“So how does it look?”

Taeyeon popped her head out of the hood and smiled, “perfect.”

Yuri hung on the door smirking, “It better be. Race is starting in a few.”

Packing away her computer, Taeyeon closed the hood, “Race like you normally do and let my car do the rest.”

“What? It is my car!”

A man waltzed over, “Technically none of you own this car. It is on loan from a very nice customer.”

Taeyeon smiled brightly, “Taemin! Omg! What are you doing here?!”

“I am doing business obviously. Taeyeon you are the only one that didn’t get the memo about some of the best racers in Asia being here or were locking yourself away in your apartment cracking some code?”

Taeyeon rubbed the back of her neck, “well you know me if it isn’t cars…”

“You are such a nerd!” Yuri was nearly on the ground laughing, “I am so glad I rescued you!”

“What? I am perfectly content with my hermit life. Cars are a side job.”

Taemin shook his head, “If you returned to the racing world, I wonder how much you would shake things up.” Looking back at Yuri, “Don’t you dare scratch this car.”

Yuri saluted the man, “yes sir!”

“Racers to your mark! Let’s get it started!”

Taeyeon patted her friend on the shoulder, “Kill em.”

Yuri smiled, “you know I will.”

Taeyeon stepped away from the car and went to the starting line where she saw the blonde again. Jessica flipped her hair back as she accentuated her silver car with that stunning white racer suit. Although Taeyeon needed to check a few things on her computer to make sure Yuri’s car was performing well but she was too distracted. Taeyeon couldn’t help her heart from beating faster and faster with the sight of Jessica. Clenching her chest, Taeyeon tried to calm her heart.

“Racers you know the rules! There are no rules so play nice and first to cross the line wins!”

Taeyeon looked over to see Yuri pull up next to the blonde’s vehicle. She noticed Yuri say a few things to the woman before rolling up her window. Curious, Taeyeon pressed the call button on headset, “What was that about?”

“Just wishing her luck. Gotta focus Taeng. Call me for only important things!”

Taeyeon shook her head as she hung up, “That was important.”

Soon the lights above started the countdown, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

With the final beep and the lights turning green, the garage filled with smoke as the cars drove off into the distance. Most of the crowd rushed onto the street to watch the cars but Taeyeon didn’t care as she walked over to one of the big screens to watch the race. She assumed Yuri would be near the front where the drones filmed the lead cars. However, another driver caught her attention, “Humm she does look good.”

Sitting back, Taeyeon watched Jessica maneuver the twists and turns of the course with ease. It was clear to see why Jessica was someone everyone was talking about. It was if the girl was one with the track, but Taeyeon knew it would only be a matter of time before Yuri made a move.

Pulling out her tablet, Taeyeon pulled up Yuri’s car to check the performance. She could see how fast Yuri took every turn and how that affected the balance. From what she saw, Taeyeon knew Yuri wasn’t using the car to it’s full potential so she called in, “Hey buddy.”

“What’s up Taeng? You sound too nice.”

Taeyeon laughed, “I told you to use my car but you are just driving it like she is going to break.”

“Are you saying I am being too gentle?”

“I am saying this car has more to offer and you don’t seem to want to win.”

“So you want me to start showing the lovely audience what this thing can do?”

“Right now no one here is talking about you.”

“Let me know what they say in a few minutes.”

Taeyeon hung up the phone and watched Yuri finally enter the frame, “At least you know where the gas petal is.”

Yuri continued to accelerate until she was right behind Jessica but that didn’t last long as Yuri accelerated into the next turn overtaking Jessica.

“Woah. Someone just passed Jessica.”

“No way. Who is that?” The viewers conversed.

Taeyeon smiled victoriously as her phone rang again, “How was that?”

“I think you got everyone’s attention here.”

“I can see Jessica scowling behind me. See you at the finish line Taeng. The car is driving like a dream.”

Taeyeon hung up as she watched numbers dance across her tablet, “She is perfect.”

Not needing to watch the end of the race, Taeyeon got up and went to get a drink.

“Whiskey sour for her.”

Taeyeon looked over to see Taemin behind her, “Oh Taemin.”

Patting her on the back, “The drink is on me. Thanks for making me a ton of money.”

