Work Text:
“Daeyoung?”
A low hum.
“You okay?”
Riku’s voice made Daeyoung look up at him, finally tearing his eyes from the phone he had been staring at for twenty long minutes now.
“Nervous,” he admitted with a chuckle, turning the screen off and setting it on the coffee table. Riku saw the familiar flicker in his eyes. He was not lying — but he wasn’t telling him everything.
“Is it about the race tonight?” Riku’s voice dropped quiet. It made a shiver spread through Daeyoung’s body. He just nodded and pressed his lips together.
“Kiss,” Riku said simply, tapping Daeyoung’s shoulder. That made Daeyoung smile and lean in, pressing his lips against Riku’s.
It was gentle — soft. Daeyoung closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck.
Riku pulled away too quickly. Daeyoung looked up at him as the older man cupped his face, thumbs caressing his cheekbones.
“Let’s get ready, yeah? It's an important day,” Riku smiled and quickly pecked Daeyoung’s lips once more before standing up and leaving Daeyoung alone on the couch with his thoughts.
“...Yeah, important.”
Riku was sitting on the dressing room floor with his back against the lockers. He was scrolling on his phone. He sighed at the negativity radiating through his screen. His chest felt tight with every loud headline.
“Maeda Riku and Kim Daeyoung spotted in Japan on vacation — Possible fight?”
“Riku’s and Daeyoung’s relationship is fake?”
“Everything was a lie! Queerbaited into fame.”
Riku was so close to throwing his phone at the tiled floor. His head was throbbing and his ears were ringing way too loud for his liking.
“Fucking stupid,” he muttered under his breath.
“Riku?” Daeyoung’s voice.
Riku’s head snapped up immediately, the tension easing just at the sight of him. Daeyoung crossed the room, sat beside him on the floor and slid his arm around the other’s waist.
“Everything okay?” Daeyoung asked gently. His breath brushed gently against Riku’s ear. Riku closed his eyes and let his head fall on Daeyoung’s shoulder.
“No,” Riku whispered, “People are being so horrible on the internet — again.”
“It’s the internet, Riku. Isn’t that kinda obvious?” Daeyoung chuckled — not to mock, but to ease Riku’s nerves — then sighed, “What’re they saying?”
“That we aren’t actually a thing. That we’re some fake PR stunt. Apparently a couple of fans saw us arguing and now—” Riku cut himself off, jaw tightening. He opened his eyes, meeting Daeyoung’s.
Daeyoung cupped his face without hesitation, leaned in, and kissed him. A deep, steadying kiss that poured calm back into Riku’s chest. Every time their lips met, the noise of the world fell away.
When they parted, Daeyoung’s gaze held his, “Promise me you’ll win today?”
Riku swallowed, then nodded. “Promise.”
The night air was filled with the smell of gasoline and smoke, the hum of engines filling the pit like a restless heartbeat. Daeyoung’s hands wouldn’t settle. He tightened his gloves, loosened them, checked his helmet even though it sat perfectly on his head. Riku leaned against his own bike, watching him. He could read every flicker of nerves in Daeyoung’s movements.
“Hey,” Riku’s voice was steady, cutting through the metallic roar around them. He stepped in close, one gloved hand finding Daeyoung’s shoulder. Daeyoung lifted his head and Riku was met with those restless eyes behind the open visor. For a moment Riku just looked at him. The furrow in his brows, the tension in his jaw, the way his chest rose too fast under his gear.
“It’s okay,” Riku tried his best to calm Daeyoung down, “We’ve done this a hundred times. You told me to win — I will.”
Daeyoung swallowed, the corner of his mouth twitching behind the helmet, “Thank you.”
That earned him a crooked smirk. Riku tapped his fingers against the side of Daeyoung’s helmet, then leaned in close enough that his forehead pressed against Daeyoung’s visor. Instead of a kiss to the lips, Riku pressed a teasing peck right against the hard curve of Daeyoung’s mouthguard.
Before Daeyoung could react, Riku reached up and tugged down the visor, snapping it shut. Daeyoung’s eyes disappeared behind it.
Without another word, Riku turned and walked toward his bike, his leather jacket catching the floodlight. Daeyoung let out the breath he’d been holding and shook his head with a small laugh no one could hear under the engine noise.
The roar of the crowd bled into the scream of engines as the racers lined up. Riku’s gloves tightened around the handlebars, leather creaking from the force. To his left, Johnny revved his engine loud enough to rattle bones, eyes cutting over with a cocky tilt of his head before he clicked his visor down with a wink. To the right, Jay leaned forward against his bike, giving a nod at Riku.
Riku leaned into the machine, his pulse syncing with the vibration of the engine. Behind him, he could feel Daeyoung — not see, not hear, just feel the hum of his bike like a second heartbeat in his chest.
The flag went up.
