#superhero!jihoon

[fairyhaos]

seventeen and babysitting kids

ib the return of superman w svt bc i watched all the eps w jeonghao + junshua recently and it made me soft :((

masterlist

seungcheol:

better with kids than some of the others, but cautious. has the experience to take care of the child, but he's worried about coming off as too mean or harsh bc he's used to dealing with grown men with the mannerisms of children instead of actual children n he's too afraid of making the children cry if he's too strict w them. is very Parent when it comes to looking after the child, like, literally acts like their mom and makes them eat their vegetables and fusses over them when they spill something and makes sure they go to bed on time. the efficient person when it comes to looking after children

jeonghan:

he's so sweet. maybe a little too sweet bc as soon as the child is making the slightest whining noises he's dropping everything and doing aegyo or getting out all the toys or offering snacks bc god forbid a child starts crying in his care :((( good at being all gentle wheedler when he's exhausted out of his mind tho but he's just so weak that he doesn't do it often. lets them stay up half an hour past their bedtime. plays hide and seek with them a total of twelve times in a row. he's exhausted by the end of it, but the parents are smiling and the child is telling them how much they adore jeonghan and really that makes it all worth it for him

joshua:

the adorable uncle!! spends fifteen whole minutes explaining his name to the child, before giving up and telling them to call him jisoo. which leads to even more confusion bc he has two names???? what???? very excitable, but also clueless. he's an only child, what can he say? lets the kid get away with most things. when he inevitably exhausts himself two hours in by going way too hard while playing chase, he speaks in a cutesy tone and tries to convince the child to play some more sitting down activities. it always works, and honestly even tho he's terrible at puzzles it's better than going thru fitness training for five hrs straight

junhui:

eagerly participates in the child's made up games! pretends he's a superhero spy with them, pretends he's a magic prince(ess) with them, pretends they're pirates and encounter a ginormous sea monster with them. forgets to feed the child dinner because they're too busy playing, and so he lets them eat a whole hour after their bed time and because they're so late it takes ages to wash up and tuck the child into bed and eventually, the kid is only just going to sleep and it's three am and the parents are pulling up to the front of the house. but it's okay, because the child had fun and junhui had fun too

hoshi:

loves it the most when the children pretend they're animals. or if they have animal toys. managed to get into a fight with one of the kids once bc they wanted to be a tiger and soonyoung insisted that only he could be a tiger. almost made the child cry before eventually agreeing that they could both be tigers. gets hungry really quickly, so he ends up eating half of the child's dinner, then gives them loads of junk food to compensate for it. bad idea though, because now he has a child that's bouncing off the walls and it takes him hours to convince them to Not try and be spiderman and climb the walls and to Please get into bed because your parents are going to be home any minute and they are going to Obliterate me if you're still up

wonwoo:

he's chill. acts like a ghost that's simply observing the child's movements. only speaks when they start doing something they shouldn't or when it's time for dinner or when they should go up and get ready for bed. sometimes plays with the child if they ask him really nicely, but most of the time he's zoned out and staring at the wall, letting the child do whatever they want (so long as it's within the rules that he's been given)

jihoon:

awkward with children. doesn't know what to do. introduces himself and then holds out his hand for the child to shake. sits on the couch like he's ready to bolt any second. ends up putting the tv on for the child so that the silence in the room isn't too deafening. definitely warms up more as the night goes on, and ends up engaging in conversation with the child about how their life is at school. he forgets the names of all the children that the kid mentions though so he has no idea who has drama with who and how they're all connected but he nods and frowns and gasps in what he hopes are all the right places

minghao:

he loves children. so eager to play with them, encourages them to introduce all their toys to him and their histories and their relationships. shows them his cool hand tricks, has them gaping at him in awe for several minutes after. he's very shy, surprisingly, so desperately wanting to be all hyper and loud with the child but worried it will come off as too excitable. tries to teach the child better habits, too, talking to them about handling emotions and how emotional manipulation w tears will Not work on him, nice try. makes sure they eat their greens, and helps them brush their teeth as they get ready for bed. reads them a book and does one last finger trick before patting them on the head goodnight <;3

mingyu:

dramatic. big baby. literally acts like a child too. by the end of the evening, he's made a new friend and has pinky promised thrice that he'll come over some time for a proper play date with them. lets the child do whatever they want, with him and just in general. doesn't force the child to eat their greens bc honestly he finds those yuck too, and lets them go to bed later bc they gave him the most adorable puppy eyes and he's weak for that. reads them like five bedtime stories, acts out two of them, and would have definitely sung a song as well if he hadn't gotten a text saying the parents were coming home. rated 10/10 by all the children he's looked after

dokyeom:

the sweetest :(((( literally the most adorable with kids. treats them as if they're his younger siblings. is unintentionally doing aegyo the entire time he's with them bc he's just being influenced by so much cuteness all around him that he does it too. lets the child play with his hair, his clothes, his fingers. does the child's hair for them when they ask, and throws them into the air so many times that the child is almost sick all over him. plays hide and seek several times, two of which he was the one hiding from the child. almost forgets to put the child to bed, but then tucks them in really nicely and sings to them so sweetly. can't leave the room until the child falls asleep tho bc they insisted on grabbing onto his fingers and won't let go bc they're afraid he'll go away :((

seungkwan:

very fussy over children. dotes on them like he's a rich musty aunt, pinching their cheeks and calling them adorable every five seconds. participates in their made up games, but is hit with reality minimum three times every game bc even though he loves pretending he's a princess dressed in a pink and purple dress, it does feel weird when reality slaps you across the face. very good at Following the Schedule, and becomes almost sergeant-like while the child is brushing their teeth, standing over them and measuring the time to make sure they're doing it correctly. kisses the child on the forehead goodnight, giving their cheeks one last squeeze before tucking them in for the night

hansol:

kinda just there to have food. he's good with children tho, paying the right amount of attention to them and making all the exaggerated facial expressions that they adore. finds kids rlly adorable, but also just kinda sits there n munches on snacks half the time. asks the child how much english they know, quizzes them on the numbers from 1 to 100. all in all he's pretty good with children, feeding them on time and getting them to bed on time. ends up being so good that they fall asleep a long while before the parents come home, so he's just kinda sitting on the couch n staring at the wall for a while

chan:

literally acts like a child too (2). great with kids and matches their energy immaculately. isn't really into dressing up or chasing, but he's great at made up games and board games. once spent the entire evening playing snakes and ladders, bc it was a tense match okay and he was sure the child had to be cheating bc how were they always ahead of him?? makes sure they eat their food properly + very good at convincing them their veggies taste delicious. watches the child jump on their bed for a solid ten minutes, despite having been given express instructions to Not let the child jump on the bed, but really, how can he say no when theyre so adorable?

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reactions tags: @weird-bookworm @minhui896 @bunnyiix @slytherinshua @haowrld @belladaises @newgirlygirl @moonlitskiiies @mirxzii @wonranghaeee @yonabutnotyuna @crackedpumpkin @wqnwoos @kthstrawberryshortcake-main @kawennote09 @a-wandering-stay @icyminghao @valenhui @sweet-like-caramel @odxrilove @kyeomyun @chansburgah @pepperonijem @jeonride @kellesvt @hanniehaee @astrozuya @eightlightstar @onlyyjeonghan @aaniag @amxlia-stars @all-american-fangirl @f1uffyjun @jeonghanfr

[bluehoodiewoozi]

Neverending

Lee Jihoon x fem!Reader

Genre: fluff with little to no plot

Words: 14k

Warnings: crying with references to an argument. a single reference to porn. hatred of philosophy. simp woozi who suffers from anxious perfectionism and self-deprecating thoughts.

[College/University AU] With the help of his friends' advice, Jihoon goes on a quest to become the best boyfriend he can be.

Note: I wrote this, had a mental break-down, then finished this, and now I'm sharing it with you in the hopes that it'll save you from a mental break-down of your own or perhaps it'll comfort you in some way. Hang in there, y'all!

It was no secret that Jihoon had little to no experience with romance. His friends often joked that his experience was limited to exactly seven rom-coms and a steamy romance novel from his mother’s bookshelf that he once read in a state of absolute boredom when he was grounded. 

And Jihoon was fine with that. He didn’t complain when he made it through middle school without as much as a peck from a girl (or anyone other than Soonyoung, really – he wasn’t picky). He didn’t as much as blink when it was high school graduation day and he was still as single as that one famous whale in the ocean. He merely shrugged when his friends pitied his forever-single state while he was doing his undergraduate degree. 

It wasn’t until he started working on his master’s degree that he began to feel left out. Maybe a little over 20 years of being single was just his limit, or maybe it was the constant pitying stares of his friends, or perhaps it was his mother’s not-so-subtle hints of wanting grandkids while she could still run with them – either way, Jihoon finally realised that he was lonely even with over ten friends around him.

And maybe it was this realisation that made him view the people around him differently. All of a sudden, couples seemed to surround him wherever he went. The pair of girls he always saw chatting at the café he worked at? Suddenly he was a witness to the kisses they shared in the corner seat. The guy living across the hall from him in the dormitory? Giggling and kicking his feet after his girlfriend fixed his hair as they left for their 8 am class. 

Heck, even Vernon was in a relationship, buying two to-go cups of chai tea from the café every Wednesday, a love-sick smile on his face, before heading to the park to share them with a woman the rest of their friend group could only theorise the identity of. 

If Vernon out of all people could find someone, why couldn’t he?

Then, as if the universe had heard the silent cries of Jihoon’s heart, he met you. 

Assigned to the same semester-long group project, he quickly realised that you were the only person other than him to actually do the work. It started with looks of exasperation shared across the library table the six of you gathered at, and then the two of you had no choice but to start talking. 

Talking – right, that was the first real step. At first about schoolwork – about the research questions of your project, about other courses, about complaints about your professors. Then, barely a week into knowing him, you broke the thin ice.

He could still vividly remember the way you tugged on the sleeve of his jacket just as he was about to walk away after a meeting. You smiled at him – a real smile rather than the tired polite one he had grown so accustomed to – and asked, “So, what kind of movies do you like?”

As soon as he managed to utter the words “I guess… superhero movies?” out of his mouth, you were once again tugging at his sleeve, this time dragging him in the direction of a nearby cinema. You ended up only allowing him to pay for the popcorn (and he had to beg for even that much) because it seemed you were dead-set on treating him like a prince.

That was your first date: after classes, in the darkness of the cinema, with Spiderman swinging by on the giant screen. He barely had any time to pay attention to the plot, too busy relishing in your presence and the sound of your laughter at the corny jokes. And then, as MJ and Peter Parker shared a kiss on the screen, he felt something warm on his hand – your fingers curled around his own and he couldn’t help but give them a squeeze back, his ears as red as Spiderman’s suit. 

The impromptu date was followed by another, then another, and another, until you finally had enough and pulled him to the side after class.

“Do you like me?” you asked him, a little frustrated with how slow things were going and with how awkward he still seemed.

His ears flushed red again. “Of… of course I do.” (He preferred to imagine his voice hadn’t cracked in the middle of the sentence.)

Your scowl remained. “Then be my boyfriend.”

When he nodded, you smiled and took his hand again – he told himself he’d never let yours go. 

But unfortunately, his lack of romantic experience made it difficult to gracefully slip into the role of your boyfriend. He was almost jealous of the way the role of the girlfriend came so easily to you, taking his hand so easily every day, when he spent hours at night contemplating whether he should kiss your forehead or not when you’d part ways on campus the next day. 

On one of those nights, he decided you deserved better. You deserved a better him. 

So, he grabbed his phone and texted the one friend he trusted with his life. 

[i need advice.]

[how can i be a better boyfriend?]

[YJH: that’s easy! carry her bag for her! girls love that!]

When Jihoon met you on your way to a 12 pm class, he hesitated to follow Jeonghan’s advice. Countless what-ifs floated in his head: what if you thought that it was rude, what if you wanted to carry your own things, what if you tried to carry his bag instead… Did boyfriends outside of fanfiction and romantic movies even carry their girlfriends’ things for them?

Doubts hurried out of his mind soon enough, making way for worry when he saw you adjust the tote bag on your shoulder with a grimace. He inwardly panicked at the sight of your discomfort. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, why?” you wondered as if completely oblivious. 

“Is your bag heavy?” His brows furrowed. Before you could take another step, he slipped the bag off your shoulder and onto his own. Your grimace made sense all of a sudden. His frown deepened, but not because of your confused stare. “What do you have in here? An entire drum set?”

You laughed. “No, just my laptop and some snacks.”

Even as he bounced on his spot to test the weight, his frown remained. He glared at the bag. “Your laptop’s not that heavy.”

Your face scrunched up. “My laptop kind of broke yesterday, so I had to revive the old, heavy one.”

Jihoon’s frown disappeared. He stared up at you in surprise, and then, unable to stop himself, he offered, “Do you want me to take a look at it? Maybe I can fix it.”

“Nah,” you shrugged, “I’ll just take it to get it fixed tomorrow. My friend recommended this shop–”

“Don’t be silly,” he scolded you and continued the journey to class. “You know that the shop will take three weeks to even look at your laptop and then another three to order the necessary parts and then another five to actually fix it. You might graduate before they get it fixed.”

“Yeah?” you laughed, following after him, your hand naturally coming to rest around his own. “And you’re faster?”

“Faster, more reliable, cheaper,” he counted on his fingers before offering you a cheeky grin. When you didn’t seem too convinced, he sighed and added, “You can ask any of my friends and they’ll tell you I can do this. I’ve done this before. I fixed Junhui’s laptop just a few weeks ago; got a 5-star review.”

At that, you sighed. In the few weeks of being his girlfriend, you had learnt that he was as stubborn as he was kind. In fact, he was even more stubborn when he was being kind: you had been a first-hand witness to Jihoon physically pinning Kim Mingyu to the ground to put a bandage on a fresh cut on his cheek, all the while cursing the friend under his breath for not being more careful. You shuddered at what Jihoon might do if you continued to refuse his laptop-fixing offer.

You finally sighed again and nodded. “Should I bring it over to your place?”

“Yeah,” he agreed easily, his lips curling into a victorious smile, “I’m free this weekend so I can probably get it done before finals.”

You grinned at the thought. “If you manage to do that, I will literally marry you. You’re the best.”

He could only pray you wouldn’t mention the way his ears undoubtedly turned red again as he adjusted your bag on his shoulder and led you to your lecture room.

[YJH: help her do research for her essay] 

Jihoon let out a soft huff as he placed your bag on a seat at the library before gently pulling you to sit in the seat next to it. He let himself fall into the chair across from yours. 

“Thank you!” your chipper voice was almost enough to rid him of the muscle pain your pain caused. 

He offered a smile and a blink so slow you began to wonder if he took you for a cat. “You’re welcome.”

Then, just like a cat himself, he just sat and watched you set up on the desk. His eyes sharply followed every movement you made, sometimes lingering here or there if something particular caught his eye (your oddly fluffy pink pen was one of those particular things). “So, what are you going to be working on?”

You groaned audibly. “Research for this mythology class I’m taking. We’re supposed to make a big wiki as a class effort. Each of us got a different topic to write about. But, like, it’s more of an actual small research paper: citations, references, quotes…” You pouted. “If you weren’t here, I’d be crying by now.”

He didn’t like the sound of that at all – the crying part, because he actually quite enjoyed mythology. Though he hesitated just a little before saying it, he offered, “If you need a hug, just tell me.”

“You’re so cute.” You reached over the table to give him an affectionate pat on his head, effectively both praising him and fixing his windswept mess of hair. “Have you gotten around to fixing my laptop yet?”

Relaxing in his chair, he began, “I’m waiting for a part, but it’s almost fixed otherwise.”

You blinked. “What part?”

“A battery.”

“I don’t think it was a battery issue, though,” you mumbled while avoiding his eyes, not wanting to insult his competence. After all, you were pretty sure the issue was with the graphics – why else would your laptop screen flicker like a rogue disco ball?

As if reading your mind, he chuckled and pulled out his phone to check the package tracking website. “I almost fixed the main issue already, but I noticed that the battery was acting weird, so I figured I might as well fix that too.”

When he looked up from his phone again, you were staring at him with stars in his eyes. His heart thumped a little louder at the sight. “... What?”

You shrugged and turned back to your work. “Nothing.”

He pursed his lips at that and put his phone away again. In his head, he went over all the assignments he had to finish for the following week. Deciding there weren’t any that took priority (a bold lie to himself), he cleared his throat. “So, what do you have to research?”

“Greek mythology.”

“But…” He tilted his head to the side in thought – maybe you wouldn’t want his help? There he went again, he realised: hesitating. He frowned and shook his head clear before smiling at you again. “What exactly?”

“Some mythological creatures. I thought that would be more fun than the usual famous characters.”

“Creatures like… harpies and sirens?”

“Yep.” 

Realising you were already deep in the world of research, he decided to not bother you with any further questions. Instead, he slowly and as quietly as he could (but still louder than he would’ve liked) slid his chair back and headed further into the library. 

“Mythological creatures,” he mumbled to himself as he wandered between the seemingly endless shelves. Before long, he found what he was looking for. He returned to your table barely ten minutes later, placing a heap of books on it before slumping back into his chair with a deep sigh. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him open the first book and flip through the pages like a man on a quest. You smiled at the sight before focusing back on your work. Even so, you heard the scribble of his pencil and the familiar sound of a sticky note getting ripped out of its block. 

Just as you stopped paying attention to him, you felt a book being pushed towards you. When you looked away from your laptop, you found the book you had just seen him read, now laid open on your side of the table, turned to face you. 

Light pink sticky notes between the closed pages and a few on the open ones: the book invited you to read. The notes carried Jihoon’s neat handwriting, retelling the contents of the page. Better yet: these were notes about mythological creatures described in the book: 

‘Chimera. pg 6: Daughter of Typhon and Echidna. pg 18: lion's body and head, snake for a tail, breathes fire?’

When you glanced back at him, smiling brightly, he was already nose-deep in a different book, paying you no attention.

[Y.JH.: watch a porno together 😉]

Jihoon stared at his friend’s message for a total of five minutes. He then decided that he should stop taking advice from Jeonghan. 

He turned to the group chat for help instead.

“You’re going to drive yourself insane before finals even start,” he warned you with a fond smile as you flipped through your worksheets, thoroughly checking each and every one to make sure you hadn’t missed anything.

You offered him a tired glare and turned back to your task. “I’m already halfway there, might as well commit.”

[X.MH.: take her on a walk. enjoy the weather.]

Minghao’s suggestion rang in his head as he watched you. After all, he himself often went on ridiculously long walks in the park when he ran into a metaphorical wall with his work and studies, as did many of his friends. Perhaps it would help you too: romance and relaxation in one – a win on two fronts.

“Do you—” He hesitated. Why did he always hesitate? Even he himself was starting to get annoyed by it. He shook his head to clear his mind and fix his hair before trying again, “Do you want to go on a walk?”

You froze. “A walk?”

He hummed. “To clear your mind. Some fresh air might be good for you. Resets your brain and what-not.”

You mulled it over in your head: assignments versus your adorable boyfriend?

“Fine,” you finally huffed, feigning annoyance, “but I’m going to pet every dog I see and you can’t stop me.”

He laughed at the idea, already imagining it in his head, and got up from the floor before extending a hand to help you up as well. “You’d have to try to stop me first. I’m known for attracting random dogs.”

You took his hand and stretched. “I wonder why.”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged and handed you your jacket before shrugging on his own. He tried not to think about how your jackets matched – almost like a couple’s item.

Soon, the two of you were walking side by side in the park, laughing at everything and nothing and Seokmin’s attempt to fit in a kids’ swing that you saw in the passing. 

As always, your hand found Jihoon’s before he could find the courage to seek your affection. Fingers squeezing together, his skin blissfully on fire against yours – he wondered why he never dared to make the first move and reach for your hand. But if he wasn’t the one to initiate, he at least had an excuse to not let you go.

“How come I’m your first girlfriend?” you wondered, searching his face for answers.

He shrugged. “You just are.”

“You really never had anyone else before?” He shook his head. “Not even a fling?” Another shake of his head. “A hook-up?” He blushed and shook his head harder. You frowned in confusion. “How? You’re, like, perfect. Other girls must have swarmed around you like bees around honey.”

“Don’t be silly,” he denied in a hushed voice, avoiding your eyes so he could act like his ears weren’t redder than the late autumn leaves. 

“I know I wanted you to be mine the moment I saw you,” you mumbled with a pout, offended on his behalf. “So, why were you single all this time then?”

Jihoon shrugged once again, his lips in a tight line of awkwardness. “I just wasn’t interested, I guess. Too busy studying.”

“Then,” you hummed in thought before turning to him again, this time eyes shining with mischief, “have you ever kissed anyone before?”

He paled. “I– Uh– Technically…”

“Technically?” you pressed eagerly.

He cleared his throat. “Technically I’ve been kissed by one person.”

“Technically?!” You were scandalised, baffled, puzzled, curious beyond belief. He could only laugh hopelessly as you stopped him and grabbed him by the shoulders to stare at him, your mouth agape. “Who was it? Was she pretty?”

“Pretty?” He grimaced. It was too late to lie now – might as well commit to his honesty streak. “In his own way, I suppose–”

“HIS?!” Your jaw dropped even more as he avoided your eyes. 

“Let’s just pretend I didn’t say anything–”

“No, I need the truth,” you laughed, almost maniacal with both joy and curiosity. You gripped his shoulders, promising to not let him go until you got the answers. “Who was it? Jihoon, you have to tell me.”

He sighed deeply. His head tilted back so he could stare towards the sky, calling for an extraterrestrial life-form to abduct him. He had been doing so great so far… Why did he have to be damn honest with you?

After thirty seconds, he accepted that the aliens hadn’t found his calls appealing enough. He sighed and slumped before you, head lolling forward as he confessed, “Do you know Kwon Soonyoung?”

You burst into laughter, jumping away from him to bounce in joy (Jihoon wondered if maybe the impending sense of finals’ season doom was too much for you) as you repeated, “Kwon Soonyoung? The tiger guy?”

“Of course that’s what you know him for,” he mumbled under his breath, hand reaching up to rub at his eyes so he could avoid eye contact a little longer. “Just so you know, it was nothing serious: he just decided to kiss me on the playground in, like, 6th grade one day.” He sighed deeply at the memory, still unsure how he felt about it after all these years.

But you were too busy giggling to acknowledge his dismay. “On the lips?”

He grimaced. “On the lips.”

“Full on?”

“Full on,” he sighed.

Before he could scold you to not tell anyone else (not that it mattered anyway: Soonyoung had taken it upon himself to share the tale with every person he met anyway), you were in front of him again, still smiling brightly. His scowl melted into a gentle smile at the sight – he sucked at being mad at you.

“Like this?” You leaned forward, placed your hands on his cheeks, and pulled him in for a kiss of your own. 

All of a sudden, Jihoon swore he was floating. He wrapped his arms around your waist to anchor himself as he leaned further into you, unwilling to part from your lips. Even as you attempted to pull away, he chased after your lips, unsatisfied until you melted back into the kiss. 

When he finally ran out of air, you began giggling, a shy glow on your cheeks as you looked at his still-closed eyes. “So?”

“What?” he wondered, slow to open his eyes, and even when he finally did, his eyelids drooped like he was still waking up from the sweetest of dreams. 

“Was the kiss historically accurate?” you joked, leaning closer to brush your nose against his.

He was unable to even laugh. Only a dopey smile appeared on his face as he whispered, “No, it was so much better.”

[H.JS.: surprise her with flowers]

[i dont know what kind of flowers she likes tho??]

[W.JH.: unless she’s allergic, i dont think it matters]

Despite still being unsure whether the group chat was helpful or just plain useless, Jihoon followed their advice like it was the law. 

Flowers? He could find flowers. Easy. They’re sold almost everywhere. Surely, he could figure out something as simple and universal as flowers. 

Wrong.

The moment he stepped into the flower store, he felt like a five-year-old left unattended in a new city. He hadn’t even realised there were so many options. He gulped. 

“Can I help you?” an oddly familiar voice called out to him and he whipped his head around in search of the speaker. He found Wonwoo staring back at him, his eyes shining with mischief upon recognising his new customer.

Jihoon grimaced. “I– Nevermind.” 

But when he tried to leave, Wonwoo grabbed him by the hood of his white sweatshirt and dragged him further into the store. “Are you going to buy your girlfriend flowers? Like Joshua suggested?”

“I– No– Why would I–” Jihoon’s resolve broke under Wonwoo’s knowing glare. He lowered his gaze to the floor and sheepishly nodded. 

Wonwoo let out a small sound of victory before asking, “So, what kind of flowers do you want to get her?”

“That’s the thing,” Jihoon sighed deeply, “I have no clue what to get.”

His florist friend hummed in understanding. “Is she more of a daisy or a rose girl?”

Jihoon offered him a confused look. “How am I supposed to know? I’ve only dated her for a month.”

“Roses may be a bit much then,” Wonwoo concluded with a squint of his eyes before heading somewhere in the store, once again grabbing Jihoon by the hood and dragging him along. 

