When asked what they do with their free time, most teenagers reply with standard answers such as "listen to music" or "hang out with my friends". Maybe a few unique replies would be "collect caterpillars" or "cry over fictional characters online", but there are never any extreme deviants.

If you were to ask Jongin that exact question just three years ago, his quick answer would be dancing. In middle school, that's all Jongin ever focused on. When he wasn't at school, he was in the practice room, music blaring from the speakers. However, the summer before high school, that all changed when Jongin was dancing one day, closed his eyes for a moment, and found himself on top of his school's roof.

Part of Jongin expected a large man with an impressive beard to walk up to him and say, "You're a wizard, Harry," to which Jongin would be thoroughly confused and excited but mostly confused because (1) wizards are bad but don't exist and (2) his name is not Harry, but he can dream, can't he?

Alas, that did not happen. Instead, Jongin had to lie to his school's janitor why he was on the roof to begin with – luckily the janitor was not that interested, as he just wanted to go home, so he did not question Jongin's very suspicious story of how he scaled three stories without equipment – and run all the way home to call his best friend and tell him this both horrifying and thrilling revelation.

However, Sehun did not sound very impressed.

"Okay."

"Is that all you have to say?!" Jongin yelled into the phone, cringing when he saw his mother's disapproving glance. "I freakin' teleported to the school's roof and all you have to say is 'okay'?!" he whispered furiously.

"Well, yeah."

"I should teleport to you just to choke you," Jongin hissed, earning another glance from his mother. Jongin took this as a sign to move this conversation to his bedroom just so his mother won't have to worry about her son's mental state.

"," Sehun replied blankly.

"I hope you know I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Sehun!" Jongin exclaimed, exasperated. "Seriously, what the hell, man?! This is a big deal but you're not even acting surprised!"

"Because I'm not. We've been waiting for you to figure out your powers. Way to be late bloomer," Sehun snorted, and Jongin could hear the crinkling of plastic in the background. Sehun really needed to get his potato chip addiction under control.

"What the hell are you talking about? Have you been talking to Jongwoon again? Damn it, Sehun, I told you to say no to him. Hugs, not drugs!"

"I don't get paid enough for this," Sehun mumbled lowly.

"What are you talking about?! Stop spouting nonsense and get to the point, Oh Sehun!" Jongin was starting to get frustrated. Why did Sehun always have to rain on Jongin's parades?"

"I mean I know you have superpowers. Or, I kind of knew. I knew it was going to happen, I guess."

"How?!"

"My boss told me."

"Your boss? You work?" Jongin found that very hard to believe, seeing as how Sehun was too lazy to even write his own notes in class; he paid Junmyeon to do it for him.

"Sort of. I'm part of a league. A superhero league."

"If you're ing with me, Oh Sehun, I swear–"

"You know I don't have the patience to make up like this," Sehun interrupted, getting impatient too. "Anyway, Chanyeol will explain all of this to you later."

"Wait, who's Chanyeol?"

"My boss, duh."

Jongin took a moment to soak this all up. "You mean you only became my best friend so you could recruit me for your league?!" Jongin asked, voice incredulous and even hurt because wow, he and Sehun may fight a lot but they were still best friends. To learn that the past five years of your life spent playing video games and pulling pranks were all a lie was a punch to the gut.

"Oh, stop overreacting," Sehun replied, and Jongin could practically see the blonde rolling his eyes. "No one is that dedicated to put up with you for five years just for a job. It just so happened that once I was recruited, they figured out you had superhero potential. I guess they were right." Sehun didn't even bother hiding his surprise at that; Jongin was so touched to hear his friend's faith in him.

Jongin let out a long sigh. "Okay, well, when do I meet this Chanyeol?"

"I don't know. He'll probably e-mail you or something."

"E-mail?" What a lame disappointment coming from a boss of a superhero league. The least he could do is talk to Jongin face-to-face.

"Guy's a busy man. Anyway, I gotta go. Dinner's ready." Before Jongin can even reply, Sehun hung up, not to Jongin's surprise though, because Sehun always put food above all else.

And so that was the very anti-climactic story of how Jongin found out about his superpowers and joined the moderately well-known superhero league called HaT League (apparently HAT stands for Handsome and Talented, but Jongin still thinks they could have tried a little harder on the name). Chanyeol e-mailed him later that night with a congratulations and the guidelines about his league, but other than that, everything was pretty informal and quick.

After that, Jongin found himself turned into a superhero-in-training. With the help of Sehun and another member of the HaT League, Minseok, Jongin learned the ropes at an impressive rate. Not long after, he surpassed Sehun – the younger was not amused, to say the least – and was gifted with the superhero alias name of Kai.

