#56: Drift and Shift

[lordchen]

Prompt: #56
Title: Drift and Shift
Pairing: Chen/D.O.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Some violence, illegal stuff, rough(ish) sex
Word count: 13,805
Summary: Two years. Two years away from racing, from the team, from El Dorado. From Kyungsoo. It had been so quiet until now, calm. And yet, he knew the minute he had seen Kyungsoo, he was going to go back. There was never any other choice.
Author's note: I feel like I need to apologize to the prompter for how freaking long this story is, but the plot kind of ran away from me. And let it be known I have nothing against BigBang and 2NE1, they just fit the roles.



For Jongdae, street racing wasn’t complicated.

A lot of people thought it was, swept up in the lifestyle of it all, but it was like any other machine. If you broke it down into parts, down to the core, it wasn’t so difficult to understand. Forget the prize money and gambling and the twisted thrill that came with doing something illegal. Forget the flashy paintjobs and customized engines. Forget the status that came with being the first one to cross that makeshift finish line at the end of the night, tires squealing and engines roaring. All of that was a distraction.

What mattered was the race.

The adrenaline in his veins when he took a curve far too fast to be safe. The way the hairs stood on the back of his neck when he was waiting for the start. The euphoric rush of victory, and the crippling disappointment of defeat. The pound of his heart as he gripped the steering wheel, thousands of pounds of steel controlled by the smallest of movements. That was where his desire resigned, sat squarely in the driver’s seat and ready to hit the gas.

It was what had drawn him to the racing scene in the first place, back when he was just a kid, eighteen years old and still wet behind the ears. He had hardly scraped enough money together to purchase his own car, and a shitty one at that. But it didn’t stay shitty for long, when he started winning and could afford to modify it, gaining sponsors and the benefits of being a part of a team rather than riding solo. Even as his car got better, the feeling of being behind the wheel stayed the same. Jongdae was the race, intertwined with his being until people could hardly say his name without including the car. Five years of racing. Five years of feeling completely alive as he maneuvered through the streets he called home at break-neck speeds.

And then, the race didn’t matter anymore.

He hadn’t noticed the change at first, the transition like a whisper. Quiet, but important when he listened. Losses, as rare as they were, didn’t sting as much as they used to, didn’t fester in his thoughts and send him into the next race with a need to prove himself. He didn’t pause in his walks around the neighborhood to question someone about their car’s engine, having heard the subtleties of the parts and giving into his curiosity to see what the car was working with. He didn’t spend hours tinkering with car parts, or go to races on his weekends off just to watch. He just… stopped. He was burning out, and quickly, much quicker than he had ever imagined. If he was honest, he had believed he would die in some violent crash before he considered quitting racing, especially at the age of twenty-three.

It took him a while to realize what was happening, but he had gone to bed one night with something other than cars on his mind and had woken up an entirely new person.

And that was it. He was done.

No big speeches. No last hurrah in the racing circles. It just wasn’t his personality to make a huge fuss. He left as quietly as he had arrived, with a smile and a pull that was now in the opposite direction. He only told his teammates, the people he cared about most, and they all assured that they knew before he had said it, knew it was time for him to get out. A few affectionate headlocks and brief hugs, and he was gone.

He stayed in the area, but not in the city, purchasing a house on the outskirts of town. Close enough to not feel like he was starting over completely, but far enough away that he didn’t risk the chance of seeing the things he left behind. He thought of keeping in touch with his friends, maybe go catch a few of their races later on, but he knew it wouldn’t work. You were either in, or you were out, and Jongdae was so tired of being in.

But after years spent in the middle of it all, staying out was much easier said than done.

X

It was ironic, Jongdae thought, that the opportunity to step back into the racing world would literally come knocking at his front door.

But as he walked down the hall to see who, in God’s name, would be on his doorstep at one in the morning, he didn’t think about the consequences of answering that knock. He didn’t realize what would be awaiting him, though he probably should have known anything at that time of night couldn’t be good. But even if he had known, he still would have opened the door. It didn’t make it any easier, however, to see what waited outside.

Kyungsoo smiled at Jongdae as the door swung open, even if he could only see out of one eye, the other caked in blood that seeped from a cut above his eyebrow.

“Hi, Dae.”

Jongdae couldn’t help the way his breath caught in his throat at the sight of him, watching with wide eyes as Kyungsoo tugged his shirt sleeve back up, having been torn at the seam along his shoulder. It fell back down despite his effort, exposing scrapes along a pale arm. He was obviously in a lot of pain, but he didn’t show it. Kyungsoo hardly ever showed that particular emotion. Jongdae was used to that facade, but the sight of Kyungsoo smiling through all of that blood was jarring.

“What happened?” Jongdae asked in a soft voice, stepping aside to allow the man in, and he watched Kyungsoo’s visible eye roll sarcastically.

“You’ve always been one to get straight to the point,” Kyungsoo said with a snort, even as he stepped into the house and began to walk down the hall. Jongdae didn’t miss the limp in his step.

“How did you get here?” Jongdae asked, and the other man shrugged.

“I walked,” he said nonchalantly. “Where’s your kitchen?”

“First doorway on the right,” Jongdae called, glancing out towards the street before closing the door firmly behind him, locking the deadbolt. He doubted Kyungsoo would have waited so patiently for Jongdae to let him in had he been followed, but that didn’t keep him from being paranoid. And considering the state the other man was in, he felt he was justified in that paranoia.

Jongdae watched as Kyungsoo tugged at his sleeve once more before disappearing through the doorway he had indicated, and he took a moment to duck into his laundry room - truly, it was more of a closet, but he didn’t get stuck on the details - and grab the closest tee shirt he could find before following him down the hall.

Kyungsoo was lowering himself into a chair at the table when Jongdae walked into the room, and the older man frowned at the wince that crossed Kyungsoo’s face as he settled. Jongdae handed him his shirt and moved away, Kyungsoo’s soft word of thanks following him to the bathroom as he retrieved the first aid kit he had stashed under the sink.

When he returned, Kyungsoo had changed into the new shirt, his old one folded and set aside on the table. Jongdae’s shirt was a bit too big for Kyungsoo, sitting low across his collarbones, and Jongdae paused in the doorway just to take the image in. Nostalgia sat heavily in the back of his mind at the sight of the other wearing his clothes, and Jongdae shook his head to clear those thoughts. He didn’t have time to get caught up in memories, not when Kyungsoo was still bleeding.

He didn’t say a word as he crossed the floor, coming to stand between the other’s legs and gently tilting Kyungsoo’s face up towards the light as he sat the kit on the table behind the other. Grabbing one of the antiseptic wipes, he began with clearing the blood from Kyungsoo’s face, keeping his touch light and careful. Kyungsoo watched him for a while, but the silence did not last for long.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Kyungsoo asked, and Jongdae shrugged.

“I’ve already asked you what happened. I’m just waiting for you to tell me.”

“You’re no fun,” Kyungsoo said with a pout, the action pushing the skin of his split lip further apart and breaking the clotted blood that had tried to scab. Jongdae poked him in the lip for his efforts, smiling gently at Kyungsoo’s protests.

“I’ve never been fun,” he pointed out. “You’ve known me long enough to be aware of that.”

“I thought two years might have changed that,” Kyungsoo admitted, reaching out to hook his fingers into the loops of Jongdae’s jeans. Not tugging or pulling him closer, but just holding him in place. Anchoring him. “It’s reassuring to see that at least your dull personality has remained the same, even when you aren’t behind the wheel anymore.”

“I don’t have any reason to be exciting,” Jongdae countered as he dragged the wipe over the cut in Kyungsoo’s forehead. It wasn’t deep, and Jongdae figured they could get away with some steri strips instead of stitches. Good. He was shit at stitches. “You seem to be living an exciting enough life for the both of us.”

Kyungsoo smiled weakly, thumbs rubbing the skin just underneath the hem of Jongdae’s shirt. Jongdae couldn’t stop himself from sighing before Kyungsoo pulled his hands back down to his lap.

“Exciting isn’t always better.”

Jongdae frowned at the words, reaching up to cup Kyungsoo’s cheek with his hand and forcing the younger man to look at him.

“What happened, Soo?” he asked again. This time, Kyungsoo didn’t try to smile, concern clear in his eyes.

“It’s El Dorado, Dae. They are trying to take El Dorado from me.”

