"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Minjeong asked as the four girls walked down the clothing store aisle.
"Let's just shop till we find something better to do, yeah?" Aeri suggested.
"Sure," Chaewon replied, pressing a pair of black leather pants against Minjeong.
"I don't know about those. They look pretty hard to move in." Minjeong examined the pair of pants that was handed to her.
"Well, you need a uniform. If you ever join a gang, most of them have leather pants as a part of their combat uniform. The ones we have are very stretchy, but they're expensive as hell." Yena shivered at the thought of the price.
"Well then if I ever join a gang, I'll get the ones you girls have. I mean you are feared for a reason, right?" Minjeong wiggled her eyebrow at the three who only chuckled.
"Because we are the best. We're the Dragons after all." Chaewon exclaimed, fist-bumping air and making the rest burst out laughing.
"How does it work anyway? Taeyong told me a bit but I didn't understand half the shit he was talking about." Minjeong said.
"Well, the Dragons are located in Neo and China, that's where we're the strongest. NCT is the Dragon unit here, it stands for Neo Culture Technology. The subunits are NCT 127, NCT DREAM, NCT U, AESPA, and GD. AESPA and GD are girl subunits and 127 and DREAM are boy subunits. NCT U has only one member and the lineup changes for every mission." Yena started explaining, afterward letting the other girls explain further.
"The dragons work on the Yin Yang concept. NCT DREAM and AESPA are Yin, while NCT 127 and GD are Yang. Yin members have a dark purple dragon on their jackets whereas the Yang members have a golden one." Chaewon finished the short introduction.
"That makes more sense than what Taeyong told me," Minjeong said after taking in all the information given to her.
"How's your school year going by the way? I heard that you are top five in your class from a close friend of mine." Chaewon started a new conversation after a short silence.
"Oh yeah. I have an exam tomorrow. It's the math finals, so I need a good grade to pass." Minjeong shrugged as she took out her card to pay for the items the girls had picked out for her wardrobe.
She was thankful for the three because if it wasn't for them, she would only have hoodies and sweatpants, her work suit, and a few pairs of jeans in her wardrobe. They would take her out to buy new clothes now and then, whenever they went out.
"Damn, no luck today." Yena sighed as they exited the store.
"What do you mean?" Minjeong asked.
"Well, we wanted to ask for help, since we're all short rangers, you know," Aeri explained.
"You need a sniper again, don't you?" Minjeong glared at the three.
"Well, yeah," Yena said as she put her hands in the pockets of her jeans, "But you have to study for your exam, so don't worry, we'll find-"
"Who said I was going to study tonight?" Minjeong cut her off with a smirk plastered across her perfect features.
"What? You aren't going to study tonight?" Aeri asked, her eyes full of hope.
"Nope, I wasn't planning on studying either way. My only plan was to practice drifting, but I can do that while escaping the cops, can't I?" she wiggled her eyebrows making the other three laugh.
"So, which bank are we robbing tonight, ladies?" Minjeong asked.
"ING," Yena replied calmly, but deep down they were all tense.
ING was one of the biggest banks in Neo, and they were known for their unbreakable defense system. But the three older were Dragons, and their companion was on another level when it came to breaking in, whether it be short or long-range.
"How much?" Minjeong asked, Chaewon already knowing what the youngest was referring to.
"About 2.5 million dollars, give or take. Split that into five and we give 20 percent to the gang, it still leaves you 500 thousand. You in?" Chaewon asked.
"Hell yeah. I can buy the new Yamaha R6 I've been wanting." Minjeong exclaimed.
"You can buy a whole fucking car with that money," Aeri said.
"I know, but I want to wait for my favs to come out," Minjeong explained.
"Which car do you want anyway? You're very picky with them from what I remember." Yena questioned.
"Well, Taeyong's Audi R8 is one of the top three, but the car I've wanted since I was a kid is Ford Mustang. The third option is Nissan GTR, but it isn't second because of the back, it doesn't look like something I would give 200 thousand dollars or more for." Minjeong started but soon gave up on explaining when she saw the look on the girls' faces. She knew they didn't know a lot about cars, and she didn't want to pressure them by giving them a lot of new information.
