Falling for Lee Hwitaek was way too easy. The boy radiated warmth, drawing people in with the brightness of his open attitude, his unique voice and contagious smile. Everyone loved having Hui around, simply because he was always so full of energy, so encouraging, providing support and guidance. It was natural for him to become a leader of their little family, even if he wasn’t the oldest. It was just a role that belonged to him.

There was something about Hui that made people not just drawn to him, but being able to open up to him and Hyojong was sure that was one of the most important reasons why the older boy was able to lead them so well. That warmth Hui shared with everyone around him enabling him to easily embrace the members of their group – no matter how different they all were. It just came down to all of them loving their leader almost instantly. Hui just screamed wonderful words like “trust”, “loyalty” and “devotion”, all of them raw until the time colored them with beautiful tones of love and family, as warm as the sun their leader was.

Hyojong felt that love and closeness with such intensity so early in their friendship that it left him amazed. The shining light in the form of only slightly shorter boy in front of him was so irresistible from the moment his eyes met Hui’s, burning with life and strangely laced with joy. It was the first time he felt such a strong need to reach out to someone and hold onto them like his life depended on it. It was irrational and it was scary, but it made the short rapper’s blood rush through his veins with anxious excitement and it was beautiful.

Hui was beautiful. All the qualities everyone knew and praised him for were gorgeous for sure, but Hui was beautiful because of all the imperfections that made him that much more adorable and that much closer to the people around him. And the mere fact that Hui indeed was just a human, one with amazing qualities, from his singing abilities to his wonderful soul, but deep down a boy with his insecurities and flaws made him shine that much brighter.

To Hyojong he was maybe not the only source of light, but the kind of source of light that more often than not outshined everything else, leaving him with no choice but to stare at it in awe, defeated by endless beauty consisting of mesmerizing wonders and imperfections. He was defeated without putting up any kind of fight, the light was hypnotizing, alluring and he would’ve never dared to look away from it even if it would hurt his eyes. Yet it never did.

Another special quality of Hui’s shine was that it was being put out there for others to bask in and share it. The leader of their little family was a guiding source of light, but he was everywhere – lighting the road in front of them while holding their hands and at the same time walking behind them in the most lovable position of providing spotlight for everyone else to shine under. And even though Hyojong loved that side of the older boy he kept looking back at him, reaching out to take his hand so they could walk forward side by side, offering the products of his own natural abilities and Hui’s support in return.

With time he had noticed the rest of their family doing it too and the way it made the older boy illuminate their path together with even bigger force made Hyojong’s heart beat harder, his own pace along with their collective pace as a group growing faster as they took one step after another. Observing it made him smile, made him feel fulfilled and complete, reassured over and over again as he gazed from one precious boy in their family to another, in the end always going back to the deep root of Pentagon, strong pillar, the one breathing life into the dynamics of their group.

The light, sometimes shining like sun on a hot summer day, almost blindingly bright as he gave it his all. However, most of the time he was warm, not so aggressive, wonderful rays of spring, gently touching everything around them and making them shine instead.

Nature was precious in all its variety, but without the sun to illuminate all those special aspects of it it wouldn’t have been so vivid… It wouldn’t have been alive at all.

Hyojong was alive and happy, feeling the warmth of the sun that never let the day pass without kissing his skin, heart and soul.