The sunset was fading.
The sky was growing darker little by little, and beneath it, bright lights lined the road.
Han Seongtae was on the road illuminated by those lights.
The car he was in was rumbling, letting out a cry as if it would race off at any moment.
Listening to the engine sound that made his heart tremble, a deep smile naturally formed on Han Seongtae’s lips as well.
“Chk… chijik… standby.”
Britton Lee’s voice came from the radio installed in the car.
A voice letting him know that filming would begin soon.
At that sound, Han Seongtae gripped the steering wheel tightly and forced down the corners of his mouth that kept trying to rise.
“Hoo…”
He was inside a whirlpool of emotion, unable to tell whether he was nervous or excited right now.
His heart pounding in time with the engine made him suffer, but Han Seongtae liked that pounding.
Because this kind of pounding made him feel that he was truly driving and acting properly.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ says he is ready, and that he can run at any time.]
Together with the god’s message,
“…Action!”
the director’s signal came down.
The car Han Seongtae was driving shot across the road in an instant.
Vroooom!
In time with the rapidly rising speed, the sound of the exhaust filled the road.
The camera installed inside the car filmed the driver’s seat, and reflected in that camera, ‘Yu’ was sitting there.
He stepped on the accelerator like a tyrant, and the hand gripping the gearshift moved violently.
As his hands and feet moved, the speed of the car Yu was driving grew faster and faster.
Clack, clack-clack.
Every time he drifted, every time he suddenly pushed the speed higher, the hand gripping the gearshift moved quickly, and the camera captured all of him.
Wee-woo, wee-woo!
The sound of police cars catching up from behind could be heard.
If he was caught this time, he could rot in prison for the rest of his life.
The method Layla had helped with no longer worked.
She had quit the police, and there was no way there would be anyone among the police who would help him.
More than anything, Yu could not trust other people.
The only ones he trusted were his friends.
Everyone else was an enemy.
That was why Yu ran so he would not be caught.
“7152, 7152, stop immediately!”
At the police voice calling out his car number, Yu lifted the corner of his mouth.
If he was caught, he would go to prison, so who could possibly stop?
Instead of stopping, he answered by overtaking them with a drift.
The police cars still clung to him, but Yu was not worried in the slightest.
Because he knew a course where he could shake off the police as much as he wanted.
‘Boston is my territory.’
This place was Boston.
The place where he had been born and raised his whole life.
He did not know about anywhere else.
But in Boston, there was no one who could catch him.
On the roads of Boston, Yu, riding in a sports car, was a tyrant.
“Chk… chijik… You need to get over the bridge ahead. Can you do it?”
Daniel’s voice came through the radio.
Layla’s voice said it was more than possible.
Yu was about to answer too when,
“Chk… the police are blocking the bridge! The bridge is impossible!”
Laella’s voice came in urgently, adding to her words.
While Daniel and Laella were hurriedly trying to find another way,
Yu, having quickly organized his thoughts, opened his mouth.
“I’ll lure them away.”
“Chijik… what? Are you insane?”
“Yu! That’s… chijik… that’s madness!”
He could hear his friends trying to stop him, but—
“Listen carefully from now on. When I give the signal, run straight down the road. I’ll follow on my own, so don’t worry.”
He was someone who could sacrifice himself for his friends.
If he could save his friends, it did not matter if he was caught by the police here.
Because that too would be a meaningful sacrifice.
Going to prison for a friend was something he could absolutely do.
Yu immediately turned the steering wheel.
He could see the police beginning to fill the bridge.
Police cars were racing toward him.
Yu charged toward them like a madman.
The police cars split to both sides to avoid him, and Yu immediately turned the car and followed into the road beside it.
Police cars came after him.
“Now!”
For an instant, the road cleared, and at Yu’s signal, two cars cut across that space.
“A few police cars stuck to you. You can shake off that much, right?”
“Chk… of course.”
“See you at home… chijik…”
His friends said nothing more about his sacrifice.
The situation had already begun, and they could not miss the chance Yu had created for them.
Yu smiled as he watched his friends leave, then pressed hard on the accelerator.
Yu’s car charged forward like a madman.
Police cars were surrounding him from all sides, but Yu was not afraid of that fact at all.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ says the run begins now, and grabs the steering wheel together with you.]
Because he was confident he could shake off all of those police cars.
Yu ran.
His speed had already gone over 200 kilometers per hour.
There was a car right in front of him.
‘Booster.’
When he switched on the nitro, his speed shot up in an instant.
The car passed 300 kilometers per hour in a flash, and the police cars grew so distant that they no longer entered his sight.
“Yu, stop! There’s a wall ahead!”
Maybe he had been watching from somewhere, because Daniel’s urgent voice came through the radio.
Listening to that voice, Yu lifted the corner of his mouth.
‘You want me to stop here?’
How could he say that to him?
To him, who was experiencing the fantastic sensation called speed right now.
As a fellow racer, how could he tell him to stop?
‘A racer dies while running, even if he dies.’
Yu ignored the words coming through the radio.
“Crazy bastard! Stop, stop! You’re going to die!”
Even with Daniel swearing and trying to stop him, Yu’s eyes were fixed straight ahead.
The wall of the building Daniel had mentioned came into view, and Yu turned the steering wheel.
Screeeech!
The car that had been racing at tremendous speed swerved to the side as if it might overturn at any moment.
The car drew a large circle and narrowly avoided the building.
Vroooom!
The car began racing again in that state.
“Cut!”
