Keep Going Crazy Chapter 8

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Saturday’s Qualifying was a very important session for Sunday’s race. It was a qualifying round for the main race, divided into three parts, with drivers being eliminated in order of the lowest positions in each part.

The driver who sets the best time in Qualifying gets to take Pole Position. That’s why Qualifying was also a session where drivers strove to maintain good condition. So having sex that drained physical energy right before Qualifying… could be considered a pretty foolish and thoughtless act.

Of course, Han Ryeoun didn’t want to be the kind of driver who mindlessly called up a sexual partner on Friday night. But honestly, this was closer to a force majeure.

A superstition.

Nearly two years had passed since he’d been caught in the grip of that fearsome word. The superstition had started after Ryeoun joined Horizon Motorsport. To be precise, it was a superstition that hadn’t existed during his F2 days.

After becoming an F1 driver, Ryeoun had struggled to adapt for a while and made several mistakes.

He’d retired due to not being able to adapt to the racing car, and he’d wrecked the car about three times. Every time Ryeoun shattered the car into pieces, Horizon’s director would hold his forehead and let out a deep sigh. He seemed to be getting headaches just thinking about the money going down the drain.

After messing up several Grands Prix like that, even Han Ryeoun, who normally lived on his own pride, couldn’t help but feel deflated. He was making an already poor team even poorer. He thought, this must be exactly how it feels to want to bury your face in your bowl and die.

What snapped Ryeoun out of it was something that happened on Friday night after practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Monaco’s weather was hot, and thanks to that, the alcohol hit him quickly. He didn’t know what had gotten into him.

At the crowded bar, there were many people showing interest in Ryeoun. Receiving that kind of attention was very familiar to him. But heading to a hotel with a man whose face he liked among them was something he would never normally have done. Han Ryeoun wasn’t the type to prefer one-night stands.

However, he wanted to run far, far away from pressure and responsibility. Weren’t these days too heavy for a twenty-one-year-old to bear? Pleasure and impulse spurred Ryeoun on.

His memories of that day were fragmentary. Because he’d been quite drunk. He didn’t even remember the man’s name. He was sure the man had told him his name… More accurately, he hadn’t been in any state to remember.

When he opened his eyes, his phone was on fire. Not literally, of course, but meaning that dozens of calls from Young-hoo were coming in. Jolted awake by the bell sound assaulting his frontal lobe, Ryeoun tore at his hair.

‘Am I out of my mind?!’

There wasn’t even time to curse himself. He had to get out of bed for practice and Qualifying, and a mild headache was no big deal. The man he’d rolled around with had already left long ago.

To cut to the result… that day, Ryeoun miraculously secured 10th place in Qualifying. Given the characteristics of the Monaco circuit, where overtaking was difficult, the Qualifying position was extremely important.

Carrying that momentum, Ryeoun delivered a flawless drive in Sunday’s race as well, holding onto 10th place. It was his first-ever point since becoming an F1 driver. A mere 1 point, a small number, but to Ryeoun, it was more precious than anything.

And after that day, one small superstition had taken root in Ryeoun.

The superstition that he had to have sex after Friday practice for the race to go well!

It was the kind of superstition that made you naturally say, ‘Is this guy crazy?’ Ryeoun didn’t want to believe it, so he’d even deliberately gritted his teeth and held out.

And the result of that was either a retirement, or a finish somewhere in the 15th to 20th range. At that point, Ryeoun, squeezing his eyes shut, had no choice but to accept his situation. Only by having sloppy, messy sex could he at least get close to the points…

He didn’t want to believe he was cursed with a goddamn sex curse, but what could he do? That was reality.

For the two years since then, up until now, Ryeoun had added the act of bringing someone to bed on Friday night to his Race Week schedule. At first, he wasn’t used to it physically, but now it didn’t bother him at all. Perhaps because it had become a routine, his body had adapted on its own. It also helped that he’d only met gentle and kind partners.

As he habitually frequented bars looking for a man he liked, he’d even acquired regular partners in several cities. Even if it was a relationship maintained simply for sex, occasionally there were partners like Noah who he felt a bit more fondness for.

