Chapter Text
Tossing his pencil down, Seokjin stretches his arms above his head with a groan, spine popping as he arches his back. He’s been hunched over his desk for hours now, cramming equations and reactions and theories into his too-full brain. It’s past one in the morning, and his eyes sting from the glow of his laptop.
He’s got an exam tomorrow: chemistry, which he sucks at. He put off studying too long, and he regrets every life decision that has led him to this point. Does he really need chemistry anyways? Photography and literature are more his forte, so this information is useless in the long run.
Maybe he’ll flunk it. A quiet fuck you to his father. The idea brings a smile to his face: Founder and CEO of Kim Corporations – the leading company in health geared nano-chemistry products – and his chosen heir failing high school honours chemistry.
Closing his laptop, he pushes himself back from his desk, wheely chair catching the rug and slowing him down. Bedtime, he decides. He shoves the chair back towards the desk and walks over to the big window across the room. The windowsill is large enough to create a little nook, with pillows and a blanket for him to curl up with and read peacefully. The window itself is huge, and it’s Seokjin’s favourite part of the whole house.
He pushes it open a bit, providing just enough cool fresh air to help him sleep. The house gets awfully stuffy, and he has trouble sleeping as it is. The fresh air helps.
Crawling into bed, he wiggles down under the covers and grabs his phone. Thumbing through his favourite photography accounts always unwind him, so he pulls up the first one he finds.
They’re a new photographer for the local newspaper, so all of their posts are crisp and professional, and it scratches something in Seokjin's brain. He breathes a sigh as the stress of his impending exam sloughs off his shoulders, tabled aside until tomorrow calls.
A photo posted recently catches his eye, and he stops scrolling to get a better look. It’s of a person in a red full bodysuit, with weird lines that run up and down, almost like a spider web. On the face mask, two eyeholes are distinguished but covered with an opaque lens. Running under the arms and down the legs are black panels, giving the illusion of pants. The person wears black clunky sneakers that look incredibly impractical for even walking, much less anything else. And, in the middle of the person’s chest, is a black spider emblem, further solidifying Seokjin’s theory of the lines imitating webs.
The person is photographed in a crouch, one hand on the ground and the other extended behind them. Their head is cocked to the side, almost comically so, and is staring somewhere in the distance behind the photographer.
'A Spider-like Man Stops Bank Robbery on 6th Street' reads the caption, and Seokjin raises an eyebrow. A vigilante? There hasn’t been much vigilante activity in years. As crime increased, police rules got tighter and the few vigilantes that popped up were turned in almost immediately.
Seokjin doesn’t watch the news often, so they could be old news, but if they are a new vigilante, it shouldn’t be long until they’re taken in too. At least their suit looks cool.
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Tap tap tap tap
Seokjin looks up from his test, eyes darting around for the source of the sound, the little focus he has on the test dissolving with each noise. To his left, Jeon Jeongguk sits with his bottom lip smushed between his fingers, his leg bouncing hard enough to rattle against the desk. He looks stressed, which causes Seokjin’s stomach to sink to his feet. Jeongguk is the top of the class in chemistry, and if he struggles that means everyone else will drown.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap
Seokjin drops his head in his hands, pencil clattering softly on the desk. At least his decision to put off studying wasn’t in vain: if it’s hard for the smartest person, it’d be impossible for him. A lost cause right from the start.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap
Clearing his throat, he kicks his leg against Jeongguk’s bouncing one, making him yelp quietly. They make eye contact, and Jeongguk turns about ten different shades of red. He mouths sorry and shuffles himself to sit neater at the desk, leg staying still. Seokjin sighs and turns back to his test, and scribbles something he hopes is the right answer.
When their teacher drones that their time is up, Seokjin throws his test into his teacher's waiting hand, thankful to be done. He glances over at Jeongguk, who also look incredibly relieved. He’s brushing his bangs off the side of his head and suddenly turns to look at Seokjin dead in the eyes, startling him.
“Hey Seokjin, how did you do? I hope I did okay, I felt like this exam was so much harder than the last one, even though chemistry is one of my favourite subjects – I know it’s not yours, you like literature, right? Or was it history? Photography, maybe? Either way, those aren’t really chemistry, so I hope you felt like you did okay too.” As Jeongguk slowly runs out of steam, the corners of Seokhin’s mouth twitch up unwillingly.
