It had been a week and a half since Chaewon had last seen Spider-Man. Now, she wasn't saying that she longed for the day she got to see the hero again, but that was exactly what she was saying. It was ridiculous, because it wasn't like Spider-Man had gone anywhere and disappeared off the face of the Earth, no, quite the opposite actually. Spider-Man was everywhere.

Crime was high in the city, that had already been established, and Spider-Man seemed to have been in hiding because of it before. It made sense, because the crime was directly aimed at them and it was just some messing around at first from that gang, causing some chaos here and there; Hitting cars with bats, throwing bricks at shops and then running away before the cops arrived, it was all harmless in the sense that no one was getting directly hurt. It was just all an attempt to lure the vigilante out, and Spider-Man wasn't dumb. But that slowly changed, and soon people were getting hurt. It wasn't just vandalism then, it was violence. A war, almost.

Eunbi was having a thrill. Said the re-appearance of Spider-Man was good for the news. Of course, it was easy for her to say when she wasn't the one who had to go out and report the sightings of the vigilante fighting against seven men twice their size at once. No, that fell on Chaewon. With her cameraman, Bomin, at her side, Chaewon was out there going live, reporting everything that Spider-Man did, having to watch the vigilante get beat before turning things around and winning every single time.

Chaewon trusted the hero, of course she did, but it was still a scary sight every single time. That moment where Spider-Man would get hit and fall to ground and all the gang members would surround them and then—without a miss, every single time, the hero would jump up and beat every single one of them. Every single day, without a fail, Spider-Man was out there stopping crime. Every single day, Chaewon would have to watch in fear, holding her breath for those ten seconds, feeling that thud in her heart, before the hero would prove themselves once again. She hated it.

Spider-Man was everywhere, taking up all the space in every single news channel a person could flip through, and Chaewon didn't like it, not like that. She wanted to see them, but not in that way. She wanted to see the hero up close and in person, just the two of them, talking among themselves as they stared up at the night sky in a secluded area, far from the public eye, far from the crime.

Yena may have been on to something when she said she didn't trust Spider-Man. What the city's hero did was truly dangerous, and Chaewon was slowly starting to realize that every day, reporting what the hero did, was also a danger. But Chaewon was also cautious and she was no fool to go to the front of the crowd not far from where the crimes occurred. Bomin was an alright cameraman and he could record what happened from a safe distance. But even then, it was dangerous.

Chaewon blamed her infatuation with the hero. If the two had never crossed paths, she wouldn't be so attached and seeing them fight crime would not be so hard. She wouldn't be overthinking like this. But still, it was what it was, and the hero felt familiar to her. Whether it was someone she knew personally under the mask or not, Chaewon was attached and she had to learn to deal with her feelings.

But there was one day in particular where Chaewon was sitting in the corner of their usual hang-out with Chaeyeon and Hyewon across from her, talking about their upcoming finals, when the news caught their attention.

"But seriously, this semester has killed me. Do know you when I last visited the dance practice room? A month ago." Chaeyeon sighed and shook her head, setting down her spoon. It clattered against the table and the sound echoed through the almost empty restaurant. "I think I might just switch to dance major because if I have to type up one more essay analyzing the pieces of art during the-"

Hyewon who had been chewing silently by her side slowed down her chews as her eyes trail up to the television. Her brows furrowed and her hand went up to push Chaeyeon's arm slightly to get her attention.

"What?" Chaeyeon asked, but her eyes also trailed up to the television.

Chaewon, noticing the silence of her friends, looked up from her bowl, only to find Hyewon swallowing her mouthful, staring up at the screen with wide eyes and Chaeyeon looking rather shocked by whatever it was that was on the news. She turned around, facing the television that rested above the counter, and right there, just like any news reportage as of late, was Spider-Man.

This time, the notorious vigilante was surrounded by not three, not five, not seven, but ten guys. Ten.

"Where do they keep coming from," Chaewon asked under her breath. 

"Didn't you hear?" Hyewon asked after successfully gulping down her last mouthful. "All these scumbags are crawling up from nowhere just for him. Even members of previous existing gangs are uniting with one goal, and one goal only: Defeating Spider-Man."

"Rumor says they're being led by some big gang leader who is known for corruption. From being involved in drug selling, to past, shady political business." Chaeyeon jumped in, nodding her head as her eyes remained on the screen. "It's madness."

Chaewon glanced at her friends before looking back up at the screen. It was crazy, it was all crazy. These people were literally planning a real living human's demise, and for what? So they could continue with their corruption in peace.

"He doesn't deserve this," Chaewon muttered, still shaking her head in disbelief as she watched Spider-Man do a flip over one of the guys who launched at them before webbing him up whole. "He just wanted to help the people."

