Chapter Text
Han Dongmin isn’t the type of person that people look for.
He keeps to himself. Head down, music loud, computer open. Tucks himself into corners so as not to draw any unwanted conversation. He’s well aware of how people talk about him— Donghyun keeps him very well informed.
Dude, they’re saying you’re actually thirty, and that you were in prison before you came here.
No, Minnie, I’m serious, I overheard this girl in stats saying she thinks you’re a literal vampire. She thinks that’s sexy, by the way.
Bro, they think you killed someone. They think I was the accomplice. Can you believe that shit? The accomplice! To you! They’re fucked up, you would obviously be my accomplice.
It’s just that Dongmin doesn’t really care.
He’s not at school to make friends. He’s here to get his degree and get the fuck out. Get a good job, make enough money to retire by forty, enjoy his blissfully quiet sixty years until he reaches one hundred (because he will reach one hundred).
Actually, Dongmin was actively trying to avoid making friends when Donghyun started playing psychological games by strategically sitting next to him every time he saw him around. Talking to Dongmin like they were already acquainted, until Dongmin started instinctively removing his headphones whenever Donghyun sat down. Next thing Dongmin knew, Donghyun was just… there. All the time.
Donghyun doesn’t have any other friends either. He just kind of floats around and talks to everyone— but he managed to attach himself to Dongmin before Dongmin knew what was happening.
Needless to say, their table on the quad isn’t exactly sought after seating space. No one is looking for them.
“Did you see that spider-kid, like, totally ate shit yesterday?” Donghyun asks through a mouthful of food. “Like, straight up, I thought he was squashed. But he got up and waved like an idiot. It was kind of funny, not gonna lie.”
Dongmin snorts, picking a chip out of his nail polish. “Why do you sound sad that he made it? Did you want to watch him die on TV?”
“Kind of,” Donghyun shrugs. “I really hate his color palette. It pisses me off.”
“Red and green don’t do it for you, huh? Do you hate Christmas or something?”
Donghyun chokes. “Oh my god, stop. I just gagged thinking about it.”
“Okay, shut up so I can finish your homework,” Dongmin says, cracking his knuckles and getting back to his laptop. He’d been halfway through finishing Donghyun’s coding project when Donghyun showed up to distract him. This thing should have only taken Dongmin thirty minutes. He’s running up to forty five by now, and his nail polish is suffering greatly.
“Aye-aye, capt—” Donghyun cuts off halfway through his cheeky retort. He chokes again.
Dongmin frowns, looking up at him through his lashes. Donghyun is staring up like he’s seen god. Like someone is right behind Dongmin.
“Hello!”
“Jesus fucking christ—” Dongmin jerks around, hands balling into fists and coming up to his chest.
To be fair to Donghyun, standing behind Dongmin is the campus equivalent to god. A god among men, at the very least. Student body president, resident heartthrob, and all around great guy, Myung Jaehyun. All long legs and crooked smile, a varsity jacket and light wash jeans, shiny, auburn waves of hair. The guy is a goddamn nightmare. A teen crush plucked from a comic book.
“Oops, sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Jaehyun laughs, letting it naturally peter out at the end. “I’m Myung Jaehyun.” He sticks his hand out, presumably for Dongmin to shake. Dongmin is not about to give him the satisfaction. He doesn’t care how sparkly Jaehyun’s eyes are. Jaehyun’s smile falters for a second before he retracts his arm. Says, “Well. Anyway, You’re Dongmin, right? Han?”
Dongmin blinks.
No one ever looks for him. He’s not the type of person that people look for. He’s certainly not the type of person that Myung Jaehyun looks for.
“He is,” Donghyun provides when Dongmin fails to answer again. “Han Dongmin. That’s him.”
“Great. Cool—” Jaehyun rakes a hand through his hair, his easy smile coming back full force. “I really was hoping you could help me with something.”
Dongmin’s eyes shift to look past Jaehyun, where his friends are waiting for him on the sidewalk. The even more untouchably popular Park Sungho, and that energetic freshman that Jaehyun always seems to tote around. None of these people should know who Dongmin is.
He presses his finger to his chest, looks back up at Jaehyun. “Me?”
“Yeah. You. I heard you’re top of the comp sci and engineering programs… so…”
Dongmin snorts. Jaehyun’s eyebrows pinch together for a moment before he straightens them out again.
“What, you want me to do your homework?” Dongmin asks, not even attempting to hide the curl of his lip.
Jaehyun laughs, but it sounds nervous. “Uh… something like that.”
“Yeah, sorry, man, I don’t really do that,” Dongmin lies. He reaches behind him to close the lid of his laptop a bit, so Jaehyun can’t see the the file so clearly labeled with Kim Donghyun at the top.
“I’ll pay you!” Jaehyun blurts. He snaps his fingers like he just thought of it. “Yeah, I’ll pay you. I just— need you to come over to check out this project and see if it’s something you can do.”
