Crime, Betrayal, and Love (A Seventeen Street Racing AU)

XXIII | Let the Races Begin

With the owner's speech over, the screens move to show the racers walking out to their vehicles. In the lead, Yangyang confidently walks over to his yellow car while waving at the cheering crowd.

Behind Yangyang, the four participating members of Seventeen walk out, Mingyu, S.Coups, Wonwoo, and Dino. As they walk out, the members in the stands cheer, and I find myself joining along.

More and more racers join on the track, finding their car and preparing to start. Many interacted with the crowd in some form, whether it was waving and smiling or yelling responses back to those sitting near the track. But there are also the few that barely even acknowledge the crowd or anything else around them.

The BTS members are a mix of all. V enthusiastically waves, Jin talks with the nearby audience, and Suga seems to be spacing out. The only indication he isn't is when he chuckles at something Jin says.

Once the three enter their cars, my eyes dart back to the racers still joining. Unfortunately, I see two easily recognizable men walking out, one of which is searching the crowd, clearly looking for someone.

Jooheon and Changkyun were the two people I was hoping to miss seeing, but now that I spot them, I can't seem to look away. Surprisingly, Jooheon is sweetly smiling at the crowd. Definitely not what I was expecting from the man who threatened me and Jisoo on multiple occasions. I can't be sure what Changkyun's usual reaction would be. If I was to guess, I'd think it'd be similar to Jooheon's, but right now, he's just distracted.

Thankfully, Changkyun overlooked Jisoo and I before he reached his car. An obsidian black with complimentary orange and yellow flames. It leans more on the basic side, but it still has a fresh look.

The whole introduction lasts roughly ten minutes, as no one seems in a rush.

During this time, the bid collectors from each group finally joined us.

"I got the most bids," Jeonghan boasts as they approach us, making Seungkwan roll his eyes.

"Just barely," the boy mutters.

Jeonghan playfully smirks and nudges Seungkwan, "Oh, come on, it's not that big of a deal. I have years of experience on you anyways."

"Whatever," Seungkwan whines, taking a seat beside DK.

After the last racer enters her car, the TVs switch to a girl standing in the center of the starting line, raising a flag far above her head.

Suddenly, the cheers start to be drowned out by the sound of dozens of engines revving up.

Over the speakers, a countdown begins. "Three..." The voice belongs to the arena's owner, "Two..." I move to the edge of my seat, "One!"

The girl swings the flag down, and immediately she's surrounded by cars passing her. Like a statue, she stays deathly still, the only indication of life being her hair that flies back from the wind.

Yangyang races ahead, taking the immediate lead. Right behind him, S.coups tries to get to the inner side of the curve to gain an advantage and take first place. He already would have been where he wanted if it wasn't for another car driving beside him, just barely behind S.Coups. The car belongs to the Got7 member who won the race at home and caused a mini panic in Seventeen, Mark.

Most of the racers are out of the stadium and on the outdoor track in a few seconds.

As the racers exit the building, the TVs flicker away from the inside track and to the top racers. Only the top ten racers are displayed, one on each screen. Between every ten TVs, there's one constantly updating order of racers.