“Whatever you do, don’t move till the cops arrive! I’m trusting the both of you, okay? Bye! Have a nice day!” Mark, clad in his Spiderman suit, exclaimed gleefully whilst waving at the robbers that were webbed on the wall before rushing out of the bank.

Upon entering the familiar abandoned alleyway, a sigh of relief escaped from his lips to see his new backpack still in place where he left it (his 5th one at that— Aunt May swore to not buy him anymore backpacks). The eye lenses attached on his suit formed crescents, following the eye smile he had under the mask. Not wasting anymore time, he grabbed his backpack and entered the school premises through the window in the boy’s toilet that he left open for him to sneak in. Safely landing inside one of the cubicles that he purposely locked, he changed out from his suit and wore something more appropriate for school.

The bells rang and Mark bolted out of the toilets with his backpack hanging dangerously low on his right shoulder, hands busy fumbling to put his jacket on. Too occupied to pay attention to his surroundings, he felt the familiar tingling sensation at the back of his head but before he could act, the damage was done.

The impact resulted to papers and books scattered all over the floor and a painful groan from both parties were heard. “I’m so sorry! I was rushing to get to class-“ Mark began his ramble as he helped to collect the scattered items, not daring to make any sort of eye contact with a pair of angry eyes.

“I wasn’t looking so it’s my fault as well. I guess we’re even,” An all too familiar voice interjected through Mark’s rambling. Recognizing the voice (almost instantly), Mark felt all colour drain out from him. Oh please don't tell me—

“Mark? Is everything okay?” Chaeyoung waved her hand in front of his face, eyebrows furrowed in worry when the boy stopped moving. Mark regained his senses to process the situation and nodded abruptly, eyes still focused on his hands that continued to collect the items on the floor. “Yeap, everything’s dandy,” he managed with an nervous chuckle. Mark internally cringed at the word choice he used but it’s too late to take it back now, isn’t it?

Finally looking up, Mark was met with Chaeyoung’s gaze. He could feel his heart pump blood quicker and a blush creeping up all the way to his ears. She’s even more beautiful up close, the boy thought as he took note of the features he didn't notice prior to simply admiring from far. Like the small mole just below the corner of her lip or how her eyes seem to be sparkling that he... could just... get... lost...into them.

The boy was awestruck, to put it simply.

“Mark, my stuff..?”

Mark snapped out from his reverie (he could feel another wave of embarrassment coming in) and hastily handed her stuff back as he muttered a sorry. Chaeyoung, who already stood up while Mark was busy daydreaming, reached her hand out towards him with a smile. Confused, Mark meets his hand with hers for a handshake.

"No, silly. I'm helping you to stand up," Chaeyoung giggled as she gets a better grip on his hand to pull him up. "But I guess a handshake works too." She grinned.

With the amount of times Mark had embarrassed himself in front of his crush within the past 3 minutes alone, he would be grateful if the ground could just swallow him up and never let him resurface for the next 5 years.

"I should, uh, get going," Mark finally spoke up, not wanting to prolong the awkward encounter anymore or he'll probably embarrass himself even more.

"Right, yeah. So, I'll see you during Physics?"

She notices. "Yeah, Physics." He nodded, a small smile growing on his face. She returned the smile with her own and waved before walking off to where she originally had to go.

◇◈◇

Donghyuck let out another round of laughter when Mark told him this morning's events that led him to being tardy. "Real smooth, spideyboy," he snickered as they packed their things. At the mention of his other identity, Mark's eyes widened exponentially and hit him with the textbook he had in hand.

"First of all, ouch. I do not deserve this mistreatment after helping you save your late a seat every morning and having to constantly lie to dearest Aunt May about you sleeping over at my house—" Donghyuck scoffed dramatically, placing a hand over his chest to add more effect, "— and two, instead of gawking at her, you should talk to her. You know, like a normal person would."

"I do not gawk at her!"