Together with the sound announcing the end of filming, the car Han Seongtae was driving also came to a stop.
“Haa… haa…!”
He was gasping roughly while gripping the steering wheel tight.
The foul smell of burning rubber and tar stabbed at his nose.
Cough, cough.
Han Seongtae coughed and got out of the car with difficulty.
It was hard to breathe.
The adrenaline released as he stepped on the accelerator had made him forget even to breathe.
That moment when he ran while holding even his breath created a strange sensation in Han Seongtae.
For a very brief moment, Han Seongtae had driven as ‘Yu,’ no, as ‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed.’
That sensation made Han Seongtae’s heart pound wildly.
A violent pounding, enough that it would not be strange if his heart burst right then.
[‘The One Who Lives and Dies by Speed’ smiles in satisfaction, saying it was an enjoyable run for the first time in a while.]
Han Seongtae was looking at the god’s message and forming a faint smile when—
“Over here!”
“Hurry and bring the extinguisher!”
Staff members came running with fire extinguishers and sprayed powder onto the wheels of the car Han Seongtae had been riding in just moments ago.
Because his field of vision had narrowed with excitement, Han Seongtae only then realized that smoke had been coming from the wheels of the car he had been riding.
“Han, are you okay?”
“Ah… yeah.”
“You crazy bastard. You could’ve died just now!”
At Rogers’s words, Han Seongtae smiled faintly.
Because he knew Rogers was saying it out of concern for him.
“I know. Sorry for worrying you.”
“Can’t you keep it in moderation? I know you love acting, but if you die, you can’t do the acting you love, so what’s the point?”
“If I die while acting, wouldn’t that be a cool death as an actor? Still… I’ll be careful.”
“Ha… you really are… insane.”
At Rogers’s mutter, Han Seongtae shrugged.
He knew.
That he seemed crazy in other people’s eyes.
But what could he do?
He liked acting enough to go crazy.
Bzzz.
Han Seongtae, who had returned to his seat for a short break, had his smartphone immediately begin ringing with a call.
Seeing the familiar name on the screen, Han Seongtae tilted his head.
‘Why is this person…?’
He answered the call.
“Are the party preparations all finished?”
At the voice from beside him, Dominic nodded and turned to look.
In his line of sight was Letty, one of the leads of Instinctive Rush.
Not Dominic’s blood relative, but his family, and a precious colleague.
She took a sip of beer in front of Dominic and opened her mouth.
“This time, we’re just doing it lightly with the usual kids again, right?”
“Yeah.”
“It’ll be nice to see everyone’s faces after so long. Roman’s been bragging like crazy on OnStar lately because he bought a car. I should ask him to let me ride it once.”
At her words, Dominic let out a small laugh.
Roman was also one of the colleagues from Instinctive Rush, and recently he had developed a habit of collecting cars.
Letty was also someone with a lot of interest in cars.
“But are we not taking in a new member? The members we have now are good, but shouldn’t we slowly fill the empty spot?”
“I actually invited one new person.”
“…What?”
At Dominic’s words, Letty’s eyes trembled slightly.
She was the one who had asked, but she had said it half as a joke.
She did not actually have any intention of adding someone new, nor did she want to.
Except for very occasionally inviting other Hollywood actors.
The existing members were enough.
More than anything, there was no way Dominic did not know what she meant by “empty spot.”
“There’s a decent actor. You’ll like him too, once you see him.”
“Who is it?”
Letty’s question did not reach Dominic.
Bzzz.
Dominic’s smartphone rang, and the moment he checked the name, he laughed and answered the call right away.
“Luna, what’s going on? You’re calling first for once?”
“I just thought of you, so I called. What are you doing?”
“I was talking about the party with Letty. You’re coming too, right?”
“I have to. Have you ever seen me not go to a party?”
“No. This party is worth looking forward to. A good actor is coming in.”
“A good actor?”
“Yeah. He’s an actor who filmed the Instinctive Rush spin-off, and he’s pretty good.”
“Uncle.”
“Huh?”
“Is that person good at driving?”
At Luna’s words, Dominic burst into laughter.
She really was his bloodline.
“He’s good. As good as your dad.”
Luna Walker.
She was also someone crazy about cars.
“Seongtae-ssi, the movie release date has been set.”
Han Seongtae was on the phone with Choi Yechan.
Choi Yechan, who had called suddenly, was telling him that the release date for He Is Coming had been set.
At his voice, full of excitement, a smile formed on Han Seongtae’s lips too.
Because Choi Yechan’s voice sounding good meant that the result had come out that well.
“Thanks to you, Seongtae-ssi, we were able to create many good scenes. At this rate, I think we can easily pass one million.”
“That’s great. Everyone worked hard together, after all. I hope the response is good.”
At Choi Yechan’s words, Han Seongtae smiled and spoke.
“When it releases, you can come watch it, right? I’ll send you tickets.”
“Of course. I’ll definitely go then.”
Even if it had not been a film he appeared in, it was a film made by someone he knew, so of course he had to go see it.
After finishing his conversation with Choi Yechan and hanging up, Han Seongtae moved his steps toward the next shoot.
As he was about to go up onto the set, Britton Lee approached and spoke to him.
“Han, we have a guest coming today. Is that all right?”
“A guest?”
“Yes. You can look forward to it.”
At his words, Han Seongtae tilted his head.
What kind of guest was he telling him to look forward to?
He was curious, but Britton Lee did not tell him.
Amid that question, filming continued.
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