Chapter Text
Chapter 1 – "London Bridge is Falling Down"
For as long as Megan can remember, she has always been a bit of a weirdo growing up. She experienced a lot of awkward interactions with people all because she was just that type of person. Some think she's just really bad when it comes to her social skills, which is honestly a quality of herself she really needed to improve, especially since she plans on getting into the entertainment industry.
Initially, her family was hesitant on letting her pursue her dream of being a performer, but it wasn't because they thought she wouldn't excel in that particular field. It mainly stemmed from the fact that Megan had a rather anomalous set of capabilities.
The aforementioned skills of hers started showing when she was only six summers old. She and her older brother were at the park, playing and pretty much just roughhousing like most kids do. In a typical series of events, there was this resident playground bully that decided that pushing her off the swing was a good idea.
Tyler, despite being the one who usually but affectionately picked on her, came to her immediate defense. But when she saw her brother being beaten back by the bully, Megan took things in her own hands. She may or may not have grabbed and thrown the kid, who was thrice her size at the time, across the field. Though the bully didn't suffer any injuries other than scrapes and bruises, what Megan did was deemed far too impossible for an everyday occurrence.
Both she and Tyler kept the incident a secret from their family and fled the scene just moments after the throw, and they vowed to themselves to never go back to that playground again. For at least a few years, they never brought up that incident and acted as if it was nothing but a forgotten memory.
Not even a few months later though, Megan accidentally displayed a new ability when their family car started reversing out of the garage and into their slanted driveway, its brakes seemingly coming loose when her father had parked it. She and Tyler had been on their way into the house and their parents were taking out the groceries at the trunk when it happened.
While Tyler could only call out to their parents in horror, Megan ended up dropping the ice cream she had been eating and instinctively reacted. She shot her hands out towards the vehicle, firing two strong cords that looked like spider webs straight out of her wrists. The seemingly tensile webbing fastened a secure grip on the car, preventing it from running over her parents, who had stumbled and landed on their backs in panic at the oncoming vehicle.
Ever since that near accident, Megan came clean to her parents about her powers and how Tyler had been helping her control them as best as he could. When Megan accidentally broke one of the wall lamps they had during that time she was showing her brother the wall-crawling capabilities she developed, her brother helped her sell the excuse of a loose screw on the lighting.
There was also that one time when Megan had yanked the faucet cleanly off the sink, they said something about the water pressure being too high and how it sent the sink flying off its place. The latest one was how Megan completely shattered that cute, little animal-shaped alarm clock her mother had given her. All because she wasn't aware how strong she was becoming.
Those were the reasons why they had been relatively reluctant in letting her chase her dream into becoming a pop star. The last thing they wanted was for Megan to show the world that she wasn't as human as she appeared to be.
No one in her family was ashamed of her. They were more afraid of what this could mean for her, what the people would resort to calling her if they found out she had traits akin to an actual spider's. They wanted to protect Megan from being called a freak of nature.
Regardless of their initial hesitance, they chose to support her with the path that she chose for her life. It wasn't her fault she was born like this, and it just wasn't right to restrict her from making her own choices as she grew up.
When she auditioned for HYBE and Geffen's Dream Academy, she had her family's full support from the very start. With the whole process of not having contact with anyone outside the show, Megan struggled relatively when it came to performing well and in controlling her abilities under the scrutiny of cameras, the attention of so many people and so much overwhelming pressure from the competition itself.
During the announcement after mission two, it took Megan a great deal of self-control not to crush Iliya's hand when she was waiting to see if she was going to receive an invitation for the next stage of the competition or not. The nerves really got to her and made it relatively difficult to control her grip.
And then, there were the rehearsals. Megan had to tone down a portion of her energy, which was far more than a normal person is capable of presenting. But there was that one time she was just so into the whole choreography that she had fleetingly lost her awareness in her surroundings. The biggest scare she had in the show was when she accidentally struck Samara on the cheek after doing a quick turn during the dance routine.
Megan knew if her heightened senses hadn't prompted her to reduce the force of her limb and saved her at the last second, she probably would've broken Samara's jaw, maybe even worse. That would've been a huge problem if she didn't have her unorthodox spider senses.
All of that was in the past now. At least, that's what Megan thought when she debuted in KATSEYE alongside the other members.
