Taeil is not one for easy platitudes.

He calls it as it is, and doesn’t believe in taking the polite or easy route. Honesty is the best policy, in Taeil’s eyes.

It’s earned him a bit of a reputation as being callous, and he hasn’t been the first choice when considering people to comfort someone for a long time.

But it’s instances like this that he knows that his particular brand of tough love is necessary.

He and Kyung are alone in the dorm together, everyone else either out to eat or with their families. Kyung had explained himself staying home with the weak excuse that his family was gone on a trip, and Taeil had just shrugged when asked why he wasn’t leaving.

No one pried, as he knew they wouldn’t

Kyung has been out of sorts for a while now. They’d debuted nearly three months ago, and at first, Kyung had been one of the most excited of them all. He loved performing, loved the cameras and the attention and the hectic life of an idol.

Now, though, now it’s all catching up to him.

Taeil has had a close eye on him over the past couple weeks, watching with a concerned frown as Kyung’s smile became less bright, as his shoulders sunk lower and lower and his eyes lost some of their infamous light. It’s worrisome, and Taeil hates the fact that Kyung feels as though he has to suffer alone.

So Taeil stays behind, and he stations himself on the couch sitting backward with his eyes trained on Kyung’s door.

He waits, nearly an hour and a half, for Kyung to emerge. When he does, hair messy and back bowed as he heads toward the bathroom, Taeil does’t hesitate before calling for him.

"Yah, Kyung! Get over here."

Kyung startles, looking over his shoulder with a not-unnoticeable amount of fear in his eyes.

"I have to piss hyung, give me a second."

"Nope, you can hold it. Come on," Taeil pats the couch next to him with an award worthy smile, and Kyung huffs as he turns and makes his way over.

He plops down on the couch, sprawling out and trying to maintain a facade of nonchalance even as he refuses to tear his eyes from his lap.

"What?"

"Don’t what me you disrespectful ,” Taeil cuffs him on the back of his head, and feels his chest swell when Kyung’s lips twitch into a brief smile. “You know what this is about.”

That smile disappears in a second. Taeil mourns it’s loss, but doesn’t apologize for his abruptness.

"No I don’t," Kyung mumbles. He fiddles his thumbs and keeps avoiding eye contact.

Taeil just looks at him, and it’s silent for long enough that Kyung’s eyes flick up to meet his before going back to his hands once he sees Taeil is still looking at him.

"I’m fine, hyung, really. I don’t know what your problem is but I’m like, totally okay. Nothing wrong here, nope. Not a thing."

"That is honestly embarrassing, dude. Come on, tell hyung your worries, spill your woes."

Taeil pokes Kyung’s belly and yanks on his arms, pulling a laugh from him, and Kyung turns and actually looks at him for the first time since everyone else had left the night before. Taeil doesn’t let him get away with looking away again, and moves so that Kyung will have to look at him no matter what.

When the smile drops, Taeil knows that Kyung really needs this, needs someone to talk to.

The bags beneath Kyung’s eyes are dark and his cheeks are more hollow than they’d been a month ago. His lip trembles minutely, and Taeil lets him gather himself before he starts to speak.

"I just… I’m not cut out for this, Taeil. I know I’m not, and I don’t know how much longer I can pretend that I am."

Taeil doesn’t hesitate before reaching out and delivering a light slap to his cheek, a smile on his face to counter it’s harshness.

"That’s bull Kyung, and you know it."

Kyung looks up sharply, anger on his face and mouth open to refute, but Taeil doesn’t give him the opportunity.

"You complete us, idiot. What would we be without you, huh?"

"More successful, probably," Kyung mumbles, and Taeil frowns.

"That ’s not gonna fly here, Kyung," Kyung looks surprised at Taeil’s abruptness, but Taeil doesn’t let it slow him down. "We need you just as much as we need Jiho, or Minhyuk, or me for that matter. You complete us, man. You’re irreplaceable."

The room is oppressively silent for a moment while Kyung absorbs what Taeil had said, and Taeil let’s it be quiet.

"Really?" Kyung asks, voice shy but hopeful.

"You know the answer to that question, Kyung."

Kyung’s answering smile is tentative, but his eyes are cleared of that horrible darkness, and Taeil feels pride well up within him.

Everything was going to be fine, he knew. And as Kyung grabbed his hand, smile turning bashful as he intertwined their fingers, Taeil felt a completely different stirring in the pit of his stomach.

Maybe a little bit more than fine.