Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Jongin’s leg is trapped under a large piece of debris; it’s probably broken if the immense pain says anything about his current state. He surveys the chaos around him as beams of energy shoot wildly at various buildings, causing more debris to shower down onto the streets below. Jongin winces as he attempts to move the large piece of concrete pinning his leg to the ground. The slab of concrete doesn’t budge and Jongin only succeeds in increasing his level of discomfort and pain. The cells in his body refuse to disperse properly, even when he tries to teleport himself out of this sticky situation. He wishes that Luhan would magically appear in front of him and move the offending object but his co-worker is probably aiding in the full out war the superheroes are having with their evil counterparts. Innocent civilians are running away screaming as more dangerous matter comes crashing down, smashing cars and creating craters in the ground. Jongin groans as he attempts to free himself once more. Someone’s shadow looms over him and he looks up to see the grim face of Sehun, his other co-worker and wind master extraordinaire.

“Thank god you’re here Sehun, help me lift this thing off my leg,” Jongin manages to get out, hands already pushing at heavy weight.

Sehun, however, does not move as a maniacal expression makes its way across his face.

Jongin looks up to see a mini tornado forming around his friend and he gulps nervously, confused about the lack of response he’s receiving from his teammate.

“Sehun?”

“I’ve finally got you exactly where I want you to be,” Sehun sneers. “Kim Jongin, the pride and joy of SM Cooperation, finally at the mercy of my hands.”

Jongin’s eyes widen as he feels panic bubbling inside his chest.

“Sehun, what are you talking about!?”

Be BEEP prepared BEEP for BEEP your BEEP doom!” Sehun cackles evilly, raising his arms as the wind starts to pick up up in their vicinity.

“What?”

“BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!”

--

Jongin rolls out of bed with a startled grunt. His digital on his bedside table read “2:00 AM” and his sleep-hazed mind takes a few seconds to process that the sound is coming from his alarm. He, with much difficulty, drags himself upright before hitting the snooze button. He tentatively looks down at his leg and sighs with relief, as it is very much not broken. At this point, on any other day, Jongin would have gotten into bed and napped again before his alarm would start ringing again ten minutes later but his strange dream leaves him feeling bitter and petulant. He stands up and does a big stretch; arms wide above his head and his crew neck sweatshirt riding up to reveal a sliver of toned stomach.

He bends over to properly turn off his alarm before he slips his feet one by one into his Winnie The Pooh slippers. He shuffles into the bathroom, rubbing at his eyes as he lets out a loud yawn.

He had recently moved into a small bungalow by himself in favour of leaving his best friend Baekhyun and Baekhyun’s currently boyfriend, Chanyeol, some more space. Jongin offered to find a new place so Chanyeol could move in with Baekhyun and both of them had thanked him gratefully. Realistically Jongin is probably happier than the pair combined. Sex with superpowers gets messy and burnt bed sheets are the most popular items that frequent his trashcan.

Now, as Jongin washes his face, he thinks his life quite good. There are no more loud sexcapades, he can eat peanut butter again now that both Baekhyun and his allergy are gone, and his bungalow is rather quaint, ignoring the fact that he has yet to see his next-door neighbour. It’s been five months and Jongin can neither confirm nor deny if his neighbour isn’t secretly a chimpanzee.

Jongin isn’t one to brag too much, or so he claims, but he’s proud of his what he does. He works for SM Cooperation, a highly secretive organization of superheroes that band together to stop crime in the city of Seoul. He gets to hang out with people just like him and he gets to do what he loves best by saving unknowing civilians from harm.

The only downside to his job is that he’s always assigned the night shifts and on certain nights, they can be very dreadful. Villainous lurking tends to increase at night and the extra exertion of energy has him falling dead to the world in his bed for the rest of the day, unable to enjoy other things aside from sleep. Most of his friends, save Sehun (whom he probably won’t be able to look in the eye for the next few days) have the day shift where their hours are similar to that of an office job. They get to wrap up the heroism just in time for dinner and they get to sleep at a normal time. While he mourns his lack of a social life he would not give up sleep for anything.

After Jongin finishes up in the bathroom, he makes his way to his room again. He raids his closet for a shirt that is still clean and a pair of worn jeans. One knee has a rip that was not there when he bought it but he deems it wearable enough. Superheroes are given suits when the join SM for the sake of formalization but it will never be worn in fear of prying eyes that could blow their cover.

