※This story is a self-contained one-shot.
This second episode is the Korean translation of Episode 1, "My Own World."
If you want to read the original Japanese text, please go to Episode 1.
※This story is a self-contained one-shot.
This Episode 2 is the Korean translation of Episode 1, 「僕だけの世界」.
If you want to read the original Japanese text, please go to Episode 1.
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The venue was packed with spectators, and the in-house broadcast began to play.
『Shortly, the first race will begin.
The teams to watch are MAD BAEZ, who have kept their unbeaten streak going, and YTZ, who have climbed all the way to the top class.
The race will begin.』
The red starting lights began to come on one by one.
One, two, and then the fifth light lit up; when the lights went out, the machines all shot forward at once.
The first to surge ahead was Hamin's machine.
Hamin hummed to himself and pulled the paddles to shift up.
It was a smooth start.
Yejun of the same MAD BAEZ followed behind him.
After smoothly circling behind Hamin for several laps, Yejun sent a radio message to the pit.
“The tire wear is faster than expected. Be careful when you change Hamin's too.”
Noah turned his gaze to Hamin's machine coming in while listening to Yejun's radio in the pit.
As soon as the tire change was finished and Hamin's machine sped back out, Noah switched to Hamin's channel.
A little later, a message came in from Hamin.
As usual, it came with a hum.
“The tires are in good condition! No problems.”
Noah snorted with a laugh at Hamin's voice.
“Hamin is in top condition too.”
At the hotel where the second race was being held, Hamin was deep in thought.
What had gone wrong?
His condition was perfect.
There were no problems with the machine either. The pit work had gone smoothly.
When he lowered his gaze to his smartphone, a news headline caught his eye.
『Undefeated MAD BAEZ's Hamin defeated by an up-and-coming rookie duo』
Beside it was a photo of three people standing on the podium. It was the first time he wasn't in the middle.
Why, why, why.
No answer came.
I have to go train.
If I get on the machine, the answer will come on its own. I'm doing everything I can already.
He got on the machine and ran the course.
Just before the corner, he pulled the paddles with his left hand. On the next move, he hesitated for a split second.
Oh no!
By the time he thought that, the corner was already right in front of him.
““Hamin!!””
Yejun and Noah, watching from the side, shouted at the same time.
When Hamin returned to the pit,
“I'm fine. It looks like only the machine was damaged.”
He said it almost like an excuse.
“Stop that and get checked first.”
“Okay. Hyung.”
After Hamin nodded, Noah took him straight to the medical room.
After being diagnosed with no abnormalities in the medical room and returning to his room, Hamin sat quietly in a chair.
When it was getting dark around him, there was suddenly a knock at the door.
Hamin didn't move. A moment later, the knocking sounded again.
Only then did he head for the door.
The person visible through the peephole was Yejun.
“Hamin? You're in there, right? You didn't pick up your meal, so I brought it.”
Yejun held up the bag.
“Hyung, I'm not hungry right now.”
“No matter, I'll hang it on the door. Eat it later if you want.
Call me if anything happens. Then I'll go.”
After confirming that Yejun had left, Hamin brought the lunch bag and set it on the table.
As expected, he wasn't hungry. He left the room as is.
He started walking aimlessly. It was late at night, so there were almost no people around. He went into a nearby park.
“Hey, Hamin.”
Hearing his name called all of a sudden, he turned around and saw Noah standing there.
“Ah, hyung. Why are you here?”
“I saw you leaving through the window, so I followed you.
What was that mistake today? That wasn't like you.”
“It has nothing to do with you, hyung. Please just leave me alone.”
After saying that, Hamin turned his back on Noah.
Noah didn't follow him any farther.
Hamin walked deeper into the park as if fleeing.
While walking through the park, he nearly collided with someone emerging from the shade of a tree.
It was Eunho of YTZ.
It was the face he least wanted to run into right now.
“I'm sorry. Huh? You're Hamin, right? I'm Eunho from YTZ.
I've admired you all this time, and I'm really happy I get to race with you this season.
I've been watching since your racing kart days. How can you be that fast?
