Jisung rolled over in his bed at the sound of his alarm clock. A soft groan vibrated from his chest. He didn't want to get up. He'd spent so much time practicing. So much anxiety had gone through him within that time. He was drained. "Jisung, get up. You have round two with Jeongin in two hours."
Of course it was Chris who was bugging him. "A few more minutes."
"I didn't sign up to be your mother." A weight pushed down on the bed Jisung was slowly falling back asleep in.
"I don't remember my dad hiring you to do so either," Jisung retorted, shoving his friends hand off of his shoulder lazily.
"You smell like a monkey. Get in the shower." At the mention of a shower, a chuckle echoed through the shared bedroom of the group. Jisung's eyes peaked open, revealing a brightly lit up room with lavender wallpaper and his two best friends. Chris was dressed in his usual leather jacket and jeans, while Changbin stood by the dresser with a towel hanging from his hips, phone in hand. Jisung wasn't weirded out. They were practically brothers. Why should he care if Changbin was shirtless?
"What are you giggling about?" Chris asked the shortest of them all. Jisung didn't actually care what was going on. He instead buried himself under the covers, trying to ignore the oncoming words from Changbin.
"Felix sent me a snap."
Of course it was Felix. They'd been talking non-stop for days. They just clicked well. Hilarious, as Changbin was a total introvert and Felix an extrovert. Though somehow Felix brought out a more social side of the raven-haired boy. "Ask him out already," Jisung yelled from beneath his covers.
"Shut up, you have no room to talk. Get out of bed. Minho is waiting at the garage for us."
The brown-haired boy popped his head out, Changbin offering a playful wink. "Don't do that ever again," the youngest hissed, absolutely disgusted by the action.
"I'm just trying to tease you," Changbin sighed.
"I'm not Felix."
"Okay I get it! I'll ask him out. Jesus."
"Lord have mercy on my soul," Chris muttered. A girlish laugh came from the door not even a second later.
"It's good to see you guys up so early." Jisung pouted. Now there was no way he could go back to sleep. Not when she was here.
"I thought you weren't coming back for another week?" Chris offered his charismastic smile toward the girl in the door way. Her hair was blonde with pieces dyed orange and pink. It fell a few inches beyond her shoulders. She was pretty. Her voice was also nice.
"Yeah, well, surprise. Jisung, you really should be getting up. It's twelve."
Sana Minatozaki. She was Chris' really close friend from high school. The one that had offered to house the three during their trip to Japan. Chris had informed Changbin and Jisung that she lived in Osaka for most of her life before her exchange program. Then after highschool she moved back to Japan, switching to Tokyo as she wanted to continue to be independent and not rely as much on her parents. As far as they knew, she was a calligraphy artist. That was the extent of the boy's knowledge.
"Now I have three moms. I came to Japan to escape my biological one only to discover two new ones." Jisung sat up, eyes moving from Sana to Changbin who was still in his towel. Neither of the two seemed to care. Changbin only had eyes for Felix so there was no need to be worried. Sana on the other hand wasn't such an open book.
"Hm, I was thinking more of a big sister." Sana gave out another laugh before telling the three she'd be in her room unpacking. Apparently she'd just got home and instantly went upstairs to check on them. She was sweet. A lot like Jeongin and Felix. Perhaps she'd get along with them.
"You heard the lady, time to get up." Jisung pulled the covers off of his body, exposing black plaid pajama pants that matched with his gray top. Unlike Chris he didn't sleep naked like a damn french girl being painted. He guessed there was no getting out of it, he might as well just take his shower already. Plus, he couldn't lie to himself and say he wasn't a bit excited to see Minho. Ever since he'd beat his score there was something different between them. Jisung didn't care to discover what exactly that was. He was just glad such a comfortable and happy feeling existed in life. After the three got ready they all hopped into Changbin's black ford, allowing Chris to drive them to their destination.
"How should I ask him out?" Changbin asked out of nowhere.
"I don't know, I barely know the guy," Jisung whispered, Chris shrugging his shoulders as he flicked on the front left blinker.
"Thanks, real helpful," Changbin replied sarcastically. It was quiet for a moment before Changbin groaned. Jisung had silently been watching him type away at the keyboard only to delete everything and start over.