For as long as Jongdae had known Kyungsoo, he had known of El Dorado. The name was relatively well-known among racing circles as the best garage this side of town, and it was the garage that Jongdae had driven out of in his days as a member of the racing team EXO. Kyungsoo, while having had a few races himself, had always been more fond of being under the hood than in the driver’s seat. He owned the place, and was one of the best mechanics Jongdae had ever met. The man was a wonder with tools, and El Dorado was practically his soul, his reason for being. He wouldn’t give it up for anything, and the way he spoke now told Jongdae that Kyungsoo was truly terrified he could lose it.

His hand slid to the back of Kyungsoo’s neck, holding him still as he continued to talk, reaching for the steri strips in the box. “Who’s trying to take it?”

“A new group,” Kyungsoo began, tongue swiping over the cut in his lip as Jongdae positioned the first strip above his brow. “But you know them. BigBang and 2NE1 combined to make a new team. They call themselves Monarch, now. Something about them being the ‘royalty of racing’, I don’t know.”

Jongdae tried not to pause, pulling his hand away from Kyungsoo’s neck to pinch the torn skin closed, then smoothing the strip in place. Even if he had been out of the races for two years, Jongdae knew those names. It was hard not to have heard them in the circles. Both BigBang and 2NE1 were notorious for their confident drivers, for their ability, and for the reckless way they handled their cars. Jongdae had been a risky driver as well, but these teams went through cars like candy. They made up for it, however, in experience, in years of traveling through different circles and towns. They raced out of a pretty popular gym, themselves, using the YG facilities for as long as he could remember.

So why were they going after El Dorado?

“What does the garage have for them?” Jongdae asked, placing another strip along the cut. Two should do it. Kyungsoo shrugged, holding his head still as Jongdae worked.

“From what I could gather, the territory. EXO has been winning more and more lately, gaining more ground. Monarch is trying to regain the focus, expand their own territory, and I guess it looked like the ideal spot to set up camp. They came asking to purchase it, sent only one person in. Seungri, I think.”

“You were alone?” Jongdae asked, shocked that anyone could just walk in there without someone from EXO being present, but Kyungsoo confirmed it.

“It was closing, and the guys had a race tonight,” he explained. “I sent them on without a second thought. He approached me as I was locking the door.”

“What did you tell him?” Jongdae questioned, smoothing the edges of the strips down firmly, and Kyungsoo sent him a playful smirk.

“I told him it wasn’t for sale. As well as a few other choice words.”

Jongdae shook his head in disapproval. “Soo.”

“Well, they can’t just expect me to give it up that easily,” Kyungsoo said defensively, swatting at Jongdae’s side before resting his hand there, fingers curling around the top of his hip bone. “It was a ridiculously low sum of money they were offering, anyway. And he was a persistent bastard, so I kind of lost my temper.”

“And how did that work out for you?” Jongdae challenged, tapping the other’s nose as he packed the rest of the strips away. Kyungsoo simply scoffed.

“It got the shit kicked out of me, but at least I still have the garage.”

Jongdae closed the first aid kit, and with a familiarity that he hadn’t felt in years, he let his hands fall to Kyungsoo’s shoulders, careful of the scrapes along his arms.

“Is anything else needing immediate attention?” Jongdae asked, gesturing towards Kyungsoo’s injuries. Kyungsoo shook his head.

“The rest are just bruises or scratches.” Jongdae didn’t know if he believed that, but he didn’t pry.

“So what brings you all the way out here?” he asked instead, and Kyungsoo hummed nonchalantly, waving a hand as if to rid the air of Jongdae’s question.

“Would you believe I was in the neighborhood?”

“No, not when you should have been going to a doctor instead of to me,” Jongdae said with a snort, though he knew none of the EXO boys would ever go to a real medical professional for a couple of minor injuries. Still, his house was a bit out of the way for a quick fix up, and he knew for a fact that Junmyeon knew his way around a first aid kit a lot better than he did, having let the man stitch him up numerous times. “You came here for a reason, I’m sure.”

Kyungsoo balked at the words, both hands now settled on Jongdae’s waist, thighs bumping the outsides of Jongdae’s legs playfully. “What? We used to be very close, as I recall. Can’t I just see an old friend from time to time?”

“I haven’t seen you in years,” Jongdae reminded him.

“Which is why this is the perfect time for me to drop by.”

“Kyungsoo,” Jongdae warned, and when the man hesitated, he continued. “Tell me why you’re really here.”

Kyungsoo relented with a worried sigh, and Jongdae frowned. The mechanic wasn’t even trying to hide it now, the anxiety clear in his features. Jongdae resisted the urge to push closer, to hold the other as he gathered his words. He didn’t have to wait long, regardless.

“They want a race,” Kyungsoo said. “Driver against driver, one on one. For El Dorado.”

Jongdae paused, let that sink in, before he responded.

“Tell them no,” Jongdae said quietly, and the laugh that slipped from Kyungsoo’s lips was bitter.

“I did.” He rolled his shoulder, working the stiffness out of the joint. “But that just earned me another kick to the ribs. He said he’d be back with friends later, to see if I changed my mind.”

He looked up at Jongdae with a wince. “I don’t know if I can afford to say no a second time. I have no intentions of giving them the garage, but I’m not sure I can avoid this race without me or someone else getting hurt.”

Jongdae knew that Kyungsoo’s injuries were only a warning. They weren’t enough to really leave lasting physical damage, but the psychological damage was there, fear written all over Kyungsoo’s words. And he didn’t really blame Kyungsoo for that. Still, he didn't necessarily agree with the reason Kyungsoo was here, either, that information clicking into place.

“You don’t need me for this,” he tried, his words slow and measured, but Kyungsoo was shaking his head before he even finished the words.

“Yes, I do,” Kyungsoo insisted as he looked away, avoiding Jongdae’s eyes. “You know you’re the best driver in EXO.”

“I’m not in EXO anymore. I don’t drive anymore,” Jongdae bit out, running a hand over the back of his neck. “What about Yixing? Or Chanyeol? How about Junmyeon? He’s still training Sehun, right? What about him? You said so yourself, they’ve been winning. They’re all good enough to beat anyone you put them against.”

“Dae, they aren’t racing just anyone,” Kyungsoo argued. “They’ll be up against Jiyong.”

Jongdae tried not to grimace at the name, but it was hard not to. Kwon Jiyong was, for lack of a better word, insane. He drove too fast, turned too sharp, and talked too much, always taunting anyone he deemed unworthy. Which, in truth, was probably everyone, including his own teammates. Put that man behind the wheel, and it was guaranteed to be an interesting race. Mostly because Jiyong would nearly kill himself or the opponents or everyone involved with his actions. He hated the idea of the man even looking in the direction of El Dorado, let alone trying to weasel the ownership out of Kyungsoo’s white-knuckled grip.

Jongdae took a deep breath, taking in Kyungsoo’s features, the way his lips had been set in a determined line, his eyes almost pleading. Two years. Two years away from racing, from the team, from El Dorado. From Kyungsoo. It had been so quiet until now, calm.

And yet, he knew the minute he had seen Kyungsoo, he was going to go back. There was never any other choice.

He reached out, running his fingers through Kyungsoo’s hair as he sighed. It was longer than he remembered, and dyed a bright red now as opposed to the black he had been used to, but the way Kyungsoo leaned into the touch was the same. Willing. Trusting.

Hopeful.

“We’ll go see the guys in the morning,” Jongdae murmured, watching the tension in Kyungsoo’s frame drain out all at once as his hand settled once more at the base of Kyungsoo’s skull. “You can crash in the guest room.”

“You used to be a cuddler, as I recall,” Kyungsoo quipped, and Jongdae couldn’t help but smile.

“Maybe when you aren’t covered in injuries,” Jongdae said with a chuckle. “You need rest. Come on. I’ll show you the way.”

He started to pull away, but Kyungsoo reached out, grabbing a hold of his sleeve before he could move out from between his legs. Jongdae stilled, let Kyungsoo tug him back in, and he watched as the younger man dropped his gaze to the floor, biting his bottom lip in thought.

“I’m sorry, Jongdae,” he whispered. “If there was any other way... ”

Kyungsoo paused, shook his head before starting again. “If I could leave you out of it, you know I would. When you left, I respected that distance you needed, and I’d never ask this of you if I could help it, because I know how hard it was for you to get out.”

He looked up, then, fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt as he met Jongdae’s gaze. “But it’s El Dorado. I can’t lose it.”

Jongdae lifted both hands to hold Kyungsoo’s face, fingers curling underneath his jaw gently as his thumbs drifted over Kyungsoo’s cheekbones. Kyungsoo reached up to circle Jongdae’s wrists with his fingers, but he didn’t try to move away, and Jongdae was once again lost in the sense of familiarity that settled across his mind.

