Burn up The Road || Haechan

One

2023
Solstice Mechanic's – Seoul, South Korea

The warming end of winter sun basked into the shop windows, hitting the tan skin of the 22-year-old Kim Dalbyeol, she was hunched over the open hood of a client's Aston Martin, giving a detailed service to the very expensive vehicle. Sweat started to pool on her tinted cheeks and forehead, a layer of sticky perspiration found home on her exposed shoulders.

The normally irritating heat of the sun didn't last long as it started to set, filling the sky with baby pinks, dusty oranges, and sunflower yellows. Her father groaned from the other side of the garage, throwing the metal tool down on his toolbox, rubbing the top of his knee with his knuckles, trying to knead out the shooting pain from sitting for too long.

"Come on, Dad. Time to get you upstairs." She wiped her brow before putting her own tools down and walking over to her 54-year-old father, retired professional race car driver and now shop owner of 'Solstice Mechanic's'.

Hajoon started to rise from his swivel chair with no back, only for his bad knee to give out halfway up. Byeol was instantly at his side, grabbing a hold of his arm to steady him out. "I'm okay, Byeol." He patted her hand that supported him.

In the five years since they moved back to Korea, Dalbyeol was able to complete her community service hours quite quickly, working nearly every afternoon after school until she graduated. After graduation she started working full time for her father, working as an apprentice, that of course was fast tracked and now she works there as a qualified mechanic.

Her father bought a shell of a Toyota 86, to which she has built and modified over the years, giving her another hobby beside sitting in her room or in the garage, hoping that she would get out more often.

She does get out and drive her car around, she just doesn't want to talk to many people. She'd take a few road trips, taking as many photos as she can. Then she'd come home, work on her car for a bit and then retreat to her room to edit the photos she took. When she wasn't working down here, she would still be in the garage.

Hajoon was starting to worry about her.

After Byeol had cooked her father dinner and ate with him, she left him to his own devices before cleaning up the dirty dishes and making her way back down to the garage. She started with the car her father left unfinished. She slid his chair away and hunched over the open hood of the Mercedes, just a simple service with a fan belt replacement.

Lucky for Byeol, her father completed most of the services, just need to replace the spark plugs and the fan belt, then she could move back to her own work. The afternoon sun had completely set now, the warm and bright colours turning to deep blue tones, the one streetlight letting a few stars become visible.

Once she finished the Mercedes and had taken it around the block to make sure everything was in working order, she jotted down everything on the invoice and attached the keys to the clip board, putting it on the reception desk.

The reception desk was also the office desk, that was in a small room off to the side. Hajoon had wanted this to be a family business, as he wanted to spend as much time with Byeol as he could. However, maybe that did more damaged than good, not exposing her to more people, leaving her to be a night owl that hangs out with cars instead of people.

She liked the solidarity. She was calm and at peace, having her hands occupied and not sitting idle. Rotating tyres or changing oil kept the buzz in her at bay, kept the itching feeling to race again dormant. She was an adrenaline junky, the thrill of flying down the highway, barely seeing her surroundings as they blurred with her insane speed. She loved walking the fine line of life and death. She missed it, but she was safer here, under the hood of a car.