”You can’t answer that question either?” Jayla’s cold questions was more of a statement that she concluded after reading Himchan’s facial expression.

He was literally speechless and didn’t know what to say. He was lost for words because he really didn’t expect this situation at all. When he drove off to pick her up to take her to the restaurant, the only thing he wanted was a nice romantic dinner and then head home with his girlfriend to cuddle for the rest of the day but the plan was about to change drastically.

After hesitating for a long time on what to say he finally opened his mouth, “We can talk about this later, okay?” he said in a hushed tone. 

“Later? There is no later for this, Himchan. I need answers right now,” she pulled her hand back, breaking Himchan’s grip on it, “Right. Now.”

“Babe, I really can’t talk about that no-“

“Oh really?” she raised her eyebrows, “And when it’s you who is questioning, then we always have time.”

“Jayla, it’s complicated,” he sighed, “Let’s ea-“

“No,” she interrupted him stubbornly while standing up and grabbing her jacket, “I have had enough. I can’t take this anymore.”

“Where are you going?!” he whisper yelled in hope not to make a scene in the middle of the restaurant.

“Home,” she looked coldly at him, “Call me when you are man enough to talk about your secrets.”

“Wait! We live together, you do remember that right?” he stood up too.

“I guess Daehyun is going to have company tonight,” she turned around and walked past him and towards the entrance.

“Jay, you are really overreacting,” she heard him say from behind but chose to ignore and call a cab for a ride home, since she got here thanks to her boyfriend.

She never tolerated unfairness. And Himchan’s behavior was more than unfair towards her.
 

***

The silence on the other line was really getting on Jayla’s nerves. She had a feeling that everyone knew about this one thing she didn’t have a clue about until today. What angered her even more is that they are still keeping it a secret and everyone, including her own brother, refused to speak about it.

“I’m still waiting,” Jayla spoke again, informing her brother just in case he forgot during his long silence.

“Jay, I really can’t tell you. That’s something between you and Himchan,” Youngjae told her in a tired tone.

“How can it be something between us two when a third party is involved and God knows what more is behind this conflict that I assume they are having?”

“You see? That’s another reason for me not to speak about this. It’s none of either yours or mine business.”

“Wow, you guys are really no joke…” she rolled her eyes while she was walking around the apartment, preparing for bed.

“I’m sorry okay? And please do me a favor… don’t ask anyone else. I know you are always trying to find out the truth on your own but this can do you more harm than good.”

“Alright, and now you expect me to drop this whole thing,” she let out a small ironic laugh.

“Sis… please okay? And oh, the girls doesn’t know about this either so don’t bother asking them, they won’t be able to answer any of your questions. Just give it some time. Once the time comes, the truth will be out.”

“The question is; will I like the truth?” Jayla indirectly tried to get some information out of him and yet again Youngjae went quiet.

I won’t, she thought to herself.

“I believe in your relationship,” he confessed, “But I have to go now, talk to you later. Good night!”

Before Jayla could say anything else, her brother hung up the phone and left her standing there speechless in the middle of the bedroom.

Everything is so odd these days that it’s making her feel really uncomfortable. Ever since the night she was kidnapped, her life has made a three-hundred and sixty degrees turn towards the bad side. Ever since that night she has only stumbled upon problems and problems she rather wouldn’t like to deal with but had to since it was necessary.

The problems were so extreme to the point that she questioned her relationship with Himchan. Was it really worth all this trouble? Is she really happy with the life she is in right now? She didn’t know it either and to be honest, she was afraid of the truth.

The truth behind everything in her life.

 

***

Yongguk piled up some of the drinks they sold in the fridge beside the counter when he heard Zelo laugh for himself behind the counter. He looked at him with a confused expression on his face. The younger one was holding his phone while laughing at something he was reading.

“Yah,” Yongguk called him lazily, “What’s so funny?”

Zelo looked up startled for a second before laughing again and approaching the elder, “The thought about tonight’s race,” he answered his question before showing him the text he got from Jongup.

“What’s the funny part about tonight?”

“There is a rumor that says Himchan has planned to basically crash Ilhoon’s car.”

“Woah, why so aggressive?” he arched an eyebrow while slowly going back to his task.

“Because he is still angry from last time.”

“What happened last time?”

“Are you serious? You don’t know?”

Yongguk watched him with very serious eyes that practically screamed ‘are you kidding with me?’ The elder wasn’t even in the country when they had the race so it was obvious that he didn’t know. It’s not like Yongnam liked talking about the things that happened ever since he left.