“You won’t lose it,” Jongdae murmured into the space between them. “I’ll make sure of that.”

Kyungsoo squeezed his wrists, smiling up at him, before letting him pull away.

He followed Jongdae without a sound, disappearing into the guest room with a small wave and closing the door behind him. Jongdae lingered for a moment, listening to the sound of Kyungsoo shuffling behind the door, before moving across the hall to his own bedroom.

He hoped Kyungsoo listened to him for once and tried to get some shut eye. One of them had to be rested in the morning, and with the way Jongdae’s head was spinning with thoughts at the moment, he knew he had little chance of getting any sleep at all.

X

Stepping back into El Dorado was a lot easier than Jongdae had thought it would be. He had been anticipating to feel a change, to feel like he was an outsider, but as he walked through the doorway with Kyungsoo close behind, it wasn’t like that at all.

If anything, it felt like coming home. Granted, it was the home of a dysfunctional family of twelve - eleven, without him - that thrived on adrenaline, but compared to the quiet suburbia Jongdae had become accustomed to in the past few years, the garage felt like walking through a memory. Familiar. Full of laughter.

The source of the present laughter was the group of three nestled at the back of the garage, sprawled out on some horribly worn couches and bickering about a videogame as controllers were passed back and forth. Jongdae could hear the racing sound effects from here, and he rolled his eyes. Even in their free time, they raced.

Chanyeol was the first to realize he was there, the giant of a man poking his head above the television and back down, only to appear once more in a comical doubletake that had a smirk flickering across Jongdae’s features. Sehun and Jongin were a bit slower on the upswing, but Chanyeol caught them up, his voice booming cheerfully across the room.

“Son of a bitch. Jongdae!”

The younger men stopped their game to look up, and then all three were clammering over one another to get off the couch, long legs carrying them over to where Jongdae stood. The three talked all at once, firing off questions and comments that Jongdae just barely made out as hands fell to his shoulders and pulled him into hugs.

“What are you doing here? I thought you quit!”

“Man, where the hell have you been hiding? Siberia?”

“Don’t you own a fucking cell phone? You can’t fall off the face of the Earth for two years without calling!”

Jongdae laughed, swatting at Sehun when he clung a little longer than the rest of them. “I missed you guys, too.”

“Of course you did,” Chanyeol snorted, ruffling Jongdae’s hair like he always used to do. “What’s not to miss?”

“I could name quite a few things,” Kyungsoo piped up from behind Jongdae, though he had already turned away to fiddle with the computer at the front desk. It was smart, using Jongdae as a distraction so he could get himself to a chair without the still-noticeable limp being seen by the others, keeping his face turned away so they couldn’t see the cut above his eyebrow, or the nasty looking bruise that had begun to develop around it. He was trying to hide the fact that he had been attacked last night, and Jongdae sighed. The mechanic obviously hadn’t told anyone about it, and it didn’t seem like he was ready to go into details just yet.

But the introduction of another voice made it clear Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to hide for long. Junmyeon never missed things like this.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise,” Junmyeon said from the second level, leaning on the railing to the right of the door as he peered down at Jongdae with a wide grin. He had wondered if there was anyone hanging around in the lofted area. It was mainly a few offices used by Kyungsoo, Minseok, and Baekhyun as the main mechanics, a kitchen area, and a bed to crash in if needed.

“Hey, Jun,” Jongdae said with a small wave, watching as a sleepy looking Yixing appeared behind him. Kyungsoo mentioned they raced last night. Yixing had always looked ready to sleep for days after a race. “Where is everybody?”

“Tao and Yifan went out to scout a team from the town over last night,” Junmyeon explained, gesturing a hand towards the empty spaces in the garage, where Jongdae knew cars would typically be parked. “They should be back within the hour. Minseok and Han went to go grab lunch for the group, and Baekhyun is around here somewhere, probably up to his elbows in grease with one of the cars.”

Junmyeon’s eyes slid over to Kyungsoo, and Jongdae watched as a frown took over the man’s features. Just like that, Junmyeon knew. Less than thirty seconds. Even if Kyungsoo was doing well to hide his taped up forehead and bruises, Junmyeon had a knack for subtleties.

The older man glanced at Jongdae again, the look laced with curiosity, before he spoke once more.

“What brings you here?”

It was casual enough, but Jongdae heard the underlining question. Junmyeon knew better than most about Jongdae’s desire to get out of racing, and paired with Kyungsoo’s injuries, the older man knew something was up. Something had forced Jongdae back.

Kyungsoo fessed up before Jongdae could answer, lifting his head to meet Junmyeon’s eyes.

“I asked him to come back.”

"Are those bruises?" Yixing asked, looking much more alert now that he realized the other's injuries. The three men buzzing around Jongdae paused, wide eyes turning to find Kyungsoo’s form.

Kyungsoo looked at Jongdae briefly before he sighed, running his tongue over the cut in his lip that had begun to heal. “Let’s go sit and wait for the others. I don't want to have to explain this more than once."

As Junmyeon had said, Zitao and Yifan drove in before the hour was up, and by then Lu Han and Minseok had stumbled in with their arms full of food. Baekhyun, too, had emerged from the back room, wiping his hands on a rag to get rid of the grease before plopping down next to Jongdae with little more than “It’s about time you came for a visit.” Everyone seemed happy to see him, and Jongdae couldn’t help the ache that settled behind his ribs at sitting down with them all at the couches, surrounded by the people he had referred to as his brothers for years. They were as much his family as any blood relative, possibly even more, and even with years spent away, he could feel himself falling into the same routine. Nothing had changed. Not the way Jongin and Sehun argued over the stupidest things. Not the way Baekhyun tried his best to irritate everyone around him. Not the way Zitao curled up against Yifan’s side, or the way Yifan pretended not to notice, the two nearly inseparable even when they weren’t scouting competition. It was easy.

But then the group would look back towards Kyungsoo, see the wounds along his face, or the grimace of pain he gave when he twisted the wrong way, and suddenly the atmosphere wasn’t so relaxed. It became anger, confusion, and concern all wrapped up in a tangible tension that hung in the air. Kyungsoo waited until everyone was settled before he began, keeping his eyes down as he told them what he had told Jongdae last night.

Monarch wanted a race for El Dorado. They would be back to make sure he agreed. The racer EXO would face would be Jiyong.

As expected, the boys didn’t take it as quietly as Jongdae had.

“They can’t do that,” Jongin argued, shaking his head. As someone who was learning the ropes of auto mechanics, Jongin was one of the closest teammates to Kyungsoo, and Jongdae could see he was practically vibrating with his anger. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Kyungsoo’s bruises as he spoke. “If we don’t agree to a race, they can’t make us do it.”

“If they get the word out, they can,” Junmyeon stated softly, his eyebrows pinched in thought. “They’ve already sent a message by attacking Soo. They are desperate for the garage, and if they get the racing circle on their side, we may not get much of a choice.”

“But we don’t know if it will come to that,” Yifan pointed out, and Zitao moved from where he had pushed his face into the man’s chest, propping his chin up on Yifan’s shoulder to look at him. “And even then, we don’t have to race. Fuck the circle. This is on our terms.”

“I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo cut in, voice lifted in sarcasm, “but when did me getting my ass kicked become a part of our terms?”

“They caught you off guard,” Yifan countered, “but we outnumber them. If it’s an easy fight they want, El Dorado is not the smartest place to come looking for trouble.”

That wasn’t an unfair assessment. While EXO was not a violent group, they were fiercely protective of one another. Jongdae knew the next time Monarch showed their faces, the entire group would be ready for them, and they wouldn’t hesitate to defend their own. Jongdae knew a couple of them were itching to get their hands on Seungri in particular, himself included.

“It would be quite the race, though,” Yixing started, tilting his head to the side as he bit at his thumbnail, a nervous habit he’d had since Jongdae met him. “Jiyong is known for his showmanship, and if the circle caught wind of it, they would push it with the crowds, try to gain attention within other circles.”

Jongdae caught the nod of Lu Han’s head out of the corner of his eye, the man fidgeting in his seat as he spoke. “Even if we declined the race, our name would already be in the mix.”

“And you know how the crowds are,” Chanyeol jumped in, leaning across Baekhyun to look at Yifan, the smaller mechanic swatting at the taller man for his efforts. “If they want the race, they’ll get the race.”

“Turning it down would look cowardly,” Minseok agreed, scratching at his cheek absentmindedly. “They’d think we didn’t have faith in our team, or our territory. It’s more of a pride thing at that point than anything else.”