Chaeyeon and Hyewon both looked away from the screen, exchanging a look before they turned to Chaewon who was still engaged on the activities of the crime-fighter against the gang members.

"Are you defending Spider-Man right now?" Chaeyeon asked, suddenly becoming more entertained with Chaewon's new outlook on the vigilante.

Chaewon's eyes widened. Oh. Her friends didn't know about her new-found infatuation with the hero who rescued her that one day. Did she want them to know? Of course not. She knew what was to come if they found out she suddenly only saw the hero through rose-colored lenses, filtering out the blood smeared on their hands.

"Uhm," Chaewon turned to her friends who were staring at her with a great amount of disbelief, "I just think, you know as a regular human being, he doesn't deserve this?"

Her friends exchanged another glance, showing they weren't buying what she was saying.

"Are you into Spider-Man?" Hyewon asked and the way she said it had Chaewon sighing at how stupid she must have looked with her infatuation. A clown. She must have looked like a clown.

"No," but Chaewon still denied and was quick to shake her head and extinguish whatever thoughts might have been arising in her friend's heads before they got too crazy. "Of course not, but you know, after he saved me and stuff, he isn't such a bad guy. So, you know, I think they should all cut him a break."

Chaeyeon made a face, but didn't say anything else. And just like that, the three friends all turned back to the screen, watching Spider-Man's every single move.

Ten guys. Then seven. Then five. Spider-Man was a genius, Chaewon thought. She trusted the hero could fight them all off, as they had done plenty of times before. What would make this time different from the others? Chaewon kept that it mind, yet the mood was ominous and she remained holding her breath.

The hero kicked one of the guys and punched another. The hero did a back flip and shot webs at one of the guys. Four. One of the guys launched at Spider-Man and the hero did a counter attack. Three. Two of the guys went around and tried to surprise the vigilante, but they were quick and the enhanced senses must have helped, because the hero was able to take them both down in a matter of seconds. One. There was only one left, Chaewon had counted in her head and—where was the last one?

The screen zoomed in on the hero who was webbing up the last two guys and Chaewon frowned at the sight. Had she counted wrong? She must have counted wrong because there was no one else—

"Oh my gosh," Chaeyeon said and that's when Chaewon saw the last guy approaching the hero with a bat from behind.

Spider-Man could sense it, Chaewon knew it. Spider-Man had to be able to—

And there was a blow.

Spider-Man was quick and was able to sense the guy. But their reflexes were only so fast and the hero was barely able to jump to the side, avoiding getting hit on the head, but still getting hit anyway. Chaewon gasped and jumped in fear, hands going up to and eyes widening in shock.

"He got hit," Hyewon mumbled in disbelief.

No one else said anything and they all continued watching as Spider-Man stumbled to the side, clutching their side tightly with one hand while the other went up to shoot webs. But they were stumbling hard and it looked like it was a big hit because the masked figure fell down to the floor and it was apparent that the hero was now breathing hard.

And it only escalated from there, because a bunch of other guys appeared, jumping over the car to reach the area, wearing masks and carrying their own bats and weapons.

"," The camera was able to pick up Spider-Man's mumbles.

"Is he going to get up?" Chaeyeon asked, and it didn't sound like mockery, unlike her constant remarks relating to the notorious vigilante.

"He has to or they're going to beat him to a pulp," Hyewon said, resulting in the two other girls turning to give her a look. She shrugged. "What?"

Chaewon turned back to the screen and watched closely as the hero pushed herself off from the ground, hand still clutching her side. That must have been painful, and it worried Chaewon to no end, sending her into a state of mumbling endless prayers and encouraging words under her breath. "Come on, you got this, Spider-Man. Please, God, please."

And to everyone's surprise, the hero laughed. A sarcastic laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. The scandalous hero turned to everyone surrounding them and laughed once again. "I didn't want to get too violent today," Spider-Man started, "but even hurt, I suppose I have to beat you guys."

There it was, Spider-Man's sense of humor. Chaewon smiled.

And before any of the guys could react, Spider-Man jumped up, attaching themselves to the side of one of the buildings, and began to shoot. The hero pushed off the wall and made a turn, going over all of the guys, and shooting some more webs through the flip. They landed on the ground and instantly kicked one of the guys, dodged an attack, punched another guy, and like that, the hero beat everyone there.

Chaewon didn't realize she had been clutching her hands tightly until Spider-Man was crouching on top of one of the cars there, in that spider pose of theirs, looking over the crowd and all of the guys they webbed up. The hero exchanged a few words with the police that arrived shortly after, but at that point Chaewon couldn't hear anything because the camera focused on the news report who started to summarize everything that happened as if the entire nation didn't just witness it themselves.

