say goodbye darling [i/ii]
Length: 7.5k
Genre: criminals!au
Rating: NC-17
Note: Thank you to onewaddikt and dont-look-baek.
Summary: Kyungsoo flirts with Kai by blowing up cars.
Kai is twelve years old when he hotwires his first car.
His mind runs over exactly how it had felt: hot adrenaline surged through his bones from touching the cold metal; the thin and hard sensation of wires between his fingertips and the omnipresent possibility of getting caught added to the excitement, propelled him forward.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t actually planned on getting caught and he’s quite disappointed in his young self as he’s sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair in the back of the little police station near his house. It’s half past one in the morning and he’s sure that his older sister is going to serve him only vegetables for every meal within the next ten years when she finds out about this. Kai hates vegetables.
He sighs and jiggles the wrist that’s handcuffed to the arm of the chair, the handcuffs serving as a babysitting tool rather than a real precaution. After all, nobody has time to sit here and watch a kid who’s going to get off with a measly slap on the wrist anyway.
The officer who’s in charge of ‘watching’ him enters the room and Kai can see from his face that he’s visibly tired as he comes towards where he’s sitting, places a bottle of melon soda on the table in front of him. “Your sister is coming to get you now. I got you this ‘cuz she told me to tell you--and I quote--’I’m going to beat your pathetic little ass, Kim Jongin, just you wait.’” Kai nods solemnly in understanding and the officer leaves with a pat on his shoulder and a ‘good luck, buddy.’
Too bad this is only the first of thousands of cars to come.
A couple of minutes later, the door swings open and in comes a different officer with another kid in tow. “Caught this one throwing molotov cocktails on the beach near Enoshima. Name’s Do Kyungsoo,” he tells Kai’s officer as he steers the boy--who looks around the same age as Kai-- into the seat next to him. He handcuffs his wrist down too and the officer puts his hands on his hips to look down at the two boys with a sigh. “They start so young,” he nearly sobs as he leaves the room.
Kai sits there quietly with the other boy, listening to the dull ticks of an analog clock drip into the silence and ripple the emptiness between them. He finally reaches for his soda, the seat of the plastic chair serrating the air with a loud creak as he leans forward and clumsily uncaps it with his handcuffed hand. The boy stares at him with his big eyes and watches him bring the bottle to his mouth. Kai stares back at him curiously as he takes a little sip. “Want some?” he offers politely, holding out the bottle to him.
Kyungsoo nods enthusiastically and nearly finishes the soda off, gulping it down desperately as if he’d been thirsty his entire life. He brusquely wipes his mouth with the back of his free hand before handing it back and there’s a slight pause wherein his inquisitive eyes rake over Kai’s form. “You know, my parents always told me to do what makes me happy, but what if what makes me happy is illegal?” Kyungsoo ponders this as Kai drinks the rest of the soda, blushing slightly because he thinks this might count as his first indirect kiss.
Kai contemplates the question seriously because he’s also in the same predicament; and somehow he’s glad that someone understands, also has an obsession with the dangerous. “I think they forgot to tell you not to get caught,” he replies half-jokingly with a lopsided grin.
Kyungsoo’s face lights up at this comment as if he had just come upon an epiphany, like fireworks erupting into a kaleidoscope of brilliance. And Kai stops and stares, mesmerized for a still moment. The door to the room opens, shattering the stutter in his heart as a young woman comes stomping in, her hair pulled into a messy bun and wearing hastily thrown-on clothes. She looks beyond peeved and Kai just smiles sheepishly at her as the officers uncuff him.
Before he leaves, he turns to look over at Kyungsoo. “Let’s get in trouble together next time!” he promises.
Kai never forgets his first meeting with Kyungsoo.
//
It’s half past three in the morning on a gloomy Tuesday when Kai strides confidently out of one of his numerous hiding spots, this time next to a certain well-maintained train station in Tokyo. He’s greeted by glittering office buildings against the milky gray sky, the color a consequence of light pollution. The luminous glow of streetlights and twenty-four hour convenience stores spills over onto even the brightest stars, inhaling the distant galaxies.
He makes his way down the shoulder of the narrow streets running through the affluent neighborhood, passing by high-end clothing boutiques and swanky Japanized French cafes. He’s listening to his favorite song blaring through his earbuds and the cool Autumn wind picks up just before he reaches his destination: a towering residential building made of glass and steel.
Kai adjusts his sick mask over his mouth and nose, approaches the residence’s gate and promptly shoves his stolen card pass into the reader. A little smirk appears on his face when it swings open and lets him in. He heads towards the parking garage as it closes behind him and spots the crystal blue Audi R8 5.2 he’s been keeping his eye on for the past few weeks--ever since it rolled through the crowded streets of fashion mecca Harajuku.
Hello, Beautiful, he greets as he comes up to the driver’s side, sets his toolbox down on the cement, and adjusts his cap over his hair. He sets to work.
First, he replaces its license plates with fake ones just to be safe. Then, he sticks his glass cutter against the driver’s side window and watches as it slices a circle large enough for his arm to poke through. Carefully, he reaches inside with his elongated screwdriver, the one he spent hours putting together just for this specific task. He successfully pops open the plastic cover over the vehicle’s steering column, revealing its alarm and ignition wires. Next, he removes the screwdriver and unlocks the door from the inside. Here comes the tricky part.
