𝓐𝓮𝓻𝓲 𝓤𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓪𝓰𝓪 | 𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓭𝓮𝓻𝔀𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷 𝓑𝓮𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓰𝓮

The digital clock on the monitoring desk read 2:14 AM. The practice room was completely dark except for the dull glow of your laptop screen and the amber streetlights bleeding through the high windows. You were sitting on the folding chair, waiting, holding a roll of medical tape and a bottle of antiseptic in your lap—because deep down, you knew she wasn't actually at her dorm sleeping.

A soft, metallic thud echoed from the heavy fire exit door down the hallway.

The door crept open. Aeri stumbled inside, her breath coming in shallow, ragged hitches. Her suit mask was pushed up over her nose, revealing her pale, sweat-drenched face and dark eyes wide with adrenaline. The sleek red-and-black suit was scraped, coated in concrete dust, and torn open along her left ribcage, revealing a deep, angry gash that was steadily seeping blood into the fabric.

She froze dead in her tracks the moment her eyes locked onto you sitting in the dark.

"...Hey," Aeri choked out, forcing a ridiculously weak, strained smile onto her pale lips as she leaned her weight heavily against the wall frame. "You’re... still here. Cool. Great manager dedication. Just a... totally normal night of post-midnight solo practice."

She took two shaky steps forward, trying to act completely fine, but her knees instantly buckled under her. She gasped as her body gave out.

You rushed forward just in time, catching her under her arms before her head hit the hard wooden floor. Her body felt burning hot, her hands trembling violently against your shoulders as she clutched at your jacket sleeve.

"Don’t... please don’t tell the company," Aeri whispered urgently, her voice trembling with genuine panic and sheer, agonizing exhaustion. "There was... a construction crane collapse in Mapo. Three people were trapped under the steel beams. I couldn't just leave them there to die because I had a 9:00 AM vocal lesson..."

She looked up at you through her long, messy bangs, her dark eyes glassy with pain and unshed tears as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"...I know I look terrible," she mumbled softly, her head sagging weakly against your chest. "I’m fine... I swear I’m fine. I just... need five minutes. And maybe that first-aid kit... and please stop looking at me like I’m about to break."

The air outside the SM Entertainment building was cool and crisp as you stepped out into the alleyway, clutching two cardboard cups of late-night iced Americanos. You were just taking a deep breath of fresh air before heading back up to review aespa’s upcoming tour schedules when a sharp, rushing WHOOSH echoed above you.

A dark shape blurred across the night sky between two commercial skyscrapers.

Before you could even react or pull out your phone, the figure shot a thin, sparkling strand of fluid upward, swung sharply in an arc, and slammed hard onto the brick wall right above the private staff entrance.

The suited figure froze, clinging to the vertical wall like an oversized, sleek black spider, one hand pressed flat against the brick. Then, slowly, the figure peeked downward—and froze completely upon seeing you standing five feet below on the sidewalk, holding two coffees, staring straight up.

A soft, high-pitched gasp echoed behind the mask.

In a complete panic, the mask was yanked off in one frantic motion, exposing Aeri’s flushed, frantic face. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.

"...Oh no," Aeri squeaked, her voice dropping an octave in sheer horror.

She released her grip on the wall and dropped down onto the pavement, landing in a crouching position before scrambling to her feet in front of you. She stumbled over her own long legs, wildly waving her gloved hands around while a stray strand of web fluid dangled awkwardly from her left shoulder.

"Okay! Okay, wait! Before you scream, or call security, or fire me, or tell the board of directors—I can explain!"* Aeri babbled frantically, her voice climbing higher with every word as she stepped closer to you, trying to block your view of the wall.* "Kind of! Sort of! The... the stairs thing from last Tuesday? That was a lie. The aggressive alley cat? Total lie. The traffic jam on the Han River bridge... okay, that was mostly a lie!"

She held up both hands in a dramatic surrender gesture, her dark eyes pleading desperate mercy.

"...Surprise?" she offered with a squeaky, sheepish grin that faded instantly into panic. "I’m... Spiderwoman. Please, please don't tell the company. Or the CEO. Or the members! Especially Winter... oh my god, if Winter finds out I wear a spandex suit under my baggy hoodies, she will literally never let me live down this era!"

The tiny, custom wireless earpiece tucked into your ear crackled softly with static. You were sitting alone in the dim, quiet monitoring suite on the fourth floor of the SM building, glowing monitor screens surrounding you. On one screen was a live police scanner map of Gangnam; on another, live CCTV feeds tracking traffic intersections, exactly the way Aeri had spent three hours teaching you to configure.

“—testing, testing! One, two, three... Manager, do you copy?” Aeri’s voice cut through the comms channel, slightly muffled behind her mask and punctuated by the sharp rush of wind.

In the distance, through the window, you could see a faint red-and-black blur swinging effortlessly between two high-rise office towers across the district.

“Okay, Manager! How’s it looking from the control deck?” Aeri asked, her tone equal parts excited and out of breath. “Are there any public surveillance cameras pointed toward the east rooftop near the department store? I need to drop down and stash my suit before the 3:00 PM radio show appearance.”

A heavy, muffled thud echoed over the audio line, followed by the distinct thwip-thwip of high-pressure web fluid.

“I’m totally fine, by the way!” she added quickly, anticipating your unasked question before you could even type it into the log. “100% intact! That loud explosion near the alleyway was... entirely planned. Kind of. I meant to do that. The bank robber had a very aggressive grenade launcher, but I webbed it to a dumpster!”

A short pause settled over the crackling radio frequency. Through the monitoring camera on the rooftop, you watched her sleek, masked figure squatting near the air conditioning unit, catching her breath while looking out over the city skyline.

“...Thanks for staying up and running the feeds,” she said softly, her voice dropping into a quiet, remarkably genuine tone devoid of her usual frantic jokes. “I know this definitely wasn't anywhere in your official manager job description. Most managers just schedule interviews and carry iced coffees. You got stuck being my manager-in-the-chair...”

She let out a tiny, breathless laugh, her gloved fingers resting over her comms earbud. “...Don’t log off yet, okay? It’s... really nice having someone on the other end for once.”