As lost in thought as he is, Taehyeon doesn't actually make it to the toilets. Each time he nears an open window he hears something which grows more and more distinct with every repetition.
"Kim Bada! Kim Bada!"
Taehyeon rushes into the nearest classroom and pushes his way to the open window welcoming in the arctic breeze. He hasn't ever been so relieved that some weirdos in the world claim to be hot in the dead of winter. He pushes the window wider and leans out to see a mass of students flocking towards someone who isn't dressed for the cold in the slightest.
"Kim Bada!"
It can only be Bada's brother. Taehyeon barrels past the students intent to obstruct the route out of the classroom. He runs to the stairwell and leaps down two, three steps at a time. How Bada's brother is shouting over and over without being stopped by the caretaker or any teachers is beyond Taehyeon. Some people have oodles of luck on their side. Taehyeon must have been blessed the same way because he makes it all the way to the ground floor without breaking his ankles.
Buoyed by the fact he has some amount of athleticism, Taehyeon all but falls down the stone steps on his way down to the tarmacked play area at the front of the school. An area for playing tennis, basketball, and sometimes football in summer, the wintry P.E. activity of hockey has apparently been joined by a new school-wide favourite: ogling Bada's handsome brother.
Dusting himself off, Taehyeon feels the air pressure change with the advancing front of half the remaining school population. Haneul is unwittingly (or uncaringly?) leading the charge. Bada's brother is clearly impatient though he isn't doing more than watching Taehyeon and waiting.
"Bada is in my classroom. Come on, I can show you." Haneul takes a step forward but Taehyeon is wary of any audience he might bring along. "It would be better if you come alone."
"Of course I'd come alone. Why would I need to bring someone with me to find out what's wrong with my brother?" Haneul says haughtily. He gestures for Taehyeon to lead the way. Taehyeon starts to wonder whether Haneul can actually perceive anybody who doesn't have anything to do with his brother.
Instead of getting into a conversation which will make Bada's brother hate him more, Taehyeon makes shooing gestures at anyone who follows. Somehow, that works.
Walking taller and prouder, Taehyeon leads the way. He is being a great friend right now.
"Taehyeon!"
He almost falls right back down the stone stairs in front of Bada's handsome brother and everyone in school. And Minjun. Of course he'd be here if Taehyeon was about to humiliate himself.
"Who is this?" Haneul asks whilst nudging Taehyeon towards the school entrance. "Is it him? Is he the one hurting my precious little brother?"
"No, this is someone else," Taehyeon says quickly. He concentrates on taking very steady, sturdy, and totally unembarrasing steps. Minjun keeps pace into the school and up the staircase.
"I'm Lee Minjun. It's nice to meet you. Have you been friends with Taehyeon for long?"
"We're not friends," Haneul replies flatly.
"Oh. Then are you—"
"He's Bada's brother," Taehyeon says. He needs to be quicker than this if he intends to avoid hearing every illogical thing out of Minjun's mouth. Taehyeon had hoped to naturally avoid that fact by simply not seeing Minjun at school anymore but that was apparently the wrong assumption to make.
"Oh, it's really great to meet you."
"You've already said that."
"I have," Minjun agrees. He sticks close to Taehyeon and doesn't even lower his voice to say, "you know a lot of people with handsome older brothers."
Taehyeon doesn't have a clue how he is meant to respond to something like that. He decides that a shrug is safe enough that it wouldn't invite any outlandish comments and it serves him well. Instead, Minjun starts describing the multiple times today that he has been ignored by Taehyeon. That isn't how Minjun words it but that is the common thread running through every, "I waved at you this morning, did you not see me?" and the, "I tried to get your classmates' attention so they could tell you but I don't think they saw me either," which immediately follows.
Aside from the surprise appearance from Minjun, Taehyeon escorts Haneul to see Bada without anything strange happening.
The second Bada sees his brother, his face lights up in a radiant smile that Taehyeon shields his eyes from. Watching him cling to his brother makes Taehyeon feel proud. He thinks it wouldn't be unreasonable to take credit for this. Minjeong still looks absolutely miserable but Taehyeon can only work on one thing at a time.
"What happened to Bada?" Minjun asks. "Did Bada's handsome brother come because something is wrong?"
Taehyeon begins to wonder just how similar he and Minjun are. There might be some room for Taehyeon to claim to have enough common sense not to refer to Bada's brother as handsome aloud. Hearing Minjun say as much makes Taehyeon feel embarrassed on Minjun's behalf. How pitiful he must sound himself whenever he says anything to the same effect.
Then again, the whole reason Minjun can tolerate Taehyeon is because he doesn't know that he can easily make others cringe too. Taehyeon shouldn't take this fact for granted. He would never have had a dream come true like Minjun speaking to him if he was cognisant of how annoying and weird Taehyeon secretly is.
They're friends. Sort of. This isn't the time to give any life updates such as his dubious boyfriend situation but it would be more strange to make a point of not telling Minjun what's going on now.
"We're having some trouble with room assignments for the winter trip."
"Oh? Why, what's the problem?"
"Someone is being mean to us. He said he had to be in a room with Bada so he made me help him to convince Bada. Except it was all just a joke. We need a group of six to submit to the teachers but nobody else is going to volunteer to be in a room with us. So we'll probably get split up."
Minjun pouts for a moment and presses his hand heavily on Taehyeon's shoulder. "Should I pretend to be a second year student? I'll be in a room with you so that you can stay with Bada."
This is not a side of Minjun that Taehyeon would ever have seen before speaking to him, but it almost vindicates Taehyeon in thinking that he was right to want to doodle hearts around Minjun's name in his textbook. He's such a heartthrob in the sense that he must have no idea of the truth.
"Thanks. I don't think that would fix anything even if any of the teachers somehow believed you."
Minjun grins. "If you think it's worth a try, let me know anyway. Is that what Bada's brother is here for? Is he going to pretend to be a student?"
Minjun is lucky he's cute.
Taehyeon absolutely does not laugh. He totally normally and coolly says, "No, no, he's just here for emotional support."
Minjun watches the brothers for a moment and tilts his head. "Do you need any emotional support? I can do that, you know, hugging and stuff. I might even be good at it."
Taehyeon is by no means a proud man. If Minjun intended only to make fun of Taehyeon and humiliate him until the end of time, Taehyeon would still be embarrassingly eager about accepting a hug. The whole not being single thing does change things. Woobin wouldn't even find out about it. They go to different schools and Bada is a nice enough friend to keep secrets like this. Pretending a hug means nothing at all would be wonderful if Taehyeon was capable of such a thing. Promising himself that this would be the last instance of him sinking into how tactile Minjun is might work. It sounds justifiable. It could be Taehyeon's last hurrah before totally ending this stupid crush.
"I FOUND SOMEONE!"