SPIDER-MAN: MARK LEE

62

𝟲𝟮: 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗗

I woke up, hoping it was all just a nightmare, but when I realized that I was in the hospital, I knew it wasn't a dream.

The first thing I noticed was Taeil, sitting by an armchair right next to my bed. His hand held a gentle grip on mine, providing a comforting and healing sense of security. Our eyes met, and a wave of relief and happiness overcame him. My heart felt a surge of warmth and optimism at seeing Taeil by my side. His presence made the pain a little less unbearable and the worries more bearable.

Taeil was out of his coma. Finally.

We immediately hugged. The embrace felt like home, a safe and secure place where they could finally be at peace. Our bodies were intertwined, our hearts beating as one.

"Thank God, you're alive." I heard Taeil mumble. I could hear his voice was shaking, as though I'm the brink of breaking into tears, but he was strong to hold them in.

When we broke the hug, I spotted another presence behind him. It was Aunt Hana: The one who had been keeping an eye on Taeil when I was out doing all this. She smiled warmly, showing relief to see me wake up, but she didn't want to intrude on our mine and Taeil's moment, so she stayed there and just tuned in.

I opened my lips, but I could feel my throat itching. I cleared my throat and spoke. "Where's mom and dad?" I asked.

Taeil proceeded smiling at the sight of me breathing and awake. He wiped off all the strand of hair that covered my face, then answered amid doing that. "They are being questioned about everything. And so are your friends, Donghgyck and Naomi. And apparently Spiderman too. Soon, they're gonna be questioning you too."

My eyes grew worried. "They're not questioning... Venom?"

Taeil shook his head. "Apparently he wasn't spotted anywhere." He explained.

I could hear my heart crack from deep within. Jaehyun really did die.

Taeil coughed, looking at me skeptically, but tried being furtive about it. "They're also gonna be questioning you about how you... survived that one hell of a jump." It seemed like he had been informed about everything, considering how updated he was.

His words gave me even more anxiety. Oh shit, that meant that Venom was still in me.

The door of the room suddenly opened, revealing Mark Lee. When our eyes met, they instantly softened at each others sight.

Taeil and Aunt Hana noticed. Taeil slowly stood up from his chair, then leaned down to give my forehead a peck. "We'll let you guys have space~" He murmured considerately, and soon, Aunt Hana helped him pace towards the exit. It looked like he was still struggling with moving due to the 4 brutal stabs he suffered.

And when they exited, Mark and I were alone.

Mark walked over to my bed, his leg limping from what looked like an injury.

When he sat at the edge of the bed, I immediately sat up and flung myself to him for an embrace. Tears were running down the faces of mine and Mark as we hugged each other tightly. It was a moment of grief. We were both in so much pain over the loss of a very close friend.

"I'm sorry, I tried... I tried to-"

"Shh~" Mark hushed, his hand pushing my head further down to the crook of his neck. "It's okay, Juliane. It's nobody's fault." He whispered. "It was Jaehyun's choice."

I could hear Mark's voice was cracking. I could tell he was trying to hold back his tears, but at the end he couldn't, and we both sat there and hugged each other with tears cascading down our puffed red faces. It was uncontrollable.

And I knew for the rest of my life, the glimpse of seeing Jaehyun smile before the building exploded would haunt me. And I also knew that for the rest of my life, I would blame myself for his death.

_____

The case was closed - When Mr. Stacy had successfully left the headquarters of MoonDelivery during the time, police caught up with him quickly. It was because of Mark. Right after he found out from Gwen that there were bombs planted in the headquarter, he demanded backup to come with him to the building. As for Captain Smiths, he was immediately sent to jail for his corrupted actions and Officer Walkers was immediately awarded the position of the Captain. My father had to unfortunately go to jail to. Even though he was forced and threatened to collaborate with Mr. Stacy, he still contributed in helping, and he also made sure to pay for his actions. Mom and Taeil were healthy, and mom was now staying at our place. As for Donghyuck and Naomi, they were also safe and sound. The same for Mark and I.

We held a funeral for Jaehyun.

We tried reaching out for any families, but we couldn't and it showed that Jaehyun said the truth, that he really had nobody.

But there was no way I would skip his funeral, so I paid for it: For the spot in the cemetery, and for the gravestone.

Unfortunately, we couldn't fill the gravestone with much informations. We only knew two things and that was his full name, Jung Jaehyun and when he died. That was all it said on the gravestone.

Mark and I stood next to each other, our hands intertwined and our eyes gazed down at Jaehyun's gravestone. The same went for Donghyuck and Naomi.

It truly was heartbreaking to see that no one else was present. Absolutely nobody.

I knew I wasn't gonna easily move on with this death. And I knew it was even harder for Mark, because he actually knew him longer and better than anybody else in here.

But I kept thinking about it. I kept thinking if there could've been a possibility for the both of us to survive, but I couldn't. I really couldn't.