Chapter Text
“That doesn’t belong to you.”
He shuts his eyes and holds back the groan because there’s only one person it could be. He tilts his head as he turns away from where he’d been making progress on bypassing the security that’s protecting the frame. There’s dread pooling in his stomach as he sees Spider-Man hanging upside down from a web, his head cocked to the side as if he’s an overgrown human puppy rather than the menace he really is.
Truthfully, he knows he’s not the menace to society that the news claims he is.
Sure, he’s annoying and seems to have very little filter on what comes out of his mouth, but he’s still a hero through and through. He has seen him save the day and shown kindness enough times to know that he’s not the bad guy that paper wants to make him out to be. Or the cops, for that matter, with the way they go back and forth on whether he's a wanted criminal, though he's never been one to trust what they think.
But in moments like these, when he's in the way of a payday, well, he sees what they mean.
He fights back an eye roll, as he glances around figuring out his best escape route and how to pull this off without giving up his payday, he’s come too far to walk out of here without his Rembrandt. During the last time Spider-Man caught him, he had to leave behind millions worth of diamonds because he refuses to be caught; he can’t lose another payday. He has too much riding on this.
“It doesn’t belong to the museum either,” he retorts, glaring in return as Spider-Man lowers himself to the ground.
“Can’t we just skip to the part where you leave the painting and I hand you over to the cops,” Spider-Man adds, voice sounding almost bored.
He snorts as he looks at him, then towards the Rembrandt, he was nearly there; he just needed to bypass the weight system. He considers his options, while pointing out, “I think you’re mixing me up with someone else.”
There was a few close calls. And one memorable time he'd gotten truly caught, but he managed to get free from the webs, only after he was left hanging outside the police station. It was beyond embarrassing and he’d had assault of police officers added to the list of charges against him. At least, nobody unmasked him and he wasn’t actually arrested.
He moves his hand slowly, and Spider-Man instantly shoots some web towards him, he manages to dodge it, grinning when it splatters against the wall.
“Come on, catboy, aren’t you tired of this? Why do you need another piece of art that you can’t even display?”
He can’t help the sound that comes out of his mouth, an offended almost scoffing noise, he repeats: “Catboy?”
He can hear the police sirens softly wailing in the distance, it’s too late to worry about getting out of here unnoticed like he’d preferred, and there’s no time to get the art out of the frame. He hums, then remembers the object he’d stolen from Doc’s labs. Tiny and silver and shaped just like a Hershey’s kiss; he knows Doc knows he took it even if he didn’t bring it up. But what does he expect? He likes shiny things and he can’t help himself.
“You know, I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with me,” he jokes, smirking despite the fact that because it’s hidden behind his mask that Spider-Man won’t see it; he keeps one hand on the painting, the other creeping to his belt. “If you have something to say, you should just tell me.”
Spider-Man scoffs, shaking his head, then he sighs. “Please, I’m tired. Make this easy for both of us.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asks, slipping the object out of his pocket and watching Spider-Man carefully. He tilts his head, clicking the smooth button and bracing himself, then says, “Catch!”
Spider-Man moves before he even registers anything, hand automatically opening to catch the little kiss shaped object. It blinks in quick succession before exploding in bright light and smoke, causing Spider-Man to yelp and jump back, he’s sure to have a few scraps.
In quick succession he lifts the painting off the wall causing the weight trigger to set off the alarms, drowning the room in red lights and the blaring of an alarm. He picks up his bag, hears the groaning coming from Spider-Man as he gathers himself. And he runs towards the window.
He hears coughing as he's running through the hall, down towards the window, then hears the scuff of feet hitting the floor. He groans, he shouldn’t be so surprised he quickly learned that Spider-Man never seems to quit.
"You really give cats a bad name," he hears, then feels something attach and yank him until he lands on his back with a huff.
The frame lands on top of him causing him to groan, he sees another web shootout attaching to the hand that he's got clinging to the painting. Tilting his head, he sees Spider-Man hand gripping the web and he looks ready to yank it before he can though, Black Cat yanks on the web hard and causes Spider-Man to stumble slightly.
“Yeah, well, I’ve always hated spiders,” he huffs, as he clings to the frame and gets off the floor quickly, he knows he only has a certain amount of time before the guards and cops start swarming.
Spider-Man snorts; he’s gained his ground and Black Cat groans as his hand gets yanked off of the frame. He sees Spider-Man approaching him, he heaves a loud sigh. He shoots out another web onto Black Cat’s other hand and yanks it, the framed painting dropping onto the floor with a clatter. The frame cracks.
Black Cat stares at the painting, then glares at Spider-Man, he hopes the heat of his glare can be felt through his mask. Spider-Man shoots yet another web, yanking his two hands together.
“You know, that’s a very expensive work of art, dumbass.”
He plants his feet as Spider-Man attempts to drag him forward, then uses the force to pull back, he stumbles slightly as Spider-Man keeps a strong hold. He tightens his jaw as he hears shouting as the guards attempt to get through this section's locked doors, it’ll take a while for them to bypass the lock down protocols that he’d messed with. He still shouldn’t risk too much time.
As Spider-Man gears up to web him up, a move that is predictable, he runs forward slamming into Spider-Man with all his strength and pulling the webs out of his grip as he attempts to kick him. While he easily dodges the kick, he hits him with his still combined hands. Then, sweeps Spider-Man’s legs, jumping away when he immediately tries to retaliate. He runs, attempting to get the small knife he’s connected to his gloves to cut through the webs, he dodges another web as he steps over the benches in the middle of the room.
“C’mon, Spidey, I’m just trying to get paid,” he says, huffing as he finally frees his hands, turning on his heel as Spider-Man cuts him off by landing in front of him. “You let me get away and I’ll give you a part of the take.”
“Bribery won’t work on me,” Spider-Man says, “We’ve been through this before.”
“It doesn’t hurt to try,” he replies, smirking even if it won’t show, he shrugs, turning towards him again. He dodges the punch thrown his way. “I get it, you’re a Boy Scout.”
This is all part their routine and if he's being honest, he enjoys it a bit too much.
Spider-Man snorts, dodging another hit, flipping away as he does and putting a distance between them. “And you’re not funny.”
He shrugs, leaping to grab onto one of the discarded webs hanging from the ceiling, using it to swing towards Spidey. “I’ll get a laugh from you one day.”
Spider-Man dodges out of the way, scoffing as he shoots out a web and follows him. The two dangling from the high ceiling of the museum.
“I doubt it, Cat.”
“Aw, don’t be like that.” He leaps forward landing near the painting, he slips out a handful of Doc’s little inventions. “This has been fun, but I’ve got an exit to make, Webs,” he says, throwing the devices his way, and then picking up the painting and running towards the window.
He leaps through the window, leaving behind the sound of alarms and coughing, as he shoots out a grappling hook. Trying his best to keep his hold on the painting.
“I think Minho’s going to be another no show,” Jisung announces, falling heavily into Felix’s side as he joins them in the booth. Hyunjin stops speaking for a moment and Felix huffs as he wraps an arm around Jisung’s waist, leaning right into him. Jisung slots into his space easily.
“What’s the excuse this time?” Changbin asks, in between bites of his burger, pausing to poke at the tomatoes falling out.
Jisung sighs loudly and dramatically, as he pulls out his phone. “‘Sorry. Running late. TA Dick’. That’s complete with various letters and numbers, by the way. Followed by a heart emoji, a skull emoji and a cat emoji.” He frowns, tilting his head, “Not sure if that means his TA is being a dick, or if he’s getting dicked down by his TA.”
“God, if he ditched for a hook-up, I’m killing him,” Hyunjin grumbles, rolling his eyes.
Jisung snorts. “Yeah, like you wouldn’t immediately back down if he looked at you.”
“Could be another typo,” Felix adds, interrupting the incoming argument, as he hooks his chin onto Jisung’s shoulder. He’s frowning at the gibberish with unnecessary amounts of added symbols.
At this point, Felix doesn’t understand why Jisung is ever surprised by Minho canceling on him.
Ever since becoming friends with Jisung, and getting introduced to Minho; he noticed that Minho was probably the flakiest man in the world. Even before they were properly introduced, he was always bailing on Jisung, or often running out in the middle of plans. It’d be one thing if he had good reasons but most of the time, as far as Felix can tell, he doesn’t explain, or he gives some nonsensical excuse; and Felix can’t help wondering why he puts up with it.
At least, Changbin and Hyunjin do seem to get annoyed by it as well. Though only mildly because they seem to have accepted that Minho’s just not dependable, and Hyunjin had once said that’s how Minho’s been for years now. (Jisung had gotten defensive when it seemed like Hyunjin was going to say when it started, apparently it has something to do with his dad and that's as much as Hyunjin had gotten out).