Cute.
Seokjin feels a slow blush creeping up his neck, and his eyes widen imperceptibly. Where did that come from? Jeongguk is just his friend. They eat lunch together and sometimes study in the library, and sometimes Seokjin can’t help but get lost in dark eyes so big they look like they contain the whole world, but they’re friends, nothing more. So why did he think that?
Darting his eyes back to Jeongguk’s face, he finds him looking quietly at Seokjin. Jeongguk head is tilted slightly, and it’s endearing.
Fuck.
It’s been too long since Jeongguk stopped talking, and Seokjin needs to respond. He fumbles for something, anything.
“Your hair is very fluffy.”
Perfect.
Jeongguk, to his credit, only looks mildly confused at the non sequitur. A soft blush creeps up his cheeks, and he starts raising his arm to cover it. Seokjin, feeling equally embarrassed, points his eyes down to their shoes. His white shoes are all beat up, dirty and stained. He sees the left shoelace is loose and bends down to tie it. Jeongguk shuffles a bit as Seokjin leans down, and his eyes dart to Jeongguk’s shoes.
Laced up awkwardly, he dons black sneakers, almost clunky looking. They’re a bit scuffed, but the colour is still distinct. They look incredibly uncomfortable to walk in, and something in Seokjin’s brain flags that as important.
Furrowing his eyebrows, he sits back up, his gaze still on Jeongguk’s shoes. Why are they so familiar? It’s not like him to notice shoes, he doesn’t particularly care what people wear.
Seokjin straightens back up and right as Jeongguk opens his mouth, the bell rings for them to change classes. Seokjin shoves his notebooks in his backpack and goes to head for the door, but is stopped by a wobbly “Seokjin, wait!”
Looking over his shoulder, he sees Jeongguk scrambling to his feet, shoving his stuff haphazardly in his backpack and tripping over his feet.
“What are you doing tonight?” Jeongguk asks, a bit breathless from his struggle. There’s a sparkle in his eyes, the kind he gets when he knows the answer in class or sees a new anime. Jeongguk’s usually a very nervous person, so this burst of confidence is throwing Seokjin off.
Hesitantly, Seokjin responds. “Nothing I don’t think, why? Did you want to do something?”
He gets a nod in return, dark hair bouncing. “Yeah! I saw there’s a new retro diner opening in the city tonight, I thought it’d be fun if we went! Like… just the two of us?” The flush overtakes Jeongguk's entire face, and it’s so sweet and endearing, how could Seokjin say no?
“Sure, that sounds nice.” He says, nodding. “I’m free after six, do you want to meet up then?”
“Perfect!” Jeongguk says, doing a little fist pump. “See you then Seokjin, bye!” He turns to run backwards as he waves back at Seokjin, nearly bumping into somebody but sharply moving aside seconds before. As he watches him walk away, Seokjin realises he’s not breathing. Sucking in air, he attempts to process what just happened.
Did he just get asked out? By Jeon Jeongguk, one of the shyest people in this school?
Jeongguk’s been away for a while working on various internships, so maybe he got a grasp of his anxiety at one of those? Seokjin pinches his arm a little, just to make sure he’s awake. Walking in a daze to his next class, he almost forgets what was bothering him about Jeongguk’s shoes.
Pulling out his phone, he goes to the photographers’ page he was looking at last night. There, he sees the photo of the ‘Spider-like Man’, and truly takes stock of them. They’re tall, but not very tall from what Seokjin tell as they're in a crouch. They’ve got a heavy build, arms hugged tightly by the suit look bulky and strong, and Seokjin feels his face heat looking at their thighs. Glancing quickly further down his legs causes him to pause. Blinking a few times to make sure he’s seeing things correctly, everything suddenly clicks.
They’re wearing black, clunky, impractical sneakers. Just like Jeongguk’s.
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Landing heavily on the roof, he tucks himself and rolls into a crouch. Springing to his feet and quickly making sure nobody is up here, he yanks his mask off and shakes out his hair. Jeongguk takes a breath in and screams as loud as he dares.