He gets his electrical scissors ready and, as fast as he can, yanks open the car door and grabs the blue alarm cables; he snips them after it blares for merely a second. With a relieved sigh, he moves his toolbox into the car and closes the door. He successfully hotwires the ignition and starter cables, shoves his screwdriver into the keyhole to unlock the wheel.
But, just as he pulls out of the parking space, he spots movement in his peripheral and turns his head to see someone standing off to the side of the lot. Kai narrows his eyes because it seems as if that person has been standing there for a while, has definitely seen him break into the car.
It doesn’t matter, he tells himself. No one can see my face anyway.
But, just as he’s about to drive off, the young man approaches the passenger’s side of the vehicle and Kai gets a better look at the clothes he’s wearing: slightly rumpled slacks and a glaringly white dress shirt with the collar open. There’s a slight thrill of panic reverberating through Kai’s chest as his fists clench tightly around the grooved steering wheel, knuckles white. And the only thing preventing him from slamming his foot on the gas pedal and accelerating away into the night is the terrible realization that the mischievous glint in his witness’ dark eyes means ‘recognition’ and not ‘fear.’
Well fuck.
Kai lets him into the car and that’s when he notices the bottle of melon soda he’s holding, how there’s a metallic clank as it’s pushed into the young man’s dusty backpack. Finally, Kai watches apprehensively as the young man leans closer to him, the curves of a smile tugging on the edge of his lips as he pulls an earbud out of Kai’s ear. Kyungsoo’s hand emerges with something else out of his own pocket as well and Kai realizes that it’s the keys to the car.
“I see that we’re both after the same thing,” Kyungsoo mutters, dropping the keys onto the floor.
Kai’s quiet as he glares at the intruder, a strangely nostalgic feeling welling up through his chest. “Do I know you?”
Kyungsoo grins at Kai’s cluelessness, anticipation quickly bubbling up through his chest. “Want to get in trouble with me?” he whispers much too seductively, lips almost grazing Kai’s ear as his fingers dance along his inner thigh.
--That’s when the sting of realization hits Kai hard and he remembers his face from the police station, the melon soda; he tugs his sick mask down to reveal a smile, turns to touch the tip of his nose to Kyungsoo’s cheek. “Wow, didn’t recognize you. Long time no see,” he murmurs, his hand sliding up Kyungsoo’s side.
Kyungsoo’s skin tastes like gunpowder as Kai fucks him into the dirty carpet of a cheap love hotel twenty minutes later.
//
Kai leans on the hood of his complete, Honda Civic GT-R, listening to the shrill cry of crickets and watching as other tuned vehicles pull into the small parking lot crowded with car enthusiasts. It’s almost midnight now as darkness flows through the little park on the outskirts of industrial Yokohama, a frost-kissed wind whipping through the pine trees from the nearby bay.
He can tell which drivers are only here to wow the poorly-dressed girls strutting around in their ten-centimeter heels--rich punks with poorly-assembled cars-- from the ones who are here to test out their newest creations and upgrades, the ones they spent their life-savings on.
Suddenly, his eyes catch on the Maserati GranTurismo that’s crawling into the parking lot, one that’s attracting everyone’s attention with its glimmering black paint job and purring engine.
Something feels terribly wrong.
He hears a wolf whistle beside him. “Whoever that is has some guts bringing that beast of a car to cannonball on the Wangan,” Chen--the race coordinator--chuckles, referring to the highway they’ll soon be shooting down. “Bet you it’s a cop.”
It’s then that the driver’s door swings open and Kai’s expression wrinkles at the person who steps out. He immediately recognizes him as the man who had watched him hotwire the Audi R8 the other day and sat on his dick afterwards, the same child who drank most of his melon soda that fateful day in the police station.
Do Kyungsoo.
And he still remembers how smooth the small of Kyungsoo’s back had felt as he ran his palm along it that night, tugged him closer and listened to the breathless gasps spilling into his ears from the sheer ecstasy; he longs to feel it again.
Stop.
Kai maintains a careful calm over his jittery interior as he watches Kyungsoo approach Chen, pretending not to know him.
“Hi there, Sweetheart,” Chen greets with a sly grin as he looks Kyungsoo over, likes what he sees. Chen doesn’t know any good-looking cops. “Got a name?”
“Yeah.” And Kyungsoo makes eye contact with Kai, smiles a little as he looks away. “Do Kyungsoo. Can I race?”
“Of course,” Chen replies cordially as he whips out his little booklet of bids and names, calculations and notes. “You know,” he starts, exchanging Kyungsoo’s bid money for a handwritten receipt, “I think you’re asking for trouble bringing a supercar to a puny little race like this. Only cops do that and you’re definitely too pretty to be one of those motherfuckers, right?”
“That’s right,” Kyungsoo confirms as he draws closer to Chen. He lowers his voice as he speaks next to Chen’s cheek but stares challengingly into Kai’s stern pokerface. “Want to get in trouble with me?”
