Everyone loved their Shanghai prince, their Chinese baby. Everyone pampered him and made sure he was taken care of, showered with love and attention. Yanan was just a tiny bit spoiled. But Changgu firmly believed he deserved it.

The Chinese vocalist was much more than an innocent child Changgu felt such a strong need to protect. His roommate was well aware of it, if he weren’t he wouldn’t have been able to survive in the world surrounding him, no matter how much any of members of their little family tried to shield him. Sometimes the smiling ball of sunshine – as the rest of Pentagon members liked to call him – wondered how Yanan found courage to leave his home and come to the foreign land. Was he just a reckless, stubborn little boy wanting to go on an adventure while he had the chance? Was he even aware of what he was getting himself into? Getting to know him proved that Yanan was much more aware of all of those worries than he was letting on. But one question remained, taunting Changgu’s mind. Will the time come when it would just be too much for him to take?

Changgu was more terrified of the possibility of his worry coming true. Maybe Yanan was reckless and somewhat clueless after all. Or maybe he just didn’t want to worry in advance, leaving all the ‘what ifs’ to the time they would actually materialize into an obstacle on his path for him to deal with. It was simple and efficient, helping him not lose focus and just work on one thing at the time, steadily making progress. To the point. Straight to the point – life was simple, like a child’s play. And Yanan was playing.

His Korean roommate, however, usually spent a lot of time overthinking. He liked to think he was just preparing himself for all the possible scenarios that could come his way, but planning out all the possibilities was time consuming and frustrating, leaving him with more worries and fears than providing help. Changgu was his own worst enemy, torturing himself when all the insecurities came out to frighten the small boy dipping his little toes into the adult world, testing the waters. And the boy would frantically run around his hyungs until he would find the free Chinese kid, a small fearless warrior, tall enough to cover Changgu’s shivering form, bringing the sunshine-like smile back on the older one’s face.

The world was scary, of course it was. Yanan was afraid too even if he wasn’t showing it as openly as his roommate. Postponing thinking about it and just living out whatever life gave him at the moment was just his way of fighting those fears and, with a certain dose of confidence he believed that was the right way. The older one discovered it at some point and even though it was admirable it left him that much more scared. Was it a sign of Yanan growing up?

The Chinese boy was beautiful, the pure innocence drawing attention, his handsome features making the child stand out and Changgu wanted for him to stay that way. Not haunted by worries like he was, untainted by the dirt the world around them was so full of, a wonderful small flower they could all just admire and help his beauty shine more – on them and the rest of the world, filling it with love and hope. Yanan deserved all the love he could get and Changgu just wanted for him to get it and be the hope for all the lost little boys afraid of life. Boys like himself.

The change was lurking. Changgu could sense it. Yanan was still adorable and childlike, but he was clearly becoming more annoyed by it, reaching to become something more, an adult. It was scary as the slightly older boy held onto the child in Yanan so desperately, wanting to protect, to save him. And save himself. However growing was an inevitable part of life, a neverending process Changgu couldn’t stop from happening. It was time for Yanan to grow a little bit more. Going into bloom.