Late hours of the night are always the darkest- always the most frightening. 

"Hyung." Taemin's voice was faint as it shook Jonghyun out of his sleep, drowsy eyes fluttering open and a his own sleeve wiping off the drool lying on his chin. He squinted his eyes and tried to make out the figure standing by the door; hunched and head held low- no remiscent of what the actual Lee Taemin would be like normally.

"Taemin?" Jonghyun sighed, "Look, do you have any idea what time it is?" 

"I know, but... n-nevermind." He didn't miss the tremble in Taemin's usually confident voice, didn't miss slightest shaking of his shoulders as well. Jonghyun's figure softened as he watched the maknae dejectedly turn around and face the door, making no move to get out. 

He had a problem, and his hyung was always there to fix it. 

"Taemin-ah, come here." 

In an instant, Taemin was by his side, sitting cross-legged on the space Jonghyun had provided from him on the bed. Jonghyun's warmth calmed the younger boy, and he made every effort to get as close as he could without invading the other's space. 

"What's wrong this time, maknae?" Jonghyun chuckled as he remembered the past conversations he has had with Taemin, usually consisting of 'Key found my , help!', or 'I burnt the kitchen.'. Those miniscule conversations made sharing a dorm worthwhile, and Jonghyun was more than glad to be there whenever Taemin needed help, because he is, in fact, his maknae; one who nobody could ever take from him.

But this time, this time was different. There was no flush to the face or crooked smile; The only thing that lay was a trembling body dead-set eyes staring back at him, dried tear tracks marking his face and hands unmoving on his lap. 

"Taemin," Jonghyun was now sitting up and on alert, "What's wrong?" 

"I can't do it." 

Jonghyun's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Can't do-"

"Oh, Taemin-ah..."

"I can't... I'm trying, but..." The only sound that escaped as the creak of the mattress as Jonghyun enveloped Taemin in a tight hug, trying his best to calm the frantic shakes of the latter. Taemin was only a day away from making his dream come true, only a day away from proving what he's made of, a simple day away from making his solo debut. Since young, he had always talked about having a solo concert or singing a single song by himself, and the company had actually listened in this time. Lee Taemin was a solo debutee by tomorrow, and Jonghyun was more than sure that this situation was caused by his debut. 

"Why would you think like that? Of course you can do it..."

"I can't, hyung!" Taemin's voice increased in loudness and the tears began making their way down once more, staining his more-than-perfect face, in Jonghyun's opinion. "Everyone's saying that I can't- that I don't d-derserve it!" 

"Who's everyone?" Jonghyun anger suddenly began boiling. How dare they say that to his Taeminnie?!

Wait.... his Taeminnie?

"The... It doesn't even matter, because they're right!" Taemin sobbed, "I'm just a talentless piece of trash who just happens to have luck." 

"Taemin-"

"Look at me, what the am I even doing?!"

"Taemin, listen to me-"

"I don't even even deserve to be here anymo-"

Jonghyun didn't mean it, he swears he didn't. He swears he didn't mean to bring his finger's to Taemin's lips, feeling every cracked particle to remind himself that Taemin was an actual human being. He swears he didn't mean to press his own lips against the latters in order to convey what he felt; he was simply trying to get Taemin to shut up. 

When he pulled away, Taemin's self-destructing talk had ended, and his eyelids had drooped down to look at the pillow beneath, the slightest tint of pink present on his face. 

"Lee Taemin," Jonghyun tried his hardest to suppress what he felt at the moment because he wasn't sure that Taemin felt the same sparks or butterflies that he did. "Who told you that." 

"No-one..." 

"Don't give me that crap, please," He brought his hand back up to caress Taemin's face, "You mean so much more to me, Taeminnie. It hurts me so much to even think about you saying that about yourself." 

"But-"

"You deserve everything, and more. Whoever told you that, they don't know much much you've worked for this. They don't ing know how much sleep you've lost because I've seen you! They don't know much much you've wished for this, they don't know how much you ing deserve it." 