Even that fondness was only at the level of, ‘Ah, this puppy is cute~’ though.

“Why did you come to Melbourne so rarely?”

Noah asked in a whining tone.

“Because I have a race?”

“You could come visit even without one.”

Seeing him whine like this, even though it was mutual that neither had contacted the other, he must have missed Ryeoun.

Ryeoun let out a chuckle. The two of them stepped into the VIP elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Noah pulled Ryeoun into an embrace and rubbed his cheek against Ryeoun’s head. This kind of thing was cute.

“Come visit? It’s so far I’d die getting here. And I’m busy, you know.”

“I know drivers get vacations too.”

“Since when is Australia and Korea next-door neighbors? When I get a vacation, I want to go home too.”

“Hmph.”

Unlike his polished and neat appearance, Noah was quite affectionate. Patting Noah’s backside, Ryeoun smiled softly. That alone made Noah let out a satisfied sound.

A room had already been booked for Ryeoun at this hotel. It was the room he’d be staying in throughout the Melbourne Grand Prix, but before calling Noah, Ryeoun had already booked another new room on a different floor.

Through one-night stands and establishing several partners, Ryeoun had set his own rules and standards.

If you waver without standards, you end up being affected in certain ways. Especially with regular partners like Noah, there were things he had to be more careful about.

Among all forms of attachment, the scariest was physical attachment. Ryeoun always tried not to cross lines or let others cross them. Because he had no desire to be swayed by emotions. Wasn’t that the kind of thing that once was enough?

“Are you not going to let me watch you race?”

Noah asked in a small voice. Even though they were alone in the elevator, the way he whispered made it ticklish.

“Other people bring their partners to the paddock and all that…”

He was talking nonsense. Ryeoun snorted.

“Join the paddock club. It’s not like we’re officially dating or anything.”

“Yes, yes. I’m just grateful you call me when you want to have sex~”

Noah retorted playfully. Noah had come to know the sport of Formula One through meeting Ryeoun. After that, he’d looked into various things and seemed to have quickly become hooked.

Remembering that his favorite driver wasn’t Ryeoun himself but Aiden Carter, Ryeoun felt a bit annoyed. Noah had genuinely been happy at the news of Ryeoun’s transfer to Helix. Because it meant he’d be on the same team as his beloved Aiden Carter.

Noah, who had been quietly holding Ryeoun’s waist, spoke.

“But, do you even know how much the paddock club costs?”

“Of course~ Around a thousand dollars a day, isn’t it?”

“…You haven’t forgotten I’m a regular office worker, have you?”

“Of course not. I’m joking. Just come watch. When it’s over, call me and I can at least give you a ride home.”

“When you say that, it makes me excited again.”

“Don’t lie. You’re excited about watching the Grand Prix.”

“Haha!”

Noah burst out laughing. The elevator was filled with Noah’s cheerful laughter.

“If you give me a ride, I’ll buy you dinner.”

“After watching one race, your salary will be completely drained.”

“You’re so mean.”

This time, Ryeoun burst out laughing.

Even if he wasn’t considered the top driver, Ryeoun was still one of only about twenty people in the world who held this profession. With hazard pay included, there was no way his salary could be compared to a regular office worker’s.

But the offer to ‘buy him dinner’ was just a kind of guy thing men did. A sort of flirting.

A few of his cute sexual partners sometimes did these cute guy things. Like offering to buy him a meal or pay for his drinks.

They also knew that Ryeoun found that kind of thing cute. So it was just them acting cute to get a little affection.

“Why are you being so cute?”

“How about it? Feeling more like coming to Australia more often?”

“Sorry to say, but that and that are different.”

“Ray is really cold.”

While they chatted, the elevator numbers began climbing rapidly. And in the meantime, Ryeoun let Noah lean on him, nuzzle him, hug him, and peck at him without stopping him.

They were about to get naked and roll around together anyway, so what was a little skinship like this? Besides, this was a VIP-only elevator, and Australia was a place where this kind of behavior between men was no big deal.

However, Ryeoun would soon regret this complacency.