"He said something about your car being a date car. Ask him to a drive in movie."
"Or offer to take him to the beach. It depends on what you are looking for out of your date." Chris knew too much about dating for someone who had only ever been to blind dates. "What's your end goal?"
Changbin hid his face behind his phone, obviously embarrassed by the question. Jisung watched as Chris smiled. It was weird to think he had such a caring and gentle friend. To be fair, they were all kind and supportive in their own ways. Chris was just more expressive. Jisung and Changbin had a hard time doing so. Exactly the reasoning behind Chris being their subsitute mom.
"I guess that means you want a little more than hand holding," Chris teased.
"Shut up! I don't need your help anymore!" Changbin yelled.
Jisung sighed at the two, resting his head on the window. They argued like parents. He often felt like a little kid in a booster seat, pretending to be a superhero running on the telephonelines. The beach. He wondered If Minho liked the beach. Now he wanted to make a deal with Minho. If he won against Jeongin, they'd go to the beach.
The rest of the car ride was spent in silence. Mostly because of the anxiety that was now swarming Jisung's head. Perhaps talking to Changbin about his date ideas was better than sitting around in his own thoughts. The boy was far too stubborn to admit that aloud. Before he knew it they'd arrived at Minho's track. Hyunjin, Seungmin, and Felix talked in a circle like grade schoolers. Changbin was the first to get out of the car, immediately making his way toward the blonde drifter who was smiling brightly at his approaching figure.
Chris on the other hand was typing away on his phone, no doubt texting Sana about how she'd come back early. Obviously something had gone wrong. Jisung didn't bother to find out. Instead he climbed out of the passenger door, eyes roaming the entrance of the two story garage before him. Minho was somewhere in there. He was always in there. His eyes moved toward the oval track. Jeongin's hot pink car was racing around it in a faster speed than Jisung had seen the last time they'd competed.
A soft sigh escaped him as he made his way inside the garage, wanting to hide away from everyone and everything. It was annoying hearing others tell him over and over again that he might lose. The racer collasped onto the coach, eyes cast upward to the ceiling as he thought about what was going to happen.
He'd fly through the first lap with flying colors. Minho and he had been working on his start and accelaration as well as his turns, which were now a lot smoother than before. Other than that he had nitro now. Which he still wasn't used to. How could he be when he'd just had it installed two days ago? It was an amazing thing. It really was. Yet it was scary. He felt like a coward. Weak for being so scared of something like that. Still, it could cause far more damage than success in the long run. What if he ended up like his inspiration? Spinning out of control around the dome of a race track.
He was always flaunting the idea that he wasn't afraid of death. It wasn't true. Everyone was afraid of death. To not see the people they loved or do the little things they enjoyed. It was a dredful thought. One that made him shake like a flower in a spring breeze. He didn't want to be a flower. He wasn't going to let people think he was spineless.
"What's with the crease?"
Jisung tilted his head upward, looking behind him at an upside version of his friend. Were they friends? Minho was more of a teacher or tutor. The olders index finger moved to the spot between Jisung's eyes, massaging it gently. Jisung's body tensed, eyes widening at the unexpected touch of the other. Those surprises had been happening a lot more lately. First Minho had ruffled his hair, almost kissed him(granted it would have been an accident), Jisung had hugged Minho, and then there the ex street-racer was, pressing his finger to his forehead like it wasn't an affectionate action.
Jisung's throat bobbed, hand instinctively swatting away the others. "Don't do that," He whispered. Minho hummed and moved around to take a seat at Jisung's feet.
"Are you nervous?"
Screw him and always reading his mind. Jisung knew he was easily readable. Minho reading his mind wasn't exactly accurate, but he hated to admit to himself that he was such an expressive person on the outside. So much so that even Minho, who he'd only known for a week, could guess at his emotions. Verbally he kept to himself most of the time. His eyes were always like windows, however. "A little." He wanted to lie and say he was fine. It was a lot easier to do that. In that moment he wanted conselation. Someone; Minho especially, to tell him he would be fine even if he already knew he would be. Deep down it was just himself lying to make it through tough times.
"You'll be fine. We've practiced."