It was true. Jonghyun had constantly seen Taemin raw and unaltered prior to tonight. Endless trips out of the country to perfect a dance or staying up till the late A.M's and sleeping over at the company building, tears rolling down his face because he hadn't been able to reach his goal that day; Jonghyun had been there and he had seen it all. 

"Hyung..."

"Just call me Jonghyun, Taemin," He sighed, "I don't care much about formalities and you know this." 

"I'm sorry, I just-" Taemin shuddered, "I might've gone online and-"

"Read a forum?" Taemin looked up at Jonghyun in surprise, nodding as slowly as ever. Jonghyun brought his arm down to Taemin's arm and slowly rubbed in circles, shaking his head in a mix of relief and disappointment. Relief in terms that it wasn't anyone close to Taemin who had told him that, and disappointment because Taemin knew better than to venture out into the online forums and read about himself, which only usually results in tears and heartbreaks. The company gives you an image of the fans you've created, a perfect,  too perfect, image of those to support you; However, they never tell you about those who have a distaste for you, the anti's. The moment you find out they're there, especially on your own, could be one of the most heart-wrenching moments of your career as an artist. 

'Taemin, you should know that it's a ter-"

"I know, Jonghyun!" Taemin brought his own hand up to his almost-silver hair and pushed it back, "I was just curious and there was a link, I had to know what others thought!" 

"And how did that work out?" 

.....

Jonghyun knew it was a low blow, but how else could Taemin learn? Once more, he brough the boy into his arms and pressed his back against the bed-frame, bringing Taemin close to him. After a few seconds of silence, Taemin spoke out:

"They said you or Onew-hyung deserved it more." Taemin's voice trailed off to almost non-existent by the last word, and Jonghyun didn't like it one bit. Taemin was losing confidence in himself, all due to those stupid threads. 

"Onew-hyung or I have never expressed we ever wanted a solo, and you know that. You know that both of us are supporting you as much as we can, right?" 

Taemin nodded.

"You have something that I don't, at least- stage presence. I mean, have you seen yourself on stage?" Jonghyun chuckled slightly, "Whenever you perform, this aura just takes over the entire arena, stage, or whatever you're on, and you captivate not only the fans, but us as well." 

"...Really?"

"Yes, really. Dance means so much more to you than it does to any one of us, right? And puh-lease, do not get me started on how much you've improved on singing, little man." 

"But I'm not as good as you both..."

"You don't have to be, Taemin." Jonghyun turned Taemin's head around slightly to smile at him, watching how the boy's eyelashes fluttered at every compliment that flew out of his mouth. 

And Jonghyun meant every one of them.

"You don't have to be the best, because there's always someone that's going to be better than you, or even me! It's your job to pursue to be as great as them, to work as hard as you can to keep going;

You can't give up like this, Lee Taemin." 

It took a few minutes for Taemin to absorb those words, and Jonghyun watched in fascination as the slightest smile crept up to Taemin's face.

"Jonghyun... you're right." Taemin laughed a little to himself as he wiped the stray tears away with the back of his palm. He stood up from the bed and continued looking at his hyung, who was getting under the blankets once more. 

"Goodnight, Jonghyun." 

"Goodnight, Taeminnie."

But Taemin didn't leave, he didn't even move an inch. Taking a deep breath, he made his way towards Jonghyun's body which was face the other way, quickly turning his head around as he gently pressed his lips onto the older boy.

"Thank you, hyung." 

Jonghyun looked back at him with wide eyes and an exasperated expression, which only made Taemin's smile grow wider.

"Aren't I your fairy prince?" Taemin let go of Jonghyun's hand, which he had subconsciously made a move to hold.

"Thank you, Jonghyun."

"Go get them tomorrow, fairy prince."

With that, the door was shut and Taemin was long gone. Jonghyun turned around and pressed his face against the pillow and softly squealed as he moved his body in excitement. With a wide grin, he grabbed his phone and began typing:

'We have our own path to go.'

Thank u doritos. These little prompts help my writer's block for ABP and MMOAN, so yeah. I'm so proud of our little Taeminnie, who isn't so little anymore, but he's still the same. Bless.