Title: The Best Friend
Length: 4910
Pairing: Woomi (Nam Woohyun (Infinite) x Jang Hyunmi)
Prompt: Best friends turned lovers au
Requester: Blu3Wind (aka the real Hyunmi xD)
A/N: I really hope you like this. I realized while writing that it was the first time I was imagining Woomi before they became a couple. I've become so used to them together it was so hard to imagine them before that xD

 That’s a big building

It was the only thing five-year-old Jang Hyunmi could think about as she stared up at it. Her parents had called it a school. Her older brother had called it a hell hole. Hyunmi wasn’t exactly sure which to believe. Her parents had made it seem like a lovely place, whilst Dongwoo had screamed, even cried actual tears, for ten days straight when he had been taken there last year.

“We have to go in sweetie.” Hyunmi looked at her mother with big eyes before nodding her head. She wouldn’t know until she had seen if for herself. And if there was anything she had learnt in her short life, it was to never trust what her brother said.

Holding her mum’s hand she walked into a class her mother had called a reception. She couldn’t read the sign, but that was why she was here. To learn. To be smart like her parents. But looking around, she wondered if maybe she was the only one there for that reason. Around her there were kids, whom she presumed to be, her age. All were standing next to a parent or two, and nearly all had tears in their eyes. One was bawling so loud, Hyunmi had to pull a hand over her ear. What if Dongwoo hadn’t been lying after all? What if they really did torture kids here like he said they did?

“Hello,” Hyunmi’s thoughts were disturbed by a nice looking lady. “I’m Ms. Kim. I’ll be your teacher. What’s your name dear?”

Hyunmi wrinkled her brows at the word ‘teacher’. This woman seemed nice enough. And there seemed to be no sign of the horns or pointed tale her brother had warned of. “Jang Hyunmi.”

The woman smiled as she pointed to the side of the room, where a bunch of semi-calm kids were seated. “Why don’t you go join your classmates while I talk to your mother?”

Hyunmi nodded her head, she wasn’t exactly sure yet if she could trust the woman or not, but she had been taught to always do as she was told. She waved to her mum before trudging her way to where Ms. Kim had pointed.

There were seven kids in total, each sitting by their selves or with a stuffed animal. Hyunmi wished she had brought her teddy along, but Dongwoo had said people would make fun of her for that. Hyunmi pouted as she sat down, hands folding around her legs as she rested her head against her knees.

“You’re not going to cry too, are you?” The boy had crept up on her out of nowhere. He was her age, had messy black hair and wide warm brown eyes which turned into almost crescents as he smiled.

“No.” Hyumni quickly shook her head.

“Good. Would you like a gummy bear?”

 “Do you want a gummy bear? Hyunmi? Hey, earth to Hyunmi!”

Hyunmi shook her head. Her shoulder length hair fell across her face and she quickly brought up a hand to tuck it behind an ear. “Huh?”

“What were you thinking of?” Hyunmi looked at her best friend. Thirteen years from the first time she had seen him, and he still had the same messy black hair and dark brown eyes.

“Nothing,” Hyunmi smiled as she took one of the gummy bears he had offered. “Now get down from that desk before the teacher gets here.”

“Yes Miss,” he gave her a fake salute as he got down from the desk he had been sitting on and instead slipped into the seat beside Hyunmi. His shoulders bumping into hers as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And maybe it was. They had been friends for so long that everything between them came naturally.

“Can I borrow your Chemistry notes?”

Hyunmi clucked her tongue as she fixed the boy with a dark gaze. “When will you ever learn to take your own notes Nam Woohyun?”

“Never. I have you for that.” Woohyun gave her a cheeky grin and Hyunmi could only roll her eyes in reply. She did however fish her Chemistry notebook from her bag and slip it to him.

“You can’t have me forever.”

“Says who?”

Hyumin was glad that the bell rang when it did. Woohyun didn’t notice the blush on her cheeks. Just like he didn’t notice a lot of things.

 Hyunmi couldn’t really pinpoint when it had started. When she had started to feel for Woohyun as more than a friend. It wasn’t all tied to one beautiful moment. There was no rays of sunshine, no birds chirping, no bells ringing. It didn’t hit her like a freight train. It was so subtle she hadn’t even noticed the slow changes at first. In fact she had been in blissful oblivion until Key had pointed it out.

“You like him.”

She had taken it into stride, not even looking up from the textbook she was focusing on. Woohyun had football practice, thus she had been stuck with Key alone at the library. Not that she hated the guy (given she still didn’t understand why he asked everyone to call him Key), but he had always been more Woohyun’s friend than hers. That’s why she hadn’t been surprised he had managed to steer their conversation towards him. “Of course I do. He’s my best friend.”