We. Jisung sat up so he could look into Minho's eyes as they talked. He was speaking as if they were a team. Like they'd known each other for more than a week. That wasn't the reality of it all. "Why are you helping me?"
Minho seemed surprised by the question, eyebrows shooting up to express so. "What?"
Jisung thought his question was pretty self-explanatory. He repeated it none the less. "Why are you helping me get better?"
Minho chuckled, though Jisung didn't understand what it was that was funny. "Why wouldn't I help you? You want to race me."
"Yeah, but you said you don't race anymore. Why would you push that aside and race a stranger?" Jisung wanted to hear one thing from him. He had hope he'd say it.
Minho tightened his lips, looking at his hands with a questionable gaze. He was in deep thought. "I don't know. I just thought if I relived the journey of driving It'd motivate me to get back in a car."
That wasn't what Jisung wanted to hear. Minho quickly realized that when Jisung stood up. "I want to make a bet."
"A bet?"
"If I win today you have to take me somewhere."
"What's that got to do with anything we were just talking about?" Minho asked, taking a stand as well.
"You'll see if I win. So, is it a deal?" Jisung stuck out his hand, Minho reluctently accepting it and wrapping his fingers around Jisung's.
"Fine. Deal."
"Jisung! I heard you've been practicing with Minho a lot recently. Have you gotten a lot better? He's really good at tutoring, right?" Jeongin jogged up to the racer, question after question piling onto him like he was some sort of paper in the hands of a school teacher.
"Yeah, he's helped me with a lot. You ready to lose today?"
"Well, we'll see. If you don't win though, no hard feelings."
Jeongin was really sweet. He always made sure that what happened on the track wouldn't effect the relationship between the other person and himself. That was admirable. Jisung had a hard time doing that. Holding grudges was a whole lot easier. He was a sore loser. In Hyunjin's words anyway. "Yeah, of course not. We're friends."
Jeongin smiled, nodding aggressively. He seemed to like that statement. Friends. Jisung's eyes drifted off toward Minho who was hanging around Chris. He wanted to be friends with him. He just seemed too hard to approach. Jeongin followed the olders gaze, chuckling lightly. "He's not as scary as you think, you know that, right?"
Jisung hummed in agreement. "Of course. It's just—" Jisung paused, brushing his hair with his fingers as he turned back to the eighteen-year-old. "I'm not good at talking to people who don't approach me first. It's hard to make idle chat without there being a set goal. Minho is the same way, no? I'd have to break my habit and reach out to be friends with him."
"I'm sure if you just asked him if you were friends he'd say yeah. He's actually pretty open despite his so-called closed off exterior. He doesn't read into social ques well. Everything revolves around communication with him. I know that all too well."
"Training experience?" Jisung asked, Jeongin confirming it with a laugh. It caused a smile to appear on Jisung's face.
"Welp. I guess we should start the race now?"
"Yeah, might as well."
Jeongin and Jisung called to the others, telling them that they were ready and that they were heading down to the track to get our cars ready. It only took about ten minutes to do so, and once it was all finished, Jeongin and Jisung were lined up on the checkered line ready to start their race.
Unlike the first time they'd raced, Jisung was evenly matched up with the hot pink car beside him. The few days before he'd been a few feet behind him. It was a big change. Especially knowing it was real and not just some timer telling him how good he was actually doing. The first lap went exactly as he expected. A tie for the most part. They'd stayed beside eachother, pushing through the wind that was being caused by the car beside theirs. The second lap went a bit differently. Jisung was slowing down. He knew that it would happen as Jeongin was better at keeping a consistent speed. Minho and Changbin had only had a few days to talk and upgrade his vehicle. Of course it wasn't going to be as good as the expensive Honda nsx Jeongin was racing in.
Still, he was doing well. He wasn't too far behind. The only thing left was to cross the finish line. Use the nitro at the perfect timing and pass Jeongin. So that's what he did. He flew past the pink car and crossed the checkered line before him, eyes widening as his tires screeched against the concrete when he pressed down the break. It hadn't fully registered. He was still in shock by how much power was behind the weird ass chemical inside his car. He held a newfound love-hate relationship with it.
"Yah! Jisung!"
