“Do you want to talk about it now?”

“It’s really nothing, hyung.” Taemin heaved a sigh, curling into Jinki a little more as he clutched his glass of hot chocolate tighter. “Just some bad memories.”

“I’ll always listen if you want to talk.”

“I… you probably don’t remember, but going through school was really tough for me. Kids bullied me a lot, and then I’d come here and I’d train for hours on end, being told I was this close to being good, but I wasn’t quite there.” He gave a shaky breath, staring into the mug instead of looking at anything specific. “I always tried to work a little longer, a little harder, so that I could get there. ‘I’ll do better,’ I’d tell the trainers or our managers or even you guys. ‘I promise.’ But I never really did. All of you guys have something you are known for—you and Key with your musicals, Jonghyun with his composing and his singing skill, and Minho his acting and sports. I don’t really have any of that.”

“Of course you do.”

“Like what?”

“You’re really good at singing, Taemin-ah. And one of the best dancers I’ve seen.”

“There are plenty of people better than me.”

“It’s impossible to compare different people when they all have their own, unique, styles.”

Jonghyun’s head popped out from the kitchen and both of them froze on the couch. “What are you guys still doing up? I get if you guys didn’t want to do it with us in there, but we have schedules early tomorrow.”

“We already told you; we weren’t doing anything, hyung!”

“We’ll be in bed soon. You just go ahead.” There wasn’t even any hesitation before Jonghyun nodded to Jinki, slipping down the hall silently and leaving the duo alone once again. Only after a few seconds did he turn back to Taemin, continuing as if they weren’t even interrupted. “What’s your favorite fruit?”

“…Banana? What’s that have to do with this?”

“What’s your favorite dinner?”

“Steak. Why?”

“Now which is better; bananas or steaks?” Taemin was left speechless. “They are both foods, but that is all that is similar. You can compare yourself to any other person since you are both people, but in the end, you will be as similar as bananas and steaks. There’s no way to choose between them without looking for something specific.”

“It’s time to leave for your first therapy session, hyung.” Taemin gave Jinki’s hands a small tug, guiding the eldest up before handing him his crutches. Only after that was taken care of did he say proper goodbyes to the members of the staff in the studio, leading a stumbling Jinki out behind him. “I told you staying up with me was a bad idea.”

“My only bad idea was not taking the coffee when Kibum offered it.” Taemin laughed, his whole body shaking from it. “I don’t get how you aren’t dead tired.”

“I’ve gotten less sleep during promotions. That was actually a good night for me, compared to most.” When they reached the van outside, Taemin was right there opening the door for Jinki and supporting most of the elder’s weight to get him in, squeezing in on his own with the crutches after. “Are you excited, hyung?”

“Why would I be?”

“Physical therapy! It means you are getting closer to not needing crutches and walking on your own again!” Taemin was practically bouncing in his seat, stopping only long enough to help Jinki put on his seatbelt before plopping himself back down and continuing. “And! If the therapist gives you the all-clear and your new doctor says it is alright and you want to, then you can start coming on schedules again! I know plenty of people have missed you and Joon would love to see you too and—”

“Who’s Joon?” Taemin froze, eyes going wide as he stared at Jinki for a second before shaking his head.

“I forgot you guys met later on… Joon’s another friend of yours. He’s from MBLAQ. Um… He’s older than you, but not by much. You guys got along really well.” With a shrug, he resumed bouncing on the seat. “But he’s going to be so excited to see you. Maybe we’ll get together with them and all of us can go out for drinks or barbeque or something! It’ll be fun and we’ll—” Neither of them were prepared for the driver to slam on the breaks, Taemin flying forward into the seat in front of him with a sickening crack as he held an arm out to keep Jinki back. Before they could calm their pounding hearts, they were hit from behind, the car flying forward until it hit another and slowed to a stop. His lip bitten to blood to stop himself from crying out in pain, Taemin finally leaned back in the seat, left car cradled close to his body as he rubbed Jinki’s shoulder. “Are you okay, hyung? You’re not hurt, right? Hyung?”

“Y-your arm…”

“It’s fine,” Taemin spoke too quickly, pulling his jacket around to cover the swelling and deformed arm. “Are you okay, hyung?”

Jinki blinked a few times, taking deep breaths before nodding and slowly reaching for his belt. Taemin’s good hand shot out to stop him though, clamping down on top of the much bigger one and staying there. “Don’t. Just in case something happens again.”