And so, from then on out, Jongin spent his free time during late nights – but never school nights – fighting bad guys and upholding justice with his sidekick, Sehun (who will never accept that title).

Unfortunately, being super rad superhero Kai only takes up about 7.5% of Jongin's real life; the other 92.5% is spent being not-so-super and disgustingly normal Kim Jongin who has to deal with mundane activities like school and people and other boring things of that nature.

Then there's the one thing Jongin considers even more powerful and terrifying than all the bad guys in Seoul: feelings. Or, more specifically, a certain crush on a senior named Do Kyungsoo.

"Hi, Kyungsoo," Jongin chirps when he takes his seat beside Kyungsoo in his Chemistry class. "How are you?"

Kyungsoo doesn't even spare him a glance. "Fine."

"I'm good, too," Jongin replies with a wide smile. "Hey, did you think last night's book problems were hard? Because I had difficulties with–"

"No."

"Yeah, they were totally easy, I mean, I could have done them in my sleep," Jongin scoffs, laughing awkwardly when Kyungsoo continues writing in his notebook.

While the scene may seem pathetic, it's actually much worse than it sounds. Because it happens every. Single. Day. As if Jongin can't take a hint, everyday he attempts to make conversation with his senpai senior, but everyday he is rejected as Kyungsoo is always infinitely more interested in his notebook than in Jongin.

Crushes are awful. 2/10. Jongin would not recommend.

But there's something about Kyungsoo that Jongin is strangely attracted to. Whenever Sehun asks why he bothers with Kyungsoo, who is cold to everyone in their school (which comforts Jongin a little at least, because at least he's not the only one ignored), Jongin would just sigh. Ever since Jongin laid eyes on Kyungsoo the first day of school, his attraction to the older male was strong. Call it "like at first sight," but there is definitely something between Jongin and Kyungsoo that is special. Jongin can feel it in his gut.

Or maybe that's just the burrito he had for lunch. Lunch meat is always questionable, but lunch burrito meat is the most suspicious of them all.

Nonetheless, Jongin knows that when his gut is trying to tell him something, he should listen to it. Whether it's that he needs to run to the restroom in five seconds or that the boy in front of him with dark hair that falls over his eyes will be important to him, Jongin always follows his instincts.

"So what are you writing–"

"Stop."

"Okay."

Although sometimes, Jongin's instincts are as questionable as the school's lunch meat.





-





Usually, Jongin knows not to expect any calls on school nights. Chanyeol is respective of the younger superheroes in his league and their bedtimes, so Jongin doesn't hesitate before climbing into bed with his pajamas on, ready to knock out after a long day at school.

But before his head can touch his beloved pillow, his phone rings. Jongin almost falls out of bed trying to reach for it, the sound startling him. He rushes to pick it up before his mother can hear it and rant to him about how he needs to rest because he's a growing boy and blah blah blah.

"Hello?" Jongin asks warily when he answers the phone.

"Downtown shopping center. Eunhyuk is wreaking havoc. Kris will send you the address. Sehun is on his way to pick you up. Be ready in five." Jongin doesn't even have the chance to ask why he's being sent instead of Xiumin before Chanyeol hangs up.

Jongin just stares at his phone for another few seconds, still trying to process how his night went from sleep to fighting bad guys in a few mere minutes. He's tempted to go to sleep anyway and ignore Chanyeol when he gets a text from Sehun that reads: if ur not ready when i get there, ur walking.

So, very reluctantly and very slowly (and, not to mention, very quietly because Jongin's mother will blow a fuse if she finds out Jongin's not getting his rest – Jongin's not quite sure how she'd react about the whole superhero part though), Jongin gets ready. He just recently got upgraded to a superhero costume, so Jongin's not quite used to the feel of spandex. Let's just say there are breezes where breezes should not be felt.

After greeting a very grumpy Sehun and receiving the coordinates from Kris, the duo make their way downtown. When they arrive, it's not a pretty sight.

Crunch. Jongin spins around. "How are you eating at a time like this?!" Jongin asks incredulously as Sehun pops another potato chip into his mouth.

"I eat when I'm upset," he replies blankly.

Jongin swears he could not have a worse best-friend-slash-sidekick.

"Well, can you not eat so loudly? We want the element of surpri–"

BOOM.

Well, there goes that.

"Stop right there, Eunhyuk!" a familiar voice shouts. Jongin's eyes widen as a man clad in green spandex followed by another in purple come running out of the shopping center and straight for the parking lot where Jongin and Sehun are at.