Jihoon could only whine quietly in protest. “Can you stop doing that?”

“No.” The answer was plain, clear, and left no room for argument. “I think tulips are the way to go.”

Jihoon had no further complaints as Wonwoo began piling flowers into his arms. Once he was satisfied, he led Jihoon to the counter – by the hood, once again, as if he was a cat mom carrying her kitten – and began arranging them into a bouquet. 

“Do you want me to tie a bow for them?” he asked but Jihoon gave him no answer.  When he looked up again, his love-sick friend was staring at the newly-complete bouquet in awe.  Wonwoo smiled and handed him the flowers. “There. Do you think she’ll like them?”

“I– How did you know… ?”

Wonwoo’s lips curled into a knowing smirk. “Was I right?”

Jihoon could only nod before fishing his wallet out. “I seriously owe you one. You’re good at this.”

On the way to your dorm, he couldn’t stop staring at the bouquet. The tulips were exactly the colours he associated with you, as if Wonwoo had read his mind and translated it into flowers. Now he could only adjust them a little and pray you’d like them as much as he did.

A deep breath. A soft knock on your door. 

Your roommate opened the door, her eyes lighting up with excitement upon recognising him and noticing the flowers in his arms. She practically dragged him inside while calling out to you, “(Y/n), your Prince Charming arrived!”

Before he could say anything, she patted his shoulder and leaned over to whisper “She’ll love them” before all but bouncing out the front door, offering him one last cheeky wink before she left. 

“Jihoon?” he then heard you call out from a distance. “Is that you?”

He called back a confirmation before following your voice to your room. Just as he often did, he found you seated on your bed, your (newly fixed) laptop in front of you, surrounded by endless pages of homework and research. He smiled at the familiar sight.

“Are you busy studying again?” he wondered, his voice impossibly soft just like his heart was for you. “Should I come back later?”

Without looking up, you shook your head. “No, no, please stay. I just have to finish this table and then–” Your gaze lifted to meet his by habit, at which point your jaw dropped. Soon, a smile forced itself onto your face. “Jihoon!”

He feigned ignorance, his lips quirking. “Why?”

“Did you–” You couldn’t even finish your sentence, unable to find the words as tears of joy gathered in the corners of your eyes. Pursing your lips to will yourself to not cry, you got up from the bed and walked over to hug him. You held him tight while he just laughed fondly. 

“Why?” he asked again, his free hand reaching up to caress your cheek. 

You pouted. “You got me flowers?”

When you stepped back, he lifted up the bouquet and asked, “What? This?” You nodded and he laughed again, so completely endeared by your reaction. “Do you like them that much?”

“I love them,” you said and took the flowers from his hands, already rushing to the kitchen to fill a vase with flowers. Despite not leaving your room, he could hear you mumbling, “Oh my god, you’re really going to make me cry at this rate.”

Upon returning with a vase full of water and beautiful flowers, you placed it on your desk by the window. The afternoon light hit them just right and it made you want to cry even more. 

You turned to him again. “No one’s ever gotten me flowers like this before. They’re so pretty.”

“Not as pretty as you,” he spoke before his mental filter could catch it. He bit down on his tongue the moment he closed his mouth, unable to believe he let the words slip without even thinking about them. 

To his relief, you didn’t seem to mind. If anything, the carelessly spoken compliment made you glow even more. You laughed in joy and pulled him to sit with you on the bed. He could barely find his balance on the soft mattress before your lips were on his. 

He decided he’d gift you flowers more often if this was the thanks he earned.

On a sleepless night, Jihoon came to an embarrassing realisation: he had never once initiated a kiss with you. In fact, when it came to physical affection, he hadn’t initiated anything. 

The realisation was greatly aided by Boo Seungkwan’s 2 am reply to another one of Jihoon’s cries for help. 

[B.SK.: kiss her, you idiot!]

“Kiss her?” Jihoon re-read the message the next day before grimacing in anxiety. He couldn’t even hold your hand without blushing – how was he supposed to initiate a whole kiss? Knowing him, he’d probably accidentally end up kissing your nose or, even worse, ear. The thought made him want to cry so he curled up on a random beanbag on campus, hugging his backpack to his chest, and glared at the message Seungkwan had sent him. 

“Who made my Jihoon upset?” your voice carried through the hallway. He looked up to find you walking towards him, a bright smile on your face. Catching his gaze, you smiled brighter before adding to your joke, “Should I go beat someone up? Who was it? Mingyu? Soonyoung?”

“Seungkwan,” he mumbled against the fabric of his bag as you approached him and pressed a kiss to his temple. He could practically feel his ears betraying him and squeezed his eyes shut to will the blush to leave. 

Your hand found his hair, stroking it gently. “Seungkwan? The guy who hosts almost every campus event?” He nodded solemnly and you scoffed. “I can take Seungkwan. He should be afraid of me.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought, opening his eyes to glance up at you. He didn’t dare to move with the way you were still stroking his dark hair, looking at him so fondly. What if you were startled by his movement and never played with his hair again? No, he couldn’t risk it. He closed his eyes again, enjoying the feeling. 

Without even realising it, he leaned into your embrace like a pet looking for warmth. Soon, his head rested against your chest, your fingers still in his hair while his own curled into the fabric of your blouse. He wished this moment lasted forever and then some more. 

“So, what did Seungkwan do that you’re like this?” you wondered and he felt the rumble of your voice. He suddenly found he liked it even better this way. 

With a small smile on his face, he whispered, “Nothing.”

“Nothing?” you wondered. “He must’ve done something.”

“He’s just annoying.” If it hadn’t been for your questions, Jihoon would’ve fallen asleep right there, pressed against you like a tired child. But instead, he came to an annoying realisation. “Do you not have a jacket today?”

“Nope,” he heard you reply.

He hissed at that, gently slapping your side as punishment for crimes against yourself. “It’s cold outside.”

“I run hot,” you made an excuse.

He scoffed. “You whined you were cold the last time you came to my dorm, even though it’s only, like, two degrees colder there than yours.”

You stayed silent at that. He basked in your warmth for a little longer before sitting back up straight and glaring at you. He then fidgeted with the sleeves of your blouse for a moment before scoffing and standing up to pull off his black hoodie. Unceremoniously, he shoved it to you, paying no mind to the puzzled look on your face.

“Put it on,” he finally told you when you made no move to read his mind. “I won’t baby you if you get sick.”

“I won’t get sick–” you began to protest only for him to roll his eyes, grab the hoodie, and pull it over your head himself. 

His hands gently guided your own through the sleeves before reaching down to pull the rest of the hoodie down as much as he could. (He made a mental note to invest in a longer hoodie for next time.) As a final touch, he reached up to pull the hood over your head, tying the strings into a neat bow below your chin once he had pulled the fabric around your head – tight enough to make you look just a little bit goofy. 

Surprised by his actions, you were frozen in place in front of him. With your cheeks squished by the fabric, you looked just so damn adorable. Jihoon didn’t even think before leaning closer and pressing his lips against your slightly pouted ones. 

He pulled away, nodded and smiled – satisfied with his handiwork. The realisation of his actions wouldn’t hit him for another hour.

[W.JH.: i heard her class is having a big seminar this wednesday. maybe you should cheer for her?]

[how would i do that…?]

Jihoon never received a reply to his question. Odd, and incredibly annoying. But he guessed it was only fair: his friends couldn’t give him all the answers. Some things he’d have to figure out himself. 

Just as he was contemplating on what to do, his phone buzzed. Hoping for a late reply from his friends, he immediately reached for his phone. To his surprise, it was a message from you instead:

[Y/N: if u never hear from me again, assume i had a heart attack in front of the classroom]

[Y/N: god, i hate seminars so much]

Jihoon paused. Is this what Junhui had meant? He took a deep breath and typed a reply.

[where are you? i’ll come to you.]

He was halfway out of the building by the time you answered.

[Y/N: linguistics building, seminar 321]

Despite never having been to the linguistics’ building before and having close to zero clue where he would even find this room, he ran to where you said you’d be. His lungs were burning from lack of air by the time he got to you and yet his heart ached even more than they did: all it took was one look at your shaky hands as you paced back and forth outside of the seminar room. 

“Are you… Are you okay?” he asked through his laboured breaths once he reached you, his hand immediately reaching for yours to ease the shaking. 

You sighed in relief at the sight of him. “Jihoon…”

“I’m here,” he whispered with an encouraging smile before letting you burrow into his embrace. On most days, he would have much rather dug a hole and crawled in there than let anyone show him this kind of affection in public. But he was willing to make an exception for you.

Then he spotted the familiar baffled face of Soonyoung from the corner of his eyes and cringed: he would never live this down.

“I’m so nervous about my presentation,” you whispered into his jacket and all of his attention was back on you as if by magic. 

He scoffed out a laugh, unable to believe your words. “Are you kidding? You’ll be great.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve seen you give presentations before,” he reminded you with a gentle pat on your head. “You did great the last time, I doubt this time will be different.”

You wanted to cry at the memory, completely unable to see it the way he did. “I stuttered the entire time and mixed up the slides.”

“Yeah, but it was still fine.”

“It was so embarrassing.”

“It was endearing,” he argued immediately. “Besides, you laughed it off and you still got the maximum grade. Sometimes mistakes happen, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be the end of the world.”

You leaned out of his embrace to chuckle hopelessly. “I can’t decide if you’re really good or really bad at giving motivational speeches.”

“But do you feel better?” You nodded and he grinned brightly. “Then that’s all you need. Now go on in and show them what they’re missing in— What class is this?”

“Environmental Anthropology,” you answered with a sigh and he grimaced: it sounded far from appealing and he didn’t even dare ask if it was an elective or a mandatory subject.

Deciding to just go with it, he forced on a smile (his eyebrows still high on his forehead as half of his brain tried to figure out what that course even dealt with) and gave you a pat on the shoulder, “Go get them, tiger.”

You laughed at his expression and nodded, feeling a little better already. You turned to head into class, but turned on your heel at the last moment, catching his eyes. He raised a single brow in question and you asked, “Can we go out to eat after this?”

He frowned, eyes saddening. “I wish I could. I have work in an hour. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.”

However, he could never stand the look of disappointment that grazed your face every once in a while. And when it made an appearance once again, he wanted nothing more than to comfort you. “But,” he started and you seemed to lighten up already, “you could come to the café and hang out with me there. My treat,” he promised before pointing an accusatory finger at you, “but only if you ace that presentation.”

“I… I can do that,” you nodded, more to convince yourself than him. “Yeah. I can definitely do that.”

Jihoon spent the next two hours panicking on your behalf. 

Even as he took orders and made cup after cup after cup of coffee, he couldn’t stop thinking about you. He couldn’t help but feel like he could’ve done more to boost your confidence. Hell, who wants to hear they were ‘endearing’ during a presentation they felt like they messed up on? 

When the third hour of waiting began, he was half-sure you wouldn’t come to the café. Perhaps you had failed miserably or maybe you really did have a heart attack in front of the classroom. Jihoon was on the verge of spiralling.

“Okay, you’re going to burn your hand at this rate,” Seokmin scolded before ushering him away from the espresso machine. “Just man the register. I’ll deal with the coffee. God, what’s up with you today?”

Jihoon let out a soft whine of protest but followed the orders, waddling over to the register. It was a slow day and he was still messing up – what were you doing to him?

“So?” Seokmin asked again after delivering a customer’s flat white. 

“What?” Jihoon was barely even paying attention to the fact that he was being spoken to. His eyes were constantly stuck on the door. 

Any moment now. Any moment you’d walk in, a smile on your face, telling him you passed. Any moment.

Seokmin raised a brow. “What’s bothering you? Seriously, you’re not usually this aloof. Why are you staring at the door?”

“(Y/n)” was all Jihoon managed to mumble.

But it was enough for his friend. Seokmin laughed. “I’m sure she’ll be here soon.”

“What if she isn’t?” Jihoon whispered, still stuck in a dazed mix of anxiety and hope. “What if I messed up?”

Before Seokmin could even begin to comfort him, Jihoon felt like he could breathe again. There you were, practically running towards the café in your rush to get to him. He didn’t even realise he was leaning further and further towards the door, leaning against the countertop under Seokmin’s amused eyes. 

“Jihoon!” you called out once you made it to the café, dashing up the counter to pull his face to yours and press your lips against his. After pulling away again, you smiled brightly. “Guess what?”

He forgot all the vocabulary he had acquired over his life. Your name was the closest thing to a word in there. He was just glad to see you again.

You rolled your eyes at his silence but still laughed. “Jihoon, I told you to guess.”

He cleared his throat and prayed his ears weren’t too red before he found his voice. “You passed?”

“I passed,” you confirmed with an excited fist pump in the air, “and the professor said I had the best presentation in the whole course.”

“Whoa, go, girl!” Seokmin cheered, bumping his fist against yours in celebration.

Jihoon matched your bright smiles and told you, “I knew you could do it. Come on, pick what you want to eat. My treat.”

As you excitedly went to check out the cake options, Seokmin stared at him in awe. Jihoon shrugged. “What?”

“How come you never treat me?” his friend sounded almost offended.

“You never asked.”

Seokmin frowned and turned to you. “Did you ask him to treat you?”

“Nope.”

He turned to glare at Jihoon again. “Favouritism. Clear favouritism. I’ll remember this.”

“She’s my girlfriend,” Jihoon argued with a puzzled frown of his own.

[W.JH.: tie her shoelaces]

Walks in the park or even just around the campus became a routine for the two of you very quickly. More often than not, your shared study sessions in the library would lead to a shared knowing look, standing up in silence, and heading out the door for a break. Always hand-in-hand, like puzzle pieces.

The weather was windier than usual that day, blowing dead leaves and hats around the park grounds. Who knows how long it would be before snow would join the items flying in the wind – the temperature of the air certainly suggested it would happen soon. 

Jihoon barely managed to catch your scarf before it fell victim to the wind. 

“Maybe not the best day for a walk,” he concluded with a sheepish laugh while wrapping the scarf around your neck a little tighter than before, making sure it wouldn’t fly again. 

You laughed along. “Yeah, maybe we should’ve gone to the café instead.”

He sighed deeply – as a joke – before narrowing his eyes at you. “Just say you’re dating me for café discounts. Admit it.”

“Well,” you hummed, “your staff discounts are definitely a bonus.”

He chuckled and nudged your side. “Do you want to go to the café then? Maybe some cocoa could warm you up.”

“But some fresh air might be good for you. Resets your brain and what-not,” you repeated his own words back to him with a mischievous smile.

“Is that–?” His jaw dropped. “How do you even remember that?”

“It was a very memorable quote by my favourite author,” you joked and pinched his cheek before grabbing his hand to lead him to the café.

You barely made it two steps before he was tugging you to a stop, his gaze lowered. You blinked. “Did something happen?” 

He didn’t reply. A message from Junhui flashed in his mind. Was he allowed to follow his advice like that? And if so, what was the best way to go about it? Crouching down? Leading you to a bench and making you lift your foot? Fully kneeling in front of you like the simp he was? 

Ears burning under your questioning stare, he finally leaned down onto one knee, his fingers reaching for your shoelaces. 

Your heart skipped a beat as realisation hit. 

With what you could only assume was practised grace (because who knows how many times he had repeated this exact gesture for his friends – Soonyoung alone must have accounted for at least twenty), he gently pulled your foot closer to himself and gently double-knotted the laces. He decided to re-do the other shoe as well if he was already on task. 

Once both shoes were undoubtedly tied and unable to come undone without permission again, he hummed in approval and stood back up, brushing the dirt off his knee before his gaze lifted to meet yours. He offered a sheepish smile at the dazed look on your face. 

“Why?” he laughed.

“You’re seriously–” you began but never finished, reaching for his hand instead. 

[K.MG.: give her a nickname]

Jihoon wasn’t very fond of nicknames. He wasn’t like Jeonghan who could come up with a new dumb nickname for every person he met or like Soonyoung who could react to any nickname thrown his way. Jihoon was just Jihoon and his friends were just his friends – no nicknames needed.

So, when he read Mingyu’s message, he froze. A nickname for his girlfriend? It felt like such an enormous task.

Stuck in an endless loop of processing even weeks after, Jihoon still couldn’t come up with a nickname that felt like you. Nothing sounded quite as pretty or as melodious as your name. Nothing came even close in his mind. When he thought of you, it was always just (Y/n). 

And it wasn’t like you had given him a nickname either. He would’ve noticed if you had – he noticed everything you did. 

If anyone saw into his brain, they would’ve seen a suspicious number of facts and quirks of yours. They would’ve thought he was a spy trying to steal your identity. But he was nothing of the sort. The only thing he aimed to steal was your heart (and maybe a kiss, or two, or two hundred).

Frankly, Vernon was sick of the sound of Jihoon’s pen rolling back and forth, struggling between gravity and Jihoon’s strength, on the slanted desk of their shared room. If having to contemplate cheesy pet names with a distraught Jihoon was the answer, Vernon was willing to sacrifice a bit of his sanity for a different background audio. 

“Maybe see if a pet name would work,” he suggested upon seeing his misery. 

Jihoon blinked. “Pet name? Like Fluffy?”

“No, like–” Vernon’s brows furrowed. “Dude, are you okay? Should I call a doctor?”

Jihoon only groaned and slumped over his desk, fully resting his cheek against it now. 

“I meant nicknames like babe and sweetheart and the sort,” his roommate explained, brows still set in a concerned frown. “Why would you call her Fluffy?”

“At this rate, I might as well.”

Vernon was scandalised. “Call her Fluffy?!”

Jihoon sat up straight to frown at Vernon. “No, see if I find a pet name I like for her. What is wrong with you?”

“You started it!”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. So, what do you have to offer?”

“Let’s start with the basics,” Vernon suggested, leaning back on his bed happily now that the pen was no longer obnoxiously rolling. “Babe?”

“Gross.”

“Baby?” 

“Even worse.”

“Sweetheart.”

Jihoon hesitated. “I– Maybe? Let’s put that under maybe.”

“Great! That’s progress,” Vernon cheered with a smile before resuming his position. “Then, what about dear?”

“Sounds so old-fashioned. I don’t want to sound like an English grandma whenever I call for my girlfriend.”

Vernon froze before nodding in agreement. “Yeah, you definitely have a point there.”

They were both tired of the guessing game by the time fifteen minutes passed. They bid each other farewell and headed their separate ways. It was only noon.

The solution? Non-existent. Jihoon still didn’t know what to call you.

And to add to his problems, he soon realised he hadn’t heard from you all day. Your chat was no more full than the previous evening, his call history was even worse off. He hadn’t even seen you on campus. 

Worry got the worst of him and now he was taking the first step instead of you. His worry won over his hesitation and he called you, lifting his phone to his ear all the while glancing around campus anxiously.

You didn’t pick up the first call. Nor the second. Before pressing on the screen to call a third time, he silently swore he’d run through all of your usual spots if you left him hanging like this. Heck, he might even call the police.

“Jihoon?” he then heard your voice through the phone and a stone fell off his heart.

He sighed in relief. “(Y/n), are you okay? I was worried.”

“Dorm,” you whispered meekly into the mic, elaborating no further no matter how much he prompted you. 

His frown only grew with every passing moment of silence on your part. “Do you want me to come over?”

“Please,” you whispered once again and then he heard the most heart-breaking sound: a soft sob. You were crying. 

He cursed under his breath. You were crying and he wasn’t there. “Hold on a little longer, I’ll be there.”

He wasted not a second more and sprinted to your dormitory. With his hands shaking from both worry and exhaustion, it took him two tries to get the door code right, but once the door clicked open, he dashed up the stairs and to your room. 

The door of your room was unlocked and ajar when he arrived and he just about fell through it in an attempt to lean against it for a quick breath. He stumbled into your room and his heart dropped some more, so close to shattering.

“(Y/n), darling,” he whispered before practically throwing himself into the spot next to you, already pulling you into his embrace, “what happened?”

You didn’t say anything, quietly crying into his sweater instead. Jihoon almost wanted to cry with you. “Talk to me. What happened? What can I do to make it better?”

“I fought with my roommate,” you whispered eventually. “I might have to move out.”

“Move out?” he wondered. “Was it that bad?” You didn’t answer, only letting out another soft sob as you further burrowed into his arms. He sighed. “Oh, darling.”

You remained in his arms for a while, stuck between crying over a lost friendship and relishing in his comfort. “I thought she was my friend. God, I’m so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid,” he protested immediately, perhaps even a little too forcefully for your fragile emotional state. He sighed once again, deeper, before pressing a kiss to your temple. “Do you want me to help you find a new place to stay?”

“I could just ask to be assigned to a different dorm,” you mumbled. “It’s no big deal.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to get your own apartment though?”

“I mean… It would be nice.”

“I can help you pay the deposit,” he offered. He wasn’t sure if he was always this kind or if seeing you so broken made him overcompensate more than usual – come to think of it: there was clearly a pattern forming.

Either way – he mentally ran over the numbers in his bank account –, he could afford to help. 

You sighed. “You don’t have to, Jihoon, it’s fine–”

“Don’t argue with me,” he warned half-jokingly. “Do you want to get your own place or not?”

Still leaning into his chest, you looked up at him. “You’d– You’d do that?”

“Of course,” he shrugged as if he had only offered you a candy bar. “Besides, if you get your own place, I benefit too.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Vernon not letting you sleep in again?”

“I’ve never wanted to strangle someone so bad,” he whispered while squeezing his eyes shut. “And he’s so messy. I need a break every once in a while.”

“So, your only condition is that I let you sleep over?” you chuckled and kissed his cheek which promptly turned red. “Why not just move in with me then?”

He blushed harder. “I think it’s too early for that. Maybe in a few months.”

You pouted at that. “You’re so mean. I was so ready to celebrate moving in with my boyfriend. Tsk.”

“Give me a few months,” he whispered – promised. “I’ll be with you in just a few months, darling.”

[J. WW.: take her on a picnic in the park during your free period. i hear the cherry trees are blossoming.]

Sandwiches, cake from the café, a thermos full of your favourite tea, a blanket – was anything missing? Well, other than his courage, because he had been staring at the basket for at least half an hour now as if his feet were nailed to the kitchen floor. 

Even Vernon, as patient as he was, had begun to contemplate how to unglue Jihoon so he could freely access the fridge again. 

“Dude,” he finally sighed, “can you move? I’m hungry.”

“There’s food on the stove,” Jihoon mumbled off-handedly, still in a panicked daze. Vernon glanced towards the stove and found nothing on it. 

Why was he so panicked anyway? It was one thing to hesitate before kissing you, but this? This was worse. He was paralysed by fear and he didn’t even understand why.

It’s not like this was your first date.

“Have you never taken a girl out on a date before?” Vernon wondered, brows furrowing as he attempted to make sure his roommate hadn’t been replaced by a faulty android or a hologram.

And just as the words left Vernon’s mouth, Jihoon seemed to wake up. His eyes widened. “I’ve never taken a girl out on a date before.”

Vernon blinked. “You’ve been dating her since, like, fall.”

“Yeah, but she initiated everything,” Jihoon whined, suddenly hyper aware of the way his knees felt like jelly and his hands trembled. 

“Everything?”

“Everything.”

“First date?”

“She took me to the movies.”

“First kiss?” 

“She went in first.”

“Who asked the other one out?”

“She asked me.” Jihoon let out another whine. “God, I’m so bad at this whole boyfriend thing. Isn’t there, like, a manual or something?”

“If there is, you’d probably be better off,” Vernon pointed out with a chuckle. “Dude, if she’s stuck with you this long, then she’s not going to break up with you over you taking her on a picnic.”

“But what if she’s actually busy or it rains or–”

“What’s with you and all those what-ifs? Just get out there, take her hand and have a picnic.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Jihoon whispered and hung his head in shame.

“Because it is that easy.”

It was not, in fact, that easy. Jihoon tripped almost three times just on the way to meet you at the park – that’s how nervous he was. And it’s not like he was afraid of you or your reaction. 

He just wanted everything to be perfect. Because you were perfect. And if he couldn’t be perfect with or for you, what was even the point?

Still, even as his nerves threatened to make him throw up in a nearby garbage can, he braved through the anxiety and made his way over to you. He forced on a smile as he approached you, but it soon melted into a genuine one upon seeing your excited grin.

“Hi, darling,” he whispered before leaning over to kiss your cheek. “Did you have a good day?”

“It’s barely afternoon,” you joked. Jihoon grimaced: first strike. Two more and he’d pay someone to throw him off a bridge. (He noted that Seungcheol or Joshua seemed like a good choice for that.)

“So,” you rubbed your palms together after helping him set the blanket on the ground, “what are we eating?”

He breathed out shakily before opening the basket. “So… there’s sandwiches – I didn’t know which ones you’d like more so I made a bunch of everything, but if you don’t like any, I’ll run to the store and–”

“Jihoon,” you stopped him with a stern smile and a pat on his cheek – strike two –, “baby, stop acting like it’s the first time we’ve interacted. There’s no need to be shy with me. I love you regardless.”