“Are either of you hurt?” The driver finally turned around, looking first at Jinki and then further towards Taemin. “You hit the seat, didn’t you?”

“My arm. Hyung needs to be looked at first though.” Before Jinki could speak against Taemin’s words, the younger was moving across the small gap to sit on the same seat as him, wincing with every jolt of his arm. But snuggled in on the very edge of the seat under the elder’s arm, he let himself relax a little, hearing Jinki’s heart beating only slightly faster than normal when Taemin rested his head on his chest. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Taemin. You need to get your arm looked at. You might have broken it.”

“I know I broke it, hyung.” Taemin’s eyes slipped closed, and for a second Jinki almost thought he passed out. “I could have told you that from the second I hit the seat. But you’re more important.”

“But—”

“I’ll be fine as long as I know you’re okay.” He gave a small smile, snuggling a little closer. “As long as I know that, this pain is nothing.”

“…Why didn’t you have your seatbelt on, Minnie?” Jinki’s voice was softer, right by his ear, and Taemin sighed, taking in the comfort before even thinking to answer.

“I forgot to since I was talking so much. I guess I was too hyped up on coffee, but that’s not going me much anymore.” He glanced out the window before giving a bigger smile, shifting off of Jinki’s seat slowly. “It looks like the ambulance is here, so let’s get you looked at.”

“I’m only doing that if you let them take care of you first.” Taemin didn’t say anything but leaned over Jinki, throwing the door open with one arm and stumbling, just barely caught by the eldest before he fell. “You first, and then I’ll let them.”

“Both of us at once,” Taemin compromised. Without any way to get over Jinki safely with just one arm, he sat back in his own seat and only watched as paramedics helped the slightly-shaky leader out and onto his crutches, following much slower on his own. Almost immediately, he was joining Jinki where he sat on the edge of a stretcher. At first, Taemin tried to give a smile to the eldest, but it dropped the second he shouted in pain as the paramedic started looking at his arm.

“You’re going to have to ride in the ambulance with us.” He could only look wide-eyed at the lady as she continued on about his arm being broken badly. Only one thing stood out to him: “Your friend’s going to have to get a ride with someone else and meet you there.”

By the time the manager came with the others and picked up Jinki from the scene, Taemin was already long gone and at the hospital, being treated for something none of them knew much about. But the ride was silent, nobody bothering Jinki to tell anything that happened, and the second they were parked, he was struggling to get out on his own, stumbling and almost falling but managing.

They’d barely gotten inside before they were being led towards what was supposedly Taemin’s room—only to find it empty. “He’s in surgery to fix his arm,” the nurse explained. “The doctor is going to be here to talk with you soon though.”

“When’s he going to be out?”

The nurse paused for a second, looking at her watch and making a face before answering. “It’s still going to be over an hour, I’m afraid. The doctor will explain more when she comes though, so just hold tight for a few minutes.”

It took over an hour for the doctor to join them, and that was an hour spent in awkward almost-silence. But less than fifteen minutes after he left, a slowly-waking Taemin was rolled in, his casted arm a white lump on top of the sheets that drew everyone’s attention to it without even trying. After connecting him to all the machines in the room, the nurse left, briefly mentioning she’d be back soon to check on him again.

And then it was a waiting game. The first time Taemin’s eyes cracked open, they shot shut with a groan, his casted arm flying up to cover his eyes and just barely getting caught by Jonghyun before Taemin smashed his head in. “Do you want some water?”

He shook his head slowly, letting it loll to the side for a minute before opening his eyes and staring at Jinki sitting there. It took a second to register in his mind, but as soon as it did, he was reaching out as best he could, giving a whine since words seemed too hard to manage. Almost immediately, Jinki scooted forward enough to grab Taemin’s hand, stumbling forward when the youngest pulled him down into as best a hug as he could give. “Don’t leave… ever again. Never leave.”

The room fell into stunned silence at the words, but Jinki only nodded, running a hand through Taemin’s hair before pulling back. “I won’t leave until you want me to.”

“Good.” His eyes closed again as he relaxed into the pillows. For a while, it seemed like he had fallen asleep again, and that was when he broke the silence with a groan.

“What do you need?”

“Bucket…” A little pan just barely made it to him before he was heaving, nothing coming up no matter what his body tried. Before anyone even realized, Kibum slipped out and returned with a nurse more than willing to give him any medication to ease it just a little.

And Minho, the one holding the vomit-pan, was more than happy about that.