Chapter Text
The sun's rays filtered through the window blinds, hitting Hanni's eyes hard, a sign that it is well past her normal wake-up time.
Hanni threw off the covers and started to get out of bed, but a force held her anchored.
Or rather, an arm around her waist.
“Five more minutes,” Minji’s voice, still thick with sleep, echoes faintly behind Hanni.
The Vietnamese girl chuckles lightly. “You stay. I have to go grocery shopping. I told the girls they could come over for lunch.”
“But I want you to stay too,” Minji complains.
Hanni makes a sound that’s halfway between a snort and a half-laugh. She wishes she could pretend to be more annoyed, but Minji’s touch didn’t help her. “Let me go, Kim Minji.”
In a moment, Hanni finds herself completely pressed against the mattress. Her face flashes with surprise at the sudden, unexpected movement, but her features soften just as suddenly when Minji appears on top of her, her eyes half asleep and her hair ruffled with sleep.
“I missed you so much,” Minji whispers before leaning in and kissing Hanni.
The Vietnamese woman went on a family trip to Antarctica for a few days. They'd been planning it for months, and it was amazing, a perfect way to unwind. Naturally, she missed her girlfriend. Minji missed her, too, and she's making it clear. She's been back at their apartment for two days now, and Minji has been particularly clingy. Hanni teases her about it, but the truth is, she feels the same way, and they both know it.
The kiss is only interrupted when Minji decides to shift her attention to Hanni's jaw and then her neck, taking her time to kiss every inch of skin, causing a heat to spread quickly through Hanni's body.
The Vietnamese woman wants to use a hand to hold Minji's head still, to pull her closer and tell her to continue, letting her lips fall-
but instead, "M-Minji, um, I really have to go now, the girls will be here any minute..." Hanni says, coughing slightly.
Minji sighs loudly, letting herself fall onto the other side of the bed, feeling the girl next to her get up and get ready to leave.
It's been months since she and Hanni got together, months since she traveled between universes, since she met a different version of herself who happens to be Spider-girl. In a twisted and inexplicable way, Hitman took Bang's place as CEO of Hybe. After all, he got what he always wanted: a normal life, without Spider-Girl around. For now, he's under investigation, and she and her group are still at a standstill. The Shield thought it was best this way; their agents arrested Bang and confined him somewhere. She and Hanni haven't heard from Han and MJ since; things must move on, and the universes must interact with each other as little as possible.
It's absurd how her life has completely changed and yet is simultaneously frozen.
The truth is, her career isn't the only thing that's frozen.
The experience of a few months ago helped her regain confidence in herself, to return to her former self, to regain her self-esteem and courage. She tried not to close herself off and repress her feelings, especially with Hanni.
But it's easy to fall back into the same spiral, especially when you and your girlfriend aren't…
A noise, almost a hiss.
Minji gets out of bed with a confused expression; she could swear she heard something in the house.
"Hanni?" she asks, raising her voice. She's probably forgotten something, as often happens.
But then the hiss continues, and she realizes she knows that sound well.
"Oh no—not again—" she says, slowly raising her head to the ceiling.
She doesn't even have time to process what's happening before a figure plummets from the ceiling toward her.
A person lunges at her. She's shorter and smaller than Minji, but somehow stronger, but that doesn't stop Minji from fighting and trying with all her might to break free from the other's grip.
She's thrown onto the bed, or maybe she throws herself while trying to escape. In fact, she's now pressed against the bed, a weight on top of her holding her still. A girl.
Now that she's still, Minji focuses more on the figure, a girl dressed entirely in black, a black mask over her face that leaves her brown eyes visible, and long white hair tied in a ponytail. Maybe a wig.
"Oh my gosh, you've finally calmed down, damn it," the girl says with a huff, loosening her grip on Minji's wrists, but still holding them tightly.