“I’m sorry, I just–”

“Stop apologising.” Strike three – might as well decide on a bridge now.

“I just want everything to be perfect for you,” he admitted with a sad smile, “but I guess I get too in my own head about it and then–”

You leaned forward and kissed him before he could go any further. When you leaned back, his eyes were wide in disbelief. 

“You– Why did you do that?”

“You were rambling too much.” You smiled at him again, sweeter this time, before kissing him once more. “Everything is perfect already. This picnic is perfect. The weather is perfect. This moment is perfect. You’re perfect. Don’t worry so much. Just breathe and enjoy.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to yours once again: a gift because you always knew exactly what to say.

“So,” your smile never seemed to fade, “can you stop worrying about everything now?”

He breathed out a defeated sigh and nodded, earning a cheer from you. 

As the two of you began eating, he made conversation, “So, how’s your apartment search going?”

You shrugged. “I’ve found two places. I’m going to see the second one tomorrow, but the first one is very nice. Like, way too nice for that price.”

“And that’s bad somehow?” He laughed.

“It’s way below market rate. It’s too good to be true,” you told him with a soft sigh, closing your eyes as he mindlessly reached to play with your fingers. “I wonder what the quirk is. Like, why is it so cheap? The landlord seemed like a sweet woman and all, but there’s bound to be something weird about that place, right?”

“Maybe it’s haunted,” he joked, making a ‘scary’ face as he stared at you, only to prompt a laugh. 

“Will you come and save me if it is?”

He grimaced. “Hell no. Ghosts are scary business. You’d have to find a different boyfriend.”

“Fine, fine,” you laughed and patted his cheek, “leave all the saving to me instead, then. I’ll protect you.”

“My hero,” he swooned, a hand over his heart. 

You stared at the ceiling of your new bedroom, practically vibrating with anxiety about the day to come as well as the added responsibilities of adulting outside of a dorm. 

Jihoon, having agreed to stay a few nights for mental support (and a Marvel movie marathon), gave you a weird look.

“Sorry,” you apologised and willed your body to stay still, sure you had annoyed your boyfriend into leaving, “I guess I’m just more nervous about tomorrow than I thought.”

“I think you’re overthinking this,” he chuckled and leaned over to brush a stray hair off your forehead. “It’s just a seminar. You’ve been to those before.”

“Yeah, but this one’s in a foreign language,” you whined and rolled over to hide your face in his chest. “You know my French sucks.”

He scoffed but was thoroughly amused. “I’ve never even heard you speak French.”

“Exactly. Point proven. Now let me suffer in peace.”

Jihoon sighed and wrapped an arm around you, pulling you closer and pressing his lips to your head. “Is there any way I can help you feel better?”

You shook your head ‘no’ and burrowed further into the comforting darkness his sweater provided. You had no interest in being comforted – what you needed was to go to sleep before 3 am and not wake up with nightmares. Unfortunately, Jihoon couldn’t do that for you, as amazing as he was.

He was just as stumped, but less in the mood to give up. In fact, he was rarely in the mood to give up. 

Still feeling you shaking in his arms, he reached his free hand to get his phone and text the group chat once again, begging for help as he had done so many times before. The help came faster than ever before, as if his friends had a shared 7th sense for Jihoon’s girlfriend troubles.

[C.VN.: bro, arent u good at singing? have u sung to her?]

[but… what do i sing?]

[K.SY.: a song.]

[whaT SONG?]

[X.MH.: you’re literally a music major, i’m sure you can think of a song or two??]

[i’m a uni student, not a jukebox??]

With sleep still unwilling to claim you, you sighed deeply. There was no room to further burrow into your boyfriend’s comforting embrace. An idea hit: maybe a cup of nice peppermint tea could calm you down. 

“Ji, can we go make–” you quietly began but were interrupted by a soft rumbling of his chest. And then you heard it: he was humming. You lifted your head to watch him, unable to tear your eyes from the way his lips oh-so-gracefully parted to sing to you, even as he was still searching for the lyrics on his phone.

Suddenly realising you had said something, he paused, eyes widening as he looked at you. “Sorry, did you say something?”

You shook your head no and continued staring at him. 

Awkward under you gaze, his ears flushed red. He avoided your eyes and turned back to his phone, scrolling through it as a distraction: ads had never looked so interesting before.

“Keep singing,” you whispered to him, hoping he’d hear your plea and fulfil your wish.

He took a deep breath, his hand freezing on the tiny screen. And just as you had hoped, his lips parted again. This time, he really sang, lyrics and all. His voice carried through your room, echoing back from the yet-to-be-decorated walls and filling the space in a comforting manner.

As you listened to him, you realised he had never sung to you before. He had hidden this part of himself for so long. And yet you were already enamoured with it. 

When he finished one song, his lips pursed back together and he hummed a mysterious melody that you could only suspect he had come up with on the spot to fill the silence. Then he began a second song, then a third.

By the fifth song, you were blissfully unaware of your daily troubles and the seminar waiting for you at 10 am. You were deep asleep in his arms, feeling the safest you ever had.

Upon realising you had finally succumbed to the call of dreamland, Jihoon chuckled and locked his phone. His newly free hand reached to stroke your cheek. 

“Little Miss Can’t Fall Asleep falls asleep a lot easier than she claims,” he joked to noone in particular and craned his neck to press another kiss to your temple before settling back down and closing his own eyes. 

[S.SC.: go shopping with her. i’m sure she needs some things for her new place. she might appreciate the company.]

“I still don’t understand how you don’t have a car,” you started up the topic for the third time this hour. 

Jihoon had never considered you annoying before – not even to the mildest extent – but he was slowly starting to get annoyed. He sighed. “Getting a licence seems like such a hassle.”

“It’s freeing,” you argued, amused by your new-found ability to annoy him even the tiniest bit. “You don’t depend on public transportation or your friends anymore. It’s great.”

“I can get everywhere on foot just fine.” He rolled his eyes and lifted a hand to cover your mouth as you began to speak again. “Didn’t you say you needed new towels? I’m pretty sure we walked straight past those.”

Unable to form proper words under the weight of his hand, you just hummed and let him lead you back to the towel aisle. It was only once you were there that he removed his hand again, wiping it against his hoodie. “Why do you need new towels anyway? It’s not like the ones you’ve used so far are contaminated.”

“It’s the principle, Jihoon,” you told him while scanning through the options. “New place, new me – that type of deal.”

“Sounds like a trick of capitalism,” he joked and leaned his torso forward against the shopping cart you had already half-filled with baskets, blankets, cushions and pillows of all shapes and sizes. 

You turned to glare at him. “Are you my boyfriend or my financial advisor?”

“Both, if you pay me well enough.”

“Whatever. What colour towels should I get?”

He shrugged. “I’m a big fan of the colour black.”

You sighed. “That’s so boring. How about blue?”

He pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in thought. “I could be persuaded.”

“I’m taking that as a yes,” you sang and picked up two of the larger fluffy blue towels – one lighter and the other darker in shade. You barely managed to fit them in the cart before your eyes lit up with a new quest in sight. “Oh, we need slippers too.”

He only hummed and swiftly (or as swiftly as one can move a shopping cart that clearly has never been maintained in the 10 years it's been in use) manoeuvred the cart to follow after you. Once he finally found you in the footwear aisle, he was confronted by two pairs of slippers – one black, the other baby pink – in his face. He tilted his head to offer you a confused look.

Without any malice behind it, you sighed and rolled your eyes. “Pick a colour.”

“Black.”

“You’re impossible.”

“I know you’re waiting for me to tell you ‘pink’ and I’m not giving you nor Mingyu that satisfaction,” he countered before nodding towards his colour of choice again. “Black.”

“Fine,” you sighed in defeat and placed the pink ones back, only to pick up a different size of the same colour and place it in the cart. 

His eyebrows rose. “What are you–?”

“What size slippers do you wear?” 

“Me?” He frowned. “Why would my opinion on any of this matter? It’s your apartment. Why are you making me choose the colour of the towels and the shower curtain and the–” 

He fell silent, his mouth still ajar in wordless awe as the realisation hit. You tried your hardest to act cool under his disbelieving stare.

“I– I’m not moving in with you,” he whispered, his eyes softening as he reached for your arm as if to comfort you. “We talked about this. I still need some time.”

“I’m not asking you to move in yet,” you laughed sheepishly, avoiding his gaze. “I just thought it would be nice if you could visit without worrying about bringing your things. You’re my boyfriend. I just want you to be comfortable when you come over to stay the night or when you don’t feel like going back to your and Vernon’s place after a long day and–”

Your words faded to the background as he continued staring at you. He was so used to being the one full of hesitation, overthinking his actions, trying to act nonchalant when he finally committed. Seeing you do the same? His heart grew two sizes larger and suddenly he couldn’t contain himself. 

Without thinking about it, he pulled you into a hug, effectively silencing your doubts and rambled justifications just like you had done for him so many times before. 

“You should’ve just said so, silly,” he laughed and held you even tighter.

[C.VN.: u know, i heard study dates are popular with the girls]

[you’re just trying to get me out of the dorm, aren't you?]

[C.VN.: u cant prove anything]

Sitting across from him in the living room, you watched in silence as Jihoon tapped away at his keyboard. His fingers seemed to fly across the keys at the speed of light, typing out a word and then deleting it. He did so a thousand times before huffing out a sigh and leaning his head back to glare at the ceiling.

“Have you tried taking a break?” you asked him softly, wanting not to scare or irritate him.

His head lolled back to a normal position and he offered an unamused raise of his brows. “Have you seen me take any breaks?”

You grimaced. “Then maybe it’s time to take a break now.”

“Sorry, darling,” he sighed and shook his head, “I need this essay finished by midnight. I’ve been putting this off for too long as it is.”

 You glanced at the clock. “Midnight’s still 10 hours away though. You have time to take a break.”

He rolled his eyes and glared at his laptop screen. A blank page with only the title ‘Western Philosophy 101 Final Essay’ mocked him. “A break from what? I haven’t even done anything.”

“You’ve been thinking hard.”

“Darling, I don’t think you understand how essay-writing works. There’s no use in thinking if no writing comes out of it.”

You reached over to take his hands off the keyboard. His fingers instinctively wrapped around yours, squeezing them just enough to comfort the both of you. “Writing will come out of it if you just relax and just take a break, I promise.”

Jihoon wanted to argue, he really did. But then he looked up from the screen and into your eyes, tempting him to just agree. And while he wasn’t one to give up easily, he was definitely someone who wanted fulfil every wish his loved-ones ever made.

And so, he gave up this time. Defeated, he slumped his shoulders and sighed. “Alright, what do you have in mind?”

“How long do you have?” you asked, feeling mischievous all of a sudden. 

He glanced at his watch before shrugging. “An hour, maybe.”

That was all you needed to pull him towards yourself by the hands. He stumbled a little, just about falling into your lap with a whine of protest before settling exactly where he landed, too tired to care further. His eyes fell closed the moment he felt your warmth against himself.

Without even thinking about it, you reached down to play with his hair. The silky strands ran through your fingers with ease and Jihoon could only hum in appreciation at the gesture. While this wasn’t the cuddle position you had had in mind, you couldn’t say no to the rare chance to dote on your otherwise independent boyfriend.

“This is nice,” he sighed softly and nuzzled his face against your belly, happy to hide from his horrible philosophy final. He lazily opened one eye to look at you, admiring you with the same love as you did him. “We should do this more often.”

“I would love to,” you told him with a sweet laugh and he was glad that he was lying down because his knees felt a little weak all of a sudden. “See, I told you you needed a break.”

He hummed in agreement, closing his eye again. “I feel like I might fall asleep though. And then who will finish my essay? You?”

“How about I just wake you up in, like, 40 minutes instead?” you offered.

With a cheerful giggle, he hid his face further into the fabric of your shirt. His voice sounded muffled as he spoke, “You don’t like philosophy either?”

“Cried my way all the way through the midterms and swore to never take anything philosophy-related again.”

“That’s good. I should do that,” he slurred his words and before long, all you heard were his soft snores. 

Jihoon liked to think he wasn’t particularly clingy. He didn’t need constant assurance from his friends that he was still loved and wanted – he knew they liked and wanted him around. He knew that you liked and wanted him around.

But when your near-hourly updates about the randomest things you had seen and done were replaced by radio silence, Jihoon grew more and more anxious. Though he knew it was silly to think so, he couldn’t help but worry he had annoyed you into leaving him.

Throughout the day, he kept glancing at his phone. Even just a single message – heck, even an emoji – would make his day infinitely better. When he wasn’t staring at his phone, begging for any notification with your name on it, he was looking at the people around him in the hopes of seeing your familiar face among them.

The day went by without as much as a sign from you.

He felt silly. He felt dumb. He felt like he was going to cry very real tears if you didn’t respond to his text before midnight. 

He let out a loud sigh of relief when your nickname finally popped up on his screen. The tears gathered in his eyes dissipated slowly as he shakily unlocked the phone and tapped on your newest message.

[darling ♡: oh my god. i’m sorry for not answergi !! so sorry!!!]

Jihoon blinked away the remnants of his anxious tears and smiled at the sight of your words. You hadn’t left him just yet. He still had a girlfriend who cared for him.

[it’s okay. did something happen?]

[darling ♡: yeah hahah funny story actually…]

[darling ♡: i think i caught something and i’ve been trying to sleep it off haha]

And just like that, his anxiety was back. Jihoon straightened in his seat, one hand still typing while the other blindly searched for his jacket. 

[youre sick?,??m???]

[darling ♡: a little bit…]

[i’m coming over-]

Before you could send a message of protest, he shrugged his jacket on and headed out the door. Even though he realistically knew that he wouldn’t be much help and would just end up sick himself, he couldn’t just let you suffer all alone.

As he practically galloped down the stairs from his 3rd floor dorm, he texted the group chat for help and assurance.

[L.SM.: she’s sick?! make her dinner! what’s her favourite soup??]

Jihoon paused mid-step. What was your favourite soup?

He arrived at your apartment just ten minutes later, a bag in hand. You greeted him at the door, bags under your eyes, skin dull and lips dry. Jihoon couldn’t help but pout at the sight. 

“What happened to you?” he asked, reaching up to brush his thumb across the cracked skin of your lips. “Have you been drinking water at all?”

“The fridge is too far from the bed,” you told him with a defeated sigh before practically melting into his embrace. “I told you not to come.”

He scoffed out a laugh and began rolling up the sleeves of his white hoodie. “Well, I’m here anyway. And I’m making you food. How does tomato soup sound?”

“Like you don’t know how to make chicken soup,” you answered with a suspicious squint of your eyes. 

He laughed at that, ears turning red at the way you had caught onto his scheme. “Alright, I think you should go back to resting.”

“You should go to sleep too,” you argued. “It’s past midnight already and you have classes tomorrow.”

“I can skip a day.” He said it with such ease and carelessness that you couldn’t help but wonder who this man was because your boyfriend hadn’t skipped any classes in the entire time you had been together. 

Still, you were too tired to care. Soup sounded better than sleeping on an empty stomach for another 12 hours. 

“Can I at least help you cook?” you practically begged, hanging onto his arm as he began preparing in the kitchen. 

A little taken aback by your affection, he laughed nervously. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I think I’m starting to feel better actually,” you half-joked, watching with starry eyes as he expertly washed and then chopped the tomatoes. “Seeing you has recharged me with energy.”

“Yeah?” He hummed in thought before offering you a mischievous smile. “Then do you have enough energy to go and rest a little?”

Your face dropped. “Why can’t you just accept my love?”

“Because I’m pretty sure you’re feverish and standing up for long won’t do you any good, darling,” he whispered before pressing a swift kiss to your cheek and returning to his task. “So, go rest on the sofa. I can go get your laptop so you can watch something, if you want.”

“But what if I want to cuddle?”

“Cuddle a pillow.”

“You’re cruel.”

He rolled his eyes at your dramatic antics. Clearly the fever was affecting you worse than he had feared. “When I literally ran across the district to come here and make you soup at midnight?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “Fine, you can stay,” he paused and gave a warning glare, even if it looked far less threatening with the smile playing on his lips, “for now.”

You let out a soft cheer and cuddled back into his side, resting your cheek on his shoulder as he made you soup. You marvelled at the graceful movements of his hands. You couldn’t help but wonder how many of his friends he had made food for. For now you were just glad to be one of them.

“I hope I recover fast,” you whispered. “Or maybe I should just stay sick forever.”

“Why?”

“I have a stupid presentation next week. I haven’t even started reading to prepare for it.” You buried your face into the fabric of his hoodie. He took a moment to press his cheek against your head in an act of assurance. You sighed and mumbled a final, “Stupid finals.”

He laughed at that. “I’ll get you some medicine tomorrow so you can recover fast.”

With a groan, you straightened up a little again to side-eye him. “Can’t you just leave me here to suffer? Or help me fake my death? What kind of a boyfriend are you?”

“The kind that wants his girlfriend to be healthy for our end-of-the-semester date night,” he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

His confidence really made you wonder if you had forgotten about this clearly existing tradition between the two of you. But no, you were pretty sure he had just made this up. Or perhaps you were too loopy from paracetamol to remember. 

Either way, you let yourself get carried away into a fantasy of sharing a date night with only your boyfriend and no university stress. You couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

The end of the semester came faster than Jihoon or any of his friends would have liked. It snuck up on them between the despair and sleepless nights of the exam session. And he could not have been happier about it.

Once he had submitted the final essay of the semester – the very last graded project he’d have to submit before a well-deserved break –, he slammed his laptop shut and looked at you, still hunched over your laptop on the bed, re-reading the last paragraphs of your own essay.

“Hold on,” you told him upon feeling his eyes on yourself, “I’m almost done.”

“No rush,” he replied with a sweet smile before letting out a soft giggle of relief and falling back onto your mattress, his arms spread out as if to soak in the freedom.

As if the sight of your boyfriend basking in the glow of no more exams had motivated you to finish sooner than you planned, you hurriedly rushed to upload your final assignment. A green check mark appeared on the screen to indicate that you could finally join your boyfriend. 

With a loud cheer, you closed your own laptop and crawled over to where your boyfriend was lying. Immediately you burrowed into his side and sighed happily. “This semester sucked.”

“You can say that again,” he agreed and wrapped an arm around your shoulders like he had done so many times before. “But at least it’s over now.”

You hated to be the wet blanket but… “Unless one of us fails.”

He groaned and used the same arm to roll you away from him. “I hate you. Go away.”

You laughed at the way he scrunched up his face in distaste as if he had swallowed bitter medicine. “I’m just saying. We’re not safe yet.”

“We’re safe enough,” he declared and waved your negative thoughts away. “God, I hate you, now you’re making me anxious.”

“You don’t actually hate me,” you sang and rolled back over to him, settling right on top of him, your nose against his own. “In fact, you like me.”

He grimaced. “Unfortunately.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you gasped and sat up, resting your hand on his chest as you leaned upright to glared at him. “Unfortunately?!”

He laughed at your theatrics, giggling with his whole body, shaking so hard in the process that you lost your balance and fell back right on top of him. His arm came to rest around your shoulders again. Once he was out of giggles, he continued smiling and caressed your cheek. “You’re so freaking cute. It’s unfair.”

“Take back that ‘unfortunately’ and I might get even cuter,” you told him, a suspicious glare set on him. 

His smile never faded as he leaned up just a little, resting his entire body weight on one arm just to press his lips to yours. “I take the word back.”

“Good,” you decided and joined in his laughter before kissing him again, “because I kind of love you, actually.”

He froze. His eyes widened just a fraction, his lips parted in a silent gasp of surprise.

He stayed like that for long enough to make you worry you had made your move too fast. He liked to take it slow – you knew that. He had been taking it slow all this time. And now you’ve confessed and he probably thought you were ridiculous and dumb and–

“Darling…” His lips curled into a smile, his eyes turning into joyful crescents, and then he leaned in again. 

His hands came to rest on your cheeks, squishing them just a little as he pulled you to his lips. He kissed you again and again and again. 

He kissed you until you were dumb. He didn’t stop kissing you until you were sure you couldn’t form a single word that wasn’t his name. 

Then, eventually, with both of your lips swollen and eyes dazed, he leaned back and nuzzled his nose against your own. “I love you so, darling, I really do.”

It took you a moment to understand what he was saying. He had kissed you so dumb that you could’ve sworn he was speaking in another language. But finally, your brain caught up with the situation and a smile appeared on your face, bright and proud and full of adoration for your boyfriend. 

“You should kiss me like that more often,” you told him, teasing, trying to see what he’d do. 

He replied with a playful roll of his eyes and another kiss, a single one but much longer than the last twenty. 

“I love you,” you whispered again against his lips.

His smile only seemed to brighten even more at that. “I love you too.”

But as he was about to go in for another kiss, a loud vibration sounded from somewhere in the sheets. The two of you glanced around as the vibrations continued, breaking you from the romantic daze.

“Is someone calling you?” he wondered. 

“My phone’s been on silent since the dawn of time, babe,” you told him easily and helped him look for his phone. “It must be yours.”

Just when you said those words, the vibrations abruptly stopped. And then another vibration came, short and gentle this time. 

You found his phone under the pillows, Soonyoung’s contact name appearing alongside the missed call symbol and a minimised text message on the screen.

“It’s your tiger friend,” you told Jihoon and turned to hand the phone to him when the phone vibrated again with a new message coming in. 

It wasn’t your fault that the whole screen flashed to life with the message – what were you supposed to do? Not read it? 

[K.SY.: oh, nonie said u’re with y/n?]

And then another message arrived before he could take the phone from your hands. 

[K.SY.: have u told her u love her yet ??!?!!]

[K.SY.: the chat is rootin for u!!!! u’ve been good at following our advice this far. u’ve got this!!]

A mischievous smile appeared on your face as you read the message. Jihoon didn’t realise what made you react this way until he took his phone and read the message minimised on his lockscreen. He groaned as the realisation hit.

“Don’t start–”

“You told your friends that you loved me,” you beat him to it, reaching over to squish his cheeks and kiss his nose. “And you asked them for advice? You’re so goddamn cute.”

His ears got progressively more red with every word. He quickly swiped the messages off his screen and threw his phone as far away as he could without potentially breaking it. “It wasn’t like that–”

“I’m just teasing, baby,” you laughed and pulled him into a comforting hug. Poor man was mortified. “I do have to ask though: what kind of advice did you get from them?”

“Well,” he hesitated as you looked at him expectantly, “I wanted to be a good boyfriend, so… I asked them how to be a better boyfriend…”

You pressed your lips to his. “You’re a good boyfriend, Jihoon, I promise. You’re the best, actually.” 

“I had to ask my friends for help just to get the courage to initiate a kiss,” he confessed, squeezing his eyes shut as the urge to cringe and hide away under the bed overcame him. “I’m a mediocre boyfriend, at most.”

“I strongly disagree,” you told him and pulled him in for another kiss, “but we’ll work on your confidence, my love.”

♡ THE END! ♡

[nonranghaes]

heads up: mentions of injury (broken arm). superhero au continuation.

"saving the world again, shua?" jeonghan had chuckled to himself when he saw joshua for the first time, arms folded across his chest. "i didn't even know superheroes could break bones."

joshua didn't have to tell any of his friends what he was doing after he got out of the hospital. you were already blowing up his phone, and both jeonghan and seungcheol already made fun of him for kissing you and running away when they first saw him again. but he couch-surfs for the week after he gets away from doctor jihoon: from seungcheol's place, to jeonghan's, back to seungcheol's, then to soonyoung's (just to try and keep you off his tracks), then back to jeonghan's and that's where he's stayed for two days. moving around sucks, especially with a broken arm (even with the accelerated healing). the funny part about going into a situation expecting to die is that he doesn't even know how to pick up the pieces of the mess he made.

which is why he doesn't know what to say when he hears you bickering with jeonghan after buzzing the apartment half a dozen times until he let you up. soonyoung apparently told you where he was (and joshua will... probably thank him for having the guts to do what he couldn't). so he doesn't run away when you come in, instead finally facing you for the first time in a week.

"hey."

for a moment, your gaze softens as you make your way over to him. "is this arm okay?" you say, pointing to his thankfully uninjured arm. when he nods, you immediately punch it as hard as you can. thankfully, for someone like him, it doesn't do too much, and he knows you're betting on that. "i'm gonna fucking kill you for that shit, hong--are you kidding me?!"

"i thought i was going to--"

but you yank him to you by the front of his shirt, kissing him hard. he just reaches up, cupping your cheek, and smiles. even when you pull away, already angry again, he's smiling like an idiot.

"you're a jerk," you huff. "i thought--" your voice wavers a little, "i thought i'd never see your stupid, smug face again."

to his surprise, you just hug him tight. he wraps his uninjured arm around you, and savors the feeling, eyes fluttering shut. his smile falls, and the guilt he's been feeling rises in his chest again. "i'm sorry."

"you can make it up to me by buying dinner, then," you mumble, squeezing him tighter. "you big, dumb, handsome super-jerk."

(and he knows right then and there that you're going to change his name to super-jerk hong in your phone as soon as you get the chance... if it's not already that.)