"Right, so how much does the one you want cost?" Aeri asked still a bit confused, making the youngest chuckle a little.
"The Nissan costs about 30 thousand, but I would like to change a few parts, so probably about 40, which still leaves me with enough money to buy the Audi as well, since it costs a bit less than 200 with all the modifications," Minjeong said.
"So that's less than half the money you will get tonight, right?" Yena questioned as they sat in her car.
"Yup, and with the bike I wanted for a while, it should come at around 250 thousand for all three," Minjeong stated proudly.
"Don't you have that much already?" Chaewon piped in.
"I do, but I'm waiting for the new models," she replied.
"Let's get back to the mission. We're robbing ING so that it won't be easy. Minjeong, you're still in, right?" Yena asked once the girls were in front of the bank, ten minutes before they would officially start their mission.
"Of course," Minjeong replied as she opened up a lollypop wrapper and placed the candy in her mouth.
"Okay, so let's get over the plan once more," Yena stated as they repeated the plan before splitting up.
Minjeong was the only girl who was good enough in long-range combat to hit a target head-on from a distance greater than twenty feet.
So, whenever the members of Aespa asked her to help them, she was usually the one working from the distance, alone. She didn't mind it, of course, the girl adored her own space. But it was a bit lonely from time to time.
A fire alarm was heard as the three girls took their respective places, signaling Chaewon's success.
Chaewon was always the one to go in first, making sure that there would be no major distractions during their missions.
Thankfully, there were no distractions whatsoever, and the girls finished way before the cops could even reach the bank. In other words, the mission was a complete success.
After an uneventful ride in the subway, Minjeong finally reached her apartment building, sighing in relief as she threw the bags containing all the new clothes she bought with her friends.
Taking one of the only bags that was still in her hand to the kitchen, Minjeong prepared herself some ramen as she took out everything she bought in the convenience store on her way home. She mostly bought some instant meals, knowing fully well that she wasn't going to have time in the next few weeks to cook proper meals.
Deciding to just sleep that night to do well on the exam, Minjeong ended up going to sleep before midnight, something she would only do on such occasions.
Waking up to the sound of her alarm, Minjeong smacked her phone, the sound of the device falling to the floor waking her up better than any ringtone.
Sighing in relief when she saw her phone screen intact, the girl threw her covers away and tiredly made her way to her bathroom. After she finished her usual morning routine, Minjeong threw on a casual outfit, a pair of mom jeans, and a hoodie, and decided to eat out.
Making it to Starbucks an hour before her first lecture started, she decided to just revise everything that was going to be on the math exam.
Not feeling awake after her first or second coffee, Minjeong decided to get an iced latte to go, since she was running short on time. Nevertheless, she was perfectly awake for her exam that took place during the third period.
She made sure to leave school as soon as the last period was over, bidding goodbye to Renjun, who conveniently enough sat beside her in physics so they could work on their project.
"Don't forget about your part, Minjeong!" the boy yelled after her, making her lift both hands and give him a thumbs up with a small smile, which he returned waving goodbye.
He's too nice to be in a gang. The girl thought to herself as she entered the subway.
Sighing in relief as she boarded the train at the last second, the girl found a seat, but a pregnant lady came in at the next stop, so she got up to let the lady sit.
Taeyong was already in front of her apartment building when she reached it, so she excused herself as quickly as she could before sprinting up to the elevator and waiting for it to come down.
Sure, she did wait three minutes, but it'd take her much longer if she walked to the twentieth floor.
Minjeong wasn't a poor girl, her parents were already rich before they left her in South Korea to fend for herself. After living alone in South Korea for a year, she decided to follow in her brother's footsteps and move to Neo City, since it was known that some of the best universities were located in the enormous city.
She quickly unlocked her apartment and threw her bag onto the couch before grabbing the varsity jacket she always raced in and ran to the elevator again.
Taeyong was waiting patiently in his car, since he came early, he didn't have any right to complain about Minjeong having to go to her apartment before being ready to go.
"You ready?" he asked once the girl shut the door.
"Yeah. Who am I racing again?" Minjeong asked as she buckled up her seatbelt, knowing Taeyong wasn't a slow driver.