Minji realizes she's been screaming all this time, overcome by panic. Only now does she take a deep breath to try to slow her heartbeat. "Let me go! Who are you? What do you want?" she stammers, agitated.
"Calm down, darling. We're going for a walk together now," the girl says in a firm voice, but Minji notices something in her gaze. She almost seems... sad? Worried?
"What the fuck, let me go!!" Now Minji screams, still trying to fight back.
"Naur, you can gour. I don't want to do this, but I have tour." The girl tries to regain control.
And at that moment, something stirs inside Minji, as if she were suddenly waking up.
"Wait—what did you say—?" Minji repeats more to herself than to the girl in front of her, who is now looking at her in confusion. "I know you—" Minji says, while with her newly freed hand, in a swift movement, she snatches the girl's wig.
She feels stupid, how could she not recognize her, just because of white hair and a black mask?
"Dani..?" Minji whispers.
Minji can swear she saw a half smile on the girl in front of her before she falls back on her and they resume their fight.
"Minji?? Are you asleep again? I kept calling you! I forgot—" Hanni's voice echoes until it gets louder and louder, and in an instant the bedroom door opens.
Hanni remains motionless, her mouth hanging open as she sees the scene before her.
Dani, wearing a strange black latex suit, straddles Minji.
"What the f—?" Hanni's eyes are about to fill with tears.
"I can't believe it." The girl in black giggles, seeing Hanni standing in the doorway, and in that moment it hits her. It's not Dani's voice, it is, but no—
"Go, run! Mj! Call—" Minji tries to scream, but is blocked by the girl above her, and in a second Hanni starts running toward the living room.
Where is it? Where the fuck is it? After the whole situation of the previous months, Hanni and Minji had said goodbye to Mj and Han, but the girls had left them a device, a sort of alarm to use in case Hitman decided to go back to being a crazy scientist or something—but now Hanni doesn't know where the fuck she put it—
“Found it,” she exults, before pressing the button on what resembles an emergency phone.
She realizes she's holding her breath. What if Mj is facing a super villain and can't come now? Or maybe she's sleeping? Or this device is broken or—
I have to get back to Minji, she thinks. What is that girl doing to her?
Successfully, a black hole opens up next to her, and Mj, dressed as Spider-Girl, is now at her side.
“Hanni, are you okay? What happened?” Mj takes her face in her hands, seeing the girl in shock
Hanni hears Han's voice echoing in MJ's earpiece. “Mj, what's going on? Are they okay?”
The Vietnamese girl only manages to turn her head toward the bedroom, and Mj does the same, and at that moment, the girl who looks like Dani leaves the room; and now it is before them, moving slowly, with all the grace and calm in the world
"Yeah—I'm gonna have to call you right back."
"Why, what's going on—"
Mj doesn't wait any longer to cut contact with Han and turn her full attention to the girl in front of her.
"You look good," the girl says lightly, as if it weren't an absurd situation. "Been working out??"
"No. I mean, you know—a little." Mj moves awkwardly as the girl gets closer and closer, letting a hand brush Mj's red tracksuit and tracing the lines of her arm. "So, are you swinging solo now? Or back with your ex?" The Dani lookalike glances vaguely at Hanni next to them, who watches the scene confused, and somewhat disgusted. Why is this fake Danielle behaving like this? Why does Mj let her do this?
“That's a lot of questions,” she says.
“I'm just curious.”
“Yeah, I hear that's bad for cats. How about you tell me why you're really here?” Mj suddenly regains her composure, sounding more confident and demanding an answer.
“I was just waiting for the right moment,” the girl says simply before throwing a punch at Mj's face, which she quickly dodges, and the two begin to clash and fight across the room.
Hanni breaks through the confusion to return to Minji's room, whose arms and ankles are bound and her mouth bandaged. Hanni rushes to free her and wraps her in her arms.
“What the fuck is going on?” Minji screams, confused.
“No idea. But Mj is here now and she's fighting- that girl.”
