Hui wasn’t beautiful in a classical sense, yet the day Hyojong met him he was sure the older guy was the most beautiful person he has ever met. It was engraved in his memory, the way Hui smiled at him, his eyes turning into crescent moons, his nose crunching slightly, the expression warming up anyone it was directed to and causing them to instantly smile back. The short rapper wasn’t any different, throwing his smile back at the vocalist.

“I’ve never seen you smile so big E’Dawn.” One of the fellow trainees commented, obviously surprised. Hyojong looked at him, for a moment confused, the next flustered and then he heard Hui laugh, genuinely, beautifully. His heart skipped a beat.

Hui changed it all. Hyojong usually kept to himself, interacting with people as much as he had to, not really feeling the need to hang out with someone outside of practices and classes. He would have rather spent time alone in a studio – be it composing, writing lyrics or dancing. He wasn’t so alone anymore now that he had met Hui. The older boy somehow managed to squeeze himself into Hyojong’s life, more often than not lurking around the dance studio when small rapper practiced, running into him in the hallways of the company or openly coming to watch him work on new songs.

The rapper wasn’t really passive either. He was on the lookout, suddenly very aware of his surroundings, searching for Hui’s slim figure more often than he was willing to admit. He was afraid of bothering him or being too obvious, but it was no time to be shy as he decided he should just go with the flow and enjoy it as much as he could. And being always greeted with a broad smile – the one he remembered from the first day – was encouraging.

Hui stood out. He was a ball of sunshine and quite often the center of attention. Hyojong felt exposed in the company of the talkative boy everyone was looking at, but as soon as he would feel a bit uncomfortable that smile would reach him and make everything easier. Soon, the rapper was feeling more at ease too, finding himself open up and interact with people more. Life in Cube became brighter like that.

Months were passing. They were growing closer to some of the other trainees as well, Hui much more easily than Hyojong, but that was expected. Soon they formed the Pentagon family, the team that will end up debuting together. It wasn’t easy, for either of them - for different reasons, yet the same. It was hard, but they knew they had to stick together if they wanted to remain the family. They managed to do it, coming out of the whole ordeal with quite a few learned lessons and much stronger bonds. Hyojong loved his family. At the end of the day he still had his eyes on Hui.

Huidawn was a good team. Despite the differences they worked well together, they were the two sides of the same coin – as Jinho once said. There was an understanding, a harmony between them and it felt good. No one dared to deny the existence of the inseparable duo nor stand in between them. Trying it would be pointless as Hui just wouldn’t allow it. The older boy was the one being surrounded with people and as a leader of Pentagon it was only natural for him to be, but he made sure to have Hyojong by his side no matter how busy both of them were. Even just for a moment.

Hui had a lot of affection to give. He was giving it to everyone in their team, but the fact that he would never miss the chance to give it to Hyojong made the rapper’s confidence grow, it made him stronger, more determined. You could feel that aura surrounding him in everything he did, all the time. Hui’s presence – in person or in thoughts – made him feel like he was doing good, like he was on the right path. He felt loved and why would Hui love him as much as the other boys, if not more, if he wasn’t any good?

Hui’s main way of expressing affection was skinship. Hyojong learned that in the early stages of their friendship. It was so natural and easy for the older boy to touch the people around him, non-verbal communication was integrated in Hui’s personality. Closeness was expressed by less words and more hugs, holding hands, pats on the back, hands resting on thighs… Skinship was language Hui perfected to the point where words weren’t even needed. Hyojong couldn’t complain even when his heart was racing to escape his chest. He perfected the poker face in return and did his best to keep up with the older boy.

Hui’s skinship also made Hyojong realize he could be jealous. It didn’t happen often, fortunately, simply because most of the time Hui was touchy with Pentagon. Hyojong couldn’t be jealous of his family, their members’ relationship was clear and they were all showing mutual affection like that. He also knew that as much as they all loved their leader they loved him as well and loving him meant loving Huidawn – not as a team, but as a couple. The couple that existed in the darkness of his room, in his dreams and fantasies. The family knew, even if Hui didn’t or refused to know.