“But we don’t have anything to prove to them,” Sehun argued, shaking his head. “It’s still our garage, still our decision to race. Doesn’t that count for something?”

Jongdae smiled bitterly at that question, leaning his head back against the sofa. No, it didn’t count for anything. This type of race wasn’t about who was in the right. It was about power, and who was willing to take it. When a team like Monarch called you out, it didn’t matter if they didn’t have a good reason to race. What mattered was the way EXO handled a challenge. The circles knew that, and the crowds did, too. Would EXO let one of their teammates be beaten in their own garage and not answer? Would they let Monarch walk all over them? Denying a race now would be like declaring they didn’t care for their name or for their members, that they didn’t stick up for themselves.

And Kyungsoo was right. If they denied the race again, Monarch would challenge them once more. Probably in the form of another member of EXO being injured, and this time, it probably wouldn’t be such shallow wounds. It would be more purposeful.

It was exactly this type of thinking that Jongdae was looking to avoid when he left racing. But it was also the type that lingered in the background of your every move, waiting to pull you back in.

When the silence stretched on, Sehun’s question still hanging in the air, it was Junmyeon who broke the spell.

“Is that why you are here, Dae?” the older man asked, and Jongdae lifted his head to meet his eyes. “Are you here to race?”

“I’m looking to avoid it, if I can,” Jongdae admitted, running his fingers through his hair as he cut his eyes to Kyungsoo by his side. The man still hadn’t looked up, red hair hiding his eyes, but he could tell Kyungsoo was highly aware of Jongdae’s words. “But if you need me, I will.”

“You may not have to,” Junmyeon said with a hum, but Jongdae could read the unsaid comment in his expression. He was of the same mindset of Kyungsoo. If anyone had a good chance against Jiyong, it would be him. He was the most experienced, reacted the fastest, and even after years of not participating, it wouldn’t be so challenging to step back behind the wheel.

“I’m probably going to, though,” Jongdae countered with a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Unless you think someone else could take him on.”

“My car is still in the shop from my last race,” Chanyeol muttered with an apologetic look, throwing a hand towards the Chevrolet Chevelle on the car lift in the corner, the engine exposed from where Baekhyun had been tinkering with it earlier. “I couldn’t race without her.”

“As much as my pride tells me I could win,” Yixing said with a snort, shooting Jongdae a warm smile, “you’ve always been just a bit faster.”

“You’re probably our best chance,” Junmyeon agreed, though he didn’t try to smile, knowing what this meant for Jongdae.

“What about me?” Sehun asked when everyone fell silent, sounding every bit like an irritated child being ignored, and Jongin laughed loudly by his side.

“Jiyong would eat you alive,” he declared between deep, sucking breaths.

“Now, now,” a deep voice rang out from the far side of the garage, efficiently cutting off Jongin’s laughter. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”

The boys of EXO were on their feet in seconds, standing defensively as others began to file into the garage through the doorway. Jongdae couldn’t help but sneer as they neared, stopping just shy of arm’s length, and he took in each new person one by one.

So this was the newly dubbed Monarch.

He knew most of their names by reputation, but he had had the opportunity over the years to place some of their faces with those names. Lee Chaerin, for example, was one of the toughest female drivers he had ever seen in action. While he hadn’t raced her, he had seen a few of her competitions, and she was ruthless behind the wheel. And then there was Dong Youngbae, who had spent a few years on the western side of the country, making a name for himself and learning different styles. He recognized Kang Daesung and Park Bom, Park Sandara and Gong Minji, and he figured the one he didn’t readily know was Lee Seunghyun, or Seungri as he prefered to be called, who had joined sometime after Jongdae left EXO. He had heard of all of them for one talent or another, one race or another.

The man who had spoken up was Choi Seunghyun. Tall, with intense features, and a personality that could go from playful to hostile in seconds, Seunghyun was known by many in the circles. But not as a racer. And though he was one hell of a mechanic, he wasn’t known for that, either.

What he was known for was how he kept Jiyong in check.

Jongdae could see Jiyong from where the man stood in the back, his eyes raking over the bright teal hair and heavily lined eyes. It seemed like Jiyong couldn’t decide who to look at among the EXO members, focus bouncing from one person to the other. The man’s eyes flicked over Jongdae once, pausing in a moment of contemplation, before moving on to the next.

Jongdae let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“I think we all know names, here,” Seunghyun said as his gaze swept the group in front of him. “So why don’t we skip the introductions and cut to the chase?”

He tilted his head to the side, eyes sliding past Jongdae’s shoulder to where Kyungsoo stood. “We made an offer last night for a race for this gym. Do you accept?”

There was only a moment of hesitation, before Junmyeon nodded, speaking for the group. “Yes.”

“Though let it be known we do not appreciate your methods of invitation,” Kyungsoo added with a sneer, and Jongdae turned his head to shoot the mechanic a warning look.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time we do business,” Seungri chimed in from the side, and Jongdae could hear Kyungsoo’s breath hitch in his chest at the implication. Next time was never good in a situation like this.

While Jongdae knew Kyungsoo didn’t need any protecting, the overwhelming need to do so swept through his being. He went against his common sense to stay still, to not draw any attention to himself, and with a step to the right, he moved to stand between Monarch and Kyungsoo, blocking the younger man from sight. It wouldn't do much if an actual threat was made, but it made Jongdae feel a bit better all the same. But as he did so, Kyungsoo gripped his forearm, trying to push him back.

“Don’t,” the mechanic whispered frantically. “He’ll see it.”

Jongdae frowned, because what was that supposed to mean? But then he caught Jiyong’s eyes over Daesung’s shoulder, his eyebrows raised in obviously surprise as a wicked grin curled his lips, and Jongdae understood exactly what Kyungsoo had meant.

Jiyong enjoyed playing with people’s emotions far too much to not have noticed the way Jongdae responded to the small suggestion of a threat against Kyungsoo. It was subtle, barely even there, but Jiyong had noticed. And Jongdae couldn’t take the action back now, couldn’t pretend that he wouldn’t defend Kyungsoo if it came down to it. The movement connected Jongdae to Kyungsoo, and if Jiyong could exploit that connection, he would.

Everyone else didn’t seem to care much for the exchange between Kyungsoo, Jongdae, and Jiyong, continuing the conversation without acknowledging it.

“Who is your driver?” Seunghyun continued, gesturing a hand towards EXO as if awaiting a grand reveal.

“I am,” Jongdae said quietly, meeting Seunghyun’s eyes when the taller man turned to look at him. Recognition flashed through the other man’s face, his smile widening.

“My, I didn’t expect to see Kim Jongdae back among your ranks,” he mused, shooting Jongdae a curious glance. “You have been out of the races for years now. Why would you come back?”

Jongdae kept his eyes forward and his mouth shut, giving a simple shrug to the question. His reasons wouldn’t affect their decision, anyway, and he’d like to leave Kyungsoo out of the rest of their interactions, if he could help it.

“Perhaps EXO doesn’t care so much for El Dorado as the little mechanic tried to convey,” Chaerin piped up when Jongdae didn’t speak, and Kyungsoo practically growled by his side.

“Are you suggesting Jongdae is not a challenge?” Kyungsoo spat, and Jiyong laughed at the words, drawing the attention of both groups.

“And what if we are?” Jiyong stated, raising an eyebrow. “What would you do?”

“Surely you know his reputation,” Junmyeon shot back before Kyungsoo could retaliate, jaw clenched in anger. “He will not be an easy opponent."

“If he was still racing, I might believe that,” Jiyong countered. “But from what I can tell, he’s just a washed-up driver with a bad case of emotional attachment. Which will make this so much more fun.”

“He’ll beat you,” Chanyeol barked out, voice booming in the garage. “Jongdae is a far better driver, and you know it.”

“Maybe,” Jiyong said with a tone that promised trouble, eyes sliding back to a seething Kyungsoo. “But he sure makes himself an easy target.”

This time, Jongdae stepped forward, eyes locked on Jiyong. He’d had enough of the games.

“What do we get if I win?”

“You get to keep El Dorado,” Seunghyun stated, as if explaining something simple to a child, and Jongdae shook his head. No, that wasn’t good enough. That was too vague, too easy to twist in their favor. He needed something more concrete. More final.

“So we get to hold onto the garage so you can come challenge us again later on?” Jongdae quipped, looking at Seunghyun with narrowed eyes. “That’s hardly a fair trade.”

“Do you have a suggestion to make it better?”

