She leaned against the container and kicked the gravel, wedging her black leather ankle cut boots into the loose stones again, and again. Her hands were stuffed into the pockets of her black denim shorts. It was a little chilly tonight and her denim jacket wasn’t enough to keep her warm.

“Unnie, there’s more than one challenger tonight.”

Taeyeon put her arm around her sister and pulled her close. “How many are there then?”

“Two.”

It didn’t matter how many there were, really. Only one mattered to her.

“Do you think I can beat them both?”

“Of course, you’re the best, unnie.”

“But I lost to Tiffany the last time.”

“It was your wheels. Not you.”

Taeyeon grinned. Her little sister was ever so supportive of her. Well, not so little. Hayeon had grown much taller in recent years and was now as tall as she was. Taeyeon wasn’t sure if she was this tall when she was sixteen but from the look of things, her sister was going to be taller than her, eventually. But she was still the older sister and Hayeon clearly looked up to her as one.

In fact, Hayeon looked up to her so much that she sneaked out of the house to watch her race. At first, she’d felt bad about letting Hayeon in on this side of her life and tried to get her to go home but Hayeon wasn’t easy to persuade. Coupled with a dash of cute pleading pouts and whines, Taeyeon ended up giving in to Hayeon’s request instead. That had been a year ago. Now, she no longer tried to stop Hayeon from turning up at her races. In fact, she looked forward to them because she could see her sister.

“Well then, I’ll make sure I win this race. For you.”

“If it’s for me, will I get a share of your prize money too?”

Taeyeon laughed at her sister’s cheek. “Is that why you come to my races? For the money?”

Her sister kept a straight face and nodded. “Of course I’m here for the money.”

“You little punk,” Taeyeon chuckled and smacked her . “I’m not giving you my prize money anymore. And you can forget about the movie treats too.”

“Unnie,” Hayeon whined and pouted but Taeyeon simply grinned.

“Don’t unnie me.”

“Taeyeon! Come over and get ready!” Sunny yelled from a distance.”

“Alright. Go over and stay with Sunny. I need to get ready.” Taeyeon gave Hayeon a gentle push and smiled as the younger girl bounded over to Sunny. Seeing her sister always made her happy. And sad.

-

“Strange. There’s one more challenger tonight.”

“Who is it?”

“Crystal.”

“Who did you say?” Jessica snatched the phone from Yuri’s hand and looked. She saw the name and her blood ran from summer hot to winter cold in a split second. C. It’s Crystal with a C. Damn it. Damn all the Crystals with a C. The phone was shoved back into Yuri’s hands and the tall woman nudged her.

“You okay?”

Dragging her fingers through her hair didn’t make her feel better. Neither did sighing. “No.”

Yuri’s arms found her and squeezed tight. “You’ll find her, Sica. Eventually.”

She turned and hugged the taller girl back, seeking warmth to stop the cold from freezing her heart. “She’s here in Seoul, Yuri. She’s here but I don’t know where she is.”

“Sica...you still have me, if it’s any consolation.”

“I’m glad I have you. You’re not a consolation. You’re my grand prize.” Jessica gave Yuri a peck on her cheek and smiled. “Come on, let’s find a good spot to watch this whole thing.”

-

Her eyes followed the pretty girl as she ran from Taeyeon’s side to Sunny’s. She found herself wishing she was that girl, wishing she was the recipient of that smile, that grin, that touch and before she could stop herself, she turned around and asked a random stranger, “Who’s that girl? The one who was with Taeyeon?”

The stranger stared at her for a moment. “I’m sorry, I don’t know.” She stared back accusingly and he added, “I’m new here.”

She clucked, impatient with the ignorance of the stranger and turned back to the scene. The girl was currently standing beside Sunny, looking every bit like she belonged even though she seemed to be rather young for the scene. Damn it. Who was she?

Taeyeon had begun walking towards the cars so she did the same, kicking the gravel as she walked to vent her displeasure. It would not do to be distracted before a race, she reminded herself. And even though this race wasn’t as prestigious as the Cheongdam race, it was important nonetheless. There were things at stake. Things that she wanted. Things that she craved. Things that she would get—no matter what.

-

“,” she uttered as Tiffany came into view, looking just as dangerous as she did the first time she saw her. The same toned calves, juicy thighs, even juicier bottom. And she knew, first hand, just how juicy Tiffany’s bottom was. The memory of holding those globes in the palms of her hands was vivid. And it was disturbing how vivid the memory was. Not just that memory, but other memories as well.

Focus. Focus. Focus!

