Chapter Text
It had been a terrible day.
Nothing had gone right since the second Taemin had woken up. He’d stubbed his toe on his bedframe, spilt milk when he tried to make breakfast and burnt a hole into one of his school shirts as he’d tried to iron it. Once he got to school it had only gotten worse, with the kids in his classes especially annoying and mean today; he’d been made fun of, laughed at and teased all day long. Most of the time now, he was able to block it out and just get on with his day. He was counting down the days until he graduated and would leave the commitment of school behind. But today, it was getting to him a lot more than it usually would have.
He dreaded his last class of the day. It was always the worst. The boys in that class were relentless in their taunts and insults; the teacher rarely stepped in, and it felt like every minute was an hour until the bell went.
Just as Taemin had predicted, it was hell. From the moment he sat down at his desk, put his headphones in and pulled out his books to study, the teasing started. He turned his music louder, trying to block it out. But he could still hear the names they called him, the comments they made about his looks, his dancing, his performances, his members.
Dancer boy…
How did he ever even become a trainee?
Tone-deaf…
As if your members like you anyway…
Taemin tried to keep his cool, balling his fist tightly as he copied lines from his textbook, trying to focus on the beat in the song playing through his headphones. They’re liars and bullies. Nothing they’re saying is true. They don’t know how hard you work, they don’t know you, they don’t know the members. Just ignore them.
Of course, he couldn’t.
The lesson dragged, Taemin watching every minute on the clock. He ignored it when his chair was kicked from behind. He ignored it when a balled up piece of paper landed on his desk. He ignored it when one of the boys made a comment about his appearance. He almost ignored the teacher by accident when he was asked a question. He tried to ignore the whole world around him.
Finally, the bell rang and he immediately jumped up, shoving his things into his bag and joining the rush of teenagers making their way out of the school. He ignored it once again when someone pushed him. He silently made his way through the crowds out to the front of the school, rounding a corner and crouching on the concrete sidewalk, digging his phone from his pocket.
Today was too much.
He clicked one of the numbers on speed-dial and waited anxiously for it to ring.
Taemin?
“Hyung.”
What’s wrong? You sound upset.
‘How can he tell that from one word?’ Taemin wondered.
“Hyung can you come pick me up?”
Of course I can, are you sure you’re okay?
“See you soon, hyung.”
Taemin hung up and put his headphones in again, turning his music loud and closing his eyes, losing himself in the beat, in the lyrics, in the choreography he could imagine in his head.
He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there when the honk of a car horn startled him.
Jinki had arrived in his small car, and was looking out the window at Taemin, worried.
Taemin shoved his headphones away and made his way over to the car, hopping into the passenger seat.
“What’s wrong Taeminie, you never ask me to pick you up,” Jinki patted Taemin’s head as he buckled himself in. The gentle tone of his leader was enough to have his walls crumble.
Tears welled up in his eyes, he tried to blink them away, but they spilt nonetheless.
“Oh, Taemin, no, don’t cry. I hate it when you cry,” Onew rushed to pull a packet of tissues out and hand them to Taemin, placing a hand on his shoulder while he waited patiently.
“Hyung it was awful,” Taemin sobbed quietly, his voice raspy.
It broke Jinki’s heart, if he was honest. Taemin often put on a brave face, tried to act as if nothing bothered him. Even he had to admit he sometimes forgot that Taemin was a good deal younger than them, he was going through just as much as the older members were but with less life experience and even more commitments.
“What happened, Taeminie?”
“They’re all so mean and they say horrible things that I know aren’t true but it hurts anyway,” Taemin managed to gasp out between sniffs and whimpers.
“Oh Taemin, don’t you listen to anything they say. You are an incredible kid doing amazing things and if they can’t see that…”
“They make fun of how I look and how I dress and my dancing and everything. They say I’m useless and I’ll never make it as a singer and- and that none of you like me and you all hate me-” Taemin was caught up in his own tears again, Onew rubbing his back, cooing words of comfort back to him.
“Taemin none of that is true. You are an amazing dancer and a fantastic performer, you put in so much effort and time, they don’t see any of that. There is nothing wrong with the way you look at all, they’re just jealous. And I hope you know- hey, look at me,” Onew tilted Taemin’s head up to look him in the eyes, “I love you, we all do. We could never, ever hate you, Taeminie.”
That just made Taemin cry more, he rubbed at his eyes and let every bit of stress and anxiety and anger and fear from the day come out in his tears. He felt so lucky to have his members, especially Jinki. They hadn’t known eachother more than a couple of years and yet they already felt like his real brothers. The kids at school had no idea what they went through day in, day out, the hours of practice, the terrifying evaluations, the rehearsals, the vocal lessons, the costume fittings, the hours of filming, minimal sleep. It was more than any of them would ever be able to imagine.
Onew shifted so he could hug Taemin as he started to run out of tears, even if it was uncomfortable over the centre console of his car. Onew’s heart was broken and his blood boiling at the idea that some stupid kids had upset his maknae this much. He wished he could give them a piece of his mind.
“Are you going to be okay at practice?” he asked softly.
Taemin sniffed and nodded, rubbing his eyes to get the last of the tears out as Onew started his car.
“Should we be naughty and get some ice-cream before we go? We have time…” Onew had a cheeky smirk on his face.
“Hyung, we’ll get in trouble…”
“No-one will know, it will be our secret. Ice cream is good comfort food, I think you could use some,” Onew said firmly.
Taemin smiled at his determined-looking hyung as he drove them down the street, “You’re terrible at secrets though.”
As they pulled into a carpark outside the ice-cream store, Taemin could feel the weight of the day start to lift, “I love you, hyung. Thankyou.”
Jinki smiled at the younger and patted his hair, “Anytime, Taeminie. Come on, I’ll even let you have two scoops today.”