"Um, yeah you do. Unless she's our Physics teacher, it's pretty damn obvious," Donghyuck rolled his eyes. For someone who's careful about his other indentity, just how dense can he be?

"She just... happens to be in line with my vision," Mark huffed, walking down the empty hallway.

"That is very convincing, wow." Donghyuck deadpanned.

"It's true!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mark."

Noticing a familiar figure by the main entrance, Donghyuck nudged his best friend with his elbow and wiggled his eyebrows. "Speak of the devil."

Mark followed the direction of his gaze and instantly panicked what tricks Donghyuck has up his sleeve. He's always been the mischevious one. He could have sworn he saw something glint in his eyes — something is up. "No no no-"

"Relax, I'm not going to do anything stupid." Donghyuck rolled his eyes before advancing towards the main entrance. "Hey Chaeyoung!"

Mark's jaw dropped at the sudden act of betrayal by his best friend. Not do anything my .

At the mention of her name, she turned around and her face lit up when she recognizes her two classmates. "Donghyuck, Mark!"

"Hi," Mark replied timidly with a shy smile, the tips of his ears becoming red. With his mind racing with too many thoughts, he his chapped lips and attempted to look around nonchalantly, not knowing how to continue the conversation.

"Where's Yeri and Jungkook?" Donghyuck, being the more outgoing one between the duo, inquired casually as he noticed her usual companions not around. It's one of those things where Mark envies his best friend, being able to talk with anybody and everybody with ease. Oh how he wishes to be able to talk to Chaeyoung that casually without embarrassing himself. He just doesn't know how to start a conversation.

"Oh, they just left, actually." Chaeyoung scrunches her nose up at the mention of her best friends who are currently dating, leaving Chaeyoung to thirdwheel them most of the time. Mark could feel the familiar warm and fuzzy feeling at the sight — she's so cute he just wants to pinch that nose of hers.

"You didn't join them?"

"They're on a date; not really in the mood to thirdwheel."

The two shared a laugh together while Mark just chuckled awkwardly. Oh how he envies his best friend.

"Where are you headed to, Mark?" Chaeyoung asked, noticing the boy who stayed silent.

Mark perked up at the mention of his name and his mind was left blank at the question. He can't possibly tell her that he was about to do his Spiderman duties in a few minutes. Donghyuck, knowing Mark's 'superhero agenda', momentarily widened his eyes and turned over to his best friend, interested in how he was going to answer her.

"Uh, after school club activities?"

"Oh! I didn't know you were in a club. Which club are you in?" Her eyes sparkled in interest, the smile never leaving her face.

Mark doesn't know if his heart was beating fast due to the fact that Chaeyoung is talking to him or his nerves to hide his secret is getting the best of him. "Yeah, uh. I'm in the, um, Parkour club...?" His tone unsure. He could hear his best friend snort beside him and Mark discreetly elbowed him to shut up.

Chaeyoung tilted her head in curiosity, eyebrows furrowing slightly. "I didn't know we had a parkour club."

"Yeah you see it's, um, still new." Mark gave him a mental pat in the back for being able to keep up with his lie while Donghyuck was impressed how Mark is able to keep up with his lie until—

"Really? I've been meaning to find a club to fill my spare time and parkour sounds interesting. Where do I sign up?" Chaeyoung's eyes were full of excitement, the aura that radiates around her, complimenting well with her adventurous trait.

Mark could feel his heart drop, jaw unhinged at how the conversation is taking a turn. "Um- About that- Right- Uh-" Mark stammered, not able to process words to reply.

"The club's not looking for new members right now, unfortunately." Donghyuck smoothly cut in, giving his best friend the same look he gives Mark whenever he has to lie to Aunt May. To add more effect to his statement, Donghyuck pouted slightly, pretending to be upset for her.

"Oh." The spark in her eyes died down, lips forming a slight pout and her shoulders slumped in disappointment. Mark felt the familiar pang of guilt in him— the same feeling whenever he has to lie to his dearest Aunt May.

