Partners In Speed - ver. 1 (Street Racers #2)

1: Jungkook

(a/n: votes and comments appreciated, enjoy ♡♡)

When someone asks me why I am friends with my friends, I say I don't know. Because I don't. The origins of my friendships are wild, and pointing out the reason has always been fruitless. I touched the same swing as Yeeun when we were four, and we became friends. Hoseok moved in, greeted me with a "your ass looks really slap-worthy", and we became friends. These are not reasons, these are just the beginnings.

I befriended them, because it felt right.

When Yeeun asks me why I want to be friends with Taehyung, my lifelong rival, the guy who hated me his whole life, I say I don't know. He feels familiar and brings a sense of comfort into my life whenever he's around. Despite the nature of our exchanges, or the attitude around each other, my whole life I searched whatever room I walked into for two people – Jang Yeeun and Kim Taehyung. For different reasons, but I always felt complete when they were in the close proximity.

Our hatred, learned in a way, was dirt on a windshield. As we washed it off at the end of the last season, it was easy to see me and Taehyung are already something. You can't be nothing after sharing so many moments of your life with somebody.

It doesn't take a genius to know these years affected us, even if the apologies were shared. Taehyung had a fair share of shitty people in his life, I'm sure he won't just shake my hand and tell me all his secrets on the first day. It may be hard to build the bridge between us, but I am not a quitter.

From a greenish street, a neighborhood to the bustle of the city, I turn right into a vast, crowded parking lot. The size of Taehyung's garage imitates the size of a house big enough for a family. It's just a grey block from the outside, with black door and two lamps on both sides of it. The inside is more riveting if I remember it well.

I can walk inside and greet him, but drifting between the cars parked in front the open garage is the 'hello' I find more suitable for someone I'm trying to be on friendly terms with. Mediocre greetings are for mediocre people, not potential friends.

Taehyung is outside, leaning against the concrete wall.

"Mr. Kim, are you still taking clients?" I ask, driving past him, and circle the parking lot once more. He's puffing out the smoke, a cigarette between his fingers. Never knew he was a smoker.

"Show off!" I barely catch it behind the squeal of the wheels, but he says it smiling at me and my attempts to break the ice, or whatever. We've never been awkward which each other, but never been friends, either. We may be blunt and obvious, but in a 'I will say the worst shit until you cry' way. Not the funny, relaxed friends way.

"Yes, I am showing off," I say, stopping the car next to him. Leaning my elbow on the window edge, I point my chin at his hand. "Since when are you smoking?"

He glances at the cigarette he just pulled out from between his lips. "I've started when I was away those three months," he says.

I give an acknowledging nod. "I'm serious, though. I've got a business."

"With the car?"

"Yeah."

"Then wait. I need to take mine outside." He puts the cigarette out under his shoe and walks inside. I reverse to give space to his new Ford Mustang.

Taehyung has never been my first choice when it came to a mechanic so this is only my second visit at a spacious garage. The smell of oil and metal is the same as when I first came here last year, trying to talk to him after the crash. Half of the room is freakishly organized, and the rest is a mess like someone tried to rob him.