Work Text:
Soobin is swinging his way through Midtown when he gets the tingle.
He’s on his way home from a failed robbery at the Bank of America in Times Square. Pretty amateur work, really: a couple of overconfident Wall Street interns with handguns and a cliche hostage plan that had no chance of working. Soobin’s only a few months into this whole superhero gig, but he doesn’t need to be a professional to know that the would-be thieves had clearly ripped off the idea from the latest blockbuster heist movie.
Luckily, Soobin had gone to see it with his boyfriend last week.
Grab the guns, carry the hostages to safety, sound the bank’s alarm and wait for the actual authorities to show up. The whole thing was easy enough to even annoy Soobin a little bit—don’t people know that all the real crime happens digitally now, anyway? Not only are in-person bank robberies so 2012, but Soobin had been planning on spending his Saturday morning sleeping in. Whatever. He takes his time getting home, reveling in his good work today and daydreaming of the nap he’s going to take soon.
He’s somewhere above Rockefeller Center when a shiver goes down his spine and all the hair raises on his arm. His new spidey sense comes in pretty handy, helps him to sense incoming danger before it happens. No more robberies, Soobin pleads internally; he really wants to take that nap.
He pauses on the side of a building to close his eyes for a second and focus on wherever the issue is coming from. Not Manhattan, he’s sure of that much. So it must be—
“Shit,” Soobin mutters. He ditches the scenic route and shoots a web in the direction of the East River.
Soobin hears Yeonjun way before he sees him, getting off the subway near Soobin’s aunt’s little house in Queens.
He imagines that he can see him, though, and it’s not difficult—Yeonjun adjusting his backpack on his shoulder as he walks the short distance from the street to the little house, Yeonjun ringing the doorbell before just letting himself in, anyway. Soobin hears Yeonjun say a cheery hello to Aunt May in the kitchen, hears May lean in to give him a warm hug and inform him that Soobin’s in his room. Jesus.
Soobin has just enough time to come in through the window and toss his suit in the closet. He takes a seat at his desk and opens his laptop just as Yeonjun knocks on his door.
“Yeah?” he calls, hoping he’s not panting too hard.
Yeonjun enters the room in a huff, phone in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other. “I only called you like, ten times. What the hell have you been doing?”
“Studying for…” Soobin squints at whatever tab was last open on his laptop. “Biochem?”
Yeonjun drops his backpack by the closet, peering into it for a second.
Had Soobin hidden his suit well enough? He holds his breath.
Then Yeonjun turns around and snorts. “C’mon, on a Saturday? You have the best science exam scores out of all of us.”
“There’s that test on Mon—”
Yeonjun ignores him, stepping closer to Soobin’s desk. “And how’d you get that scrape?”
“I… walked into a door?” Soobin says. Technically not a lie—the paneling on the Chrysler building is scarily see-through. He tries his best not to lie to Yeonjun, not because they’ve been officially dating for three months and honesty is important in a relationship, but also because Yeonjun has known him for his entire life and his ability to know when Soobin’s bullshitting is more accurate than Soobin’s spidey sense.
Yeonjun raises an eyebrow. “A glass door?”
“Yeah.”
“And cut your face open?”
Soobin swallows. “Yeah.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Yeonjun tuts, using a firm hand at Soobin’s jaw to tilt his head back for a closer look. His hands are gentle and cool on Soobin’s face, and Soobin closes his eyes reflexively, leans into the touch. God, he’s so tired lately. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Didn’t wanna tell you because I was scared you’d worry,” Soobin mumbles.
“Of course I’d worry,” Yeonjun chides. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell me things.”
“Okay,” Soobin agrees, hanging his head, chastised. “Sorry.”
Yeonjun laughs. “Don’t look at me like I’m Aunt May.”
“Sorry,” Soobin repeats.
Yeonjun ignores him, climbing into his lap. “You’re so clumsy. What are we gonna do with you?”
Soobin exhales in relief—storm has passed. Yeonjun’s like that, never needing to linger on one thing as long as he’s sure Soobin is okay, and lately, Soobin appreciates that more than Yeonjun will ever know. “I bet you have some ideas,” Soobin replies cheekily.
And yeah, Yeonjun does. They fall into Soobin’s twin bed together, even though Soobin was supposed to be “studying” and Aunt May is right downstairs, even though it’s been years since this bed has fit Soobin comfortably, let alone the two of them. Soobin might be Spiderman, but mostly he’s just a senior in high school and making out with his boyfriend is always something he has time for.
Yeonjun and him had only started dating this school year, but they’d been best friends for much longer, and it’s always easy between them, comfortable and familiar. Soobin has only had his new powers for an even shorter amount of time than they’ve been together. He’s still getting used to how his life has changed since getting bitten by that weird spider back in September. But more importantly, Soobin’s still getting used to their relationship. He’d spent most of his teenage life pining over Yeonjun and now that he finally has him, he’s not about to scare him away.
