aemondsrhaenyra

Latest Posts by aemondsrhaenyra

YOUR (NOT SO) FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SUPERHERO | hwang hyunjin x fem ! reader

cursing & smut & fluff & slight angst & rivals au & university au & hyunjin as spider-man au & fuck buddies au & mentions of food & mentions of death & slight mentions of blood & more under the cut !! MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

hyunjin had been your academic rival for as long as you could remember, even before university. in your opinion, he was the biggest asshole you'd ever met. what you didn't know was that hyunjin had a teeny tiny little secret. he was spider-man.

WARNINGS | vaginal penetration (p in v), fingering (f receiving), protected sex & unprotected sex (discussed beforehand, but wrap it before you tap it), degradation (reader receiving), praise (reader & hyune receiving), lots of pet names (good girl, might be a princess in there, baby, sweetheart, etc.), hyunjin is a little bit of a dick but he redeems himself, reader wears hyunjin's shirt, small fight scene but not too graphic, hyunjin & reader argue a lot, hyunjin & reader are both a little mean to each other, bff yeji who knocks sense into reader, guy in the chair jisung, hyunjin & reader are a little stupid about their feelings but its okay, let me know if i missed anything important !!

WORDS | 25k ( approx. 1hr & 24min read)

enjoy my loves ‹3 please reblog and leave some feedback if you read through to the end ‹3

You didn’t like to say you “hated” people, but when it came to Hwang Hyunjin, it took every ounce of your strength not to say you did. He was cocky, arrogant, and he was smart. That was probably what you disliked most about him. It didn’t seem fair that someone as unbearably smug, overconfident, and conceited as him was also an academic genius. He was on the same level of arrogance as the jocks who had roamed the halls of your high school, but he, unfortunately, wasn’t as airheaded as they were. If he was, you may have been able to feel sorry for him. Instead, you had to face his annoying comments and unfair intelligence. 

“What’d you get on your physics exam, yn?” Hyunjin asked, leaning back in his seat to try and peek at your paper. 

You smirked at him in return, knowing full well he hadn’t studied for this particular exam (you’d overheard him talking about it with his friend, Han Jisung, before class the day of the exam). You felt confident you’d gotten a better score on the exam than he did, so you grinned as you displayed your exam. When you showed the paper to him, a big “95%” stared back at him. 

But your feeling of triumph didn’t last long. The smirk fell from your lips as he showed his paper to you. 97%. Your jaw dropped in disbelief. “How the fuck?” 

“I’m just that smart,” Hyunjin laughed, pulling his paper away and tucking it into his bag. “I’ve been doing physics since I was a kid, though, so don’t feel bad. There’s no way you could score better than me.” 

“You didn’t even study!” 

Needless to say, you were fuming. It wasn’t fair how effortlessly subjects like math and science and physics came to him. It came easier to you than it did to some others, but it was still hard work. It irritated you to no end that he didn’t have to work nearly as hard as you did. 

He shrugged, annoying smirk still plastered on his face. He leaned back in his seat again, hands behind his head as he kept his eyes fixed on you. “Guess I just don’t need to.” 

You rolled your eyes, lips closed tightly and jaw clenched. If you opened your mouth, you were certain you’d say something you would regret—something truly nasty. Thankfully, you were saved from a bout of bickering with Hyunjin by your professor beginning the lesson for the day. 

You tried not to let Hyunjin get to you. It wouldn’t help anything; it would only make you more bitter. You also tried to pay attention to what your professor was teaching, but your mind only drifted back to the cocksure man seated in front of you, hardly even glancing at the front of the classroom. Hyunjin seemed to know exactly how to push your buttons—how to make you feel most insecure and most angry. 

You hardly registered class ending, hardly registered yourself packing up your bag and hurrying out of the classroom. You didn’t notice Hyunjin watching you leave, didn’t notice the way his eyes softened with concern for a split second as you stormed past him. 

Truthfully, he’d never meant for your little rivalry to get so out of hand. Sure, he was the one always picking on you and he was the one who’d started the battle of wits and academic achievement in the first place. But he hadn’t ever meant to turn into someone you genuinely hated. And as time went on, he found himself growing tired of your petty arguments. You did get on his last nerve, but he wasn’t trying to be a bad guy. 

He sighed as he packed up his own things, drained from his interaction with you. He looked up as Jisung walked over to him but didn’t greet him, so Jisung crossed his arms, “Are you finally feeling guilty about the stupid rivalry you started with yn?” 

“As if,” Hyunjin scoffed, glaring at the, now empty, doorway you’d disappeared through. “I mean, yeah, I feel like an asshole. But it’s like… I can’t stop. Her existence grates on my nerves.” 

“What did she even do anyways? You’ve been competing with her in academics since high school.” 

“I don’t really… remember, I guess. But, she’s always trying to “one up” me and I hate that.” Hyunjin sighed, following Jisung out of the classroom. 

Your voice pulled Hyunjin out of his thoughts and he turned to see you leaning against the wall, talking to your friends while you showed them something on your phone. He stopped walking, trying to hear what you were saying. He didn’t even know why he was so concerned with what you were talking about, but maybe it would be something he could use to tease you with later. 

“...and after watching this video eight times in a row, I think it’s safe to say that I’m a little obsessed with Spider-Man.”

Your friend, Chaeryoung, snorted and pushed your phone back at you. “Yn, you’ve been obsessed with Spider-Man since he saved your dog from getting hit by that car our junior year of high school.”

“Yeah,” Yeji patted you on the shoulder, shooting you a knowing smile, “and you’re literally the president of an online Spider-Man fanclub.” 

You whined, pouting dramatically as you slipped your phone back into your pocket. “Guys, just let me pretend this is my breaking point.” 

Hyunjin couldn’t help the smirk that played across his lips, his good mood restored. Without even knowing it, you were gushing over him.

“Dude, let’s go. We’re going to be late to biochem,” Jisung tugged on Hyunjin’s arm, pulling him in the direction of their biochem class. 

Hyunjin and Jisung walked past you and your friends and he ignored the harsh glare you shot him, willing himself not to glance in your direction. He figured you wouldn’t appreciate the smirk that still tugged at the corners of his mouth and he didn’t want to strike up another argument while he was on his way to class. 

“I cannot stand Hwang Hyunjin,” you all but growled as he stalked past you and your friends. You were still hurt and upset about your earlier encounter with him. 

Yeji rolled her eyes at him as he walked past and crossed her arms. “He’s an asshole. I’m sorry he’s such a cocky son of a bitch to you.” 

“It’s not your fault,” you huffed, looking away from him and focusing on the girls in front of you. “I shouldn’t be so bothered by it. After all, we’re adults. But still… I can’t help but feel bothered every time he talks about his fucking grades and how smart he is.”

“Valid, honestly. He’s a huge prick to you. I don’t get why he has to act like a fucking child,” Chaeryoung hissed, watching as Hyunjin disappeared around a corner.

You shrugged and pushed yourself away from the wall, shouldering your bag and walking toward the exit of the building. “Let’s just stop talking about him. Do you guys want to come to the cafe with me? I have some homework I need to do and I need to start studying for this next exam.” 

“Sure, I’ll tell Ryujin, Lia, and Yuna to meet us there.” Chaeryoung pulled out her own phone, sending a message to the group chat you had with your five friends.

As you walked to the cafe, you were vaguely aware of Yeji and Chaeryoung bickering over something (probably irrelevant). You just couldn’t stop your mind from wandering back to Hyunjin. It was honestly such a shame that he was such a dick—it ruined his beautiful face. It was upsetting that such a pretty face was stuck on someone with such a terrible attitude. 

By the time you arrived at the cafe, Ryujin, Lia, and Yuna were already there, waiting at a large corner booth for you, Yeji, and Chaeryoung. You all ordered your drinks and once you’d all received your orders, you settled in, catching each other up on the things that had happened while you were apart. You spoke last, explaining what had happened between you and Hyunjin only an hour before.

“What a jerk!” Lia gasped, taking an angry sip of her drink. 

Ryujin nodded in agreement, “I know I’ve said it before, but, seriously, just ignore him. He keeps picking at you because you give him a reaction—attention. Ignoring him seems like the best option.” 

While part of you agreed with this, the other part of you wanted to be petty and wanted to keep reacting. And you knew deep down that there was no way you would stop your rivalry against him until you were better than he was. Getting a better score on the next physics exam was a necessity. Losing to Hyunjin was simply not an option for you at this point. 

“But,” Yeji interjected, giving Ryujin a look, “we know you won’t go down without a fight when it comes to Hyunjin. So we’ll help you study for your physics exam and help you ace it. That’ll show him, yeah?” 

You smiled back at her, grateful that she knew you well enough to know there was no stopping you once you had made up your mind. “Thanks guys. It really does mean a lot to me. I know you probably think this rivalry with Hyunjin is stupid and it is. But we’re so far in, I can’t just… stop.” 

Yuna placed a comforting hand on your shoulder while Yeji nodded in understanding. Ryujin offered you a knowing smile and Lia squeezed your hand from across the table while Chaeryoung grinned playfully. You were grateful for your friends, grateful that they were so supportive of you, even when you were acting petty or doing something stupid. 

A loud noise outside pulled you out of your thoughts and you turned to see what was happening. Your eyes widened when you saw Spider-Man out in the street, in the middle of fighting a villain you’d never seen before. Your friends were quick to react, pulling on your arms and trying to get you to move so you could all go somewhere safer.

“Yn, let’s go,” Yeji yelled, lifting you out of your seat by your arm and pulling you towards the exit of the cafe. 

You finally snapped out of your daze and followed them, trying to avoid objects that flew through the air, colliding into buildings. Large pieces of a crumbling building crashed down around you, separating you from your friends and trapping you against the wall of a building that was still standing. You could hear Ryujin yelling for you, but you couldn’t tell what she was saying over the ringing in your ears. “Go on without me! I’ll be okay!” 

But truthfully, you were terrified. If more debris fell, you had nowhere to take cover or protect yourself. You couldn’t even be sure that Spider-Man would save you—there were bound to be other people who needed help on the streets and what if he couldn’t see you and, thus, didn’t know you needed to be saved?

You looked up over your head when you heard a loud rumbling, a sound you knew meant more of the building was crashing down. You crouched down, your hands clamped tightly over your head. Realistically, you knew this wouldn’t do anything to deter the falling debris, but it made you feel a little less scared. You waited for the weight you would undoubtedly feel when concrete slammed down onto you, but it never came. You peeked up nervously, shocked to see the debris caught in a web mere inches over your head. 

An arm clad in red and blue reached down, wrapping around you and pulling you out of the rubble you were trapped in. You clung to the hero as he swung you up above the stable buildings and left you on a random rooftop, making sure your legs were steady before he let go of you. “That was a close one, yeah? Good thing I made it just in time. Are you okay?” 

You wanted to say so many things—thank him, tell him how much you adored him—but words eluded you as you stared at him, wide-eyed and shocked. So all you could muster was a slow, shaky nod of your head. You could see the way he relaxed at that and your eyes were glued to his shoulders which he rolled back as if to release pent-up pressure. 

“Good. I should go.” He grinned at you as he saluted playfully. You couldn’t see the smile, but you could hear it in his voice. You smiled back a little as he ran to the edge of the building, “That thug isn’t going to stop himself. I think he might have some self control issues.” 

You couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped you as Spider-Man leapt off the roof—the joke wasn’t even funny, you were just grateful to be alive. You watched him swinging back to the villain who was still wreaking havoc in the city’s center. You stood, shocked, for a moment longer before you pulled your phone out of your pocket (it was, thankfully, completely intact) to call your friends. 

“Yn, where are you? Are you okay?” Yeji’s worried voice spoke before you even had a chance to tell her you were okay. You could hear the commotion of the other four girls talking over one another in the background, trying to figure out if you were alright. 

“I’m fine!” There was a brief moment of quiet, allowing you to finally speak. “I’m okay. Spider-Man saved me. I… I’m not sure where I’m at, but I’m on a random roof. I’m going to get down using the fire escape and then I’ll let you know where I’m at once I can find a street sign.” 

The five girls all started talking at once again and you couldn’t help but smile. Despite your near death experience, you weren’t scared or shaky. You were just relieved. Relieved to be alive and be able to talk to your friends again. You stayed on the phone with them as you climbed down the many, many flights of rickety fire escape stairs. When you made it to the ground, you found a street sign and told them where you were. Luckily, they weren’t too far off and you met them halfway. 

“Oh, thank God, you’re safe,” Yuna breathed as she hugged you tightly. 

Lia was next, wrapping you in a hug that was even tighter than Yuna’s. “We were so worried. I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

Each of the girls took turns hugging you and murmuring words of relief and happiness that you were safe. Until Ryujin. She hugged you briefly and then pulled away smirking like she’d just won the lottery. “So, tell us about Spider-Man.” 

Hyunjin slipped through the bedroom window of his tiny apartment, stumbling into his desk before eventually collapsing on his bed. He breathed out deeply, trying to ignore the pain in his entire body. His ribs ached and he thought that they may be broken. If not for his enhanced healing factor, he would be concerned, but this wasn’t his first rodeo and he was no stranger to cracked ribs and body aches. 

“Hyunjin? Is that you?” Jisung’s voice rang throughout Hyunjin’s small studio apartment and he shot up quickly, wincing at the sting. Shit. He’d forgotten that Jisung was coming over after class. “I made it here just before that monster started rampaging in the city center but I wasn’t sure when you’d be ba—” 

Hyunjin was standing in the middle of his bedroom, a panicked look on his face and the top half of his Spider-Man suit hanging around his waist. Shit shit shit. Jisung’s eyes traveled from his bruised torso to the Spider-Man suit that was still clinging to his legs and then back to his face. 

“What the fuck!” 

“Jisung, be quiet,” Hyunjin hissed, quick to slap a hand over his best friend’s gaping mouth, “I have neighbors.” 

When Hyunjin took his hand away, Jisung spluttered, eyes wide as he tried to wrap his mind around this new information. “B-but you’re Spid—” 

“Jisung, shut the fuck up—” Hyunjin winced as he interrupted Jisung. Raising his voice took more air and more air meant bigger breaths and bigger breaths felt like a thousand shards of glass in his lungs as they pressed against his ribcage. 

Jisung blinked, quickly pulling himself out of his stupor as he noticed the pain his friend was in. “You’re hurt.”

“I’ll be fine.” He shook his head, waving off Jisung’s concern as he struggled out of the rest of his suit and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt instead. He laid on his bed once more, closing his eyes as he sighed. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.” 