"Well that was a ride," Chaeyeon was the first to speak, turning away from the screen and shaking her head as she went back to her drink.

"I think I lost my appetite, and if that doesn't say something, I don't know what does," Hyewon jumped in, pushing her plate away from her. The girl just sat there, an unpleasant look on her face as she stared at the remaining food.

Chaewon couldn't say anything. Her mind was still on the hero who she almost witnessed get beat to a pulp, as Hyewon said. It was a horrifying sight and Chaewon couldn't make out anything else but the thought that she wanted to see the hero. She wanted to talk to them, ask if they were okay, and though it was selfish to think at the time, she wanted to ask a few questions that could let her know whether she knew who was under the mask or not.

Yes, it was completely selfish to still wonder about the true identity of Spider-Man at a crucial time like this where the hero could have died right before her—and the entire nation's—eyes. But Chaewon needed to know, especially now more than ever. If it was someone she knew, it just made this moment all the more important. Because what if it was someone that she knew under the mask? What if those guys had really beaten Spider-Man to a pulp? What would have happened then?

Imagining someone she knew under that mask almost getting killed—No, Chaewon shook her head. She couldn't imagine that.

Chaewon needed to talk to Spider-Man.

It had been a day since Spider-Man's last fight. It was all anyone could talk about. Chaewon would turn the corner and she would come across a group of girls talking about their hero and how they must have been feeling that previous day. Chaewon turned the other corner and she heard guys talking about the great vigilante who could not be defeated. It was endearing, hearing the praises for the hero whom she had met personally, but it was tiring. Honestly, the event was something Chaewon didn't want to think about too much. It was terrifying, horrifying, and an overall unpleasant experience to have had to sit through. She wanted to forget and move on from it.

Chaewon needed a distraction, a friend to hang out with to talk to about anything but Spider-Man. Chaeyeon and Hyewon were out, she had hung out with them the previous day and seeing them would probably only remind her of that; Hitomi, Nako, Yuri, and Minjoo were busy studying for finals at the high school; Sakura or Eunbi, they were both busy with work; And that left Yena who, well, Chaewon wasn't sure where she stood with the girl at the moment.

When Chaewon was around her friends, it really felt like she had more than she could handle. But listing them like that, were those really all the friends she had? Maybe them all being part of the same friend group was what made it seem like so little. She had a close group of friends that were enough, but outside of that, that was all? It made sense, though, after Chaewon found Yena who introduced her to the others, she never felt the need for more friends. Another thing Chaewon needed to thank Yena for.

Speaking of friends, there was Minjoo, sitting in the coffee shop talking to—Yena?

Chaewon frowned at the sight of her two closest friends interacting. It wasn't the first time the two girls interacted, of course Chaewon had introduced them to one another before and they had all hung out together with the others before, but this was different. There was no one else around with them. It was weird. Chaewon was the reason they knew each other, and really she was the only reason they even interacted. Not even because of Yuri, or Hitomi, or Nako, or anyone else. Without Chaewon around, why would they even feel the need to talk to each other?

It wasn't like Chaewon was trying to make it all about her—maybe—but the sight of Yena and Minjoo talking without her was odd. Unsatisfying. Unsettling. Displeasing to the eyes. It was strange and weird and something didn't feel right. Two separate parts of her world colliding. And really, if it wasn't about her, why would they talk to each other by themselves?

Maybe Chaewon was just trying to justify herself, but she couldn't deny the curiosity was so immense, she had to get closer to listen. There weren't many people in the cafe, but she chose the seat behind a couple where she would not be easily spotted, yet close enough to hear most of the conversation.

"We need to stand side by side, together," It was Minjoo's voice.

Chaewon frowned. Why did Yena need her help, and with what? There was silence on the other end, like Yena was contemplating what Minjoo had said. There were some other words coming from Minjoo, less exasperated and more soft, but Chaewon couldn't hear them properly.

Then there was a sigh, it was Yena.

"It's getting hard, keeping it a secret from Chaewon."

Chaewon? She was Chaewon! That was her name! Why were they talking about her?

"Please, you're not the only one keeping it from her, I am too." That was Minjoo. "Have been for a while too."

Yena said something else which, again, Chaewon couldn't make out, and at that point she was leaning in so close she wasn't far from falling off her chair.

"Okay, tomorrow then, right?" It was Minjoo again.

"Just don't let Chaewon find out or it won't be good for any of us."

There was the screeching of chairs being pushed back, and Chaewon was quick to turn around and hide her face as her friends walked by. And when the two were exiting the coffee shop, she glanced up, watching the two head in opposite directions until they were both long gone. That was weird.

Chaewon bit her bottom lip, glanci