Why did he decide now was the time to ask out Seokjin? He looked so startled and adorable. A smile splits Jeongguk's face as he thinks about it. The blush that had crawled up Seokjin's neck as he had clarified that it was just the two of them will stay in his mind forever.
Jeongguk does a little tippy tappy dance, energy buzzing in his veins and desperate to be let out. Scrunching his shoulders up and throwing his mask on, he jogs to the side of the building, still floating on air, and just —
Falls backwards off the building.
Wind whipping aggressively around him, Jeongguk splays his arms out to the side as he freefalls, mouth still split in that stupid grin. About halfway down the building, he rights himself by throwing his feet below him and flinging a wrist out, shoots sticky viscous strings out of an opening in his suit and latches on to a building corner.
He sails through the air, swinging from the web like it’s a rope, gaining momentum. Right at the apex of the arc, he kicks his legs in front of his body and flips himself around, a loose backflip that feels just so right. It feels like he was born to do this, as natural as breathing.
Jeongguk lets himself flip upright before he shoots another web out, carrying that momentum further and a loud whoop slips out against his will. Formulas for kinetic and potential energy float around in his brain as he pendulums through the streets. KE = ½ mv2, U = mgh, and so many more, a soothing type of normality that science provides filling in his thoughts.
Still, he is Jeon Jeongguk, 17 years old and infected with radioactive spiderbots. His life is very much not normal.
Having got the opportunity to work as an intern for Kim Corporation was like a dream, with all the experiments involving nanotech and health rehabilitation surrounding him. He was just a glorified coffee boy though and ran back and forth to make sure everyone was happy for one week. But it let him put something substantial on his resume at least.
On his last day, however, he was taken by one of the chief research scientists and given a tour of the main research lab. Eyes the size of cantaloupes behind his glasses, Jeongguk took everything in greedily. In the corner, a special sealed area for work on carbon nanotubes. Lab benches full of trials for silicon chips, and filling the right wall was massive wiring for biosensor testing.
It looked like a research scientists’ wet dream, hundreds upon thousands of dollars being put into this lab. He was vibrating out of his skin.
When he leaned closer over a lab bench to listen properly, there was a little volumetric flask with a stopgap that his sleeve knocked over, causing it to be popped open. There was a silent scramble as he reached to reseal the flask, and he moved as little and as quickly as he could to not draw attention to himself.
The label had told him that the flask was being used for a different type of travelling nanobots for the circulatory system, one that was still in prototype testing. He righted the error within seconds, but apparently, that was all it took.
That night, he scrubbed his skin raw in the shower, desperately trying to get it off of his body before any damage occurred. But he still came down with a fever and near passed out the second he hit the bed, strange dreams making him toss and turn. Waking up was even weirder.
Now, Jeongguk wasn’t a super fit guy. He was lanky and skinny and had huge thick-rimmed glasses that weren’t flattering in the slightest. He looked wan and malnourished and was very aware of it.
When he woke up the next morning, however, as he went to go put on clothes for school, the pants he usually wore tightly cinched with a belt barely pulled up past his thighs. As he hobbled over to the mirror with the pants stilled hooked around his ankles, the person staring back at him was…buff.
Jeongguk had squinted at his reflection and realised he couldn’t see a thing. So, he took his glasses off and had been shocked to find he suddenly had perfect vision.
A little panicked, Jeongguk took a better look at himself. His face had finally lost its boyish curve and gave him a sharp jawline and defined cheekbones. His arms showed biceps that barely fit the sleeves of his pyjama top, and as he raised the hem of his shirt slightly Jeongguk was both terrified and excited to see a sixpack of abs.
He wobbled back over to his bed and sat down heavily, kicking the ill-fitting pants to the side. Jeongguk threw his head into his hands as he tried to think of what the hell to do.
Clothes were a priority; he couldn’t go around naked. But he also couldn’t get to the shop without being arrested for public indecency. He’s the only guy in the house too, and Jeongguk couldn’t exactly go and grab one of his mother’s dresses without raising suspicion.
Still a bit hazy from the absurdity of it all, he had made a snap decision and texted Taehyung asking him to come over with some spare clothes. He knew those will fit — Taehyung had always been in good shape.
Thankfully, Taehyung gave little resistance in bringing what he needed over, but the number of questions that came pouring loudly from his mouth left Jeongguk flailing, arms gesturing wildly to get him to be quiet.