Dongmin squints. He stares. He has been trying to save up for a new laptop— this one is on its last legs after he spilled a can of redbull on it. Not his brightest moment. He also kinda wants a PS5. He supposes that cranking out some homework for Myung Jaehyun can’t be that bad. Thirty minutes if Donghyun isn’t interrupting him.
“Can Donghyun come?” he asks.
Jaehyun’s lips pucker up slightly. He cocks his head like a puppy. “Who?”
Dongmin jerks his thumb over his shoulder, towards Donghyun.
Jaehyun looks up, his eyes going wide in recognition. “Oh!” he says. Laughs awkwardly. “Uhm. I guess? If you trust him, sure.”
Dongmin blinks. He looks towards Donghyun (still eating his sandwich like nothing is happening). Back to Jaehyun. “Alright. Fine.”
“Sweet!” Jaehyun pulls out his phone, clicking around for a second before handing it to Dongmin.
Dongmin lets it lay flat in his palms like a foreign object. “Uh?”
“Call yourself. So I have your number. Then we can link up,” Jaehyun explains.
“Right. Okay.” Dongmin keys in his number, hits the call button. He feels his pocket buzz a second later.
Jaehyun snatches his phone back and ends the call. “Awesome— I’ll text you tonight— okay?”
“Sure?”
“And this has to be, like, top secret, okay?”
Dongmin blinks. “Because of the whole president thing… okay.” It probably wouldn’t be great for the student body president to get caught paying someone to do his homework. Whatever.
Honestly, Dongmin still doesn’t know what’s going on. He watches helplessly as Jaehyun shoots him goofy finger guns before spinning on his heel and trotting off towards his friends. Sungho says something to him that earns him a smack on the shoulder, and the other kid starts laughing so loudly that Dongmin can hear it. As they walk away, Dongmin can clearly see the blush in Jaehyun’s cheeks— peeking out of his hair at the tops of his ears.
“What the fuck just happened?” Dongmin asks, ears ringing slightly.
“Dude, I think we’re popular,” Donghyun says.
“Dude,” Dongmin mimics his tone. “Do you think we can make enough money off of golden boy to buy a PS5?”
Donghyun wrinkles his nose. “How much homework could he possibly have?”
🕸️
Unknown Number
Hiiiiii it’s Myung Jaehyun!!
(๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و
To mjh
hey
From mjh
Are you free tomorrow afternoon?
Around 3?
To mjh
ya
From mjh
Sweet ˃ᴗ˂
[Location Attached]
Apt 2109
To mjh
kk
🕸️
DH | @dong._.hyun
*to the tune of the klondike bar song* what would you dooooo for a ps5
0 retweets • 0 likes
↳ @hanminnie0101010
delete
🕸️
Myung Jaehyun lives in an apartment building a few blocks off the nearest train line to campus. An old brick building with an elevator that creaks as it goes up.
Dongmin picks at the frayed fingers of his gloves. He cut off the tips this morning, because he lost his last pair on laundry day. Dongyun is wearing a tan scarf that’s too big for his body. His glasses keep sliding down his nose. Dongmin is well aware of how ridiculous they look together most of the time, a cartoonish depiction of a friend that wears all dark colors and one that wears all light.
“Do you think this is where Myung Jaehyun hosts ragers?” Donghyun asks, voice muffled by his scarf.
“How would I know? We’re not invited to those things.”
“Maybe we will be now.”
“Would we go?”
Donghyun moves his scarf out of the way just to laugh. A loud hah that makes Dongmin roll his eyes.
The elevator lets them off on the seventh floor, only a few from the top. The carpet in the hallway is an ungodly purple color— all the doors painted green. They side step for an old lady carrying groceries down the hallway. She scowls at Dongmin and smiles at Donghyun. Typical.
Dongmin raps his knuckles against the door, double checking his phone to confirm it’s the right one first. He’s not really keen on being embarrassed today.
It takes all of two seconds for the door to open. A man with dyed orange hair and a bright yellow sweater stands in front of them, unamused.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asks.
“Uh,” Dongmin says intelligently. “We’re here to see Jaehyun?”
The guy squints, he does a once over of both of them before turning over his shoulder. “Jaehyun! Someone’s here for you!” he howls. Then he turns on his heel and walks back inside, leaving the door open behind him.
“Are we supposed to—” the go in dies on Dongmin’s lips, because Donghyun is already stepping inside. “Alright.”
Dongmin toes his shoes off, awkwardly adjusting the straps on his backpack while Donghyun opens the coat closet next to them and sticks his nose in. Dongmin doesn’t bother to stop him. Maybe if it were anyone else’s place but Myung Jaehyun. Dongmin doesn’t really fuck with preps.
“You came!” The man of the hour comes bursting around the corner, socks sliding on the laminate floors. He’s grinning, and he barely catches himself before slamming into the wall.
Dongmin coughs to cover his snarky laugh. “I said we would.”
Donghyun closes the closet, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Nice coats.”
“Oh, thanks,” Jaehyun says, brow wrinkling slightly. “Most of them are my roommate’s.”
“That snarky red headed kid?”
