finding a cat on your back step is not what you expected from this morning. last night you had heard some rustling in the backyard but told yourself it was just the wind. turns out it was a tabby cat. he was really fluffy, with short legs and big round eyes. you were sort of concerned when you noticed one of his ears was dyed a vibrant teal colour, you thought maybe a group of kids had tried dying his fur but he seemed healthy other than being dehydrated and starving.

luckily you kept some cat food on hand for strays and he seemed to really appreciate a proper meal and a warm place to sleep. he slept peacefully by your side on the couch while you watched TV. an emergency alert popped up on your TV while you were watching. “this message is to alert city residents that a tabby cat hybrid went missing on January 1st, 2022.” the message switched from the automated voice to a distressed woman’s voice. “his name is Giwook, he has a teal streak in his blond hair and when he’s in cat form the teal streak translates to his ear. he is very precious to us, if you find him please call (xxx) xxx-xxx.” the message ended abruptly.

you looked beside you at the cat you had taken in. his big eyes looked back at you, assessing your reaction to the message. “Giwook?” you asked quietly. the cat blinked at you, his form changing before your eyes. “yes.” he mumbled. “why were you on my back step?” you asked, Giwook sighed. “i ran away. the family i was with weren’t very nice to me and i couldn’t take it anymore. i don’t know why i ended up in your backyard, i was hungry and tired and your house smelled good… please don’t turn me in, i don’t want to go back there! i’ll do anything, i’ll leave and i won’t come back-” he stopped mid sentence, tears rolling down his cheeks. you cooed gently at him, “it’s okay, i won’t turn you in. you can stay here until i figure out what to do. okay?” you wiped away his tears with your thumb, he nodded wordlessly.

during the next couple of days you struggled to figure out what to do, you could appeal to the hybrid protection program. but you had no evidence of abuse or mistreatment and Giwook wouldn’t tell you anything about his past. at this rate you were worried you would have to either leave the city with him or turn him in. besides the fact that you were essentially hiding someone’s ‘property’ (you hated calling a living being property but that is how the law would see it), you got along really well with Giwook. he was sweet, cute and extremely cuddly. you wondered how anyone could mistreat such a kind hybrid.

one day when Giwook was laying with his head in your lap, you noticed a scar on his neck. when you looked closer you saw it was actually a brand. ‘property of the Smith family’ stretched in tiny letters along the base of Giwook’s neck. you tan your finger gently over where the letters marred his skin. he flinched slightly, his eyes focusing intently on you. he was now much more comfortable with you, he liked being by your side and he knew he wouldn’t be able to be by your side if he didn’t tell you about his past.

so the second your eyes met his after staring at the scar on his neck, everything came tumbling out like a waterfall. in another life he could have been a rapper (😉). your heart broke for Giwook, he had been through so much. the abuse he had suffered was evident by the scars that littered his delicate skin. “thank you for trusting me Gyuckie, i’m going to keep you safe okay? nothing bad is going to happen.” you brushed your fingers through his hair, Giwook smiled and his nose scrunched. you cooed at him and pinched his cheeks.

you appealed to the hybrid protection program, and they agreed that Giwook had been mistreated. his previous ‘family’ was investigated and banned from having any more hybrids in the future. but there was still one more obstacle in your way; you had to adopt Giwook. because of his background and your hiding him, the HPP (hybrid protection program) was making you jump through several hoops to adopt Giwook. first there was the criminal record check, then the mental health assessment, then the house check and finally several weeks worth of hybrid care classes.

all the while the HPP held Giwook in their facility and refused to let you see him. when you had met all of their requirements you were allowed to pick Giwook up and take him home. when you arrived at the HPP’s facility, he was handed to you in a cat career. inside he was fast asleep. Giwook’s handler explained that he hadn’t let anyone near him since he was brought to them, he stayed in cat form and scratched anyone who came close to him. “we thought it would be best for him to be ‘asleep’ when you picked him up.” the man explained. you glared at his back as he walked away.

If being unlucky was a race, you would be winning by a landslide. People often thought that this statement was an exaggeration, until you told them about the countless amount of times you had been caught in unfortunate situations, and life or death scenarios. 

This is why you were almost completely unsurprised when you found yourself as a hostage on a normal Wednesday afternoon. You had been going to get some coffee for you and your best friend, Giwook, for your study session, but lo and behold you had just happened to be there the one afternoon that an armed robber walked in and demanded for everyone to get on the ground. 

You had dropped to the floor, heart racing, as you cursed yourself for needing some caffeine. Why couldn’t you just be like Harin and drink Redbulls until your hands started shaking and you couldn’t sleep?