[floresierss]

hiiii I’d love for you to write about Sungchan babysitting a child with y/n 🥲 I’m a sucker for kids and he would totally get along with boys so he could throw them around or something 😭

RAINBOWS, SUNSHINE° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . JUNG SUNGCHAN X GN!READER

masterlist. nav. ask.

WORD COUNT: 604

TAGS 🏷️: no tws! overall fluffy n i tried to keep this as gn as possible :33

AUTHORS NOTE: AHH TYSM FOR THE REQUEST!!! i’m so sorry this took so long to upload ahhh i’ve been so overwhelmed with school and stuff but i swear i won’t disappear this long again, i hope this suits what you wanted and i made it gn! just in case :D. i was also listening to I. Pink Toes (childish gambino) on loop while writing this, hence the title :<<

You had always known Sungchan for his playful nature and boundless energy. Today, you were excited because you and Sungchan were babysitting your friend's little boy, Jihoon. You knew Sungchan would be perfect for the job, and you couldn't wait to spend the afternoon with them both.

As soon as Jihoon arrived, his eyes lit up at the sight of Sungchan. "Sungchan hyung!" he exclaimed, running into his arms. Sungchan scooped him up effortlessly, spinning him around in the air.

"Hey, Jihoon! Ready for some fun?" Sungchan asked, grinning.

Jihoon nodded eagerly, his little face beaming with excitement. You watched them with a smile, knowing that the two would get along perfectly.

You headed to the park nearby, where Sungchan immediately transformed into Jihoon's personal jungle gym. He lifted Jihoon high above his head, pretending he was an airplane, and ran around the park, making engine noises. Jihoon laughed uncontrollably, his laughter echoing through the park.

"Let's play superheroes!" Jihoon suggested, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"Great idea! What superhero do you want to be?" Sungchan asked.

"I'm Spider-Man!" Jihoon declared, striking a pose.

"And I'll be your trusty sidekick," Sungchan replied, mimicking Jihoon's pose. You decided to join in as Iron Man. The three of you ran around, pretending to save the world from imaginary villains. Sungchan even lifted Jihoon onto his shoulders, letting him feel like he was soaring through the sky.

After a while, you took a break and sat down on a picnic blanket you had brought along. Sungchan pulled out some snacks, and you all enjoyed a little picnic together. Jihoon chatted excitedly about his favorite superheroes, and Sungchan listened intently, genuinely interested in everything Jihoon had to say.

You leaned over to Sungchan, handing him a juice box. "You're really good with him," you said, smiling warmly.

Sungchan took the juice box and shrugged modestly. "He's a great kid. It's easy when they're this fun."

You shared a quiet moment, watching Jihoon play with his action figures. You nudged Sungchan gently. "Remember when we used to do this? Just the two of us?"

Sungchan chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, those were good times. Now we've got an extra little buddy."

Jihoon suddenly looked up, holding out a toy car to Sungchan. "Hyung, let's race!"

Sungchan and you both got down on your knees, each taking a toy car. Jihoon counted down, and you raced your cars across the blanket, laughing as you tried to outdo each other. Jihoon won every time, much to his delight.

As the sun began to set, you headed back home. Jihoon was tired but happy, his energy finally starting to wane. Sungchan carried him on his back, Jihoon's head resting on his shoulder.

"Did you have fun today, Jihoon?" you asked gently.

Jihoon nodded, his eyes drooping with sleep. "The best day ever," he mumbled.

Once you got back, you prepared Jihoon for bed while Sungchan tidied up. When you came out of Jihoon's room, you found Sungchan sitting on the couch, looking thoughtful.

"What's on your mind?" you asked, sitting next to him.

Sungchan smiled softly. "I was just thinking about how much fun today was. I really enjoyed spending time with Jihoon. And with you."

You leaned against him, feeling a sense of contentment. "Me too. We make a pretty good team, don't we?"

Sungchan wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close. "Yeah, we do. Let's do this again sometime."

You nodded, closing your eyes as you leaned into Sungchan's embrace. Babysitting Jihoon had been an absolute joy, and you knew that today would be a cherished memory for all of you.

[wonwoonlight]

Can you do all the members reacting “to finding out your sick by the internet” cause the other one was so good! maybe a series your choice though.

hi hi, i'm sorry i'm not accepting reqs rn so i'll answer this as a headcanon instead! thank you for enjoying cheol's version ❤❤ with that said, i'll start with jeonghan's and you can read cheol's here if you haven't already

jeonghan: would immediately call you while fuming, his jaw set and he badly wants to scream when you pick up but his worry overruns his anger so he exhales a deep breath and demands you to tell him whatever the fuck happened <//3

shua: is too worried to be angry, calls your manager, your family, and everyone who might know what happened bc you're not picking up his calls. asks if he can come over and brings a whole catering w him when he does

jun: will be very annoyed, if anything, bc he's been telling you to rest and he lowkey wants to ignore you when you apologize, but gives in and says he'll be at your door as soon as his schedule is finished; promises you a series of naggings that you will never hear the end of

hoshi: is eerily quiet when he gets to your place, which makes you feel even worse bc you know he's only quiet when he's on his edge, about to burst and barely able to keep it together. he'll take care of you in silence, asks quietly if you need anything, but will still hug you to sleep at the end of the night

wonwoo: texts your manager first to make sure what really happened and how it came to be. he wants to have all the info before he scolds you even though he got the gist of it already. after making sure (with your manager, not you lol) that it's okay for him to visit, he appears at your place unannounced, wraps you in your blanket, and refuses to let you move from your bed

jihoon: looks at you, deadpanned, with eyes that scream "i told you so" as you return his look with a sheepish one. he's not sure what good would scolding you right now be, and he doesn't want you to listen to him being annoyed when you're sick. so he holds it in and takes care of you without asking, making a mental note to himself to talk to you about it once you've recovered.

seokmin: is upset about the whole situation and the fact that he has to find out through the internet. like jun, he kinda wants to ignore you, but he compensates by taking care of you while complaining about the fact that you're not taking care of yourself under his breath. he'd be somewhat less upset had you told him you're not feeling well, so he makes you promise that you're not gonna hide your condition from him again

mingyu: unexpectedly would be calm, i feel like; kinda sees it coming, too. he's told you not once, not twice, but thrice that he's worried and you're gonna be burnt out if you don't pace yourself. so it's you apologizing to him once he calls you before he even says anything, he'd just sigh and sends you food and vitamins because he can't visit you immediately.

minghao: would actually ignore you loool only because it's a topic that he's brought up many times but you chose to ignore. so it's him ignoring you in return even though, like hoshi, he still takes care of you silently. he doesn't really talk though; doesn't ask anything, either. he hands you what you need an it's only when you hug him from the back and apologizes sadly that his wall dissolves.

hansol: annoyed but doesn't show it; he asks about your condition, wants to make sure what went wrong, asks about what the doctor said and everything in between before he asks how you're feeling. he sounds like a dad reprimanding their child, voice laced with worry but felt the need to scold you nevertheless.

seungkwan: arrives at your door with hoards of fruits and vitamins. he demands you tell him why you didn't tell him first that you're not feeling well, why you're not taking care of yourself, and what makes you think you're some superhero that doesn't need rest. and when you tell him you don't need him doing this right now, he asks what would you do if it was him in your exact same position so you'd understand why he's upset.

chan: would call you and asks how you're feeling, tries to hide the fact that he's upset even though you can tell at once from his voice. he sighs when you apologize, then reminds you that it's yourself you need to be sorry for because you're not taking care of it properly <//3

A/N: once again apologizing bc i realize i'm the Weakest when it comes to headcanon <///3 hopefully you enjoy this anyway <3

[rubyreduji]

since i recently watched the new spiderman movie (i know its been weeks but who is counting), what marvel superhero do you think svt's members are?

i feel like a few of them remind me of spiderman, but im really curious who would you think is spiderman

oh em gee i LOVED the spiderverse movie i literally made a post about what kind of spidermen svt would be (found here)

but im gonna be honest...im not really a marvel person 😭😭 i am mainly a spiderman guy, but i can try my hand a couple of them

seungcheol - captain america; he's got the leadership, he's got the muscles, he's got the ass

jeonghan - not a superhero but loki lol i dont think i need explaination for this one

joshua - antman; dude i can't explain it but i feel like he fits nicely as like a humble silly normal guy who became a superhero

wonwoo - hawkeye; wonwoo is observent and can make logical choices and while he may not be as standout as some of the extroverts he still makes his mark and he always wins

jihoon - dr. strange; he's smart and powerful and despite being emotionally constipated, he still has a soft spot for the people he cares about

seokmin - starlord; i can def imagine him as a funky guy from the 80s but he also has the cheery optimistic personality and a lot of love for the people around him

mingyu - ironman; he's smart, good looking, and creative

vernon - spiderman; he is the most spiderman that ever spiderman-ed, he's our charming dorky new york boy (i also wrote a fic about him being spiderman here)

[wooahaes]

plushies & petting zoos

pairing: non-idol!hyung line & gn!reader

genre: fluff. sequel fic to mingyu fic from earlier.

word count: 0.8k~

warnings: food mentions. hyunsuk denying his cuteness a little.

daisy's notes: oh to go to a fall festival with the trsr hyung line... oh to win a cow plushie and see yosh cuddle w it... oh to--

“The stupid darts booth guy kept flirting with someone the entire time,” Junkyu huffed as he made his way back to you, hugging a plush panda bear to his chest. “But I finally won something.” 

It’d earned a quiet laugh from you as you watched Junkyu brace himself on the table with one hand, hopping into the spot next to Jihoon. The four of you had split off from Junkyu when he insisted he wanted to win something from the darts game, saying that you would all go get food. Jihoon wordlessly slid over Junkyu’s meal for him, having been protecting it from the rest of you the entire time. 

“We told you that you could have played something else,” Hyunsuk said, grabbing another fry from the basket the two of you were splitting. “The guy running the ring toss was nice.”

Ah. Yeah. That Vernon guy—you’d caught his name when one of his friends came over to say hi. You actually won a cow plushie from him (she currently sat in Yoshi’s lap as he hugged her, head resting atop hers) and he’d been super chill about just… throwing in a bonus tiger because you were one of the few people who’d been there in hours and he was feeling nice. You’d give the tiger to Yoshi later on, but you’d tucked him into your bag. 

“I wanted the bear!” 

You giggled again. “It’s cute,” you said, and saw the way Junkyu seemed to beam with pride at having someone on his side.

“See? I’m not the only one who thinks so,” Junkyu said.

Jihoon rolled his eyes, flattening out the small map made up for this place. “There’s a petting zoo,” he said aloud. “Yoshi wanted to go.” He looked to Hyunsuk, “Didn’t you also want to—”

Despite Hyunsuk’s edgier exterior, undercut and big rings and everything, he was the biggest softie you knew… Well, aside from Yoshi. He’d speak up and over Jihoon, as if someone might be watching and realize that Hyunsuk “didn’t have as much swag as he looked” (which was how Jihoon put it once when the five of you went to some superhero museum Hyunsuk had wanted to go to). Truly, anyone who saw his love for superheroes would know that he was a huge dork who told bad dad jokes sometimes. 

Yoshi just giggled to himself, and then spoke up to lightly tease Hyunsuk, “They have bunnies…”

Hyunsuk averted his gaze. “I know they have bunnies… I saw them earlier. We can go if you want to.” 

You merely rolled your eyes. He wasn’t going to drop it until he saw the animals himself. The rest of you cleaned up your trash while Junkyu quickly ate, rejoining all of you as you started to make your way to the petting zoo. You had accepted the cow plushie back from Yoshi, hugging it close to your chest. 

Just as you expected, Hyunsuk dropped the ‘cool guy with tons of swag’ energy he tried to keep up the moment he saw a baby cow. Truly a relatable moment as he all but dropped everything to clean his hands and then make his way over. 

Jihoon came to your side, one hand tucked into his pocket as he held onto the panda bear in his other. Junkyu must have pushed it onto him when he went to pet a sheep, Yoshi lingering around him before he saw Hyunsuk trying to feed a baby cow a treat. 

“Kids,” he said with this chuckle, as if all of you weren’t pretty close in age. You rolled your eyes, and Jihoon’s shoulder bumped against yours. “I can hold that if you want me to.”

You looked down to your cow plushie, shaking your head. “I’d rather pet a bunny.” 

He chuckled again. “If you change your mind, I’ll consider holding it… If you buy me a caramel apple before we leave.”

Ah. He drove a hard bargain. You rolled your eyes, smiling to yourself. “The kids seem to be having fun.”

Junkyu looked back, calling out your name. Without saying anything, Jihoon held out his other hand, and you sighed with a smile. Fine. You passed the cow to him, making your way over to join Junkyu as he continued to pet a sheep excitedly. 

“They’re so cute,” he chuckled. 

“We’re going to see the bunnies!” Hyunsuk called out to the two of you, standing at the edge of the pen. “Are you coming or not?”

The two of you shared a knowing look before rejoining your group, following Hyunsuk as he led the way to the bunnies. Although the handler nearby had to step in and help you pick one up, the group gathered around as someone snapped a picture. Jihoon had managed to set things aside to join all of you in for one group picture with a lop-eared bunny named Cherry. 

Maybe the five of you would come back next year, too. You’d go anywhere with these guys if they asked.

taglist: @twancingyunhao

[dalkyeom]

(part 2) of my spiderman!vernon thoughts ft. his friends.

2/3 of BooSeokSoon adopts Vernon as an honorary member of the radio gang since he and Seungkwan come as a package deal at this point

Vernon feels kind of bad just being a member in name so he’s listed as a photographer together with Wonwoo

Unfortunately, his pictures always come out blurry. He’s not exactly fit for this role but they keep it as keepsakes. Seokmin decorates their prompt board with the pictures.

The only pictures he takes that are of decent quality are those that feature Dokyeom the pigeon

He got his first suit upgrade indirectly through Seokmin. The latter being part of the theatre org.

They kind of plan their halloween outfits in advance and that set off the lightbulb in his brain. Vernon’s known as kind of a nerd, so claiming a superhero costume wasn’t unexpected. (Cheol helped him with the electrical parts; Joshua and Jihoon helped with assembling the cool parts bc of their cosplay experience)

Sobs bc BSS ft. Vernon and Wonu halloween cosplays

Vernon made 2 costumes btw! He dressed up as a jaeger pilot for halloween.

They can’t hang out at the radio booth all the time so their 2nd hang out base are the dorms (and eventually the apartment)

That’s how they meet Lee Chan, Seungkwan’s dorm mate. He’s the unfortunate victim to his midnight theories of who and what Spiderman is.

He’s very observant though. Most likely the first one to put two and two together and uncovers Vernon secret to being the masked spider slinger.

[gamerwoo]

Jihoon: The Last Of The Real Ones

Characters: Jihoon x reader (gender neutral)

Genre/warnings: superhero/superhuman au, angst, fluff, mild violence, blood, mentions of kidnapping and torture

Word count: 6,406

Summary: ‘Cause you’re the last of a dying breed. Write our names in the wet concrete. I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me. I’m here in search of your glory, there’s been a million before me. That ultra kind of love you never walk away from. You’re just the last of the real ones.

a/n: this is inspired by The Last Of The Real Ones by Fall Out Boy. I also wrote reader to be taller than Jihoon bc that’s just how I pictured them, but I tried to keep it gender neutral :] 

Seventeen Song Series

Supers were hard as hell to come by. They typically stayed in hiding due to all of the people in the world that would kill to get their hands on one to shape and mold it into whatever kind of weapon they wanted. They were so hard to find, in fact, that people had thought they were completely wiped out or something.

Jihoon had known better. He knew they weren’t completely gone because he wasn’t gone. But the world didn’t need to know that, so he continued to live his life under the radar. He went to college like a normal kid, he walked to and from the bus stop and took public transport to school and then back home, and he did his shopping while keeping to himself. To the world, Jihoon was average, and he had yet to find anybody else like him.

Until he met you.

Jihoon was walking home one night from the bus stop, his backpack hanging off his shoulders as he kept his hands shoved deep in his pockets. He didn’t like making eye contact with people, and he didn’t like letting his eyes wander to see what other people were doing. He just liked to keep to himself and mind his own business, so his brown eyes stayed on the ground.

“Get off me!” he heard a voice grunt off to his right.

As an instinctive reaction, his eyes flashed up before they found an alleyway off to his right a few feet away. His feet continued to bring him forward before he was peering down the alley, just wanting to glance to make sure it wasn’t anything dangerous before carrying on his way. However, he saw a man pushing himself up against a girl, the girl’s back against the brick siding of the building behind her as she tried to shove him away from her.

While Jihoon did like to mind his own business, he knew this was a situation he couldn’t just ignore. He was about to shrug off his backpack and go intervene when he saw a shadow drop down from one of the rooftops, landing on the top of a dumpster with a bang. The person landed on the ball of one foot and their other knee, one hand holding them up. It was such a stereotypical superhero stance straight out of a cartoon, and yet, Jihoon couldn’t help but think it looked damn cool.

The shadowed figure looked up, eyes glowing a dusty lilac color that was easily visible in the darkness of the night. The girl gasped, and even the man started to back away. None of them had ever seen anything like that before, but Jihoon recognized eyes like that. He saw his own in a mirror a few times when he tested his power. His glowed a grey-ish color, though, but he was still used to the weird glow.

The figure raised their bare hand, palm out to the man before pushing away from them. Without even touching the man, he went flying back, his back hitting the wall of the opposite building as the air left his body with a huff. He collapsed onto the ground as the figure casually slid off of the dumpster, standing protectively in front of the girl.

Now that they were completely standing, Jihoon could see they were dressed in tight, black clothing with a black mask that covered half their face. Their hair was pulled back out of their face and tucked into a hood that was tight around their face, and he could barely make out their silhouette in the dark alleyway. Jihoon was surprised by their attire because they looked like they were trying to be some sort of ninja.

“Go,” they said over their shoulder to the girl, nodding their head toward the opening of the alley.

“Thank you, Void!” the girl said breathlessly before running off in the direction of safety, pushing passed Jihoon.

The person -- Void -- made eye contact with Jihoon, the glow in their eyes dulling before they swiftly kicked the man without even looking as he ran at them before they quickly lept back onto the dumpster, jumped to reach the fire escape, and made their way back to the rooftop where they disappeared.

Maybe he wasn’t the only super after all. He just wasn’t sure who that person was, but he wanted to find them again.

-

You were a superhero of sorts -- the city had deemed you one, anyway. News headlines, pictures, articles all about you -- you were like some sort of real life Batman with the way you hid in the shadows and only came out to defeat bad guys. Nobody even knew what you looked like, but they could recognize the all-black outfit you wore.

Jihoon had learned all of this that night when he couldn’t fall asleep. His mind was racing with thoughts of this other super that willingly showed themselves to normal people. But now he understood -- you were there to protect them, and they recognized you as a friend and hero. He had thought the ‘superhero’ idea had all but died out with the supers’ hope of fitting in, but here you were to shine some sort of beacon of hope -- not necessarily for Jihoon because there was no way he was going out of his way to be noticed when he tried so hard to stay under the radar, but for other supers that might be out there.

But the fact you were some sort of vigilante that protected people in danger gave Jihoon an idea on how he’d see you again. He had questions for you that needed answers. It was almost an odd instinct that Jihoon had to try to befriend this other super since he was all alone.

Maybe that was it -- he felt lonely.

So Jihoon did something really stupid the next night. He went out to a bar not too far from his apartment and started a fight with the first big dude he saw outside. The guy clearly had a couple beers in him, and he was leaning up against the side of the building smoking a cigarette. Jihoon went right up to him, kicked him in the shin, and then punched him in the mouth when the guy was bent over.

That explained why you found Jihoon the way you did. This poor, tiny boy had blood running from his nose and down his lips, and already had a bruised eye. You thought this was just some big, drunk guy pounding on somebody significantly smaller than him, but it was actually just Jihoon causing trouble just for the hell of it -- well, technically to see you, but still. So you ran to jump in, pushing the man off before you stood protectively in front of the smaller boy that had fallen to the sidewalk. Your eyes glowed their soft purple as you prepared for a fight. Thankfully, the man’s tipsy state had him terrified of your eyes, screaming that you were a ghost before he ran off down the street.

You turned to the boy still on the ground behind you. He looked completely harmless with wide brown eyes and a baby-like face as he looked up on you. Actually, he looked straight-up innocent -- adorable, even. You weren’t sure why some giant man with tattoos would beat on somebody like this.

You crouched down to examine him, your head tilting to one side as your eyes went back to their normal color. Jihoon was in awe of how close you were, unable to think of what to do or say next.

“You okay?” you asked, your voice slightly muffled by your mask.

Hearing your voice speaking to him, Jihoon came back to his senses, shrugging as he didn’t want to come off as weak to you.

“I guess so,” he mumbled.

“Here,” you sighed as you stood up, holding a hand out to help him up, “I’ll get you home. You look like you’re in pretty bad shape.”

While Jihoon would’ve declined the offer from anybody else, he took your hand and let you pull him to his feet. He had to look up at you to see your eyes, and you almost chuckled because this guy looked like you could carry him all the way home without a problem. But instead, you moved to stand beside him, motioning that you wanted to put an arm around his waist.

“May I?”

Jihoon just shrugged, lifting his arm so you could get yours around him. He rested his hand on your shoulder closest to him before you started to help him limp home. You had to bite your tongue to not ask if you could just carry him on your back since it would be faster.

After a few minutes of complete silence other than Jihoon’s soft grunts and hisses of pain, he finally asked, “So...you’re...Void…?”

You chuckled with a nod, “Yeah, I guess so -- that’s what everybody calls me.”

“Because of all the black you wear?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Your power doesn’t even have anything to do with a void.”

“What are they gonna call me? Force?” you snorted before turning serious. “Wait, that’s not bad…”

“You seem to really like this superhero thing…” he noticed with a grumble. He wasn’t sure why that annoyed him. Maybe because he was afraid of having a power while you were almost worshiped for it.

“Enough about me,” you decided, looking down at him. “What’s your name?”

He stared back up at you in silence for a moment before finally breaking. “Jihoon.”

“Alright, Jihoon,” you began, “what’s a kid like you doing getting beat up outside a bar by a guy like that?”

“I’m not a kid,” he stated, a harshness to his voice. “I’m an adult -- I was born in ‘96.”

“Sorry,” you laughed softly, “I didn’t mean it like you were a literal kid.”

“Oh… Sorry, I’m just used to the jokes like that since I’m...y’know…”

“Height doesn’t mean shit,” you scoffed. “Take that guy outside the bar for instance -- he was taller than both of us and still ran away.”

“I think any normal person would run away if they were up against a super,” Jihoon figured before he was gesturing to the building you were walking up to with his other hand. “This is my building.”

You turned to help him up the steps, mumbling to yourself, “I should clean you up and stuff.”

Jihoon had to bite his tongue to not let out an automatic response like ‘I can do it myself’. He still wanted his answers, and to do that, he’d need to talk to you in private. If he had to let it be known he was a super, too, he wasn’t going to do it in public. He refused to have anybody know what he really was but he had to gain your trust.

When you got up to the door, Jihoon unlocked it before you helped him into the elevator. He pushed the button for his floor and the two of you continued to stand there, your arm around him while he kept his hand on your shoulder for support. Standing in a silent elevator alone made you feel awkward suddenly, like you were too close. You weren’t sure why.

Finally, the elevator dinged softly before the doors opened. Jihoon hobbled out and turned to go to his end of the hallway before he stopped at his door and unlocked that. He pushed the door open and you helped him inside, turning on the lights by the door. He kicked off his shoes so you did the same before you asked him where his bathroom was. He led you to it before he leaned back against the sink with a groan.

“Do you have a first aid kit?” you asked, looking around the small bathroom since you didn’t want to be rude and just dig through his stuff.

“No,” he chuckled, dabbing at the blood on his upper lip with the side of his index finger, “but I have peroxide and cotton balls under the sink, and bandaids in the cupboard behind the mirror.”

“You just sit. You shouldn’t be standing since you were limping most of the way here. I’ll get everything.”

Jihoon moved to sit on the toilet seat cover while you got down to get the materials you needed. Then you grabbed the bandaids and set everything on the floor by Jihoon’s foot before you got on your knees in front of him and gingerly held his chin in your hand, tilting his head toward the light to get a better look at his face. Thankfully, the shadows outside definitely seemed to make him look a lot worse than he was.

As you examined him, Jihoon couldn’t help but examine you -- at least, what little of you he could see.

“Do you still have to wear all that?” he wondered.

Honestly, you’d forgotten you still had your hero gear on. It was actually pretty comfortable and breathable so you didn’t mind it. But you weren’t about to suddenly take it off in a stranger’s house. There was no way you were going to expose your identity to somebody you just met, no matter how cute they looked.

“Yeah,” you replied plainly.

Jihoon went silent for a moment before quietly saying, “I’ve never met a super before. I didn’t even know there were any in the city. I guess I was too caught up in school and keeping my head down that I didn’t notice the news.”