The younger twin had a feeling that his brother didn’t really like the fact that he was back because Yongnam is a bit selfish and didn’t like to share his new and more powerful life with his brother. But Yongguk didn’t care since he didn’t want it anyways. At least not everything. They still did have mutual friends so the fact that Yongguk is going to be at tonight’s race wasn’t a surprise either.

“Ilhoon won last time which obviously pissed Himchan off. And as if that wasn’t enough, he even blurred out some nasty words to him in front of everyone,” Zelo explained.

“What did he say?”

“I don’t know… Something about his girlfriend?”

“Himchan’s girlfriend?” Yongguk slightly widened his eyes at the thought of the most beautiful girl in the world.

Zelo looked up from his phone and grinned once he recalled the last time they talked about her, “Yes hyung. The girl you’re crushing on.”

Yongguk threw him a dirty look before rolling his eyes and returning to fix the drinks in the refrigerator.

“No but seriously, I hope you won’t develop stronger feelings for that girl. She is too much trouble to handle,” he spoke again with a more serious tone.

“I’m good at handling trouble,” he confessed without realizing it himself.

“No hyung, you don’t get it. Jayla might be a really sweet girl but being in a relationship with the guy everyone is afraid of is not a good sign.”

Yongguk inhaled a bigger amount of air to cleanse his lungs and thoughts while piling up the last few bottles he was working with before closing the glass door and turning to look at Zelo again.

“Is the situation still tensed between the three of them?”

He didn’t need to mention any names because all the rivalry between those guys goes years and years back. It was so serious that people get frightened whenever they meet at least two of them somewhere else then the race. When racing, people find it funny and interesting to watch them compete but no one ever wanted to do anything with them in private.

“You won’t imagine,” the younger murmured.

“Typical…” Yongguk commented tiredly.

Even though both of them were really tired of all the conflicts between the groups, they still had to choose one side in the end. For their own good. And that side was of course Nam’s.

“But yeah, don’t get involved with someone else’s girlfriend,” Zelo said in the end as a conclusion.

Yongguk took some keys from the counter before heading into the gym to check if everything was alright.

“Don’t worry, I’m not Himchan,” was the last thing he said over his shoulder before leaving him alone.

***

“I have been avoiding him and his calls all day long,” Jayla rubbed her temples while looking around for a place where she and the girls could sit down and have a fresh lunch.

“I get that and I understand you but you still have to come tonight. Just imagine what people would think if you didn’t show up,” Hyuna grimaced at the thought of everyone’s gossip going around at the speed of the light.

“I don’t give a damn what people will think, Hyuna,” she answered honestly in a cold tone.

“Himchan’s muse is not present, what a shock,” Hyuna continued with a reporter-like voice.

“Yah unnie, if she doesn’t want to come then let her be alone. I’m sure Himchan will understand,” Soohyun, who was walking beside them spoke in the end after listening to them for some time.

“That’s the problem Soohyun. He doesn’t understand a ,” Hyuna said in frustration, “And please correct me if I’m wrong, Jayla, cause I think everyone already knows that.”

Instead of answering or even reacting to Hyuna’s comment, Jayla looked around and stopped walking once she spotted a great place to crash at. She was hungry and all she wanted at the moment was to get some food to calm her growling stomach.

The girls found a nice table beside the window and ordered their food which thankfully arrived quickly. While Jayla and Soohyun carelessly ate the deliciousness in front of them, Hyuna watched her best friend in concern.

“What?” Jayla asked while her eyes were still on her plate, “Stop staring it’s stressing me.”

“I have a feeling that tonight won’t be a calm night,” she said in a low voice.

“It’s never calm,” Soohyun said as a matter of fact.

“Yeah, but tonight…” she looked out of the window as if she tried to find the right words to express herself, “Tonight might be a different kind of stormy.”

Jayla ate quietly while listening to what the girls were saying. She hated to confess it but even the very funky Hyuna was serious about this which meant that it wasn’t just some nonsense thing that crossed her mind. It was a thought based on the drama that was happening around them.

“I don’t think I want to go anymore actually,” Jayla confessed while taking a sip from her iced water.

“You are not going to leave me alone. You have to come with me,” Hyuna ordered which earned a glare from Jayla.

“I don’t know about that…”

“Jay!”

“You should stay at home too.”

“No. I have never missed a race in my life and I won’t do it tonight either,” she said determined.

“Why not? You are not going to miss anything,” Soohyun tried to convince her.

“Because it’s like an unwritten tradition. Besides, I’m meeting up with a cutie afterwards.”