The clock strikes midnight and everyone starts hopping into their vehicles, driving over to the closest entrance to the Wangan Highway. Kai’s in a state of fluctuating emotions: confused because he’s sure that a simple coincidence wasn’t what had brought Kyungsoo here but, he’s absolutely delighted to see him nonetheless.
Things are about to get a lot more interesting.
Kai’s eyes are glued to the shiny black Maserati as everyone sets a brisk pace, warming up as they head to the official starting point: the highway sign stating the speed limit. It’s then that Kai manages to pull himself together, reminds himself that Kyungsoo’s presence at the weekly Wangan cannonball doesn’t change anything; he should really be focusing on the race.
So, he moves to the head of the pack and, just as he reaches the sign, floors the acceleration and smoothly shifts gears as he gains speed. Kyungsoo, not knowing the rules of the race, falls behind and Kai glances at him in his rearview mirror with a smirk. Take that, he sneers childishly, expertly dodging a slow-moving cargo truck on the highway as his engine roars into third gear.
He revs his car up another gear and is soon breaking 220 kilometers per hour, his surroundings coming towards him in a mass of colored lines and blurred lights as the force of his speed presses him against his car seat. He swiftly maneuvers around a lonely car and, as he does so, sees an object approach him through his peripheral and frowns.
He’s not surprised to find Kyungsoo giving him a little salute through the window; it only motivates him to go faster, feeling the rush of adrenaline in the pit of his chest from the bit of numbing terror--on the edge of losing control and spinning out.
Then, he sees Kyungsoo wave a small black box in his hand and he quickly glances back and forth between the speeding road and the device. ‘What the fuck?’ Kai mouths at him, not understanding what’s going on as he dodges another vehicle.
Kyungsoo just points backwards and Kai manages to slow down the slightest bit, seeing the sizable distance between them and the other racers through his rearview mirror. Suddenly, bright orange flames erupt from behind them and a tower of smoke rises through the night with an ear-splitting bang!
Holy fuck.
The shock wave causes Kai’s Honda to lose a bit of traction, tires struggling to maintain their original course as he tries to steer it back on track. As he’s steadily decelerating, he keeps his gaze on the mass of flames in the distance and there’s a pang of dread that rips through his stomach. It’s not rare for someone to run into the highway shoulder or other cars, but…
Kyungsoo’s now-smirking face tells a different story and Kai watches the Maserati’s taillights trail off into the dark horizon like fireflies disappearing into a cave.
What just happened.
//
Kai meets Kyungsoo again exactly one week later.
“Hi,” Kyungsoo cheerfully greets from behind Kai who is busily tweaking the engine of his newly-stolen and tuned Scion tC. Kai pauses for a heart-stopping moment and last week’s explosion falls to the forefront of his cluttered thoughts; he debates with himself internally about what to do next: should he smack Kyungsoo over the head with the wrench he’s holding or fuck him with it?
(The latter seems more tempting.)
“Hi,” he decides to reply, awkwardly turning around to look at his visitor. He’s still deciding. “What do you want?”
Kyungsoo smiles sweetly and it sends a chill up Kai’s spine. “I was wondering if you’d like to go for a drive.”
Kai looks around at the dozens of other people gathered in the park preparing for another cannonball on the Wangan. Despite the devastating explosion last week, it seems as if nobody is at all fazed by the risk; there might even be more people here because of it.
Maybe he should say yes because Kyungsoo screams excitement and danger and Kai would be one sadistic son of a bitch if he turned down such a heartfelt request.
“How about, ‘no’?” he responds curtly, watching with a kind of sick satisfaction when Kyungsoo’s lovely, expectant face turns into one of cruel disappointment.
“Why not?”
“Why--” Kai starts, but then thinks better of it and decides to grab Kyungsoo’s arm instead. He pulls him away from everyone else, closer to a bush, and whispers loudly, “You fucking blew up that guy’s car last week, didn’t you! You’re going to get yourself arrested!”
Kyungsoo’s expression seems to morph from one of syrupy innocence to vague disinterest at the serious accusation. “It’s not like he died, right. You weren’t even friends with the guy,” he counters in a snappy voice as if lifting his disguise and allowing Kai to peer at his real self.
“It--it doesn’t matter if he was my friend or not! He could have died! I could have died!” he hisses back.
“I wouldn’t have let you die,” Kyungsoo retorts confidently with a cunning spark in his eye.
And Kai stands there staring at him, speechless even when Chen’s voice cuts through the crowd and ushers everyone into their vehicles for the start of the race. Before Kyungsoo turns away, he puts his angelic face back on and tries his previous invitation again. “So, do you want to go for a drive now?”
Kai’s face scrunches at the question but he’s not quite sure what he’s feeling right now, be it annoyance or something else entirely. “The answer’s still no.” He turns on his heel to head back to his car but then hears a tiny click and--
A terrifying sound slashes through the air and suddenly the Scion tC is alight with flames bursting from the engine, catching everyone’s attention. Kai’s mouth falls open and he’s not sure what to do but watch his baby burn, even with people panicking around them.
