#valeirion

Your joints scream with relief as you stretch back, grabbing your phone for a quick doomscroll. Twitter is going insane over James and Martin’s appearance at YSL SS27, nothing unusual — until, towards the end of your feed, you see it. A post of a man in a bright red and blue spandex suit, swinging through the streets of Seoul, helping grandmas cross the street, stopping muggings — the whole textbook superhero thing.

“Spider-Man! : Seoul’s New Vigilante?” You read the headline out loud, almost chuckling to yourself. As you read through the attached article your eyebrows scrunch together in thought, you think of the past 4 months of explaining your sticky hands and enhanced senses to your friends as side-effects of your new anxiety meds.

The silence in your bedroom bursts open as you jump up to your feet, slipping into the “costume” you made but didn’t think you needed. You stare at the mask in your hands, its design mirroring that of a spider’s webs and beady eyes perfectly. God you hated those things. Gritting your teeth, you put the mask on, standing in the ruins of your bedroom fully suited up for the first time since you made the suit 2 months ago. Shooting your wrist out, you swing out of the window, swinging into Seoul’s cool night.

“Who are you Spider-Man?” ♱ Martin yawns as he takes off his headset. The studio is quiet, the subtle buzz of the equipment and his soft breaths fill the room. His phone breaks the tranquility of the room, releasing a loud ping that leaves a slight ringing in his ears.

He lazily grabs it, the blue light burning into his aching retinas. As he finally processes the article Seonghyeon sent in the group chat, the fatigue washes off his body like a wave. “ ‘Spider-Man! : Seoul’s New Vigilante?’ Holy fucking shit.” His fingers shake as he reads through the article, slowly realizing he’s committed to this now.

Running his hands over his face, Martin starts thinking of the logistics of being Spider-Man. How the hell was he going to be an idol and Spider-Man? Deciding to figure it out as he goes, after all “with great power comes great responsibility” and all that.

With yet another yawn, he opens his backpack, slipping into his suit and mask. Checking his shooters for fluid, he slowly creeps out of the window. Seoul flooding his senses as he swings through the city.

“HAHA I’m The Spider-Man!” ♱ Your body aches as you swing straight into Spider-Man. You both rub your throbbing temples, your vision finally clearing. His eyes widen when he looks at you.

“Spider-Man?” “What the fuck? There’s another one?” You both say simultaneously.

Before you can even respond, he grabs your hand and swings to a nearby rooftop. You scream. “WHAT THE FUCK DUDE PUT ME DOWN?!”

“Calm down.” As he sets you down. “Did you get it too? The whole spider thing?”

“Yeah, and for the record I got it first… I think.” You say sitting on the edge of the building.

“Well I haven’t seen any articles about, uhm… Spider-Lady? Yet.”

Chuckling, you stretch your arms above your head. “I’m not exactly Seoul’s vigilante. This is the first time I’ve gone out in this scratchy suit.”

“Why?”

The question makes you go quiet, it makes you think, why haven’t you done this sooner? Why didn’t you do what he did, help people, help the city? His voice breaks your thoughts. “Hello? Are you gonna answer me or not?”

“Well I was going to, but now I kinda don’t wanna.”

“No fair.” It almost makes you smile as you feel the light punch he landed on your shoulder.

“You first then. Why did you choose to be a vigilante, be Spider-Man?”

He shrugs. “It felt right. Like whatever powers I have were meant to do something, to help someone. Even grandmas crossing the street.”

“You? Why not help people?”

Your brain slows as he asks the question you’ve been dreading asking yourself for the past 2 months. “I didn’t want to, I wanted to pretend this never happened, like my hands don’t stick to my pens when I write out reports, like I haven’t heard things from 3 rooms away. I was going to. Until you went viral, and I wanted to see you, see what the other side of the coin was like.”

You both settle into silence, taking in what you’ve just learned about a stranger — scratch that another spider person. ♱ Your professor is giving a lecture on thermodynamics, or whatever, you couldn’t tell — not even with a gun to your head. You stare at your notebook, writing absolutely nothing in it. With a soft sigh, your eyes drift to the classroom window. You think of that night, the heartfelt conversation, the stranger in red and blue spandex that you bonded with.

“Should I look for him again?” You whisper to absolutely no one.