What do you think about when you're driving? I think about dinner menu recipes.
And when you're managing your diet, are there any things that are difficult?
Oh, what's training like best for you?”
Hamin stared blankly at Eunho, who poured out his words all at once.
“Ah, hello. Likewise, please take care of me this season.
But you're a bit different from your usual image. I thought you were the quiet type.”
Hearing that, Eunho grinned, showing his canines.
“That's right.
I talk way too much, so Bambi-hyung told me to hold back a little outside.”
Hamin was slightly flustered by how naturally Eunho spoke to him.
“I see.”
He tried to end the conversation with a short reply, but Eunho kept talking.
“Why did you become a racer, Hamin?”
“Huh?”
The moment he heard the question, he was at a loss for words.
“What was your trigger?”
Eunho asked again.
“I rode karts, so naturally…….”
“Then what was the trigger for starting karts?”
Eunho pressed on with another question, as if cutting him off.
Just then, a voice came from behind.
“Hey, Eunho over there? I told you to hold back a little outside.”
With a bad feeling, Hamin turned toward the voice, and as expected, pink-haired Bambi appeared.
“Ah, Bambi-hyung. Who do you think I'm talking to right now?”
At Eunho's words, Bambi looked at Hamin.
“Ah, Hamin. Please take care of me this season. I'm Bambi from YTZ.”
Bambi hurriedly greeted him.
“Likewise, please take care of me. I'm Hamin from MAD BAEZ.”
After the two exchanged greetings, Eunho continued.
“I was asking Hamin what made him start racing.”
Hamin was flustered.
Why am I running?
……I don't know.
By the time I came to my senses, it had already become part of my life.
Was there a reason for it?
Seeing Hamin fall silent, Bambi said,
“See? Hamin's frozen up. You asked way too many questions again, didn't you?”
At Bambi's words, Eunho laughed with a heh-heh.
“For the record, I started because I wanted to become the wind.
But when I actually tried racing, it felt more like riding a rhythm than like being wind, and that felt great.
Running is really fun.”
After Eunho said that, Bambi added,
“Yeah. I think being wind is a little different too. It feels like becoming one with the machine?
That's what's fun. It gets exciting too.”
Seeing the two of them with sparkling eyes, Hamin froze for a moment.
“I'm sorry. I don't really know. It's late, so I'll head back first.”
With that, he left the spot.
Before the second race, as Hamin stood in the pit, Yejun approached him.
“Hamin, go all out and run. You can do it.”
Saying that, he gently patted Hamin's back.
Noah said from the side,
“I'll just do my part~”
Then he put on his helmet.
Neither of them brought up what happened yesterday.
“Yes. Hyung.”
After answering, Hamin climbed onto his machine.
The machines lined up on the starting grid.
When Hamin turned his gaze to the side, YTZ's machine was there.
“What I'm feeling…….”
When he closed his eyes, all sound disappeared.
I have reliable members with me.
When the race began, his right hand naturally pulled the paddles to shift up.
His body remembered what it had to do. By the time he came to, he was humming a tune.
The noise fades away. Like my own world.
“Ah…….”
Hamin hummed as he pressed the radio button on the steering wheel.
Yejun, in the pit, received Hamin's radio transmission.
“Hyung!”
As soon as Yejun heard Hamin's voice, he immediately connected Noah to the radio.
“Hamin revival!!”
“Oka——y”
Noah blocked the machines behind him and opened a path for Hamin to pass through.
Yejun's voice came from the pit.
“Go win, Hamin.”
After the race ended, Hamin was standing in the center of the podium.
Bambi and Eunho were on either side of him.
“Bambi, Eunho.”
Saying that, Hamin draped his arms over both their shoulders.
“I get it! The reason I run!
While I'm running, I like the feeling of entering my own zone.
My own world. That's why I run.”
Yejun, watching from below, said,
“I'm glad the usual Hamin is back.”
Noah, hearing that, said,
“You, too, said stuff about retiring and all that, but you wanted to keep racing more, didn't you?”
“You too, Noah.”
“Of course.”
While the two were talking,
“Hyung.”
Hamin ran over and hugged them both.
