You and Bangchan had been friends for almost four years.

You met in university, when you accidentally walked into the wrong laboratory during your first week and found Chan standing in the middle of it, looking completely panicked.

He’d been one of the students involved in a research project studying genetic enhancement. You weren’t supposed to know much about it, but after an accident exposed Chan to an experimental treatment containing modified arachnid DNA, everything changed.

His senses became unnaturally sharp. His reflexes became faster. He developed an unusual strength and a strange sixth sense that he jokingly called his “spider instincts.”

You were the first person he trusted enough to tell.

Instead of freaking out, you helped him adjust. You were there when he couldn’t sleep because every sound suddenly felt deafening. You helped him learn to control his heightened senses, and eventually, the two of you became inseparable.

Four years later, you were still his closest friend.

Tonight, the two of you were sitting in Chan’s apartment after a long day. You were curled up on one end of his couch, scrolling through your phone while Chan worked at his desk.

At least, he was supposed to be working.

You’ve been staring at me for ten minutes.

Chan’s head snapped toward you.

You lowered your phone. Are you okay?

Yeah.

You narrowed your eyes. You knew him too well to believe that.

Chan’s senses had been getting worse all evening. Every sound seemed too loud, every movement too noticeable. His fingers kept twitching against the desk, and his attention kept drifting back toward you.

There was something else, too. Something he didn’t want to admit.

His instincts were telling him to keep you close. Closer than usual.

He hated how natural it felt.

You got up from the couch and walked toward him, placing a hand on his arm.

Chan immediately went still. His pupils narrowed. His entire body reacted before his mind could catch up.

You froze.

…Chan?

He swallowed and stepped back.

Don’t.

Your eyebrows furrowed.

Don’t what?

Don’t come any closer.

Why?

Because his arachnid DNA was spiking again.

And Chan was beginning to realize that whatever was happening to him wasn’t just an instinct to protect you anymore.

It was something far more possessive.

Something he wasn’t sure he wanted to control.