How do you even bring that up? Oh by the way, Yeonjun, you know Spiderman, right? The guy who swings around in a latex suit with superhuman spider abilities? That’s me. Just imagining the conversation gives Soobin a headache.
And besides, Soobin’s not an idiot. He’s seen all the Batman movies, knows how this goes. Tell your significant other that you’re a superhero, they get kidnapped. Or killed. Or worse, they break up with you. Soobin can’t take those risks, especially after the massive freak-out May had had when he’d come clean to her. It’d taken her weeks to come around, and Aunt May was his legal guardian. Yeonjun wasn’t obligated to stick around.
It’s not until much later, after they have dinner with May and Yeonjun heads home, that Soobin has time to chew over his words. Of course I’d worry, Yeonjun had said. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t tell me things.
One day, Soobin promises himself. One day, he will.
***
Most days after school, Soobin and Yeonjun split up.
Yeonjun heads to dance practice at their local studio while Soobin heads to, well, wherever he needs to be that afternoon. On a good day (there’s less and less of those lately,) he’ll head to Kai’s house for some post-class gaming, or stop by the hospital to bring Aunt May lunch if she’s working a double shift. Twice a week he has his internship at the Daily Bugle, delivering coffees and doing the printing for condescending journalists who are only fresh out of grad school themselves. Sometimes he even helps out the older people in the neighborhood, watering gardens or mowing lawns, to make a bit of extra money for his looming college applications.
Recently, though, he’s been putting on his suit. It’s a constant internal war—help people in need or actually study for his SAT exam? Research scholarships for city kids interested in science, or stop crime?
Soobin likes to think he’s working out a system. No more saving small animals from trees, no matter how cute: firefighters will handle that. It takes a while, but he trains his spidey sense to not alert him of petty crimes he could care less about, like shoplifting from big companies (people stealing food and supplies usually need them to live,) or middle school fights (he’d learned his lesson on that one, seventh graders can pack a mean punch, half Soobin’s height or not.)
He mostly deals with things he figures only someone with his enhanced abilities can handle, not to toot his own horn. Aliens, other enhanced creatures, evil scientists, that sort of thing. Luckily, those appearances are rare, and most of the time New York City is just the boring old city they’d grown up with. On a typical night, Soobin usually just disconnects the battery on cars when he spots a drunk driver.
It’s a Monday afternoon, which is as boring as it gets. Soobin’s thinking he’ll head home and catch up on some much-needed sleep before submitting some overdue homework assignments. Maybe he’ll even have time to help May with dinner.
He takes the E train home and walks leisurely from his stop to the house, diving beneath his covers after sending a quick text to Yeonjun:
Study date later? Lmk when ur class is over ^.^
And then he passes out.
When Soobin wakes up hours have passed, and it’s nearly dark. He has a weird feeling settling into his shoulders, probably just the knowledge that he slept way past that the time he’d meant to. There’s a blanket over his form, which means that Aunt May is home from work and probably already cooking. Damn. He blearily checks the time on his old digital alarm clock. 7:40.
Ugh. He scrambles for his phone, expecting a barrage of text messages from Yeonjun, who should’ve gotten out of dance ten minutes ago. Surprisingly, there’s nothing, just a Twitter meme from Beomgyu and an email from the school reminding seniors to BUY PROM TICKETS NOW!
Soobin sits up, switches his lights on, and tries to shake the lingering sleep from his mind. He dials Yeonjun’s number.
“Hi—”
Soobin sighs in relief.
“—this is Choi Yeonjun! Please leave a mess—”
Soobin groans and hangs up. Voicemail.
He reasons. It’s probably fine. It’s only been a couple of minutes, and there are probably plenty of normal reasons why Yeonjun can’t get to the phone. Maybe practice ran late or his dance teacher asked him to stay behind for a second. Maybe he’s walking home with a friend and is distracted by a conversation. Maybe he just hadn’t checked his phone. Ugh, Soobin wishes his spidey tingle came with a built-in boyfriend finder, or some sort of tracking—
His spidey tingle. Soobin stands up hurriedly as he puts together what that weird feeling spreading throughout his chest is. Nor oversleeping, but danger. Here, in Queens, where Yeonjun is walking home at night—
He’s in his suit in seconds, barely has time to call a quick, “Be right back!” to his aunt downstairs.
It takes him no time at all to spot Yeonjun just a couple hundred feet away from the dance studio, on his usual path home. He’s distracted, head glued down to his phone, and Soobin rolls his eyes beneath his mask. Oh, now Yeonjun can check his phone. Soobin feels his own cell vibrate gently against his side.
But he’s not really paying attention to Yeonjun. Instead, he zeroes in on a suspicious couple of cars with near-black tinted windows, approaching the side of the street across from Yeonjun at a slow crawl.
