Supernerd! MARK

03 | spider guy or spider bye?

It had been a good few weeks since we started on our new Friday electives, and I find myself slowly getting used to my new schedule at work.

Rain starts to pour heavily just as I finish serving my last two customers, knowing the shop would be empty for a while. At the counter before me sits Chaerin, Sera and Jaemin, the former being unusually quiet for someone so loud while the other two continue to speak to each other in hushed whispers like they always do.

I don't bother to start a conversation as I wipe down the metal counter, mind already drifting off to my plans for the weekend that include hiding myself under my covers while I tune in to a random movie on Netflix.

"Ugh! This thing is pissing me off," Chaerin finally exclaims as she throws her pencil aside, burying her face into her arms rested on the counter.

"What's up?" Sera asks, turning away from her boyfriend to focus on our roommate.

"This! I didn't know drawing could be this hard," the older murmurs, voice slightly muffled. "I have a deadline due this Monday and I have nothing done!"

I raise my brows, noting that this is probably the first time I've seen Chaerin this stressed about school work. After all, the girl is good and everything, and bad at nothing.

"Also, did I tell you that Lee Jeno is in my module? That bastard! I hate him."

"Hey, hey! Calm down. What did Lee Jeno ever do to you?" This time, it's Jaemin.

"He's nice! I hate nice people."

Sera's eyes waver. "We're nice... right?"

"Yeah, but not if some rando knocked over dirty paint water all over the drawing you've been working on for a week! I can't believe he just smiled that stupid eye smile of him saying, it's okay," Chaerin mocks in a deep voice. "Not only that, he even offered his jacket to that rando because the water went all over her clothes!"

I stare at her messenger bag that is resting on the counter, noticing the black fabric that is peeking out of the opening. "...Are you the rando?"

"Yes!" Chaerin cried exasperatedly before putting her head down once more, and I take it that she is done with the conversation.

I share a look with Sera and Jaemin, who merely shrug.

Chaerin, being the open book that she is, of course had mentioned in passing that she now shares an elective with the Lee Jeno, though the three of us never really realised the reason behind her sudden change of behaviour was because of the it-boy himself.

I'm beginning to think that Chaerin is hiding more than she lets on, and I make a note to ask her about it when she's ready to talk to us.

Our silent conversation is cut short when the bell on the door rings, and I am greeted with a single customer.

I assume he is here to take shelter from the rain, his hands instantly going up to remove his jacket hood that has been covering his head the moment he enters the shop. The boy shakes his head rapidly, as though to rid of the water droplets that litter his hair.

"Hi," I greet him as I stand behind the cash register. "What can I get you today?"

"Hey." He lifts his head as he greets, and I finally get a clear view of his face. For some reason, I find him awfully familiar, though I can't really remember where I've seen him from.

"Uh, can I just get a black coffee, please? Having here," he mutters as he takes out his wallet from his hoodie pocket.

I nod as I key in his order, him giving me some loose change as a form of payment before I turn around to start the coffee machine. It doesn't take long before his drink is finally ready, and before I could turn back around to give him his coffee, I find myself reaching for a single cinnamon roll donut from the display and serving it on a tea plate, deciding that my new customer might need it.

"On the house." I give him a bright smile as I settle both the drink and donut on the counter, where he sits just a seat away from where a sulking Chaerin still is.

"Oh, thanks." He looks genuinely surprised at the gesture, offering me a boyish grin in return.

When we both fall into a silence, the only thing that can be heard is the sound of the dingy television that hangs above us. My boss had lost the remote at some point, so now all it plays is the news around the clock with no way of us being able to change the channel. Because of that, I've never really paid attention to it considering my friends come and accompany me on my shift most of the time anyways. But seeing as Chaerin doesn't want to talk and Jaemin is busy patting Sera's head who is busy sipping on her milkshake, I find myself mindlessly tuning in for the first time in a while.

"He's kind of a freak, huh?"

I look up from the spot I was wiping on the counter to realise that the tanned boy from just now is speaking to me.

"I'm sorry?"

"That Spider dude." He nods towards the TV, and I look up to see that the news is indeed covering a story of the masked vigilante, this time of a child kidnapping case that he had managed to bust down.

"Hate him or love him, he's definitely doing more than the police nowadays," I say without thinking, and for a moment I fear that my words may be too controversial.

"True." The boy shrugs. "But I wonder how he gets his webs, though. I mean, he kinda does it with his fingers, right?" He mimics Spider-Man's move that everyone has come to know— a hand gesture that kind of resembles the rock and roll salute. "So... it comes from inside of him? Do you think-"

"Oh, uh-" I interrupt with a stammer, not really keen on wanting to know his next few words.

The tanned boy chuckles mischievously. "Kidding."

I let out a relieved laugh, finding his childish behaviour rather amusing.

"So, pretty girl, are you team Spider Guy or team Spider Bye?"

Again, I laugh at his wording, albeit the small blush that is forming on my face at the nickname he had given me.

"Spider Guy, of course!" A voice interrupts before I could answer, and I realise that my roommate is finally back to her normal self. "Also, don't fall for his words, Yena. He's nothing but a shameless flirt." My roommate sticks her tongue out at my customer.

Just as I was about to tell Chaerin off for being so Chaerin-like to a stranger, the tanned boy scoffs, "your opinion doesn't matter, Cherry. You'd choose Spider-Man a hundred times over if you could."

"That, I would," my friend proclaims proudly, and it is only then do I finally realise that they know each other, and that he is the same boy I saw on the field with Mark Lee during the sports day event.

"Hey, the sun's out. I should go," Chaerin's friend decides as he stands up, dusting off his jacket. "Thanks for the free donut, pretty girl. I know where to come now if I'm ever in need of a sugar fix."

Chaerin groans from the side. "Stop flirting with my friend, Lee Donghyuck!"

"I do what I want," he bites back childishly, before turning to me and offering me a wink.

I chuckle at his gesture, returning it with a small wave of my own. Donghyuck gives me a smile, a genuine one this time, before leaving the store and disappearing round the corner.

—

First look at the Ned Leeds to our Peter Parker: Haechan! He's no Spider-Man but I promise you'll have something to look forward to for his storyline ;-)

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