When Soohyun looks at Kiseop, he sees perfection. The boy is nothing less than stunning, his ulzzang days being a testament to that fact, and he carries himself with confidence and style so easily. His character is gentle, if a bit silly at times, and caring. His voice is warm and welcoming. He might not be the best singer, but he's a great dancer, and he always works hard at what he does. Soohyun knows that envy will get him nowhere, but he can't deny the pangs of jealousy he feels when Kiseop is told how handsome and cute he is and the boy just smiles knowingly. There are times when Soohyun looks in the mirror and thinks he'd give up everything, even his voice, just to be as beautiful as Kiseop is.

Yet the boy never boasts or brags, doesn't show off or demand attention. He seats himself comfortably in the back, behind the spotlight, and is happy just to watch the others shine. It baffles Soohyun how someone could have what Kiseop has and not use it to its fullest extent. But Kiseop never wants to be the center or the lead, he is content in his own existence and that's where Soohyun's real envy lies—that ease of confidence he could never obtain. 

Part of Kiseop's reclusion is due to his inability to interact normally with others. Kiseop has always struggled to meet on common ground with other people, part of being the baby of his family. He never really had to work for attention as a child, and even as a teen, his good looks got him through life fairly well. Yet when forced to interact with people who are unaffected by his looks, his fellow members for example, he is at a loss for what to do. Thus, he tends to keep to himself. Occasionally, when he gets a burst of confidence, he'll let his true self shine—acting silly and crazy and loud—but it comes and goes rather quickly and Kiseop is always back where he started. 

This doesn't deter the other members, however; the boys are always encouraging him to let his true self shine, and they almost never let him slide completely out of the spotlight like he wants to. Soohyun especially tries to put the attention on Kiseop, thinking that beauty like his shouldn't be kept from the world and secretly hoping that maybe, just maybe, some of that perfection might rub off on him.

Kiseop always wonders why Eli never gets any acting offers because he is the best person at pretending that Kiseop knows. It's not that Eli is a liar, it's just that he knows what parts of himself to show and when, something that Kiseop always struggles with. When the situation is dark, Eli brightens it up. When someone needs comforting, Eli is always there with whatever they need—be it a work-out session (for the tougher boys), a candy bar (for the maknae) or a plethora of cheesy English jokes (for Kevin, of course). Eli can mold and adapt himself to any circumstance with the ease of a chameleon and it's breathtaking to watch in action.

Kiseop's favorite transformation is when Eli slides out of his wild jokester persona like a jacket and allows the softer, quieter side of himself to show—much like putting on a worn-in hoodie after a long day. Kiseop loves that part of him the best, wants to slide into that hoodie himself and see what it's like, because Eli really has more depth to him than he lets on and it's fascinating for Kiseop to witness sometimes. There are moments when Eli sits beside him silently and offers him a careful observation, just a small remark that falls from his lips airily, and Kiseop is struck by how intelligent he can be. 

Eli puts on different personalities yet never manages to lose his true self amongst all the chaos. That, Kiseop thinks, is what makes Eli so amazing.

 

Eli has known AJ for a while now, since back when he was the maknae of Paran, and he likes to think he knows the boy the best. That’s why, when everyone gets frustrated at AJ's seeming lack of tact or his ability to push people with mocking words a little too far, Eli remains calm and cool. He means well, Eli knows, he just doesn't display his true feelings in the best ways. AJ loves challenges, loves getting to know people and charming them, loves having fun—and these interests of his almost always get him in trouble.

Eli knows that Kevin isn't really on the best terms with AJ, and he understands why the boy is frustrated with his longtime friend. But he wishes he could make it more clear to Kevin, to show him that AJ just wants to be friends. He knows AJ sees Kevin as a challenge, an enigma of sorts, and the more Kevin refuses him the harder AJ pushes him back. Kevin is the complete opposite of AJ, he's quieter and sweeter and politer, and that fascinates him. Eli knows that AJ wants nothing more than to taint that innocent character, to stare directly into the sun and attempt to cast his shadow over it. Eli can relate—he's wanted to do the same since the moment he saw Kevin.

AJ may come off as insensitive or incapable of being serious, but Eli knows that it's his way of protecting himself—and he will wait patiently for the day AJ opens up to the rest of U-Kiss like he has already done to Eli, letting his true colors shine the way Eli knows they could.

 

Hoon, AJ thinks, is everything he should be—and probably could be, if he only tried a little harder. Hoon is soft and sweet, always ready with a kind word or helping hand, and AJ only wishes he could be like that. Hoon is also shy, undeniably so, but AJ knows that Soohyun has made it his personal mission to bring the boy out of his shell and it's been working thus far. AJ admits he's a little bitter that Hoon didn’t go to him first, as they are both the new members of the group. But AJ can also admit that Soohyun is more suited to Hoon, they get along like an old married couple, and there's no way he could've helped the boy.

Having been a solo singer, Hoon is accustomed to being alone and adjusting to group life is something he still struggles with. It's hard for him to not have a choice in his wardrobe or his hair or his lines and when AJ watches him for too long, he can see the boy trying so hard not to get lost. AJ wants to reach out to him, pull him out of the rushing tides, but finds himself unable to grasp the right words. Hoon is like a blank canvas, an empty notebook, and anything AJ thinks of to say or do to Hoon just seems wrong—like he's going to ruin him.