“No stupid,” he rolled his eyes and gave her that look. The look that made her feel inferior, like she couldn’t possibly understand his great intelligence. She hated that look. And yes, maybe on second thought, she hated him too. “You like him.”

It had taken her five seconds of stuttering before she could form a full sentence. “Don’t be daft.”

But as she lay on her bed that night, cheeks blushing crazily, she started to wonder exactly who was the one being daft.

Things had started to change then. She started to see Woohyun as more than her silly best friend. She started to see him, as he was. A popular, and dare she say handsome, boy at school. Darn Key and his loud mouth. She was officially screwed.

 Fridays meant band practice. If their little gathering of friends could really be considered a band. She, Woohyun and Sunggyu, their older friend who had already graduated but seemed to like to still hang out with them, were the only ones who actually practiced. Everyone else mostly hung around, a drink in hand, enjoying the free music and Woohyun’s heavenly vocals. Not that Hyunmi would ever call it that to his face.

Hyunmi sat in the corner, tuning her guitar. Woohyun always complained that he wanted to learn the guitar from her. She would have taught him too had he not been so impatient. After thirty minutes of ‘pure pain in his fingertips’ as he had called it, he had swiftly returned back to his piano.

At around five their friends streamed into Sunggyu’s living room, their practice room had been upgraded from Myungsoo’s basement ever since their self-proclaimed leader had gotten his own place. Hyunmi nodded absentmindedly to the people as her fingers worked over the strings. Woohyun was talking with Key, he nodded her over, but she pretended to not notice. She had been avoiding Key, just in case he decided to through anymore life changing observations at her.

A sitting form gave her the diversion she needed, and she smiled brightly at the boy. Jaehwan was a couple years younger than the rest of them, but his love for music and enthusiasm had earned him a spot in their weekly practices. He preferred the acoustic guitar, much like her, and had even suggested a duet a few times, to which she had politely declined. Although he refused to accept it, Woohyun would get moody if she sang with anyone else.

“Have you heard from them yet?”

Hyunmi still wasn’t sure exactly what had prompted her to confide in the younger boy. She suspected that the toll of keeping the secret from her friends and family had been so high, that she had blurted it out to him without even realizing it. “No.”

“You’ll get in, I’m sure of it.”

Hyunmi could only smile. She wasn’t really sure what she wanted.

 They say heartbreak is one of the worst pains one can feel. Hyunmi would only shake her head at that. Don’t get her wrong, she was as much a romantic as the next girl, but surely if someone breaks your heart then they’re not truly worthy of it? Good riddance, she would say. It’s all too easy to downplay something, until it happens to yourself.

The breaking of Hyunmi’s heart came in the form of a sunny early spring morning. She was in class, head buried in a book. Around her, the class was an uproar of excitement. The leaflets for the senior prom had been handed out only minutes before, the reality that they would be graduating in a couple of months finally settling into the air.

Hyunmi borrowed her head lower so no one would make to ask her anything. She didn’t feel like joining in. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known that the prom would come along, of course she did. Most of her classmates had been planning for it since junior year. And it’s not like she wasn’t planning on going. But an important question always played out in her head. Who exactly was she supposed to go with?

Boys had asked, and she’d said no. Because she wasn’t interested. Or more like she wouldn’t allow herself to be interested. She still held hope that Woohyun remembered the deal they had set the year before. It had been Dongwoo’s senior prom and he had been complaining how hard it was to find a proper date.

“Let’s just go together?”

“What?” Hyunmi had almost spat out the chips she had been eating. By then she already knew that she held feelings for Woohyun. She urged herself to not blush.

“If we’re not in relationships by this time next year, let’s go to the prom together.” He then took a grab at the bag of chips as though he had said the simplest thing in the world. “It’s more practical than asking a stranger.”

“Right.”

Hyunmi was half smiling to herself, remembering the fond memory as Woohyun took his seat beside her. He looked slightly stunned and instantly Hyunmi turned to him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Minyoung asked me to the prom.”

Hyunmi had never found it so hard to bring up a fake smile in reply.

 “If this is your idea of a fun prom night, you have no idea how wrong you are.”

Hyunmi only rolled her eyes. When Dongwoo had gone to college, she had hoped it would mean that she would see a lot less of him. Unfortunately that had not turned out to be the case. Hyunmi could almost swear she saw him more now. ‘Don’t you have classes?’ that would only be replied with laughter, as if showing up at lectures was a laughing matter.