Feeling bad for the girl, Mark blurted out carelessly, "If it helps, I could update you when we're looking for new members?"

Though he was glad that he did because she instantly brightened up at the offer and nodded.

"Well, it was nice talking to you two but I best be off now. Gotta go to my aunt's cafe," Chaeyoung did her nose scrunch again as she looked at the time displayed on her phone screen. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She said with a wave, to which the two boys returned.

Though as they part ways, Mark could feel the familiar itch at the back of his head and the hairs on his body rose up. He turned around to see her retreating figure and the tingling sensation doubled. He felt something churn in his stomach, not liking the feeling at all. His spider senses. Oh, .

◇◈◇

Passing by an alleyway that’s near the school compound, Chaeyoung heard rustling sounds and something banging against the big bin by the wall. Her eyebrows knitted and the grip on her backpack straps tightened as she looked over the general direction where the sound came from. Knowing how dangerous the alleyway could be, she pushed any curiosity behind and quickly walked away.

Mark, already in his Spiderman suit, peeked out from his hiding spot and sighed in relief to see that she was gone. Aiming his wrist at the direction of the lamp post nearby, a string of web fluid shot out from the web-shooters. Mark effortlessly swung, and repeated the same actions, following the momentum he had going on, careful of the distance between him and the girl.

Chaeyoung’s eyebrows furrowed when she felt a breeze above her. She looked over the trees by the road to see that the leaves were not moving. She shrugged the feeling off when she noticed that she was nearing her aunt's cafe.

"Is my aunt around?" Chaeyoung asked the cashier that she's grown to known, looking around for her aunt.

"No, she left hours ago because she had a meeting. Sorry, dear." Nayeon, the girl behind the cashier, said with a sympathetic smile on her face. "But feel free to get anything you want, she said it's on the house." Nayeon added with a wink.

At that, Chaeyoung immediately broke into a mischievous grin and giddily went over to where the pastries were displayed. Her eyes scanned over what's left, most of it sold out from the rush hour.

"Knowing how you'll take forever to choose, I'll start making your drink first. The usual?" Nayeon asked as she takes the cup size Chaeyoung always orders, marker in hand, ready to scribble down her usual order on the cup. Without giving the other options on the menu a thought, she nodded. "Make it hot, please!"

The next few minutes was spent on debating which kind of donut she wanted to munch on; plain or chocolate. Chaeyoung squinted her eyes at the two donuts, as if she was interrogating the donuts.

“You’re so indecisive,” Nayeon voiced out as she placed the hot beverage on the counter, finding the girl’s antics amusing and Chaeyoung responded with a bashful grin.

Mark stood above the sign of the cafe, tapping his foot impatiently. Just what is taking the girl such a long time? Nobody was in the store aside for the girl and the employee. Was his Spider senses playing a trick on him?

Slowly lowering himself upside down, he took a peek through the windows of the cafe and sighed in relief to see that Chaeyoung was still safe and was finally about to pay for her items. He kept an eye on her and the items that was getting packed. A plain donut and a chocolate covered donut.

Seeing that she seemed to be safe, Mark pulled himself up and was about make his leave until another wave of tingling sensation at the back of his skull hit him. At that exact moment, he heard people entering the cafe and a scream followed moments later. The eye lenses on his suit went wide and Mark felt his stomach drop. God, please no no no.

With shaking hands, Nayeon tried to discreetly press the emergency button that was near the cash register and silently prayed that the cops would arrive in time. Chaeyoung had her hands up in surrender, making failed attempts to control both her uneven breathing and her shaking legs. Her eyes kept darting between the group of people and the guns aimed at them.

