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Look.
It wasn’t like Jihoon needed to fall in love. He’s spent nineteen years of his life just fine without falling in love, so it isn’t like his world would end if he didn’t fall in love. The world, like him, will continue on. Plus, everyone does say that it hits you when you least expect it to, and if he’s learned anything in life, it was to not have expectations at all.
Except!
Except isn’t that how alcohol is, too? It isn’t like Jihoon needs to drink. He’s spent nineteen years of his life without imbibing even a single drop of alcohol, so it’s not like he would die if he didn’t drink. On the contrary, drinking copious amounts of alcohol would speed up the process with no ifs or buts. Living the rest of his life without it would be healthier in the long run. Still, it’s one of those things that mark ‘adulthood’ as per all his elders, and drunkenness, much like love, they say, hits you when you least expect it to. And, well, Jihoon doesn’t want that. He likes being prepared.
But!
But at nineteen, don’t people experiment? It’s the prime age for foolishness—poor judgment, stupid mistakes, and learning to do better comprise the creed of being nineteen. You’re young enough that your stupidity is still excusable and somewhat humorous. Mix that with a Halloween party with other teenagers, and it’s practically the crowning glory of youth and part of the stories you’d laugh at five years down the line.
At present, Jihoon is nineteen years of age and at a Halloween party. So, needless to say, he gave into sheer curiosity. Love and alcohol, in his eyes, weren’t that desirable, but he’d be lying if he said both didn’t pique his interest even by a little bit.
His first shot was, in summary, absolute shit. The taste was vile; the most positive phrase to describe how it went down would be that it burned. When his friends whooped after it, he figured it might not be so bad. When Jaehyuk offered another, he was down, thinking it wasn’t so bad. It felt like nothing once you got past the flavor and burning feeling. Then, he had his third and felt a slight buzz. Jihoon had thought that if that was what people dubbed as being drunk, then everything he knew was a lie because it wasn’t even that bad. Someone offered him his fourth, then his fifth, and—well. He lost count after that.
The next thing he knew, he was laid on his back, staring at the ceiling with flashing strobe lights. How did he get there? He doesn’t exactly remember. Now, thanks to Jaehyuk and Asahi, he’s sitting on a stool, oddly feeling at peace despite being surrounded by blasting music and teenagers singing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Usually, he’d be singing along, but currently, he’s preoccupied with using all of his remaining consciousness to will the world to stop spinning as he stares at the pool of condensation left behind by a soju bottle that somehow just disappeared. The act took a surprising amount of effort, so it’s really no mystery why he didn’t register the person sitting across the table until they spoke, asking, “Are you okay?”
Without pausing to think, the words spilled out of his mouth, “You know, falling in love is kinda like drinking alcohol.” He knits his eyebrows together in confusion. “Or was it loving is like alcohol? Love is drunking?” Groaning, he puts his face into his hands. “Ah! This is so hard! I don’t want to do this anymore! My mind’s jumblin’ everything up! I wanna cry!”
That earns him a startled, smothered laugh from the mystery person as they put a bottle before him. “Wait, wait, don’t cry. Here, water. You should drink some.”
“Water?” He sniffs, feeling his own waterworks coming up as he focuses on the bottle, trying to get the letters on the label to make sense. After a few seconds, he rejoices, “Ah! I know this brand!” Tears forgotten, he brings the bottle to him, smiling as he tries to open it. However, a few attempts prove that he could not, despite his best efforts, open the bottle. As a result, his tears are now his priority as he cries, “I-I can’t open it! I love this brand, but it doesn’t love me back! I want it to love me back!”
This time, the person doesn’t attempt to hide their laughter as they gently pry the bottle from Jihoon’s grip. Jihoon sees the person’s hands and arms for the first time and is greeted by a red glove with black webbing adorned by rings of various colors, sizes, and shines. Like a toddler, his tears screech to a halt, and his brain screams, ‘Shiny!’
Another chuckle breaks through his brain fog. “I do have a penchant for shiny things.”
Finally registering what the other person has said, Jihoon gasps and looks at the man—no, Spiderman sans the mask, revealing a handsome yet mischievous-looking boy. Suddenly, he forgets his own tears and water dilemma bottle as he is left to wonder, ‘How can this person read my mind? Is it a Spiderman superpower?’
