But now I realize
At this rate, I'll be all alone  

The sun burned on my skin, right up to my rolled-up denim sleeves. Vernon snapped his fingers in front of my eyes.

I blinked, recoiling from his snap, and frowned, making him chuckle. "Sorry. Had to check if you were paying attention."

"Sure." I muttered, fingering my collar. The heat was up, and I sighed dully. "Keep going."

"If you're tired, we can stop by one of the garages." He glanced over at me, eyebrows furrowing with concern. "I mean, it's not like they're air conditioned, but at least there's shade."

"Maybe I'll just go over there myself." I said. "Check out how they modify their engines—with any luck, maybe mechanics will actually help."

"You sure?" He asked, but he looked pretty unbothered. "I'll be right out here if you need me."

"I'm not a preschooler."

"Just saying." He half-smiled. "Have fun, honey." He grinned, imitating Seulgi's sultry tone.

I slapped his shoulder lightly, smiling, and set out towards one of the open garages from the file lining one side of the road. Kicking aside the smaller tires that were strewn across the floor, I sighed and sat down heavily on one of the bigger ones.

Glancing at my wrist for a split second, I looked over at the lone car on the end of the place, the hood of which was open, up in the air. The boot was covered by a long, off-white sheet, hanging off the tail and creasing with its tail against the dirt-infested floor.

Red paint peeked out from under it, the centre lined by a single black stripe. My eyes narrowed, and I glanced at the open hood. A tiny silver stingray decorated the v-line.

I straightened, my heart thundering in my chest. 

Suddenly, I felt as if I'd been doused in cold water. The hood shut with a bang, and the person who had been standing behind it earlier, hidden from view, coughed into his fist and raised an eyebrow in my direction.

Not sure what to do, I stared back like a deer caught in the headlights. Almost literally.

For a few moments, he didn't say anything, and I wasn't capable of speaking. His arms were bare, nothing but a plain white wifebeater covering his chest. His skin pulled taut over his biceps as he crossed his arms, looking less than impressed by my presence.

"So you decided to join." He started, almost conversationally, surprising me. I'd thought he would have said something unwelcoming like, what the fuck are you doing here? "Funny."

I frowned, a bit offended. "Why should it be funny?"

"Never mind." He muttered, looking over through the windshield of his car. "What the hell are you doing here?"

And he's back.

"Sitting." I replied, raising my chin a little defensively. I wasn't sure why, but I honestly found annoying him a good pastime. Usually, I was pretty mature—I think—but there was something about infuriating him that gave me a kick out of it.

"Do you want some brownie points for that revolutionary observation?" He asked in a bored tone, moving aside towards the side of the car. "Or are you going to summon more of your dumbfounding eloquence?"

I scoffed. "Big words, Archie."

"I little too big for you, I think." He glanced at me for a fleeting moment, making my heart clench as our gazes met. "Get out."

"Wow, thanks a lot for being so welcoming," I muttered, and even though the sentence was supposed to be sarcastic, I couldn't help but feel the sting of his words. I was, admittedly, lonely.

He glanced over at me again, and pursed his lips just as he looked away. I clenched my jaw, a little irritated that he had absolutely refused to acknowledge the fact that I had spoken.

Resting my elbows on my knees, I stared at him, albeit not unabashedly. As he straightened, stretching, the material of the white cloth clung to his chest, outlining the muscles of his pectorals. I looked away, my ears heating up.

"You're wasting your time, you know." Taeyong spoke suddenly, but when I looked at him, he was squinting at the Stingray thoughtfully. "No one will be able to adapt to you quickly enough."

"Is that supposed to be encouraging?"

His lips lifted in a half smile, but he quickly smothered it, clearing his throat. "As I was saying: get out."

Shaking my head, I looked away from the sight of his car, choosing instead to look out of the open garage door. The glare of sunlight hitting the pavement was less harsh now, indicating the oncoming evening.

"Shut up." I said softly, cradling my jaw in my palm. My lips pursed, but the last thing I wanted was shit from a guy who owned an illegal racecar. "You could leave me alone, you know."

"And you could leave me," He said, rolling his eyes. "Are you done wallowing in self-pity? Did you get a B on a test? With that face, you look like someone ran over your puppy."

"I told you to shut up." I repeated, more forcefully this time. I was infuriated, and I had to admit it wasn't as fun being on the recieving end of it.

"Why?" He asked, sounding fed up. "Why should I shut up if you're sitting in my garage?"

