arachne-boy

You know, for someone so observant, you really had an awful habit of texting while walking.

As you made your way along the sidewalks of Queens, you kept your eyes fixated on the bright screen in your hand, the blue light hurting your eyes slightly as it contrasted against the fading afternoon light.

“Watch it!” An angry male voice huffs out as you accidentally run into him, your phone fumbling to the floor.

“Ah, shit. I’m sorry.” You blink, taking in the man that stood in front of you.

He looked disheveled and reeked of alcohol. You frowned. You should head back home, it was getting late; this part of town was slightly dodgy and you knew better than to dwell too long here at night.

Bending over, you grabbed your fallen phone that laid by the man’s feet.

Sighing, you brought it up to view, frowning at your now cracked screen. 

Dammit. You couldn’t afford to pay for a new screen.

“You’re in my way.” The man barked, your eyes flicker to him as his face neared yours. Your nose scrunched up as his alcohol stain breath hit your face.

You took a step back, not wanting to engage the man in case he turned violent. Most drunken idiots like him were usually harmless, but you didn’t like how bold he had become.

“Sorry.” You replied dryly, causing him to scoff as he moved to pass you.

“Cunt.” He insulted you audibly, for whatever reason.

You rolled your eyes as he brushed his shoulder against yours angrily as he passed.

“Asshole.” You muttered under your breath without thinking, placing a foot out to begin to continue walking.

You let out a gasp as a grip on your wrist yanked you around, causing you to face the angry man.

Your eyes widened in panic as he held your arm up beside him in a harsh grip.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” He hissed, causing you to try and yank your hand back.

“Nothing! Let go of me.” You demanded, thrashing about in his in grip.

The man looked at the arm of yours he had held captive, eyes falling onto the cracked cellular device you still had your fingers wrapped around.

“I think I’ll take this off your hands.” He chided, plucking your phone out of your hand.

You felt yourself begin to panic; without your phone, you had no means of communication. Scared, you tried once again to free your arm from his grips, calling out for help.

The man laughed at your expense as there wasn’t another person to be seen in sight.

“Why don’t you shut that loud little mouth of yours before you really piss me off.”

The threat was dark and you felt yourself begin to tremble. Just as you were about to open your mouth for one final scream for help, the man himself let out a yelp.

“What the fuck?” He exclaimed, head snapping down to the hand that wasn’t wrapped around your arm, the hand that had held your phone just seconds ago.

You frowned momentarily, glancing around for someone that could have taken the phone from his hand— someone who could help you.

You turned back to face the stranger, a light bulb turning on in your head as you realized that he was still distracted.

Kicking a leg up, you tried your best to hit the area in between his legs. It wasn’t as hard of a hit as you had wanted it, but it was enough to cause the man to physically recoil and loosen his grip off of you.

You claimed your arm back from him angrily, stepping back with a relieved sigh.

The man sent you an enraged glare, moving towards you.

“You fucking bitch—”

Seemingly from out of nowhere, the man was yanked back, as if by an invisible force. He let out a perplexed noise and the both of you glanced down to his waist, where thousands of translucent threads of silk were wrapped around him.

“Hey, buddy! Didn’t anyone ever tell you to keep your hands off a lady?” A disembodied voice called out from somewhere above you.

Your head snapped towards the sound, and watched in disbelief as a man clad in blue and red perched on the side of a neighboring window jumped off and landed soundlessly on the ground, his arm extended out towards the man.

Your mouth fell open, as you realize the string of web was coming from his wrist, “It’s—”

“You’re that spider punk!” Your attacker finished for you, turned to face the approaching superhero.

“Actually, I go by Spider-Man. Close though, you get brownie points for trying.” The masked man offered, his tone of voice surprisingly familiar.

You watched as the man known as Spider-Man moved his head to look at you, the eye slots in his mask shifting in size as he focused on your face, you assumed.

All across the borough of Queens, New York, there had been sightings of this webbed man, swinging from building to building, stopping muggers and aiding police.

Photos were printed all across local newspapers, videos of the masked man in action uploaded to YouTube for millions to see. And now here he was, in the flesh, standing before you.

“Oh, fuck.” He breathed so quietly, that you almost thought you had imagined it.

Before you could think to respond, the sight of the drunk man charging towards the masked hero caught your attention.

“Look out!” You warned the superhero, whose eyes were still fixated on you.

He snapped his head towards the angry drunkard.

“Woah!” Spider-Man exclaimed as he dodged the flying fist of the stranger.

The man let out a growl of frustration as he missed before once again raising his fist to hit the webbed man.

To both your and the attacker’s surprise, the superhero extended his arm out to launch another string of web, this time wrapped around the drunk man’s clenched fist.

“Let go of me you fucking spider freak.” The man growled, his free hand attempting to free his encaptured one.

“Dude, c’mon, the name is Spider-Man— You know what? I take it back. No brownie points for you.” Spider-Man chided, wrapping his hand around the silk strand and yanking his attacker forward.

The man let out a grunt in surprise as his body was pulled with ever step the blue and red man took.

“Let’s get you someplace you can sober up. How does a holding cell sound? NYPD would be happy to provide. Helen should be working tonight. She’s a super nice lady, you’ll like her.” He spoke cheerfully, moving the aggressor away from you. The captured man merely cursed in response.

You let out a snort at the superhero’s lax conversation with the cursing man. Were all superheroes this chatty when taking down bad guys?

Spider-Man turned back to you at the sound of your amusement and you sent him a grateful smile.

Your smile dropped instantly though as within a matter of seconds, Spider-Man himself was yanked forward by the still attached attacker, falling victim to his own web this time.

You let out a shriek as the angry man’s free fist met the masked face of your savior.

“Ow, dammit.” Spider-Man hissed, clutching his cheek in annoyance.

Clearly spurred on by his successful hit, the enraged man moved again to pound the superhero, but this time the masked man was ready for it.

The string of the web connecting him and the drunk was cut soundless, separating the two.

Extending out his arm behind him, Spider-Man launched a web and it found purchase on wrap a pole of the nearby streetlight. With an effortless tug of his arm, his body lurched forward and into the air, as if his body was weightless.

You watched in awe as in a matter of seconds he pivoted around the steel frame of the street light and swung back around, his feet meeting the man’s chest before they ever met the ground.

Your attacker flew back against the brick wall of the barbershop you were stopped in front of, letting out a grunt on impact.

Having had landed on his feet gracefully, Spider-Man shot out two webs, each pinning the man’s hands against the wall.

The man jerked his arms forward in alarm, trying to free himself but whatever grip the sticky web-like substance had on him was not letting up.

“You little—”

Almost comically, a final web was shot at the man, this time landing over his mouth, effectively silencing him.

