Yena strolls on the streets, fascinated at everything she sees. It’s not like it’s any different from where she came from, but the fact that she’s standing in another world is what makes it intriguing. She has been here a few times, but it doesn’t cease to amaze her, always finding out something new about this world.

 

In this world, they have superheroes too, but with vastly different abilities from her friends back home. Here, they are a team led by a superhero who calls herself Captain, who fights primarily with an indestructible shield. She’s backed by Cherry Blossom Widow who’s well-versed in combat, and Hulko, a small human with superhuman strength. But the superhero she’s most interested in, is Spidey.

                 

Well, who wouldn’t be interested in the alternate version of themselves in another universe? Yena really wants to see how the person behind the mask (that she herself owns) looks like, but she knew better than to show herself and interfere with the balance of this universe. She had already disrupted the balance by even coming into this universe, so the least she can do is to just observe quietly in the background, like she doesn’t exist.

 

She continues walking down the streets, salivating at the street food on display when she hears screams ahead of a robber. The robber zooms past her, holding onto a small clutch bag and she resists the urge to run after him. She shouldn’t, she can’t interfere in this world. But she looks back at the victim who is crying, and she curses. Well, she can just pretend it’s the work of the Spidey in this world, right? She will just catch the robber and disappear back to her world, and no one will ever know.

 

Making up her mind, she sprints after the robber, hand rummaging in her pocket for her mask. She ducks into an alley, pulling the mask on before shooting webs and pulling herself up to a building’s rooftop, trying to spot the robber. The robber is already two streets down, but Yena catches up quickly by swinging from building to building, following him into an alley. She lands in front of the robber, swiping at his legs causing him to tumble and she sends a karate chop to his neck to knock him out. He drops onto the floor like a sack of potatoes, and Yena prods at him with the tip of his sneakers to make sure he is down for good. Satisfied, she removes the clutch bag from his hands before shooting webs at him to secure him on the floor, making sure he’s right there for the police to collect him later.

 

She just finished when a pair of footsteps rush into the alley, and stops right behind her. She turns and makes eye contact with a girl around her age, and she assumes it’s the victim. The girl is tenacious, she gives her that, following the robber almost three streets down just for her bag. She hands the bag to the girl, not thinking much of it. “Is this your bag? You are brave, but next time, don’t follow the robber like that, it can be dangerous.”

 

“Who are you?” The girl asks and Yena’s heart skips a beat before she composes herself.

 

“Me? I’m Spidey.” Just not from this universe.

 

“No, you are not.” The girl proceeds to pull up her arm, and Yena instantly dodges, her spidey-sense tingling. And true enough, she looks at the spot she was in a few seconds ago, seeing a trail of webs shot out by the girl in front of her.

 

A myriad of emotions run through Yena’s mind, but the most prominent one is: She’s ed. She holds up her hands, looking at the version of herself in this universe. “I can explain.”

 

--

 

Explanations took a while, and Yena doesn’t blame Spidey 2, who she now knows as Chaewon. She would find it hard to believe too when a complete stranger comes up to you and tell you that they are the alternate version of you in another universe. That’s why, she cuts to the chase and brings Chaewon to her universe instead.

 

Chaewon is buckled over, pale in the face as she struggles with the aftereffects of multiverse travel, and Yena just puts the multiverse watch back in its place, pouring a cup of water for Chaewon. The first time she travelled she had hurled up in the middle of the street in Chaewon’s universe, so Chaewon is actually doing really well keeping it together right now.

 

She hands the cup of water to Chaewon, who gulps down the contents hurriedly. “How are you totally okay?”

 

“I have done this like, five thousand times. You will get used to it.”

 

Seeing that Chaewon is looking fine now, Yena gestures to follow her, showing off their headquarters. “So this is our ‘hero HQ’, but it’s really just Hyewon’s company building. She’s rich like that.”

 

“Ah, the one with the red mechanized armour suit that can fly?”

 

“Yep. One of my closest friends, and also the one who helped to create the multiverse watch with me.” Yena gestures to another corner of the big lab-like room that is filled with all sorts of arrows and bows.

 

“That’s Hii’s table, she’s really good at shooting arrows.”

 

Chaewon sees a table filled with pots of plants that doesn’t look like any species on Earth, and knows that it must belong to Chaeyeon, the god of thunder from another planet. “And this must be Chaeyeon’s?”

 

Yena nods, the plants hissing at them as they walk by. “Don’t touch them, they aren’t very friendly.”

 

They stand at the windows, and Yena grins when she sees the awe in Chaewon’s eyes as she takes in the sight. That’s one thing she loves about the Kang’s building, it towers over all the other buildings, giving them a bird’s eye view of the city. She begins to point out stuff in the scenery, happy to show her world to her doppelganger, so engrossed that she doesn’t hear the lift door opening.

 

“Yena-unnie…?”

 

She hears a familiar voice, and Yena freezes. She only brought Chaewon here after making sure the rest of her superhero friends are all out of town, but she forgot about one very important person. She turns around, ignoring the loud beating of her heart as she forces a smile on her face. “Hi Joyul. What are you doing here on a weekend?”

 

“Who’s that?” Yuri ignores her question and asks one of her own, eyes shifting to Chaewon.

 

Yena curses internally, making a mental note to start on the invention of a memory erasing pen like in Men in Black. But alas, she doesn’t have it now, so she can only deal with the situation with her words and her two brain cells. “This is Chaewon, my…”

 

Doppelganger? Me in another universe? “Friend.” Some things are better left unsaid.

 

“This is Yuri, you can say she’s my best friend.” Yena gestures at Yuri, joking to get rid of the tense atmosphere.

 

Yuri glares at her and Chaewon chuckles, holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

 

Yuri takes Chaewon’s hand, nodding at her curtly. She removes her hand quickly, turning to Yena. “Are you still coming over for dinner?”

 

“Why not?” Yena blinks in confusion.

 

“I don’t know, maybe you want to spend more time with your friend.” She said the last word with so much disdain that Yena thought for a second Yuri knows who Chaewon really is.

 

Yena shakes that thought away. “Yeah, I will go over after I send Chaewon home.”

 

Yuri seems like she has a lot more to say, but she just nods, jaws tightly clenched. “See you later then.”

 

It’s only when the lift door with Yuri closes that the two Spidey heave a sigh of relief. Chaewon slaps Yena on the arm, earning a yelp from the older girl. “Why didn’t you explain things clearer!”

 

“Explain what?” Yena huffs as she rubs her arm.

 

“She was obviously jealous!”  

 

Yena scoffs at the absurdity of Chaewon’s words, but there’s a small tinge of pain in her heart. “Why would she be. She sees me as her best friend, and only her best friend.”

 

Chaewon picks up on the tone, and her eyes soften. “Have you even talked to her about this?”

 

She shakes her head as she thinks about the many times she saw Yuri cuddling up to Hyewon, kissing her on the cheeks, and many more other incidents that hurt to just recall. “There’s nothing to talk about. Come on, let me bring you home.”