But he could be jealous of outsiders - people who weren’t a part of the Pentagon world. Hui had a lot of friends, leaving Hyojong with tight, polite smile, a mask he put to hide traces of insecurity, jealousy eating him up. Those were times he assumed he was looking more like his old self – somewhat secluded from the rest of the world, observing and feeling alone. Pentagon boys would be salvation if they happened to be there and in those moments he was reminded just how happy he was to have them. However, sooner or later Hui would be back. Crescent moons and wide smile and Hyojong’s heart would do the familiar flip and everything would be fine.

There was only one time when Hyojong suspected Hui being jealous. It was a strange situation, something completely new to the rapper – the way the older boy acted out of place making his brain start overanalyzing. It was during their work on Triple H album. Hyojong was close to Hyuna noona for a long time, so he turned to her for advice quite often. Their friendship along with the concept behind the music video for 365 Fresh and the fact that they were spending much more time together lately seemed to trigger some kind of change in Hui. He didn’t voice it out, but the usual big smile was a rare occurrence, as were the touches. Hyojong missed Hui’s hands, but he just watched him silently, waiting for the things to go back to the way they were. Eventually they did, but everyone noticed the shift in Huidawn relationship. Small rapper’s heart was filled with mixed feelings – from suspicion and excitement to guilt and finally hope, the thought of Hui actually being jealous warming him up long after the promotions for Triple H’s album passed.

The bed dipped under the weight of someone slipping behind Hui’s slim figure, arms finding their way around the leader’s waist.

“It’s me.” The soft, familiar voice made Hui relax, letting out a sigh involuntarily. “I came with Yuto, Jinho hyung is tucked in safely.” He could tell Hyojong was smiling as he said it.

“What time is it?” The older almost whispered the question.

“A little past two.” The rapper replied, words met with silence. “What’s wrong?”

Hui shifted slowly, turning in his arms until he was laying on his right side, facing him. The light in the room was dimmed, but Hyojong could still see traces of tears drying on the older’s cheeks.

“Hui?” He watched him worriedly, waiting until the older finally lifted his gaze to look at him.

“It’s… nothing really.” Hui replied, his eyes moving from Hyojong’s eyes along his face as if trying to distract himself. Having him here was better, it should help.

“You were crying.” Hyojong commented, still waiting. He wasn’t used to Hui not spilling it all immediately. When it came to the two of them, not talking about whatever was on their mind wasn’t an option. But Hyojong knew how to be patient and the vocalist obviously needed him to now.

“I’m tired.” He whispered. “I’m exhausted really.” He let out a heavy, breathy sigh, new tears already forming in his eyes.

“Don’t cry. You’re so ugly when you cry.” The rapper hurried to say, partly trying to make the older smile instead and partly just wanting to stop him from crying. Lousy attempt at joking, but it was allowed. Huidawn could sustain much lousier than that.

Hui let out a strange sound – something in between a chuckle and a sob and one of his hands flew up to his face as tears made their way down it, trying to stop himself.

“God…” Hyojong frowned and moved to take that hand, feeling the familiar ring he gave to him during Pentagon Maker as he laced their fingers together, the other one wiping Hui’s tears tenderly.

“I’m ugly…” Hui sobbed in another lousy attempt to laugh.

“You are. But I’m allowed to see it.” Hyojong smiled, hugging him again, still holding Hui’s hand firmly with his other hand. He waited again, tightening his hold on the older boy when he heard a proper soft chuckle. Silence followed for a long moment as Hui calmed down slowly.

“Can I do this?” He whispered. “It’s hard… sometimes I don’t even know what I’m doing. I… what if I’m useless?” Hyojong closed his eyes, his heart twisting in pain at those words. It wasn’t the first time Hui was asking himself these questions.

“You’re not.” He repeated. “And you’re doing it already. You’re doing one hell of a job.” He said softly, but firmly, letting go of Hui’s hand so he could hug him properly again. “We only need you, Hui. We need you so much, we wouldn’t be Pentagon without you. We wouldn’t be anything in fact.” He added, searching Hui’s eyes with his own. He was met with a silence again, but Hui was gazing at him, understanding, thankful.