Either way, he isn’t sure why he puts up with it. He's pretty sure it has to do with how long they've been friends, the two practically growing up together.
And the thing is, he knows Minho’s a good guy despite it all.
He's noticed the subtle way he takes care of their friends. Besides he's experienced it himself, there was once when a professor had said something to Felix that hit a bit too hard; Minho had found him sobbing by himself in the corner of the campus library and sat with him until he calmed down and comforted him in a soft voice, making sure he was okay. He even walked him home and checked in on him the next day. So he knows that Minho’s caring, which only irritates Felix that much more that he doesn’t seem remorseful for ditching his so-called friends so often.
Felix wondered if it’s just that he hates them, or did it because he considered them Jisung’s friends and not his own, but considering the amount of times Jisung asked to hang out because Minho bailed on him, or crashes at Felix’s place when Minho isn’t home and Jisung doesn’t want to be alone, he started thinking he just has a problem. Or perhaps he truly doesn’t care about anything that doesn’t involve himself.
All in all, he just seems selfish and inconsiderate and Felix feels a bit spiteful towards him because of it. He shouldn’t make promises that he never seems to keep.
And truthfully, Felix had started wondering if Minho hated him specifically, but the thing is he’s nice to Felix, especially so. Almost unbearably nice, in fact.
Which is so strange when he hears about the way others view Minho. But Felix isn't inclined to listen to rumors from people that don't know Minho, except there's even the way he sees him interact with their mutual friends, he jokes with them. He definitely treats them in a vastly different way than he does Felix. It makes Felix feel thrown off course, he knows it’s weird to complain that someone’s nice to him, he likes when people are nice to him. He thinks more people should be nice.
There’s just something about Minho being nice to him, a part of him thinks he’s just being overly suspicious, that he’s letting his judgments of Minho get the better of him. Because he just can’t place Minho in a box, he’s an enigma, a strange puzzle that Felix just can’t solve. And Felix hates when he's not good at solving a puzzle, his livelihood practically depends on it.
Before his thoughts can spiral too much, he catches a glimpse of the breaking news segment playing on the TV on the wall across from their table. The words sprawling quickly across, he catches SPIDER-MAN and SANDMAN and ELECTRO and ATTACK.
The video feed shifts from the news anchor to the shakiest live feed possible, clearly from someone’s Instagram live. He frowns as the person is clearly running away since you can see them getting further from the blur of blue and red that’s Spider-Man, along with what looks like a sandstorm happening in the middle of the street. There’s a third figure and sparks zapping around.
Felix feels Jisung stiffen as he watches the screen, the news cuts to another angle, this one from above. It’s clearly the chopper view as zoomed in as it can be; then another angle added from a news anchor on the ground. The sand settles as Sandman takes form again and Spider-Man gets thrown into a car hard enough to leave a dent. And as much as Felix has his own thing about him, he feels worry building up deep in his stomach as he waits for him to get back up again.
“Holy shit,” Changbin murmurs, “That’s near the Bugle.”
“Are you sure Minho was on campus?” Hyunjin asks worried, he’s bringing out his own phone as if Minho isn’t as equally bad at answering the phone as he is with showing up.
But Felix gets worried as he feels Jisung continue to tense beside him. The worry grows when Jisung stumbles over his words, “I mean, he could’ve been meeting with his boss. I don’t know. I’m sure he’s fine. He probably got called in to cover it by now, if he wasn’t there already,” his voice growing more erratic as he speaks, eyes never leaving the screen as the updates continue to roll in. “Yeah, he’ll be fine.”
It’s hard to decipher whether he’s talking about Minho or Spider-Man.
And Felix watches as Spider-Man rushes towards Sandman, rolling his eyes as he imagines the inevitable quips he’s likely throwing Sandman’s way. He knows well enough what it’s like to be on the end of his fists and inane banter, he does not feel bad for either of them.
(Though, when Spider-Man gets a particularly nasty hit; Felix can’t pretend he doesn’t feel worried about the guy.)
Central Park has been decked out in red and blue for the ceremony. There’s large banners all over the place and there's a stage in the center with the words THANK YOU, SPIDER-MAN! written across it. The background has little black lines clearly mimicking a weblike pattern, there's even a doodle attempt of Spider-Man's face in the corner. It reminds Felix of the tourist shirts that try capitalizing on Spider-Man's likeness for sales.
In fact, there's even balloons that mimic a likeness of the mask in every direction he looks. Along with balloons with web designs. All around are signs saying their praises for the hero.
It's all so cliche.
But despite that, and despite the scorching heat of summer, there's already a large crowd of people milling around the crowd equally as decked out in the merch and his colors. There’s vendors selling all kinds of foods and having carnival games with the usual fair prizes along with Spider-Man related gifts. Like the small plushies shaped like the hero.
He wonders what Spider-Man thinks of all this.
If he even cares about the recognition the city’s giving him for all his years of heroics, or about receiving the key to the city.
Felix thinks he doesn’t because it’s not why he does it. But for all he knows, this is exactly why the guy does any of it, for the recognition and praise. Often he reminds himself he has no idea who the man is; what he’s truly like when he’s not stopping others from committing crimes, or simply just saving lives.
"This is lame," Jisung says, flinching away from the red and blue balloons that nearly hit his face as the kid holding them runs past. Felix laughs at the face he makes.
Hyunjin rolls his eyes, before giving him a dirty look, "You didn't have to come, in fact, I wish you weren't here."
Jisung stops suddenly gasping, hand against his chest as if the words had pierced through to his heart. “Ouch,” he huffs, “I’ll have you know that Spider-Man personally wants me here because he thinks I’m super talented and loves my Spidey song. Also, he thinks I’m very charming and super hot. Like, way hotter than you.”
For a long moment, Hyunjin stares at him. His mouth opens and closes as he attempts to form some kind of response. He ends up making a strangled noise, shoving Jisung, and mockingly repeats in a high pitched tone: “Way hotter than you. Idiot.”
Jisung laughs, and Hyunjin rolls his eyes again as he starts stomping away from them. Felix snorts, sharing a look with Jisung before they follow after him.
“Why are we even here?” Felix asks, earning a dirty look from Hyunjin, he seems to be trying to lose them.
“Don’t you know?” Jisung says, taking on a sing-song tone, and smiling mischievously. “We’re here to support our beloved Spidey. Hyunjin’s bo-oy-friend!”
Felix laughs, which makes Jisung laugh and start singing, “Spider-Man, my love! Where are you?”
Hyunjin sighs heavily, he’s likely rolling his eyes and the thought makes Felix laugh even more. “Again, nobody asked either of you to be here.”
“Uh, actually, Spidey-”
“Oh my God.”
“-thinks Felix is hot as hell too. He asked both of us to be here personally, he was like ‘Oh my god! Jisung, please support me! And make sure your hot friend is there too!’ and I’m like, oh which friend? Because I got lots of hot friends, sir. Like there’s Minho, there’s Binnie, there’s Lix. I mean, there’s also Hyunjin, I guess.”
Felix tries to hold back his laughter, but it’s hard when Jisung delivers all of this with the most sincere expression and pitching his voice deeper to mimic Spider-Man’s supposed words, if Felix’s honest it sounds like himself that Jisung is copying. Meanwhile, Hyunjin looks like he wants to strangle him as he repeatedly says shut up.
“He’s like ‘who the fuck is that?’ and then, he goes, ‘I’m talking about that absolute cutie with the freckles and sexy ass voice.’ So, I’m like, holy moly, Spidey! That’s my boy! And he’s like, yeah make sure you two hot pieces are there to support me,” Jisung says, and it’s so absurd that Felix can’t help but laugh as Hyunjin stops in his tracks. “Sorry that your hero finds us so damn-”
“Okay, please shut up!” Hyunjin repeats with a shout, startling the mom and child besides them. “And leave me alone.”
“Alright,” Felix says, linking his arm with Jisung’s, “We’ll leave you alone. Bye, Hyunjinnie, bye!”
Before they can even jokingly start walking away, Hyunjin is stopping them with a strangled noise and a hold on Felix’s free arm. “Felix can stay,” Hyunjin says, then glares at Jisung, “You can leave.”
Jisung gasps as he grips Felix’s arm, “No, we can’t separate!”
“Exactly, we can’t separate!” Felix echoes, leaning instinctively into Jisung, laughing at the scrunched up face that Hyunjin is making in response.
Hyunjin grumbles in response, before crossing his arms and huffing dramatically. “Fine, you can stay,” he says, as if he was ever going to let them leave him alone. Felix smiles as he links their arms together and goes forward as Hyunjin complains some more.
They’ve managed to find a spot with a good view of the stage, after Hyunjin insisted on buying Spider-Man plushies once they stopped to get snacks from some vendors. They stand in their spot, Felix holding onto one of the plushies while he looks around. The excited chatter surrounding them and the marching band playing songs in the distance.