It's D.O. and his sidekick Luhan. D.O. and Luhan are members of the BAMF League, but Chanyeol prefers to call them the Evil Ones. From what Jongin knows from his limited knowledge of the bad blood between the leagues, Chanyeol and the leader of the BAMF League, Baekhyun, were best friends before they created their own separate leagues. They were a great duo, but something happened and suddenly their leagues were competing for the same runs and the same spotlight.

Sehun tells Jongin not to question it because it's a touchy topic for Chanyeol, so Jongin just goes with the flow.

"Man, what are they doing here?" Sehun groans. Jongin doesn't say anything; he just grabs Sehun's arm and teleports them closer to the action.

"You can't just steal all those insoles!" D.O. shouts at Eunhyuk, who is hauling a large bag with bulging items.

"You're not the boss of me!" Eunhyuk yells back, and Jongin wonders how old this man is. But before he can even process his thought, Eunhyuk exclaims, "I don't have the time for this. Monkeys, attack!"

Out of nowhere, swarms of monkeys start gathering. They're terrifying, with razor sharp teeth and large feet, but that doesn't stop Jongin from stifling a laugh because they're monkeys. Talk about a pathetic power.

Distracted, Jongin forgets to brace himself for when D.O. strikes back. With a stomp of his feet, D.O. moves the ground and throws back a wave of monkeys. Luhan is busy moving cars to create a fence around them, but in the midst of all the action, no one is focusing on Eunhyuk calling for his getaway ride.

"You help them fend off the monkeys, and I'll stall Eunhyuk," Jongin tells Sehun.

Sehun makes a face that says he really doesn't want to be here, but Jongin doesn't have time to reply before he teleports to Eunhyuk.

"What the–"

Jongin yanks the bag out of Eunhyuk's hand quickly.

"Hey! That's mine!" Eunhyuk protests. "Monkeys!"

Jongin doesn't even have the time to let out a very manly scream before monkeys are swarming him. He barely makes out Sehun's name as he yells for his sidekick's help.

"Just teleport out of there!" Sehun's annoyed voice can be heard over the monkeys' shrieks.

Oh yeah. Jongin closes his eyes tight and teleports straight to Sehun's side. He's about to smile triumphantly when he looks and realizes he doesn't have the bag of insoles. Eunhyuk must have taken it in his moment of fear and confusion (monkeys are scarier than Jongin imagined).

"!" Jongin yells as he sees a helicopter hover towards them, Eunhyuk waving at it. He's about to teleport back, but there's no open spots for him to land; the monkeys are everywhere.

"I got this!" Sehun yells at the same time D.O. decides to step in and send another wave through the ground.

Caught off guard, Sehun loses control of the breeze he was supposed to be focusing on Eunhyuk. Instead, D.O. gets the full hit. The force is strong enough to push Kyungsoo back and force his mask to fall off.

Jongin swears he almost faints the moment the man looks up and reveals his face. Although adorned with a scowl – which is nothing new really – Jongin recognizes the face in a heartbeat.

"Kyungsoo," he breathes. Luckily, his voice is low so said boy does not notice. He's too busy frantically putting his mask back on, his sidekick worriedly by his side.

"Let's get out of here," D.O. – it feels weird calling him that after finding out his identity – mumbled, and his sidekick numbly nods before they run out. Jongin is stuck staring after them, and it's only when Sehun smacks the backside of his head that he snaps out of it.

"Uh, hello? The bad guy is getting away," Sehun hisses, nodding towards Eunhyuk, who is stuffing his bag of insoles into the helicopter waiting for him. Underneath his worry, Jongin is mildly impressed, because he's never seen a bad guy get away in a helicopter; points for good show.

Sehun is gathering up another breeze, while Jongin searches for an open spot to teleport to. When the monkeys suddenly disappear, Jongin makes a move, but it's too late; Eunhyuk and the helicopter are leaving. Jongin can't teleport into the helicopter, as he's only trained to teleport to places he knows and he's never dared to try to teleport into a moving vehicle.

"Sehun!" Jongin yells urgently, but it's too late. Sehun's not powerful enough yet to do any major damage to the helicopter. They watch as it flies off, and Jongin can almost hear the taunting laughter of monkeys lingering behind.

Jongin hangs his head and sighs. "Let's not tell Chanyeol yet. I'd rather not get yelled at when I smell like monkey feces."




-





"I need to retire," Jongin groans as he plops himself beside Sehun in their shared homeroom class. "I can't handle the stress," he mumbles as he drops his head onto the desk.