“If I win,” Jongdae started, “you leave EXO and El Dorado the fuck alone. For good. No coming back for challenges, no trying to buy the garage, no races. We’re done.”

“And if we win?” Seunghyun asked, tilting his head to the side. Jongdae smiled, wetting his lips before answering.

“Then you get El Dorado. And my car.”

“Jongdae,” Junmyeon warned, his voice sharp with shock and concern, but he was cut off by Seunghyun, the older man’s eyes widening as he took his own step forward.

“A driver betting his car,” Seunghyun muttered. “That is rather risky.”

“If I’m washed-up, what does it matter?” Jongdae challenged, jutting his chin out defiantly. “You said so, yourself. I haven’t raced in a long time. But that doesn’t mean Shin is in bad shape. In fact, she’s as good as she was when I was still active in the circle.”

“Is that true?” Daesung asked, directing his question towards Kyungsoo. After a moment of hesitation, Kyungsoo reluctantly nodded.

He hadn’t taken the vehicle with him when he left EXO, letting Kyungsoo have the car. And while he hadn’t checked around the garage yet, he knew Kyungsoo wouldn’t have asked him back if the car had been sold. It was the only car Jongdae had used when he was a part of the team, and if Kyungsoo wanted him to race, Kyungsoo had Shin somewhere.

And as much as he loved that car, he knew others loved it as well. Loved it enough to sweeten the deal just a bit more, and assure they would agree to his standards.

Still, Seunghyun seemed hesitant, clearly thrown for a loop with the new development of the deal. Fortunately, it seemed Jiyong was okay with the terms, and as the driver, his words counted for more.

“Agreed,” he said easily, pushing closer to Seunghyun’s side. The older man seemed ready to protest, but Jiyong continued anyway. “If you somehow beat me, we’ll leave your things alone.”

“And the guys,” Jongdae insisted, not letting the man stop with things. “You’ll leave EXO alone as well.”

Jiyong shot Seunghyun a look, almost expectantly, and with a small caress to the back of Jiyong’s neck, Seunghyun nodded. Jiyong smiled, before slinking forward, steps fluid and smooth.

“Persistent, aren’t you?” Jiyong asked with a predatory glint in his eyes. Jongdae only glared, watching as Jiyong moved closer. He would have to try harder than that to bait him.

“Fine, your team as well,” Jiyong allowed after a moment, his tone bored from Jongdae’s lack of response. He stopped a few inches shy of Jongdae, observing him quietly before he huffed out a laugh. Jongdae could feel the faintest brushes of air from the action, but he stood his ground.

“When I win,” Jiyong said softly, his head cocked to the side, “I’ll make sure to take good care of your car and this garage.”

He paused, before grinning, the expression as sharp as the words he now whispered, only for Jongdae to hear, “Though I can’t promise as much with your Kyungsoo.”

It took a moment for the words to click into place, but when they did, Jongdae lunged, fists curled and ready to connect with any part of Jiyong he could get his hands on. But Jiyong was already moving away, laughing as he slipped underneath the swings as two sets of hands fell to Jongdae’s arms, yanking him back. Jongdae fought the others’ grips, turning his head to see it had been Chanyeol and Yixing who had reached out to get a hold of him, but they didn’t let him go until they had pulled him back far enough to where he couldn’t reach Jiyong.

“Stop,” Junmyeon ordered quietly, stepping in front of him and forcing Jongdae to look at him, trying to make him focus. It wasn’t working.

“I’ll kill him,” Jongdae whispered, trying to get around Junmyeon, but the man blocked him from following Jiyong.

“That’s what he wants. He wants a reaction.” Junmyeon shook his head, steadying Jongdae by the shoulders. “Don’t play into his hands.”

“I think it’s a little late for that,” Jiyong called from Seunghyun’s side, and Jongdae stepped forward again only to be pushed back, this time by Kyungsoo’s hand on his chest.

“Dae, walk,” Kyungsoo pleaded, pushing him back again, away from the others. It took Jongdae a moment to collect himself, fighting the urge to yell, to charge Jiyong, to break something with his hands, but he allowed Kyungsoo to steer him away, turning his back to the other team. Jongin and Sehun pulled him further behind them, as far away from Monarch as he could get, and only then did he feel his anger begin to fade into something more manageable. But still there, burning through his insides like a fever.

“Send us the time and location for the race,” Jongdae heard Junmyeon say, his voice firm and final. A clear dismissal. “We’ll be there.”

“We’ll be in touch,” Seunghyun said with a chuckle, before adding, “I think this will be an interesting race, after all. Come on, Ji. You’ll get to play more later.”

Jongdae counted the seconds in his head, waiting for the sound of the front door closing behind Monarch on their way out. It took too long. He wanted them gone. Now. But like always, they did things their way, and Jongdae had to fight to stay still as he waited for them to leave.

The minute the other team was gone, his friends surrounded him, Kyungsoo and Junmyeon leading the way.

“What did he say to you?” Junmyeon asked, but Jongdae shook his head furiously, refusing to speak.

He was trembling, he realized. From anger or fear or something else, he wasn't sure. The only thing he was sure of was that he wanted Monarch as far away from Kyungsoo and El Dorado and EXO as they could get. The very idea of Jiyong getting a hold of them made him want to vomit.

He didn't realize until Jiyong was right in front of him just how terrifying the man truly was. There was nothing in his eyes when he had whispered his threats. No compassion, no sympathy, no mercy. Nothing but an indescribably glee that Jongdae knew Jiyong would have if he ever did get his hands on Kyungsoo, like he said. He didn't know what the older man would do, had never heard of Jiyong being particularly violent, but he knew whatever it was would be damaging.

He was going to be sick.

“Jongdae,” Kyungsoo began, but even the sound of his voice made Jongdae flinch, knowing if he failed now, the main person it would affect was Kyungsoo, not him. This was Kyungsoo’s garage. He was the one who was attacked. And now through his own impulsiveness, Jiyong seemed to be targeting him as well.

Jongdae pushed through the others, shaking his head again. He needed to get out of that room. He needed air. He needed to think.

The others let him go, watching silently as the back door of the garage shut behind him.

X

It took a week for Monarch to contact them again, declaring the race would be held on the outskirts of the city in three days’ time. A course race, that promised twists and turns, one of Jongdae’s specialties.

But also, one of Jiyong’s.

Lu Han had sent him practicing the minute he had come back to El Dorado after the initial meeting, his head much clearer after a long walk around the neighborhood. He had been led to Shin and the keys were pushed into his hands.

Yifan, the head scout, began to list tips for racing against Jiyong, going through every detail of his most recent races and making Jongdae go over different scenarios until he was blue in the face. He hardly thought hearing about how Jiyong had forced a driver off the road in his last race would help him. If anything, it felt more like it hurt him, at least in his confidence.

For the first few days, he just drove. The 1997 Mazda RX-7 still ran like it used to, the engine purring like a dream as he rode. Even if he hadn’t driven in a few years, he had no issues being behind the wheel. For a large portion of his life, he had done nothing but drive, and that kind of training wasn’t easily forgotten. That section in his brain just had to be woken up.

Soon, he was racing against the others. Nothing too taxing. Just straight runs, and then laps, and then predetermined courses. All warm ups for what was to come.

He had forgotten how much he truly loved this car. Shin was aptly named for speed, a flash, but with that came quite the creative paintjob. He had been thrilled when Zitao had shown him the design, and the younger man had done great with the execution of it. He’d never cease to be amazed by the paint jobs Zitao could handle, and Shin’s was perfect, running from the old joke that Jongdae had to be made of lightning to reach such break-neck speeds. While Jongdae had never been very showy, he adored the dark blue color that was streaked with white lightening, the design skidding across the hood and along the sides.

The night before the race, Jongdae found himself in the garage. All of the others had gone home for the night, but Jongdae didn’t feel like going back to his house. Instead, he was in the driver’s seat of his car, hands resting on the steering wheel as he listened to the silence that fell over El Dorado. He hadn’t cranked the engine, hadn’t started the radio. He just sat, and let his mind wander.

That was how Kyungsoo found him, the younger mechanic leaning against the driver’s side door, where Jongdae had left the windows rolled down.

“I was wondering where you had gotten off to,” Kyungsoo said softly, ducking his head to smile at Jongdae. “I should have known it would be here.”

“What makes you say that?” Jongdae asked in a hum, pulling himself from his thoughts and looking towards Kyungsoo. The man’s smile widened, taking on a teasing look as his fingers trailed along the door’s paneling.

“You always used to do this the night before a race,” Kyungsoo replied, lifting his shoulder in a lazy shrug. “You’d stay late and just sit in Shin and breathe, center yourself.”

