#kpopscape

LIVE

NEVER FAR FROM YOU.

Non idol! Hwang Hyunjin X fem! Reader
Part of the Heart wants what it wants Anthology
Prompt #31. “I didn’t know where else to go.”
1k words, College AU, platonic, kINDA Soulmate AU, FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF.
Inspired by Kingdom dance from the Tangled Movie ! Do listen to it while you read <3

This was all your fault.

Having no sense of time permanence and the need to get every detail perfect had driven you to shut yourself up in one of the many dance studios in the Arts building, huffing and puffing and cursing at yourself for being a lazy perfectionist.

It was almost 2 a.m, but here you were, fixing the light skirt around your leotard and leggings as you took the short break your knees were begging you for.

This project was one you had begged your department’s Dean for- the opportunity to choreograph and lead the annual showcase. You needed it to be perfect, exquisite, unforgettable.

So you would suck up the pain and sleeplessness, you would bug that gorgeous senior Yunho into giving you tutorials on how to choreograph for groups, you would spend all your time thinking and visualizing and planning and dancing and perfecting until it was just right-

“Oh. Hey.”

Your train of thought sputtered to a stop when you heard the sound, turning to see Hyunjin standing at the door, dark hair and dark clothes.

“What are you doing here?”

The question ( albeit slightly rude) escaped your mouth before you could control it.

“I didn’t know where else to go.”

That’s when you noticed the dark bags under your best friend’s eyes, his jet-black hair limp and falling gracelessly around his face. His shoulders were slumped under his hoodie, his normally graceful frame suddenly looking small, almost like he was folding into himself.

It was a bad night.

The kind of night Hyunjin liked to slip into an empty studio and dance his anxiety away, letting the precision of his movements carry his pains away.

The sight nearly made you tear up.

How had you not noticed how tired Hyunjin had been looking lately?

Were you seriously that focused on one of your own projects that you forgot about the people that mattered the most to you?

Nothing was more important to you than Hyunjin- your childhood best friend, your soulmate, your partner from the beginning till forever. He was the reason you even found your love for dance- and here you were, disregarding him for god knows how long, all because you were trash at managing your time.

What kind of a best friend were you?

Suddenly, the annual showcase didn’t matter. All you wanted was to see your best friend’s lovely smile stretch over his lips,see his eyes scrunch in that endearing way they always did, see his dramatic reenactments and faux cringe away from him.

The studio had settled into silence as Hyunjin slid to the floor next to a corner of the walls and mirror, presumably setting up his own playlist or stretching.

Your feet moved to the bluetooth stereo system before your mind could catch up. Whether you realized it or not, you knew exactly what to do. The opening strains of the music instantly warmed your body- you didn’t realize you felt cold and empty until the melody filled the void in you with warm, buttery sunlight.

Your limbs sang with the need to jump into an easy dance as you made your way to Hyunjin, who was yet to notice you or the music building around the studio.

“Dance with me!” You grinned, reaching a hand out to Hyunjin where he sat on the wood floor, fixing his shoelace.You had missed this piece, you realized, letting yourself listen to the familiar music. You and Hyunjin had spent late studio nights like this twirling each other around the hardwood floor until you were out of breath but irrevocably exhilarated. Hyunjin looked down at your outstretched hand, then at you, his head cocked as he listened to the music, feeling the energy, the familiarity-

And you had grabbed his hand and hauled him to his feet, sweeping him into a messy hop-twirl-waltz around the studio. An incredulous laugh escaped Hyunjin as he caught his footing, barely able to keep up with you- but the only sound that escaped you was one of pure joy.

The music swelled and wrapped around the both of you as Hyunjin twined an arm around your waist to stabilize the both of you, a grin finally breaking out across his face. The music was like joy trapped in a sound, the building, soaring rhythm and beats needing no effort to follow- it was like the tune urged the both of you to move to the music, pushing you to truly feel the glorious thrill in the notes.

“TWIRL!” You yelled, but Hyunjin only laughed at you before releasing his grip on your waist to let you twirl out and away from him. A gleeful laugh escaped you as your skirt flew up around your body, the sheer ease and flow of every movement suddenly feeling so normal, so familiar to you.

Not seconds later, you were twirled back to Hyunjin , but this time he was the one leading the messy waltz as the music reached its peak, the air light and bright with your joint laughter and the delightful harmony.

And for those glorious seconds, all was good with the world- it was just you and Hyunjin in each other’s arms, dancing the night away and everything felt like it was perfectly as it should be.

As the music began, so it must end- and it did, with the both of you collapsing onto each other in a fit of giddy laughter, clinging to each other as you slid to the floor.

As the giggles trailed off, you swatted at Hyunjin’s chest.

“I’m sorry I spent the last few days disregarding you.”

Hyunjin’s smile was like the sunrise after a dreary night, much like the music that the both of you had come to love.

“Hey, we have forever together, what’s a few days?”