Between Affairs and Cars (2) #2
“Hey, you made it?”
Han Dae-jin gave an awkward wave to the club members as he spotted them.
The club folks immediately lit up at the sight of him, chattering about how great his video was.
“But what the hell are you doing with that Avante 3 (Science 3rd Unit)?” one of the younger guys who drove an Avante N asked him.
“Just racing whatever I've got,” Han Dae-jin replied.
“Hyung, swap cars already. The Avante N is the shit. I just mapped mine—it's insanely fast.” The kid bragged subtly about his ride.
Han Dae-jin ignored him and turned to watch a girl in a red Avante 3 Sport pulling in, reeking of cigarettes, with Yoon Ha-rin right behind her.
By then, night had deepened, and once enough people had gathered, Yoon Ha-rin rounded everyone up.
“Anyone heading to Dongmak Beach?” she asked, lighting a cigarette.
“You're taking Dori to Dongmak? That dog won't puke?” Han Dae-jin's club buddy with the Genesis Coupe piped up.
“Hey, Dori's tough as nails now. He doesn't hurl when I drive. That loser Han Dae-jin? Who knows.” Yoon Ha-rin suddenly name-dropped him, and Han Dae-jin shot her a silent Why me? look.
“Nah, fuck, in those continuous corners, your car was dancing all over. You don't know the lines.”
Han Dae-jin averted his eyes, a twinge of embarrassment hitting him. She was calling out that exact scene from his recent video where he'd botched the continuous corners. And yeah, it was kinda true—he'd been trying to stick to the center line, and being his first time there, he hadn't anticipated those turns.
Once the meet wrapped up, people started piling into their cars one by one.
Han Dae-jin climbed into his pathetic Avante 3, fired it up, and queued up some Eurobeat tracks. Not like he was the tofu-shop kid protagonist from that car anime, but hey, he could at least play the part.
With Eurobeat blasting, he peeled out of the cafe lot onto the main road, revving the Avante 3's 1.6 naturally aspirated engine like it was a Mazda's B6—high into the reds for fun. But he got stuck at the gas station light soon enough.
Through the Eurobeat, an Avante N and Genesis Coupe pulled up beside him. In the rearview, Yoon Ha-rin's Avante 3 Sport loomed.
Light turned green. Han Dae-jin slapped the gear into sport mode and floored it. But the mapped Avante N and Genesis Coupe surged ahead like they'd kill for it.
He glued himself to the Genesis Coupe's tail, weaving past civilian cars left and right as fast as he could to keep up.
Meanwhile, Yoon Ha-rin's Avante 3 Sport trailed far back.
After a long haul toward Ganghwa Island, her car started filling his rearview. She seemed itching to blast past in her Avante 3 Sport, but Han Dae-jin was blocking her.
Then came Dongmak's infamous chicane. Han Dae-jin hit the brakes hard, shedding speed. No way was he crossing the center line just to follow the car ahead.
But Yoon Ha-rin? Different story. The second Han Dae-jin scrubbed too much speed, she dove into the oncoming lane, apexing the outside aggressively on throttle, then squeezed into the inside line with just one lane to spare—overtaking him clean.
Right then, a pack of biker bros appeared in the opposite lane. Yoon Ha-rin smirked, flicked the wheel to slip back into her lane, eased on the throttle, and sucked into the left-turning corner like it was pulling her in.
Han Dae-jin tried to follow, but his tires screamed bloody murder, holding him back.
After thrashing like that for ages, they hit Dongmak Beach parking lot. Yoon Ha-rin, the Avante N kid, and Genesis Coupe guy were already parked, hoods up, chain-smoking.
Yoon Ha-rin let Dori out, petting his head while puffing her cig.
As Han Dae-jin finally parked, the red Avante 3 Sport girl from earlier rolled in late. She hadn't pushed hard—hood stayed shut.
While Han Dae-jin popped his hood, she lit up and chatted idly.
He approached Yoon Ha-rin. She smirked.
“What the hell, man? Why so scared? You could've just held the line and flat-outed it.”
“No... it's the... center line...”
“Fuck that—it's all illegal anyway. Half the assholes at Namsan Fortress ignore lanes.”
The Avante N kid and Genesis Coupe guy chuckled.
