saving people from a burning building isn't awesome but being taken care of by her girlfriends after is the best.

aka: yoohyeon is minji and bora's big superhero baby that they love taking care of. they just don't love all the injuries that come with it.

~

A burning building is no Venom, and God forbid, it is definitely not Carnage. 

Still, Yoohyeon finds herself running on fumes.

Granted, she has cleared through seven floors of rescuing people and prying furniture away to zip civilians to safety and her mask does little to protect her from all the smoke she’s inhaling from the exertion. Even her suit has sustained some damage, fire from burning wood searing through the material and marring her pale skin. 

Yoohyeon thinks she hears sirens in the distance but it takes too much focus for her to narrow in on it and she has at least thirteen more stories to clear through. 

(But honestly, she’s more worried about the foundation of the apartment collapsing than getting through all the floors. If the bottom collapses, there is much more to worry about than being burned alive.

There’s also being crushed alive.

Or falling to death. 

It’s grim, Yoohyeon is realizing.

And yet, the only way that safety seems most obtainable is by getting as many people out as possible).

Her vision is blurry, the smoke in her eyes making them teary, and when she coughs, it feels like her lungs just might give out.

Yoohyeon has the mere afterthought that she will be sneezing soot for the next month or so when this is done. 

But, the thought is quickly thrown away when a small yelp for help alerts her. Zipping through the hole in the ceiling, Yoohyeon crawls under fallen debris that tents over a fridge. Hearing the weak call again coming from another room, her vision is blocked by burning wood and furniture. Finding no other way around it, Yoohyeon just sighs deeply with resolution and barrels through the obstruction, covering her head along the way. Rolling and skidding to a stop, a woman is backed into the corner, fear drowning her eyes. 

(She couldn’t have been more than Bora’s age, Yoohyeon presumes, if the absence of wrinkles on her face and her chic clothes says anything).

Tearing a part of the bed sheet that hasn’t been burned and approaching her, Yoohyeon nearly gets crushed by a wooden beam that falls through, the woman’s scream alerting her of it. Dodging it by rolling towards her, she weakly clutches onto Yoohyeon like she is her lifeline. 

(If Yoohyeon were in a better place, she’d shrug and think, “Yeah, I am!” 

But, she’s in a burning building eight floors up and everything really ing ).

Noticing how the woman struggles to focus on her and her uneven breathing, all Yoohyeon can do is offer the bed sheet in her hands, “Cover your mouth! Try not to breathe in the smoke!”

It’s important that she gets her out now; it’s easier for people to listen to her when they’re not passed out.

Looking around for an exit point, the window on the opposite side of the room catches her attention—large and expansive, perfect to break through. But, the sea of flames obstructs their way and it only burns even more viciously as each second passes. On one hand, Yoohyeon could easily crawl the wall to slide through all roaring flames. But, not when she has to take the woman with her. 

Hastily making her way back to her, it’s like all her funny quips died out on the second floor because Yoohyeon can barely manage a warning, “Gotta carry you, let’s go! Can you stand up for me?”

Shakily, she rises from the floor and Yoohyeon doesn’t waste any time placing her right leg between the woman’s feet and shifting her weight there to grab her arm with her left and draping it over her shoulder. Making sure she is in the right position after she locks her right arm around the woman’s knees, Yoohyeon stumbles the slightest bit when she picks her up over her shoulder.

She’s done this carry more times than she count, has practiced it on Minji and Bora for situations just like this and carrying them was like lifting a small textbook. But, her exhaustion takes a nasty toll on her. The woman can’t weigh more than Minji but the weight on her shoulder feels tremendous, almost like she is carrying two sacks of rice on an empty stomach. Still, she grits her teeth and pushes through. She couldn’t possibly give in now, not when safety is so close to her reach. 

Yoohyeon really wishes there’s another option when she uses a hanging metal pipe to zip her way through the building as fire eats through the room. It’s a risky move and if Yoohyeon had been any slower, the two would be stuck behind a monstrous amount of debris and Yoohyeon wasn’t planning on dying tonight.

Not when Bora is making samgyetang. (God, Bora’s samgyetang sounds heavenly right now).

Looking outside, the height isn’t daunting, but with her mind-numbing exhaustion, she’s more worried about zipping out in time to another building so that she can land safely away from this burning mess.

“Hey, I gotta put you down!” When she is met with no response, the woman’s eyes blink blearily, lost in a daze. Rearranging her into a better position that allows for Yoohyeon to shield her head better, she takes a few steps back. “Tuck your head into my neck, okay? I’m gonna jump out of here and it’ll feel like you’re falling but don’t worry; I’ve got you!”

If the woman gives her any notice that she’s ready, it doesn’t matter because Yoohyeon is already running towards the window, her arm tightly wrapped around the woman’s waist and her other covering her head when she crashes through the glass.

It’s a split second of falling into the air before Yoohyeon shoots a web to the building ahead of the complex with her left hand, the woman clutching tightly onto her, her legs coiled around her waist while she screams in fear. Safely easing her momentum and lowering them to the ground, Yoohyeon has to catch the woman when her legs give out underneath her.

Speaking calmly with a low voice, the flashes of red, blue, and yellow highlight along their faces, “It’s okay, you’re okay; you can breathe now.” Wiping black grime away from the woman’s cheek, Yoohyeon feels her lungs struggle to drag in the fresh air, her body weak with fatigue.

It all happens in the blink of an eye. One moment, the lady is hugging Yoohyeon with big, glassy tears in her appreciative eyes, and the next, her lips are pressing on hers over her mask.

On better days, Yoohyeon would politely push her away and awkwardly zip to any building that could take her away from the situation. But, with her energy at a low, her reaction is slow when she pulls away, too weary to even feel surprised or shocked.

Disoriented from everything, all she does is pick the woman up in her arms and carry her towards the ambulance. 

From where she is, firefighters are crawling, some in the building, some in cranes and helping people from higher elevations. Feeling comfortable enough that they have it handled and knowing that she can’t push herself any more than she already has, the only thing Yoohyeon can think is “Home, home, home,” when the EMT forces her to sit down and breathe through an oxygen mask. 

(All she wants, all she needs, right now, is to be with Minji and Bora—to feel safe in their arms. And to eat Bora’s samgyetang. And sleep for at least two days). 

Pushing away the aid and swinging away from the scene, Yoohyeon catches the hoarse call of the woman’s voice, “Thank you, Spiderwoman!”

Looking up at her apartment that seems to loom higher in the sky than usual, Yoohyeon knows that Minji and Bora would lecture her for scaling it when she’s feeling this weak. Retrieving her emergency backpack she stashed high on the walls of her apartment complex, she changes into her civilian clothes, her mask stuffed in the pocket of her hoodie.

Yoohyeon really hopes she doesn’t run into anyone on the way to the elevator—she’s really n