“That’s quite unfortunate,” Kyungsoo murmurs from just behind him with mock pity as people are in chaos, rushing to extinguish the flames and escape in their cars. “Maybe you’ll reconsider next time.”
Kai decides that Do Kyungsoo is absolutely insane.
(And he kind of likes that.)
//
It shouldn’t be this hard to get someone’s attention, Kyungsoo deliberates as he slings his usual backpack full of various guns, bombs, and ammunition over his shoulder and listens to the clatter of metal as he trudges down the desolate streets. He lets out a slow breath into the unusually warm air, wonders what Kai’s reaction to his flirting will be today.
Kyungsoo thinks Kai plays hard-to-get.
(He’s right.)
But, he spent eight years trying to track him down. He’s not going to give up so easily.
After walking for a bit over thirty-five minutes, he arrives at a relatively tall building just outside Jiyugaoka with its cherry blossom tree-lined paths and stylishly-paved sidewalks. The trees have long lost their delicate pink petals but Kyungsoo enjoys listening to the soft rustling of orange and yellow leaves as he turns a corner and arrives at his destination.
Unlike Kai, he doesn’t bother hiding his features. After all, his criminal record is longer than his arm and blowing up police cruisers have long been a favorite pastime of his. He walks a bit further into the residential area and finally spots the car that’s likely to be Kai’s next target: a deep red Aston Martin One-77 sitting in the open space of a partially-covered parking lot, completely vulnerable.
It’s just asking to be destroyed, he thinks as he plants presents for Kai all over the car.
He scurries behind a concrete pillar nearby and peeks at it from his vantage point. He resists the urge to shoot up its forged alloy wheels with a Desert Eagle Mark XIX, watch its leather-trimmed seats become engulfed in flames from a pipe bomb, and completely annihilate the carbon fiber frame with a custom hand grenade. He swallows the saliva accumulating in his mouth and sits down against the pillar, tries to calm himself down from the pure exhilaration.
After all, the One-77’s fate is all up to Kai.
It’s just past three in the morning when his stealthily-placed tracking device notifies him that his target is closeby. Moments later, he sees someone heading towards the parking lot from the outside and he grins to himself in triumph. He recognizes him immediately from the familiar set-up: cap and mask covering his head and face, earbuds in, and toolbox in hand.
Why, what a pleasant surprise to see you here, Kyungsoo rehearses in his head, absolutely elated by the fact that he had correctly deduced Kai’s location and intentions from the number of times this address had shown up in his tracking device. He picks up his backpack and, without concealing himself, strides cheerfully over to Kai who is busily replacing the Aston Martin’s license plates.
Kai feels someone behind him and quickly whips his head around, worried about getting caught--maybe he should stop bringing his earbuds--when he sees that it’s only Kyungsoo; Kyungsoo who is smiling ear-to-ear.
You’ve gotta be kidding me, Kai thinks, irked by Kyungsoo’s presence and how he could have possibly known that he would be here tonight. Definitely not a coincidence. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asks, voice betraying a hint of surprise and mild annoyance.
“I’m here to see you, of course,” comes the lighthearted reply that has Kai pausing for a moment. How sweet.
“Go away, you crazy bastard. Can’t you see that I’m busy?” he responds meanly as he finishes replacing the front license plate.
Kyungsoo frowns. “That hurt my feelings.”
“Do I look like I give a shit about your damn feelings, Do Kyungsoo?” Maybe he does, but he’s not ready to tell him that yet.
Kyungsoo’s expression is one of menacing anger as he drawls, “That wasn’t very nice, Jongin.”
Kai freezes midway through placing his glass cutter against the window. “What did you just call me?” He’s sure that he’s never told anyone his real name before, has always used his street name ever since he was a small child growing up in the big, bad city. “Did you become a cop?”
“Do cops blow up cars?” he counters amusedly.
“...Then you’re Satan,” Kai concludes with a slight shiver. Never trust anyone who doesn’t like cars.
Kyungsoo grins. “So, do you want to go on that drive yet?”
“How many times do I have to say no? You think I want to hang out with someone who might lodge a bomb in my asshole?” Kai sighs, trying his best to show disinterest despite his true feelings. “Now go away. You’re not even disguised and I’d rather not have to replace my tires after being chased by the cops.”
“I thought you would’ve learned your lesson by now.” Kyungsoo breathes a disappointed sigh through his nose and picks up Kai’s toolbox, starts walking away from the vehicle quickly.
“Hey!” Kai protests, chasing after him and reaching for the box. “I need that!”
That’s when Kyungsoo turns his head to look at him and there’s a nasty feeling surging through Kai’s gut when he realizes what’s going to happen next.
It seems as if everything’s happening in slow motion as he watches Kyungsoo reach into his pocket and the next thing he knows, there’s a quick-as-lightning flash and a deafening roar as glass shatters; a pillar of fiery black smoke boils up from the vehicle, great gushes of fire changing from fierce reds to nasty violets and back through the spectrum of red once again. Soon, there will be people upon them and the building will awake to the billows of heat and flames.
In the midst of Kai’s shock, Kyungsoo slips away into the night.
Because Kyungsoo only wants Kai’s attention and the only way to do that is through his cars.
