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Looking back, Jaemin isn’t sure which of them officially suggested circuit driving as their next Just Do It activity. In fact, it’s possible that neither of them did – they might have just naturally gravitated towards it as the most logical option, given Jeno’s years-long obsession with F1 and Jaemin’s own budding interest in it.
(Of course, said interest stems entirely from Jaemin’s desire to make Jeno happy, to give him someone he can talk to about this aspect of his life that’s so important to him. But he does genuinely enjoy the sport too, now that he’s grown more familiar with it, so it just made sense for them to finally try it for themselves.)
He decides that it doesn’t matter whose idea it was, ultimately – he’s too busy being amused by how Jeno can barely contain his excitement during the ride to Everland Speedway. It’s gotten to the point where his and Jaemin’s usual roles are reversed and Jaemin is the one trying to calm him down for once. “Relax a little,” Jaemin says as he stills Jeno’s bouncing leg with a hand on his thigh. “You look like you’re about to vibrate out of your skin.”
“I’ve wanted to do this forever,” Jeno says unnecessarily, because even if the Mercedes jacket he made a point of wearing today hadn’t made it obvious, Jaemin is the last person who needs to be reminded of how long he’s wished for this.
Jaemin’s gaze softens into the affectionate look that’s reserved for Jeno only. “I know, baby. We’ll be there soon.”
Jeno places his hand on top of Jaemin’s, and Jaemin flips it so they can interlace their fingers. With a smile, Jeno squeezes it gently. “I can’t wait.”
They arrive ten minutes later, and Jeno’s restlessness only grows. He does hide it fairly well as they film the intro together, but Jaemin knows him – the way he’s shifting his weight and fidgeting with his hands is an obvious tell that he’s itching to get started.
Fortunately, they’re able to transition immediately into their theory lesson with their instructor. From the moment they walk in, Jeno is so palpably happy to be there that Jaemin can’t help going into high-tension mode, feeding off his boyfriend’s positive energy and speaking in his signature higher-pitched tone as he expresses his eagerness to learn more.
Jeno shows his enthusiasm differently – he’s the perfect student, listening attentively and answering questions easily in his endearing, bashfully proud way. And when their instructor is visibly impressed by the extent of Jeno’s knowledge, Jaemin can’t resist declaring, “Jeno likes F1,” even though no one asked, just so everyone involved is aware of how dedicated Jeno is to this, and also how well Jaemin knows him.
As the lesson concludes, Jaemin decides he’s going to act up a little, just to see what Jeno will do while he’s in this giddily happy state. Usually, he subtly reprimands Jaemin, or tells him to stop, or most thrillingly, indicates some kind of promise for punishment later. They’re all outcomes that Jaemin admittedly likes very much, but he’s certain that Jeno is going to react differently today, and he’s curious to see how.
Sure enough, when Jaemin bounces in his seat, whining in his brattiest voice, “Ah, I can’t wait to go!” Jeno just laughs and very gently says, “Let’s go.” (It’s in such stark contrast to any of his typical brat-tamer go-tos that Jaemin files the information away for later use immediately – when Jeno is in a good enough mood, Jaemin can apparently get away with things he normally wouldn’t be able to.)
Their instructor shows them the cars they’ll be driving, describing them as sexy – though personally, Jaemin thinks Jeno correctly stating how much horsepower the cars have is actually sexier than the cars themselves. But they are pretty sexy too, so he’s able to ignore the urge to kiss Jeno senseless that always arises when Jeno shows off how competent he is and instead focus on how cool it is to be able to drive such a fancy vehicle.
Granted, it takes him a while to actually settle in. He makes a lot of noise the whole time, since he knows he can do it without Jeno saying anything now, and it takes him an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to use any part of the car – but eventually, he’s comfortable enough and ready to go.
Driving on the track turns out to be extremely fun, especially because Jaemin can hear Jeno’s constant little noises of enjoyment over the mics they’re using throughout the ride. (They’re actually noises that, interestingly enough, sound like slightly toned-down versions of the ones Jaemin usually makes. Any other time, he might have ribbed Jeno a bit over how he’s always scolding Jaemin for doing basically the same thing, but he’s just so cute and precious that Jaemin doesn’t have the heart to go through with it.)
