Chapter 9 – I used to stutter when I was younger

Editor – SleepyMango123

Proofreader – PenguinStel

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“Huh? What about Luke?”

“It’s McGrady! That guy missed a step and sprained his ankle!” 

Hunter was dumbfounded.

“What are you waiting for? We’ve applied for a driver replacement already! Did you pay attention to today’s meeting?” 　

“What’s the use of listening? McGrady and I are different!”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re the same or not… Whatever, just do your best to drive! What are you still waiting for! Quickly go!” The spit from Marcus was about to spray onto Hunter’s face.

Hunter glanced at Winston.

The latter was indifferent, letting him suspect if the other had long known that he would be substituting.

“Hunter.”

Winston abruptly called Hunter when he was about to leave with Marcus.

“What happened?” Hunter paused his steps and turned around.

“The racer is the soul of the team. Everyone exists to coordinate to you, and not for you to coordinate to them.”

At that moment, Hunter recalled the thrill of pushing Winston’s supercar past its limits.

That’s right, isn’t it better to just be himself than to have others direct him? 

Marcus was astonished.

Winston is a man of few words, as if cherishing each word like gold.

However, he had told Hunter more than just a few words just now. 

Wait, what did he teach Hunter earlier?

It’s not the driver that should coordinate to the rest of the team, but it should be them that coordinates to the driver? 

Such headstrong words would suit Winston, but definitely not Hunter!

Hey! Don’t lead my Hunter astray!

As Hunter passed by a furious McGrady attended by a doctor, he couldn’t help but cast a sympathetic gaze.

“What are you looking at, bastard!”

Hunter shrugged his shoulders, “I only wanted to see how badly your ankle is swelling.”

“What?”

“I know you feel that I’m just a pile of dog shit, not only driving your car but also only getting the 16th, or 17th position. It’s all just an insult to your level. But so what? If your ankle doesn’t get better in a week, I still have to replace you in the match in England. I’ll be very exhausted by this!”

“What—— Don’t you dare go! Let’s see if you’ll still be so complacent when I rip your head off!”

All of the doctors immediately lent a hand to restrain McGrady. 

However, Hunter shrugged his shoulders and backed away.

“Oh god, I feel like beating up this little demon when I see him,” one of the tire technicians commented. 

“Ai… I hope that his ranking won’t be too bad…”

Amidst the boiling discussions among the crowds, the qualifying match was about to start.

All right, this might really be my last Formula 1 race.

Clearly, he had not been on the track during the practice match, yet Hunter realised that he was way more familiar with it than any other tracks.

Winston’s voice was in his mind.

It was his indifferent voice that woke Hunter, his steady composure made him determined.

I want to start in the best position.

I want to start over from the position closest to you…

Even if this might be the last time.

During the Q1 match, Benz’s ‘Great White Shark’ Ciel started at an advantage and finished first.

Hunter remained unflustered even though he was absent in the practice match and easily passed through the curves without hesitation. After Hunter finished a lap, the 8th to the 12th position instantly changed.

“My god… Hunter is in the 10th position! His lap timing is faster than McGrady by 2 seconds!”

“ Right now… This guy is in good shape… Hopefully, he can maintain his position until the end!”

As Q2 commenced, Owen from the Red Bulls team surpassed the other racers, leading the whole race. Winston, from beginning to end, maintained a huge gap and hovered between second to third place. On the other hand, Hunter steadily progressed while aggressively snapping at the opponents before him.

“It’s the ninth position already… Is blood going to rain down now?”  

When Q3 started, ‘Big White Shark’ Ciel took the lead, recapturing his position while Winton and Owen followed closely behind. Ciel had once again set the fastest speed in this round. 

Yet, Hunter was sandwiched between Karl and Ham¹Ham is aparently a hebrew name. 

I just need to lean in a bit more… Just lean a bit more.

Hunter reduced all of his speed, then released all the tension stored in the spring²Spring refers to the suspension of the car!

As the final sprint was about to end, the racer before Hunter spun out of control and crashed, allowing Hunter to smoothly rise in the ranks.

As he drove the car back, Hunter noticed Marcus’ grim gaze.

“What happened?” Hunter breathed out.

He finally released the breath he held. No matter what he did wrong, he decided that it would just go in one ear and out the other.

“You little bastard! If only you were this good last time!” 

Marcus was about to hit him, but Hunter frowned and dodged. 

“What about Luke? What’s his ranking?”

“10th place.”

Hunter exhaled a breath. Didn’t expect Luke to enter the top 10.

“What about me?”

“8th place.”

“Oh.” Hunter turned as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

He took two steps before suddenly turning back.

“I… I got into the top 10 too?”

Marcus got angered by his nonchalant attitude to the point where flames were spewing out of his eyes.

“That’s right! I feel like this is some wretched luck!”

Hunter couldn’t help but laugh.

In 3 of his previous matches, he was always hovering between the 15th and 18th positions. 

Up to this point, it was also the best-ranking achievement among all of the racers in the team yet. 

At least it was an advantageous starting point in the race, they just need to execute the 2 stops accurately. 

This was also what Winston had strategized for him. 

The race would start in the afternoon the next day. So, the whole team would start another meeting once they headed back to the hotel.

Hunter scratched his ears as he saw McGrady coming over while being supported by a doctor. 

“Aren’t you so full of yourself now, stutterer? But 8th place isn’t a big deal!”

“Of course I know. There are still many drivers who haven’t gained their momentum, but they will overtake me one by one when they go all out! ” Hunter squinted his eyes and smiled, then lowered down to glare at the sitting McGrady, “I’m going to break your ankles the next time you call me a stutterer.” 