"Oh, please. All because you found out Kyungsoo is one of our biggest competitors doesn't mean you have to retire." Jongin just frowns, not saying anything. Still, that doesn't stop Sehun from continuing. "I mean, sure, Chanyeol is probably never going to let you date him, much less see him once he finds out you've been crushing on a member of the BAMF League, but you'll get over it. Hopefully."

If Jongin's head wasn't already on the table, he would have slammed it on the desk again.

"Seriously, though, it's nothing to get worked up over."

"Easy for you to say. Yixing's a part of our league, so you never had this problem."

Sehun shrugs, face stoic. "At least I had a chance with Yixing. Kyungsoo has never even gives you a second glance."

"Not true! One time he looked at me twice when I said that really funny chemistry joke," Jongin protests.

Sehun just sighs at his hopeless friend. "Listen, you need to move on, Jongin. It just wasn't meant to be."

Jongin pouts and looks away. Call him stubborn, call him stupid, but Jongin's gut is never wrong. Kyungsoo is going to be important to him, and Jongin can't give up on him before anything has even happened between them. Regardless of their competing leagues, Jongin still has to try with Kyungsoo. It's going to be worth it.

He hopes.




-





To say Jongin is worried would be an understatement. Kyungsoo hasn't shown up for school for the past two weeks, and Jongin has been on the edge. Every time he's sent out for a mission, he secretly hopes Kyungsoo would show up, but each time it's just him and Sehun and whatever ridiculous bad guy they're fighting.

"He's probably just taking a break. I mean, his identity was revealed, and you know how bad that can be," Sehun tries to comfort him ('tries' being the key word here). "Seriously, don't worry about it. D.O. is probably BAMF's best superhero. He can take care of himself."

Jongin bites his lower lip. Even though he knows all of this from the times he's faced D.O. before he knew he was Kyungsoo, it's hard to fight the nagging feeling bothering Jongin.

"But still. What if he has to go into hiding forever or something?"

"Then I'm sure Chanyeol will be pleased to know his competitor's strongest superhero is out for the count," Sehun replies dryly, flipping through the newspaper. Jongin furrows his eyebrows. Why does his sidekick have to so much? Why can't he have a supportive, sweet sidekick like Minseok, who works with Yixing?

"Hey!" Jongin yells, frustrated. "This is serious!"

Still, Sehun is not really paying attention. "Not as serious as my picture in the newspaper," Sehun taunts, and that's enough to actually distract Jongin.

"What are you talking about?" Jongin asks, yanking the newspaper out of Sehun's hand. Lo and behold, on page two there's picture of Sehun from last week's mission looking pretty kickass as he punches Kangin in the jaw.

"Where am I?" Jongin asks with a frown.

Sehun leans over his shoulder to examine the picture. "I think you're that blur on the ground." Jongin cringes as he recalls being knocked down's by Leeteuk's power laugh. Of course the picture would be taken when Jongin looks uncool, while Sehun gets to look like the real superhero.

Yeah, Sehun really .




-




When Jongin shuffles into Chemistry class next Monday, he isn't expecting much. In fact, he's ready to catch up on nap time because he just had a test in math, so he couldn't do his usual snoozing during that class.

However, his feet completely stop when he sees a familiar figure seated beside his desk, writing in his notebook as if he was never gone.

"Kyungsoo," Jongin says without thinking; his name, always on his mind these past few weeks, is all too familiar and comfortable on Jongin's lips. Said man turns at the sound of his name, but upon seeing Jongin, he returns to his writing without changing his expression. "You're back," Jongin continues anyway.

Usually, Kyungsoo would offer replies to Jongin; even if they were curt and short, at least they were some sort of acknowledgement. But today, Kyungsoo doesn't even glance at Jongin after the first time. No matter how Jongin tries to get his attention, Kyungsoo doesn't budge.

By the end of class, Jongin doesn't know if he's relieved or disappointed at Kyungsoo's return.

"Kyungsoo is ignoring me," Jongin says when he takes a seat beside Sehun at their next class, concern etched clearly on the fine lines of his forehead. However, Sehun doesn't even bother sparing him a glance as he continues playing with his phone. "Are you even listening to me?"

Sehun rolls his eyes, throwing Jongin a deadpan look as he says, "Kyungsoo always ignores you. I don't know why you even bother complaining about it; it's like that the sky is blue."

Jongin scowls. "But this time he straight-up ignored me. He didn't even spare me a glance."

"Maybe he got sick of your face."

