Taehyeon is immediately proven wrong.
Being around Minjun just makes the world work wrong. Of course, the problem in this case is the zealous joy as Minjun leads Taehyeon around the party and introduces him at great length.
"I promise that he is really funny and smart, I think. He studies a lot but I managed to convince him to come to the party tonight. We're all lucky that we all get to hang out with him."
As though reeling off a script, Minjun introduces Taehyeon to yet another half-interested person that Taehyeon only knows by sight. Worse than being a lonely weirdo standing in the corner, Taehyeon is having to smile at people that he hopes won't remember he exists.
It is weird. Back before Lee Minjun had hunted him down at the school gates, Taehyeon had envied all the students cool enough to go to parties. Now he has a long list of people he would never want to speak to again. Jisoo, and Hyebin, and Kiwon, and Jaehwan, and Suji, and Sooyoung, and Insoo. All given names and no other identifiers. That must be how all the cool people live. They are familiar and intimate and speak so effortlessly.
Jisoo has large eyes which fix on Taehyeon as though she expects to be tested on everything she learns about him. Hyebin is chic and regards Taehyeon with foxlike eyes and keeps her laughs behind tight lips when she smiles at jokes. Kiwon has a gentle voice and a kind smile but barely seems to know Minjun's name. Jaehwan knows Minjun's name and is apparently a bench warmer on the basketball team. Suji is tall and awkward and looks like she is about to attempt an escape the entire time Minjun is talking.
Taehyeon hopes that he won't need to remember anything important about these people. He hardly knows Minjun and he would rather retain brain capacity for facts about the guy he likes. And the statistics test next week. He could do with saving some space in his brain to actually try to understand discrete numbers before Tuesday next week.
Thankfully, Minjun runs out of new people that he wants Taehyeon to meet. It might have something to do with the fact that they end up in the kitchen and there are a lot of snacks that Minjun thinks they should sample.
Although he refrained from mentioning anything in front of anybody else, Minjun can't keep his mouth closed when they make their way back to his friends.
"I'm starving," Minjun says loudly whilst passing his plate to Kyungran. "Do you like any of this stuff? Taehyeon didn't seem to like anything. Maybe he is so shocked from rescuing me. Can you believe I fell into the toilet?"
Well. That sounds like something that will immediately blow back in Taehyeon's face.
Nayoon splutters and grabs Minjun's shoulders. There is a long moment where Nayoon stops making any sound at all and Taehyeon panics. He doesn't know what to do when someone is choking.
There is the Heimlich manoeuvre but Taehyeon doesn't know the technique. Actually he also heard that people weren't supposed to do that anymore; his sister once announced it to the family very loudly when they were watching a TV drama together. Taehyeon had done his best to tune out the sound of his sister talking but that has just led him to this point in life. He doesn't know why people shouldn't do the Heimlich manoeuvre and he also doesn't know what happened in the scene his sister talked over. Maybe his sister even enlightened their parents about the alternatives to the—
"You did what?" Nayoon screeches, not so silent and apparently alive. She takes in a gasping whoosh of breath and guffaws between her squeals of, "You actually fell into a toilet? For real? Like it literally happened?"
Taehyeon is keeping quiet. For a moment there he had assumed Minjun was doing something stupid by mentioning the toilet at all. He's clearly wrong. This is a bullet that Minjun has directly told his friends to shoot at him. Of course, Taehyeon is grateful. He wouldn't withstand Lim Nayoon calling out to other people to let them know that Minjun fell into a toilet. Minjun is even grinning at everyone who comes over to hear further details (of which they learn none) like he's happy to give them something absurd to laugh about.
When the fourth cluster walks away disappointed after learning "Lee Minjun fell into a toilet!" (which is exactly what they heard before but this time they hear it louder and closer), Taehyeon decides to intervene.
"Should we talk about something else?" Taehyeon asks. His voice croaks embarrassingly and he feels his face warm in anticipation of his imminent evisceration. "Uhm. How did you become such good friends?"
Nayoon releases Minjun's shoulders at long last and says, "we're in the same class. Why do you like him?"
Despite knowing he should expect something, Taehyeon didn't expect this. He can't say anything. What is he supposed to say when he doesn't even want anyone to think much about the fact that he fancies Minjun?
To Bada's credit, the friends of shy nerds likely wouldn't dare to ask a question like this. As long as Bada allows him to try and find a shy, nerdy Eoleunjeol boy to go out with, he won't even ask about whatever Lee Dongmin was going on about earlier! Then again, Bada still might find it in his heart to make Taehyeon beg after the Noh Sujeong thing. It's tough. Taehyeon has no great options at his disposal.
Taehyeon should probably say something soon. But what? How is he supposed to escape this unscathed?
"Why wouldn't anyone like me?" Minjun asks. He loops his arm around Nayoon's shoulder and squeezes hard enough to make her grunt and flop out of his grip. "My mom says the only reason boys don't want to be my friend is because they're intimidated by how funny and handsome I am. Rather than liking me, isn't it just that Taehyeon isn't intimidated by me?"
No. Taehyeon definitely feels intimidated by Minjun and his strangely flippant personality. Anyone could identify that Taehyeon is here under (an admittedly small amount of) duress.
"You just fell into a toilet," Nayoon points out. "What is funny or handsome about that?"
Minjun doesn't have a witty or smart comeback for that. He laughs. He clearly thinks that Taehyeon is very unfunny and unhandsome. This is awful.
"I just remembered that I have a test tomorrow and I need to do some last minute revision before school tomorrow," Taehyeon says. There. That sounds natural and believable. Nobody can even accuse him of lying because everyone at this weird party is in the year above Taehyeon anyway.
"Oh yeah," Kyungran says thoughtfully. "Taeri said there was a test tomorrow so she had to leave a while ago."
"Wait, what?" Taehyeon splutters. If there really is a test tomorrow, he's in trouble. Of course nobody here can help him out with that. Everybody at this weird party is in the year above Taehyeon.