The air circulating through the entire school is different to usual. Taehyeon noticed the atmospheric levity last year too once the student population shrank but it didn't lead to much more than jealousy. Now that his own freedom from school is only one year away, Taehyeon is thrumming with anticipation. The winter trip might also be lifting his mood too. Things aren't too bad.
"I've spoken to Jein and she says that she wants to be with Jeongwon but she also wants Yebin and Gyuri. Gyuri will probably want to be with Saerom and maybe Haesol. Yebin wants to be in our room too but she mentioned Yuna, Yubin and… Yubin. Those are two different people. Lee Yubin from class 2 and Jeong Yubin from class 7. So that's like 7 extra people. I don't know how we all are with maths but 7 plus six of us is already like thirteen people. I don't think we're all going to fit."
Taehyeon starts counting on his fingers, not really sure where the numbers are coming from. He does agree that Hyejin is right about the girls not all fitting.
"Do you think we will need to split up?" Taeri asks.
"No!" Hyejin roars. "I refuse to be a loser who doesn't get to be in the same room as the people I choose."
"It'll be worse if none of the groups with spaces even want any of us either," Jeongwon notes quietly.
"Wait, do you think that is a possibility?" Taehyeon asks.
Bada laughs and kicks Taehyeon under the table. "Can you stop being weird? We're not included in this."
It takes Taehyeon far too long to realise that Bada thinks Taehyeon is worried about not being able to fit into the same room as the girls they're sitting with right now. At moments like these, Taehyeon needs to work hard not to feel offended at how low people think his intelligence is. Luckily the girls have moved on instead of making fun of Taehyeon for being stupid.
"Bada, we only have three people in our room. If we don't find three more people, we're going to get split up too."
"Oh."
Bada doesn't have any clever answers to that. Taehyeon would rather Bada be witty enough to come up with some scathing retort. Instead they're stuck with the shared dread of having to be shoved into rooms with other groups.
"Don't act like we're having the same problem," Hyejin says loudly the second Jeongwon opens her mouth. "We actually have the opposite problem. You're too unpopular and annoying so you'd better go and find more people desperate enough to rescue you."
Taehyeon takes back his thoughts about wanting to hear scathing words. He mostly stands up from the table because he doesn't want Hyejin to see if he starts crying over being branded a loser. When he finally pays attention to where Bada is leading him, he does his best to dig his heels into the faultlessly smooth floor tiles.
"Stop it, I don't want to talk to Dongmin right now," Taehyeon grumbles. He has never known Bada to be so strong. This is unbelievable. "Have you started working out or something? How are you doing this?"
"We need to ask Dongmin about the other three spaces in our room," Bada insists. He doesn't even have the thinnest strain of effort in his voice. This can't be the Bada Taehyeon has known to skip every P.E. lesson for 2 years straight.
The thing about this new and improved Bada is that he isn't so different to the old one. When he said, 'we need to ask Dongmin,' he very obviously meant that Taehyeon needed to ask. He helpfully shoves Taehyeon at Dongmin's table in case there was any doubt on how this was meant to go.
Dongmin's audience of boys who have probably had 8 girlfriends each stop laughing at whatever joke he just told. The girls seated at the table with them send furtive glances at Taehyeon. He's relieved the girls do nothing more than that because he would have had to run away to live in the sewers if they laughed at him.
The thing is, Dongmin looks the most surprised of all. He stares at Taehyeon and Bada for an awfully long time for someone who was racing between classrooms for their sake just a couple of hours ago.
Eventually catching up to the situation at hand, Dongmin shuffles himself out of his seat by climbing over the back of the chair. He gives vague assurances to his popular and handsome friends whilst herding Taehyeon and Bada away. The three of them end up around the back of the school. This happens to be the scruffy walkway Minjun brought Taehyeon to when they first met. There is no risk of getting beaten up here. Bada is here and he wouldn't stand by and watch a handsome and popular boy beat up his best friend in the whole world.
Dongmin's laboured breathing would actually suggest he isn't capable of such a thing even if that was his intent.
"Are you alright?" Taehyeon asks. "Do you need me to get you a drink of water? Or an inhaler?"
Dongmin attempts to laugh. He fails.
"What are you doing? Why— Just now, why did you approach me when I'm with my friends and their friends?"
It takes Taehyeon a moment too long to realise it is a serious question. Bada is a fraction of a second sooner to that realisation and he's already asking, "Are you ashamed to be seen with us because we're losers?"
"That's not what—"
"You never told us that you didn't want us to speak to you at school," Taehyeon points out. "In fact you've been very loudly and publicly—"
"Hold on," Bada says. He is silent for a long moment but Taehyeon sees the effort on his face as he tries to keep his expression steady. "You're playing a mean trick on us, aren't you? If me and Taehyeon only have each other and we add your name to our room lists, everyone else can be with whoever they want and we'll get split up. Show me your list. I want to see who you'll be rooming with to see if they know about your trick."
Dongmin splutters and Bada does a great job of maintaining his glare. Taehyeon shouldn't be surprised that he's a poor enough judge of character that he'd miss clues that appear so obvious to his friend.
"Is that seriously what you're doing? To Bada?"
"No!" Dongmin eventually splutters. He grasps Bada's sleeve, quick enough to latch on before Bada could get a safe distance back. "I wouldn't do that to you. I was surprised, that's all. Do you really think I would do something mean to you like that?"
Bada's silence says a lot. Dongmin hears it too, his face reddening as he casts his gaze around.
"I don't mind you talking to me. I'm just not ready for people to think that I… I'm taking my time with things."
"What is that supposed to mean? What things?" Taehyeon asks before he can stop himself. Dongmin hesitates. He really might never have volunteered an explanation for that without being asked.
"It doesn't mean anything," Dongmin says. He is definitely being odd but Taehyeon is mostly offended by the sense that he is supposed to pretend that he doesn't notice.
"You don't mind us talking to you but you don't want people to think that you talk to us? Is that what you're saying right now?"
Taehyeon bumps his elbow against Bada. He meant to prompt some backup but Bada doesn't say a word. Taehyeon's realisation is late but he hopes it isn't late enough that Dongmin has noticed it the same way.
"That's not what I'm saying."
"Whatever you meant doesn't matter. Some of us need to go and find some other people to share a room with us for this stupid trip. We only have until the end of the day." Taehyeon hopes he sounds stern. He thinks he pulls it off and Bada easily follows along when their arms are linked together. Despite that one millisecond of courage, Taehyeon waits until he's safely away from Dongmin to start complaining. He doesn't want to fall victim to that army of girls who were offered when somebody else had upset Bada.