Work after work came their way, and somehow it successfully made Megan forget about her powers. For around half a year, she and the others were busy rehearsing, promoting their group, teasing their official debut to the music industry, strengthening their bond with one another, it's everything Megan hoped for.
Megan was doing so well in hiding her powers throughout this period, only having occasional slip-ups that she easily covered up or was thankful that no one had seen it. But there were always situations that came close to exposing her secret.
There was that one time when Sophia was cooking their breakfast and had unknowingly bumped her glass of water when she was blindly reaching for the seasonings beside it. She had been so absorbed in continuing her semi-shouting conversation with Lara and Manon that she didn't notice how inhumanly fast Megan had swooped down in an awkward angle upon entering the kitchen just to prevent the cup from shattering on the floor.
By the time Sophia had spun around after seemingly sensing her presence, Megan had already straightened back up, grinning far too widely to be considered casual. But then again, she was known to be the awkward one in the group, so Sophia didn't really pay mind to her overly bright smile.
"Hi!" Megan had greeted, glancing down to the glass she was holding. "Want a refill?"
Sophia only laughed before nodding her head yes and returning her focus back to the food she was cooking. "Thanks, Megan!"
Another instance, this one far bigger than the previous, was when Daniela and Yoonchae were rushing down the stairs after pulling a prank on Lara and Manon. Yoonchae had missed a step and caused herself to tumble forward, taking Daniela along with her. But before they could crash and possibly injure themselves, Megan, who was lounging at the living room that time, was triggered to move by her hyperactive senses.
Shooting a web towards the ceiling, she launched herself towards the staircase just in time for her to skid along the floor, right into view and stop right at the foot of the staircase, where she then caught both Daniela and Yoonchae in her arms. Lara and Manon's chase immediately turned into a hasty approach filled with concern, especially when they found Yoonchae practically slumped over Megan's shoulder while Daniela clasped against Megan like a cat that nearly fell off its branch.
Sophia emerged from the dining area where she had been talking on the phone with their manager, a deeply worried look on her face once she heard the ruckus and the terrified screams of both Daniela and Yoonchae.
"Oh my God, what happened?" Sophia was the first to speak up, clearly as shocked as Lara and Manon upon seeing the two other girls basically piled in Megan's arms.
"Yoonchae, are you okay?" Lara asked, rushing in to pull their maknae off Megan's shoulder. Yoonchae immediately curled up in Lara's arms, clearly terrified of the near accident she and Daniela almost went through.
"Oh God, Dani, you good? You two okay?" Manon practically had to peel Daniela off Megan with how tightly the dancer was clinging onto her. Between the two of them, Daniela was supposed to land straight on her face, while Yoonchae was just going to crash on her back.
Megan knew she had put her secret on the line just to catch the pair, but even if she could go back in time, she would have done it again with not an ounce of regret. When Sophia approached and tried checking on her, maybe even lead her to the living room where her web was still hanging from the ceiling, she scrambled to push them to the dining area.
"I'm fine, I'm fine! We should, uh, go to the dining room. The light there is so much better, and we can totally check on Dani and Yoonchae there. Y'know, just in case they might have twisted an ankle or something." Megan hurriedly said, somewhat shooing Sophia and the rest of the group towards the mentioned area.
"Are you guys injured?" Sophia snapped her gaze towards Yoonchae and Daniela, and rather than waiting for any response from the two, she went on to say, "I'll go get the first-aid kit."
Thankfully, the nearest first-aid kit at the time was the one in the kitchen. Once Megan was sure the others went to the dining room and Sophia to the kitchen, she immediately rushed back into the living room to hastily clean her webbing from the ceiling in record time.
By the time Megan joined the rest of KATSEYE at the dining area, things look to have calmed down already. Sophia was still fussing over Yoonchae, who seemed to have recovered from her initial shock and was now quietly whining at how she wasn't a baby and that she was completely alright.
As for Daniela, Lara was still eyeing her with a bit of concern, while Manon was the one who kept asking if the girl was alright. Daniela looked like she was still processing something, and when Megan stepped into the view, the former jerked up and abruptly called out, "Megan!"
That turned everyone's attention on the all-rounder.
Once again, in that awkward, overly exaggerated yet genuinely charming way of hers, Megan flashed the same wide smile she always wore whenever she did something either amazing, funnily questionable or both.