"Just please don't-" Nayeon attempted to plead but was cut off with a snarl from the person in the middle, assumed to be the leader, and the sounds of guns clicking. Chaeyoung bit her trembling mouth shut, holding back the tears that was threatening to escape the corner of her eyes as she closed her eyes. She heard Nayeon scream behind her, her voice getting distant. Whipping her head back, she almost broke down to see that Nayeon was missing. Chaeyoung looked back at the group of masked people that seemed to be more alert, looking around for something — or someone — that Chaeyoung couldn't be bothered to figure out. At this point, she’s waiting for her life to flash before her eyes.

And it did. She heard the gunshot go off. She felt a part of her soul leaving her body, weight off the ground. The sirens coming from the police cars seems distant to her and she feels free with the the breeze tickling her skin. Wait, am I supposed to be able to feel anything?

A sigh (of relief?) was heard in front of her. Gaining control over her trembling body back, Chaeyoung came to her senses with furrowed brows as she realized she felt dirt below her palms and slowly fluttered her eyes open (to which Mark thought the sight was breathtaking). Her eyes widened in shock to see a familiar red mask in front of her.

“OH MY GOD," was all she could say, mouth left hanging open. Finally realizing the situation, Chaeyoung doesn’t know what to react to first; either the fact that she was still alive or the fact that the Spiderman, who was literally right in front of her, had actually saved her life. While she was still in a daze to process everything, Mark did a quick scan to make sure she wasn't injured. He felt a blush crawling up his cheeks as her eyes never left him, silently thanking the heavens that she couldn't see the state he's in under the mask. Before she could say anything else, Mark stood up to shoot a string of web fluid out before swining away, leaving her to take care of the unfinished business with the group earlier.

“What the hell,” was all she was able to mutter out, her tense body finally calming down. She didn’t even get to say thanks nor did she get the stuff she originally wanted.

◇◈◇

The moment Chaeyoung stepped foot inside the school campus, she was immediately bombarded with questions regarding yesterday’s events that was broadcasted on the local news. Despite being flustered, Chaeyoung attempted to answer everybody’s questions as she made her way towards her locker but was slowed down because people kept blocking her. She didn’t want to brush them off because she could tell they were asking because they were worried about her. She could practically hear Yeri's nagging voice telling her that she was 'too nice' and how she 'needs to know when to say no' or 'be assertive' lingering at the back of her mind.

“Move out of the way! Coming through! Let the damn girl breathe!” Yeri’s loud voice could be heard through the wave of students with Jungkook trailing behind her, muttering out constant apologies. Once Yeri managed to weave through the crowd and found Chaeyoung, she dragged her out with Jungkook having to be the bodyguard to let the girls through. Chaeyoung sent her two best friends a sheepish smile and a small 'thank you' as they led her to her locker.

Chaeyoung’s brows furrowed in confusion the moment her eyes landed on her locker.

“The hell is on your locker- is someone playing a prank on you?” Yeri, as protective as ever, eyed the items that seemed to be webbed on your locker. The trio went closer to examine the items and Chaeyoung’s eyes widen in recognition as she spot her aunt's cafe logo. “These were the stuff that I was about to get, you know- before the attacks,” Chaeyoung’s words trailed off in a daze, still trying to process the information.

"I thought your aunt's cafe closed down?" Jungkook asked, scratching his head.

"I mean, she has a few branches but they're not near here," she replied with a quiet voice, mind clearly distracted as her eyes stared at the items. So many questions started to pile one over the other in Chaeyoung's mind, ranging from how does the person know where to get the stuff to if it was Spiderman who sent it.

"They're still fresh," Yeri spoke up after detaching the cup from the locker and saw condensation forming under the lid.

“So Spiderman just so happens to know your locker and decides to treat you some snacks after saving you yesterday?” Jungkook theorised with a scoff as he poked the web fluid that was stuck on Chaeyoung’s locker. That planted a seed into Chaeyoung’s mind and it went into another turmoil; could Spiderman actually be high school student and was schooling in the same school as her?