“Right… Well, uh, I brought that book on quantum physics you asked me to grab from my dad’s personal library. But if you’re not up for it anymore, I can go.”

Hyunjin didn’t open his eyes as he spoke, “No it’s okay. I’ll be fine in a couple hours. You can stay until then. Put on a movie or something. I just need a nap.” 

“Oh, yeah for sure.” Jisung was quiet for a few minutes and Hyunjin assumed he was finding something to entertain himself. But Jisung couldn’t sit still for longer than five minutes, he just had to know— “So, can I be your ‘guy in the chair’?” 

“Sure, as long as you don’t tell anyone.” Hyunjin breathed slowly, halfway asleep already. “Cool… cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.” 

When Hyunjin woke up from his nap, Jisung was closely inspecting the Spider-Man suit under the lamp on Hyunjin’s desk. Hyunjin sat up, groggy and a little sore, but not in nearly as much pain as he had been before he’d slept. “Ji, what are you doing?” 

“Did you make this yourself?” Jisung spun around, face lit up with excitement like a kid on Christmas. “The thread work is insane. And what material did you use? It can’t be regular cloth. Right?”  

Hyunjin shrugged. While a part of him was worried that Jisung knew (not only was Jisung known for his inability to keep a secret, but he was at risk if villains ever found out Hyunjin’s identity), he was also excited he could finally talk about this with someone. “Well, it’s mostly Spandex, but there’s layered fabric woven in. I do most of the needlework by hand which takes awhile, but I make do.” 

“Do you have back ups? What happens if it gets torn during a fight or something?”

“I have one extra, but if they get torn I just patch them up and re-sew them unless they’re ruined beyond repair,” Hyunjin shrugged again, standing up and stretching his sore muscles. 

Jisung watched in awe. “Dude, you were like, struggling to breathe and could hardly stand not even two hours ago. Now you’re fine? Wait, wait, wait. Tell me about all the powers you have.” 

“I’m still a little sore, but my ribs are probably healed by now thanks to my enhanced healing factor. It’s a lot slower than some heroes you’ve probably heard of, but it gets the job done. Other than that, I obviously have that wall-crawling thing, enhanced strength, speed, agility—you know, the works—and my spider-sense.” 

“So when you say enhanced strength… that’s like, how strong a spider would be if it was human sized?” 

“Uh… yeah, I guess.” 

Jisung leaned back in the desk chair and stared at the ceiling, “I am so glad spiders are tiny. I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with a human-sized spider.” 

Hyunjin just shook his head and laughed before he sat down on the floor next to him. Jisung didn’t look at him, still lost in his thoughts. After a long moment of silence, Hyunjin cleared his throat, looking up at his friend, “So, do you have that book?” 

“Oh, right!” Jisung jumped out of his seat and walked over to his backpack, rummaging through it until he pulled out a thick, hardcover book. Quantum Physics. The forbidden fruit. It would give him the edge he needed to ensure that he did better than you on the next physics exam. The lessons you were doing weren’t even about quantum physics, but if he could understand that he was sure to understand everything else. “What do you need this for anyways? We’re not even doing quantum physics in class.” 

“It’ll help me do better than yn. It was close on this past exam, I can’t afford to slip behind.” 

Jisung was quiet for a second, blinking in disbelief, “You do realize it’s not that deep right? Like… it won’t be the end of the world if she does better than you on one test.” 

Hyunjin groaned, laying on the floor and opening the book, beginning to read the contents carefully. “You don’t get it. It’s… more than that, somehow. I feel like I have to prove myself around her. Like, I have to be better.” 

“You sound so stupid.” 

“Whatever,” Hyunjin grumbled, flipping through the pages of the book in front of him and ignoring the questioning look Jisung shot at him. 

The two boys didn’t talk much the rest of the evening. Jisung spent his time inspecting Hyunjin’s suit further, his web shooters, and his equipment. Hyunjin spent his time reading up on quantum physics and making mental notes of things to look into further at the university library the next day. The silence didn’t bother either of them; they’d been friends long enough that it didn’t matter whether they talked for hours or sat in silence. 

“Hey, Jin,” Jisung spoke after a couple hours of entertaining himself. Hyunjin looked up at him before he went back to reading his book, but the split second glance was all Jisung needed to know that Hyunjin was, in fact, listening to him. “Did you make your own web shooters too? And the equipment?” 

“Well, the equipment is a mix of things I’ve bought from… well, I don’t want to call it the black market but—”

“You bought shit off the black market?! Aren’t you supposed to be, like, a hero?” 

Hyunjin clicked his tongue in annoyance, “Oh, shut up. It wasn’t the black market per se. Anyways, the equipment is a mix of that and things that I’ve assembled myself. And I did make the web shooters, although that took a shit ton of time. And so much experimenting. I exploded artificial webbing over my bedroom so many times trying to figure that shit out. Every single time, my mom would come up and knock on the door too and I’d be frantically trying to clean up the mess. But, to this day she still has no idea. And I want to keep it that way.” 

Jisung nodded as if to agree, but confusion was still evident on his face. “Why can’t you tell anyone?”

“Anyone who knows is at a higher risk of getting hurt by any of the villains or thugs I have to deal with. And if not that, you could be traced back to me and not only would my identity be revealed but even more people could get hurt. Which is why I didn’t tell you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of nice that you know now,” Hyunjin smiled at his friend to reassure him, but Jisung didn’t smile back. “It’s less weight on my shoulders. But if anything were to happen to you because of me. I’d never forgive myself.” 

“I guess I… never really thought of that. You’ve had to carry all of this on your own for so long… You have me now, though. And I promise I won’t tell anyone.” Jisung finally looked Hyunjin in the eyes and returned the reassuring smile Hyunjin had offered him. Hyunjin breathed out in relief. 

“You’re not great at keeping secrets—”

“I can keep this one! If I tell, you won’t let me be your ‘guy in the chair’ anymore, so I have an incentive to keep my mouth shut!” 

Hyunjin couldn’t help but laugh at that. The inner workings of Jisung’s brain always had been and always would be a mystery to him, but if being his ‘guy in the chair’ kept Jisung from spilling his biggest secret, he’d let him. It felt nice to have someone to talk to about Spider-Man. It felt nice to not carry the weight alone anymore. Hyunjin was glad that it was Jisung. 

“Guys, come on, nothing really happened, you don’t have to stay the night!” You tried to reason with your friends as they all came into your apartment, overnight bags in tow. After you’d all safely escaped the danger zone, your friends had insisted they grab their things to stay the night with you and Yeji. 

“Yeah, we know that,” Chaeryoung waved you off, setting her things down in your room, “but we want to stay the night.” 

“It’s not a bother, yn, really. It’ll be fun! We haven’t had a sleepover in so long!” Lia pouted, putting her bag down as well. 

You watched as Ryujin and Yuna pulled their skincare products out of their bags and their headbands as well so they could do their nightly routines. They’d always been so meticulous about it, it made you laugh a little. Yeji walked into your room with a tray full of snacks, already dressed in her pajamas. 

“So,” she set the tray on your bed, “tell us everything.” 

You told them everything that had happened from the time you’d been separated from them until you’d been reunited. They were the perfect listeners, watching you with wide eyes as you told them the story, gasping at just the right time and letting out squeals of excitement when Spider-Man entered the story. 

“And now, we’re here and I’m fine.” 

“Is he just as dreamy in real life as he is in the videos?” Lia asked, hearts practically forming in her eyes as she spoke.

“He was…” you paused, trying to find the right words to say. “He was funny, but maybe I only thought that because I was relieved that I was alive. And his voice… is it odd to say that he had an attractive voice? And when he was holding onto me… his arms were so strong.” 

The girls blinked at you, silent for a moment, until Ryujin broke the silence. “Soooo… he was even dreamier in real life?” 

You laughed and nodded, which set the girls into a cacophonous conversation, voices all overlapping. It was chaos, but you didn’t mind. You were still running on adrenaline—the high of being alive. And you were grateful to have friends who cared so much about you. You felt like nothing could ruin your mood ever again. You were just so happy. 

But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. Your “high on life” spirit was crushed the second you walked into your physics classroom the next day and saw Hyunjin sitting hunched over his desk, scribbling in a notebook like a madman. You scoffed and hurried past him, taking your seat behind him and pulling your own notebook out. 

“Good morning sunshine.” 

You looked up, scowling at the smirking man in front of you. You didn’t answer him, looking back down at your notebook and labeling the page you were on with the date and the lesson you were supposedly working on. 

“You know, it’s rude to ignore people when they’re talking to you,” Hyunjin all but growled at you. The change in his demeanor made you snap your head up to look at him. There was none of the usual playful mirth in his eyes; they were darker, more mysterious. You ignored the miniscule shiver that made its way down your spine as he fixed his eyes on you. 

“Exactly,” you countered, finally finding your voice, “It’s rude to ignore people. You’re not a person, you’re just an asshole.” 

He didn’t retaliate like he normally would, just scoffed and turned around in his seat going back to writing in his notebook furiously. You peeked around his shoulder a bit, trying to see what book he was so avidly taking notes from. When you saw the title, your face blanched and your heart dropped to your stomach. Quantum Physics? There was no way you could beat his scores if he was proficient in quantum material. 

You scoffed, “Studying up on quantum physics? Finally realize you have to put in extra work to be smarter than me?” 

“Trust me, I don’t have to put in extra work for it. Your last test grade is proof of that.” 

You felt like you could cry. It wasn’t even that deep, it was just true, but all of the pent up emotions you’d had towards Hyunjin were pushing against the dam, ready to break through. You stood quickly and gathered your things, rubbing at your eyes and forcing the tears away. Hyunjin watched as you hurried out of the room, suddenly feeling bad. Were you crying because of him? 

He did feel bad he’d made you cry, but he was also being selfish and only thinking of himself. He’d woken up on the wrong side of the bed. He was still sore from the day before, he’d been horny as fuck all day but hadn’t had any time to get off, Jisung had been extra talkative and he had to keep reminding him not to talk about Spider-Man when they were around people, and all the quantum physics readings he’d been doing were turning his brain to mush. He needed to let off some steam but he wouldn’t even have time after class because he’d promised himself he’d patrol the streets for a couple hours before going home. 

He dropped his head on the desk, feeling like more of an asshole than usual. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Jisung standing over him, looking at him sympathetically. “You’ve been really snappy today. Maybe you should take a breather. It won’t kill you to skip one class.” 

“I can’t,” Hyunjin shook his head. The thought of skipping a class and missing something important gave him anxiety, “I just can’t.” 

“I know you feel like you can’t, but trust me, just this once, you can. You should. Go to the gym, take a nap, hell, go jack off somewhere but for the love of God, get out of here.” 

Hyunjin swallowed thickly. The thought of getting himself off was too tempting right now. He’d been feeling hot and bothered all day and just thinking about touching himself made his dick twitch. So he nodded and stood, gathering his things, hardly registering Jisung’s voice reassuring him that he’d cover for him. 

As Hyunjin was leaving the building, he passed the library and paused. He looked at the doors of the library, contemplating whether or not he should go inside. He eventually decided that he would grab the reading material he needed and leave after that. If he didn’t get it now, he’d have to come back another time and he didn’t have class in the science building for the rest of the week. 

He made a beeline for the physics section of the library, searching through various books on quantum physics for the ones he wanted—the ones that would delve deeper into the theories he was most interested in and thought to be most helpful. He had a book in his hand that he was interested in but when he turned to look at the other shelf he ran into a person who was turning to look at the shelf he was on. 

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention—” 

He looked down where you were busy collecting your books from the floor and his jaw dropped and then clenched as his gaze hardened. You looked up at him at the same time and when you realized who it was you glared at him. 

“God, it’s like you’re trying to make my life absolutely miserable,” you hissed as you stood, stack of books in your arms and your book bag hanging on your shoulder. “Stay away from me!” 

“You make it sound like I was following you. I see you enough in class, there’s no way in hell I’d try to find you outside of it. You stay away from me.”

Neither of you said anything for a long moment, you just glared at each other in the middle of the physics aisle of the library, several books about quantum physics in your hands. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. You were suddenly very aware of how heavily he was breathing and the way your own chest rose and fell quickly. 

Your mind drifted between anger and arousal as you stared at him. You’d never really taken the time to look at him before. Never noticed how attractive he was. Sure, you’d known he was pretty, but standing inches away from you, eyes dark with anger, jaw clenched and dyed blonde hair tousled from running his fingers through it, you couldn’t ignore that he was hot as fuck. But you’d never let him win. Not without a fight at the very least. 

“Get out of my way.” His voice was low as he spoke, words spoken almost carefully, yet laced with venom. 

“No.”

His eyes narrowed and he scoffed. “Move.” 

“Make me.”

There was something new in his eyes now, something different than anger. He grabbed your wrist, dragging you out of the aisle behind him. He checked out his book and waited for you to get yours sorted out and then he continued to drag you out of the library. You didn’t know where he was taking you, and you knew you should be struggling or asking him to leave you alone. But you were curious to see what he was going to do and he just looked so hot—you felt dazed. 

“Where are we going?” 

“You want to act like a brat? Then I’m going to treat you like one.” His gaze softened ever so slightly as he looked back at you. “I-I mean, if you want to come with me. Fuck, what am I doing.” He let go of your wrist and took a stumbling step back, worry taking over his features. 

You reached back out for him. “I want to come. A-are we going to your place?” 

“Yeah,” his voice was soft now and he looked down where you were holding his hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so angry—”

“I thought it was hot,” you shrugged, smirking at him. He looked away, but you could still see the blush that had formed across his cheeks.

You didn’t say anything else the rest of the walk and he didn’t either. He didn’t let go of your hand, but you didn’t protest. You liked the feeling of his hand in yours. He looked calmer now, but you could still see traces of the anger in his eyes. 

The walk to his apartment was relatively short, but that was mostly thanks to the fact that he had long legs and had been walking quickly, leaving you to jog slightly to keep up with him. When you got to his apartment, you barely had time to look around before he was telling you to set your stuff down and follow him. 

You stepped out of your shoes, draped your coat over the back of the couch, and left your bag and library books on the kitchen counter. He had already disappeared to another part of the small apartment, but it wasn’t hard to find him—after all, it was only a one bedroom apartment. You took a deep breath before you walked into his room. The deep breath, in hindsight, was a great idea because the second you crossed the threshold you were pushed against the wall, pinned there by Hyunjin whose eyes were now as dark and heavy as before. 

“You make me so infuriated.” Hyunjin’s breath was hot against your neck as he leaned in, forehead resting against your shoulder as he spoke. “I really can’t stand you.” 

