as nam woohyun → ∞
as nam woohyun → ∞
woohyun-centric, woohyun/everyone, pg, general
nam woohyun grows into infinite's woohyun. for drawingintheair, without whom this fic would not have been here at all ♥
000001
When Woohyun first enters Woollim, a hesitant smile on his lips and his shoulders hunched inwards, a feeble attempt at shielding his chest, Dongwoo is rather enamored. Woohyun laughs appropriately, is polite when he should and shares his food with Dongwoo, so Dongwoo takes to him easily. Woohyun is an easy-going guy, pushes himself till late at night because he’s never danced before and his limbs don’t move right, and asks the manager for a break when Dongwoo doesn’t stop coughing.
Dongwoo likes people, and especially people who like him back, so Dongwoo smiles when Woohyun throws his arm around Dongwoo’s shoulders after their run along the Han River and shares his ice cream with him.
They become friends fast.
---
000023
Sunggyu is not as enamored. Not even close. Woohyun is reserved, gives short answers when Sunggyu asks him things, and takes criticisms to heart too much. Sunggyu is a little irked by how sensitive he is; they’re training to be idols, and idols are put under scrutiny way too much to have thin skin. Sunggyu’s always wanted to sing, and if he has to take blows full in the face to do so, he will. Sunggyu’s also always measured other people against himself, and Woohyun falls short in this respect.
Woohyun fishes for compliments, doesn’t know when the joke should end, and takes it too far sometimes. Sunggyu finds a bitter taste in the back of his mouth when it comes to Woohyun and tries to stick to the other trainees.
Sunggyu’s honest, but polite, so he doesn’t tell Woohyun that he doesn’t like him.
---
000049
Myungsoo just sees another trainee, another one with a big voice and bigger dreams. Woohyun sings with all he has, slides over the high notes and the low ones with increasing ease, and Myungsoo watches as Woohyun grows steadily into his place in Woollim, in their little group of trainees, making people laugh, grasping the intricacies of dance, feeling his way around the other members.
If nothing else, Woohyun sings till his voice cracks and dances till his fingers are trembling with fatigue - Myungsoo has to give him that. Woohyun sings a teeny bit louder with every passing day, dances with a bit more force with every passing week, and his shoulders square up with every passing month.
The dance instructor praises Woohyun for his flexibility, and Myungsoo can see why. He watches as Woohyun moulds himself, fitting into their little jumble of puzzle pieces.
---
000117
Frankly, Hoya is a little frustrated by Woohyun because Woohyun’s limbs are awkward around dance moves and he is stiff as cardboard where Hoya is all smooth fluid motion. Hoya is, by default, in charge of the dance moves because he’d been dancing the longest and teaches the other trainees when the dance instructor is busy, and he tries and tries and tries with Woohyun.
“Hyung, it’s this way.” Hoya demonstrates for what seems the millionth time. “Loosen up, will you?”
Hoya pretends not to see the flicker in Woohyun’s eyes, the resigned wiping of sweat from his forehead, and backs off to let Woohyun familiarize himself with the music and choreography.
When Hoya comes to the practice room the next day early to see Woohyun already there, perfecting the one move Hoya was unsatisfied with, the copious amounts of sweat on his neck glinting in the light, Hoya feels his heart get fuzzy and full with respect.
He smiles and tells Woohyun, “hyung, that was fantastic.”
Woohyun sings and Hoya dances, but Hoya likes it when he sings and Woohyun dances, too.
They brofist their way through months of sweat and tears and blood.
---
000193
As it turns out, Woohyun continues disproving Sunggyu as they work towards their debut, bending his perceptions.
They skirt past each other at first, but both of them know Team Infinite is above everything else, more than petty, silly first impressions and misunderstandings.
When Woohyun hands a bottle of water to Sunggyu after they break for five, lips arranged into a hint of capitulation but more parts concession, Sunggyu takes it and lets a smile curve his lips upwards.