 

--

 

Her mood is at an all-time low when she drags her feet to Yuri’s apartment. Not only was she already feeling like , she still had to see Chaewon eat her girlfriend’s face when she brought her back home. Minju had the decency to look sheepish, but Chaewon just shooed her away, and she could only come back, disgruntled and in need of a thorough eye cleansing.  

 

She knows underneath all that disgust is envy, that she wants what Chaewon and Minju has, with Yuri. But she also knows Yuri doesn’t feel the same, because Yuri kisses Hyewon and not her. And if Yuri likes her genius, billionaire friend, what chance does she have?

 

Frankly, she just wants to crawl into bed and wallow in sadness under her blankets, but she promised Yuri, so here she is, pressing the number code to her best friend’s apartment, seeing herself in.

 

“I’m here.” She greets, and there’s no reply, but she hears sounds from the kitchen.

 

Yuri is stirring something on the stove, and Yena pours herself a drink, resisting the urge to go up and hug her best friend.

 

“Your friend got home fine?”

 

Yena hums, gulping the water down.

 

“I haven’t seen her before.”

 

“Yeah, she’s not from around here.” Or this world, actually.

 

“How did you guys know each other?”

 

“Met her while catching a robber.” Coupled with her already bad mood, Yena’s patience is running thin at this interrogation.

 

“You have never told me about her.”

 

“I don’t need to tell you everything, Yuri.”

 

The moment the words leave , Yena knows she screwed up. Yuri’s hands had frozen in place, and Yena sighs as she rubs her temples. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that, I just had a very long day.”

 

“Yeah? Then maybe you should just head home to rest.” Yuri doesn’t even turn to look at her.

 

“Joyul-“

 

“Leave.”

 

Yena knows better than to push Yuri now and she mutters another apology before pulling her mask on and climbing out of the window, choosing to swing home instead, too tired to deal with traffic.

 

--

 

Yuri hasn’t talked to her in days. Granted, it’s her fault, but Yuri is still giving her the cold shoulder even when she has apologized about fifty times already. Yena grunts as she rips off the protective goggles after ruining her third experiment of the day. She grabs her mask, about to head out for a little swing to clear her head when her phone vibrates. She quickly picks it up, thinking Yuri has finally replied her, but gets disappointed when it’s just the receptionist. (She’s a fool, why would Yuri message her when she’s still ignoring her?)  

 

“Hi Yena-ssi, there is someone looking for you here. Said her name is Kim Minju. Would you like to meet her?”

 

“Kim Minju? Pretty girl who looks like a frog and a fennec fox at the same time?”

 

“Yes, I think so?” The receptionist sounds puzzled, but Yena is even more puzzled.

 

Why would Minju, Chaewon’s girlfriend, someone who lives in a whole other universe be here? And if anything, why is she here instead of Chaewon? She’s not even that close to her, just seen her a few times when she went to visit Chaewon. Yena doesn’t need her spidey-sense to know that something is terribly wrong.

 

--

 

Something doesn’t feel right. Chaewon had woken up today, her spidey-sense tingling at the back of her head. Nothing seemed out of the blue though, there wasn’t any explosions, any news sighting on supervillains or any screams of help. But she knew her senses are never wrong, and this is just the calm before the storm.

 

She tried to attend her lectures as per usual, but she spent the whole time shaking her legs and biting on her fingers, unable to focus. At times like this she really hates her heightened sixth sense. Sure, it has kept her alive many times, but it also gives her anxiety when the threat is nowhere to be seen, and all she can do is wait for it to attack her.

 

Chaewon is brought back to reality when she sees everyone in the lecture hall start packing their stuff and leave, and it’s only then that she realizes the lecture is already over. Sighing, she packs her own stuff too, giving up on attending the rest of her lectures for today. She’s leaving the lecture hall when she overhears her classmates talking.

 

“Oh my god, did you see it? The Goblin has broken out of jail.”

 

She spins around so fast and grabs the phone from her classmate. There’s an article published on the news an hour ago.

 

Supervillain Goblin has broken out of jail earlier today and authorities are trying their best to track him down. They have also urged the public not to panic, and to report any suspicious looking person immediately.

 

Chaewon’s blood runs cold as she stuffs the phone back to her classmate and sprinting out of the lecture hall. So this was why her spidey-sense was tingling. She had fought many villains before, but the Goblin is one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous one she has ever fought. Some people become villains because they have something to fight for, but the scariest villains are those who just want to watch the world burn. The Goblin is part of the latter, who used to terrorize the city with his insane tricks and pure disregard for human lives. Chaewon had managed to subdue him in a very close fight the last time, but now that he’s broken out, he definitely wants revenge.

 

She puts on her mask, immediately swinging off to the next building as she organizes her thoughts. All of her superhero friends are out travelling this week, so she’s left to defend the city alone. She racks her brain about where the Goblin might be. It was hard to catch him the previous time, striking without any patterns and just committing crimes for the fun of it. But now he has a target, and it’s her. Now he doesn’t want to see the world burn, he just wants to see Chaewon’s world burn.

 

Her loved ones. He’s going to go after her loved ones.

 

Chaewon dials Minju’s number, hoping for once the doctor isn’t busy in an operating theatre.

 

“Hi.” Minju’s breathless voice calls out, as if she’s been holding her breath waiting for her call. “I saw the news, are you okay?”

 

“I’m okay. Are you?”

 

“Yes, I’m alright.”

 

Chaewon sighs in relief as she swings to the next building. “Remember, don’t go anywhere alone, okay?”

 

“Okay. Stay safe please.”

 

“I will. I love you.”

 

“Love you too.”

 

Chaewon drops the call, focusing on her next location. She would call, but she’s just one block away, so she might as well drop by. But the moment she swings around the block, her blood runs cold. Because what used to be her auntie’s office building is now covered in fire and smoke, sirens are blaring, and screams are resounding from everywhere.

 

She curses as she lands into the ruined building, barely rolling away from a piece of rubble that has collapsed from the roof. It looks more like a battlefield than an office, rubble and casualties everywhere. There are people lying down on the floor unmoving, some trapped under fallen rubble, others with minor wounds from the blast fragments are screaming as they make their escape. She just hopes her aunt isn’t lying down somewhere in this building. Pushing down that fear, she focuses on helping people to escape, lifting rubble to help trapped people out, guiding them out to the emergency stairway.

 

Her trip down the building gets easier as most of the survivors have made their way out, but she still makes sure to check every floor just in case. And she’s right, because she comes across her aunt and a few other people trying to lift a huge piece of rubble off a guy whose leg is trapped under it. She runs to them, easily lifting the rubble up as the rest of them pull the guy out. Chaewon makes sure the guy is fully out before dropping the rubble, and the rest of the survivors help each other to make their way to the emergency exit.

 

She turns to hug her aunt. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you?” Her aunt pulls away to look at her, checking for any injuries.

