DOWNTOWN.
chapter twenty | bring it.

"Hey," Dad greeted me without opening my door. I eventually had to tell him about Renjun, but thankfully, he believed the glossed-over version of it. "I'm going to work. If your friends come over, let them in, okay? And make sure to go out for a bit, and also eat. I'll be back a little late, as always."

"'Kay," I croaked, not bearing to make too much effort. "See you later."

"...See you," He cleared his throat, and after a minute or so, I heard the door close. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand, seeing the dozens of missed calls that ranged from Taeyong, Chaewon, Yuta, and the rest of the Neos to even a call from Sakura. What surprised me, oddly, was no call from Donghyuck, though I oddly wanted one from him most. I get it, though, because when you're mourning, it's difficult to reach out. Many cope differently.

However, amid the flood of calls was a text message. It was from an unknown number, but his name at the end said everything.

'I hope you're doing okay. Let's meet when you're done mourning.

- Minho.'

I chuckled a bit at it. Although he was such a serious person, I guess it's evident that Minho can separate those kinds of feelings when he cares. The scene he made in the hospital gave me the hunch, but the text confirmed it. I guess even borrowing his car and not having him break me in half could've been a factor too.

I got up, tying my hair back as I pressed my phone to my ear. "Hello? Minho?"

"God, I texted you two days ago, and you're already picking up? I thought it would take you a week," Minho complained, defeating my polite purpose. "I suppose you're calling me because you'd like to talk now, right?"

"Correct," I cleared my throat, putting my jacket over my tank top. "I'm ready to meet you now. You know that breakfast place right down the street from your mansion?"

"...Yes, I do, but it scares me that you know it."

"I'll meet you there. Don't worry about how I know," I teased, ending the call. Quickly, I called a taxi, and in at least half an hour, I made it just in time.

Minho's car was parked right outside of the restaurant, and in the slightly tinted windows, I could see him drinking coffee. I quickly paid the fare and jogged inside, meeting him on the other side of the table. He didn't bother looking up from his cup, just the clearing of his throat aware of my arrival. "You know, if you didn't want to come, you didn't have to."

I raised an eyebrow when the server came around to serve me chocolate milk, I suppose as per Minho's order. That was kind of him to assume I liked sweets because I do. "I chose you over the Neos. I think you've misunderstood."

"Ha, did I? Apologies, then," Minho scratched his head. "Man, I'm kind of thinking about it now, but this is going to be the last time I sincerely apologize to you."

"We're friends when the war ends, so if there's anything to apologize about, you can wait until then," Minho's soft smile molded into an expressionless, thin line, and I knew he wanted to speak about Renjun and the issue at hand. I looked down at the chocolate milk, bringing it forward so I could take a sip. "Go ahead, Minho. I know you want to."

"Right," Minho sighed. "I heard about the loss and condolences. But, I also heard that your decision matters most among the Neos, and–"

"I made you a promise, Minho," I took a sip, enjoying the sweetness. "We're going to war. I'll do my best to convince them."

"I know, but– I fear that you might be going easy on me," I scoffed at his response, grabbing my phone out of my back pocket. I dialed Taeyong, and Minho widened his eyes. "Wait, what are you doing? Jiayi, you–"

"Hello?" Taeyong spoke over the phone. Minho immediately kept quiet, biting his cheek. "Jiayi, are you doing okay? I haven't heard from you in a week or two."

"I'm doing just fine, Taeyong. Thank you," I shifted my position. "I think it's time to strike."

"Huh?" Minho's eyes expressed confusion but understood immediately after I flashed him a bitter smile. "What do you mean, Jiayi?"

"Relay this to Donghyuck for me, will you?" I asked, hoping for the favor to be completed. "Tell him that I've made my decision: We're going to war with the Luminaries. I need all of us to meet at the circuit tonight, at seven, and settle how we want it to be."

"I'm fine with relaying that message, Jiayi, but–" Taeyong sighed, seeming to press his phone closer to his ear. Whispering, he adds, "How will the Luminaries know?"

"Don't worry, I have a little birdy who'll do me that favor," Minho scoffed. "Just trust me, alright?"

"...Okay. I'll tell Haechan. See you later, then."

"Bye," I ended the call, sliding my phone onto the wooden table. "You wanted me to do this, so why would I go easy on you? If anything, we shouldn't even be talking now that we're enemies."