As he bent his arm to avoid Taehyung’s grip, there was a pppfwwwttt sound and a white web-patterned splotch attached itself to Jeongguk's bedframe.
Both he and Taehyung froze and slowly turned to look at each other. That’s when he realised that he was in way over his head.
Panic must’ve shown on his face, because Taehyung suddenly reached for him, muttering softly under his breath as he examined Jeongguk’s arm. Taehyung's hand brushed against something on his wrist that made every hair on Jeongguk's body stand straight up, and he yanked his arm to his chest and rubbed softly over the area.
He felt a weird change in the crux of his wrist, right where the tendon is most prominent, and he raised his arm to get a better look. There, Jeongguk found a horizontal slit in his wrist, folded over itself and barely visible.
“What. Was. that.” Taehyung asked in wonder, and Jeongguk’s eyes shut in an attempt to calm himself down. He was so overwhelmed, and he shook while he stumbled back to his bed to sit down.
“Jeongguk-ah. Do it again.” Jeongguk looked up as Taehyung loomed over him with a sharp glint in his eyes, Jeongguk braced himself, raised his wrist and —
Nothing.
Eyebrows furrowed, he wiggled his arm and shook his wrist back and forth in an attempt to make whatever happened, happen again. His fingers twisted about; various ones curled to try different combinations.
He threw up a peace sign, a thumbs up, held his pinky out and wiggled it about. He heard Taehyung huff a sigh at his actions, and Jeongguk flipped his middle finger up and waggled it at him.
Taehyung, predictably, had lunged for him. Strong hands gripped his wrist as Taehyung started to unfurl Jeongguk’s fingers.
“Let’s just figure out how you did that before I pummel you.” Taehyung threatened him jokingly, he had yanked Jeongguk's pinky up and went for the rest of his fingers, but Jeongguk’s thumb held down his ring and middle finger. After a minute or so Taehyung had managed to wrench Jeongguk’s index finger up. As they both struggled against each other, suddenly there was a blur of white that shot upwards between them and plopped on the ceiling.
Slowly, they turned to look up, and stuck to the ceiling was another one of those web things. Taehyung had made a triumphant noise and released his grip, stood back, and gestured towards him.
“Yeah, so that’s how you do it. Try it again.” Curious, Jeongguk made the same motion with his fingers and flicked his wrist, a thick web string flew out of the tiny opening and stuck to the wall.
“You’re like a spider,” Taehyung had said, poking the web. “That’s so fucking freaky. Only you, Ggukk.”
Smiling a little to himself, Jeongguk shoots another web out to swing closer to his apartment. That was a little over a month ago, and since his new internship the following week at Mighty Technology, he’s now gained a mentor and a high-tech suit.
Kim Namjoon, the founder of Mighty Technology, took an interest in Jeongguk’s abilities, interested in testing their range and worked with Jeongguk to create a custom suit to maximise the power of what he can do. He hasn’t told Namjoon fully about what he does at night for the city, just watching the news can give him the idea.
Jeongguk has to get back home – it’s nearly time for him to meet Seokjin at the restaurant and he definitely needs a shower. The suit can be stifling, and he makes a note to add a few more cooling elements to the suit next time he’s in the lab.
Dropping down gently in the alley near his apartment, he quickly shoves his mask into his backpack he stashed near the dumpster and yanks on some sweats and a hoodie, effectively hiding his suit. Strolling as casually as he can out into the streets, he heads towards home with a little skip in his step.
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Seokjin is panicking.
He’s never been on a date before. What does he wear? Does he dress up fancy or casually? Should he do his hair nicely? He never got to watch those shows his mom likes, so romance is a foreign concept to him.
Is this even a date? Jeongguk did emphasise that it was just the two of them, so date makes sense, but what if Seokjin interpreted it wrong? He doesn’t want to mess up their friendship, it’s the one thing he cherishes most.
Glancing at the clock, he’s horrified to see that he needs to leave, like, right now. Falling over himself to get his wallet and phone, he yanks on his shoes and heads out of the door. He shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket and tilts his head down, keeping his eyes pointed towards the sidewalk.
