Taemin stays in Minho's warm, comforting arms for what seems like hours, and it really must have been that long since Jinki is asleep in an uncomfortable looking position against the wall. Minho's head is resting on top of his own now, and he can feel the steady puffs of breath ruffling his hair softly. It truly has a calming effect on him, and his crying has slowed gradually, so all that is left now are the occasional hiccups and sniffles.

His mind is still raging though, mixed with an onslaught of harsh, self-destructive thoughts, and the kind words of Minho. He knows he made a fool of himself by losing it like he did, and although the psychiatrist had pleaded with him to not listen to such thoughts, they were true.

Taemin shifts his face a bit, burying it further into the man's now crumpled dress shirt and inhaling subtly. He smells nice, and it takes the edge off of the war in his mind so that the teen can focus on actually fulfilling Minho's wish. He wants to stay in this position forever, and just forget everything else in the world for a moment, just for this feeling of calmness that is beginning to wash over his senses. He knows it's strange to think like that, but he can't help it if he feels more safe than he has in years, even more so than when he was with Jinki.

The boy exhales in a sigh, and Minho shifts then, pushing him backwards and tilting his face up with a gentle hand. Taemin catches as his lips twitch into a frown for a split second, but then they take form of a relieved smile and the hand moves to wipe the tear tracks from his cheeks. The man's mouth opens, and then closes, and then repeats several times before he himself sighs. Finally, words bubble up in a careful tone.

“How are you feeling?” It's a simple question, but it has a loaded answer.

Worthless, Taemin wants to say. Completely worthless and disgusting.

But that would be going against the request Minho had made. So instead, he musters up the best fake smile he can (which is more of a grimace than a smile) and brings his uninjured fist to rub at his puffy eyes, shrugging. “Better, I guess. My hand stings, though.”

He feels embarrassment stirring in the pit of his stomach when he glances towards the bathroom, where cracks are spider webbed across the mirror he had punched, and some shards are littering the tile floor. He had made a mess, in more ways than one. Now he would more than likely be put under an even more careful watch, and he had destroyed even more of the trust the doctors had in his mental stability, which wasn't much to begin with.

But maybe it doesn't have to be that way. Those shards could be put to use, you know.

It's the first time the voice has spoken since the accident, and it's back in full force. Taemin flinches at the words, and Minho must have noticed, because his own large eyes follow Taemin's to the glass. His large hand is then on him, clutching the teen's small shoulder gently but firmly, and squeezing it softly in comfort. He has a glint in his eyes; one that holds determination and it seems like he is planning something.

Then he opens his mouth, and speaks words Taemin thought he would never hear. “We should get that cleaned up, shouldn't we? And get that mirror replaced, so you can see how beautiful you are, inside and out, without all that distortion.”

Taemin's eyes widen at this, and he jerks his shoulder away, staring up at the elder with a shocked expression and dropped jaw. “What..?”

He's lying. Are you going to let him play you like that?

Minho blinks his eyes back at him, an innocent look playing across his features as if what he said was something perfectly ordinary; as if he were completely sincere. “I said, let's get you a new mirror. One that let's you see how beautiful you are.”

Taemin feels himself flush, cheeks flaring a soft pink. He ducks his head in embarrassment, unsure what to think about the situation. It was odd for his psychiatrist to say something like that so seriously and genuinely, but it stirred the fluttery feeling in chest just like the frog plushie had.

!

He flinches again, and Minho squeezes his shoulder in return. The elder has opened his mouth to speak again, probably more words of comfort, but the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupts him. The voice halts then with the comments, and quiets to a angry hissing before going completely silent.

They both look up, eyes meeting an awkward looking Jinki who must have woken up during their conversation. His expression is nervous and uncomfortable, and he stuffs his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants as he slowly slinks towards the door. “I'm gonna go now.” he murmurs before turning and beginning to walk out the door.

Taemin suddenly feels guilty for pushing his only friend away, and calls out for him to wait. He stands and walks over to where his hyung is paused by the doorway, wrapping his arms around him in a brief hug. When he pulls back, he shuffles his feet nervously, speaking quietly. “Thank you, hyung.. For being there for me. If you hadn't been there it probably would have been a lot worse.. I'm sorry for that, though. It shouldn't have to be like this and I'm sorry for putting you in that position.”

Jinki cracks a comforting smile, reaching a hand to ruffle the younger boy's hair. “Stop apologizing.” he says simply, bringing his eyes up to meet Minho's over Taemin's head. “There's no need for you to apologize, Tae. We're here for you because we care for you, and we both want you to fight this and get better, because..” he trails off, sighing.

However, Minho takes the chance to finish the sentence, standing as well and walking over to them, clapping a hand on Jinki's shoulder. “We want you to get better because you don't see how much you're truly worth. We do though, we see how strong and brave you are, and how nice it is when you actually smile, and how beautiful you are when you

do. I know it's weird to say, but you just.. When you're happy, you shine through like the sun on a rainy day. We want you to be like that everyday, because if you were, you could make the entire world shine even brighter.”

Once again, the troubled teenager finds himself gaping at the man in front of him, flattered and unsure of how to respond to such comments. Sure, Jinki had said nice things before, but it was never to this caliber or this bluntly. He feels the sting of tears welling up in his eyes and he traps his lip between his teeth to contain his emotions.

Both Jinki and Minho immediately jump to fix whatever they had done wrong, and begin spewing apologies. “Crap, did we say too much? Were we insensitive? I'm sorry..” Jinki says as he watches helplessly as the youngest's lip quivers, looking guilty.

Minho is about to try to mend the situation when Taemin breaks out into the widest, brightest, most unexpected smile. The tears cascade down his cheeks as they did earlier, but this time for a different reason. He crashes himself into the two elder boys, grabbing them and clutching them close in a hug, tears soaking Minho's already damp dress shirt as he buries his face into his comforting chest once again. The words he mumbles are muffled by the man's toned chest, but the two can still make them out and meet each others' eyes over the boy's head once again, a content understanding between the two of them.

“Thank you both.. So much. Even after today, and every thing else I've done to trouble you, you still care so much, and that makes me both so happy and so sad. You've both helped me so much, and I'm much happier than I have been since I was a kid, but.. I still can't promise that you can fix me. You try so hard, and I'm afraid if you fail, you'll be hurt and blame yourselves. I don't want to hurt you because I'm just too.. broken. That's why I'm sorry, hyungs.”

Taemin could feel the two men in his arms tense at this, but they deflated just as quickly, both wrapping their arms tightly around him. Minho, once again, took the lead in speaking to him. He knew that they had to comfort his fears somehow, and chose his words carefully. “We'll succeed. I know we will. But if we don't.. Lee Taemin, it would be a pleasure to have our hearts broken by you.”

A/N: Yay, I finally updated! c: 

Lots of love for you if you caught the reference in that last sentence, by the way~ 

Thank you for all of the subs and comments! I love all of my readers so much!

Also, check out my new drabble series Too Weird To Live, Too Rare To Die, I'm entering it in a 2min contest, and would appreciate any kind of feedback.

As always, thanks for reading~