“Yeah. Sanghyuk. He’s cool,” Jaehyun takes advantage of his position and leans against the wall, running a restless hand through his hair. Dongmin doesn’t think he’s ever seen Jaehyun sit still for ten seconds straight. He’s always vibrating. “He won’t bother us. Come on, we have things to discuss.”
Jaehyun spins around, motioning them to follow him. Dongmin trips over himself trying to keep up as Jaehyun does a lightning fast tour. There’s a sizable living room, open to a nice kitchen, Sanghyuk is sitting on the couch, that freshman kid Jaehyun is always hanging out with splayed out across his lap, dead asleep.
“That’s Woonhak, by the way. He crashes on our couch most of the time. He’s a heavy sleeper.”
Woonhak doesn’t move. Sanghyuk doesn’t look up.
“Okay, and, this is where the magic happens!” Jaehyun throws open a door at the end of the hall, revealing a very average looking bedroom. A queen sized bed pushed up against one wall, a desk on the other. A window that opens to the fire escape. Jaehyun claps, seemingly proud of himself.
“Wow, it’s very…” Donghyun says, waving his hands in a vague circle. “Bedroom.”
“Thanks, dude, that’s super nice of you to say!” Jaehyun claps Donghyun on the back. Donghyun trips from the force of it, leaving Dongmin to steady him by catching his arm. Jaehyun shuts the door behind them before shuffling over to sit on his bed.
“Okay, so,” Dongmin asks awkwardly. “Why do we have to be in your bedroom to do your homework?”
“Right, so— it’s not exactly homework that I need help with,” Jaehyun says, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s more of a… special interest project.”
“Aw, what the hell, man,” Dongmin groans. He’s really not in the business of fucking around with liars. It’s a waste of time.
“No! I promise, I had reason to be secretive about it,” Jaehyun’s eyes go so wide they could pop out. He holds up his hands in front of him, scooching all the way to the edge of the bed. “Listen,” he says, licking over his bottom lip. “This is going to sound crazy— but—” A long pause. A stage whisper, “I’m Spider-Man.”
Dongmin stares blankly. “Sorry?”
“Who’s that?” Donghyun asks. Dongmin reaches over to smack him in the center of his chest.
Jaehyun laughs like something is funny. He tosses his head back. “Spider-Man,” he says. “You know— friendly neighborhood vigilante hero… the guy that’s been running around stopping crime for the past six months!”
Dongmin blinks when his eyes get too dry. He frowns. “Do you think we’re stupid?”
“No!” Jaehyun stands up, he’s getting really worked up over this. “I think you’re smart— that’s why I need your help. I’m not exactly reaching my highest potential right now— I need help on the tech side, and—”
“Is this a prank? Like, you’re recording this, right?” Dongmin cuts him off, trying to get ahead of the curve. “What year is it? Aren’t we past the whole public humiliation of nerdy kids as bullying thing?”
“We’re not even that nerdy,” Donghyun mumbles.
“Not the point,” Dongmin hisses.
“No, I’m not joking. This isn’t a prank— I don’t know who else to ask—” Jaehyun scrambles, burying his hands in his hair.
Dongmin backs up, fingers twisting into Donghyun’s giant scarf. “Alright, let's go, Hyun.”
“Wait!” Jaehyun blurts. He sticks his arm out and shoots a web at the door, a glob landing over the handle.
He shot a web at the door. Oh, god. He shot a web at the door.
“Aw, fuck my life,” Dongmin moans. This kind of shit only happens to him, he swears.
Donghyun clears his throat, poking at the web on the door. It comes away with his finger, sticky before falling apart when he rolls it under his finger. “False imprisonment is a crime, you know. That’s not very friendly or neighborhood of you, Spider-Kid.”
“It’s Spider-Man,” Jaehyun says seriously.
“You really need to get some branding out there, then, because how am I supposed to know that?” Donghyun snorts. “Also, by the way, your color palette sucks. Your costume looks like shit. You should really fix that.”
“You should know by looking at me! Do I look like a kid?” Jaehyun pouts, arms flung out at his sides. His face twists up, “What do you mean my color palette sucks? Do you hate Christmas?”
“Hah,” Donghyun points at Jaehyun, and then Dongmin. “Dongmin asked me the same thing.”
Jaehyun’s face goes blank, and then he’s back to smirking. “So, you guys talk about me?”
“He talks about you. I don’t give a shit about you,” Dongmin jerks his thumb towards Donghyun. “And, he was hoping to watch you get maimed on TV, so.”
“Dude,” Donghyun whispers. “Don’t embarrass me in front of my idol.”
“Look,” Jaehyun says. “You guys want money? I’ll give you money. Do you know how many old ladies tip me for taking them across the street? They won’t take no for an answer.” He leans across to his desk and pulls open the drawer, gesturing wildly to the hoard of loose cash inside— at least a thousand, if Dongmin had to guess.
Donghyun scoffs. “Bro, you should really organize that.”