You flinched lightly as you heard the masked man step closer to you, your breath quickening. Even if you had bad luck, that didn’t mean situations like this one weren’t terrifying to you. Your eyes flickered up and you noticed the leather combat boot directly in front of your face.

“You, stand up,” the man commanded, his voice low and gruff. You inhaled shakily as you slowly stood to your feet , trying not to make any eye contact with the robber. You had learned from various self defense classes, along with experience, that criminals did not like to be tested, and that any sudden movement would be taken as a test.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing here all alone?” His voice sounded much closer,   causing you to squeeze your eyes shut in fear. A hand came to touch your shoulder and you wanted nothing more than to rip yourself away from his hold.

“I asked, what’s a pretty girl like you is doing here all alone?” His tone was much darker and you tried to force yourself to respond, when a voice came out from above you.

“She’s not alone.” The man’s hand was off your shoulder seconds after and you fell backwards into someone’s chest. You opened your eyes and turned to thank whoever caught you, when you realized that the arms steadying you belonged to none other than Spiderman. 

He looked at you and you could feel his smile, even if you couldn’t see it, as he helped you stand on your own.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this,” he said, before turning back to the robber. You watched with your mouth parted in awe as the superhero made quick work of the thief that had been touching you only seconds prior.

With the robber wrapped in tight spiderwebs, the authorities arrived and you were given an orange shock blanket and some hot chocolate. The hero that had been there had left as soon as he made sure that everyone was alright, but for some reason your mind kept wandering back to his masked face.

“Y/N!” Your head snapped in the direction of the voice and you were met with the sight of Giwook running towards you with his arms outstretched and concern on his face. You chuckled lightly as he wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you slightly.

“Are you alright?” His voice was steady as he pulled back, his eyes doing a once over to check for wounds. You rolled your eyes, pushing the orange blanket off your shoulders and standing up.

“I’m fine. Just a little dazed, but you know that this is not the first time I’ve been in a situation like this.” Giwook scoffed at you, pouting as he crossed his arms.

“You’ve never been held hostage at gunpoint before though!” He argued. You just gave a small smile before you began walking forward. You wouldn’t let him know, but the fact he was so concerned for you made your heart a little bit warm.

“I wasn’t really at gunpoint. Besides, Spiderman got there before anything escalated, so there really isn’t any reason to be so worried,” you said, lightly booping your best friend's nose. Giwook scrunched it, in a way that had your heart fluttering, and he looked at you unconvinced.

“Well who knows what would have happened if Spiderman hadn’t showed up! Really, I think you’re being too nonchalant about this whole thing!”

“I’ll be fine. In fact, I’m sure I’d feel much better if we just continue on with our day as usual. So, let’s go study,” you exclaimed, giggling as Giwook jogged lightly to catch up with you, grumbling the whole way about how he couldn’t believe you and your nonchalance. 

A few days passed with little to no incidents, but of course you couldn’t go long without something bad happening. Luckily this time was nowhere near as bad as being held hostage, but when you noticed that your wallet was missing from your purse on your way home from Giwook’s you couldn’t help but curse.

Turning around, you began to retrace your steps in hopes of you just dropping it, but you knew that with the busy streets it was more than likely someone had stolen it from you.

You found a bench on the sidewalk and sat down, feeling tears prick at the corner of your eyes. You felt stupid that this was the thing that made you cry, considering you had a been in the presence of a gun not too long ago, but your wallet was precious to you. It had your money, your IDs, your debit card, but most importantly it held countless pictures that you and Giwook had taken at photo booths. Those photos were one of your most prized possessions, and now they were gone. 

You moved your finger to wipe a tear from your eyes, when a familiar leather wallet was thrust into your eyesight. You sniffled quietly before looking up, your mouth falling open in silent awe.

The same masked hero from the coffee shop was holding your wallet out to you in silence. You gingerly took it from his grasp, eyebrows furrowing in a silent question.

“I caught some guy stealing and he had this on him. I saw your ID and thought I’d return it to you,” he explained. You wanted to question how he found you in the first place, but you were so overwhelmed that your wallet was back in your possession that you simply stood up and hugged him.

He froze in your grasp and you feared for a moment that you had overstepped your boundaries, but he relaxed after a moment and softly hugged you back. Your heart quickened slightly and you could hear the man’s breath hitch a little bit, but you thought nothing of it as you pulled away. Even though you couldn’t see his face, you could hear the smile in his voice.

“It’s really no problem, Y/- Ma’am. Just get home safe,” he stuttered. You giggled at his cuteness, before nodding. You thanked him again, before walking back down the road to your apartment.