You were having a hard time focusing with him this close to you. You felt like you couldn’t breathe. “I can’t stand you.”

He scoffed and pressed a brief kiss to your neck and you stiffened, not wanting him to notice the shiver that snaked down your spine at the contact. 

“Really? ‘S that why you’re always picking fights?” 

“You’re the one who always starts fights, dipshit. I’m just trying to defend myself.” You breathed in sharply when he nipped at your neck, sucking a dark mark into your skin. 

“Mmm,” he pressed kisses to your jaw, laughing darkly as he spoke again. “You love the attention, though. Otherwise you’d just ignore me. You like that I spend my time paying attention to you and no one else.”

You shook your head, biting your lip to try and suppress the moan that made its way up your throat. “N-no.” 

“No? Hm, then I guess you won’t mind if I send you home now.” 

“W-wait.” You cursed yourself inside your head. You should’ve left. What were you doing? “I… Maybe I do like it… a little bit.” 

What were you saying? You felt like your mouth was speaking faster than your brain could process what you were even saying. Your body was speaking for you and you knew you were acting irrationally. But somehow… you didn’t care. 

“Of course you do. You’ve always been a little obsessed with me, haven’t you?” 

Hyunjin’s hand slid from where it was resting on the wall behind you, moving to hold your hip and then up under your shirt to hold your waist. You shuddered at the feeling of his cold fingers against your bare skin, his blunt nails dragging up your side gave you goosebumps. 

“I—” You whined, unable to think straight and cursing yourself for allowing him to seduce you. “N-no. Not obsessed.” 

“Oh, come on now. You can be honest with me. Stop fucking denying everything,” The teasing tone of his voice made your legs shake. You’d always hated that stupid smirk and his stupid teasing, but in this context it just made you unreasonably wet. 

“I-I just… I can’t back down from a fight.” 

Hyunjin scoffed but didn’t push you anymore. Though he wanted to tease you more, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could wait. “I can’t wait anymore. But I need to be sure that you’re okay with this.”

“You, the biggest dick I’ve ever met, are asking for my consent?” As soon as the words left your mouth, you wished you could take them back. It was basic human decency and though you thought Hyunjin was an arrogant asshole you didn’t really think he was below human decency. You hadn’t meant to accuse him of being someone so terrible.

“Well, I mean, yeah.” Hurt flashed briefly across his face and you felt a twinge of guilt in the pit of your stomach. But it was quickly replaced by the dark, lustful gaze he’d sported up until that point. “Though, I really do hope you say yes.” 

And of course, with how riled up you were at this point, how could you say no to him? So you nodded quickly, moving to pull your shirt over your head, only for him to stop you. You looked at him confused, brows furrowed as you tried to figure out what was going through his mind. 

“I need to hear you say it, pretty.” 

“I…” It took a lot to swallow your pride, especially since you’d tried so hard for so long to come across as an enemy of Hyunjin’s. “I want this, want you. I need you.” 

That was all it took for him to take the hem of your shirt from your hands and tug it over your head, pulling his own off immediately after. His hands were all over you, your hips, your waist, your boobs, as he kissed you fervently, tongue intertwined with yours. He grabbed your throat, pulling away from you. His grip wasn’t tight enough to block off any of your air, but just having his hand wrapped around your throat made you whimper. 

“I want to take my time with you, but I don’t think I can,” Hyunjin groaned against your lips, breath heavy as he pulled away for air. 

“Then don’t,” you gasped, pulling him closer to you, “You don’t have to go slow.” 

He shook his head then, looking you in the eyes with an expression more vulnerable than you’d ever seen him. “But we’ll go back to hating each other after this. So I don’t want to rush it. I want to enjoy you for a little bit before we’re fighting tooth and nail again.” 

Your heart pounded uncomfortably against your ribcage, but you pushed the feeling away. You didn’t answer him, only pulled his lips to yours once more. You didn’t want to think about your rivalry. You had, admittedly, been feeling restless lately, all pent up. Though it was with someone you considered your rival, you were more than a little desperate for relief. 

Hyunjin guided you away from the wall and to his bed where he laid you down surprisingly gently. You watched as he tugged his pants and underwear down his legs, eyes fixed on his hardened dick. He was bigger than you would have thought. Not that you’d ever thought about how big his dick was. At least, not consciously. 

You shimmied out of your own pants and looked up at him, observing the way he jerked himself off a few times, head thrown back, before leaning over you to grab a condom from his bedside table. You pouted, intending on teasing him, “You’re not even going to stretch me out first?” 

He paused, still reaching over you for the condom. He looked a little embarrassed as he sat back on his heels in front of you, condom waiting on the bedside table while you watched him. He laid in between your legs, prying them apart a little so that he could fit comfortably. 

“Sorry,” he murmured, eyes fixed on your dripping cunt. “It’s been awhile since I… I guess I just got a little ahead of myself. Do you just want me to stretch you with my fingers or do you want my mouth too?” 

“Both.” 

He swallowed thickly, but didn’t protest. He leaned in, teasing your entrance with the tip of his tongue before wrapping his lips around your clit, fingers coming to circle your clenching hole. You couldn’t help the moan that squeezed its way out of your throat. Of course he was good at this. You might feel angry about it afterwards—feel ruined for anyone else—but for now you were too lost in how good it felt. 

He pushed two fingers inside of you, scissoring them open to stretch you, little by little. He moaned when he felt how tight you were and you groaned back when you felt it against your clit. When he felt you were ready, he added another finger. You felt so full and yet not full enough. 

You pushed his face away when you felt close to cumming and he looked up at you with wide, concerned eyes. The kind of eyes you couldn’t look at for too long unless you wanted to fall for him. Which you certainly did not want. 

“Are you okay?” 

You nodded and pulled him up to you, kissing him and tasting yourself on his lips. “Mmm, yeah. I just want you inside now.” 

His stupid smirk was back. You didn’t have to tell him twice. He reached for the condom again and ripped it open using his teeth. Your whole body shivered in anticipation. He held himself over you and you took a moment to observe his body. You realized he was more muscular than you’d thought he was. His clothes hid the muscles that you could now see—they hid the abs that tightened and flexed as he rolled the condom onto his cock, hid the muscles of his biceps and forearms that were so visible as he held himself up over you. 

“It might sting a little, but I’ll go slow.” 

His voice pulled you out of your thoughts and you looked away from his body to watch his face as he positioned his dick at your entrance. He wasn’t looking back at you, though, his eyes were focused on watching his dick slide into you. He groaned as he pushed in, inch by inch. 

You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, wanting to ground yourself. It didn’t sting, but the fullness was a feeling like no other. It was overwhelming and everything you’d ever needed all at once. You hated how perfect he felt. Of course he was great at this too. He was just good at everything. And you hated it. 

“M-move,” you gasped after only a moment. He’d bottomed out not even a second before and you were already asking for more. 

“Such a naughty girl, aren’t you? Already asking for more. I’ll give it to you, but only because I need this just as much as you do.”

He pounded into you, finding his rhythm quickly. He watched you closely paying attention to what made you moan louder. He adjusted his position and angle every so often, searching for something that would make you feel as good as he did. He may have been your rival, but he wasn’t cruel. Sex was supposed to feel good for both parties involved. 

“How’s that? Bet you wish you’d been nicer to me now, hm?” He continued to speak, but you could hardly focus on the words coming out of his mouth, too lost in how good he was making you feel. “Maybe if you’d been nice to me we could’ve been doing this regularly instead of bickering over fucking homework.” 

The tip of his dick nudged your sweet spot and you cried out, clinging to his back and whining his name. It stroked his ego and made his smirk widen but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. “Pl-please I’m so, so close. Please, don’t stop.” 

“Fuck, I won’t. I can’t. Cunt’s too perfect. You feel so good. You’d be perfect if you didn’t have such a fucking attitude.” 

“W-well if you weren’t such an arrogant assh—” You couldn’t finish your thought as he slammed into that perfect spot again and again, chasing his own high and hoping to push you over the edge too. 

“Shut the fuck up,” he growled, never slowing down, even as he reached between your bodies to rub at your clit, just perfectly. His stamina was impressive, unlike anyone else you’d ever been with. “I like you better when you don’t say anything other than my name. Say it again for me.” 

You couldn’t resist. You knew it turned him on and it also benefited you. “Hyunjin. God, it feels so good. You feel so good.”

He didn’t speak, he couldn’t, and honestly, neither could you. His stamina surprised you—how was he even able to maintain the pace he’d set for himself? Other guys could never. Not only that, he seemed to be holding himself back from his own climax, like he was waiting for you. And the other guys you’d been with certainly were incapable of that. 

“F-fuck, Hyunjin, I’m cumming,” you finally gasped out, wrapping yourself around him tightly in an attempt to have him as deep inside of you as you could. 

“That’s it,” he murmured lowly, fucking you through your high, “Cum for me. Be a good girl for once in your fucking life and cum.” 

While you came down, you felt him fill the condom inside of you, hips stilling. He lowered himself slowly, avoiding crushing you beneath his weight. You were trying to catch your breath, staring at the ceiling. Beside you, Hyunjin didn’t even sound like he was out of breath at all. 

“How are you not exhausted?” you finally asked, looking over at him to find him already looking at you. 

He shrugged, signature smirk plastered on his lips once again. “I could go all day, babe.” 

You groaned and pushed him off of you, stumbling to your feet. He frowned as he watched you get up. He was quick to stand too, grabbing your hand silently and leading you to the bathroom. While you used the toilet, he grabbed a washcloth and soaked it in warm water. 

“At least let me help clean you up before you go. You don’t want to be all sticky and gross,” he mumbled, wiping the last traces of arousal from your body before tossing the washcloth in the hamper and helping you back to his room so you could put your clothes back on. 

You were already starting to feel sore and you were sure you’d feel it for the rest of the week at least. Fuck him for leaving such an impact on your body. You were right before. He’d definitely ruined you for anyone else. 

“You did what?” Yeji’s jaw was almost on the ground when you told her about your afternoon with Hyunjin. You were sitting at the kitchen counter with your head in your hands, guilt starting to kick in. But you weren’t sure if you were guilty that you had sex with your enemy or guilty that you enjoyed it. 

“I know,” you groaned looking at her. “It was stupid, but I… We both just… needed to let off some steam I guess. It just happened. Fuck, I hate him.” 

“Clearly not as much as you thought you did.” 

Her words made you pause. Because she was right. Clearly, you didn’t hate him as much as you’d thought you did if you were willing to have sex with him. But there was no way in hell you would admit it that easily. “He’s the biggest fucking asshole known to mankind, so why the hell would I ever let his stupid face and stupid smile and stupid laugh and stupid everything consume my brain? It was a one time thing, I swear.” 

Yeji just nodded. “I know, I know. He’s a dick. But you had sex with him. So you can’t deny there’s some sort of attraction.” 

“What am I going to say to the other girls?” You laid your head down on the counter, suddenly feeling stressed. Why did you even care what they thought? It didn’t matter if you were attracted to Hyunjin or not, he was still an ass and nothing he could say or do would change that. 

“You don’t have to explain yourself to them if you don’t feel like it.” 

You’d always appreciated that about Yeji—that she never made you feel like you had to share the parts of yourself you were uncomfortable sharing. She was kind and understanding and would never force you to tell people anything you didn’t want them to know. And she’d never share your secrets either. 

“Anyways,” she turned towards the stove, turning it on so that the pot of water she’d set there previously could come to a boil. “I’m making ramyeon. Do you want some?” 

“Sure.” You watched as Yeji made food and neither of you spoke about Hyunjin again for the rest of the evening. 

“Dude, you what?” Hyunjin cringed as Jisung all but yelled in his ear, looking away in embarrassment at his friend’s confrontation. “I mean, I know I told you to go let off some steam, but I didn’t expect it to be with her.” 

“I-it was an accident. She was being infuriating a-and I’ve been feeling so pent up lately and one thing led to another and—”

“Okay, you can stop there. I don’t want to hear the details of your sex escapade with your so-called enemy.” Jisung held up his hand before taking a large bite of the food in front of him. Hyunjin had invited him over again for the evening so that he could talk to him, maybe get some advice. That was his first mistake, honestly. Jisung wasn’t the best at advice, even if his heart was in the right place. 

“Right. Sorry.” 

“Wait, so, let me ask you one thing. Do you hate yn, or not? Because I can’t see how you’d have sex with someone you genuinely despised.” 

“I do. I-I mean, I thought I did. I don’t know? I-I’m so confused lately…” Hyunjin dropped his head into his hands, head spinning and thoughts dragging him in a million different directions. 

“Maybe you should talk to h—”

“Are you crazy?” Hyunjin looked at Jisung like he’d grown a second head. “She hates me. Even if I don’t hate her, there’s no way I can talk to her about it. She’d probably yell at me and tell me to leave her alone.”

Jisung was quiet for a moment but then he spoke with wisdom Hyunjin didn’t know he even had. “I think she’d be more upset if you ignored her afterwards. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who would be okay with being ignored after being so intimate with someone.” 

“I…” 

Hyunjin knew that Jisung was right, but he wasn’t sure if he could face you. How was he supposed to explain himself? Explain what happened? How was he supposed to explain that what was once so clear to him was now blurred and grey? And how was he supposed to accept it if you yelled at him and reminded him of the hatred you held in your heart for him?

“I don’t think I can.” 

Jisung shrugged and sighed. Hyunjin knew he was disappointed. “Suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

You jumped when you heard a small tapping noise against your bedroom window. You’d been studying at your desk, trying to wrap your mind around the quantum physics textbooks you’d borrowed from the library. You looked over at the window, expecting nothing to be there—after all, it was late, maybe you’d just imagined it. But to your surprise, there on the fire escape was Spider-Man. 

You were quick to stand, opening up the window, worried he may be hurt or need help. When you’d forced the window up enough for him to crawl in, you moved back, allowing him to enter your bedroom. You locked your bedroom door in case Yeji tried to come in, for some reason. “What are you doing here?” 

“I was patrolling and I wanted to check in on you. I… uh, I saw you through the window.” He rubbed at the back of his neck, sheepishly. “N-not that I was, you know, watching you. I just… looked over and you were there. I wanted to make sure you were… okay.” 

You smiled as he continued rambling, finding it cute how nervous he was in front of you. A literal superhero? Nervous around you? It was like a dream. “I’m okay.” 

“Cool…” He was quiet for a long moment before he turned back toward the window. “W-well since that’s all I came here for—” 

“Wait! Y-you don’t have to leave yet… if you don’t want to.” 