Not far from her locker, Mark was hiding behind a wall, a hand over his racing heart. He bit his lower lip, contemplating if he was doing the right thing. Was it too much? Did he just risk his alter identity? Did she find it too creepy? Does she now think Spiderman is some creepy stalker that magically knows her locker? Before he could succumb himself into regret, the bell went off to indicate that classes were about to start.

With a sigh from both parties, they trudged towards their first class of the day.

◇◈◇

“I wonder how he’s like though,” Jungkook voiced his thoughts out, as he slumped comfortably into his seat and lifted his legs onto the table, clearly enjoying the free period. “Did you manage to hear how he sounds like? Or take a peek under his mask?”

Chaeyoung shook her head in response. “Now that I think about it, the only interaction I had with him was screaming ‘OH MY GOD’ right at his face… I think I scared him off.” Her voice was muffled as she facepalmed herself in embarrassment. She could hear snickers from her two friends and pouted. "Not helping, guys."

Donghyuck, who had been eavesdropping into the conversation, nudged his friend who was busy catching up on the homework he didn't manage to finish the other night. Crime never sleeps, after all. "They're talking about you."

"Let them," Mark waved it off, his focus on how to solve the calculus question in front of him. He tapped the end of the pencil on his paper continuously, frustrated that the question happened to be a tedious one.

"She thinks she scared Spiderman off," Donghyuck reported back as he leaned closer to hear the conversation a few seats away from him.

"Well, she didn't.”

"And she doesn't know that."

"As if I could do anything about it."

"Technically, you can. You're the Spiderman."

The fact that his concentration was always cut off by Donghyuck, who seemed to not dropping the topic, just frustrates him even more. The grip on his pencil tightened and with a clenched jaw, he glared at his friend and said "Yeah, make sure to tell the whole world that," with so much sarcasm in it. Too bad Donghyuck seemed to miss it.

"MARK KNOWS SPIDERMAN!" Donghyuck blurted out to the whole class. Mark turned to Donghyuck, eyes wide at the sudden outburst. He could feel the color drain out of his body, too shocked to react. The sound of Mark’s pencil dropping on the floor echoed through the walls of the classroom. Time seemed to slow down as the class was dead silent, all eyes on the duo. - Mark started to panic, his mind racing with ways to cover his secret up.

"Yeah and I know Ironman," Jungkook cut the silence shortly after with a snicker, clearly not buying it. There was no way his classmate would actually know the Spiderman. Some classmates joined him and resumed to whatever they were doing. Chaeyoung’s eyes lingered on him in suspicion as she recalled the previous events but dismisses it quickly. There’s just no way… right?

Slumping into his seat, Mark could feel the wave of relief wash over him as his classmates seemed to side with Jungkook. The free period came to an end and the next teacher had already entered the class, not giving Mark the chance to skin Donghyuck alive so he relied on giving him the death glare. Donghyuck simply replied with a cheeky grin. ‘At least they didn’t believe it,’ he mouthed. The nerve of this guy. Mark’s eye twitched in irritation.

Though his anger seemed to die down as the period went by, to which Donghyuck was silently grateful for. The topic of Mark possibly knowing Spiderman seemed to slip out of everybody’s minds as the announcement of a group project was made. Mark didn’t know if he should be grateful that the group project occupied everybody’s minds or remorse because he already has a pile of unfinished work to do.

“You’ll get to choose your own partners,” the Physics teacher announced before leaving the class. Mark and Donghyuck shared a knowing gaze, mentally agreeing with one another to be partners. As everybody started to pack their stuff up, Mark took his chance to give Donghyuck a lesson and hit him with a textbook he had in hand.

"The was that for, Hyuck?" Mark hissed lowly.

"What?” Donghyuck replied in the same tone, rubbing the sore spot on his arm.

“Don’t act dumb! We both clearly know what I’m talking about!

“Well you told me-"

"Uh- Excuse me? Mark?" Donghyuck was cut off by a voice he knows too well, a big grin started to grow on his face as he resisted the urge to laugh at Mark’s stunned expression. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Mark turned around, only to meet eyes with the ones he recently found out that he adored so much.

