“Hey there, cutie.”

 

Your eyes travel from the menu in your hands to the eyes of a young man sitting across the table from you. His black blazer shines with decorative embellishments and chains. He has a leather strap across his chest, completing his military-style look. You look to his face and take notice of the piercings dangling from his ears. As you take in his face, you couldn't help but notice that his edgy look contradicted his youthful face. His lips are curled into a playful smirk, “I'm Yukei, but you call me Lucas,” pointing to his embroidered name on his blazer under the letters NCT.

 

“I’m Y/N,” you offer a small smile before returning your eyes to your menu, already knowing what you wanted but hoping that the boy across you would eventually leave.

 

Instead, he leans a little more toward you, eyes scanning your face. Lucas’s smile grows wider, “What's a innocent girl like you doing all alone?”

 

“I'm waiting for my boyfriend. He'll be here soon, so I think you should leave.”

 

“If I were your boyfriend, I wouldn't leave you waiting.” His hand slides across the table, placing it on top of yours. “So, how about you leave him and you join me for dinner?”

 

You yank your hand out from his grasp, “I'm sorry, but no, thank you.”

 

“Come on! It'll be fun,” he goes to brush your hair behind your ear, when suddenly someone grabs his hand.

 

“Didn’t you hear the lady? She said no.” You recognize the owner of that voice. Jisoo gave you a small smile.

 

“Who are you?” Lucas stands up, his height intimidating you, but it didn't even faze Jisoo.

“Her boyfriend.” Jisoo says firmly.

 

“You’re her boyfriend ” Lucas laughs, his booming laugh shaking his whole body. His laughter dies down, eyes serious, shoving Jisoo “What are you going to do about it?”

 

Jisoo grabs Lucas punching him in the jaw, causing him to stumble back away from your booth. He regained his balance and wiped his now split lip, most caused by Jisoo’s ring. Lucas took a moment before his next move. He quickly took a swing at Jisoo, narrowly missing him. Jisoo pushes you further in the booth behind him, focusing on keeping you away from Lucas’ punches. Lucas grabs the collar of Jisoo’s jacket dragging him out of the booth, pinning him against the closest wall.

 

“Hey, what's going on?” Another man in a matching blazer pulls Lucas away from Jisoo, standing between the two men. His eyes follow the diamond shape patch on Jisoos jacket, “You’re 17’s Jisoo?”

 

“Yeah, I am.” He calmly states.

 

“My name is Jaehyun. I hear you’re a pretty good racer,” he gave a sly grin.

 

“ ‘Good’ is an understatement.” Jisoo makes his way back to your booth grabbing your hand, leading you toward the exit of the restaurant.  “I’m sorry for the commotion, are you okay?”

 

You nod your head. Before you and Jisoo could make an exit, you were stopped by Jaehyun’s next words.

 

“Let’s race,” His voice rings across the restaurant. He continues as he closes the distance between you both, “I think after decking one of our members you owe me a race.”

 

Jisoo turns to look at Jaehyun, “If you race me, there won’t be a problem between NCT and 17. But if you don’t,” He pauses to make eye contact with Jisoo, “let’s just say you’ll be our number one enemy.”  

 

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The rumbling of engines grows louder with every level as you made your way to the upper floors of the parking structure. You are riding with Jisoo, and with the news of the race, all of Seventeen came to support Jisoo

 

Once you reach the designated floor you see NCT, the grouped tripled in size, with their bikes. Jisoo takes the lead parking his bike across the opposing group with the rest of Seventeen following behind him.When the engines are turned off, the structure falls into silence.

 

“You showed up.” Jaehyun says putting himself between the two groups, Lucas behind him glaring at Jisoo. Jisoo nods to him instead of a verbal response.

 

“Ok, this now we are going to do this: the starting line is right here,” Jaehyun points down to his feet where they are standing.

“We'll make our way out of the structure following the green tags throughout the city.” He pauses to make sure Jisoon follows what he's saying, “Short cuts are okay, ‘cause they'll make things a little more interesting. Also there will be a checkpoint on the other side of the city.” Jaehyun lifts up two flags. “There, you'll grab your flag and carry it with you back here. And of course, first one to cross the line wins.”