It’s almost overwhelming how much is happening all at once.
"Do you think he'll even show up?" Felix asks, watching as Jisung stuffs his cheeks with funnel cake and Hyunjin puffs out his own to make fun of him.
"Who? Minho?" Hyunjin asks, making a disgusted face when Jisung gets chocolate sauce all over his face. “I’m sure he’s somewhere taking pictures.”
Felix nods, then frowns, glancing back at him. “What? No, I meant Spider-Man. Why would you think I meant Minho?”
“Oh, uh,” Hyunjin says, sharing a strange look with Jisung, who quickly stuffs the remainder of his funnel cake in his mouth. He shrugs, and Hyunjin avoids Felix’s gaze as he looks towards the stage. “No reason. Just you know.”
“What?” Felix prompts, watching as Hyunjin continues to avoid his gaze, holding the plushie tight to his chest.
“Nothing,” Hyunjin shrugs, now he’s looking up at the sky as if he’ll manage to catch Spider-Man swinging towards them. It makes Felix feel like he’s missing something, especially with how Jisung chews his food painfully slow to avoid speaking.
He frowns, and nudges Hyunjin, “No. What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s just a instinctive reaction. Because you just… You always ask whether Minho will actually show,” Hyunjin says, and that’s not fair, they all do that.
Or well, really, it’s just him and Changbin that do, the two have been jokingly making bets every time on if he’ll actually show, especially when he’s supposedly going to be there.
Still, Felix doesn’t appreciate the way Hyunjin is saying it, like it’s an accusation, as if he’s saying something else entirely without saying what he actually means. It makes him feel defensive and he doesn’t even know why.
“No, I don’t,” he insists.
Hyunjin gives him this look, one that’s partly pity and partly judgment, as if he feels sorry for Felix, but thinks he’s an idiot. Or like, he’s sorry that Felix is an idiot. Felix can only scowl in return, Hyunjin just keeps looking at him with that look, his hand reaching out to squeeze his shoulder.
“Lix, you're obsessed with Minho,” Hyunjin says, softly as if he’s telling a little kid a secret that he thinks will shatter them, like being told that Santa isn’t real.
Felix scoffs, makes a face that he hopes shows how offended and shocked he is, he sputters out a denial. Turning to Jisung to help defend him, which turns out to be hopeless, since Jisung has this expression on his face. A look that says that he agrees with Hyunjin, but is distinctly uncomfortable about it.
He gives him a sheepish smile, and shrugs, “You kinda are, dude.”
Felix frowns as he stares at him in response. The two share another strange look, likely taking something from Felix’s silence as confirmation of some kind. For what? Felix isn’t sure.
“It’s okay,” Hyunjin says, “It’s cute that you’ve got a crush.”
“What?” he asks, startled, brows furrowing because, seriously, what?
He's struggling to find the words to ask how the hell Hyunjin had even come to that conclusion, when there’s a shout from somewhere and then, a voice over the speakers, “It’s Spider-Man!”
The crowd immediately falls into a hush for a split second before erupting in cheers, Hyunjin immediately looks around to find where exactly the man of the hour is, as if he hadn’t just handed Felix a loaded weapon of a declaration. Easily moving on as if he didn’t just cause an earthquake within Felix with the very simple observation.
He’s bouncing excitedly as he tugs on Felix’s arm, pointing towards somewhere, Felix follows to see. And sure enough, there’s a blur of red and blue barreling towards the stage where the Mayor and everyone else on stage is gathering around together.
Felix hates to admit that Spider-Man is a sight to see from this distance, he’s giving a bit of a show as he flips and gracefully soars through the sky. He’s amazing, which is not something he’d usually think. Hell, the sight of Spider-Man usually means trouble. Right now, he can’t help admiring the way he moves.
“Wow,” he says, looking over at Jisung, who’s smiling up as well, bright and fond and impressed, and Hyunjin excitedly clapping while trying to keep hold of his belongings.
Spider-Man lands on the metal frames at the back of the stage, perching in a crouched position, overlooking the stage and the crowd. He balances himself with one hand, using his now free one to wave at everyone. It makes the crowd go wild.
The Mayor is handed a mic, encouraging the cheers and hyping up the crowd as Spider-Man moves to sit more comfortably on top of the stage’s frames. He waves some more, while the Mayor gears up to begin his speech.
Felix can not tell you what exactly the speech is about, he doesn’t focus on it, he’s sure it’s full of the usual praise and gratitude towards Spidey. Instead Felix is focusing on Spidey, the way he’s keeping his distance by staying comfortably perched in the corner.
And then, Spidey is stiffening, looking around and shifting so that he’s standing up on the frame. The speech is ongoing. Then, there’s a loud cackling echoing distantly, Felix notices a hush falling over the crowd. He turns to find something hovering over them, no, someone hovering over them, zigzagging above.
Then, an explosion somewhere in the distance, it’s one of the buildings across from the edge of the park. Fire and smoke filling the air as people scream.
After that, it happens so fast, the crowd dispersing. The police chief captain barking orders over the speakers after stealing the mic from the mayor. All the first responders that’d been posted all around are directing the flow of traffic. People stumbling and shouting and trying to get away.
And in the midst of it all, Spider-Man goes after the figure disrupting the peace, along with a few more explosions. The two fighting and the sound of eerie cackling filling the air.
“Felix!” Jisung shouts, tugging on his hand, “We’ve got to go!”
Felix gets shaken out of his thoughts, lets himself be pulled by Jisung as they follow Hyunjin and the crowds away from the fight and explosions, towards safety.
He looks back towards the fight, letting go of his hold on Jisung’s hand. It makes him stop when he sees a small kid sobbing curled up near the stage. And he looks back to Spidey, too occupied with the fight, he vaguely hears Jisung and Hyunjin calling for him. But he doesn’t respond. Only bolts towards the kid.
By the time he's closing in towards the kid, it seems he’s not the only one whose attention was caught by her. The attacker, all green metallic kind of suit and a hoverboard of sorts, is cackling loudly zeroing in on the kid as well. She screams as the guy gets closer.
Felix doesn’t see Spider-Man anywhere, he picks up a piece of debris, some metal door from one of the food carts, then shouts, “Hey, you green idiot!”
He throws the debris from the stage at the guy’s back; it’s enough to take his focus away from the kid, and with the focus on Felix, he’s realizing that this guy’s mask is creepy, almost goblin-like.
He wonders who the hell this guy even is.
Many of the criminals running around in masks are usually connected to Kingpin in some way, and those that aren’t have been around enough that Felix has heard of them. But this guy is definitely new. And he’s definitely not happy about Felix throwing things at him, especially when he grabs another piece of scrap from one of the food trucks and throws it at the guy.
He catches it seamlessly, hovering slowly towards Felix.
“Fuck,” Felix mutters, as he glances behind the man where the girl is still frozen and sobbing, he sees Spidey scooping the kid up and swinging away. There’s that, at least, Felix thinks as the man stares at him. He turns and runs away.
There’s that laughing coming from the masked man again, all high-pitched and mechanically, it sounds nearly demented. “You can’t run from me!”
Felix’s heart is racing, and he bolts, leaping over a turned over cart and trying his best to stay away from the man. He turns back to see that the guy is no longer behind him, only to find him cutting him off as soon as he looks forward, he stumbles to a stop as the guy slowly gets closer to him.
“Aw, don’t be scared!”
He moves forward too quickly for Felix to dodge his advance and suddenly Felix is left breathless as the man barrels into him, practically scooping him off the ground. And Felix struggles in his hold as they’re being lifted into the air. He zooms through the air, high up and away from the crowd of cops that are gathering down below.
“Hey!” a voice shouts, Felix turns to see Spider-Man swinging towards them, “Leave the kid alone, I’m the one you’re here for, right?”
Felix scoffs at being called a kid. The man cackles, it seems to be his thing, the noise loud and causing Felix to flinch slightly. His grip on Felix is strong and he’ll probably have a bruise, they’re hovering even higher. Rising steadily.
“You don’t have to bring him into this,” Spidey says, pulling himself up the web hanging from somewhere as he tries to keep up with them. And Felix is becoming hyper aware of how high they are now. “Let’s talk about this, Greenie.”
“I don’t want to talk,” the man says, and Felix’s heart is racing, “Where’s the fun in that?”
“Okay, we can’t do much with our third wheel,” Spidey says, “How about you put the kid down somewhere and we get to the real fun?”
The man cackles again, sharp and eerie, and says, “Well, if you insist!”
It’s at that moment it clicks.
And before the thought even fully forms, the man is dropping Felix and he’s falling, falling, falling.
God, Felix is going to die.
