Keep Going Crazy Chapter 14

It had only been two days since he’d thrown away the race. Which meant it had only been three days since they’d shouted at each other over him going off to have sex the night before qualifying. So Ryeoun still found it very, very uncomfortable to face Aiden.

And in this state, he was supposed to laugh and joke around with him while shooting driver content…? What kind of hellish situation was that?

Unfortunately, Ryeoun had neither the justification nor the power to refuse that shoot. Even this kind of content shoot was spelled out in detail in his contract, so if they said jump, he had to ask how high.

Since ruining the Australian Grand Prix, he hadn’t properly come face-to-face with Aiden Carter. He’d left the pit without properly watching him on the podium, and though they’d crossed paths at the motorhome, that was just in passing.

‘How much is he going to mock me?’

Ryeoun sneered inwardly. He’d bet a thousand dollars that the moment Aiden saw his face, he’d laugh and say “I knew it.”

He didn’t even want to imagine how pathetic Aiden must think he was. But regardless of that desire, he couldn’t help the bastard’s face from constantly popping into his head.

A driver who got into a fistfight while going off to have sex with his partner and then spectacularly ruined the race. And he’d even confidently declared that nothing would go wrong.

Putting himself in the other’s shoes, there was no way he’d look kindly on that. Of course, Aiden had never looked kindly on him to begin with.

“Aaaaaah!!!!”

Ryeoun screamed as he pounded his fist into the pillow.

It was truly one ordeal after another.

∞ ∞ ∞

“How’s your condition?”

“…?”

Ryeoun blinked without a word.

They were set up on the hotel rooftop for the driver content shoot.

The weather was gorgeous. Shanghai’s spring weather can be quite fickle. But fortunately, the forecast had been perfect all week.

He’d worried about rain during the race, but that didn’t seem likely. The weather was that clear.

Wearing a lightweight uniform jersey and jeans, Ryeoun arrived to find Aiden already in place.

Having no particular desire to acknowledge him first, Ryeoun sat down in the chair beside him without a word and started looking at his phone.

While the filming equipment was being set up, only silence flowed between them.

And surprisingly, it was Aiden who spoke first.

‘He’s asking about my condition right now?’

He hadn’t expected that kind of question to come out of his mouth. Because he’d naturally assumed Aiden would mock him.

But Aiden’s face as he checked on his condition was serious. And there wasn’t even 1% of mockery in his expression or tone.

It was the expression of someone genuinely worried about his teammate’s crash and retirement. So Ryeoun was very flustered.

‘What is this? This reasonable greeting…?’

He’d been hearing the same kind of check-in from Helix team members for days, but hearing it from Aiden’s mouth carried a different weight.

Ryeoun forced himself to shrug nonchalantly. Then he answered with a light laugh.

“My condition’s fine.”

“I see.”

Aiden nodded obediently. Then he added one sentence with a serious expression.

“I was worried you might have broken something, getting slammed in there so nastily.”

“…?”

Ryeoun narrowed his eyes. And he retracted the assessment he’d just made of Aiden. Reasonable my ass—it was just mockery disguised as being “concerned.”

It was a soft-spoken voice, low enough that the team members wouldn’t hear. So Ryeoun’s temper flared again. Not that he was about to sit in this public place and start shouting, so he did his best to endure.

“Too bad for you, but I’m pretty tough.”

After the crash at the Melbourne circuit, the safety crew had arrived quickly. While he took off his helmet and shook out his hair, the marshals surrounded Ryeoun.

They did a quick condition check, and fortunately, aside from some very minor pain, nothing hurt much. In other words, he hadn’t been slammed in there “nastily” enough to break anything.

That much was something Aiden, with his greater experience, could easily tell. But Aiden was deliberately needling Ryeoun.

“Didn’t you say nothing would ruin the race?”

“If the world went my way, I’d be a god—why would I be a driver?”

At Ryeoun’s sharp retort, Aiden merely raised an eyebrow without answering.

Ryeoun was boiling inside. He grabbed the bottle of water placed in front of him and gulped it down.