“Fine! You can organize it and then take it for all I care. I just really, really need help.” Jaehyun is getting a little desperate. It’s not a good look on him. “Do I need to get on my knees and beg?”
Dongmin shrugs. He glances over at Donghyun. “Yeah. That would probably help.”
Jaehyun slides off the bed immediately, onto his knees, hands clasped in front of him. His eyebrows pull together, eyes big and round. “Please. PleasePleasePlease, Dongmin. I really, really need you.”
“That wasn’t pathetic enough,” Donghyun comments, folding his legs up underneath him as he sits down and starts rifling through Jaehyun’s cash drawer. He turns and gives Dongmin a ridiculous wink that Jaehyun can definitely see. “Dongmin needs you to be even more pathetic than that.”
“That’s not really—”
“Please!” Jaehyun gets louder. He looks close to crying. “I would owe you my life. I’ll kiss your feet. Whatever you need, Han Dongmin— I’ll do it for you! My body and soul—”
“Oh my god, fine, just shut up—” Dongmin hisses. “Your roommate probably thinks we’re doing something freaky.”
Jaehyun’s pout turns into a toothy grin, hauling himself up off the floor. “Serves him right. He’s plenty freaky.”
Donghyun perks up at that, eyebrows raising. “Oh?” he says, but Jaehyun ignores him, too busy thrusting out his hand for Dongmin to shake.
“I think we can do something incredible together,” Jaehyun says.
Dongmin hesitates. He stares at Jaehyun’s hand. Is he really going to sell his soul to Myung Jaehyun right now? To Spider-Kid? This shit is so stupid. Dongmin really needs a new computer.
He sighs, pushing his thumb into the spot between his eyebrows for a couple of seconds before putting his hand in Jaehyun’s. Jaehyun’s smile grows impossibly wide. His grip strength is kind of absurd, actually.
“So,” Jaehyun starts literally bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “When can we start?”
This might be the worst idea Dongmin has ever had.
🕸️
From mjh
Do you guys like pizza?
To mjh
everyone likes pizza
From mjh
ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)
I have to be a good spider-sleepover-host!!
I want to spider-impress you!!!!
To mjh
please stop adding spider to everything or i’ll quit
From mjh
(╥﹏╥)
🕸️
DH | @dong._.hyun
I know something you don’t know!!
0 retweets • 0 likes
↳ @hanminnie0101010
deleteeeeeeee
🕸️
“I want thermal vision.”
“No— not gonna happen.”
“Why? I see it in movies.”
Dongmin sighs. He’s getting a headache. “Movies aren’t real life, Jaehyun.”
“Ugh, fine,” Jaehyun flops back on his bed, squeezing his eyes shut. “I want a bulletproof outfit that’s still flexible— like— just in case I get shot at.”
“Where do you imagine we have the capability to do that?” Dongmin extends his arms, turning in Jaehyun’s office chair, gesturing to the room at large. “We have— how much money do we have, Hyun?”
Donghyun doesn’t even look up from his computer, ass deep in a game of Webkinz Cash Cow. “Like, nine hundred and fifty, because we bought pizza.”
“Nine hundred and fifty dollars, and half a computer engineering degree between the three of us,” Dongmin finishes.
“I have half a political science degree too,” Jaehyun frowns. Well, pouts. He’s very fond of doing that, Dongmin has noticed.
Dongmin rolls his eyes. “Great, so we can go to half of law school with our nine hundred and fifty dollars. That’s still not helping.”
Jaehyun’s pout deepens.
They’ve been at this for a week now. Trying to figure out the best way to go about making Spider-Man as efficient and online as possible. Every day after classes, Dongmin waits for Jaehyun on the edge of campus with his hood pulled over his head, slouched over his phone. (It’s not like he’s embarrassed to be seen with Jaehyun, but Dongmin is well aware of his own reputation, and he doesn’t want Jaehyun to suffer on his behalf.) Jaehyun always greets Dongmin with a giant grin that seems to brighten when he sees him, and Dongmin always rolls his eyes and starts to walk away before Jaehyun can even catch up to him. It’s a fine routine.
Regrettably, this spider shit is pretty interesting. Dongmin lives for projects, actually. He’s always looking for something to fuck with in his freetime— some sort of goal to work towards. Working out the kinks of the city’s one and only superhero is a pretty good hobby gig.
Or, it would be if Jaehyun was realistic in his requests at all. His dreams are bigger than his brain. Bigger than Dongmin’s physical capabilities.
“I want a suit that I can take off with one smack. Like, in the center of my chest, and it just folds up.”
“Okay, let's take that idea and scale it back by two hundred,” Dongmin says, just like he has been for the past hour— fielding Jaehyun’s requests and making them at least a sliver reasonable. “Like, a suit that can fold without wrinkling.”
“I still don’t see what’s wrong with my outfit,” Jaehyun says.
