Sana had left soon after the broadcast. She’d started worrying about the money, and while Nayeon assured her that there was no way the police could track them, Sana didn’t seem convinced. Nayeon assumed Sana’s disbelief came from the faces Jihyo and Jeongyeon made when she tried to guarantee the security of their hideout.

She loved her friends, truly, but would it kill them to let her live? Just once? Nayeon couldn’t make a single boast around those two, because they’d lock onto it and rip her ego to shreds. She was pretty sure their chat after dinner had ruined any chance of her still being a badass saviour in Sana’s eyes.

Despite the destruction of her cool first impression, Sana’s eyes still sparkled every time she looked at her. Nayeon didn’t quite know what to make of that.

She offered to go with Sana back to the hotel, but Sana shook her head with a smile.

“I can tell you want to hang out with your friends for a bit longer. It’s ok, I promise I won’t get caught. I’ll just make sure the money’s still in the safe and maybe steal a few toys for us to try tonight.”

She leant forward and gave Nayeon a peck on the lips, then winked and walked out the front door. Nayeon was left standing there, staring at the wall like a complete idiot.

It wasn’t the flirting that made her blank out, she was used to that from Sana and could give as good as she got. What made her heart start to stutter was how adorably domestic the whole goodbye had felt.

Two days. Nayeon reminded herself. You’ve known her for two days.

She shut the door and walked back into the living room. Jeongyeon and Jihyo were sitting calmly on the sofa, and Nayeon felt a twist of anxiety in her gut.

She told herself very firmly that she did not feel like a teenager bringing a girlfriend home to meet her parents. She was older than both of them, so she had no idea why her brain had offered her that metaphor. Her friends already disapproved of her career as a supervillain, so what they thought of the girls she brought over shouldn’t matter that much to her.

“So what do you think?” she blurted out. “Of Sana, I mean. Obviously. Not that I care, it’s just-”

“I like her.” Jihyo said, and Jeongyeon nodded in agreement.

Nayeon let out a sigh of relief, the tension in her stomach fading. She flopped down onto the armchair opposite them, kicking her feet up onto the coffee table.

“Well, knowing you two, it’s not that simple. But I’m glad you don’t disapprove completely.”

The worried look they gave each other pretty much proved Nayeon’s point, but she stayed quiet and waited for them to say whatever was on their minds.

“I’m glad that you found a partner and that you’re happy.” Jeongyeon began carefully. “It’s just… we were hoping that if you settled down with someone you’d quit with the whole ‘Tzuyu’s archnemesis’ thing.”

“We were expecting you to find someone who’d encourage you to be better.” Jihyo continued. “But seeing how you two met while Sana was in the middle of robbing a bank, it doesn’t seem like she’s the kind of girlfriend who’ll try and push you away from being a criminal. Also, are you sure she’s not an evil clone of the superhero Sana? Because I’m really struggling to adjust to the whole ‘beloved hero is suddenly in cahoots with Nayeon and happy to do bad things together.’”

“Ok.” Nayeon pointed dramatically at them. “First of all, I’m going to skip the joke about what sort of bad things we get up to, so I hope you both appreciate that. Secondly, Sana’s not a clone, she was just in the mood to change her lifestyle, and I was happy to help. Thirdly, we have yet to label ourselves, so don’t call her my girlfriend until I know she’s fine with it. And finally, are we really going to rehash this same argument every time I come over?”

“It’s just that you have so much potential.” Jeongyeon stared pleadingly at her. “You could be doing such great things with your life.”

Apparently, they were going to have this conversation yet again. Nayeon sighed, slouching further down into the armchair.

“And I told you both countless times, it’s my power so it’s my choice. You don’t have to like what I do, but you have to respect that it’s my decision.”

“We do respect that.” Jeongyeon insisted. “But you can’t blame us for feeling a little disappointed. We don’t understand why you chose to go after Tzuyu when you created your Time Stick. Jihyo got over the camp incident years ago, so for you to dedicate your life to this grudge is worrying.”

“I’m not dedicating my life to it.” Nayeon rolled her eyes. “You’re so dramatic. Also call it a Time Stick again and I’m writing you out of my will.”

Jeongyeon rolled her eyes and shared another look with Jihyo. Nayeon crossed her arms and prepared herself for round two.

“Why did you kidnap Chaeyoung yesterday?”

“To lure Tzuyu out into a fight.”

“And why did you set up that obstacle course full of riddles last week?”

“Because I thought it would be fun to see Tzuyu fail at solving all my carefully crafted puzzles.”

“And the heist you pulled off the week before that?”

“To get the necessary equipment for the obstacle course, duh.”

“Right.” Jihyo nodded sarcastically. “Not dedicated at all. It’s not as if your purpose in life revolves around being a pain in the to a nice kid just trying to help people, that would be insane.”

“Glad we’re on the same page.”

“Nayeon.” Jeongyeon’s face was too serious. “You’ve been at this for over a year now, and you still haven’t given us a good reason as to why you became a supervillain. When are you going to tell us the truth?”

