The Web Slinger.

210414

synopsis // girl advice

He returns to his apartment later that night, careful to tape a bandaid over his jaw. Shockingly (not shockingly enough though) he finds that his aunt has one of her closest friends over for the night. They glance up from the TV when he shuts the door behind him, tossing his shoes near the wall.

"Hey man, how's it going?" Nayeon offers him a fist which he lightly taps in return with his own.

"Tired. Probably gonna' call it a night."

"I left noodles on the stove for you." Jeongyeon frowns. "You okay?"

Truthfully, he's far from it. But he can't exactly tell Jeongyeon — who is basically his mom — about how him frolicking around as Spiderman created a serious damper between him and Kitanna. He glances back at the kitchen, feeling the instinctive rumble in his stomach. That encounter with Dr. Octopus at the lab had not gone as smoothly as he hoped it, and he was physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.

After he's seated in between the two ladies, an episode of The Flash still hums in background. Asides from the slurping of his noodles, no other sound peeps from the duo, they're waiting for him to say something.

"Okay fine." Jeongguk caves. "So say I have a friend who likes this girl, but there's certain things about his life which he doesn't want to tell her just for her own good...but she thinks he's being secretive. How would he get her to know that he does care about her?"

Nayeon snatches his fork to shove a mouthful of noodles into her mouth. Mid-bite, she chuckles. "This is about that girl Kitanna?"

"No." Jeongguk scoffs, taking his fork back. "This is about a friend of mine. Not me."

"Sometimes, you have to think about whether that secret is really worth being kept." His aunt chimes, bringing her knees to her chin. "Especially if it's destroying so much? Hardly seems worth it for me."

"But what if the secret is better kept a secret if it's for people's safety?"

"Damn. You sound a lot like my ex." Nayeon grumbles. "She used to work for the FBI. Never told me what she did with her life, it was awful. We hardly lasted two months."

"That is not helping Nayeon."

"It's reality kid. What do you want us to say, that people will just forgive and forget? Secrets are probably the worst thing to exist, whether they are for the better. Humans hate not knowing something, only to regret knowing after they do. What can you do? That's just how we are."

Jeongyeon nudges him. "Whatever your friend is hiding, I recommend he think about whether this girl is worth keeping around. If she is, he better tell her."

Jeongguk nods. "Yeah okay. Thanks."

"You know I'm here for you if there's anything going on, right?"

"Oh don't get mushy on me." He groans, weaseling out of her grip. "I'm going to bed."

He can hear her laughter as he leaves to room, which is more than enough to bring a smile to his face.