DOWNTOWN.
chapter ten | reckless driving.

Saturday finally rolled around. I was anxiously waiting for Taeyong to come, especially when he was doing me a favor tonight. Chaewon bumped me, an elbow nudging against my arm. "Don't be too worried now, love. We need at least four to race."

I shook my hand, biting my nails. "That's not what I'm worried about. I'll get a car from someone," I replied. "But don't you think that Donghyuck being sick for around a week is weird? Like-"

"Donghyuck?" She whispered. "He said you can say that here?"

"Yeah. We've become... acquaintances," I nodded, explaining myself. "Even Taeyong said that me saying his name was interesting. Why are you both so shocked?"

"Everyone else calls him Haechan here. You're the exception!" She giggled, making me push her slightly. "Fine fine. I don't mean to upset you, but don't you hear yourself?" I think. Why? Is she weirded out by the fact I was worried about Donghyuck? "It's your first race, but you're more worried about a sick person? He'll be fine."

"Whatever you say," I bit my lower lip. "Chaewon, do I still have time to make my decision?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "About what?"

"To choose what team I'm on."

"Oh, well, I suppose so, if–" And right on time, Taeyong pulled into the circuit with the neon orange Mustang that I requested, parked it, and got out of the car. He swung the keys around his pointer finger, soon stopping in front of me. The keys hung, and just as I tried grabbing it, covered it with his hand. "You're lucky Haechan was too sick to question me thoroughly after asking me to borrow his car. Never in my life have I been so scared, and I'm older than him!"

"Wait a fucking minute–" Chaewon pointed between me and her brother, then kept her finger on me. "You're... a Neo now!?"

"I suppose–loud and proud," Then, he let go of the keys and let them hang again. I took the bundle, looking at the keys sitting in my palm. Then, looking back up at him, I expressed a grin. "I owe you, Taeyong. Thank you again! I won't let you down."

"I expect you to get first with that attitude, but I'd rather have you get third and be safe so I don't get my ass beat," Taeyong rolled his eyes. "Try not to destroy his car."

"I'll fix it up if I have to. Jiayi, you've got this!" Chaewon put her fist up, her eyes screaming determination as my only hype girl. I mimicked her actions, getting into the driver's seat.

"Okay, Donghyuck's godsent car, do not fail me tonight," I whispered, pressing down on the brake before I put the car into drive. Finally, softly pressing on the gas, I entered through the large, open barrier and onto the track. What used to happen was Donghyuck would be at the front, but now, I'm all the way at the back. However, it's justified, considering that I was a new driver. I parked again, getting out of the car to meet Mark on my side.

He was surprised to see me, or really, that I was driving his teammate's car. He handed me a spare helmet, a proud grin etched on his face. "Never would I thought I'd see the day you became one of us," Mark sighed relievingly, patting my shoulder. "You're going to do good, Jiayi. Have faith."

"It's the car, not the person," Someone chimed in, causing me to turn. Minho. He waved, and briefly, I waved back, despite him dissing my talents. "Good evening, Jiayi. I hope to see your skills flourish on the road. Though I'm embarrassed you didn't become one of us, I'm glad you're settling in."

"Thank you, Lee Know," I replied, bowing my head slightly. "As do I."

And that brief conversation ended my anxiety. Instead, I was filled with passion, with the urge to beat him and The Luminaries to a pulp. Mark focused me back to his face, snapping his fingers. "I'll be right behind you, so don't worry. Yeosang's not the pushing type, only Lee Know, but I can handle him. Focus on beating Sakura if you can."

"I'll try," I nodded. "Anything I should do to avoid her?"

"Her maneuvers are focused on drifting and turning. The only way to steer past her is to utilize the straight roads," Mark said, causing me to etch that into the inside of my head. "But, don't overexert yourself. Don't be upset if you can't beat her."

"I won't. I expect to get last, but that doesn't mean I won't try for first."

Mark ruffled my hair, orbs staring into mine. I chuckled as he then caressed my hair, straightening it. "I believe in you and your strawberry hair, Jiayi."

And he walked off. I looked down at my helmet, mustering up my courage and pouring it into the work I've done. It may not matter to anyone, but it has meant the world to me. I put on my helmet, sliding into the driver's seat. I see Karina holding the flags, even though Jaemin's in his own car this time. I identified it as a Lancer, green-colored.

Usually when Karina flags, Jaemin isn't driving–he's watching her. Today, though, he's on the road.

I saw Karina's hesitance. You could see the build-up of tears in her eyes as she raised the flag, allowing me and the other racers (Mark, Jaemin, Yeosang, Sakura, and Minho) to rev our engines. For a moment, my grip on the wheel softened- Karina was trembling, not from cold, but because her eyes were only looking at his car.

Finally, the flag weakly lowered–and all the cars were off. I could instantly get ahead of Yeosang, who you could tell was surprised when he saw me in the driver's seat. He tried getting close, but Mark had slowed down enough to split us apart, allowing me to press harder on the gas and get close to Jaemin. Jaemin didn't look my way, but enough was said the moment he took a moment to slow down. He looked distant–almost like something happened between them.