"Everyone good?"
For the entire week, they kept teasing her about how strong she was and that she was giving Sophia a run for her money when it came to the strength department. Out of everyone in the group, Sophia was always the one ready to lift them up and easily carry them around as if they were as light as a little teddy bear.
Throughout the aforementioned week, Yoonchae always sought for Megan in the house whenever she was snacking. Apparently, according to the youngest, it was her way of showing her appreciation to Megan for 'saving their lives'. It was an exaggeration, everyone knew it, but nobody bothered to stop Yoonchae from cutely offering her gratitude.
It was a Saturday night and half of the group were out and testing the atmosphere of some prestigious nightclub that recently opened. Wanting the girls to enjoy themselves, Megan volunteered to pick them up from the club once they were ready to go home. Although Manon brought up the idea of just calling for an Uber, Megan insisted to be their pick-up driver. She even mentioned how it was also a reason for Yoonchae to stay up late and accompany her throughout the night.
And so, Yoonchae and Megan were left at the house, doing a superhero movie marathon. Lately, Yoonchae had taken an interest in a certain spider-themed hero, which led to them watching the live-action movies of Spider-Man. Obviously, they started and pretty much breezed through Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man trilogy.
They were hardly halfway through Andrew Garfield's adaptation of said hero when they got a call from Sophia, finally asking Megan to pick them up for the night. Apparently, Lara, Manon and Daniela were feeling woozy already with all the alcohol they had consumed. Sophia admitted that she was feeling relatively buzzed, but she chose not to drink any more in favour of watching over the three.
"Alright, Yoonchae," Megan said, turning the television off and gesturing for the other to stand. "get your hoodie and put your shoes on. We're going."
Yoonchae perked up and practically bounced out of the living room, heading up the stairs to get her jacket, but not without stopping halfway up the stairs and calling out, "Can we get a milkshake on the way?"
Megan laughed and peered out of the living room to meet Yoonchae's gaze. "Sure. Now come on! The others are waiting."
Returning to the living room, Megan grabbed the black jacket she prepared beforehand. It was the same one she wore at the park with Yoonchae when she was distracting her for their secret graduation surprise. She let out a huff as she slipped it over her white tank top, zipping it up halfway before grabbing a cap and slapping it onto her head.
"Hurry up, Yoonchae!" Megan shouted as she made her way to the front of the house, grabbing a pair of shoes from the rack right by the doorway. "I'm already putting my shoes on!"
Not even a minute later, Yoonchae was practically flying down the staircase, clad in a comfy hoodie and a beanie that perfectly matched it. She gave Megan a playful shove for rushing her, giggling together as they exited the house and made their way to the garage.
Heading towards the nightclub where the rest of KATSEYE were waiting for them, Megan and Yoonchae vibed along with whatever music the maknae played on the car speakers. They were expecting nothing much with this little trip of theirs but a late-night drive-thru and how they get to enjoy the surround sound system of the new SUV management lent them for group travels.
They were nearing the Colorado Street Bridge, singing along with the upbeat melody when the ground started shaking.
Unknown to Megan, this would mark the beginning of yet another chapter in her life.
Some of the cars started slowing down to a stop, while some who were going too fast rather recklessly swerved around. Megan gasped and narrowly missed being hit by two other cars, jerkily turning the steering wheel left and right. Yoonchae was bracing herself at the front seat, eyes wide with fear as they watched the cars ahead of them pile up.
"Hold on!"
Megan slammed the breaks, ultimately putting them to a stop before they could even drive onto the bridge. A second's worth of time was all it took for Megan to suddenly have a sharp jolt of her spider senses going haywire, the hairs on her arms raising once she comprehended the incoming danger from behind.
Without another warning, Megan abruptly stepped on the gas and made a sharp turn, getting them off the road and towards the side. The sudden course of action saved them from the loud, deep and blaring horn of a truck that sped past them, driving through the same place their SUV was once at.
The two of them gasped and watched in horror as the large vehicle rammed through the edge of the bridge and broke through the barrier, falling off and plummeting downwards. The area was filled with horrified screams of the people in the vicinity, each and every one of them witnessing the incident in real time.
There were other vehicles that didn't succeed as much as Megan did in stopping their cars in the middle of the earthquake, which caused the pile up not only to further grow but for some to also skid towards the new opening of the bridge's broken barrier.