Sunggyu thinks Woohyun’s a bit like wax, soft and malleable. He fits around people easily, wiggles into whatever space there is, and makes himself home there. He grows with the team, opens his heart up with the whittling down of the team to five of them, and becomes his fifth of the team.
Woohyun also dents easily with jabs, but by now Sunggyu knows not to prod too hard. It’s difficult being the leader, rounding everybody up and wringing them out when it comes to practice, because their CEO has drilled into Sunggyu enough times that their debut is the final judgment of their years of training; they make it or break it.
So he perfects his technique, his dancing, and expects the rest to do the same. Woohyun never disappoints.
---
000264
When Sungjong enters the company, he bonds quickly with almost everyone. Sungjong knows he’s pretty, knows he’s got youth backing himself up, and he comes armed with the confidence that sixteen year old boys have.
Woohyun, though, is a bit different from the rest, not like amiable Dongwoo or brotherly Hoya. He is loud, smoothens things over with his smile, and bursts out into song in the practice room sometimes, jolting Sungjong awake. Woohyun breaks everything down into the details, and sifts them out into worthy, unworthy and necessary. It unnerves Sungjong a little at the start.
Sungjong doesn’t know if he likes Woohyun when he first sees him. Woohyun is a hyung, and for all his kind words and smiles, he doesn’t let his guard down that easily to new people. Sungjong knows he’s the odd one out now, a sixth slice jammed into a previously round pie, and the hyungs don’t take to him so quickly. Sungjong tries, though; Woohyun doesn’t seem adverse to Sungjong’s attempts. Sungjong does his thing a distance away from Woohyun and watches as Woohyun smiles when he breaks out his aegyo and his girl group dances, and when Woohyun slowly starts giving Sungjong friendly advice, starts leaning on Sungjong when they’re in the car, Sungjong gradually folds into Woohyun’s one-armed hugs.
Sungjong comes to think of all of them as hyungs, not quite coworkers, but members tied together by the cords of a common goal in mind. He can feel Infinite resound through all of them, through the practice room as loud synchronized heartbeats, and Sungjong is glad Woohyun is there to ruffle Sungjong’s head and throw him a hand when it gets difficult.
---
000372
Sungyeol stumbles into Infinite as their seventh member, bowing every five seconds, face immoving and wary. He’s completely unsure of what to do, so when he meets Woohyun, smiley and forthcoming with his advice like a plaster for all the curt words Sungyeol’s gotten, he gets a bit of a soft spot for this hyung quickly. Woohyun has big dreams and a bigger heart, still making a separate portion of folded eggs for Sungyeol when he comes back from the practice room late, even as Sungyeol is awkward around the other six of them. He feels like a third wheel, a bit of a nuisance, even, because he has to keep up with dance and singing as their newest trainee. Sunggyu-hyung and Woohyun-hyung have had months of experience, too far ahead in the marathon, and sometimes Sungyeol really just wants to give up.
When Sungyeol feels he’s had it and packs his bag, Woohyun snatches the duffel away and stares at Sungyeol. “Sungyeol-ah,” Woohyun says, and at his tone, the question Woohyun does not need to verbalize - letting all your effort go to waste? - Sungyeol freezes for a moment.
He puts his clothes back.
His first month anniversary as a trainee marks the day when Sungyeol starts viewing the rest of Infinite as his team members, people to work with and not merely alongside, pulling each other up with every step. Woohyun is a hyung figure, there with a wake-up nudge and a bit of advice, gathering the members together when he needs to.
Sungyeol throws his arm round Woohyun and soldiers on; Woohyun reminds him that there is no finish line.
---
000788
Somewhere along the road to debut Sunggyu starts leaning into Woohyun when they’re both slumped on the benches in the practice room. Woohyun’s shoulder holds up great, an equal reaction against Sunggyu’s action, firm and steady and dependable. He blurs the edges of cold hard truth when they’re too sharp, smudging them rounded so Sunggyu breathes easier. Woohyun picks them up when they’re tired, cheerleads the team and does his ridiculous aegyo to make them smile.