Soobin clears his head, focuses. There are guns in the car, he can tell from the way they’re slowing down, from the tiny clicks of the revolver slotting into place. A drive-by shooting? But why here, why now? What could these random people want with Yeonjun?
And then he sees it. Not Yeonjun, but another student exiting the studio behind him, some skinny white kid in expensive-looking sneakers and obnoxiously shiny gold chains. Drug money clothes, by the looks of it.
And by the looks of it, this kid owes whoever's in those cars some of it.
Okay, situation understood, now how does he solve it? Soobin figures he has two options, and about two seconds to pick one.
He can grab for the kid and pull him to safety then come back at lightning speed for Yeonjun. This could work—Yeonjun’s not the target here, and Soobin’s familiar enough with gang violence now to know that they don’t usually get bystanders involved senselessly. But there’s a risk: what if they mistake Yeonjun for the kid, and shoot anyway?
The other choice, the selfish and stupid one: get Yeonjun out of there as soon as possible, screw the kid. The guys in the car will definitely shoot, but at least there’s no chance of Yeonjun getting hurt. And maybe, just maybe, Soobin will have enough time to come back and save the kid. The risk? He probably won’t.
Soobin plans all this out in a half-second, then takes a quick breath, swings towards the dance studio—and does the right thing.
He grabs the kid by the arm, nearly ripping it right out of the socket, picks him up, and pulls him into an alley on the next street over. Just as two guys in the car roll down the window and open fire.
“Stay here!” Soobin shouts at him, lunging back towards Yeonjun without checking to see if the kid’s alright.
Soobin’s hunch was right, the bullets miss Yeonjun entirely, aimed at where the kid had been just standing, and Yeonjun is still there, looking pale and terrified, but alive. Thankfully alive.
Soobin wants to cry. He holds Yeonjun around the waist as the cars skirt off loudly, and swings back in the direction of home.
The shouts of amazement coming from the car fade behind them as they leave the area.
Damn, was that Spiderman?
He was so fast, man, shit!
Yeonjun holds onto his waist in a death-grip as Soobin heads towards the apartment, not lifting his head to look, which Soobin gets. He hadn’t wanted to look the first time he’d tried web-slinging, and he was the one steering. Soobin just holds him tighter, heart pounding in his ears.
He thinks briefly about going back to make sure that kid was okay, but he’s done more than enough superhero work for tonight. Hopefully, the kid has enough sense to hide until things die down in the area and head home, but honestly, Soobin doesn’t really care. He just wants to get Yeonjun home.
Soobin sets him down on the fire escape outside his bedroom.
And then he… lingers. Yeonjun makes no move to enter through his fire-escape window, and Soobin makes no move to swing away.
Neither of them speaks.
Of course, Soobin can’t: his voice would reveal him instantly.
But Yeonjun’s not exactly known for silence. Soobin waits for the onslaught of questions he gets sometimes after a rescue—who are you? How did you save me? Even, how did you know where I live?
Yeonjun just looks dazed. They stand across from each other for a long minute, until:
“Thanks,” Yeonjun says simply. His eyes are soft. And then he turns around and goes inside.
That’s it.
Soobin stays out there for a while, dawdling on the roof and listening to Yeonjun’s breaths slow as he calms down and falls asleep.
Surely Yeonjun is going to text him immediately, right? Not Spiderman, but Soobin, Yeonjun’s boyfriend. He checks his phone and finds himself waiting for a notification, a call, anything, for the second time tonight. But Yeonjun doesn’t text. And eventually, even his breaths patter out, the covers rustling as he slides beneath them and goes to bed. Maybe he’s shocked.
Soobin goes home.
***
“So that Electro guy,” Yeonjun starts. “You should be careful around him.”
“What—Why—” Soobin splutters. “What are you talking about?”
Yeonjun spares him a quick are you crazy? glance. “Um, because you intern at the Daily Bugle? Hasn’t Electro been staging attacks on newspapers publishing misinformation about him?”
Soobin relaxes. “Oh. That should be fine; I only go there on Tuesdays and Thursdays, anyway.”
And besides, Soobin had beaten Electro just last night. It was a big, mostly-private fight out by a power plant just outside of the city, and it culminated with Electro losing his powers and becoming human again. They’d come to an agreement, and while it hadn’t yet been publicized, Yeonjun would hear about it soon enough when people started posting the videos of their battle on social media.
Not that Yeonjun seemed to care all that much about Spiderman, anyway. He still hasn’t said anything about the other night’s incident, and who is Soobin to bring it up? But he can’t help but feel hurt. Why would Yeonjun keep something so potentially serious to himself?
But Soobin can’t ask. So he just waits.
Waits for Yeonjun to say something as they walk out of school, waits as they ride the subway, as they head into Soobin’s house and collapse on the couch after raiding the pantry for snacks.