Jongdae laughed lightly, letting his hands fall to his lap. Yeah, he remembered that habit.

“I guess I’m predictable,” he said with a snort, but Kyungsoo shook his head.

“No, I just know you, Dae.” He smiled again, this time a bit softer. “Just like I know you’ve been avoiding me.”

Jongdae looked away, sighing heavily. He hadn’t exactly been avoiding Kyungsoo. Not really. He just wasn’t really talking to him either. And not because the mechanic had done anything wrong. It was more the fact that Jongdae couldn’t help but feel like he held Kyungsoo’s world in his hands - the keys to El Dorado and the rest of the man’s sanity - and he was so afraid he was going to let it slip through his fingers. He just didn’t want to disappoint him, and as hard as he tried, he couldn’t shake the very real possibility that he could. But still, avoiding was a strong word.

“I know I’m pretty intimidating,” Kyungsoo mused with a laugh, letting the words take on a playful tone, though Jongdae caught the more serious note of those words, “but if I remember correctly, you used to be able to talk to me about anything.”

“That’s not true,” Jongdae said with a smirk, looking back up at Kyungsoo. “You used to just pester me until I gave in and told you what was on my mind.”

“Then wouldn’t it save us both some valuable time if you just fessed up right now?” Kyungsoo countered with a laugh, and Jongdae joined in, shoulders shaking with mirth. He liked this. This was easy. This was home. Kyungsoo was more of a home than Jongdae had had in a very long time.

“I’m just worried,” Jongdae said after a second, leaning his head against the headrest as he kept his eyes on Kyungsoo. The younger man sent him a fond look, shaking his head.

“As much as I love having you around, I wouldn’t have asked you back if I didn’t think you could win,” Kyungsoo insisted.

“There’s a lot at stake in this race.”

“Which means it will feel so much more satisfying when you win,” Kyungsoo fired back, shifting his stance.

“We’ll see,” Jongdae said with a bitter smile. Kyungsoo had always been the more confident of the two, and while he appreciated Kyungsoo’s assurance, he didn’t feel very sure of himself about this. There were too many unknown variables, too many things he couldn’t prepare for. While Kyungsoo was right, and this was essentially his way of decompressing before tomorrow night, it wasn't having much of an effect at the moment. Everything was still too uncertain.

Like always, Kyungsoo knew that. Reaching forward with a gentle hand, he pushed his fingers through Jongdae’s hair and scratching his nails lightly along the driver’s scalp. Jongdae shivered at the touch, letting out a soft breath he didn’t realize he had been holding as he pushed against the other’s hand, and Kyungsoo leaned further into the car. The mechanic pressed as close as he could with the door between them, pushing his forehead against Jongdae’s until he could feel Kyungsoo’s exhale against his lips.

“You’re going to win,” Kyungsoo murmured, fisting his hand in the hair at Jongdae’s nape, and before Jongdae could respond, Kyungsoo’s lips were crashing against his in a searing kiss.

Jongdae had always thought Kyungsoo kissed the same way he worked on cars. He didn’t just go through the motions, he invested in it. He took his time, opened Jongdae up, took him apart piece by piece as he attempted to find the source of the issue. And once he found it, he was relentless, prodding and coaxing and tuning until Jongdae could do nothing but let go, unravel the tension built up in his shoulders and learn how to run smoothly again. It was a pattern they had created years ago, and it was so easy to fall back into the familiarity of this, to let Kyungsoo help him in a way no one else could.

But with that help came a different problem entirely. To Jongdae, Kyungsoo’s kiss was as lethal as it was soothing, because it meant he was vulnerable, left bare for Kyungsoo to see, in body, mind and soul. After spending the past two years alone, it was uncomfortable to open up like this again, to let someone else see the thoughts in his head. But like a car, sometimes Jongdae needed someone to break him down and start him up.

So when Kyungsoo licked across the seam of Jongdae’s lips, he didn’t fight it.

He tilted his head up and forward, pushing closer to Kyungsoo’s mouth as he deepened the kiss, reaching up his own hand to cup Kyungsoo’s face. The mechanic’s fingers tightened in his hair, yanking his head further back as he bit lightly on Jongdae’s bottom lip, a growl rumbling through his chest.

“Get out of the car,” he said against Jongdae’s lips, and Jongdae groaned at the words, hissing out a curse as he did so.

Kyungsoo backed out of the window and Jongdae pushed the door open, and as soon as it was closed behind him, Kyungsoo closed the distance once again. Jongdae let him have the control for the moment, knowing the mechanic enjoyed taking the lead for a while, and took his time trailing his hands along Kyungsoo’s sides, down his back. His body had changed some over the years, gaining a bit of muscle and filling out his frame, but it still felt like Kyungsoo. It still sent heat rushing through Jongdae’s core when he let his fingers slide across the other’s body.

He reached down as Kyungsoo continued to take from his mouth, letting his hands skate over the swell of Kyungsoo’s ass, and he pulled back with a short laugh. He slid his hand into the back pocket of the mechanic’s jeans, retrieving the small bottle of lube the man had stashed there, and sent Kyungsoo a raised eyebrow as he moved it in front of Kyungsoo’s face.

“You planned on this happening?”

Kyungsoo gave him a wolfish grin, a lazy shrug proceeding his response. “Like I said, Dae. I know you.”

Kyungsoo hooked his fingers into Jongdae’s belt loop, tugging the man closer with a smirk. “Just like I know how you've probably thought of a million ways you could lose tomorrow.”

Before Jongdae could answer, Kyungsoo moved. He lowered his hand, cupping Jongdae through the fabric of his jeans, and Jongdae let out a sharp gasp. Kyungsoo didn't pull away, pressing the heel of his palm down on the driver's growing erection. “Just like I know you need some sort of distraction to keep from letting it get to you.”

Kyungsoo leaned forward, nipping at Jongdae’s bottom lip when Jongdae’s mouth fell open in a panted breath, face flushed with arousal. As he did so, he squeezed Jongdae’s cock through the material, pulling a groan from the other as it throbbed in Kyungsoo's grip. “And just like I know you need to fuck me to get all of those stupid thoughts out of that pretty head of yours, like we used to do before your big races.”

While Jongdae had been planning to let Kyungsoo have control for a bit, those words changed that.

With a strength he knew surprised the other, he flipped them, turning and pushing Kyungsoo chest first against the hood of the car. The mechanic gasped, reaching out to anchor himself on the hood as Jongdae pressed close behind him. Jongdae wasted little time in pushing the man's shirt up under his armpits, mouthing along the pale skin of his back, and Kyungsoo whined, dropping his head to the cool metal underneath him.

“Come on,” Kyungsoo demanded, though the words took on a breathless edge that had it sounding more like a plea than an order. Jongdae nipped at the top of his shoulder blade in response.

“Impatient?” he asked, even as his actions countered his words, hands falling to the buckle of the younger man's belt and tugging insistently.

Kyungsoo laughed, lifting his hips higher to allow Jongdae more room to work. “I doubt either of us have much patience at the moment.”

When the belt was loosened, Jongdae made quick work of the button and zipper, yanking Kyungsoo's jeans and underwear down his thighs enough to expose the curve of his ass. Kyungsoo moaned as his own erection hit the cool air around them, stifling the sound into the crook of his elbow as Jongdae popped the cap of the lube open.

For as long as they have done this, Jongdae knew Kyungsoo would complain about this step. Not because it was uncomfortable, as Jongdae had proved a few times, working his fingers in and out of Kyungsoo's ass until the man was choking on his own sobs, spilling over the hand Jongdae had wrapped around the younger man's cock as he abused his prostate with the pads of his fingers. No, Kyungsoo's complaint always came at Jongdae's attention to the task. He was too gentle sometimes, too careful in stretching him. Kyungsoo liked the edge of pain in each thrust of Jongdae's cock. He liked the ache in his lower back and the bite of nails in his hip. While Jongdae tried hard not to hurt the other, Kyungsoo longed for it.

And today, he just might get it.

Without much warning, Jongdae pushed the first finger in, lube helping the slide as Kyungsoo tilted his hips back. The mechanic hissed at the feeling of another finger being added far too soon for Jongdae's liking, but pushed back against the driver's hand in a way that made it clear he was completely fine with the stretch.

“Fuck, it's been a while,” Kyungsoo whimpered, and Jongdae tried not to think about how long it had been, how other people could have filled Kyungsoo like he did in the two years he spent away. He tried not to, because he wanted to believe that Kyungsoo was only his, that he was allowed to have this part of him when no one else did, even if nothing had ever been nailed down in terms of their relationship. It left an ugly taste in his mouth, to think this may not mean as much to Kyungsoo as it did to him.