"Y-yes?"

“So, uh. You see,” Chaeyoung started fiddling with her fingers, “Yeri and Jungkook are paired up so that leaves me alone.” Mark felt at ease as he noticed that he wasn’t the only one nervous.

“And well, I was thinking if you’d want to partner up with me?” Chaeyoung finished off by looking up with a hopeful expression.

Donghyuck was grinning like mad, elated that his ship isn’t going to sink after all. Mark on the other hand, pinched his arm at his back to make sure if he wasn’t dreaming, biting his lip to stop the smile from growing any bigger. But then his expression dropped when he remembered that he’s paired up with Donghyuck.

“Ah, but I’m already paired up with Hyu-“

Donghyuck’s expression immediately morphed into a shocked one, not believing that his best friend is turning his one and only chance down. NO YOU DENSE IDIOT. Oh my god it, I’ll do it myself.

“He’ll pair up with you!” Donghyuck immediately cut Mark off before he could finish his sentence.

“But I thought we-“

“I just remembered that Lucas asked me if we wanted to be partners,” Donghyuck quickly said, eyes wide as if he was signalling Mark that he should partner up with her. “I’ll, uh, go meet up with him. See you!”   

With that, Donghyuck rushed out of the class to find the said boy, mentally praying that Lucas hasn’t found a partner yet. Chaeyoung simply blinked in confusion. “So…”

“I guess we’re partners then,” Mark shyly said as he scratched the back of his head, his ears turning red in embarrassment.

“Great! So when do you want to meet up?”

Mark thought about it for a moment. To be fair, crime never sleeps so he couldn’t promise her anything. With that, he silently prayed that the criminals would have mercy on his soul and have their plans filled with anything but crime on weekends. “This Saturday, maybe?”

“Alright, sure! We’ll meet up at the public library, if that’s okay with you?”

“Yeap. Sure. No problemo,” Mark lamely said, internally wincing at his choice of words. Not wanting to make it anymore awkward between the two, Mark excused himself as he grabbed his backpack and was about to leave.

Until Chaeyoung stopped him by grabbing his wrist. “One more thing!”

Mark turned around with a questioning gaze, head tilting in curiosity.

Chaeyoung looked down and continued to fiddle with her fingers, “I don't know if you knowing Spiderman is true—” Chaeyoung looked up to meet Mark’s eyes, “— but if it is, could you please tell him I said thank you? And that I hope he’s not injured."

Mark wanted to melt at the fact that she’s still worrying about somebody else’s wellbeing. He was touched at how caring the girl is.

"Sure, no problem. I'll tell him that." Mark said with a warm smile gracing his features.

◇◈◇

As if it was out of habit, Chaeyoung glanced at the elevator doors the moment she heard it ding, only to sigh in disappointment when the person she’s looking for isn’t here yet. Her eyes then trailed towards her laptop screen, refreshing the current site she was on and the previous news about some celebrity was now replaced with a new one. With bold letters, the headlines read ‘BREAKING: Spiderman Puts A Stop On Daylight Criminal Activities’. Her eyes scanned through the article and learned that it happened not too far from the library. She gnawed on her lower lip as her mind wandered if something about the news had something to do with Mark being late, worried for his safety in getting to the library. If only she knew.

With the summer sun glaring down mercilessly, beads of sweat formed around Mark’s forehead as he turned around the corner that leads towards the public library, using his last bit of energy to sprint towards it. He internally cursed at the person who planned to rob an ATM machine in broad daylight. The last day of the week was supposed to be the day where everybody relaxes or spend time with their friends and family, not do crimes for ’s sake.

Once he’s reached the entrance, he took a moment to catch his breath and did a final check on his appearance through his reflection on the glass door, making sure that he didn’t look like he was fighting a group of robbers 15 minutes ago and sprinted a solid mile. He ruffled his hair and pushed the front down to his eyes to cover the bruise he got on his forehead. He may or may not have accidentally hit a light pole when he was swinging to catch the robber’s car. With a deep breath, he entered the library and went to the floor where Chaeyoung had texted him the previous night to meet.