“Nah, Ha-rin noona. Dae-jin hyung's on all-seasons.”
The Avante N kid boasted about his new cheap Chinese tires—some Lamadan knockoff. Said they held up fine even ripping around Inje Circuit.
“What's the treadwear rating?” Yoon Ha-rin asked him.
“Like 200? Snagged 'em before they sold out. Next stock's whenever.”
“You just got PX5s too.”
“Noona, those are pricey. Lamadan's cheaper!”
“But you're on SUR8Zs too, noona,” the Genesis Coupe guy pointed out.
“Nothing else comes close. Anything under 80 is baby-stroller shit.” Yoon Ha-rin grinned, eyeing her wheels.
The brake dust and tire rubber stench still hung thick. Her white tuning wheels were already Dalmatian-spotted with grime—shocking to Han Dae-jin.
After bullshitting at Dongmak for a while, folks started heading home.
Han Dae-jin and the red Avante 3 Sport girl lingered late, swapping worthless Avante 3 talk. He agonized over asking her to collab on a video.
Right as he psyched himself up—“Let's shoot together”—she bounced first.
Han Dae-jin dragged himself out of Dongmak, heading back toward Gimpo Coffee Special.
The cafe was in a fashion outlet complex with open public restrooms—he needed a piss break.
Spotting the lit-up cafe still open, a black BMW F8X M3 parked out front. AP1 aero wing, splitter, Varis canard, 18s, SUR8Zs. Pure machine.
After the john, he wandered back inside.
“Hey! Back from Dongmak?” The Cafe Owner greeted him warmly.
“Yeah.”
“Come here, coffee on me. Oh, this is that lawyer who drops by late nights—Kim Ji-hyun from that massive firm, handles billions...”
“Pfft, not billions... Hi?”
The Cafe Owner introduced her mid-sentence; Kim Ji-hyun cut him off, embarrassed, and waved Han Dae-jin to sit.
He slurped the coffee down fast, quietly eyeing her rumpled suit and thoughtful gaze. Her face smiled, but her eyes didn't.
“So, what do you drive?” Kim Ji-hyun asked.
“Avante 3.”
“Avante 3 Sport? Nice—lots pair it with Avante N.”
“Nah, stock normal Avante 3. No tunes.”
She snorted a laugh. “And you run Dongmak with the kids in that? Ballsy.”
“Pardon?”
“Everyone's got beasts, and you're hustling a stocker to keep up.”
Han Dae-jin coughed awkwardly, looking away.
“Kiwi boy, pitch her a collab video. 'Top Lawyer by Night: Street Racer.' Some shit like that.”
The Cafe Owner's tease made Kim Ji-hyun crack up.
“You do YouTube?”
He nodded, showing his channel—barely over 100 subs.
Curious about his winding vids, she clicked and watched intently.
“Yup, stock Avante 3's CVT—no LSD, so off-throttle turns.”
“Yeah... exactly. Was gonna grab an Avante Sport manual, but Mom beat me to it with the Avante 3. 'No hot hatches till you get a job.'”
She giggled, eyeing him. “Sweet mom.”
She offered smokes and stood; he followed silently.
Handing him one, she blinked when he passed. “No smokes?”
“Nah, steered clear since kid days. Bad for writing.”
“Kid logic. You write?”
“Yeah, had a mentor—passed now. Tried novels till recently, bombed, got a job.”
“So cars?”
“Dunno... loved 'em since toys. Bought hundreds, wrecked 'em all...”
“Brunei royalty much?”
She stared; he dodged her eyes.
“Dongmak tonight?”
“Others too fast.”
“Wanna tag along? Was gonna rip anyway.”
He followed her to the car wordlessly.
Meanwhile, the Cafe Owner and his wife prepped to close.
“Whoa, date already?” the owner teased.
“Just a lift.” Kim Ji-hyun revved the full-exhaust M3.
Han Dae-jin squeezed into the passenger bucket with the 6-point roll cage.
Owner gone, she reversed, winked at Han Dae-jin. “But the owner'll—”
Before he finished, she floored it in the vast outlet lot, spinning donuts.
A few loops in, she lit a cig, cracked the window. Smoke mixed with tire haze.
Then she rocketed toward the outlet exit.