Now that his panic over the date has subsided slightly, his thoughts turn to those black shoes. It can’t be a coincidence, he thinks. Jeongguk has been acting strangely for a few weeks now. Bruises on his face and the occasional limp in his gait, being squirrelly about his after-school plans and outright shutting down whenever Seokjin's father's company is mentioned.
Didn’t Jeongguk say he was doing an internship there? Seokjin hopes nothing bad happened to him, the work his father is doing is mostly hidden from him, but Seokjin knows that some of it can be lawsuit material.
Oh god, is Jeongguk being blackmailed by his father? His heart does a funny flip at the thought, fear clawing up his throat. Kim Dohyun is a cruel man, and would not stop at anything to achieve his goals. If Jeongguk somehow got tangled up with all that, who knows what his father will do.
Shaking his head, Seokjin tries to quell his anxiety by looking at that picture of what the news has now dubbed as Spider-Man.
For some reason, Seokjin feels calm looking at him. Maybe it’s the shade of red on the suit, a cool scarlet pairing nicely with the dark web lines streaking down his body. Maybe it’s the way his back is arched delicately as a gloved hand touches the ground.
Or maybe it’s the gentle reassurance associated with those black shoes.
Okay, Seokjin thinks, let’s figure it out. He needs to look at the facts. The things he knows for sure: Jeongguk has black shoes, Spider-Man has distinct black shoes. Jeongguk loves the color red, and Spider-Man has a red motif. Jeongguk is… fit, Spider-Man is also very… muscular.
Seokjin quickly goes to search to see if there’s any video footage of Spider-Man, either in action or surveying the area. Seokjin knows Jeongguk’s mannerisms accurately, they’re very exclusive to him. If Spider-Man has just a smidge of those characteristics, he’d feel confident enough to say that they’re the same person.
A grainy video attracts his attention, and he turns his brightness up to get the best view. He hits play and brings his phone up to his face, squinting a bit against the contrast.
The video looks like it was taken while running, camera bouncing about and rasping breaths are audible. The angle tilts up sharply as a fwwwwp noise echoes through the street, and a body swings through the gap between the buildings, holding onto what looks like...white rope?
The figure throws an arm out, and another fwwwwp is heard as the rope (he thinks?) shoots out from his wrist. As the person reaches the apex of the swing, they suddenly flip backwards, a euphoric sounding yell echoes around the structures. They throw their arms and legs out, splayed out and free-falling, getting closer and closer to the street before another thick white strand fwwwps out, and he starts swinging again, a loud hell yeah bouncing down the street before the echo fades out.
The screen suddenly shows his face, and Seokjin blinks as he’s plunged into darkness. Eyebrows knitting together, he scrubs back a bit to listen to the yell again. That was definitely Spider-Man, and he shoots webs, Seokjin guesses, from his arms to be mobile, but that voice sounds… familiar.
Turning the volume up and bringing the speaker to his ear, he hits play and concentrates.
Now, Seokjin has spent a lot of time with Jeon Jeongguk. Being Seokjin’s first friend, he latched on completely to any affection shot his way, sinking himself deep into the resonance of Jeongguk’s voice until it loops in his dreams.
So, when he listens to Spider-Man yell again, he knows.
Jeongguk is Spider-Man.
There’s absolutely no doubt in his mind. His best friend (crush) is a vigilante that runs around in full-body spandex and can shoot webs from his arms.
And Seokjin’s about go to on a date with him.
It’s fine, everything’s fine, if there’s one thing Seokjin's upbringing taught him is that he’s great at compartmentalising. He can handle this. Maybe.
Should he confront Jeongguk about it? He’s kept it a secret, so there’s the possibility that Jeongguk needs to stay unknown to protect himself. Seokjin doesn’t want Jeongguk to get hurt, and if concealing his identity is how he stays safe, then Seokjin will just keep quiet. There’s a slim chance he could be wrong too, but Seokjin doubts that.
Shoving his phone into his pocket, he quickens his pace towards the restaurant. Regardless of Jeongguk’s potential vigilante status occupying his thoughts, his cheeks heat up at the thought of their date. There’s excitement buzzing in his veins as the prospect of just seeing Jeongguk outside of school.