"Ha. Let's be serious here, Sehun," Jongin scoffs. Jongin may be insecure about his grades, his superpowers, his crush, and several other things, but if there's one thing he knows for sure, it's that his face is stellar. He's been complimented enough times to be confident, after all.

Sehun looks up at that just to deadpan, "I am serious."

Jongin scowls. "You're the worst best friend ever." But apparently his words go past Sehun's ears as the boy's eyes go straight back to his phone. "Oh my gosh, seriously? What are you looking at that's so fascinating?" he asks, exasperated.

"Yixing texted me all the links of the articles I was featured in. There are over ten so far– wait, make that fifteen."

Jongin gapes.

"Oh, and I can't hang out with you tonight; Yixing and I are going out for dinner."

Cruel Fate is taking punches at Jongin's dignity. Not only is Sehun getting all the credit Jongin deserves (he's the main superhero of their duo, after all!), but Sehun also has a love life Jongin can only dream of.

"I hate you," Jongin groans as he slams his head on the desk.

And Sehun has the audacity to hum, "I know."





-




Because Jongin doesn't know how to give up, he pushes on despite Kyungsoo's obvious attempts to ignore the younger boy.

It's three weeks after Kyungsoo returned that the older finally acknowledges Jongin. Jongin, noticing that Kyungsoo's face has gotten thinner and he's looking a lot more frail, decides to pack an extra snack in his backpack. When the teacher finishes the lesson and leaves the students to work in class, Jongin clears his throat and glances over at Kyungsoo, whose head is in his notebook.

As smoothly as he can, Jongin takes the cereal bar he's been holding during the entire class, waiting for the right moment, and places it on the edge of Kyungsoo's desk. Even though Kyungsoo doesn't move his head, Jongin sees his eyes flicker to the snack and it's enough to make him smile a little.

"I thought you've been looking pretty thin lately, and I just wanted to make sure you've been eating," Jongin explains a little awkwardly, not knowing how to phrase it without sounding offensive. He doesn't want to force Kyungsoo into eating just because he lost weight, but he knows that there's more to it than just a weight loss.

Kyungsoo doesn't say anything, but he stop writing in his notebook, which is enough for Jongin. He continues, "I mean, you don't have to eat it if you're not hungry right now, but you can keep it for later or something, because, you know, it's important to take care of yourself."

Jongin sits there, playing with his fingers nervously. He's about to give up and just start his chemistry homework when Kyungsoo finally speaks.

"Thank you."

That's all he says. Kyungsoo doesn't look at him, but Jongin still hears his words loud and clear. It's not much, but it's enough to bring a big smile to Jongin's face.

"Any time. Really," he replies, and he hopes Kyungsoo can hear how earnest he's being.

And so, time progresses and Kyungsoo slowly starts opening up to Jongin again. It takes a lot of coaxing, but Jongin can see the ice around Kyungsoo start to thaw.

It begins with a nod. Jongin greets Kyungsoo, who nods at Jongin's presence, as if saying "hello" in his own special way. It progresses into eye contact as Kyungsoo finally looks up from his notebook to meet Jongin's gaze when he talks to him. Jongin knows he made the right choice with Kyungsoo when he feels a jolt buzz through him whenever their eyes meet.

Then it happens – Kyungsoo actually makes conversation with Jongin. Jongin never thought this day would come in his wildest dreams.

(And Sehun owes Jongin ₩25,000 now. That'll teach Sehun to doubt Jongin's persistence.)

At first, it's brief. Kyungsoo would merely answer Jongin's questions with brief answers. The real progress came when Kyungsoo actually asked Jongin something.

"Why do you talk to me?" Kyungsoo asks one day when they're working on their class assignment together. It's blunt and random, but Jongin can understand; he'd wonder the same thing if someone bothered him as much as he bothered Kyungsoo without response.

"Because I like you?" Jongin answers, trying not to sound awkward but it's a bit hard when you're confessing to your crush who barely started acknowledging your presence. "I mean, I thought it was kind of obvious," Jongin continues, adding in a chuckle to make it sound less serious.

It's quiet after that, and Jongin wonders if he just ruined weeks worth of progress in one minute. He can feel the disappointment starting to settle at the bottom of his stomach, making him feel sick.

However, Jongin proves himself wrong when Kyungsoo finally quietly asks, "How'd you do number twelve?" Jongin can't stop himself from smiling at that as he begins explaining the problem to Kyungsoo, because he knows Kyungsoo has a higher grade than Jongin in this class and doesn't really need the help.

Things are finally looking up.

Still, Jongin can't kick the nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him something's wrong.




