They decided to call it a day after the interruption from the hallway. Jinki considered his 'session' a success, and said he was glad to help, and he would continue to any way he could. Once again, Taemin caught the coloring of the elder's cheeks. After his hyung had left, his mother visited for a few hours, and once she had finished her round of questions and left, he had curled up in the stiff hospital bed and fell into a troubled sleep.

The next morning, he wakes up to find that he had slept later than usual. Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall, he notices that he's completely missed his session with Minho. Even though he slept in, someone usually would have come to wake him so he could attend his appointment.

Frowning, Taemin sits up and kicks his feet over the side of the bed, placing them on the floor and sliding on his sneakers. Thankfully the nurses had finally allowed him to go without the heart monitor and fluids, and he no longer had to drag the annoying thing around.

Free from that burden, he walks to the doorway of the bathroom, straightening the hairs sticking up on his head and the plain t-shirt and sweatpants he's wearing, which his mother had been kind enough to bring him the night before. The voice chips in with its own comment of how awful he looks before he finally sighs and trudges out into the hallway, heading straight for the nurses' station.

Nurse Jung is there, and when she notices him coming towards her she looks up and smiles kindly. “Hello, Taemin. Is everything alright?”

He nods, but is still frowning. “I missed my session with Dr. Choi this morning. Did he reschedule it for later?”

Nurse Jung shakes her head, still smiling gently. “No, he canceled your appointment for today. He said that he thought you were doing just fine for today and that he would see you tomorrow.”

See, he knows he can't help you. He doesn't even want to. Did you honestly think he could?

Noticing his the teenager's frown deepen, Nurse Jung quickly speaks up again, looking concerned. “But if you need to see him now, I'll page him and let him know you're coming.”

Taemin only sighs again, shaking his head no. “No, it's alright. I'll just see him tomorrow, thanks.” With that, he quickly turns and goes back to his room. There he kicks off his shoes and climbs back into the bed, burying his face in his arms. The voice is still mocking him, and it's not as easy to ignore as it was the day before. The insults echo in his mind, and he wishes he could just shut it off, but unfortunately it's not that easy.

“Just make it until tomorrow..” he whispers to himself. With no sign of Jinki for the day, and no session with Minho, he's internally begging himself to hold on for just one day. He knows he's as pathetic as the voice tells him he is if he can't.

He lays down and curls up on his side, facing the opposite wall of his room. His hand make their way up to his ears, covering them as if for a sense of safety. The boy knows it won't do any good, but he does so anyways.

Eventually, after laying there for what feels like an eternity, he drifts off into a dark, nightmare filled abyss.

***

The next time he wakes and glances at the clock, several hours have passed, and he heaves a sigh of relief. It is just half an hour past five, and Taemin can see the sky slowly turning a pretty combination of pink and orange through the window as the sun begins to set. It has a sort of calming affect of him, and for that he is grateful.

When he finally breaks his gaze away from the window and takes a look around the room, his eyes land on something unusual on the rolling table next to the bed. Next to his uneaten hospital meal is a stuffed animal frog, with a sticky note stuck to it's side.

Curious, Taemin reaches out a hand to pull the table closer. Taking the plushie, he brings it to sit on his stomach and plucks the note from it, reading it carefully.

'The gift shop was selling these and I thought it would lift your mood, but you were asleep when I stopped by. See you tomorrow.'

Although it had no name written on it, Taemin is almost sure who is responsible. He finds the gesture cute, and it is bringing a more genuine smile to his face than there has been in a long time. This is the first time he has received such a thing, and it definitely leaves a nice feeling in the pit of his stomach; something fuzzy, and similar to butterflies.

You fool, what good does a stuffed animal do you? You're pathetic.

“Oh, shut up.” he mutters, letting the insult roll off his shoulders and hugging the plushie to his chest. Feeling content and a relaxed, he drifts back to sleep once again, the smile still in place.

***

Taemin jolts awake as he feels something cold touch his face, jerking away from the source. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes and focusing them, he sees Jinki standing above him with his hand fiddling nervously with them hem of his shirt.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.. You just looked so peaceful, a-and..” he trails off, almost sounding guilty. However, Taemin is smiling as brightly as he was the night before, and brings a hand to his eyes, rubbing them gently with his palm to wake himself up. It is quite early, after all.

“It's alright, hyung.” he responds simply, shrugging in an indifferent manner.

Jinki has a surprised expression on his face, but it is soon replaced by his usual smile that brings comfort to the younger boy. “You're in a good mood today, huh?”

Fool.

Taemin shrugs again, brushing off the voice, with a shy smile forming on his lips. “It's hard not to be when you have a nice hyung.”

The elder raises an eyebrow at this, sparing a glance at the frog plushie that Taemin is holding carefully in his hands. He has a weird expression on his face, Taemin notices; something like a mix between envy and disappointment, but it's gone before he has time to figure it out.

“Do you mean the person that brought you this? I can see why you like it, it's cute.” Jinki offers after a moment, raising his eyes back to meet the teenager's, who's own are furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean, it wasn't you?” he questions, more curious than ever now. He isn't quite close enough to anyone else who could have brought it, and his mother surely wouldn't have, so his only option had been Jinki. If it wasn't him, who could it have been? That left Taemin's mind spinning.

“No, I was with my parents all day yesterday. They were visiting.” the elder replies, seating himself on the end of the bed. “Who do you think it was, though?” he continues on to ask, tilting his head like he seems to do every time he's curious about something.

Taemin sighs, eyes traveling down to his lap where the plushie sits, his fingers playing with the bow tied around its neck. “I have no idea. It's kind of weird isn't it?”

Jinki chuckles softly at this, bringing a hand to ruffle his dongsaeng's hair affectionately. “Hey now, don't stress over it. I'm sure it's someone you know, unless it's a stalker or something. Now that would be weird.”

This receives a small smile from the younger, who nods his head in agreement. “That's true, hyung. It was just such a genuine action that I figured it must have been you, you know? You seem the type to do something like this.”

Once again, Jinki is laughing. “Is that so?” he asks, now taking his hand to fix the stray hairs on Taemin's head that he had caused. “I wish I had been the one to do it. It's cute. Plus it's really nice to see you smile. I'm sure whoever did give it to you would love to see it, too.”

A/N: Yes, another update! I took advantage of my time alone today and decided to write for my stories.

Thank you for all of the comments and subs! It means a lot~