“She's the same as…”
“I know…”
The commotion in the other room calls them back, and the two of them face the door to see what's going on.
The two continue to fight when yet another black hole opens up in the room, and Han steps through the door.
It all happens too quickly. The two girls stop huddling, and as soon as Han sees the other girl's face; she pulls out a taser and points it at her, sending a shock through her that knocks her to the floor.
The door opens and Dani and Haerin find themselves inside, their smiling faces disappearing in a second as they study the scene before them, both with their mouths hanging open.
The girl in black tries to get up but is still weak and confused from the taser.
"Rinnie..." she whispers, her gaze fixed on Haerin before passing out.
"HOLY FUCK, WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?" Hyein makes her way between the two girls, finding herself in the center of the living room, watching the scene with a stunned expression and seeking the gaze of her friends.
"Hyein!" Mj rushes toward her, taking off her red mask, and caressing the girl's face, who flinches in fear.
The one in front of her is Minji-uinnie, but somehow she knows she's not.
Then she sees her, Minji rushes over and pushes away Spider-Man-Minji's arm. "MJ?"
"I'm sorry, I-" Mj stays still, looking down.
Han moves to her girlfriend's side "It's not her, Mj" she says in a sad whisper
"What's going on?" Dani asks, worried and confused.
Minji looks up at Hanni, who takes a deep breath and nods. "We need to explain a few things to you."
---
“That makes sense,” Hyein nods with concentration, absorbing all the information she's just received.
“DOES IT?” Dani looks at her, confused, still in shock.
The girls have all sat in a circle in the living room, while Hanni and Minji have begun their story of the events of the previous months, supported by the presence of Han and Mj.
“Yeah, I mean, it's crazy, but not that crazy if you think about it,” Hyein says, trying to reassure her friend.
“You are—incredible,” Minji says, shocked. “You were much more shocked when Hanni and I told you a few months ago that we were together.”
“I wasn't shocked, I was excited!” Hyein says frantically, “I still am. But I mean, a trip between universes was the push you needed to admit you were down bad for each other? I believe it. And you two are, like, destined to be together in every universe? I'm not surprised.”
Hanni rolls her eyes amusedly, stroking Hyein's hair. She really is an incredible girl.
Haerin, who had only blinked the whole time, falls silent again and decides to speak. “And what about… this… Dani?” she says, pointing to the girl still collapsed on the couch.
“No one calls me that,” the girl says, holding her head in her hands, before sitting up.
Mj leans in front of her, eliciting a hiss from Han, who ignores her for the moment.
“Mo Ji-hye,” Mj begins, “what are you doing here? Why did you try to kidnap Minji?”
“I- I can't tell you.” Ji-hye lowers her gaze.
“Let's go home and hand it over to Shield.” Hanni steps aside and turns to her girlfriend.
“Han…” Mj turns to her compliantly
“Oh c'mon blondie, I didn't mean to steal your Minji this time, you can calm down.” the Australian girl makes fun of her
Han gives her a murderous look and then turns to Mj. “Tie her wrists.”
“What?”
"She tried to kidnap Minji. We don't know why she's here, or how she got here. She's dangerous. Tie her up."
Mj looks between the two girls doubtfully before hissing and throwing a web at Ji-hye's wrists, pulling them tight so as to prevent her from moving.
"Oh, Mj, don't worry, you can squeeze even tighter. You know I like it that way." Ji-hye jokes flirtatiously, it seems just like Dani's way, except it's completely different, with a mischief that Dani doesn't possess.
"Do you want another shock, kitten?" Han growls ferociously.
"Oh damn, you two hate each other in that universe, girls," Hyein whispers to her friends, but not quietly enough to be overheard.
"We don't hate each other." The Dani lookalike giggles. "Actually, we have a lot in common," she says, keeping her eyes fixed on Mj, who lowers her gaze and clears her throat.