“You have the right to remain silent!” Spider-Man declared, before chuckling lightly, clearly amused at his own joke.

The silenced man sent daggers at the superhero with his eyes, clearly enraged.

“Awe, don’t look at me like that. Dude, you assaulted a lady, I gotta restrain you!” Spider-Man reminded him, sounding juvenile in tone. “If it makes you feel any better, you still got a gnarly hit on me, remember? Technically, you’re ahead.”

Spider-Man sighed before beginning to turn away from the man.

You watched as he suddenly froze in his steps, as if remembering something, before turning back to face the trapped attacker.

Extending out both of his arms in front of him, he launched two string of webs onto the man’s pants, yanking them down with a swift ‘woosh.’

“Sorry,” The hero apologized sheepishly, sounding genuinely remorseful, “now we’re even.”

It suddenly occurred to you how young this “Spider-Man” was. Sure, he was a protector of the streets of New York but the way he spoke was how people your age did. Not to mention the fact that he went out of his way to pants the guy… you had a feeling the guy was younger than the usual superhero was.

“Hey!” You called out.

The hero turned towards you in surprise, as if not expecting you to talk directly to him.

“Hi there.” He replied coolly in a suddenly low voice. You frowned at the sudden change of his tone.

What was that about?

“Thanks for that. That was pretty awesome of you.” You gushed, eyes landing on the awkward way he had placed a hand on his hip in an effort to seem nonchalant.

“Oh, you know, I was just in the neighborhood.” He assured you with a wave of a gloved hand, “I’m happy to help out a damsel in distress.”

Again with that weird low tone. It wasn’t as if you hadn’t heard him speaking to the criminal all the time. His voice was higher pitched and far less strained back then. Was he trying to put on some kind of manly voice to seem cool or something?

“Well,” you shot him a look, “I mean I did kick the guy in the nuts. No helpless damsel would do that, you know.”

If the superhero wasn’t wearing his mask, you might have seen him smile.

‘Stubborn as ever.’ He thought to himself.

“Pshhh, you only got that opportunity because I snatched your phone from him.” He countered causing you to let out a noise in realization.

“Oh shit. Yeah, could I have that back?” You recalled, causing Spider-Man to nod.

“Sure, one sec.” He said as he ran back a bit before expelling a web and swinging back up to the rooftop he had been perched on before he came down to kick ass.

You wait until he came back down to respond.

“Thank you! I gotta call Jungkook and tell him I just fucking met Spider-Man.” You laughed to yourself, shaking your head as you took your phone out of his hand.

“J-Jungkook?” The hero stuttered, voice sounding deeper than ever.

“He’s my best friend. He’s gonna freak out when I tell him. He never shuts up about how cool he thinks you are.” You smiled, reaching for your phone.

Pressing down on the home screen button hesitantly, you let out a sigh of relief when your phone lit up, cracked but not broken.

“Well, uh, I better go alert the police and all that.” Spider-Man nodded awkwardly, eyes fixated on your phone as you hit call and held it up to your ear.

“No wait, stay! Jungkook would shit himself if you said hi to him.” You explained, turning towards the masked man with pleading eyes.

God, he prayed you wouldn’t be able to hear his obnoxious ringtone of Wiz Khalifa’s Black and Yellow going off from where he had hidden his backpack up on a nearby rooftop.

“C’mon... answer, Kook.” You huffed as the call continued to ring.

The hero shifted nervously, needing to leave without seeming suspicious.

“I don’t think your friend is gonna answer.” He laughed nervously, “Why don’t we take a selfie for him to see instead?”

Grabbing the phone out of your hand, he pulls you into his side eagerly, causing you to let out a surprised yelp.

“Say cheese!” Spider-Man enthused, holding up your phone, the front-facing camera on.

You barely managed to smiled in time as he took the photo, still confused at his sudden motions.

“Hey, nice! You can post that if you want.” He told you, handing you back your phone hurriedly. “Well, I gotta run. It was nice meeting you!”

You frowned as he began to walk away.

“Wait–”

“Caption it ‘With your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!’” He yelled back at you with a wave, his pace increasing to a jog before he yanked himself up by web and over a building, disappearing from sight.

“Jeez, he’s in a rush.” You say out loud to yourself, shoulders lowering.

If only Jungkook had picked up his stupid phone, then he would have spoken to the superhero. What was with him? Lately, it was seeming like it was harder and harder to get in contact with your usually accessible best friend.

You hadn’t seen Jungkook the entire summer as you went away to camp, and you couldn’t feel like the Jungkook you had come back to was a different one.

He had bulked up over the summer, which was a weird sight to take in when you had been so used to the lanky frame he had been sporting for his entire life. Along with the addition of muscle, he had become weirdly distant. You hadn’t had a chance to actually sit and hang out with him, to catch up like the two of you usually did after the summer. It had been two weeks since you’ve come back and for whatever reason, whatever interactions you had with Jungkook were usually cut short by him having somewhere to go. Also, after school the two of you usually met up to do school work but for the past two weeks, he had been canceling those plans, unable to show up.

He had been a pretty shitty best friend for the past two weeks, in all honesty. The least he could do is answer his damn phone.

You let out a sigh.

To your surprise the man that had laid sulking against the wall, let out a muffled grunt, pulling you out of your thoughts. You turn to him; you had forgotten he was even there.

He sent a glare your way, clearly upset with the way his Friday night had turned out. You flash him a sheepish smile before turning to head towards Jungkook’s apartment.

--------------------------------------------

Jungkook fumbled through the window of his room, having had bounded up the fire escape.

You were heading toward his apartment. Of course you were. He knew there was a slim chance that someone as excitable as you would march back home silently after having had run into a superhero.

In fact, Jungkook hadn’t really left as he made you believe. Really, he had perched himself along the side of a building, hidden from your inquisitive eyes in order to see exactly what you would do with him gone.

He audibly groaned the moment you turned around to head towards a direction that was, without a doubt, not the way to your apartment.

What followed was a hurried visit to the nearest police station to inform them of his entangled friend, a quick outfit change, and a panicking Jungkook to get to his apartment before you did.

Closing his window shut before scurrying over to his school bag, he yanked out notebooks so that he could throw them onto his bed. He needed to look like he had been studying all night, and not swinging from building to building.

Jungkook jumped in place at the sound of knocking outside his apartment door. The multitude of knocks rang out in a pattern that was distinctively yours.

Smoothing out his shirt, he made his way towards his front door.

Opening the door, he was met by his cross-armed best friend.

"Hey–"

"Is your aunt home?" You interrupted, eyes flickering over his shoulder and into his apartment.

"No, it's book club night." He replied, shrugging as if to seem nonchalant.

Immediately, you pushed past him, storming into the apartment with a huff. Your green apple scented shampoo wafting past him.

