Spider

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I close my eyes, allowing my body to relax ever so slightly. It's been a long night, fighting crime and trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. But I don't need too much sleep, so I should be alright.

Even if we have a maths test first thing in the morning at school. Which I haven't revised for. Again.

At this point I'm just too done with life to care anymore.

I pull my mask off carefully, shifting on the bunk bed and then wincing when my best friend mumbles in his sleep. I've got to get this damn costume off before he wakes up, or he'll find out what and who I really am, and I don't know how he'd react to that. My personal and public identities are completely different from each other. They cannot be allowed to mix.

For a few seconds, I think I'm safe, then he grunts and rustles a bit, clearly sitting up.

Oh shit.

"Kook? W-What are you doing?" he mumbles, deep voice gravelly with sleep.
"Just shifting over to the other side," I lie, kicking my toes out of the spandex as quickly as I can. "I can't get comfy for some reason, shoulder must have gone to sleep."
"It doesn't take that much movement to roll to another side, Kook," he points out, "I'm not that stupid."

He moves again, and the whole bunk bed shakes slightly when he grabs the ladder to the upper bunk (where I am) and starts to heft himself up, presumably to check on me. I'm still trying to hide this goddamn costume when he gets up to the top bunk, and I know he's seen it when he lets out a shocked gasp.

"Holy shit, Kook, did you kill Spiderman and steal his costume?" Taehyung asks, climbing onto the mattress and sitting next to me. "Where did you even get it from? Is it a cosplay?"

He picks up the material, feeling it between his fingers, clearly fascinated. "This is a quality copy, too. Feels real," he comments quietly, poking his finger into the eye hole and watching with surprise when his hand meets a hard surface. "Are those goggles, built into the costume? For night vision or something?"

"Less night vision, more AI trying to explain where criminals are and calculate the best course of action," I admit before I can stop myself, "though I hate using it because it's more fun to just use your own instincts to get around. Feels a bit like cheating if some robot is telling you where to go, if I'm being honest."

Taehyung turns to stare at me, his eyes wide with amazement, and then my brain catches up with me. "Shit," I hiss, backing up against the wall. "Don't tell anyone, hyung, I'm begging you. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about this. You were supposed to stay asleep. Why are you such a light sleeper?"

"And miss this? No thanks," my best friend returns, rolling his eyes. "This is so cool!" He tilts his head for a moment. "If you're even telling the truth. Are you really Spiderman?"
"Keep your voice down!" I reprimand him in a fierce whisper. "I need to protect my private identity, and you shouting it out for everyone to hear won't help."

"Right, sorry. I'll be quiet," Taehyung mumbles, lowering his head apologetically. "I wasn't thinking."
"That's alright, your reaction is perfectly understandable," I tell him, slightly amused now that the panic is gone. "And I should have understood that. I would've been the same, let me tell you that now."

Taehyung shifts slightly, his eyes still focused on that costume, the amazement clear in his expression. "So, what's it like?" I turn to look at him properly, tilting my head in confusion, not really knowing what he's on about.
"What?"
"Being Spiderman. Being a superhero. Saving people. I dunno, the whole package, the whole shebang!"

"Never say 'the whole shebang' ever again," I groan, rolling my eyes, and Tae just giggles, looking at me expectantly. "But it's pretty cool. It does feel pretty good to be a force of good in a shitty world, I guess, but it's also hard work. Stressful, too. I have to find places to get into this costume without anyone seeing me, and I also have to make sure nobody finds out secret identities of other heroes as well."

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