“I’m not going to prom.” She kept her eyes trained on the telly, the pain in her chest was still very much present and the last thing she needed was to burst out crying in front of her brother.

“Why? Where’s Woohyun?”

Hyunmi closed her eyes and mentally cursed him for being so tactless. “He’s at the prom. With Minyoung.”

At least he had the decency to not pry any further.

 Woohyun’s first text came at around ten. Once he had realized that she was not just being fashionably late. It was a frantic question about where she was. She hadn’t told him that she would not be attending it. And she didn’t plan to talk about it with him either. After the next three messages and missed voice call, she had stuffed her phone in her pocket, grabbed an overnight bag and drove to her grandparents’ house. Shouting at her family to not tell Woohyun were she was if he came looking for her. Her parents had shared a worried glance, Dongwoo had looked like he wanted to ask something, but she was out the door before anyone could fully react.

Her grandparents had been pleased to see her. Either they had no idea she had chosen to spend her senior prom night at their house, or they chose to ignore it. Her grandmother however had asked her about Woohyun and it had taken all her willpower to not cry or shout, or do both simultaneously.

She was being unjust, she would reason with herself, later at night as she lay in the guestroom bed. Phone still stashed in her pocket as she promptly ignored it. Had she really expected Woohyun to remember their little talk? And even if he had remembered, he had only suggested it because it was ‘more practical than going with a stranger’. He would only see her as a friend. But she wasn’t sure if that was enough anymore.

 The more Hyunmi willed the weekend to slow down, the quicker it seemed to pass. She feared of what Monday would hold. What would she tell Woohyun when she saw him? Ditching prom had been one thing, ignoring him was a whole other story. Even when they fought, they would always manage to talk it out in hours. It had been the first time they had not at least texted each other for days. Well, he had texted, she just hadn’t read them.

But that wasn’t the only, or even the main, reason as to why she was afraid. What scared her the most was the prospect of what might have taken place on Friday night. Minyoung was pretty, she reasoned as she stabbed at her pancake Monday morning. Her Grandpa gave her an odd stare, but didn’t comment. Did Woohyun like her? He most have been slightly interested if he had accepted her offer. In all the years as friends, she had never heard him mention liking anyone. But what if he secretly did. Minyoung obviously liked him. What if she had confessed to him at prom? What if they were now a couple? That was what scared her the most.

 For a fleeting second, seated in the school parking lot, she had thought about skipping school. But she had dismissed the idea just as quickly as it had come up. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Grabbing her backpack she let herself out of the car, head down as she made her way to the classroom.

She was early, as always, and there was no one there yet. Slipping behind her desk, she brought out her books. Opening her English textbook, she tried to read over the report she was supposed to hand in, but her mind refused to comply. Instead conjuring up images of Woohyun and Minyoung walking into the class, hand in hand. Images she simply didn’t want to see.

As she put her hands in her head, rubbing at her hair, as if that could magically erase the images from her mind, she heard her name being called.

“Hyunmi?!”

She didn’t need to look up to see who it was, his voice would forever be hacked into her brain. She would recognize it anywhere. Plastering the best fake smile she could, she finally glanced at him. “Hey.”

He didn’t look amused. His eyebrows were furrowed, hand clenched in fists as he stared at her. “That’s it? Hey?” His voice was low, quivering like it always did when he was mad or upset. She wasn’t sure exactly what the case was this time.

Hoping for the best, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she fixed him with an innocent gaze. As if she didn’t possibly know what he was talking about.

“Where were you?” He had stepped into the classroom now, but he still stood a few feet away from her.

“At my grandparents. I missed them.” She was surprised at how easily the words came out of . She was a terrible liar, but something seemed to have changed in her during the weekend.

“You couldn’t have gone any other week?” he was still looking at her intently, but she could see that his gaze had slightly softened. “You missed prom, didn’t answer any of my calls. I even stopped by your house but no one answered. I was worried sick.”

She felt slightly bad. She should have been more mature about the matter, talked to him instead of shutting him out. But once again her mind decided to call up unseen images of Woohyun hugging a smiling Minyoung, and instantly she clenched her teeth. “Sorry.”

 She heard later on that day, from Key no less, that Woohyun’s date hadn’t played out exactly as she had thought it had.

“He was on his phone half the night, left before midnight.” Key raised an eyebrow as he took a slurp from his coffee. “Poor Minyoung didn’t even stand a chance.”