She got into her car and settled in. Everything was in good shape. Her tyres were brand new and ready to burn. She had every confidence to win this race. This wasn’t her first time on this circuit. She’d been on it many times before and knew the roads well. She remembered the turns, straights, sharp bends. All she had to do was drive. Be one with her car. Nobody could beat her when she was in that state.

But there’s somebody new.

The third challenger was somebody new. Crystal. No one knew of Crystal. But it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about Crystal. This was about Tiffany. Tiffany losing and Taeyeon winning. That’s what it was about.

-

At the far end of Gangnam-gu, miles from the Han river, three cars revved up in the dark of the night, spitting out copious amounts of exhaust from the catbacks. Taeyeon looked to her left and right, registering the intense maroon and deep ocean blue, before refocusing on the road in front of her.

It didn’t matter that she didn’t know anything about the driver of deep ocean blue, other than her reported name. It didn’t matter that she’d lost to Tiffany in the Cheongdam race. The past was but a past. Untouchable and unmalleable. There was no point in thinking about the past. What she could do was control her future. This race. And the win.

The lady standing in front raised her arm and her foot stomped on the accelerator, a trained instinctive reaction to the signal. Her car lurched forward, held back only by her carbon-ceramic brakes, all aggression and tension vibrating in the frame, until the slender arm fell. She released the brakes at that instance and her car bolted off into night.

The intense maroon was right beside her, as was deep ocean blue, all the way up the Gyeongpu Expressway. This was the first segment of the Xpress race and she knew exactly where the shortcut was. At the last possible moment, she pulled the brakes, executing a sharp right turn into Yongin-Seoul expressway, speeding down the short stretch before turning right again into Seouloegwaksunhwan Expressway. This was the southern part of the Seoul Ring Expressway, or what some referred to as Expressway No. 100 and Taeyeon had zoomed around the circular beltway many times, just to blow off some steam.

The moderate curves of the expressway were not a problem for her. The only challenge of this race was getting around other cars as quickly as possible, without getting held up. The expressway curved to the right, left, another right, left, then a gentle S before reaching a straight stretch which Taeyeon’s car ate up easily. She swerved between lanes constantly, overtaking car after car, leaving intense maroon and deep ocean blue an entire car length behind her. She smirked, seeing them in her rear view mirror and uttered, “Good luck beating me, girls.”

She zoomed past the area of Anyang and surged down the right bend of the expressway into the area of Gwangmyeong, Bucheon, eventually zipping past the Gimpo International Airport. Intense maroon and deep ocean blue were bumper to bumper, maintaining the single car length that she’d gotten since the start. There was no doubt she was going to win this race now.

Flooring the accelerator at every stretch she could, she made sure the gap was maintained as they sped over expressway, across the Han river and into Deokyang-gu. The crowd of cars thinned out as they entered the region of the Bukhansan National Park, a suburban area that was less populated and that’s when intense maroon and deep ocean blue began inching closer towards her.

Previously held back by other cars and a lack of road space, they were no longer hindered at this part of the expressway and were obviously taking the opportunity to close the gap between them. A right turn later, intense maroon had almost caught up with her and she was on her guard again. Tiffany seemed to have an uncanny knack of closing distances whenever they turned, as she remembered from their previous race. If this route had more extreme turns like Cheongdam, Tiffany would’ve overtaken her by now.

Fortunately, the rest of the expressway was mostly straight stretches and Taeyeon was able to pull ahead again, with her superior acceleration. Soon, they’d crossed the area of Jungnang-gu and had crossed the Han river again, back into the expensive side of Seoul.

Suddenly, the sound of an engine going into overdrive blasted through the frame of her car, into her ears and a flash of deep ocean blue streaked past her as they approached the final right turn at Hanam, leading into Seongnam. Alarmed by the sudden speed of the unknown challenger, Taeyeon upped the gear and pushed her car into the upper echelons of her speed limit, surpassing the 180km/h mark. Tiffany was not to be left behind and Taeyeon could hear the roar of her engine as well, with the closing in of intense maroon drawing up along her side.

That was how they blazed down the final stretch of Expressway No. 100, with deep ocean blue taking the lead of half a car length, closely followed by Taeyeon and Tiffany. Taeyeon was getting desperate. There was just one more right turn before they returned to Gyeongpu Expressway and completed the race. If she wasn’t careful, Tiffany would overtake her on the turn and she’d be left to eat the dust.

No way that’s gonna happen. No ing way.

Taeyeon gritted her teeth and pushed her car to its limits, reaching almost 200km/h as they neared the sharp right turn. It was a risk, a gamble, but that’s what life was about. This was why she raced. This was what she lived for. A hard fought victory.

