Jessica stepped into the workshop. It was dark, way past closing time but she knew there was somebody left in there. Metallic clanking noises came from the back, her north star in the night sky, leading her through the darkness into the presence of the one she loved. Right now, her loved one was not fully visible. All that could be seen of her were her legs, sticking out from under a work-in-progress car.

She could see the beginnings of what would become a car in the near future. And it wasn't going to be just any car. It would be a fast car. A speedy car. A race car. Built by her loved one. She smiled at the thought riding around town in the car. It would be unique. One of a kind. The only one in the world. Just like Yuri.

Yuri was special. She'd known it within minutes of their first encounter. Smiling at the memory of the first time they'd set their eyes on each other, Jessica allowed her mind to wander off to a moment in time, a couple of years ago.

-

It was a rainy day. Corny, but true. She remembered the rain. It was heavy that day and her car breaking down in the middle of the highway was definitely not her idea of a good day. She'd had to pull over on the road shoulder after her car jerked and slowed down. It was an engine surge. She knew what the problem was but had no way of fixing her engine. Calling for a towing service was the only solution.

She the hazard warning lights and reached for her phone and umbrella. As much as she preferred to stay in her car to avoid getting wet, safety procedures did not advise it. So, she ended up standing under her umbrella, looking for the number of the towing service she'd kept for instances like this one. A quick call secured a tow truck for her and only when that was done, did she inform her friends about her mishap.

She'd been on her way to a friend's birthday party, looking forward to a good time, but now, she was stuck on the road, getting wetter by the second, despite her umbrella. If only the towing service would arrive sooner.

Much to her surprise, the tow truck arrived much sooner than she'd expected and she was surprised again when a young lady got out from it. She stood still, blinking, as the lady pulled a hood over her raven black hair and flashed a huge grin.

“Hi, are you Miss Jung and did you call for a towing service from Carnical?”

She nodded in reply.

“Great! I found you real quick, didn't I?” The lady's playful grin made her smile. “I'll get you out of this mess real quick too. Service guaranteed. First, we'll get you onto my truck. You're getting wet, Miss Jung.”

Jessica followed the lady to the truck and got on it. “Thanks...” she paused, not knowing the lady's name.

The lady grinned, her neat set of teeth making for a wholesome look and said, “Yuri.”

-

Now, as she looked on at the y legs before her, warmth pulsated through her and she was glad her car had broken down that day.

“Yuri...”

“Sica!” Wheels squealed and out came Yuri, sliding out from under the half-built car. “I didn't hear you coming in.”

Jessica giggled, shook her head and said, “What can you hear when you're working on a car anyway.”

Yuri bit her lip and tried to get up. Jessica reached out for her hand, intending to help her up but Yuri didn't take it.

“I'm all dirty and greasy.” She stood by herself but Jessica was having none of that. She threw her arms around her girlfriend and hugged her anyway.

“I'll hug you, no matter how dirty you are. Understand?” Yuri's chin dug into her shoulder as she nodded and Jessica smiled. “Good girl.”

-

“You're eating too fast. Are you that hungry?”

“I'm starving,” Yuri answered, her articulation unclear, what with full, cheeks puffed.

Jessica giggled. Yuri was much too adorable for her to keep a straight face. “Are you even chewing your food?”

Yuri nodded, her eyes wide and sincere, as she stuffed more rice into .

“Why are you starving? Did you eat dinner?”

Yuri shook her head.

“Lunch?”

A slight pause later, her head shook again and Jessica huffed. “You know I don't like it when you forget your meals.”

“I'm sorry.”

“What's the point of being sorry if you're not gonna change?”

“I'll try not to forget next time.”

Jessica could only sigh. Who was she kidding? Nothing could pull Yuri away from doing what she loved. Time flies when you're having fun, but is worse than a crawl when you're not. She understood that all too well. Yuri was not likely to think about food when she was building her car. It was one of the few things that had the ability to hold Yuri's attention for a significant amount of time so food would definitely take a backseat to it. Which led her to one conclusion. If she wanted Yuri to eat her meals, she'd have to bring them to the girl.

“Did you make the team?”

Jessica simply smiled in reply and Yuri squeaked. Grabbed her hand. Grinned as though the best in the world had just happened to her. “Calm down, Yuri. It shouldn't be a surprise, should it?”

“It's not a surprise but I'm really happy!”

A hand reached for her nape, tugged and oily lips clamped over hers, surprising her but she allowed those lips to have their way with hers. “You sure did a good job showing me how happy you are,” she laughed after their kiss ended. “My lips are full of your happiness.”

