Chapter Text
“Don’t get into any trouble and be home before midnight!” Yoongi’s aunt shouted after him.
Yoongi waved her off, shoving his earbuds in and flipping his hood up. He swung his backpack over his shoulder before gently closing the apartment door behind him.
It was lightly drizzling as Yoongi trekked through the streets of Seoul, and he hummed absentmindedly to himself as he hopped up the concrete steps of the large brick building.
He dodged around a couple crowds of people to get to the doors, and he maneuvered around several bustling groups of students in the hallways before finally releasing a small sigh as he reached the classrooms in the west wing. Yoongi pushed his hood off with one hand and adjusted his backpack on his shoulders, his eyes scanning the crowd for Hoseok.
“Hey, Min!” a voice yelled from across the hallway. “Do anything fun last weekend? Hang with some friends?” Hyejun held his chin thoughtfully in mock consideration. “Wait, you don’t have any friends, do you?”
Very funny, Yoongi thought darkly, it’s like he can’t even hear himself speak. Poor guy. He ignored the taunt and serenely unwrapped a protein bar.
“Shut the fuck up, Jun-Jun!” Hoseok screeched, suddenly bounding up to greet Yoongi. “What’s up? Do you have any food? I was in a rush again and I fucking forgot. I’m gonna starve to death!” He laid one hand dramatically on his chest. “Hey, what’s that?” Hoseok pointed at the protein bar briefly before swiping it out of Yoongi’s hands, hastily taking a large bite out of it before Yoongi could even open his mouth to protest.
“I swear to God, Jung Hoseok, if we weren’t friends,” Yoongi muttered while pulling out a second protein bar. Hoseok said a muffled Thanks man, you’re a lifesaver through a mouthful of protein bar before running off to his morning class. Yoongi shook his head in amusement.
“Freaks,” Hyejun scoffed.
Yoongi shrugged and watched his only friend disappear down the hallway before gathering his things. He pushed Hyejun aside and ignored the latter’s protests of indignation, heading up the stairs to his first morning lecture: Chemistry.
***
Yoongi didn’t consider himself a bad student by any means. He just didn’t have the energy to attempt to be a good student early on a Monday morning.
He absently doodled a little hexagonal shaped design as the teacher droned on and on about something to do with polar qualities in chemical compounds. He had long since given up on paying attention and taking good notes through the lecture, knowing that he could probably just get the notes off Hoseok later.
“Mr. Min,” the professor suddenly said very loudly, clearing his throat in an offended manner. “Care to give us an answer now?”
Yoongi raised his head up slowly and resisted the urge to yawn. “I’m sorry, sir, could you repeat the question?’
“I said, what is the standard unit of temperature used when gauging the relationship between pressure and energy?”
“Kelvin,” Yoongi replied easily, head already tilting downwards to complete his doodle.
The professor looked kind of pissed. Yoongi was glad. The rest of the class held their breaths for a couple moments.
“Pay more attention next time, Min,” the profesor finally said irritatedly, not bothering to acknowledge that Yoongi was right. Figures.
By the time he was running off to his third class of the day, Yoongi was already prepared to throw the towel in and just go home, but he knew his aunt would kill him for skipping class.
Even if it was just gym class. Why he had chosen to enroll at the one college that required all freshmen take a physical education course, Yoongi didn’t know.
Yoongi groaned as the gym teacher told them that they were evaluating everyone’s fitness today, meaning that they were going to be forced to do a series of dumbass fitness trials to determine whether they were “in shape” by the government’s standards.
Hoseok sent a side-eye look at Yoongi as the teacher announced that everyone needed to pair up for this bullshit. Yoongi nodded at him mutely.
Hoseok plopped a giant yoga mat down in front of Yoongi. “You can go first,” he grinned.
Yoongi exhaled annoyedly as he laid down onto the mat. “Ok, start the fucking timer.”
For the first ten seconds of Yoongi doing sit ups, Hoseok didn’t say anything, but inevitably, Yoongi’s overly excitable friend had a couple things to get off his chest.