Whenever Sunggyu has to leave for a bit, he does so with ease because he knows Woohyun will pick up the slack, do whatever needs to be done in the leader’s absence, and he does it well. Sunggyu’s impressed, but comforted, more than anything, that he has someone there to support him, catch him when he falls, make up for his insecurities and gaping holes. Sunggyu says thanks, a quiet, sincere appreciation when he comes back and finds Woohyun leading the practices, and Woohyun smiles back. The curve of his lips reminds Sunggyu of validation and fierce pride.
Woohyun plugs in all the places that Sunggyu doesn’t manage to hold tight, and slowly Woohyun’s shoulder becomes a permanent, welcomed fixture in Infinite.
---
∞
Two years after they become a seven-membered entity, they debut. Woohyun watches himself on the screen, monitoring their rehearsal performance for the debut. It feels even sort of surreal, watching himself on stage, singing and dancing. There is a lump in his throat he cannot swallow - it’s insane that his months, years of training boils down to this judgment day. He doesn’t really want to think about it. Sunggyu leads them in a cheer, and suddenly, much too quickly, Woohyun’s being pushed on stage. The faces in the crowd all seem stoic? He’s not sure.
He does all the motions in a blur, the dance ingrained into his muscles with the number of times they’ve practiced, but his heart stutters a bit when it’s his turn to lead the choreography in the middle, without the members next to him. He can’t mess up.
The moment passes. Woohyun can see Sunggyu and Myungsoo now, and he can feel Hoya move behind him. Sometimes Woohyun really likes this part of their choreography best; evolution is a necessity, and Woohyun is proud of himself for having learnt to embrace it.
They end the performance flawlessly, and when they’re sobbing backstage hugging each other for a job well done, Woohyun thinks they’ve gone full circle round the Mobius strip of infinity, routed past hard work and obstacles and shitty dorms and hospital visits to come back to a beginning, on the side of stardom.
And it’s only just the beginning.
a/n: i don't know the exact dates of when all of the boys joined woollim (not sure if i can trust wikipedia ;~;), but i don't think i could have written this in any other order.
woohyun-centric, woohyun/everyone, pg, general
nam woohyun grows into infinite's woohyun. for drawingintheair, without whom this fic would not have been here at all ♥
000001
When Woohyun first enters Woollim, a hesitant smile on his lips and his shoulders hunched inwards, a feeble attempt at shielding his chest, Dongwoo is rather enamored. Woohyun laughs appropriately, is polite when he should and shares his food with Dongwoo, so Dongwoo takes to him easily. Woohyun is an easy-going guy, pushes himself till late at night because he’s never danced before and his limbs don’t move right, and asks the manager for a break when Dongwoo doesn’t stop coughing.
Dongwoo likes people, and especially people who like him back, so Dongwoo smiles when Woohyun throws his arm around Dongwoo’s shoulders after their run along the Han River and shares his ice cream with him.
They become friends fast.
---
000023
Sunggyu is not as enamored. Not even close. Woohyun is reserved, gives short answers when Sunggyu asks him things, and takes criticisms to heart too much. Sunggyu is a little irked by how sensitive he is; they’re training to be idols, and idols are put under scrutiny way too much to have thin skin. Sunggyu’s always wanted to sing, and if he has to take blows full in the face to do so, he will. Sunggyu’s also always measured other people against himself, and Woohyun falls short in this respect.
Woohyun fishes for compliments, doesn’t know when the joke should end, and takes it too far sometimes. Sunggyu finds a bitter taste in the back of his mouth when it comes to Woohyun and tries to stick to the other trainees.
Sunggyu’s honest, but polite, so he doesn’t tell Woohyun that he doesn’t like him.
---
000049
Myungsoo just sees another trainee, another one with a big voice and bigger dreams. Woohyun sings with all he has, slides over the high notes and the low ones with increasing ease, and Myungsoo watches as Woohyun grows steadily into his place in Woollim, in their little group of trainees, making people laugh, grasping the intricacies of dance, feeling his way around the other members.