When he's done changing into his clothes, he makes sure his shirt isn’t on inside out before heading to the kitchen. He grabs his keys in one hand and a piece of bread in another, sticking in his mouth before using the same hand to grab his beanie. After double-checking the house, making sure he didn’t leave the tap running like he did a few nights prior in his sleep deprived state, Jongin lets himself out the front door and locks it before jiggling the handle a few times for good measure.

He makes his way down the dark and empty street while munching on his bland-tasting piece of bread. The lights from the street lamps are the only things that illuminate his form as he makes his way to the end of his street. Jongin’s handy super power comes in the form of teleportation and he has a designated spot that he can walk to, away from public spaces, where he can teleport to work. He’s got to hand it to whoever coordinates superhero travel. It mustn’t be easy to create secret pathways for the heroes to inconspicuously gather in one designated area.

As he walks, almost finishing up his slice, he fails to notice light streaming past the curtains drawn across the windows of his neighbour’s house.

Chapter Text

Once safely teleported inside HQ, Jongin’s first goal is to make a beeline for the coffee station. One perk about being a superhero, especially one on a night shift, is that free and unlimited coffee is at his disposal. A few years ago he would’ve grimaced at the thought of being dependant on caffeine but now he regrets his immature days. If he succumbed to the wonder of coffee earlier In Jongin’s opinion, it was the second best thing to taking a nap. With just a hint of cream and a whole lot of coffee, Jongin’s percentage of functionality is significantly higher, much to the relief of his co-workers.

Making his way down a winding hall with his coffee clutched in his hand, he passes by the Gallery of Heroes, and stops to admire it for a brief second. The gallery of heroes contains multiple portraits of superheroes from the present and from the past. The oldest ones were not even photographs; paintings of heroic men and women from centuries ago.

SM Cooperation has been around for as long as Jongin can remember. There have always been people with super powers in history and they always manage to find each other despite the rest of the world believing, even to this day, that it is all a myth.

Jongin’s chest swells with pride as he sees his own portrait near the end of the line. Underneath it read, “Kim Jongin, Teleportation. 2012-present.”He also smugly notes that teleportation is the rarest known power within the corporation. It’s a slight boost to Jongin’s ego that he reigns superior in this this aspect of his job. In comparison to Chanyeol who has the most common ability to produce fire, teleportation makes Jongin feel like he has the rights to gloat. Chanyeol and his burnt bed sheets are irrelevant.

Jongin lightly jogs up the flight of stairs to the control room where all the magic happens. At the top of the stairs is their grand lair, which is funded by the government making their secret base not THAT secret. Yixing is situated in front of the control with Junmyeon almost glued to his side. Junmyeon is their newest superhero in the company and with similar powers to Yixing, it makes the most sense for the latter to train him up.

As a healer Yixing prefers to stay in the base and take care of all the medical aspects away from the battle. If someone happens to be severely wounded, Jongin would teleport them straight to Yixing to properly patch them up. Being in the base also means that Yixing is the master of the control panel. He’s the one who dispatches superheroes on missions and gives them vital information through headsets as they battle crime. Yifan switches shifts with him and they both live in a loft above the control room. As healers are almost as rare as teleporters, Yixing is occasionally needed to go out into the field fore more dangerous missions making him pressed for time as he trains up the new member.

“Jongin,” he greets the younger male with a warm smile. Junmyeon mimics his mentor’s greeting although he looks a lot more frazzled.

“Hey guys,” Jongin returns, plopping down on the room’s worn out leather couch. He takes a sip of his coffee and sighs contently.

“I just dispatched Luhan and Baekhyun for a standard armed mugging. Sehun called in sick; he caught that nasty flu from Taeyong.”

Jongin winces in sympathy for his ill friend. Taeyong had gone to work one day and had proceeded to puke all over the floor upon his arrival. He had sheepishly cleaned up the mess afterwards, using his wood-manipulation powers to soak up the remnants of his dinner in sawdust.

Jongin savours his coffee quietly as he eavesdrops on Yixing’s gentle teaching and Junmyeon eagerness to learn. A sudden thought came to his mind.

