City lights and Spider bites. | Daerin.

Chapter 27

Haerin went to two funerals.

Both on the same day.

It was a memory of how she failed at being a hero.

She should save people, not watch them writhe away in her arms.

On the first hour, she was standing next to Yunjin, who was crying in her shoulder, albeit to her that her cousin died because Haerin wasn't fast enough. Yeji, her mom, and Yunjin's mom were all there, sobbing and looking at the handsome man in the picture. What hurt more was the fact that there was no body in that casket. Haerin bit her lip and tried her best not to cry in front of all these people.

On the second hour, she was standing next to Taehyung, who was crying in her shoulder, albeit to him that his nephew died because Haerin wasn't fast enough. They were in Incheon. Near the farm. Jungwon's parents were there, along with the whole village. Haerin bit her lip again, feeling her heart breaking at how similar these two moments were.

What was the purpose of carrying the world if you couldn't hold it together?

Haerin couldn't save two people. She couldn't save families. And that's all it took for her to lay down on her bed and cry all day, lock the door and not let anyone in.

All of her friends found out about her secret—and the feline was ashamed. They had to watch how she failed her purposes of being a hero. She should be a symbol of hope, but now all Spider-Kid is the reincarnation of the word: downfall. That's all that was swirling inside Haerin's brain. She was pretty sure everyone was embarrassed of her.

"Haerin?," Minji's soft voice made Haerin wake up groggily, glancing up at the door and directing her bloodshot eyes at the figure slowly opening it. "Dude, you have been in there for too long." The black haired girl exclaimed and leaned on the doorframe with her arms crossed.

"Leave me alone." Haerin mumbled and turned the other way, putting her blanket over her face. She felt someone approach but had no energy to move and usher them outside, because of how much time she spent crying and hyperventilating for several days. She suddenly got lifted up by Minji. "Hey... stop that, please." She weakly pleaded, but it went on deaf ears, as the black haired girl let go of her. Haerin had no other choice but to use her skills to land flexibly. "Minji, what the hell?," The feline finally snapped and stood shakily on her legs.

"You can't be depressed forever. C'mon, let's go to a restaurant with the girls." The cat-eyed girl rolled her eyes and turned away, burying herself back in silky sheets. Minji followed the sight of her friend climb back in her nest and groaned. "C'mon. Haerin."

Silence.

"Haerin."

Silence.

"Dani will be there."

...Silence? That's weird. Minji's eyes widened and her eyebrows raised. She must have it very bad. "Alright." The black haired sighed and sat on the verge of Haerin's bed, trying to catch a glimpse of her expression. "I know how you feel—I was next to you during those days. I loved Jungwon so much, he was my first guy friend. Genuinely, my heart broke apart. But, we can't bring him and Hyunjin back by simply sitting in our rooms and rotting away. Do better things that will make them proud." She concluded and looked at the unmoving girl.

"You don't get it." Haerin gritted her teeth. "You're not the one chosen to save people. You're not forced to watch your failure in a form of deaths. You're not forced to have deep injuries and cuts everyday, reminding you of all those times when you were useless and caused chaos—how people hate you." The feline started sobbing and jumped up from her bed. "Don't you understand how stressed I am?! Not only have I been skipping school, but also running around and doing nothing! Imagine how many more people are infected by that fucking DNA! How many of them are dying and their bodies are being used as weapons!!," Haerin's panting became erratic and Minji was looking at her bewildered. "Jungwon tried to say something—but the only thing I got is this chip and I don't even know how to use it! I can't contact the chief to find out anything about the venom too!" The feline clenched her jaw and stood up, walking around her room and stopping, staring at a certain space. Then, Haerin huffed and opened the door of her bathroom—going in and locking herself inside.