"Hyung," Taemin whispers, collapsing onto the grass and scooting closer. "H-Hyung."

Jinki is there, like Taemin knew he would be, all gentle fingers running through his hair and soft murmurs. "It's okay. I'm here. What happened? Why are you crying?" And his voice is so comforting that Taemin can almost feel it seeping into him—calming him.

Taemin sniffles a little, bringing his hands up and trailing his fingers along Jinki's arms. "I'm not sure where to start," he confesses quietly, fingers wrapping around Jinki's wrists and pulling his hands down to where he can twine their fingers together. "A lot of things went wrong today."

Jinki tries to smile, leaning in to bump his nose against Taemin's, and Taemin can't help smiling slightly in return. "Start at the beginning?" he offers. "Just tell me about your day."

"I got up late," Taemin starts, hanging his head so that Jinki can't see how upset he is. "So then Kibum hyung yelled at me. And I was late to school. And because of all the practice I failed my test. And then when I was in vocal training, my voice kept cracking, and my teacher yelled at me, and hyung, I just..." he trails off. "I feel like I'm not good e-enough."

Jinki is quiet, and it'd upset Taemin even more if he couldn't feel Jinki's thumbs smoothing over the backs of his hands, couldn't feel his warm breaths against his lips, couldn't see the conflict in his eyes as he thinks. But because he can, it's not upsetting—it's comforting because Jinki is thinking of the best way to help him, and that in itself is almost enough to make Taemin feel better already.

It's silent for another heartbeat or two before Jinki is pulling his hands back, fingers moving over Taemin's cheeks to catch the drying teardrops, soft smile making Taemin feel warm. Safe. Important and good enough, and not pushed to the side.

Jinki tilts his head up slowly, smile getting wider. "Hey look at me, okay?" he says, pressing his fingertips lightly into Taemin's cheeks to make sure he does. "I have a few solutions. Tell me which one you like best, alright?"

Taemin nods, eyes focusing on Jinki's face like he asked.

Jinki smiles for real, big and bright and warm and just for him. "Okay Taemin, how about—"