"OH MY GOD! DID YOU CHEAT ON HER?" Hyein puts a hand over her mouth. She has no filters and can't believe a version of Minji could do something like that.
"NO! No, absolutely not!" Mj puts her hands out in defense and turns to the other girls. The room falls into an accusatory silence before Mj tries to justify herself. “Do you remember Han telling you about when we broke up for a while? It was… at that moment I—it was over with Han. It was over. But then we got back together and I told her and Han and I got over it.” Mj tries to catch her girlfriend’s eye, but Han quickly averts it.
“OUCH!” Minji raises her voice in complaint, after Hanni unexpectedly punches her in the arm. “What the fuck? What did I do now?”
“Can we—can we stop now?” Mj calls for attention now, letting silence fall between them all.
She slowly approaches Ji-hye. “Mo, I know you, talk to me.”
The Australian takes a deep breath, her eyes locked with Mj’s. “They blackmailed me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Of course…” Han butts in angrily.
“I swear!” Ji-hye raises her voice. “I don't know who did it. I came home a few days ago and they told me I had to come to this earth and kidnap Kim Minji and bring her to our universe. They assured me it would be easy, because she doesn't have spider powers like you.”
“And what did they offer you in exchange? Money? You're just a thief.” Han resumes the interrogation.
“NO! I told you they're blackmailing me. They…” a pause. “They took my girlfriend.”
“Oh.” Mj pauses slightly, stupidly. It's been over between them for a long time now, but it's still strange knowing Ji-hye has started a new life, especially knowing she has trouble trusting people. But she's happy, really. She deserves someone by her side—
“My girlfriend, Rin.”
“Wait what?” Mj jumps up. “Are you kidding me?”
The girls look at each other in confusion, unaware of what’s happening.
“Rin? Like Kang Rin? Detective Kang Rin?” Mj continues to ask, clearly annoyed.
“It just happened. I didn’t plan it. And I would never tell her who you are!”
Minji leans toward Han, now whispering in her ear. “Hey, do you know who the fuck this Rin is?”
“Rin, or rather, Detective Haerin Kang, who happens to hate Spidergirl, is mad at the whole vigilante-taking-the-law thing, and is desperately trying to find Spidergirl’s identity and arrest her.”
Dani lets her gaze meet Haerin’s, who is already looking back at her, as often happens. Their faces betray no emotion. Dani thinks it’s partly because they both don’t know what to feel at the moment. For once, they're having a hard time reading each other because they themselves have no idea what they're feeling right now.
"Wait, wait, wait, did you say Haerin? Like our Haerin?" Hyein stands up, pointing, and all the girls around her gesture, staring at her with wide eyes. "So Hanni and Minji were together, then Minji cheated on Hanni with Dani-"
“I DIDN'T CHEAT!”
“But Minji and Hanni can't be apart, we already knew that, and they got back together. And now Dani is with Haerin, who hates Minji. Oh my god, you girls are so gay in every universe. What an absurd lesbian drama.”
Ji-hye ignores the small, overly excited girl in the middle of the living room and turns to the only person she really knows. “Mj, will you help me?”
Mj runs a hand through her hair, breathing deeply, a sign that she's thinking.
“I- yeah, I will.”
Han deliberately huffs loudly to make herself heard and heads toward the kitchen with Mj hurrying after her.
“Excuse me, I think I need a moment too,” Minji says softly, not looking anyone in the eye, heading toward her room. Hanni gives her friends a sympathetic look and heads toward her girlfriend.
--
"Han...wait, please..." Mj gently grabs the blonde's hand to turn her around, but she jerks away. It's not often they have a serious argument, much less refuse each other's touch, at least not so abruptly.
"I can't believe you want to help her," Han says, visibly angry.
"Someone hired her to kidnap Minji. We need to find out what's going on," Mj tries to explain calmly.
"But that's not your only reason."
Mj sighs in resignation. "She's my friend."