A light jab hits your ribs, turning away from the window you look at Kitty — one of your friends from high school. “Stop daydreaming, c’mon let’s grab lunch! There’s a new cafe down the street.” She’s dragging your arm now, you can barely grab your bag before she’s pulled you out of the classroom. ♱ Looking blankly ahead, you follow Kitty around until she finally stops in front of a cat cafe — of course, it's Kitty. As the doors open, the smell of coffee hits your nose and — you collide with something… or someone?

“Sorry.” You both say.

“No, really my bad.” A man who's way too covered up for summer says as he steps aside to let you in.

“Uhm, sorry I wasn’t paying attention.” You give an awkward smile, as your gut tells you this feels oddly familiar.

Somewhere next to you, Kitty lets out a soft giggle. “Lunch time, lover girl. Let's go.” He watches you disappear into the cafe, his friend giving him a joking smirk. “Ready for practice lover boy?” ♱ As Martin walks away from the cafe, his gut tells him that he knows that girl. He reaches the studio on auto-pilot as he thinks of all the places he could’ve seen that girl. “A fansign maybe?” He wonders to no one but himself as he sets his stuff down in the corner of the dance room.

James interrupts him from thinking any more by gathering everyone for practice. ♱ As the sun begins to set, their practice finally comes to an end. All the members gather around Martin, who is still thinking about that girl while staring into the wall. “Ok lover boy. Spit it out, is this about that girl at the cafe earlier?” Keonho says, handing him a water bottle.

“There was a girl at the cafe?” Seonghyeon interrupts.

“Yes there was, now shut up Sean. Let him answer.”

Martin finally looks up at his members, brows furrowed ever so slightly in thought. “She just seemed familiar. I can’t tell from where.”

“We meet girls a lot Tin, if you haven’t noticed the majority of our fanbase is girls.” Juhoon says, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“No, it wasn't like that.” Martin shakes his head. “It wasn't her face. It was just… like I've met her before.”

“But you haven't?”

“I don't think so.” He groans, dragging a hand down his face. “That's the weird part. I know I've never talked to her before today.”

“So you're fixated on a random café girl, whom you swear you’ve never met or talked to until today?”

Seonghyeon chuckles. “Yes he is.”

“I’m not fixated!”

“Martin, you've been staring at that wall for twenty minutes.”

“That is completely unrelated.”

“Sure.”

Martin sighs. “Forget it.”

“Nope.” James immediately answers. “We're invested now.”

“There is nothing to be invested in.”

“Then why are you still thinking about her?”

Martin opens his mouth and pauses, gaping at them like a fish out of water. He eventually decides to shut it, turning away from his members to pack his things.

“Exactly.” Keonho points at him.

“Oh my god. I’m outta here.” ♱ The sound of sirens floods your ears as you wake up. The sun has set now, your papers still scattered around, some crumpled up from where you’ve tangled your sheets in them. You rub your eyes, feeling around your pillows for your phone.

It’s early, early enough that against all your logic, you’re going out to do “vigilante shit.” You never wanted to do this, you’ve literally avoided doing this for 4 months. Yet something deep within you is pulling at the strings of your soul, telling you to do this.

Your eyes burn as the crisp air of Seoul seeps through the fabric of your suit. Following the commotion, you find Spider-Man in a standoff with drug dealers. “Fuck it.”

You swing in, kicking one of the dealers into the wall. Their attention turns to you, one of the dealers screams. “What the fuck? Another Spider-Guy?”

You web their feet to the ground. “I’m a woman damn it.”

“Fancy seeing you here.” Spider-Man quips, knocking one of the dealers out. “Thought you don’t do the whole vigilante thing?”

“Eh, figured I couldn’t leave you to do it alone.”

You wrap up the last of the dealers and turn to the cops that just arrived. “All yours, boys.”

Spider-Man gives you the most shit eating smile ever — at least you think so, it’s hard to smile under the suit. “So… any plans?”

“No… Why do you ask?”

“Great! C’mon let's hang around, I know a spot with a great view.”

Every logical thought you have about not following strangers goes out the window. Against all sound judgement, you’re swinging through the city following Spider-Man to sit on a literal skyscraper.

Your knuckles ache as you settle down, massaging the joints you look out into Seoul. “Damn, you weren’t lying.”