Swerving left, he decides to duck through an alleyway just to get there a bit quicker. He steps over old pizza boxes and around piles of trash, wrinkling his nose a bit at the smell. As he watches his feet to make sure he doesn’t step in any trash, he fails to notice the eyes on him from the end of the street.
Sidestepping a big cardboard box, he loses his footing and wobbles slightly, arms windmilling out to keep his stability. Just as he’s about to fall, a hand latches onto his arm and rights his balance. Freezing, Seokjin turns his head slowly to see an angry face covered by a medical mask, inches from his own.
“Hi pretty boy,” they sneer, tightening their grip on his bicep. “I bet you’ve got some of daddy’s money on you, and you seem like such a generous person. Why don’t you take out your wallet and hand it over and nobody gets hurt, yeah?”
The sharp press of a knife to his back makes Seokjin suck in a breath, icy fear trickling down his spine. Every worst-case scenario flashes in his mind; being stabbed and left dead in this alley, being taken for ransom, being tortured slowly as he begs for freedom. Why did he take a shortcut? He’s gone off the path and now any help won’t know where he is.
Hands shaking vigorously, he reaches towards his wallet in his back pocket, moving like molasses to buy himself time to think. Years of martial arts feel insignificant, knowing how to do a jump kick won’t help change the fact that a knife is pushing against his kidneys.
Closing his eyes, he inhales slowly as the weight of his wallet leaves his pocket, resigning himself to handing it over.
Suddenly, there’s a loud ffffwwwwp and Seokjin hears a person drop to the ground behind him. On his next breath in, there’s a noisy whack and the point of the knife leaves his back. Taking the opportunity, he darts forward, eyes opening and head whipping around to survey the scene before him.
Holding a metal pipe like a baseball bat and panting softly, Spider-Man stands over the assailant crumpled on the ground. He’s craning his whole body over the person, making a comical C-shape as he leans closer. Seokjin releases an audible sigh of relief, and Spider-Man jolts like he’s been shocked, metal pipe clattering to the ground as he whips his head towards Seokjin.
Without moving to look away, Spider-Man flicks his wrist towards the person, sticky webs stringing their hands together and covering their mouth.
“Are you okay?” Spider-Man asks, shoulder tense and voice muffled by the mask. Stunned, Seokjin nods and takes a step forward. The tension within Spider-Man seems to double at his movement.
“Okay. Great! Well, I really have to go now, lots to do and all.” Spider-Man chuckles nervously, words coming out quicker. “Big job, keeping the city safe. I’m glad you’re all right okay have a great day take care bye!”
He flicks a wrist and launches towards the fire escape above, and Seokjin feels something in him lurch.
“Wait!”
He doesn’t mean to yell, but it does the job as Spider-Man freezes.
“Please. Come back. You saved my life, let me at least thank you properly.” Seokjin wonders if he’s imagining the desperation in his voice, neck craned upwards to look at him.
There’s a beat where it seems Spider-Man is at war with himself, but then suddenly Seokjin’s faced with a bright red mask.
Spider-Man hangs by his web upside-down, hands wrapped around the web and feet holding his weight steady. He’s also less than an inch from Seokjin’s face, and it takes everything in him not to jerk back. Seokjin knows now in his heart who Spider-Man is, and the adrenaline rushing through him is making Seokjin feel brave.
“Okay. I’m here now.” Spider-Man says, and Seokjin can tell he’s dropping his voice purposefully. “What did you want to say?”
Seokjin’s hands come up, no longer shaking, and hover over the sides of Spider-Man’s face. There’s a second where he jerks back, hands tightening on his web with the urge to leave. But, Seokjin holds still, and after a moment he relaxes again.
“I’m indebted to you now, don’t you know?” Seokjin says, a small grin pulling at his lips. “The illustrious Spider-Man. Everyone wants to know who you are, see the man behind the mask.”
Gripping the seam of the mask at his neck, Seokjin dips his fingers in, hearing the hitched breath from the man in front of him.
“I’m not so sure anyone would like me as much if they knew who I was,” he says, with a self-deprecating chuckle as if to lighten the words. “I’m a lot less cool than Spider-Man is.”
Peeling the mask down slowly, Seokjin steps an inch closer and moves to uncover his chin. He goes tense under his fingers again.
“Wait,” Spider-Man whispers.
A beat. Then, Seokjin gently rolls the mask past his chin.
