Perpetual Rain ✓

Ride

You weren't sure why there was a pit in your stomach after your chat with Jimin. You couldn't pinpoint the feeling, but you knew you didn't care for it.

"Babe, everything alright?" Taehyung's heavy voice questioned as he took a tighter grip of your hand, his body tensed slightly in waiting. That endearing term had almost become normal now. Almost.

"What? Oh." You hadn't realized you'd spaced out, and the expression on your face was bleak. Shaking your head, you smiled brightly as you turned your attention back to him. "Yeah! Yeah. I'm fine."

"...Okay." Taehyung took your word for it, though the slight arch in his brow told you that he likely wouldn't forget it.

"Come on." You tugged him along this time, the night cloaking you both in a blanket of darkness as you wandered through a barren parking lot. The nip of the late night air kept you grounded.

Jimin had left hours ago and the two of you had opted for one more adventure before settling in for the night. Well, correction, you opted for an adventure, Taehyung just went along with it.

"Never thought I'd be committing my first B and E with my dead girlfriend." Taehyung's deep voice bellowed with laughter as you two headed for the building before you.

"I never really thought about being dead, but here we are." You let go of his hand as you shrugged your arms out widely, walking backwards as you walked towards the back door.

The idea of coming to terms with your death had passed, and you were growing familiar with it. Now, off-color humor was how you coped. Maybe not the best decision, but then again you couldn't go to a psychiatrist for a healthier method.

"Touche." He laughed dryly, jogging slightly to catch up with you as the two of you reached the door.

Without a request or even a demand, Taehyung slipped his hand back into yours and silently transported both of your bodies on the opposite side of the metal door in a fraction of a second.

"Light... light." You whispered to yourself as you cautiously moved toward the nearest wall and began to let your hands drag against the plastered surface, trying to find a switch.

After a painful stub of your toe on something obnoxiously deposited nearby, you found the switch with relief and flicked it up. As if someone was banging on the roof above, light after light came to life down a row that led to the other side of the two-football-fields-sized building.

It was a hollowed out warehouse, well, at least it had been. It would almost seem like the setting of a crime flick if it wasn't for the twisting and winding roadway that whipped through the middle. It was a track, a go-kart track to be exact. The smell of dust and rubber filled your nose, which caused an audible sneeze to force its way up.

Taehyung stood in awe at the massive indoor track laid out before you both. It was an odd request for an activity, but it was one you had never really experienced. You knew how to drive, but since you had never ventured too far from your home town - excluding the high school trip to Japan - you had never gone go-kart racing with your friends. Clark County didn't have that amenity in such a small town.

You grabbed his hand and the two of you raced toward the karts. You took a moment to admire the machinery, deciding on one of the cars that was painted with a beautiful purple multi-chrome finish. You hurried over the tracks and grabbed two keys from the control box and, without even thinking, went to get two helmets from a nearby rack when you remembered--

You're dead. You had been to the top of the Egyptian pyramids just yesterday. To hell with safety.

You tossed a set of keys to Taehyung and he fumbled to catch them in the air as they bounced off his broad chest, snagging them just before they hit the ground. You snickered at his clumsiness as you quickly jumped into your chosen kart.

"Come on! Pick a kart, I'm ready to whoop your ass." You hollered out in your excitement, your voice echoing through the spacious warehouse, a cocky grin plastered onto your face.

"Please! You don't have a prayer of beating me." Taehyung challenged back as he quickly decided on the green kart that was two lanes from your spot, offering the both of you enough space to start on a track that could house four cars horizontally.

"Put your money where your mouth is, lover boy." You raised your hands to pull your hair back into a tight ponytail just before you fired up the beast beneath you. You could feel it roar to life as it vibrated under your legs. 

"You're just asking for punishment, babe." He flared a taunt back at you as he put his key in the ignition and brought his own kart to life. Soon your voices became muffled over the loud mechanical hum of the vehicles. 

"If you consider me winning punishment, then I'm not asking for it, I'll earn it." Your shoulders bounced in one last show of your glee. You were overly confident for someone who had never driven a go-kart before, but that was part of the fun. 

"How about we turn this into a game?" Taehyung suggested just as you were hovering your foot above the gas, the volume of his voice raising for you to be able to hear him over the distance between you as well as the sound of the karts. 

"What kinda game?" You tilted your head to the side, looking at him in question as to what he was thinking, a brow arching closer to your hairline as you wondered if he was going to try and make this into a bet. 

"I heard of this game girls used to play in school called 'Mash'. Know it?" His hands slapped on the wheel as he leaned forward in the kart, a child-like smile beaming across his features so much so you could see that boxy shape starting to form.

"...Yeah?" Why in the world was he talking about some stupid thing that high school girls used to play? You were completely perplexed about how a silly game about a fictional future pertained to a go-kart race. 

"Okay, kinda like that-" He leaned back, letting his head rest against the seat as he stretched out his arms. He looked much bigger than normal in such a small car, while you likely looked tinier. "-- but the winner gets to decide if we would have owned a cat or a dog if we had been together in life." 

"You're kidding." You scoffed, rolling your eyes as you shook your head as his pointless little game. "I'm a cat person, so of course we would have had a cat!" 

"Well I'm a dog person, so if you want that cat you've gotta beat me for it." He pressed his foot to the gas pedal, letting it roar as he furthered the challenge. He had a devious glint in his eye as he pushed to pursue this game of pretend. There was no harm in it, though. 

"You're on. Start the countdown!" You tightened your grip on the steering wheel, shooting him one last look that accepted his challenge before whipping your head forward as you readied yourself for the race. 

"Three...Two...One!"