“I never do.” He chuckles, staring into the side of your face like it would tell him who you are. “Knuckles hurt?”

“Yea, never realized how much throwing a punch hurts…”

“You’ll get used to it eventually.”

Before you can even sit in the silence, “Hey what’s your number?”

You choke on air. “What the hell dude?”

“C’mon we can like trade intel or whatever. You know since we’re teammates now” As he gives you a nudge with his elbow.

You apprehensively take out your phone and hand it to him. “Yours first. So I know you aren’t a creep or something.”

“You’ve got a real habit of switching it up on me, Spider-Girl.” He breathes out as he puts his number in your phone.

“Don’t call me that, and give me your phone.”

You take both phones from his hands and input your number into his contacts list. You can’t help but notice the numerous music apps on his home screen. “You like music?”

“I make it. It's more of a hobby really.”

“Huh. Thats… actually cooler than I thought.”

“Yea? I’ll let you listen sometime then, you know, if you ever decide I’m not a creep or something.”

You both laugh, finally sitting in silence, letting Seoul’s lights draw you in. ♱ Sunlight seeps in through the window, hitting your eyes so perfectly it's almost irritating. Your phone buzzes next to you. “Jesus, it's like 7 in the morning, what the hell?” The screen blinds you as Spider-Man’s messages start flooding through. “ ‘Double the Spiders! : Seoul Vigilante Duo’, ‘Newest Spider in Seoul: Netizens Dub her “Silk-Weaver” ’ ” The articles are followed by a string of messages, primarily of Spider-Man teasing you for going viral over the same “vigilante shit” you once renounced.

“Silk-Weaver? Well shit.” You throw the blanket off your body and realize, there’s no backing down now. ♱ It’s been weeks now since you’ve started “intel trading” with Spider-Man, you wouldn’t admit it but you’re starting to like talking to him. Granted you don’t know who he is, so he could still very well be a creep. Even then, you talk everyday, he can’t be that much of a creep right?

It’s 2 am now, Seoul is fast asleep. Apart from the rowdy drunkards down the street, everything sits in a blanket of quiet. You roll over in bed holding your phone in your hands as you stare at the contact number — his contact number.

“Eh, why not?” Your hands hover over the call button before you finally press it, your eyes drooping down ever so slightly as the ringing goes on.

He answers before it can go on too long, his voice is raspy and tired. “Hello?”

“How’d you get your spider-powers?”

“It’s 2 am Silky.”

“Mhm, I know but how’d you get ‘em?”

A soft sigh crackles through your phone, you set it on your pillow closer to your ear. “I was at a concert, working. I looked down and some spider bit me.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it Silky. You? How’d you get yours?”

You sit up now, getting goosebumps as you recall. “I was in class. My ankle got really itchy out of nowhere but I couldn’t really do anything about it since the professor was a real stickler. Anyway, after class I was packing up my stuff when I saw the dead spider on the ground. I just kinda assumed it bit me and ran.”

His laugh echoes through your speaker and you can’t help but smile too. “Sorry Silky but that's just hella funny, HAHA you really got bitten in class?”

"Don't laugh at me! I fucking hate spiders dude, you know, that was kind of partly why I wanted to pretend the whole spider-powers thing never happened…”

“Why’d you start using ‘em then Silky?”

Lying down, you settle into the warmth of your sheets. “Maybe you convinced me.” You can almost hear him smiling to himself, your eyes finally closing and letting you drift off to sleep. ♱ Martin’s hands tremble as he looks at the file he’s about to send to you. It’s a demo, a beat he made after you told him he convinced you to be Silk-Weaver. Normally he’d make his members listen to his demos, but his gut is telling him you should hear this first.

He hears the door to the studio click open — then, like a child getting caught he sends the file without even thinking and sets his phone down.

“Hey, we got snacks! How’s the beat?” James says, as the members come barrelling in waving all kinds of convenience store snacks in the air.

Before he can even answer James, his phone buzzes on the table. He grabs it quickly, looking at your texts. Sighing with relief and smiling slightly to himself, he sets the phone down. Only to find his members have dropped their snacks and have started looking at him with knowing smirks.

“I think the beat is fine, eh Sean?” Keonho says elbowing Seonghyeon.

“Yea, after all Martin’s lover girl approved right?” He responds with a smirk towards Martin.