A corner of Mr. Shiny Spiderman’s lips tilted upwards. “Magic.”
“Magic?!” Jihoon screams in disbelief. “No way! You’re magical?! Like a wizard?” His eyes widen as he remembers who he dressed up as. “Like Harry Potter! Like who I’m dressed as?!”
“I do, in fact, know who Harry Potter is.” With a twist, Mr. Bling Bling Spidey opens the water bottle easily. “See? I’m magical.”
He huffs. He pouts. He hopes he knocks Spidey’s walls down. “I wanna be magical! I even came in costume!”
Tugging at his scarf, Mr. Shinyman asks, eyes alight, “Red and gold stand for a Gryffindor, right? You wouldn’t be accepted in Hogwarts if you weren’t magical, right?”
Jihoon may not be completely sober at the moment, but he knows amusement when he sees it. On any other day, he’d clam up due to embarrassment, but somehow, he didn’t want to lose to this person. So, he bravely persists like the Gryffindor he is. “Yes, but! But this is a costume! You’re supposed to be a superhero, right? But really, you’re someone magical!”
“How about I let you in on a secret, then?” Smile widening, Mr. Spideyshiny gives him the opened water bottle. “If you drink this, you’ll be magical too.”
“It’s just water, though?”
“It’s magical water.”
“It is?!”
“It is.”
Not wanting to waste a second more, Jihoon drinks. Or, rather, downs to the entire bottle, to be exact. Then, he waits, thinking that magic may need time to settle. He doesn’t feel any different, but he holds his breath nonetheless and counts to ten in his mind. Once he finishes his count, he takes his wand prop out and points it at the bottle, concentrating as he swishes, flicks, and casts, “Wingardium Leviosa!”
Nothing happens. Oh, Jihoon pouts, and oh, do the tears return. “I-it’s not working! I’m still not magical!”
“Are you sure?” Mr. Shiny prods, placing his chin on his hand, and Jihoon is immediately distracted by the way the rings glitter under the strobe lights. “See, you already look magical to me. Enchanting, even.”
Blinking, Jihoon questions, sniffing, “But I couldn’t make the bottle float like in the movies. I can’t even read your mind. You can read mine.”
Mr. Shiny Spidey covers his mouth with his palm as his eyes soften. “You cast a spell on me.”
“I did? But I don’t…” Jihoon thinks with all his might, but no wand-waving incidents come to mind. “When?”
“It’s going to sound silly.”
“That’s okay,” Jihoon placates, leaning forward to pat Mr. Spideybling’s head. “I like silly.”
At his words, the superhero’s eyes turn to crescents, and he finds himself doing the same, all giddy with delight, thinking, ‘Even his eyes are magical.’
Still, the former doesn’t move to answer, so Jihoon complains again, “Don’t me mean, Mr. Spideybling! Tell me!”
The person before him laughs. “Mr. Spideybling?”
Nodding enthusiastically, Jihoon leans in further, explaining, “You’re dressed as a superhero, but you’re also so shiny!” Due to his proximity, the Gryffindor even notices the earrings decorating the other’s ear. “Your ears prove it, too! You’re a shining superhero! A Supershinyspideyman!”
“See?” The shining superhero leans in further, making the distance between them no longer than a standard wand. “Magical.”
Noticing their proximity, Jihoon blinks rapidly and hurriedly leans back, suddenly feeling hot all over. Not wanting Mr. Shinyhero to reread his mind, Jihoon covers his mouth with his hands and closes his eyes. ‘Why do I feel hot?!’
“Hey, hey,” A sweet voice says, accompanied by a gentle tugging on his hands, pulling those away from his mouth. “Don’t do that. You might find it hard to breathe.”
Reluctantly, he opens his eyes and is met with the same hypnotizing pair staring relentlessly right into his. Distressed, he explains, “What if you read my mind? I don’t want you to. It’s embarrassing.”
“Why would it be embarrassing? I think your thoughts are cute like you.”
“Because!” Jihoon fumbles, not expecting to be called cute. Feeling the heat intensify at his cheeks, he word-vomits, “Because then you’ll know I think your eyes are magical, too, and that won’t do!”
“Why wouldn’t that do?” Mr. Blingman asks, amused.