“You’re that oblivious, huh?” you chuckled as you began to soak a cotton ball in peroxide and clean the blood off his face and out of the small cuts on his face.

He sucked in a sharp breath at the sting, and you quickly began apologizing repeatedly.

“It’s alright,” he coughed, trying to just breathe through the pain.

You stopped, giving him a little time to relax. You tossed the used cotton ball in the trash before looking back up at him again.

“For what it’s worth...I’ve never met anybody like me, either,” you admitted quietly, your eyes casting downward. “Honestly, I’m starting to think they’ve all been wiped out or something. I know they’re all probably just hiding but it’s getting kind of...discouraging, I guess.”

“Lonely,” Jihoon offered.

You nodded, “Lonely, yeah…”

“I know what you mean…”

You looked up at Jihoon again, his gaze looking down and off to the side. You cocked your head to one side, “What, do you not have any friends or something? No family?”

“No, I mean…” Jihoon sighed as he trailed off.

His eyes hesitantly met yours before you saw them slowly start to glow to life, their dark brown turning a grey color that reminded you of cloudy skies. Your jaw dropped as your breath left you, realizing that there was only one explanation for this: Jihoon was like you.

You were at a loss for words. Jihoon didn’t show you what his power was, and he didn’t say anything. He just looked at you with his glowing eyes, his expression unreadable. But he had no idea what you were thinking, either, with your mask covering your expression. All he could see was the shock and wonder in your eyes.

Slowly, Jihoon reached forward. Your eyes didn’t leave his even though you knew he was reaching for the hood that was secured to your head. He slowly pushed it away, letting it fall to your shoulders. Then his index fingers hooked into the black mask and slowly tugged down, waiting to see if you’d stop him.

But you didn’t.

You watched as Jihoon looked your face over, his expression still unreadable. But inside, he was beyond happy to finally see the face of somebody like him. He wasn’t alone now if you trusted him enough to let him see you for who you really were. But he was a super, too, so how could you not trust him?

“What’s your name?” he asked quietly, his eyes dulling back to brown.

“_____,” you replied just above a whisper.

He nodded, repeating, “_____…”

-

“You seem a lot more chipper since our last session.”

You didn’t even look at your therapist, staring out the window that overlooked the city instead. Her office was on a higher floor of a skyscraper in the middle of the city, so you always loved the view. It wasn’t uncommon for you to prefer looking out the window rather than at Dr.Yoo.

“Do I?” you asked, not really paying much attention to her observation, but you were curious as to how you gave that away. You didn’t think you looked or acted any different since two weeks ago.

Dr.Yoo only hummed in response as she observed you before she asked, “What caused the change?”

You shrugged, “I made a friend.”

“You did?” she smiled, seeming genuinely happy about this turn of events. Dr.Yoo was aware that you lived alone and didn’t speak to many people, so this was improvement in her eyes. “When did this happen?”

“Last week.”

“How’d you meet them?”

You wanted to go on and on about Jihoon. You wanted to tell her everything you’d learned about him since that day -- his personality, what he looked like, the way he made you feel, and how he finally made you feel like you weren’t alone in the world. But you knew you couldn’t reveal any of that. Jihoon didn’t like people knowing too much about him, and that was something you learned almost immediately after the two of you silently agreed to be friends.

“Fate.”

-

Months had gone by since then. You visited Jihoon on a regular basis, and he was more than happy to have you around -- even if he didn’t directly show it. But you quickly picked up on the small ways he showed affection, like remembering little details or buying your favorite takeout or the biggest way he tried to protect you.

“_____, don’t go.”

Those words left his mouth almost every night you decided to hang out at Jihoon’s -- which really was almost every night. Whenever you had to go out looking for any signs of trouble, Jihoon would immediately insist you stay -- even stay the night if you had to.

Tonight was the same conversation.

The thing was, the more he got to know you -- you, not Void -- the more he fell for you. Yes, the fact you were the only other super he knew had to do with it, but it was also just you -- what was inside you. You as a person was what really pushed him over the edge, and he was falling, falling, falling for a superhero that couldn’t save him from it.

That was why he wanted you to quit being Void. He knew it was dangerous. It wasn’t even just the ‘bad guys’ out there, it was the real bad guys -- the people who wanted to get ahold of a super and use them for themselves. He knew with you being public about yourself, that would make you a huge target. Hell, you could’ve been being tracked. He just wanted to keep you safe.

But he didn’t want to tell you about the people who were the real danger. He didn’t want to scare you, so he kept it to himself.

He knew about them. He was captured by them before.

“Jihoon, I promise I’ll be back in a couple hours,” you insisted, already grabbing your bag of clothes from where you left it by the door.

“A lot can happen in a couple hours,” Jihoon stated, standing up from the couch. He stayed in one spot but his eyes followed you around his apartment. “You know I’ll have no idea where you are if anything happens.”

You just scoffed, slinging your bag over your shoulder as you made your way to his bathroom, “Remember that time you got beat up outside a bar? How are you going to protect me?”

You entered the bathroom and shut the door, so Jihoon walked up and stood right outside the door while you changed.

“What if you run into somebody that you can’t handle?” he asked.

“I can handle anything,” you promised from the other side of the door. “With my power, I can keep people as far away from me as I want.”

“Until you meet somebody who is prepared to take on your power.”

“Like who?”

Them.

The door flew open and Jihoon looked up. You were pulling your hood up, tucking stray pieces of hair back into it. Your mask was pulled down under your chin as you smirked down at him, both eyebrows raised like you were still expecting an answer to your question.

He sighed, running a hand through his silver hair, “I’m just saying, _____ -- we’re not the only supers and maybe somebody out there has your anti-power or something.”

“Maybe it’s you,” you joked, your expression turned almost fond. “You still haven’t shown it to me.”

Jihoon looked away, grumbling, “I told you, I don’t like using it…”

You just chuckled, brushing passed him as you pulled your mask up to cover the lower half of your face. As you reached the window where the fire escape was, you pushed it open before turning back to look at Jihoon.

“I’ll be fine,” you promised him, giving him a serious look. You knew he cared deeply for you, and returned that, but you also knew that this was what you were made to do. “I always am, aren’t I?”

Jihoon didn’t look at you while he stayed silent, and you thought he wasn’t going to say anything, but he finally sighed and softly said, “I know you think this city needs you...but I need you more.”

You froze, unsure of what to say. Jihoon was more of a shower -- a tsundere one at that -- than a teller, so the fact he openly told you how he felt was almost shocking. It definitely took you off guard, that was for sure. But you were still a little confused by his statement.

“Why…?” you wondered, though the word was barely heard.

You could tell it took all of Jihoon’s courage to make his eyes meet yours. He took a couple breaths, trying to build up the guts to admit it.

“I love you.”

Again, you were surprised, but this time, you weren’t at a loss for words. You knew exactly what you wanted to say.

“Jihoon--”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said quickly, turning away from you completely. “I know you’re still going to leave either way, so just go.”

You decided to just drop the subject as you swung one leg out the window before the other.

“I’ll be back before sunrise at the latest,” you promised.

And then you were quickly climbing the fire escape, making almost no noise with how stealthy you’d learned to be. Still, Jihoon knew when you were gone, making your way to the rooftop.

Jihoon never bothered closing the window. He always left it open for when you came back because he’d always find you crashed on his couch in the morning. But each time he left it open, he always wondered if this time would be the time he’d wake up to an empty couch.

-

Never once did Jihoon stop thinking about you ever since he met you -- especially after getting closer with you. You had become his top priority, and he made sure to always look out for you. His main priority was your safety, and even after his confession last week that was never brought up again, he put that at the back of his mind in favor of protecting you.

The fact he was so inconspicuous came in handy. He may have kept to himself, but he always paid close attention. So he could easily recognize the ‘incognito’ men who were wandering the busy streets of the city, all mumbling into earpieces as their sunglass-covered eyes observed the area. Thankfully, none of them seemed to pay him any mind. It had been years since he escaped, and he made sure to keep his appearance different than how he looked as a teenager -- which was easier since he’d grown up since then. But he knew that meant they were here for someone else.

There was just one problem: he didn’t know where you were.

-

Shops and food stands lined both sides of the street. It seemed almost like a slightly larger alleyway, but you liked the aesthetic of it. Glowing signs lit up above the street as you walked, your phone in one hand as you slightly readjusted your bomber jacket with the other.

Ever since Jihoon’s confession, you’d been trying to figure out how to bring it up again. Jihoon was supposed to be on his way to class when you decided to go for a walk to do some thinking. You weren’t sure just exactly how to tell him you felt the same. You didn’t want to just blurt it out but you didn’t know how to bring the subject up.

You were brutally pulled from your thoughts when you felt an arm shove against your neck, pushing you up against a nearby food truck. Suddenly, men all dressed in black clothing, bulletproof vests, and helmets were surrounding around you and the man -- who was wearing the same thing -- and aiming black guns at you that looked like something straight out of a crime show. Your phone had dropped to the pavement with your surprise, a gasp barely able to leave your throat.

Some sort of device was held up to your face before a bright light scanned down the upper half of your face. The man in front of you nodded before you heard him declaring that Void was caught.

“W-what’s going on?” you asked, your voice shaking more than you would’ve liked.

“You’re coming with us.” he stated, trying to turn you around.

You still weren’t sure what was going on, but it didn’t feel right. You had an awful feeling about this situation, and your fight or flight instincts started to kick in as alarms screaming danger were going off in your head.

“Get away from me!” you screamed, your eyes squeezed shut as you shoved away from yourself.

The man stumbled backwards as you opened your eyes, showing that they were glowing their dusty lilac color. You held one palm out to the man before flicking it off to the side, expecting to see him fly through the air in the direction you sent him.

But nothing happened.

Guns cocked, and you flinched as you went into panic mode. Why weren’t your powers working? Who were these people? Why did they want to take you and what did they want to do with you?

“Void, if you don’t come with us calmly, we will shoot,” the man warned, drawing his own gun.

But you wouldn’t go. You were afraid because you weren’t sure who they were, but they definitely seemed bad. Not only that, but you wouldn’t just leave Jihoon behind. You wouldn’t leave him wondering what happened to you, and you wouldn’t let him be lonely again.

You tried again, this time moving a food cart and throwing it into a few of the men to the left of you. People nearby were already hurrying away from the scene when they saw all the guns, but now they were screaming because of the chaos erupting.

“Fire!” the man ordered, realizing that you weren’t going down without a fight.

You shrunk back, holding your arms protectively in front of your face as if that would do something. You braced for the pain, your eyes closed as your face turned away. But seconds continued to tick by with nothing happening.

You peeled one eye open, looking around until you saw a shorter figure standing in front of you.

Jihoon had his arms out in front of him, the bullets that flew at you slowing down so much that they seemed suspended in air. He stared down each man with his silver eyes, somehow feeling fearless even though these men were one of the only things that could shoot true terror through him. But it was to protect you, so he’d face a million of them if he had to.

Due to his ability to blend in, it wasn’t hard to follow the men to find you. He apparently had shown up just in time, too.

The men in front of him wore the same shocked expression as you. Until the man in the center came to, shaking his head as realization hit him.

“Subject 217!” he gasped before he was pointing at Jihoon. “Capture him!”

Jihoon wasted no time, grabbing your hand, leaving the bullets suspended until he could tug you away.

“Run!” he ordered before he was dragging you off behind him, running down the strip as quickly as he could.

The shock had you stumbling behind him, but you quickly began pumping your legs as fast as they would allow, keeping up with Jihoon with his hand still gripping yours tightly. He didn’t look back as he bobbed and weaved through the crowd, but you attempted to look over your shoulder to see if they were chasing you. 

Of course they were.

Who were ‘they’, though? And who was Subject 217? And how the hell did Jihoon find you? You had so many questions but you knew now probably wasn’t the time to ask. Still, you figured one question was one that could and should be answered now.

“Who are these people?” you asked, your breathing jagged from running as you looked ahead again.

“The bad guys I was worried about,” Jihoon replied before he turned sharply around a corner, pulling you with him. “I’ll answer later, just keep up.”

You did as he said, dropping the conversation in favor of paying attention to where you were going. Jihoon seemed so sure of what he was doing, so you decided to just trust him and let him go wherever it was he had in mind.

Truthfully, Jihoon didn’t have a set plan, he just knew he had to get you out of there. He planned on just finding a way out of the city that would effectively lose the men after you, and then find somewhere to stay for a short period of time until he could figure shit out. He just had to--

An opening. A public transport bus was just about to close its doors so Jihoon picked up the pace even though his legs were screaming for him to stop. He could hear you panting behind him but he forced you to go faster, refusing to let go of your hand even if you did slow him down a little. But he had to make it onto the bus.

When there was just a sliver of space between the doors, Jihoon shoved his hand through, keeping them open. The bus driver was forced to open the doors so you and Jihoon could get on. The doors closed as he walked down the aisle of the bus, glancing out the window to see the men dressed in the black anti-power vests running out of the alley as the bus pulled away. He knew they’d try to track down the bus and find its route, but for now, you were safe.

He gestured to a free seat, letting you sit on the inside before he sat down beside you. The two of you were still trying to catch your breath, and you were still trying to figure out what the hell happened. But now that both of you were sitting down and resting, you started to feel absolutely fatigued. Maybe questions could wait until later.

Wordlessly, you slid down in the seat and rested your head on Jihoon’s shoulder. He put an arm around your shoulders before he laid his head on top of yours, deciding he’d let you sleep for a little bit while he kept an eye out for anything suspicious. He had to stay awake to think of a plan, anyway.

-

“You can’t do that!”

But he did it. He emptied his savings to buy two tickets to Japan where he insisted the two of you were going to live.

“They’ve been after me before,” he had explained in the motel room the two of you shared that night, “and I relocated to a different city. Now that you’re with me, I need to make sure they don’t find us again. I’ve heard good things about Japan, so why not try it? It’s away from here, at least.”

He knew it would cost him everything he had to buy plane tickets and get a place to stay, but he knew that the two of you could save up again together. So despite you insisting he shouldn’t blow all his money on this plan, that’s exactly what he did.

You felt safe on the plane, and you could tell Jihoon did too because he finally closed his eyes for longer than it took him to blink. But you also decided to use that opportunity to get the answers you wanted, keeping your voices hushed just so nobody would pick up on what you were talking about.

“I’m not completely sure who they are,” he began, his eyes closed as he let his head lay back against the seat, “but I know they’re trying to get supers. I’ve seen and experienced the shit they do to them, and it’s nothing you want to be subjected to. You’d rather die, trust me.”

You frowned thinking about Jihoon going through that, “That bad…?”

He opened one eye to look at you, “It’s like brainwashing but through sadistic tactics.”

“Oh…”

You felt Jihoon’s fingers lace through yours. You could tell he was a bit embarrassed about doing so from the pink tint his cheeks and the tips of his ears got, but he still looked you in your eyes when he spoke, making sure you were completely reassured.

“I’m okay, and we will be okay,” he promised. “They won’t get us -- I’ll make sure of it.”

You sat up a little straighter, figuring this was finally your opening.

“Jihoon?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you.”

His face flushed a deeper red as he tried to hide the wide, happy smile that wanted to spread across his lips. But his eyes still crinkled at the corners, his brown irises twinkling.

“I love you, too. Let’s get some rest before we get to Tokyo, okay?”

You pushed the armrest up so you could lean into him. He kept his hand in yours, resting them in his lap as he put his head on yours and let his eyes close, content that you were not only safe, but you were his.

-

[Two months later]

“You’re even shorter now.”

“Alright, _____, fuck you.”

You giggled as you balanced on the short concrete wall that separated the sidewalk and all the shops from the beach, Jihoon more than a whole foot shorter than you because of this. It was too cold to actually go on the beach, but you and Jihoon decided to go out since neither of you were busy, and the beach was the place he thought to drive to. You were walking along the wall while Jihoon chose to walk beside you on the sidewalk, glancing up at you every so often to make sure you didn’t fall over.

“Get down, you’ll get hurt,” Jihoon scolded. “You’re taller so you have a longer way to fall.”

“Ha-ha,” you deadpanned before jumping down from the wall. Your hand immediately found Jihoon’s on instinct before the two of you were walking again. “Do you wanna go back home?”

“Cold?” he guessed, looking up at you to see your pink cheeks and nose. Even your lips were chapped by now.

“Yeah, kinda,” you nodded as Jihoon slid your intertwined hands into his jacket pocket.

So the two of you went back to his car and made the drive back home. Jihoon played his playlist softly in the background while you looked out the window and admired the views on the way back. He asked how you were feeling which was something he usually did because while he’d had to leave everything behind before, you never had to, and you had to speak to your therapist over the phone now and less often which he knew must’ve been taking some sort of toll on you. He never really knew what you needed Dr.Yoon for other than it had to do with something before he met you, but he also never pried, either.

When you got back to the house, the two of you changed into comfier clothes before you decided to climb into bed, turning in early for the night. Jihoon still had the lamp on the nightstand on as the two of you laid together under the covers, your head on his chest as you looked up at the ceiling. Jihoon and you had jumped on the bed and placed glow-in-the-dark stars on there to mimic the stars that you missed seeing since you lived deep in the city now. You used to be able to explore outside the city when you were back in Korea and went around at night as Void, but you couldn’t do that anymore.

“What’re you thinking?” Jihoon murmured when you stayed silent, fidgeting with his fingers.

“Just basking in the moment, I guess,” you shrugged.

“Really?” he chuckled. “Why? Nothing’s happening.”

“I like just laying with you. I wish we could do it forever.”

“Me too,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to your head.

Jihoon used to hate using his powers, but he was using them little by little now since the two of you moved to Tokyo. Because little did you know that it was moments like these when it was just the two of you, that Jihoon would use his power to slow down time around you, letting the both of you lay in your little own infinity.

[supermen-with-black-hair]

방পাং지জি훈হুঁ

২১০৭২২

[sierrcr-blog]

.

[mercurygguk]

a gift of love | jjk

➵ summary; It’s Jihoon’s birthday, so you bring him a present. Much to Jungkook’s surprise.

pairing; dad!jungkook x f. reader

rating; G

word count; 1,587

content; fluff, jihoon’s bday is here !! our lil baby is turning 4

warnings; none :)

a/n; a cute lil drabble for y’all <3 nothing wild but it’s absolutely fluffy i might puke – let me know what you think!!

↳ ‘the dilf installments’ masterlist · the ‘tdi’ tag

Jihoon’s 4th birthday is coming up.

Jungkook has been talking about it for the past two months, unable to believe that his son is growing older. Turning 4 years old doesn’t seem like an awful lot but as a parent, you can imagine that it feels like a lot.

The only thing difficult about this whole situation is finding a birthday present for your boyfriend’s son.

“What do you even give a 4-year-old?” Mina asks, looking rather uninterested as she looks through the children’s clothes. You’re looking through the rack on the opposite wall, letting out a soft sigh at her question.

“I have no idea.”

Mina clicks her tongue and moves on to the shoe section, doing a quick look over before turning back around to face you as nothing caught her eye.

“What is this kid into?” She then asks. “Disney? Superheroes?”

You shrug, “he really likes dinosaurs and uh… Lego.”

“Of course, he does,” Mina chuckles in fake amusement.

You purse your lips, trying to think of something to give Jihoon. You glance around the children’s clothing store you’re in right now and sigh. Sure, you could buy him a shirt with dinosaurs on it but you feel like it’s too basic and too easy. You’ve known Jihoon for quite a while at this point, so you want to give him a gift that shows just how much you enjoy being a part of his life.

The LEGO section of the toy store across from the clothing store catches your eye. A small smile spreads across your face as you spot a Lego box from afar that would be the perfect gift for Jihoon.

“What are you looking at?” Mina tries to look in the same direction as you, confusion written all over her face when she doesn’t spot the thing you could possibly be looking at. All she sees is a store filled with toys.

You point to it, “let’s go there.”

Three days later you’re making your way towards Jungkook’s front door, excited and slightly anxious about visiting on Jihoon’s birthday, even though it won’t be a long visit. Jungkook told you he and Jihoon are going to Minji’s place later to celebrate with their families which you don’t want to hold them back from, so you’ll only stop by and give Jihoon his gift before heading out again. 

You let out a shaky breath as you come to a stop in front of Jungkook’s front door, the bag with the nicely wrapped Lego box dangles from your tightly clenched hand, nerves bouncing off you. There’s always a chance the person you’re gifting something won’t like what you got them.

Hopefully today won’t be one of those days.

Half a minute after you’ve knocked on the door, it opens. You expected to see Jungkook but he’s nowhere to be seen. Instead there’s an excited, grinning little boy staring up at you with twinkling doe eyes.

“____!”

The excitement rattling off Jihoon causes your heart to flutter, a feeling of something unfamiliar spreading through your entire body. You match his grin, equal excitement filling your face as you greet him.

“Hi, sweetie! Happy birthday!”

Jihoon lets out the cutest laugh you’ve ever heard, clapping his hands together, “thanks!”

“Can I come in?” You ask sweetly, before holding up the bag in your hand, “I have a birthday present for you.”

The tiny human in front of you nods excitingly before running off towards the living room, a loud ‘daddy! daddy! ____ is here! She has a present for me!’ leaving his small mouth in a hurry. You laugh softly to yourself, stepping inside and getting rid of your coat and shoes before following in the same direction as Jihoon.

“Really? That’s awesome!” Jungkook’s voice fills the room just as you turn the corner to the living room, a soft grin on his face when his eyes meet yours. Before Jihoon can run towards you to grab the present you’re holding, Jungkook holds onto him and whispers something in his ear. There’s a glint in his eyes as he glances at you for a short second before he lets go of Jihoon again.

“Thank you, ____,” Jihoon shyly says as you hand the gift to him.

“You’re welcome, sweetie” you smile, sitting down next to Jungkook on the couch. His hand immediately wanders to rest on your thigh, giving it a squeeze as he watches his son struggling to handle the slightly big present you’ve brought. Eventually he manages to unpack it, an exciting shriek of laughter leaving his lips, his doe eyes so wide you’d think they were about to pop out of his head.

However, Jungkook stares at the Lego box, lips slightly parted.

You grimace at his reaction, not sure how to interpret it. Hesitation and possibly a slight bit of regret rests within you, the words on the tip of your tongue falling from your lips as soon as he looks at you.

“I know it’s a bit much but I had no idea what to gift him and I saw this Lego box and it just had his name on it, you know? I know he loves dinosaurs and I know he loves Lego so I thought it’d be the perfect present and I- what?“

There’s a look you can’t quite read on your boyfriend’s face, the hints of a smile yet a distant look in his eyes as he stares at you.

He shakes his head softly, giving your thigh another affectionate squeeze, “you’re amazing.”

Despite the simplicity of his words, you feel your cheeks heating up, “well, I don’t know, I just-“

Jungkook slides his hand into yours, fingers intertwining as he brings it to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it. The sound of cardboard being ripped fills the air around you, the rustling of Lego bricks and plastic following right after. Jungkook glances at his son, noticing the happy grin on his face as he plays with the Lego he just received for his birthday.

A strong feeling of happiness fills Jungkook’s body at the sight.

“You didn’t have to buy him anything,” he says, looking at you again.

“I couldn’t visit without a present,” you shrug.

“You could’ve,” Jungkook says pointedly. He’s right – you could’ve. You’ve known Jihoon for less than a year and yet here you are, spending money on him like you’ve known him his whole life. “But you didn’t.”

You shake your head, “I wanted to give him a present for his birthday.”

Jungkook flashes you a soft grin just as Jihoon gasps excitingly, dumping all of his new Lego onto the floor. You watch with a smile as he grabs the instruction folder and starts building the T-Rex Lego model. The box says it’s for 7+ years old children but it looks like it’s a piece of cake for Jihoon.

Pride wells up in Jungkook’s chest and he can’t help but give your hand a squeeze before kissing the back of it again. Your heart skips a beat every time he does that and the small smile on his face as he looks at his son is worth every penny you spent on that Lego box. Jihoon’s quiet, happy humming as he builds the T-Rex does something to your heart as well and before you can stop yourself, you’re letting your head rest on Jungkook’s shoulder, a smile matching Jungkook’s spreading on your lips.

A couple of hours later, after helping Jihoon finish building the T-Rex and playing with it, you and Jungkook cuddle up against each other on the couch. Jihoon is passed out in the bean bag in the corner of Jungkook's living room, his soft snores reaching the two of you every once in a while.

“Thank you for stopping by,” Jungkook says softly, hand running over your thigh and giving it a squeeze. His dark brown eyes meet yours, gratitude evident in them as he looks at you. “And for bringing him a present.”

You sigh and wave a dismissive hand, one Jungkook swiftly catches with his own. Your stomach flips as he intertwines your fingers, his thumb caressing the back of it in soft strokes.

“It’s the least I can do,” you admit, “I’ve been taking up a lot of his dad’s attention lately. I feel bad.”