Stepping out of the elevator, he walked around the level before finding Chaeyoung sitting by the huge windows, flipping through a book. He picked his pace up and quickly speed-walked towards the girl.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. I swear I left the house early but then I got caught up in something and I completely lost track of time and I-“

“Calm down, it’s okay,” Chaeyoung cut in with a laugh, gesturing for him to take the seat beside her. Mark’s guilt to lie instantly died down as he took the seat. “I figured you’d be late so I decided to get us a head start and saved you a seat,” she added.

“You knew I’d be late?”

“I mean, you seem to always be in a rush in school and Donghyuck always saves you a seat.” She shrugged nonchalantly. Mark’s eyebrows rose up in surprise, not expecting that she’d notice his habit of coming late (credits to his Spiderman duties) let alone notice him at all. Mark made a mental note to be more punctual in school, ruffling his hair in the process out of habit.

“Hey what’s that on your forehead?” Chaeyoung’s voice was laced with concern as she leaned closer to take a closer look. She could have sworn the bruise wasn’t there yesterday when she saw him in school and the fact that the news of the robbery incident happened not too far from the library didn’t sit well with her. Mark’s facial expression turned into a confused one, but flushed when he realized the distance between the two of them. “What do you mean?”

Chaeyoung’s hand went up to his forehead and he instantly winced at the touch. “There’s a bruise here- what happened?” Her eyebrows were knitted in worry, eyes staring intently at the bruise.

“I- I, uh, hit a light pole while I was on my way here…?” Despite sounding unsure, the boy wasn't lying (leaving out the part on how he hit the lightpole. Hint, it had something to do with his clumsy aiming skills).

Taking her cold bottle of coffee she purchased before coming to the library, Chaeyoung placed it on the bruise; an attempt to calm the bruise down. “Be careful next time.”

“Thanks,” he said with a sheepish grin. Not wanting to continue the topic about his reckless whereabouts, he quickly changed the topic. “So, have you finally decided on what to write about for our Physics project?”

She shook her head with a dejected sigh, turning her gaze towards her laptop screen. “I’ve been searching for a good 20 minutes and still got nothing.”

“Maybe we could start by eliminating the topics we don’t want to do?”

"Good call!" Chaeyoung turned back to her laptop screen and the article she was reading greeted her back. She straightened up as a thought occurred to her. “Hey, how do you know Spiderman?”

◇◈◇

There are times where Mark questioned his life choices. One of it happens to be at this very moment; where Mark is sitting on a tree branch, staring back at his mask in his hands whilst on a call with his best friend. “First you and now Chaeyoung?” he sighed exasperatedly on the call.

“Hey, how do you know Spiderman?”

That caught Mark off guard, almost dropping his laptop in the process. “Uh- well- I was… once saved by… him?” Despite sounding unsure, he felt a sense of relief to see that she was buying it. “And we decided to, uh, keep in touch and all.” That caused a small pout to form on Chaeyoung’s lips. “So he’s kept in touch with you and not me?”

Just great. Now Mark has to come up with another way to continue the story. Or at least keep his cover. But the damn pout isn’t helping to calm the butterflies in his stomach. “I could probably ask him to meet you?”

Definitely doing a bad job at keeping his cover.

It’s like deja vu all over again for Mark. Getting Donghyuck involved with his superhero agenda was something he didn’t plan on happening. Until he got caught one day in his room and after many persuasions by the younger, he reluctantly allowed Donghyuck (or Haechan, a nickname they decided on using when Mark is on duties to keep his friend’s identity safe) to help Mark on his night watchouts, making it easier for him to track down rather than having to rely only on his spider senses. Donghyuck’s brother is part of the police force and according to Donghyuck, Taeyong was gullible enough to let Donghyuck bug his handheld transceiver and now, he receives the same reports onto his computer. Mark sighed for the nth time and closed his eyes, regretting his choices.