“You…”

Before McGrady could say anything, Hunter straightened his back and turned to leave. 

As he walked, he also prattled in his heart.

He didn’t know where McGrady heard of this nickname ‘stutterer’.

Ever since elementary school, he would start to stutter once he gets nervous. Be it the time where he has to answer the teacher’s question, or when he wants to ask the girl he liked to come to his birthday party, his tongue was like a knot. 

But the nickname, ‘stutterer’, followed with him until middle school.

At that time, he had begun to join Kart racing competitions one after another and would be crowned champion frequently in the junior division. Soon, the girls who originally avoided him because of his stuttering paid attention to him, and he gradually stopped.

However, once he gets provoked, he would still become tongue-tied.

The tactic meeting had ended.

Hunter tossed and turned in his bed, unable to slumber yet.

You know, he used to be the kind of person who was fine with covering the bottom ranks. But now, as long as he closed his eyes, he could hear the sound of the engine and the clamours from the audience.

He turned on his phone and played 2 rounds of anipop, yet his heart was beating very quickly.

It’s over, all over. According to logic, a race driver should have one of the best mental states amongst the other athletics.

But at the rate of his heartbeat, it was about to fly up to the side of the sun!

Let’s look at the time again. Fuck, it’s almost one!

The room’s so depressing, I want to head out for some fresh air!

The hooded Hunter crammed his hands in his pockets and headed out of the hotel. He circled along the hotel and noticed a familiar silhouette resting on a public bench. 

The cold street lights fell on his body, but unknowingly, Hunter suddenly felt that the latter was lonely.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Hunter walked over and smiled, afterwards he crouched down. 

Winston closed his eyes as he blew out a cloud of smoke. The cigarette smoke distorted his features as if wanting to swallow everything into an inescapable abyss.

“I was thinking about someone.” His voice was very light.

 Winston’s voice had a cold, alienated tone, but there was a hint of affection as he spoke softly. 

“Who is it?” Hunter asked curiously.

“He’s already by my side.” Winston’s eyes slightly opened, appearing like he hasn’t awoken from his dreams yet.

“What the fuck!” Hunter wanted to push him off the stairs, “I really couldn’t tell! If I was a woman, I would have already laid on your bed and opened my legs already!”

“You can also open your legs now too.” Winston’s voice was indifferent, there wasn’t any hint of a joke at all. 

“Damn you, I’ll kick you!”

“Want to smoke?” Winston tilted his head over and asked.

His voice sounded low, and his solemn look seemingly expressed that his previous words weren’t just joking with Hunter.

“Sure, give me a stick!”

Winston’s cigarette should definitely be good.

“I only have this stick.” A cigarette was pinched between Winston’s fingers, he offered it towards Hunter’s direction.

He had clearly done this before, yet Winston felt like an elegant gentleman feeding a cat. 

Even if there’s only a stick left, he still wants to take a puff!

Let’s see what sort of cigarette Winston smokes!

Hunter smilingly brought his face closer and directly bit the mouth of the cigarette, then ‘snatched’ the whole stick over.

Winston deliberately didn’t pinch it too hard, but simply let go. 

Hunter narrowed his eyes and was about to enjoy it before he immediately knitted his eyebrows.

“Hey—— Why are you also smoking Camel!”

“Then what should I be smoking?”

“American Spirit?”

“I’ll try it next time.”

“Oh… Thank you.”

“Thanking me for?”

“If it wasn’t you simulating the Gilles Villeneuve track in my mind, I might have been in complete shambles during the qualifying match.”

Hunter squinted his eyes as he exhaled the smoke.

He doesn’t understand why every time Winston was by his side, the cheap cigarettes would taste so mellow instead of choking his throat.

“That sort of simulation isn’t useful at all. Your rank in the qualifying match is the result of your own ability.”

“Fine, then let me tell you a secret of mine as thanks… Although it doesn’t count as a secret anymore since many people already know about it.”

“En.”

“I used to stutter when I was younger. If I get nervous or angry, I would stutter even more, so I would constantly be laughed at. No one would play with me because they thought that they would inexplicably start to stutter too.”

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The author has something to say:

When frying eggs:

Hunter: I would stutter once I panicked.

Winston: It’s also good if you stutter sometimes.

Hunter: Ah, when?

Winston: When you repeat my name as I fuck you.

Hunter: …

A little tip: Formula 1 is divided into many different races, so Hunter and Winston have to fly around the world.

The top 8 ranks, right now 10, in each match would be rewarded with points. The one with the highest points after a year would win the individual grand championship. The team’s drivers who have accumulated the highest points in total would win the team grand championship. 

Formula 1 is divided into parts: Practice match, qualifying match and the main match.

The qualifying match is separated into 3, Q1/Q2/Q3, the ranks in the qualifying match would decide the order in the main match, so the qualifying match is very important. 

Fat melon’s³Refering to the author relevant source of information comes from Baidu, so there might be a bug sometimes. It is important to kindly remind me, but it loses its meaning if you come and belittle me. To be honest, there are geniuses in every field, so making mistakes is normal, hence I am willing to make the changes, but I don’t like to be ridiculed.

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Notes:

nura cries:

Sorry that this chapter is late! I’m currently rushing a project rn and forgot that it was a sunday sweats ><

I’ve made a change in the previous chapter regarding chief of technology! Since this term isn’t used often in F1, I have decided to change it to technical director from now on since the roles are the same(or at least based on my research)!

Btw, please remember to take care of yourselves!!

• 1
  Ham is aparently a hebrew name
• 2
  Spring refers to the suspension of the car
• 3
  Refering to the author