slow down ➳ 이희승

𖥻 chapter thirty

"japan & victory teas."

꒰🏁꒱

"he's a fucking maniac, nora."

"well yeah, his reaction wasn't normal at all." the curly haired says, her voice laced with a hint of disgust. she sighs and pats ava on the shoulder, turning her body as she's about to walk away.

"at least you got it over with. now you can ignore him all you want." she says and leaves, exiting her team's pit stop. the brunette falls back on her chair, loudly chewing on her gum. jungwon tuts in annoyance, ripping off a paper from his bullet journal & balling it.

"stop munching like a fucking goat!" he whines and throws it her way. ava catches it before it can even touch her & smirks at him, unfolding the paper. she's met with a blank page. "no fun."

"you're right! i should've listed down all the things you do that annoy me." he says & stands up, loudly clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "gather up team! two hours 'fore the deal, is everything nice & settled?"

she chuckles, observing the little team running around the small place to get everything checked. laurie checks the wheels, while max waxes the doors of the car. tim climbs up the small tripod & cleans the roof, as nadia opens the hood and looks inside. "perfect!"

jungwon raises his thumb & winks at her, making the red haired girl giggle as she shuts the hood close. "thanks a lot guys!" ava exclaims and high-fives all of them one by one, with tim being the last. the boy grabs his right hand by the wrist once ava's hand meets his & his lips form a big 'o'. "she touched my haaaaaand!"

"you're so extra." the brunette says & walks away, opening the closet at the very corner of the room & taking out her racing jacket and gloves.

"can't believe we're almost done with the event. we made a great team to be honest." nadia speaks up, leaning on the wall beside the car. ava hums and turns around, beckoning for the boys to leave the room while she changes.

"sure we did. sucks that you guys are still in college, else you'd accompany me to japan in november." she says & puts on her tee, meeting laurie's eyes in a tense second.

"japan?" she repeats, receiving a nod. "i got a call from the organizer of the super taikyu event. i'm flying to tokyo next month to get ready & such." she explains, offering a smile at the two surprised girls. "so?"

"that's... amazing ava!" nadia exclaims & happily claps, hopping on spot. "this is a great opportunity for you!" "yup, i know. and guess who'll be there~"

laurie lets out a gasp. "don't tell me... nakamoto yuta?!" her and nadia hold hands as they squeal together. "fuck! shit! damn! you're sooo lucky!" "holy shit ava you must be God's favorite!"

"chillax." she giggles out, sitting down on the chair after putting on her jeans & proceeds to tie her shoelaces. "he is just a man." "he's the man." "straight out of an anime!" "i know right?"

"you're fucking leaving and you didn't mind telling us?!!"

jungwon busts the door open, looking shocked to the bone. the girls remain frozen as him & the two boys walk up to ava. "i mean... i just told the girls so technically, you're no different than them." she points out, making a bow & tightly pulling on the strings.

the boy falls silent, looking baffled. "i mean... right." he spells, fiddling with his fingers and slowly drawing back to the other boys. "you dumbasses!"

꒰🏁꒱

"mom~ everything's fine." ava grunts & shakes her shoulders in protest, as the older woman dusts them off and straightens her jacket. "are you sure? isn't there anything you'd like to share with mommy?"

"nothing ... and don't say mommy in public!" she whispers, as he mom lets out a soft giggle. "okay okay, you little grumpy miss. be careful, hmm?" she pats her chest, leaning in to plant a chaste kiss on her cheek. "i love you!"

"i love you too mom." the woman and her three children rush away to find a good spot in the bleachers, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts. how did her dad react when they left to come & see her?

she doesn't like to think about it, but she can't help it as well. she slaps her thighs with a sigh and pushes herself off her car, just when a blond haired guy approaches her with a big smile. "vivian~!"

"what... the hell?" she tilts her head in confusion, as jake bumps his shoulder with hers. "brought you something to drink before the race." he adds with a giggle, shoving a can of ice tea in her hands.

"that's... new." she trails, throwing the can from one hand to another. "only, i don't drink before the race ─ obvious reasons." she explains, yet jake seems to not be following. "bathroom." "ooh~ okay, okay."

"just one sip?" he proceeds to say and bites his bottom lip, shaking his upper body left & right while looking at her with expectant eyes. a frown forms in her face. "why the rush?"

"did you poison it?" she adds & raises a brow. jake clicks his tongue and lets out a small whine. "c'mon~ just have a sip!" he insists, taking the bottle and opening it for her. "here!" "ayo watch out you spilled it!" "oh shoot!"

"you little..." she hisses, taking a small sip and shoving the can on his hands. "satisfied?" he gives her a big smile. "ohh~ very much~"

he starts marching off to his car, not before taking her hand & placing the can on her open palm. "hey! what's with it? sim, come back here!"

"you just drunk the victory tea~"

she gasps at the wholesomeness of the australian, letting out a small chuckle as he watches him wave from his car. he presses on the honk & drives off to go park on his respective spot in the arena.

꒰🏁꒱

"i gave it to her."

"i saw you dumbass."

heeseung chuckles out & ends the call with jake, starting his car as he drives off to the arena. his lips stretch into a small smile, feeling happy that their silly plan had actually worked ─ with ava cooperating and not investigating any further.

"victory tea? seriously?" he asks the blond once he parks his car in front of him. jake shrugs, stretching his arms over his head. "at least you made her smile, that's what matters."

"you made her smile with your dumb jokes." the raven points out, smiling in gratitude. "the tea was from you so it's a fifty-fifty. but either way! it worked out." jake finishes & crosses his arms over his chest.

heeseung giggles and extends an arm, trapping the blond in a headlock. "ey~ thanks a lot mate." he coos & rubs his head, shaking him left and right. jake shimmies out of his grip, laughing as he fixes his hair.

"you're a fucking jerk man, but you're my friend." he pats his shoulder as the two lean on jake's car. "you've done a lot of shit lately, but you'll fix 'em up. in the meantime..." he shows him his balled fist. "i'll be there for you."

heeseung looks at it, his lips forming a small side grin. "goddammit jake..." he bumps their fists, lightly pushing him by his shoulder. "you're the bestest of friends i could've ever asked for."

"nyeh~ i've been told. and please, stop smoking. you stink like fucking shit."