The small smirk that spreads across Jungkook’s makes your heart tingle in a funny way, heat and giddiness filling your entire body. Spending time with Jungkook is everything and so much more. When you first met him at that restaurant-turned-bar, you had no idea you’d end up here; legs thrown over his lap, hands intertwined and gazes of affection aimed at each other while his son takes a nap not too far away in his beloved bean bag.

“Don’t,” Jungkook brings you back from your own thoughts. “I want you here. Jihoon wants you here. You’re not taking up our time, you’re adding to it.”

There’s something in Jungkook’s eyes, a glint or spark that affects you more than you would think. And as you sit here, cuddled up against him you realize that it’s comfort, gratitude, happiness… Love.

“I love you.”

You whisper the words as if Jihoon isn’t allowed to hear you say it. But really, you know Jungkook doesn’t mind. It’s just that those three words are for him and him only – between you and him. And Jungkook understands because he smiles and gives your hand a squeeze.

“I love you too, baby.”

[jejublr]

Super!Woozi

A/N: Did someone say Super!Woozi?? Because I’m here to deliver ;) omg Nat stop. I’M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG T^T Here’s something an anon requested and the AU update @mansaeboysbe asked for bazillion years ago. This one is suuuuper long to make up for it so I hope you all enjoy! This story is such a hot mess tbh. Also this gif of Jihoon is exactly what this fic is all about.

You thought Jihoon would be a hero?? lmao think again 

Bc I think he’d be the perfect villain

Ok not really but hear me out

Jihoon would be some kind of a genius mastermind ok?

If you think that’s not a superpower, you’re wrong

You can say he’s some kind of a technopath bc this guy can literally build anything tech-y out of everything

For example, he made his first weapon at the age of five. fIVE.

Like what was i even doing at the age of five?? my only accomplishment by then was being the champion in a cracker-eating competition during independence day celebration smh

I’m so proud of it tho so y’all can fight me if you disagree

He can also manipulate most forms of technology

He can turn off lights without having to switch it off, manipulate computer data, he can hack into cyber systems, restore information and break computer codes

He could’ve done much worse but since he never had any form of training since he first discovered his power, his power is pretty underdeveloped

Nonetheless, technopath!Woozi is still super powerful, even with his limitations

Supervillain!Jihoon would wear some kind of a black suit with some cool-ass tool belt strapped on his hips for his tinkering needs

Definitely no spandex and absolutely no capes

We hear ya, Edna

He’d wear the typical black mask and his red hair would be a stark contrast against his dark ensemble

I live for red-haired Woozi

He also got these cool gauntlets on his wrist and he can shoot out sedatives, tear gas pellets, tasers, grappling hooks, a radio transmitter and explosives

Woozi also got his own personal A.I. assistant

Think of it like J.A.R.V.I.S. and it works exactly like it

It oversees Jihoon’s overall health, help him construct weapons and sometimes poppin’ some popcorns for Jihoon during Friday movie nights

Jihoon would also be super agile! He’s really quick on his feet and can do some cool acrobatic s***

Because Jihoon might sit around and construct weapons all day so you’d expect him to be out of shape lol

But Jihoon figured that while he wasn’t tinkering, he’d be running away from the cops or smth so why not start training his cardio right?

So yeah he did a lot of gymnastics and acrobatics

Besides running from the cops, he wants to make memorable entrance and exits in the future, too, lmao

It’s pretty funny bc one second he’d be like Bob the builder and the next he’s tumbling like a f***in ninja

It’s incredible

Anyways

So Jihoon has been plotting his big debut as a super villain for a long time now

He’s so tired of everybody underestimating his power despite him probably being able to ensemble a makeshift grenade in record time to blow your ass off

And he’s also tired of the times people called him cute

He’s not cute, alright?!

It’s been his lifelong dream to be able to look into people’s eyes and see fear in their eyes as he whispers,

“Am I cute now, you little s***?”

And he also decided that his super villain name would be Woozi

O yeah, bc something that means Our Jihoon is so evil. Oooh, I’m shaking in my boots

I’m getting off topic

About his super secret world domination plan..

Woozi had built a robot army to take over the city

I mean, he could’ve done it all by himself but

It’s his big debut, man

Give him a break

In no time, the city was completely taken over by his army of evil robots

He didn’t do anything serious

Just letting his robots do their evil stuff

Pulling out dead 2010 memes on people

Stealing candies from children

The usual

Also, people were already pretty terrified at the thought of a robot uprising so it wasn’t like he needed to work very hard to make people s*** in their pants

At this point, people are screaming, babies are crying; it’s music to Woozi’s ears

And everything’s going to plan until 

OK, WHAT THE F*** IS THAT?

Ok quick backstory: the local factory had been dumping all its illegal waste into the local reservoir, the chemicals contained in the waste genetically transformed some of the wildlife around the reservoir into mutants

Wow did this just become an environmental propaganda?

Nevertheless, don’t litter, kids

Woozi looked ahead at the sight ahead of him and the city was suddenly swarmed by dozens of mutant creatures, animals and plants alike

It’s like Jumanji on steroids

F***in mutts tryna derail his plan of world domination?

Woozi is not having it

So Woozi whipped up random stuff from his tool belt and started to construct a make-shift weapon

And so you got Woozi who’s combating evil wildlife with his Object Animator

Which is like, a gun but instead of firing bullets it would “scan” objects and turn them into data in which he stored in the memory card in the weapon 

HE’S LIKE A POKEMON MASTER

And there are few other heroes from different parts of the city who came, too, bc they heard some crazy guy tried to take over the city

But now instead of seeing some maniac cackling as they watch the robots take over the city, they see animal mutants everywhere like Madagascar: Evil Edition

The hero from a neighbouring city, S.Coups, was throwing mutant elephants here and there like nobody’s business 

Honestly, at this point, the city was a hot mess with robots, evil mutant wildlife and heroes all compiled in one city

Anyways

So you’re one of the city’s local journalist so cliché

You were reporting from the roof of a carpark building

“I s*** you not, viewers, we just saw a flock of two-headed swans chasing down the police forces. You may laugh but have you ever had a swan hot on your trail? It’s the scariest s*** ever. Now imagine it with two heads and multiply it by tEN. Ok wait, let me put down the mic bc I’m gonna pray for the police bc only God can save them now.”

“WHoA, Ben’s Taco is on fIRe, everyone! Lmfao bc f*** Ben, he always charges extra for guacamole so he finally got what’s coming for him. Moving on..”

I’m so sorry if your name is Ben and bc Ben is the least Mexican name ever

You’re pretty controversial bc you speak without any filter but that’s also the reason people love you lol

Anyways, you’re up there reporting, ready to deliver the biggest drag of the century on national TV when a group of winged monkeys decided to go ape s*** lmao get it? ape s***? on you crew

You’re like “Elphaba’s not here. Wrong show !!!”

But of course, did they listen? No.

And somehow you got cornered to the ledge and by the time you realized what’s going on, you’re free falling

Free falling.. falling...

Bonus points to the person who gets this reference

Coincidentally, at that very moment, Woozi was right at the bottom of the building, completely unaware of what had been going on a few meters above

He was shouting at one of his robots for not doing its work properly

“You dips***! Why do you have a cat in your arms! How did you even find it?! I designed you to be evil! EvIL!

“But boss, villains always have a cat in their arms!”

Ok Woozi couldn’t argue with that but

“Priorities!! We’re supposed to tear those mutts apart!! They’re in the way of my plans!!!”

“But I know my priorities!!”

“Oml I should’ve done all of this myself! Now if there’s an answer to all of this f***in mess-”

Woozi had his arms out in exasperation at this point and BAM 

He wasn’t ready when you suddenly fell into his arms lmao

You were lucky you both didn’t fall into a messy heap on the pavement bc Woozi regained his footing pretty quickly

You were definitely ready for sweet, sweet death but you felt like you weren’t falling anymore and

You opened your eyes to see the most beautiful confused face you’ve ever seen???

Your heart did a little backflip in your chest and you’re like

“My hero~” *heart eyes*

Woozi almost dropped you bc he’s anything but

“Who the f*** are you??” he said

“Y/N. And you are?” you asked breathlessly

Now your name sounds familiar to him and he remembered you’re that notorious journalist everyone seem to have a love-hate relationship with

You’re just..blunt and cute

This was like his chance of publicity lol so he was like “Woozi.”

You would have loved to stay and have a little chat with the hero with the clearest eyes you’ve ever seen but he got to go

So that’s how your first encounter went

With you falling into his arms lel

It did take them some time but they eventually managed to save the city

Mostly with the help of Woozi and his robot army

‘well, at least what remained of it’ Woozi thought as he looked at his robots, most only with one of its limbs left attached and barely able to stand

same tbh

People knew this but they were also confused??

Bc wasn’t he the guy to tried to take over the city earlier?? Is he the good guy or the bad guy??

They were pretty baffled but grateful nonetheless

So everyone’s cheering for Woozi and chanting his name and Woozi’s like??? why

Tbh he’s just as confused as you are

“Ok this is not going according to plan.”

And somewhere down on the streets you’re like “YeAH! WOOZI! MA BOI.”

The first person he’s gonna kill after this mess is you for calling him your “boi”

He’s not your “boi”

Anyways, the crowds are chanting and Woozi’s confused

And emerging from the crowd was S.Coups who approached him and was like 

“Dude, you’re pretty cool. Come to the Heroes Conference tomorrow. It’ll be great having you on the team!”

And Jihoon’s never been one to be approached, let alone being invited to something

But despite him not even liking superheroes he couldn’t help the meek “O-Okay” that escaped him

dang it.

HE’S NEW TO THIS SUPERHERO-VILLAIN ORDEAL ALRIGHT? LET HIM LIVE.

And that’s how he finds himself at the Heroes Conference the next morning

So the Heroes Conference is a conference held regularly by the Heroes Association after any sort of event when a super managed to defeat a villain

It’s a way for the Heroes Association and the people appreciate having their city saved

Here, the supposed-hero would receive a token of appreciation, a medal of some sort

And most of the times, new heroes are recruited during these conferences

To say Woozi felt like he’s out of element is an understatement

He couldn’t help but feel like he’s a black sheep there

A supposed-villain surrounded by heroes

Why is he here again?

Well he came bc he thought it’d be weird if someone who everybody thought saved the city doesn't come when a big superhero like S.Coups invited him to get initiated into a team

Unwittingly, he said yes

Yeah, it’s not like he was starstruck or anything

And it’s not like he’s curious, pffffttt what’re you talking about

But he’s been seething inside bc what’s supposed to be his big debut as a super villain was completely ruined by those stupid mutant motherfrickers

His evil daydreams are ruined now 

He was brooding when he heard a familiar voice

“Hey! Woozi!!”

And there you were, approaching him with a sun of a smile and he couldn’t help but feel his breath hitch roll his eyes

“Oh. It’s you.”

“Yeah! It’s me!”

“What do you want?”

You dismissed his tone and was like “Please let me do an interview??”

And he’s like, “Me?? An interview??”

say whaaaaa

Woozi was already in a bad enough mood from being where he doesn’t even want to be

Adding to that fact was you asking him to do an interview was stretching it a little too far

Woozi was so ready to say no

But you’re looking at him with so much admiration?? Nobody has ever looked at him like that?

He couldn’t help but feel his heart melt a little

BUT WAIT HE ISN’T SUPPOSED TO BE FEELING LIKE THIS!

HE’S EVIL.

E-VIL.

Woozi wouldn’t admit to himself that he’s weak for you and it’s not even day one lmao

“Fine. Make it quick.”

Seeing the smile that bloomed on your face almost made it worth it

Almost

So that’s how he found himself sitting face to face with you

Honestly, the interview was pretty colorful and entertaining, even to him, with you hosting it

You: “~And BAM your robots just sent that freakin rhino into the gas station and BOOM it exploded!!! And then the monkeys went SWOOSH and then I’m falling!! Right into y o u !!!!”

Honestly he didn't see the point of this interview since you just chronologically explained the whole story but oh well

Woozi had never gotten himself interviewed before but?? wOw aren’t you a handful but he likes it

He didn’t mind, though?? bc all he was thinking throughout the whole interview was you

When the interview finally ended, he almost regretted when he said to make it quick

He couldn’t stop thinking about you that day and they day after that, and the day after that 

So now Woozi has two issues; aside from having a huge f***ing crush on you, now Woozi’s kinda stuck doing the Good Guy stuff

Like, he still doesn’t understand???

How do you do the superhero thing?????

Woozi literally doesn’t know how to superhero

Some days he’ll be on a mission and his teammate suddenly go

“Woozi! The what are you doing?!”

“I’m beating up the bad guys, like you said.”

“...wOOZI THAT’S OUR GUY.”

Whoops

He’s been trying to ask you out for weeks but all of his free time is now spent doing boring good hero stuff

He couldn’t even use his explosives anymore

Trust him when he said he asked

Why did he agree to this again??

But what he didn’t expect was how much he’s been seeing you?

Like, for reals, this town is super heh problematic istg

So Woozi gets to see you a lot irl bc well, you’re a journalist

But you seem to be always at the right place at the wrong time whenever whatever happens and he saved your ass more than he could count

Like, there was the time a super-robbery happened

Yes, super-robbery, bc regular robbery is boring and apparently, aside from being problematic, this town is also very extra when it comes to crimes

And you somehow found yourself as a hostage? Like hOW?

And another time when you got kidnapped for ransom? You were pretty calm about it tho but Woozi’s the one getting grey hair bc of you

But you could say it was also the right time bc Woozi got to swoop in to save your ass multiple times, too

And from all the times he did save you, you just...fell for a little more??

Bc by the end of it, while he nags at you for being so useless and careless and everything in between, you know he cares

What a tsundere

Ok but this is where it gets fun

So Jihoon had a rough night, so he decided to maybe get some fresh air, right?

So he was walking around with his earphones on when wait.. is that?

You were cornered by a group of what seems like drunken men and Jihoon’s like here we go

How do you find yourself in this kind of situation all the time?

“Get away from her, you dick!”

You were a little bit surprised when you heard someone shouting

You weren’re really expecting someone to notice so you were shocked when this guy showed up with the scariest pissed-off look you’ve ever seen

And the drunk guys just sneered bc who is this squirt?

Oh but Jihoon’s familiar with the condescending looks in their eyes

Jihoon had experienced his fair share throughout his high school days alright

So he used everything he’s ever learned from always getting made fun of for his height

He kicked one of the f***ers in the kneecaps, grabbed your hand and ran

You finally stopped when you’re sure you’re safe enough and you couldn’t help but admire this stranger who just saved you

“My hero~”

Do you say that to every single one of your savior? bc Jihoon is getting major flashbacks now

Of course, you felt very very grateful for getting saved so you wanted to treat this cute stranger

“Here, let me treat you to some coffee. I insist.”

And that’s how he found himself sitting across from you in a quaint coffee shop

“Thank you so much for saving me!”

And Jihoon swore under his breath bc there it is again

That smile

“No problem.”

You couldn’t help but think that the guy looked kinda familiar??

“So tell me about yourself!” you said

‘Well, you actually know me but not the real me but I’ve been pinning on you from day one but this is not how I imagined our first date would be like.’ Jihoon wanted to say but he figured he’ll just sound like a creep lol

Wait is this a date? F***

“Uh, I play the guitar???” 

Nice, Jihoon, smooth.

Hey, a supervillain can have a hobby, alright?

And Jihoon didn’t know how it happened but you seemed interested in what he has to say and he ended up having a lot of fun talking to you??

The conversation went for a long time that he didn’t realize it’s been hours since he left headquarters and he’s still got things to do and he’s like crap gtg

And you’re like “Oh! You need to go?? I really enjoyed talking to you.. Maybe we can..meet again??” 

Bruh, you may look super cool and suave outside but you’re literally freaking out inside bc !!! You’re actually asking this cute stranger guy out !!!

And that’s how Lee Jihoon ended up back in the headquarter, everything’s the same except for the number written on the entire length of his right arm in black ink

But then the next morning people were shookth from the obvious series of numbers written on his arm lmaoo

The other peeps on the team was like, “OoOoO are you dAting someone???”

“S.Coups, I know you can’t fly and I will not hesitate to push you off this ledge and make it seem like an accident if you don’t step away this instant.”

*S.Coups backing away slowly*

One of the team members almost prank called you claiming to be Woozi but then he got strangled by Jihoon lmao

You and Jihoon started to hang out more often

One time you guys (you guys as in you and Jihoon, you’re still unaware of his alter ego apparently smh) were talking about your favorite supers and Woozi came up in the conversation

“I don’t know, I just really like him.”

That caught his interest

“Uh, why?”

“Because! He’s so cool, don’t you think??? Saved me couple times, too. What a man.”

Lmao, more like hundreds of times

Woozi couldn’t count how many times he had to save your ass now

“But why do you even like him? He’s not like S.Coups or anything. He’s not..nice.”

You looked at him a little offended bc 

Did he really just say that? In front of your f***ing salad?

“Uhm, excuse me but he cares about other people, Jihoon! Just because someone’s nice doesn’t mean he’s good!”

Jihoon never thought he’d hear someone say something so nice about him?? For once, someone actually cared about him

And it feels...nice

And if he had a huge crush on you then, by now he’s f***ing flipped

“Plus, I’d totally date him.”

Choke

So you guys obviously starting to like each other more and more; him bc of your, uh, refreshing personality and him bc of his blunt nature

What a charming couple, honestly

But he couldn’t work up the nerve to ask you out when he’s not wearing his super-villain, er, hero costume

But he can’t help it now!!!

He needs to do something about this stupid crush!!!

It’s taking over his brain

It’s taking over his life

HE ALMOST DIED ON A MISSION THINKING ABOUT YOU

They really weren’t kidding when they said that love is a disease bc he feels like he gets heart attacks whenever you smile and him and it makes him want to write stupid love songs about you and it’s just ugh

He’s a swimming lovesick fool around you

But Woozi isn’t keen on grand gestures

So one day, he finally swallowed his nerves and went up to you after work  in his super suit 

And you were like,”Woozi!! It’s you!!”

But then he took of his mask in front of you

And “Wait, what? W ho? Jihoon????”

Again, how you’ve ever put the pieces together baffles me smh

“Yeah. It’s me.” He looked like he’s ready to s*** his pants tbh

“Look, I hate your stupid face. I hate that you made me think about you everyday. I can’t even look at a monkey the same way without ending up thinking about you now. I hate that your smile always gives me heart attacks. So let’s just get this over with. Y/N, do you want to go out with me?”

Lmao w hat

Is he...asking you out???

So all this time, Woozi is Jihoon and Jihoon is Woozi?

IT MAKES SENSE NOW

Sigh

So you stood there gaping like a fish

Which kinda reminded him of when his robot short-circuited, cute.

And Woozi’s ready to flee the scene and go home and spend his night eating a tub of ice cream while writing a two-page essay on how you will never ever be together and hide under his covers and–

“Alright, let’s go on a date.”

Well, he be da**ed.

Did you just agree to go out with him??

He feels like he can take over the world now

But maybe later bc now, he has a date to attend to ;)

(But honestly, if he had asked you without the suit and all, you’d still pick him.)

(Because in the end, you fell for Jihoon, not Woozi.)

(But also you’re feeling lucky bc you happen to like both so what a steal.)

[antiv3nus]

✰ 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐓 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ✰

✰ superhero! lee jihoon x gn! reader

✰ genre: fluff, f2l, grumpy x sunshine trope, & ig some mild angst if you squint

✰ warnings: this is my first fic i’m putting out on here so be pls be nice & constructive criticism is appreciated if necessary; thx <3 (not me typing this as if ppl are actually gonna read this..)

✰ word count: 542

you and jihoon had began to meet up most nights on your apartment’s rooftop during late midnight hours. as you and the grumpy hero got to know each other, you always wondered how he actually ended up being a superhero. the jihoon you began to know was a cute, but grumpy homebody who enjoyed doing absolutely nothing. how could he of all people be a superhero? you never understood how it worked, but you were beyond grateful for him.

you being a carefree clumsy person, the exact opposite of him had had your fair share of needing to be saved. thus starting your unlikely friendship, or as he’d stubbornly put it: acquaintanceship.

as much as the secret superhero hated to admit, he loved to hang out with you and deep down really enjoyed the conversations that were slowly but surely turning you both into friends with hidden feelings instead of mere aquaintances like he always claimed you were. but he knew it couldn’t and shouldn’t last.

being a superhero came with a lot of responsibility and danger, and he didn’t want to endanger you by being close with one another. and knowing you and your clumsiness, danger would happen quite often. so he decided tonight was the night that he would break the news to you and tell you that you could no longer be acquaintances (friends) and should go your separate ways.

“y/n?”, he whispered. you turned your head, looking away from the starry night sky and let out a quiet hum. “i have something to tell you.”

you had looked back up at the sky as you replied with a ‘what is it’? “well.. i’ve been thinking for a while and-“. jihoon’s sentence was cut short as you let out a loud gasp still staring at the night sky above.

“jihoon! quick hold my hand!”, you said with excitement. the young superhero’s face was beginning to turn beet red but you wouldn’t have known since your face was still beaming at the sky above. “what!? why would i do that..?”, he replied quickly.

“because i think shooting stars are about to appear and i read an article saying that if you’re holding hands with someone your wishes have a better chance of coming true. and we have to hold hands jihoon or it’s not gonna work duh, and you’re not ruining this once in a lifetime opportunity!”

“y/n.. you’re being dramatic.” but nonetheless the grumpy, awkward superhero still let you grab his hand and lightly held it, face still extremely red, trying to hold back the small smile on his face.

“there they are, make a wish!” you said, eyes already squeezed tightly shut, firmly holding onto the boy’s hand.

in that moment jihoon didn’t really care about wishing on shooting stars, but his heart did flip a few times as he thought about how cute you were. you eyes were closed, bundled up in your pajamas, and wishing on stars with your hand in his.

looking at you he realized that he couldn’t end your friendship, even if it was the right thing to do. besides he’d probably have to save you regardless as you never paid attention to your surroundings.

just like you never paid attention to how terribly he hid his feelings towards you.

✰ thanks for reading my first drabble/oneshot whatever (that’s if anyone actually did)

✰ no stealing pls!! (still acting as if ppl are gonna see this)

i’d really appreciate if ppl could like & reblog but i don’t want to ask for too much (very grateful tho)

✰ hopefully there’s no typos <3

[itsapapisongo]

world’s worst secret keeper

pairing: spider-man!hoshi x photographer!gender-neutral reader ft. sorcerer!woozi & sorcerer!the8

genre: dramedy | fantasy | superhero

word count: 10.3K

warning content: consumption of alcohol, language, mentions of assault, blood, low self-esteem, and suggestive themes

synopsis: when soonyoung accidentally reveals he’s the one and only spider-man to you, he anxiously asks a friend for a do-over. or the one where things don’t go according to plan and soonyoung thinks magic is the solution to a mess of his own making.

taglist: @husbandhoshi | @yangyanghater | @boo-tycall

I’M NOT HOME.

This is what Lee Jihoon—Disciple of the Mystic Arts, caretaker of the Seoul Sanctum, desperate for a good night’s sleep—is thinking as he’s awakened in the middle of the night and blankly stares at the ceiling. 

He gently shakes his head as if to shoo away whoever’s knocking on the front door. His lips are pursed in a tight, thin line of exasperated disapproval. His arms are comically crossed across his chest, just below his collarbone. He feels something pulling at his bedsheets, clenches his eyes shut, and pettily shakes his head with a grunt.

“Let Minghao deal with this,” he says to the darkness that envelops him and the rest of his room. “I’m not the only one living here.”

Suddenly, his bedsheets are violently pulled away and he’s forced to follow them. One second, he’s in his bed. The other he’s on the floor, groaning. Something tugs at his right leg, almost pulling off his sock, then begins to slowly drag him across the floor. Jihoon merely groans louder and aimlessly kicks at the air.

“Fine!” He reluctantly gets to his feet with a click of his tongue. “I’m going!”

Jihoon cleans himself up, blindly extends a hand to the side, and feels the summoned sling ring fly to his left hand; he wiggles his index and middle finger and adjusts it in place. He doesn’t need to turn on the lights to know where he’s going—he knows this room like the back of his hand—but he does stop at the door, turns, and sighs.

“Want to come with?” he asks, sounding defeated.

A shuffling sound lets him know that, yes, it does want to come with. He feels the Cloak of Levitation float above his head, descend, and then perch itself upon his shoulders. He shrugs, lets it get comfortable and rests his head on the door frame.

“This better be worth it,” Jihoon says and feels the Cloak of Levitation pat his right shoulder. He swings the door open and cracks his neck. “Or else I’m gonna lose it.”

∿∿∿

“OH-KAY,” JIHOON DEADPANS, squinting then rubbing his eyes. “I’m losing it.”

Before him, clad in a tight suit of red and blue, is none other than the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, rubbing his forehead, muttering to himself, and looking downright inconsolable. Exasperated, Jihoon takes a step forward, half his body in the Sanctum and the other on the Sanctum’s front step, looks left and right, then clicks his tongue.

“Get in,” he mutters, motioning a hand toward the foyer.