But, then I met my match, Minho. Sakura was too far ahead of both of us, and I was fine with giving her first place. However, after trying to piss me off, I wasn't going to let him slide past me. Looking in the side mirrors, I could see Mark coming up close–and with Minho trying to shove against my car, I swerved in the direction of his car, speeding up just enough for me to take a left and for Mark to get shoved instead.

The car was bumpy from here on out–I was getting nervous, and accidentally would almost hit the barrier. However, the race came to an end, and with Mark speeding up ahead of me, I got third. As I slowed down toward the finish line, I pressed hard on the brake.

The adrenaline that once replaced my calmness had disappeared. Now, it was the aftermath, a minute of catching my breath and hearing the slightly loud cheers of the siblings and Yuta on the side. I took off my helmet, standing up and out of the car. "Jiayi, you did it!" Chaewon squealed, jumping up and down, and I couldn't contain the wide smile sitting on my face.

But, it wasn't long until I saw him–he was walking over, up to the barrier. Then, my grin fell. I widened my eyes and dropped my helmet, jogging over to them. "Donghyuck?" I inquired, walking over to the barrier with the three others widening their eyes and expressing sounds, but ignored. I scoffed seeing him, but I figured I should be a bit kinder considering I stole his car. "You're still sick. You shouldn't be here, so why? Why are you here? Who dropped you off?"

"That curiosity will get you killed one day," He tsked, punching my shoulder slightly. I looked at him in disgust, wondering if the sickness had truly gotten to him. "I took a taxi here. I got suspicious of Taeyong hyung getting my car, but I suppose I'll let you off of punishment since you got third."

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled, hesitantly putting my hand against his forehead. "You're still a bit hot–" He scoffed. "What? Are you upset? I promise I didn't damage it."

"No, as long as you're fine," He mumbled, so as revenge for before, I punched him in the shoulder. "Ouch, what the hell!?"

"Look at you, being all nice," I chuckled. "You should act like that more often. Maybe you'll make more friends."

"Whatever," He cleared his throat. "Go get my Mustang. I have to talk to you, so I'll drive."

"Talk?" I whispered. "I thought you said you weren't upset!?"

"I'm not, god–just go, Jiayi!"

I practically held my breath in Donghyuck's car. Although I demanded that I sat in the back, he forced me up in the front, right next to him. When he wasn't looking, I indulged in the interior: black leather, with some stripes of orange installed in the middle of it. I should've looked beforehand, but I guess I got too passionate about driving.

He had an air freshener, it was pink, and a smile crept on my face because of it.

Heh, pink air freshener. Something very feminine for someone completely masculine.

"What are you laughing at?" Compared to Chaewon's driving, Donghyuck drove slowly and acted like a normal civilian on the road. I met his eye, stifling my laughter.

"Pink air freshener."

"Good lord. You act like such a kid," That ended short. He said he wanted to talk to me, but nothing was said.

"You can go... faster if you want to," It must be unbearable to sit in this car with me for twenty minutes in his eyes. It's not like we're acquaintances, we're total strangers.

"I'm getting the idea that you just don't want to be that close to me," I widened my eyes, Donghyuck beginning to chuckle at my expression. With his next words, he must've read my mind. "It must be unbearable, hm? To be sitting with me in this car for twenty minutes."

"Not at all," I caught myself before I stammered, hoping that I didn't give him the wrong impression. "It's just that I don't know much about you, so it's kind of hard to talk to you about anything."

"You could always talk about yourself. I'm all ears," Donghyuck said, but I grimaced. I still didn't know what to say. "After your driving declaration, it's clear: you're part of our team now, Jiayi. You can come to any of us if you have problems or you simply want to talk. It doesn't have to be me."

"Thanks, Donghyuck," After I said his name, his eyes avoided mine, back on the road. "I'll learn how to be some kind of importance to the team eventually."

"No need to make it quick, just stick around," He took a left into the parking lot of my apartment. He stopped the car, looking back at me for a moment. "Jiayi, do you still want to be friends with the Luminaries?"

"Um... if I can't, that's fine–"

"No, it's not that, uh..." We were an awkward pair now that we were alone. He coughed, and I widened my eyes. He must've noticed and waved me off. "I'm fine, I promise. About them–you can be friends with them, but don't be too friendly. They're not that nice. If you do, take me with you."

I didn't pressure a reason as I usually would, considering that I was one of them now. "Okay."

"The next time we meet, I promise we can get you a helmet. Just remind me at the next practice or circuit meet," He turned off his car, nodding one last time. "That's all I had to talk to you about. See you."

He left the car first to climb back into Taeyong's apartment. The conversation, like always, was brief. He made it so awkward for me, and probably, for himself. At least he wasn't giving me the cold shoulder–I think this officially means we're teammates.

And that means... I'm a racer now.