“Oh! That was supposed to be for the opening shot later…”

The team manager called out in a regretful voice. Damn, it must have been the sponsored water prepared to show off the logo. Ryeoun smiled sheepishly and accepted a new bottle.

“Alright, let’s start filming now. You two, could you move your chairs a little closer together?”

The director shooting Helix’s MyTube content sat down across from them with a cheerful greeting.

He wanted to decline moving his chair closer to the bastard… but in this moment, he was the one in the subordinate position. Ryeoun firmly etched that fact into his mind.

Aiden stood up first and moved his chair over in one stride. The distance between them shrank in an instant. From the now-closer Aiden came a sweet-tart citrus scent.

‘Fucking suits him like a nail in a coffin.’

Ryeoun left a scathing impression inwardly. For someone who tore people apart rudely with a venomous tongue, his scent was outrageously fresh. It was absurd. Was this what they called image management?

“We’ll ask you a few simple questions. When you tap the tablet, the questions will advance. You two just look at the question and answer it.”

Aiden and Ryeoun turned their gazes to the tablet on the table. This time, Ryeoun reached out first and tapped the tablet.

He didn’t know why they only gave them one tablet. Now he had no choice but to put his head together with the bastard and stare at the screen throughout the shoot. This was a curse. Of course, they weren’t literally putting their heads together, but their faces were that close.

[Q. Which Grand Prix are you most looking forward to?]

Aiden spoke first.

“Probably the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It’s my home race, and above all, the weather is so fickle that it’s fun.”

It was certainly a place the bastard would like. From his F1 debut up to now, Aiden had never once been pushed off the Silverstone podium.

It didn’t matter if it rained. A wet track only gave Aiden wings. As the guy with the ridiculous nickname “Rain Lord,” he was known for excelling on rainy days.

“I’d say the Singapore Grand Prix. It’s a night race, and it’s a circuit I like anyway.”

Ryeoun chose the Singapore Grand Prix. The night-time Singapore Grand Prix had unique characteristics. He’d had good results and bad results there, but regardless, Ryeoun liked the Singapore circuit.

After answering briefly, Ryeoun looked at Aiden. Their eyes met. Ryeoun quickly turned his head away and tapped the tablet.

[Q. Is there any Grand Prix where you’re looking forward to your teammate’s race?]

He nearly failed to control his expression and frowned.

‘Looking forward to Aiden’s race…?’

Well. In the old days, he might have picked Britain or Italy. But now, honestly speaking, he wasn’t looking forward to any race.

As a teammate, he knew he shouldn’t feel this way, but if that bastard made even one mistake, Ryeoun was ready to rib him about it for three whole days.

But since this was a shoot, he shouldn’t say that, right? Just as Ryeoun was about to mention the Italian Grand Prix with that thought in mind—

With a small pfft of laughter, Aiden spoke first.

“There isn’t one.”

“…?”

Was this bastard on drugs?

He wondered if Shanghai had become some kind of marijuana-legal city without him knowing. There was no way someone could spit out an answer like that without being on something.

Ryeoun looked at Aiden with a bewildered expression. After confirming Ryeoun’s face, Aiden finally smiled shyly.

Shy. Ly.

For a moment, Ryeoun wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Aiden Carter smiling shyly? He was so floored he could jump out of his skin. Then Aiden reached out and lightly tapped Ryeoun’s bangs. And facing the camera again, he spoke.

“I’m kidding. Ryeoun and I make these jokes sometimes.”

“…Ah, right.”

He figured he should just play along. If he started yelling “When did you ever?” here, articles would come out with titles like “Worst Driver Couple.”

“Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Ryeoun race in Monaco. Since that’s the Grand Prix that gave him his first points.”

Ryeoun swallowed the sigh that was about to escape and looked at Aiden with a smile.

‘Fox of a bastard.’

The way he’d mocked him by mentioning the retirement felt like a past life. He’d clearly decided to play the “friendly teammate” in front of the camera. Otherwise, there’s no way he’d say those things with that kind of expression.