As the earthquake continued, Megan flinched upon the sound of a sharp crack of concrete that reached her heightened sense of hearing. She snapped her gaze towards one of the foundations of the bridge, a whispered "Oh my God." leaving her lips as she and Yoonchae saw a portion of the bridge collapse and send more cars hurtling off the crumbling structure.
A few more seconds passed before the earthquake finally subsided, leaving the two of them wide-eyed and still staring at the chaos that had unfolded right before their very own eyes.
Every bone in Megan's body was telling her to stay where she was and to just call for first responders to help with the huge accident, but her damned inhuman senses were telling her there were so many people in need of help. Some were inside the handful of cars tilted precariously over the edge of the now unstable bridge, while some were screaming for help from the car pile-up that had formed past the entrance of the bridge.
"Y-Yoonchae." Megan finally spoke, turning to the girl. "Call nine-one-one!"
Yoonchae snapped out of her shock and nodded shakily, pulling up her phone, only for her to snap her gaze to the driver's seat once Megan pushed the door open and made a move to leave the car. "Wait, wait, wait! Where are you going?"
Megan hopped out of the car, faced Yoonchae for a moment and said, "To help people." before slamming the door close and running towards the bridge.
It was stupid. It was ridiculous.
What Megan is about to do is potentially expose her secret to the entire world, but she didn't let the possibility stop her. She fully zipped her jacket close, tugged her hood over her head and pulled her cap lower, silently hoping it was all enough to conceal her face from whoever she encounters.
Megan broke out into a sprint, nimbly jumping over the abandoned vehicles and heading straight towards the part of the bridge that was giving away. She grabbed the rear bumper of the first car tilting over, grunting under her breath as she pulled it back onto a steadier part of the bridge. Once done with that, she proceeded to repeat the same process with the other vehicles in the same situation.
With people panicking and just rushing to get off the bridge, no one seemed to notice Megan, a supposed hooded stranger, that was just jumping around and moving cars with her very own hands as if they didn't weigh tons.
Megan was just about to pull the last car dipping over the jagged edge when her spider senses suddenly blared like an alarm bell ringing. In a split-second, she released the car and abruptly performed a high backflip, dodging a vehicle that careened towards her direction. And though this car didn't crash over the bridge, it sent the one Megan was holding onto completely off its already precarious position.
A scream from a woman inside the vehicle pierced through Megan's ears.
With no fear at all, Megan hopped onto the edge and fired two strong strings of silk, webbing the rear end of the sedan and connecting said web towards a part of the bridge. Once she secured the strings, she immediately dove off and landed on the dangling vehicle. Knowing it was risky to stay in that position, Megan shot a web towards the driver's door and yanked it off its place, causing the woman inside to scream in fear.
"Uh, m-ma'am? Miss?" Megan called out, especially when the person inched further into the vehicle out of fear from falling out. "You should really get out of there and, like, seriously come with me."
There was the sound of web snapping, and when Megan looked up, she could see the ones she had used were not enough to hold the combined weight of the herself, the car and the squirming driver inside.
"Right now!" Megan jumped over to the side and practically snatched the woman out from the open driver's side. They fell freely in the air for a moment, and the woman's screaming nearly deafened Megan with how loud and high-pitched it was. Wrapping an arm securely around the person's waist, Megan shot a line to the nearest pillar and used the momentum to further swing them upward until they were high in the air again.
The stranger holding onto her screamed some more, and really, Megan wasn't sure if her eardrums would still be intact after this. She fired another line and reeled them towards the bridge, where she ultimately set the woman down. And as expected, the person scrambled away frantically, wanting nothing more but to get out of the place they nearly met their demise in.
Megan did one more scan of the accident area, pursing her lips at the flaming cars that she was too late to save and have long fallen down below. Sighing, she made her way back to where she had left Yoonchae, slapping her forehead a few times in an effort to scold herself.
With her acting on instinct and choosing to save as much people as she could at that moment, she completely forgot about how Yoonchae was taking all of this in. Heck, Megan was hoping that she had parked their SUV in a safe spot and that Yoonchae was hopefully unharmed and was right where she left her.
