"The purpose of the run, which you'lll be doing every day, by the way, was to build endurance. Racing is a sport, and like any sport, requires general fitness as well as a specific set of skills. I'm guessing you all go to the gym already, and if not, you'll start. I'll draw up some personalized routines once I get to know your strengths and weaknesses better," you said, looking around at them evenly. "As for eating with no sound, you'll be working on your restraint and control."
"But - " Luhan began, but you cut him off.
"The kind of control I demand isn't something that you can just force out on the track. You won't be able to maintain it, and it won't be comfortable. Control this fine needs to be a habit, almost an instinct. You can't afford to think about it, because you'll have a billion other things to focus on when you're in the driver's seat."
Baekhyun raised his hand timidly, and you nodded at him.
"No offense intended, Jinhye-ssi, but most of the driver's actions behind the wheel, that we've observed, are very...large. Almost to the point of exaggeration."
"He's right. Slamming down the gas and spinning the wheel quickly during turns aren't exactly very fine movements," Chanyeol added.
You shook your head, smiling wryly.
"The cars you've seen being raced weren't designed to compute fine movements. They needed the huge pushes of effort to run properly. A huge push to begin moving, and more huge pushes to send them in different directions. Bit like trying to get a bull through a dressage course, to be honest."
"You make it sound as if these won't be the cars we'll be racing in," D.O said slowly. Chen nodded in agreement.
"You won't be. I'll be modifying vehicles to suit your individual racing styles and techniques. They'll be virtually extensions of your brain, if you work hard enough," you replied, emphasizing the last part.
"That sounds..." Sehun started.
"Too good to be true," Luhan finished, looking at you skeptically. Sehun frowned. He'd meant to say 'wonderful', or 'fantastic'. Trust his hyung to twist it into almost an insult.
You merely shrugged. "I'm confident in what I can do with machinery, so you guys don't need to worry about that." You gestured to the cooling plates of food, still sitting untouched. "Worry about yourselves for now."
EXO was not used to your unconventional methods, to say the least. And while you were sure that a few were still unconvinced of your statements, they all worked their hardest at the tasks you set them, taking the penalties with few to no displays of displeasure. Even Kai, who you had expected to upend the bench the third time in a row he'd hit the bowl too hard with his chopsticks, did nothing more than glower at the ground as he walked to the track once more. You were impressed and pleased by their discipline.
By the end of the week, not one sound could be heard during the meals. Not only that, the time that they took to eat decreased as well. Tao whispered to you one day that they were doing the 'silence thing' every time they ate, not only when they were with you.
Extremely happy with their progress, you quickly led them through other exercises that worked on their balance and reflexes. After following them to the gym one day, you'd also drawn up their personal training schedules to focus on their weak points. During the third week, you'd finally allowed them to show you waht they could do behind the wheel. They had been ecstatic and eager to impress. You had given them each a general base car to drive. A camera had been installed inside the cars so you could follow through what they were doing in real time. They each wore headsets beneath their helmets, allowing you to communicate with them when they were behind the wheel. Afterwards, you went through what they were doing right and wrong with them on an individual basis using the recorded video. You also took notes on the data to sketch out the beginnings of the designs for the mods you had promised them.
After two months of working with the twelve boys, you hated to admit that you had grown attached to them, despite your initial attempts at cold, stone, working relationships. Then again, you were probably stupid for thinking that you wouldn't become fond of them after working with them as closely as you have in the first place. You'd also overestimated your ability to be a to people who were just too easy to love.
You loved picking on Kai. Really, he made it far too easy. Eventually, you had started feeling bad, and went to make sure he didn't take any of it to heart. Your efforts had been completely unecessary, however.
"What's this, Jinhye-ssi? You're not going soft for me, are you?" he'd said with a suggestive smirk before sauntering off with a two- wave, leaving you gaping in astonishment.
Baekhyun would then come rushing at your furious screams and cursing, wondering what on earth Kai had done to invoke such language from you. You made sure to rib him twice as hard from then on.
Speaking of Baekhyun, he and Suho were definitely the most mature ones in the group. While Suho's words were respected, and it was obvious that he held some sort of leadership position, Baekhyun was the quiet peacemaker, often resolving arguments before they began. They were very caring towards you as well, often reminding you not to overwork yourself.
D.O was very similar, but at the same time very different. He cared the most about his teammates, worrying when they were upset and giving them endless amounts of encouragement. You'd laughed to yourself many times at his resemblance to a mother hen.
Then there was Chen and Lay. The two got on well, and it was easy to see why. Both seemed quiet, almost shy at first glance, but had the same sardonic humour that laced itself through their words. Often, you'd catch a piece or two of their conversations and burst into uncontrollable laughter that earned you bemused looks from the other members, fearing for your sanity.
Chanyeol and Xiumin were something fo the opposite. Both acted the part of the goofy dork, but from their comments on their teammate's performances, you knew that they were both far more intelligent than they let on. Most of the time though, you contented yourself with enjoying their craziness and randomly poking Xiumin's cheeks. You'd discovered that you were hardly the first to notice their squishability. Luhan had even given him the nickname "baozi", which he had informed you was Chinese for bun.
The almost effeminate boy was one hell of a pessimist, contrary to his sweet appearance. You felt like he still didn't trust you very much. When you'd grumbled about this to Sooyoung and Jessica over coffee one afternoon while the boys were at the gym, you had recieved an exasperated sigh from both of them.