"Can't you just let me be?" I clenched my fists, refusing to look at him. My voice was low, fragile. "I can't be anywhere else. I don't know anyone else, but I'm tired. I'm fucking tired, goddamn it."

At first, I wasn't sure why I had launched into a sob speech on being provoked so lightly, but soon, I realised that I was almost at my breaking point. Anything could set me off—and I wasn't just tired of the sun, either.

I was tired of running.

The next few seconds were quiet, not one word being exchanged between the two of us.

Taeyong sighed, sounding worn out as he exhaled. I looked over at him to find him with his eyes closed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Get in the car."

"Huh?" I looked up in surprise, uncomprehending at first. "Me?"

"Yes, you." He snapped, narrowing his eyes at me. "I'm not going to say it again."

But I watched, wide-eyed, as he pulled open the door of the red Corvette and grabbed his black leather jacket draped over the back of the driver's seat, throwing it over his shoulders. "What are you looking at?" He said sourly when he noticed I hadn't moved.

"I..." The syllable trailed off into nothing; I got shakily to my feet, not sure whether to proceed. "Why?"

He got into the car, starting the engine, and rolled down the windows. "We're going for a ride." He announced, rolling his shoulders backwards. "Now, you coming or not?"

──────

"Where are we going?" My mind was still reeling from the sudden invitation, but once I was in the car, with the breeze on my face, everything was okay. "You're not kidnapping me, are you?"

"You're not worth kidnapping." He answered, eyes trained on the road in front of him. "As for where we're going...you'll see."

I pursed my lips and sat back in the seat, though the excitement was getting to me. Such was it's intensity that I even ignored his jab at my worth.

Nevertheless, my hands absentmindedly patted the front pocket of my jeans, checking for the pocket knife. I glanced sideways at Taeyong—I would probably never be able to overpower him, but blades were always an asset.

Experience had taught me that.

Silence prevailed, with me barely containing my curiosity with fingers tapping away at the side, and eyes constantly flickering to the driver's seat. I was painfully aware of the fact that he had barely anything on underneath the jacket, but I couldn't speak. I couldn't do anything about it.

The only sound was the slow rise of the car up the road, the light slope indicating maybe a hill. But there were no hills here.

Where were we?

Exhaling softly through my nose, I shifted my gaze to outside the window again. The sides were green and full, lush greenery decorating each side, trees reaching up in a wish to touch the sun.

I had leapt for the sun once.

There had been wheels, and smoke. Sirens blaring, a column of fire rising up to meet the night sky. I was almost convinced I had escaped their envy, but could I ever be sure?

Could I ever be safe?

"Where did you come from?"

I blinked, and slowly faced Taeyong, who was still adamant on not looking at me. "Why?"

"Just answer the question." He said, but his tone was defeated.

I studied his face for a moment, and then looked away. "Daejong." I said, pursing my lips. "Why are you asking me that?"

"That's not what I meant." He said lowly, licking his lips. I watched his tongue flick over his lower lip, his jaw clench slightly as he pursed them afterwards. "You know what I mean. Where'd you come from? Forced, born, trained...taken?"

My lips pressed into a thin line. "...born."

He must have not expected my answer, because his eyes finally flickered to me in surprise. "Really?"

"Don't believe it if you don't want to." I said weakly.

I didn't want him to.

"It's not about what I want." His voice was still a little high with disbelief. "You don't...look it."

"Appearances can be deceiving."

"You don't say." He raised an eyebrow, and I noticed there were two lines shaved through the end. "Don't be too proud of yourself after this."

"After what?" I pushed myself up in my seat, glancing out curiously.

The place definitely was at a height, one side of the road facing a steep drop, parts of the city visible down there. One was infesed through with a thickness of vegetation, dense but navigable.

The sun dipped in the horizon, shining orange and lemon and turning the sky all shades of violet and gold.

I stared, open-mouthed.

Taeyong looked at me, a small smirk resting on his lips. "After this."

──────

EXO'S COMEBACK I MEAN THE SPEEDOMETER I LOWKEY PREDICTED THIS OMG

i want a biker yixing please god

okay i said this was gonna be interesting. apparently, i lied. next chapter, i promise.

vernon biaswrecking me so hard these days o o f

regular hasn't even come out yet but i can already tell it's a whole bop. which song's your favourite so far from the medley?

(mark said we should keep our guard up i-)