( part ii)
Genre: criminals!au
Rating: NC-17
Note: Thank you to onewaddikt and dont-look-baek.
Summary: Kyungsoo flirts with Kai by blowing up cars.
Kai is twelve years old when he hotwires his first car.
His mind runs over exactly how it had felt: hot adrenaline surged through his bones from touching the cold metal; the thin and hard sensation of wires between his fingertips and the omnipresent possibility of getting caught added to the excitement, propelled him forward.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t actually planned on getting caught and he’s quite disappointed in his young self as he’s sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair in the back of the little police station near his house. It’s half past one in the morning and he’s sure that his older sister is going to serve him only vegetables for every meal within the next ten years when she finds out about this. Kai hates vegetables.
He sighs and jiggles the wrist that’s handcuffed to the arm of the chair, the handcuffs serving as a babysitting tool rather than a real precaution. After all, nobody has time to sit here and watch a kid who’s going to get off with a measly slap on the wrist anyway.
The officer who’s in charge of ‘watching’ him enters the room and Kai can see from his face that he’s visibly tired as he comes towards where he’s sitting, places a bottle of melon soda on the table in front of him. “Your sister is coming to get you now. I got you this ‘cuz she told me to tell you--and I quote--’I’m going to beat your pathetic little ass, Kim Jongin, just you wait.’” Kai nods solemnly in understanding and the officer leaves with a pat on his shoulder and a ‘good luck, buddy.’
Too bad this is only the first of thousands of cars to come.
A couple of minutes later, the door swings open and in comes a different officer with another kid in tow. “Caught this one throwing molotov cocktails on the beach near Enoshima. Name’s Do Kyungsoo,” he tells Kai’s officer as he steers the boy--who looks around the same age as Kai-- into the seat next to him. He handcuffs his wrist down too and the officer puts his hands on his hips to look down at the two boys with a sigh. “They start so young,” he nearly sobs as he leaves the room.
Kai sits there quietly with the other boy, listening to the dull ticks of an analog clock drip into the silence and ripple the emptiness between them. He finally reaches for his soda, the seat of the plastic chair serrating the air with a loud creak as he leans forward and clumsily uncaps it with his handcuffed hand. The boy stares at him with his big eyes and watches him bring the bottle to his mouth. Kai stares back at him curiously as he takes a little sip. “Want some?” he offers politely, holding out the bottle to him.
Kyungsoo nods enthusiastically and nearly finishes the soda off, gulping it down desperately as if he’d been thirsty his entire life. He brusquely wipes his mouth with the back of his free hand before handing it back and there’s a slight pause wherein his inquisitive eyes rake over Kai’s form. “You know, my parents always told me to do what makes me happy, but what if what makes me happy is illegal?” Kyungsoo ponders this as Kai drinks the rest of the soda, blushing slightly because he thinks this might count as his first indirect kiss.
Kai contemplates the question seriously because he’s also in the same predicament; and somehow he’s glad that someone understands, also has an obsession with the dangerous. “I think they forgot to tell you not to get caught,” he replies half-jokingly with a lopsided grin.
Kyungsoo’s face lights up at this comment as if he had just come upon an epiphany, like fireworks erupting into a kaleidoscope of brilliance. And Kai stops and stares, mesmerized for a still moment. The door to the room opens, shattering the stutter in his heart as a young woman comes stomping in, her hair pulled into a messy bun and wearing hastily thrown-on clothes. She looks beyond peeved and Kai just smiles sheepishly at her as the officers uncuff him.
Before he leaves, he turns to look over at Kyungsoo. “Let’s get in trouble together next time!” he promises.
Kai never forgets his first meeting with Kyungsoo.
//
It’s half past three in the morning on a gloomy Tuesday when Kai strides confidently out of one of his numerous hiding spots, this time next to a certain well-maintained train station in Tokyo. He’s greeted by glittering office buildings against the milky gray sky, the color a consequence of light pollution. The luminous glow of streetlights and twenty-four hour convenience stores spills over onto even the brightest stars, inhaling the distant galaxies.
He makes his way down the shoulder of the narrow streets running through the affluent neighborhood, passing by high-end clothing boutiques and swanky Japanized French cafes. He’s listening to his favorite song blaring through his earbuds and the cool Autumn wind picks up just before he reaches his destination: a towering residential building made of glass and steel.
Kai adjusts his sick mask over his mouth and nose, approaches the residence’s gate and promptly shoves his stolen card pass into the reader. A little smirk appears on his face when it swings open and lets him in. He heads towards the parking garage as it closes behind him and spots the crystal blue Audi R8 5.2 he’s been keeping his eye on for the past few weeks--ever since it rolled through the crowded streets of fashion mecca Harajuku.
Hello, Beautiful, he greets as he comes up to the driver’s side, sets his toolbox down on the cement, and adjusts his cap over his hair. He sets to work.
First, he replaces its license plates with fake ones just to be safe. Then, he sticks his glass cutter against the driver’s side window and watches as it slices a circle large enough for his arm to poke through. Carefully, he reaches inside with his elongated screwdriver, the one he spent hours putting together just for this specific task. He successfully pops open the plastic cover over the vehicle’s steering column, revealing its alarm and ignition wires. Next, he removes the screwdriver and unlocks the door from the inside. Here comes the tricky part.