He could hear Changbin's voice, although muted from inside his car, prompting him to climb out and give his friend his attention. "That was awesome! Are you okay? Did you hit your head or anything?"
"No, I'm fine." Jisung looked at Jeongin who was making his way over with a smile.
"Looks like you won this time."
"Yeah, I guess so," Jisung laughed, slinging his arm round Jeongin's shoulders. "I almost didn't though. You were right behind me."
"I was so close!" the boy whined. Felix chuckled at him as he walked up.
"Should we go eat?" Seungmin suggested. Jisung's eyes moved to an unfamiliar car.
Minho was sitting in the front seat, wearing sunglasses on the edge of his nose. Jisung guessed it wasn't weird to see him in a new car. He just didn't expect it to be a white mustang convertible. "Uh, maybe next time. Minho and I made a bet." Jisung gave everyone one last smile before jogging over to Minho, who unlocked the door.
It was weird how handsome he could be by just clicking a single button. Jisung pulled the door open, taking his seat and giving Minho a wide grin. "Where too?"
"The beach!"
Minho hummed, looking over at the group who were making finger hearts and yelling at the two in the car. "Have a good date sweetie~"
Minho raised his middle finger to Felix. Hyunjin turned away, walking toward the garage with sunken shoulders. After flicking the drifter off, he sped down the drive way, arm moving to rest on the doors top. "Why the beach?"
"Huh?" Jisung shouted, not able to hear him over the loud wind.
"Why the beach?" Minho said louder. Jisung made an o with his lips.
"I wanted to drive by the sea. I've never been to Japan before," Jisung yelled.
"So... we don't actually have to go in the ocean, right?" Because of Minho's glasses, Jisung couldn't get a good read on him, but he was beginning to think Minho didn't like the beach.
"No, not if you don't want to. Why?"
Minho went silent, tongue gliding over his lips for a split second before he let out a sigh. "I can't exactly swim."
Ah. Interesting. Jisung smiled, leaning back in his seat. His face tilted up to the sky as he said, "then we can just drive around. I wanted to walk on the sand but it's fine if you don't feel like it."
Minho let a silence fall between them. It was a weird feeling to be alone with Minho on the highway. Just the two of them. The breeze felt amazing as always, but somehow the elders presence was far better in comparison. Jisung moved his eyes toward him. He watched as Minho's hair blew in the wind and how his head stayed straight ahead. He was hot when driving. Jisung looked away, ears becoming warm. Why did he have such stupid thoughts recently? It was annoying.
Jisung was so caught up in his head he didn't notice that the car had stopped. Not until his door was pulled open and Minho spoke up. "We don't have all day your majesty."
Jisung glanced around, heart slamming against his chest. They were on the beach. The sand. The boy slipped his shoes off, hopping out of the car and walking around with a childish grin. He always loved the feel of sand. It was similiar to gravel roads, which he enjoyed doing donuts on back at home.
Minho didn't seem too worried about anything. Jisung was glad that he'd gone out of his way to make him happy. Even if he was a bit afraid of water. "Minho." Said man took his sunglasses off and clipped them to his shirt, raising a brow when his name was called. "We're friends, right?"
Minho rolled his eyes, kicking sand in the direction of Jisung. "Are you dense or that self conscious? Of course we're friends." So they were friends. Jisung chuckled. He turned around so that he was walking backward. He continued talking quietly. Minho's eyes widened when he noticed something behind the boy. "Jisung, watch out."
Jisung's eyes opened when his ankle hit something rough and sharp. He let out a squeal, afraid he'd fall onto whatever it was that made him trip. He was wrong about how the situation would turn out. Instead of landing on his ass, Minho grabbed his hand and pulled him into his chest. He wrapped his other arm around Jisung's waist, to which Jisung became silently astonished at the cliche scenerio. They'd never been this close. Sure, they'd been near each other's faces thanks to the mechanic fixing Hyunjin's car that one time. They hadn't ever been as close as they were in the beach, however.
