Yuldong Park. Saturday night.

Taeyeon stared at the message for a moment before sending it. It appeared in the chat window and a curious tickle fizzled up her arms. In any other scenario, her message would've looked like a date invite. Only, it wasn't.

C u soon (:

Tiffany's reply looked too much like a yes to the 'date' and the curious tickle turned into a persistent hum that ran circles in her head. Damn it. Don't get any funny ideas. She shook her head at herself and flopped onto her bed. A race was a race. It was straightforward. Every race had a start and a finish. Every race had a winner and a loser. There was nothing complicated about it. And her fate was entirely in her own hands. It was the one constant in her life. The only thing that kept it all together.

That's all it was.

-

“Doctor Seo, this is Krystal.”

“Hi Doctor Seo.” Krystal moved into the room and sat. The woman who brought her in exited and shut the door.

Doctor Seo smiled. “Hi.” She extracted a file from the stack on her desk and opened it. “Your sister arranged for you to see me about your recurring dreams. Are you open to accepting treatment for it?”

Krystal nodded. “I am.”

“We will then go through this consent form and once you sign it, we can begin.”

“Okay.”

-

Krystal walked out of the room with Doctor Seo's smooth voice running in her mind.

“Psychotherapy is beneficial for a case like yours but there is also a downside where you may feel uncomfortable because you will be reliving what is perhaps, the darkest moment of your life. But as they say, no pain no gain, after going through this, you will experience a significant reduction in feelings of distress in the area that affected you. Of course, as with all things medical, we cannot guarantee success, but the method that I will be adopting with you has a high percentage of success. Personally, I can tell you that for the two years that I've been doing this, only one patient did not manage to break free from their mental chains.”

It certainly sounded good to her. Only one failed case in two years. Doctor Seo was good indeed. Each session would be just under an hour and cost 100,000 won. That was expensive. If it weren't for Jessica footing the bill, she wouldn't be able to afford even half of it. As it was, she was behind on her loan payments.

It was strange, accepting help from a near-stranger who was supposedly her biological sister whom she had no memory of. But if Doctor Seo could help to solve her problem, she could perhaps solve the mystery of the dreams and regain the memories she had seemingly lost.

There was one other thing on her mind however, after seeing Doctor Seo. Jessica had given her name to the doctor, spelt as K R Y S T A L. K. She wasn't accustomed to spelling her name that way. She would have to speak to Jessica about it.

“Krystal.”

“Jessica.”

“How did it go with Doctor Seo?”

“It was okay.”

Jessica's smile was genuine. “Do you have time for a drink with me?”

Mmm. She did want to talk about her name... “I have some time to spare.”

“Great.” Jessica's smile grew into a grin. “I'll ask Yuri to bring the car around. She's waiting in the car park.”

“Actually, can it just be the two of us?”

“Just the two of us? Sure. But Yuri's my girlfriend. You can trust her too.”

“I know that. But she's not my sister. You are. I just want to talk to my sister without anybody else around.”

“O...kay...” Jessica replied slowly. “I'll call and let her know then. But...I can't...”

“Don't worry. I'll drive.”

-

Yuri could only sigh after Jessica left with Krystal. Somehow, she wasn't surprised by this. Yes. They were sisters after all. Was she unreasonable? Was it normal for her to feel left out? It wasn't as though Jessica wasn't spending time with her. She ate with Jessica, went out with Jessica, slept with Jessica...

She would be a good girlfriend, and be understanding about it.

-

There they were, two sisters, two drinks, sitting in a corner of a cafe. Jessica couldn't quite wrap her mind around it. It felt almost surreal in some sense, as though this were an alternate universe where dreams actually came true.

“When are you starting with Doctor Seo?”

“Next week.”

“I'm glad you decided to go for it.”

“About that.”

“Mmm?”

“My name. I saw it at Doctor Seo's”

“And?”

“You spelt it with a K.” Krystal bit her lip. “My name is spelt with a C.”

“Your actual name is spelt with a K.”

“But I'm not used to it. I'm more comfortable with C.”

“I understand. It must be odd to change your name.”

“It is.”

“Your name is spelt with a K on official records but our lawyer can probably help you with it after everything is done.”

Krystal's eye widen. “You aren't going to stop me? You're fine with C?”

Jessica smiled and shook her head. “Things like how a name is spelt aren't important. You are what makes you you. Not your name. Even if your name is Ruby. Jade. Pearl. None of it changes the fact that you're my sister. You're still a Jung. My Jung. I realized this after the accident. When I came to, all I wanted was you. It killed me to think that I could've have lost you again, without even knowing you. So I'm thankful enough to have found you after so long. To have a chance to sit here with you like this, just talking.”