He gets his electrical scissors ready and, as fast as he can, yanks open the car door and grabs the blue alarm cables; he snips them after it blares for merely a second. With a relieved sigh, he moves his toolbox into the car and closes the door. He successfully hotwires the ignition and starter cables, shoves his screwdriver into the keyhole to unlock the wheel.
But, just as he pulls out of the parking space, he spots movement in his peripheral and turns his head to see someone standing off to the side of the lot. Kai narrows his eyes because it seems as if that person has been standing there for a while, has definitely seen him break into the car.
It doesn’t matter, he tells himself. No one can see my face anyway.
But, just as he’s about to drive off, the young man approaches the passenger’s side of the vehicle and Kai gets a better look at the clothes he’s wearing: slightly rumpled slacks and a glaringly white dress shirt with the collar open. There’s a slight thrill of panic reverberating through Kai’s chest as his fists clench tightly around the grooved steering wheel, knuckles white. And the only thing preventing him from slamming his foot on the gas pedal and accelerating away into the night is the terrible realization that the mischievous glint in his witness’ dark eyes means ‘recognition’ and not ‘fear.’
Well fuck.
Kai lets him into the car and that’s when he notices the bottle of melon soda he’s holding, how there’s a metallic clank as it’s pushed into the young man’s dusty backpack. Finally, Kai watches apprehensively as the young man leans closer to him, the curves of a smile tugging on the edge of his lips as he pulls an earbud out of Kai’s ear. Kyungsoo’s hand emerges with something else out of his own pocket as well and Kai realizes that it’s the keys to the car.
“I see that we’re both after the same thing,” Kyungsoo mutters, dropping the keys onto the floor.
Kai’s quiet as he glares at the intruder, a strangely nostalgic feeling welling up through his chest. “Do I know you?”
Kyungsoo grins at Kai’s cluelessness, anticipation quickly bubbling up through his chest. “Want to get in trouble with me?” he whispers much too seductively, lips almost grazing Kai’s ear as his fingers dance along his inner thigh.
--That’s when the sting of realization hits Kai hard and he remembers his face from the police station, the melon soda; he tugs his sick mask down to reveal a smile, turns to touch the tip of his nose to Kyungsoo’s cheek. “Wow, didn’t recognize you. Long time no see,” he murmurs, his hand sliding up Kyungsoo’s side.
Kyungsoo’s skin tastes like gunpowder as Kai fucks him into the dirty carpet of a cheap love hotel twenty minutes later.
//
Kai leans on the hood of his complete, Honda Civic GT-R, listening to the shrill cry of crickets and watching as other tuned vehicles pull into the small parking lot crowded with car enthusiasts. It’s almost midnight now as darkness flows through the little park on the outskirts of industrial Yokohama, a frost-kissed wind whipping through the pine trees from the nearby bay.
He can tell which drivers are only here to wow the poorly-dressed girls strutting around in their ten-centimeter heels--rich punks with poorly-assembled cars-- from the ones who are here to test out their newest creations and upgrades, the ones they spent their life-savings on.
Suddenly, his eyes catch on the Maserati GranTurismo that’s crawling into the parking lot, one that’s attracting everyone’s attention with its glimmering black paint job and purring engine.
Something feels terribly wrong.
He hears a wolf whistle beside him. “Whoever that is has some guts bringing that beast of a car to cannonball on the Wangan,” Chen--the race coordinator--chuckles, referring to the highway they’ll soon be shooting down. “Bet you it’s a cop.”
It’s then that the driver’s door swings open and Kai’s expression wrinkles at the person who steps out. He immediately recognizes him as the man who had watched him hotwire the Audi R8 the other day and sat on his dick afterwards, the same child who drank most of his melon soda that fateful day in the police station.
Do Kyungsoo.
And he still remembers how smooth the small of Kyungsoo’s back had felt as he ran his palm along it that night, tugged him closer and listened to the breathless gasps spilling into his ears from the sheer ecstasy; he longs to feel it again.
Stop.
Kai maintains a careful calm over his jittery interior as he watches Kyungsoo approach Chen, pretending not to know him.
“Hi there, Sweetheart,” Chen greets with a sly grin as he looks Kyungsoo over, likes what he sees. Chen doesn’t know any good-looking cops. “Got a name?”
“Yeah.” And Kyungsoo makes eye contact with Kai, smiles a little as he looks away. “Do Kyungsoo. Can I race?”
“Of course,” Chen replies cordially as he whips out his little booklet of bids and names, calculations and notes. “You know,” he starts, exchanging Kyungsoo’s bid money for a handwritten receipt, “I think you’re asking for trouble bringing a supercar to a puny little race like this. Only cops do that and you’re definitely too pretty to be one of those motherfuckers, right?”
“That’s right,” Kyungsoo confirms as he draws closer to Chen. He lowers his voice as he speaks next to Chen’s cheek but stares challengingly into Kai’s stern pokerface. “Want to get in trouble with me?”
