Golden Slumber 📚 ATEEZ [▶]

14

While on the street, Yeosang barely paid attention to his surroundings. More than once, he crashed into trash cans or simply useless poles. He zigzagged, made sharp turns, and sliced through the road, making everyone watch him with a mix of irritation and amazement. Taecyeon was only three meters away, still trying to shout for Yeosang to stop until he lost control and almost collided with a parked truck.

Yeosang, on the other hand, had entered the market area, causing a commotion among the shoppers. Taecyeon grunted as he drove on a different road, intending to meet Yeosang from the opposite direction. Occasionally, he sharpened his hearing, searching for the roar of the go-kart his son was driving. He saw Yeosang passing by some grocery stores. Taecyeon took a shortcut, eventually colliding with Yeosang.

"What's wrong with you?" Taecyeon's voice was slightly muffled behind his helmet.

"Driving is serious business. Appa asked me to race outside; I complied!" Yeosang was unwilling to give up, still trying to get his go-kart to speed up with Taecyeon continuing to obstruct him.

"But that's not what I meant!" Taecyeon looked around, just realizing the crowd of people watching his argument with Yeosang. "This is too dangerous!"

"Good, now you’re finally paying attention to me?" Yeosang knew he sounded like a spoiled child seeking attention. But the problem was, he had never received attention from the start. He wasn't asking. He demands it right now.

"I’m just worried this car will get damaged. It’s expensive to replace." Taecyeon explained, which only made Yeosang more furious and hurt.

"Then stop caring about me!"

Yeosang slammed the accelerator with all his might, finally freeing himself from Taecyeon. His go-kart sped off, accompanied by his continuous angry shouts. Taecyeon, still pursuing him, no longer cared about how people would react to the family issue that had brought him here.

"Yeosang, stop!"

"Go away!"

Yeosang was already consumed by anger, unintentionally putting many people at risk with his driving. He made sharp turns through several gaps, scattering many items. Ignoring the shouts and calls, Yeosang was angry at his father.

However, Taecyeon showed no sign of giving up on chasing his son. Ignoring the scattered items in front of the shops, Taecyeon increased the speed of his go-kart, hoping to catch Yeosang. But just as he was about to turn onto a shortcut, he lost control of the steering and crashed into a pole.

The horrifying crash sound made several people jump in shock, with both the go-kart and Taecyeon being thrown by the violent impact. His body was flung about five meters from where he crashed, while the go-kart rolled until it hit a still-closed store.

Hearing the loud noise, Yeosang immediately stopped his go-kart and turned to see Taecyeon lying on the ground. He seemed injured, as the next thing Yeosang saw was Taecyeon groaning while clutching his chest.

"Appa!"

Yeosang’s scream was not followed by hurried footsteps, but rather, the blaring horn of a truck approaching him. A three-meter-high truck could not swerve to avoid Yeosang standing there. In a narrow moment, Yeosang pressed himself against the shop wall, creating a two-centimeter gap between his face and the tall truck that had just crushed his go-kart.

His heart raced, too scared to move even though his feet were almost touching the truck's large tires.

Taecyeon, from his position, saw something else. He thought Yeosang had been run over with the go-kart. Hastily, he approached the wrecked go-kart with the truck still there, stopped.

"Yeosang! Yeosang, answer Appa!"

Yeosang exhaled where he stood. He was about to step forward to tell Taecyeon he was two centimeters away from death when his father spoke again.

"It's not that I’m angry with you!" Taecyeon's face was red, his eyes misty. He could barely lift his face, bending down to touch the pieces of the go-kart that he could still hold.

"You think I’m mad at you? No!" Taecyeon continued, making Yeosang freeze even more. "I’m just worried about you. I care about you. No, I’ve never been angry."

Yeosang thought this was the first time he was moved to tears because of Taecyeon. He should have realized earlier that Taecyeon was no more than a father who also wanted to see his son grow up well.

"Are you listening, son? Please answer me. I will listen to you. I won’t force you to do things you don’t want to anymore. Please, Yeosang, answer me. I’m sorry. Yeosang, do you hear?"

The other sobs sounded heartbreaking to Yeosang. He wiped the tears from his cheeks, then approached Taecyeon and crouched beside him, who was still bowed down.

"Don’t be mad at me, come on out!" Taecyeon patted the rough asphalt while continuing to cry.

"Why cry so sadly for whom?"

Taecyeon stared in disbelief, nearly falling as he saw Yeosang crouching next to him. He had no injuries, let alone being wrecked like his vehicle. He even smiled. The most sincere smile he had ever seen.

"You, you weren’t run over? Thank goodness!"

Yeosang stood with his father, allowing his body to land in a warm embrace accompanied by expressions of gratitude for his survival.

"Ah!" Taecyeon released his hug while grimacing, holding his chest.

"Appa fell worse; it must hurt." Yeosang felt guilty and confused about what to do. He just wanted a little attention. A little affection. A little freedom for his life.

"It’s alright." Taecyeon tried to smile, then his expression turned into a grimace a second later. He couldn't lie, he wasn’t good at lying. The fall was indeed quite severe.

The damage is done.

Your body already absorbed the trauma.

From the same direction Yeosang was driving, Seonghwa arrived driving another go-kart. The worry that had been building in Seonghwa was dispelled upon seeing the father and son who no longer had any more arguments to settle.

"That was so dangerous! Why didn’t you look around first?"

Yeosang, not used to receiving such attention from Taecyeon, only gave a thin smile while lowering his head.

Seonghwa approached them, not surprised by the wrecked go-kart under the truck's wheels. "Are you guys okay?" he asked, diverting his gaze from the go-kart. But it seemed he didn’t need an answer. The two in front of him looked much better than he had expected. "So who won?"

Yeosang glanced at Taecyeon, with the smile still lingering.

"Forget it, I don’t care what you do anymore. You've already had enough dangerous experiences today; just consider it a test from me," said Taecyeon.

"A test?" Seonghwa's voice carried disbelief, followed by a clearly feigned sad smile. "Destroying a go-kart, and this is still a test? The compensation will be very expensive!"

Taecyeon smiled awkwardly.

"Don’t worry, I’ll help compensate it," Seonghwa continued. He didn’t know how, but it felt like he was truly willing to do many things for his students.

"Thank you, Mr. Park. I leave Appa to you!" Yeosang bowed respectfully. "I’m leaving now!"

"Hey!"

Taecyeon’s shout did not make Yeosang stop. He looked delighted as he climbed into the go-kart that Seonghwa had driven here.

"See you! Appa, just take a taxi!" The next moment, Yeosang sped off with Taecyeon trying to run after him.

"Hey, son! Stop!"

Seonghwa sighed, then approached Taecyeon. "Let’s go!"

"Are we going to chase him?"

"Of course! He took the go-kart!"

"Kang Yeosang, stop!"

But the roar of the go-kart did not diminish, followed by cheerful shouts and some frustrated mutterings from people across the street.