He’d always thought it’d be because of a job gone wrong. Or that he’d be a casualty of some alien invasion, or even have a hit put on his head. Preferably, he wants to live to an old age, right alongside the love of his life, who knows all about what he’s done and loves and accepts him completely. And he thinks it’d be romantic if the two of them die on the same day. Felix would also like to be telling his grandchildren about his criminal past right before he goes. They’d wave it off as the ramblings of an old dying man, until they go through his belongings, and find out their beloved Grandpa was a thief. He thinks it’d be funny.
But, of course, his death will be the cause of Spider-Man. And less directly, the fault of Hyunjin and Jisung. It seems almost fitting that all three of them would somewhat indirectly be the cause of his death.
He can hear his own scream, muffled by the way his heart is beating in his ears, he wishes he’d had enough foresight to have his grappling hook. Keeping up his own secret identity be damned, at least he wouldn’t be falling to his death.
He’s hit by something hard, belatedly he realizes it’s another body colliding with his, Spider-Man’s body colliding with his. His arm wraps around Felix’s waist securely, while the other likely shoots out a web and they’re soaring through the sky, and Felix instinctively wraps his arms around Spider-Man’s shoulders in return.
Felix stares at the side of Spider-Man’s face, or as much as he can, sees the reds and thin black lines. His heart pounding at the adrenaline from falling and being caught, at the strangeness of being this close to Spider-Man without it being because they’re fighting.
They’re gradually slowing down, eventually coming to a stop, at a nearby roof.
"Are you okay?" Spider-Man asks, and it’s strange to be on this end of things. His tone is soft, achingly soft in a way that makes Felix’s head spin because it feels wrong for Spider-Man to be soft, especially towards him.
And he thinks, of course, he’s soft. Right now, he’s just another distressed civilian that needs to be saved, to be protected. He has no idea who Felix really is and Felix hopes it stays that way.
He’s sure this is the version everyone that gets saved sees, the caring and kind hero, almost gentle as he holds him tightly. For a moment, he thinks this must be why so many adore him, he feels safe.
“Hey, you okay?” he repeats, clearly worried, still sounding soft. “You’re safe now.”
Safe.
It’s comforting.
It’s strange.
And that’s when it hits him that he’s still clinging to Spider-Man, his arms wrapped around his shoulders securely, and he hates that it’s a comfortable sort of hug. That he can feel the warmth of Spider-Man’s hands on his waist.
He lets go and steps back abruptly, causing Spider-Man to stand with his hands awkwardly held up at air for a brief second. “Hey,” he repeats, “Do you need me to get you some help?”
Felix blinks, swallowing hard as he looks away towards the sky where the fumes of smoke are barely lingering from that hoverboard the guy was on. “He got away,” he says, then he looks for the kid that he saved. “Where’s the kid?”
“She’s safe,” Spider-Man mumbles, “And let me worry about that guy, alright?”
“Right. Because that’s your thing, superhero,” Felix says, scoffing, his tone almost sarcastic and instantly feels weird about being this close to Spider-Man without being a version of himself that he knows, feels weird about how easily the retort came to him when it shouldn’t have. This isn’t how a normal person reacts to their life being in danger and being saved.
And definitely not how one reacts to Spider-Man.
Spider-Man nods, and says, “Sure, something like that. Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yeah, fine, don’t worry about me,” Felix says.
Spider-Man is staring at him, almost intently, and it makes Felix feel self-conscious. He wonders what exactly he’s thinking. Likely, that he’s in shock and clearly not fine, and that’s partly true just not at all for the reasons he’s probably assuming.
“Really I’m… fine,” he insists, already trying to figure out how far he is from where he’d separated from his friends. He’s reaching for his phone and is not surprised to see the mountain of missed calls.
He looks up, expecting to find himself alone on the roof, only to see Spidey still watching him.
“I just…” Spider-Man starts to say, then pauses, and shakes his head. “Please be careful.”
Felix frowns.
But then, he’s on the move, abruptly swinging away from Felix without another word.
After everything has settled, and Felix is reunited with his friends; Jisung refuses to let him out of his sight, which means instead of the comfort of his own home, he's been bullied into spending the night at Jisung and Minho's place since it's so much closer than his penthouse. Along with Hyunjin, who seems equally distressed about letting Felix out of his sight, as if they can protect him from what’s already happened and he doesn’t have the heart to explain he doesn’t need their protection (he’s tried and they refuse to believe him).
The two of them are acting like there's an imminent breakdown bound to happen in Felix's future and no amount insisting he's fine is enough. In fact, he had to convince them not to follow him to the bathroom because of their worries.
“I don’t think that green guy knows where I’m at,” Felix says, rolling his eyes, “Or even cares about me.”
“You don’t know that!”
If anything, the worriedness is easier to deal with than Hyunjin’s equal parts excitement and jealousy at Felix being so close to Spider-Man. He makes Felix recount the details over and over until Jisung smacks him for “making Felix relive his trauma”.
Eventually Jisung falls asleep, cheek pressed against the armrest of the couch, he looks uncomfortable, but doesn't move when Felix tries to get him to wake up to go to bed. "Can't leave you," he mumbles, before falling right back to sleep.
And Felix knows he's going to be whiny as hell when he wakes up with an ache in his neck because of it.
Hyunjin keeps laughing at Jisung but then quickly falls asleep in a slump right beside him, all his long limbs looking equally uncomfortable as he shifts around. The couch is not nearly big enough for both of them to be sleeping on it.
“My heroes,” Felix deadpans, as he covers them with blankets and sits on the floor. He's glad that they're safe at least, he isn't sure what he would've done if it were one of them instead of himself.
He pushes back the loose strands of Hyunjin's hair back, he’s about to adjust the blanket that’s slipping off of Jisung when he’s startled by a crashing noise coming from the direction of the bedrooms. He freezes as he quickly gets up to his feet, quietly and slowly going towards where he’d left his backpack on the side of the couch, slipping out the retractable baton that he keeps tucked away. When he has it out he glances back towards the two sleeping on the couch, Jisung stirring gently as he pulls the blanket around him.
He needs to keep them safe.
As the muffled noises continue, he reaches up to his neck, checking his own beating pulse as he goes closer to where the noise is coming from.
Jisung’s door is cracked open; but Minho’s is shut and there’s a rustling from within, a sliver of light coming from the crack that shifts around. It’s either a flashlight, or more likely the flash from the phone. He freezes as he checks when he hears a thud followed by a muffled grunt.
He stills for a moment, then thinks about Jisung and Hyunjin comfortably asleep on the couch, he can’t let anything happen to them. He swallows hard and takes a step forward. The floorboards creak beneath his feet and there’s a moment of stillness, and then the door swings open.
Felix has his baton raised, ready to aim, only to come face to face with Minho, looking startled and eyes zeroing in on the weapon in Felix’s hand. He tilts his head, raising his hands in mock surrender, “You gonna use that, Yongbok?”
Felix huffs, letting his hand drop to his side, then frowns, “Who told you that name?”
Minho smirks slightly, shrugging, “I know a lot of things. That’s why they call me Lee Know.”
“Nobody calls you that,” Felix says, after a moment, squinting at him. There’s a bruise blossoming on his chin, a scratch on his neck, and his knuckles look scraped.
“You just don’t know them,” Minho counters, easily moving past him, “Have you eaten yet?”
Felix follows him to the kitchen, it doesn’t take long considering how tiny the apartment is, the guys are still sleeping on the couch. He watches Minho limp, clearly trying to hide it, as he goes to the fridge. “What happened to your leg?” he asks instead of answering.
Minho keeps his back towards him as he looks around for something. “Had to fight off some ajummas and kids for a good spot at the park,” he says, evenly.
And it’s clearly a joke, he knows this, but something about it seems off, then he realizes that Minho likely means that he got hurt on the way out when everyone was rushing to safety. Then, he remembers: “Why’d you come through the window?”
A moment of silence, Minho is taking out a container and going towards the microwave, he says, “You’re chatty tonight.”
It makes Felix freeze, he has been chatty tonight, it’s probably the longest conversation the two of them have had in months. Which is saying a lot since it hasn’t even been the longest conversation thus far. It’s only because his mind is still racing, not with fear or worry like Jisung thought, he can’t stop thinking about Spider-Man and his, well, his care.
But he can’t exactly say that. He’s sure Minho thinks it’s because the others are sleeping, and Felix has never done well with being alone. Not that he expects Minho to know that.
“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Minho says suddenly, and Felix looks up to see him watching him, he realizes he must’ve taken the silence the wrong way. “You… I don’t mind.”
“Okay,” Felix whispers, because he’s not sure what else to say. He doesn’t like the idea of bothering him. He watches the timer on the microwave ticking off the seconds.
“Are you okay?” Minho asks, and Felix blinks rapidly looking away from the timer, frowns at him. He scratches his neck. “Hyunjin told the group chat what happened. You know, at the fair.”