“I gave you all the truth that’s relevant. You’re entitled to your opinions, but I happen to be perfectly happy with my life choices.” She clapped her hands. “And with that, we finish our ‘pressure Nayeon into choosing a different path in life’ section of the evening. Time to move on to our next topic!”

“Fine.” Jeongyeon sat up straight, a challenge in her eyes. “If you won’t talk about that, then let’s talk about Sana, and how you think you’re in love with her.”

. Nayeon had walked straight into that one. There was a beat of silence, and then she winced as Jihyo exploded.

“Nayeon thinks what? She’s in love? It’s been two days!”

“That’s what I said!”

Nayeon shrank down even further into the armchair, listening with red cheeks as Jihyo and Jeongyeon continued to laugh themselves sick.

“She can’t even call Sana her girlfriend but she thinks she’s in love?”

“It’s Nayeon, emotional stability was never really her thing, was it? Let’s just hope she doesn’t start planning a shotgun wedding.”

“Can you imagine? ‘Hey Sana, I don’t know what label we should use, and girlfriend seems so basic. How about I call you my wife?’”

“Sorry babe, I have to postpone the honeymoon. Tzuyu wants to take her girlfriend to a baseball game so I need to kidnap Chaeyoung to ruin her plans.”

“The wedding rings are useful for undercover work, that’s the only reason I have mine. Get off my back Jihyo!”

“Are you done?” Nayeon asked grumpily. “Have you finished mocking me for finally starting to appreciate the allure of romance?”

“The allure of romance?” Jeongyeon snorted. “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

“I hate you both.” Nayeon declared.

“No you don’t.”

Jeongyeon wore a smug grin, her eyes shining with mirth. Jihyo’s face was almost as red as Nayeon’s, and she bounced lightly on the sofa, struggling to stop herself from giggling. Nayeon took a moment to enjoy the sight of her friends’ happiness, and despite her embarrassment, she smiled.

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t.”

When Nayeon got back to the hotel, Sana wasn’t there.

She’d been all prepared to say a smug one liner about the security of the hotel, because despite her friends’ doubts she did, in fact, know how to keep a low profile. The police had yet to find them and the hotel staff had yet to rat them out, so Nayeon felt like she’d earned the right to be a little proud. But when she arrived at their room, and Sana was nowhere to be found, all her smugness vanished.

For one terrifying minute, Nayeon thought she’d been ditched. Then she opened the safe and found the money right where she’d left it, and she immediately felt guilty for assuming Sana would just up and leave her.

Sana was probably out getting those toys she’d been talking about. Nayeon shouldn’t even be worried about it, since it was obvious Sana could take care of herself. Still, something close to fear kept gnawing at her, and after pacing up and down the room for a few minutes, she flopped down onto the bed and switched on the TV.

“Breaking news! The former superhero Sana has been caught attempting to shoplift from the lingerie store La Perla. Police are currently attempting to surround the shop, while the Hulk has been tasked with taking the fugitive into custody. We’ll keep you updated as the situation unfolds.”

By the time the reporter finished his speech, Nayeon was already on her way out the door.

La Perla was located in the Shilla Arcade. It was fairly near the hotel, while also not being near enough for anyone to be able to easily follow them. If she was going to risk getting caught, Sana had chosen the best lingerie store possible. Nayeon was weirdly proud of her for that.

She arrived at the arcade and had to rewind twenty times to get past the police. They had this place locked down better than the bank, which was a rather depressing statement to make about the people charged with enforcing the law. It took crawling through a bunch of trees and bushes for Nayeon to finally reach the back entrance, and she almost hoped Sana wasn’t here to see her with mud on her face and twigs in her hair.

She crept out, hugging the wall as she waited for something to happen. Aside from the distant sound of police sirens, the alley she was in now seemed pretty peaceful.

“We have got to stop meeting like this.” a familiar voice purred in her ear.

She jumped and whirled around, just as Sana materialised behind her. Nayeon laughed and hit the grinning girl’s shoulder, ignoring the alarmingly large amount of relief she felt at seeing Sana unharmed.

“Aw, but it’s so fun swooping in to rescue you.”

“Please,” Sana smirked. “I have this completely under control.”

There was a scream and a bang from inside the building. Nayeon could hear the police shouting as they charged inside.

“Did you build a bomb or something?”

“Or something.” Sana smiled proudly. “I needed a distraction, so I improvised.”

Nayeon felt herself fall a little bit more in love with this girl. But now was not the time or the place to think about stuff like that, so she shook her head and focused. Now, Nayeon needed to find a good escape route for them.

“Freeze!” Tzuyu yelled, skidding to a halt behind them.

On second thought, maybe they shouldn’t be in such a hurry to leave.

Sana was looking at her with wide, worried eyes. Nayeon gave her a reassuring smile, then wrapped her arm around Sana’s shoulder and turned them both around to face Tzuyu.

Tzuyu’s face went from angry to annoyed the second she saw Nayeon. Then she noticed the arm wrapped around Sana and her whole body seemed to droop.

“No.” Tzuyu said firmly. “No way. This isn’t happening. This isn’t real.”

Oh this was wonderful. Tzuyu looked so horrified already, and Nayeon hadn’t even started talking.