Mostly, when AJ looks at Hoon, he wants to hide him away from the stresses of idol life—wants to see him being a piano teacher for children or a barista at a small coffee shop. AJ knows it's only a matter of time before Hoon's softness is worn into sharp edges and watching that transformation breaks the parts of AJ's heart that haven't already been hardened themselves.

 

Hoon likes to think that him and Kevin are rather similar, all things considered—they're both singers, they're both known for being sweet and thoughtful, they both make up the calmer side of U-Kiss. Yet Hoon knows there is a distinct difference between the two of them, something he can't quite put his finger on. Kevin isn't really above him, or below him, but he seems to be on a completely different platform entirely. Hoon looks over at Kevin from his own platform and has to look through fog and rain just to see him; and when he does, it's like Kevin is living in a universe completely unlike his own.

Hoon isn't one to be jealous, or angry, but people like Kevin always motivate him to work himself harder. Kevin seems to have been through very little trouble in his life and even now it's impossible to not notice how things are often just handed to him, with virtually no work on Kevin's part. Hoon knows he had gotten into his first group almost instantaneously and getting into the current group wasn't much of a problem either. Kevin was born with a baby face, with a good voice, with a gentle personality and if Hoon were a lesser man, he would probably hate Kevin for easily gaining what Hoon had to work years for. Instead, he turns those feelings into hard work, knowing that the praise and success will mean so much more to him than it ever could to Kevin.

And that's the thing, really, that keeps him from ever resenting Kevin. Hoon himself has gone through his fair share of hardships and he knows what defeat and jealousy and all-nighters and rejection feels like. Kevin, however, is like a freshly painted wall or a stained glass window, untouched from the harshness of reality. Hoon wasn't there, of course, but he knows the member changes hit Kevin the hardest and whether the other members talk about it or not, he knows it's because Kevin had never really lost anything important to him before. 

Hoon pities him more than anything else, because every new cut and scrape on his smooth skin will hurt Kevin a hundred times more than it could ever hurt Hoon. So Hoon follows the lead of the original members, steps up beside them to help protect Kevin, and hopes that the makeshift fortress they've made out of their own brittle defenses is strong enough to withstand the rain and fog and keep Kevin on his platform. 

 

Kevin often forgets how young Dongho really is, despite the boy's tendency to act like a petulant child from time to time. Dongho might be loud, and silly, and is often dancing or moving around but he is also undeniably mature for his age. Dongho likes to keep to himself during their off-time, content to play his games or text his friends and it would appear to any third party that Dongho simply enjoys being alone. But Kevin knows, better than any other member he thinks, how untrue that is. Kevin is amazed sometimes at how independent and cocky Dongho can act when in the public eye and yet, he's the same boy that cries into Kevin's shoulder on the nights when his homesickness gets to be too much for him to handle. 

Dongho is still just a young boy and Kevin often wants to call up his parents and ask them what they were thinking letting a fifteen year old boy into the music industry. Yet Kevin reminds himself that he was the same age in Xing and he has no right to be so angry—and he knows, truthfully, the anger he feels is really just misplaced concern. Kevin knows what it's like to have your childhood ripped away from you, and the last thing he wants is for Dongho to go through the stress of losing yourself before you ever really find yourself.

It's not that Kevin thinks Dongho can't handle himself, it's just that he wonders why he should ever have to. So Kevin makes it his personal duty to give Dongho everything he never knew he needed—someone to kiss his forehead good night, someone to wake him up in the morning, someone to buy him candy, someone to force him to study, someone to love him in a different way than just a friend could. It might be odd to some people, even the other members don't completely understand it, but a substitute mother figure happens to be just what Dongho needs. 

And they both know, even if they never say it, that it's just what Kevin needs too.

 

Dongho often wonders what Soohyun sees when he looks into the mirror. Or rather, he wonders how Soohyun can only focus on minor imperfections when the only thing Dongho sees is blinding perfection. Soohyun can sing, can dance, can charm any person with ease and always looks confident and masculine no matter what he wears. Dongho has never told Soohyun this, and if he did the man would just laugh it off anyways, but he really looks up to Soohyun. Dongho isn't insecure in his own abilities, not at all, but Soohyun has that grace and tact, that humility and determination that Dongho always finds he comes up short on. 

Dongho thinks—no, he knows—that Soohyun is the best person to be their leader, whether the man in question believes it or not. Soohyun holds them all together like glue, keeping each member happy and healthy the best way he can. He is so dedicated to the group that there are times when he forgets to worry about himself but luckily, the other six members are always there to do it for him. Soohyun is unquestionably hard-working, almost to a fault, and his willpower always inspires not only Dongho, but the others too, to keep pushing on to reach their dreams.

Yet Dongho also knows, as well as the other members and even their fans, that Soohyun can't see his own good traits and instead drowns in the flaws only he can find. It causes him to work even harder, to spend countless hours practicing singing or working out, and it makes Dongho wish he knew what happened to make him think this way—and wish he knew how to fix it. 

Dongho isn't the best at dealing with emotions, sympathy not being one of his strong points, so he just tries to help Soohyun the best he can. He snuggles up to him, gives him lots of attention, takes pictures with him and compliments him—he does everything he can to make Soohyun happier. The other members pitch in too, using their collective strengths and abilities to provide support—columns and arches and trusses—so that even when Soohyun is picking at his own foundation, he'll find it impossible to ever sink more than a few inches. It's a continuous work-in-progress, Dongho knows, but it's the least he can do, the least they all can do, and a lifetime of labor will be worth it for that moment when the walls of U-Kiss are forced to fall away and Soohyun can finally stand, and shine, on his own.