If nothing else, Woohyun sings till his voice cracks and dances till his fingers are trembling with fatigue - Myungsoo has to give him that. Woohyun sings a teeny bit louder with every passing day, dances with a bit more force with every passing week, and his shoulders square up with every passing month.
The dance instructor praises Woohyun for his flexibility, and Myungsoo can see why. He watches as Woohyun moulds himself, fitting into their little jumble of puzzle pieces.
---
000117
Frankly, Hoya is a little frustrated by Woohyun because Woohyun’s limbs are awkward around dance moves and he is stiff as cardboard where Hoya is all smooth fluid motion. Hoya is, by default, in charge of the dance moves because he’d been dancing the longest and teaches the other trainees when the dance instructor is busy, and he tries and tries and tries with Woohyun.
“Hyung, it’s this way.” Hoya demonstrates for what seems the millionth time. “Loosen up, will you?”
Hoya pretends not to see the flicker in Woohyun’s eyes, the resigned wiping of sweat from his forehead, and backs off to let Woohyun familiarize himself with the music and choreography.
When Hoya comes to the practice room the next day early to see Woohyun already there, perfecting the one move Hoya was unsatisfied with, the copious amounts of sweat on his neck glinting in the light, Hoya feels his heart get fuzzy and full with respect.
He smiles and tells Woohyun, “hyung, that was fantastic.”
Woohyun sings and Hoya dances, but Hoya likes it when he sings and Woohyun dances, too.
They brofist their way through months of sweat and tears and blood.
---
000193
As it turns out, Woohyun continues disproving Sunggyu as they work towards their debut, bending his perceptions.
They skirt past each other at first, but both of them know Team Infinite is above everything else, more than petty, silly first impressions and misunderstandings.
When Woohyun hands a bottle of water to Sunggyu after they break for five, lips arranged into a hint of capitulation but more parts concession, Sunggyu takes it and lets a smile curve his lips upwards.
Sunggyu thinks Woohyun’s a bit like wax, soft and malleable. He fits around people easily, wiggles into whatever space there is, and makes himself home there. He grows with the team, opens his heart up with the whittling down of the team to five of them, and becomes his fifth of the team.
Woohyun also dents easily with jabs, but by now Sunggyu knows not to prod too hard. It’s difficult being the leader, rounding everybody up and wringing them out when it comes to practice, because their CEO has drilled into Sunggyu enough times that their debut is the final judgment of their years of training; they make it or break it.
So he perfects his technique, his dancing, and expects the rest to do the same. Woohyun never disappoints.
---
000264
When Sungjong enters the company, he bonds quickly with almost everyone. Sungjong knows he’s pretty, knows he’s got youth backing himself up, and he comes armed with the confidence that sixteen year old boys have.
Woohyun, though, is a bit different from the rest, not like amiable Dongwoo or brotherly Hoya. He is loud, smoothens things over with his smile, and bursts out into song in the practice room sometimes, jolting Sungjong awake. Woohyun breaks everything down into the details, and sifts them out into worthy, unworthy and necessary. It unnerves Sungjong a little at the start.
Sungjong doesn’t know if he likes Woohyun when he first sees him. Woohyun is a hyung, and for all his kind words and smiles, he doesn’t let his guard down that easily to new people. Sungjong knows he’s the odd one out now, a sixth slice jammed into a previously round pie, and the hyungs don’t take to him so quickly. Sungjong tries, though; Woohyun doesn’t seem adverse to Sungjong’s attempts. Sungjong does his thing a distance away from Woohyun and watches as Woohyun smiles when he breaks out his aegyo and his girl group dances, and when Woohyun slowly starts giving Sungjong friendly advice, starts leaning on Sungjong when they’re in the car, Sungjong gradually folds into Woohyun’s one-armed hugs.
Sungjong comes to think of all of them as hyungs, not quite coworkers, but members tied together by the cords of a common goal in mind. He can feel Infinite resound through all of them, through the practice room as loud synchronized heartbeats, and Sungjong is glad Woohyun is there to ruffle Sungjong’s head and throw him a hand when it gets difficult.