“Tzuyu! Just the person I was hoping to run into.” Nayeon stepped closer, hugging Sana tightly. “Have you met my new partner? She’s the best.”

“Hi!” Sana waved brightly.

Tzuyu just stared. Nayeon could see the light in her eyes slowly dimming, and it was a truly delightful sight.

“This isn’t real.” Tzuyu repeated. “This is just a bad dream. There’s no way Nayeon would ever be able to find a partner.”

“Oh but I have.” Nayeon was so very tempted to let out a maniacal cackle. “Your worst nightmare has come true! From now on, you’ll be fighting both of us!”

“Don’t flatter yourself. My worst nightmare is that Chaeyoung suddenly grows taller than me.”

“What?” Sana frowned. “That’s silly. Who wouldn’t want a tall girlfriend?”

“I like giving her piggybacks and twirling her around. Also, who are you again?”

“I’m Sana!” Sana waved again. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“Great.” Tzuyu said flatly. “Just great. Because one supervillain in my city clearly wasn’t enough.”

“Your city?” Nayeon scoffed. “Please, I’ve lived here longer than you. These people are under my protection just as much as they’re under yours.”

“If these people are under your protection then why do you regularly terrorize them?”

“Well.” Nayeon grinned. “You got me there.”

Tzuyu looked like she was two seconds away from slamming Nayeon through a wall. With great restraint, she turned her attention back to Sana.

“Bad news Sana; I’m going to have to arrest you for shoplifting. The good news is; you may be a criminal, but there’s no way you’re as annoying as Nayeon.”

“Are you sure about that?” If Nayeon’s grin got any wider her cheeks would start to ache. “Have you heard Sana laugh? She’s got a beautiful laugh.”

Sana gave a shy, high-pitched giggle, and it truly was one of the loveliest sounds Nayeon had ever heard. But as she had expected, Tzuyu seemed torn between being disgusted or appalled. The sight of it made Nayeon’s love for Sana’s laugh double.

“You see?” Nayeon said, b with pride. “She’s just as annoying as I am. In fact, I might even say she’s worse, and we all know how hard it is for me to admit that.”

“You say the sweetest things.” Sana batted her eyelashes, and Nayeon struggled to keep a straight face.

“I hate you.” Tzuyu muttered. “So much. I could snap you in half like a twig right now, and it would be considered justifiable murder.”

“Yeah?” Nayeon challenged. “Look at how skinny I am, anyone could snap me in half. A bodybuilder could snap me in half, one of the policemen over there could snap me in half, your small yet muscular girlfriend could probably do it too. You’re not special Tzuyu.”

“She’s got a point.” Sana chimed in helpfully.

At that moment, Nayeon really thought Tzuyu was going to crack. But the girl just sighed deeply, as if talking to Nayeon for one whole minute had worn her out more than fighting an entire army could.

“You know what?.” Tzuyu said. “I’m out.”

She spun on her heel, then paused and turned back around.

“Did you actually manage to steal anything?”

“Nope!” Sana shook her head. “I dropped the outfit I wanted when the security guard bumped into me.”

“Good. In that case, get out of here, because I’m going to tell the police you got away.”

“You’re letting us go?” Nayeon gasped. “But we’re criminals! Isn’t it your duty to bring us to justice?”

“Yes, but that would involve spending more time here, and I don’t think I can handle being around you two for ten more seconds. Go be gay somewhere else and leave me alone.”

She walked away then, and Nayeon stood there with wide open and an awed expression on her face. It took her a moment to actually process what had happened, because this was as close to beating Tzuyu as she’d ever gotten.

“Was that ok?” Sana asked nervously. “I didn’t really flirt with her that much, and I could have made my laugh even higher, but I wasn’t sure-”

“That was amazing.” Nayeon whispered. “You were amazing.”

She pulled Sana into a passionate kiss, and Sana responded eagerly. She was halfway through pulling off Nayeon’s jacket when they heard Tzuyu’s voice.

“Sorry officers, but they got away! I’ll get them next time.”

“We should probably go.” Sana mumbled, pulling back so that there were a few centimetres between her lips and Nayeon’s.

“Mm hmm.” Nayeon agreed, unable to find actual words with Sana’s face so close to hers.

The journey back to the hotel took twice as long, and there were at least three instances where they almost gave in and ripped each other’s clothes off fully. Nayeon was glad they showed some self-restraint, since she didn’t really fancy getting it on in an empty alleyway or behind some bushes.

She noticed Sana’s phone ringing as they entered their room, but Sana took one look at who was calling and switched it off. Before the screen went dark, Nayeon caught a glimpse of a girl with peach coloured hair styled into space buns. She assumed that was either Momo or Mina, but she decided not to ask about it.

Nayeon was no stranger to choosing to ignore certain parts of reality. If Sana didn’t want to acknowledge her friends calling her, Nayeon wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up. One important thing she’d learnt over these past two days was that pretending you had no problems was a lot easier when you had a companion. It couldn’t last forever, but right now Nayeon was determined to keep things as light and fun as possible for both of them.

“So,” she said, breaking the silence. “Do you want to see my main secret base? I’ve got one of those big corkboards and everything.”