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“You really need to stop hanging out on rooftops,” Spider-man says as he lands on the roof next to Donghyuck. “It’s not safe.”
Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “But it’s fine when you do it?”
“I have webs,” Spider-man replies, waving at the air in such a stupid gesture that has Donghyuck fighting not to laugh. He has no idea how such a dork manages to be a competent superhero.
Donghyuck swings his legs, staring out at the skyline. Spider-man joins him with a slight smile.
“Don’t you have better things to be doing?” Donghyuck asks. “Chasing thieves, saving cats, stuff like that?”
Spider-man shrugs. “I’m allowed to hang out with the wonderful people of Queens.”
“You don’t hang out with them though,” Donghyuck replies, turning to look at him. “I checked. No one ever talks about Spider-man spending more than five minutes with them and yet you’re here every time I am.”
“Maybe I just like your presence,” Spider-man says quietly.
“Not enough to show me your face, apparently.”
Even with the mask on, Donghyuck can tell Spider-man’s blushing. It’s not like he’s actually annoyed by it, because he knows how important secret identities are and all that, but sometimes he wonders why Spider-man would spend all this time with him if he didn’t trust him.
Who would Donghyuck even tell? He’s pretty sure no one would believe him if he told them he knew who Spider-man was. He just wants to know to satisfy his own curiosity.
“I have to keep stuff private,” Spider-man says, almost apologetic. “Superhero life and normal life should be kept apart.”
Donghyuck hums. “I already know almost everything about you so I don’t think it would make that much of a difference.”
“As Spider-man?”
“As a person,” Donghyuck says nonchalantly.
Spider-man tilts his head in confusion. “I don’t get what you mean.”
“I know that you like watermelon but refuse to eat it when you’re still in the suit, probably because the juice will get everywhere,” Donghyuck replies, looking up at the sky. “I know that you spend a little too long walking past pet shops because you think they’re cute but it also makes you sad to see them like that.”
“What do you—”
“You have some weird kind of sixth sense that keeps you from being surprised by stuff,” Donghyuck continues. “And it’s annoying. I’ve tried to catch you off guard so many times and it never works. You always see me or catch stuff before it hits you. And–”
“How do you know all that?” Spider-man interrupts. He doesn’t sound angry necessarily, just confused.
Donghyuck shrugs. “I just…pay attention to stuff.”
There’s a few seconds of silence between them before Spider-man sighs quietly.
“I wish I could take off my mask,” he says. “But it’s not safe for either of us. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Donghyuck replies easily. “I’m not mad about it. I’m just curious.”
Spider-man goes to reply but a siren rings out and a cop car goes racing down the street below them. Donghyuck smiles slightly.
“Looks like that’s your cue.”
“Donghyuck,” Spider-man starts to say. “I’m—”
“Go save New York,” Donghyuck says, nudging him playfully. “I have chemistry homework anyway. I’ll see you around.”
Spider-man throws out a half goodbye as he swings across the street. Donghyuck watches him disappear between buildings before grabbing his backpack and heading back down to his apartment. He’ll see Spider-man again. He always does.
Donghyuck doesn’t actually finish his homework because he gets distracted the second he gets home. After falling asleep before he could even start it, he’s left scrambling to finish it on the way to school, scribbling in his notebook as he makes it into the classroom just before the bell rings.
The answers are probably all wrong but that doesn’t matter. Donghyuck’s never cared about chemistry that much anyway. He’s just glad he won’t get called out for missing homework in front of the whole class. Not that that’s happened before…
He doesn’t have a partner for the lab today, which he’s incredibly grateful for. His last lab partner managed to set their bench on fire with materials Donghyuck didn’t even know they had. Sure, it’ll make class a little harder but anything’s better than dealing with whatever new partner he’d get.
Today’s lab is built to be done with two people so it does make things a little trickier. Donghyuck tries to juggle the different beakers and pay attention to what the teacher’s saying while still writing down the results in his notebook.
It’s going well until it isn’t.
He’s reaching across the desk to grab a pipette when he leans just a little too far forward, sending one of the beakers flying off the desk. He scrambles backward and throws out his hand, managing to catch it just before it hits the ground and shatters, letting out a sigh of relief as he sits back up, trying to pretend nothing happened.
He glances around the room to make sure no one noticed and makes eye contact with Mark Lee. Mark’s all the way at the front, so there’s no way he saw anything, and he’s already way further in the experiment than Donghyuck, so all he should be focused on is writing the results. But instead he’s staring at Donghyuck.
He’s staring at Donghyuck with wide eyes, like he thought something terrible was about to happen, which is kind of ridiculous because there’s no way he could’ve seen what happened. But the way he’s looking at Donghyuck is like he knows Donghyuck was only a second away from breaking a glass beaker in the back of the classroom. It’s impossible.
Mark shifts awkwardly when Donghyuck holds eye contact and raises his eyebrow. The movement is vaguely familiar but it doesn’t click until Mark blinks and starts to blush. He looks just like a certain rooftop vigilante. There’s no way.