You surprised yourself. For the second time in one day, words were tumbling out of your mouth faster than your brain could process what you were saying. He seemed surprised that you were offering to let him stay, but his body, once rigid with anxiety, relaxed as he moved toward you. 

Before you really knew what was happening, you were both sitting on the floor as he explained quantum physics to you, making the occasional joke and teasing you when you struggled with concepts. Everything about talking to him was comfortable and somehow… familiar. You couldn’t put your finger on it. 

After over an hour of working on physics, the two of you were sitting in silence. He was looking around at your room, observing what you had tacked to your walls, what books were on your bookshelf, the pictures you had on your desk. You watched him quietly. “Is it… lonely being a superhero? I mean. You can’t really… tell people about it. Is it hard to have to keep such a big part of your life to yourself?” 

“It… was. But I’ve learned to handle it on my own. I’m used to it. Besides, it’s not like I don’t have friends when I’m not Spider-Man.” 

“Right.” You felt suddenly embarrassed—you hadn’t meant to offend him. 

“It’s okay. Spider-Man does take up a lot of time so, even though I have friends, I don’t really see them that often. Honestly, I wonder sometimes if they even consider me a friend anymore.” His words made you sad, but as you were about to say something, he stood walking towards the window. “I should… probably go. It’s late and you should rest.” 

“Yeah. Um, you’re always welcome to… stop by whenever you want. I could use the company. And the help with physics.” 

You could picture a smile stretched across his lips. You could hear it when he spoke. “If I’ve ever got an opening in my calendar, I’ll be sure to drop by.” 

You smiled too and watched as he climbed back out the window, swinging into the night. Even when you couldn’t see him anymore, you stared into the dark night, running through the events of the evening in your head. You closed your window and unlocked your door, peeking out to see if Yeji was still up (she wasn’t). When you finally laid down in your bed, you fell asleep easily, thoughts of the red and blue clad hero running through your mind.

When you woke the next morning you were still feeling giddy over your night spent with Spider-Man. You had a skip in your step as you entered your classroom. Not even Hyunjin could ruin your mood today. You sat down at your seat behind him and prepared your things for class. You briefly noticed the small smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. It seemed he was in a good mood too. 

For a moment, memories of the day before flashed in your mind and you shivered, squeezing your legs together and willing the thoughts to go away. He was quiet for several minutes before he turned around to look at you. For the first time, his eyes held sincerity rather than the usual mischievous glint they usually did. 

“Uh, yn, about yesterday—”

“Let’s just forget about it,” you cut him off, already feeling heat rising to your cheeks as he spoke. “That’s what you were going to say, right?” 

Confusion and defeat flashed in his eyes, but he dismissed it and you pretended you hadn’t noticed it. He swallowed thickly and nodded, offering you a half smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes the way his earlier smile had. “R-right. Forget it.” 

He turned around in his seat again and didn’t bother you the rest of the class period. For a moment, his lack of enthusiasm and the fact that he wasn’t bothering you concerned you. Was something seriously wrong? Maybe you were just overanalyzing it. You should be grateful he was letting you have some peace. Still, it didn’t feel quite right.

“Alright, I’ll be putting you in groups of two or three for our upcoming end of semester project. These groups were randomly generated and are non-negotiable.” Your professor’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts. You listened carefully, hoping with everything in you that you didn’t get put in a group with Hyunjin. Unfortunately, it would seem luck was not on your side. “Hyunjin, you’ll be paired up with yn.” 

You knew that your professor was well aware of your rivalry, having had to break up your quarrels in the past, so it surprised you that when you’d been randomly put into a group they had allowed it. You desperately wanted to protest and ask for a different partner, but considering your professor had already mentioned that the groups were non-negotiable, you kept your mouth shut, silently stewing over it.

When class ended, you didn’t pack up as quickly as you normally would, lingering just a little to see if Hyunjin would say anything before you left. You weren’t sure if you wanted him to mention the group project or the night before. But he didn’t mention either, instead opting to ignore you entirely, so you left, hiding outside the door to wait for him to leave. Maybe he’d talk to Jisung about what was wrong. For a moment, you questioned yourself. What were you doing? Why did you want to know what was wrong so badly? He’d only ever been annoying and rude to you, so why did you care if he was sad or not?  

You convinced yourself that you didn’t care, you just wanted something to hold over his head. You heard Jisung’s voice by the doorway, but it seemed as if they’d paused there for a moment, not crossing the threshold of the door. “So she said you should just forget it?” 

“I told you she would,” Hyunjin’s voice responded, sounding snappier than earlier. He sighed and you could imagine him running a hand over his face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m just… on edge, I guess. It’s been a long week.”

“Is it because of the Sp—”

“For fuck’s sake Jisung, you have got to stop bringing that up when we’re in public,” Hyunjin sighed, cutting his friend’s words short. 

“Right, right… But, is it?” 

You could picture Hyunjin nodding in response and you couldn’t help but wonder what it was. “Yeah, it is. But stop talking about that in public, or I swear to God, I will revoke all your privileges.” 

You heard them walk past and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding. You stayed behind the door a little longer to ensure that they were long gone before you revealed yourself. As you walked to your next class, you couldn’t stop thinking about what Hyunjin and Jisung had been talking about. You knew you had no right to eavesdrop, but you couldn’t change what you’d already done, and now your curiosity was killing you. What had Hyunjin so on edge? 

Hyunjin didn’t bother you for the rest of the week. Or the rest of the next. Or the rest of the week after that. He only spoke to you when you had to work on your class project together. It felt strange to you, but you didn’t question it. After all, you’d been complaining for years about how he wouldn’t leave you alone. Wasn’t this everything you’d asked for? Still though, it felt odd when he was civil with you over the project rather than teasing you and driving you to your wit’s end. 

You were seated on the floor of his bedroom, working on the project and feeling increasingly uncomfortable as he rushed to get his work done. You couldn’t help but feel like you were bothering him. Weren’t you supposed to be working on this together? Did he really hate being around you that much?

“What’s the rush? We still have a couple weeks before this is due,” you finally asked, looking over at him intently and trying to read his blank expression. 

“I just want to hurry and get this stupid project over with.” 

You scoffed, looking away again and trying not to show how much his words hurt you. “Yeah, believe me, I want to get this shit done too, but if we hurry it along too much it won’t be done well.”

“Speak for yourself,” he mumbled, typing in the slideshow you’d created for the two of you. “I can finish this in half the time and get a better score than you ever could.” 

“Fine, if you’re so perfect, you finish it!” You stood, wiping away angry tears as you gathered your things. You hated that you were crying. You were just so frustrated with him. You honestly preferred the Hyunjin that relentlessly teased you. He was better than the Hyunjin who snapped at you and stared blankly when you spoke to him. He was cruel now and you hated that.

“Wait, a-are you crying?” 

You glared at him and stormed out of his room, not bothering to answer him. Once you were out of his apartment building and walking down the street you allowed yourself to cry. You wiped at your eyes as you walked, struggling to see in front of you as you cried. 

The next day in class, Hyunjin didn’t speak to you at all except to tell you that he had, in fact, finished the entire project and all you needed to do was memorize your parts so you could present well. You just nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in your throat. You refused to let him see you cry again. He wasn’t worth it. 

The next couple weeks passed quickly and you memorized your part of the presentation perfectly. When you and Hyunjin presented, you earned a perfect score and it was back to never speaking a word to one another. Weeks turned into months and Hyunjin continued to ignore you as you did the same to him. 

Though your mind was occasionally distracted by thinking about how Hyunjin had ignored you for almost two months now, you didn’t think about it too often, you had convinced yourself you simply didn’t care. Instead, you thought about the hero clad in red and blue who you had, recently, spent many evenings with. It wasn’t every day that he came knocking on your window, but several nights a week, he came by, offering to help you with your physics homework and keep you company. He had become someone you confided in and a shoulder you cried on when Hyunjin was being particularly insufferable.

It was one of those nights, but unfortunately, instead of devoting your attention to the hero in your bedroom, your mind was far, far away, thinking of Hyunjin who hadn’t said a single word to you in two months, hadn’t looked in your general direction, and constantly looked exhausted. Something had to be going on, but you couldn’t figure out what it was. And you didn’t even know why you cared. You weren’t friends—far from it—and yet you couldn’t help but worry. 

“What’s on your mind?” Spider-Man’s soft voice pulled you out of your thoughts. “You’re a million miles away, right now.” 

You shook your head, trying to clear the last of your thoughts about Hyunjin away so you could focus on the man in front of you. “It’s nothing. Just a classmate of mine.” 

“The one who’s always bothering you?”

“Well, yeah, but… he hasn’t talked to me in months. Hasn’t even looked at me. And if it had happened at the beginning of the semester, I probably would have been rejoicing right now, but things happened and now I’m just… worried.” You played with your fingers as you rambled. You hadn’t meant to admit just how much you’d been thinking about Hyunjin, how much you’d noticed his sudden lack of interest in you. But Spider-Man didn’t even know Hyunjin, so you felt safe telling him about it. 

“What happened?” 

“I—well, we…” Your face grew unbearably warm as you thought about what had happened between the two of you that had completely shifted your mindset when it came to him. “We, kind of, maybe had sex.”

“Oh.” Spider-Man didn’t sound judgemental or disappointed, just… surprised. It was like that had been the last thing he’d been thinking of that could have happened between you and your rival. And it probably was. After all, who had sex with someone they supposedly despised? “A-and that’s why you’re… worried about him? What, did you have, like, an STD or something?”

“No! Oh my god, no. We used a condom anyway. No, I’m worried because…” You couldn’t bring yourself to say it. I’m worried because I think I like him. The unspoken words hung in the air, and the silence thickened. He seemed to understand what you meant by your facial expression alone. 

“Damn, he was that good?” 

You choked on air, embarrassed all of a sudden that you were talking about how you had sex with Hyunjin. “I-I guess. I mean he… well I… I’m not inexperienced when it comes to… that but even if I haven’t been with a lot of guys, I’ve been with enough and I just didn’t expect it to be… like that.” 

“Like what?” His voice was soft. You weren’t sure why he was so interested in knowing your answer. But you hadn’t really opened up about your afternoon with Hyunjin all those months ago, not even to Yeji, and it felt nice to finally be talking about it. 

“Like he cared about getting me off too. A lot of the guys I’ve been with… really only cared about themselves and their own pleasure, but Hyunjin… he wanted me to finish. And he had so much stamina. He went full-out the whole time, it was like he had some sort of… super stamina or something. It was just… so good and now I’m starting to realize that maybe I—”

“Do you like him?” Spider-Man all but breathed, still sitting a few feet away from you. 

You looked up at him, eyes wide. You hadn’t felt like you could say it, but with him bringing it up, it was like the floodgates had opened. “I do. I think that… maybe I have all this time, I just convinced myself I hated him because that was easier than admitting I liked him. Liking him meant that I could get hurt. But I guess I… still got hurt in the end. He’s been even more of an asshole since it happened.”

Spider-Man was quiet and you suddenly realized what you were saying and who you were saying it to. You sat up straighter, about to apologize when he looked up at you. You wished you could see his face, wished you could read his expression. “I’m sorry he hurt you.” 

“I-It’s not your fault, I—”

“I’m still sorry.” 

The two of you sat in silence a little longer. He fiddled with a pencil that he’d taken from your desk and you stared blankly at the physics homework laid out in front of you. It was quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop, even on the carpet of your room. You weren’t sure if you should feel awkward that you’d just talked so openly about having sex with your classmate to a superhero, but Spider-Man made you feel so comfortable you couldn’t bring yourself to care. 

Thirty more minutes passed and you worked on your physics homework in silence while Spider-Man watched, silently correcting you every now and then. When you finally finished your assignment, he stood, stretching his arms above his head. 

“I should probably go. Even I need to sleep sometimes.” 

You nodded in understanding, watching him make his way to your window, “Make sure you rest soon. Don’t stay up too late after you get home.”

“I won’t stay up too late.” You wished you could see the smile that you heard in his voice. “You should sleep too. And… don’t let that prick keep you up at night.” 

“I won’t let him keep me up.” 

He gave you a quick wave before disappearing into the night. You stared out the window for a few more minutes, but then you closed it and turned off the lights, slipping into your bed and trying to fall asleep. 

Thoughts plagued you, and you found that nothing could lull you to sleep. With a sigh you sat up, pulling out your phone. You stared at the contact you’d opened. Hyunjin’s. You had his number from when you’d been forced to work with him for the class project. You didn’t know if he’d even saved yours. Why were you considering messaging him? Your thumbs were moving over your screen and before you really even registered what you were doing, you had sent Hyunjin a message. 

You set your phone down on your night stand, heart beating out of your chest. You were confused and excited and scared and worried. Hyunjin had been the biggest asshole ever only two short months ago. He had ignored you since then. You weren’t even friends. What were you doing? 

The voice in your head whispered that you liked him, even if he hated you. And if he was willing to spend one more night with you, you would take it. You couldn’t get him out of your head, you couldn’t get that day out of your head. No one had ever made you feel the way he had. And as awful of a person as he was, you knew he was the only person who could put you to sleep the way you wanted.

Your heart pounded again. Hyunjin was coming over. You sat up, realizing you still had homework all over the floor and your room was a mess. You all but jumped out of bed, racing to pick up the odds and ends that were lying around and cluttering up your room. You finished putting things away and sprayed your room with air freshener just as he knocked on the door to your apartment. 

Luckily for you, Yeji was gone, spending the night at Ryujin’s apartment. She’d figured out you had been having someone over in the evenings the past few months, though she didn’t know who, so she’d been giving you space whenever she heard someone in your room with you. That meant you had the apartment to yourself that night. And if things happened the way you had implied they might… that would definitely be a good thing. 

“Hi,” you breathed out as you opened the door. You were slightly out of breath, having run around your room like a chicken with your head cut off, but if Hyunjin noticed, he didn’t mention it. 

You stepped aside so Hyunjin could enter your apartment and he bowed slightly as he entered out of politeness. “Hey. I love your place.”

“O-Oh thanks,” you stammered, not expecting his words. It was strange. You’d been at each other’s throats months ago, and now he was being polite? “I share the place with Yeji.” 

To be honest, you weren’t really sure if he even knew who Yeji was. But the likelihood of him knowing her was high, considering he was fairly popular at your university and you only hung out with the same five people. He nodded, seeming to recognize Yeji’s name, as he looked around. He turned to face you, smiling gently. It was so different from his typical smirk that it caught you off guard. 

“Where’s your room?” 

You blinked a couple times before snapping out of your daze and leading him to your bedroom. “Right, uh, this way. The bathroom is right here, in between Yeji’s room and mine. And, this is my room. It’s not much, but… it’s more than enough for me.” 

