CHAPTER THREE
'checkmate'
"what are we even still doing here? let's get back to england quick. we need to catch up on training." noah grumbles as she sipped on her iced tea, staring at her plate full of chicken bones. korean chicken really is the best.
"owen heard a rumor from a pink haired girl who attends sunny highschool." harry sighs and noah perks up. "about an emerald eyed girl going around and competing in small and illegal cycling races."
noah's eyes twitches and a scoff leaves her lips. "anyone can have emerald, no, green eyes. must be someone who just wears contacts." she cackles, avoiding harry's gaze to hide whatever expression she must be wearing.
"owen must've shifted his reason to stay here from shelly to esmeralda." harry continues and finally gets the reaction that noah has been holding back from expressing.
"how many times do i have to tell you to keep that bitch's name out of your mouth!" noah yells, slamming her hands on the table harshly. "i don't fucking get why owen's still after her. she left without a word. she could have ruined us." she growls.
"like you haven't been after her as well?" harry stares her down, watching her expression collapse from anger to something that of betrayal and confusion. "you'd kill yourself first before mixing in with amateurs in competitions but joined every contest you could find in every city back in england when she left. why?"
"better me than owen to stoop that low. because for some fucking reason, he would for her." she rolls her eyes and shakes her glass.
"if i know you, you'd just let her be. because then, owen would be free from a strong admirer." harry smirks before continuing. "but maybe i don't really know you well enough." he laughs and noah fights the urge to dump the iced tea on him.
;
the steady beeping of the vital signs monitor echoed all through out the silent vip hospital room. on a chair by the bed of the patient sat a black haired young woman. she's skillfully arranging a bouquet of forget me nots in a crystal vase with a blank expression.
"you'd love my arrangements. if only you could see this one. or the many others i've done and wilted." she starts a one sided conversation as she pushes the vase back in the middle of the side table before leaning back on her chair to relax. "so open your eyes quickly, dad." she whispers, emerald eyes trained on the bedridden man.
her long black hair danced with the wind, emerald eyes devoid of emotion, and half of her face hidden by a mask, esmeralda astor tiredly stood on the side of the road as she waited for a taxi to drive by.
she closed her eyes and pulled her baseball cap down, tempted to just lay there on the sidewalk and sleep her exhaustion away. even when sleep has barely done anything to make her feel better the past year she's been staying in seoul.
finally, before even more impulsive thoughts plagued her mind, a taxi finally drives by and she gets in, immediately giving the driver the address of her destination.
"are you a nurse?" the old man starts a conversation, probably based on where esmeralda hailed his cab.
"no." esmeralda answers, leaning her head against the taxi's window. "just visited." she adds and the old man nods, not asking any further questions.
"we're here, miss. i hope things get better." the old man says, stopping the taxi in front of a bike shop and esmeralda gives him a nod of acknowledgement after getting out of the vehicle.
the bells chimed as she entered the shop, taking her coat off as well before throwing it somewhere. what she does not take off are her mask and baseball cap.
"hey! you're here early, emy." heri greets her from behind the counter and she gives a laugh at her boss' excitement and high energy even at the late hour.
"i got tired of talking to air." esmeralda smirks and heri shakes her head in disbelief. "june's not here?" esmeralda asks and it was heri's turn to hum in response, leaving the counter to check the number of accessories displayed.
"he's out training with his crew. they will be stopping by in a while though." heri tells her, checking and crossing out things on her checklist. "it will be your first time meeting them. you've been in the morning shift for quite a while." she smiles, excited for her employee-friend. to see her interact.
"no thanks." esmeralda says flatly and heri frowns. she eyes the now blank wall, only noticing now that a certain cyclist's poster, mahon jo's poster, is missing. before heri could explain, the blackette tears her eyes away from the wall before she started walking towards the back of the shop. "i'll be working on the orders and repairs." she says, disappearing behind the beaded curtains leading to the workshop at the back.
heri could only stare at the curtains as she sighs. while she's worried about the girl's social life, aware of her being a foreigner, she can't force the girl to just get out the workshop and interact.
besides, she's never seen someone make, assemble, and repair a bike like this mysterious employee-friend of hers.