“Okay, so did you hear about the party Kim Taehyung threw last weekend? Park Jimin was there!” Hoseok whisper-yelled from his position kneeling on the floor, his hands wrapped firmly around Yoongi’s ankles.
Yoongi hoped Hoseok didn’t notice the stutter in Yoongi’s breath at the mention of Park Jimin. “Wha-What?” he huffed out mid-sit up.
“The party! Last weekend, at Taehyung’s house? I mean, we weren’t invited but anyways…” Hoseok stared off into the distance longingly. “I heard it was pretty wild…”
Yoongi rolled his eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly. “How many am I at right now?”
“I lost count like twenty seconds ago.”
“I don’t know why I’m even friends with you.”
“Because I’m awesome and lovable and I also have all the information on Park Jimin?”
Damn, he’s right, Yoongi thought as the timer finally went off. They switched positions quickly. “Wait, so what’s so important about this party? Don’t they throw one like every week after their big soccer matches?”
Hoseok rested his elbows on his knees. “Right, but this one is important because Jimin got hammered and started talking about—”
“What the fuck, Jimin?!” Yoongi heard Kihyun scream from the other side of the room. “Of all people, fucking Spiderman!?”
Yoongi’s eyes widened at Hoseok. “What—”
He watched as Jimin started blushing, like actually blushing, as Taehyung made a gagging noise. “Bro, you don’t even know what he looks like! He could totally just be an ugly ass middle aged weirdo with a special affinity for parkour!”
“He’s not a middle aged weirdo!” Jimin protested. “He’s a hero! It’s...it’s admirable, okay?”
“You straight up told me you wanted him to shoot a web up your ass. What the fuck does that have to do with you thinking he’s ‘a hero?’ He’s a random vigilante—”
“Who saves people everyday,” Jimin cut Taehyung off. “So yeah, maybe I find his incredible strength and agility hella attractive—not to mention if you’ve seen him in that spandex suit—but I mean, he’s a good guy. He helps people; that’s what counts.”
Hoseok poked Yoongi’s cheek. “Stop staring. People are starting to notice.”
“...right.”
“So yeah, I was gonna tell you about Jimin drunkenly confessing that he has a crush on Spiderman, but I guess I don’t need to anymore…”
“What the fuck—Hoseok!” Yoongi forcefully released the younger’s ankles from his grip. “He likes...Spiderman? That’s…” his voice lowered to an panicked whisper. “I’m fucking Spiderman!”
“Exactly,” Hoseok rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what this means for you, though. Unless you wanna go waltzing around telling everyone you’re Spiderman...I don’t know how you can tell him and have him believe you, much less date you.”
Yoongi pouted. “Yeah, you’re probably right. At least it’s good to know he likes strong, agile guys who look good in spandex.”
“Apparently he had a lot more to say last weekend about why he finds Spiderman hot. I guess he thinks those webs are good for more than just crime fighting,” Hoseok winked.
Yoongi felt himself blush, but he tried to hide it with a shrug. “...Maybe.”
***
When his final class finished at 2:30, Yoongi hastily waved goodbye to Hoseok, throwing all of his things haphazardly into his bag before rushing down the school steps. He stopped by his favorite deli to buy a sandwich (a guy’s gotta eat, okay?) before taking off again.
As soon as he found a mostly deserted alleyway a couple streets down, Yoongi threw his backpack on the ground and started pulling his shoes off.
It took a couple minutes of struggling, but the spandex was ready and so was Yoongi.
“Welcome, Spiderman,” the automated female voice greeted as soon as Yoongi pressed the centermost button on his chest.
“Hey, Suit Lady,” Yoongi muttered back. “How are you today?”
“I’m doing fine,” the voice responded. “Thank you for asking.”
Yoongi laughed before flicking his wrist and shooting a web at a nearby building, counting to three in his head before he released the trigger and let himself fly forwards.
He kept slinging webs and moving from building to building until he reached his usual lookout point. It was one of the tallest buildings in the city, and he sat down on the roof’s edge and carefully watched the people below him.
Nothing ever seemed to happen at this time in the afternoon, and Yoongi sighed before pulling some notebooks and textbooks out of his backpack to idly work on some homework.