"What the fuck, Kook?! Where the hell were you?!” You exclaimed, “Did you see my texts?”

Jungkook wanted to turn around and shut the door but the look you were giving him told him it was in his best interest to respond to you now.

"Oh, sorry. I've been studying nonstop today. My phone must have died or been on silent." Jungkook told you, his voice shaking slightly. He cleared his throat in an attempt to calm his nerves.

You glared at him but ultimately sighed, knowing there was nothing you could do now.

"Well while you were busy studying, I was busy helping fucking Spider-Man kick some drunk guy's ass." You told him.

Jungkook opened his mouth, about to correct you that actually it was just him who had apprehended the man but he caught himself just in time, flashing you an excited smile instead, mirroring your own.

"What?! No way!" He gaped, causing you to nod excitedly.

"I swear!" You insisted, reaching into your back pocket for your phone. "We took a selfie together. Ignore my cracked screen, the drunk asshole knocked it out of my hand."

Jungkook walked over to you, peering over your shoulder as he watches you fiddle with your newly cracked screen, pulling up the selfie you and him had taken. Jungkook couldn't help but laugh at the photo.

It was funny; you were smiling but wore a slightly perplexed expression as you weren't expected to be yanked into the superhero's side. Then, of course, there was the underlying fact that you were standing here showing Jungkook a photo of himself without you even knowing.

At the familiar sound of Jungkook's chuckle, you turned your head towards him. You let yourself stare at your best friend's profile for a moment. He's always had such a nice smile.

Really, Jungkook was a good looking guy. If it weren't for his total cluelessness when it came to girls, you'd imagine he would have a girlfriend by now. His sudden beefing up this summer probably sent the girls at your school for a loop; you know it sure did for you.

Was that why he wasn't hanging out with you anymore? Did he have other girls to hang out with now?

The thought made you frown. You probably sounded super needy but the idea bothered you. Obviously, you knew eventually you weren't going to be the only girl in Jungkook's life but still... he didn't have to push you away if that was the case.

You shook your head, wanting to clear your mind from those thoughts.

“You’re about the same height as him I think.” You observed bluntly causing Jungkook to grow flustered.

"O-Oh. Am I? That's cool, I guess." He laughed nervously, moving towards the living room couch, wanting to sit down before you could further analyze his and Spider-Man's physical similarities.

Rubbing your shoe against the inside of your ankle, you wondered if it would be okay to bring up the fact that you had felt like the two of you had been distancing lately. Would it make things weird and tense? You hated tip-toeing around your feelings but maybe you should suck it up rather than sticking your nose into something the might not be your business. Maybe Jungkook had some personal things going on and you just had to give him some space.

Jungkook turned his head from his spot on the couch, his big brown eyes meeting yours.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

The words came out of your mouth before you could stop yourself, surprising both Jungkook and you.

Jungkook's eyes widened at your question, a surprised laugh tumbling out of his lips.

"W-What?"

You shook your head sheepishly, you hadn't meant to be that blunt.

"I dunno. I just feel like we haven't talked at all since I got back from camp. We used to have post-summer sleepovers where we would do that cliche thing where we just stay up all night and talk about our summer. We didn't do that this year." You pointed out, feeling slightly childish for whining to him about it, but doing so regardlessly.

Jungkook quirked up an eyebrow, "So you think I have a girlfriend?"

Jungkook did feel bad that you felt this way, you were his best friend and he missed spending time with you. But as much as he wanted to catch up, he couldn't exactly explain that over the summer he had gotten bit by a radioactive spider and woke up the next day with superpowers. Mr. Stark had stressed that it was in Jungkook's best interest to keep his identity a secret; he wasn't even allowed to tell his Aunt May.

Ironic, coming from the man who walked around publicly known as Iron Man.

"I mean, who knows! We haven't talked–"

Your words fell flat as your eyes fell on the bruise that Jungkook was sporting along his cheek. That wasn't there when you first got here, was it?

“Woah, what happened to your cheek?” You exclaimed in concern, eyes wide.

Jungkook’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What was wrong with his cheek?

He opened his mouth to ask you just that when the memory of your drunker assaulter getting a solid hit on him, entered his mind.

Thanks to his newly accelerated healing process, the welt on his cheek must have already formed into a bluish-purple stain. Within another hour or two the bruise would be gone.

"Oh, you know... I, uh, got hit." He stalled, trying to think of a good excuse he could tell you.

"By what?"

Jungkook opened his mouth only to close it and open it once more, "A golf ball."

It was the first object that came to his mind and he could tell by the way you were looking at him dubiously that you weren't buying it.

"Where the hell were you that you got hit by a golf ball?" You pressed, an eyebrow raised.

Jungkook shrugged absentmindedly, "They opened up this awesome new indoor golf place nearby. I went a couple of hours ago and got hit by a rookie player."

You blinked in confusion.

"I thought you said you were studying nonstop today?" You countered, pointing out the obvious hole in his lie.

Jungkook's eyes widened momentarily at his mistake before relaxing his expression, so as not to raise suspicion.

"Right… And I was! This was before I started studying. I wanted to have some fun before I drowned myself in work so that’s why I checked it out."

Jungkook could feel his chest swell at the clever save. There really had been a new indoor golf course that opened up nearby. There was no way you could refute his excuse.

“Really? Huh, I didn't even know you liked golf.” You confessed.

"Yeah, it's... something I picked up over the summer." He let out awkwardly.

"You would've laughed your ass off if you were there. The ball really got a gnarly hit on me."

The side of your mouth threatened to tilt up, the thought of your unsuspecting best friend getting whacked with a golf ball amusing you greatly, but there was something about his words that caused a nagging thought to tug at the back of your mind.

“If it makes you feel any better, you still got a gnarly hit on me, remember? Technically, you’re ahead.”

Those were the words that Spider-Man had said to the drunk man earlier today. What a weird coincidence.

Your eyes fell onto Jungkook's cheek, the blue stain capturing your attention.

Spider-Man had gotten hit on that cheek if you remembered correctly. How strange...

You tilted your head to the side.

Jungkook knew that look on your face. It was the face of a brilliant and whirling mind. You were extremely perceptive and it terrified him.

Everything was falling together. You remembered thinking that the hero's voice initially sounded familiar before he had forced it into a lower octave. And now with Jungkook showing up with a matching bruise and the same vocabulary as him, was this really all some giant coincidence?

Or was Jungkook... Spider-Man?

Your eyes widened, enlarging almost comically.

“Oh my fucking god!”

Jungkook immediately jumped up from the couch, beginning to walk over to the kitchen.

“Hey, are you hungry? I’m hungry! Mm, food! Let’s eat something, yeah?”