Looking up, his eyes met with Minho's which were looking down to check on him. In that moment, he realized his mistake. He shouldn't have asked if he and Minho were friends. He should've asked if Minho wanted to be more then that. Maybe not in that moment, but someday. Jisung's gaze moved to Minho's lips. Was it normal to want to kiss someone after only knowing them for a week? Did that make him a desperate idiot? It wasn't like he planned on whatever feelings were developing. They just happened. What was he supposed to do about them? He couldn't crush on his tutor.
"You okay?" Minho asked.
Jisung pushed himself out of Minho's grasp, stuttering out an apology and reassurance that he was alright. He had hoped that Minho hadn't been able to feel how fast his heart was beating. "We should head back. I don't want the others thinking we actually went on a date or anything. I mean, they'd tell your girlfriend or something."
Minho looked like he was going to say something. Jisung didn't want to hear it. Instead he made his way back to the car, biting his lip out of embarrasment. Idiot. He was an idiot. A huge idiot. Why'd he bring up Minho having a girlfriend? He didn't even know if he had one. No, he probably did. Guys that handsome were never single. They didn't like guys either.
Minho had to drive Jisung back to Sana's house since Changbin and Chris had taken the car back. Which meant more awkward silence between them. Jisung was relieved when they arrived. He climbed out and thanked Minho for taking him to the beach. Before he could escape, Minho called for him. Jisung turned around with a confused expression.
"Who told you I have a girlfriend?"
Jisung chuckled nervously. "Uh, no one? I just kind of assumed. I mean, you're rich and cool, not to mention good looking. Why wouldn't you have one?"
Minho laughed. There it was again. The rare smile Jisung only got to see on a few occasions. "I have a few reasons I can think of."
"And those would be?" Jisung questioned, believing everything that would come out of his mouth would be a lie.
"Well, first, to clear things up, I don't have a girlfriend. I'm single. As for my reasons, I'm rich but I'm an asshole."
"Yeah, I guess thats valid," Jisung teased.
"And also." Minho tilted his head, smirking lightly. Jisung had a feeling it wasn't going to be a funny answer. "I'm not into women."
Well fuck. Now there was no stopping Jisung from developing feelings for this guy. "Jisung?"
Jisung turned to look behind him. It was Sana. "Oh, hey."
"When'd you get back?" When Sana saw the car that Minho was driving she laughed. "I guess just now? Hello! I'm Sana."
"Your girlfriend?" Minho asked Jisung, who shook his head rapidly in denial.
"Jisung, my boyfriend?" Sana pinched his cheek. "When pigs fly. I'll leave you guys to finish your conversation. I was just checking to see if you came home safe."
Jisung hummed, watching her retreat into the building. "So she's not your girlfriend?"
Jisung puffed his cheeks. "No."
"Why not? She's cute," Minho said.
"Cause I'm not into her like that. I barely know her."
"So, you won't date her cause you don't know her well?" Minho asked curiously.
Jisung felt his face burning like a fire. Why was he grilling him on the topic so much? God this was embarrassing. Sure Minho could admit easily that he liked guys. For Jisung it was a different story. "No I just,"
"You just?" Minho pushed on.
"For fucks sake. I'm gay, Minho!" Jisung barked out with a red face.
Minho let out another laugh as Jisung lowered his head out of embarrasment. "Yeah, I know. I just wanted to hear you admit it. You've been checking me out since we met."
"I hate you," Jisung cursed instinctively.
"Sure, we'll go with that. I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Jisung groaned, turning around and heading toward the door. "I'm taking that as a yes!"
"Fuck you!" Jisung called, trying to keep himself from smiling and laughing like an idiot. Bickering with Minho was really fun, he had to admit.
"I know you want too!" Minho flirted jokingly.
"Go back to your precious cars and shove your dick in one of them you horny bastard!"
"Ouch, that one hurt. Fine. I'm leaving!"
"Good ridence!"
Jisung closed the door behind him, listening to the revving of Minho's engine. His smile grew wider as the sound of the car got more and more distant. His hands linked together when he couldn't hear it any longer. That was a new side to Minho. It was cute.
"I just wanted to come street race in Japan with my best friends. Now both of them are whipped for two guys they met a week ago."
Jisung flinched, eyes directing to the open bathroom that a certain blonde was walking out of. Chris. "Shut up," Jisung muttered, glaring at him before running up the stairs and into their room.