“Jessica...although I can't remember anything about you or the sister I'm supposed to have, I'm glad it's you who found me.” Krystal's eyes glistened as she spoke and that triggered her tears as well. “I'm glad you found me so I'm not alone any more.”

Alone. How lonely you must have felt all this time without me beside you...

At that thought, tears began to fall. Her heart cried for the pain and suffering her sister must have gone through all these years.

“I'm sorry I didn't find you earlier.”

Krystal's tears rolled down her cheeks even though she'd tilted her head up in a bid to stop them.

“Just look at us, crying like babies,” said Jessica, as she handed Krystal a napkin, “Let's talk about something else.”

Krystal sniffed and dabbed at her tears with the napkin. “Like?”

“Cars. Let's talk about how you got into racing.”

“There's nothing much to say. A senior at school asked if I was interested. He said the prize money is good, so I joined.” Krystal ended with a shrug.

“Please don't take this the wrong way but you seem to need money. Do you owe some?”

“Of course I need money,” said Krystal, her eyes wide open, hiding nothing behind them. “Who doesn't?”

“But you seem to need it more than...”

“I need to pay the loans for my car, school, rent, living expenses...so yes, I need money but I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary.”

“What about the people who found you? Do they help with anything?”

Krystal's eyes darkened and gloomy clouds swirled within. “My parents. They were quite old when they found me. I call them my parents because they took care of me but they were more like my grandparents in terms of age.”

“Were...?”

Krystal nodded. “They passed away two years ago. Left everything they had to me, which was just enough for me to come to Seoul and get into a school, pay for stuff for a while. After that, I had to make my own money.”

“Which means you weren't always in Seoul?”

Krystal shook her head. “No. My parents found me along a river somewhere in a rural town. They said they were passing through to get to another town further up when my mom stopped to pee. She found me curled up in the long grass and brought me to a doctor. She said I couldn't remember anything so she decided to bring me home with her.”

“So that's why the police said they couldn't find you. I went totally crazy at the hospital when they said they didn't see you in the car with us. Our parents had already passed away and they told me they couldn't find you. I couldn't take it. And they asked me if I was sure you were with us so many times that I wanted to kick their numbskulls to knock some sense into them. Finally, they said you might have crawled out through the broken window and they couldn't find you anywhere in the vicinity. I didn't know what to do after that. I was so mad at them.”

“I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I'm sorry I can't remember.”

Jessica took Krystal's hand and squeezed gently. “It's okay. Even if you can never recover those memories, we'll have new ones from now on. Like today. This little coffee chat. This is our first coffee chat as sisters,” she smiled, “and I think it's going just great.”

Krystal smiled and squeezed her hand. “I think it's going quite well too.”

-

The sound of pointy stilettos on the polished floor at the showroom was never good news. These customers were the most difficult. They knew too little, assumed too much and took everything and everybody for granted. She looked up from the file of invoices she was sorting, ready to stamp her disapproval on the incoming customer. Only, this woman didn't come with a man wrapped around her finger. She wasn't that sort. She came alone.

She was a distinguished looking woman, well into her forties, early fifties perhaps. Impeccably styled hair, not a strand of hair out of place, manicured nails and well pressed clothes, not a wrinkle in sight. The usual. This was the classic look of a woman who had a position in a multinational corporation. This was the sort she respected for their ability to hold their own in the crazy jungle out there.

“Go out there and work your magic, Taeng.”

“While you sit back here and work your off, Sunny?” she retorted with a grin as she stood up. Sunny simply stuck her tongue out and continued with her candy crushing game. Pfft. Nieces of CEOs. “Crush them candies babe. I'll close this deal before you get through this stage.”

“It's a bet.”

“Loser buys dinner.”

“And drinks.”

Taeyeon had to chuckle at that. Sunny could never do without drinks. “Deal.”

-

“Good afternoon, I'm Miss Kim, the sales manager of this showroom. How may I help you?” she said with her best smile. In actual fact, she wasn't really managing in any area of sales at all. It was all in the name, Sunny explained when she first started working in the company. For a showroom selling luxury cars, customers always wanted to speak to someone important. Only managers would be fit to serve them. So, a manager she was.

“Miss Kim I've heard that this year's special edition of the Lamborghini Veneno roadster is available here.”

Holy . The 5 billion won Lambo?! “How would you like me to address you?”

“You can call me Mrs Chang.”

“Mrs Chang, the Lamborghini Veneno is in a separate room. This way, please.” She led Mrs Chang to the private showroom behind the open area and keyed in the code to open the door. “After you, Mrs Chang.”