“Don’t tell me…” You began, eyes following his movement.

The boy in question pried the fridge open, a finger tapping against his chin as if contemplating.

“Let’s see here. We've got pizza—”

“Jungkook—”

“Oh! May bought taquitos, nice!”

“Jungkook!” You interjected once more causing your best friend to shush you.

“Y/N, please. You know how important dinner is to me. I can’t get this wrong.” He dismissed you with a dramatic wave of a hand, before once again directing his attention to the freezer portion of his aunt’s fridge.

You rolled your eyes. Turning away from him, you inspected the living room, a wild idea sprouting in your mind.

Jungkook was in the midst of inspecting a bag of frozen tater tots when it happened.

A tingling sensation traveled up from the nape of his neck up to the base of his skull. He didn’t know how to explain it, but before he could move to pry his eyes off of the frozen potatoes, his hand shot up beside him, clutching the book that had been thrown at him and was just inches away from hitting him in the head.

Shit.

Jungkook grimaced once he realized what he had just done and turned his head to look at you.

You stood in the living room, eyes wide as you took in how Jungkook had flawlessly caught the book you had flung at him without so much as looking in its direction.

“I fucking knew it.” You breathed.

“You just threw a fucking book at me!” Jungkook quipped back, eager to change the subject.

“Jungkook… you’re that guy! The spider kid everyone has been talking about!” You could feel yourself start to shake in excitement.

This time it was Jungkook’s turn for his eyes to widen.

“Um… I don’t…”

“My best friend is a superhero, holy fuck!” You gaped, still trying to wrap your mind around it.

Jungkook's head turned towards his apartment's still open front door. He shushed you, urging you to lower your voice.

“Woah, let’s calm down now—”

“I mean I had a feeling you were. I wouldn’t have thrown the book at your face if I wasn’t at least seventy five percent sure—”

“Seventy-five percent?! You risked the integrity of my face on seventy-five percent? Dude, you literally could have broken my face.” Jungkook interrupted, eyes wide.

“But I didn't. You caught it without even looking at it... you didn’t even flinch, Jungkook! ” You exclaimed, the implications of the situation finally hitting you.

“What’s the big deal? So I caught a book after you hurled it at me, that makes me a superhero? Man, crack really is one hell of a drug.” Jungkook joked, trying to sound nonchalant but failing with the way the nervous tone of his voice bled through his words.

You frowned at his joke, “Jungkook. I love you, but you have the reflexes of a sloth.”

“That’s a gross overstatement.” He scoffed uncomfortably, unable to meet your eyes.

“Well, you used to! Before you started crawling up walls and swinging off buildings.” You marveled, mind still reeling.

“Y/N—”

“No, you know what? This makes so much sense.” You thought out loud, beginning to make your way over to the kitchen. “It's why you suddenly became ripped over the course of a single summer, why you get all weird and leave at the most random times and why you can never hang out at night— dammit, how did I not realize sooner!”

You had reached to where your fidgeting best friend stood in front of a now-closed refrigerator. Jungkook squirmed more with every step you took towards him.

“If I’m being honest, I kind of just thought you were on steroids or something.” You shrugged. “I never would have guessed that you were running around being Arachne-boy.”

Jungkook let out an offended noise.

“Okay, first of all… ouch. Second of all, the name is Spider-Man. Not Arachne-boy, not spider kid. Spider-Man.” Jungkook corrected with furrowed eyebrows.

At his words and lack of denial, you narrowed your eyes at him.

Noting his mistake, Jungkook quickly changed his expression into a more relaxed one, flashing you a nervous grin, “I mean… I heard he doesn’t like it when people get his name wrong.”

You let out a hum, contemplating his words.

“N-Not that he is a he! I mean who knows? Spider-Man could be a she! Gender is a social construct after all…” He trailed off as you neared your face to his, scrutinizing him closely.

At your proximity, he felt his face heat up, eyes flickering away from your inquisitive ones.

You had this aura about you; it was as if the moment you stepped into a room you commanded all of Jungkook’s attention and it often left him flustered whenever you got too close. He thought that was why investigative journalism was perfect for you and why you did it so well. Something about you just always left Jungkook feeling vulnerable and warm in the face.

Jungkook flirted with the idea that he might like you as more than just a best friend before, but he tried his best to shut that idea down whenever it would come up. He couldn’t like his best friend… certainly not when he had to hide the fact that he was a superhero from her.

You studied the way Jungkook couldn’t meet your eyes, a soft pink hue falling over his cheeks. You pressed your lips together as you looked at him– really looked at him.

He didn’t look any different, other than the sudden spurt of body muscle, you decided.

And, despite his sudden flakiness, you supposed he hadn’t changed much personality wise. He was still the immature and slightly dorky best friend you had always had. But still… there was something… different about him.

You sighed, taking a step back.

“Fine. Let’s say for a moment that you aren’t Spider-Man. How do you explain the way you beefed up practically overnight?”

At your words, Jungkook noticeably untensed.

Mr. Stark prepared him for this question the moment he first got in touch with Jungkook.

The day Jungkook had walked into his apartment to find Tony Stark, engineering genius, head of Stark Industries, and most notably, fucking Iron Man, sitting on his couch chatting casually with his Aunt May, Jungkook just about shit his pants.

And when Mr. Stark finally revealed that he had been keeping eyes of Jungkook, on Spider-Man, he nearly passed out onto the floor right then and there.

While he wasn’t exactly been recruited into the Avengers as he would have hoped, he was geared up with a brand new suit and with the knowledge that should Mr. Stark need him, he’d call. Along with a brief lesson in how to dodge any questions his Aunt May might throw his way.

“I got a gym membership over the summer.”

You frowned, “Yeah, but—”

“Look, I dunno, maybe I experienced some sort of late-onset puberty that helped me build muscle or something.” He offered, causing you to fight back an eye roll.

“Okay, right. So then why do you disappear at random times throughout the day, then?”

Fuck.

Jungkook didn’t have a rehearsed answer for this. If his Aunt May were to ask him this question, he would use visiting you as an excuse, but you weren’t Aunt May. He didn’t think to factor in his inquisitive best friend. He scoured his brain for a believable excuse, the way you were staring at him expectantly causing him to panic.

“I… have… a shitting problem.” Jungkook told you, regret instantly flooding him.

Of all the things that could have come to his mind, he told you he had some sort of bowel condition?!

Fuck, he was an idiot.

You blinked at him, clearly at a loss for words.

“You have a shitting problem.” You reiterated.

Jungkook cringed, “Apparently so.”

“Like irritable bowel syndrome?” You inquired.

Jungkook wanted death. Or at least, wanted to be able to time travel back to a few seconds ago so he could punch himself out before he could tell you that he had irregular bowel movements.