At the very last moment, she jammed her brakes, praying they wouldn’t break and swerved to the right, cutting off Tiffany’s path. A quarter of the way into the turn, she slammed on her accelerator, gripping the steering wheel hard to maintain control of her car. With a loud screeching roar, her car reached the insane high speed of before and within seconds, she was speeding right beside deep ocean blue. It was going to be close. Split-second close. But she wasn’t about to give up. In fact, she’d push her car to its breaking limit if she had to. They raced down the final straight of Gyeongpu Expressway and the finishing point was in view. It was now or never.

Highest gear engaged, she pushed her car all the way and whipped past the finishing point with deep ocean blue right beside her. . Had she lost the race to an unknown challenger?

“Good race, Taeyeon,” said Sunny, as she emerged from her car.

“It’s only a good race if I won.”

“They’re reviewing the footage right now.”

“. Why do I have a bad feeling about this.”

Sunny checked her phone as she talked and made an excited clucking noise. “Taeyeon, you won,” she shrieked.

“I did?” Taeyeon was in disbelief as she grabbed the phone and looked. And there it was, the indisputable truth. She’d won.

“Good race,” a raw, sensuous voice cut through the noise and sent a warm buzz ringing through her mind.

Taeyeon turned around. A tall, lean lady was walking towards her. Jet black hair, dead straight with a healthy sheen, played with the wind and caught her attention, as did the hard as steel gaze. Holy . The unknown challenger was a ravishing, sensuous creature and her curiosity was piqued at once. Who was this racer who’d almost beaten her in the race? And where’d she come from. These were answers she wanted to know.

“Good race,” she replied, flashing a cool smile. “Just who are you, Crystal? You drive good.”

Crystal’s eyes remained cool, her lips paying lip service to the smile. “But I didn’t win.”

“You might, the next time.”

Crystal smiled then. A smile that reached her eyes. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

-

“Yuri, it’s her. She’s my sister.”

“Taeyeon?”

“I know Taeyeon. She’s not my sister. I’m talking about Crystal.”

“Crystal?” Yuri echoed, a hint of doubt in her voice. “But her name…”

“It’s too much to be a coincidence. She’s my sister, I’m sure. Don’t we look alike? And her name. I don’t know why it’s C and not K. But I’m sure there’s an explanation for it. Maybe she misspelt it on purpose.”

“I’ll ask my friends. See if they know anything.”

Jessica smiled at Yuri, grateful for her help and gave her a kiss on her lips. “Thanks Yuri. You’re the best.”

“I’ll be right back,” Yuri said with a smile and walked towards the containers.

Meanwhile, she stood still, not moving an inch, not trusting herself to. All she could do was follow Crystal with her eyes as the young lady talked to Taeyeon. And the more she looked, the more convinced she was. There was a familiarity to her mannerisms, the way she smiled, the way she stood. They weren’t a splitting image of each other but their features were similar. She was sure, almost certain, she’d finally found her sister.

But she wanted to be sure. There’d been so many disappointments in the past that she was afraid to be let down again. So she waited. Yuri would find out something about Crystal and they could figure it out from there.

Crystal. Her long lost sister. Maybe.

-

She was upset with herself for losing the race but the stakes she’d raised the day before softened the pain of the loss. With her heart sandwiched between disappointment and curiosity, she walked over the gravel to Taeyeon.

“See ya at the next race,” Taeyeon was saying to the unknown challenger.

“See ya, unnie.” Crystal waved goodbye to Taeyeon, then turned to her and smiled.

She smiled in return and waited for Crystal to move out of earshot before turning back to Taeyeon. Eyes, dark as coal, greeted her and it was disturbing how easily enthralled she was by them. Each time they met, she had to fight the gripping urge to fall into those dark, brown eyes, so seductive and soul-binding. She had to dig her feet into the gravel to stop herself from pulling Taeyeon close. Already, the urge to tug off that denim jacket of Taeyeon’s was so strong. The need to see more of the midriff peeking out from under the loose black tank, so intense. And the desire to lock those lips between hers burned, threatening to destroy the cool exterior that kept everything together.

Taeyeon stood still, wordlessly checking her out with those heart-stopping brown eyes. Those soft lips, a corner upturned, smug in her victory. And there they stood in complete silence, letting their eyes do the talking, their bodies, the screaming.

Until Taeyeon broke the silence. “Come with me,” she said and got into her car without waiting for Tiffany’s response. That was the price of raising the stakes, thought Tiffany. Now, it was time to pay the price of defeat. And she was willing to pay it, no matter the cost. She was going to pay it all, blood and soul.

-