Once he had finished everything, he heaved another sigh and briefly considered taking a nap before shaking his head at himself. No, he needed to keep watch in case something happened. No one knew when crime could strike in this capitalist economy.
He ended up listening to music for a couple more minutes before he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was a group of hooded men walking into a store.
Yoongi squinted while pulling his earbuds out. His eyes widened as he saw one of the men pull out a gun, aiming at the cashier behind the counter.
He pulled his mask all the way back down and rolled his shoulders. It was go time.
He scanned his surroundings as quickly as possible, using the automatic mapping and trajectory device implanted into his suit to find the best spot to shoot a web at so he could land in the alley behind the store without catching the attention of the burglars.
Yoongi dropped in the alley within a couple seconds, pausing to press his ear against the door in the back to listen to what was going on inside the store.
“Just give us the money and no one has to get hurt,” a gruff voice was saying. “And hurry up. I’m feeling impatient today.”
“I don’t have access to the safe. I can only give you what’s inside the cash register right now,” a trembling voice responded. “S-sorry.”
“Bullshit!” the first voice shouted. “You think I haven’t heard that dumbass excuse before? Give us the fucking money before I blow your fucking brains out.”
Yoongi pried open the back entrance of the store and silently snuck in. He crept in with his knees bent and his torso hunched over so that the burglars wouldn’t be able to see him behind the counter.
The cashier’s eyes widened exponentially when he saw Yoongi, and Yoongi swiftly pressed a finger to his lips to tell the cashier to act naturally.
“O-okay. I’ll see what I can d-do,” the cashier said before disappearing to the back room.
“Make it quick,” the main burglar shouted after him, letting out a cruel laugh that was soon echoed by his cronies.
Yoongi held his breath and waited, his body pressed against the back of the counter as he tried to find the perfect time to strike.
“Well boys, I guess we’re getting rich today,” the man from before was saying.
The chime above the door went off and Yoongi pressed his lips together in confusion.
“Yeah, Tae, I just want a pack of gum or some candy or something, I dunno—”
Yoongi’s heartbeat picked up instantly. He knew that voice. What the fuck was Park Jimin doing here?
He heard the sound of feet shuffling and the click of a gun. There was a small gasp that seemed to echo in the store.
“Got any money you’re willing to share, kids?” the burglar said. “Hand over your wallets.”
There was more shuffling as Jimin and whoever was with him (Tae? Taehyung?) undoubtedly handed their wallets to the burglars.
“Look, we don’t want any trouble—” Jimin said.
“Sure, sure,” the burglar interrupted in a pseudo-polite voice. “But you probably understand that I need you two to stay here, in case that goddamn cashier needs some extra persuading…” he trailed off sinisterly. “Speaking of, where the fuck is he? Where’s our money?”
Yoongi heard more shuffling as the burglar walked towards the counter. “We haven’t got all day!” he screamed. “What are you doing back th—”
That was when Yoongi leaped up onto the countertop to punch the burglar in the face, his left hand swiftly reaching out to swipe the pistol out of the man’s outstretched hand.
The two other burglars were trying to pull their guns out as well but Yoongi pinned their hands to the walls and shelves with some of his short-range webs. Then he slowly jumped down from the countertop, leisurely walking over to pull both of the burglar’s guns out of their coat pockets.
He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and secured the main burglars hands together before straightening up and walking back up to the counter.
“It’s safe to come out now, dude!” he shouted towards where he knew the cashier was cowering in the storage room. “Did you call the cops already? They have three criminals to pick up over here.”
The cashier looked close to tears as he emerged and shakily nodded to affirm that yes, he had called the police while hiding in the storage room and that yes, they would be here any minute to collect the three burglars.
Yoongi gave the cashier a thumbs up and a pat on the back, whispering “You did good, man” before turning to face Jimin and Taehyung.
He rubbed his neck awkwardly, hating the way his heart was starting to beat faster at the sight of Jimin. They had clearly come here straight after practice; they were still in their soccer uniforms, their hair sweaty and matted to their heads.
Yoongi reached down and searched the first burglar’s pockets, quickly locating out their wallets and tossing them to Jimin and Taehyung.