He pushed a third finger in, listening to Kyungsoo's moan take on a higher note, sliding his hand along Kyungsoo's spine as the man arched against the intrusion.

“Oh, fuck yes,” Kyungsoo said in a moan, voice already sounding wrecked as he rolled his hips, pulling his elbows underneath him for leverage.

Splaying the fingers of his hand, Jongdae pushed Kyungsoo's upper back down from where he had lifted up, kissing along the nape of his neck as Kyungsoo followed the silent order. But even if he complied, Kyungsoo was far from remaining passive in this.

“Jongdae,” he called, shooting a glance over his shoulder, eyes blown. “Jongdae, hurry up. I want to feel you.”

The words sent heat crawling down Jongdae's spine, and he bit back the growl that threatened to rumble out from his chest. Kyungsoo had always been mouthy, and that quality was not lost in his sexual activities. If anything, it was worse. And the absolute filth that poured from his lips at times like this had always been Jongdae's downfall, taking him apart much quicker than he cared to admit.

Though Kyungsoo seemed to know that weakness innately, and used it every chance he could get. Like now, as he circled his hips, trying to pull Jongdae's fingers deeper into him.

“Please,” he said, his words breaking off into a whine. “I need you to fuck me. Right here, against your car. I want you to not be able to think of anything else but this as you drive, of me against the hood as you fuck me open. Can you do that? Please, Dae, I need it. I need you.”

Jongdae cursed as he pulled his fingers away, grabbing quickly at his own belt as the mechanic braced himself against the car, panting with each breath. Jongdae didn't waste any time, shoving his jeans and boxers down his thighs and slicking himself up with lube before moving to push up against Kyungsoo, letting his cock slide along the crack teasingly. The mechanic moaned at the feeling, and he instinctively pressed back against it.

Neither could hold their voice as Jongdae pushed through the ring of muscle, Kyungsoo's high-pitched cry syncing with Jongdae's guttural groan in a way that had Jongdae's toes curling in his shoes. He steadied himself against Shin's hood with one hand as he seated himself, breathing through his nose to calm his heart. Kyungsoo felt so good, so tight and warm, and he had a hard time keeping his composure when Kyungsoo's muscles squeezed around him.

“Yes,” Kyungsoo moaned, head thrown back as his hands fisted on the hood. His mouth opened in a way that was far too erotic for its own good, and Jongdae leaned in to lick at the other’s lips as he snapped his hips forward. He only pulled back when he needed air, and Kyungsoo whined at the loss before Jongdae distracted him with his cock.

Each thrust sent Kyungsoo’s body shunting forward, until Kyungsoo was reaching forward to keep his body steady, rocking back into Jongdae. They had long ago developed their patterns, their rhythms, and even if this particular rhythm had been left untouched for years, it was easy to find again, like you’d remember the words to an old favorite song.

“God, I’ve missed this,” Kyungsoo ground out between clenched teeth when Jongdae rolled his hips just so, his cock slamming into Kyungsoo with sharp movements that left the mechanic trembling. “I’ve missed the way you touch me. I’ve missed you. Fuck, Jongdae.”

Jongdae’s only answer was to kiss along the man’s shoulders. He doubted he’d be able to form coherent words, not with the way Kyungsoo was stretched out underneath him. That didn’t keep Kyungsoo from continuing, trying to coax Jongdae into speaking with his own words. He had always said Jongdae’s voice sounded the best when it was ruined with arousal.

“Did you miss it, too?” Kyungsoo asked, reaching back to grab a hold of Jongdae’s hip, keeping his hand there as Jongdae moved in and out. “Did you think about this when you came back, wondered if we would ever do this again? Did you hope I’d be that release you needed?”

That last question was what had Jongdae breaking his silence, reaching around Kyungsoo’s chest and yanking the man back until he was flush against Jongdae’s front, supporting his weight with both hands flat against the hood. The position put Jongdae’s mouth right at Kyungsoo’s ear, and his tongue traced the lobe before tugging at the bottom with his teeth, a soft growl falling from his lips when Kyungsoo clamped down hard around him at the action.

“Do you really think that is all you are to me?” Jongdae whispered, feeling Kyungsoo shudder at the sound of his voice. “That you are only a release?”

He bucked forward, and the new angle had him sliding deeper, had his cock brushing over Kyungsoo’s prostate harshly, and the younger man cried out as Jongdae continued speaking.

“You have never been just a release.”

He didn’t wait for those words to sink in, pushing Kyungsoo back down to the car and thrusting faster than before. Their moans became erratic, loud and breathless as Jongdae split Kyungsoo open. Jongdae wasn’t going to last long, not with everything on his mind, not with how good it felt to be like this with Kyungsoo again, but he had enough clarity left to snake his arm underneath Kyungsoo. When his hand wrapped tightly around Kyungsoo’s cock, the mechanic nearly keened.

It only took a few well-executed strokes before Kyungsoo was meeting his end, mouth opened as the loudest moan yet echoed around the room. Cum splattered across the hood of the car as Kyungsoo came all over Jongdae’s hand, and he jacked him through his orgasm, milking Kyungsoo for all he was worth until the mechanic was slumped against the hood once more, boneless and sated. He collected as much as he could with his fingers before pulling his hand away, curling it around Kyungsoo’s waist instead.

He ended up pinning Kyungsoo to the hood with his own weight, rutting against him as heat filled his belly, threatening to uncurl at any moment. He was so close, so very close. Just a little more. He could feel himself teetering at the edge, waiting to fall over into bliss, but he needed -

Kyungsoo reached down with shaking fingers, and tugged at the wrist of Jongdae’s soiled hand, bringing the other’s hand up to his mouth. He turned his head, letting his eyes rest on Jongdae’s face momentarily before falling back to Jongdae’s fingers, and he sucked one of them into his mouth, tongue curling around it and licking the cum away.

That was all it took for Jongdae to spill into Kyungsoo, shooting cum deep inside the other man and listening to the other man squeak at the sensation even as he continued to suck at Jongdae’s hand.

When his cock stopped throbbing within the younger man, Jongdae collapse on top of him, barely keeping himself from crushing Kyungsoo with a well placed hand above the man’s head. Kyungsoo still held his other hand in his grip, continuing to kiss and nip at the now clean fingers.

For a moment, neither said a word, both men catching their breaths in the quiet that had fallen over the garage. Jongdae took the time to nuzzle his nose against Kyungsoo’s neck, letting his breath skate across the mechanic’s skin. Then, Kyungsoo was humming, pushing his face against Jongdae’s palm as a lazy smile worked its way across his features.

“As nice as this is, when you win tomorrow, you should take me on an actual date before we get to this part of the night.”

Jongdae snorted, smiling against the sweat-slicked skin before pulling away and kissing the man’s cheek.

“Deal.”

X

He didn’t know what to expect when he and the rest of EXO rolled up to the race location, but it wasn’t this.

People lined the streets. More people than Jongdae had seen for a race in a long time, even when he was active. He had raced with crowds, knowing the promotions for races could pull large masses of spectators, if the names were right. But this was different. The streets were alive.

And everyone’s eyes seemed to be glued to Shin, whispered words of awe following as he passed. Word must have gotten out that Jongdae would be racing once again, and against Jiyong at that. It would be one of the most anticipated races of the season, he’d guess.

“A slow night, huh?” Kyungsoo said next to him from the passenger seat, his voice flat with sarcasm and pulling a wry smile from Jongdae. The others drove close behind, piled into three more cars.

“Nearly deserted,” Jongdae responded, earning a snort from the mechanic as they drove closer to their destination.

There were no words of encouragement here, Kyungsoo already having said all he needed to last night - multiple times, in multiple ways - and knowing anything else would be more filler than not. But the presence of his hand against Jongdae’s thigh as he drove was enough encouragement on its own.

Monarch was already at the starting line, the team standing around Jiyong and his car, some flashy 2015 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 in a matte black that made it look like a replication of the batmobile. Perched on the hood of his car with his chin in his hands, Jongdae thought Jiyong looked more like the Joker, teal-colored hair falling into kohl-lined eyes that watched as Jongdae’s car approached. Jongdae was out of the car first, before the rest of his team could park, and Kyungsoo followed close behind.