“You look tired,” Yeonjun says, opening his laptop. “You should take a break, you know? Apply to college tomorrow, science whiz.”
Soobin sighs. He is tired. He’d gotten no sleep after last night’s fight, gone straight to school. The bags under his eyes have become a permanent fixation, no matter how many correcting creams and cooling masks Aunt May quietly leaves in the bathroom for him to use.
Soobin’s having a hard time juggling his internship and school, college applications and general responsibilities at home, not to mention the crime uptake in the city has been unbelievable lately. Like, a guy who turns into sand? Who the fuck came up with that?
“Can’t waste time,” Soobin mumbles in response, just a beat too late.
Yeonjun waves off his response and pulls him down onto the couch by the arm, making room for Soobin’s long and cramped body.
He pulls Soobin’s head into his lap with firm yet gentle hands, and drags his fingers through Soobin’s hair, over his ears, across his jawline, like Soobin is a doll who needs comforting.
The attention feels so good that Soobin almost slips up and tells Yeonjun right there, just so he can have someone to complain to, someone who will know and care about what he’s been going through. He knows he has May, he loves his aunt and how good she’s been about this whole part-time superhero thing, but he wants this, someone his own age who gets him. But he doesn’t, because he can’t.
It’s May who finds them like that on the couch later, both snoring lightly, Yeonjun’s hands still cradling Soobin’s face.
***
“What happened to your arm?” Kai wonders.
“Oh, nothing, I um, burned it on the kitchen stove,” Soobin answers hastily, then tugs his sweatshirt sleeve down.
It’s Saturday, and the five of them are getting brunch together at their local bodega. Soobin’s on edge and trying to relax—Saturday afternoons are generally a popular time for crime. But all’s quiet so far, and he does his best focusing on the here and now. He hasn’t done enough of that, lately.
“Soobin doesn’t cook,” Taehyun says to Kai sagely as he slides into the booth with a chopped cheese. He turns to Soobin. “Do you?”
Soobin groans. It’s a wonder that he’s able to keep this secret from any of them, though arguably Taehyun, with his endless pragmatism, is the hardest to fool.
“I was helping May with dinner,” Soobin answers firmly, then pointedly changes the subject. “Whose turn was it to do the Spanish homework?”
“Pretty sure it’s yours,” Yeonjun answers as he and Beomgyu join the rest of them at the table. “You did do it, right?”
Soobin groans again.
They enjoy a comfortable lunch, talking about anything and everything. SAT testing sign-ups, prom tickets, college applications—Taehyun is done, Beomgyu and Kai nearly, Yeonjun just polishing up his audition tapes. Soobin’s the most behind, and he lets them poke fun at him about it.
There’s a tiny TV set in the corner of the bodega’s ceiling, showing the news on low volume. Soobin’s surprised—but maybe he shouldn’t be—to see his own likeness on the screen, scaling the side of a smoking complex. FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD “SPIDER-MAN” RESCUES THREE CHILDREN FROM BURNING APARTMENT BUILDING.
Soobin feels his face heat up. At least the broadcast doesn’t seem particularly positive or negative.
“Huh,” Beomgyu says, peering up at the screen. “Spiderman’s kind of… hot.”
Soobin splurts out his drink.
“Don’t be homophobic Soobin,” Beomgyu chides.
Yeonjun thumps on his back and Soobin does his best to clear his airway, coughing and spluttering. “Yeah, don’t be homophobic Soobin.”
“No, I kind of see it,” Kai echoes, squinting to get a better look at the TV. “He’s got that tall and lithe thing going on. Lean, but with a little definition.”
“Like a swimmer,” Taehyun offers.
“Ooh,” Kai agrees. “Like a swimmer.”
“Yeah,” Beomgyu says. “And you know what they say about tall skinny guys. They have big—”
Soobin starts to choke again.
Yeonjun passes him some water. “Okay, enough, let’s not objectify the poor guy.”
Beomgyu pouts. “Cmon, Yeonjun, tell me you don’t see it.”
Yeonjun smiles then shrugs, noncommittal. This is the perfect time for him to come clean, to casually insert it into conversation like, by the way Spiderman rescued me a week or two ago. “I like my own tall skinny guy.”
The kids all groan, but at least their typical disgust with Soobin and Yeonjun’s relationship is enough to divert the conversation to something (admittedly only slightly) less mortifying for Soobin.
They manage to finish their breakfast sandwiches in relative peace.
It’s not till they’re exiting the bodega that a thought occurs to Beomgyu.
“Hey, what about you Soobin?”
“What about me?”
“Do you think Spiderman’s packing?”
***
The thing is, the shooting isn’t even reported in the news. It was too lowkey, and it’s New York—a dozen other more dangerous things than a failed drive-by where no one got hurt probably happened that very night.