He looked around your room like it was the first time he’d seen it and you reminded yourself that it was the first time he was seeing your room. You swallowed as he looked at your desk, fingers brushing lightly over the trinkets that decorated it before he fixed his eyes on the pictures and posters hanging on the wall above your bed. 

“It’s cute,” he turned to face you again, still smiling softly, “I like it. Very…you.” 

“Oh, uh, thanks.” 

You felt nervous watching Hyunjin wander around your room, inspecting pictures and observing the random knick-knacks you had lying around. Even though he’d already said that he liked your room, you were worried that maybe he didn’t mean it. Or maybe he would change his mind. For the nth time that evening you wondered why you even cared. You swallowed as he sat down on your bed, looking at you and smirking. “Are you just going to stand there all night?” 

“N-no.” You cursed the way your voice shook, cursed the way your legs wobbled as you walked towards your bed, sitting next to him and trying to breathe normally. 

“Why did you want to see me?” Hyunjin’s voice was soft as he leaned in closer, observing the way your breath hitched when he was close. He knew the reason, but he wanted you to say it. “Why did you want me to come over?” 

“I-I couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to be alone so I—”

“You don’t have to lie to me. Tell me the truth.” 

You couldn’t help but think about how familiar his voice was. Not in a Hyunjin way, but in another way. One you couldn’t quite put your finger on. His voice was so soft, so familiar. The reason was on the tip of your tongue and yet not close enough for you to grab onto. You swallowed again and tried to force your heartbeat to slow down. 

“I just… wanted you.” 

“Wanted me?” Hyunjin leaned away again, still smirking—a look you were all too familiar with. “Wanted me, how?” 

You whimpered, turning to look at him with a pout. “Please, don’t make me say it.” 

“Hm, but how can I give you what you want if I don’t even know what it is?” He pouted back at you, mockingly. The tone of his voice and the way he made fun of you sent a shiver down your spine. You clung to him then, desperate. 

“Please, Hyunjin. I want… want you to fuck me.” 

“Yeah? You been thinking about it since the first time? That was over two months ago, babe, you could’ve asked a long time ago. So why didn’t you? Were you too proud?” 

You buried your face in his neck, so turned on by the way he talked down to you that you felt like crying, “I-I didn’t think you would want me. I thought you hated me. And, full offense by the way, you’ve been acting like a complete asshole. Of course I couldn’t bring myself to ask and I was… I don’t know, scared you’d say no o-or laugh at me.” 

“Oh sweetheart,” his voice was so condescending and yet, comforting. “I might have laughed at you, but I wouldn’t have said no. The truth is, I’ve been thinking about it a lot the past couple of months. Been thinking about you.”

“Really? Y-you thought of me?” 

“Almost everyday. Right when I woke up, just before falling asleep, every time I touched myself. You’ve been driving me crazy.” When you looked up at Hyunjin in shock, he leaned down and nudged at your neck with his nose. “It’s no excuse, but honestly, I think it’s why I’ve been shittier than usual. Sucks when all I can think about is the one person I can’t ever have.” 

“O-oh my god,” you whimpered, unable to say anything else with him so close to you.

“Fuck, you smell so good. I forgot how good you smelled.” Hyunjin all but panted as he nipped at your neck before sucking a deep purple mark into your skin. “Been thinking about having you like this for so long.” 

You gasped, fingers quickly finding their place in his hair as he pulled the neckline of your shirt aside, kissing down to your collarbones. “You look so fucking pretty, yn, so pretty. Wearing next to nothing, just for me.”

He was right about both things—you were wearing next to nothing and it was for him. You’d only worn a t-shirt and your underwear and while you hadn’t purposefully chosen what you were wearing for him, you hadn’t changed into something else, knowing he was coming over.

“Hyunjin,” you cried, “Hyunnie, I need you.” 

“Hyunnie?” He pulled away looking at you with a growing grin. 

“S-sorry, I—”

“No it’s okay,” he kissed your neck again before brushing your hair away from your face, “I like it. Call me Hyunnie.”

He was so tender that for a moment you forgot about your rivalry with him entirely. You felt overwhelmed by how much you liked him. And with the way he was looking at you, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to get over him any time soon. You whined again, pulling at the hem of his shirt. You wanted it off. 

“Off. Want to see you, Hyunnie.” 

He laughed and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips before tugging his shirt over his head, exposing his toned chest and stomach to you. You were quick to press hot, open-mouthed kisses all over his bare skin, wanting him to feel as good as he had made you feel. He groaned then, head falling back against the headboard of your bed, “Fuck, yn, you’re so hot. Never had anyone as good as you.” 

“Promise?” You stopped, looking at him with your head tilted to the side slightly. “Promise I’m your best?” 

“The very best. My best girl,” his voice was soft as he looked down at you, a gentle smile spread across his lips. He looked so different like this. He looked like he cared. 

“Your best girl,” you echoed, sounding dazed. His fingers brushed across your cheek, almost as if he was afraid to touch you, afraid that you’d leave or disappear if he wasn’t careful. “Yours.”

He hummed, pulling you into his lap to kiss him again, “Mmm, mine.”

His hands rested on your hips, holding you down against his hardening dick as he licked across your bottom lip. You moaned softly, opening your mouth for him so he could slide his tongue in, tangling with yours. His breath was hot and unsteady as you ground against him, growing wetter as he grew harder. 

“Want to take my shirt off,” you breathed against his mouth, not even opening your eyes as you continued kissing him between words. “Can I?”

“Of course, sweet girl. So good of you to ask, darling.” Hyunjin played with the hem of your shirt as he answered before helping to pull it over your head. 

Once your shirt was off, Hyunjin was quick to grab your boobs, fingers playing with your nipples as he continued to kiss you desperately. You felt so overwhelmed, pleasure flooding your senses and Hyunjin fared no better, he was so lost in how good it felt. 

Hyunjin’s dick was almost completely hard now as you ground your hips on top of him. If you looked down between you, you’d find the front of his sweatpants soaked with a mixture of his pre-cum and your own arousal. He groaned into your mouth as you moved against him. 

“Shit, you’re doing so good for me sweetheart,” he gasped, head falling back against the headboard again as you leaned in to suck and bite at his neck. His skin was so smooth, so pretty, you couldn’t keep yourself from moving to mark him up. Even though he wasn’t yours, you wanted to feel like he was. Wanted people to see him and know that he’d been with someone else. You wanted him off the market, as selfish as it sounded. 

“Need you, Hyunnie.” You sounded desperate to your own ears, and if you were in your right mind you would have cringed. “Need it inside.”

He was quick to set you aside, tugging his sweatpants off, revealing he hadn’t been wearing boxers underneath. You felt like your mouth might start watering as you stared at him, but you looked away when he laughed a little. You followed suit and shimmied out of your underwear, lying on the bed as he hovered over you. 

“Sweetheart, do you have a condom?” 

Your heart dropped into your stomach as you thought about it. You realized that you didn’t. This wasn’t exactly something you did very often. You felt so frustrated you could cry. “N-no, but I’m clean a-and I’m on the pill too so we still could if you wanted unless you don’t want to do it raw, which, I totally understand, but I—”

“Hey, hey,” he held your face in his hands, soft voice calming you down and effectively ending your rambling. “It’s okay. I’m clean too, I got tested recently to be safe. So if you’re okay with it, so am I.” 

You nodded and took a deep breath, trying to steady your heartbeat and your breathing. “Sorry, I’m such a mess I’m just… I don’t know, maybe I’m just desperate.”

“You’re okay, baby. I don’t mind you being desperate for me. But let’s establish a safe word or a system for you to tell me if it’s too much, yeah?” 

He was so sweet, it surprised you. He’d never been so kind or caring with you in all the years you’d known each other. You felt like you might cry again, but for a completely different reason this time. You just nodded again for him, holding on to his hand as you spoke. “M-maybe we could just use the traffic light system? Green for good, yellow for wait, and red for stop.” 

“Alright, let’s use that. Tell me if you’re anything other than green. What are you right now?” 

“Green,” you whispered, reaching up to pull him into another kiss, hoping it would calm your racing heart. “Definitely green.” 

He kissed you back for a few minutes while his fingers kneaded gentle circles into your hips. He slowly reached between your legs, two fingers prodding at your soaked entrance as his thumb rubbed small circles on your clit. “Gotta stretch you out really quickly, yeah? Just want you to feel good, don’t want to hurt you.” 

As he stretched you out, your mind wandered again to how much you liked him. You couldn’t remember the last time a guy had taken so much time to make you feel good, other than the last time you were with Hyunjin. It was overwhelming to be taken care of so well, especially by someone you’d thought hated you for the longest time. 

“Hyunnie,” you whispered, holding his wrist. 

“What is it? What’s your color?”

“I’m still green, I-I just… I’m ready for you now.”

He smiled up at you, a real, true smile. Your heart squeezed uncomfortably in your chest. You reached toward him, running your fingers through his hair and smiling back at him. He positioned his tip at your entrance, holding himself up over you with one hand while the other held your waist carefully. 

You moaned loudly, squeezing your eyes shut as he slid inside of you. He felt so perfect, you were certain you could never get enough of him. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you so that his chest pressed against yours. 

“Do you feel okay, sweetheart? Need me to wait?” 

He kissed your neck, the hand on your hip moving to hold your hand, his fingers intertwined with yours. You shook your head, squeezing his hand. “N-no, please move.” 

“Tell me if I need to stop.” His voice, his gentle, sweet voice, was what made you moan again as he started thrusting into you slowly, not wanting to overwhelm you much more than you already were. 

“F-faster, Hyunnie.” 

He looked at you, eyes questioning, as he spoke, “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” you whined, moving to hold his hips and push him deeper into you. “Yes, I’m sure. I’m not glass, I won’t break.” 

“Okay,” his expression changed, lust darkening his gaze as he started to piston his hips into you. “But you still have to tell me if you need me to stop.” 

All you could do was whine and nod, clinging onto him tighter as he pounded into you. He hardly even had to adjust his position, it was like he remembered your body, remembered exactly where to hit to have you moaning and clenching around his cock. And he would never tell you but he did remember. How could he forget? He forced himself to remember every night, fucking his hand or his pillow or a fleshlight, pretending it was you.

“Hyunnie,” you whimpered, trying to hold onto his back as he thrusted hard and fast, just the way you wanted.

“What’s your color, sweet girl? You still doing okay?”

“Green. So, so green. God, you feel so good, Hyunnie,” you tried not to cry, knowing you’d feel so embarrassed if he saw you cry just because his dick felt good. “You’re so good.” 

Hyunjin reached down, hand snaking between your bodies so he could rub at your clit while he thrusted into you. “You gonna cum soon, pretty girl? My pretty baby. Cum for me, yeah?” 

It only took a little more stimulation to push you over the edge. You moaned out as you came, clenching tightly around him as his pace never faltered. “Hyunnie, I-I’m cumming.” 

“You’re so perfect,” Hyunjin groaned, chasing his own high and helping you through yours. “So, so perfect. You’ve done so well for me.”

“Hyunnie, want you to cum too,” you whined, looking up at him through wide, teary eyes.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m so close. Where do you want me to finish?” 

You pressed a kiss to his shoulder, pleased with yourself when he shuddered ever so slightly. “Inside.” 

“God, fuck,” Hyunjin’s eyes squeezed shut as his hips stuttered, “I’m cumming now, pretty. Just for you. Fuck.” 

You whimpered as he filled you with his release. Nothing had ever felt as good as this, as good as him. He lowered himself on top of you slowly, so he wouldn’t hurt you, and you kept your arms wrapped tightly around him, keeping him as close to you as you could. You didn’t want him to go yet. You didn’t want him to go.

He kissed your neck whispering praise into your ear as your breathing returned to normal. Once again, you took note of the fact that he himself didn’t sound out of breath or tired in the slightest. He sighed against your skin, fingers absentmindedly tracing over your hip. “Let’s get you to the bathroom, okay?” 

“Mmm,” you were too tired to really speak, so you nodded. 

Hyunjin pulled out slowly, pressing kisses to your jaw when you whimpered at the overstimulation. He crawled off your bed and then helped you up, guiding you to your bathroom down the hall. He waited for you to be done before wetting a washcloth with warm water and helping to clean you up gently. Hyunjin helped you change into a clean pair of underwear and then tugged his own t-shirt over your head.

When you got back to your bedroom and laid in your bed once more, you tried to think of something to say to Hyunjin. He sat down on top of your covers, watching you tenderly, waiting for you to speak patiently. But when he realized you weren’t going to say anything, he spoke instead, hands playing with the blankets to keep himself from touching you again. 

“Do you want me to go?” 

His question was what made up your mind officially. You’d been conflicted. He hated you and you were pretending to hate him right back. At the same time, you didn’t want to be alone for the rest of the night. The decision hadn’t been clear at first, but now, with him so close and looking at you so gently, you knew that you wanted him to stay. 

So you shook your head, reaching out to pull him down beside you. “I want you to stay.”

“Okay,” he whispered, laying down beside you. “I’ll stay.” 

You laid together in silence for a long time, but you still couldn’t fall asleep. Your thoughts still plagued you. “Hyunjin?” 

“Hm?” 

“What… what are we?”

Hyunjin didn’t know what to say. What did you want to be? You didn’t know what to say either, because the truth was, you weren’t entirely sure what you’d been expecting in the first place. Only a few months you would have cringed at the thought of having sex with him. Now, you craved it. Before, you thought you hated him. Now, you had a feeling you were starting to fall in love with him, even if he was an arrogant asshole.

“Well…” Hyunjin cleared his throat and rolled over to look at you. “What do you want to be? Because a couple months ago, you wanted me to pretend like nothing had happened between us, so I’m honestly a little confused.” 

You felt like your heart was in your throat instead of your chest and you found it difficult to breathe as you tried to gather your thoughts. Were you getting rejected before you’d even really confessed? Stop overreacting.

“I… I only really said that because I thought you hated me. In my defense, after I said that you started acting even shittier than usual, so it felt valid at the time. I thought that if I was honest with you about how I felt, you’d just… tell me off. Which was, in hindsight, really stupid and childish of me and we probably would have avoided all of the frustration of the past couple months, but… I think this whole time I’ve just been pretending to hate you because it’s easier than getting my heart broken liking you.”

“You… like me?” 

“No, dipshit, I hate your fucking guts,” you sighed and pouted at him. “Yes, I like you. Did you not hear a word I just said?” 