Part of the way through the circuit, Jeno makes an unexpected request. “Would it be okay if Jaemin switches places with me?”
“What for?” the instructor asks, obviously bewildered. Jaemin pays close attention to the response – he has his suspicions, but he wants to hear Jeno say it.
Jeno coughs, sounding a bit sheepish but nonetheless determined as he explains, “Well, I know it might seem strange, but I just – like to be able to see him. So I know he’s okay.”
Oh, Jeno, Jaemin thinks, overwhelmed by how fond he is of his ridiculous, overprotective, and very sweet boyfriend. It’s exactly what he thought Jeno would say, but he’s still utterly charmed by it. “It’s a little habit of his,” he says aloud. “I’m fine with switching spots, if it’s not any trouble.”
The instructor still seems somewhat confused – understandably so, given that he’s not privy to the fact that Jeno’s protectiveness is born from the true nature of their relationship – but he confirms that it’s okay, so Jeno slows down to allow Jaemin to overtake him. Neither of them says anything else about it, but Jaemin is quietly pleased, knowing that Jeno is enjoying himself even more now that Jaemin is safely within his sight.
The drive ends all too soon, but any disappointment Jaemin feels at having to stop is quelled the moment he gets out of the car and sees Jeno’s eyes sparkling with genuine delight. His face lights up even more when the instructor praises their driving – although, notoriously bad at accepting compliments as he is, he does also bring up his supposed failures related to the brakes. Jaemin contemplates reassuring him that he’s never done anything wrong, ever, but decides to save it for when they’re back home and he can throw in some kisses and references to Jeno’s sexual prowess to strengthen his argument.
Their next activity is the circuit taxi, which Jeno seems to be anticipating greatly. Upon hearing the description, Jaemin understands why, and has to proclaim, “That sounds so fun,” because it does.
“Did you decide on who gets in the front and back?” their instructor asks.
Jaemin automatically turns to Jeno to initiate a game of rock, paper, scissors – as usual, Jeno throws scissors, which loses to Jaemin’s rock.
(He’s long suspected, of course, that Jeno always picks scissors because he knows Jaemin will choose rock. He’ll never ask, though, because he kind of likes that Jeno has maintained the pretense for basically as long as they’ve known each other, that one of his thousands of acts of love is losing on purpose just to let Jaemin think he’s just really good at the game.
Still, act of love or not, it’s extremely funny that Jeno whines and sulks and complains after he loses, as if he didn’t entirely knowingly and intentionally bring it upon himself.)
As a treat to rile Jeno up even more while he’s sitting in the back seat, Jaemin makes a point of laughing and moaning and just generally being a menace as they head out and enter the track again. To his absolute delight, Jeno actually joins in once they start rounding the curves – more quietly and less frequently, because he never lets himself be completely unreserved in public, but he’s calling out “Oh, yeah!” and laughing and whooping along with Jaemin the whole time. Jaemin wishes they were sitting next to each other, just so he would be able to see the sheer euphoria on Jeno’s face.
Following in the footsteps of the other Just Do It episodes, the last segment involves them competing against each other. As they head to their cars, Jaemin sidles up next to Jeno and smiles innocently. “So, what’s our bet this time?”
Jeno returns the smile, shaking his head fondly. “You can come up with the terms. You already know I’ll go along with whatever you want.”
Jaemin pouts. “But that’s no fun!” he says, whining exaggeratedly. “If you’re really going along with whatever I want, then I want us to choose each other’s terms.”
“Okay, you win,” Jeno says, caving immediately like he always does. Abruptly, he leans closer and lowers his voice, his lips brushing Jaemin’s ear as he speaks. “But don’t think I haven’t been keeping track of how much you’ve been acting up today.”
“Oh,” Jaemin gasps, his eyes momentarily fluttering shut as he shivers at the hint of heat in Jeno’s tone. “Well, I was hoping you were.”