Han doesn't say anything, looking away, hurt by Mj's sincerity.
"Listen, you can go home right now and in the meantime—" the Korean girl tries to say, but is immediately interrupted. "Oh, sure, so you two can be together. I saw the way you look at each other!"
Mj takes a step towards her, visibly hurt by Han's words. “How can you say something like that? You know it's not like that. You know it.”
Han can't resist the puppy-dog look, which often makes her melt. And she partly regrets hurting MJ with her words, but she has no intention of stopping. "You didn't even think about it, you didn't ask me. You just want to help her."
"I thought we'd put it all behind us. Han, I—" but once again it's the Vietnamese woman who speaks. "I've forgiven you, but that doesn't mean I can forget it, Mj."
--
Minji slides onto the floor of her bedroom, resting her back on the bed, and lets the confusion of everything that just happened unravel in her brain, trying to make sense of it, which she can't find.
"Hey, can I come in?" Hanni asks, without waiting for an answer before closing the door behind her.
"Why me? Why would anyone want… me?" Minji starts rambling in a panic. "You think it's Hit Man? Or maybe Bang, he got free and is now seeking revenge."
"Hey, calm down. Hit Man is constantly under surveillance, we'd know, and Bang is in a Shield prison, or so I think." Hanni mutters the last part. The truth is, they're practically in the dark. They can't know if Bang actually escaped, but the only thing she can do is reassure her girlfriend.
"It's just been a few months, this is absurd, I'm not ready to relive it all. Not when our lives are still a mess."
It's true, their life is moving forward. They're having happy moments. They travel, they're with friends and family. They're in love and living their relationship like never before. But the Newjeans' lives are on the brink, and they can't deny that a part of them is constantly suffering.
“I know, we don’t have a moment of peace.” Hanni nods, sitting next to Minji, close, but not close enough to touch. Not close enough to give her the comfort she needs.
Minji then looks at her side, suspicious and aware, the tone of Hanni’s voice, her body language, her stiffness.
“Hey, what’s going on? Are you worried? We’ll make it this time too.” Minji, despite her anxiety, tries to reassure her; Hanni is her priority, no matter what.
“Nothing,” Hanni replies curtly, a sign that something is wrong.
“Okay—now you sound angry.” Minji, however, is starting to get confused.
“I’m not.”
“…with me?” Minji continues.
“How could Mj cheat on Han?” Hanni breaks away, almost angrily.
“She didn't cheat on her”
“Oh, so you're defending her?”
“I'm not defending her.”
“But you're taking her side.” The two continue a back-and-forth.
“Hanni, what's going on? It's not like that. I just think it's none of our business. We don't know the whole story.” Minji tries to reason with her, surprised that the girl wants to talk about this at a time like this. She's also surprised by the revelation, but she doesn't think it's the main topic right now, and above all, she can't understand Hanni's attitude toward her.
Hanni knows it doesn't make sense, but it makes sense to her; it makes sense in her head when she stops to think about it. Minji and Mj are identical in so many ways, even in their feelings and the way they show them. They're mirrors of each other, so why should this be any different?
“Have you ever liked Dani?” Hanni begins hesitantly, averting her gaze.
“What? What the hell? Hanni, I love you, you know that, right? Dani is our best friend.” Minji pulls back, confused, unable to believe this question.
Hanni knows that because of her personality, she gets carried away, she knows that being emotional sometimes makes her feel everything too much, and that's why she can't stop herself. “Have you ever found her attractive? Have you ever thought about—something?”
“This—she's beautiful—you think so too.” Minji feels cornered.
“I didn't ask you that.”
“You sound crazy. I don't know what you want to hear now.”
“You're not answering the question. That's enough for me.” Hanni wishes she could explain her feelings, but she feels a mix of sadness and anger, and she hates herself for it.
“I can't believe you're getting mad about this,” Minji says as she gets up from the floor and walks out of the room.