The clock strikes midnight and everyone starts hopping into their vehicles, driving over to the closest entrance to the Wangan Highway. Kai’s in a state of fluctuating emotions: confused because he’s sure that a simple coincidence wasn’t what had brought Kyungsoo here but, he’s absolutely delighted to see him nonetheless.
Things are about to get a lot more interesting.
Kai’s eyes are glued to the shiny black Maserati as everyone sets a brisk pace, warming up as they head to the official starting point: the highway sign stating the speed limit. It’s then that Kai manages to pull himself together, reminds himself that Kyungsoo’s presence at the weekly Wangan cannonball doesn’t change anything; he should really be focusing on the race.
So, he moves to the head of the pack and, just as he reaches the sign, floors the acceleration and smoothly shifts gears as he gains speed. Kyungsoo, not knowing the rules of the race, falls behind and Kai glances at him in his rearview mirror with a smirk. Take that, he sneers childishly, expertly dodging a slow-moving cargo truck on the highway as his engine roars into third gear.
He revs his car up another gear and is soon breaking 220 kilometers per hour, his surroundings coming towards him in a mass of colored lines and blurred lights as the force of his speed presses him against his car seat. He swiftly maneuvers around a lonely car and, as he does so, sees an object approach him through his peripheral and frowns.
He’s not surprised to find Kyungsoo giving him a little salute through the window; it only motivates him to go faster, feeling the rush of adrenaline in the pit of his chest from the bit of numbing terror--on the edge of losing control and spinning out.
Then, he sees Kyungsoo wave a small black box in his hand and he quickly glances back and forth between the speeding road and the device. ‘What the fuck?’ Kai mouths at him, not understanding what’s going on as he dodges another vehicle.
Kyungsoo just points backwards and Kai manages to slow down the slightest bit, seeing the sizable distance between them and the other racers through his rearview mirror. Suddenly, bright orange flames erupt from behind them and a tower of smoke rises through the night with an ear-splitting bang!
Holy fuck.
The shock wave causes Kai’s Honda to lose a bit of traction, tires struggling to maintain their original course as he tries to steer it back on track. As he’s steadily decelerating, he keeps his gaze on the mass of flames in the distance and there’s a pang of dread that rips through his stomach. It’s not rare for someone to run into the highway shoulder or other cars, but…
Kyungsoo’s now-smirking face tells a different story and Kai watches the Maserati’s taillights trail off into the dark horizon like fireflies disappearing into a cave.
What just happened.
//
Kai meets Kyungsoo again exactly one week later.
“Hi,” Kyungsoo cheerfully greets from behind Kai who is busily tweaking the engine of his newly-stolen and tuned Scion tC. Kai pauses for a heart-stopping moment and last week’s explosion falls to the forefront of his cluttered thoughts; he debates with himself internally about what to do next: should he smack Kyungsoo over the head with the wrench he’s holding or fuck him with it?
(The latter seems more tempting.)
“Hi,” he decides to reply, awkwardly turning around to look at his visitor. He’s still deciding. “What do you want?”
Kyungsoo smiles sweetly and it sends a chill up Kai’s spine. “I was wondering if you’d like to go for a drive.”
Kai looks around at the dozens of other people gathered in the park preparing for another cannonball on the Wangan. Despite the devastating explosion last week, it seems as if nobody is at all fazed by the risk; there might even be more people here because of it.
Maybe he should say yes because Kyungsoo screams excitement and danger and Kai would be one sadistic son of a bitch if he turned down such a heartfelt request.
“How about, ‘no’?” he responds curtly, watching with a kind of sick satisfaction when Kyungsoo’s lovely, expectant face turns into one of cruel disappointment.
“Why not?”
“Why--” Kai starts, but then thinks better of it and decides to grab Kyungsoo’s arm instead. He pulls him away from everyone else, closer to a bush, and whispers loudly, “You fucking blew up that guy’s car last week, didn’t you! You’re going to get yourself arrested!”
Kyungsoo’s expression seems to morph from one of syrupy innocence to vague disinterest at the serious accusation. “It’s not like he died, right. You weren’t even friends with the guy,” he counters in a snappy voice as if lifting his disguise and allowing Kai to peer at his real self.
“It--it doesn’t matter if he was my friend or not! He could have died! I could have died!” he hisses back.
“I wouldn’t have let you die,” Kyungsoo retorts confidently with a cunning spark in his eye.
And Kai stands there staring at him, speechless even when Chen’s voice cuts through the crowd and ushers everyone into their vehicles for the start of the race. Before Kyungsoo turns away, he puts his angelic face back on and tries his previous invitation again. “So, do you want to go for a drive now?”
Kai’s face scrunches at the question but he’s not quite sure what he’s feeling right now, be it annoyance or something else entirely. “The answer’s still no.” He turns on his heel to head back to his car but then hears a tiny click and--
A terrifying sound slashes through the air and suddenly the Scion tC is alight with flames bursting from the engine, catching everyone’s attention. Kai’s mouth falls open and he’s not sure what to do but watch his baby burn, even with people panicking around them.