 

Chaewon nods her head. “Come on, let’s go.”

 

But her aunt stumbles, and Chaewon barely catches her in her arms. “Auntie?!”

 

“I’m okay, just need to catch my breath.” But her actions contradict her actions, as she slumps further into Chaewon’s arms, the two of them crumpling to the floor.

 

Chaewon shifts her arms for a better grip, and she sees red on her palms that were on her aunt’s waist, and she knows it isn’t from her red spandex suit. The alarm bells start ringing in her head, but she pushes the panic down, thinking how to get medical help asap. She can’t shoot webs if she has to carry her aunt, but taking the stairs will take too much time.

 

She takes off her mask, forcing a smile as she makes eye contact with her aunt. “Hey, you are going to be okay. Do you think you can hold onto me? I will just swing you down real quick-“

 

“Chaewon.” Her aunt says, and it’s only when her aunt lifts her hand to wipe the tear on her face that she realizes she’s crying. The older woman knows too, that her time is up. “It’s okay.”

 

She grips her aunt’s hands, feeling her tears welling up. “I’m so sorry. It’s all because of me.”

 

“Don’t say that.”

 

“If it isn’t because of me, the Goblin wouldn’t have chosen this building to blow up. Or if I just killed him the first-time round, he wouldn’t even have the chance to do it.” Chaewon’s tears are falling freely now.

 

“Kim Chaewon.” Her aunt calls out sternly. “You did the right thing. It’s difficult to show leniency in the face of danger and evil, but you have always managed to do so, and I’m so, so proud of you for that. So, don’t ever blame yourself, you hear me?”

 

Chaewon can’t breathe, heaving as she sobs. She feels like she has fallen into a deep pool of water, and the only thing keeping her afloat is her aunt’s hands in hers. She knows her aunt’s words are supposed to make her feel better, but nothing can really make her feel better when her aunt is bleeding out in her arms.

 

“Remember, with great power comes great responsibility, so you have to continue using your powers for the greater good, alright?”

 

Chaewon can only nod. How can she deny her aunt’s dying wish?

 

“I love you.” Her aunt says, whizzing.

 

Chaewon wipes her tears away futilely. “I love you too.”

 

And her aunt goes still in her arms, and Chaewon can only pull her tighter, shaking as she bawls out loud. It feels like her only anchor is gone, and she is just sinking deeper and deeper, so much so that she can’t even see the surface anymore, that there isn’t any speck of light anymore.  

 

--

 

She doesn’t know how long she sat there crying, but it must have been a while because the rescue team is here. “Hello, anyone there?”

 

Chaewon wipes off the snot and tears as best as she can, before pulling her mask on. She had always welcomed her abilities, willing to carry the heavy responsibility of fighting villains, criminals, supernatural monsters or aliens, and was even happy and proud to be able to do so. But today, she finally feels the full weight of it, the consequences it has. She just wants to mourn in peace, but even that is taken away from her, having to remain strong and infallible for the people she protects.

 

She clears , hoping her voice isn’t shaky. “There’s a casualty here.”

 

She carries her aunt over to the stretcher, lying her down lightly before brushing her hand lightly over her aunt’s eyes, closing them for good. It takes all the willpower in her to finally detach herself from her aunt’s body, bowing at the rescuers. “Thank you, please take good care of her.”

 

“No, thank you. We are all rooting for you! Please catch the Goblin and bring him to justice again.”

 

It does little to soothe the pain in Chaewon’s hollow chest, but she bows at them again. She stays to watch the stretcher disappear down the stairs before running to the broken window at full force, propelling herself out before shooting a web and swinging to the next building. When she catches the Goblin this time, she wouldn’t be bringing him to justice, but to death.

 

--

 

“I didn’t want to bother you, but the rest of Chaewon’s superhero team are not in town and I can’t find her anywhere no matter where I searched.” Minju sniffs while Yena hands her tissues and pats her on the back.

 

It’s fun of course, meeting the you in another universe, but Yena forgot it means that they share the same fate, be it good or bad. They may have super powers and are superheroes, but they also have the unfortunate fate of losing a loved one to a supervillain. Yena’s throat tightens as she recalls her own memory of holding her aunt in her arms as she watches the life draining out of her eyes. It’s still not too late for Chaewon, Yena can still stop her before she makes the same mistake she did.

 

Yena mulls over it, where does she herself usually go in situations like this to clear her head? “Is there some place that she always goes that overlooks the city, a place where it’s quiet and empty, where she usually goes to get away from everything?”

 

Minju thinks for a moment, and nods furiously when the answer comes to her. “I think I know where.”

 

“Good, that’s where she probably is. Let’s go.”

 

--

 

Minju bursts through the rooftop door, and is relieved to see a figure sitting at the ledge of the roof, still in her red and blue suit. She runs to the figure, only stopping when she’s a feet away. When Chaewon turns to look at her, Minju sees the tears and cuts on her face, and she feels her own tears flowing as she engulfs her in a tight hug. There’s nothing she can say to make it better, so she’s hoping her hug will, at the very least.

 

Yena leans against the rooftop door, letting the couple have their moment, but she can’t help but think how eerily similar it is for her back then.

 

(Yena stands in front of the tombstone, just looking at the photo of her aunt on it. The whole funeral passed by in a blur, greeting and consoling crying guests while she just remained numb throughout the whole process. She didn’t shed a single tear, but it’s probably because she cried it all out when she found her aunt’s dying body then.

 

It was a robbery gone wrong, just a few blocks away from their apartment, and by the time Yena arrived, it was already too late. Her aunt had lost too much blood, and help was still too far away. She held her aunt in her arms until the paramedics came, made sure her body is safe before hunting the robber down. She’s not proud to say it, but she didn’t show any mercy, plunging the knife into him as he did to her aunt instead of turning him over to the police. She thought it would make her feel better, but it didn’t help to alleviate the ache in her chest at all.

 

She feels warm droplets fall onto her skin, growing into a full-blown torrential downpour, until she can’t even see the tombstone in front of her anymore. She hears footsteps getting closer to her, before an umbrella is held over her head.

 

“Yena-unnie. Let’s go.”

 

Yena would never say no to Yuri, but she just ignores her this time. Everything still hurts, and she just wants to be left alone, afraid to drag others down into her pain, or worse, hurt them with words she didn’t mean. Yuri doesn’t give up, throwing the umbrella away to wrap her warm arms around her, not caring if she’s getting wet.

 

Yena didn’t realize it, but that is exactly what she needed. All her defences come down at once, and the dams of her tears are finally released. She wails out her pain, regret and guilt, while Yuri just holds her tightly without any words.

 

Why did they take all her loved ones but not her? Her parents, now her aunt who raised her like she’s her own. The thought of joining them briefly appears, but Yuri tightens her arms around her as if she can read her mind, anchoring her back in the present. Yeah, she still has Yuri.

 

“Don’t leave me too.” Yena grips onto Yuri’s shirt tightly, as if she might lose her if she doesn’t.

