𝟰𝟲: 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗗

It had been 2 days, and I still refused to leave the hospital. I had been staying beside Taeil every hour, and every minute and every second. Just a day ago, the police visited to ask me questions about this incident, and fortunately enough, Naomi's father was the one to question me so I felt less unease. There wasn't much to say, so that left them disappointed as they weren't given much information to narrow down the case and track whoever was responsible for this monstrosity.

But I had been thinking a lot. Throughout the two nights I stayed here, I kept my focus on the hospital's balcony, hoping that a certain someone would visit. Venom. I just knew this whole thing, would have to do something about Venom and his choice of keeping touch with me. I knew it was about my father too, because from this day, he was unreachable and that made me believe that he wasn't overseas for business. The same went for my mother. This was sketchy.

People had been visiting a lot: Taeyong, Donghyuck, Naomi, Chenle, Jeno and of course Mark.

Mark had been staying with me since Taeil got in. He stayed morning, noon and evening, even if that meant that he had to skip school. I told him not to, and assured him that I would be perfectly fine, but he insisted. His presence did truly make a difference, it comforted me so much and I was profoundly grateful.

I was perched on the chair next to the Taeil's bed, my hands firmly gripped around his.

And Mark, who had been here since the morning stood up from the couch just behind me, a small sigh slipping out of his lips. "Juliane, I have to get going now." He explained and drew closer to me. "Johnny needs me at home, but I promise you, I'll be back again tomorrow morning."

I swiveled my head to connect eyes with his, my lips slowly forming into a frail smile. "You don't have to Mark. You know, you can't skip school anymore, you have to go back. There's even finals soon."

Mark nodded, agreeing. "Yeah, I know. But what about you? Will you be okay?"

The concern seen in his face, and heard in his voice melted my heart completely. This was why I loved him. "Don't worry about me, Mark. I'll figure things out. Everything's gonna be fine, if I get contact with my parents again. But everything's fine now too, because Taeil is in fact still alive. So don't worry."

Mark grinned weakly. He cupped my cheek and rubbed small circles on my skin, with the use of his thumb. After that, he pivoted his heel and approached the exit and left.

And I was left alone with Taeil. I heaved and turned my attention back to Taeil. The grip I had on his hands tightened.

To be honest, I was scared. Like really scared. I felt so alone. Taeil was unconscious, and the doctors couldn't promise when he'd be awake, and with my mom and dad being so non existent right now, frightened me even more. I really was alone. I knew something was up, and I hated the fact that I was just sitting here doing nothing.

God... I never would've expected for this to happen. All I believed was that I'd be in the cinemas with Mark yesterday, and I might've possibly confessed my genuine feelings to him to finally commence a relationship, but here I was, miserable.

Gosh... What did I do to deserve this?

Thud.

I gasped inwardly, instantly looking up at the see through balcony doors with squinted eyes. I looked closer, and saw him. I saw Venom.

Finally.

I quickly jumped up from my seat, gently letting of Taeil's hands before pacing my way towards the doors of the balcony. When I got a better look, I saw Venom standing by the barrier, and right next to him was Spiderman, crouched on the baluster.

I knew it. I knew this had something to do with what they knew.

I pulled open the doors of the balcony and stepped out to join them. Once I took my stance to face them, my body was filled with nervousness. I was already theorizing about this for two days, but when the time actually came when Venom, and surprisingly Spiderman came to stop by, I was anxious. I was so anxious. I could feel every inch of my body having protruded goosebumps, and they did nothing but shake my bones vigorously, because I knew things were gonna get serious.

"Juliane..." Was the first thing Venom said. "We have to tell you something."

I nodded my head, my throat so dry that I had to gulp. "It's... It's about what happened to my brother, isn't it? You guys know something, don't you? And it's... about my father too, isn't it?"

Venom and Spiderman exchanged looks for a moment. Venom then nodded his head. "We aren't gonna sugarcoat any of this anymore. We'll tell you the truth."

"Yes. Please, tell me."

"You're in immense danger, Juliane. And the reason for that is because of your father. Mr Moon has been obliging somebody to transport the high-tech weapons and materials that's been spreading in Queens. We believe that Mr Moon had slowly been disobeying the unknown man's orders, which led to this, to the incident your brother was involved in. From what Spiderman and I talked about, we believe that he is threatening your father to oblige to him again, and is shows the consequences if he doesn't."

And there it was. The truth.

Even though I already had an idea about this, it still stunned me.

I let out a shaky breath, my hands trembling. Venom and Spiderman allowed me to breathe in and out, and let my brain process everything Venom had revealed to me. They were patient and considerate about this, so that eased me up a bit.

"I knew it..." I mumbled, my hand palming my forehead that was suffering with a throbbing migraine. "So this is why you're always there, right Venom? The main reason why you approached me in the first place, and the main reason why you stayed."

Venom's head nodded slowly. "Yeah. I stayed to protect you, and to keep an eye on you. That's the main reason why not a single one of those enemies ever laid a finger on you. They knew somebody was watching, they knew I was watching... That's why it was easy for them to get to Taeil, because nobody watched for him and... I'm sorry. I could've stopped that, but I couldn't and-"

"You don't have to be sorry. You were looking out for me, and I'm thankful for that, really~ I'm just a bit disappointed that you couldn't have told me earlier... Or maybe the police too, because maybe all this might've been prevented from happening."

"Police don't do anything." Said Venom. "But you're right. I should've told you sooner. We could've dodged this incident if I did. I'm really sorry."

A sigh was released from my lips. With my hand still on my forehead, I nodded, my gaze on the ground. "You don't have to say sorry. I know you did your best to protect and figure things out from the distance. Thank you." I looked up at Venom. "But for now, what do we do to find that son of a bitch who did this to my brother?"

"Wait, what?" Spiderman suddenly chimed in. I almost forgot he was here, considering how silent he was.

I gazed over at him, noticing the familiarity in his voice, but chose not to question it. Spiderman coughed, as though adjusting his voice. And now, he spoke with a different voice, almost as though trying to change it. "What do you mean we?"

I looked at them both in the eyes, determined. "I wanna help you guys catch him." I said, so casual and simple, that it made them worry.

Once again, Venom and Spiderman exchanged looks, and even with those masks on, I knew they were worried. Spiderman quickly shook his head in refusal. "It'll be too dangerous ma'am. I suggest you stay out of it, and we'll figure it out, and simultaneously still look out for you to ensure nothing happens."

"But... I wanna help." I said, my lips slowly forming into a frown.

"No ma'am." Spiderman demanded, firm and sharp.

"But wouldn't it be an advantage if I help?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Look, when I say I wanna help, I don't mean I wanna join the action because I hate being a burden. I can help gather informations. I have the best access to the headquarters of MoonDelivery, considering I'm the daughter of their boss. I'll give you guys anything you want from there. Perhaps files, documentations and so on and so forth. And, maybe you can also use me as a bait. I don't know, something like that."

"We are so not using you as a bait." Spiderman said, his head shaking slightly. For some odd reasons, Spiderman had been showing more care to me than Venom... And I wondered why.

"But your other idea is genius." Complimented Venom. "Maybe MoonDelivery have records of who is asking for these weapons to get shipped, and when we get the name, we win."

"Sounds like a plan." I nodded my head determinedly, and looked at Venom, then at Spiderman.

I knew just a couple of days ago, I saw Mark standing next to Spiderman. But I was still not convinced that Spiderman was just his mere friend. Something inside me still refused it. I knew bugging him and saying these to him would be annoying and probably very irrelevant considering the situation, so I shrugged it off. But still, I just knew it was him, and I hoped it'd only be a matter of time before he reveals it.