"I'm bitter to see you try and ridicule me, but I guess that tells me I shouldn't be underestimating you," Minho stands up, scooting out of the booth. "I've got to get back to the house and give my team a preparation speech. Is the jurisdiction of the war up to us?"

"Not sure. If it isn't, still think about how you'd like it," Minho nodded, listening to my words. "Oh, and, one more thing."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it?"

"Thanks," I lifted my head, a shocked expression on his face. "Thanks for everything... before all I can do is scorn at you. I've been dick-riding both sides, but I hope you're nice enough to forgive me for any issues I've caused."

"You're going to continue dick-riding both teams, aren't you?"

"Loud and proud."

"Then don't ask for forgiveness just yet if you're going to continue acting like that," He scolded me, putting his car keys in his pocket. "And, if you decide to swing both sides, don't tell anybody–but I'm fine. It would help if you weren't sticking your nose anywhere beyond our current boundary, anyway. You didn't take part in the original feud."

I didn't like being underestimated. He didn't know, but he was doing it again. "And if I butt in?"

"You'd just be betraying me again. You know how much I hate that," Yeah, after seeing his reaction to wearing my helmet in his car, I realized how serious it was for him. "So, be good. Anyway, I'm stalling, so I'm leaving now. See you later."

"Bye," I trailed off, waving as he left. As I sat alone in the diner, staring at the chocolate milk, the fear of tonight began to settle in.

We were going to war.

I got out of my father's car, slamming it shut. Compared to all the nice sports cars that surrounded me in the parking lot, Dad's car looked like shit. I laughed about it for a moment, until I realized that people were waiting at the gateway of the circuit. So, quickly, I walked over, spotting only the Neos. It was 5 minutes to seven, so I would think that the Luminaries were going to make a grand entrance.

"Jiayi, you're just on time!" Yuta clapped his hands together, soon crossing his arms. "I suppose you made the choice, right? No person on this team would go against Haechan's form of judgment except you."

Donghyuck and I turned to face him, stabbing imaginary knives into his skin for his useless commentary. "You're right," I replied shortly but added, "But, you guys came."

"You called," Donghyuck said, facing me. "Of course, we had to come."

It warmed my heart, but any other conversation was bulldozed by the roaring of sports cars over the horizon. Finally, they line into the parking lot, each person getting out. Some came in pairs, while some rode solo–and there was one person I hadn't met who seemed to be riding with Yeosang. Minho glanced at me first, nodding his head slightly.

Taeyong cocked his head. "It shocks me you've arrived."

"When you're the birdy," Minho glared at Taeyong, who got the message instantly. After Taeyong's eyebrows furrowed, he slyly smiled, mocking the auburn-haired boy by cocking his head too. "Do you even have the choice?"

Taeyong faced me, beckoning to Minho with his eyes, but I didn't look at him. I stared straight at Minho. "Now," Minho shoves his hands in his pockets. "Who gets the jurisdiction?"

"It was us last time," Donghyuck suddenly spoke up. "So I suppose that this time, it should be yours."

"Thank god. Then, I assume you know what we're going to do, right?" Donghyuck hated the cocky tone that Minho began to use. Minho knew that having control of the track was going to be his upper hand, and he was going to exploit that opportunity as much as he could.

"Unfortunately, I do."

"Great. So, I don't need to explain too thoroughly," Minho slacked his shoulders back, glancing over at the rest of us. Donghyuck had slowly made his way to the front, his figure blocking Minho's view of me in case there was something he was going to miss between us. "Five street races. We pick three, you get two–and the winning team is whoever has more teammates in the top three by the end of each race. Tally your points, and whoever gets three out of five first are the victors."

Donghyuck nodded although hesitant to bring us into street racing. "No fighting."

"No fighting," Minho repeated, agreeing to the clause. "But car fighting is fine?"

"...Yes," Yuta looked skeptical, Mark included–the idea of car fighting seemed to hurt their pride. "But the moment anyone strikes beyond that, we're going to give you the same energy back."

"Oh please," Minho laughed. "You think it would be us that would strike first? I think you should begin caring for yourselves."