“That’s quite unfortunate,” Kyungsoo murmurs from just behind him with mock pity as people are in chaos, rushing to extinguish the flames and escape in their cars. “Maybe you’ll reconsider next time.”
Kai decides that Do Kyungsoo is absolutely insane.
(And he kind of likes that.)
//
It shouldn’t be this hard to get someone’s attention, Kyungsoo deliberates as he slings his usual backpack full of various guns, bombs, and ammunition over his shoulder and listens to the clatter of metal as he trudges down the desolate streets. He lets out a slow breath into the unusually warm air, wonders what Kai’s reaction to his flirting will be today.
Kyungsoo thinks Kai plays hard-to-get.
(He’s right.)
But, he spent eight years trying to track him down. He’s not going to give up so easily.
After walking for a bit over thirty-five minutes, he arrives at a relatively tall building just outside Jiyugaoka with its cherry blossom tree-lined paths and stylishly-paved sidewalks. The trees have long lost their delicate pink petals but Kyungsoo enjoys listening to the soft rustling of orange and yellow leaves as he turns a corner and arrives at his destination.
Unlike Kai, he doesn’t bother hiding his features. After all, his criminal record is longer than his arm and blowing up police cruisers have long been a favorite pastime of his. He walks a bit further into the residential area and finally spots the car that’s likely to be Kai’s next target: a deep red Aston Martin One-77 sitting in the open space of a partially-covered parking lot, completely vulnerable.
It’s just asking to be destroyed, he thinks as he plants presents for Kai all over the car.
He scurries behind a concrete pillar nearby and peeks at it from his vantage point. He resists the urge to shoot up its forged alloy wheels with a Desert Eagle Mark XIX, watch its leather-trimmed seats become engulfed in flames from a pipe bomb, and completely annihilate the carbon fiber frame with a custom hand grenade. He swallows the saliva accumulating in his mouth and sits down against the pillar, tries to calm himself down from the pure exhilaration.
After all, the One-77’s fate is all up to Kai.
It’s just past three in the morning when his stealthily-placed tracking device notifies him that his target is closeby. Moments later, he sees someone heading towards the parking lot from the outside and he grins to himself in triumph. He recognizes him immediately from the familiar set-up: cap and mask covering his head and face, earbuds in, and toolbox in hand.
Why, what a pleasant surprise to see you here, Kyungsoo rehearses in his head, absolutely elated by the fact that he had correctly deduced Kai’s location and intentions from the number of times this address had shown up in his tracking device. He picks up his backpack and, without concealing himself, strides cheerfully over to Kai who is busily replacing the Aston Martin’s license plates.
Kai feels someone behind him and quickly whips his head around, worried about getting caught--maybe he should stop bringing his earbuds--when he sees that it’s only Kyungsoo; Kyungsoo who is smiling ear-to-ear.
You’ve gotta be kidding me, Kai thinks, irked by Kyungsoo’s presence and how he could have possibly known that he would be here tonight. Definitely not a coincidence. “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asks, voice betraying a hint of surprise and mild annoyance.
“I’m here to see you, of course,” comes the lighthearted reply that has Kai pausing for a moment. How sweet.
“Go away, you crazy bastard. Can’t you see that I’m busy?” he responds meanly as he finishes replacing the front license plate.
Kyungsoo frowns. “That hurt my feelings.”
“Do I look like I give a shit about your damn feelings, Do Kyungsoo?” Maybe he does, but he’s not ready to tell him that yet.
Kyungsoo’s expression is one of menacing anger as he drawls, “That wasn’t very nice, Jongin.”
Kai freezes midway through placing his glass cutter against the window. “What did you just call me?” He’s sure that he’s never told anyone his real name before, has always used his street name ever since he was a small child growing up in the big, bad city. “Did you become a cop?”
“Do cops blow up cars?” he counters amusedly.
“...Then you’re Satan,” Kai concludes with a slight shiver. Never trust anyone who doesn’t like cars.
Kyungsoo grins. “So, do you want to go on that drive yet?”
“How many times do I have to say no? You think I want to hang out with someone who might lodge a bomb in my asshole?” Kai sighs, trying his best to show disinterest despite his true feelings. “Now go away. You’re not even disguised and I’d rather not have to replace my tires after being chased by the cops.”
“I thought you would’ve learned your lesson by now.” Kyungsoo breathes a disappointed sigh through his nose and picks up Kai’s toolbox, starts walking away from the vehicle quickly.
“Hey!” Kai protests, chasing after him and reaching for the box. “I need that!”
That’s when Kyungsoo turns his head to look at him and there’s a nasty feeling surging through Kai’s gut when he realizes what’s going to happen next.
It seems as if everything’s happening in slow motion as he watches Kyungsoo reach into his pocket and the next thing he knows, there’s a quick-as-lightning flash and a deafening roar as glass shatters; a pillar of fiery black smoke boils up from the vehicle, great gushes of fire changing from fierce reds to nasty violets and back through the spectrum of red once again. Soon, there will be people upon them and the building will awake to the billows of heat and flames.
In the midst of Kai’s shock, Kyungsoo slips away into the night.
Because Kyungsoo only wants Kai’s attention and the only way to do that is through his cars.
( part ii)