“Hey kid, pass me the Torque wrench over there.”

Zelo looked up from his magazine with a frown. Youngjae was buried beneath the hood of his Mazda 3, shoulders and arms smeared with grime, a look of blissful concentration on his face. Littered around his feet were different types of screws and sockets and wrenches, and it was this pile that Zelo eyed from his seat on the ratty garage couch.

“Erm… where is it?” He asked, letting the pages of the sports bike magazine he had been reading slide closed, searching the floor of the garage with squinting eyes.

“Over there.” Youngjae pointed impatiently to his left, and there on the work table was the torque wrench… no more than three inches away from the older boy’s reach. Zelo made an exasperated noise, his boyish face scrunching in annoyance.

“Hyung, you’re closer! Why can’t you get it?”

“My hands are full right now, Zelo. Just pass it to me.”

“Jongup,” he nodded towards the boy sitting in the driver’s seat of Youngjae’s Mazda. He leaning over, resting one built arm on the wheel of the car, fiddling with the radio tuner with the other. He looked up at Zelo’s voice. “You’re closer, can’t you give it to him?”

Jongup shrugged, shaking his head. “Can’t. I’m trying to find some music. Daehyun, can you do it?”

Zelo looked to Daehyun, who oddly enough was leaning on the work table that the torque wrench was set on, thumbing lazily through his phone. He looked up at Zelo through blonde bangs with a teasing smile. “No can do…. I’m in the middle of a text. Looks like that leaves you Zelo.”

Zelo looked between the three, all of which staring with heavily feigned innocence back at him… and then, with a sigh, the youngest member of B.A.P stood up and crossed the length of the garage, snatched the wrench off the table, and placed it in Youngjae’s waiting hand.

“Thanks Zelo!” Youngjae said overly-brightly, barely concealing his laughter, “What would we do without you?”

“You’d find someone else to do all of your dirty work, that’s what.” Zelo grumbled, shaking his head and plopping his tall frame back on the frayed couch, returning to his place in the magazine. “Pretty soon, I’m gonna be racing like you guys, and when I start winning a bunch of matches for BAP, things will be different around here.”

Daehyun laughed, pocketing his phone and crossing his arms. “You may not always be in training, Zelo, but you’ll always be the youngest… so the dirty work will always be yours. Just stick to your motorcycles for now. Bang will have you racing cars soon enough.”

Zelo mumbled something under his breath, hiding his face behind his magazine.

“Got it!” Jongup exclaimed, and then the garage was echoing with music, the beat sliding through the speakers and filling the air. He nodded his head to the rhythm with a satisfied smile before stepping out of the car and closing the door, traveling over to Daehyun .

“Bang and Chan on the way here?” he asked over the music, and Daehyun shrugged.

“Himchan is, but Bang…. I don’t know. He might sleep most of today.”

“He’s been asleep every day for the past two weeks,” Zelo exclaimed from the couch, his face surfacing once more from the magazine. “Is he sick?”

“No,” YoungJae leaned away from his car, closing the hood, “He’s exhausted. He’s been racing every night, and he goes to every after party… Himchan says he doesn’t get in until morning, sleeps, and then does it all again the next night.” He pulled a rag from his belt, wiping the grime from his hands, “Our leader has become a vampire.”

“Why?” Zelo asked, concerned. “I mean, what’s he doing all this racing for?”

Youngjae and Daehyun exchanged knowing looks and said together, “Blue Lotus.”

“What?”

Daehyun sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Word is Bang ran a race two weeks ago and a driver in a blue Lotus gave him a run for his money. He’s been going back every night hoping to find the driver. He’s asked around, but no one knows the car or the crew it might be from.”

Understanding settled on Zelo’s expression. Nobody was more passionate about being the best than Bang Yongguk. If there were any racer out there that could challenge that title, he would welcome the opportunity to prove himself… especially now that they were so close to the Street Kings races.

“Did anyone go to the race that night?” Jongup asked, “Did you guys see the driver?”

Everyone shook their heads. The Blue Lotus driver was a mystery to all of them.

“Well either he’ll find him, race him, and get it out of his system, or he won’t find him and get over it eventually. He’ll get his act together once they announce the crews chosen for the Street Kings races.” Youngjae tapped the hood of his car appreciatively. “I can’t wait to test her out on the streets….”

“Yo!” the door to the garage opened, and everyone turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. Himchan was walking in, eyes hidden by large sunglasses, one hand in his pocket, the other gripping a large coffee cup. He was in a black business suit, but his tie was loosened and the first couple buttons of his shirt were opened.

“Hey.” Zelo stood from the couch as Himchan approached the worktable where the rest were now standing, placing his cup down and taking off his sunglasses. “Fresh off of work?”

“I stopped by the apartment first.” Himchan answered, “Wanted to check in on our fearless leader, see if he’s woken up out of his coma yet.”

“You saw him? Was he up?”

Himchan nodded, “Yeah, I saw him just before he left.”

“He left?” Youngjae asked with a frown, “Left to go where? Is he coming into the garage?”

“Nope.” Himchan answered, and then with a smile… “He got the text.”

For a moment the members all eyed Himchan with shock, his words echoing in the space…. and then the room erupted in cheers. Youngjae jumped up and down, hooting and hitting Daehyun in the shoulder. Zelo clapped in excitement, joining Jongup in hugging a laughing Himchan.

“He got the text! Yes! He got the text!” Daehyun shouted above their cheers, “The Street King Races are starting! Hell yeah!”

Himchan quieted them all down with a wave, still smiling, “He’s on his way to TS Corp. now for the details. He’ll meet us here later to talk out the game plan.”

“I wonder what other crews got the text.” Zelo asked.

“Won’t matter,” Jongup answered, grinning, placing both hands on the back of his head, looking at his crew, “Whoever it is won’t have anything on B.A.P. I can guarantee that.”

***

Yongguk sat in the driver’s seat of his car, eyes closed. He leaned back, arms raised, hands resting on his forehead. He was exhausted. He hadn’t gotten in until near sunrise this time, and had only been asleep an hour before the text message came through on his phone.  He sighed, rubbing the flat part of his palm into his eyes as if he could grind the sleep out of them. This was getting ridiculous. To think he could have slept through the text, missed the announcement of the chosen crews, missed the chance to defend BAP’s title as Street Kings, all over this obsession. He felt guilty and foolish.

He was parked outside a tall building, the afternoon sun glinting off the freshly cleaned windows. The doors were tall and made of glass, and the people coming in and out were impeccably dressed in business suits and dresses. It certainly didn’t look like it would be the meeting place for the top five racing crews in the country, but then Kim Taesong, president of TS industries and the other illustrious sponsors of this event didn’t really make their interest in illegal street racing public. During the day, they each ran several prestigious companies, warehouses, supply routes, stocks....  but once a year, every year from behind closed doors these presidents and CEOs helped orchestrate the greatest underground racing competition in South Korea. Crews were chosen, bets were made… In the end of it all, one president would make some serious bank, and one crew would get the title of Street Kings and all the perks that come with it. 

For the past two years, Yongguk and B.A.P had kept the crown in TS Industries court, and in return Kim Taesong had gifted his choice crew with their garage, any car of their choosing, and e