"You don't have to worry about him if you stay focused. He's known for not playing fair, so watch your back. I can have you on call if you want." Taeyong warned the girl.
"It's fine. What's his rank?" Minjeong asked.
"No. 7. And since you're No. 5 right now if you win you might get enough points to get to fourth place," Taeyong explained making the girl in the passenger's seat nod her head in understatement.
"Just keep a safe distance. It doesn't matter if you don't win, just make it out alive. My best guess is that he's gonna have people on every corner ready to take you down. Stay safe, kid." Taeyong before opening the car's door and getting out, Minjeong following suit.
Shaking hands with Taeyong, a habit she developed over the past few months that she was under his care when it came to racing, Minjeong made her way to the only other car on the start line.
"Hello, you are racing tonight?" Minjeong asked as she approached a male who was leaning on his car.
"What about it? You want to come home with me later?" the arrogant-looking man asked with a smirk as he leaned closer to the girl, making her take a few steps back to keep a safe distance.
"No. I'm racing you tonight, though. I just wanted to wish you luck." Minjeong smiled sheepishly.
"A girl behind the steering wheel? Now that's a laugh. I should be the one wishing you luck, angel, you are going to need it." the man chuckled under his breath.
"Right," Minjeong mumbled under her breath, clearly uncomfortable around the man.
"Let's make a deal. If I win, you're going with me tonight." his smirk widened, making Minjeong cringe internally, but she kept her posture.
"And if I win?" she asked.
"As if you could win against me." he shook his head in disbelief and got into his car.
Minjeong's eyes met Taeyong's, he immediately knew something was wrong. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, Taeyong made his way out of the crowd and called her. She answered her phone as soon as she took it out of her pocket.
"What did he say?" Taeyong asked, fearing for the girl's safety.
"Nothing much. I'm going to win, though." Minjeong said calmly.
"Don't get ahead of yourself and drive safe." Taeyong said, but just as he was about to hang up, he heard the girl whisper, "No one's coming home with you tonight, except your broken nose and a burned car."
Checking her rearview mirror, Minjeong took a sharp right, hoping to lose the man that was hot on her tail, but she wasn't thinking straight.
Just as she rounded another corner, another car came up behind her.
"Can't you give me two seconds of peace? Fuck!" the girl yelled at the men following her, "He wasn't joking." she chuckled bitterly before taking her phone and dialing a number.
"Come on, pick up already," Minjeong said as she called the number again.
"Minjeong, what's wrong?" Taeyong worriedly asked on the other end.
"Oh, nothing's wrong, except the fact that there are three cars following me right now," Minjeong replied as she put her phone on speaker so she could change gears more freely, "Look, I need your permission on something." she continued.
"What do you want to do?" Taeyong asked.
"I might need to crash your car. Well, not crash, but it definitely won't get out of this race untouched," Minjeong sighed at the thought of such a nice car having a scratch on it.
"As long as you make it out alive," Taeyong replied.
"Okey dokey. No promises though. I'm kinda in a tight situation right now." Minjeong stated as she changed gears.
"Talk to me," Taeyong demanded. He knew the girl would be able to come back to her senses when she thought the situation through. But it was even better if she talked it out.
"Well, right now, I have two on my right, one on my left. I was in front of the guy a few minutes ago, but he took the longer route," Minjeong said as she took a left, "So now I don't know where he is. Did he cross the finish line?" she asked.
"No, he's not in sight. Continue." Taeyong said, gaining Johnny's and Mark's attention.
"Okay, that's good. I'm about a mile away from the finish line, but I took one turn that isn't helping me," she replied.
"In other words?" Mark asked as the three got out of the crowd.
"I'll have to drift before the finish line. I'm in the dead man's zone," Minjeong explained quickly making Taeyong gasp silently.
"You've never tried that route before, right?" Taeyong asked, knowing fully well that the girl was in the dark.
"Nope. But how hard can it be?" Minjeong tried to lighten the mood.
"Only two people ever made it out of there unharmed at the speed of ninety miles per hour max. How much are you driving now?" he asked.