Spider-Man, to his surprise, merely looks up and sighs. “I think—uh—I think I effed up,” the webslinger mutters.

Jihoon pinches his forehead, muttering, “Just say ‘fucked up’ like an adult.”

“I—” Spidey begins but shrugs, pulling off his mask to reveal a youthful face framed under a messy head of silver-blue hair. “I need your help.”

“No shit.”

“Your—er—magical help.”

Jihoon looks up and blinks at him. He feels the cloak tugging on his shoulders and lifts his head up, as though to rage at the heavens, but relents and simply sighs for the nth time.

“Of course you do,” the sorcerer replies, reaching out to lay a hand on Spider-Man’s shoulder to slowly pull him inside. “Why else would you come in the middle of the night?”

∿∿∿

KWON SOONYOUNG—THE one and only Spider-Man, college student close to dropping out, desperate for catching a break—is very much aware of just how bad this looks. He’s been knocking on this weird place’s door for about ten minutes, sweating buckets, ignoring the bleeding cut above his left eyebrow, the ache in the small of his back, and the violent throbbing in his knuckles.

He’s aware that he’s a mess. He’s also very aware that he’s in a mess. Both are, rather unfortunately, consequences of his own actions—which means they could have been easily avoided. But nothing is ever easy for or with Soonyoung. He’s too stubborn to ask for help and too self-deprecating to admit he’s in over his head.

So when he decides to swing and stumble the rest of the way towards the tall brownstone with the round skylight in a street most people tend to avoid, he knows being stubborn won’t help him; it will only lead to self-sabotage. Despite being creeped out by this place, by how weird it is, he knows it’s the right move. 

Jihoon will know what to do. And so far, Soonyoung has been right. He’s grateful for taking a detour and knocking loudly and insistently enough until someone—preferably Jihoon, who did, in fact, answer—came to his aid.

“You’re tense,” Jihoon had muttered as they walked through the Sanctum. “I advise you to start loosening up because that room—” he pointed to a small door that’s shut close with six different chains, “—feeds on tension.”

Ten minutes ago, Soonyoung couldn’t stop mumbling. Now, much to his friend’s growing exasperation, he can’t seem to utter anything beyond a sheepish “thank you” or “I’m sorry.” He slouches on a bean bag chair, which he swears Jihoon conjured up out of thin air, and rests his head back as the grumpy sorcerer-in-training disinfects his bleeding eyebrow. He barely registers when Jihoon begins to suture the cut.

Soonyoung can’t help but be both thankful and embarrassed because, well, he never expected he’d end up here. He considers whether or not to tell Jihoon he has a healing factor that would naturally take care of his injuries. Part of him wants to tell him that he’ll be fine. But another part of him is pretty sure that Jihoon is aware of his superhuman physiology and is simply tending to the wound to avoid an infection.

“What happened?” he hears Jihoon ask.

Soonyoung blinks, remembers why his right hand hurts so much, and loosens his grip around his mask. Right, you’re on edge, he thinks to himself. You need to relax.

He lifts his head a bit to see his small, grumpy friend sitting above him, clad in casual attire not befitting of a practitioner of the Mystic Arts. He snorts at the sight of Jihoon sporting an asymmetrical red cloak upon his shoulders, an oversized and yellow ‘I Survived My Trip To New York’ crop-top, and black shorts while wearing slides with high white socks. Despite this and the apparent look of exhaustion in his eyes, Jihoon carries himself with a dignity and an aura of mysterious wisdom.

“What brings you to the Holy of Holies in the middle of the night?” Lee Jihoon asks, raising an eyebrow.

Soonyoung’s smile falters. He clears his throat and tries not to sigh, but he can’t; he heaves a sigh so heavy and laced with despondency that his entire body seems to sag with the weight of his anxiety.

 “It all happened so fast,” he whispers. “I was patrolling the streets, y’know? Came across a mugging, stopped it, and then—”

Soonyoung can perfectly see it: you’re walking alone, feeling like utter shit. You’re not close to your apartment nor far from the bar you just got fired from when two suspicious-looking individuals ambush you from either side of the empty street. You’re not paying attention to your surroundings. By the time you look up and see them, all attempts to cross the street and put some distance between yourself and these creeps are immediately thrown out the window when one of them nearly tackles you and drags you to a nearby alleyway.

Someone says something ominous, pushes you, laughs, then there’s the gleaming of a knife’s blade as the moonlight reflects off it. And what happens next is nothing but a blur of motion: one second these two assholes are harassing you, asking for your money and your phone and any other valuables, and the next one of them is stuck to a wall while the other is beaten to a pulp by your feet.

Soonyoung groans, cringing at the brutality he inflicted on those two creeps. He knows why he lost it: you were involved. You, who he cares for. You, who found who he really is at the worst possible time. You, who he sees as a reason to keep putting on the suit to stand up for the little guy. 

He thinks he took it too far, letting his feelings get in the way of his actions, but he considers that if Jihoon had been in your place, seconds from being mugged or stabbed, he wouldn’t have held back. But that couldn’t, shouldn’t, nor would it ever happen again. 

His whole shtick is literally being the Friendly Neighboordhood Spider-Man. If he goes around beating people up just because he can, he would be giving certain people a good amount of satisfaction and validating their impression of him. He can even read the headline now: ‘PAY EVIL UNTO EVIL: SPIDER-MENACE STRIKES AGAIN!’

He still sees the look of horror in your face. He can still hear your voice—the disbelief, the confusion, the panic—and clenches his eyes shut, muttering to himself for the nth time that he’s the world’s biggest idiot.

“Well, webs, if you’re gonna leave in suspense . . .” Jihoon mutters. “I need to see your hands.”

Stirred from his thoughts, Soonyoung frowns and leans his head further back into the bean bag chair to look up at Jihoon. His black hair, parted at the middle, cascades over his face and makes him look more pale than he actually is. The gleam in his eyes is both alluring and terrifying; there’s something in his gaze that lets Soonyoung know he’s seen things and learned to take them in stride.

Jihoon gives him a cursory, if impassive glance, suturing without looking or thinking too hard about it because he’s fully trusting his muscle memory. Once upon a time, Lee Jihoon had been studying medicine. He’d say that the profession chose him rather than he chose it, which was partly true; he wouldn’t admit, however, that it stemmed from childhood trauma. 

Soonyoung didn’t know the full story. He only knew that before graduating high-school, Jihoon lost someone close to him. Thereafter, he fostered an interest in medicine and was hyperfixated with becoming a surgeon. He was at the top of his class, devoted to not only his studies but the future he envisioned for himself. Lee Jihoon only thought of all the good he could do, all the lives he could save, and felt reassured that in spite of all adversity he faced along the way it would prove to be worth it. 

But, by sheer fate or cruel coincidence, mere days after the first time he put a scalpel to living flesh, mere days after feeling he had achieved something in the infancy of a promising career, everything changed. The pieces that had been falling into place were shattered after the accident. 

Everything else was a blur: the plunge into despair and the what-could-have-beens . . . the isolation that drove him to self-pity and self-loathing  . . . and ultimately the leap of faith that turned his life around.

Soonyoung barely feels his touch. Though the cut stings, he feels no pain whatsoever. It dawns on him that something as simple as suturing is so ingrained in Lee Jihoon’s very being that no matter how long it’s been or how damaged his own hands are he can still perform with delicate and professional ease.

“Why?” Soonyoung asks, rubbing his hands together, wincing as he touches his knuckles. “Why do you need to see my hands?”

Jihoon purses his lips, as though relenting from saying something, and simply offers a tight smile. “It’s just a hunch.”

“Are you sure it’s a hunch and not a kink?” Soonyoung asks, slowly and uncomfortably taking off his gloves, half his body slouching further on the bean bag chair. Through his periphery, he notices the annoyed look on his friend’s face and smiles sheepishly. “I’m not kink-shaming! I’m genuinely curious.”

“I know saying the first thing that comes to mind helps you fight the nerves,” says Jihoon, dabbing the webslinger’s brow with an alcohol swab, “but save it for later.”

Soonyoung winces and exhales through his mouth. “If not now, when?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows only to groan and bite his lip.

Jihoon makes a face, his eyes not quite narrowing or squinting but definitely displaying aggravation. He cleans his hands with a rag, slightly painting it red, then tosses it over Soonyoung’s head and watches as a mesh wastebasket moves on its own to catch it.

“Did that just—”

“Hands.” Jihoon commands, unfazed, and proceeds to cup his own hands against his chest and rub them together, all while walking around the bean bag to kneel in front of his reluctant patient. “Let’s see them.”

Soonyoung complies, if only to stop being bossed around. He stretches his hands forward, feels Jihoon’s touch and winces. That’s when he notices just how swollen and bloodied his knuckles are. Jihoon examines them, his eyes focused on the bruised hue that has settled and spread atop Soonyoung’s knuckles and proximal phalanges.

“This is going to be painless.” Jihoon very gently squeezes his friend’s wrist and tilts his head side to side as if to crack his neck. “Is what I’d say, if I were a liar.”

“What do you mean?”

Jihoon doesn’t even pretend to smile. “That this,” he points to Soonyoung’s knuckles, “is gonna hurt like motherfucker.”

“Wha—”

He doesn’t finish. Instead, he interrupts himself and shrieks as he feels Jihoon pull—no, yank—on his left hand’s thumb and index finger. A cold sensation ebbs and flows through his skin, spreading across his wrist then reaching his forearm . . . his elbow . . . and ultimately his entire shoulder; when the sensation flows back to the tip of his fingers, it’s the hottest thing he’s ever felt in his life.

He can’t hear himself scream nor can he feel his own body; he can only contort as every muscle spasms at a discordant rhythm. An overwhelming wave of agony washes over him and stops as quickly as it rolls over him like foam returning to sea.

“Nearly there,” he hears Jihoon say, his voice distant and echoing in his head as if coming from a badly tuned radio. “Deep breath.”

Soonyoung feels whole again, if only for a moment, and breathes in. Without thinking, as though in a trance, he deeply inhales through his nose and exhales slowly through his mouth.

“I’m gonna count to three and do it again, okay?” Jihoon pats him in the knee and grasps his right hand.

Soonyoung blinks. “Oh-kay.”

“Alright.” Jihoon nods, smiles, then exclaims, “Three.”

The last thing he sees before passing out is the cloak upon Jihoon’s shoulder move, as if it’s alive.

And then . . . nothing.

∿∿∿

YOU’RE STIRRED FROM your sleep by the smell of something burning—or, at least, something that’s fire-adjacent—but it’s the warm breeze that finally makes you sit up in bed. You groggily open your eyes to see a man standing right in front of your bed, partly enveloped in the darkness of the room and partly illuminated by some dim-lighting that resembles the glow of a torch. 

Before you can say anything, before it even registers that there’s a stranger in the room, you notice that he’s stepping out of a crackling, swirling orange circle that neither touches the ceiling or the ground. Is that a—it can’t be a portal, you think, mouth slightly ajar, eyes squinted in disbelief.

Just when you think you can’t be more skeptical, you notice that the stranger is wearing an oversized crop-top, black shorts, tall socks, and slides and a rather fancy cloak upon his shoulders. You begin to think you’re losing it and scoff at the sight of him staring back at you, his lips pursed into a thin line. After the week you’ve had, who can blame you if you can’t take him seriously?

You slowly realize that this cloak-wearing stranger looks adorable—and awfully familiar. When he speaks, it’s in a soft voice. He even calls you by your name, seemingly aware of who you are because it says it with certainty and familiarity.

“Are you giving tickets to something?”

The man frowns. “No,” he mutters. “What makes you think that?”

“I thought you were a door-to-door magician.” You blink, slowly feeling your groggy mood shifting to weary skepticism. “Like—uh—like a doctor who does house calls but with magic.”

“I’m neither,” he replies in a chastened voice, like someone who’d rather change the conversation rather than respond directly. “I know this is strange but I’m gonna need you to come with me.”

“W-why?”

“It involves Spider-Man.”

Suddenly, you’re wide awake. It all clicks and you realize why he’s so familiar. It’s because you’ve seen him before with Soonyoung—with Spider-Man.

“Oh,” you manage to whisper.

He smiles smugly, though it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Yeah,” he replies in a measured voice, “oh.”

∿∿∿

THOUGH YOU’RE CERTAIN you have your emotions in check, Jihoon seems not only to notice but feel your anxiety; he says it’s palpable. You scoff because there’s no way he can possibly feel that, but the look he gives makes you think he’s scrutinizing you from the inside out. 

Jihoon offers you something to drink and you blurt out that a cup of coffee would be fine. He nods, suddenly half-smiling, his eye gleaming with something akin to mischief. A second later, without delay, he’s off to brew some coffee. He defies your expectations and imagination by using magic instead of walking through the door like mere mortals would. 

He extends his left hand, draws a circle in the air, and a crackling, swirling portal opens mere inches from where he stands. Very casually, Jihoon steps through it and leaves it open as he moves around a rather modern-looking kitchen. It’s then that you notice that the cloak upon his shoulders isn’t an ordinary cloak. It moves on its own accord, opening a drawer and the refrigerator to look for and pass sugar and milk to Jihoon.

In the blink of an eye, he steps right back through the portal, which closes itself on its own, and offers you a tankard-shaped mug. As you thank him, he sits opposite you on an old, silken futon that you swear hadn’t been there a second ago.

The smell of coffee loosens the knot in the pit of your stomach. You take a sip and feel the creeping and confusing anxiety that had overwhelmed you just minutes before disappearing.

“This is one of the best coffees I’ve ever had,” you whisper, grasping the tankard mug with both hands. “It’s magic.”

Jihoon blinks then very slowly smiles a stiff, if polite smile. “You’re welcome,” he says, lifting a mug that in bold letters reads ‘[INSERT WORDS OF AFFIRMATION HERE]’ and takes a long sip from it. “You gotta thank Ruby for it.”

“Ruby?” you tilt your head, interested.

“Introduce yourself,” he whispers with a shrug. “Don’t be shy.”

The Cloak of Levitation springs from his shoulders and gently floats above his head. It slowly descends to his left, as if taking a seat next to him. He takes another sip from his mug and groans, squinting for a brief second, as the cloak sheepishly waves at you.

You snort against the coffee, burning yourself. “Is that—” you wince, feeling your tongue numb. “Did that thing just wave at me?”

“That thing is the Cloak of Levitation and it has a name.” Jihoon looks at you impassively. “Ruby.”

Before you can say anything, he then turns to glance at his cup and blinks at it. Almost immediately the distinctive sound of liquid filling a vessel echoes in the room and he half-smiles, satisfied.

 “That’s the ticket.”

“Did you just refill your coffee?”

“Yeah.” He sips from the cup then smiles. “But this isn’t coffee.”

“Then what is—”

“It’s soju.” Jihoon crosses his legs and clears his throat, his posture exuding impatience. “Now, pleasantries aside, you must be wondering why you’re here.”

“I have some idea . . .”

“You know who Spider-Man is.”

“I—” You open your mouth then close it, your eyes unconsciously widening in consternation. You sigh and clink the tankard mug with your nails. “I do.”

“I’m afraid you discovered his identity at a rather unfortunate moment.”

“Where is he?”

“Resting.” Jihoon raises his cup to take another drink but instead lowers it and sighs. “Would you like to see him?”

You do, but you don’t want to admit that. You’re still grappling with the fact that he’s Spider-Man and that he’s been keeping that little secret for the past three years. A part of you had always suspected something was going on, but it was ridiculous to even imagine that Soonyoung was a superhero—the very same one that had saved your hide more times than you could count.

But, lo and behold, the webslinger behind the mask was none other than your friend. The shock of seeing Spider-Man descend from above to beat the ever living shit out of the creeps that almost mugged you still clings to you. He’d been unrelentingly brutal and substituted his usual quips for angry grunts and pointed threats. It was if something had taken over, as if something had snapped, and he stopped holding back.

The moment one of the creeps pulled the mask off his face and you saw the look of unbridled anger in his face, you felt your heart sink. It wasn’t the violence as much as it was him being the one behind the mask—that he’d been putting himself in danger time and time again and hadn’t told you.

“You might wanna hold on to your coffee,” says Jihoon, getting to his feet. “I wouldn’t want you to drop it.”

“Wha—”

In the blink of an eye, you find yourself in another room. Your entire body is buzzing, as though you’d run a mile and then some but without the fatigue. It takes you a second or two to regain your balance.

“You okay?”

You blink, your eyesight making a gradual transition from blurry to crystal clear, and see Jihoon standing close by; he’s holding you by the elbow to prevent you from swaying in place. He guides you into a tall chair and pats your knee, all while nonchalantly sipping from his cup.

“While I fetch Soonyoung, take a second to gather your bearings.”

“Okay, sure, okay,” you reply, unconsciously drinking from your coffee. “Why not?”

As Jihoon opens a portal, you hear him grumble, “Vishanti give me strength.”

∿∿∿

“IT’S NEVER EASY, is it?”

“Unfortunately, Master Lee, it doesn’t get any easier.”

Jihoon glances over his shoulder to see Xu Minghao leaning on the door frame. Based on how he’s dressed and by the look of his wet auburn hair, Minghao has recently walked out of a late night shower. He’s casually munching on something, probably one of Master Wong’s trail mixes, and seems to be in a rather amused, if aloof mood.

“I’m still a Disciple,” says the oldest of the two. “You have a better chance of being ascended as a Master than I do.”

Minghao half-smiles and brushes his fringe off his face. “I doubt that,” he disagrees. “Wong says that if and when he kicks the bucket, you’re the only person he’s comfortable with taking over his duties.”

“The sheer amount of misplaced faith you both have on me is staggering.”

“Believing in someone.” Minghao chuckles, shaking his head. “What a radical, mind-boggling concept, huh?”

Yup, what a concept. Jihoon rubs his hands together and feels them tremble with increasing intensity the more he tries to control the tremors. He whispers a mantra to himself and traces his digits across the scarring on his hands, which cover most of his palm, knuckles, fingers, and cuticles. He’s reminded of the agonizing pain he experienced in the beginning and how little he thinks about it now; it’s still present yet silent, like an old friend used to not being acknowledged because their presence is nonetheless felt.

Jihoon feels Minghao inching closer and hears him make a sound akin to disbelief. When he turns, his fellow Disciple of the Mystic Arts is pointing at the limp figure of the friendly neighborhood hero lying on his bed. The mask is back on, if only to avoid further revealing his civilian identity to anyone else within the Sanctum.

“Is that—”

 Jihoon nods, forcing a smile. “Spider-Man? Yeah, that’s him.”

Minghao blinks, titls then slightly shakes his head as he mutters something in Mandarin. He side-eyes Jihoon and pats him on the shoulder. “Whatever this is,” he says, “keep me out of it.”

“Will do.”

Minghao winks then knocks on the door frame. “Don’t break any rules,” he whispers in a sing-song voice, waving good-bye. “But if you do, make sure to put them back together.”

Jihoon can’t help but laugh.

∿∿∿

AFTER YOUR THIRD cup of coffee and realizing it’s refilling itself whenever you’re not looking at it, you decide to put down the tankard-mug on the ornate side-table to your left. You then wallow in the confusing, awkward silence that has enveloped you ever since you first stepped into this strange place. That’s when you finally notice where you’ve been for the past—holy hell, has it really been thirty minutes? 

Wow, you think to yourself, time really is meaningless. Having arrived without so much as a word, you lean back on your chair to properly take in the room. You sit in a hexagonal room the size of a studio apartment and wonder how that’s possible. You quickly stop wondering, however, because self-refilling cups of coffee are a thing in your life now so what’s the point of questioning the size of the room? 

Emotionally and physically taxed, you just sigh and go with it.

The battened door to your right is tall and wide, shining like obsidian stone. Bookshelves cover every corner of the room and contain a plethora of knowledge: tomes, indexes, relics, and the long history of the Mystic Arts. Under the tall chair you’re sitting on is a decagon-shaped rug covering most of the floor; its fabric moves with shifting images of an otherworldly firmament from dawn to dusk. Opposite you is a thin, brick fireplace with a bowling-ball sized crystal ball hovering above the mantelpiece; beneath it, the fireplace nurses a tame blue fire.

It suddenly dawns on you that all of this is real—that you’re surrounded by dust, ancient history, and powers beyond your comprehension. Weird things have happened, are happening, and will continue to happen here, a voice whispers in your ear, spreading goosebumps through the back of your neck.

“You look very thoughtful,” says the now all too familiar voice of Lee Jihoon, startling you as the annoying, if familiar sound of a portal opening announces his arrival.

“What?”

“Thoughtful,” he repeats, then makes a face as if that isn’t the word that embodies what he’s trying to convey. “You look constipated,” he says, looking satisfied, “when you’re staring at the middle distance.”

“Funny.” You feign a smile then look away, rolling your eyes. “Very funny.”

Jihoon shrugs, waving a dismissive hand. “No one ever said I had good jokes,” he mutters, unfazed, “or that my sense of humor would appeal to others.”

You wave your hands in a yeah, yeah, enough of that sort of way and you stand up to ask him about Soonyoung.

“Where’s—”

But before you can even finish the question, you see him though the portal. Or his unconscious form as it’s being moved from room to room. Ruby—the cloak, you remind yourself—has enveloped Soonyoung from shoulders to thighs as it very carefully carries him. Jihoon summons a comfortable looking lounge chair and says something to the moving cloak, as if directing it to lower Soonyoung on the furniture. After a second, it does just that, unwrapping itself off him, and returning to Jihoon’s shoulders as he snaps his fingers and the portal closes itself with one swirling motion and a distinctive hiss.

“Here’s the deal,” says Jihoon, hands behind his back. “You know he’s Spider-Man. He knows that you know that he’s Spider-Man. And I know that you know that he knows that he’s Spider-Man.”

You blink, not following his train of thought. “Oh-kay? Wha—”

Jihoon half-smiles and opens his mouth to continue, but closes it and his expression falters when Ruby begins to insistently tug on both of his wrists. He sighs, lowers his head, mutters an aside, groans when the cloak tugs at his wrists again, then lifts his head and meets your gaze.

“And Ruby knows that I know that you know that Soonyoung knows you know he’s Spider-Man.” Jihoon clears his throat and claps his hands together in a gesture that reminds you of someone praying for patience. You notice the scarring in his knuckles and fingers but relent from asking. When your eyes meet his gaze again, he’s forcing himself to smile. “That’s not even the confusing part yet.”

“It isn’t?”

He shakes his head and whispers, “Not even close.”

You close your eyes and rub the bridge of your nose, sighing. When you open your eyes, he’s intently looking at you, hands clasped together by his stomach, standing as if in a meditative posture.

“I’m—you were saying?”

“It seems too many people already know what’s supposed to be a secret. Which is, y’know, the whole point of a secret identity.” Jihoon raises both eyebrows as he begins to roll his eyes but relents halfway. He shakes his head and waves a hand that says never mind, we’re wasting time and turns to give Soonyoung the once-over. “But someone is not very good at keeping secrets.”

“World’s worst secret keeper . . .” You mutter absentmindedly to yourself, though you quickly realize you’ve been thinking out loud and that Jihoon heard you. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

“Why not?” He shrugs. “I already told him. Maybe if he hears it from you, he might take it seriously.”

“So . . . what happens now?”

Jihoon’s demeanor changes completely. That mischievous glint you had seen in his eyes when you mentioned coffee is nowhere to be found. He looks apprehensive, his mouth set in a thin line, his eyes gleaming with worry. He claps, the sound bouncing off the walls and the room’s impossibly high ceiling, and brings forth a cracked oval basin from one of the bookshelves behind you with a flourished flick of his wrists.

“The Runes of Kof-Kol,” he says, extending his hands around the basin.

You open and close your mouth, a hand raised as if to ask a question, but you slowly lower it and blink at him. “The Runes of Kafka?”

“No.” He cocks his head to the side, a piqued groan stuck in his throat. “Kof-Kol.”

“What the hell’s that?”

Jihoon makes a face, as if to say oh, haven’t you heard about this, well, okay, let me tell you.

“It’s just a standard spell of forgetting,” he explains. “It won’t turn back time, but it will make people forget about specific events.”

“Turn back time?”

“It’s possible.” He nods but there’s something in his expression that gives you the impression he’s not keen on trying that out. “It’s immensely dangerous and ridiciously irresponsible, but, y’know, doable.”

“But erasing my memory is, what, an acceptable option?”

Jihoon raises both hands above his head and the basin turns itself, rotating in mid-air on its accord. “The lesser of two evils,” he admits in a morose tone of voice. “None of which I’d like to bring into fruition.”

“And you’re still considering wiping my memory?”

“Sadly, yes.”

“Why are you telling me this, though?”

“Because I’m not comfortable with brainwashing you into forgetting who Soonyoung is without your consent.”

You snort. “Without my consent?”

He waves the basin away, not paying attention to it as it floats and hovers near the fireplace.

“Magic is helpful and it can make things easier,” he says, his brow furrowed, “but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to mess around with your mind for shit and giggles.”

You glance at Soonyoung through your periphery, lips pursed. “He’s more than Spider-Man,” you mutter. “He’s my friend.”