Donghyun scowls. It’s the first time he’s torn his attention away from his game in an hour. “It’s literally just unbranded cotton, Jaehyun. It’s red and green unbranded clothing. Green long johns with red basketball shorts, Jaehyun. Red and green, Jaehyun—”
“Okay! I get it!” Jaehyun complains. He’s putting on a fantastic show with his next pout. Round, sparkly puppy-dog eyes. “What about comms? Something to keep me connected to someone at home base while I’m swinging around?”
Dongmin snaps his fingers, a hint of a spark starting at the base of his skull. He clicks over to a new window to start taking notes with his initial thoughts. “Now that— is an on budget idea!”
When Sanghyuk calls and says their pizza is ready, only Donghyun emerges from the cave of Jaehyun’s bedroom. Dongmin is too busy working up a first draft of a model, and Jaehyun is too busy hanging over his shoulder, making little noises of approval and adding his ideas.
It’s a hobby project. It’s fine.
🕸️
From mjh
I’ll be late to meet up today, StuCo stuff
(߹ ᯅ ߹)
To mjh
how late?
From mjh
Half an hour, maybe.
You can head to mine without me! Hyukie will be home!!
To mjh
i can wait
From mjh
Really??
٩(^ᴗ^)۶
To mjh
i just changed my mind
From mjh
Nooooooo!!!! Dongminnie I’m sorry~~
I’ll be totally chill about it 🧘
I just don’t like to ride the train alone
I get bored TT
To mjh
i’ll think about it.
🕸️
DH | @dong._.hyun
why the fuck does that spider kid wear red and green???? looks like shit. mario and luigi ass
0 retweets • 3 likes
🕸️
Donghyun claps his hands together, nodding once, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. “It’s time,” he announces.
Dongmin looks at the corner of his laptop screen. Blinks. It’s five forty one P.M. on a Monday. Not really time for anything in particular. They’re already running half an hour behind, because Dongmin waited around for Jaehyun to finish his stupid student council thing so they could take the train together.
“Time for what?” he asks.
“Yeah— time for what?” Jaehyun drops his textbook on the bed. He’s been trying to finish his reading for class for an hour— he keeps getting distracted asking Dongmin stupid questions. Dongmin is considering investing in a spray bottle with a portion of the five hundred dollars they have left in their spider-fund.
Donghyun takes a long, deep breath. Nods sagely. “It’s time to talk about the colors.”
“Here we go,” Dongmin rolls his eyes.
Jaehyun frowns. It’s dangerously close to a pout. “I really don’t see what’s wrong with the colors—”
“Dude—” Donghyun puts his hands out. He steps to the edge of Jaehyun’s bed and drops down, his weight making Jaehyun bounce. “They’re calling you Mario and Luigi-ass online. It’s not cool.”
“Nuh uh!” Jaehyun gasps. He scrambles up and huddles over Donghyun’s shoulder to see the post in question. Gasps again after his eyes scan over the screen. “That’s your tweet!”
“And it has three likes, so…”
Dongmin presses his fingers into his temples. “Is there any way you two can take this clown show into the other room? I’m so close to finishing this portion of—”
“No!” Donghyun and Jaehyun say at the same time.
“Sanghyuk is way too nosy,” Donghyun clarifies.
Dongmin scowls. “How do you know that?”
“We’ve been eating breakfast together,” Donghyun says, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. “We both love IHOP.”
“Hyuk does really love IHOP,” Jaehyun murmurs, subtly trying to tap on Donghyun’s phone— probably to delete the tweet— only for Donghyun to swat him away.
“What the fuck is my life?” Dongmin complains.
“Anyway. You need a rebrand,” Donghyun soldiers on. “That’s why I’ve started a new twitter page— the official source on Spider-Man! It takes care of your name problem too!”
Jaehyun visibly perks up. He almost looks like a puppy when he gets excited. If he had a tail it would be wagging most of the time. “Oh! What’s it called?”
“SpiderBase,” Donghyun clicks around on his phone, shoving it into Jaehyun’s face. “Its like PopBase but gayer.”
“That’s not possible,” Dongmin snorts.
“It is,” Donghyun looks up over the edge of his glasses. “Jaehyun looks so gay doing flips in the air.”
Dongmin blinks. Jaehyun sucks in a breath, chest puffing out like he’s proud of himself. Dongmin doesn’t have any thoughts on that. None at all. He picks at the edge of his glove.
“I’ll keep the public up to date with all of Spider-Man’s good deeds. Candid photos. News. All that good shit— it’ll keep him relevant, you know?” Donghyun turns his attention back to Jaehyun, selling his idea (as if Jaehyun isn’t already sold). “And would you look at that… the layout of the profile seems to have… a color scheme!” Donghyun gasps, wiggling his phone, turning it so Dongmin can see too— just for a second.
“Red and blue?” Jaehyun says, clearly unconvinced.
“Red and blue!” Donghyun echoes, much more enthusiastically. He practically glares at Dongmin, conveying threats with just his eyes. “Don’t red and blue sound like a great color combo, Dongminnie?”
Dongmin blinks again. He accidentally makes eye contact with Jaehyun when Jaehyun looks up. Big, brown puppy-dog eyes sparkling.
