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Formula 1 @f1 · 8 jan
BREAKING! Huh Yunjin to replace Choi Yena at Source F1 after her departure from the team. What are your thoughts?
158 replies 4.5k retweets 19k likes.
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It’s an early January morning when Chaewon and Yunjin first meet, everyone in the meeting room is half-asleep and it is way too cold, at least for Chaewon; everyone else seemed to be having no problems with the cold, except for the rookie, because the girl is shaking a bit, but that might just be a case of mild anxiety, Chaewon thinks, she didn’t care anyway, she wasn’t here to make friends with the so-called “prodigy rookie” from Williams, she was only here because her manager, Eunbi, might’ve actually killed her if she didn’t show up.
The rookie, Yunjin, Chaewon thought in her head, smiled at her from across the room, she tries to give her a genuine smile, but she probably shoots her something closer to a half-assed smile, Yena always said she was bad at hiding her emotions. The rest of the meeting passed by in a blur, something about how Mr. Bang and Yunjin had brought new sponsors to the team and that the car was supposed to be incredibly competitive this year, Chaewon didn’t listen, she could just look at Eunbi’s notes later in the day.
By the time the meeting finally ends, Chaewon is practically falling asleep, the coffee she had in her hand is empty and she’s already making plans for later in the day, I should meet Yujin for lunch and then I can call mom— Chaewon is half out the door when Yunjin comes up to her and tells her some corny shit about how she was really rooting for her last season, that she was a big fan of her, “I’m really excited to work with you.”
“Likewise,” Chaewon responds, shooting the rookie a small smile before moving again.
And then— “actually, I was wondering if I could have your number? To make communication easier,” Yunjin had grabbed her arm and pulled her back, “I figured communicating through our managers would be too much of a hassle,” she was looking at her with an hopeful look on her face, she looked more like a puppy, and Chaewon thought about it, there wasn’t any reason as to why she shouldn’t give her number to the rookie, her reasoning made sense, but, if she gave out her number, she might think her and Chaewon are friendly and she might start sending her funny videos or something and she didn’t need any more of those.
In the midst of her thoughts, she starts looking around the room, as if she was looking for an excuse to get out of this conversation, Yunjin is still looking at her expectantly, and Chaewon, unfortunately, makes eye contact with her manager, who shoots her a sharp look, like a mom telling her kid to be nice and goddammit now she has to give her number to the rookie, she thinks.
“Ok,” Chaewon finally responds, Yunjin hands her phone to the older, who saves herself as Chaewon Kim before handing it back to her, “I’ll see you around!” The younger says before she’s out the door and Chaewon barely has any time to respond, kids these days, she thinks, “she’s only a year younger than you,” Eunbi says, and she must’ve thought out loud, “whatever, a year is a year,” Chaewon responds before turning around to leave.
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Unknown number 8:32
Hi
this is yunjin
pls don’t forget to save my number :p
Chaewon Kim 8:35
oh
sure
yunjin (teammate) 8:35
great!
hopefully i’ll see you around
Chaewon Kim 8:41
yeah
read 8:42
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When the first race of the season rolls around, Chaewon finds Yunjin sitting on a bench on the rooftop of the hotel that they were staying at, the girl had had an awful qualifying session, she didn’t even make it out of Q1 because of some issue with her car, so much for it being incredibly competitive, her eyes were puffy and her nose was bright red, she’d clearly been crying for a while now.
Chaewon chooses not to say anything, instead moving to sit next to Yunjin, the girl doesn’t seem to acknowledge her, they sit in silence for a couple minutes, Chaewon gently puts her hand on the brunettes back, patting her softly, like you would to a puppy, she knew how a bad quali session could leave you feeling.
“It’s not that bad, you know,” the oldest of the two starts, “you can always gain positions during the race tomorrow.” Yunjin is looking at her now, she seems surprised at Chaewon’s words, “and the team weren’t expecting you to do incredible, you’re still getting used to the car, after all.”