“I know. Which is why I want you to be aware of what’s going to happen.” Jihoon’s voice is serene and he sounds almost apologetic. “If I cast the spell, any and all memories you’ve had with Soonyoung—the good, the bad, the weird—will be all gone, erased forever from your mind, and you’d be none the wiser.”

You stare at him then turn to see Soonyoung lying unconscious on the lounge chair. You don’t know what to feel or do. You wonder if Soonyoung asked for this—for you to forget who he is—or if he asked for both of you to forget each other. You’re curious and you want to ask Jihoon, but you don’t because you’re afraid of the truth.

As Jihoon stares at you, letting you consider everything he’s said, you remember the first time you met Kwon Soonyoung. It was your first year at college, and both of you had two things in common: neither of you knew their way around campus and you were both media and communications majors without a clue as to why you’d chosen said concentration.

And yet there you were: lost, confused, and going with the flow because neither of you didn’t know what they wanted. And that’s okay, he’d said every time you muttered or yelped in a fit of anxiety that you were wasting your time. When you changed your major, he did too, and suddenly you were studying photography and found that you enjoyed it.

You remember how care-free, how unfazed by adversity, he’s always been. And despite you always knowing when he’s upset or worried or bothered, he’s always smiling. He’s more worried about others than himself, and only now do you realize that he’s done this for a reason. Being raised in a loving home where kindness and empathy reigned supreme had stuck with him and every lesson that had been imparted to him, he did and does his best to live by them.

“Why put yourself last in favor of others?”

“I don’t know,” Soonyoung said, shrugging. “Why not? If I help one person, I make their lives easier. I ease a burden, y’know?”

“What about yourself?”

He scoffed, scratching the back of his neck. He seemed to have an answer, but he simply shrugged again and looked back at his notebook. You wanted to ask him again, push until he opened up, but he wouldn’t. Rarely was Soonyoung quiet, but whenever he was it meant that he was considering what to say and how to say it. That, or he didn’t know the answer yet and preferred to be silent instead of being dishonest. He would never say I don’t know because he’s always been so damn stubborn, but you can tell when he wants to say it even if he keeps it to himself.

Which is rather ironic. He had kept a secret from you—and God knew who else—and it hurts that he hadn’t shared it with you. You understand why. Or, at least, the logic behind the omission. He probably wants to keep his civilian and hero life apart—protect you from enemies and any danger that’s so tightly connected to him—but by leaving you in the dark he only protects himself. It feels cruel to think that, to believe that you should know every little detail of his life, but you’ve known him for years, been there with him when his grandfather died, helped him grief, and move on.

After that, a bond between two people strengthens to the point that an honest emotional connection is almost inevitable. And that’s what you’ve had for the past three years, which makes you wonder if this friendship—this relationship—will survive what happened a few hours ago.

It’s the fact that it’s him, Kwon Soonyoung, and not some random stranger that shakes you so much. Of all people, it’s him: friend, walking mess, full of energy and positivity, always smiling, always considerate, willing to make himself the fool, willing to stand up for his friends.

Spider-Man had been doing the same for years. A bright light in the midst of darkness, swinging to aid the helpless. The webslinger has taken hits capable of breaking a man and yet he picks himself up every single time. Just like Soonyoung. No wonder they’re one and the same.

You feel guilty and ashamed because instead of talking with him you ran. You left him in that alleway, not responding to his calls or his texts, and locked yourself in your dorm without a second thought. You thought about replying to his calls or texting him back, but instead you buried yourself in bed until you fell asleep.

And now he wants to be erased—purged—from your memory and you don’t know how to take it.

“Can I have a moment alone with him?”

Jihoon nods. “Duh,” he deadpans. Off your look, he just shrugs. “What, you were expecting me to be more tactful?”

“A bit, yeah.”

“This has been the longest night of my life and I’ve been stuck in a time loop fighting off Vampa-Cabras.” He lifts one shoulder, making a face that fully displays just how tired he is. “The quicker we deal with this, the faster we all can go back to bed.”

“Oh-kay.” You nod and pop your lips. “I’ll—er—I’ll try to speed this up.”

Jihoon deflates, genuinely smiling at you. He suddenly looks like the twenty-something he really is: an exhausted but well-meaning, walking mess trying his best. He passes a hand through his hair, exhaling as though he’s finally breathing fresh air, head above water, after wading through an ocean without a break.

“You’d be doing me a great favor.”

“Will you still erase my memory?”

“No,” he says, smiling thinly. “Is what I’d say if I were a liar.”

You narrow your eyes at him. He shrugs yet again.

“I’ll give you ten minutes to sort this out.”

“And then?”

“I’m casting the spell.”

“Oh,” you mutter.

“Yeah,” he replies, forlorn, “oh.”

∿∿∿

SOONYOUNG DREAMS OF a life before Spider-Man. Before the bite. Before his grandfather died at the hands of a scumbag he let go without thinking of the consequences. He dreams and wishes he wasn’t Spider-Man anymore, but the dream slowly becomes a nightmare when he sees himself descend from above to pummel the shit out of someone. 

At first, he can’t see who it is—until he can. Himself. The same shy young man that hadn’t conquered his social anxiety or his fear of heights. Only this young man is on the ground, begging for his life, bruised, bloody, and broken. When Soonyoung looks at his hands, the blood is fresh: glistening, crismon, impossible to get rid off.

He screams but can’t hear his own voice. He closes his eyes and falls to his knees. When he opens his eyes, he’s standing in front of a mirror and his reflection is hazy. He can make out the silhouette—the red and blue of his suit, the white wide eyes of his mask—but nothing else beyond that. When he moves, the reflection stares back but doesn’t follow. Instead, his reflection reaches out and pulls him into the mirror. Soonyoung falls and falls and falls, his screams echoing in his head, unheard, lost to everyone but himself.

He sees the silhouettes of familiar foes: a mountain of a man, gray-scaled, a horn upon his forehead . . . a wide-shouldered, green-clad brute with a long, prehensile tail . . . a flying maniac with wings that spread the length of a man . . . a man clad in a suit in tie, a bright photo-negative brought to life . . . a man made of pure energy, crackling and cackling . . . a man in a suit of yellow-quilt, vibro-shock gauntlets on his forearms.

And they all have something to say:

“You’re nothing but fucking freak!”

“Give up, you failure!”

“Why waste your time following me, webhead? I’ll just break out again—”

“—and again—”

“—and again—”

“—AND AGAIN!”

Soonyoung keeps falling. His chest aches, feels tight as if the Rhino has stomped on him until he’s been cratered on the ground. For a moment, everything hurts. The voices in his head grow louder, scathing, insistent. They’re reminders of how he truly feels, and he can’t do anything but agree with them. He has tried his best and his best has never been enough. He has tried to keep you safe. He has tried to do good by his grandparents. He has tried to balance a college life with being a superhero. And it all has been for nothing—because it’s never been nor would it ever be enough.

The deeper he falls, the darker the abyss becomes. The deeper he falls, the louder the voices become until they crescendo into a cacophony of contempt. He embraces the abyss, the jeering, and lets go of the fear, the doubt, that resides within. Just as he thinks he’ll hit rock bottom, a voice stirs him from his self-pity.

“Soonyoung?” says the voice of his grandmother. “Soonyoung, honey? It’s time—”

“—to get up,” your voice and Jihoon’s follow, fused as one yet distinctive to his ear.

“Off your ass, kiddo,” says the voice of his grandfather. “You got this.”

Kwon Soonyoung’s eyes snap open. He pulls himself up—a web here, a web there—and sees the light above him. He fights through the cackling and the insults and the jeering, punching and kicking his foes’ shadows, expelling them to the abyss below, smiling as he does it. The part of him that wishes the spider had never bitten him remains behind, falling into the abyss along with all the self-doubt.

He pulls himself through the darkness and finds himself standing in a mirror again. He moves and his reflection follows. He looks and sees himself clearly. The red and blue suit is still there, vaguely outlining his mirror-self, the mask is off and Soonyoung can only see himself: smiling, nodding, as if to say this is who you are.

Wake up, says a voice.

And so he does.

∿∿∿

“HEY,” YOU WHISPER, gently tracing Spider-Man’s jaw with your index finger as he wakes up. “Welcome back to the world of the living.”

He blinks, unsure whether or not this is a dream, then dazedly sits up on the lounge chair. He gives the room the once-over, puffs his cheeks, then exhales through his mouth. Having met your knowing gaze, Spider-Man pulls off his mask and smiles sheepishly, but doesn’t meet your eyes.

“I—er—how do I—” Kwon Soonyoung begins, but can’t bring himself to speak.

“You should have told me.”

Soonyoung briefly meets your gaze, frowning. “Told you?”

“That you were—” you pause, letting reality sink in after being in denial. “That you’re Spider-Man.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“I know, but still . . .” It’s you now that lowers their gaze and looks away. “We’re friends, aren’t we? Have been long enough for you to trust me.”

“I know. It’s just—”

You frown. “It’s just what?”

“I don’t want to lose you.” Soonyoung sighs. “I can’t lose you.”

“And I can’t lose you.”

“I am afraid, y’know? I already failed my grandfather. I don’t want to fail you. I guess I was just trying to avoid the inevitable. I kept telling myself that if I kept you at arm’s length, if I kept you separate from all the shit I go through, you’d be safe.”

“In the end, you’re only protecting yourself.”

He smiles ruefully at that then nods, his head resting against his chest. He chuckles, but there’s no joy in it; it’s a mirthless sound that slowly transitions into a heavy sigh. You hold his hand, gently squeezing it, and rest your head on his shoulder.

“We’re friends,” you whisper. “We should be able to rely on each other.”

“I know. It’s just—” Soonyoung lifts his head and rests his forehead against yours. “I’m not good with loss.”

You shrug, smiling. “No one really is.”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you since forever but I’ve never found the right time or had the right words.”

You scoff. He leans back, gingerly brushing part of your hair off your face, smiling a small smile. He admires you, looking into your eyes, momentarily eyeing your lips, then tracing your jaw and chin with his index finger.

“Won for your thoughts,” you mutter, feeling your ears grow warm, a knot in your stomach tightening and unraveling as he eyes linger on your lips. “I’d love to, y’know, know what you’re thinking.”

“I want to kiss you,” he blurts out, his voice trailing off as if in a daze.

You blush. To your surprise, so does he. He blinks, eyes wide, mouth open, eyebrows raised, and awkwardly clears his throat.

“I—” Soonyoung purses his lips. “I did mean that but I don’t think now’s the right time.”

“If not now, when?” you ask absentmindedly.

He smirks. “Touché.”

You lean forward, resting your forehead against his once more. You poke his dimples, which appear once in a blue moon, and chuckle when he makes a face and throws his head back, concealing a smile by looking away. His laugh is contagious, a melody that lifts your spirits, and makes you forget about the alleyway ordeal . . . about how things are now different and will never be the same . . . about how the spell.

“Hey,” you begin, your tone sheepish. “Jihoon mentioned a memory-wipe magic thingie.”

Soonyoung’s eyes widen in horror. He sits straighter and scootches away from you, as though he’s radioactive and wants to keep you at a safe distance. After a moment of silence, he stands up and begins to slowly and painfully pace the room.

“The spell?” he asks, not looking at you.

You nod.

“Yeah, about that . . .” Soonyoung scratches the back of his neck. “I just wanted to make things right.”

“By erasing my memory?”

“No, by making you forget that I’m Spider-Man.”

“How’s that not erasing my memory?”

Soonyoung smiles, eyes crinkled and eyebrows knitted in a pained, awkward expression. He can only look ashamed. It was a last minute idea. He had asked Jihoon to turn back time so that he could avoid doing what he’d done but apparently that wasn’t the most viable of options. It's an idea, sure, Jihoon had said, but it’s a terrible idea. He said it with a stern look and a glint of apprehension in his eyes. When Soongyoung asked why, Jihoon half-smiled in a way that wasn’t funny or comforting. Universes have collapsed because someone thought using an Infinity Stone was a great idea, he added, and I’m not about to fuck around and find out what it can do this plane of existence.

When Jihoon proposed the spell, with the same apprehension as when messing with the stability of time-space was mentioned, Soonyoung clung to the idea. He wasn’t keen on it, but if he could make up for what you’d see and what he’d done, he would do whatever it took to fix things. Granted, neither he or Jihoon were particularly on board with the Runes of Kof-Kol, but it was the only thing that popped up in the sorcerer’s head.

Soonyoung had been regretting then and that hadn’t changed. He’s still regretting it and now the regret turns to immense embarrassment. How could he do that to you? Or even to himself? How could he live with it knowing he’d cheated you from the truth in spite of how uncomfortable it had been revealed?

He shakes his head and turns to you, grimacing.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I wanted to tell you who I was, but I’d never wanted you to find out the way you did. I lost control. You saw me—” He pauses, blinking away tears. “You saw the worst of me in a moment of anger . . . of desperation. I want to protect you, but not like that. I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”

“You really are the world’s worst secret keeper.” You look at him and click your tongue. “You’re a mess.”

He shrugs. “I know.”

“Come here,” you say, patting the lounge chair. “Sit down.”

He sits next to you, though avoiding your gaze. He’s gripping his mask with both hands, staring at the wide, white eyes with a clenched jaw. You rest a hand on the back of his neck, lean forward, resting your head on his shoulder.

“I’m glad it’s you,” you whisper. “That you’re the one and only Spider-Man. You definitely scared the shit out of me, though.”

“I know.” He half-smiles. “And I should have told you and I plan to . . .”

“You’re still going through with it?”

He shakes his head. “No,” he says. “I just wanted to do it properly, y’know? Tell you the truth, I mean.”

You chuckle and pull him into a hug. “I know,” you whisper, resting your head on his shoulder. You feel his hands slowly envelop the small of your back and immediately feel your ears and cheeks grow warm. His touch is tender, his breathing warm against your neck, and somehow you can tell that he’s smiling that dumb smile of his.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice soft yet you can tell he’s forcing himself to sound calm.

You pat him on the back. “Still shaken, but I’ll live.”

“I’m sorry . . .”

You sigh and find yourself chuckling.

“Me too,” you say, feeling relieved. Then a thought pops in your head and break the hug, holding him by his forearms. “What about the spell?”

“I—” His eyes widen in panic but he quickly recovers and looks confident. “I’ll tell Jihoon to forget it.”

“Just like that?” You ask, eyes narrowed in skepticism.

“Yeah.” He nods, confident. “Just like that.”

∿∿∿

FINDING JIHOON PROVES to be a pain in the tochus. The Sanctum is huge, shifting its rooms out spite or a twisted sense of humor, and never really gives you or Soonyoung a straight path towards any particular direction. After five minutes of wandering and ending up in the same room Jihoon had left both of you, Soonyoung decides it’s best to just call him out by name. You witness him screaming with detached curiosity and a good amount of second-hand embarrassment but ultimately give in and follow his example.

This strategy doesn’t last long because a minute or two after just saying Jihoon’s name out loud, varying between whispering it and shouting it, the door opens and there stands someone neither of you have ever met.

“What in the name of the Vishanti are you doing?” asks a lean, auburn-haired man in a stern, if judgemental tone of voice. “Do you even know what time it is?”

“Eh . . . no,” responds Soonyoung, eyes crinkled as he offers an embarrassed smile. “But I’m assuming it’s late.”

Auburn Hair blinks at him, scoffing. “Oh, you assume? How very bold of you.”

Soonyoung chuckles nervously then stops, pointing at the man as if recognizing him. “Wait, aren’t you Minghao?” he asks. “Jihoon has mentioned you before.”

“Yeah. And you’re Spider-Man. He’s mentioned you before.” Minghao crosses his arms, shrugging. “Your point?”

“We’re just wondering where he is,” you interject off Soonyoung’s hurt expression. “He gave us some privacy and then just—”

“Disappeared? Yeah, he tends to do that.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“As long as you shut up, I’ll just show you where he is.”

You and Soonyoung exchange a look. When you turn to Minghao, he’s giving you the good ol’ stink eye at both of you.

“It was nice meeting you,” he says, aloofly.

“Is what you would say if you were a liar?” you ask, half-smiling and pointing finger guns at him.

Minghao scoffs. “Sure,” he retorts. “Let’s go with that.”

“So do you—” Soonyoung begins but doesn’t finish. “Oh.”

You feel the same way you did when Jihoon moved you from one room to another, but this time you feel fatigued and dizzy. It takes you longer to regain your balance and your breath and when you do you notice that Soonyoung hasn’t been affected at all by the sudden shift in time-space. You blink and think you’re going blind but it slowly dawns on you that you’re simply in a dark place.

“Where are we?” Soonyoung’s voice echoes and bounces off the walls.

“Yeah. What is this place?” you ask, taking slow steps as you unconsciously follow Soonyoung towards the only source of light. “It’s creepy.”

“You’re in the Sanctum’s undercroft,” Jihoon’s voice sounds distant, but he’s standing no more than eight feet from you. “And if I were you, I’d stay exactly where you are.”

You blink, your eyesight no longer blurry, and see Jihoon standing in the center of a hexagon-shaped tile that’s cracked beyond repair. Floating at chest-level is that same oval basin he’d summoned earlier. It shimmers with orange light and that reminds you of contained fire. Jihoon stands stiffly with his left hand forward, a mandala hovering his open palm, and his right hand is lifted, drawing something above his head. You look up to see what can only be described as a bunch of Unowns forming a thin ring of blazing light.

“What’s that?” you groggily ask, pointing at the magical gibberish. “Is that—”

“—the spell?” Soonyoung finishes for you, taking a step forward.

“STAY.” Jihoon commands in a cold, ethereal voice.

Soonyoung pauses, though not of his own volition. He tries to move but remains rooted in place. You take one, two, three steps, and find yourself equally frozen. When you try to speak, the words are lost on the tip of a now very heavy tongue. The same happens to Soonyoung because he’s grunting in a way that sounds like he’s trying to form words but can’t.

“You stand at the intersection of cosmic energy currents,” Jihoon says in a strained voice. “Some, if not all, of these walls are thousands of years old. I’m not about to cast a very powerful and precise spell and let you two mess with it.”

You want to say I appreciate the effort, but we worked things out and we’re gonna keep working them out on our own without the abracadabras and the bibbidi bobbidi boos so if you can stop waving your arms around and we could leave we’d love that but beyond a pained moan nothing comes out. You swear you’re more articulate when you’re not magically held in place.

Soonyoung tries to move, manages to slide his foot forward, but stops when he notices Jihoon finishing the spell. His eyes widen in panic and he groans, as if to say hey stop that, but it’s too late because whatever the swirling symbols above his head begin to swirl faster and glow brighter until they nearly blind you.

“Nice knowing you, Spider-Man,” says Jihoon in a booming voice unlike his own.

The last thing you see before everything flashes to pure white is Lee Jihoon smiling ruefully, as if to say hate me now, thank me later.

∿∿∿

“HOW ARE THE hands?”

Soonyoung rubs his eyes, sits on a very soft bed, and realizes he isn’t in his crappy apartment. He blinks at the hazy silhouette of someone he knows is familiar standing by the door. He blinks once, twice, and notices it’s Jihoon. The sorcerer is holding a cup of coffee in one hand and one of those THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING plastic bags on the other.

“The hands?” Soonyoung asks.

Jihoon sips from his coffee. “Your hands.”

“Oh.” Soonyoung looks down at them. He can tell they were bruised but now they look healed as he opens and closes them. “They don’t hurt.”

Jihoon smirks and throws the plastic bag. Soonyoung catches it without looking.

“Still got it,” says the sorcerer, smirking. “So . . . about last night.”

“What about last—oh.” Soonyoung’s eyes widen to the point of almost popping out of their sockets. He aims a shaking finger at his friend and cock his head to the side. “What did you do?”

“Nothing. You came to me all beat up. I patched you up. You spent the night here. End of story.”

“Wha—really?”

“Yes, really.”

“What about last night then?”

Jihoon clenches his jaw in that way he does whenever he has to impart bad news. “It can’t happen again,” he says. “I have no problem patching you up, but if it’s something that’s gonna require me using magic then . . . that’s not something that should become routine.”

“Oh.”

Soonyoung sighs and massages the back of his neck. He barely remembers why he came to the Sanctum in the first place, but things have been so hectic lately that it isn’t that weird that he can’t recall swinging by for a quick check-up and some stitches. He shrugs it off and turns his gaze to Jihoon, who’s scrutinizing him with a penetrating stare.

He does remember Jihoon suturing a cut above his eyebrow and yanking on his hands.

“I remember blacking out when you were treating my hands . . .”

“Oh, that? Yeah, I realigned your chakras.”

Soonyoung makes a face. 

“That was what you were doing?” he asks, fighting the impulse to shudder.

Jihoon nods. “I told you it’d hurt like hell. And seeing as you’re constantly neglecting your needs to focus on others, you got some work to do on yourself.”

Soonyoung scoffs and shakes his head. Work on myself, he thinks, as if I had time for that.

“Thanks, but I can manage,” he says, waving a dismissive hand and patting Jihoon’s shoulder. “I always do.”

“I know, but you’re not alone.” Jihoon looks serious. “Look, webs, your problem isn’t the smearing campaign the Bugle has against you or fighting crazy supervillains. The problem is you trying to live two widely different lives. The longer you do that, the more dangerous things will become.”

“Why are you—”

“The more you try to keep something from happening, the quicker it’ll happen.” Jihoon pats his friend’s knee, sips from his coffee, and turns to leave. “Keep your friends close and your loved ones closer.”

Soonyoung blinks, confused, not really sure what to say. He just nods and watches Jihoon leave the room. He opens the plastic bag, looks down, and sees his Spider-Man suit. He tenses, gives the room a cursory glance, then slowly takes the mask from the bag. He sniffs it out of habit and instead of recoiling he finds himself smelling it again. It smells like mango and feels new to his touch.

He cocks his head, as if to say no bad. A second later, he puts the suit on, opens up a window, and swings out of the Sanctum.

∿∿∿

YOU WAKE UP to the smell of mango and someone knocking on your window. Groggily, you open your eyes, rub them, then notice a familiar silhouette clad in red and blue hovering on the windowsill.

Is that—

“Spider-Man?”

You blink twice, rub your eyes again, and cock your head in confusion as the webslinger awkwardly waves at you. You wave back, drag yourself out of bed, open the window, and slowly back out as he slips into your bedroom.

“Hey,” he says.

You nod. “Hey?”

He clears his throat and points to the spider emblem in his chest.

“I’m, uh, Spider-Man.”

You nod again, eyebrows raised. “I know who you are . . .” your voice trails off then you ask, “What are you doing here, though? Don’t you have, like, things to do? Crime to fight? Supervillains to put away?”

“Er,” he mumbles, “I do but I got something a bit more important.”

“In between all the superhero stuff?”

He gives a small nod. “Yeah.”

“Oh-kay?” You narrow your eyes. “And what does that have to do with me?”

��Well, uh, I—” Spidey clears his throat. He begins pacing the room, hands on his waist, glancing your away every ten seconds or so, then gives his back to you. After a beat, he turns to you and shrugs. “If not now, when?”

“Wha—”

He leans in, pulls his mask off, and Kwon Soonyoung appears underneath it. “I’m Spider-Man,” he says, smiling a smile that perfectly embodies his sheepish idiocy. “And I’m an idiot for telling you earlier.”

Your eyes grow wide, your mouth hangs open, and then everything clicks. All the sudden disappearances or the calls immediately directed to his voicemail or the times you noticed a bruise here or there. You try to say something but the shock is too much and you just punch him in the shoulder and embrace him in a hug.

“You smell like mango!” you exclaim, entranced by how sweet he smells.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“Ugh.” You roll your eyes but can’t conceal a bout of giggling. “It is.”

He hugs you tighter. The way his hands wrap around the small of your back feels familiar, comfortable. You lean your head on his shoulder as he leans his against yours. It feels like it’s meant to be.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” he whispers.

“I’m just glad you did,” you whisper back.

You hold him tight and wish to never let him go. Your eyes meet with his and you remain there, looking at each other, losing in each other’s gaze. His eyes linger in your lips and after a moment he leans in. 

The kiss is gentle and it seems to last forever.

∿∿∿

“HOW DID THE spell go?”

Jihoon painfully rolls his eyes and twists his neck left and right until he hears it crack. He doesn’t have to turn to know Minghao is behind him, possibly smirking at him, dripping with smugness, waiting for a lie or an excuse. But he does turn and sees that Minghao is just standing there, clad in his teal and golden yellow Disciple robes, a curious glint in his eyes.

“Well, let’s see,” says Jihoon, lifting a hand to count off his fingers. “The very fabric of reality isn’t breaking apart. We have no interdimensional visitors. Oh, and Wong hasn’t killed me yet. So far, so good.”

Minghao giggles mischievously. “You broke some rules and but them back together, didn’t you?”

“Sure,” says Jihoon, closing his eyes to continue meditating. “Let’s go with that.”

[rubyreduji]

[i read a lot of svt fanfic]

choi seungcheol

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coming soon...

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