Hyunmi didn’t reply, fixing her eyes on the school football team, drenched in sweat as they practiced on the field, Woohyun among them.

“So.”

Seeing that she could no longer ignore the conversation without being downright rude, something that she wasn’t willing to be no matter what the situation, she turned to look at Key. “So?”

He looked at her like he couldn’t quite believe the words that were coming out of . Really, neither could she. “So… when are you planning to tell him?! You skipped prom,” he paused for effect, almost challenging her to contradict him. “Just because you couldn’t stand to see him with another girl. I think that’s a neon sign right there. You need to do something.”

Hyunmi thought about that for a few moments. Thought about what it might feel like to confess to Woohyun. What it might mean if he accepted it. What it would feel like to no longer be just the friend. But it was just as easy to picture the other scenario. Him fixing her with a sad, almost apologetic stare, as he would say that he simply didn’t feel the same way. Then she wouldn’t be nothing to him. And she couldn’t take that.

 The email arrived Friday morning. She sat behind her desk, blinking at the laptop screen, not sure if she could trust her eyes. She tried reloading the page a couple of times, each resulting in the same unwavering answer.

School was spent in a daze, she had kept shut for most of it. Worried that she might just blurt out the news if she gave Woohyun more than yes or no answers. By third period he was looking at her strangely, but she ignored it. Things had been more than strange the last couple of weeks. They had been awkward. A word she thought she would never use to describe her relationship with him.

It was funny that the first person she gave the news to weren’t her parents. Nor her brother. It definitely wasn’t Woohyun. She had been at practice that night, sitting next to Jaehwan as the others talked merrily.

“I got in.” It was barely a whisper, almost as if she was afraid to say it out loud. Afraid of accepting the reality, or of jinxing it, she wasn’t really sure.

His face broke out in a grin. Knowing instantly what she was talking about, it had been him who had found the course and pestered her until she had applied for it. “Congratulations!”

 When they were twelve, their school had taken them on a trip to KNU of arts. Woohyun had taken one look around, before proudly announcing that they would be attending it together.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Hyunmi had looked at him with big eyes, even at that age she was practical. “This is one of the best universities in the country. How are we going to get in?”

He had only laughed. Confidence raining from his actions, to the point that even she let herself dream for a moment. Let herself think what it might feel to stroll the campus with him. Studying the thing they both loved, music, together.

And he hadn’t been exactly wrong. Despite the odds they had made it in through the national exam. But it wasn’t going to be smooth sailing from there. Was anything ever so simple?

 Her family were seated around the dining table when she broke out the news. It came as a huge shock. She had after all given them no warning in advance. She hadn’t told anyone that she had applied for it. Because there was no way she would have get it; at least that had been what she had told herself. Maybe it had really been fear at the prospect of her actually getting it. The thought of moving to the other side of the world. The things, or rather people, she couldn’t bear to leave behind.

“America?” Dongwoo shouted out as it seemed that their parents were in too much shock to react. “You applied for a college in America?!”

Hyunmi nodded her head slightly, not really meeting anyone’s eyes.

“And you got in?!”

She tried to not let the incredulous tone hurt her. As if the thought of her being accepted into a music course in America was so hard to believe. But she couldn’t really be mad at him. The thought even surprised herself.

“Then you must go.” It was her father’s sturdy voice that broke the awkward glance she and her brother had been throwing each other. Her father who was now leaning against the chair, jaw fixed as he said it. “It’s an amazing opportunity. You must go.”

This would be the time where she would oppose. Reason out that KNU had just as good as a program. That she couldn’t possibly leave everything just for a college. Dongwoo was looking at her with a raised brow, anticipating the reasons she would bring to not leave Woohyun. Because as much as she loved her family, they knew it was him whom she was really unwilling to leave.

But the rush of reasons never came. When she had first received the email, she had already known what she would do. Key’s voice, ironically it had been him once again, ringing clearly in her head. When would she tell him? She knew she wouldn’t. But she also knew that she didn’t have the heart to stick around and see him with other girls. To sit by and watch him eventually fall in love, with someone who was not her.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity. That’s why I’ve already sent in my reply that I will go.”

 Hyumni knew that time went by quickly when you didn’t want it too, but her last three weeks in Seoul flew buy at a ridiculous pace. It must have defied some rule of physics. Her parents had taken on the role of finding her a dorm and buying any supplies that she may need. She had been left with the sole responsibility of telling her friends and saying her good byes. Something that two days left to her flight, she had still not managed to do.

