Chapter Text
Ni-ki didn’t expect his Friday night to be full of fighting off an evil guy with robotic tentacles protruding out of his back, but here he was fighting off an evil guy with robotic tentacles protruding out of his back.
Why?
Because he’s Spider-Man.
“Do you really have nothing better to do? Y’know, Doc, I was kinda busy before you started—well—smashing windows,” Ni-ki yells, swinging himself over the railway that runs through the middle of the bustling city, looking over his shoulder in the process. Cars stopped on the streets; people watched from their apartments; helicopters circled the area.
One year and this guy still doesn’t know when to stop. It’s exhausting, really. Doctor Otto Octavius, or Doc Ock, always has something to do; whether it’s kidnapping or taking someone hostage, it’s just another hassle.
“You think I have time for jokes?” Doc Ock says, It’s a rhetorical question, and Ni-ki knows that.
As a public figure who didn’t have much guidance when becoming who he is now, he just can’t stay quiet (the wise, humble mentality of a hero only applies to old people, apparently).
“I mean you’re fighting me, so I can’t see why not.”
That riles Doc up even more than before and a car gets sent flying toward Ni-ki—it almost catches him off guard. Webs fly out of his wrists before he knows it and the car is stuck mid-air.
Citizens below scatter, running to get past the barricades the SFPD’s setting up. Right, there’s a park beneath the railway.
“Come on, can’t we talk it out like normal people—hey!” There’s a tingle in the back of his head, his spidey-sense.
He ducks down because Doc decided a car door might hit him better this time, whistling as it went past, he made sure to web it to the already-hanging car under the railway.
Ni-ki had the wind knocked out of him when he was suddenly grabbed and smashed into a pillar, the large hand of one of Doc Ock’s tentacles pinning him to it harshly. He groaned and his body stiffened on impact.
He’s disappointed that he didn’t see this coming. It would’ve saved him a lot of trouble. There’s going to be one nasty bruise on his back and he will be sore. Great.
“Stay out of my way, Spider-Man,” Doc Ock seethed as the grip on Ni-ki’s body tightened.
“Sorry, but it’s kind of illegal to rob banks. I’m sure we could get a—” The tentacle digs deeper into his sides, ”—fundraiser started,” he jokes through gritted teeth.
Ni-ki’s lucky that when he got bit by that radioactive spider, he gained the ability to produce bio-electricity. It was a shocker, (no pun intended) but he found it was pretty cool.
His hands slip through the gaps of the arm holding him down and grasp the rough metal. The shocks run through his body. Then they eject themselves from his hands, forcing Doc Ock to drop him. That gave him enough space to fall through and swiftly shoot a web at the top of the railway.
“Interesting. I underestimated your abilities,” he heard the doctor say.
He’s sure he at least disabled the arm. It’s a bit hard to tell, but it quickly becomes obvious when Doc Ock is scuttling away around buildings with three arms faster than Ni-ki can keep up. He shoots and shoots webs to catch up, although it’s pointless as Doc Ock turns sharp corners to waver him purposely. He turns back around, heading towards the railway where the car is still hanging.
Without giving it much thought, he immediately launched himself up and got the car down, setting it in the middle of the open park.
Half the police were unimpressed. There’s always been a love-hate dynamic between the SFPD and Spider-Man. Some see Spider-Man as another problem to deal with, some see Spider-Man as the city’s savior, and some just don’t care.
He paid no attention to it. As long as they’re safe they can have all the opinions they want about him. He swings away with a salute directed at the one cop who absolutely does not like Spider-Man.
The captain.
His father.
Ironic, isn’t it?
With one last jump, he was off.
____________
Ni-ki needs to get home now. He has a roommate, Kim Sunoo, his best friend, who had planned a movie night with all of their friends. He lands on the roof of their apartment building and he pulls his phone out of the bag he’d left there prior to the fight.
There’s a bunch of messages and missed calls, all from Sunoo. He feels bad for leaving them like that, especially because he knows Sunoo will do his best to cover for him. A part of him wants to tell Sunoo, to tell him that he doesn’t ignore Sunoo on purpose.
But, it’s too risky.`
Sunoo (4 missed calls)
Sunoo: where are you?