“I don’t care about who Spider-Man is. I think I’d like to know more about who you are.” It’s barely a whisper, and Seokjin can feel his heartbeat in his throat.
He rolls the mask further to uncover soft lips and stops at his nose, the mole just below his lip visible even with such little skin showing.
“I think you’re amazing, Jeongguk,” Seokjin murmurs and watches those pale lips part in a gasp before he closes the space between them and seals their mouths together.
For a second, nothing happens, and Seokjin makes to pull back. But Jeongguk makes a noise in the back of his throat and moves his face closer to Seokjin’s, kissing him fiercely.
It’s a bit awkward, with Seokjin’s nose digging into his chin and Jeongguk's pressed against his throat. But it’s his first kiss and he’s got all the time in the world to practice, and when Jeongguk’s tongue swipes the seam of his lips he can’t find it in himself to care about technique very much.
They break apart when there’s no more air, moving away only to pant against each other’s mouths. Seokjin pulls down the rest of his mask, revealing flushed cheeks, very wide eyes and a mop of dark curls that seemingly springs free.
“Come down here and kiss me properly, Spider-Man,” he hums, a goofy smile that Seokjin can’t shake plastered on his face.
Jeongguk lets go of the web and flips down to his feet, both hands coming to steady himself on Seokjin’s shoulders. His face seems permanently red, and his eyes are blown-out and trained on Seokjin. Right hand moving slowly, Jeongguk traces the line of his jaw, one thumb coming to brush briefly against his lips, as if to confirm he’s actually there.
“How did you know?” Jeongguk whispers, hand coming to cup his cheek, and Seokjin nuzzles gently into the touch. “How did you know it was me?”
“Your shoes,” Seokjin murmurs, eyes pointing down briefly at black sneakers. “I don’t know anyone else with shoes that look so silly.” Jeongguk makes an affronted noise at that, and Seokjin smiles before continuing. “Also, just you. I like you, in case you couldn’t tell, and we’ve been friends for years now. I would hope that I know who you are by this point.”
He tilts his head up to make proper eye contact, looking at Jeongguk behind long eyelashes. “This was supposed to be a date, right? You know, before the whole mugging-then-being-saved situation.”
Jeongguk laughs then, throwing his head back. The noise spills past his lips like chimes, and Seokjin could listen to it all day. “Yes, this was meant to be a date. Though, I guess I’m not very good at it: you nearly got mugged and now we’re standing in a smelly alley. Did you want to go eat still? The police should be here for them soon,” Jeongguk says, nodding towards the slumped figure.
Seokjin leans forward and gently places his head on Jeongguk’s chest, the adrenaline slowly seeping out of him. Strong arms wrap around him and tug him closer, and he shuts his eyes, breathing out slowly.
“If you swing me there, we’re over,” Seokjin says softly, thunking his head against Jeongguk’s chest.
“There’s an us?” Seokjin can hear the smile in Jeongguk voice, and those arms go to squeeze him closer, “I mean, I didn’t want to assume or anything, but Spider-Man’s boyfriend has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“I think I much prefer being Jeongguk’s boyfriend, to be honest,” Seokjin says, standing up and handing Jeongguk his mask.
Kissing his forehead, Jeongguk mumbles softly. “You’re cheesy.”
Seokjin preens under the attention, and Jeongguk keeps peppering kisses across his cheeks until Seokjin pushes him away, face flaming.
“Go get cleaned up, Spider-Man, and I’ll meet you at the diner,” he says, and Jeongguk gives him a cheeky salute before yanking on his mask and shooting upwards with a fwwwwp.
Biting his cheek to keep himself from smiling, Seokjin whips his head up to watch him go, huffing a laugh at the peace sign thrown his way. He glances back once more at the mugger, then turns forward to head out of the alley.
As he steps into the brightness of the street, a flash of red catches his eye as a person swing between the buildings, laugh bouncing off the structures as he flips about.
There’s a yell of “It’s Spider-Man!” to his left, and various cheers go up around him. Seokjin shuffles past the horde of people eager to catch a glimpse at Spider-Man. He pushes gently past a woman filming. Seokjin can’t get caught up in the crowd and risk being late.
He’s got a date with Jeongguk to get to, after all.