On Tuesday, Minjun doesn't come to school. Taehyeon expects as much. He hadn't expected to be so agitated by the lack of goodnight message before he went to sleep on Monday. Tuesday morning arrives without a message from Minjun and Taehyeon wonders why he still feels the right to expect one. He messages Woobin and focuses on counting down to the end of Wednesday.
Focus is difficult to come by when Taehyeon notices a lot of people stare at him as he walks around school. Nobody is concerned with lowering their voice and Taehyeon finds out pretty quickly that he is the subject of today's gossip.
Minjeong cottons onto that fact quickly and she has a lot of questions for Taehyeon after lunch.
"I know that you're not a tough guy or anything, but there are a lot of witnesses who saw you talking to Lee Minjun from third year yesterday. What did you use to threaten him?"
"That's what people are saying about me?" Taehyeon had hoped he wouldn't have earned too much attention. "Are you sure they weren't talking about any of the other Taehyeons? What about the one with six girlfriends?"
"It was definitely you," Minjeong scoffs. "For one, I saw you talking to him with my own eyes. A lot of other people saw you too. And let's just say a mutual friend confirmed that Lee Minjun has specifically named you."
Disregarding the fact that it was raining yesterday and anybody with sense had stayed indoors, Taehyeon racks his brain over this mysterious mutual friend. "Minjun said I was threatening him? Who would he have said that to…"
"He didn't say that part, from what I've heard. But it was definitely you that he spoke to. Apparently you don't want to see him ever again." Minjeong watches Taehyeon's face far too closely for comfort. Taehyeon is using all his self-control not to react the way he wants to upon hearing each increasingly awful piece of information. After a moment of hesitation, Minjeong asks, "You didn't really say something like that to him, did you? You seemed really close a few weeks ago and you're not exactly the type to throw away friends so suddenly."
"I didn't say that exactly," Taehyeon says. He doesn't want to admit that he accidentally implied that he didn't want to see Minjun ever again. All sympathy would dry up if anybody heard about that.
Minjeong takes in a big gulp of air before resting her hand on Taehyeon's arm. "If he did something to hurt your feelings, he doesn't seem like the kind of person to do that intentionally. If you gave him one more chance, I think he would try hard to make it up to you."
Taehyeon knows it is far from Minjeong's intention but he feels a lot worse about the whole ordeal with Minjun. He's popular and well-liked without trying. Whilst it might have bothered him that the popularity was mostly amongst the girls at their school, things like this prove that popularity amongst girls could only work in his favour.
Of course Minjeong thinks Minjun would make the most of a second chance if he was forgiven because he's so friendly and agreeable. But Minjun didn't even do anything wrong (and Taehyeon has the suspicion that is somehow always the case). In this instance, the worst thing he did was simply become extremely happy because Taehyeon wanted to be friends with him. He's almost hilariously innocent. Even if Taehyeon considers his own bruised feelings, Minjun didn't really do anything wrong. Taehyeon is the one who clearly had ulterior motives and had no intention of friendship without the hope of anything more. That wasn't anything he knew himself until yesterday.
Knowing the truth doesn't make this any easier to admit. In fact, Taehyeon isn't even going to open his mouth to say it at all.
"I'll talk to him soon," Taehyeon says as genuinely as he can.
Wednesday is a different day. Taehyeon tries to push away the guilt in his mind about everything around this weird Minjun situation. The day drags on for far too long but he enjoys the anticipation in a strange way. Perhaps Taehyeon could keep the details vague and ask his nerdy, smart, shy boyfriend for some advice on how to at least ease his disappointment at himself.
After a day of inexplicably glancing towards the classroom windows like he expects to see a visitor, Taehyeon is relieved when the last bell rings. He finds Bada in the hallway and makes do with the sort of pep talk that is natural from someone who was apparently sleeping through the last lessons of the day.
Taehyeon isn't sure how constructive, "be wonderful," was meant to be but he takes the words to heart as well as he can.
Walking down the hill, Taehyeon wonders how he would look wonderful in the eyes of a smart and handsome boy like Woobin. Seeing the handsome boy in question makes Taehyeon stumble. Woobin is looking the other way. There is still a chance to make a good impression.
Checking his reflection in his phone screen, Taehyeon neatens his hair and straightens his school tie. On a second glance, the lapels of his blazer look uneven so he tries to pull his coat over it properly. He isn't going to look any better than this.
A deep breath.
Taehyeon walks coolly and casually down the hill. Woobin notices Taehyeon first and lifts his hand in a tentative wave.
"Woobin, it's great to see you!" Taehyeon tries not to take the stiff rejection of his hug to heart — they are right outside of his school, after all. "Have you been waiting long?"
"Not really," Woobin practically whispers. Understanding that he's shy forces Taehyeon to steel himself against his irritation. Nobody would listen in to their conversation but everybody milling about, laughing, jogging, and crowding around with friends are strangers to Woobin. The fact that Woobin mustered up the courage to come here on his own is a gesture to be grateful for. Who else has made even this much effort for Taehyeon?
