Tonight, you and I,
We all fall into it

My mind was dizzy with desire, confusion inching through every corner. Seulgi's hands stayed on my shoulders, slowly pushing me back into the arm of the couch until she was leaning completely over me, her knees on either side of my legs.

Lips responding sloppily, I cupped her hip in my palm and tried to kiss back, forgetting my months of inexperience and trying my best—but I was by far outmatched.

Her mouth opened against mine, parting my lips forcefully, and our tongues collided, a hot, haphazard mess of clashing tongues and teeth. The corner of her lips lifted in a half smile against my cheek, and she lifted her mouth, allowing me to breathe for a second before I hastily kissed her again, thinking almost drunkenly.

Making out with strangers is fun.

Also, you're not straight.

It was almost as if the cocaine dusting her otherwise impeccable clothes had some sort of effect on me, rendering me passionate and overly energetic, but every movement of mine was jerky and hesitant, confused and messy. I gasped for air, lips parting as I came up, and her mouth rested on my jaw, her teeth grazing my skin in a way that sent shockwaves rolling through my spine.

"You're cute," She chuckled as her lips left mine for a short moment, before coming down on them again. "You say you're here for Minhyuk?"

My brain seemed to have no control over my mouth—all I could do was stare up at her, eyes half closed and panting heavily through the kiss. "Huh? I-I mean, yeah."

There was the slight smirk on her lips again, and the tip of her forefinger touched the end of my jaw, and slowly trailed down to my lips. The look in her eyes was one of pure, feral amusement, but I didn't regret it for a single second.

"You don't look the type, to be honest." She mused, and even though I had no idea what she was referring to, I stared at her face, the movement of her lips, the way her eyes scanned my face. But then, she grinned, and my heart stopped. "Don't be too pissed when they tell you, honey. You're not the first."

I frowned, confused, and turned my head to the side. A few feet away, in the crowd, a face winked at me. Vernon. What?

Seulgi's red fingernail tapped my chin, turning my attention back to her. She shook her head, still smiling amusedly, and leaned down to kiss me shortly before climbing off my heated body. "Don't worry."

"What?" I was still in shock, my hair and composure disheveled as I sat up, trying to catch my breath. "This place—"

"We're all friends here." She smiled charmingly, but her effect was wearing off. "I believe Minhyuk had some ulterior motive in inviting you here."

I blinked, anger swirling in the pit of my stomach, replacing the earlier heat of lust. "What the fuck?"

"Language, honey." A warm finger rested against my lips. "It doesn't sound nice on pretty lips like yours."

I opened my mouth, and then closed it. Vernon. Vernon. I was angry, surprised, caught off guard and hence even more angry. "Well, if he thinks I'm going to join their cult, he's greatly mistaken."

"Is he?" Seulgi chuckled, and then sighed, a long, sweet sigh like she had seen many like me. "I admire your confidence, sweetheart, but this is something you can't refuse."

"Racing?" I scoffed. "After all the shit I've gotten into because of it? Hell no."

"Mhm." She smiled, slowly, but gleefully, like she knew something I didn't. "I bet you thought you wouldn't kiss any strangers smelling like coke, either."

My ears felt hot, and my gaze dropped to the floor. It was probably not very late either, but the crowd was thinning out despite it only being late evening. Or was it later than that?

"It's almost nine." Seulgi spoke, as if she'd read my mind, but when I looked up, she was looking somewhere else. "They'll be starting soon."

"Where is everyone going?" I whispered, mostly to myself, but she heard me and folded her arms across her chest, looked amused. "Is this some sort of satanic ritual or something?"

"I guess you could call it that." She shrugged and walked forward. "Come on, hon. You don't want to miss this."

She led me away from the centre, towards what looked like a back door, but more secretive, in a corner where almost no one was dancing, as if it was meant to be hidden away.

"You see," She spoke as we made our way towards it, almost as if she was explaining something technical to me. "Not everyone who parties here is a part of the usual crowd, so naturally, we have to keep them away from the tracks. We don't want any unwanted underage flock here."

"Unwanted underage flock." My lips lifted in a half-smile, half-scoff, but it died down quickly as we stepped outside.

I'd stepped into a street race.

Well, not exactly a race—more like a setting for one. I didn't recognize the street, but the avenue was crowded with people, most of them around college age. The night air was chilly despite the heat in the air, the assortment of cars lining the end, some of them being leaned against by a flirting couple or a youth showing off his or her new paint job.

Nissans, Rimacs and even Lamborghinis—holy shit. For a total of twenty seconds, I was speechless.