 

“I won’t.”)

 

Yena sees Minju helping Chaewon back onto the roof from the ledge, and she knows this is the part where she steps in. They have work to do, after all.

 

She claps her hands, getting the attention of the couple. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but we have a villain to catch.”

 

Chaewon’s eyes harden. “I’m not going to catch him, I’m going to kill him.”

 

“And what? Do you think the pain is going to go away miraculously after killing him? Is this what your aunt would want?”

 

“What do you know?! He killed my aunt!”

 

“I lost mine too. To a robber. And like you, I was blinded by revenge.” It hurts to think about it even now, but Yena soldiers on, not wanting Chaewon to make the same mistake as her. “So I killed him. Like what you want to do. But it didn’t make things any better. Instead, all I’m left with is guilt, that I carry even till today, and probably till the day I die.”

 

Yena sees the fire in Chaewon’s eyes dim, and she knows her words are working. “My aunt always told me, ‘With great power’,”

 

“Comes great responsibility.” Chaewon finishes her sentence before she can even say it.

 

Yena raises her eyebrows, but nods. It seems like even in this parallel universe, Spidey’s aunt is also wise. “Use your power for a greater good. I didn’t do it, but you still can.”

 

It’s like they are playing the same game; she has made the wrong choice at this checkpoint then, but now that Chaewon is at the same level, she hopes that the younger girl makes the right choice.

 

 “We can catch him.” She holds her fist. “Together.”

 

Chaewon bumps her fist against hers, and Yena pulls her in for a hug, ruffling her hair.

 

--

 

“Wait, wait.” Yena removes her hand from her chin and holds it up. “You are saying the Goblin is driven mad because of some haywire formula he created and accidentally consumed?”

 

Chaewon nods. “The ‘Goblin Formula’ enhances his cells, giving him supernatural strength and powers, but it’s so much that his cells go awry and he went insane. And that makes him really hard to catch, because he doesn’t have a motive and a modus operandi, just wants to commit crimes for the ‘fun’ of it.”

 

“What if, we reverse that cell damage?” Yena suggests. Trying to catch an unpredictable, crazy villain on the loose is difficult indeed, but they can just reverse that cell damage, and he will just be a normal person again.

 

Yena expects Chaewon to scoff at her idea because bioengineering is hard enough, but here she is suggesting reverse bioengineering. But she sees the glint in Chaewon’s eyes and is instantly reminded that this isn’t just some other girl, this is her in another parallel universe.

 

“I had that idea too, but I just can’t seem to isolate this last chemical for the reverse formula.” Chaewon unfolds a piece of paper that seems to be even bigger than her, and it’s filled with chemical formulas and workings. There’s a chemical written in red and circled multiple times, and Chaewon taps her finger on it.

 

Yena grins. She had trouble trying to isolate this chemical herself too, but she managed to do it last month and it’s just sitting in her lab shelves. “Well, I have to make a trip back to my universe.”

 

--

 

Yena opens the stairway door quietly, relieved to see that the whole floor is pitch dark. She makes her way to her destination easily, putting the bottle of the chemical Chaewon needed into her pocket, but she almost screams out loud when she turns around and sees a figure sleeping at her desk. She doesn’t even need the lights to know that it’s Yuri, soundly asleep on her desk. She steps closer, smiling as she sees how Yuri’s cheeks are squished against the table, making her look even more adorable. But as much as she loves to stay here and watch Yuri sleep, she needs to get back to Chaewon, and Yuri should go home and sleep on her big comfortable bed instead of on her table here.

 

“Yuri-ah, wake up.” Yena calls out gently as she runs her fingers through her hair.

 

Yuri groans a little before she stirs, eyes slowing opening and locking with hers. The moment she registers it, her eyes widen and she immediately jumps up, throwing her arms around Yena in a tight hug. “Where did you go! You weren’t replying to my messages, heck, the messages weren’t even delivered! Did you know how worried I was!”

 

Yena feels bad, but she can’t help a smile from growing on her face as she wraps her arms around Yuri’s waist. It’s always nice to receive this type of attention from Yuri, because it shows that she loves her, even if it’s not the type of love she has for Yuri.

 

“I’m sorry, there wasn’t any signal at the place I was in. But I’m here now.” (More like electronic gadgets doesn’t work when taken out of the universe it is supposed to be in, but the less Yuri knows, the better.)

 

Yuri pulls away, putting her hands on Yena’s face and turns her left and right, as if scrutinizing her for any injuries. Satisfied that Yena doesn’t have a single scratch on her, she dives into Yena’s embrace again. Yena chuckles as she busks in the familiar and comfortable scent of Yuri’s perfume.

 

“Why are you sleeping here?”

 

“I was waiting for you. You didn’t reply to any of our messages, and none of the rest knows where you went. I was so afraid something bad had happened.”

 

Yena tightens her arms around Yuri, knowing how worried and scared she gets whenever she goes off to fight criminals or villains. There’s always the danger of it being their last time, but they still do it anyway, because it would be cowardly and irresponsible to just sit and watch evil happen when they have the powers to stop it. Yena pulls away before she does something she will regret (like kissing her best friend), “Nothing bad happened, I was just in a place with bad reception. Don’t worry, okay?”

 

Yuri dives back into her embrace, nodding into her neck, and Yena smiles. “Come on, let me send you home.”

 

Usually, Yuri hates swinging with her and will avoid it at all cost, but today, the girl just stays in her embrace without a single protest. “Okay.”

 

Yena is thankful for the cooperation today (since she really needs to hurry back to the other universe), but there’s just one small problem. “Yuri-ah, you need to get off first, we are still too far from the window.”

 

“No, carry me there.” She immediately jumps and wraps her legs around Yena’s waist, the superhero huffing at the additional weight.

 

“Some warning next time?! I could have broken my back!” Yena sighs, but she still wraps an arm around Yuri’s waist, waddling to the window.

 

“You literally lift cars, what is my weight to you?” Yuri deadpans.

 

“I can be honest, but I don’t want to hurt your feelings.”

 

And before Yuri has the chance to retort, she jumps out of the window, casting the first web and swings.

 

--

 

Yena lands lightly on Yuri’s balcony, the girl clinging tightly to her like a koala to a tree. Koala Yuri is still shaking and Yena doesn’t say anything, just runs her hands up and down her back and waits. When she feels that Yuri has calmed down, she pats her on her bum. “Come on, off you go.”

 

But Yuri doesn’t let go, only tightening her arms around Yena.

 

“Yuri…” Yena says exasperatedly, but there’s still a hint of affection in her tone.

 

“No. If I let you go, you are going to go do dangerous stuff again.”

 

Yena’s heart flutters, and she would love to stay here in Yuri’s embrace, but she has a supervillain to catch. “I have to do dangerous stuff to save people, but I promise you, I will always make my way back to you no matter where I go.”

 

“You promise?” Yuri asks uncertainly while looking up at her with those cute round eyes.