8:47 PM
Sunoo: you know we’re starting the movie at 9 right?
8:50 PM
Sunoo: they’re putting on a horror movie
8:54 PM
Sunoo: are you okay?
8:56 PM
Sunoo: please call me back when you can
9:02 PM
Sunoo: riki?
9:24 PM
Sunoo: did you get stuck at the park? That’s on your way home isn’t it
9:39 PM
Sunoo: are you safe?
9:40 PM
It made him feel guilty, the numbers reading 10:13 on his lock screen. This happens often; Sunoo gets left on delivered for long periods of time because Ni-ki’s stuck fighting around the city.
He knows Sunoo will never blame him.
He’s understanding.
Maybe a bit too understanding.
Sunoo sees the best in people no matter what they do.
He snuck into the building and found his trustworthy storage closet to change in.
Taking off his suit, bruises littered his ribs and faint red marks were left where Doc Ock had grabbed him. Ni-ki hasn’t been this battered up since the Sandman dropped a concrete-like ton of sand over his back..
He hissed in pain while putting his regular clothes back on and god, was he going to be sore in the morning.
A casual black oversized zip-up paired with a black shirt and grey sweatpants was the best he could pull together with the clothes he had in his bag.
The white phone buzzed from where it was settled on his bag and Jake’s name lit up the screen. Ni-ki held it up to his ear, mumbling a ‘hello’ as he fiddled with his left shoe. He wished he could tell his friends about this whole Spider-Man ordeal, but being mysterious comes with the thing, y’know, the secret identity and all.
“Oh, thank goodness, you’re alive. Did you see the fight between Spider-Man and Doc Ock? Sunoo said it was on your way home.” he heard Jake sigh into the phone.
“Yeah, sorry. I took an extra shift and had to close up. And, yes, I did see the fight.” It was only a partial lie. You see, he feels bad about constantly lying to them, but how do you even bring up a topic like this? Hey guys, guess what? I'm Spider-Man, and I fight evil villains all the time!
Definitely not.
“Not yet. Are you coming back now? Guys, Riki’s finally picked up!”
“Heading there now, actually,” Ni-ki grabs his bag, shoves his suit inside, covers it with an extra shirt, and starts moving as quickly as he can without pain down the stairs.
“Um, I’ll be there in a sec, bye,” he said before ending the call abruptly.
In front of apartment 1130, the door opened before he could knock, standing there was Sunoo with his face full of worry and relief. Again, he felt guilty seeing his friend’s obvious concern.
What he’d forgotten to do was check his face for any minor injuries. The moment Jungwon saw him, his first reaction was to scrunch his face together.
Neither could speak, though, because they were interrupted by Jay and Jake’s noisy antics in the back.
“Yah! That was not my fault!” Jay couldn’t help but laugh.
There Jake was, shirt drenched in Fanta, popcorn a mess beside him.
“Yes, it was! You bumped into me!” The soda was cold, Ni-ki could tell by the way Jake was barely holding it together himself.
Ni-ki spoke up before anything else happened, “I have a shirt you can borrow,”
Jake stood up, he inhaled sharply at the coldness of the soda seeping through his shirt. Ni-ki led Jake to his room and tossed his backpack down on the floor. A heavy thud could be heard as it landed.
He picked a random grey shirt out of his closet and threw it back at Jake, who took it appreciatively. Once Jake was done, he slipped out of the room as if he were never there.
Ni-ki picked his bag up and pulled the suit out, about to hide it in his closet when— “Hey, did I leave my—” Jake stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the black and purple suit in Ni-ki’s hands.
In an instant, he drops the suit, pulls Jake back into the room, and pushes him against the shut door by his shoulders (gently, of course) which startles him for a second.
“Jake, shush.”
This is bad. He doesn’t even bother with honorifics. No one was supposed to know.
He just had to forget to lock the door, did he.
“Ni-ki, I-I—are you? No, you are—” Jake stutters in disbelief, eyes moving toward the suit on the ground.
Ni-ki uses his slim fingers to push Jake’s chin back so he’s facing forward.
“Yes, Jake-hyung, I’m Spider-Man. Can you just breathe for a second so I can explain?”
He urges in a whisper and snaps Jake back into reality, he does take a few deep breaths. Ni-ki takes a couple himself, too.