The downside to it not being reported in the news is that Soobin can’t bring it up under the guise of being worried. Either Yeonjun tells him, or he doesn’t.
And Yeonjun never mentions it; he doesn’t bring it up to Soobin even once. All Soobin has is that soft thanks, rattling around in his brain for weeks. Why would Yeonjun keep this from him?
Finally, Soobin decides to just ask.
“Hey,” Soobin says when he’s walking to class with Taehyun one Monday. “Has Yeonjun mentioned anything about a situation lately? Like getting saved, or something?”
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“Just wondering. He’s been… secretive, lately?”
“Why don’t you just ask him?” Taehyun suggests, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Aren’t you guys dating?”
Soobin winces. “It’s kind of complicated.”
***
On Wednesday evening, Soobin walks Yeonjun home from dance—he’s taken to doing that, lately.
Yeonjun’s uncharacteristically quiet, musing face on like he has something on his mind. Soobin doesn’t press him, just anxiously stands by. There’s no getting Yeonjun to talk until he’s ready to talk, anyway.
Yeonjun remains stormily silent as they wait for the bus to come and take the last two open seats in the back. He’s finally gonna say something about his Spiderman encounter, Soobin guesses, and then what? Soobin will be forced to come clean—it’s too big, too much of a direct lie to deny. Then Yeonjun will hate him for lying and break up with him, effectively ending their nearly eighteen-year friendship, too. Will the others take Yeonjun’s side and ditch Soobin, too?
Yeonjun finally opens his mouth.
Soobin holds his breath, prepared for the worst.
“So, are you taking me to prom, or…?”
Soobin’s jaw drops. “Prom?”
Yeonjun frowns at him disapprovingly.
“Shit,” Soobin backtracks. “I mean, prom? I mean, duh, yes, prom. Um. We’re going—”
“Smooth.”
“Er, I meant are we going? I mean, do you want to go? With me? Wait, no.” Soobin wants to dig a hole into 73rd avenue and bury himself in it for months, Spiderman duties be damned. He takes a breath to steady himself. “Yeonjun, do you want to go to prom with me?”
“I don’t know,” Yeonjun says, glaring. “Would you want to go to prom with you?”
Soobin had fucked up. Prom was exactly one of those quintessential life experiences that Yeonjun loves—dressing up all fancy and filling cheap flasks with drinks from their parents’ liquor cabinets, dancing the night away with all their friends. He’d been dropping not-so-subtle hints to Soobin for months, mentioning it at lunch with the others, sending him links to the ticket reservation website, even going so far as to just telling Soobin outright, “I want you to ask me, and I want it to be cute.”
Since September, Soobin had been planning to put on the grossest, most romantic prom-posal ever, with flowers and chocolate and all. But he’d forgotten, with everything going on that semester. Were the tickets even still on sale?
“I’m sorry?” Soobin tries.
Yeonjun ignores him, gathering his bags and standing up just as the bus pulls into a hasty stop near his apartment complex. He exits the bus without another glance back.
Soobin groans, rushing out behind him, He has to stick his foot in the door and plead silently with the bus driver, but he makes it.
“Yeonjun!”
Yeonjun storms into the building, not checking to see if Soobin will follow. “I know you think it’s not a big deal, but it’s something I wanted to do and it matters to me,” he says quickly, jamming his finger into the elevator button.
“I do think it’s a big deal,” Soobin defends himself. “And it matters to me, too, I just forgot!”
“I literally reminded you a dozen times. What more did you want me to do, tattoo it on my head like a loser? Beg my own boyfriend just to ask me to prom?”
The apartment elevator dings and the doors open just as Soobin catches up to him. Yeonjun turns around to press his floor number, and when he finally gets a look at his face, Soobin blanches. Yeonjun’s tearing up.
“Yeonjun?” Soobin says softly. “Jeez, don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”
Yeonjun sniffles angrily and wipes at his eyes. “I’m not crying, you asshole.”
“Fine,” Soobin says, rolling his eyes and biting back a smile. “You’re not crying. But I am sorry.”
“Are you?”
Soobin takes this as permission to step into the elevator beside him. “I’ve just been so busy with school and college stuff and you know how much Aunt May does for me, I feel so bad making her pay for everything alone so I’ve been doing more chores for people and my internship at the Bugle sucks lately and—”
“Okay, I get it,” Yeonjun cuts him off. “Stop trying to make me feel bad. You’re busy, you’re sorry.”
Soobin nods eagerly. “I am, and I’ll make it up for you, I promise. I’ll buy the tickets first thing tomorrow, on me, and—”
“They literally went off sale last Friday.”
Soobin pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’ll…mooch them off some junior couple who doesn’t really need to go? Or we’ll have our own prom! We can put up lights in May’s backyard and invite Beomgyu and Taehyun and Kai—”
It’s Yeonjun’s turn to roll his eyes. “First of all, that sounds beyond depressing. And second, I already got us tickets, duh.”