As she sat at practice that night, letting it wash over her that it would be the last time she would be seeing these people for years, she decided that a clean get-away wasn’t what she really wanted. She thought if the roles had been reversed, would she want to wake up one morning to see that her friend had left with no warning? She tried to not imagine that friend being Woohyun, her heart hurt enough as it was.

“I’m leaving on Sunday.” She had blurted it out before she could back out. Every single person in the room other than Jaehwan had looked surprised.

“What?”

She tried to ignore Woohyun’s heavy gaze, instead fixing her eyes on the nooks of the table in front of her. “I’m going abroad to study. I’ll be leaving for America on Sunday.”

It wasn’t hard to notice that Woohyun had disregarded her after that. As she lay in her bed that night, she gazed at the short message he had sent. ‘Congratulations’. It was too hard to keep her tears back anymore.

 If her family were surprised as to why her friends had not shown up to see her off, they didn’t let anything on. Some had wanted to come, Jaehwan had been extremely enthusiastic, but she had said no. It was hard enough as it was. She didn’t need any more complications. Complications like the fact that Woohyun had refused all her calls. She was leaving him without a goodbye.

He’ll be here when you get back, she reasoned with herself. But that only made her feel worse. He would be there, but would he be the same? When she came back, would he still be the Woohyun she knew and loved? Three years was a long time. Too long.

The airport screen flickered, as it showed that her flight had landed, the passengers were paged to the gates. Hyunmi got up on shaking legs, the reality that she was leaving her old life finally hitting her heard. Her parents, grandparents and brother took turns to hug her. All the time she managed to keep the tears at bay, even when her mother had started sniffling.

She gave the airport one last look, one last look at her family, waving happily at her. At least they’ll wait for me. That was the only reassuring thought that moved her legs towards the gate.

 She fixed the neck rest, making herself as comfortable as she could in the chair. Her plan was to sleep. Sleep for the whole eleven hour flight. Maybe then she could stop the tears that had started to drop the second her family were out of sight. The other passengers had started for two seconds, but were decent enough to not approach the young sobbing girl. Wiping her hands roughly across her cheek, hyunmi closed her eyes.

But they didn’t stay closed for long, the ruckus ruining the calmness she was trying to force herself into.

“Sir! You can’t come in here.”

“Please, I only need a second.”

Her eyes flew open. She would notice that voice anywhere. She stood up slowly to see him at the entrance, arguing with the flight attendants. His hair askew, breathing shallow as though he had ran the whole way just to get there on time.

“Woohyun?” her voice was small, as though she was afraid he would disappear if she called him too loudly.

Instantly his eyes were on her as he pushed through the group of attendants. Two went to stop him, but a kind lady, the one who had fixed her with a small smile as she had taken Hyunmi’s ticket form her shaking hands, brought a hand to stop them. Not that Hyunmi noticed the exchange, her eyes were following Woohyun as he steadily made his way towards her.

They should have been embarrassed, a fair amount of the passengers were now staring at them. Some had even turned in their seats. But as Woohyun finally stepped in front of her, Hyunmi decided that she really couldn’t care any less as she threw herself into his arms. He let her stay there for a few seconds, before he took her shoulders in his hand and pulled her slightly away. She stilled, wondering if he was still mad at her.

“I’m an idiot.”

“What?”

He took her hands before continuing. “I thought… that you would never like me back. Not in the way I wanted. I tried to move on Hyunmi. I thought I could stand back and watch you leave. But I just can’t. I can’t.”

“What are you saying?” she could register his words, but she didn’t dare allow herself to believe them.

“You’re my best friend Jang Hyunmi. You have been ever since I could remember it. But would it be a horrible thing if I said I didn’t want that anymore? If I said that I want you as more than just that?” He was still holding her hands, but not looking into her eyes. Hyunmi could swear that she could see a faint blush on his cheeks. “I wanted you so much, but I couldn’t bear to jeopardize our friendship. So I tried to get away Hyunmi. I know that you might be disgusted right now. That you may never see me in the way I want. But I couldn’t keep quiet any longer.”

“You went on a date with Minyoung.” It came out in a more accusing tone than she had wanted, but she couldn’t allow herself to simply believe his words. It was all too good to be true.

“I thought it would help me to move on. It didn’t go too well.” His chuckle was dry and deprived of any humor. “I spent the whole night worrying about you.”

That was what finally made her crack. She reached a finger to take his chin and slowly rise his eyes to hers. “You really are an idiot Nam Woohyun.”

He looked like he was contemplating his answer, but she decided to save him the trouble. Closing the distance between them as she finally put her lips over his.