“You, Nishimura Riki, are Spider-Man…”
He nods his head. It’s kind of funny, the way Jake gaped at him, he means.
But worry filled the cavity of his thoughts. How did Jake feel about this? Was he afraid? Upset? Was he angry at Ni-ki for not telling him? It has been three years, after all.
“But we—he just fought Doc Ock literally less than twenty minutes ago. Are you messing with me? He went all like this, and then he went—” he gestured wildly in the space between them.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s nothing, really,” Ni-ki reassures him, giving his shoulders a squeeze.
“Prove it,” Jake declares, “Prove you’re Spider-Man.”
“How do I even—okay. Okay, fine.”
One minute he’s stepping back and the next a web is on Jake’s hand.
“Holy shit.”
And for a minute there was a pause, a short stretch of silence, not even a ‘cue the cricket’ moment. He watched as the gears in the other’s head seemingly clicked into place.
“You’re really Spider-Man… Do the others know? Am I the first? Holy shit, I don’t even know what to say!”
“Okay, hyung. Please, please, don’t tell anyone. It’s dangerous and it’s—it’s risky enough that you know.”
Jake’s immediate nod eases some of Ni-ki's stress.
“Jake-hyung! Your phone’s ringing!” They hear Jungwon say from outside.
He sighs, his shoulders sag, his head falls.
“I’m gonna go get that. I-I swear I won’t tell anyone.”
“Please.”
Ni-ki steps back while pulling the web off of his hand and Jake, once again, slips out of the room. He turns around and glares at his suit. Jake knows.
It was inevitable, someone was bound to find out eventually, he tells himself, albeit it brings no comfort. Ni-ki picks his suit up and shoves it into the darkest corner of his closet, tossing his web shooters in with it.
He needs to be more careful.
No one else can find out.
Not his parents, not the others, not Sunoo.
Especially not Sunoo.
If Sunoo found out, he would be in danger. He’d also be worried sick and most likely never rest a day in his life knowing Ni-ki was out risking his very own protecting a city, which could potentially lead to his death if he wasn’t careful enough.
Sunoo is his friend, his very close friend, his very close friend who he may or may not do anything and everything for. Honestly, he’s Spider-Man because he wants to make this city a safer place for Sunoo and the thousands of other citizens to live in even if it were only by a fraction.
With a deep breath, he steps out of his room. If he said he wasn’t worried, he’d be lying because he’s half out of his mind now that Jake knows his secret identity. It’s nerve-wracking. It’s heart-pounding. It’s filling his body with anxiety. It’s—
“You okay?” Jay asks when he notices Ni-ki’s quiet demeanor.
“Yeah, I’m just tired. Long day at work.” He glances at Jake, who now looks at him differently. The emotion etched into Jake's expression is unclear. Jake knows Ni-ki’s lying, probably now realizing that nearly every word he’s said in the past was a lie or partial lie, and that makes everything harder.
____________
Later that night, the clock on the wall reads 12:22 AM. Heeseung’s gone home with Jay, Sunghoon’s crashing on the couch with Jungwon, and Jake’s taken up Sunoo’s bedroom floor. Ni-ki sits at their kitchen island, a glass of water in one hand, his phone in the other.
“How was work?” He turns his head to find Sunoo walking in from the hallway, the soft thumps of his feet padding against the hard floor.
“It was fine. I had to cover for Leeseo, family emergency or something,” He replied smoothly before gulping down the rest of his glass.
Ni-ki can tell that Sunoo doesn’t believe him. He has this tenseness in his shoulders and a face that hints I know you’re lying because Sunoo is not dense.
Here’s the thing, whenever it comes to Sunoo, Ni-ki cannot lie. He figured that part out after getting caught texting with a secret girlfriend a few years back. He’s known Sunoo for as long as he can remember. Long story short, Ni-ki and Sunoo became best friends over the years and are now living together as roommates because the thought of each other living with some random person to pay less rent is unappealing to both of them.
“Can you tell me next time?” There’s a sharp edge to his tone.
“I’m sorry, It just slipped my mind,” he shrugs.
With a near-silent sigh, Sunoo speaks again.