"heri!" someone, specifically dom, sing-songs while skipping inside the shop followed by the other crew members. june follows after dom, embarrassed as he scratches his nape awkwardly.
"you all look excited," heri greets them with sarcasm, seeing the downcast and blank look on their faces aside from dom, who is clearly trying to cheer them up, and june's who is trying to keep it together for everyone else. "you guys are missing one person. he got a job? vinny?" heri looks at her boyfriend who clears his throat.
"vinny left." dom, who was just jumping around earlier, suddenly looked and sounded serious. heri also saw the way everyone else's expression worsen after the red head was brought up. "left and became the ghost crew's leader."
"huh?" heri frowns, holding her hands up. "okay, let's start from the beginning. i'm all ears." she says, dragging a chair from somewhere to sit on.
minu and dom, mostly dom cutting off minu everytime the boy tries to finish a sentence, took turns in explaining what happened. mrs. hong's current condition, mentioning the name ryu joowon, and how vinny somehow ended up being a youtube sensation by gambling through cycling.
sitting on the floor of the workshop and leaning against the wall, just by the beaded curtains, esmeralda listened quietly while wiping her grease covered hand.
;
"you're still here? thought you left for england." choi sangho says smugly, sitting on his chair with his legs resting up his desk.
owen invites himself in, sitting on the couch across from sangho. he makes himself comfortable, showing an indifferent expression while feeling a little disgust for the man in front of him.
not knowing choi sangho morethan what he shows the public would only make you feel a little bit uncomfortable and intimidated. those who know him for what he can do and what does do feel either disgust or fear.
but owen knight, as much as he is a very respected cyclist and is one of the best, could only know about the filthy businessman.
sangho ties up his loose ends very well.
"i'm not here to chat. i'm here to inquire." owen decides to get straight to the point, not really a fan of the idea to continue suffocating inside the seemingly normal but eerie office. the man stays silent, urging him to continue. "seen any emerald eyed cyclist going around? i'm sure you're updated on every legal and illegal races here."
owen is and have always been a natural in keeping his cool. yet for some reason, anything related to the emerald eyed girl from his team automatically gets his heart racing.
"ah," sangho lets out a sound of realization, a knowing grin appearing on his face. "you're still looking for esmeralda astor. why though? you announced her break but rumors have been going around that she actually left." the man probes and owen clenches his jaw slightly.
"rumors are rumors." owen tells him seriously and sangho nods, his eyes showing the boy that he didn't belive his bullshit. owen ignores it. "now have you?" he asks again impatiently.
"well i have. it's been a while though, the girl hasn't been showing up on any races since the league of street started." sangho starts. "she's usually seen observing infamous cyclists, often hanging around a crew called zephyrus. she's also seen interacting with sabbath crew's grim reaper and tarantula crew's yumi."
all owen could think of is who the hell could esmeralda, allegedly esmeralda, be observing, watching, in these no name crews.
"though we've never seen her race. not sure if she ever does whenever anyone of my people aren't around." sangho adds. "this girl also always wears a hat, mask, or anything that covers her face." he continues, taking out a phone and fidgeting with it before throwing it on his desk.
owen gets up from the couch, walking over to sangho's desk to pick up the phone. it was on the gallery app, displaying a picture of a girl in casual cycling gear under a cotton zip up jacket plus a cap and a mask, head tilted down, leaning against a bike owen knows too well.
even just seeing the way the girl in picture carries herself, it is clear that this is esmeralda astor. the beating of his heart did not calm down. instead, the worry from before slowly turned into burning anger.
they, the light cavalry, have been left in the dust to worry when the girl left without a word. just a simple note on a piece of sticky paper with the words 'goodbye' written with her annoyingly perfect handwriting. yet they are still waiting. hoping that she would just come back, strutting in their crew's place like she does in fashion shows.
it's been a year and a half and owen knight is still looking, waiting, hoping, and thinking. now, those feelings turned into anger.
"found you." he mumbles, clenching his jaw.
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