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

XXXVIII | Preparing

"WOO!" I cheer, watching as Mingyu passes another car.

The first race is coming to an end, with the front racers halfway through the third lap. Currently, Mingyu is placed fifth, which according to woozi, is okay, but he would need to do better than that if Seventeen wanted to win over Jennie.

Dino and S.Coups are both racing as well. Dine is one place ahead of Mingyu and has been since the second lap, and S.Coups was in 11th, trying to pass Romin, who's ruthlessly fighting to keep his tenth spot.

"You're excited!" DK says, suddenly appearing beside me.

"Oh, just trying to be a supportive friend." I shrug.

For some reason, that makes DK laugh. "You and Mingyu have been hanging out recently, right? You seem to enjoy spending your time with him."

DK's observation shouldn't throw me off, but it does. The times we have hung out have always been alone, or at least mostly alone. Maybe Mingyu had told DK about it? They were friends, so it would make sense.

"Yeah, he's fun to hang out with. Plus, he's nice." I say, although the response comes too late and sounds awkward.

Instead of saying anything, DK nods, and we both turn our attention to the race. In the short time I talked with DK, Dino passed the third-place racer, Yeosang. S.Coups is still trying to get into the top ten. There's one final stretch before the finish line, hopefully giving Mingyu enough time to get to at least fourth and perhaps giving the leader a chance to get past Romin.

With the finish line looming closer, DK looks tense. "Mingyu needs to get into third."

"Huh?"

"If he doesn't, we don't have a chance at convincing Jennie. Not when S.Coups is so far down the line."

"Will he be able to pass both of them?" There's not much road left, and while Mingyu is gaining on fourth, it's hard to see a way for him to get all the way to third.

"He'll have to."

The final part of the course is the most exciting. It's full of sharp turns through a street of apartment buildings, one of which houses mine and Jisoo's place. But, besides the sharp turns, there are small passages offering a quicker route. They're hard to fit through, and they're hard to find, especially for the racers whose primary focus is the road ahead of them and the cars around them.

Only one racer was able to find one of the secret shortcuts on the first lap, giving her a boost into first place, the place she's still in. I recognize Ryujin's car from the Golden Rosé Races, violet with black flowers. She was the one who had helped Changkyun after his vehicle crashed. With the space between her and Dino, it's impossible she won't win the race.

Dino should be able to maintain his place. On the second lap, he found two shortcuts, one of which he's already used and the second one he's about to go through.

The third and fourth racers both found their own secret passage. Mingyu was the only one so highly placed sticking to the plain track. The racer in front of him discovered one last lap, but Mingyu didn't have enough time to swerve into the narrow way. But from what I've seen, he'll likely take that route this time. If he wants to get into third, he'll have to.

Thankfully, Mingyu is close behind fourth place, and the shortcut is coming up. It's one the racer had missed before and will hopefully miss again.

It happens. Fourth place flies past the small opening, apparently not wanting to try the route again, and Mingyu sharply turns in, nearly colliding into the wall on the passenger's side.