The girls that were sitting across from her exchanged looks before Jayla face-palmed herself. That was typical Hyuna. One moment she is more serious than anyone else and the next moment she is back to being… just Hyuna.

***

People. Everywhere.
The amount of folks that came to see the race tonight was insane. Every corner of the racing start line was filled with different groups of people from all the racers’ sides.

The word about tonight was spread and it had some interesting rumors going around too which wasn’t a surprise. The sun had crossed the horizon a while ago and all the streetlights in town came back to life. Putting every driver into their racing mode.

Namjoon and Yoongi were walking around and talking to everyone about the plans. There was some loud music in the background from one of the cars that were parked beside them and the tension between everyone was raising for each minute that passed.

Slowly the competitors started entering the start line one by one with their incredibly pimped cars that were worth an insanely huge amount of money. Aside from some smaller racers, Ilhoon was one of the first ones to arrive at the meeting place. He was still using his arrogant-looking red Audi R8 and some new added details were noticeable. He stepped out of the car and handed Yoongi the money that they were betting on tonight.

Just when Yoongi was about to turn around he saw a familiar strong dark blue car driving towards everyone in a madly fast speed. Judging from the beastly sound that left the Lexus LFA, everyone could tell that Himchan spend a lot of time fixing his air-gas tanks.

“This one is ready to fight,” Yoongi heard Namjoon comment while watching the crazy bastard in front of them.

After driving around and drifting in front of everyone’s noses, Himchan decided that it was enough of showing off and he wanted to save the best for last. He parked his car across from Ilhoon’s and with a dead serious face expression, he stepped out of the car while Daehyun and Youngjae walked up to him with Namjoon right behind them.

“Woah, I suggest you to at least take it easy in the beginning,” Daehyun half whispered while eyeing the beautiful machine in front of his eyes.

“I’m not here to joke around,” Himchan spoke in bitterness. Still clearly remembering the last race.

He looked over Youngjae’s shoulder to meet eyes with Namjoon before giving him the infamous nod and handing him over the cash.

“Hey, Himchan. Where is your lover girl?” a random guy from beside shouted out of nowhere, making most of the people around turn their attention back to Himchan.

Himchan cursed his existence under his breath since he didn’t know it either and being called out like that will put the guy into a lot of trouble. That’s what Himchan will be making sure of.

Daehyun and Youngjae awkwardly exchanged looks and just when Daehyun was about to turn around and lash out against that dude, he was interrupted by the sound of walking high heels.

“I’m here. No need to miss me already,” Jayla spoke over her shoulder as she approached Himchan’s car.

She could see in his eyes that he was shocked yet relieved that she showed up but that wouldn’t last for so long. Jayla walked up to her boyfriend and gave him a kiss on the lips right in front of everyone, just to calm down the rumors around and leaned down to whisper something into his ear.

“I’m still mad at you and I still don’t want to talk to you but for your own good, let’s keep it cool for tonight,” she kissed him on the cheek and looked at the crowd behind him, “You’re lucky that I even showed up tonight. Once again, I’m the man in this relationship.”

She caressed his cheeks while his eyes didn’t leave hers. She could tell that he was confused, angry and even sad at the same time but she didn’t care. Just like he made her feel about all this trouble that was happening around them, it was time that he got to taste his own medicine.

And even thought she was furious at him, this was something she had to do for him. Racing was a big part of Himchan’s life and she didn’t want to ruin anything involved with it.

“Jay, where are the girls?” Youngjae looked around, searching for his girlfriend as well.

Jayla looked at Himchan with an expressionless face before turning to look at her brother, “They are coming. I just had to be here before them to give the thirsty people what they needed.”

She tapped Daehyun on the shoulder while she slowly turned around to walk back towards her car.

“Babe!” she heard Himchan call after her and since people was watching them, she had to turn around to see what he wanted, “Thank you…” he whispered loud enough for her to hear it.

Jayla only nodded while avoiding any eye-contact and waved her hand as a sign for him to continue with whatever he was doing before she showed up. And just as she turned around to walk away, she was once again interrupted. But this time it was the sound of two cars arriving and parking right behind her.

She could hear several doors open and close and when she turned around to see who the new faces were, her eyes locked with a pair of very familiar and strangely beautiful dark eyes. The eye contact lasted for a brief second before he looked away and turned towards Himchan.

“Kim Himchan, long time no see,” Yongguk spoke in a mocking voice while he and Nam walked around the cars and towards the people.

This was the first time Jayla saw this side of Yongguk and right in that moment she totally understood what Hyuna meant with a stormy night.

The three rivals and the brother at one place.

Hell was about to happen.