You crossed your arms over your chest, unsure of what to make of this information.

“So, what? You just… have to go to the bathroom all the time? For long periods of time?” You pondered.

“Yeah, well, that sure sounds like what a shitting problem is.” He replied with a quick tilt of his head.

“Oh.” You replied.

The atmosphere in the room quickly turned uncomfortable, both of you falling silent. Jungkook, as he cursed himself internally, and you as you tried to decide whether or not to believe Jungkook without seeming insensitive.

You cleared your throat, “Well. I hope you’re doing okay. Shitting problem and all.”

Jungkook couldn’t hold back the way his body physically recoiled at your statement. God, why couldn’t he have been a time-traveling superhero?

“But, I still have one more question.”

“Shoot.” Jungkook encouraged. It wasn’t as if anything he said after this could beat the fact that he falsely confessed to having bathroom troubles.

“Why can’t you hang out with me during the night anymore?” You asked, hand dragging the charm on your necklace side to side across its chain.

Jungkook recognizes the gesture, it was something you did when you were either uncomfortable, nervous or a mixture of both.

Jungkook let out a sigh, a boyish grin falling onto his lips.

“C’mon, Y/N. I’m eighteen. I’m a man. I’m allowed to keep my nightly affairs a secret He teased.

To his surprise, however, instead of rolling your eyes at him like he was expecting, a deep frown found its way onto your lips.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook inquired immediately, worried that he had upset you somehow.

You held his eyes for a moment.

“I dunno. Maybe I’m crazy but there really is something different about you. I don’t really know how to describe it, I feel it. And it feels… not right. It feels like you’re hiding things from me and that’s not what we do. We’ve never done that.” You explained softly.

Jungkook felt his stomach sink. You were right. From the moment the two of you, you had become inseparable. Every event that the two of you had faced, both fortunate and unfortunate, had been faced together. You told each other everything.

Jungkook was a happy kid for the most part, but he had suffered great loss; he had lost both of his parents in a plane crash when he was four years old. And just last year, his uncle was shot during a burglary gone wrong.

Jungkook once told you that he blamed himself for his uncle’s death, but you constantly reassured him that there was nothing that he could have done. It never seemed to soothe him, however.

For a while, Jungkook was really fucked up over the loss of his uncle. You had given him some space to let him grieve, and it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that things finally started to feel okay again.

But here you were again, in the strange place where you wanted him to talk to you about what was wrong, but not wanting to force him into doing anything that might make him uncomfortable.

“I know.” Was all he could reply, riddled with feelings of guilt.

You bite down onto your lip for a moment, the action capturing Jungkook’s attention before he quickly caught himself and prevented himself from staring.

“Jungkook.” You finally spoke, causing him to perk up.

“You would tell me if you were Spider-Man, right? You wouldn’t keep that a secret from me. You would trust me, right?” You questioned, holding his stare unabashedly.

Jungkook swallowed, an uneasy feeling spreading through him.

You were staring up at him with an uncharacteristically vulnerable expression. You were always the confident one. Jungkook usually just trailed behind you, cracking jokes every now and then while you actually pursued your passions seriously. Jungkook was not a bad student, by any means, he was a smart guy with a knack for engineering but he didn’t have that passion and drive that you did. He could never carry himself the way you did.

He admired you for all these qualities, and yet here you were asking him to comfort you because for once in your life you were unsure of yourself.

He felt his mouth run dry, unable to find the words to answer your question.

At his silence, your shoulders dropped.

For just a moment, a look of hurt washed over you. It was only momentarily, Jungkook would have missed it if he blinked, but it was enough to make him feel like absolute shit.

“I think I should go.” You murmured dejectedly.

Jungkook flinched at your words, “No, stay.”

“No,” You shook your head, “I have a presentation for debate class to plan anyway.”

You turned around and grabbed your school bag off from the floor, where you had absentmindedly placed it sometime during your arrival.

“Fuck, Y/N, you can stay here, seriously. We’ll do homework together all night like we used to, yeah?”

“No, uh… I really just have to go.” You pressed, voice sounding small.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

How does he fix this? Why does being a superhero have to be this fucking complicated?

“Y/N—”

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” You cut him off, sending him a curt nod before making your way towards the open front door to leave.

His chest tightened painfully as he started to watch you leave.

And before he could think to second guess himself, he extended his right arm out towards you, pressing his fingers down against his palm.

Just as you were about to step out of the apartment, the front door slams shut, causing you to scream.

You stumble back a few steps, hand clutching your pounding chest.

“What the hell was—”

Your words fall flat, as your eyes fixated on the front door knob.

Coating the bronze plated object was what seemed to be a trillion little glimmering threads, intertwined with one another in a way that was neither patterned or arbitrary, but beautiful all the same.

It swayed gently as if being tugged on ever so slightly.

Your mind went blank as you let your eyes follow the string of web that emerged from somewhere behind you.

Turning around, your wide eyes met Jungkook’s scared ones, soaking in the way he and his extended arm were connected to the string of web that had yanked the door shut by its handle.

Jungkook let out of a breath, “Sorry. I panicked.”

You nodded as you were completely at a loss for words.

“Stay?” He pressed, sounding nervous. You swallowed, trying to soothe your dry throat.

Your best friend was Spider-Man.

Your best fucking friend was actually Spider-Man!

“Sure.” You croaked out, words still feeling strange to use in this situation.

“Any chance you’d wanna do that super cliché thing where we ask each other about what we did over the summer?” Jungkook began awkwardly.

You nodded.

“Sure. But, uh, I’m gonna go ahead and guess that yours was infinitely more interesting than mine.” You say through a breath, still eyeing the silk of thread emerging from Jungkook’s wrist.

--------------------------------------------

With the apartment door now firmly shut, Jungkook could talk to you in confidence; he didn’t have to work about his pesky neighbors who were quite frankly incapable of minding their own business.

As the two of you sat down on his couch, he began to explain to you everything that had happened to him over the summer: the spider bite, his transformation, Tony Stark’s involvement– everything.

Every word that tumbled from his lips left him feeling lighter; he didn’t realize just how heavily this secret had been weighing down on him until he finally had someone to share it with.

But Jungkook knew what you now knowing meant. It meant that there was now a greater possibility of the world finding out who Spider-Man actually was.

“I need you to swear that you’ll keep Spider-Man’s identity a secret. You can’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t–”

Jungkook interrupted you with wide eyes as he further stressed his point, “Not your parents, not your sister, not Aunt May, not anyone, Y/N. If word gets out that I’m Spider-Man then that puts everyone I love at risk. Including you.”

“You can trust me, Kook.” You reminded him gently, trying to comfort your somewhat panicked best friend.