“Oh.”
“I’m not paying for yours though, I want my money.”
Soobin bites back another smile. “Okay, okay.”
“And no more reminders from now on. Put the date on your calendar and find a cheap tux, got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
Soobin pushes his luck one more time, pulling Yeonjun into a hug in the middle of the elevator. He murmurs into Yeonjun’s hair, post-dance-practice sweat and all, that he really is sorry and that it really did slip his mind. Yeonjun tuts but relaxes into his touch, hugging back. They’re still standing there, swaying a little when the elevator doors open to a little old lady, Yeonjun’s grumpy floor neighbor.
She sucks her teeth at them and gestures threateningly with her cane, muttering something along the lines of, “Out, out, now! Kids these days, might as well have sex in public, back in the old days we would never—”
Yeonjun grabs Soobin’s hand and they giggle as they exit the elevator quickly and rush to get inside Yeonjun’s family’s apartment.
That night, Soobin makes himself a promise. No more getting in the way of the best relationship he’s ever had. He’s going to tell Yeonjun the truth, the whole truth, and soon.
***
Soobin stays home from school the day after his confrontation with the Lizard. He’d won, but it didn’t feel like it.
He’d broken his ribs in three different places. Aunt May had taped them up, and he’s healing quickly as usual, but it still hurts. Not to mention the bruises and scrapes running down his body from head to toe. And the worst part? He’s missing his SAT Biology subject test session. He’d only been studying for that for months.
“Don’t worry about that now, sweetie,” Aunt May says, pressing yet another bandage onto a scrape over his brow. “Focus on getting better.”
“I should be focusing on getting into college,” Soobin grumbles.
Aunt May sighs, heading to the kitchen to grab him some tea. When she returns with a steaming mug, she says, “So take a break from all this Spiderman stuff. I can’t sit here and pretend that it’s easy to see the toll all this is taking on you.”
Soobin lowers his eyes, guilty again at the burden he’s been on May’s shoulders for most of his life. She’s given up everything to raise him, works double shifts at the hospital just to save up for his tuition, and here he is, repaying him by getting into fights with oversized, anthropomorphic reptiles. He’d had dreams of making it to a good school and getting a good enough job to support her so she could retire, but now? Is he even going to finish high school, let alone make it to college?
Before Soobin can answer, they’re interrupted by his phone vibrating on the coffee table.
Yeonjun
FaceTime Video
Third time this afternoon. Soobin lets it ring.
“You should at least tell him,” Aunt May says. “Take some of the stress of your shoulders. I’m not gonna be here forever, you know.”
Soobin shakes his head, then grimaces, because even that hurts. “That’s not funny.”
Aunt May smoothes his hair down over his forehead comfortingly. “It’s true, I’m getting old.”
“No, you’re not.”
They’re interrupted again, this time by the doorbell ringing. The two of them share a loaded glance.
“Tell him I’m not home?” Soobin tries.
Aunt May purses her lips. “You have thirty seconds to look presentable,” she answers, heading towards the door.
Soobin overhears their brief conversation ( how are you, that’s good, he’s not feeling too great ) and manages to sit up in time for Yeonjun to walk into the living room. Aunt May disappears into the kitchen, but not before giving Soobin a meaningful look over Yeonjun’s head.
Yeonjun hurries over to the couch, muttering something like, “haven’t answered all day, ” and tugs Soobin into a hasty hug. Then lets go immediately when Soobin yelps.
Yeonjun pulls away to give Soobin a suspicious once over.
“You’re hurt?” Yeonjun demands. “Again?”
“It’s not that bad—”
“You’re covered in bandages, Soobin,” Yeonjun cries. “What the hell?”
“Okay, fine,” Soobin relents. “I fell. Down the stairs.”
He doesn’t mention that the stairs were scaffolding ones, on the 94th floor of the Empire State building, or that he’d slipped because Lizard had sliced through one of his webs right before it landed and he hadn’t had time to gain his bearings.
“You fell down the stairs? The one tiny flight of stairs in this house?”
Soobin winces again, but not because of his ribs. “Exactly. It’s nothing.”
“You said you weren’t feeling well,” Yeonjun accuses.
“Well,” Soobin snaps. He feels a migraine coming on. And he’s exhausted all of a sudden, tired of all the injuries and stress, and then coming home and having to deal with May’s silent judging and then Yeonjun’s endless questions. “As you can see, I am obviously not feeling well.”
Yeonjun gets up from the couch, expression guarded.
“Oh, don’t be like that,” Soobin pleads. “C’mon.”
“I brought you your homework,” Yeonjun says evenly. “But since you’re not feeling well, I can just go.”