 

If she was even able to say no to Yuri before (news flash: she wasn’t), those eyes just totally deleted that word from Yena’s dictionary. With how adorable Yuri is looking, coupled with the stress of facing an insane villain on the loose the past few days, Yena finds herself doing something uncharacteristic, consequences be damned. She leans in, placing a soft kiss on Yuri’s forehead, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away.

 

“I promise.”

 

But the moment only lasts for a second, because Yuri is punching her on the arm. “I will kill you if you get hurt.”

 

Yena yelps, rubbing her arm. “Okay, hurry up and go in.”

 

Yuri finally jumps off her and she has only pulled open the balcony door when Yena grabs onto her wrist again.

 

“Yuri-ah.” And she really wants to say it, those three words, eight letters.

 

“Hmm?”

 

She’s tired of holding onto all these feelings, so much so that it’s crushing and slowly killing her inside. But saying it out means she might lose her best friend, someone who has been with her since day one. It’s a risk she doesn’t dare to take. She shakes her head and swallows it back.

 

“Never mind. I will tell you when I get back.”

 

--

 

Yena came back to chaos in Chaewon’s universe. She curses as she sees destruction and fighting everywhere on the streets and she quickly swings herself to Chaewon’s lab, landing in only to see Minju pacing around.

 

“Yena-unnie! What took you so long?”

 

“What happened?” Yena asked, quickly pulling out the chemical and pouring it into the boiling mixture.

 

“The goblin broke into jail and let everyone out, so all the villains are running free out there now. Chaewon and her other hero friends are trying to keep the situation under control.”

 

She curses, if only she came back earlier without taking Yuri home just now… It’s too late for regrets, but she can still fix this. Yena starts stirring the mixture, and once she sees that it turns bright green, she extracts it with a syringe, before pocketing it.

 

She pulls her mask on, turning to Minju, “Stay here until we come back for you.”

 

After seeing an affirmative nod from Minju, Yena swings out of the lab, heading into the battlefield.

 

It’s relatively quiet for the first few blocks, only the remnants of the fight left; overturned cars, collapsed buildings. But she’s stopped in her tracks by a call of help, and she vaguely spots a man hollering for help, having fallen into a crater in the middle of the road left behind by a bomb. She lands in the crater lightly, squatting near the man as she checks his condition.

 

“Are you okay? Do you think you can hold onto me?”

 

“Yeah, I think so.” The man reaches his arms to wrap it around her waist, and she feels it immediately, her spidey-sense blaring.

 

But it’s too late, because she also feels the knife plunging into her abdomen, again and again. She loses strength in her legs, and the man pushes her away like a ragdoll while laughing manically.

 

“Oh poor Spidey, that’s what you get for trying to be ‘your friendly neighbourhood Spidey’. The man laughs and with a wave of his hands, a green rocket glider comes into view, aiming straight at her.

 

So, this is Goblin, Yena realizes belatedly. Slowly, she inches her shaking hands to grab the syringe hidden in her pocket, waiting for him to come near.

 

The Goblin squats beside her now, grinning down at her manically as he yanks her head up. “Let me see your pitiful face one last time before it gets blown into smithereens.”

 

Pulling off the mask, he frowns because it’s not the face he’s expecting to see. “Who the are you?”

 

“Me? I’m Spidey, you imbecile.” She uses the last ounce of her strength to plunge the syringe into his legs, pressing the pump to send the mixture into the villain’s body.

 

He yelps and falls back, before convulsing violently as the chemicals starts to take effect. It goes on for a while before he stops, and when he comes to, the manic glint in his eyes is gone, replaced by a confused gaze, and it’s hard to believe the man before her is the same man as before.

 

“What-?” He takes a look around, and realizes what happened. “Oh no, what have I done?”

 

Yena tunes him out, knowing that Chaewon and her team will handle the rest. Her work here is done, but she might just be done with her life too. She’s no stranger to injuries, getting hurt might as well be on a job description of a superhero, but she has never felt such excruciating pain before. The pain overrides all her senses, but even then, a small part of her brain just can’t help thinking about Yuri.

 

Yuri, who is waiting for her back home, waiting for someone who will now never be able to go home. Yuri, who kept her promise to stay by her side, but she can’t even keep her promise to go back home to her. Yuri, who Yena loves, but has never told her, and will never have the chance to tell her anymore.

 

If only she knew then, that that was the last time, Yena would have told her. If only she got another chance.

 

The black dots in her vision grows, and everything goes black.

 

--

 

Yena opens her eyes, and all she can make out is that she’s in a well-lit white room. Her brain is like mush, but she forces it to work, taking a few seconds to recollect what happened. Is she… dead? Is this heaven? But why are there lights in heaven? And why is she in a room? Are there even rooms in heaven?

 

She sees a fairy entering her room, eyes widening and immediately running to her when she sees her.

 

“Yena-ssi, can you hear me?” The fairy calls out to her, and she really wants to reply, but she’s too tired to do so. Trying to keep her eyes open is already a feat.

 

On second thoughts, the ‘fairy’ looks really familiar, she looks like Chaewon’s teammate, the one with the supernatural strength, what’s her name… Ko… She’s unable to finish that thought, succumbing to the fatigue again.

 

--

 

The next time she opens her eyes, she spots Chaewon, who immediately jumps up from her chair to hover over her.

 

“Yena-unnie, are you awake? How are you feeling? I will go get Minju!” Chaewon rattles off before sprinting out of the room.

 

She feels considerably better than the previous time, and judging from Chaewon’s words, she’s probably still alive. She heaves a sigh of relief, checking her condition herself. Her limbs are still working and intact, and she feels generally fine, just groggy and tired, and a dull ache coming from her lower abdomen.

 

Chaewon rushes back with Minju, and Yena fights the fatigue, lifting her hand up to wave at them. Minju does her round of checks on her while Chaewon stands by the side, picking at her fingers. Yena would crack a joke to break the heavy atmosphere, but she’s too tired trying to keep her eyes open, not willing to fall back into the darkness again.

 

Minju finally removes her stethoscope, turning to Chaewon to nod, and the latter sighs in relief as she grips onto Minju’s hands.

 

Yena is thankful that they are concerned for her, but do they have to show off their relationship in front of her? God, she misses Yuri so much. Yuri! She still has something she needs to tell Yuri. She’s not going to back out this time. She pulls down the oxygen mask over her face and croaks out, voice hoarse, “I want to go home.”

 

“We will monitor your condition, and if you are feeling better, we will let you go home.” Minju pulls away from Chaewon, talking to her in the soothing, coaxing tone she probably uses on all her patients.

 

But Yena shakes her head stubbornly. “Now.”

 

Minju doesn’t back down. “I know you want to go home, but you have just woken up from a month-long coma, we can’t just let you go without proper checks to make sure you are okay.”

 

“I was in coma for a month?!” Yena exclaims, feeling the pain in her abdomen spike. She groans as she clutches her waist.

 

“See? You are not well enough, and you are definitely not well enough for multiverse travel. We can’t discharge you.” Minju says with finality.