“I-I heard you, I just… why do you like me?” Hyunjin looked stunned as your eyes met. Your gaze softened as you reached out a hand, holding his face gently. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I’ve only ever been a dick to you. I-I’m not exactly nice and I—”

“I think that being mean might just be your facade too.” 

Hyunjin fell quiet after that and you did too, both of you unsure of what to say. You were starting to regret telling Hyunjin about your feelings. Maybe you should have told him to leave. Maybe asking him to stay was the worst idea you’d ever had. Maybe you were reading too much into the silence. Maybe, maybe, maybe. But then he spoke.

“I don’t know why we even started this stupid rivalry. But to be honest, I never hated you. I thought that you hated me, and to be honest, you’d been getting on my nerves. I’m sure I was on yours too. After a while, I just… didn’t know how to stop.” 

“I don’t think either of us knew how to stop it was just… familiar to fight, I guess.” 

Hyunjin nodded and sighed a little, voice sounding sad as he spoke. “Yeah, but I don’t… I don’t want to fight anymore.” 

“I don’t want to fight anymore either.” 

He looked up at you, eyes wide and full of hope. He was looking at you so tenderly you wondered if this moment was even real or just a dream. He reached over and brushed your hair away from your face, hand trailing down to caress your shoulder gently. 

“Can we… start fresh, then? Go from there?” 

His voice was careful, like he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. And you couldn’t help but agree with the offer. So you smiled at him and nodded slowly. “Yeah. We can start fresh.” 

The bright smile that stretched over his features made it worth it. He made it worth it. You knew you could put any disagreements, any bitterness, in the past if he just smiled at you like that everyday. Everything would be okay if he just smiled at you like that all the time. 

You sighed softly, leaning into him and closing your eyes. You felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of your shoulders. You heard Hyunjin sigh too before he pressed a chaste kiss to your forehead and closed his eyes too. “Goodnight, yn.”

“Night, Hyunnie,” you mumbled back, drifting off to sleep not long after. 

You woke up to Hyunjin shaking your arm, whispering frantically for you to wake up. “You have to hide. Now.”

“Why?” You rubbed at your eyes, trying to wake yourself up. You were confused, brain still hazy from sleep. His urgency did nothing to hurry you along. “What’s going on?”

“I’ll explain later, but right now you have to hide. Go somewhere safe. I’ll come back for you.” 

That woke you up. He would come back? “Where are you going?” 

“To get help. Do you trust me?” He held your arms, looking into your eyes, worry filling his own. When you nodded, he all but pulled you out of your bed, trying to shove you into your closet. “Then hide here and don’t come out until I get back.” 

The closet door closed just a loud crash resounded through your apartment. It sounded like it was coming from your living room. You huddled against the back corner of your closet in fear as thundering steps pounded towards your bedroom. You hoped Hyunjin had found somewhere safe to hide. 

You bit back a scream as a large shadowy figure ripped the closet door from its hinges, tossing it aside and peering into the dark closet. You held your breath as the dark, hunchbacked figure smelled the air, creeping into the closet. You pressed yourself further against the back wall, holding back a terrified whimper. 

The creature stopped a centimeter away from where you were hidden behind your hanging clothes. He smelled the air one last time and then lunged at you, pulling you out of your hiding spot. You screamed as he dragged you away, reaching for something, anything to hold onto. 

You realized the creature carrying wasn’t a person really, but rather some sort of inhuman monster. He smelled of rot and death, his large clawed hands dug into your skin just enough to draw blood and sting, and he was ginormous, scaling down the wall of your apartment building while still holding you under one arm. 

You cried as he carried you further and further away from your home, screaming for someone to help you. And just when you were worried you’d never be saved, the familiar thwip of a spider web filled your ears. The monster roared as he clawed at the webbing covering his eyes, grip on you only tightening. You cried out in pain as his claws punctured your skin even deeper. 

“Hey death breath!” Spider-Man called, swinging down from a building and kicking the creature square in the chest. “Let her go!” 

As the monster toppled over, howling as the breath was knocked from his lungs, his grip on you loosened enough for you to tear yourself away from him, running and stumbling over your own feet as you hid in an alleyway. You watched from around the corner as Spider-Man fought the creature, taunting him and making him angrier than before. 

You closed your eyes, ducking down behind a dumpster when they got closer to the alleyway where you were hiding. With your eyes closed, you focused on Spider-Man’s voice, hoping it would calm you. But when you focused on his voice, really focused on it, you realized why he’d always sounded so familiar. 

Your eyes shot open just as Spider-Man finished wrapping the monster in webbing, calling someone to pick the monster up (some organization he’d told you about before called S.H.I.E.L.D.). Once the monster was in the hands of several tall men in body armor, Spider-Man made his way over to you. 

“Are you okay? Let me see your arms. He didn’t hurt you too bad, did he? Maybe we should take you to a hospital—”

“Hyunjin?” You rasped out. A part of you hoped you were wrong. Spider-Man couldn’t be Hyunjin. Spider-Man wouldn’t lie to you like that. He wouldn’t pretend to be someone else while you ranted about him. He couldn’t be Hyunjin. 

Spider-Man let your arm drop, backing up one step. Two steps. He pulled the mask over his face, eyes wide and worried as he looked at you. Familiar brown eyes. The same beauty mark you’d been obsessed with for months. “I-I can explain—”

“How could you not tell me?” 

“I just—”

You didn’t realize you were crying until he reached out for you. You backed away, hurt making way for anger. “You just let me go on about you to your face! You lied to me. God, I’m so stupid. I knew your voice was familiar. I should have put two and two together sooner—”

“Yn, please, just let me explain.” 

“Explain what,” you seethed, glaring at him as tears continued to spill from your eyes. “How you’re just a lying asshole? I thought I could trust you. I told you everything. I talked about you so much and you never even stopped me. I hate you! I can’t believe I even considered starting over.” 

“That’s not fair,” his voice was quiet and his eyes were filled with hurt. But you couldn’t bring yourself to care. All you could think about was your own anger.

“Oh, it’s not?” 

“You knew I couldn’t tell you. This is exactly why I couldn’t tell you. I messed up. I shouldn’t have gotten close to you as Spider-Man. I put you in danger and I take full responsibility for that. And I just… needed a friend. If I told you, you would have stopped letting me see you. I’m selfish, I know that. But I just… didn’t want to lose you. And I never meant for you to get hurt.” 

You rolled your eyes, trying to keep the tears that filled your eyes at bay. You were sick of crying in front of him. “Whatever. Leave me the fuck alone.” 

“Let me take you to the hospital first—”

“Leave me alone,” you hissed. “I don’t need your help.” 

Hyunjin wanted to protest more, wanted to make sure you were okay. But he also didn’t want to make you even angrier, so he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded before tugging his mask back over his head and turning to leave. You watched him go, wondering if he would look back at you. He didn’t. 

Once he was gone, your anger subsided, turning to sadness and it was then that you realized just how much your arms burned. You looked down, shocked to see how much they were bleeding, so you made your way to the side of the road, hoping maybe a taxi would come by so you could get to the hospital. Now that you weren’t as angry, you realized how cold you were too. You noticed then that you were still only wearing your underwear and Hyunjin’s t-shirt. You shivered, wrapping your bleeding arms around yourself and crying. 

“I came as fast as I could,” Yeji panted as she entered your room in the ER. She was still in her pajamas and her hair was thrown into a haphazard ponytail, eyes full of fear. “How are you? Are you in any pain? Do you need anything? Should I call for the nurse—”

“Yeji. I’m okay.” You smiled a little at her, trying to convince her that you didn’t need anything. 

She pulled the visitor chair closer to your bed and sat down beside you. “Well, just let me know if you need anything, okay?” 

“Honestly,” you laughed bitterly, “my arms are in less pain than my heart is.” 

“Why, what happened?” 

“Hyunjin came over tonight.” Yeji’s eyes widened at your confession, but she didn’t say anything, so you continued. “I realized that I didn’t really hate him, so I invited him over to… talk. We had finally worked everything out when that monster broke into our apartment and took me. Most of it is a blur until afterwards when I was hiding in the alleyway. I realized that the voice was familiar and…”

You didn’t finish. You didn’t have to. You could tell by the way Yeji’s gaze hardened that she knew what you meant. “He lied to you all this time? I know I’m not supposed to know about your little friendship with Spider-Man, but I mean, you guys weren’t very sneaky. I knew he was coming over. That’s why I always left in the evenings. I never would have guessed that…” 

You shook your head, stopping her. As angry as you were at Hyunjin, you didn’t want his secret to get out. It would put him in danger as well as his family and friends. She understood, voice trailing off until she was silent again. 

“I kind of get it though,” she finally spoke again. “I don’t think I would have told you either, to be honest. Especially if we were rivals. Not only for your safety, but because… it would be nice to get to talk to you without worrying we would break into a fight. You and Hyunjin seem to get along really well when you’re not arguing about school and grades. I think the rivalry has been such a huge part of your relationship for so long that it’s hard to just forget that and move on. Which is why he probably enjoyed just spending time with you.” 

“He still lied to me,” you whispered.

“Yeah, he did. But what would the truth have cost you both?” 

You fell quiet after that, pondering her words, mulling them over in your mind as you sat beside her. You hated to admit that she was right. Mostly, you hated to admit that you were wrong. You didn’t want the part of you that missed Hyunjin to take over. You wanted to stay angry at him. 

But you just couldn’t. 

Not when the image of his pretty face was seared into your memory. Not when you could see his beautiful eyes when you closed your own. Not when you couldn’t stop thinking of what it was like to run your fingers through his hair and certainly not when you couldn’t stop remembering every conversation you’d had with him without even knowing who he was. 

You were stubborn though. Even though you weren’t angry anymore, you weren’t going to let him know that. You weren’t going to let Yeji know that either. So you just huffed and crossed your arms, wincing at the pain. How had you already forgotten you were in the hospital for an injury to your arms?

Yeji hummed thoughtfully and you looked over at her when she spoke up again. “Do you think insurance will cover the damages to the apartment? Wait, do you think we’ll still get our security deposit back?”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that. Of course Yeji was worried about the security deposit. As silly as it may seem, her questions comforted you. You didn’t know what would happen, didn’t know how you would pay for your apartment’s damages if you had to, but you did know that no matter what happened you’d have Yeji alongside you. That was the thought that comforted you. 

When you went back to class after a day of resting at the hospital, Hyunjin was sitting in his usual spot, but he didn’t look at you. He didn’t speak to you either. You couldn’t help but notice the deep purple bags under his eyes and the exhaustion that was written all over his face. Your heart squeezed uncomfortably in your chest when you saw the hint of a fading bruise peeking up from under the collar of his button-up shirt. You knew he had an advanced healing factor, but you also knew it wasn’t as fast as some. You wondered if the bruises still hurt.

You tried to focus on what your professor was saying at the front of the room, but your thoughts kept drifting to the man sitting in front of you and the way you’d left things only a couple nights before. You were surprised when a graded test was placed in front of you. You looked up to see the TA grinning down at you. “Nice job, yn.” 

You’d forgotten you’d even take a test the week before. Your thoughts had been consumed by Hyunjin then as well, just in a different way. You looked at the score. 100%. You were surprised. You couldn’t even remember studying for it. It was like you’d been on autopilot. You peered over Hyunjin’s shoulder like normal to see the score he’d gotten, but frowned when you noticed the red 62% at the top of his paper. It wasn’t like Hyunjin to do so poorly. 

You were about to say something to him when he stood up, gathering his things and walking out of the classroom, leaning in to whisper an excuse to your professor before he walked out the door. Your frown deepened and you looked back at the score on your paper. Your thoughts had been elsewhere and you’d passed, but his had been elsewhere and he failed. Had he done it on purpose? 

That couldn’t be it. Maybe you just didn’t know him as well as you’d thought you had. You sighed and tucked the test away in your bag, trying once more to focus on the lesson your professor was teaching. It was still no use. No matter how hard you tried, your thoughts drifted back to Hyunjin. Had you made a mistake?

That night, as you sat in your new apartment (your landlord had been gracious enough to let you and Yeji move into an empty apartment two floors above yours), you half expected Hyunjin to come tapping at your window like he usually did. You tried to ignore the disappointment that settled in your chest when he didn’t. 

Yeji knocked on your bedroom door before pushing it open and poking her head inside. “I made cookies. Do you want some?” 

“Yeah, sure,” you nodded absentmindedly, looking up at her when she entered your room fully with a plate of cookies and something to drink. She sat down beside you on the floor and watched as you did your homework, sharing the cookies in silence until you spoke again. “Hyunjin failed our latest physics test.” 

“Did he?” 

You hummed in acknowledgement before sighing and setting your pencil down. “It’s not like him. Something must have been wrong.” 

“Since when do you care?” 

The question shocked you, but you knew it was a valid concern. Up until now you’d never shown any sign that you cared about Hyunjin. In fact, you were always adamant about the fact that you hated him. You pouted and averted her gaze, mumbling a little as you spoke. “Since we had sex the second time.”

“Right.” Yeji made a noise and nodded at you. How could she have forgotten? “What are you going to do about it?” 

“Nothing,” you bit back, glaring in an attempt to cover your true feelings. 

“Nothing?” 

“He lied to me. He’s been an asshole for years. I’m not doing anything about this. He doesn’t deserve it.” 

“You’ve been mean right back,” Yeji pointed out, grabbing the empty plate and glasses and standing up. “You haven’t exactly been a saint to him. Sure he’s been a dick, but you’ve been mean too. Maybe it was in defense sometimes, but sometimes you were mean just to hurt him. You’re not blameless.” 

Yeji had a knack for telling you the truth even when you didn’t want to hear it. Somehow she never made you feel bad about it either. “Yeah. I was a bitch, wasn’t I?” 

“You were.” 

“Still…” You shook your head, determined not to talk to Hyunjin. At least, not yet. “I can’t. I won’t talk to him.”

Yeji shrugged, leaving your room with a quiet, “Suit yourself.” 

When Yeji was gone, you pushed your completed homework away and laid in your bed, staring at the ceiling. Was this a decision you would come to regret? Or were you doing what was best for yourself? You were still hurt over what Hyunjin had done, what he hadn’t told you, how he’d treated you since high school. But you also missed him. You missed him as Hyunjin, pleasing you and caring for you so tenderly. Most of all, you missed him as Spider-Man, sitting on your bedroom floor with you for hours, helping you with your homework and telling you awful jokes just to see you smile. 

In the distance, you heard a faint crashing sound, a roar, then silence. You wondered if it was Hyunjin. You wondered if he was okay. Was he hurt? Did he get the bad guy? Would he sleep at all tonight? You sat up and walked quietly toward the window, settling yourself on the small window seat while you looked outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of your red and blue hero. 

