"slow down, darling. keep it lowkey, else you might get disappointed again."
彡 yoon ava, an ambitious girl from the outskirts of cambridge, ends up in the arenas of gumball 3000, carrying a bad temper and a dream over her eyes - to finish first and...
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"someone new?"
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"breakfast is ready." jake announces sternly at the raven haired laying on his bed, staring off at the ceiling with his hand pulling on the strands of his sweatpants. heeseung hums and sits up, grunting as he stands up and stretches.
after the incident at the pub, jake has kept his distance from him ─ with all due right. he's been actively avoiding spending time with him, leaving the apartment at early morning & coming back hours later, only to have lunch & leave again.
like any other day, jake had prepared breakfast for them ─ already dressed up to leave. heeseung's lips purse as he exits his bedroom, biting his inner cheek as he takes a seat across from him.
it's been three days & tomorrow's the fourth race of the season. honestly, he has had enough of the silence & jake's constant absence. everything feels so empty without him in the apartment, and he has to do something.
"jake, can you stay today... please?" he adds & picks on his fried egg with his fork, looking up at him with hopeful eyes. jake sighs, standing up & fixing his jacket as he clears his throat.
"can't, park serim asked to see me." he shortly replies & places his dirty plate on the sink, letting water drip on it as he leans on the counter. "why? did something happen?"
heeseung sighs, pushing his own plate away. "I want to talk..." he whispers & scratches his nape. jake nods, his lips puckered in thought, as he eventually pushes himself off the counter.
"I'm in a hurry, but we can talk in the afternoon if you want." he says & the raven nods, standing up to go back to his room. "sure. have fun."
jake offers him a somewhat smile and walks towards the door, throwing one last glance at him, before he opens it and leaves. heeseung scoffs, bumping his fist on the doorframe and looking down at his feet with pursed lips.
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"and then I left."
nora turns to look at ava, meeting her friend's eyes in a confused stare. jake is seated atop the table pushed against the wall, hands crossed over his chest as he alternatively looks at the two.
no park serim wanted to meet up. no luna mcarthur needed his help to fix something in her car ─ the woman is clever enough to do it herself. and no connor maxwill needed to talk to him ─ he'd rather get shot in the head than hang out with this motherfucker.
no. jake sim has been hanging out with none other than ava yoon and nora blake the past few days. turns out, he's been missing big time with avoiding the two girls the past few months. they're fun to be around & very much eager to listen to all his worries regarding heeseung ─ even ava is kind enough to help him out, however much she despises him.
"he wants to talk." nora repeats what jake said prior, humming in thought. "I'd like to think that it has to do with your situation... and not about some stupid shit." she adds, and ava nods in agreement, munching on some crisps.
jake sighs. "you know... I kind of feel bad for ignoring him." he admits and she almost chokes on her food.
"simmie, what the heck! he literally tried to control you... he treated you like some garbage, and you feel bad? he's the one who should be rotting in his own thoughts!"
"she's right." nora agrees and turns to jake. "that day at the pub... he did not hesitate to grab you by your neck. he could've hurt you, weren't it for him already being the talk of the show. jake, he's paranoid."
"no he's not! he's just... letting all that jealousy against ava take over him. I have known him long enough to know that he can do better than that, but he would rather be pitiful than logical."
"ah~ pitiful is an understatement." ava chimes in, wiggling her hips to adjust herself in the current position of 'legs on the table'. "man is pathetic. stupid. shitty as fuck." "ava!"
"what?" she stares at nora, who jerks her chin at jake's direction, widening her eyes. "sorry jake." ava apologizes in a mocking manner, going back to eating and flipping through her vogue magazine.
"sorry 'bout that." nora whispers and sits beside him, looking at her friend from his point of view. "no need nora. he's been a dick with her... may I say, ava's offenses are nothing in front of the shit heeseung says."
"but still, you guys are friends." "this doesn't mean that I have to forbid her the right to express her feelings about him. she's got every right to be angry with him."
the two remain quiet for a while, with the soft beats of some 80s' song filling ava's garage.
it's not until the roaring of a race car cuts the silence short, halting after a few seconds as the three divert their attention outside. a woman walks out of the car, and they all smile at the appearance of lydia diamandi, the racer from greece.
"greetings everyone." she exclaims & her lips stretch in a lopsided grin, one that reminded them of a little puppy ─ even jake dared to admit that she looks more of a puppy than him. ava gives her a little wave, mouth full of crisps to say something.
"wassup lydia?" nora jumps off the table & walks up to her, opening her arms wide to welcome the girl in her embrace. lydia's cheeks visibly blush, smile growing wider as she hugs the girl back.
"I'm fine, but I highly doubt that we'll all be by tomorrow." the three look at her with their brows furrowing, even more when the girl starts laughing.
"aaand why is that?" nora trails and steps back, eyeing her up and down. lydia scoops her phone out of her hip pocket, unlocking it and tapping a few times on the screen, then raises it up & shows a picture of a young man.
"nishimura riki, the new addition to the lineup, japanese & obsessed with fast & furious. he arrived yesterday & he'll be announced as a contestant at the beginning of tomorrow's race."
"but..." ava starts and raises a brow in confusion. "...no additions are allowed till next season." she finishes. lydia & jake nod their heads, while nora looks skeptical.
"who knows." she ends up saying and walks up to lydia, wrapping her arm around her neck. "well. either way, he is more than welcome." she laughs & drags the girl out the garage, leaving ava and jake alone.
"one thing's for sure." ava starts and jake hums, a sign that he's listening. she smiles and drops her feet on the floor, cracking her knuckles as she stares at the blond man.