 

Yena turns to Chaewon, pulling her best puppy dog eyes. Her bro is her last hope. “Chaewon, please. I have to get back to Yuri, she’s probably worried sick.”  

 

Chaewon falters, eyes alternating between her and Minju. But Minju turns and crosses her arms, glaring at Chaewon. She shrinks, hiding behind Minju. “You heard the doc.”  

 

Yena huffs, sliding her thumb over her neck in a slicing motion.

 

“I will let you go home immediately once your condition improves, I promise.” Minju assures her.

 

It does little to appease Yena, who pulls the blanket over her head, not wanting to see them. She knows it’s childish and she’s throwing a tantrum like a kid who didn’t get the toy they wanted, but she really wants, no, needs to get back to Yuri. If she has been lying here in a coma for a month, who knew what happened back in her world? Will Yuri still be waiting for her? Or would she have forgotten all about her? Or worse, what if she already got together with Hyewon? She can’t let that happen before she confesses, she doesn’t want to lose even before she tried to fight.

 

--

 

Yena feels incessant patting on her arms, and she opens her eyes to see Chaewon. She huffs, still angry at her doppelganger for rejecting her request earlier today. What happened to bros before hoes, huh? (Not that Minju is a hoe, but you get what she means.) She closes her eyes, wanting to go back to sleep when Chaewon hits her on the arm again.

 

“No, don’t go back to sleep, you idiot.” Chaewon whispers harshly, looking at the door before turning to her again. “Listen, we only have 5 minutes before Minju comes on her next rounds, so let’s go before she comes. Where do you want me to bring you?”

 

Yena sees the watch Chaewon is wearing on her wrist, and she grins, throwing her arms around the younger girl. “I knew I can trust you.”

 

Chaewon pushes her away with a disgusted expression. “So, where to?”

 

“Let’s go to Yuri’s house, she should be home by now.”

 

Chaewon keys in the address into the watch, but Yena grabs her wrist before she can engage it. Yuri was waiting for her at the office the other time, what if she’s waiting there this time too?

 

“No, no. On second thought let’s go to the office. She might be waiting for me there again.”

 

Chaewon sighs, changing the address again.

 

“Never mind, I think, we should go to her house.” Yena can’t make up her mind, where will Yuri be?

 

Chaewon takes a deep breath before she loses her patience and decks Yena in the face. “Can you just make up your mind?!”

 

“Go to Yena’s house, she will be there.”

 

The two turns to the door, and Minju is leaning against the frame with her arms crossed. The two Spidey freeze, so much for being subtle. They were expecting Minju to stop them, but she only approaches them with a small backpack.

 

“Yena-unnie’s medical records are in here, with some bandage and stuff that will come in handy. I don’t have an additional IV bag, so tell Yuri to get it if Yena-unnie still needs it.”

 

The two stares at Minju as if she has grown another head. Yena asks incredulously, “You are not going to stop us?”

 

“Can I even stop you, that’s the question. Besides, I know how it’s like to wait endlessly for someone to come home, and I don’t want Yuri to suffer any longer.” Every time Chaewon goes out to fight, there’s no guarantee when she’s coming back, or if she’s even coming back. The only thing she can do is wait, hoping that the next person wheeled into the hospital isn’t Chaewon, that when she gets home Chaewon will be there waiting for her in one piece.

 

Chaewon reaches out for Minju’s hand, giving her a little squeeze. She’s sorry, but there’s nothing she can do except to be more careful so that she can make her way back home to Minju at the end of the day.

 

Yena coughs, reminding them that she’s still there. She just misses Yuri even more now.

 

Chaewon rolls her eyes at Yena before bringing Minju’s hand to her lips, lightly pressing against the back of her hand. “I will be back, let’s go home together later?”

 

Minju nods and Chaewon finally lets go of her, keying in Yena’s address into the watch. “Ready to go home?”

 

Yena nods and Chaewon presses the watch.

 

--

 

“Do you think Yuri will really be here?” Yena is doubting Minju’s advice as they trudge down the corridor to her apartment. Why would Yuri be in her apartment instead of her own apartment or their office?

 

“If Yuri is to you what Minju is to me, then she will be here.”

 

“What does that even mean?” Yena grumbles out, starting to feel her wound ache as the morphine is starting to subside. She’s struggling to even walk right now; she has no extra energy to decipher Chaewon’s riddles.

 

“It means in every universe; Spidey is bound to fall in love and be with their best friend. If we are each other from different universes, Minju and Yuri are probably each other’s doppelgangers too.” Just like how Yena knew where Chaewon went to hide from the world, Minju is probably right about where Yuri is too. No one knows you better than yourself (albeit from another universe) after all.

 

Yena’s heart skips a beat at the possibility, but she scoffs. “Yeah, sounds great. But you forget about one very important fact, that she doesn’t like me, but Kang Hyewon, genius, billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist.”

 

Chaewon shrugs, gesturing to the door in front of them. “Why don’t you find out?”

 

She ignores the growing pain in her abdomen and brings her quivering hands up to the number pad of the door, keying in the code and the door beeps, indicating that it’s open. Chaewon swings the door open, and Yena hears the pitter patter of footsteps coming towards them.

 

“Yena-unnie?”

 

Yuri is standing there in her hoodie and sweatpants, tousled hair showing that she was awoken by them, but her eyes are alert as she scans the two at the door.

 

Yena lifts her arm off Chaewon, taking the last few steps to Yuri even if the pain from her wound is now screaming at her. She throws herself at Yuri, forgetting about crazy supervillains, the throbbing pain in her abdomen, and what it means that Yuri is here in her apartment like what Minju had predicted.

 

The pain is no longer bearable, but she mutters out the words she always wanted to say before she succumbs to the darkness.

 

“Yuri-ah, I love you.”

 

--

 

The glow in the dark stickers on the ceiling greet her like every day, and Yena groans as she reaches for her phone on her bedside table. It’s almost evening time so she should really get up and be productive, but her bed just feels so comfortable. She tries to recall what she was doing before she fell asleep, but her eyes immediately shoot open when everything came back like a wave. Did that all really happen, or was it just a dream? She brushes her abdomen, and feels the rough, uneven surface of a bandage instead of smooth skin and she knows it wasn’t a dream.

 

She’s not even fazed by the fact that this means that she was stabbed by a supervillain in another universe, but absolutely horrified that this means that she confessed to Yuri. Without any chocolates, flowers, rings, just her whole body as she fainted in the girl’s arms. She hides her face in her palms, this is why Yuri likes genius, billionaire, playgirl, philanthropist Kang Hyewon and not her.

 

The door opens, and speak of the devil, there Yuri is, walking in with a small metal tray. Yena quickly shuts her eyes again, pretending to be asleep. Ask her to face any supervillain or monster and she will do it in a heartbeat, but asking her to face the girl of her dreams after she confessed to her? She’s planning out her migration plans in her head as we speak.