She allowed the woman to enter before following behind and door slid shut behind them. She took a second to appreciate the red hot sleek, Transformer-looking car that was made to be driven by the devil. “You certainly have great taste in cars. This Roadster will do 0-100 km/h in 3 seconds. It has a top speed of 355 km/h but the wind might pose a problem for your beautiful hair, Mrs Chang.”

Mrs Chang smiled politely at her joke and took a slow, deliberate walk around the car. “It's a beauty but I still don't understand why my son is so in love with this car.”

“Is this purchase for your son then?”

Mrs Chang nodded.

“Well, there are only nine topless Veneno roadsters in this world so it is very exclusive. We are the only showroom that has this car in the whole of Korea.”

“I see. Well, that justifies the ridiculous price tag, somewhat.”

“This car is a work of art, Mrs Chang. I'm sure your son will love it.”

“I hope you're not hoping that he'll love you too.”

“Huh?”

“Hasn't your mother introduced you to him yet?”

Her heart sank to the pits at the mention of her mother. “I'm sorry, Mrs Chang. I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Do you not...”

“Mrs Chang—”

“Do you not know of your mother's activities outside of your home?”

. Is this woman The Wife? “I'm not sure I follow.”

“Your mother has taught you well.” Mrs Chang stepped forward. “But not herself.”

She wanted to step back, away from Mrs Chang, but her legs chose that moment to freeze. The only part that had freedom of movement was her eyelids and she had to force her eyes to remain open as Mrs Chang raised her hand.

I'm not afraid of you. I'm not afraid. I'm not—

By instinct her eyes closed at the impact of Mrs Chang's hand slapping her cheek. Her left ear rang as her face whipped to the right, reeling from the force that Mrs Chang delivered by hand.

“! Tell your of a mother to leave my husband alone. She's not going to get a single cent from him. I want her to leave him right this instant!”

Taeyeon tilted her chin back up and put on the hardest, meanest look she could muster up. “If you aren't capable enough to keep your husband happy, don't blame my mother for succeeding. Now, if you're not here to buy a car, please leave.” She pressed the white button and the door slid open.

If glares of hatred could kill, Taeyeon was sure she would've dropped dead right there and then.

“Oh. I'm buying this car. I'm definitely buying this car. People like your mother will drop to her knees and beg for the commission that comes with it.”

Taeyeon bit her tongue hard to stop herself from hurling vulgar abuse at the woman. If she was buying a car, she was a customer. She couldn't afford to lose her job at this place by giving this woman reason enough to lodge a complaint. She wasn't going to let this woman win. “In that case, I'll bring you the papers. This way, please.”

She brought Mrs Chang to the leather seats at the side and entered the office to get the sales documents.

“So, did you get the sale?” asked Sunny in her usual chirpy voice.

Taeyeon nodded and bent to open the drawer containing the necessary documents. The next moment, Sunny was by her side with wide open, concerned eyes.

“Taeyeon, what happened to your cheek?”

She raised a hand to touch the cheek that bore the brunt of the slap and winced. The woman's ring must have cut her. “It's nothing. Just a cut. Pass me a tissue.”

Sunny did so and she dabbed at the part that now stung. The surrounding area was beginning to throb too.

“Are you okay?” Sunny took the papers from her. “I'll do the paperwork for you. I think you need a band aid for it.”

“But—”

“Nuh uh. No buts. I'll settle this for you. Don't worry, the commission is still yours.”

“You can have the commission,” Taeyeon mumbled. “I don't want it.”

Sunny shot her a strange look but scurried out of the office. They couldn't afford to keep customers waiting when each sale was worth anything from hundreds of millions to billions of won.

With Sunny taking over, she slumped onto a chair and stared at the tiles on the floor. They were square tiles. Four corners. A little dirty. When was the last time somebody mopped the floor in here?

She tossed her head back, hanging it off the back of the chair but it didn't help. Tears flowed down anyway. And they wouldn't stop. Not even when they ran over the cut on her cheek and stung.

-

Sunny returned to the office with the papers in her hand and a heavy heart. Something was the matter with Taeyeon. And it usually involved her mother.

“Hey,” she waved the papers at Taeyeon, “got her signature on everything. The sale is done and guess what. You won the bet so I'm buying dinner and drinks tonight.”

“Great,” Taeyeon replied, reaching for the papers in her hand.

“Taeyeon. Are you really okay?” The question was a redundant one since she could see the streaks of tears on Taeyeon's cheeks but it was also a necessary one, to open the tight jar of secrets that was Taeyeon.