“I know,” Yunjin replies quietly, “its just—” she wipes her tears, which have slowly started falling again— “everyone is comparing me to you, you got pole position and—” Chaewon interrupts her before Yunjin starts self-deprecating, “shut up, you’re only making yourself feel worse.”
“I was asked if I thought the team made a mistake by signing me, it’s like the media and the reporters are waiting for me to fail,” Yunjin speaks once more, her tears are falling freely now.
They probably are, Chaewon thinks, she doesn’t say that out loud, she doesn’t need to hurt the girl more. “Do you think it was a mistake?” Yunjin speaks again, softly, this time, she looks scared to hear the other girls answer, and Chaewon looks almost shocked at how blunt Yunjin was, “no,” she turns to look at her before she continues, “you make a good addition to the team, you have lots of potential, it’s just a matter of you getting used to the car.” They fall silent, but Yunjin’s tears stopped and now they’re just sitting there on that bench.
“That’s probably the most words you’ve ever spoken to me,” the brunette blurts out after a few minutes, as if she had just realized this, “hey! I speak,” Chaewon responds, with a joking tone to her voice, “not to me, you don’t,” Yunjin quickly shoots back, laughing lightly, the older laughs along with her, surprised at how easily she can just joke around with Yunjin and then— “I feel like you don’t really like me,” the younger blurts out again, but it’s not—she doesn’t say it in an accusatory manner, its like she’s merely stating a fact.
‘It’s not that,” she answers after a bit, not completely, at least, Chaewon thinks, “It’s just…” she clears her throat, trying to find the right words, trying to put her thoughts into words in a way that won’t make the younger girl feel any worse than she already does.
“My old teammate, Yena, she...” Chaewon starts, “I was very close to her; she was the first teammate I ever had, you know?” the older continues, “so when I found out that the team was replacing her with a rookie,” she clears her throat again, “I wasn’t the happiest.”
“I guess I disliked the idea of you.”
Yunjin looks at her with an unreadable expression, “but I don’t dislike you, you haven’t given me any reason to, you’re a really nice girl, actually, very funny” and Chaewon curses in her head because she wasn’t supposed to say that last part out loud.
“Oh.”
Chaewon ends with a quiet, “I’m sorry if I made you think I didn’t like you or something, it wasn’t my intention,” and Yunjin dismisses her apology, saying it isn’t that deep, Chaewon smiles softly.
The two girls stay on that rooftop bench for a couple more hours, joking around a bit, Chaewon gives her advice on where to break on the track, who to avoid in the paddock and how to deal with the car in a better way, not as well as me is the implication, because no driver would actually give their competition advice, but Yunjin seems to ignore that piece of information, choosing to just smile and act like she’s taking notes with an imaginary notepad and pen.
It’s almost 1 in the morning before the oldest of the pair finally gets up, stating that it was way too cold and they needed to get sleep, they had a race tomorrow, after all, and the younger counters with something about how they didn’t even need to wake up early tomorrow, but Chaewon ignores her, rolling her eyes and practically dragging her teammate back to her hotel room.
Its only when Chaewon is in her own bed, in her own hotel room, that she really thinks about the interactions she shared with her teammate, how easily Yunjin joked around with her and how at ease she felt in the younger girls presence and—they’re not friends, by any means, but Chaewon thinks and maybe hopes, even, that in the future, they are.
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Formula 1 @f1 · 5 mar
Chaewon Kim wins the Bahrain Grand Prix!
After a magnificent drive, Kim finishes ahead of both Red Bulls, Perez (P2) and Verstappen (P3).
#BahrainGP #F1
938 replies 3.1k retweets 28k likes.
Yunjin Huh @jenaissante · 5 march
P10!!! First points of the season after a very hard, but exciting drive. Thank you @SourceF1Team for the support! #BahrainGP
109 replies 1.1k retweets 13k likes.