Yuri wiped her lips with a napkin, a silent apology etched across her face. “Sorry, I didn't realize how oily my lips are.”

“And what did I tell you?” She ruffled Yuri's hair and grinned. “It doesn't matter.”

“Only because you're the best girl a girl could have.”

“You always say the sweetest things.”

“But I mean every word I say.”

Jessica smiled. “I know. That's why I love you so much.”

Yuri grinned. “I can't wait to be in the stands, cheering for my champion girlfriend.”

“How can you be so sure I'll win? There are some really good racers out there.”

“They may be good, but you're the best. Hands down.”

“I can't trust your judgement. It's totally biased.”

“I'm not biased at all. I know how good the other racers in your team are and I know how good you are. You're clearly the best. Reneult-Samjung Motors wouldn't recruit you otherwise.”

“It's not just about being the best in one team.”

“The only racer who might have a chance to beat you would be the girl from Speed Machine.”

“Kim Taeyeon from SM.”

Yuri nodded. “She's really fast. But she lost to a racer from LA a while ago.”

“LA? There was a racer from LA? And she beat Taeyeon?”

“Yup.”

“Do you know anything about her?”

“No, but what do you want to know?”

“Her name, at least.”

Yuri grinned. “Leave it to me.”

-

“Everyone, this is our new team member, Tiffany Hwang. She'll be our main racer for the next season.”

A round of perfunctory applause welcomed her. She smiled at the five foreign faces, wondering how many of them were actually happy to welcome her. As expected, there were disgruntled expressions painted on a couple of them but it didn't matter to her. She'd shut them up with her performance. There was no need for words.

“Peter, this is a surprise to us. What about Jean?” one of the team members asked. “Will she remain in our team?” A low murmur rippled through the group of people.

“She has chosen to leave.”

“For another team?”

“Yes. I'd also like to add that I'll be leaving too.”

Audible gasps resounded in the room. “If you're going, who's gonna take over?”

“This is Paul Kim. He's your new boss.”

Tiffany turned around. Paul, as if on cue, entered the room and smiled at everyone. “I'm Paul Kim. I'm looking forward to bringing the championship title back to Hyundae Motors with the new addition of Tiffany. She's the fastest racer in LA and I specifically scouted her for this team. I'm confident we'll succeed together. This will be Hyundae Motors' year.”

The little speech sparked another ripple of murmurs as another round of perfunctory applause was given to them and Tiffany knew that she was as welcomed as the applause had indicated.

She wasn't welcomed at all.

-

It was no surprise to her when they surrounded her after the meeting and she braced herself to field their questions. Chin up, defences up. She was ready for them.

“Tiffany. You the girl who beat Taeyeon in the Cheongdam race?”

“Actually, I didn't really beat Taeyeon.” Now that got everyone's attention and she could almost see the questions in their minds. “We never made it to the finish.”

One of the girls laughed, the falseness of it hiding nothing. “Now, now, Tiffany. You're too humble. We tracked the race and you were ahead by a whole length with less than one fifth of the circuit left.”

“We'll never know the outcome unless the race is completed. Besides, her tyres were giving her problems. I wouldn't have been ahead by that much if she had new tyres.”

Another girl stepped forward, intruding on her personal space and stuck her face in hers. “There's no need to pretend to be nice. We know how you got into this team.” An ugly sneer reinforced the point and she had to call on her logic and reason to stop herself from retaliating. Meanwhile, the girl continued with her taunts. “Jean will always be our leader. Not you. You may have Paul helping you get into this team but you'll never be a part of us. We have no respect for a like you.”

“I'm here to get the championship for the team. That's all I'm here to do.”

“Arrogant much, huh.”

Tiffany smirked. “There's a difference between arrogance and confidence.”

The girls scoffed. “I'm not sure you actually know what the difference is.”

Chin up. “The difference between arrogance and confidence is whether you can actually do what you say you're gonna do. I am the best racer in LA and I will take the championship for this team. It's going to happen. Just wait and see.”

-

“Guess what I heard today.”

“What,” Taeyeon grunted, not lifting even an eye from the candy crushing game she was playing on her phone.

“Hyundae Motors made a huge move.”

Dang it. She almost cleared all the jellies! All but one! With a sigh of frustration (she'd been trying to get past this stage for three days now) she put her phone aside and shifted in her seat. “What move.”

“Jean is out.”

That got her attention and her back straightened. “Jean is out? If she's out of Hyundae, who's in?”

Sunny's eyes gleamed, and her curiosity was piqued. “Tiffany.”

“Tiffany.”