 

She feels the blanket and her shirt being pulled up, but Yena springs awake, pushing her shirt back down as she gapes at Yuri.

 

“What are you doing?!” Yena asks as she hugs her arms around herself protectively. She knows she confessed, but that doesn’t mean she agreed to do anything. Oh my god, has Yuri been secretly doing things to her while she’s out cold?

 

“Wha- you idiot!” Yuri blushes furiously. “I need to change your dressing.”

 

Oh. Yena clears , averting her eyes away from Yuri.

 

“So?”

 

“So, what?” Yena can feel sweat starting to run down her back. Is Yuri going to talk about her confession? She’s not ready for that conversation yet.

 

“Are you going to take your clothes off, or do I have to take them off?” Yuri crosses her arms impatiently.

 

“Can you turn around?”

 

Yuri huffs, but does as she’s told.

 

Yena quickly s her shirt, humming to get Yuri’s attention when she’s done. Yuri turns around and works quietly, removing the old dressing, sterilizing the wound before putting on a new dressing. Yena immediately buttons her shirt back on, but Yuri doesn’t leave, just stands there and stares at her and there’s this suffocating silence surrounding them.

 

It’s broken when Yuri punches Yena and she yelps, clutching her arm in shock.

 

“What’s that for!”

 

“I told you I’m going to kill you if you get hurt right?”

 

A hit, “And you went and got yourself stabbed.”

 

Another hit, “In another universe no less.”

 

Yuri continues hitting her while crying, and Yena reaches out for Yuri, sitting her on the bed before pulling her into her embrace. Her wounds hurt with all the moving, but it hurts even more to hear Yuri sobbing like that.

 

“I’m sorry.” I’m sorry for making you worried. But I’m here now.

 

She holds Yuri, reassuring her that she’s indeed here in front of her, hoping that will make things better. Her shirt is slowly getting wet from Yuri’s tears, but she doesn’t budge, just hugs and runs her fingers through her hair.

 

It takes a while before Yuri calms down, but she doesn’t move away, just snuggles into a more comfortable position. With her nasally, just-cried voice, she says the next words that destroys Yena’s world.

 

“I’m not accepting your confession.”

 

Yena’s hand freeze. Why is she even surprised? She saw all the signs, but still decided to ignore all of them and confess. So it’s all on her, really. (But that doesn’t mean it hurt any less.) “It’s okay, you don’t have to reciprocate or anything, I just wanted to tell you how I feel. I’m sorry if it ruined things between us.”

 

Yuri pulls away, hitting her on the forehead with her knuckle. Yena holds her head, not sure if her eyes is tearing up because of the hit, or because of the pain in her chest. “OW! Stop hitting me, I’m already hurt!”

 

“You are such an idiot. I’m not accepting your confession because I want you to do it properly, not because I don’t like you.” Yuri huffs and rolls her eyes, why did she even fall in love with such an idiot?

 

“You… like me?” Yena blinks, trying to process everything.

 

“Ugh, I don’t know!” Yuri pushes Yena, trying to leave, but Yena catches her by the wrist with her spidey reflexes and pulls her into her lap.

 

Yuri is positively red now, and that’s enough of a confirmation for Yena, who has the biggest smile on her face. There are so many questions in her head as she stares at her best friend, at this girl who she’s in love with (and loves her back!!), but she pushes all of them down, only asking the most important one for now. “Do you want to go out on a date with me?”

 

Yuri’s going to turn into a tomato at the rate she is blushing, clearing as she gets off Yena’s lap noncommittally. “Let’s talk when you get better.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.” Yena grins.

 

--

 

Yena adjusts the straps of her backpack as she paces the lift lobby of Yuri’s block. It’s been a long few months since she came back from Chaewon’s universe, and Yuri has finally given her the green light for that date, so here she is now, waiting for Yuri at her lift lobby. Sure, she can go up and even enter Yuri’s apartment, but where is the joy in that? This has to be a proper date, to redeem her ty confession and all the time they wasted.

 

The lift pinged, and she turns around just in time to see Yuri coming out of it. Butterflies explode in her stomach, it’s like time has slowed down, and Yuri is walking towards her in slow motion. She’s just in a white jacket and jeans, looking casual but so good at the same time. She feels the sweat starting to build up on her palms, her hands starting to shake as she grips onto the bouquet of roses in her hands tightly. Relax, it’s just Yuri. But it’s because it’s Yuri that she’s nervous. She’s finally going on a date date with her!

 

“Hi.” Yena greets breathlessly, as if she just finished a full marathon.

 

“Hi.” Yuri puts her hair behind her ear while looking at the floor.

 

“You look beautiful today. Not that you don’t look beautiful every day!” Jeez, she knew she’s stupid but she didn’t know she’s this stupid. What is she even saying.

 

“You know what- never mind. Here, flowers for you.” Yena holds out the bouquet in her hands, before she embarrasses herself even further.

 

“Thank you.” Yuri, bless her soul, doesn’t mention anything about her blunder, just accepts the bouquet, sniffing at the roses.

 

“Well, shall we go?”

 

--

 

It seems like the whole of Seoul is out today, the crowd in the train getting heavier with every passing stop. Yena looks over at Yuri, who looks just as uncomfortable as her and she curses internally. She only wanted this to be a romantic day out with Yuri, but there’s nothing romantic about being squeezed like a pack of sardines.

 

The train jerks to a stop at another station, and Yena sees everyone on the train jerking in slow motion, and that the man next to Yuri is about to lose his balance. She quickly pulls Yuri into her embrace, back facing the man so that he stumbles on her backpack instead of Yuri. Tilting her head to nod at the man who’s apologizing, she turns back to see a pair of adorable eyes looking up at her.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah.” Yuri clutches tighter to her shirt.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t know there’s going to be so many people.”

 

“It’s okay.“

 

Yena finds herself being pushed closer to Yuri as more people board the train. It’s only then that she realizes how close they are, their front pressed against each other, she can feel Yuri’s breath against her neck, and it’s doing strange things to her heart. But there isn’t any space to move back with the increasing crowd in the train, so they can only remain in that position, Yena closing her eyes as she hopes that she doesn’t actually pass out from a heart attack.

 

“I should have borrowed Kwangbae’s car.” Yena mutters, hoping that Yuri can’t hear her heart going crazy in her chest.

 

“I like this though.” Yuri buries her face in Yena’s neck.

 

Yena’s cheeks hurt from how hurt she’s smiling, but she can’t help it as she wraps a protective arm around Yuri, feeling the girl melt into her embrace. She can get used to this.

 

--

 

The crowd doesn’t cease even after they get off the train, and Yena nearly loses Yuri in the sea of people. Gripping onto Yuri’s wrist, Yena tugs her closer, before sliding her hands down to entwine their hands. It’s not like it’s their first time holding hands, but Yena finds herself wanting to give an excuse for doing so.

 

“Just so I don’t lose you.”

