Author's Note: LKSAJDLSDF. Seriously. You guys just made my life. People are so kind here ;WW; I was really surprised to see so much views and subscribers and comments. I mean, that might be small in other people's standards, but damn, that's a lot of love from you guys. Thank you so much.

Sorry I don't update daily, but I'm the type to write slowly and edit every other paragraph. It takes me a while to complete one thorough chapter. Please be patient with me! Also, I will be starting SAT-summer school tomorrow so the updates might even be slower. Though honestly, I didn't know the second chapter would take me so long.

1210 WORDS. DANG! Anyways, enjoy! Sorry about the huge delay!

Taemin was excited, to say the least. The maknae of SHINee bounced in his seat on the couch, anticipating the door to SHINee’s dorm opening. This excitement was fueled by one thing: their leader was coming back home.

After several weeks in the hospital, Onew had finally been discharged, allowing him the freedom to come back home. Of course, he had agreed to it, wanting to reunite with his second family.

At that moment, the front door clicked open, wide enough for leader and their manger to come in. Onew still looked rather pale and lifeless, though Taemin had to admit it was much better than the first week. The youngest also noticed his hyung wearing a white mask. Though worry crossed through him, Taemin wanted to sound cheerful for his sickly hyung.

“Jinki-hyung! Welcome back!” Without warning, the nineteen year old tackled the elder with a big hug. He was quickly pulled away by their manager, however, as he was told that Onew was still sick and that it would be bad if the rest of SHINee caught it. Much to Taemin’s dismay, the younger members weren’t allowed to get too close to Onew. The dancer pouted; what difference did coming home make then? He caught himself before thinking more negatively. He should just be happy that his leader was well enough to get out of the hospital. Taemin should be thankful, right? He mentally nodded, agreeing with his self made decision.

"Ah, gomawo, Taemin-ah," Onew spoke, his voice a bit huskier than usual. The said singer reached toward the maknae, only to realize what he was doing and retract his arm. Taemin saw this which caused him to narrow his eyebrows in worry.

"Hyung, maybe you should go rest more," Minho, the second youngest, suggested, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Although his face rarely showed emotions, this time, his face showed worry and sorrow. The rapper was just as sad as Taemin; it was as if Onew never came back.

"Aish, I wanted to play with you guys, though," Onew replied, a pout forming on his lips - not that anyone was able to see it, of course.

"Young-gam, go rest a lot so we can all have even more fun next time," Key scolded, his motherly side coming up. Onew simply chuckled and nodded, giving the rest of the group a weak 'thumbs up'.

"Hey, Jinki-ah, you really need to go rest," their manager interrupted, shifting his weight to his other leg. Onew blinked several times before saying his good night to the other members. He didn't want to push their manager, seeing as he only shifted his weight between his legs when he was truly annoyed. The others noticing this as well replied with a soft good night before heading for their own rooms for the night.

-----

It was well past midnight when the door to Taemin and Jonghyun's room slowly creaked open. The youngest singer quietly stepped out and tiptoed toward the leader’s room. He opened the door – he thanked God that Onew had a room to himself – and made sure to be as silent as the dead walking in. A soft smile crept onto his face as he sat down on the edge of Onew’s bed. The soft smile stayed on Taemin’s lips as he softly petted the elder’s head. From a third person’s point of view, that exact moment would have rather been awkward and just plain odd. However, Taemin didn’t seem to care. He was just caring for the overworking leader after all.

"Jinki-hyung," Taemin whispered as he trailed off into his whole thought.

The maknae felt that something was his fault. Being the youngest, he seemed to have the least external stress, being often shielded from antis by his hyungs. He didn’t like it, truth be told, but it couldn’t be helped. The others wanted to protect the youngest, it seemed. Mainly Onew. Taemin knew that Onew was a responsible person so of course, it made sense that Onew would take the blame for Taemin’s mistakes. Somehow, Taemin connected that with Onew’s sudden sickness. Was it… was it because Taemin didn’t mature fast enough? Or maybe it was because Taemin didn’t even act maturely. If he made no mistakes, then Onew would not have anything to shield him against.

A sudden stir interrupted Taemin’s train of thought. Realizing his hand was still on top of Onew, he quickly withdrew his hand. Just like how his hyung had after coming home for the first time in a while. It saddened the dancer to think about Onew being so cautious of him and the others. Although the older was never the type to prefer skinship, Taemin had been an exception. Onew didn’t mind touching Taemin as much as other SHINee members or even his personal friends, just like how he didn’t mind Taemin touching him sometimes. Of course, the Shawol fandom had started to call their close hyung-dongsaeng relationship “OnTae” but really, neither of them had ever minded. It made them feel somewhat awkward when this “OnTae” went to the extreme, but other times, it was rather understandable.

Taemin shook his head, trying to clear his head of random thoughts. He wanted to focus on comforting his hyung, even if the elder had never asked for it.

"Hyung, please get better soon," Taemin whispered as his slim fingers gently brushed the stray hair off of Onew’s face. "I missed you enough as it is. If I can’t even properly hug you soon, I don’t know what I’ll do…" At that, Taemin leaned in and hugged the sickly singer the best as he can. The position Taemin was in was rather uncomfortable, but if it meant he can finally hug his hyung (although it wasn’t reciprocated), he would endure it. "Rest well."

The youngest SHINee member stood up and left the room, not long after looking back at the sleeping leader. He closed the door quietly and tiptoed his way back into his own room to get his own rest.

Unbeknownst to him, Onew had been awake the whole time. He had not been able to sleep for a while now. In frustration, he had sighed loudly, only to hear a door creak open in the house. For whatever reason, he had panicked and pretended to sleep. Perhaps he had thought it was their manager checking up on him. Regardless, he closed his eyes. Almost immediately after closing his eyes, the door to his own room had opened. Soon enough, he was able to realize that it was SHINee’s maknae.

Once the door had opened and closed again, Onew opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. The whole time, his heart had ached. Taemin’s voice sounded so hurt, so distraught. It pained Onew to hear his happy-go-lucky dongsaeng sound so upset.

Another sigh escaped the singer’s lips. Worrying about it would not help Taemin’s wish come true any time soon. With that thought it mind, Onew laid back down and closed his eyes, even more determined to get his rest. He needed rest, especially if he wanted Taemin to become energetic again. But one thought kept running through his mind.

Why do I have to be so weak?

Chapter Notes: By the way, I have no idea how the dorm arrangements go. I'm totally going off what I last heard, or remembering hearing. If it's wrong, don't be afraid to correct me!

Also, I was contemplating between "Jinki-hyung" and "Onew-hyung", but I decided to just go with his real name to show their close bond. Yeah... okay. Just saying.

If you need any translations, just comment/message me. I'm Korean so I understand it and automatically assume everyone does, too. Sorz.