-





That nagging feeling turns out to be serious when one day, when Jongin is waiting for Sehun outside of school after classes are out, a black van pulls up and grabs Jongin. They blindfold him and throw him into the car before Jongin can process what is happening.

While Jongin is advanced in his training, his powers are still under-developed and therefore limited. Jongin can only teleport to destinations he's been to, and likewise he can only teleport when he's aware of his surroundings. It has more to do with Jongin's mind than his abilities, but Jongin cannot focus if he is not oriented to his environment. It throws off his balance, resulting in a failure to teleport.

Chanyeol is constantly nagging him to practice with blindfolds, but Jongin has never had the guts to attempt it.

Now he's really regretting procrastinating.

Talk about pathetic. Jongin is probably going to go down in history as one of the most unheroic superheroes. Seriously, he can't even save himself.

Sehun will never let him live this down.

Jongin may as well just die now.

But maybe these men will take care of that for him. Jongin listens as his kidnappers discuss their plan (Jongin has learned through years of experience as a superhero that bad guys love talking about their plans. He has no idea why, but it's proven handy so he doesn't bother correcting their poor technique).

"The boss wants him brought to the warehouse," a gruffly voice says.

"Damn, that's far," what sounds like the driver from the direction it's coming from replies.

Jongin frowns. Some of these voices are familiar, but he can't pinpoint them to a face or name; he's dealt with too many criminals to distinguish them well.

"He doesn't want D.O. sensing him."

Jongin freezes at that. Kyungsoo? This is about Kyungsoo?

"You know, I'm all for boss and his plans, but don't you think stealing the boy's crush is a little low? He's just a regular guy."

"Shut up, Donghae. Stop with the sensitive ; that's why you're not sent out solo anymore."

Jongin almost falls over. Kyungsoo's crush? These guys must be crazy. Still, that doesn't stop Jongin's heart from skipping a beat at the thought.

The rest of the conversation is boring, with the driver and kidnapper discussing politics, so Jongin tunes them out. He begins wondering if Sehun even notices he's gone. If he doesn't, Jongin really needs a new sidekick and best friend for that matter.

When the car comes to a halt, Jongin lurches forward. A rough hand grabs him violently and pulls him out of the van, grunting, "Come on." Jongin has no choice but to follow.

Seriously, looking back, Jongin realizes he really could have used those wushu lessons Tao offered. So many regrets, so little time.

After Jongin is tied to a chair – how clichéd, Jongin thinks – he hears the kidnappers discuss among themselves.

"When do you think he's going to come?"

"I don't know, boss sent out the threat a couple of minutes ago."

As if right on cue, Jongin hears doors slam, but he can't tell if it's a good or bad thing by the silence that engulfs the room. When the ground starts to rumble, Jongin knows who it is.

"Let him go," Kyungsoo's voice is eerily low, and it sends shivers down Jongin's back.

"You know we can't do that, D.O. Or should I say, Kyungsoo?" one of the men taunts.

"He has nothing to do with this," Kyungsoo grinds out, and Jongin has never heard so much emotion in Kyungsoo's voice. Although it's inappropriate to feel this way during a moment like this, Jongin can't help but be touched that Kyungsoo actually cares about him.

"Oh, but he does, our dear D.O. You see, he's your weak spot."

Jongin feels his heart swell.

"He is not," Kyungsoo grinds out. "He's just a classmate."

And there goes Jongin's heart.

"A classmate you fancy."

"Who even says 'fancy'?" Kyungsoo snaps, impatient.

"Don't change the subject," the man sings. "What's important is that you care about him. You finally let yourself slip, D.O. We've got you now."

"What do you want?" Kyungsoo hisses.

As Jongin listens as the bad guy lists his demands, he feels the rope around his wrists loosen. Suddenly, the ducttape is ripped of his mouth – and by the way, OUCH – and the blindfold comes loose, allowing Jongin to see.

When Jongin can finally see, the first thing his eyes go to is Kyungsoo, but the older is too busy paying attention to the man to see Jongin. That's why Jongin notices Luhan beside Kyungsoo, his sidekick with the power of telekinises. He mouths 'thank you', which Luhan sees and smiles politely in response to.

Kyungsoo is about to reply to the long list of demands when the door slams open again, and finally Sehun arrives. Jongin locks eyes with his sidekick immediately, and he nods when he sees the look in Sehun's eyes. Get out of the way. Just like that, Jongin teleports out of his seat and straight to Kyungsoo's side.