Once she saw their car, Megan picked up a pace and had to stop herself from pulling the driver's door off its hinges as she got back inside. Yoonchae, who was apparently on the phone with Sophia, looked like she was crying.
"Yoonchae, what—"
A half-clenched fist feebly struck her shoulder, cutting off her query. "Why did you leave!?"
"Megan? Megan? Megan, are you there?" came Sophia's voice from the phone, which was then followed by a disastrous chorus of her names from Daniela, Lara and Manon. Instead of addressing the ones on the other end of the call, Megan chose to focus more on Yoonchae.
"Hey, hey, were you hurt? Did you—" Again, Megan didn't get to finish. Yoonchae abruptly threw her arms around her, tightly embracing her.
"I was really scared!" Yoonchae told her, sobbing. "I thought, I thought you got hurt when you, when you left!"
"Hey now, hey, I'm here. I'm back." Megan assured, rubbing Yoonchae's back to try and soothe her sniffling.
"MEGAN!"
Nearly jolting at the sudden and loud chorus of the four from Yoonchae's phone, Megan felt around for the phone and managed to put it on speaker before she resumed rubbing Yoonchae's back.
"I'm alright, guys. I'm okay. I'm with Yoonchae again, and we're both fine."
"Oh my God, Megan."
"Megan, please! You have to be careful!"
"What were you even thinking!?"
"Yoonchae said you just ran off! And for what!?"
Megan pursed her lips again, glancing at the rearview mirror once she saw the red and blue sirens closing in on the area. She hushed Yoonchae and told her not to cry anymore before finally addressing the other four on speaker. "I think you guys are going to need to call an Uber to get home."
Despite feeling confident that nobody recognized her and that no one would be able to tell it was her that was tugging cars off the edge and swinging around the bridge to save that one particular person, Megan knew this needed to be the first and last time she was going to intervene with things like this.
There was no need for her to poke her nose into something that wasn't her concern.
But then again, would she be able to stop herself from helping people? Especially if she could prevent something awful from happening to them?
No, probably not.
It was around one o'clock in the earliest of morning, just one and half hour after the earthquake and bridge incident, when the road was clear enough for them to drive back to their house.
Yoonchae had calmed down but her eyes were visibly red from all the crying she had done. Megan had apologized countless times for extremely worrying the younger girl, and she was saying sorry again as they entered the house, only for the umpteenth apology to be interrupted by the four that emerged from the living room and practically tackled the two of them into a hug.
Unlike Yoonchae, who only had a bit of dust that she got from hugging Megan earlier, the latter was evidently layered with it. Her once black jacket was now looking a bit more like dark grey now, so were some of her black tresses, and there was also some grease staining her cheek, probably from that one car she hurriedly lifted off from another vehicle.
And of course, the girls didn't even think twice and immediately fussed over the two of them. Manon decided to take responsibility for Yoonchae and escorted their emotionally drained maknae to their rooms upstairs, while the other three practically carried Megan towards the living room.
Sophia and Lara scrambled towards the bathroom to get some water and towels once Megan was seated on the couch, while Daniela sat right beside her, pushing her hood off her head and removing the cap that was also as blanketed with dust as her clothes. At this point, Megan wouldn't be surprised if Daniela takes out the vacuum and start using it on her.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Daniela questioned, a mix of frustration and concern lacing her voice. She didn't even bother waiting for Sophia and Lara to return. Grabbing the throw blanket on arm of the couch, mainly the one that Daniela always used whenever she's chilling in the living room, she used it to wipe the grease on Megan's cheek before using another part of the blanket to wipe the thin layer of perspiration on Megan's forehead. "Yoonchae was crying about how there was some accident."
Megan winced at the mere thought of Yoonchae's tear-stained face. "Well, technically, there was an accid—"
"Don't you dare act all smart, Megan Skiendiel." Daniela warned, narrowing her gaze. "All of us. All of us were so, so worried the second we heard some people talking about some accident at the Colorado Bridge. And then, not even five minutes later, Yoonchae calls Sophia, literally bawling over the phone!"
Barely opening her mouth to offer a flimsy response, Megan was instantly cut off by Sophia's arrival. Behind their leader, Lara could be seen rushing up the stairs, hastily mentioning something about checking on Yoonchae and Manon and to get Megan some change of clothes.