“There is no lover girl!” Martin responds, setting up the speakers for a listening session.

James chuckles, clearly teasing. “Yea? Why’d you giggle then bro?”

“I did not giggle! For the love of-”

“Let’s just listen to the beat. Tin will tell us all about her when he’s ready.” Juhoon interjects before he can even finish speaking.

“Oh my f–, fine! Listen to the beat. I'll tell you guys about Silky some other time.”

“SILKY?!” They all scream out. “Wait. ISN’T THAT THE OTHER SPIDER? SILK-WEAVER?” Keonho screeches.

His face is deadpan as he calmly presses play on the demo file. “Yes.” ♱ The clicking of keyboards and your professor's voice fill the room. You stare out the window, your stomach growling ever so slightly. The clouds morph into the shape of bread, and now, you’re craving those bread rolls from the bakery on the other side of Seoul.

With nothing else to do, you text Spider-Man — or as you’ve opted to call him, “Spidey.” Telling him all about your cravings, because if you want those rolls you may as well make him want it too.

You don’t expect what he tells you in response. “Meet me at the skyscraper, 8pm.” It sounds creepy now that you’ve read it aloud honestly. You decide to go anyway, people make stupid decisions hungry. ♱ Martin is in the middle of an MV shooting when he receives your texts, a mini rant about how Tia’s Bakery — literally half an hour to the other side of Seoul, has the only good bread rolls. He smiles, imagining you sitting in class texting him about bread, it warms his heart in an unexplainable way.

He also recognizes the bakery. His members love bringing home all kinds of treats from that place when they have time.

He stops Juhoon as he walks by. “Jju, can you send me the exact location to Tia’s? I wanna get some bread rolls from there.”

“It’s for Silky isn’t it.”

“Yea, she mentioned it a few minutes ago.”

Juhoon lets out a sigh and sends Martin the location while jokingly rolling his eyes. “Have fun, lover boy.” ♱ You’re swinging across Seoul, dragging yourself to the skyscraper at 8pm — because Spidey told you so. You find him pacing, holding a busted up paper bag like it's a baby.

You land on the skyscraper, stumbling slightly. “Hey, what's with the bag?”

“These are for you.” He says, holding the bag out, and you can’t help but notice how his hands have a barely noticeable tremor.

As soon as you open it, the smell rushes to you like a gust of wind. “You got me Tia’s rolls?”

“Uhm.. You mentioned them.”

You jump up to hug him, the warmth of your bodies pressed together, the soft thump of your heartbeats syncing together. “Thank you.” You whisper into his ear.

He scratches the back of his neck. “Yea! Uhm.. No problem.”

You swing your feet back and forth as you slowly remove the bottom half of your mask to eat. You look out at the Seoul skyline, savouring the flavor filling your mouth. “Seoul is so pretty.”

He doesn’t realize what you’re talking about, he’s staring at your lips. “Yea. Drop dead gorgeous.”

You stay like that, staring off into the beauties that have captivated you.

♱

You dust off your hands and pull down your mask, finishing off the last of the bread, still staring off into the skyline.

Then you hear him. “Shit. I gotta refill these tomorrow.”

“Refill what?” You turn to him, confusion laced in your voice.

“My web shooters..?”

“What do you mean.”

“You know the thing webs come out of?”

“Uhm.. no I don’t. You mean to tell me your webs don’t come out of you?!”

His eyes squint at you, looking at you like you’re insane. “No… I made a fluid, and I gotta put it in this thing every time I’m out.”

“DUDE. MINE COMES OUT OF ME?” You’re screaming now, panicking at the thought of being the only one with “organic” webs.

“They do? THAT’S SO COOL SILKY!”

“IT IS SO NOT COOL. YOURS IS ARTIFICIAL?” He’s watching you pace now, head swinging back and forth, tracking you.

“Wait.” You stop abruptly. “How’d you even make the shooters then..?”

“Oh. Youtube.”

“So you’ve been doing vigilante shit with a Youtube DIY shooter? You dumbass?”

“Hey, I’m smart!”

“Okay smartass. Swing then.”

He shoots his arm out, trying and failing to shoot webs. “So. Well, uhm.. It’s not out of fluid but I’m pretty sure it’s broken.”

You let out an exasperated sigh. “Show me. I might be able to help.”