“Uh, you guys are free to go,” Yoongi said awkwardly. “Sorry about the mess. Hope you aren’t too shaken up. Police should be here any minute now so you’re in safe hands.”
He turned to leave as Jimin and Taehyung continued to stare at him open-mouthed. Fabulous; Yoongi could embarrass himself in front of his crush in his alter ego form as well apparently.
“T-thank you!” he heard an angelic voice shout after him as he shot a long-distance web to propel himself back to the roof of the building two blocks away.
And as Yoongi zipped through the air later that night to stop many other crimes, he thought about that voice a lot, his heart fluttering each and every time he pictured the bashful words escaping Park Jimin’s beautiful lips.
***
The news of Yoongi’s daring rescue of Jimin and Taehyung spread through the college campus like wildfire. Yoongi would hear people gossiping about Jimin’s now public crush on Spiderman and how strange it was that Park Jimin, the campus sweetheart and star athlete who could have anyone he wanted, was chasing after someone whose face he’d never seen.
Yoongi ducked his head in the campus cafe, pretending to be studying as he listened to the conversation at the table beside him.
“Oh god, Tae…” Jimin was saying. “I like him so much and I’ve really only ever spoken with him once? I don’t know why I just—”
“You got a thing for spandex and webs, I get it,” Taehyung sighed.
“And the way he punched those dudes and took them all down like it was nothing. Holy fuck, Tae, have you ever seen anything hotter in your life?”
Yoongi could feel the tips of his ears turning red at Jimin’s words as he buried his face deeper into the book he was pretending to read.
“What I still don’t get, is that you’re head over heels for this dude and you don’t even know what he looks like,” Taehyung replied. “Also, control your thirst. We’re in public.”
“You saw the spandex!” Jimin retorted defensively. “But god, he just seems so...brave, strong, hot, flexible, good at manhandling people…”
Taehyung made a choked noise. “Well, that escalated quickly.”
“Well forgive me if seeing the sinful spandex suit up close brought about—”
Yoongi felt a sudden hard pinch on his upper arm and yelped in surprise, dropping his book onto the table with a loud clack! sound. Jimin and Taehyung both fell silent to stare at Yoongi, who gave them an apologetic half smile, before returning to their conversation.
“What the fuck, Hoseok?” Yoongi muttered while rubbing his arm. “Why’d you pinch me?”
Hoseok grinned. “It’s St. Patrick’s Day and you aren’t wearing any green, dumbass!”
“It’s St. Patrick’s Day?” Yoongi questioned. “Huh, I thought I had it marked on my calendar…” He trailed off in mock consideration. “Oh wait no one fucking celebrates that holiday! Why the fuck does it matter if I’m wearing green or not as how the fuck does that give you the right to physically assault me in public?”
“It’s a tradition,” Hoseok sniffed with his nose held high in the air. “Deal with it, you grouch.”
Yoongi glowered darkly and pulled open his book again.
“Dude, stop pretending to read a book. It’s weird and—”
“How did you know?”
“For one, you’re holding it upside down—”
“Oh shit,” Yoongi fumbled to reorient the book.
Hoseok narrowed his eyes at Yoongi. “You were eavesdropping on someone, weren’t you? Care to share?”
Yoongi shook his head but it was too late. Hoseok’s eyes scanned the crowd around them, instantly noticing Taehyung and Jimin engaged in energetic conversation just a few meters away from them.
“Oh, I see,” Hoseok said with a knowing grin. “Feeling extra good about Park Jimin’s big ass crush on you? Or I mean, the other you?”
Yoongi tried valiantly to suppress a blush and failed. “Yeah whatever.”
“You’ve been pining after the dude for literal years. How are you going to make your move?”
“Um, never?” Yoongi replied with a sigh. “My identity is a secret for a reason and like, I feel like he would be disappointed if he knew who I really was. I’m not as cool or hot or brave as he thinks I am. Or thinks Spiderman is, I should say.”