Kyungsoo is staring at him with wide eyes, but Jongin doesn't have the time to explain as he grabs Kyungsoo and Luhan to pull them aside as Sehun blows a strong breeze into the warehouse, pushing the bad guys down.

"What the hell?!" one of them yells. "He's a superhero, too?!"

"Boss is not going to be happy about this!" another screams back.

Luhan, who snaps out of his surprise before Kyungsoo, pulls away to help Sehun to fight off the bad guys. Luckily, they seem to know that their out done this time as they run out the back. Luhan follows after them, but Sehun stays.

"You okay?" Sehun asks, staring at Jongin.

"Unharmed, luckily. You could've been faster, though," Jongin replies, eyebrow raised.

"Sorry, I got distracted." Sehun shrugs unapologetically.

"Don't tell me you had a snack," Jongin groans.

"You know I get hungry easily."

"You disgust me."

"Good," Sehun replies with a grin. "But I'm glad to know you're still in one piece, or else Chanyeol would have my ."

"Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo asks warily, and Jongin suddenly remembers he's still holding onto Kyungsoo. He doesn't pull away though; he would never give up such an opportunity.

"Someone's in trouble," Sehun whistles, but Jongin just sighs. It's been too long of a day.

"Later," Jongin says quietly, knowing Kyungsoo will hear it. All Jongin wants to do is go home and collapse on is bed right now; long talks can wait until later.

When they leave the warehouse, they're bombarded with camera flashes and reporters. Jongin is confused as to how they found out about this, but Sehun doesn't seem surprised. In fact, it seems as if all the reporters are just focused on him.

"Do you have any comments on the rise of criminal activity?"

"Where'd you buy your costume?"

"Over here! Mr. Superhero, do you have any advice for kids?"

"Kick , but don't be one," Sehun says smoothly, sending a wink at one of the reporters who swoons.

Jongin files for a new sidekick that night.




-





The number of times Sehun has been a helpful sidekick can be counted on one hand, but Jongin thinks this one instance is enough to fill in for several moments. Apparently, when Jongin went home to take a long shower and drag himself to bed, Sehun went to Chanyeol to talk about the BAMF League.

"Are you serious?" Jongin asks, breathless at the news. "Is that even possible?"

"Well, duh," Sehun replies, rolling his eyes. "Leagues merge all the time."

"I know, but I mean, Chanyeol? And Baekhyun? How'd you convince them to even talk to each other?" Jongin still can't wrap his mind around this. It makes no sense. Chanyeol leaves the room at the mere mentioning of the BAMF League.

"Let's just say I have inside sources," Sehun replies coolly. "Besides, I know Chanyeol really wanted to talk to Baekhyun. The moment they saw each other, they broke down and gave into everything. They're really not as cool as they'd like everyone to believe. But they haven't seen each other since the split, you know?"

"What were they even fighting over in the first place?" Jongin asks, confused. He's never been able to wrap his head around the fact that these two ex-best friends hated each other for so long and even turned their hatred into competition between their leagues.

"Apparently it was their league's name. Chanyeol wanted to name it HAT and Baekhyun wanted BAMF, but they were both so stubborn it ended up tearing them apart."

Jongin blinks. "Are you serious?"

Sehun nods somberly. "Unfortunately."

Jongin has never felt more embarrassed of his league before.

"Well, that's great. I can't wait to see how they'll work together again."

Sehun just shrugs at that. "I'm sure they'll be fine. They missed each other the entire time." Jongin narrows his eyes at that – since when has Sehun known so much? "Besides, you have other things to worry about. Luhan told me Kyungsoo is at the park across the school right now."

Jongin doesn't have to be told twice.




-





Jongin always tries to look at the bright side of things. For example, when his pet goldfish died in the third grade, Jongin thought, "At least I don't have to clean its bowl anymore." After all, there are already so many negatives in the world; Jongin doesn't think he should have to add to them with his thoughts.

Which is why, when Jongin spots Kyungsoo sitting on the park bench, he thinks, "At least he's not throwing that tree at me, because he totally could." Still, Jongin decides to be cautious as he approaches the older.

"Hi, Kyungsoo," Jongin greets him softly.

Kyungsoo's eyes meet his without hesitation. "When were you going to tell me?" he asks, arms crossed as he stares down the younger. Even with Jongin looking down at Kyungsoo because he's standing and Kyungsoo's sitting, Jongin feels like he's the smaller one right now.

"I don't know," Jongin admits quietly, ducking his head. He feels bad for keeping it a secret from Kyungsoo, when he knew Kyungsoo's identity, but then again, it isn't as if Jongin could just randomly bring up he's actually Superhero Kai in class one day.