“Yes. Your Tiffany.”

“She's not my Tiffany. She's just Tiffany. Or Stephanie. I don't even know what her real name is.”

“But that's not all. Peter is gone too. There's a new owner and his name is Paul.”

“Paul.” The name was too familiar for her liking. Paul. Surely...not.

“It's exactly what you're thinking, Taeyeon. Paul as in the guy who bought the Bugatti for Tiffany.”

Was this what Tiffany was talking about? Their so-called business partners relationship? Had she wrongly accused Tiffany? Then again, that didn't mean he wasn't her sugar daddy. He did buy her the Bugatti. Or was that part of the business deal...?

“He's new to racing, apparently. Born into a filthy rich family. And you won't like this.”

Taeyeon cocked a brow. “What won't I like?”

“Word on the street has it that Tiffany used her win over you to secure her place in the Hyundae team.”

She could only react with a shrug. “She did win that race.”

it was Sunny's turn to her brow. “You're surprisingly calm about this.”

“Can't change a fact.”

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and they looked at the head poking around it to look at them.

“What is it, Jon?”

“There's someone here to see Taeyeon.”

“Who is it?”

“A Tiffany Hwang.”

Taeyeon looked at Sunny who looked straight back at her, eyes widened at the unexpected news. “What does she want?”

“She wants to see you. That's all she said.”

Taeyeon stood, buttoned up her black blazer, tugged it straight and smoothed her palms down her black pants. “I'll be right there.”

“Okay. She's seated at the tables.”

“Thanks, Jon.”

Jon exited and the door closed behind him. Sunny's hand warmed her shoulder and she turned. “Be nice.”

Taeyeon chuckled. “Sure.”

-

It was not unpleasant to see Tiffany again. Especially when she was decked out in silky white shirt tucked into black shorts that flaunted most of her legs. The black pointy heels on her feet added to the spectacular visuals as well and Taeyeon indulged herself as she approached Tiffany.

“It's good to see you again, Miss Stephanie.”

“You can call me Tiffany.”

“Tiffany, Stephanie...which is your real name, Miss Multiple Identities.”

“Stephanie. But Tiffany is my racer name.”

“Ah, like a superstar.”

“Do you give everyone you meet this attitude of yours? Or is it just me.”

“Just you.” Tiffany's lips pressed into a thin line, her brows furrowed and Taeyeon knew she'd struck a nerve. But what nerve was it? “Anyway, why do you wanna see me?”

“I'll be racing against you in tomorrow's race.”

“And?”

“I want to up the stakes.”

“You've made use of me once already. Getting greedy, are we?”

“W-What do you mean? I've never made use of you.”

“I know how you got into the Hyundae team.”

”You think you do. But you don't.”

“I know your win over me probably convinced whoever it was on Hyundae to let you in. All's fair though. A win is a win and i know for sure that I lost that race with no one to blame but myself. But the fact remains, you had to make use of me, in one way or another.”

“I didn't race you for that reason. Paul found out about it and used the fact but I didn't approve, and still don't. That wasn't a finished race, Taeyeon. As far as I'm concerned, no one knows who the winner will be until someone reaches the finish line.”

“You weren't afraid to claim your prize though.”

“I would've have regretted if I didn't claim it.” Tiffany shot her a questioning look. “Do you regret it?”

“No.”

Tiffany smiled and Taeyeon wondered what her smile meant. “So if the stakes remain the same as last time, will you honour it?”

In her mind, questions popped out from everywhere, jiggling before her like jacks in boxes. What did Tiffany want with the stakes raised? Would she make the same demands as the she did before? But why was she even considering these questions? She wasn't going to lose the race this time. She was going to win it this time so it didn't matter what kind of stakes Tiffany wanted to raise.

So, she returned a confident smile of her own. “I should be asking you that question.”

“Unfortunately, you won't have a chance to find out.”

“We'll see who gets to honour it.”

Tiffany's smile was ever so charming. “We'll see. But I'm sure you'll honour it when the time comes...” She took another step forward and Taeyeon had to stop herself from stepping back. Remind herself to breathe as Tiffany leaned close, whispering in her ear, “...and I'll be sure to claim my prize again.”

Her breath caught in , and the gleam in Tiffany's eyes suggested she knew. She could only kick herself for giving it away too easily, as Tiffany stepped away and picked her leather clutch up. Tiffany smiled again before turning to head for the exit, and Taeyeon gritted her teeth, knowing she'd given Tiffany the upper hand in this joust.

It was imperative that she won tomorrow's race. She had to. And she'd make Tiffany pay for her arrogance. She would.

-