“Don’t go,” Soobin says, but it sounds half-hearted, even to his own ears. “Yeonjun—”
But Yeonjun is already gathering his stuff and leaving, and Soobin—this time, Soobin’s just too tired to follow.
***
A couple of days later, Soobin is really, really, wishing Yeonjun could just manage to stay out of trouble.
The two of them have settled into a steely tolerance, only really talking when they have to, or if it’s part of a larger conversation with their friends. One of these days Soobin is going to sit Yeonjun down and just explain, but he hasn’t even rescheduled his biology exam for god’s sake. Can’t the universe show him a little mercy, just give him a little break?
He probably shouldn’t have asked.
It’s stupid, really. Soobin’s spidey sense tingles on the way to school one morning, and he just knows it’s Yeonjun again.
It’s stupid, really. Because when he finds Yeonjun halfway to school, he’s three seconds away from getting mugged. By a middle schooler. Holding a butter knife.
Both Yeonjun and the kid look up as Soobin swings in, and the kid takes one look at Soobin before sprinting off with a strangled scream. And Soobin’s relieved that there was no real danger, that Yeonjun wasn’t hurt, but really? This?
Yeonjun and Soobin stare at each other for a moment, and then Soobin crouches, prepping to go.
But then Yeonjun says, “You again.”
Soobin straightens up hesitantly, and nods.
“Don’t you have bigger crimes to deal with? Aliens and mad scientists and shit?”
Soobin doesn’t answer—he can’t, his voice would give him away in seconds and besides, he wouldn’t know what to say either way, can’t figure out where Yeonjun’s unfounded irritation is coming from.
“That kid was in like, the sixth grade,” Yeonjun continues. “I could’ve stepped on his foot and he would’ve run away. I don’t need Spiderman to swoop in and save me all the time.”
Soobin huffs now, impatient. Shouldn’t Yeonjun be thanking him? And shouldn’t they both be heading to school?
“What?” Yeonjun goads. “You don’t talk?”
Soobin frowns beneath his mask, agitated. Then he turns around to go again, he’s lingered too long already anyway. He should leave.
Just as he extends his arm to shoot out a web, Yeonjun sighs loudly behind him.
“Whatever. Just go, Soobin.”
And then they both freeze.
There’s a quiet squeak from Yeonjun, then an even quieter, “Oops.”
Soobin whirls around to see Yeonjun standing stuck in place, hand slapped over his mouth, eyes wide.
Soobin rips off his mask. “What the fuck?”
***
They sit in front of the steps outside Aunt May’s house like they’d done as kids. It’d once been a perfect-sized seat, but now Soobin just feels oversized and uncomfortable.
After the commotion, they’d returned here in silence. (Soobin had changed to his regular clothes and taken the subway with Yeonjun, not swung, out of respect.) The silence had been heavy and sour and followed them all the way home, but Soobin is taking the fact that Yeonjun had ridden with him up until his subway stop instead of getting off closer to his own house as a positive sign.
“How did you know?” Soobin asks, when the silence has become too much.
Yeonjun kicks at a pebble with the tip of his sneaker. “Clues. Your lies. A funny feeling.”
“This whole time?”
“I think I suspected it for ages, you know? I just wasn’t ready to put all the facts together. And then that night when you saved me from the drive-by, it all just clicked.”
“What gave it away?”
“You did,” Yeonjun scoffs. “You think I don’t know what you smell like? That I wouldn’t recognize what your arms feel like around me? It was obvious the minute you grabbed me.”
“But you never said anything,” Soobin says. “That night. Why didn’t you—”
“Why didn’t you?” Yeonjun counters. “That was a perfect time to take off that mask, to explain—”
Soobin hangs his head. “You’re right.”
“I wanted you to tell me,” Yeonjun says. “I wanted you to trust me enough to admit it yourself. And honestly? I just didn’t want to believe you’d keep something that big from me.”
Soobin puts his head in his hands, and they sit there on the sidewalk for a few moments, in complete silence once more. Finally— “Do you hate me?”
“Hate you? Of course not.”
“B— but I lied? For months?”
“Don’t remind me,” Yeonjun mutters, running a hand through his hair. “But I get why you did it. Keeping me from worrying, trying to protect me and be noble and all that shit, right?”
Soobin nods pitifully.
“Yeah, you’re kind of predictable,” Yeonjun continues. His voice is still calm, still steady. And he’s not running for the woods, he's just sitting here next to Soobin on the sidewalk like they’ve done for over a decade, thighs touching, being sarcastic.
And maybe that’s why Soobin blurts the next thing out nervously. “I love you.”
For the second time today, Yeonjun freezes. Then just as quickly, he thaws, face growing pink, and god, Soobin wants to say it again.
“That’s not fair. You don’t get to say that for the first time when I’m supposed to be mad at you.” And then, like he can’t help himself, Yeonjun says, “I love you, too.”