"We all thought it was you two who got in an accident." Sophia said, sounding much calmer compared to Daniela but nonetheless equally concerned and displeased. Despite not being present for the start of Daniela's piece, Sophia still knew where to start with her own admonishment. Yes, they were definitely worried about Megan and Yoonchae, but now that they've confirmed that the two were alive and unscathed, it was only right that she fulfilled her duty as leader and scolded Megan for her impulsive actions. "Yoonchae couldn't even explain the whole thing because she was panicking."
"She was crazy worried." Daniela added before correcting herself and saying, "No, wait, we were crazy worried. Crazy worried about her, about you, because fuck, Megan. Yoonchae told us you ran towards the accident. Is that true?"
Megan couldn't exactly lie about that. Not with Yoonchae being the very witness of the beginning of this whole amateur hero era of hers. It wasn't an era that's going to last anyway, she thought. "Okay, fine, yeah. I did do that. I left the car to go help people."
"Listen, Megan." Sophia started, dipping one of the towels she brought into the water basin and handing it to Daniela, who swiftly took the damp fabric and started wiping off any remnants of grease on Megan's face. "Helping people is good, and hey, maybe I would've done the same thing if I could actually do something."
Megan huffed. "Are you saying I should've just stayed back and, y'know, not do anything? The people screaming for help, I should just ignore them?"
Daniela sighed, evidently getting even more frustrated with Megan's bullheaded attitude. "You're not Superman, Megan! Sophia, tell her!"
Sophia suppressed her sigh. "Dani has a point. You want to help people, and like I said, that's good. But you also have to think about yourself, Mei Mei. In those situations, a bridge literally crumbling after an earthquake, what can you do for those people? You can't exactly lift them up and fly them away, can you? No, of course you can't, and that's totally fine. Understandable, even."
Megan had to resist huffing again. She might not be able to fly, but she could definitely lift those people away via web-slinging. It's like those cars she kept from falling over the edge, or that one screaming woman she had saved and swung back onto the bridge.
She can shoot out highly tensile web from her very own wrists, she can jump almost as high as a two-story building, she can lift the freaking SUV she was driving earlier over her head and throw it across a football field, she can stick and crawl around walls like an actual spider, she can legitimately sense danger when it's coming!
She can help, and she can do so much more than any of them could ever imagine.
But it's not like she could tell her friends she was pretty much Peter Parker but pop star version.
That thought seemed to make something click in Megan's head.
Sophia and Daniela noticed how Megan's thoughts seemed to be trailing off elsewhere, and between the two, Daniela was the one who was about to call out their observation. But before she could do so, Sophia shook her head and waved her off.
"I'm sure Megan's tired. She did help people." There was no condescending tone in their leader's voice. Even though they doubted what Megan could do for the victims of the earthquake incident, Sophia seemed to genuinely believe that she had done something, small or not, that likely aided someone in need in the midst of the mess. "Just... Just try not to play Superman again, okay, Megan? Life's not a game."
"I know."
"And not just your family, but all of us in this house would be completely heartbroken if something happened to you. Why? Because we love you."
"I know." Megan let her repeated reply stew for a few seconds before she mumbled, "Love you guys, too."
Sophia smiled, while Daniela frowned and had to stop herself from throwing the damp towel on the floor in exasperation.
"Don't tell me she's off the hook that easily!" Daniela didn't seem too pleased about how lightly Sophia was treating this. No matter how much Daniela sharply nodded for the former to scold Megan some more, Sophia only sighed, set the basin aside and pulled Megan up from the couch.
"Come on, Mei Mei. There's a warm shower and a soft bed waiting for you upstairs."
Seeing the escape Sophia was indirectly providing her, Megan flashed a small but grateful smile before she excused herself with a mumble and headed towards the stairs, where she unsurprisingly crossed paths with Lara. The latter, who had an armful of Megan's clothes, instantly climbed the steps once more, moving along with her as she asked Megan the same questions Daniela and Sophia had mentioned moments ago.
Once Megan was gone from view, Daniela turned to Sophia, who was already in the process of tidying up the living room. "Sophia—"
"Dani, she's tired. Just let her be."
"Oh, so she's tired now?" Daniela scoffed, tossing the towel into the basin and causing some of the water to splash over the edge. "She wasn't tired when she put her life on the line earlier!"