A part of you felt awful to see him like this. You felt like you had accidentally guilted him into telling you and now he was stressed out because of it. You still could hardly fucking wrap your mind around the fact that the superhero that you saw tumbling and swinging off skyscrapers on Youtube was your best friend but you knew for Jungkook’s sake you had to remain calm.

Jungkook stared at you for a moment, admiring the way you were keeping your composure and stared back at him with sincerity. You could have been freaking out and screaming it to the world by now, but you weren't. You were sat beside him instead, looking at him as if nothing had changed at all, as if he wasn’t able to spew webs and climb walls now.

He couldn’t ask for a better best friend.

“I know I can.” He told you earnestly, before holding out his pinky finger to you hesitantly.

“But I need you to swear.”

The gesture was immensely juvenile in nature, something the two of you used to use in your earlier years of friendship. But the significance of a pinky promise between the two of you held great value.

It was childish, but for the two of you, a pinky promise was unbreakable. Sacred, even. This was Jungkook telling you that he was trusting only you with this and that it meant a great deal to him.

You wrapped your pinky finger around his.

“I swear.” You told him firmly.

Comically, Jungkook let out an audible breath in relief.

“You have no idea how good it feels to finally get that off my chest. The life of a superhero is a lonely one." He sighs dramatically.

You give him a lopsided smile, still not able to believe that your best friend and you were casually chatting about his double life as a superhero.

"You know Tony Stark, huh? Sick." You said with a wiggle of your eyebrows.

At the mention of his role model's name, Jungkook noticeably perked up.

"He's like my mentor. He said he'd call me if he ever needed my help. It's fucking crazy, right?!" He mused, eyes sparkling in excitement.

You looked at him in matched awe, "So you're like an Avenger, right?"

Jungkook shifted in his seat. This exact question was one he had asked Mr. Stark directly, the prospect of joining the team of superheroes sworn in to protect the world too tempting to resist. Tony had been quick to avoid a direct answer, but Jungkook just figured he was somewhat of an Avenger in training. Or at least, he hoped he was.

"Uh, I mean, you know… yeah, basically." He told you with an awkward shrug. He didn't mean to lie but dammit, he was a superhero. He didn't need you thinking he was some lame Walmart version that didn't make the Avengers cut.

"Ah! My best friend is so cool!" You squealed gleefully, clearly not picking up on Jungkook's little white lie.

Jungkook let out a small chuckle at your excited state.

Suddenly, you held your hand out in front of you, all of your fingers but your pointer finger neatly tucked into your palm.

"What?"

"Web me." You declared. Jungkook stifled a laugh.

"What, why?"

You sighed, "I wanna see your webbing up close. Web me, you coward."

You wiggled your pointer finger at him, causing him to roll his eyes. It was typical you to want to sick your nose in all the details of some great story. You were a future reporter after all.

You watched with curious eyes as the unmasked Spider-Man held out his wrist. You let out a small squeak as a thin web shot out and wrapped itself around your finger.

'Amazing...' You thought silently, as you brought your finger higher up into your view.

Staring down at the intricate webbed design that was wrapped around your finger, you marveled at it. How could something that appeared so fragile be so strong?

“So this comes out of you?” You inquired, mind reeling.

Jungkook nodded, “Yeah—”

“Like everywhere?” You turned towards your best friend, eyes wide in curiosity.

“What?” Jungkook blinked, not understanding what you were asking.

You moved your eyes away from your webbed phalange and onto your perplexed looking best friend.

“Are all the liquids you expel... you know… webbed?”

Jungkook paused for a moment to take in your question. His cheeks and ears reddened in realization.

“Are you asking me if I piss out webs?” He asked in disbelief.

“To be honest, I’m actually more concerned about if you’re jizzing out strands of this stuff.” You admit, wagging your web coated finger at him for emphasis.

“Y/N!” Jungkook exclaimed, his eyes nearly falling out of his head.

“What? It’s a valid question!” You defended yourself, causing Jungkook to run his hand through his hair.

“For Pete’s sake, no, I don’t— just no. It comes from my wrists and only my wrists.”

“Interesting.” You nodded, clearly unphased by what it was you had just asked him. “Wait, another thing.”

“Yeah?”

“How did you stop that book I threw at you without even seeing it? Do you have eight eyes like a spider?” You wondered. Jungkook stared back at you, trying to determine the sincerity of your question.

“I– Do I look like… No. No extra eyes. I don’t really know how to explain it but I kind of just have this… sense for danger. It’s this like feeling, I guess, that I get when something’s wrong.”

You nodded.

“Is that how you know to run off and save the day?”

“Yep.”

“So you’re just walking around when suddenly you’re like, “Aha! My spidey senses are tingling!’” You enthuse, extending a palm out to mimic your best friend’s signature pose.

Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows, “I mean… dumb name for it but sure.”

You hummed, soaking in the information you had just received.

“Oh God,” Jungkook began, eyes widening, “are you about to go all private eye on me and ask me a shit ton of questions now?”

You let out an offended scoff, crossing your arms over your chest. “No.”

Jungkook sank further back into his couch. You were the girl who always asked too many questions in class, never content with the fact that not everything had a satisfying explanation. You craved understanding and the truth, the concepts being the very things that gave your life meaning. Once you became president of your school’s newspaper, that need for knowledge only spiraled into an insatiable thirst that left you always on the hunt for the next big scoop.

Usually, Jungkook dreaded when you found something of interest as it usually followed with a flood of questions or a week of discussion brought upon by you. Jungkook would try his best to keep up the conversation but you usually led the direction of it.

“Really?” He mused, staring at you with a crooked grin, knowing damn well you already had a list of questions lined up in the back of your mind.

You glared at him for a few silent beats before letting out a defeated sigh.

“Fine, yes.”

“Knew it.”

“Well, can you blame me?! I have the inside scoop to New York’s newest superhero!” You huffed, causing Jungkook to laugh.

“True. Literally, no one else knows but you.” He shrugged.

You opened your mouth to respond, when you suddenly snapped it shut, a certain glimmer finding your eyes.

Jungkook frowned.

He knew that look; you had an idea formulating in that brilliant mind of yours.

“You know what would be super cool?” You began, a sly tone to your words.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes, “What?”

“If Spider-Man agreed to an exclusive interview for the school’s paper.” You smiled, looking about as innocent as an angel.

“Y/N, what the fuck? What happened to swearing to keep my identity a secret?” Jungkook pressed with a shake of his head.

You rolled your eyes, waving at him dismissively, “I don’t have to give up your identity in order for me to interview you, you dork.”

“People will know I’m a student at our high school if I agree to do an interview for our school newspaper. That’s not a random thing that superheroes do.” He pointed out. You shook your head furiously, already having had thought this decision through.