Soobin laughs, a hysterical, unhinged laugh that brings tears to his eyes.
“Let me guess,” Yeonjun says. “You’re not crying?”
Soobin coughs. “No, I’m crying.”
Yeonjun embraces him without another thought. “Don’t cry, you idiot. I’ll forgive you eventually, I just have to pretend to be mad about it for a few more weeks out of principle. It’s a pride thing.”
“I didn’t even get to say sorry yet,” Soobin whines, but buries his face into Yeonjun’s shoulder and sobs harder.
“Well I’m sure you will,” Yeonjun replies easily. “And that you’ll keep apologizing with lots of free food for months. So don’t feel bad.”
“It’s not even that,” Soobin sniffles. “It just feels so good to not have to keep it from you anymore. It’s been so hard not telling you, but I was so scared .”
“You shouldn’t have been,” Yeonjun says, rubbing his back in small, firm circles. “Though I will say—I’ve never even seen you catch a basketball. I probably wouldn’t have believed you at first, so there’s that.”
Soobin laughs wetly. How’d he get so lucky?
“You can trust me with anything, Soobin. I mean that. Anything. And I want to trust you, too, so no more secrets, okay?”
“I promise,” Soobin says. “No more secrets.”
And that was that.
They stay out there for a bit longer, even though it’s mid-December and they’re not really dressed for anything other than the short trip to school. There’s still time to at least make it to their second-period classes, but they come to an understanding, at least for today—sometimes, school can wait.
“Also, Soobin?” Yeonjun says a bit later, when they’ve moved inside to watch YouTube videos on the couch.
“Hmm?”
“You left the mask in your desk drawer like four different times this month.”
“Oops?”
“Plus you can’t lie for shit, you look to the bottom left every time I ask if you like my green platform shoes—“
“I do not,” Soobin protests, glancing at the plant in the corner of the room.
“Oh my god.” Yeonjun cackles. “You just did it.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. I’m sorry I kept this from you and I’ll never lie to you ever again.”
There’s another beat, and then:
“So I’m like your partner now, right? Like Robin and Batman?”
Soobin bites his lip to keep from mentioning that it’s usually Batman and Robin. Or that Robin’s a sidekick, not a partner.
“You kick bad guy’s asses, I wear a sexy catsuit and whisper intel in your earpiece,” Yeonjun adds. “Hey! Maybe I’ll be in the Bugle? ‘Spiderman’s Sexy Sweetheart Remains Sexy and Illusive.’ Or something.”
“Uhh,” Soobin says. “Let’s iron out the details later?”
Yeonjun rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Well, either way, I’m here to support you now. No getting rid of me if you tried.”
Soobin just relaxes against Yeonjun’s side. Support, he thinks. What a funny, wonderful word.
***
Soobin tells the rest of his best friends the next spring.
It’s two weeks before graduation—two months since he received his acceptance and a full scholarship to NYU, mind you—and more importantly, the night of prom.
Soobin uses a bit of the extra money he has now that college won’t be a problem to rent a cheap limo driver to take them to and from the venue. Everyone’s dressed to the nines (they’d barely escaped Aunt May’s endless slew of photo requests,) and Soobin had even gotten Yeonjun and him matching boutonnieres for their jacket lapels. (Yeonjun had had to remind him last week, but still.)
The prom venue’s about a half-hour away, and Soobin figures there’s no point in hiding it any longer, so he signals for Yeonjun to lower the music, and he admits everything.
Please don’t let them hate me, he prays silently. And it turns out he didn’t need the prayer, because his friends are his friends, and like Yeonjun, they love him. Not that they make it any easier for him.
“To be honest, I’m kind of offended. You seriously thought this would scare me away? Me? ” Kai demands. “I love Spiderman. I literally run one of his fan accounts. Wait, your fan accounts? God, this is weird.”
Beomgyu refuses to look at Soobin, much to everyone’s glee.
“Don’t feel bad cause you called Soobinnie hot,” Yeonjun coos, pinching Beomgyu’s cheek. “We were all thinking it.”
Beomgyu bats his hand away. “I take it back. You’re a 7 at best, Soobin, and only when you have the mask over your face.”
Soobin rolls his eyes. Why had he let Yeonjun convince him that telling their friends would be a good idea, again? Where’s the congratulations? The moral support? “Seriously? You guys have to admit that it’s kinda cool that I’m like, a famous superhero.”
“Famous for New York,” Beomgyu coughs into his fist.
Yeonjun squeezes Soobin’s thigh encouragingly. “I think it’s very cool.”
Soobin tries one more time. “Taehyun?”
“I’ve known since you got bit on that field trip to the genetics lab,” Taehyun says simply. “You’re a horrible liar.”
That’s it. Soobin is officially giving up.
“And also, I track all of your locations on my phone.”