“I’m telling you, he’s so nice!” you exclaimed as you sat on Facetime with Giwook and Harin later that night. You watched as Giwook smiled at your words, hugging his cheetah print pillow closer to his chest as he squirmed into a more comfortable position. 

“I’m sure he was. You’re really lucky he’s been there twice to help you,” Giwook mentioned, messing with a string on his pillow. You nodded, smiling happily.

“I know! I just wish I knew who he was so I could thank him properly,” you said, pouting a little bit at the mystery that laid in front of you. You heard Giwook cough a little bit as you spoke, but you didn’t think much of it.

“Well… I’m sure that he knows how thankful you are,” he said, and you nodded without much thought. You hoped that he knew how thankful you were for his help, especially today.

“Maybe he has a crush on you,” Harin said, offhandedly. You and Giwook both sat up straight, eyes wide at the suggestion that Harin had just made.

“What?” you exclaimed, not sure what to think of his words.

“I mean, he’s been there twice in 1 week and he hugged you back. I don’t see him hugging many civilians that he helps,” Harin teased. You felt your cheeks grow hot at the idea that the superhero would ever think of you as anything more than a civilian, and in your embarrassment,  you failed to notice how Giwook had thrown himself out of frame to try and calm down the red that was spreading across his cheeks.

You were about to respond when your phone buzzed, signalling a text message had come through.

Harin: Though, you’re in love with Giwook anyway

You immediately looked up and glared at Harin, who just shrugged. You looked to make sure Giwook hadn’t seen the exchange, and were thrilled to see that he was reentering the room with a glass of water. With a quick text to tell Harin to shut up, you continued the night with no more discussion of Spiderman.

You ran into the hero a few more times after that, and you began to notice that he did seem to be around you more often than others. Not that you thought anything of it, you simply attributed it to the fact that he was in the right place at the right time, doing his job.

But the most important night, the night that would change everything, came when you found yourself cornered on the way home from movie night at Dongmyeong’s place.

You had noticed the men following you a few blocks ago, and you had tried to avoid going anywhere or doing anything that would draw their attention, but that did not stop them from approaching you and cornering you in an alleyway.

That’s how you found yourself pressed up against the brick wall, shivering with fear as one guy came closer to you, his breath reeking of alcohol and tobacco. You closed your eyes, shrinking further and further as he got closer and closer, letting out a chuckle that made you want to throw up right then and there.

“Why are you scared, sweetheart? Walking alone this late at night, I’d think you wanted us to do something to you,” you shook your head timidly, wishing and hoping that someone would come save you. You heard an all too familiar sound and opened your eyes to see that some of the guys were brandishing pocket knives, sneers on their faces. 

You collapsed onto the floor, eyes squeezed tight in fear and you waited for something to happen, for someone to attack you or hurt you. But instead you were only met with the sounds of grunts, prompting you to open your eyes.

In true superhero fashion, Spiderman stood in front of you, taking care of the group of men that had been harassing you. You watched with a morbid fascination as one of the men attacked him, swinging at him with his knife. The hero moved away, the knife just slightly catching on his mask.

The hero hissed and stumbled back, but found his footing quickly. With a newfound determination, he slid underneath the arm of the guy with the knife, using his foot to push him back while he webbed the other guy. It didn’t take long after that for the other guys to scatter, probably deciding that a teenage girl was not worth the trouble.

You sat there, heart racing and your eyes wide as the hero observed the area, checking to make sure they were all gone, before his eyes immediately landed on you. He rushed over, a hand reaching up to his mask and you watched as he wasted no time in ripping the mask off of his face.

Standing in front of you, hair tousled and eyes wide, Giwook breathed heavily as he squatted down and put his hands on your shoulders, immediately checking you for any wounds. He thanked himself for following behind you, otherwise who knows what would have happened.

“Y/N! Are you okay? Did they touch you?” Giwook’s words were rushed as he scanned over you, thankful that there seemed to be no external injuries that he could see. It wasn’t until his eyes got to your face that he took a moment to pause.

You were staring at him, your mind working overtime to try and comprehend what was going on. Spiderman had been standing in front of you and then all of a sudden he had taken his mask off to reveal your best friend. Your best friend, who had never once even hinted that he was living a double life, who used to not even be able to do a push up, who was timid and nerdy and quiet, was Spiderman.

Meanwhile, Giwook was panicking. No one was supposed to know about this, especially not you. He hadn’t wanted you to find out cause he knew that you would do nothing but worry about him and he didn’t want to put that pressure on you. But it seemed that, in his haste to protect you, he had forgotten completely about that tiny little fact and had revealed himself.