“Not necessarily! Look, you saved me, right? You could have agreed to an interview after that. I mean, we have a selfie together to prove that we met. I just got lucky is all. Plus, you know me. You’d get a say in whatever I do or don’t publish. What have you got to lose?” You explained.

Jungkook looked at you wearily, still not sold on the idea.

You sat back into the cushion of the couch, biting down onto your lip. You had to convince Jungkook to say yes or otherwise, you’d literally never forgive yourself for missing the biggest career opportunity you’d ever come across.

You let out a sigh before speaking, “The people have a right to get to know the hero that’s protecting them.”

Jungkook noticeably tensed at your words, as they clearly resonated with him.

You had known Jungkook for a long time. Yes, he was a dork and slightly clueless at times, but above all, he was a good guy. He had always had a great moral compass and believed in compassion and justice. You weren’t doing this solely because it would garner lots of attention to your school’s magazine, but because a large part of you really truly did believe that Jungkook was worth getting to know.

Even if it was the masked version of him.

Jungkook sighed, a conflicted look on his face.

“Please, Kook.”

You were staring at him pleadingly, a small pout on your lips, as if you couldn’t possibly go on with your life without getting the chance to interview him.

Jungkook knew this probably wasn’t the moment to have this thought enter his head, but he couldn’t help but think you looked rather cute this way.

Because for the first time ever, after watching school policies and administration capture your curiosity, it was something Jungkook had done that had lit the fire behind those inquisitive eyes of yours.

Jungkook held your eyes for a moment, weighing his options before he flashes you a mischievous smile.

“Alright then. Give me your worst.”

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

You let out a sigh, tapping your fingers against the wooden surface of your desk in time with the ticking of the clock you were staring at.

Needless to say, your published Spider-Man interview was a hit among the school; it had even attracted the attention of local mainstream media, which had you beyond excited.

Jungkook and you had gone out for celebratory pizza, you recalled. You took him out to Joe’s since it was his favorite pizza place, and the two of you spent the night laughing and stuffing your face with pizza just like you used to do. With Jungkook’s double life secret having had finally been revealed to you, everything had finally gone back to normal.

Jungkook once again went back to spending every free moment he had with you, minus the times he had to run off and fight crime of course. You had your best friend back.

You let your forehead hit the cool surface of your desk.

If only he had shown up this morning.

Three days ago, Jungkook had, literally, swung by your apartment to tell you that he was going to be gone for the weekend. Tony Stark apparently needed his help, meaning he would be fighting an actual bad guy, with actual powers and an actual possibility of Jungkook getting hurt.

The thought of something happening to him made you feel sick and no matter how hard you tried to lose yourself in your teachers’ lectures, you couldn’t shake Jungkook from your thoughts.

Your mind kept playing back scenes of the two of you laid out on his bed, school notebooks and an open pizza box covering his bed. You had memorized the way his nose scrunched slightly before taking a bite of pizza with how often you replayed the memory in your mind.

You missed having someone you could talk to over the phone for hours when you grew bored on the weekend. You missed the sound of his laugh, his real one. The one that came out harsher than he would’ve liked and that ended in his panting for breath and his eyes watery.

God, this was a really fucking lousy time to realize you had feelings for Jungkook, given that he was missing and what not.

How did that saying go? You don’t know what you have until you maybemight possibly lose it?

You let out a groan. You just wanted to know that he was okay.

As if responding to your frustration, the final bell rang out, signifying the end of your last class and school. It was Monday and Jungkook hadn’t shown up to school, his spot beside you remaining glaringly empty.

You began your journey back home with a heavy mind. You kept checking your phone for any incoming message that might come in from him.

Should you call May and ask if he had come home? Maybe he had fallen ill and had decided to skip school. Or maybe May didn’t know that Jungkook hadn’t come home yet. She had a crazy busy social life and usually left the apartment alone for you and Jungkook to hang out in.

You had no clue if you should get involved. If Jungkook was just an ordinary guy than you would have marched up to his apartment and told May yourself that he was missing. But Jungkook was anything but ordinary, he had an entire other life he had to keep from the world and anything thing you did could potentially put that at risk.

How were you to know if your worries were justified or if it was just your embarrassing crush on your best friend that had you thinking radically?

Surely Jungkook was fine. He was with Tony Stark and the other Avengers after all. He was probably out celebrating their amazing defeat with some pizza or something. Right?

Before you knew it, you were home and another two hours had passed by without any word from Jungkook.

You lay on your bed sulking, wishing the worn out mattress could just swallow you hole.

If he didn’t show up tomorrow, you were going to contact May. You dropped an arm over your eyes, letting out a conflicted whine.

Your stomach was churning at the possibility of Jungkook dying as Spider-Man without anyone knowing.

God, you hoped you hoped you weren’t going to expose Spider-Man’s identity with Jungkook completely fine and showing up just an hour after you tell May.

“Dammit!” You groaned to yourself, wanting to scream out in frustration but you didn’t want to alarm your parents and younger sister that were all in their own respective rooms.

The sound of your window being forced up caused you to jump up in surprise, head turning towards the sound.

You let out a breath as a familiar red and blue man poked his head in, having had successfully opened your window.

Reaching for the back of his neck, the hero pulled his mask over his head, revealing a frazzled looking Jungkook.

He slid into your room.

“Fuck, okay before you say anything please know that I still did my half of our government assignment—”

Jungkook’s sentence was cut short by you jumping off your bed and throwing your arms around him.

He fumbled back a step at the impact of you hugging him, a hand of his moving to hold against your back.

“Fuck. You’re okay.” You breathed into his neck, voice shaking slightly.

Immediately, Jungkook wrapped his arms around you, not expecting such an emotional response.

“I’m okay.” He told you soothingly, holding you against him.

Sliding two hands to his chest, you pushed against it, forcing him to release you.

Immediately, you balled up your fist and punch the side of his arm.

“Ow!” He cried out.

“Jeon Jungkook, you’re an idiot! What the fuck! I thought you had died when you didn’t show up to school this morning.” You scold him angrily, eyes running over the face you had missed so much.

He was sporting a rather nasty cut along his brow bone, but other than that, he looked exactly like the Jungkook you knew and loved.

You blinked.

You loved him. More than as a best friend. You knew that for sure now that he was standing in front of you, looking at you with warm, apologetic brown eyes.

You felt your face heat up at the realization and you turned your head away from him, unable to meet his big doe eyes.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. Mr. Stark really needed me today; it was crazy, I had to fight this really tall dude that they called Ant-Man, which doesn’t even make sense first of all, and oh! I stole Captain America’s shield. It was awesome... but then I lost my stupid cell phone which was a lot less awesome— Y/N, please forgive me, I know I suck.”