“Wait, is Baekhyun is replacing Sehun does that mean…”

“Yup, Chanyeol decided to tag along on the mission, that goon. The mission isn’t too serious so I’m letting him do whatever he wants.”

Jongin sighs. Poor Luhan. Yifan typically separates the two lovers because he knows that the phrase “double trouble” is very applicable to the inseparable pair. Yixing can be too nice sometimes.

“Where are they? I’m going to check up on them. Jaehyun and Yuta will be here in a minute for standby.”

After Yixing relays to him the exact coordinates, Jongin thanks him and teleports to the major interaction closest to the crime.

Jongin can hear the commotion before he even sees it. Baekhyun’s obnoxious cackle mixed with Chanyeol’s whooping. Jongin rounds the corner to see three masked men groaning on the ground, tied up in colourful, “super-fabulous superhero rope” as Baekhyun likes to call it. Jongin rolls his eyes as he approaches the three heroes slowly. He gives Luhan a sympathetic look as the other male looks ready to use his telekinetic powers to throw the pair over the building beside them.

Before Jongin can scold the two for being to boisterous, he sees something flash beside Baekhyun. Jongin trains his eyes on the fast moving blur and calculates where to teleport before he does so, swinging his fist as it connects to something solid; namely someone’s jaw.

The person goes flying and their back connects with the wall behind them. The person groans and touches their head gingerly as a large lump is quickly forming on the top of it. Jongin internally groans with the perpetrator as it dawns on him that he’s dealing with a speedster. The last time he went chasing after a speedster he went an hour and a half past his given shift time and he was not a happy camper.

Jongin narrows his eyes, preparing to teleport. “You better not-“

The speedster flees with a trail of lightning zapping in his wake.

“FUCK!”

-

After finally capturing the speedster and getting a light reprimanding from Yixing about having a potty mouth Jongin returns home late, exhausted and sweating profusely. He’s so lost in his determination to take the quickest shower possible that he almost misses his neighbour slipping through the front door, grocery bags in both arms. Jongin manages to get a glimpse of his mysterious neighbour before the door is shut with a bang. The curtains remain drawn.

When Jongin gets into his own house he heads straight for the shower, shedding his clothes as he goes. Under the stream, he belated realizes that his neighbour indeed is not a chimpanzee. That is something he thinks he should be grateful for but he files the thought away for a time where he will be more coherent. After a record breaking speedy shower, Jongin quickly shimmies into his last clean pair of boxers, forgoing any other type of clothing before he’s rolling into bed for a well-deserved nap.

Chapter Text

Kyungsoo’s job is menial at best. He writes for the city’s most popular newspaper but no one cares for what he has to say. The pages that he writes are usually all side stories that are brushed over for the juicy details about the latest political debate. It doesn’t bother him that people don’t tend to give two shits about what he says. His job pays the bills and funds his daily needs. It also allows for him to work from home 90% of the time, making time for other things that he cares more about.

Kyungsoo isn’t a picky person. As long as funds are provided for life sustenance and his peculiar side hobby he doesn’t care much for anything else. He has enough clothes to last him until the next time he does laundry and he owns an extra pair for when he does do laundry. He doesn’t go grocery shopping every day but he doesn’t eat ramen for dinner every night. It’s a fine balance.

He’s sitting on his couch, the dusty lamps place in opposite corners of the room providing minimal light. He squints lightly at his screen as he reads over his column once more. The lighting is probably more detrimental to his eyesight but he cannot be bothered to replace the bulbs and dust off the lampshades. Satisfied with what he’s written he composes a new email and attaches the file, sending it off to the editor for approval. He puts his laptop down on the empty couch seat beside him and stretches before removing his glasses and rubbing at his eyes. He picks his laptop up again and looks at the time. The digital numbers show that it’s 5:59 AM. He has about two hours until the grocery store opens and he’s in desperate need of more food. He stands up, bringing his laptop with him to the kitchen. He sets it down safely on his dinner table before grabbing his thermos of hot water. He pours himself a steaming cup, grabbing it with his left hand before turning and grabbing his laptop with his right hand.

