Hawk looked surprised.
Gwen, on the other hand, looked at Hawk's expression and fell silent.
Fake.
Too fake.
Gwen couldn't help but give a heartfelt assessment.
"Your acting is fake."
"Sorry."
Hawk shrugged, "I'm not a professional actor."
That's right.
Gwen had been outside for a while.
To be precise, she arrived just when Peter was about to come clean with Hawk, but stopped when she heard the commotion inside the gym.
Gwen thought Hawk and Peter wouldn't notice.
But...
After awakening the Little Cosmos, with Hawk's control over his five senses, not to mention Gwen's footsteps, he could hear even the leaves falling behind the gym if he wanted to.
Peter, with his Spider Sense, was the same, especially since this version of Peter was a fully mutated Spider Spirit Peter.
It's just that Peter should have just mutated not too long ago and wasn't completely adapted yet, plus Hawk's punch put Peter in shock.
But with Hawk's eye reminder, Peter quickly came to his senses and detected Gwen's breathing outside the gym.
So, the two tacitly decided to stay silent.
See.
This is another reason Hawk prefers the First Generation Spider Spirit.
He doesn't comment on The Amazing Spider-Man.
But Tech Spider-Man?
Ha ha.
Hawk has no doubt, if it were Tom Holland's Tech Spider-Man, he probably wouldn't understand his meaning and might keep babbling on.
No, it's not a maybe, it's certain.
Hawk thought to himself.
Just then.
Peter also walked out from the back, looking at Gwen outside, showing a bit of a surprised expression, "Gwen, you're still here?"
Looking at Peter's stiff surprised expression, Gwen couldn't hold it anymore.
"Peter, your acting is worse than Hawk's."
"Ah, haha, hahaha..."
Peter's expression stiffened, he unconsciously scratched his head, chuckled, then said goodbye to Hawk, and headed toward the school gate on his own.
Seeing this, Hawk also prepared to leave.
He had to go to Osborn Biotechnology for a summer job early tomorrow morning, so he planned to go to bed early tonight.
Gwen blocked his way.
"Something's off about you, Hawk."
"Ah!"
Hawk was slightly taken aback.
Gwen raised an eyebrow, looking at Hawk with curiosity, "Since when are you so familiar with Peter? I've never seen you talk to him before."
To be exact, she had never seen Hawk chat idly with anyone.
Even when other classmates approached Hawk, he would send them off with a few words and continue doing his own thing.
And, like at the dance, at first, a female classmate would come up to Hawk and ask him to be her partner.
The result...
As female classmates would say among themselves.
"Hawk?"
"That's a darn iceberg, and a ten-thousand-year iceberg at that."
Other female classmates were like that.
Gwen was no exception.
Gwen thought about how sometimes when she approached Hawk, though he didn't show it, she could feel his reluctance to converse with her.
But today?
Her intuition told her that the invisible resistance seemed to have vanished while talking to her now.
Gwen was very curious about this.
Listening to Gwen's complaints, Hawk explained with a relaxed expression, "Peter and I aren't close, he came to find me because last time Flash cornered him in the bathroom, I happened to be there, and he came to thank me for that."
Listening to Hawk's explanation, Gwen fell silent again.
After a while,
she looked into Hawk's eyes, a faint smile appearing on her face, "If you don't want to say, you don't have to say anything, there's no need to lie."
Hearing this, Hawk thought for a moment, then looked at Gwen's rather pretty eyes, and nodded.
"Alright, I don't want to say."
"I'll find out on my own."
"Go ahead."
Hawk nodded, getting ready to leave, but before he did, he thought for a moment and said to Gwen, "Investigate all you want, just don't get caught up in it. I've heard that when a woman gets curious about a man, it's the beginning of falling for him."
Gwen finally confirmed that Hawk's previous unspoken resistance to her had disappeared, but she just gave a dismissive chuckle on the surface.
"I don't think I'll fall for a guy who even thinks calling us friends feels forced."
She thought again about how a few days ago when she had walked Hawk home, and after she said they were friends, he showed that forced expression.
No,
Back then, Hawk's resistance had already weakened.
Gwen recalled the scene from that day again, an idea forming in her mind.
Hawk didn't argue, simply shrugged and headed down the stairs.
"Bye, Gwen."
Gwen called out to Hawk's departing figure, "I will find out your secret."
"Good luck!"
Hawk waved without turning back.
He didn't take it to heart.
What he said to Gwen earlier about women getting curious was just a casual remark.
But...
Before awaking the Little Cosmos, he probably wouldn't have said something like that.
Seated on the last row of the school bus heading to the new apartment, Hawk looked at the scenery passing by outside the window, thoughts stirring in his mind.
After all, for the pre-awakened Little Cosmos Hawk, love was a luxury.
A luxury he could only yearn for but never reach.
But after awakening the Little Cosmos?
What was that saying?
Money makes a man bold.
Hawk, although still penniless, now had fists!
Power is fist.
Power is money.
Similarly,
Having fists equals having money.
So...
Before was before.
Now is now.
The current version of himself with an awakened Little Cosmos likely had the right, from the standpoint of power, to say he could have love now.
Hawk mused.
Just then.
The image of Gwen as she had looked him in the eyes earlier flashed through his mind, and at this moment, his heart involuntarily thumped.
"Hiss!"
Hawk came to his senses, drawing a sharp breath, instinctively shaking his head to dismiss the sudden thought.
No reason.
The top three delusions of life warning came online again.
He wasn't Peter.
Peter might think Mary Jane liked him just because she smiled at him.
Hawk wouldn't fall into such a delusion.
So...
Never mind.
Time to focus on important matters.
Tomorrow he would be going to Osborn Biotechnology for his summer job, and that's when he'd find out if Dr. Connor's lab contained the Gammanien he wanted.
If so, it would be fantastic.
Hawk already had a plan.
Once the key 'Gammanien' for forging the Holy Armor was confirmed, his next goal was Vibranium-abundant Wakanda.
As he said,
if Wakanda willingly handed over the Vibranium he wanted, that would be great for everyone.
But if Wakanda not only refused but dared to retaliate?
Ha ha.
Then, no apologies.
He,
Hawk.
Not a man of many words.
But...
Knows a bit of fisticuffs!
...