It's the next morning, and Taemin wakes up to Nurse Jung shaking his shoulder lightly, a kind smile on her face as usual. He blinks his eyes slowly and brings his hands up to rub the remaining sleep out of them, listening groggily as she speaks softly. “Dr. Choi scheduled a joint appointment with you and Jinki at eight.”

His eyes drift to the clock on the wall, which tells him that he has fifteen minutes until said appointment. He sighs, and nods to let her know that he acknowledges the information. Nurse Jung then gives one last smile and turns, walking out the door and leaving the room.

Taemin sits up in the bed, bringing his arms above his head in a stretch to wake himself up. Unfortunately, with his mind slowly coming out of its sleepy state, the voice does as well. Another sigh escapes his lips as it begins to hurl insults once again, and kicks the covers off. His legs are thrown over the edge of the bed and he stands, walking to the bathroom where he stares at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. There are bags under his eyes, despite the decent hours of sleep he got the night before, and his complexion is pale. The constant battle of fighting the voice was taking a toll on him, like it had before.

Before the accident, he had years of ignoring it. Occasionally, he would slip and dig the blade into his skin just to suppress the harsh words inside his head, but it wasn't enough. One day, it just became too much, and he made the choice to press the cold metal even further than usual. That was how he ended up in this place, in the hands of Minho.

Look at you, so disgusting,

The troubled teenager reaches a hand to turn on the water, and then runs his hands under it, splashing it up refreshingly to his face. It's an attempt to distract himself from the words.

Disgusting and worthless. Minho doesn't want to help you, you're just a paycheck to him.

The attempt is just that; an attempt. It doesn't seem to be working.

And Jinki.. He only talks to you out of pity.

Taemin is shaking now, his hands gripping the porcelain of the sink so tightly that his knuckles are turning white. His head is tucked down, staring into the water flowing down the drain, trying to breathe and calm himself.

But you like both of them don't you? You enjoy their pity, just because it's some kind of attention. What a needy .

The sound of shattering glass echoes through the bathroom and hospital room, accompanied by a shocked gasp. Taemin feels hands on his shoulders, pulling him backwards, and then one of the hands is reaching to cradle his right hand, which is closed tightly into a fist and searing with pain. When he brings his eyes from staring down at the floor, he finds that the mirror is shattered and shards of glass are embedded in his fist, blood trickling and dripping to the floor.

He feels nauseous, and stumbles into the person that is holding him, which according from who he can make out from the broken mirror, is Jinki. His hyung is cradling him flush against his chest now, taking the weight Taemin is placing on him as he becomes dizzy and lets out a sob, a tear slowly making its way down his cheek.

Jinki guides him out of the bedroom and to the bed, where he helps him sit and kneels down in front of him. He is gently holding Taemin's injured hand as he reaches to press the nurse call button on the side of the bed, murmuring gentle words as he does so. “Sh, Taemin-ah, it's okay. You're okay.” But he's not, and they both know it.

Seconds later, Nurse Jung is walking back through the door and gasping at the sight in front of her. “Oh my, what happened?” She rushes to grab paper towels, gloves, and disinfectant from the drawers in the corner of the room, and scrambles to Taemin's side.

Jinki answers her as she takes the hands from him and slides the gloves on, turning it delicately to asses the damage. “He punched the mirror. I had just walked in to get him so we could go to the appointment together, but when I got here.. that happened.” he says, worry lacing his tone.

Taemin is still crying, the tears rolling down his cheeks steadily as he chokes out an, “I'm sorry.” He feels even worse now, having caused even more trouble. The voice is right; he is disgusting, and screwed up. Jinki and Nurse Jung are both looking at him with eyes full of pity, and it makes him feel sick to his stomach.

Nurse Jung frowns, and pauses from examining the boy's hand. She pulls the pager from her pocket with her available hand and hits a few buttons before placing it back and retuning to her work. “Jinki-ssi, can you hand me the trash can and the tweezers from the medical drawer by the door?”

Taemin watches has he does as he is told, still sniffling. When his hyung returns with the items requested, he hands them to the nurse and takes a seat on the left side of the younger boy, taking hold of his uninjured hand.

Nurse Jung glances back up at him with an apologetic expression. “Taemin-ssi, this is going to hurt, but I have to get the glass out, alright?”

The boy only nods, taking his bottom lip by his teeth and biting it. Jinki feels him tense as the tweezers grasps the piece of glass that is the deepest in his flesh, and speaks in reassurance. “It'll be over soon, just squeeze my hand if it hurts.”

Taemin closes his eyes as the glass is tugged and slowly pulled, gnawing on his lip as he feels the sting. He does as his hyung suggests, and grips the hand. The few shards in his skin aren't large, but the cold metal of the tweezers against the cuts on his hands causes his whole hand to tingle with pain.

Just as she is removing the third and final piece of glass, footsteps are heard as someone enters the room, and the youngest boy's eyes open to see who it is. Minho is standing behind Nurse Jung, staring down at his injured hand with an unreadable expression on his face.

Jinki bows his head in greeting, but Taemin turns away, staring down at the tile on the floor. Nurse Jung is dabbing at the wounds with disinfectant now, and his grip on Jinki's hand tightens. She then tapes gauze to the cuts that she pulls from her pocket and warps in securely to stop the blood flow.

When she finishes and stands from her position on the floor, she bows to Minho. “Hello, Dr. Choi. I'll be going now, so you can speak with them.” With that, she gathers her supplies and bloody paper towels and exits the room, leaving the teenagers alone with the psychiatrist.

The man finally opens his mouth to speak, sounding both worried and disappointed at the same time. “What happened here?”

Jinki looks to Taemin, waiting for him to respond, but when he doesn't he takes it upon himself, giving the same answer he gave to Nurse Jung. “He punched the mirror in the bathroom just as I walked in.”

Minho hums, crouching in front of said boy, reaching a hand to brush the tears from his face. Taemin immediately jerks away, pulling his hand from Jinki's and scooting to the furthest side of the bed, away from the other two. He buries his face into his hands, crying harder now. A string of muffled apologies escape his lips.

A strong pair of arms pull him forward, holding him to a firm chest and a hand rubbing his back as the tears flow and loud, ugly cries echo through the room.

The person who is holding him speaks, and it is not Jinki, who he expected it to be. “What are you sorry for? I'm sorry for letting this happen. I'm supposed to be here for you and help you, but I can't even do my damn job. But please hear me when I say this, even if I've failed you so far, please listen.. Whatever that voice says, whatever it tells you, it is not true.”

The cries are still going steadily, but they have grown quieter as Taemin takes in the words Minho is murmuring to him. “B-but it is true. I'm disgusting, worthless, a . It's true, it's r-right.” he chokes out in response.

He feels Minho's head shaking above his own, and the psychiatrist replies with a desperate tone, his hand gripping Taemin's side firmly but gently. “No, you aren't. You aren't any of those things, I promise you that. Jinki does too. Do you know what that voice does? It uses your emotions and fears against you. It contorts them so much that the thing it spews is nonsense. You are so much more than anything it says, because look at you.. You've made it this far. Don't let it take you out of this world, because you are so much more than that; to everyone. So please.. believe me.”

A/N: Surprise chapter in celebration of the new Shinee comeback. ^.^ Although I do wish SM would let the boys rest a bit.

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