"You knew I was D.O.," Kyungsoo continues, and Jongin just nods. "But you didn't feel like telling me you were Kai? Why?"

"I– I didn't think it mattered?" Jongin stammers, and it's partially true. Jongin would have talked to Kyungsoo if he was D.O. the Superhero or D.O. the clown; that never mattered to Jongin.

"Of course it does!" Kyungsoo snaps, and Jongin flinches. "You almost gave me a heart attack when I found out they kidnapped you. If I had known you had powers, I wouldn't have been half as worried."

Jongin blinks at that in surprise, looking up to see an even more shocking sight.

For the first time ever, Kyungsoo's cheeks are flushed red.

Jongin swears he didn't think he could like Kyungsoo anymore until he saw him blushing.

"I'm sorry," Jongin whispers, and he really means it. Kyungsoo seems to believe him as he sighs, gesturing at the spot beside him for Jongin to take a seat.

It's when Jongin sits down that he notices the notebook in Kyungsoo's lap.

"So what's in your notebook that's so interesting you have to stare at it everyday?" Jongin finally asks the question he's been wondering all year. He hopes it's not too bold, but the fact that Kyungsoo doesn't lean away seems promising.

"I didn't want to be a superhero when Baekhyun first approached me," Kyungsoo admits, voice quieter than before. "But he told me what I have is a gift and I should use it to help people." Jongin smiles a little at that; Jongin never doubted that Kyungsoo, despite his cold exterior, has a warm heart.

Kyungsoo lets out a long breath and Jongin wonders how long he's been holding it in for. After a heartbeat, Kyungsoo continues, "Whenever I start to forget why I bother with the whole superhero gig, I write down something I care about just to remind myself that I'm doing this for a reason."

If it hasn't already happened, Jongin swears he falls in love with Kyungsoo right at this moment. The way his dark hair covers his eyes, red ears sticking out, makes Jongin's chest squeeze and stomach flutter with butterflies.

Then Kyungsoo looks up and their eyes meet, and Jongin feels the air knocked out of him. He wants to say something like "be mine," but he's left speechless at the sight of such an earnest Kyungsoo.

So Kyungsoo takes the opportunity to pick up the notebook from his lap and hand it to Jongin. Jongin looks at him, surprise clear on his face, but Kyungsoo just smiles softly and nods.

Jongin hesitates before placing a hand on the notebook. To think this book means so much to Kyungsoo makes it important to Jongin. He opens it, and it flips to the last page marked, and he doesn't even bother hiding the surprise and affection on his face when he reads the last reason written down.

Kim Jongin

When Jongin looks back up, Kyungsoo is still smiling at him.

"Thank you," Kyungsoo finally says. "For not giving up on me when you probably should have. I didn't mean to act so cold, but after so many years of having to keep my identity a secret to save those I love, I decided it was easier just to stop loving anyone new."

Jongin swallows his heart to ask, "How long have you been a superhero?"

The twisted smile on Kyungsoo's face pains Jongin. "Ever since the sixth grade."

Jongin can't even imagine the pain Kyungsoo had to endure for so long, giving up his life at such a young age for the sake of others. Without even thinking, Jongin grabs Kyungsoo's hand and intertwines their fingers.

"We're in this together," Jongin says, eyes locked with Kyungsoo's in a clear promise.

"Together," Kyungsoo repeats, lips forming into a smile, as if they like how the words taste. He glances down at their hands then up at Jongin, who's wearing a matching, million-dollar smile. "I like the sound of that."

• fin.
 

a/n:
- i haven't finished an entire fic in one night since maybe keyboard smash my heart? so this was an excellent reminder as to why i don't do that anymore like wow i started zoning out at like 2am but i"M DONE WOW ONLY SIX HOURS SPENT ON THIS WOW i'm about to pass out this was so dumb i'll get to typos and mistakes tomorrow /sighs. sorry about those!
- fun fact: this was supposed to be my sncj bb fic last year, but i dropped out because i didn't have the time and i wasn't entirely confident on how this fic would work out.
- through this fic i have realized how much i hate writing action scenes. please forgive me.
- i obviously really love super junior if i chose them as the bad guys lol but in case that's misunderstood, well, yeah. i'm an elf. no hard feelings to my boys; i just love the idea of super junior as bad guys because they'd be so awful at it which says something about exo's superhero skills tbh
- thanks for reading and i hope you enjoyed. or at least giggled somewhere bc this was ridiculous.
- OH AND if you have the time, anonfeedback please? ;;