slow down ➳ 이희승

𖥻 chapter ten

heeseung is nowhere to be seen.

she scoffs in disbelief, lips tucked in a lopsided smile as she slows down and takes a turn to the left, speeding down the homestretch.

close. so close.

from the rare mirror, heeseung's car pops up & revs, headlights glaring at her. her heart palpitates angrily in her chest, as if it'd jump off her body if it weren't for the ribcage keeping it in.

no, she's too close to give up.

now their cars drive side by side, her preceding. ava glances to the left and sees heeseung intently staring to the front. he glances at her, gazes meeting in a tense second.

"c'mon ava, you've got this!"

someone's voice echoes in her ears ─ probably jungwon's ─ and her grip on the wheel tightens, foot pressing hard on the accelerator. 290 kilometers per hour, that's the highest she's reached.

the man on the platform raises the checkered flag up. the crowd is at the edge of their seats ─ quite literally. it's a matter of centimeters now, a matter of seconds.

"shit shit shit!"

ava's eyes widen as she crosses the line, the flag falling as the cheers in the earpiece meddle with the shouts of the crowd.

"AND AVA YOON WINS! AVA! YOON! WINS! against lee heeseung with just milliseconds of difference! SHEEEE!"

she abruptly stops the car, exiting it as smoke engulfs her. she takes off her helmet and sweat immediately drops down her face & neck, her hair a big mess. but nothing matters right now, not even the smudged mascara & her puffy eyes.

victory, at last.

"you did it girl!" nora embraces her from the back, lifting her up as she violently shakes her left & right, but ava gets no time to react, as a bunch of racers jump on her, jake leading the way.

"congrats babe!" he bends down and nora places her legs on his shoulders, and she's now hovering over a wave of helmeted heads and fans, jungwon peaking through with his big headset ─ that's actually too big for his small head.

"you did it~" his high-pitched voice screeches and ava blows a kiss his way, too enamored to utter a word. she taps jake's head, signaling that she'd like to get down, and the blond does as told, carefully kneeling on the ground.

"that will for sure be the hot-topic till next week." lydia cheers & nora nods in agreement, wrapping ava up in a tight hug. "you showed him girl, you. showed. him." she chants between punches on her shoulder, but the girl feels no pain.

oh, she for sure did show him.

midst the crowd, a little gap is formed & heeseung walks up to her. his eyes glint, but she can't quite put her finger on what could it be. either way, his steps halt before her, staring down at her for a tense moment.

his hand shoots up & extends in front of her chest. "congratulations." he says & she takes his hand, allowing him to shake it. he then leans in, pulling her closer to him as he does so.

"it was about time, pathetic."

he pulls away with a smirk and she mirrors his expression, happiness & pride filling her heart. "why thank you, darling." she whispers and pulls him close to her again, wrapping her right arm around his neck, trapping him in a somewhat hug.

"kiss my ass, lee."

she softly pushes herself off him, lips stretched in a smile as she shrugs and pouts. "it was about time you bid your precious first place goodbye." with a tilt of her head, she winks and steps back, letting the small crowd take her to wherever.

꒰🏁꒱

"your happiness is short-lived."

ava's head shots up at the sound of his voice, meeting heeseung's fiery gaze under the dim afternoon light. nora & riki had just left along with her crew, with jungwon being the last one ─ "it still feels like a dream." he whispered as she escorted him out of her garage, slapping the back of his head with a laugh.

"what?" "you won once, so what?" he shrugs and lets his fingers hover over the hood of her car, touching it ever so lightly. ava scoffs. "you lost once! just suck it up like a grown up?"

"you're so childish." she chuckles and leans back on the wall, balancing on one leg. "why're you even here, hmm? you're supposed to be at home, prolly crying over finishing second place or, even worse, whining about it to ja─"

her words are cut short as heeseung slams his hands on the wall, one on either side of her head. he leans in & bends his head a little, lips parted the slightest as his breath comes out a bit rugged.

"I'm not like you, ava yoon." he says in a hushed tone, & something about the way her name rolls off his tongue this time makes her insides jump and her stomach burn, much to her dismay.

"oh really? then what do you do when you finish second place?" she raises a brow & lets her head fall back on the wall, looking at him through hooded eyes. he scoffs and glares at her.

"I've never finished anything but first before, darling." he mocks and tilts his head to the left, running his tongue through his bottom lip.

ava hums. "of course, the almighty lee heeseung has never tasted defeat. but, oh well. i personally gave you a taste of it." she brings her hand up & runs her index down his jawline, stopping when he reaches his chin. she taps on it and smiles. "you're welcome."

she keeps her finger there, rubbing the spot ever so gently. he looks down, and before she can even process it, he opens his mouth and takes her finger in, softly biting on its base as he meets her eyes.

shit. fuck. help.

she can pull her finger out ─ might as well slap his face away & push him off of her. but she doesn't. she stares back at him in the same intense way, heart thumping against her chest.

heeseung starts sucking, his tongue licking up her digit, before he pulls off with a pop. his lips are pouty & glisten under the sunlight that's coming from the open door. "you're blushing."

"what if my finger had dirt in it?" she asks instead, her finger still standing in between them, glinting in his spit. he smiles oh so innocently, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

"then, I was glad to suck off ava yoon's dirty finger."

his breath is hot against her earlobe, as he pushes himself off the wall and starts walking away. "next week, ava yoon. promise to beat you."

"does it ring any bells?" he asks as he turns around, walking backwards to the exit. "it's the same thing you told me, then I beat you up two times in a row."

he laughs & vanishes in the distance, but ava doesn't notice. her mind has been absent since the moment he pulled away, leaving her a flustered mess.

she takes a deep breath, wiping her finger on her pants as she fixes her tee & attempts to collect herself. but she's feeling too hot and bothered to even think straight.

this motherfucker.