Raw Line| SVT

37

I fasten my seat belt and sigh. THE 8 asked me if I needed a ride. I didn't. I could call a taxi or text somebody to pick me up. But I knew he didn't ask me that out of courtesy. He asked me that because he needed time.

THE 8 is on the forth place now.

As soon as Woozi's words reached my ears, I couldn't help but wonder how I could expect THE 8 to still be on the eighth place after the spring race. He won a whole deal of points there and Seungcheol had said that those were going to be added to the local scores.

But there's a long way from the eighth place to the forth one.

"We need the money," THE 8 breathes, placing his hands on the steering wheel.

I turn my head towards him, but he was simply starring at some random point ahead.

"And I have to race for now," he continues. "I have to."

I blink a few times, trying to decipher his tone and what he actually meant by his words.

"You have to as in... you are compelled to?" I ask and he turns his head towards me.

He looks at me without saying anything, as if waiting for me tot take my words back. Am I right?

"The owner of the arena wants me to race," he explains. "And so I have to."

His explanation made sense somehow, but it also made me question a lot of other things. I look at him, hoping he'd read the confusion on my face. He is the only one who would tell me such things, he is the only one who would let me know. So I can't miss my chances.

"What don't you understand?" He asks softly and I sigh.

"Why you... and not Jeonghan? Why is the top so relevant?"

He smiles lightly, shaking his head before turning his head towards the steering wheel and starting the engine.

"I can win more races than him," he speaks, his tone incredibly candid. "And after what happened at the spring race, I have higher chances to win than he does."

His words could have sounded so selfish if his voice hadn't been so soft. He wasn't a racer, not in the real meaning of the word. And I knew it ever since then, this wasn't his place to be. Even though he was good at this, even though he had the art-craft of handling a steering wheel running through his veins, this wasn't the place that was meant for him. And I could tell that he knew that, but there was something that was stopping him from letting go.

Why would he try so hard to reach top 5 if he knew it would come with sacrifices?

"Why would you want to win, though?" I ask, even more conflicted than before.

He drives off, ruffling his hair and definitely not rushing to answer me. The cold lights of the dusk were making his aura glow in some sort of way.

"I have to," he says simply. "The owner wants me to-"

"I get that, you go and win some races but... why are you fighting so hard for more?"

"Listen to me," he says, his voice sending shivers down my spine. "The owner wants me to win after the deadline, not just some races."

He glances at me for a moment before focusing his gaze back on the road.

"She wants me to come in the first place by the deadline," he continues and I feel my eyebrows arching in surprise.

"What?"

The fact that he was now on the forth place was enough of a surprise for me. But he was aiming for the first place in fact?!