He has two hours to indulge a little after a long night of work. He walks into his room and sets his laptop onto his trusty laptop fan. He plugs in the USB for his wireless mouse and places his mug on his Thor coaster. He sits down on his swivel chair, making himself comfortable for his browsing session. When he’s satisfied with his setup he takes a hold of his mouse, clicking open his favourite website. Familiar advertisement pop up and he absentmindedly closes the tabs, eyes scanning for any new content that he can lose himself in. There’s a new link that he spies and he clicks it, bright flashy font appearing before his eyes. He reads the title, delighted to see that it’s something he hasn’t seen before.

Rarity of Superpowers
Written by: byunbean and parkcheeseyelk
Disclaimer: super powers don’t actually exist

Superpowers, theoretically, are already gifts that have been bestowed on a lucky few to use for good purposes. In many movies you see the superhero sweeping the person that they are saving off their feet and into the sunlight. Ironman (even if it’s powered by a suit), Thor (to a certain degree), Jessica Jones, Doctor Strange, Superman, and many more use the power of flight to their advantage when saving the day. One would assume that flying would be the most common superpower. However, theoretically, it’s probably closer to the middle of the list (if there WAS a list that depicts the rarity of superpowers).

Surprisingly (or not) elemental superpowers would theoretically be the four most common superpowers. It would go fire, air, water, and then earth (if anyone was wondering). Unlike the utra-rare airbenders in Avatar the Last Airbender, there would be tons of people who “bend air” if superpowers actually exists. The world would not exists if there were no elements on the earth. The same goes for people who have elemental superpowers. They are equally as needed (again, if there are theoretically people who have such powers).

Believe it or not, teleportation would be the rarest superpower if there were to be a scale (everyone who can teleport probably has type AB blood or something). Teleportation wouldn’t be as fun anyways. Who actually wants to disperse their body into tiny little particles and then have then regroup again? That sounds like a pain and a half, not to mention many things can probably go wrong with that.
-

Kyungsoo absorbs in every bit of information he can find. “Beanz and Cheeze” is the most popular superhero conspiracy blog on the web. The authors on the blog come up with such amazing theories that no other theorist, Kyungsoo included, could compare. The details included in their blog posts are scarily precise and highly irrefutable. They always put disclaimers that superpowers don’t actually exist but then they lay out facts like they actually know a superhero in real life.

Unlike the authors of the blog, Kyungsoo vehemently believes that superheroes exists. A lot of things don’t match up in the city regarding crime rates and the rate that it is stopped at. Kyungsoo writes occasional articles about local crimes for the newspaper. The official statements the police give are always vague and don’t add up but no one seems to care except for Kyungsoo. He’s mentioned his hypothesis to his co-worker one rare day he happened to be in the office and his co-worker merely ruffled his hair, called him cute, and then walked away.

First of all, he’s not cute goddamn it. Secondly there is no way that the police can churn out one fishy story after another unless they’re working with someone or reporting to someone of a higher status (hello, the municipal government?). Kyungsoo refuses to settle until he gets solid proof that superpowers indeed exists.

When he finishes the new article, he takes some notes in his notebook with the Batman logo on it and spends the rest of his time scrolling through old articles that he’s read at least 5 times each. By the time he finishes his cup of water and he’s made it through 11 pages on the blog, his laptop clock shows him that it’s 7:24 AM. He turns off his laptop and gets up. He shuffles to the kitchen to put his mug in the sink before heading to the bathroom to relieve himself. After a quick piss he brushes his teeth meticulously even though he already brushed it after his last meal.

He heads to his room and throws on his last clean pair of clothes. He makes a mental note that he needs to do laundry when he wakes up. He hold onto his doorknob as he puts on his shoes, shoving his heels violently into his worn sneakers. He double checks to see if the stove is off and then feels for his keys in his pocket. Satisfied he opens the door and walks into the crisp morning air, locking the door behind him. As h walks towards his car he sees his neighbour pass by on the sidewalk. The other man looks exhausted, face drained of any positive emotions. There are streaks of dirt on his clothing, face, and even in his hair.

They make awkward eye contact for two seconds. Not knowing how to react Kyungsoo offers a hesitant wave. His neighbour manages a small smile and waves back. They both break eye contact at the same time as Kyungsoo gets into his car and his neighbour continues on his way to the house next door. As Kyungsoo pulls out of the driveway he sees his neighbour unlocking his own front door and slipping into the dark house.