“Uh,” Dongmin says, licking over his bottom lip. “Yeah. Sounds good, I guess. Better than red and green.”
Donghyun grins, but Jaehyun is still focused on Dongmin. He’s like that. Always seeking Dongmin’s approval, for whatever reason. Dongmin has noticed it— over and over again— he just hasn’t commented on it.
“Really?” Jaehyun asks.
“Yeah,” Dongmin shrugs. “Red and blue would be cool.”
Jaehyun’s smile is massive. Toothy and bright. It nearly knocks Dongmin off his chair.
“Now we’re talking!” Donghyun claps. The sound forces Dongmin to look away from Jaehyun’s eyes, back to the computer.
🕸️
From mjh
Did you see SpiderBase today? ˆ꒳ˆ
To mjh
i don’t have twitter
From mjh
Yes you do.
I follow you.
To mjh
no
i didnt see spiderbase
From mjh
Go look!!!!
I did this super sick flip off the highrise on fifty second
¡¡¡( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و!!!
Everyone thinks I’m a stunt double as my day job
To mjh
no
🕸️
SpiderBase | @SpiderBase
Spider-Man looking illustrious doing backflips at city hall earlier today!! video credit: @hanyujinluvssports
92 retweets • 439 likes
↳ @official_kimjiwoongie
First like!
↳ @bamgyuuuu
yo…
↳ @hyukaaaaaaaaa
omo… do u think spider man is a stunt double irl
↳ @page.soobin
Is SpiderBase going to report when this kid eats it?
↳ @yawnzzn
I could do better 🥱
↳ @SpiderBase
@page.soobin We report all official Spider-Man news!
🕸️
Dongmin wouldn’t really say that he and Jaehyun are friends. They’re just spending a lot of time together as a consequence of their situation.
Sure, Dongmin was looking forward to hanging out with Jaehyun today, but it’s only because he’s getting into his groove with the techy bullshit Jaehyun needs help with, and he wants to show off what he’s accomplished.
“You know, I’m really glad you guys know about Spider-Man, it was so lonely before,” Jaehyun says, rolling over so his head hangs off his bed. His hair is getting longer, hanging off his head in a ridiculous way. “It sucked so bad keeping it a secret.”
Dongmin keeps typing away at his project— he’s in the middle of figuring out this stupid web shooter mechanic, because Jaehyun needs two different types of webs to funnel through the same piece.
“Hello? Earth to Han,” Jaehyun complains after a minute of silence.
“Ah, shit, I keep forgetting Donghyun isn’t here to field your babble,” Dongmin says.
He doesn’t mean it to be offensive, but Jaehyun acts like it is. He sits up, forehead all red from the blood rushing to his head, and puts on an absolutely affronted face. “Every day I wonder why Donghyun was your only friend before me! And every day I am reminded of the reason!”
Dongmin snorts. “We’re not friends. We’re… associates.”
Jaehyun blinks. “Associates.”
“That’s what I said.” Dongmin chews at his bottom lip— his fingers are aching from typing so much. “Also, don’t hold back— damn.”
Dongmin realizes his mistake almost immediately, but it’s too late to back out. Jaehyun is already on his way over, bottom lip poking out, eyes wide. He makes grabby hands for Dongmin’s arm, and Dongmin is too slow to outpace a literal superhero— so Jaehyun falls to his knees next to Dongmin’s chair, clinging to his bicep. “I’m sorry, Dongminnie, I didn’t mean it. You’re a good friend. You wait for me to finish student council so we can ride home together.”
That is also true, but it’s more that Dongmin wants Jaehyun to get out most of his chatter before they have to actually work— so riding the train home with him and letting him talk about his day then is much more efficient than waiting for him to do it when they get back.
“Ok. Thanks. Get off of me.”
“At some point in our friendship you’re going to become susceptible to human touch,” Jaehyun mumbles, even as he follows Dongmin’s directions, plopping back to the floor on his ass.
“Doubt it.”
“It happens to all of my friends. Ask Sanghyuk.”
“No thanks.”
Jaehyun sighs. He falls back against his floor, spreading out like a starfish, his legs on either side of Dongmin’s feet, knocking his toes into Dongmin’s calves on and off. Jaehyun is physically incapable of sitting still. That’s something Dongmin now knows about him.
“How is the web thingy going. I want to patrol tonight.”
Dongmin freezes, straightening his back just enough to glare at Jaehyun over the top of his laptop. “Absolutely not. You really shouldn’t patrol until we get some of this shit figured out. It’s dangerous.”
“Not more dangerous than before!” Jaehyun argues.
“It’s a miracle you haven’t died already, Jaehyun!” Dongmin scoffs. He cracks his knuckles to stop himself from pulling out his own hair. Jaehyun drives him mad. That’s another thing he knows now. “You could get seriously hurt! Do you know how bad your visibility is with these goggles?” He reaches over and grabs Jaehyun’s old mask. It’s absolutely horrendous. He hand sewed swim goggles into a balaclava and then tried to put some sort of tinted window paint over them.