“Ah, yeah,” Felix says, shifting as he leans against the counter, he remembers turning off his notifications. Honestly, he forgot Minho was even in the chat with them, he can’t remember the last time he texted there. “I’m fine. I think they’re more freaked out than I am.”
Minho hums, watching him carefully, then smiles, “You almost beat me up back there.”
It takes a moment for Felix to register what he means, he scoffs and shakes his head, “You’re the one breaking into your own apartment like a creep.”
Minho laughs, loudly and brightly, and it stuns Felix because he’s never seen him laugh like this in the time that they’ve known each other. He smiles back and can’t find it in himself to be annoyed at that moment.
“Why do you even have a baton?” Minho asks, looking a little amused.
“Sorry, don’t you work at the paper?” Felix retorts, “This city is dangerous as fuck. I’m not going to count on some masked weirdo to save me.”
He looks over and sees Minho stiffen, there’s a strange look on his face, he’s not sure what it means. He blinks rapidly before kicking himself into motion as the timer goes off. “He saved you today, didn’t he?” he asks, clearing his throat as he splits the leftover noodles between two bowls.
It hits him that this is the first time he’s asking about that particular aspect of his day. Most of the people that texted him asking if he was alright had immediately followed it with asking: What was he like?
It was another reason why he shut his notifications off.
“Well, yeah,” he answers, shrugging, “But the city’s huge, Minho, and he’s only one guy.”
At that, Minho looks over at him, there’s a look of consideration as he hums. “Uh, true, maybe it’s better that you’re not counting on him.”
And Felix wants to say he doesn’t mean it like that, before realizing he doesn’t even know why he needs to defend Spider-Man. There’s no reason to, he won’t know, and it’s not like it’s not true. There’s just a part of him that feels bothered by the way Minho brushes it off, as if he doesn’t believe Spider-Man is worthy of being counted on.
“Here, eat,” he offers before Felix can figure out what to say next as he slides the bowl towards him. He glances behind Felix towards the couches, then asks, “Want to watch a movie?”
Felix is prodding at the food with the chopsticks that Minho put there for him. He frowns, “We shouldn’t disrupt those two, they’ll be whiney about being woken up.”
“What? No, I know, I meant we can watch something in my room,” Minho explains, there’s a certain edge to the way he asks, it makes him seem almost shy.
And it’s weird. In a way, he didn’t even think they were really friends. And he’s never stepped foot into Minho’s room before, he isn’t sure what made Minho decide to offer him but he’s not going to question, especially when he won’t be able to sleep any time soon.
“You know,” a voice says, “They say crime doesn’t pay.”
Felix snorts, glancing up to see Spider-Man lowering himself down to where he’s set up camp. He figures that tonight will be a long night, the once simple job he’d been planning for the better part of a month has now been halted by a human pest shaped complication. It’s a good thing he’s always prepared to work around Spider-Man.
“Well, whoever said that has clearly never been to my place,” Felix replies, his mask is covering up his smile but he’s sure he can tell anyways. He doesn’t add that he’s intimately aware of how well crime does pay; it pays for the fancy penthouse apartment he lives in and it paid for the house his mom owns. It pays for all the gifts he showers his family and friends in, and all the things he buys for himself, and everything else a person could ask for. He likes nice things and crime has ensured he can get those things without worry.
Something Felix's father had taught him early on was that money talks. Another lesson was how to make sure you have enough money to speak on your behalf. So, yeah, he knows a thing or two about how well crime pays especially when you're good at it, and Felix prides himself in being among the best.
“I like to think your place is just giant cat trees from floor to ceiling,” Spider-Man says, almost solemnly, he seems serious. “Paradise for cats, really. And that you own ten cats who I want to meet by the way. I bet you named them after all the greats too.”
“Good guess,” Felix says, glancing back through his binoculars and checking, sure enough the guards are turning the corners just like clockwork inside the building. He tucks them away, turning towards Spider-Man. “I don’t actually have cats. Besides, like I’d ever let you meet them if I did.”
“Ouch, that hurts,” he replies, and though his mask covers his face completely just like Felix’s does, he can imagine the pout he’s getting. “I really wanted to meet Kitcent van Gogh.”
Felix bursts out laughing at that. “That’s what you think I’d name my cat?”
Spider-Man hums, sounding pleased while nodding. “Claude Meownet and Frida Claw-lo.”
“Do your fans know their beloved hero is an absolute nerd?” Felix asks, snorting and trying not to laugh at his ridiculous puns, glancing at his watch, he’s got some time to spare. And he knows he shouldn’t continue entertaining whatever this is with Spidey. But something about it is comfortable.
For a moment, it’s easy to forget the strangeness of their last interaction, all those weeks ago, because this is the norm. This is Spider-Man and the Black Cat. They’re on equal footing the way it should be. Then again, he can’t help but compare the way he’s speaking to the softness and the care and the please be careful that had echoed through his mind for days afterwards.
“Aw, I didn’t know we were at the endearment phase in our relationship,” he says, hand clutching at his heart as if touched by the not so nickname. “Honey, I’ve been waiting for this day.”
Felix smirks, counting in his head, he glances at the museum to see the flashlights through the window disappear. “You should’ve said so, webs,” he says, Spidey tilts his head, and Felix kicks out and manages to land the kick in his stomach.
He groans while stumbling back. Felix blinks in surprise, usually it’s harder to land a first hit, but he’s not going to take any edge for granted. Especially when, like always Spider-Man quickly recovers, and lunges forward to attack him.
It’s going to be a long night.
(“The Levanter Diamond as promised. And a few extras.”
Kingpin leans forward, grabbing the bag that Felix stored the jewels in, he hums as he holds them in his hand. The large blue diamond with hints of yellow, the Levanter, catches the light and sparkles as he turns it slowly between his fingers. He nods to the man standing to the side, far older with graying hair and glasses, and hands over the small jewels first. The man quickly pulls out a magnifying glass.
Felix rolls his eyes, crossing his arms as he watches the authenticator go about doing his thing. He glances at Kingpin, “Seriously? After all this time?”
“It’s just business, Cat,” Kingpin says, glancing up from the Levanter, dimples on full display as he smirks at him. “Just making sure I’m getting my money’s worth. You understand, don’t you?”
Don’t trust anyone, his father’s voice echoes in his mind.)
“Can you believe this shit?” Hyunjin asks, sounding pissed off as he finally joins them in the study room.
Felix looks up to see him clutching a copy of the Bugle before he slams the paper down onto the table. Smoothing the crumbled edges, and Felix can see that there’s a picture of Spider-Man splashed on the front page. That’s never been a surprise, he’s been dominating the cover ever since he showed up on the scene years ago.
Changbin startles at the noises, finally turning away from where he’d been focused on working on an essay for the past half hour. He blinks a few times, staring at Hyunjin, “What are you mad about now?”
Felix leans over to look at the front page of the Bugle, he reads out: “ ‘Spider-Menace at Large: working with International Art Thief, the Black Cat!”
He laughs at that, pulling the newspaper closer. Now that he has a better angle, he sees that it’s a shot from last week when Spider-Man tried to stop him from stealing the Levanter Diamond. The image is as clear as it can be, likely from a nearby roof with the zoom heavily in use, showing a shot of Spider-Man chasing after him through the hall.
He wonders why it’s taken so long for the Bugle to print any information about that night; other than the article the day after that said the place had been robbed. The Black Cat was not mentioned by name, though he knows considering the noise he made, it’s only a matter of time before he was named the culprit.
“The Bugle’s accused him of worse things,” Felix points out instead of saying any of the things he’s actually thinking.
“He’s right,” Changbin nods, frowning as he looks towards the paper, “Remember when they accused him of working with Electro the other week to rob banks?”
Hyunjin groans and plops into the chair beside Changbin. “Yeah, and it’s bullshit! He’s a hero and all he does is get torn to shreds by this paper.”
“Well,” Felix says, staring at the picture, “It does look a little suspicious.”
Changbin looks at him, eyes wide before biting back his smile when he realizes that Felix is messing with Hyunjin. Meanwhile, Hyunjin gasps, “How can you say that?”
“Nah, he’s got a point,” Changbin adds, leaning back in his chair, clearly giving up on his essay in order to argue. He points at the paper. “You can’t tell me that’s not damning. We don’t know what happened.”
“Oh my God,” Hyunjin says, shaking his head, “I can’t believe you’re even implying that.”
“Who’s doing what now?” Jisung asks, clearly curious, the door slamming open and Minho trailing in right behind him, when he meets Felix’s eyes he offers a quick smile before following after Jisung.
Hyunjin is glaring. “These idiots are implying that Spidey is working with Black Cat.”
“Hey, who are you calling an idiot?” Changbin says, voice getting loud, “And look, I’m just saying it’s suspicious. How do you not see how suspicious it is?”
