Keep Going Crazy Chapter 4

‘Oh, Woon! It’s been a while since our last meeting.’

The director of B&N Distribution, who could be considered Helix’s main sponsor, approached Ryeoun. He had no idea how the man was already calling him by the nickname ‘Woon’ when they’d barely met, but there was nothing wrong with leaving a good impression on a sponsor.

He’d met him at a sponsor meeting before the transfer. It was a gathering with the distribution company’s CEO. Ryeoun had gone there nervous as anything, but B&N was, surprisingly(?), a fairly sensible sponsor that didn’t demand much. Because the CEO, the decision-maker, was a long-time F1 fan.

Since he was an important figure among the many sponsors, big and small, Ryeoun put on his social mask and smiled warmly at him. And just as the man was about to approach him, it was Aiden Carter who moved first.

‘How have you been, Director?’

‘Ed!’

‘I was wondering if the whisky I sent last time was to your taste.’

‘Why do you keep sending things like that? Don’t ever send anything to the company again.’

‘You’re always going out of your way to take care of me, so I should at least do what I can for you.’

‘Haha, well then, later you should take a picture with my daughter. She’s a real fan of yours.’

‘Of course. You’re talking about the princess who came to the paddock last season, right?’

‘Princess? That kid’s just a tomboy.’

Before Ryeoun could even shake hands with the B&N director, the man was naturally led a few steps away by Aiden’s hand, his back turned to where Ryeoun was standing. Watching the back of the man, who was completely absorbed in bragging about his daughter, Ryeoun was so flabbergasted he couldn’t even speak.

He’d heard that there were sometimes power struggles over sponsors, but he never thought it would become his own story. He hadn’t particularly wanted attention, nor did he want to look good, but… he never expected Aiden to even take away a sponsor who was approaching him right in front of his eyes. It was so absurd that he couldn’t even manage a hollow laugh. In the end, the B&N director just took a few quick photos with him at the end of the event and left the venue.

Whenever Ryeoun seemed to receive some attention, Aiden would like a ghost snatch the spotlight right back.

‘This is deliberate.’ 

Ryeoun was certain of it. He no longer thought it was a coincidence.

‘Why the hell is he doing this?’

Those words were really right at the tip of his throat.

As an experienced first driver, did he want to help a nervous rookie? But if that were the case, there should have been some kind of signal exchanged. Aiden and Ryeoun had never had even a single word of discussion. Ryeoun had never asked for help either. Moreover, Ryeoun wasn’t a bumbling type nor was he weak in media handling.

Cutting off questions directed at him and even blocking a sponsor’s approach—that was just Aiden’s extremely personal boundary-setting. That was Ryeoun’s thought.

There was a moment during the event when Ryeoun’s eyes met Aiden’s. At that time, Aiden briefly glanced around, then looked back at Ryeoun. And he smirked, curling the corner of his mouth. Then, before Ryeoun could show any reaction, he turned his head away.

Seeing that expression, Ryeoun almost clutched the back of his neck right there in the middle of the venue. No one else had seen Aiden’s expression. It was infuriatingly well-timed—he’d flashed that sneer when absolutely no one was looking at them. How thoroughly calculated!

As Helix’s first driver and teammate, wasn’t it his responsibility—even if he couldn’t mentor him—to at least make sure Ryeoun wasn’t sidelined?

If it wasn’t deliberate, then Aiden was an idiot who couldn’t even read the flow of the event. If it was deliberate, he was just a bastard. And Ryeoun absolutely did not think Aiden Carter was stupid. If he were stupid, he wouldn’t have made it this far; he’d have been torn apart by the media as prey.

As the sponsor event drew to a close, Ryeoun’s head was filled with nothing but question marks.

‘What on earth is his reason for acting like this?’

Surely there was a reason Aiden was doing this—meaning, not welcoming his arrival on the team, or belittling him in official settings—but he couldn’t figure out that reason at all, and it was driving him crazy.

He thought about trying to talk to him, so he hurriedly looked for Aiden right after the event ended, but he was only told that Aiden had already left for another schedule.

“This is strange.”

“So, what is?”