Jiyong watched the mechanic with a smirk, eyes sliding over the other’s form in a decidedly sinister way, and Jongdae had to remind himself that the anger he felt was what the older man wanted. Soon, the others fell in line behind him, Junmyeon even with him in a show of leadership that Jongdae recognized. Even if Jongdae was the opponent, no one made decisions for EXO without Junmyeon’s say.

Seunghyun was first to speak again - Jongdae had come to accept the older man was their voice - and when he did, he did so with a smile.

“You understand the race guidelines?”

Jongdae nodded easily. It was a course consisting of three big turns and two stretches, one of them leading to the finish line. The same rules applied as always; there were no rules. Outside of purposely killing an opponent, there was typically no structure. And if they were honest, even that was an iffy condition, and most deaths in races were deemed “accidental” just to make things simpler. All that really mattered was who crossed the line first.

“You understand the prizes?” Seunghyun asked next, and without looking at Kyungsoo, Jongdae nodded again.

“You, as well?” Junmyeon voiced, and Jiyong rolled his eyes dramatically before waving the question off.

“Yeah, I’ve got it.”

He eyed Shin for a moment, before gesturing towards the car behind Jongdae. “The first thing I’m going to do with that car is change that fucking paint job.”

Junmyeon growled softly at the nonchalant attitude and cocksure words, but didn’t push for more obedience. They had the team’s word. That would be enough, even with the added trash talk.

Seunghyun clapped his hands once, gaining their attention. “Shall we race?”

Jongdae didn’t look at EXO, nor did he look at Kyungsoo, knowing it would only make this harder for him. Instead he turned, and climbed back into the driver seat.

It didn’t take long for the space to be cleared of other cars, for Jiyong and Jongdae to pull their cars up to the line. Jongdae waited, letting his hands grip the steering wheel tightly as he forced the rest of his body to relax, to focus. It wasn’t easy when he knew what was riding on the line, when he knew what Jiyong could take from him in a matter of minutes.

It would be a simple start. Bom stood in between their cars, both hands in the air, and Jongdae took a breath, let himself feel. He had driven these roads multiple times in the past few days, listening to Lu Han’s advice on the turns he would face, listening to Yifan’s words against taking Jiyong lightly. The voices of his team rang in his head, meshing into one, almost at a dizzying pace.

Stop. Fingers tightened around the wheel, and he blocked everything out. The crowd, the team, Jiyong. All of it. There was nothing else but this, the car. And whispered words of one voice replaying in his mind, soft, warm tones like amber and honey.

You’re going to win.

Bom’s hands dropped, and Jongdae hit the gas.

The movement was instant, Shin jumping off the line and racing forward, Jiyong’s car matching his in speed as they flew down the first stretch. Jongdae didn’t risk looking over yet, knowing it would be more of a distraction than an aid, and he kept his foot on the pedal as his car accelerated to ridiculous speeds, until the crowd had merged into a blur of colors.

Shin proved to be faster in the jump, and Jongdae readied for the drift.

The first turn, he knew, would be the toughest. It was a sharp right turn, Jiyong closer to the inside, and Jongdae would need to beat him there to not lose any ground, and to lower the risk of being sideswiped in the curve. With a hand wrapped around the parking brake, Jongdae pulled, counter-steering into the first turn with ease, sliding a few feet ahead of Jiyong.

He hardly waited until the car’s momentum corrected before pumping the gas again, pulling out ahead, and the Lambo swerved dangerously next to him, nearly clipping Shin’s back tire. Jongdae chanced a glance, seeing Jiyong grinning back, eyes crazed, and the younger driver ripped his gaze away, focusing on the road.

It was enough to throw him off.

The second turn was smoother, but it came up far too soon, caught Jongdae off guard. He took it too sharp, had to brake harder to keep control, and Jiyong’s car jumped to the lead once both cars cleared the turn. Jongdae cursed his mistake, but kept going, pushing Shin to go faster. He could catch up. And catch up he did, Shin once again showing its name was not a fluke. But there was only so much ground he could make up.

They were neck and neck as they came to the last turn. His knuckles ached with how he held the wheel, grip white-knuckled as he went faster and faster. This was the turn that he was most confident in, but only if Jiyong was behind him. With Jiyong on the inside, Jongdae was at a disadvantage, and he had to get just a little more ahead.

He wasn’t sure what made him look, but when he glanced at the car next to him, Jiyong was once again looking back. But this time, there was something else in his gaze. He wasn’t sure what made him remember Yifan’s latest scouting report of Jiyong, but suddenly the words came flooding back.

Watch the last curve. He’s been a bit more aggressive in those lately, even ran one opponent off the road by delaying his drift.

It was an extremely reckless thing to do, and yet, Jongdae knew that look the other wore was trouble. He was too close, and he didn’t think he’d beat him to the curve, so the only way to avoid being pushed would be to decrease his speed, letting Jiyong have control of the turn. But slowing down would mean risking losing his race if Jiyong was bluffing, letting him take the lead without a fight. They had one more stretch, and if he slowed, he’d have little time for Shin to catch up.

He just hoped he’d have enough time.

At the last second, he slowed, just in time to watch Jiyong drift his back end out wide, crossing over into Jongdae’s lane in a move that would have been devastating if there had been contact. He didn’t have long to celebrate the correct choice, as Jiyong yanked the wheel back, pulling into the turn and straightening into the final stretch.

He had about sixty seconds to make up the distance.

Jiyong’s car was made for this kind of course, sleek and fast and with a low center of gravity, but Shin had already proved its speed, and Jongdae knew how to use it. When he pushed the pedal to the floor, Shin answered the demand. Jiyong had a car’s length on him coming out of the curve, but Shin was gaining fast, Jongdae holding the wheel steady. He kept his eyes forward, kept himself focused on there, right there, come on.

He took a breath as the nose of his car inched in front, holding it as he crossed the finish line first, beating Jiyong by no more than an arm’s length.

He managed to bring Shin to a stop about a hundred yards from the line, letting out a shaky breath as he idled on the road. His hands shook against the wheel, and he threw the car into park before covering his face, trying to calm his heart as his mind raced a mile a minute.

Holy shit. He won.

There were people milling around the car, but he couldn’t look up, couldn’t slow his chest as it heaved. He couldn’t even think past the fact that he won. He won.

El Dorado and EXO were safe.

He slid out of the seat belt, pushing his door open and climbing out to look over the top of his car towards where Jiyong had come to a stop nearby. Jiyong had remained in his car, but he glanced over at Jongdae when the younger driver stood. He grimaced, anger in his expression, but he gave Jongdae a stiff nod, the movement barely there. A show of respect, even if he wasn’t particularly happy about it. Jongdae nodded back, before the sound of feet pounding on the pavement reached his ears, and he was pulled back.

It was as if every EXO member grabbed him at once, their voices ringing out over the rest of the crowd that had made their way to the finish line to see the results. Exclamations of his victory left all of their lips, and under the heavy pats to the shoulders and ruffled hair, Jongdae finally smiled.

He actually did it.

Kyungsoo moved into his vision amid the others, stepping up to lay a hand over the back of Jongdae’s neck and pull him into a fierce hug. Jongdae allowed it, wrapped his own arms around the smaller man’s waist and pushed his face into Kyungsoo’s hair, taking a steadying breath as relief washed over him like a balm.

“Thank you,” he heard Kyungsoo whisper, the hand tightening briefly on the back of his neck. When Kyungsoo pulled back with a bright smile, eyes shining with his own happiness, Jongdae couldn’t help but take him in. Out of all of this, that smile was what made this race worth it.

Jongdae smiled back, tilted his head to the side before speaking in a serious tone.

“I was thinking that little Italian place near the garage for our date. Thoughts?”

Kyungsoo laughed loudly, throwing his head back with the action before he pressed closer, arms circling around Jongdae’s neck before tugging him in, plush lips meeting his. When Kyungsoo answered his question, it was muttered against his lips, half-drowned out by the sound of their friends giving catcalls at the display.

“After we celebrate.”

Jongdae grinned widely, swooping in to capture Kyungsoo’s lips once more with a more heated embrace, this time taking the initiative. Kyungsoo let him do so without complaint, melting into his touch, and Jongdae tried not to think about anything else. Forget the race and Monarch and the drama. Forget whatever tomorrow brought, and whether or not he’d stay with EXO as a driver or a bystander - though he knew now he would probably never be able to leave. Not entirely. And while that thought was scary, he didn’t need to dwell on it. He didn’t need to think right now, period. Instead, he took the moment for what it was, standing there with the taste of Kyungsoo on his tongue and the rest of their friends there around them. Hope, and security, and opportunity for more.

And home. Kyungsoo would always be home for him.

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