“How exactly?”

“I’m an engineering student smartass.”

He hands you his shooters, and you turn it over in your hands repeatedly. Your eyes widen when you see it. “Spidey. These things are fried.”

“So uh.. We are kinda on a skyscraper right now.. How am I gonna get down?”

“C’mon, I’ll swing us over to my place. It’s nearby and I can make you actual shooters in like 30 minutes.” ♱ You crawl in through the window, ripping off your mask completely. Spidey, following carefully behind you, standing awkwardly by the window. “Make yourself at home.”

He stares at you while you work, the gears in his head turning as he slowly puts together how long he's known how you look. Memories from the cafe flash through his head, he finally realizes why you were so familiar that day.

He removes his mask, setting it down on your nightstand. As you get up and turn to give him his shooters. You look up at him, at an idol. An idol whose face is on billboards around Seoul.

“You’re–… Martin?”

“Yea.”

“Okay. Uh, I’ve never really met a famous person before..”

“Don’t worry. I’m not CORTIS Martin, not with you Silky. I’m just me. Spidey Martin.”

You tell him your name. “It’s only fair. Spidey Martin.”

He smiles at you, repeating your name and you grab his wrists, putting on his shooters. He’s halfway out your window before he turns to you. “Would you maybe want to meet some other famous people? My members?”

You giggle softly. “Sure Spidey.” ♱ Your heart is pounding and you can’t find the strength in you to open the door to their dance studio. You can hear the music, the commotion, you hear him. Martin’s voice leaks through the cracks, telling his members to be nice to you — it gives you the courage to push the door open and walk in.

The room quiets when Martin smiles at you. Then someone breaks the silence. “Hey, it’s cafe girl!”

“Cafe– What?”

“We saw you like a few months ago! You and Tin bumped into each other, he was so fixated on you after that.” Keonho, you think, rambles.

“Ok that's enough of that.” Martin interrupts.

You laugh, looking at Martin. “Fixated?”

“Don’t make me regret introducing you guys. Please.”

You and his members all give him knowing smiles. He sighs and prepares the speakers for practice.

James’s clap breaks the silence. “C’mon guys, just because Tin’s lover girl is here doesn’t mean we can fool around.”

You take a seat in the corner of the room, your ears burning from their teasing comments. Their dance is captivating, their bodies move perfectly in sync with the music and each other. Time flying by as you all enjoy each other’s company. ♱ Martin knows they’re staring, he can feel the 4 pairs of eyes drilling holes into the back of his head. “Can I help you guys? Or are you just gonna keep staring at me?”

Keonho narrows his eyes at him. “Ok, c’mon there's no way you two are that stupid right?”

“No idea what you’re talking about Keons.”

“He means the way you and Silky literally act like high school sweethearts.” Seonghyeon butts in.

James nods along. “Sean’s right Tin. You’ve been giggling at your phone for 6 months now. Look, if you like her we’ve got your back bro.”

Martin faces them, he looks at his members, his friends, his brothers. All his senses rush at him, his heart beating out of his chest. They were right all along. Of course he didn’t notice he was too busy looking at her to look at himself in the mirror.

Juhoon claps him on the shoulder. “Looks like you finally put two and two together. Go get her lover boy.”

That's all he needed to hear. His legs move before his brain can tell them to, the wind rushes past him as his feet carry him all the way out the building. Then he stops. You deserve so much more than something he thought of in 5 minutes, you deserve to be seen. Just like how you saw him. ♱ Your palms are sticky, and you don’t think it's a spider side-effect anymore. The elevator climbs to the observation deck Martin asked you to come to. You pull at your dress hem as the doors open, the sunset lighting a beautiful table for two greets you.

You step out of the elevator, taking it all in, when Martin walks towards you. He’s holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers, his elbow out as he invites you to walk with him.

Like a true gentleman, he pulls out your seat for you and sets aside your flowers. You’ve just been staring up at him, your bones have a subtle hum from your beating heart. You notice the basket of bread on the table — Tia’s bread rolls, of course he remembered those.

He takes a seat and you both enjoy a nice homemade meal. The night lights fill the sky as you make your way to the edge of the observation deck. “I’m never gonna get over how pretty this is.”

“Yea. Me neither.” Except this time, you’re fully aware he’s looking at you.