My fists tightened, shaky as I peered from behind Donghyuck. "Prepare as long as you need to," Minho added. "I know street racing's not your expertise, so I'll take it easy for you on the first race–"

"We don't need it," Taeyong interrupted, scoffing. "We'll be just fine, so don't think you're being polite by pitying us."

"Oh? Well, I gave you the chance," Minho snickered, shaking his head. "Fine, then. I'll give you two weeks to prepare–the first race will be in Yonghyeon-Dong. I'll text her the address."

Donghyuck bit his cheek, beckoning to me. "Her?" Minho nodded. "You both aren't friends."

"You, of all people, should know which way she swings," I was about to swing at his face. "We're not typical friends, but I won't start that conversation."

He paused, taking a step to the right, head tilted far to make eye contact with me. "I'll text you," Minho said. "You can then relay it to your friends, okay?"

Donghyuck moved forward swiftly, grabbing Minho's collar and lifting a fist. Minho continued to stare at me despite the tension between him and Donghyuck, but as the Luminaries unsurely looked at each other, Minho finally faced him. "See what I mean?" Minho remarked, scoffing before roughly shoving Donghyuck off of him. "The war hasn't even started and you're picking a fight. Learn how to control yourself."

Then, Minho glanced at the rest of them, seemingly laughing to himself. "Scoundrels," He murmured. "See you guys in two weeks, then. Don't kill yourself trying to beat us."

Then, Minho and the Luminaries, one by one, began to leave. I stepped forward, seeing Chaeyoung, and she turned toward me. She looked at Donghyuck, possibly for consent, and finally, he shifted to let me through.

"You and my captain here have some tangled affairs," Chaeyoung murmured, nudging me. "What happened between you two? I haven't seen Lee Know like that since the early rivalry days. What's got him all sultry-sounding?"

"He's been a bitch, always, but I understand what you mean," Chaeyoung softly laughed as we watched the Luminaries begin to leave. "Minho was the one who wanted this, so I'm playing along. It's all for Renjun in the end."

"At least they'll finally be able to settle things once and for all. Took them years of breaking straws, hair by hair, to get this far," Chaeyoung then tapped my shoulder, signaling her farewell. "Well, my shotgun's waiting."

I faced the car, seeing the boy who arrived with Yeosang. "Yeosang's got a late-night appointment, so I'm taking him home," She smiled. "His name's Wooyoung, if you're curious, but I think he's not your type."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What makes you say that?"

"You're either playing dumb or you're oddly oblivious," Chaeyoung raised her eyebrows. "Anyway, if you ever want to head out for a drive or you're being disrespected by the Neos, give me a call. This rivalry is ass anyway–and I honestly don't care what the outcomes are going to be."

I widened my eyes. "You're saying that so suddenly?"

"I mean, you know it too, right?" Chaeyoung said. "That this shit show is nonsensical."

"Of course, I do, but–"

"Then don't dive in too deep," That's what Minho said. "Or you're going to get hurt."

After silence, Chaeyoung nudged me again and departed with Wooyoung. Of course, his stare seemed to linger on me, and I didn't like that. I turned away the moment her purple BMW dashed, facing Taeyong. "Have you street-raced before, Taeyong?"

"Sure, plenty of times as a motorcyclist," Taeyong nodded. "But it's not safe. You've got too many obstacles–road rage, police, crashes, traffic–you have to be able to predict the state of the road pretty well to get the perfect conditions for a street race."

"But they're filthy rich kids," Chaewon spoke for the first time. "Can't they work their way around it?"

"Sure they can. But will the situation always work as needed? Hell no," Taeyong shook his head. "Street racing requires more than the simple skill of racing. It's precision, street-smarts, and trust. If we're missing just one of those things, everything can crash."

I stayed silent until a hand pulled me back. I looked to my right, seeing Jaemin, who I didn't even know was there. "Jiayi."

My eyebrows knitted together in suspicion. "...Jaemin."

"What convinced you to make this decision?" Jaemin hissed. "To fight them? Isn't this going to kill us all?"

"That's what I believed," I swallowed my words, trying to suppress a rude remark. "But I have faith in us, Jaemin. I think we can settle this."

He sighed in frustration, raking back his hair. "Jiayi–"

"Trust me," I interrupted, mustering enough courage to face Jaemin's disapproval. "Please, trust me."

Jaemin was silent for a moment, eventually nodding. "I'll... trust you."