 

You were listening to Jaehyun explaining the race’s rules while helping Jihoon prep Jisoo’s bike. He hands you a small camera, “Here, place this between the headlights.”

 

You take and place it between the headlights, just as Jihoon said. You then pressed the small button turning on the camera,“I turned it on, how does it look?”

 

Jihoon peers down at his tablet, “It's crystal clear.”

 

“Hey, Y/N,” you turn your head to look at Vernon, “Me and a couple of the members are going to head down to the checkpoint.”

 

“ ‘Kay, let me know what's happening on your end.” You then take the next camera and place it on Jisoo’s helmet. “Camera 2 is on now.” You look at your tablet, shifting the helmet left to right watching the helmet footage through the tablet, startled slightly when Jisoo’s face pops up on the screen “Over here.”

 

“Are you going to be my guardian angel for this race?” He ask lifting the helmet a bit, talking to you through the helmet’s camera.

 

“For this race, I am. Jihoon wants me to help out. Here's your earpiece and mic,”

Jisoo takes his earpiece and places it in his ear, while you help attach him mic to his cheek.

 

Jisoo then steps back, waiting for you to test the mic and earpiece. You put on your headset, “Testing, testing. 1 2 3. Jisoo, can you hear me?”

 

“Loud and clear, Angel.” Jisoo smiles.

 

“All right, racers, let's start this.” Both leaders, Seungcheol and Taeyong, call out. Jisoo pulls his bike to the starting line, Jaehyun doing the same.

 

“Let's pump everyone up with,” the dark haired man pulls out a makeshift mic, “Doyoung’s ‘Vroom Vroom’ segment.”

 

NCT cheers loudly, though maybe a bit exaggerated, and Seventeen, despite being slightly confused, follows suit. Doyoung continues, swinging his arm out to introduce the racers.

 

“On the left, we have NCT’s very own Jaehyun!” You wince at the loud hollers, the volume multiplied by Jisoo’s mic and your headset. “And, on the right, we have Seventeen’s Jisoo!” You're prepared for the cheers and whoops that echo around the structure, even joining in to cheer for your boyfriend. As Doyoung continues to talk, you hear Jisoo’s voice through your headset, “I just realized that we didn't have dinner. I'll take you out after I win, ‘kay?”

 

“It's a date.” you say playfully, watching a smile form on Jisoo‘s face just before he pulls his helmet visor down over his face.

 

Jisoo starts singing, it was something he did to calm his nerves, and it often helped with yours as well, “Sometimes I dream about chocolate-” his helmet kept the others from hearing him. He pulls on his gloves, “I want some food right now-,” his legs go over the bike saddle, “Sometimes I dream about chocolate.” Jisoo gives you a thumbs up, and you return it smiling “Chocolate -” Taeyong grabs Doyoung’s mic, “Your segment is over.” Taeyong composed himself before nodding at Jisoo and Jaehyun, “Racers, are you ready?”

 

At the same time, Jaehyun and Jisoo rev up their engines. You can feel the rumble of the motorcycles throughout your chest. You start to feel nervous for him again, “Goodluck, Jisoo.”

 

“Ready, 3… 2… 1” Taeyong’s hand drops,and both races tear away from the starting line. You watch as Jisoo’s tail light fades out of sight, and the rumble of the engines echo their way out of the structure

You look down at your screen, watching the blur of lights, the single red tail light of Jaehyun's bike fading the further he gets ahead.

 

Jisoo swerves between the cars, desperately trying to catch up. You watch the GPS noticing an alleyway ahead that would help Jisoo catch up to Jaehyun, “Jisoo, take the alleyway on the right.”

 

He follows your command, turning his right, trash and discarded paper fly pass Jisoo and he picks up his speed through the alleyway

The GPS shows Jisoo catching up to NCT’s racer. On the next turn, Jisoo comes out the alleyway in front of Jaehyun

“Whoo, thank you, Angel!” Jisoo cheered

The rest of Seventeen that's with you cheer as Jisoo takes the lead from Jaehyun.