Donghyuck’s eyes start to widen and as they do, he can see panic appear in Mark’s.
“Oh my God,” he whispers, paling. “Oh my God.”
Mark gets up quickly, ignoring his lab partner’s objections, and grabs Donghyuck’s arm, pulling him outside. Donghyuck lets himself get dragged along in shock.
“You’re…” he starts to say once they’re in the hallway. “It’s…You’re Spi—”
“Shut up!” Mark hisses, looking around to make sure no one else is nearby. “No, I’m not. Shut up. Just— You need to be quiet.”
“How can I be quiet?” Donghyuck exclaims. “You’re Spider-man!”
“Donghyuck, please,” Mark replies, trying to drag him outside. “I said I’m not. And you need to be quiet.”
“How did it take me this long to realize?” Donghyuck mumbles as Mark pushes open the door and leads him to the quad. “You were right in front of me the whole time.”
“I swear I’m not—”
Donghyuck throws an arm out like he’s about to hit him, but Mark catches it instantly without looking. They both stare at Mark’s hand holding Donghyuck’s fist and Mark’s face starts to turn red.
“That doesn’t mean–”
“I can’t believe Spider-man is Mark Lee from my chemistry class,” Donghyuck whines. “You’re telling me the super cool superhero I have a crush on is the loser who stole my pen in fifth grade?”
“I didn’t steal your pen,” Mark replies, taken aback. “I left it on the table and someone took it.”
“You didn’t bring it back to me,” Donghyuck says dismissively. “That’s the same as stealing it.”
Mark pauses for a second as they both register Donghyuck’s earlier words.
“Wait, you have a crush on me?” Mark asks in shock.
“Did I say that?” Donghyuck replies awkwardly. “I don’t…I don’t think I said that. Maybe you’re hearing things.”
“Since when did you have a crush on me– I mean, Spider-man?”
Donghyuck’s cheeks redden. “Since always? Are you really that dense?”
“But I never took off my mask. You didn’t even know what I looked like until about two minutes ago,” Mark says confusedly.
“Newsflash,” Donghyuck replies, face burning. “I found your personality attractive. I didn’t really care what you looked like.”
“Oh,” Mark says, blinking.
“Hang on,” Donghyuck says suddenly, frowning. “Why is your identity reveal turning into an embarrassing moment for me? You’re the one getting exposed.”
“You can’t tell anyone,” Mark says, turning serious. “Please.”
“Who do you think I am?” Donghyuck huffs. “I’m not about to expose you. Plus, if I did it would mean people would connect all the dots and I’d be exposed for having a crush on Mark Lee, and honestly that’s a fate worse than death.”
“Am I really that bad?” Mark asks, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s the principle,” Donghyuck replies. “I’ve spent so much time obsessed with Spider-man and making fun of you that it’s just embarrassing now.”
“You make fun of me?” Mark frowns a little.
“That’s what you got from that?” Donghyuck asks incredulously. “I’ve been making fun of you since fifth grade. I make fun of you to your face. It’s not a secret? Everyone thinks I hate you so finding out you’re my crush would be terrible.”
Mark tilts his head slightly, in that annoying Spider-man way, and something almost like amusement flashes in his eyes.
“I don’t think everyone thinks you hate me,” he finally says.
“What do you mean?” Donghyuck replies, confused.
“Most people think you’ve just been flirting with me in a really weird way,” Mark says, fighting back a grin.
“How is that flirting?” Donghyuck asks, dumbfounded. “I always make fun of your hair and your stupid glasses and I make sure you know when your jokes aren’t funny, because I don’t think anyone who laughs that hard at my jokes is allowed to make bad jokes since it just makes me look like I’m not funny–”
“That doesn’t make any sense–”
“And you have to have negative charisma to be single still when you’re objectively pretty hot, so I need to make sure you feel ashamed for that because it’s–”
Donghyuck stops, staring at Mark. He takes in Mark’s appearance and everything he’s said to Mark since middle school flashes through his head.
“Oh my God,” he says, taking a step back. Mark looks like he’s trying not to laugh. “I’ve been flirting with you.”
“Is that really such a bad thing?” Mark jokes weakly.
“I’ve been flirting with you this whole time,” Donghyuck continues, stunned. “I’ve had a crush on you since middle school. Oh my God…”
“Again, am I really that bad?”
“I can’t believe I have a crush on Spider-man and Mark Lee,” Donghyuck says as he looks up at Mark.
“Good thing I’m both,” Mark replies with a slight smile.
“I need to run away and never show my face again,” Donghyuck groans. “This is so embarrassing.”
“I’m not sure about running away, but we can get out of here if you want,” Mark offers, rolling up his sleeve slightly to show his web-shooters.
“Resident nerd Mark Lee skipping school?” Donghyuck asks. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“What can I say?” Mark replies, shrugging. “You’re a bad influence.”
Donghyuck grins. “That’s the hottest thing you’ve ever said to me.”