"Like what you see?" Seulgi teased from her position next to me, flaunting her pretty hands on my shoulder once again before lightly shoving me towards the cars. "Go on, mingle with the crowd...they're mostly petrolheads, and you're one too, I believe." She laughed. "Don't get lost, and beware of pissing off redheads."

An image of the boy I had seen in the bleachers flashes across my mind for a second as she says that, and I shake my head minutely. I needed to stop thinking that every strange face I had ever seen in Seoul was going to be here—but judging by his aura, maybe he would.

Stop.

I pursed my lips and turned to her to ask her what I was supposed to do, but I was met with nothing. She was already gone, and here I was, at a place which I had sworn to myself never to visit.

On top of that, I had no way of knowing which way was out.

"Alright then," I muttered to myself and shuffled forwards, eyes moving from side to side, hoping for a glimpse of someone familiar, though I didn't really know anyone. Even Vernon or Minhyuk would have been fine.

When I looked back, the bar's back looked almost as inviting, if not more, as the front, which led me to believe that this was the real deal. What the owners actually dabbled in.

Some people had crowded what looked like the track's starting line, so a race was probably going to happen soon. Might as well watch one if I was going to be stuck in here. I couldn't see anyone singled out on the roads, though, so probably not immediately. No starters.

So I stood there, folding my arms over my chest and looked over the range of sports cars and fastbacks decorating the plaza. McLarens? Check. Rimacs? Check. Hell, they even had muscle cars. Though they were kind of old. Overall, it was pretty impressive, since Korea wasn't exactly the best place for car watching. And—

Wait, what the hell?

My jaw dropped immediately, arms following the same manner as I stared at the model in disbelief. It was my dream car—scratch that, a lot of people's dream car.

A gleaming red-and-black Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

"Holy shit." I whispered in disbelief, not realising that I had started walking towards it. I wouldn't have normally been intrusive, but I couldn't help myself from running my fingers across the cold metal exterior of the car. "Holy shit."

For a second, I didn't know whether or not I regretted having found this place. Even if I did race, what use would my car be against a car like this? I would be toast, regardless of to what extent my racing skills are.

But...

"Aren't these illegal in Korea?" I mused, wondering how far this place was in the black hole of illicit shit. "How...?"

"You don't want to know." A cold voice cut through the air, and I looked up with a flinch. I didn't really expect anyone to be there, especially when it had been so quiet...and definitely not him.

The redhead from the bleachers glared down at me, eyes narrowed in a way that told me I'd done something bad. I get my answer when he steps forward, and his eyes flickered to my hand—which was still on the car—irately. "That's my car you're touching."

Talk of the devil.

My eyes narrowed, but I withdrew my hand. "Alright, no need to get so worked up, Archie."

He scoffed, and leaned slightly on his left leg, resting the palm of his left hand on the car's hood. "You're new."

"What gave it away?" I asked dryly.

"You have lipstick on. Badly." He observed, and though the statement was general, his body language was unfriendly. "Let me guess—Kang?"

I blinked, confused. "What?"

"Probably." He muttered, and shook his head. As he did, I caught a glimpse of the multitude of silvery piercings decorating his earlobe. "Don't touch my car—the last thing you want in this place is to be against me."

"Heard you the first time."

"Fiesty." He observed. "I don't like that."

His gaze was still hostile, stance protective and slightly pissed. I know it sounded weird, but out of all the people I'd met here, he seemed the most tolerable—the no-nonsense, miss-me-with-that-bullshit kind who didn't like making out with random strangers.

But the last thing I wanted was attitude, after all the shit I'd endured at this crap party. Even if he had an illegal Stingray.

The corner of my lips twitched. "Noted."

"Guess you want to ride in this thing, huh?" The boy patted the red exterior of the car, the sleeve of his old leather jacket pulling up to reveal the pale inside of his wrist. "I don't think so."

I raised a challenging eyebrow. "I wouldn't bet on it."

"Really?" The corner of his thin lips lifted in a mocking smirk. "Bet."

My eyes narrowed further, and despite every muscle in my body yelling at me to leave, I smirked back, just as twisted and sardonic. "Alright, then." I grinned viciously. "I get to ride in your car in the next race if you win this one, Archie."

──────

ah, finally we get into the plot.

plus, if you were confused about the last chapter, college works differently in sk. eating alone is considered to be social suicide, and even though they drink a lot, korea has a very strict drug policy, so that's why the mc was so skeptical about a party that smelled like cocaine.

all in all, though, i don't know very much about sk's culture, so korean fam, feel free to point out any mistakes! though this won't be completely correct, cause then the plot wouldn't work lol. street racing isn't really a thing over there.

leave me your thoughts about the chapter in the comments!

love,
Manx