“I was doing perfectly fine before you showed up!”
Dongmin lets out an incredulous laugh. “You weren’t! That’s why you came to look for me specifically!”
“Hm,” Jaehyun gives up. He takes a deep breath, and lets it out. “You saw my flip, didn’t you?”
Well. Dongmin did watch the video of the flip. It was reckless. Absurd. He winced when Jaehyun landed, because he could imagine his legs snapping so clearly. The Jaehyun in the video got up and waved to the crowd that had gathered, like a fucking dork, and webbed off.
“No.”
“I bet you did.”
“I didn’t.”
Jaehyun shoves his toes into Dongmin’s calves— again, and again, and again, until Dongmin looks up at him. Then he frowns. His bottom lip pokes out. “The flip was cool, right?”
It was— hypothetically— cool. If Dongmin were one of those sick jocks that gets off on adrenaline, or whatever, he’d probably think it was cool. He shuts his eyes, rubbing his hands over his face. “If I say it’s cool will that stop you from trying to kill yourself on patrol tonight?”
“Yes.” Jaehyun doesn’t even stop to think about it.
“Eugh,” Dongmin gags. “It was— cool.”
Jaehyun’s smile is bright enough to supply power to the entire city. He shoves himself upright, eyes all shiny and excited. Dongmin has to look away because it’s too much.
“Han Dongmin…” Jaehyun needles, hooking his feet behind Dongmin’s ankles. “Do you… perhaps… care for me?”
Dongmin’s face screws up. “Ew. No. I just have a natural aversion to watching my friends die.”
Jaehyun squeals, and Dongmin forces himself to keep his smile off his face as he rolls his eyes.
🕸️
From mjh
Which fabric?
[Two images attached]
To mjh
i can’t really see the fabric
your massive head is taking up most of the frame
From mjh
Donghyun said I look cute today!!
It’s true – from, Donghyun
Hah! – from, Jaehyun
To mjh
ok
From mjh
Which one?
I wanna look cool, but also sexy… and friendly…
To mjh
…
left
🕸️
SpiderBase | @SpiderBase
Spider-Man STUNS saving cat from tree.
92 retweets • 439 likes
↳ @seokmatchuu
first like!
↳ @official_kimjiwoongie
First like!
↳ @official_kimjiwoongie
@seokmatchuu ... Hey...
🕸️
“Where did you learn to sew?” Jaehyun asks, eyes wide and shiny, fluttering excitedly over Donghyun’s shoulder where he sits in front of the sewing machine they found in a dumpster on Forty Third and Lake.
“He didn’t,” Dongmin mumbles, feet propped up on the coffee table. They’re in the living room because Sanghyuk is going to be out with his sister all day, and Jaehyun doesn’t have a big enough surface to sew on in his room.
Donghyun puts a hand to his chest in the most flamboyant way possible, jaw unhinged. “Excuse you, I took Home-Ec in seventh grade and we did learn how to turn on a sewing machine.”
“Yeah, and then you let Bae Jinsol do the entire project for you because you had a crush on her.”
“I have a thing for people that are good with stitches! Sue me!”
“She’s a lesbian, Donghyun.”
“Like you haven’t ever been in love with a lesbian.”
“That was one time—” Dongmin starts to argue just as Donghyun steps on the pedal again, the machine’s loud rumbling cutting off anything he could possibly say.
Jaehyun takes the opportunity to flounce over to join Dongmin on the couch, shoving his legs up to his chest and scooching close enough that Dongmin recoils.
“He really doesn’t know how to do that,” Dongmin mumbles, scratching at his wrist. “You might actually want to watch to make sure he doesn’t destroy all the fabric.”
“I don’t know how to either,” Jaehyun shrugs. “I’m sure it’s fine. I trust him.”
He goes quiet for a few seconds as Dongmin picks up typing. He likes to stare at Dongmin’s hands while he works— which Dongmin doesn’t get, but he’s too chickenshit to ask about.
“Hey,” Jaehyun pokes Dongmin’s arm, as if Dongmin could forget he’s there. “Will you paint my nails?”
“Really?” Dongmin laughs. Not on purpose, it’s just ridiculous.
“Yeah!” Jaehyun smiles. “It looks cool!”
Dongmin raises a skeptical eyebrow. If Jaehyun were anyone else, he’d think he’s being made fun of. Most men of Jaehyun’s social standing are put off by Dongmin’s style. Girls like the nail polish and eyeliner, but Dongmin hasn’t been into girls since, like, the seventh grade.
“I mean, I guess, if you really want,” Dongmin mumbles, turning away before Jaehyun has a chance to notice the blush settling onto his cheeks.
Jaehyun bounces up and down in place a bit, smile growing wider. “I do!”
He’s a bit too close to Dongmin. Dongmin has to force himself to keep his breathing steady, because he can probably count Jaehyun’s eyelashes if he tried— and Jaehyun is, like, really pretty. That’s why he’s so popular. He’s handsome, and fun, and friendly— but that’s not the point. He wants his nails painted. Right. And Dongmin is helping him with this Spider-Man shit… and…
“Woah! Check this out!” Donghyun breaks the tension, standing up so forcefully that his chair clatters to the ground behind him. He holds up the two pieces of fabric he sewed together. Blue and red. It’s a little… crooked?
