THE BLEEDING HEARTS PROGRAM

FIFTH TUTORIAL

"You want this car," Junya asked innocently.

It couldn't be that expensive... Junya was sure he could get it for Raphael if the other really wanted it. There weren't many things that he couldn't own if he wanted to.

Raphael laughed to himself before shaking his head.

"There's some things that aren't meant to be owned by a single person - owning a car like this would be like confining a tiger to a penthouse. It needs to be on the fields."

Junya nodded in awe. "So... you just like this car, but you don't want to own it? Why not?"

"It won like twenty one races, it is an absolute beast. The people who worked on this car must have felt euphoric... imagine building something that wins that many times - it needs to keep showing why it's the best one. But there's other cool ones too."

"Which ones," Junya rushed getting out a small notebook and pen. The excitement radiating from Raphael was infectious. It beat learning facts about metals and rocks for sure. "Teach me."

"Then, let me show you the McLaren MP4/4."
...

"I think I ran out of space in my notebook," Junya awed quickly flipping through the now full pages. "I didn't think there was this much to formula one. How do you know so much?"

"My dad and I used to watch it from time to time. I'm glad you liked it," Raphael grinned before looking at his watch. "It's getting la-"

"We haven't seen the gift shop- you can never leave a place without a souvenir."

"You know it's a money grab right? Just over priced key chains. I'm sure you can get the same online for less."

"Just indulge me, okay," Junya smiled grabbing the other's arm pulling him along. "I just want to see if there's anything interesting."

Truthfully, Junya wasn't ready to go home.

He was having so much fun.

He wanted to do anything to make the moment last longer.
...

Raphael had already seen a Lewis Hamilton keychain for twenty dollars in their current economy crisis. He had put his hands in his pockets since that moment and pretended he couldn't hear any numbers.

The Mercedes MG Patronas merch had caught his eyes a few times but, he couldn't justify spending so much money on a team jacket or a small scale model.

Even if they were incredibly cool.

"You got everything you wanted Junya," Raphael asked with a kind smile patting the other's head. Maybe he was too tired to even register what he was doing - he had a late shift at his job the previous day.

"I hope you had fun today."

"I had the most fun today," Junya nodded. "I want to do this again."
...

Raphael was nodding off a bit on the drive back to Junya's house. He was so tired and he just couldn't help it with the comfortable seats.

"We'll drive you back Mr Matias - you don't have to get up," one of the bodyguards commented smiling at the fact he was finally quiet.

They were just glad he helped Junya have such a great time.

"You're leaving the bag behind Junya."

"Oh... it's for you Raphael," he smiled before quickly getting out of the car. It was sly to give the gift and leave straight away but, Raphael seemed like the type who didn't know how to receive gifts.
...

Raphael looked at the bag a bit guiltily.

He was already getting paid for this gig... it didn't feel right to also receive gifts. He fully intended to return everything... until he looked inside the bag.

How could he return all this Patronas merch? Especially the team jacket or the model car.

"How did he even know I was looking at this?"

Raphael had a lot of siblings and he was the oldest in a blended family. Being the oldest meant that he rarely got what he wanted.

The whole dynamic became even more complicated because his stepdad wasn't fond of him.

Mainly because Raphael reminded his step dad of his dad. He looked like the man and he acted like the man - down to his choice to do a mechanical engineering degree. Plus, he was smart.

Raphael was just happy to get a scholarship in a college far away.

Even after college, when he went back to New York, he had no plans of going back home. He barely kept in contact with any of his family.

Just looking at the bag, Raphael felt his heart speed up a little. He received a gift without even asking for it.

When was the last time someone noticed he wanted something?

It was strange.

For someone to pay attention to something small a glance.