Hyunjin bit back a whimper as he shoved his window up and slipped inside his bedroom. He groaned as he collapsed onto the floor, clutching his side in pain. He tugged the mask from his face and looked down at the wound, finally pulling his hand away to inspect the damage. He’d have to repair the suit when he had some free time. He’d use the spare for now. 

His phone rang from his backpack and he sighed before digging it out and answering the call. “Hello?” 

“Hey, just saw your big fight. Need me to come over? I want to help you.” 

“Hey, Ji. I-I’m fine,” he winced as he pulled his suit off and stumbled into the bathroom to find his first aid kit. “I just need to rest.” 

He could imagine Jisung nodding along. “Right, right, well if you need anything—”

“Fuck,” Hyunjin groaned in frustration, slamming the bathroom cabinet shut and interrupting Jisung’s rambling train of thought. “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” 

“I need a new first aid kit. I forgot I needed a new one.” 

Hyunjin could hear shuffling in the background of the call and the jingling of keys. “I’ll pick one up and head over. You don’t need to be going out in your condition. I’ll be there in fifteen.” 

“Okay,” Hyunjin mumbled, hating the feeling of helplessness that washed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed at his face, willing himself not to cry. “Make sure you find one that has hydrogen peroxide. And if it doesn’t, pick up a bottle. Maybe get an extra roll of gauze too.” 

“For sure. Guy in the chair to the rescue! I’ll be there soon.” Jisung hung up before Hyunjin could say anything else. 

He left his phone on the bathroom counter and slid down the wall, too tired and in pain to stand. He rested his head on his knees and in the privacy of his bathroom, in the dead of night, he allowed himself to cry. He sobbed into his knees, whimpering at the effort it took just to cry and wincing at the pain it put him in. But he couldn’t stop. 

That’s how Jisung found him. Crying on the floor of his bathroom, covered in his own blood. Jisung knelt beside him, opening the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and dousing a washcloth in the liquid. He helped Hyunjin lie down and warned him before pressing the soaked cloth into the wound. Hyunjin clenched his jaw, groaning at the sting as Jisung continued to dab at the wound, cleaning it the best he could. 

Hyunjin glanced down at the wound in his side, reassuring him through clenched teeth that it was clean enough and pushing his hands away. His breathing was shallow as Jisung wrapped the gauze around the wound with some help from Hyunjin. 

“Thank you,” Hyunjin said quietly, finally sitting up again, head leaned back against the bathroom wall and tears staining his cheeks. 

“Don’t mention it,” Jisung said back, his own voice quiet for once. He paused for a moment before continuing. “Are you just crying because of your physical pain, or are you crying because of yn?” 

Hyunjin closed his eyes, shaking his head a little. “I don’t know. Both, maybe.” 

Jisung nodded even though Hyunjin couldn’t see it. He sat there beside his best friend in silence, listening to Hyunjin’s ragged breathing and soft sniffles. He hated seeing him like this. He hated the pain that Hyunjin was in, both physically and emotionally. 

“You should try talking to her.” 

He shook his head, squeezing his eyes closed tighter as tears slipped from beneath the lids again. “I can’t. Not this time. She doesn’t want to fucking hear from me. Never again.” 

“Okay.” Jisung’s voice was still soft. He didn’t want to disturb Hyunjin. “Do you want me to leave?” 

“No.” 

“Okay.” 

After a few more quiet moments, Hyunjin sighed and forced himself to his feet, with help from Jisung. Jisung helped Hyunjin to his bedroom, watching carefully as Hyunjin pulled pajamas on and laid down in his bed. Then Jisung asked again, “Do you want me to leave?” 

Hyunjin still shook his head, “No. Stay.” 

Jisung searched Hyunjin’s closet and found a sleeping bag. He pulled an extra blanket out of the closet as well and took the extra pillow from Hyunjin’s bed, making a place for himself to sleep on the floor. Hyunjin closed his eyes, on the verge of sleep. 

“Thank you, Ji.” 

“I’ll always be here for you.”

Hyunjin mumbled sleepily as Jisung turned off the light. “I know.” 

When you walked into the classroom, the first thing you noticed was your professor standing beside where Hyunjin was seated, talking to him quietly. As you walked closer, you listened to their conversation. 

“... and I know I don’t usually do this, but seeing as it’s so unlike you and you’ve seemed very distracted lately, I’m giving you the opportunity to make up the test. If you decide you want to make it up, I’ll pair you with another student from the class to help you with the content to ensure you do better.” 

Hyunjin smiled at your professor but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I appreciate that. I would love to make up the test, seeing as you’re giving me the opportunity to.” 

“Great.” Your professor turned just as you were unpacking your bag, making eye contact with you. “Yn, would you mind helping Hyunjin study for his test retake this Friday? You got the best score in the class on this test, so I think you’d be the perfect person to help him out.” 

You blinked slowly, looking from your professor to Hyunjin and back again before stammering a quiet, “Uh, y-yeah, sure.” 

They smiled gently at you and patted Hyunjin on the shoulder before walking back to the front of the room. You looked at Hyunjin, but he wasn’t looking at you. He was already focused on looking forward toward the whiteboard, covered in equations. You sighed, a small frown forming on your lips as you focused on the board as well. 

When class ended, you moved a little slower, wondering if Hyunjin would say something to you first. He didn’t. He started to leave and you lunged forward, grabbing onto his arm. “Um, if you want, I can meet you at your apartment to help you study.” 

“It’s alright,” he gave you an expert fake smile and your heart fell. “You don’t have to help me. I know you’re busy.” 

He left before you could say anything else, Jisung giving you an apologetic look as he followed after him. You stood in the middle of the aisle between tables watching him leave, sadness filling you up and etching itself across your face. After a moment of staring at the empty doorway, you huffed and gathered your things, leaving the classroom, thoughts of Hyunjin filling your mind. 

The week passed by too slowly and too quickly all at the same time. On Friday, Hyunjin redid his test and the professor graded it before the class period ended. When they came to leave the new test on Hyunjin’s desk, they smiled at you, mouthing a ‘thank you’ as they explained the new score to Hyunjin. You didn’t have the heart to admit you hadn’t actually done anything to help him. 

The next week came and went quickly as well, your worry for Hyunjin growing with each day. He looked exhausted and almost ill. He needed a day off. He needed a break. But of course, you weren’t in any position to tell him any of that.

You met eyes with Jisung more than once throughout the week, sharing worried glances but never speaking a word. Jisung was clearly just as concerned about his friend’s physical health as you were, maybe even more so. It comforted you to know that Hyunjin had such a good friend to take care of him. You knew it was something you couldn’t do—not now. 

Jisung stopped you after class one day—Hyunjin hadn’t come to class and you were clearly worried about him. “Hyun’s just resting at home. He woke up with the stomach flu. I thought you’d like to know.” 

“Oh,” you tried to ignore the wave of relief that flooded over you. You were supposed to be angry at him. “Uh, thanks for letting me know, but I’m not—”

“You might be able to fool Hyunjin, but you can’t fool me. I see the way you look at him. As much as you claim you don’t, you do care. He won’t talk to you. He thinks you don’t want to hear from him. But he never said that I couldn’t talk to you.” Jisung’s voice was stern and his, usually kind, eyes were cold as he glowered at you. 

You shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Wh-what is there to talk about?” 

“You need to talk to Hyunjin.” Jisung’s face softened a little when he noticed your discomfort. “He’s not doing well. He’s not as careful when he’s… well, you know. He hardly sleeps, he hardly eats, he just mopes around, studies, and patrols at night. It’s not healthy. I’m really worried about him. He may have been an asshole to you in the past but he started to really care about you. And I know you did too. So please talk to him. I can’t stand seeing him like this anymore.” 

You were quiet for a long moment as you thought about what Jisung had said. Hyunjin had hurt you, that was true, but you’d grown to care about him too and it was hard to just ignore those feelings you had developed. You sighed and nodded, moving your bag to your other shoulder and walking away from Jisung. 

“I’ll talk to him.” 

You’d made up your mind to visit Hyunjin’s apartment right after your last class of the day. Thankfully your classes ended early enough that you’d be able to walk to his apartment while it was still light outside. While you walked, you thought of what you would say to Hyunjin and you held a grocery bag full of medicine, soups, and drinks close to you. 

You were pulled from your thoughts when an old woman across the street dropped her own grocery bag and dozens of cans fell out all over the sidewalk, rolling in every direction. You looked both ways before hurrying across the street and crouching down to help her gather the cans she’d lost. She beamed at you gratefully, “Oh, thank you dear, you’re too kind. These old hands are no good anymore—it’s too hard to even carry a simple grocery bag.” 

“It’s no problem, really. Do you need any help getting back to where you live?” 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that, dear!” She looked surprised as she spoke, but the way her frail hands shook convinced you once and for all to help her. 

“Really, I don’t mind. Let me carry this for you.” 

“If you insist.” 

You didn’t notice the sinister look in her eyes or hear the drop in the tone of her voice. You didn’t see her back straighten out and her features morph into that of a man you’d never met. You didn’t see him pulling a soaked cloth out of his pocket and you didn’t have time to process what was happening before the cloth was pressed over your nose and mouth. The last thing you saw before you fell unconscious was the hazy sky above you and towering, grimy apartment buildings. 

When you came to, the first thing you noticed was the ache in your arms and legs. You looked down, blinking wearily and saw that you were tied to a chair. Panicked, your eyes widened and you looked around the room, searching for familiarity. But you didn’t recognize where you were at all. The room was large and circular, made of brick, and lit only by an old lamp against one of the far, curved walls. There were no windows; you couldn’t tell what time it was, didn’t know how long you’d been there. It was empty other than the chair you were bound to and the lamp against the wall. You turned your head as far as you could in both directions but couldn’t see a door anywhere. It must’ve been directly behind you. 

You wanted to scream for help, but your mouth and throat felt dry and your tongue felt swollen and heavy in your mouth. You took a deep breath, trying not to cry as you looked around you once more. Now was not the time to cry. You had to think. You had to find a way out. 

You heard the sound of a door unlocking and the loud scraping noise of it opening. You craned your neck to try and see who had entered the room, but they remained just out of view as they spoke. “You’re even more beautiful up close, my dear.” 

You bit back a surprised gasp at the cool hand that pushed your hair off your shoulder, exposing your neck. You remembered the old woman who had dropped her groceries, but the voice you were hearing now certainly didn’t belong to her. 

“It’s a shame we had to meet like this. Waiting for your hero to come and rescue you.” The man behind you chuckled darkly and you shivered. He walked slowly, heavy boots clunking against the floor as he came into view. His face was completely white and the lack of defining facial features made you squirm uncomfortably. His head was smooth and hairless, he had no nose, no lips. His mouth was just a line in his pale face and his eyes were sunken deep in his skull. 

“He will come,” you finally found your voice, glaring at him as you spoke, voice steadier than you would have thought it would be. “He always comes.” 

“Perhaps… I certainly hope he does. I want him to be here to see it when I kill you.” 

You felt dizzy. There was no way this man would ever let you live, whether Hyunjin showed up to save you or not. You had to think. Quickly.

“But first,” he spoke again after you didn’t answer, “let me introduce myself. I am Dmitri Smerdyakov. You may know me as Chameleon. Maybe you’ll recognize the name of my brother. Kraven the Hunter.”

You did recognize the name of Kraven the Hunter. He was a renowned villain, always coming back to try and kill Spider-Man. But he’d died recently. Chameleon could see the recognition on your face and he laughed darkly again.

“So you do know my brother.” 

“He’s dead,” you spat at him, glaring with as much ferocity as you could muster. 

Chameleon’s playful smirk fell and he took a step closer to you. “Precisely why you’re here. It’s Spider-Man’s fault my brother is dead. This is my revenge. An eye for an eye. Spider-Man deserves to suffer. What better way to make him suffer than to take the girl he loves.” 

“Well, you’re making a mistake then.” You sat up straighter, trying to look brave despite the fear that coursed through your veins. “Spider-Man doesn’t love me.” 

“No matter. You’re still someone close to him. Don’t think I haven’t watched him sneaking into your room at night. You may not see me but I… see… you.” Chameleon was so close now you could smell the stink of his breath. So close you had to lean back to see his face fully. 

You didn’t speak, clenching your jaw and keeping your head held high. It was a silent battle, who would look away first? You were determined not to look away, even if your body started to shake from the fear. And your determination paid off. You won. He scoffed, standing up fully and walking away. 

“For your sake, I hope your hero arrives quickly. Maybe I’ll show you mercy if he does.” 

When the heavy door slammed shut behind him, your body relaxed, sinking into the uncomfortable wooden chair. Only when you were sure he wasn’t coming back did you let yourself cry. What if Hyunjin didn’t come for you? How would he even know you were missing? 

You’d never felt so hopeless and lonely in your life. 

Hyunjin woke up in a cold sweat. Something felt wrong. Something wasn’t right. He grabbed his phone from his bedside table, opening up the news app to see if something was happening. His heart dropped into his stomach at the video clip he found linked to a news article titled Young Woman Kidnapped as Bait for Spider-Man. It was you. 

He sat up quickly, watching the video. He watched it once, then twice, then after he’d watched it five times all the way through he called Jisung. Jisung was more tech savvy than he was—maybe he’d be able to find out where the video was filmed. Despite it being the middle of the night, Jisung answered pretty quickly. 

“Jisung,” Hyunjin breathed, chewing anxiously on his bottom lip. “You need to come over right now.” 

“What’s going on?” 

Hyunjin sighed, stumbling around his room and grabbing his suit, “I need my guy in the chair.” 

“I’m on my way.” 

Ironically, Jisung lived in an apartment building only one street over from Hyunjin’s, so it didn’t take him long to get to Hyunjin’s apartment. He was sitting at Hyunjin’s desk only seven minutes later, inspecting the video on his laptop (one that he’d fixed up himself to be more high-tech). He frowned, rubbing at his chin as he watched the video over and over again. 

“Well, the room has no windows, at least not any that are visible from this angle, so it’s almost impossible to determine where this is from anything we might see through those. But if we isolate the background noise,” Jisung’s voice trailed off as he typed away at his laptop, working to isolate the noise, “you can faintly hear what sounds like a party or a nightclub. The room looks circular, so we can narrow it down to buildings with a dome on top or that are more circular in overall shape. I can think of one nightclub off the top of my head that has a dome on top.” 

Hyunjin’s eyes widened as he looked at Jisung. He knew which club Jisung was referring to. “Venom?” 