You let out a sigh. Jungkook looked sincerely sorry but you could see the excitement in his eyes as he recounted his weekend. You should have accounted for the possibility of something like this happening. He was a superhero, he could take care of himself. But still, you couldn’t stop shaking, the thought that you could’ve lost him still jarring.

“Sit.” You said, gesturing towards your bed. “Let me go get something for that cut of yours.”

Jungkook watched as you turned away from him and made your way into your bathroom, undoubtedly to look for some medical supplies that you always kept handy.

He felt weird. You seemed… overwhelmed. He supposed that was normal; it wasn’t like there was some sort of guidebook on how to be a superhero, much less be the best friend to one.

Walking over to your bed, he plopped down on it, obeying your orders. Shortly after, you returned with some supplies such as antibacterial cream and band-aids.

Wordlessly, you sat down next to him, before moving to clean the cut.

“Does May even know you’re alive?” You asked, causing Jungkook to nod.

“I told her that I had an internship opportunity at Stark Industries before I left so she knew where I was. As soon as I knew I was going to be needed an extra day, I had Mr. Stark call her to let her know. Surprisingly, I don’t have your number memorized so I couldn’t call you. I’m sorry.” He apologized once again.

You sighed.

“It’s okay. I know you were busy kicking ass.” You told him, offering him a soft grin.

Jungkook flinched at the contact of you spreading the ointment onto his open flesh but otherwise smiled back at you.

“It was so awesome! I mean not awesome because it was kind of a heroes against heroes thing which is weird, but anyway back to Ant-Man. You ever see that really old movie Empire Strikes Back? When they’re on that snow planet with the walking things? It was kind of like that.”

You offered your best friend a soft smile as he began to ramble on about the encounter. You wanted to be excited, and you imagine that under another circumstance, you would have been. But you find his words hollowing out into the background as thoughts of Jungkook one day possibly getting hurt took up your immediate attention.

You covered the injury with two band-aids, placed adjacent to one another. They were leftover ones from the Valentine’s Day exchange you and Jungkook had done this year.

The two of you figured you two were the closest thing each other had to a significant other so you gave each other presents. In true Jungkook style, he gave you a plush toy of Winnie The Pooh, a childhood favorite of yours, and Valentine’s Day themed band-aids instead of the usual roses and chocolates.

You stared at the heart littered bandaids. Why did you have to love him? Wasn’t the fact that he was a superhero complex enough?

“–And then this metal arm guy just… Hey, are you okay?” Jungkook asked, eyes filled with concern as you were zoned out, eyes having grown watery.

You snapped your eyes toward him, a single tear falling down your cheek.

“Don’t you ever fucking die. I’ll never forgive you if you die on me, you hear me?” You told him wearily, causing his expression to soften.

It wasn’t often that he saw you cry. In fact, he could probably count every time that he had seen you cry on a single hand.

“I’m sorry I put you through this. You shouldn’t have to worry this much... I know you’re my best friend but still. I’m so sorry.” He tells you softly, causing you to fall quiet.

He hated that he had worried you, hated that he had made you cry even more. Seeing you so vulnerable and upset had him panicking inside. A part of him, the selfish part of him that secretly loved you, was sickly pleased to see you worrying about him, but the bigger part of him, the part that wanted you happy, just wanted to get your mind off this whole thing.

Pulling your sleeves over your hands, you wiped away at your wet cheeks.

“God, you’re a real Casanova, Kook. Only a couple months into this superhero thing and you’ve already got the girls crying over you.” You joked through a sniff.

Jungkook felt his face heat up as he stared at the way you were smiling up at him as if he hadn’t just made you cry and before he knew what he was doing, he cupped your jaw with his hand and pulled you into him.

A small noise left your mouth as you froze, your mouth pressed against his.

In awe, your hands fell onto your lap, brushing against Jungkook’s hand lightly.

The small action caused Jungkook to come back to his senses, breaking the kiss hurriedly.

You gaped at your best friend with wide eyes, mouth slightly ajar.

“S-Sorry! I don’t know where that came from. The mood just kind of felt right and I was kind of like, ‘Dude, just go for it.’ but I probably should have asked you first because I just made everything weird, right? Fuck. I totally understand if you hate me now–”

You cut off his ramble with a stolen kiss of your own, only this time you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him back, instead of just sitting there frozen.

Jungkook felt any trepidation he had just felt melt away at the warm feeling of your lips placed against his. The kiss quickly grew less innocent than the initial peck he had to give you, neither of you really sure what you were doing, but knowing that it felt nice doing it with each other.

“Fuck, wait.” Jungkook called out, pulling away from you. You had somehow ended up on top of his lap, a knee on either side of him.

“What?” You breathed, panting slightly given the nature of your kiss.

“So...”

“What! What is it?” You huffed. You hadn’t meant to grow annoyed but you really wanted to pick up where the two of you had left off.

You were beyond embarrassed, of course. He was your best friend. You had always sworn to your mom that Jungkook was more like a brother than anything, yet here you were, out of breath and on his lap. You were kissing the same guy who had once asked you when the two of you were thirteen if girls peed out of the same hole they gave birth from, for fuck’s sake.

But you loved him. He was a massive idiot who just happened to be a superhero but you loved him. And kissing him left you feeling giddy and hot.

“Does this mean you like me? I mean… like me like me.” He cringed at his own words. He didn’t know how to phrase it in a way that was cool and suave because honestly, he was neither of those things. He just hoped you didn’t mind.

You blinked back at him, “Jungkook, are you serious right now?”

“Listen, I just want to be completely clear here!” He defended with a frown, causing you to fight back a smile.

“Jungkook—”

“What if we’re at school and I come up to kiss you thinking that we’re together together but we aren’t actually together together and it’s this big thing—”

“God, yes we’re dating, you idiot!” You interrupted. Jeez, your best friend was hopeless.

A boyish grin fell over Jungkook’s mouth and your eyes followed the gesture.

“You love me.” He teased, enjoying the way he frustrated you.

You turned away from him, feeling your face burn at how true his statement was.

“Whatever you gotta say to make you feel good about yourself, Arachne-boy.” You told him, a small smirk tugging at your lips.

At your words, Jungkook narrowed his eyes. You knew how much he hated when people got his name wrong.

“For the last time, it’s Spider-Man.” He whined, frowning at you.

You bit down onto your bottom lip, unable to fight off your smile for any longer.

Leaning over, you kissed his pouting bottom lip, causing him to pull you into him.

You didn’t care what his name was. You didn’t care if he wore red or blue or if he brought down a giant Ant-Man. It didn’t make a difference to you if he saved two or two hundred people.

All that mattered to you was that the man behind the mask was Jungkook and that he was kissing you like you were the coolest thing that had happened to him all weekend.