 

But it seems like she doesn’t even have to give an excuse, because Yuri doesn’t question it, instead steps closer and hugs her arms as they battle the crowd.

 

After jostling and hustling through the crowd, they finally reached the picnic spots in Hangang Park. They stand in front of an empty spot, just staring at the grass patch. Yena looks at the girl beside her, and Yuri turns to look back at her.

 

“Don’t tell me you didn’t prepare a picnic mat?” Honestly, Yuri wouldn’t even be surprised if Yena forgot the most important thing for a picnic, she’s the biggest klutz she knows after all.

 

“I did, it’s in my bag.”

 

“Okay, then what are you waiting for?”

 

Yena holds her hand up, and their entwined hands come into view. “I would if I have more than one available hand.”

 

Yuri throws Yena’s hand off hers as if it’s on fire, and Yena chuckles as she shrugs off her bag to take out a picnic mat, putting it on the grass before plopping down on it, patting the space beside her. Yuri sits down beside her as Yena begins to pull out lunchboxes that fills up their whole picnic mat. It doesn’t stop there because she pulls out a camping stove and pot.

 

Yuri blinks as Yena begins to start a fire on the stove. “What are we eating?”

 

Yena grins widely. “Your favorite.”

 

It’s only when Yena pours broth in the pot and throws vegetable in that she realizes what it is. “Shabu shabu?!”

 

Yena nods as she continues to throw in ingredients, chuckling as she sees Yuri literally bouncing in excitement at being able to eat her favorite dish. Seeing the happiness emanating off Yuri, it was worth it nearly breaking her back to bring all the tools and ingredients for their picnic.

 

They sigh in contentment as they pat their full bellies, lying down on the mat as they look up at the clear sky. The slight autumn breeze blowing keeps the weather cool despite the shining sun, and it’s the perfect weather to be out.

 

Yena points at a particular blob of cloud in the sky, “That looks like a turtle riding a dragon.”

 

Yuri laughs at her crazy imagination but plays along. “And that looks like a rabbit eating a lollipop.”

 

Yena looks at the girl beside her, still unable to believe that they are here on a romantic, non-friendly kind of date. If this is her reward for getting stabbed, she wouldn’t mind getting stabbed once more. “A pretty hamster.”

 

“How would you know if the hamster is pretty or n-“ Yuri scoffs, but stops when she sees Yena already staring at her.

 

Yuri blushes. “I don’t want to be a hamster, they are rodents.”

 

“Did I say it was you?” Yena teases, which immediately earns her a punch.

 

Yena pinches Yuri’s pudgy cheeks that makes her look like a hamster, but she swats Yena’s hand as she turns away. She pokes at Yuri’s back, but Yuri just wiggles away from her. Yena sighs, she’s leaving her with no choice.

 

“Aigoo, I’m so cold.” Yena throws her arms around Yuri, hugging her from the back.

 

“Y-yah, get off me.” Yuri’s shaky voice says, but Yena hugs her tighter.

 

But that’s as far as her weak protest goes, even snuggling into Yena’s warm embrace as time passes. Yena wouldn’t mind staying like this forever, her favourite girl in her arms, under the warm sunshine and the cooling weather. She’s about to fall asleep when she feels it before it even happened, the arms on her hair rising.

 

She pushes herself up on her elbows and throws herself over Yuri a split second before the bridge a few hundred metres away explodes. Yena looks at the bridge that is in flames, cars and people beginning to fall into the river below as the bridge begins to give way.

 

She turns back to Yuri. “Are you okay?”

 

Yuri looks slightly shaken, but is otherwise okay as she nods. Her watch starts beeping furiously, and Yena knows she has to go.

 

 “Go.” Yuri nudges her.

 

Yena doesn’t want to leave Yuri here, doesn’t want this to be the end of their date, but she knows she has to go, there are people to be saved.

 

“Get home safe.”

 

She’s ready to go, but is stopped by Yuri’s tight grip on her jacket. She raises her eyebrows, but Yuri tugs her closer before she feels lips meeting hers.

 

“Come back safe.” Yuri’s cheeks are like tomatoes, and Yena smiles, leaning in to kiss the pudgy cheek of the girl she loves.

 

“I will see you later.”

 

She puts on her mask, sprinting off towards the burning bridge, and sees a car falling off the broken bridge, on its way to plunge into the deep dark waters of the river below. She shoots at the bridge to give her an anchor, the other hand shooting to hold the car. She catches the car right before it touches the water, and she hears the cheers of the citizens all around. She doesn’t acknowledge them, because she doesn’t do this for the attention, but to save people. After all, with great power comes great responsibility, and she’s going to use that responsibility to save and protect people, especially the people she loves.

 

She connects the two webs in her two hands, before conjuring a different web to swing herself up onto the bridge. She throws a quick glance towards the river bank where she came from, but it’s too far a distance for her to spot Yuri. She can only hope that the girl will find her way home safely. But that momentary distraction was enough for someone to dive at her, throwing her to the ground harshly.

 

“Get your head in the game, Spidey.” The mechanic red suit above her drones.

 

Shots are fired towards them, but the mechanic red suit pinning her down acts as a shield, blocking all the shots, and arrows begin flying towards their attackers, taking them out. Hyewon gets off Yena, waving at Hitomi who’s hanging from the bridge structure above them.

 

“Not like you to lose focus, Spidey. What happened?” Hitomi asked as she loads her bow, ready to shoot at any enemy she missed.

 

Chaeyeon flies to them, offering a hand to Yena. “Are you okay?”

 

Well, at least one of her teammates have the decency to ask about her. She takes her hand, “Thanks Chaeyeonnie, I only have you. I was just worried about Yuri, okay?”

 

“Oh yeah, how did the date go?” Hyewon asks as she returns fire at the attackers.

 

“Not very well, as you can see, I’m here fighting instead of lying down beside her.” Yena rolls her eyes as she pulls a car that was tipping off the edge of the bridge back.

 

“Gross, TMI.” Hitomi drawls as she continues to put down more terrorists.

 

“Now, now let’s focus on the matter at hand first.” Chaeyeon chimes up before a fight breaks out between them, but she also can’t help adding to the teasing. “We should finish this quickly so Spidey can get back to lying beside Yuri, or whatever they were doing before they got interrupted.”

 

Yena splutters. “What are you thinking! We were just lying down beside each other at Han River, on a picnic mat.”

 

“That was exactly what we were thinking, what were you thinking?” Hyewon sounds out over their earpiece, and Yena can hear the smirk in her voice.

 

Yena huffs as she dodges a bullet, shooting her webs to pull the gun off the shooter before Chaeyeon flies and sends a good punch to their face. “Let’s just finish this so we can all go home, okay?”

 

“Alright guys, let’s finish this so she can go home to Yuri.” Hitomi chuckles.

 

Yena wants to throw her hands up in exasperation, but she’s busy using them to fight bad guys and save people, so she can only sigh. She can fight terrorists and aliens, but can never win against her own teammates, but she won’t have it any other way.