Taeyeon's eyes were lifeless and her heart squeezed tight. She'd seen her best friend crying several times over the years and each time, her reason for crying was heartbreaking.

“Taeyeon...”

“She slapped me.”

“She?” Sunny did a double take. “That woman who just bought—”

Taeyeon nodded.

“. Is she...”

“The Wife.”

Sunny waited no longer to hug Taeyeon. She knew without a doubt that the woman must have dumped a ton of verbal abuse on Taeyeon. Yet, that wouldn't be the real reason why Taeyeon cried. The poor girl was crying for her mother, for the woman who gave birth to her. She was crying for the life her mother chose to lead. She was crying for the choices her mother made that she was unable to change. She was crying because that was the only thing she could do right now.

-

Later that day, after the dinner that she paid for, Sunny drove up to Yuldong Park with Taeyeon. They stopped their cars at the end of the road, in the middle of the quiet side of the park and got out to survey the area. All was dark. All was quiet.

“Are you sure you're okay to race?”

Taeyeon nodded and set her jaw firm. “I'm sure. I need this. I need to win this.”

“Alright. If you say so. But drive carefully, okay?”

“I will.”

Sunny wondered if she should say something to Tiffany about this. Nah. It was best she left things to the course of nature.

-

“Taeyeon.”

Her ears pricked at the husky voice that called her name. She remembered how it made her feel when that very voice called her name in the heat of the moment. When they were burning in each other's arms. .

“Are you ready to lose?”

She couldn't help but smile. Tiffany's taunt was child's play and the woman had no idea what she was up against. She liked that she held the upper hand with her car. She was secure in the knowledge of what it could do, how far she could push it. She knew exactly how to drive her car. Tiffany wasn't going to beat her tonight.

“You should be asking yourself that question.”

“I've trained extra hard for this. I'm ready to win.”

Taeyeon scoffed. Extra hard training? Nothing can beat me driving my car with nitrous. Nothing.

“What happened to your cheek though?” Tiffany asked.

Taeyeon touched the band aid on her left cheek, remembering, and scowled. “It's nothing. Just a little cut. You should be focused on the race. Not this.”

“Don't worry about me. I'm focused.”

“Good.”

They got into their cars and waited for Sunny to set up the lights. It was a simple gadget, designed to signal the start of the race and capture pictures of the finishing. This was especially important when it was a photo finish.

She revved up her new engine, installed by the genius Kwon Yuri and she could feel the difference. A low, constant hum ran from front to back, vibrating. She could tell, solely by the way it vibrated, if it was running at optimum or sub-optimum. The tyres were her choice. She had wanted some part of her car to remain purely hers.

Even though her previous car was by no means as well built as this one, she was immensely proud of it because she had modified it by herself. And winning races with it meant that much more to her. Not that she was unhappy with this new car or anything like that. It was a different type of satisfaction and she was thankful for it.

With her foot on the accelerator and hand on the handbrake, she stared at the lights as they began to blink. Red. Amber. Green. Go.

-

Seeing Taeyeon's new car unnerved her a little. She had a lot riding on this race and she really wanted to win it. Extra hours had been put in at the track, perfecting her turns, her acceleration, her braking techniques. Even Denise and her stupid friends were stunned by the hours she put herself through, to the point where one of them actually said, “Tiffany, you don't really need to practice this much. You're already better than us.” That woman was immediately glared at by Denise and Bernice but she ignored all three of them and worked hard on the track.

Now, as the all-too-familiar sound of her engine roared in her ears, she felt the adrenaline surging through her veins to every corner of her body. Yes, she was ready. Ready to win.

The lights were her point of focus as they turned from red to amber. She blinked. It turned green. She kicked into action.

-

She'd scouted the route prior to this race. A given. It was homework that every decent racer did, calculating the angle of the turns, practicing the coordination of steering and gear changing to perfection.

Taeyeon was right beside her, both cars on par down the first straight stretch. Then a gentle left-right turn had Taeyeon inching forward. She pressed harder on her accelerator and pulled even again. Taeyeon's car had improved. It was obvious. The turns, the acceleration. But she didn't have time to worry about that. She was confident in her skills. She could push her car to the distance.

The first sharp right turn had her coming out with the upper hand. She allowed herself a smirk as her car pulled a bumper ahead of Taeyeon and zoomed down the short straight. The road curved right, left then right again and her car ate up the distance easily. She had a fantastic car. She loved it.

Towards the end of Mungeong-ro, she prepared to turn left but Taeyeon burst out from nowhere, taking the innermost lane and whipped past her like a whirlwind, screeching to the left then pulling straight again. ! She stomped on her accelerator and switched to the highest gear, giving her car the boost it needed to catch up with Taeyeon. But she remained half a car length behind Taeyeon for most of the way.