Younghoo thumped his chest in frustration.

In the end, Ryeoun had no choice but to admit it with his own mouth.

“Aiden doesn’t like me! I seriously don’t get it. How can you work with those observational skills?”

The fact that Aiden Carter really, truly disliked him.

The team’s first driver dislikes the second driver. That’s quite an interesting story, isn’t it?

Rolling around on the plush hotel bed, Ryeoun stared at his phone.

Some time had passed since new photos were uploaded on Helix Racing’s official Instagram.

In the photos, Ryeoun and Aiden stood side by side in matching racing suits. On the day those photos were taken, the atmosphere between Aiden and Ryeoun hadn’t been bad.

Well… meaning it looked that way on the surface.

Aiden behaved very politely toward Ryeoun in official settings. But polite doesn’t mean the same thing as friendly.

He welcomed Ryeoun, shook his hand, and they stood side by side, shoulders touching for the shoot, but that was it. The two of them hadn’t exchanged any conversation about the Grand Prix, their condition, or the racing car.

That day, Ryeoun had seriously pondered throughout the entire shoot. Rather than spending the whole Grand Prix season in this relationship with his first driver that was worse than friendship, maybe he should just close his eyes, grit his teeth, and barge in first? He wondered.

He didn’t know why Aiden disliked him, but surely he wouldn’t reject someone who approached him first, spoke to him gently, and followed him around. There’s a saying that you can’t spit on a smiling face. And as time passed, he’d probably learn the reason for Aiden’s dislike and clear up any misunderstandings, right?

But amusingly, Ryeoun’s pride absolutely would not allow such behavior.

What reason could he possibly have to bow down first and butter up a teammate who was radiating “I don’t like you” vibes?

And honestly, even if he did try that, it didn’t seem like Aiden would open up. He’d be lucky if Aiden didn’t just sneer at him.

There are many cases where a first driver, who is essentially the team leader, views the second driver as a rival.

When a formidable second driver joins, the first driver would naturally worry about having his position taken, or about having to leave the team and compete against him for trophies.

But looking at the situation, it was hard to see it as behavior stemming from that kind of wariness, given that the driver Han Ryeoun was far behind Aiden Carter.

Of course, Ryeoun wasn’t the kind of man who would entertain the pathetic notion that he couldn’t beat Aiden. He simply thought that, objectively speaking, he was still far behind when you considered all the factors: career, experience, position within the team, and the driver’s influence.

The fortunate thing was that Aiden didn’t openly dislike him. It was more like he subtly, imperceptibly, but just enough for Ryeoun himself to notice, showed his dislike.

So there was no way the Helix team members would know. Even the director, Rowan, seemed completely unaware of Aiden’s feelings. Because when Aiden was with the Helix team members, he acted as if he had a fair amount of interest in Ryeoun. That was the even more infuriating part.

‘What a poisonous bastard.’

Ryeoun sincerely gnashed his teeth at Aiden Carter. He wondered if the man didn’t find it tiring to be so two-faced. Younghoo didn’t seem to believe that Aiden disliked Ryeoun. No matter how oblivious Younghoo was, this was something anyone who ‘knew’ Aiden would find hard to believe.

After receiving a detailed account of how Aiden had behaved at the event, Younghoo had trudged off with a look on his face as if his soul had been drained.

‘Why, though? Did he really do that?’

He’d asked that question more than twenty times.

‘That’s what I’ve been saying!’

Ryeoun thumped the innocent bed, thrashing about. Why on earth? What did the top driver, Aiden, possibly gain from doing this?

Ryeoun had always been a positive, easygoing person. Deep thinking wasn’t his style. Even when bad things happened, he’d brush them off and stand back up.

But even for him, Aiden Carter’s attitude wasn’t a small enough incident to just shrug off. To be hated by a teammate and a senior he respected without even knowing why. Unless you were a titanium-grade mental fortress, it was only natural to get bothered by it, wasn’t it?

The Grand Prix hadn’t even started yet, and he already felt worn out.

Letting out a sigh he’d lost count of, Ryeoun slowly looked back at his phone. It was to monitor the fans’ reactions.