"About a hundred," Minjeong chuckled nervously, "So, will I make it out alive?" she asked, her tone suddenly turning serious.
"Depends, if you slow down to nine-", Taeyong was cut off by the girl, "Oh look, I lost them." she exclaimed happily, "What were you saying?" she asked.
"Nothing. Keep your speed down to ninety and you should be fi-," he didn't finish the first sentence, "Floor it."
"What? Why?" Minjeong asked as she took a right.
"Because he's close to the finish line," Mark replied.
Just as the man thought he had a guaranteed win, the girl came from the closest alleyway drifting onto the course and winning by mere seconds.
"And yet, I'm still closer." Minjeong laughed as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
All three men that were on the other line of the call sighed in relief, Mark running to greet the winner.
"Good job. We thought you weren't gonna make it," he exclaimed as he hugged her, making Minjeong laugh.
"Good job kid." Taeyong greeted her from behind.
"Sorry about the car. I'll get it fixed." Minjeong scratched the back of her neck as she showed Taeyong the few scratches she made.
"You beat my record of driving through the dead man's. Don't worry about the car right now." Taeyong laughed at the girl's sorry expression.
"Wait, you're one of the two? Who's the other one?" Minjeong yelled.
"You'll find out when the time comes. But he was my student too. I guess I'm just that good at teaching." Taeyong stated proudly.
Minjeong gripped her stomach as she laughed at the man in front of her, making the other three laugh as well.
"Well, we didn't make a deal for your win, but I can still take you home as a reward," the loser came up to the four and placed his hand around her waist.
"You can still get a broken nose if you invade my personal space for another second. That's all you can get." Minjeong spat at the man before elbowing him in the ribs.
"Well, I didn't teach you that, but I still take credit for it," Taeyong joked as the two made their way to the organizer.
"Congratulations. You are now officially ranked number four in Neo City, and are the third person ever to exit the dead man's zone unharmed with a record speed of one hundred and three miles per hour." the man said as he shook the girl's hand and handed her the load of cash he was holding in the other.
"Thank you," Minjeong bowed politely.
"So, what are you going to do now?" Taeyong asked as the two made their way toward his now scratched car.
"What do you mean?" Minjeong questioned, a confused look displayed on her face.
"This was your seventh race, and your eighth is next week. You have to decide Minjeong, before it's too late." Taeyong looked at Minjeong with an unreadable expression.
"I've decided already. I'll join, but I need to sign all those papers I haven't read yet." she sighed.
"It's tiring, I know. The feeling that you don't belong anywhere. But you'll feel at home with us, I promise." Taeyong patted the girl's head before focusing on the road again.
"I know," Minjeong mumbled.
The two made it to the Dragons' apartment building talking about whatever nonsense came to mind. Dragons didn't own the whole forty floors of the skyscraper but had the last ten under their possession.
"I'll have the car repaired by Friday," Minjeong said as they got out of the car.
"You don't have to. I don't mind the few scratches," Taeyong insisted, but the girl just shook her head.
"I have to. I made the scratches, so I'm getting them fixed." she smiled at him.
Coming a bit closer, Minjeong looked into his eyes, and Taeyong knew what she wanted.
"You know you're not alone right?" Taeyong asked as he hugged the younger girl, earning a muffled 'mhm' from her.
"If anyone does that again, you have my permission to kill them. I'll bail you out, again and again. I promise I'll take care of you kid." the words brought tears to Minjeong 's eyes.
The only person who has ever said that to her other than Taeyong was her brother. But he was abroad, and the two didn't have time to talk because of the time zone differences.
Her parents were never around, mostly being abroad on business trips, so the Kim siblings grew up caring for each other.
"Thank you, Taeyong," Minjeong said as she broke the hug.
"Drive safe, okay? I don't know how burned that engine is," Taeyong warned.
"Oh, please. I live two blocks away." Minjeong laughed, waving him goodbye as she drove off.
Taeyong was right, the engine was a bit worn out from all the drifting Minjeong did that night, but he was right about something else too.
He was going to keep her safe, no matter what.
Because, in his eyes, they were exactly the same.
They didn't have anyone to turn to when they needed it most, and that ended up hurting more than anything else.