In a snap, his entire body feels like it has been set on fire. Horrified at his slip-up, he just looks at the boy in front of him, choosing not to answer to save himself from further embarrassment. Jihoon expects to see the tell-tale sign of holding back laughter, but there is none to be found. Instead, there is a soft, gooey-like something in Mr. Blingspidey’s eyes, matching the fond smile on his lips. Jihoon doesn’t know what to make of it, nor does he have any clue as to what it can possibly mean.
Idly, he wonders if transfiguration can be applied like this? The hero’s eyes remain essentially the same, but it’s like the composition of the eyes has transformed into something filled with all the honey and the good stuff. It boggles him—if the honey is found in this shiny Spiderman’s eyes, then how is it possible for flocks of it to be busy buzzing around in his tummy?
Look.
The honey couldn’t have migrated because the same honey was still present in Mr. Bling Bling’s eyes in all its ooziness, still staring straight into his. As a result, the bees buzz more, traveling to his heart and causing a ruckus there as well. Jihoon, wanting the bees to disappear, makes a plan.
“Honey,” he finds himself saying, enacting his plan, thinking that if Mr. Spidershine can cause the bees to magically appear, then he, too, should be able to will them into existence by speaking what they seek out loud. Maybe then the bees would follow and leave his stomach and heart alone. They were already beginning their siege on his heart, and his heart, if conquered, would be a buzzing one, which doesn’t sound too healthy.
Except!
Except Jihoon had yet to consider where the superhero before him would fit into the equation. The word pushes Mr. Superbling to lean forward even more, as though he was a bee, on top of being a magical superpowered human, with even more honey dripping from his eyes, answering, “Yes?”
A single word is all it took for all the bees to go into overdrive, sending his entire being abuzz quite literally. Feeling the steam come out of his ears, he states, “You can’t do that!”
“Do what?”
“That! ”
“And what is that?”
“Be all…” Jihoon scrambles for a word, but none seem to encapsulate his feelings as he doesn’t even know what he feels. All he knows is that he wants to drop the ‘Mr.’ because he wants to be closer to the nameless man. He knows it’s a codename he made all on his own, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be frustrated about it.
“Jihoon hyung! There you are!” A new voice says. Jihoon absentmindedly recognizes it to be Jaehyuk’s. “Ah, you’re with Hy—”
“Jaehyuk-ah, you didn’t tell me you had such an adorable friend,” Spiderman says, standing up to hug Jaehyuk, who was dressed as a lion, in lieu of a greeting. “He kept me company, and I’m thankful, but I think he should be on the way home now.”
“He–” Jihoon starts, trying to butt in to assert that he is okay. Mostly. If you discount how the superhero made him a mess, he’s more than okay.
“Adorable?” Unfortunately, neither seems to hear him, as Jaehyuk answers, shaking his head, seemingly trying to unhear the word he, himself, said. “I’ll take him home, hyung. I just came back in to fetch him. Sahi wants to sleep already. Says his batteries are drained.”
Bling bling hero laughs, nodding, “That’s to be expected.” He pats Jaehyuk’s shoulder. “Well, don’t let me keep you. Message me when you get home, alright?”
Jaehyuk nods, moving to help Jihoon up. “You too, hyung. Don’t stay too late.”
“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Who knows?” The superhero shrugs before moving away. Then, he looks at Jihoon, eyes still so bright and full of honey. “Rest well. Being magical doesn’t exempt you from monstrous hangovers. See you around, Jihoon-ah.”
“I don’t even want to know,” Jaehyuk comments as he helps Jihoon up. The superhero starts to move away once he sees that Jaehyuk could handle it, which leaves Jihoon with a whole new dilemma.
Normally, Jihoon wouldn’t mind serendipitous encounters like this and is content to leave them as such. He could even chalk it up to one of the stories of his youth that he’d look back at fondly. He could label it as a silly drunken encounter he had at a Halloween party when he was nineteen.
But!
But he doesn’t want it to be.
“H-hey!” Jihoon calls out, lurching forward in desperation, leaving Jaehyuk scrambling to regain his balance so that the two of them don’t kiss the floor. “Spideybling, wait!”
The superhero turns around, raising an eyebrow.
“I didn’t catch your name! You know mine, but I don’t know yours!”
Then, a smile breaks on the hero’s face, one that’s blinding, putting all his shinies to shame and causing all the bees in Jihoon’s system to go haywire.
“The name’s Choi Hyunsuk. See you around, Park Jihoon.”