“Nice call Y/N!” Seungcheol pats your back, as the two bikes race across Seoul.

 

“Y/N! I think I see Jisoo!” Vernon says over the radio, and you clamber to look at your screen. Vernon and the others can be seen running toward Jisoo with the flag in hand. Jisoo brakes and drifts, smoke blocks your vision, until you see the colors of rose quartz and serenity, Seventeen’s unique colors. Then in the next second Jisoo is speeding through the city with Jaehyun following right behind him.

 

Coming back to the parking structure, Jisoo is in the lead. He hesitates upon seeing that the tunnel is blocked with cars in traffic. He slows his bike, attempting to go between the stopped cars. Instead of following Jisoo, Jaehyun races his bike against traffic, taking the lead back from Jisoo.

 

“Don't do it, Jisoo,” Seungcheol warns, his voice a slight growl.

 

“Jisoo, listen to Seungcheol it's too dangerous,” You try to keep Jisoo from actually doing what he was contemplating.

 

“I know it's dangerous … but trust me. I can do this.” On the next opening, Jisoo gets into the opposite lane and chases after Jaehyun, picking up more and more speed. You hold your breath as you watch the oncoming headlights zoom toward Jisoo, barely dodging impact by mere seconds. Jisoo focuses on the neon green flag mocking him in the distance.

 

Jisoo and Jaehyun clear the tunnel, and Jisoo puts his bike in the highest gear, speeding up toward Jaehyun. They are neck to neck in the final stretch before the parking structure. Jisoo drifts into the structure right in front of Jaehyun, cutting him off and causing him to slow down,giving Jisoo the lead once more.

 

The structure is filled with the screeching of tires drifting their way to the top, and you hold your breath when you see Jisoo. He crosses the finish line first, holding the rose quartz and serenity flag in the air.

 

The other members are cheering and yelling just as Jisoo loses control of his bike. The front wheel swerves, causing the bike falls to its side. You feel like time slows down as the bike and Jisoo skid along the pavement.

The momentum and speed carry Jisoo further back. You flinch at the sound of his helmet making contact with a wall. You and the other members rush towards him, panic welling up within the group when he doesn't move.

 

You move to take off Jisoo‘s, gently sliding it off. His face looks emotionless until his eyes crack open. He smiles at you, “Am I in Heaven?”

 

“No.” You shake your head laughing and softly patting his arm.

 

“Really? You’re not an angel?” He stares up at you, mock scepticism on his face. You help Joshua sit up, trying to gauge his face for any possible pain.

 

“Didn’t you hear? The lady said no.” Jaehyun walks to the two of you, “That was a good race, and I think we owe you an apology.”

 

“That was one of the best races in a long time. So, I think we're good. But I do think you owe her an apology.” Jisoo nods at you, looking sternly at Lucas.

 

“Oh, right. I'm very sorry for the way I acted.” Lucas bows deeply to you, sincere in his action. You nod back at him, accepting his apology with a small smile, “It's okay.”

 

After congratulating Jisoo on his win, the NCT members clear out from the parking structure. You're left squatting next to Jisoo while the other members all talk about the race, like they always do. Jisoo is examining his hands when he speaks up, “So…” You turn to look at him, “What's up?”

He turns to look at you, “Are you still free for dinner?” You laughed softly, “What am I going to do with you… Yes, I'm free.” Jisoo nods, slowly getting up, groaning at muscles that you are sure are sore. He leans over to haul his bike upright, and you can see Jihoon‘s grimace at the scratches it sustained from the corner of your eye. He hops on, looking back at you expectantly. You approach him, and he helps you put on the extra helmet before making sure you were securely seated.

“Hey, guys, we're heading out for dinner.” Jisoo, always selfless, says as a sort of invitation for the rest of Seventeen, and they all cheer once more as they hop onto their respective bikes. Jisoo begins to pull out of the parking structure, the others following.

You stare at his back, worry bubbling in your chest at the sight of scrapes littering his jacket. You smooth on hand down his back, the other tightening around his waist. You lean forward so he can hear you, “I am always leaning you. This time, let me be your crutch.”