“We ended up watching the news about Spider-Man instead of the movie since Jungwon saw clips on X. I bet getting slammed into concrete gives him some back issues,” Ni-ki nodded his head subconsciously.
“What happened to your face?”
Confused, he moved his hand up to touch his face, “What do you mean?”
Sunoo frowned, moving closer to him.
The boy now stands in front of Ni-ki, invading the personal bubble that disappears the moment it registers that it’s Sunoo near him, and his soft fingertips land on a cut that sits painfully on his right cheekbone. “This.”
Right.
“Oh. I ran into a cabinet at work. It doesn't hurt, don’t worry about it.” Ni-ki tries to make an excuse, but it’s dumb, and he makes no effort to stop Sunoo from looking further.
“I’ll be right back,” Sunoo says.
“Hyung, It’s nothing—” he tried to say, but Sunoo was already several feet away.
Moments later, he was back with a first-aid kit and a small towel. He brought it to the sink and turned the faucet on, running it under water. Then, before bringing it to Ni-ki, he wrung it out.
“I just wanna clean it. I know you didn’t do a very good job.” The elder tutted quietly.
He watches as his roommate takes an alcohol wipe and a small band-aid from the first-aid kit and sets it on the counter in front of him. Sunoo grabs Ni-ki’s chin tenderly and slightly tilts his head to the side. Using the damp cloth, he starts wiping the side of Ni-ki’s cheek delicately as if he were fragile. The tension from earlier had gone away almost as fast as it had come.
Despite there being two of their sleeping friends on the couch in their living room six feet away, one even having a concerningly loud snore, it feels like they’re the only ones in the room, because amidst the careful actions of Sunoo, Ni-ki found himself glancing at Sunoo’s lips often. They’re so plush and cute. Sometimes, just sometimes, he wants to test how they’d feel against his own.
.
.
Is that weird?
His thoughts are interrupted when Sunoo places the cloth down and rips open the alcohol wipe, dabbing it over the wounds quickly. Ni-ki stifles a hiss at the sting and at that Sunoo stills his movements momentarily as an apology. After a few more swipes, the tiny band-aid is ripped open and carefully placed on his cheek.
“There, it’s all good,” Sunoo smiles gently.
“Aww, Sunoo-hyung cares so much for his dongsaeng~” he teases.
A scoff escapes Sunoo’s mouth leading to a jab at his shoulder, “Yah, I only pitied you.”
Ni-ki chuckles and a minute of quietness is shared between them. He breaks the silence first.
“I’m gonna go to sleep,”
“Goodnight,” Sunoo whispers, tossing the trash away.
“Goodnight, hyung.”
____________
In his room, he lies on his bed. Sleep seems to be absent during the times he needs it most. It's two in the morning and he is just now feeling the fatigue even though he’s been physically exhausted for hours.
A clock he kept only for aesthetics ticks perpetually across the room, cars drive through the still-busy streets outside, and the moon shines in through the cracks of his window blinds.
Every fiber of his being hurt. He was sore, tired, and there was some kind of throbbing pain in the back of his head. Ni-ki likes being Spider-Man—who wouldn’t—but being Spider-Man feels like taking new medication without researching the side effects first.
If anything’s funny about the job, it’s about how he first learned to stop his hands from sticking to things. He broke his doorknob the morning he discovered his newfound abilities because he couldn’t let go of it and earned a month of being grounded because his father was convinced he had deliberately done it. He figured out that instead of panicking, thinking of something soothing was the only way to stop.
Wanna know what he thought of first?
Sunoo.
He thought of Sunoo’s full-faced smile. He thought of Sunoo’s obsession with looking at his reflection on any surface he could find. He thought of the way Sunoo looked after him no matter what.
It’s almost like the comfort Sunoo brings him plucks out all his worries, cleansing him with bits of happiness. Love is a strange feeling. Ni-ki came to terms with the fact that he loves Sunoo a good minute ago.
Nonetheless, he never wants it to change.
Thinking about Sunoo again had his eyes fluttering shut and his body relaxing, sinking deeper onto the comfortable mattress, in hopes that when he wakes in the morning he feels refreshed. Ni-ki discards his phone somewhere on the side of his bed and lulls himself to sleep—mind finally realizing that his body is safe in the confines of his room.
____________