“I say you should do it. It’s only a one time thing,” Haechan’s voice was muffled, Mark assumed he was eating snacks in his room.

“I can’t do it, Haechan! It’s too risky!”

“But you promised!”

“What if she recognizes my voice?”

“You clearly didn’t worry about that when you decided to scare me with the  interrogation mode the other day.”

Mark groaned at his failed attempts at creating excuses and was having an internal battle, debating if he should proceed.

As the silence grew longer from the other line, Donghyuck added “Or you don’t show up and break the promise you had with her and possibly make her hate you for lying in front of her face.”

Mark pushed past his hesitation with a sigh. “Fine”

“Great! I’ll update you or Karen if I hear anything and in exchange, update me everything that happens when you meet her! Bye!” Donghyuck ended the call with a cheery tone, clearly excited to hear the juicy details later.

Mark scoffed at how abrupt Donghyuck ended the call and tucked his phone away. With the mask in hand, he slipped it on to complete the suit once again and swung towards her neighbourhood that he retraced back from memory after sending her home not too long ago.

◇◈◇

Chaeyoung took her headphones off when she heard knocks coming from her window, double checking if her mind was playing tricks on her. Another knock was heard. Nope, definitely no tricks. She padded her way towards her window and almost shrieked when something — or someone — popped up but Mark was quick to react and covered to stop her from potentially screaming. Not that she knew it was him under the infamous red suit. Releasing her slowly, Chaeyoung let out a (somewhat loud) 'OH MY GOD' with a gaping mouth.

Mark laughed to himself at her reaction, finding it rare for him to render her speechless instead of the other way around. With the roles reversed, Mark felt a sudden surge of confidence. Though his usual high pitched laughter was disguised by the mode he’d asked Karen to set prior to meeting her. Although the A.I advised him that the interrogation mode was too intimidating for the girl, she complied to his request.

Realizing that was still left agape and she practically said the same words that ‘scared’ him away, Chaeyoung regained her composure back. “I’d never thought you’d actually come…”

“Well a very good friend of mine told me that a special someone wanted to see me?” Mark asked through the mask, the movement of his cheekbones were visible and Chaeyoung could tell that he was grinning. Oh how she wanted to see the smile under that mask so badly. Mark’s grin grew wider under the mask as he noticed a faint blush forming on her cheeks. He was making her blush! Well technically Spiderman is the one making her smile but he is Spiderman so he’ll take it as a win.

“I, uh…yeah…” Chaeyoung trailed off and noticed that he was still dangling outside of her window. Stepping aside and opening the window wider, she shyly invited him in and Mark decided on just sitting on her windowsill. “How are you?” Chaeyoung winced at how Spiderman probably thinks she’s boring. “I mean like, as in your health. How’s your health? Cause you know, fighting crimes everyday must be tough.”

“I’m fine, really.” Mark chuckled at how cute the girl was, enjoying the new side of her. “I guess it’s challenging to balance everything but I truly love what I do, protecting the city and the citizens here. Sometimes if I do a good job, I get free brownies from nice grannies.” He added with a chuckle with seemed to ease Chaeyoung out from her nervous state, laughing along.

“Too bad I don’t have any brownies for you.”

“Can I expect for some brownies next time then?”

“I’ll think about it.” Chaeyoung couldn’t believe her ears. Is Spiderman going to visit her again in the future? “I never got the chance to properly thank you for saving me the other day,” she added, doubting her chance that Spiderman would visit her again.

“Don’t worry about it, as long as you’re safe.” Chaeyoung could feel the sincerity in his words and the gaze the hero is giving her feels familiar, despite being blocked by the mask. His whole aura feels familiar too, now that she thinks about it. Everything about him is familiar. Too familiar. The only thing that’s throwing her off is the voice and the fact that she can’t see the hero’s real face.