The main vocalist of Pentagon, the oldest hyung was just… short. Nicknames like “smol hyung” and “cute real maknae” spread around the Universe like fire. Everyone found it adorable, much like Jinho himself and his futile attempts of making himself look y weren’t helping much. But even if he was naturally cute and tiny he was manly at the same time, his age showing whenever he was serious or immersed in work – much more noticeable than expected. You just had to cast a better look at him to see it.

Pentagon family, of course, knew it – felt it ever since he became a part of them. The maturity, the experience, his polished skills silently gaining respect and much needed acknowledgement. It was always so simple when it came to Jinho, it was obvious, screaming in your face kind of obvious. You had to be blind not to see it, the true size of a person under the “small” appearance, everything Jinho was and everything he was capable of along with the strong newly found determination, his driving force enabling him to try his hardest and conquer everything he wanted to. To his younger friends he appeared invincible, little powerful hero to look up to, admire and follow.

Hongseok didn’t know if Jinho has always been this amazing tower in his own eyes, looming over all of them, making the two years younger guy feel strangely tiny. Being an amazing embodiment of pure music right from the start it sometimes felt like he has always been such a grand figure in Hongseok’s mind, but the truth was that the oldest member of Pentagon family grew. It was a slow, steady growth, subtle and unnoticeable to the younger vocalist until one day the magnificent image of Jo Jinho simply appeared in all its glory in front of Hongseok’s eyes, knocking the breath out of him. Overwhelming.

Just as Jinho’s music, his melodies and harmonies with other members filled the air surrounding him, floating around and touching every soul exposed to them, presence of everything that molded the oldest in their group into what he was suddenly seemed to swallow Hongseok’s whole being until everything he could see was his oldest hyung, his source of strength, inspiration and comfort. Image of Jinho was so huge it was impossible not to see him and the younger vocalist couldn’t look away either. And when he told himself to just close his eyes to regain some sort of control and ground himself Jinho was just waiting for him there, right behind his eyelids, taller than ever.

Stars were Jinho’s friends and the thought of him outshining them terrified Hongseok as it was the truth – his truth and once he acknowledged it there was no turning back. Stepping back, away from Jinho’s enormous image, running far away to be able to turn and look back at him from distance, allowing for the older boy’s image to get smaller was another scary thought, so Hongseok couldn’t allow himself to indulge in it. The thought of being far away just seemed that impossible. So he was stuck in between – partly wanting to move away and partly just desperately trying to reach up towards his older friend he admired so much.

Hongseok found himself looking up at the sky, at the stars and Jinho’s tower-like image more and more often, childishly picking out different shapes of clouds and wishing he could settle down on one of them, wanting to be a part of the amazing sky crew and hoping scary winds won’t appear to disturb his place, to shoo him away. He knew it was unrealistic, fear settling down in his heart whenever he fell into that fantasy, growing and looming over him much like Jinho’s tall, warm, loving figure.

In the mixture of seemingly impossible wishes and fear Hongseok realized something else, something that also made him afraid. Launching himself up to the sky could do that to you after all. Make you lose the sight of what was real and what were just wishful dreams. He dreamed a lot, giving into hopes of Jinho reaching back down to him, to pull him up and put him on that little cloud by his side. The ground under his toes wasn’t so solid anymore and no matter how much Hongseok wanted to tell himself that he didn’t care, that it wasn’t what he wanted anyway, that everything he needed was to have his toes wiggle free on the fluffy cloud beside Jinho the fear of losing himself in the heights, far away from the familiar comfort of ground below – something he could grasp and hold onto, was still too much. So stuck he was, because no matter how much Hongseok tried to reach up to him Jinho remained standing tall, a beautiful tower to be admired, out of reach. Clouds were out of reach and climbing up so desperately only guaranteed a harsh fall that would surely shatter him into pieces.

The tower was gorgeous, dreamy like, piercing the beautiful sky, surrounded with stars. Strong and conquering, maybe even intimidating in its glory. Was it just waiting for a brave warrior to conquer it in return, seduce it and love it, climb up high, to its level to settle on something much more solid than a simple fluffy cloud? There was hope, it just needed to overweigh the fears, step on them and fly to the sky.