“But don’t you get it?” Hoseok gestured towards Yoongi. “You and Spiderman are the same person! He likes you. Maybe don’t tell him about the crime fighting, but try to approach him in other ways? I’m sure you can ‘show’ him how many characteristics you share with Spiderman and how similar you two are and make him fall for you.”
Yoongi slouched in his seat. “No. Absolutely not.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t approach people! That sounds terrifying and torturous!”
“Then you’ll nurse this hidden crush on Park Jimin forevermore.”
“That’s the plan.”
“You’re no fun,” Hoseok pouted.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Fun is for the weak.”
Hoseok guffawed before leaning over to pinch Yoongi for the hell of it.
Yoongi just sighed and dreamily watched Park Jimin from the corner of his eye.
***
Yoongi was patrolling the streets later that night very carefully and cautiously. People tended to get super smashed and blackout drunk on St. Patrick’s Day, which led to a lot more crime and violence throughout the city.
So far, he’d broken up two fights and stopped three robberies, but the night was still young and who knew what could happen by the time the sun rose again?
He paced along the edge of the roof of a random apartment building, keeping his eyes on the ground to watch everything that was happening down below.
He glanced up to the apartment building he knew Kim Taehyung lived in (the kid was a fucking legend on campus, okay? Everyone knew his address; it wasn’t like Yoongi was being extra creepy in his pursuit of Jimin’s love and affection…) and felt a pang of loneliness. He knew most people, including Hoseok, were partying inside and celebrating St. Patrick’s Day together.
He sighed. He’d never been one for parties, but Jimin was probably the first person who’d ever made him want to try it. Yoongi hated that sometimes he fantasized about going to one of Taehyung’s legendary parties: how he would style his hair and wear his best and tightest clothes, how he would confidently approach and start a conversation with the soccer star, how he would sweep Jimin off of his feet, how he would end the night with Jimin’s number or some way to contact him again after it all…
Fuck, he was kind of pathetic, wasn’t he?
There was a sudden stir of activity in the corner of Yoongi’s vision and he fixed his gaze back on Taehyung’s apartment building. There was a group of students bursting out onto the rooftop, many of them drunkenly stumbling around and clinging onto other people for support.
As quietly as he could, Yoongi shot a web out and landed onto the roof beside all the activity. The streets were peaceful for now; he could spy on some of his classmates for a little while, right? It was the second best thing to actually going to the party.
“Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance!” the students were shouting in sync, forming a semi-circle around one student and egging them on enthusiastically.
Yoongi used the zoom in feature of his mask to magnify what was going on. The student in the center of the semi-circle was...Jimin?
Yoongi gulped as Jimin began moving, his torso and hips rolling and twisting in ways that should have been illegal. Yoongi could feel his entire body heat up as he watched, his throat almost completely dry as Jimin danced for the crowd on the rooftop.
He was clearly a little tipsy, some of his spins and turns a little wobbly and shaky, but even so, Jimin was good. A little too good, if you asked Yoongi. God, he already knew that images of Jimin’s dancing would haunt him for the next month or so.
Jimin kept twisting and turning, the crowd’s chanting seeming to only grow in volume as he went. And then Yoongi noticed something. Jimin was so tipsy that whenever he spun in place, he would lose his balance slightly and end up just a little bit closer to the edge of the roof…
Yoongi was running before he heard the screams. He quickly dived off the side of the building, his left hand shooting a web out to anchor himself to the side of the apartment building. Jimin was tumbling, arms flailing in the night air helplessly.
Yoongi felt his heart race as his right hand grabbed the back of Jimin’s shirt. The web connected to his left hand pulled taut and Yoongi grunted as he tried to reposition Jimin so that he was resting against Yoongi’s body.
“You okay?” he panted into Jimin’s ear. He could feel Jimin shaking slightly in his arms. “Shh, it’s okay. I got you, I got you.”
Jimin seemed close to tears and wouldn’t respond.
“I’m going to lower us to the ground now, okay?” Yoongi said. “I’ll go slow, so don’t worry or freak out.”
He swung towards the building so that the balls of his feet were pressed against the brick. He turned on the slow release function of the web shooter on his left hand and began to lower them to the ground like a rock climber, his feet pushing off from the building as the string-like webs lowered them inch by inch to the ground.