Jisung laughs while plopping down into a seat, Hyunjin grumbles, and Minho snorts as he glances towards the newspaper that Felix is looking at. There’s a look of recognition flashing across his face as he sits down into the seat next to Jisung.
“It’s not!” Hyunjin insists, “All this is just being taken out of context. Why would he work with him?”
“For the money,” Felix suggests, mostly to see how riled up Hyunjin will get, it’s sure to be amusing.
“Also, why hasn’t he caught the guy?” Changbin asks, almost challenging, but mostly teasing as he smirks at Hyunjin. And Hyunjin scowls in return.
“Maybe, it’s because Black Cat is just better than him,” Jisung muses, which makes Felix preen slightly but he keeps his expression blank as he reaches for his smoothie. Hyunjin makes a noise that reveals his disagreement, though before he can voice actual words, Jisung adds: “Or maybe the bug’s got a crush.”
Felix chokes on his smoothie at that. Hyunjin is torn between arguing and worrying for Felix as he coughs, instead he settles on both, patting Felix’s back as he angrily says, “What’s wrong with you?”
“What?” Jisung shouts, “Spidey can’t have a crush? He’s a hero not dead!”
Felix’s coughing lessens as he glances between his friends, that’s when he notices Minho watching him, he’s got a brow quirked when their gazes meet, as if asking if Felix’s okay.
Hyunjin is struggling with a response to that reply. Finally, settling with: “He’s a criminal, Sungie.”
Felix focuses on the newspaper, on the image on the front page, anything to ignore the sting at the words. It’s the truth, he is a criminal, but it’s the way Hyunjin says the word with so much disdain and venom that causes the words to burrow beneath his skin, bothering him in a way that it usually wouldn't.
“Okay, and? Art theft is arguably the sexiest crime someone could commit, I wouldn’t blame Spidey for finding him sexy,” Jisung says, almost like he’s thought about this before, or like he's the one with a crush. “It’s some enemies to lovers slow burn shit going on there.”
“You sound like you’re about to write a fanfic about them,” Changbin says, laughing as Hyunjin balks at Jisung.
Jisung hums, tapping his fingers. “That’s not a bad idea, I’d call it Webs and Claws, or something,” he says, pulling out his phone. Felix feels incredibly awkward about this turn of conversation, shifting uncomfortably as he looks down at the newspaper, none of the words registering. Jisung takes a deep breath: “‘Spider-Man took off his mask, staring into Black Cat’s blueish-brownish-greenish colored orbs, ‘Why are you doing this?’ Black Cat scoffs, flipping his long ebony black hair with purple streaks and red tips, he said, ‘Meow.’”
Felix bursts into laughter, he should've known that Jisung would make a joke out of it. It causes some of the awkward tension to fade ever so slightly. "Meow?" he repeats.
“I hate this conversation,” Hyunjin groans, letting his head fall onto the table, his forehead causing a soft thud. Felix reaches out to pat his head gently, comforting him despite being partly responsible for encouraging this conversation.
“Why does it matter so much to you?” Minho asks, suddenly, “It’s not like he hasn’t been accused of worse things.”
“That’s what we were saying!” Changbin says.
And Hyunjin sits up abruptly, pointing an accusing finger his way, “Shut up, you traitor!”
Minho raises a brow, and asks, “What?”
“Sorry,” Hyunjin blurts immediately, instantly retracting his hand and bowing his head slightly. Then, he adds, “Seriously, though, you don’t get an opinion since you give them the pictures to use to write this bullshit.”
“I don’t see you paying my bills,” Minho counters.
Felix frowns, immediately looking at the paper again, and sure enough, right there underneath the picture in tiny print is Minho’s name being credited. He isn’t even sure why he’s surprised, he knows that Minho is a photographer for the Bugle, and has heard the guys mention it multiple times before. One of Minho’s most common excuses is being called in to take pictures whenever something goes down.
It’s just that right now, it’s actually hitting him that Minho wasn’t just taking pictures of Spider-Man, he’d taken a picture of him.
“You were there that night?” Felix asks, looking over directly at Minho, who looks blankly back at him. He only nods.
He doesn’t get much more than that because Jisung asks: “Dude, why do you even care about this guy so much?”
“He’s a hero for the people, what’s not to like?” Hyunjin retorts, and it’s something that he’s said hundreds of times before and likely will say a hundred times more.
As long as Felix has known Hyunjin, which evidently hasn't been very long, he’s become well acquainted with all of Hyunjin’s speeches when it came to Spider-Man. In fact, one of the first things that he’d learned about Hyunjin was the fact that he was a huge Spider-Man fan, just a healthy hero-worship bordering on celeb crush territory. It’d almost been enough for Felix to turn around and not start any kind of friendship, but he’s kind of glad he didn’t.
“He also thinks the suit makes his thighs look incredible,” Changbin adds, another speech that Hyunjin had forced on them during a party after a few too many shots.
“He’s got a point,” Felix says, glancing at the paper again, it really doesn’t do him justice. Hyunjin is loudly saying thank you and he looks up to find Minho staring at him intently. He looks away, and adds: “But you don’t know what he looks like under the mask.”
“He could be all scarred under the mask, like Freddy Kreuger,” Minho adds.
“Gross,” Felix mumbles, scrunching his nose, it’s not what he was going for, but now that’s something that’s going to be on his mind now. Minho looks pleased by the reaction, for some reason, smiling as he turns back to his book.
The truth is, the thought of who is under that mask has been plaguing Felix for a while now, and perhaps he’s just projecting onto Hyunjin. He’s not sure. But what he is sure of is that he’s got some kind of feelings for Spider-Man and he constantly has to remind himself about this major factor. He doesn’t actually know anything about the guy.
“It’s not about who he is under the mask,” Hyunjin explains, earnestly, and Felix knows he means it, and will mean whatever else he says. “It doesn’t matter who he is, but he’s still out there risking his life for the city. He’s a hero, he’s still good.”
“True, but still he could be anybody,” Jisung jumps in, nodding, “It could be me. If I was him, would you want to kiss me?” He leans into Hyunjin’s space with puckered lips.
Hyunjin makes a disgusted face, leaning away from him, hand coming up to push Jisung’s face away from him. “It can’t be you,” he says firmly.
“How do you know?”
“Um, you’re terrible at keeping secrets,” Hyunjin counters, rolling his eyes, stating it as if it’s obvious.
Jisung gasps, “I am not!”
“Are too!” Hyunjin retorts, and Felix laughs this time.
“Besides, you wrote that song about Spidey and have been making money off of it,” Changbin chimes in, “That’s a dumb move. Wouldn’t the goal be to keep your real name as far away from him as you can?”
“Unless that’s exactly the point,” Minho argues, not bothering to look up from his book, “Hiding in plain sight.”
“Wait, you get paid for that song?” Felix asks. Jisung beams proudly, and winks.
“Of course, baby, I got that ad revenue on and everything.”
Hyunjin scoffs. “It’s ridiculous how you two make money off of him.”
“Um. If he’s really the hero of the people you claim he is, then he won’t care,” Jisung argues, “In fact, he’d be glad to know that he’s helping us pay our rent.” He gestures towards Minho and himself with one hand, “Now, that’s a hero of the people for you.”
“Okay, what about me?” Changbin asks, “Would I get a kiss if I was Spidey?”
Hyunjin sighs heavily. Meanwhile, Jisung laughs, “Please, you? You can’t be him, your body is all wrong to be him.”
“Exactly!” Hyunjin chimes in, “Plus, I feel like we’d know it was you, because you’re really bad at keeping secrets too. And you’re way too aggressive when it comes to fighting, I feel like you’d yell at them instead of talking nonsense like he does.”
Felix raises a brow, glancing over towards Changbin, all of that is true. For one, he’s too muscular to be him, and yeah, he’s sure he’d know by now if it was Changbin behind the mask. His personality is all wrong, they don’t act the same at all. Because Changbin goes to extremes, he’s calm and collected or loud and abrasive, while Spider-Man keeps a strange calmness to him even when he inevitably gets loud.
And again, he feels like he’d just know if it was Changbin. Or anybody else he knew for that matter.
“I… feel like I should be insulted, but kind of impressed that it sounds like you’ve actually put thought into this,” Changbin says, sounding bemused as he watches Hyunjin.
“I have. He could be anyone, which is why I’ve ruled out everyone in this room,” Hyunjin announces firmly, “Example: Minho. He’s too lazy. Also, he’s more likely to end up being a villain.”
“Hey!” Minho says, clearly offended, “I’d prefer super villain. Put some respect on my name.”
Changbin snorts, then leans forward, and jokingly asks: "Be honest, are you Black Cat?"
"You do love cats," Hyunjin points out.