You both basked in the uncomfortable silence for a second, until your eyes landed on his cheek. A small red cut was oozing blood, dripping down his cheek and forming a droplet on his jawline. You reached out to wipe the blood away with your finger, letting out a shakey breath.

“We can talk later. But right now I need to take care of this cut. Come on, we are almost at my apartment anyway,” you said, before beginning to stand up. Giwook scrambled to his feet, steadying your shaking legs. You smiled at thanks in him, before glancing at his mask.

“Right,” he said, letting go of you for a second to put his mask back on. With Giwook’s face covered, the two of you headed down the alleyway and to your apartment. Thankfully your parents were out for the night, so you were able to slip Giwook in without problem, leading him to your room.

“I’m gonna get the first-aid kit from the bathroom. There should be some of your sweatpants and one of your shirts in a drawer. I’ll knock.” Your words came out stiff as you tried to avoid his eyes when he slipped his mask off. He let out a hum of agreement, before you closed your bedroom door behind you to get the first-aid kit

You allowed yourself to have a moment of panic as you sat in the bathroom with the white kit in your hands. Your mind was racing, and the only thing you could think about was how Giwook, your best friend and the man that you had a crush on for years, was the superhero that had saved you multiple times. He was also the superhero who was put in danger and got injured multiple times.

You took a deep breath again, calming your nerves, before shaking your head. You couldn’t linger on that. Right now your only priority was Giwook.

You walked back to the room, knocking before entering. Giwook let out a soft ‘come in’ and you walked in to see him sitting on the edge of your bed, in a t-shirt and sweatpants. He looked so small compared to the hero that you had seen earlier as you sat next to him gently, popping the kit open.

You pulled out a sterilized wipe, turning to look at him. You pressed a hand to his cheek to get him to look at you, his eyes meeting yours. Your heart skipped a beat as you stared at each other and you could feel his cheeks heat up underneath your palm.

“This might sting,” you whispered, before gently pressing the wipe to the cut. He hissed lightly, and you stopped, making sure he was okay before continuing. With a little bit of ointment and a bandage, you had finished patching him up.

The silence from the alleyway returned as you both just sat on your bed, looking at your fingers as you tried to find the words to say.

“Why didn’ you tell me before?” Your voice was soft, so soft that Giwook almost didn’t hear it. He let out a sigh, shrugging slightly.

“No one was supposed to know. And I didn’t want you to worry about me,” Giwook explained. You chuckled as you rolled your eyes.

“I always worry about you. I just wish you would have told me before you got injured. I wouldn’t have told anyone.”

“I know but I couldn’t risk it.”

“But what if something worse had happened! What if you had gotten seriously injured or what if you died? I would have been left in the dark, wondering had happened to my best friend and living the rest of my life never knowing! Giwook, please.” Your voice wavered and you took a deep breath, trying to find your words. 

“I love you so much, you don’t understand how much it would crush me to lose you and never know why,” you said, tears threatening to spill. Your hands were curled into tight fists and you could feel the crescent moon shape of your nails marking your palms, but you couldn’t find it in you to care.

“You love me?” Giwook spoke in a whisper, staring at you in shock.

“Yes, you idiot! I’ve been in love with you for years!” You said, finally turning to look at him. Any anger you had died down immediately upon seeing his face. His eyes were sparkling, his lips curled into a light smile. Your heart flipped, and you just sighed, letting a tired smile fall onto your face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I’m in love with you too.” Your head shot up at his words, and Giwook let out a soft chuckle at how cute you looked with your wide eyes and parted lips. He pressed a hand to your cheek, just like you did to him, and he felt you instinctively nuzzle into his hand.

There was a beat, a pause, as if he was asking silently for permission. Your eyes simply flickered down to his lips, before you began to lean in. Giwook wasted no time in meeting your lips, feeling soft and sweet. Your lips felt so gentle against his own lips, chapped from all the time spent in his mask, yet his were far warmer than yours. You were both soft in your actions, neither of you in a rush.

When you finally pulled apart, both of you a little breathless, there were smiles on both of your faces. It felt right, like you had finally done something that you should have done ages ago. Giwook pulled you into his chest, holding you close as you nuzzled in, closing your eyes happily.

“You won’t tell anyone, right?” You rolled your eyes behind closed lids, before humming. “Of course not, idiot. You will tell me when you get hurt, right?” Giwook laughed, his chest rumbling against your head in the most comforting way you could possibly imagine.

“Yes… most of the time.”