“Promise me you’ll win today?”
The flag was down in a second.
Tires screeched and smoke bit the air. Riku surged ahead, wind slamming against his chest as the track blurred beneath him. Adrenaline spread in his blood, sharpening all his senses.
Another racer cut close. Riku didn’t flinch. He shifted his weight, sliding back into the lead with cold precision. Johnny shot forward on the road, his engine howling, but Riku was already reading the line of the next corner, braking just enough to slip past. Daeyoung’s hum stayed close, steady. Riku caught glimpses of him in the mirrors, his body low and tight against the bike.
Halfway through, Johnny tried again. He did a reckless swerve that nearly clipped Daeyoung. Daeyoung handled it, tires skidding, then catching, his bike straightening with a burst of speed that shoved him back into the race.
The last stretch opened wide, the finish line getting closer and closer. Jay pushed hard, but Riku remembered his promise from earlier and leaned into the wind. The crowd’s noises disappeared from his ears as he got to the finish line—
First.
The crowd erupted. The world around Riku blurred, and just like that, the race was over.
Riku ripped his helmet off, sweat slicking his hair to his forehead. He left his helmet at his parked bike as his eyes went straight back down the track.
Daeyoung rolled in seconds later, his helmet lifting. His face was flushed, but his grin was wide and real. Riku’s own chest eased, a different kind of adrenaline rushing through him as Daeyoung left his own helmet at his bike and pulled up beside him.
They didn’t need words. Just a look, a laugh that broke out between them, and the solid thud of Riku’s hand clapping Daeyoung’s shoulder.
“You kept your promise,” Daeyoung smiled at Riku, wrapping his arms around his waist. Riku nodded
“I always do.”
They kissed deep. They didn’t even care about the crowd right now. Didn’t care if they thought it was real, didn’t care if they thought it was fake.
What mattered to them was them. Their own feelings.
Daeyoung slowly pulled away, his hand shaking against Riku’s back, “Let’s eat well today, hyung.”
Riku smiled at the quiet words and nodded, pecking Daeyoung’s lips again.
Daeyoung’s hands slipped from Riku’s waist. He searched Riku’s eyes, scanning them with care, “Before we go, I want to tell you something.”
A low hum.
Daeyoung stepped back with a sharp inhale. He kept his eyes on Riku’s as he dropped to one knee. His fingers fumbled at his back pocket before finding something to show Riku.
Riku froze. His eyes were wide and his vision was slowly blurring from tears as he saw the small black box in Daeyoung’s trembling hands.
“Maeda Riku,” Daeyoung began, his voice cracking, “We’ve spent every moment with each other ever since we moved in together one year, four months and twentyone days ago. I sound insane counting but…” he laughed weakly, wiping his cheek with his sleeve. Riku let out a broken sound that was half laugh, half sob.
“The day I met you in the library — that was the best day of my life. I’d just moved to America and didn’t know anyone and you—” Daeyoung’s voice wavered, “—you came up to me. You were willing to help me. You made me feel like I wasn’t alone.
At this point Daeyoung’s eyes were spilling out small tears onto his cheeks as he tried his best not to burst out crying.
“You turned out to be good at Korean, and my Japanese was decent. We found a great way to talk with one another. I told you everything about me and you told me everything about you. I started racing because of you. I— I finally learned Japanese properly because of you. Because of you, I am happy. The happiest I’ve ever been.”
Riku sobbed into his arm, trying his best to keep his eyes open. Tears were streaming down his face at every word Daeyoung let out of his mouth.
Daeyoung’s voice dropped low, “I want to return that favor. I want us to be happy together. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Maeda Riku, will you marry me?” Daeyoung asked as he opened the small box and revealed the small diamond ring inside it. It shined in the soft moonlight.
Riku cursed under his breath, his whole body slightly shaking as he cried into his arm. He wiped his eyes with no results as he just kept crying. He opened his mouth slightly to answer, but nothing came out.
He took in a deep breath and nodded, “Yes,” he whispered as if only for Daeyoung to hear.
“Yes, I will marry you.”
Daeyoung’s head dropped down and tears fell onto the asphalt under him. He looked at Riku again, reaching for the ring inside the box and taking it out. He gently grabbed Riku’s trembling hand and slid the small object onto his ring finger.
Riku admired it for a beat before dropping down on the ground in front of Daeyoung and hugging him tight, tears spilling onto his shoulder. The world around them didn’t exist anymore. It was just them. The words “will you marry me” repeated themselves in Riku’s mind, forcing more sobs out of his throat.
Riku finally pulled out of the hug, his leather covered palms cupping Daeyoung’s face. He smiled with teary eyes and Daeyoung couldn't help but smile back.
“Thank you,” Riku whispered before leaning in and kissing Daeyoung. He tasted the tears on his lips, but he couldn’t care less.
“Forever” had just started.