Minho doesn't respond, only stares at him in response, then he squints his eyes briefly, all while smirking like the Cheshire cat. It's enough to do a double take and be left wondering, but ultimately knowing that it's just a joke. At least, Felix thinks he'd be doubting whether its him joking or not, you know, if he were anyone else.
“He’s also scared of heights,” Jisung chimes in, earning an elbow from Minho, “What? It’s true!”
“You don’t need to tell the world.”
“Just saying it’s another reason you could never be either of them." Jisung shrugs, then barrels on: "By the way, Felix’s most likely to be a hero, he likes being helpful and cares too much. But we all know he’s never won anything in his life. Much less been in a fight,” Jisung continues solemnly; and Felix scowls in response, he’d started off so nicely.
“Oh, that’s a good point,” Hyunjin agrees, “I was just going to say he’d never hurt a fly.”
“I can fight,” Felix defends, “I’ve taken TaeKwonDo for twelve years.”
“Ah, I see,” Jisung nods, “So, that makes you what? Beginner still?”
“Haven’t you played League of Legends for twelve years, too, but you’re still a bronze,” Changbin adds, earning laughs from the others.
“Let me guess, you’ve won two medals in those twelve years,” Jisung adds.
“Fuck off,” Felix groans, but gets ignored in favor of them laughing and making more jokes about him never winning anything. He’s kind of tempted to reveal he’s beat Spider-Man on several occasions just to shut them up, but he knows it wouldn’t be worth the trouble, even if they did believe him.
“Oh! Another reason to eliminate all of you,” Hyunjin says, “Spider-Man started doing his thing almost seven years ago, so, unless he was some high schooler swinging around, which I doubt.”
“You don’t know his life,” Jisung says, “He could’ve been!”
Felix zones out as they argue about it, it’s something he’s never thought about before, in his mind, Spider-Man has been an equal in every way. And right now, he realizes he’s been thinking of them as the same age, more or less. But Hyunjin has a point. Then again, he figures he can’t be that much older than him, now that he thinks about it, it seems like he can’t be any older than thirty.
And even as they switch topics towards other things, like complaints about how it’s too early in the semester to be assigning essays or dinner plans, his mind can’t help circling back to the question: Who is behind the mask?
For his birthday, he drives upstate to spend it with Mom and his sister surprising them for the weekend. Despite the fact that he can easily make the nearly two hour drive whenever he wants to, he feels like he rarely sees them, always too busy with school and work and everything else. So, the times he does get to see them is always that much more special.
During the visit, his sister asks about Spider-Man, and so do the friends that she had over. Apparently they’d all heard and saw him being rescued on the internet, and he’s used to this, she’s always asking about the city and about the heroes, because it’s exciting to her when she lives so far away from it all. Felix usually has to remind her that the city is huge and lies by saying he’s never even seen Spider-Man, much less anything else truly exciting. This time, though, he has no way to escape having to talk about it.
Mom listens, while making a face, “You got to be careful around that Spider guy, Felix, he’s trouble.”
His sister rolls her eyes, and chides her for listening to the news, but Felix knows that’s not what she means. That she’s telling him to be careful for other reasons, that she’s read the articles about the Black Cat fighting against him every few months when they wind up crossing paths.
Despite that minor bump, it’s nice to get away from the city and all that it entails; he can’t escape the evidence of his own doing since that is what paid for this house. It’s a reminder of who else he’s doing this for, not only for himself and the money, but most importantly for them. For his family.
And here, in this house, with his mom and sisters, it’s simple. He gets to leave his worries at the door.
"This is for you," Felix says, after breakfast when it’s just the two of them. He’s reaching into his bag and pulling out an envelope, sliding it over to her.
Mom's bright smile takes a sad edge as she stares down at the envelope, she shakes her head as if she already knows what it is. They do this every time he visits. "Felix," she says, her usual cheery tone turning tired, slowly pushing it back towards him, "I can't."
"You can," Felix insists, stopping her hand, “It’s for you. I want you to have it.”
And she frowns now, looking tired and sad and he hates that he’s the reason for it. She stares at it, lips pursed in distaste, or perhaps disappointment. She asks, despite already knowing the answer, “How’d you get this money, Felix?”
She asks every time, even though she doesn’t want to know the real answer, as if she expects it’d be different than the truth that she already knows. And Felix never has the heart to actually lie to her because they both know the truth.
“Side jobs,” he answers, like he always does.
She sighs, heavily, looking at him sternly. “I wish you wouldn’t take so many… side jobs,” she murmurs, turning her hand to hold onto his, and she doesn’t look disappointed.
Instead she looks sad, which is worse, he almost wishes she was just disappointed, or even angry.
“I know.”
She sighs, and reaches her other hand out to flatten down his hair, “You won’t stop, will you?”
Felix hates lying to her, so he doesn’t even bother, he is his father’s son after all. But he won’t be a liar like him, won’t fill her with false promises that they both know he won’t keep. Instead of replying he leans into her hold, resting his head on her shoulder like he used to when he was younger. He may be twenty-four now but he feels like a little kid seeking comfort like he always used to.
“My sweet, sweet boy,” she murmurs, wrapping her arms around him, it’s warm and safe and home.
He wishes he could be the son she deserves. The one who never followed in his father’s footsteps, the one that’d gotten her a beautiful house through honest money. That he isn’t filling her with the worries that one day, he’ll be behind prison bars just like Dad. Perhaps, in another life, he really is a hero like Jisung said, or just a better son.
“I love you, Umma,” he whispers, “I’m sorry.”
Her shoulders shake with the way she breathes in, he hears the hitch in her throat, and feels the way she tightens her hold on him. “I love you,” she whispers. “I just… I wish you’d be more careful.”
The rest of September and even October drags on, he does a few jobs for himself and a few odd jobs for Kingpin, or his associates. He’s managed to avoid run-ins with Spider-Man for the time being, which he knows he should count as a success, but as much as he hates it, he almost misses the guy. According to the news he’s been kept busy both by every other villain in the city, and by the normal crime fighting and helping in disasters like he usually does. There hasn’t been much sign of the Green Goblin since that day at the ceremony, he wonders if Spider-Man considers that a win, or if he suspects that there’s a bigger plan there, because surely there has to be.
And he hates that he’s thinking about someone that actively tries to get him arrested, that he’s even worried about the guy for being pulled into every direction.
He shouldn’t care, which is why he keeps himself busy, he goes to his classes and hangs out with his friends. Does his work and tries to ignore the weird ache whenever he does a job without any complications. It’s so stupid, Felix knows this, he knows he should be glad that he hasn’t run into him since August.
Which is why when Hyunjin asks him if he wants to go to some party thrown by one of Changbin’s friends, he doesn’t hesitate to tag along.
The party is in some house in Brooklyn, that is home to a bunch of college students and has clearly seen better days. The party is in full swing by the time they get there, Changbin shouting as he greets a friend of his. Felix isn’t sure if it’s the same guy who lives here, or not.
At some point between all the drinking and catching up with people he does know, and some he doesn’t, he winds up on the dance floor between Hyunjin and a girl he doesn’t think he’s ever met before. It’s fun and the music is loud and the alcohol running through his system makes him feel warm and fuzzy.
He’s not sure how long he’s been dancing, doesn’t realize that at some point, he’s lost Hyunjin and the girl seems more in her own world than wanting to dance with him, and he’s feeling thirsty.
On his way to the kitchen, he spots Minho. For a second, he thinks he’s seeing things because Minho’s never been one for parties.
He abandons his route to get more drinks, beelining for where Minho’s leaning against the wall, eyes trained on the crowded living room where people are dancing.
"I'm surprised you're here," Felix says, leaning against the wall beside him, he watches the way the lights catch the angles of his face, from the bridge of his nose to his lips to his jaw as he turns towards him. The lights color him in a wash of reds before flickering through colors in rapid succession. He reminds him of a Matisse with all the colors surrounding him, softening all the edges. He looks pretty, has always been pretty, but right now he looks like a painting, something that would rival Mona Lisa in worth.
The Holy Grail of scores. The kind that anyone would love to steal but wouldn't dare attempt since it's too valuable, too admired.
Untouchable.
And frankly, he realizes that he has definitely had too much to drink.
"Never thought I'd see the day Minho Lee came to a party," he blurts out, to keep from saying something stupid, "Thought you were too cool for all this shit."
Minho blinks at him, the array of colors catching on his eyelashes, "I go to parties."
Felix laughs, shaking his head, "No, you don't. Hannie says you hate parties."
Minho scoffs, looking towards the living room that's crowded with people dancing. "Well, that's true," he answers, "I've been blackmailed into making an appearance."
Felix laughs, "Oh, really? By who?"
Minho scowls slightly towards something in the distance, then says in a deceptively cheerful tone, "Changbin. That traitor."