There's another left turn. I can do it. I can.

She kept a hand on the handbrake, floored the accelerator and swerved left, pulling the handbrake and releasing before flooring the accelerator again. That edged Taeyeon out from the optimum angle and she managed to pull even with Taeyeon again.

-

Tiffany had managed to pull even with her but Saemaeul-ro was a perfect stretch of straight. She smirked. Her car was made for eating up these straight roads. Her thumb reached for the button that would release the nitrous. Powering the turbo would put her an entire car length ahead of Tiffany. Should I put on the nitrous? Tiffany wouldn't be expecting it. And I want to win...right? A quick look to the right revealed the red hot chilli pepper car keeping up with her. She wanted to win. She needed to win. And she wanted Tiffany tonight.

Her thumb pressed on the button and her car almost jumped forward as the nitrous entered the car engine and pushed it to its limit. It was almost as though she were in a space rocket shooting into space; her car was hurtling at such extreme speeds. She held her steering wheel tight and kept her car on track, pulling away from Tiffany to the point where she could see the car in her rearview mirror.

Beat that Tiffany. Much to her surprise, Tiffany's car surged forward just like hers did and within three seconds, the red car had caught up once again. What the ?! Did Tiffany have the nitrous too? Of course. Tiffany is ing rich with ing Paul financing her. Of course she would have a ing turbo just like me.

There was nothing left to do but battle it out with flawless steering and controls. The end of Saemaeul-ro was in sight and that meant a sharp left turn into Dolma-ro. It was time for some nasties. A slight turn of the steering wheel to the right had her car lurching to Tiffany's and the other woman had to swerve to avoid her, causing a momentary loss of focus. Taeyeon knew this and took full advantage of it, snapping into action and handling her brakes perfectly to ease into the left turn. Tiffany lost ground on her because of the swerve and she grinned. Tiffany, this is how the big girls play.

Dolma-ro was a short road, slightly curved and presented few challenges for her. At the end of it was a sharp left followed by a right, another left, a longer curvy stretch before a tight corner to the right and two lefts before exiting the messy maze of little narrow roads. She worked her way through them, hand on her gear, foot on the brake and accelerator, each limb working in perfect harmony.

Finally, she pulled out of the maze with Tiffany just a bumper behind and entered the final winding Jangan-ro, zooming past the lake that she enjoying visiting on a hot summer day. The road made a loop with the sharpest right turn; an acute angled turn that had most cars skidding and going out of control at the hands of an incompetent driver.

No problem. She'd turned the bend many times before, using it as a practice track. She knew it better than the back of her hand. She slowed her car slightly and Tiffany powered ahead but she was fine with it. She knew what was coming up. Ready for the turn, she steered to the left, pulling the brake on her front wheels, and her car drifted to the right. Almost immediately, she released the brake and powered up her four wheels, steering it meticulously into the final stretch, back to the finish.

Tiffany hadn't fared as well with that acute turn and had lost ground on her. She was now half a car length ahead. Tiffany wasn't giving up, however. It was obvious in the way she was pushing her car. The win meant that much to Tiffany. But the win meant more to her tonight. She needed the win. And she was taking it.

-

Tiffany knew she'd lost the race as soon as she entered the turn but she wasn't about to give up. Not giving up until the race is over. Even then, there's always a next race. But the stakes...

Teeth biting her lip, hands gripping the steering wheel, she gave the accelerator everything she got and prayed hard for her car to outperform Taeyeon's down the final straight. She'd managed to recover a little of the gap and was almost there. Just...another...bumper...

Both cars zoomed past the finish and a blinding flash indicated a photograph had been taken. But there was no need to look at the picture. She knew who had won. And now she had a price to pay.

She got out of her car slowly, disappointment setting in hard and fast as reality hit. Taeyeon was already striding towards her, jaws clenching, eyes on fire with something fierce burning inside. She stood still, hands clasped in front, fingers clinging to each other for dear life as the enigmatic woman closed the distance between them in a heartbeat.

Taeyeon wasted no time. She leaned forward, lips brushing the shell of her ear and said, “ me, Tiffany. Bring me back home and me as hard as you can tonight.”

Then, she turned, marched to her car and got back in, leaving her to catch her breath and gather her scattered wits. Taeyeon revved her engine and flashed her lights, racer language for 'hurry up', so she got back into her car and revved her engine and flashed the blinkers too. 'Follow me' it meant.

A bet was a bet. She would fulfill her side of the bargain. Taeyeon was going to get the ing she wanted. All night long.

-