Taeyeon laughed, “so you like what I did with her?”

Taemin sipped his drink, “Beating Jessica is the best advertisement for my cars. Also I got a call from the owner of that car. He wants us to customize 3 more. If you are interested, this could mean some big bucks for all of us.”

Taeyeon waved him off, “Not interested. I told you I got out of this business years ago.”

“But we need you Taeng! 3 cars and then you are done.”

Taeyeon shook her head, “I want to just go home and be with my one and only love.”

“Don’t say that is your computer?”

Smiling Taeyeon started to walk away with her drink, “You can’t pay me enough to work on cars Taemin.”

Taemin shook his head, “You will come running back to this place Taeyeon. Nothing beats the rush like a win.”

Taeyeon made her way to the finish line to wait for the racers to come back. Looking at her watch, Taeyeon knew it was a matter of minutes for Yuri to come in based on the practice runs. Not a moment too late, the engines roared in the distance and to no surprise, Taeyeon watched Yuri cross the line several car lengths ahead of Jessica.

Jumping up and down on their win, Taeyeon ran up to Yuri’s car to hug her friend, “You won!”

“I told you I would,” Yuri smiled happily as she got swarmed by hundreds of fans that came for the event.

Taeyeon patted the car, “We all know you are the real winner.”

Right behind Yuri, Jessica pulled up and got out of her car baffled on how she lost to the other woman. Getting out, Jessica watched Yuri enjoy her win, “I know I am better than you. What is different this time?” Then Jessica noticed the girl from the bar petting and talking to the car proudly. Wondering who she was, Jessica located Taemin, “Taemin!”

The man turned around, “Ah Jessi! Tough loss.”

“I know you had something to do with it.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about? I just provide the cars, I can’t make a good racer.”

Jessica huffed, “There is no way Yuri became amazing overnight. What did you do to that car?

“We just made a few tweaks although I don’t know what they all did to it. Yuri has the best team though.”

Pointing to Taeyeon, “Who is she? I don’t remember her being on Yuri’s team.”

Taemin lifted his brow, “Taeyeon? Probably because she isn’t. Yuri called her in last minute. Although she is the best mechanic out there, but she retired several years before you came to the scene.”

Jessica thought for a moment, “I want her.”

Taemin laughed, “Good luck. She is not really for sale. I can’t even believe Yuri got her to come to be honest.”

Jessica tapped her chin, “Everyone has a price.” Going back to her car, Jessica opened the glove compartment and pulled out a few stacks of cash before finding Taeyeon and slamming the money in front of her, “You work for me now.”

Taeyeon was baffled. First, why Jessica was even approaching her and second, when did she get paid off? “W-what?”

“You. Work for me.”

Taeyeon laughed, “I umm have a job.”

“I can pay you whatever you want to come to my team.”

Taeyeon looked the beautiful woman up and down. Money was tempting but the fact that Jessica even noticed her was even better, “I retired. I don’t do cars anymore.”

“You just did and that car and it beat me.”

Taeyeon smirked, “Yea…that happened.”

Jessica stepped into Taeyeon’s personal space, “name your price for 1 year. After that, you can go back to doing whatever job you have.”

A very tempting offer, “you are really persistent.”

“Of course. When I see something I like, I will do anything to have it.”

Taeyeon smirked, “So you like me?”

“I like what you did to make Yuri, a mediocre driver, win this race.”

Taeyeon wanted to play hard to get although she was already sold with the idea of being with Jessica for a year, “My price is super super high. This little stack of money won’t be enough.”

“That is just a down payment. Name a price, conditions or whatever and I will make it happen.”

Taeyeon nodded, “Humm. I want half your winnings for the next 5 years.”

“What?!”

“Well these are my cars. If I work for your crew for a year, you will probably be using my cars until the next best thing comes in 5 years from now. If you dump my car, then you can stop paying me. Although I will make sure you stop winning at the same time. So you can choose to stop paying me and using my cars or just use my cars and make some money but I get paid too.”

Jessica hated the deal but she also had a reputation to uphold. Losing to Yuri was not something she wanted on her racer profile, “Fine.” Holding out her hand, “you have a deal.”

Taeyeon smiled happily and shook those soft hands, “nice to meet you Jessica.”