Felix laughs again, because he should’ve known, he leans heavily against the wall, in the distance he sees Changbin laughing along with Jisung. It looks like they’re talking, or if Felix knows Jisung, and he does, he’s singing along to the song playing.
“What’d he blackmail you with?”
“Said we haven’t hung out in a while and if I was really his friend, I’d tag along for just a bit,” Minho explains, looking far more grave than he should for what he’s said.
Felix snorts. “That’s not blackmail.”
“It’s manipulation,” he counters, “Emotional blackmail.”
He shakes his head, smiling despite himself, “Ah, yeah, sure.”
Minho smiles, tilting his head as he watches Felix, there’s blues splashed across his features now. “You know, I’m surprised you’re talking to me,” he says, almost softly, as if it’s a confession that he’s too shy to admit.
“What?” he asks, brows furrowing, “We… Talk.”
Minho blinks at him, for a moment, before shaking his head, “Not really.”
It makes Felix suddenly feel on edge, he doesn’t even know why, because it’s a fact. They don’t really talk, not a lot at least; and truthfully, this is the first time since that night that they’ve even had a conversation without any of their friends around. He’d thought that night would be a turning point for them, that they’d start being actual friends, but it’d gone back to how they always were. Barely ever talking to each other. He’d tried not to be too disappointed about it. Which wasn’t hard when Minho bailed on Jisung’s first gig at an actual venue where he’d get paid for it, that reminded him why he’d kept his distance.
But he doesn’t know why he’s here now talking to him, why he even cares if they become friends, or if Minho likes him. Or even why he’s being so defensive about it all.
It’s so stupid.
“You don’t talk to me,” he argues, feeling like a little kid, he watches the way Minho's brows furrow, looking thoughtful. He’s silent for several moments and the lack of response prickles beneath his skin. So, he adds, “I always figured you hated me or something. That’s why I don’t talk to you.”
Minho’s expression shifts to one of surprise, eyes wide as he tilts his head, like he’s been told something outrageous. “You thought I hated you?” he asks incredulously, pointing at himself, almost like he can’t fathom why Felix would think that. “I thought you hated me!”
That makes Felix freeze, his thoughts screeching to a halt, “What?”
This time Minho laughs, a cackle like sound, and his eyes crinkle as he leans forward off the wall. He’s laughing with his whole body. And Felix shouldn’t find it so endearing but he does, he finds himself smiling in return, almost forgetting exactly what’d the conversation had been.
“All this time,” Minho says, shaking his head, “I didn’t talk to you because I thought you hated me. Or... I know people think I’m…”
“Standoffish and rude?” Felix practically blurts out, so maybe he hadn’t really sobered up quite yet. He watches Minho shut his mouth and looks at him. For a moment, Felix regrets the words as soon as they're out there.
“Scary. But yeah, that, too,” he says, tone stiff and he looks away.
Felix says, “Sorry.”
Minho waves him off, humming as if he doesn’t actually care. And Felix likes to think he’s good at reading people, it’s part of the job, so he knows he just offended Minho. He sighs, really wishing he’d just gone for that drink before he came to talk to him. Suddenly, all that warm buzz feels like fuzzy despair.
“I never thought that,” he admits, earning a raised brow and a sideways look, “At least, not the scary part.”
“So, just standoffish and rude?” he asks, tone clipped.
Felix clenches his jaw slightly, he’s really digging his own grave here, and licks his lips, shrugs ever so slightly, “Well.”
Minho hums.
“I’m sure you’ve thought of me some kind of way to not want to talk to me,” he points out, just to defend himself, to prove some kind of point because there must be a reason. He watches the deer in the headlights look. He grins, feeling vindicated, and jabs a finger at him, “Oh, there is something! Isn’t there? What?”
There’s a pause as Minho just stares at him, something heavy about his gaze, he’s not sure what to expect, what he’s thinking and suddenly Felix feels his heart begin to beat loudly. Eventually, he offers a wry smile, “I, uh, I thought you were stuck up.”
Felix pauses, repeating the words in his mind. “What? Really?”
“Yeah,” he says, shaking his head, “Jisung kept saying you were the nicest person alive but…”
“Right."
“I guess we both need to get over ourselves a bit,” Minho offers immediately, he looks hopeful. Though Felix isn’t sure if it’s a trick of the lights washing him in an array of colors in quick succession, or just his tipsy brain reading into it.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he says, a wry smile on his face as he shakes his head.
“Don’t be so scared to talk to me, okay?” Minho says, after a few moments, he’s got a small smile on his face and it’s clear he’s only teasing.
Felix huffs, and rolls his eyes, but he finds a smile making its way to his face easily. “Okay.”
Minho nods, seemingly satisfied with that answer, then they fall into a comfortable silence, only the chatter from the crowd and the music blaring, he spots a shirt with a familiar logo. The cartoonish drawing of Spider-Man's mask. He scoffs at the reminder of him.
"Spider-Man," he says, he notices Minho shifting, turns to find Minho not looking at him, or anywhere really. He hums, the sound strange and barely audible. He doesn’t respond, so Felix continues, “What do you think of him?”
“What do I think of Spider-Man?” he asks, frowning and furrowing his brows, he’s looking at Felix as if he’s lost his mind. Or as if Spider-Man isn’t a very common topic in this city.
Felix nods, “You take his pictures, right?”
There’s a pause as Minho darts his eyes all around, as if trying to decipher where the conversation is going. “Uh, yeah, why?”
Felix shrugs, “You ever met him?”
“No,” he says, quickly, “I just take his pictures. We don’t talk.”
Felix hums, and Minho scoffs, “Don’t tell me you’re becoming like Hyunjin.”
At that, Felix laughs, shaking his head as he thinks of it; it’s almost ridiculous just to imagine becoming the kind of Spidey fanatic that Hyunjin is. He’d turn himself in before he does that. “No, definitely not. I’m just curious.”
“You know what they say about curiosity, don’t you?” Minho says solemnly.
“Well, cat’s have nine lives, don’t they?” Felix replies, grinning in response, and he thinks it’s funnier than Minho would ever know.
Minho laughs though, and then hesitantly asks, “What do you think of him?”
And god, that’s a loaded question. Felix swallows hard as he looks at the crowd of dancing bodies, he’s not even sure where to begin. And half of his thoughts regarding the webslinger aren’t things he can say without further prompting that'd expose himself. Instead, he settles with: “I think he’s–”
“Well, do my eyes desea- deceive me or are my two best friends actually bonding?” Jisung’s loud voice interrupts, immediately leaning into Felix’s space, arm draping over his shoulders and he reeks of alcohol. Minho sighs heavily, looking annoyed for a split second. “The world must be ending! We should get the press here!”
Felix laughs. But Minho says, “Shut up.”
“No, I’m serious! This is great, you two never talk,” Jisung bemoans, smiling fondly while reaching to touch Felix's chin, tapping it gently. “Minho thought you hated him, did you know that? He’s always moping about–”
Minho screams, actually screams, startling both Jisung and Felix. They would've toppled over if the wall wasn’t there. Minho steps forward, taking Jisung’s arm away from Felix and slinging it over his own shoulder, smiling gently, though there's an edge to it that seems sinister, “I think Hannie needs to go home, he’s clearly drunk.”
“No!” Jisung whines, “Let’s stay longer, I want to talk to Felix.”
“I’ll tag along,” Felix says, which makes Minho look at him with wide eyes, and he’s definitely made a misstep but it’s too late to back down. He looks ready to deny the request.
“Where are we going?” Hyunjin asks, bouncing up to them, flushed and sweaty and bright eyed.
Minho groans, “I’m taking Jisung home.”
“I’ll come!” Hyunjin says, then frowns, looking around. “I don’t know where Changbin is.”
“Yes! Let’s all go together!” Jisung says, trying to pull away from Minho, but his grip is tight.
“Great, yeah, just all invite yourselves over,” Minho says, shaking his head.
It takes nearly an hour to get everyone into an uber, only about fifteen of those minutes were actually spent waiting for their ride. It took them a while to find Changbin, who’d been doing shots in the kitchen with his friends, then Jisung lost his phone only to realize he’d given it to Hyunjin at some point. All in all, trying to wrangle three drunken men was not how Felix expected the night to turn to.
As they’re being taken to Minho and Jisung’s because it’s closest, Changbin is in the middle seats with him, singing along to the radio a lot louder than he probably thinks he’s being. And he turns to the back to find Minho watching him, he’s got Jisung and Hyunjin both dozing off on his shoulders. He makes a face when Felix laughs at him.
He thinks back to their conversation and wonders what Jisung had been trying to say before Minho had interrupted him. It starts swirling in his head for the rest of the night but with three drunken babies it’s hard to even ask Minho, and even harder to ask Jisung, who keeps getting distracted by every little thing.