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50

I was still a bit overwhelmed when I reached the stands, the conversation with Minho still making me feel scared and uneasy. He was the key in my plan that I had hoped would work, but sometimes, things don't go the way we want them to. There were probably other ways that I could find out more about Solar, but the reason why I wanted Minho to help me wasn't just that. It was also to prove me that he's not like her.

Maybe I was wrong.

I couldn't bring myself to fully pay attention to my surroundings and to push the persistent thoughts aside, not even when Taeyong and another boy came up to me right before the race started. By his feline-like step, I could tell he's been watching me for a long time. It was probably obvious to him that something was wrong with me so he decided to find out himself what that was about.

However, the conversation didn't really wake me up from my thoughts for a while, NCT's leader being weirdly careful and asking me things that didn't require long answers. I was still pretty much immersed in my own little world, until he suddenly decided to shake me away from my self.

"By the way, this is WinWin, the co-founder of Neo Zone," Taeyong tells me, gesturing towards the dark haired boy on his left.

Great, another weird nickname...

Moving my head to take a better glance at the stranger, the first thing that caught my eye was that he looked rich. Not absurdly, palace and expensive sports car rich, but somehow close. He was tall, but slender, his clothes clean and very-expensive looking. He looked like someone who could afford to invest on a place like Neo Zone. But he also looked young, maybe too young to be a business man by his own.

"So you're not the ultimate boss?" I manage to ask and Taeyong chuckles, shaking his head.

"If it weren't for him, Neo Zone probably wouldn't exist today," the red-haired boy says, patting WinWin's back, the later one sketching an awkward but somehow steady smile.

"Emma, nice to meet you," I say, extending a hand in front of me as greeting.

He takes it and shakes it firmly without thinking too much. The corners of his mouth lift the slightest bit.

"I have heard a lot about you," he says, his voice softer than I expected it.

I shrug with a small smile without saying anything and glance towards the race track, where the cars were all lined up for the start. Moments later, the race begins and my heart starts beating faster at the memory of the last time I heard the countdown echo in the speakers of the arena.

I had a terrible feeling. It was probably because I felt like my plan was going to fail before I could even try it, now that Minho somehow knew about this. But it was also something else.

It might have had something to do with the fact that I could spot Lisa somewhere near the track, a bit further back from the exhilarated watchers on the side. There was no sight of Jennie, Solar or Soojin, for that matter, which was a bit unsettling. Not even Hoshi, who was usually roaming around the crowd with so much energy, not even he could be seen.

I could spot my sister. And I could also notice Jeonghan with her. I couldn't see them well since they were all the way down near the race track, but they seemed to be talking about something serious. A spark of warm bitterness ignited in me at the sight, but I couldn't tell if it was because I missed my sister. Or because I missed Jeonghan. Or both.

"I heard you're close to THE 8," I hear WinWin saying and I briefly glance at him before focusing on the race track again.

"I guess I am," I say softly and the boy doesn't say anything else.