“Yeah,” Jisung grinned. “Venom.” 

“I have to go—”

“Wait!” Jisung stood quickly, grabbing his backpack and digging through it. “I made these for us. Earpieces.” 

The earpieces were small. They almost looked like small hearing aids. They wouldn’t bulge or be uncomfortable under his mask. He took the earpieces from Jisung’s hand, offering him a grateful smile, “Thanks Ji.” 

“I’ll help direct you, find information on whoever this guy is, and whatever else you need from me. Stay in contact. If you need help, I’ll send someone.” 

Hyunjin nodded, “I’ll stay in touch. Thank you Jisung.” 

Jisung nodded in return and pushed Hyunjin toward his window. “Now go. You have to save yn.” 

Hyunjin was quick to leave then, his only thought being to save you. As he made his way towards the popular downtown nightclub, Venom, he couldn’t stop the nagging feeling that he was making his way into a trap. He pushed that thought away. He’d seen you tied up, there was no way it could be a trap. He had to save you. 

Jisung’s voice pulled him from his spiraling thoughts, “There should be a trap door in the center of the dome, up at the top. You can get inside there.” 

Hyunjin didn’t answer as he landed on the top of the dome. Jisung was right about the trap door. He turned the wheel and hoisted the circular door up carefully, peering inside cautiously before dropping in. There you were. Tied to a chair in the center of the room, eyes closed but chest heaving. You were crying. 

He kept quiet, afraid that if he made too much noise the villain may return and hurt you. When he was right in front of you, you opened your eyes, looking at him shocked. You gasped, starting to speak, but he covered your mouth with a gloved hand, urging you to stay silent. You relaxed as he untied you and then watched as he stood back, giving you space to finally stand again. 

“I was worried you wouldn’t come,” you whispered, throwing yourself on him in a tight hug. 

He breathed out in relief, grateful that you were okay, wrapping his arms around you in return. “I’ll always come for you.” 

“As I expected,” the voice that came from you wasn’t your own anymore and Hyunjin pushed you off in shock, his head ringing as every alarm bell went off. He watched in horror as you changed into someone else, someone he recognized. Chameleon. He should have known. 

Hyunjin’s whole body stiffened as he backed up, looking around the room for you, “Where is she?” 

“Hm,” Chameleon hummed thoughtfully before breaking out into a sinister laugh, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” 

“If you hurt her—” 

“What? You’ll kill me too?” 

Hyunjin recoiled at the words, as if they physically hurt him. “I didn’t kill Kraven. You know I didn’t.” 

“But you didn’t stop it!” Chameleon’s featureless face somehow managed to look enraged and Hyunjin continued to watch cautiously as he started pacing. “You were there. You could have saved him. But you didn’t. Some hero you are!” 

Hyunjin didn’t respond, just watched warily, hoping that by letting him rant, he would divulge some information about where you actually were. But Chameleon only looked at him with crazed, infuriated eyes, daring him to answer. Hyunjin was never one to back down from a fight. He couldn’t be. Not when this was his job.

“There was nothing I could do. Now, tell me where she is!” 

Chameleon just shook his head, grinning eerily at Hyunjin. “You’ll never find her. I’ve taken her somewhere no one will ever find her.” 

You shivered as you looked around you. Chameleon had taken you somewhere different after sending the video of you to the press. It was cold and damp, dark save only for a faint, bluish light coming from one end of the tunnel. You felt nauseous and light-headed, a result of the horrible smell that rose all around you. You cringed as what you hoped was water dripped onto your skin from the curved ceiling. You were in the sewers. 

And Chameleon wasn’t there. 

How would Hyunjin ever find you now? You were still tied tightly to the chair you’d been in up in the windowless building. It felt like the more you wiggled to try and get free, the tighter the ropes wrapped around you, the more they dug into your skin. Your arms and legs ached from the odd angles they were bent at, your wrists and ankles burned from the ropes rubbing against your skin, your head was pounding from all the crying and lack of hydration. 

You looked around again, wondering if there was something around you that you could use to cut at the ropes. But there was nothing. You leaned your head back, squeezing your eyes shut and trying not to cry. You did the only thing you could think to do, though it was all in vain. “Help! Somebody help me!” 

Your voice echoed down the tunnels. Nobody answered you. You hung your head in defeat. You were going to starve to death down here if you didn’t die from the smell first. No one would ever find you here. Hyunjin would never find you. You sobbed silently for a moment, heaving as you tried to compose yourself again. 

A quiet squeaking noise pulled you out of your self-pity party. You looked down one end of the tunnel and saw nothing. You looked down the other end and saw nothing. But then you looked down at your feet and yelped. A rat. 

At first you shied away from the disease ridden creature, until a thought dawned on you. What if you could get the rat to chew at the ropes? How could you even do that? But you were determined. You had to get out. You had to try. 

You couldn’t give up. Not now. 

Hyunjin felt sick to his stomach. Where had Chameleon taken you? He had to think. He was running out of time. He had to focus. He couldn’t find you if he was dead. 

“Where is she?” Hyunjin asked again, teeth clenched as he stepped closer to the hideous man in front of him. 

Chameleon lunged then, hands outstretched as if to grab him, “I already told you! Somewhere you’ll never find her! Not until it’s too late!” 

Hyunjin ducked at the last second, sending Chameleon tripping over his own feet as he passed. He whipped around, angrier than before, and swung a fist at Hyunjin’s head. Hyunjin ducked again before delivering a swift kick to his side, sending him stumbling backward as he grabbed at his side, breath knocked out of him. 

“You’re going to wish you never did that!”

“Really?” Hyunjin quipped as he moved aside as Chameleon leapt towards him for another attack. “I don’t think I will!” 

The duo jumped and ducked and lunged around the room, swinging fists and kicking as they went. It was a rival’s tango—an enemy’s dance. Hyunjin groaned as Chameleon finally kicked him square in the stomach, but he recovered quickly, rolling out of the way again as Chameleon leaned in to punch him in the jaw. Chameleon roared in anger as he punched the ground instead. 

“Ready to give up yet?” Hyunjin asked, swinging down from the ceiling and kicking Chameleon in the chest with both feet. 

“I’ll never give up!” 

“Always so dramatic,” Hyunjin taunted, hanging from the ceiling and watching as Chameleon caught his breath. “You always have to have the last word, don’t you?” 

“I’ll be damned if I let you have the final word!” 

Hyunjin shook his head, hanging just out of Chameleon’s reach. “Let’s make a deal, then. I’ll let you have the last word if you tell me where she is.” 

“What do you take me for, a five year old?” Chameleon hissed angrily, glaring up at Hyunjin. “You’re just going to have to look for her.” 

“Thought you might say that,” Hyunjin sighed dramatically before shooting a web at Chameleon, catching him off guard since he’d been distracted. He struggled but before he could break free, he was hit with another web, and then another, and another and another until he was trapped to the wall behind him, Hyunjin only centimeters away from him. “Now tell me… where is she?” 

You were crying again, completely frustrated and worn out from screaming for help. Though you’d tried to coax the rat over to where you were bound, it was no use. You didn’t have anything it wanted so it scurried past almost as quickly as it had appeared. Now you were sitting, head hung low as you finally allowed your tears of frustration to fall. 

“Hyunjin, where are you?” You whispered into the damp air of the sewer, head still hung as you fell limp against your restraints. 

You weren’t sure how long you sat like that. Your head was pounding, you were shivering from the cold air blowing through the tunnels, and you felt more and more nauseous the longer you sat there in the stinking waters. You tried not to think about how you would die a slow death of starvation. It only made it harder to breathe. 

A sound, however, pulled you out of your misery. The faint scrape of a manhole cover being moved. A splash, a thwip, footsteps running. You sat up straighter, using the last of your strength to call out again, “Help me!” 

You fell quiet again, listening as the footsteps got closer. You could jump for joy if you weren’t tied to a rickety, wooden chair. Your eyes filled with relieved tears when a man, clad in red and blue, came running around the curve of the tunnel. But you hesitated. 

“Wait.” 

He stopped, tugging his mask off, “What is it?” 

“How do I know you’re really… you.” 

“God, yn,” he scoffed, smirking at you playfully. “I come to save your life and you want me to prove it’s me?”

You shrugged, “That guy could change bodies at will. How can I be sure you’re not him? Tell me something only you would know. Something he wouldn’t be able to look up about either of us online.” 

“You’re the only person who’s ever called me Hyunnie.” He took a step closer to you, then another. “I made you cry once because I started self-studying quantum physics. I got a 62% on our last exam before the professor let me retake it. I—”

“Okay, okay, come untie me now.” 

You looked away from him, tears finally falling over your cheeks once more. He was quick to crouch in front of you, untying your feet first and then moving behind you to get your hands. His voice was soft when he spoke to you, helping you out of the chair. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“Yeah,” you punched him lightly in the shoulder, sniffling and clinging onto him, scared he would be gone if you let go. “What took you so long, asshole?” 

“Had to get the bad guy first. Didn’t want him to come after you again.” Hyunjin kissed the top of your head, wrapping his own arms around you. He felt like he could finally breathe again, knowing you were safe in his arms. 

“Hyunjin,” you murmured, not moving away from him, “I don’t want to go home tonight.” 

He snorted and looked down at you, “What, you want to stay the night here in the sewer?” 

“No,” you pouted up at him. 

“Then where do you want to go?” 

“With you.” 

He looked at you only a second longer before leaning in and pressing his lips to yours. Your lips were salty from tears and a little chapped, but kissing you was just as wonderful as it had been every other time. He tasted a little bit like medicine and toothpaste, you noted, and though it wasn’t a great combination, you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You didn’t really care about anything when Hyunjin was kissing you. 

“I’m sorry,” you whispered when you pulled away. “For being so angry and unreasonable. I talked to Yeji about it and she… kind of knocked some sense into me. I understand why you didn’t tell me and honestly… I would’ve done the same thing if I was in your position.” 

“Hey, no,” he held your face in his hands, looking at you so tenderly. “I shouldn’t have kept it from you for so long. It’s hard to trust people when you’re doing work like this, but that’s not an excuse—”

“No, it’s totally valid, so I’m—”

“Stop talking,” he mumbled, kissing you again. 

You laughed when he pulled away. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed, laughing as well. “Never would have thought I’d be kissing my rival in a sewer.” 

“Fuck, I kind of forgot where we were. Please get me out of here.” 

He nodded and held you close to him as he guided you to the manhole where he’d come in. He helped you up and then tugged his mask on and climbed up himself, taking a deep breath once he was out. The air wasn’t necessarily fresher, but it was less stagnant—it didn’t cling to you as much. And as polluted as it was, it certainly smelled better than the air in the sewer had. 

You turned around and hugged Hyunjin tightly once more as he used his webbing to swing the two of you back to his apartment. You felt exhausted, dehydrated, and emotional after everything that had happened, but still, you felt happy. You hadn’t realized just how much you’d really missed him until he was right in front of you, talking to you again. 

When Hyunjin set you down on the fire escape outside of his bedroom window, you felt another rush of relief surge through you. You were safe, really and truly safe. Hyunjin shoved the window up and climbed in, watching as you climbed in too. You looked over at his desk, noticing a bright yellow sticky note stuck to the middle of the wooden top. 

“It’s a note from Jisung,” Hyunjin muttered, picking it up and reading it, dragging his fingers through his hair. “He went back to his apartment so that we could talk. I’m going to change really quickly, but I’ll be right back.” 

You nodded, sitting down on his bed as he ran into his bathroom to change. You felt a shiver make its way down your spine as you remembered what had happened the last time you’d been in his bed. You didn’t have much time alone with your thoughts because Hyunjin, true to his word, changed quickly. He sat down on his bed beside you, not as close to you as you would have liked. He was still trying to give you space. It made your heart pound painfully in your chest. 

He was so good and you’d never even known it, too blinded by the stupid rivalry you’d struck up to give him a chance. If you’d tried being nice back, would things have been different? You liked to think that maybe they would have been. 

“I miss you,” you finally said, voice soft. 

You played absentmindedly with your fingers, not wanting to look at him in case he didn’t feel the same as you did. But he didn’t laugh at you or yell at you, he just scooted closer to you on the bed, wrapped his arms around you, and then pulled you down to lay beside him. “I miss you too.” 

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch to you the past few years.” 

“Don’t be sorry,” he shook his head, “It was kind of fair considering I was a complete asshole.” 

“Would you maybe… want to go on a date with me?” You chewed on your bottom lip, heart beating out of your chest as you asked him. 

“Yeah,” he breathed out, pressing a gentle kiss to the crook of your neck. “I’d really really like that.” 

“For now, can you kiss me?” 

You rolled over so you were facing him and he let out a shuddering breath as you leaned closer to him. “Fuck, yeah.” 

He kissed you, holding you as close to him as was humanly possible. You hadn’t felt so happy, so right, since the last time you were together—the night you realized he was Spider-Man. 

If someone had told you back in high school that you would end up in Hwang Hyunjin’s bed, kissing him and asking him to go on a date with you, you would have laughed in their face. If someone had told you that Hyunjin was Spider-Man you would have laughed even harder. If someone had told you that Hyunjin was actually really sweet, thoughtful, funny, and kind you would have keeled over on the floor then and there. 

“Kind of crazy that we ended up together.” You mused out loud, pulling away from Hyunjin and opting instead to run your fingers through his hair and smile fondly at him. 

He shrugged, grinning at you as he traced a finger over your jaw. “I don’t know, I kind of always saw it coming.” 

“What do you mean?”

“I started the stupid rivalry thing because I had a major crush on you. I just wanted to impress you. But you could dish it right back, so over time, I sort of lost sight of the whole reason I initially started the rivalry. Then it turned into who could be more of a jerk and I never was one to give up so easily so… It was always me who was the bigger asshole. Somewhere in the back of my mind though, I always had a crush on you.” 

“Hwang Hyunjin,” you chastised playfully, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before laughing again, “you are the biggest idiot I have ever met.” 

“Yeah, but you like it,” he gave you a dopey smile, loving the sound of your laugh more than he ever had before. 

“Yeah,” you mumbled, snuggling into his chest and sighing happily, “I do.” 

Hyunjin held you for a moment longer before he sighed and pushed you away dramatically. “Okay, can you go shower now or something since we’ve made up? You still reek of sewer.” 

“Hyunnie,” you whined, “don’t wanna go.” 

“What if I shower with you?” 

Your eyes lit up at that and you sat up immediately. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

He rolled his eyes. You were absolutely ridiculous. But he loved it. And you wouldn’t hear him say it for a while, but he also loved you.

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