Taehyeon is too ashamed of his cowardice to admit to Bada that he never said anything to Minjun. He is maybe more ashamed that it matters to him so much. Minjun isn't going to be bothered when he has his pick of girls at the school. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Minjun has his pick of girls from the whole world. The boys at school apparently don't like Minjun much but this is clearly just a weird anomaly. Out in the real world, that will definitely change.
Then again, Minjun did get into a fight. The situation could be more than simple dislike but Taehyeon didn't ask. Minjun didn't explain it either.
A night of Dynasty of Destruction makes Taehyeon feel a lot better. The guilt of ignoring his messages completely melts away when he meets Nurhaci, the event NPC who can provide a boost if you befriend rather than offend. This is something he has been levelling for since he started playing this game. Nurhaci needs to be an ally and then a defeated enemy if Taehyeon has any hopes of reaching Gwanggaeto.
As a kind and generous person, Taehyeon isn't going to keep the spoils of his luck to himself. He messages Pilgyu.
Pilgyu
Taehyeon
You, me Nurhaci.
20:36
Pilgyu
?????
20:36
Taehyeon
Double points if we team up against Gija.
The chance to find Gwanggaeto is so close!
Also, I heard it increases the chances of dropping Baridegi fragments for one of Mago's skins.
20:37
Pilgyu
Give me five minutes to log in!
20:40
The two of them actually make a pretty good team. Having a real person he knows to play Dynasty of Destruction with makes a world of difference. The stakes are higher so victory tastes that bit sweeter for their first five wins against Gija's minions.
The challenge is bigger than expected. Pilgyu seems apologetic when he messages to say something has come up. For a brief moment, Taehyeon wonders whether that has anything to do with Siwoo. If Siwoo and Pilgyu are as close as Taehyeon and Bada, it must be strange for Taehyeon to try to maintain some sort of friendship with Pilgyu. They should stick with the sides they have taken.
A moment of loneliness has Taehyeon wondering which side Woobin is on. He should be on Bada's side too. He kissed Taehyeon. They may not have said a word to each other since, but being boyfriends will be difficult if Woobin doesn't stick up for Bada. Whilst Taehyeon wants to ask to make sure, he's nervous. Talking to Woobin makes him feel so shy.
There is a simple distraction when he picks up his phone anyway.
Year 3 class 7 Lee Minjun
Year 3 class 7 Lee Minjun
Hi!
23:12
Taehyeon frowns at the message for a while. It must be real. If he is asleep, the Minjun of his dreams will slip up sooner rather than later.
Mo Taehyeon
I thought you said your phone was broken.
23:21
Year 3 class 7 Lee Minjun
It is!
Haha
My mom saved me. She gave me her old phone. The headphone jack doesn't work so she had to get a new phone last year.
23:22
But if we're just texting, I won't have any problems using this phone.
23:23
Mo Taehyeon
Cool.
23:24
Year 3 class 7 Lee Minjun
Can you wish me luck for tomorrow?
23:25
Mo Taehyeon
Yeah.
Good luck for tomorrow.
23:26
The request is an odd one. Taehyeon already promised to cheer Minjun on in his exams. Whatever that entails is a mystery seeing as Taehyeon is fairly certain any noise during the gruelling college exams is punishable by life imprisonment. Not willing to throw his entire life away for someone who everyone expects to fail his day-long exams, Taehyeon wonders whether this is good enough. Probably not. Taehyeon only wished Minjun luck at his request.
Taehyeon shouldn't feel guilty about anything. Minjun must have received loads of messages wishing him luck already. Fielding a message from Taehyeon must be kindness on Minjun's part so that Taehyeon doesn't feel left out. Taehyeon doesn't feel left out. He has done his bit and he is just one of many voices cheering for Minjun in the metaphorical and law-abiding sense.
After a moment of making sure he doesn't feel too special, Taehyeon thinks about his sister's exam a few years back. This is worth mentioning to Minjun too.
Mo Taehyeon
Don't fall asleep.
23:31
Year 3 class 7 Lee Minjun
Hahaha
You're right!
I'll try not to fall asleep.
23:32
*
Rudely awoken by his alarm, Taehyeon laments the lie-in he should be having today. Apparently able to implement bestie telepathy at will, Bada calls just as Taehyeon decides to pretend not to have heard his alarm.
"You didn't forget, did you?"
The accusation is heavy for someone who spent all day yesterday texting gentle reminders. Taehyeon accepts his fate and gets ready. His body craves the warmth of his bed but he knows better than to abandon Bada at a time like this.
When Taehyeon arrives at school, disappointingly early in the morning, finding his little crowd doesn't take too much time.
"I should have had the same idea as you," Taeri says cheerily.
"How are you going to hand out the charms if you can't move your arms? Wearing fifteen jumpers is a terrible idea and I'm glad you didn't do it too," Hyejin says. In Taehyeon's expert opinion, she sounds annoyed about something. Wrapping up warmly doesn't usually cause offence to other people.
Bada shakes his head. Taehyeon can't tell whether that means he will be filled in later or whether he is meant to never ask about this. When they're alone, Taehyeon will need to find a way to ask whether he is allowed to ask what is going on.
For a short while, getting out of bed really feels like a waste of time. Milling around in the pre-sunrise chill and checking the boxes of charms they all made up, Taehyeon wonders what the point of any of this is. Lining the short hill from the main road up to the school gate, teachers and other students from the second and first year are craning their necks. The third years everyone is waiting for arrive in dribs and drabs. Everyone here looks to be expecting a deluge rather than scattered showers.
Amongst the teachers and students, rubbing numb hands against the late-autumn chill, there are strangers waiting. Taehyeon can't imagine what they are here for aside from randomly deciding to offer some moral support. The third years who have arrived so far don't have any interest in support. Taehyeon has seen one too many third years with headphones clamped firmly over their ears and their eyes fixed to the shuffled stack of revision cards clutched in their blanched hands.
Next year, Taehyeon will be pretending not to notice random strangers watching him and shouting good luck at him as he makes his way to take the exams which will decide the rest of his life.
Empathising with the current third years only settles dread in Taehyeon's chest which refuses to abate with the breath condensing in the cracked air. He's feeling oddly nervous about the whole thing and he has the luxury of dossing around and complaining that he had to use up some of his precious day off. For now he simply doesn't have it in him to approach the few arrivals who must be orders of magnitude more nervous than he is.
Hyejin has no such qualms and embarrassment is overtaking Taehyeon's sympathetic anxiety.
"She's so brave," Taehyeon mutters as a student physically pushes Hyejin's outstretched arm away. These third years don't even have the decency to pretend to be grateful for the good luck charms being offered.
"I'll start to help when there are more third years," Bada says as though he really means it.
"That's awful. What about the students here right now? Think about how they will feel after failing their exams because we were too timid to give them the luck they need."
Bada grins and bumps his shoulder against Taehyeon. The knock feels like nothing at all seeing as Taehyeon is wrapped up in five thick layers of delicious warmth.
"No fighting," a teacher calls over to them. "Stop disturbing the examinees."
A quick apology from both of them subdues the worst of the teacher's glares. Taehyeon mostly hopes to avoid that teacher next year. Whilst he's fairly certain he didn't do anything so wrong to encourage a grudge from a teacher, he'd rather not risk an unearned reputation preceding him. He's here at the crack of dawn to cheer on the third years. He deserves to joke around with his friend.