Dongmin opens his mouth to say something to the same effect when the door opens.
It all goes very fast, then. There’s not time to correct. Dongmin and Jaehyun shoot up off the couch, and Sanghyuk walks in, backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Oh my god, Sanghyuk— I can explain—” Jaehyun says, his eyes wide and horrified. He looks like he might cry.
“Holy shit—” Sanghyuk says, taking stock of the scene in front of him. All three of them. The fucking super suit they’re putting together. Jaehyun’s old outfit strewn over the table. “Your hemlines are fucking atrocious.”
Jaehyun lets out a tiny squeak when Sanghyuk drops his bag on the floor and stalks across the room to snatch the fabric out of Donghyun’s hands.
“Who taught you how to sew?” Sanghyuk frowns, digging through the pile of various sewing supplies they picked up from the craft store until he finds a seam ripper— immediately taking it to Donghyun’s work.
“I never learned,” Donghyun says, his shoulders sagging.
“I can tell,” Sanghyuk hums. He gives Donghyun a tight smile and pats his shoulder comfortingly. “That’s okay. I know how. I’m good at it, too. Can you give me the pattern you’re working with? I’m assuming you’re trying to replace that monstrosity.” Sanghyuk nods in the direction of Jaehyun’s old costume.
“Yeah,” Donghyun’s nods hurriedly. He scrambles to get the sketches he made— the rough pattern.
Dongmin swallows, looking over at Jaehyun to see how he’s holding up. Not well, apparently. Jaw unhinged, eyebrows pinched together. He looks like he’s going to piss himself. Dongmin reaches out to awkwardly smack his back, hoping that does the job.
“Honestly, Jaehyun, thank god I can finally tell you,” Sanghyuk says, hands still working out thread from fabric. “Your old color palette was fucking horrible. Blue and red is going to look so much better.”
Jaehyun makes another pathetic noise. “How did— I— Does Woonhak know?”
“No. I didn’t tell anyone, don’t worry,” Sanghyuk waves him off. “It’s just that you never see me when you come in at night. Why do you use the front door?”
“You’ve been using the front door?” Dongmin spins towards Jaehyun. “Are you serious?”
“Only sometimes! My window gets stuck!”
“Oh my god, Myung Jaehyun,” Dongmin groans, finally dropping back to the couch. “You’re going to get yourself killed.”
“Oh, yeah, that flip you did the other day was way dangerous,” Sanghyuk purses his lips, taking the spot Donghyun abandoned.
“You follow SpiderBase?” Donghyun asks. If he were in a cartoon his eyes would be hearts springing out of his head.
Sanghyuk shrugs, failing to hide his smile. “Well, yeah. It’s the only official source on Spider-Man.”
“That’s my bio!” Donghyun snaps his fingers, grin blinding.
“Yeah, I know,” Sanghyuk says, smoothing out Donghyun’s patterns with his hands. “I follow you.”
Dongmin has to look away before he gets a cavity. They’re disgusting.
He sighs, running his hands over his face. Looks up at Jaehyun, still standing helplessly in the middle of the room.
“Jaehyun, go get my backpack if you want your nails done. My bottle of polish is in there.”
Jaehyun snaps out of his funk, nodding wordlessly and scuttling over to Dongmin’s bag. He comes back with the nail polish in his hands, holding it out to Dongmin in offering.
Dongmin rolls his eyes (fondly), and slides down to the floor, setting his laptop to the side. The latest iteration of the comms can wait, he supposes. He directs Jaehyun to sit across the coffee table from him. Reaches for his hand.
He’s warm, and his skin is soft. His hands are, like, surprisingly manly. Dongmin is very normal about it, though.
He takes a deep breath, and uncaps the bottle and gets to work as Sanghyuk and Donghyun chatter about the aerodynamics in the background. He ignores Jaehyun’s big, brown eyes. The kid really has a staring problem.
Dongmin wishes he hated it more. He kind of likes this new normal they’ve found. Having… friends. A place to go after class. Something to work on.
How embarrassing.
🕸️
SpiderBase | @SpiderBase
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Spider-Man looks Elysian in new super suit!
(Big ups to whoever his costume guy is— this is much nicer than the red and green!)
393 retweets • 1k likes
↳ @official_kimjiwoongie
First like!
↳ @uwusohee
what, do you hate christmas @SpiderBase
↳ @sunghanbin2001
@uwusohee Maybe SpiderBase is an atheist.
↳ @yeojin._.o_x
@sunghanbin2001 @uwusohee well he’s definitely gay either way, so…
↳ @sunghanbin2001
@yeojin._.o_x @uwusohee ???????
↳ @SpiderBase
@sunghanbin2001 @yeojin._.o_x @uwusohee it’s true i am.