"So, where do you want to go first? We could just walk around and see what's most interesting if you don't have anything you really want to try for our first, you know, date."
Woobin blinks away a disconcerted expression. Taehyeon needs to be less brazen with his words. No matter how quietly he speaks around here, it must be uncomfortable for Woobin. Keen to avoid dwelling on this for too long, Taehyeon points down the street away from his usual bus stop which wobbles in the wind over the dense crowd of students hoping to escape home.
"Let's go this way. A walk is fun enough with the right company."
As it happens, Woobin doesn't make the best company. He doesn't offer anything in the way of conversation and Taehyeon is beginning to feel ill. If the two of them have non-existent chemistry it is going to be a tough relationship to nurture.
"This is nice," Taehyeon notes. He sounds like a massive liar. He's said much worse in his lifetime but he must recently have developed an intolerance for whoppers like this one. Fighting off his cringe, Taehyeon glances at Woobin. His face looks strange, but it isn't the usual sort of expression Taehyeon would expect someone to wear after hearing a bad lie.
If Taehyeon considered himself an empath he'd ask a question such as, "What's the matter?" He doesn't think of himself that way but he still asks the question. Whether or not he's useless or apprehensive about the response, tact is always for the best.
"I need to talk to you about something," Woobin says. There are plenty of people around, perhaps too many. Taehyeon gently grasps Woobin's elbow and leads him along the nearest alleyway. The side road here is practically deserted aside from some parked cars mottled with dust and water stains. This is pretty similar to the place they had their first kiss. But Woobin looks serious so Taehyeon decides he's better off not thinking about that.
Standing underneath the shade of fire escape stairs, Taehyeon looks at his hand. He doesn't even want to admit to himself what he felt when he touched Woobin, the jerking flinch he ignored because finding somewhere secluded was a bigger priority than apologising for something that just isn't fair.
Woobin is staring at the pothole between them, his arms wrapped tightly around his body and his lips sealed into silence. Condensation puffs out of his nose in short bursts of white which aren't quite enough to mask the displeasure on his face.
"Do you want to…" the rest of the words are stuck in Taehyeon's throat. He hopes Woobin won't wait for the blockage to clear because Taehyeon isn't going to be able to talk properly for a while. He shouldn't be resigned to his suspicions right away but there's nothing else he can do. This has never happened to Taehyeon before but he knows precisely how this is going to go.
"I think there has been a misunderstanding."
Relief eases the pressure around Taehyeon's chest but that's all the relief he is allowed. Woobin is looking at Taehyeon like he wants to be told what the misunderstanding is but he isn't going to hear it. Taehyeon can't speak. Humiliation has already wired his jaw shut. He can only nod. Woobin looks away.
"Well, I'm not sure why you kissed me, or what you meant by it, but I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you think I'd be okay with that. We don't know each other that well so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt." He closes his mouth on wavering words and rubs absently at the tip of his red nose. Taehyeon pretends he doesn't see how Woobin's hand shakes until he's clamped it under his armpit once more.
Taehyeon nods.
"I should… set boundaries," Woobin says. "So, I don't want you to do anything like that anymore."
Boundaries are good, Taehyeon agrees. He can't say anything about that though. He can't say anything at all. He can only keep nodding. That's it.
"Other people could get uncomfortable too. You should. Wait. I'm not trying to… in future, you… hold on, give me a second," Woobin whispers shakily. His face is stiff, an expression too solemn for his flustered searching through his bag. He holds his phone in front of his face with both hands and begins to read aloud in a stumbling mumble. "I don't mind if you like boys like that, or if that's how you joke around, but I don't want you to do it to me. I felt really uncomfortable afterwards. If you do that to other people, you could make them uncomfortable too. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but think you should reflect on things like that. You'd have better friendships if you don't hurt people carelessly. But… but I don't think we can continue being friends. Maybe in future we can talk, but I shouldn't be afraid to stop things which I'm not comfortable with. I'm sorry if this disappoints you. Have a good afternoon."
Woobin lowers his phone and his eyes follow the screen.
Taehyeon supposes he is meant to say something now. That is how conversations usually go. Then again, this isn't much of a conversation. It must be for the best that Taehyeon is unable to speak. Surely he can't make things any worse. He nods shortly and keeps staring at the safest thing around. The ground won't betray him here and any escaped tears won't be as noticeable if he is looking down.
Woobin exhales and rustles about with his bag. "Well, goodbye then."
Taehyeon can't even respond to that. Thankfully Woobin doesn't linger around expecting a response. He powerwalks away and melts into the sparse flow of people passing the entrance of the alleyway. That's good. That's for the best. Taehyeon can stop putting on a face he'd be happy for people to see.
Taeri would give him a good kick in the shin if she found out Taehyeon was crouching in dirty alleys but that's not enough of a threat to make him stop. His sister isn't around and he doesn't have any friends around either. Nobody who isn't a friend is around here. Taehyeon can just cry.