Once they were safely on the ground, Yoongi gently placed Jimin back on his feet. His arms and chest felt the loss of Jimin’s soft warmth immediately but nonetheless, he forced himself to take a step back away from Jimin, his right hand patting the top of the frightened athlete’s head reassuringly.
“You okay, man?” Yoongi repeated. “You’re safe now, I promise.”
“Y-yeah,” Jimin replied shakily. “T-thank you...Spiderman.”
“No problem.”
They stood in awkward silence for several moments.
“Well, I guess I should be going…” Yoongi said stiffly, using his thumb to gesture behind his shoulder. “See you around?”
“D-Do you remember me?” Jimin suddenly asked. “You saved me about a week ago too, you know?”
“Yeah, of course I remember you,” Yoongi answered without hesitation. “How could I forget about someone as pretty as you?”
Oh fuck. Mayday, mayday, may—
Jimin face was almost completely blood red, although it could have just been the alcohol in his system. “I—pretty? Really? Thank you.”
“Uh, yeah. No problem,” Yoongi repeated dumby. “Anyways, I gotta…”
“Can I have a hug?” Jimin said with a pleading look in his eyes. “Sorry if that’s creepy but just—I want someone to hold me right now. Is it stupid that I feel so safe in your arms?”
Yoongi instantly took a few steps forward to wrap his arms around Jimin. “No, not at all. I’m really glad you’re alright, Jimin.”
Jimin went rigid in his arms. “How—How did you know my name? I never told you my name…”
Yoongi wanted to slap himself in the face. Why couldn’t he stop fucking up today?
“Um…” he fumbled for words. “I heard the students chanting it earlier?”
Jimin’s brows furrowed. “No, I don’t think they were chanting my name...are you a student at the same college as me? Is that how you know me?”
Yoongi froze. Fuck, Yoongi. Do something. Lie. Deny. Run away. Anything.
Jimin’s eyes lit up. “You are! Oh my god, you’re a college student! Wait no, you’re a student at my college! Holy shit!”
Yoongi wanted to claw his eyes out. “Okay, listen. I’m trying to keep this whole Spiderman business on the down low so let’s just forget about this conversation, alright? You don’t need to know who I am.”
Jimin pouted. “You don’t trust me?”
“No, I—” Of course I trust you. I’ve been pining after you for fucking eons. “I just think the safest policy to just not trust anyone.”
Jimin’s face fell and Yoongi felt his chest squeeze uncomfortably. “Oh, I see.” Jimin looked down at the ground. “Have a nice night then, Mr. Spiderman. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.”
Fuck, Jimin was pouting and looking sad and Yoongi was so, so weak.
“Jimin,” Yoongi found himself saying. “Yes, I’m a college student at the same school as you. Will you just...stop looking like an upset kitten and giving me that look?”
Jimin beamed. “Okay!” He started giggling and Yoongi swore the way his heart leaped into his throat at the sound was probably very unnatural and very unhealthy.
“I’m going to head back inside now, Spidey,” Jimin announced. “Good luck fighting crime tonight and hopefully we’ll see each other around? Either on campus or whenever I inevitably get myself into some trouble again?”
“Yeah,” Yoongi replied. “I’ll see you around.”
Jimin gave him one last warm hug and Yoongi found himself reveling in the warmth of Jimin’s embrace. They pulled away and Yoongi opened his mouth to bid him farewell when Jimin suddenly surged forward to press a soft kiss to Yoongi’s cheek over the mask.
Yoongi stood there, staring ahead dumbfoundedly, as Jimin flashed a blinding smile at him before heading inside back to Taehyung’s party.
His heart was beating unnaturally fast as he pressed his fingertips to the spot Jimin’s lips had been just a few moments ago.
He felt a wide, giddy grin stretch over his face.
Park Jimin had just kissed him. Granted, it was on the cheek, but it had to count for something, right?
Yoongi’s grin didn’t leave his face for the rest of the night, and as he settled into his bed well past four AM, he brushed his fingertips over the spot where Jimin had kissed him a few more times before falling asleep with a soft smile on his face.