"This is what you get for not tyring to get to know them properly," Sooyoung said with a roll of her eyes.
"Not that Luhan would have told you anything though," said Jessica quietly.
You learned (to your great disgust and guilt) that Luhan had been sold into the trade when he was twelve. He had met Sehun when he was seventeen and Sehun thirteen at an auction. Sehun had reminded him of his younger brother, though his brother was several years younger. Their escape that night had destroyed a building entirely and damaged several more in its vicinity. The explosion they'd created as a distraction had taken many lives, and would have landed them both a lifetime in jail had SM not stepped in. Many of the higher-ups in the so-called "Department of Justice" were deeply involved in the underground racing scene. Lee Sooman had been impressed with their instincts with a vehicle, as neither had had any driving experience before they hijacked a car that evening. However, it took them several years of therapy before their training could properly begin.
You felt awful when Sooyoung and Jessica told you the story, though it certainly explained Luhan's coldness and why Sehun was practically the older boy's shadow, in terms of both position and silence.
Then there was Tao, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. You had long given up trying to correct his habit of calling you "Jinhye-jie". His cheerfulness was terribly contagious, and not even Kris was immune to his aegyo. In fact, the closeness between two of the tallest members of EXO (and all of SM, for that matter) reminded you a lot of the relationship between Luhan and Sehun, with both older members cracking the rare smile only around the maknaes.
Kris...confused you. He was your very definition of an enigma. While you were more or less quite comfortable around the others, you were never quite at ease around him. His lack of emotions made it impossible to know what he was thinking most of the time. You might have written him off simply a block of ice were it not for the kindness he showed to Tao, who often took to acting like a spoiled child around his "gege". Upon closer inspection, you realized that he cared very much for the rest of the team, but simply did not show it explicitly very often. Indeed, when you had intelligently forgotten your coat at home one bitterly cold winter day and sat shivering in the stands watching Chen and Baekhyun do laps in only a T-shirt and sweater, you'd suddenly found a warm, heavy leather jacket around your shoulders. You had looked up to see Kris walking away in only a white dress shirt. When you tried to return it to him, he had fixed you with his signature unnerving gaze.
"Keep it at the track. You'll need it again," he'd replied almost emotionlessly, though there was teasing undertone in his latter statement. You'd stared at him in mingled surprise and confusion as he turned to jump into his car. If it weren't for the fact that you you were certain his facial muscles simply wouldn't work that way, you could have sworn you saw a fleeting smirk before he pulled on his helmet.
He was right, however. Two weeks later found you wrapped tightly in his jacket again as you tapped away on your laptop in the bleachers. Your cheeks had lit up with a splendid crimson when he whispered a soft "I told you so" in your ear as he passed you on the way from the track. You were inwardly glad that you hadn't seen his eyes when he said that.
His piercing stares were the worst best most disconcerting thing about him. Several times you had turned to see his eyes upon you. He never shied away when you caught him. Instead, he held your gaze with an unreadable expression, a small crease between his brows, as if trying to figure something out. These moments never failed to disorient you, giving you the strange sensation of vertigo as if you'd missed a step walking down the stairs. The way he made you feel with such minimal interaction flustered you.
Meanwhile, EXO had accepted you as a mentor and respected you as a racer, but off the tracks, you had become the strangest combination of both a younger and older sister, depending on the situation. Sooyoung had succeeded in some of her attempts at getting you to be more social by dragging the boys out on weekends, knowing that you'd be persuaded to join them, one way or another.
Damn Tao and his bbuing bbuings.
Usually, these gatherings included members of SM's other squads. Your students had been surprised that you were just as casual to them as you were with Sooyoung. However, strangely, you continued to avoid Yunho and Changmin like the plague. Even more curious was that, despite the fact that you obviously knew the people present very well, there was never a mention of your past.
Except for that one night. It was during a casual dinner on Saturday with SNSD and a few members of Super Junior that Tiffany had asked straight up why you returned to SM, and if you had gotten over "the incident".
The had all felt it; the abrupt silence that fell after the question, how the atmosphere in the room seemed to have congealed till it was thicker than cold butter. Kris, who had been sitting beside you, felt you stiffen for an instant before forcibly relaxing yourself and answering with a shrug.
"What Lee Sooman wants, Lee Sooman gets."
There had been some forced chuckling before Kyuhyun quickly changed the subject.
Xiumin brought it up that night back at their dorm. Luhan had suggested that it was probably a racing accident you'd been involved in. Most of the members were inclined to agree, and let the topic drop. Kris didn't think so, though he said nothing. He had seen the flicker of pain in your eyes that evening, brief but heartwrenching. He knew that look well - he'd seen it too many times in his life.
It was the shadow of the agony of losing a loved one before your very eyes.
--
AAARGGHHHAS:DLFFSAFSDK
So I finally caved. Reposting this. My fingers, they ache.
Smiley Kris gif in an attempt to ease the pain.
...naw bro, as much as I love you, your smiles always seem so foreign. Probably because I'm so used to your face LOLLL
Also I am very sad over the comments and subscribers I lost through the changeover. Hopefully AFF gets its together and gives me them back :(
So, as always, review and/or subscribe? :) Do it for this angry bird~
- Ace
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