ILJIN

26 | CENTURIES

Makes sense.

"Anything yet?" I ripped a packet of gummies open, expecting a 'no' once again, but-

"She's left her house. On the go now, Jimin, Yilin. Get ready."

Well, then. I stared dejectedly at my gummies.

..

The arena had always been bustling, buzzing and full of activity, but it seems it was even more so today.

Maybe because of the sudden interests from many Clan members to watch the grand finale, his race... Against death. They'd came to quench their blood lust, or merely to watch the show- see who gets the first hit on Minghao. No wait, not Minghao. THE8. In here, he was THE8, the Beast on the Streets.

The jarring cheers tonight sounded a lot like mocking to his ears, and the off-beat clapping felt like taunts. We'll see who's the last one laughing by the end of the day, hons. Incisive neon lights danced across the black asphalt, displaying the uncountable skid marks it adorned throughout the half-year proudly.

Motorcycles of different flashy brands, colours and sizes drew up right behind the painted white line, engines roaring like untamed beasts, ready to shot right out and get this over and done with.

A ravenette girl stepped onto the tracks, hips swaying, white flags in both hands. Meet the receptionist and flagger-girl of the track: Park Joy. Dolled up and pretty, she shone brighter than anyone else in the arena.

The crowd screamed with excitement at her arrival, like excited fangirls and boys seeing their idols for the first time, hearts racing to the beat of her rhythmic heel clicks.

Minghao often wondered how many times she practiced walking like that. Was it learned or was that how she walked naturally? He didn't know, and he doubted he'll ever ask. It was too weird a question.

"Ready?" Joy flourished her flag at the racer to her extreme right and went down the row as the racers' cranked up the engines so they grew irritatingly louder.

She swapped the flags in her hands neatly over the air and the crowd wowed over it. "Steady?" Joy called out, grinning at the response. "On your mark, boys!"

An audible hush fell over the audience and the air thickened with a tension which could literally choke.

"GO!"

The crowd went wild as the lot of them flew off so fast Minghao barely caught the end tail of their cycles. It definitely felt different watching races. He was too used to being in the game, he supposed. It was the same with Basketball.

But before he could really sit back and enjoy this race, he was yanked up and far off and away by a very angry Kang Seulgi.

"Êtes-vous fou (Are you crazy)? Have you gone mad?" the girl snapped once they were too far too be heard. He heard a bristle from his earpieces, probably Yilin, from the quiet gummy chewing noises that followed. "Why did you come? You-" she jabbed him in the chest. "-Are on the Dong-Huangs' high importance hit list, you know that? And God knows why there are so many Lees prancing about too. I literally walked into five on the way over, and that's a lot."

He did know exactly why the Lees were here, did that make him God?

"Hello to you too, Kang. Congratulations on your win in the first race," he greeted her smoothly, swatting off her hand.