Sophia didn't look impressed at all with the childish display. She simply left the basin, the towel and the small puddle Daniela had created, while she continued cleaning the common area of the snacks, wrappers and empty bottles Megan and Yoonchae initially left from their movie marathon.
"Clean that up. Now." Sounding awfully like a mother, Sophia calmly addressed Daniela with a simple gesture towards the little mess she made. "And, Dani, you're drunk, your fuse is shorter than normal, and we all thought Megan and Yoonchae got into a life-threatening accident. Take a shower and sleep it off."
Daniela stomped her foot, which indirectly proved the point Sophia was making.
This time around, Sophia didn't bother giving a reaction to that. Heading towards the kitchen to dispose of the trash she had gathered and to store the leftover snacks back into the pantry, Sophia merely bid, "Good night, Dani. Don't forget to clean up there."
Irritated, annoyed, everything else that was synonymous to frustrated, Daniela was feeling like it. But even so, she could only grumble about how Megan was so careless and impulsive while she started cleaning the puddle she caused, thinking about how she had plans tomorrow on speaking with Megan herself.
It's not that Daniela wanted to pick fights just for the heck of it. It just irked her so bad that Megan didn't seem to give any regards towards her own life and acted as if she was in a goddamn superhero franchise. She didn't even know why it was triggering her so much.
Daniela thought that she could just figure it out in the future. Right now, first thing tomorrow, she was going to find Megan and give her a much more solid piece of her mind.
This was it.
It has ultimately started.
Maybe Megan was getting way too ahead of herself.
Maybe she was overestimating her capabilities.
Somehow, saving all those people made her feel a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Being a part of KATSEYE and performing songs before thousands of people rooting for them and screaming their names, those were accomplishments, too. But this?
All those cars she pulled from the edge with her bare hands, they were filled with people, some even families. They all lived because she decided to risk others seeing her just to prevent from falling to their demise. Heck, even that one woman who had practically screamed Megan's eardrums into bursting. She felt really good for being able to save that lady from crashing onto the ground below with her car.
Megan felt entirely different when she was showering earlier. The warm water actually relaxed her body, which had been apparently tense. She took the time in the bathroom to think about everything, and even when she went to hers and Lara's shared bedroom, her mind still hadn't wandered away from the ideas that have sequentially hatched in her head.
At the late hour of three o'clock in the morning and in one of the three shared rooms within the house, Lara was quietly snoozing in her bed and looking all warm and comfortable underneath her blanket. Meanwhile at the neighbouring bed, specifically Megan's, the black and pink-haired girl had a notebook on her lap, using her phone's flashlight to beam some brightness on the paper where she had listed down a bunch of things she needed to take into account and was sketching a couple of designs for a suit fitting for a masked vigilante.
The second Lara had fallen asleep, Megan got to work in writing everything that she needed to keep in mind once she decides to start playing hero again.
"Sorry, Soph, Dani." Megan mumbled to herself as she brought up some images of different variants of Spider-Man's suits from Google. "I'm not exactly trying to be Superman now, am I?"
In the midst of drawing the second sketch of another suit, Megan's fingers deliberately faltered its hold on her pen, eyes absently staring back at the parchment as she started thinking about what she was doing and what this meant for her in the long-run.
KATSEYE was rapidly growing into the point of fame and stardom, which also meant there would be so many eyes on them that Megan needed to watch out for. If she really was going to try and act like some sort of real-life Peter Parker, she needed to know how exhausting it's going to be.
Being a rising star in the music industry is already considered an eventful and extremely stressful life, what more if she branched out and started a freaking vigilante gig on the side? Just by thinking about the conflicts in schedule and the risk of being discovered as said vigilante, it would be considered more than just the scandal of the century.
And the excuses and the lies she would have to come up with, oh, that would be draining as hell.
Megan stared at the scrawled letters and messy sketches on the paper before sighing and closing the notebook, leaving the pen in between the pages like how she was abandoning the idea at that very moment. She yanked her bedside drawer open and dumped it all inside before laying back on the bed, turning her phone's flashlight off and closing all the tabs related to Spider-Man in her browser.
Maybe this was just remnants from earlier. She was probably just 'in the moment' too much and was likely deluding herself that she, awkward, cheery, little Megan, could be some sort of neighborhood spider hero people see in comics and movies.
Megan sighed.
As if.