---
000372
Sungyeol stumbles into Infinite as their seventh member, bowing every five seconds, face immoving and wary. He’s completely unsure of what to do, so when he meets Woohyun, smiley and forthcoming with his advice like a plaster for all the curt words Sungyeol’s gotten, he gets a bit of a soft spot for this hyung quickly. Woohyun has big dreams and a bigger heart, still making a separate portion of folded eggs for Sungyeol when he comes back from the practice room late, even as Sungyeol is awkward around the other six of them. He feels like a third wheel, a bit of a nuisance, even, because he has to keep up with dance and singing as their newest trainee. Sunggyu-hyung and Woohyun-hyung have had months of experience, too far ahead in the marathon, and sometimes Sungyeol really just wants to give up.
When Sungyeol feels he’s had it and packs his bag, Woohyun snatches the duffel away and stares at Sungyeol. “Sungyeol-ah,” Woohyun says, and at his tone, the question Woohyun does not need to verbalize - letting all your effort go to waste? - Sungyeol freezes for a moment.
He puts his clothes back.
His first month anniversary as a trainee marks the day when Sungyeol starts viewing the rest of Infinite as his team members, people to work with and not merely alongside, pulling each other up with every step. Woohyun is a hyung figure, there with a wake-up nudge and a bit of advice, gathering the members together when he needs to.
Sungyeol throws his arm round Woohyun and soldiers on; Woohyun reminds him that there is no finish line.
---
000788
Somewhere along the road to debut Sunggyu starts leaning into Woohyun when they’re both slumped on the benches in the practice room. Woohyun’s shoulder holds up great, an equal reaction against Sunggyu’s action, firm and steady and dependable. He blurs the edges of cold hard truth when they’re too sharp, smudging them rounded so Sunggyu breathes easier. Woohyun picks them up when they’re tired, cheerleads the team and does his ridiculous aegyo to make them smile.
Whenever Sunggyu has to leave for a bit, he does so with ease because he knows Woohyun will pick up the slack, do whatever needs to be done in the leader’s absence, and he does it well. Sunggyu’s impressed, but comforted, more than anything, that he has someone there to support him, catch him when he falls, make up for his insecurities and gaping holes. Sunggyu says thanks, a quiet, sincere appreciation when he comes back and finds Woohyun leading the practices, and Woohyun smiles back. The curve of his lips reminds Sunggyu of validation and fierce pride.
Woohyun plugs in all the places that Sunggyu doesn’t manage to hold tight, and slowly Woohyun’s shoulder becomes a permanent, welcomed fixture in Infinite.
---
∞
Two years after they become a seven-membered entity, they debut. Woohyun watches himself on the screen, monitoring their rehearsal performance for the debut. It feels even sort of surreal, watching himself on stage, singing and dancing. There is a lump in his throat he cannot swallow - it’s insane that his months, years of training boils down to this judgment day. He doesn’t really want to think about it. Sunggyu leads them in a cheer, and suddenly, much too quickly, Woohyun’s being pushed on stage. The faces in the crowd all seem stoic? He’s not sure.
He does all the motions in a blur, the dance ingrained into his muscles with the number of times they’ve practiced, but his heart stutters a bit when it’s his turn to lead the choreography in the middle, without the members next to him. He can’t mess up.
The moment passes. Woohyun can see Sunggyu and Myungsoo now, and he can feel Hoya move behind him. Sometimes Woohyun really likes this part of their choreography best; evolution is a necessity, and Woohyun is proud of himself for having learnt to embrace it.
They end the performance flawlessly, and when they’re sobbing backstage hugging each other for a job well done, Woohyun thinks they’ve gone full circle round the Mobius strip of infinity, routed past hard work and obstacles and shitty dorms and hospital visits to come back to a beginning, on the side of stardom.
And it’s only just the beginning.
a/n: i don't know the exact dates of when all of the boys joined woollim (not sure if i can trust wikipedia ;~;), but i don't think i could have written this in any other order.