCT members while the lawyers left. Gasps were heard when the two stepped into their practice room.
“누나!!” The younger members shouted as they were surprised to see her before running toward her and engulfed her into a big hug. Nara hugged them back as tears streamed down her cheeks, relieved to finally see them again after 2/3 months of being apart and gave them each a kiss on the forehead. “Are you staying with us?” Jisung asked as he sniffled and they pulled away with teary eyes.
“Yes, Jisunggie..” Nara replied, giggling when the youngest started to cry in relief. She coo-ed over him and calmed him down. “I’m staying with you guys.”
“Unless management decided not to follow through with the terms again, then her contract will be instantly terminated. No trial needed.” Nathan sternly chimed in, making the members turn to him. “This is SM's last and final chance to keep her as their artist and her caregiver's contract is on the line too.” The boys whined when they heard him and the older Yang just shrugged before laughing. “God.. I could be an actor from this.”
“It’s not funny, 형.” Mark mumbled and they crossed their arms as they sulked. Nara giggled, wiping away their tears. “It’s not nice to lie.”
“But I’m serious though.” Nathan sternly added with a serious face. “The second the contract is being infringed, her contract will be terminated along with her caregiver’s contract.”
“Nathan, don’t tease them. Don’t listen to him, boys.” Nara commented before he smirked, trying to suppress his urge to laugh and was immediately tackled down by the boys before roughhousing with them. “Boys, don’t kill him and Nathan...don’t hurt them, especially Jisunggie.” While that was going on, Nara went to greet the 형's line.
“We miss having you around..” Johnny said as he hugged her dearly, making her giggle. “It was really rough without you.” Doyoung added and she nodded before hugging him. “Thank you for deciding to stay, 누나.” Said Jaehyun when it was his turn to hug her. “Without you, everything was chaos.” Jungwoo stated and she shook her head as she giggled.
“Well.. Everything will be back to normal.. except for now, I have two careers. But the main one is being the boys’ caregiver.” She replied and Yuta nodded before pulling her into a hug. “I miss you guys too.” She mumbled to his shoulder as she hugged Taeil, prompting him to giggle and nodded at her claim.
“Nana, I’m so sorry for the way I acted three months ago. I didn’t mean to be mad at you.” Ten confessed after tackling her into a bear hug, taking her by surprise. “Please forgive me?”
“I forgive you.” Replied Nara and he hugged her tighter, making her giggle. “It’s Kun 哥's turn now.” Ten sighed as he pulled away and Kun quickly went to engulf her into his embrace.
“Please don’t leave again. I couldn’t handle those three monkeys alone.” Kun complained, earning a ‘Hey' from the mentioned three as they stopped roughhousing and a giggle from Nara.
“Welcome home, 姐姐. I really miss you.” Winwin said as it was his turn. Then, lastly it was Taeyong's turn since he was at the end of the line. The two just stood there staring at the floor until Taeyong made a move to embrace her slowly. “I miss you so much and I’m sorry for what happened that day. I didn’t mean to scare or force you or something. I just want you to know that I’m really sorry.” He suddenly whimpered and cried as he hugged her tighter, not wanting to let her go. Nara smiled and patted his back as he cried, calming him down.
“There’s nothing for you to apologize about, Tae. I already forgave you for that matter.” She softly shushed him as he continued to cry and pulled away to wipe his tears once he stopped. “Feel any better?” The leader nodded and hugged her again.
“Nana, you have dance practice in an hour.” Nathan reminded after being there for an hour as they were catching up. Nara playfully groaned as she got up from the floor, making the members chuckled when Nathan glared at her. “Oh yeah.. I can’t pick you up after, so your boyfriend will.” He added as the two walked out after Nara said goodbye. It was only meant for the two of them to hear, but Nathan was loud enough for the whole room to hear clearly.
“Boyfriend?” Yuta confusedly asked and looked at the other. “You guys heard that too, right?” The other nodded. This immediately took everyone by surprise, especially Taeyong.
“She’s dating someone now?”
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, my loveliest!! 🥳🎉🎄🎁 This is going to be my last update for this year ☺ I'll see you guys again next year 🎅🏼💚❤🖤💜💙