“I’m scared.” He whispered finally.

“We’re here.” Hyojong smiled softly when leader hugged him back at those words and then moved one of his hands into the older’s hair, caressing it slowly.

“You make everything better.”

“That’s why we’re…”

“No… you, Dawnie. You… you’re also the only one I can say this to.” Hyojong knew that without him saying it. It was no secret they shared the darkest parts of themselves, the weaknesses, insecurities and worries only with each other.

“I know, hyung.” He felt the need to say it, word ‘hyung’ rolling off his tongue weirdly. Hyojong stopped calling him hyung a long time ago, but somehow calling him that now felt more… intimate.

Silence followed once again as Hui buried his face in the rappers neck, inhaling deeply, the younger one’s scent calming him down. They stayed like that for a long moment, Hyojong playing with Hui’s locks, until he slowly spoke again.

“I actually wanted to show you something tonight.” Hui moved to look up at him again, curious. “I made something.” Hyojong continued, pulling away to take out his phone, quickly searching for the song. “I…” He met Hui’s gaze again.

“I’ll sing for you.”

The vocalist watched him, smiling softly at those words. Hyojong never sang for him, especially not like this, not stating he will. Hui on the other hand did it a lot of times. Of course he did, they were working together and they were working a lot and his job was to sing. In the beginning he would announce those words to Hyojong playfully, it was just them having fun and so his voice was echoing, clear sound hitting the walls of the studio or the dorm, making Hyojong smile that broad smile he seemed to have reserved only for him and other Pentagon members. He loved making Hyojong smile so genuinely, that smile was lighting up stars, making his eyes sparkle. So he sang, over and over again, each time more seriously than the previous – because the song was for Hyojong.

The announcement now made him feel excited and, more importantly, more special than ever. Leave it to Hyojong to make him feel special. Hui watched him intently as the rapper pressed play and the song started.

*Don't get nightmares 
Cuz real love never dies 
Don't worry and don't be afraid 
You can wake me up anytime

Good night 
Good night 
I'm always there next to you.

Good night 
Good night 
I'm always there next to you.

Hyojong sang, looking down at the boy he loved, Hui’s expression softening as he listened. The way the older one gazed at him made his heart speed up and he felt hyperaware of his actions. The song was a confession, wasn’t it? He made it thinking of him and focused solely on it, also thinking how he wanted Hui to hear it, how he needed him to hear it. But he never thought how it actually sounded. It made him , but did it even matter anymore?

You face something negative again. 
Don't you believe my special love? 
Even though you don’t believe me today 
I will always prove it to you, even with this song.

Replicas always exist anywhere you go, 
But we are different from them. A masterpiece. 
Don't take dirty doubts in your clean and clear eyes.

We might still have to walk on a lot of thorns 
I rather close my eyes in front of those temptations. 
I had found partner, so I go ahead without fear 
taking the firm belief I've made since I was young.

I will protect you forever, 
You just stay by my side. 
I cannot make you breathe the dirty things 
because you are very virtuous to me.

Hui was absorbing the words flying out of Hyojong’s mouth, filling his small room and his heart with such unbearable warmth. His breath was caught in his throat as he stared at the younger one and before he even knew it the tears started running down his cheeks again. The question appeared in his mind again – was he really worth it? Was he a worthy leader, a worthy hyung, was he doing a decent job at all? Did he deserve this? So much love. Hyojong. He cried silently and he decided. He did.

Don't get nightmares 
Cuz real love never dies 
Don't worry and don't be afraid 
You can wake me up anytime 

Good night 
Good night 
I'm always there next to you.

Good night 
Good night 
I'm always there next to you.

The rapper continued to sing until the song slowly came to the end. Silence replaced it easily, unnoticed by Hyojong, his heartbeat not allowing him to hear it. Hui’s eyes were on him, Hyojong was amazed by how clear they looked considering the older boy was still crying. Another moment has passed and Hui moved, gifting the younger one the softest kiss he has ever gotten. 

A/N: *The song is E'Dawn's demo tape "Good Night". The translation is not mine and I'm not sure if it's the best, but I hope it helps convey what I wanted with this story.