“I’m sure,” Jeno murmurs, and Jaemin can hear his smile. “How about this? If you win, you get to decide what I’ll do about it when we get home.”
“And if you win, you do whatever you want instead,” Jaemin says, his heart already racing in anticipation.
“Deal,” Jeno says, and he seals it with a feather-light kiss to Jaemin’s temple before he draws away to go to his car.
The course they have to complete doesn’t seem too bad from the outside, but actually driving it is more challenging than Jaemin thought. It turns out to be even more challenging for Jeno, though, because he hits cones on both his runs. Jaemin, on the other hand, hits two the first time, but he locks in for the second one, going a little more slowly – and it pays off, because he manages to avoid getting any penalties.
The instructor reveals their scores, explains that Jeno’s raw time was one second faster than Jaemin’s, but had two seconds added on where Jaemin had none. Still caught up in being impressed and unsurprised by Jeno’s superior speed, Jaemin asks, without really thinking, “But isn’t Jeno still in first place?”
That isn’t how math works, as it turns out, so Jaemin gets declared the winner. He smiles as Jeno applauds, already planning out exactly what he’s going to have Jeno do to him that night. But he can’t bring the bet up on camera, of course, so he instead focuses on making a good outro for the video after they receive their trophies and licenses.
“It was such a rewarding experience,” he says honestly. “Quite overwhelming too, though. I have a feeling I’m going to come back here often.” He doesn’t look at Jeno as he says it, can’t see his face, but he hears Jeno’s soft laugh and knows he must be positively thrilled at the assurance that they’re going to return here together.
“It’s been a while since I had such a dopamine-boosting day like this. Thank you so much,” Jeno says when it’s his turn, and Jaemin believes it, can feel the contentment and satisfaction radiating off him in waves.
He’s overcome, suddenly, with the need to make sure Jeno knows how much he enjoyed today too. “It was so much fun, really,” he says. “It was the most fun experience I’ve had for Just Do It.” (And okay, maybe he feels that way after every episode – after all, everything he does with Jeno has the potential to be his new favorite experience. But this is the first time he’s said it on camera, which makes it more significant.)
After the episode has wrapped up, they take some photos in front of the cars and film a TikTok inside one. “What pose do you want to do?” Jeno asks as they come together for their duo pictures.
Jaemin already has his answer fully prepared. “You be my sexy F1 driver boyfriend,” he says, batting his eyelashes, “and I’ll be your pretty girlfriend.”
“Of course,” Jeno says with a smile. “I should have guessed.”
Jaemin smirks. “Who can also beat your ass in a race. Don’t forget that part.”
Jeno huffs out a laugh. “I could never,” he says.
“Good,” Jaemin says, smiling sweetly. “Because I’m planning to collect my prize from you all night.”
They take the pictures like that – Jaemin stands demurely and puckers his lips, flaunting the fact that he knows he’s pretty, while Jeno obediently stands next to him and acts like he’s trying not to stare too much. (Though, Jaemin thinks affectionately, he might not actually be acting at all.)
Jeno offers to take the passenger seat for the TikTok, but Jaemin waves him off. “You’re the driver,” he reminds Jeno. “I’m the girlfriend who gets driven wherever I want.”
“I know, princess,” Jeno says fondly. “Just wanted to give you the option.” It’s so sweet and quintessentially Jeno that Jaemin has to sneak in a quick kiss while no one is looking. The shyly pleased smile on Jeno’s face afterwards makes the risk completely worth it.
The ride home is mostly quiet, until Jeno breaks the silence. “Was this really the most fun episode for you?” he asks, his arm wrapped around Jaemin’s shoulders.
“It was,” Jaemin says, warm and content in Jeno’s hold. “Because you were the happiest I’ve seen you in a long time. So I was the happiest I could be, too.”
Jeno’s eyes are soft as he leans close and nudges Jaemin’s nose with his own. “Love you, Nana. Always.”
Jaemin nuzzles into Jeno’s neck and sighs happily. “I know, Jen. I love you too.”