That night, the moon above Seoul was unnaturally bright. Silver light poured down over the racetrack in Yongin, casting a cold glow across the asphalt. Engines roared, shaking the grandstands as the crowd screamed a single name in wild unison.
"Kang Taejun! Kang Taejun!"
He was the heir of the Kang family, the eldest son of the chairman of Kang Motors, and the undefeated champion of the circuit.
Inside the matte-black Red race car, number 7, Kang Taejun gripped the steering wheel tightly. Beneath his helmet, his sharp eyes remained steady and unshaken.
"Final lap! Just one more corner, victory will be his once again!"
In another corner of the city, the live broadcast of the race happened to be playing by accident, its distant commentary clashing with the quiet grief of a small family.
A modest apartment in Mapo lay still.
Han Seoah knelt on the living room floor. Moonlight filtered through the window, spilling softly over the black fur of the cat in her arms.
"Bam… don't go…"
Her voice trembled.
The small black Persian cat breathed faintly, its fragile body growing weaker by the second. Seoah gently stroked Bam's belly, her hand shaking as she tried to comfort him.
Bam slowly released a thin, fragile breath.
And then.....
With no strength left, he quietly closed his eyes.
At the racetrack in Yongin, Kang Taejun slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The engine's roar shook the frame of the car as the black-and-red number 7 shot forward beneath the blazing stadium lights like a bullet.
The cheers from the grandstands merged into a single, thunderous wave of sound.
Just one more corner. Victory was right in front of him.
And then...!
Click!
The brake pedal sank deeper than it should have.
Taejun stiffened. Beneath his helmet, his sharp eyes narrowed.
He pressed it again.
Click!
The pedal dropped even further, no resistance.
His heart lurched.
(What's going on…? The mechanics checked everything before the race…)
At over 240 kilometers per hour, a fraction of a second's mistake meant death.
He pumped the brakes again. No pressure returned. Inside his leather gloves, his palms grew slick with sweat as he tightened his grip on the wheel. A sudden instinct made his eyes flick toward the pit lane.
The maintenance crew stood lined along the edge of the track, waving enthusiastically, convinced he was about to claim another victory.
Among them stood Park Jihoon, head mechanic and Taejun's closest friend, at the very front.
Jihoon had been smiling.
But the smile slowly faded. He tilted his head, staring at car number 7 with growing unease.
Taejun was looking back at them.
(He shouldn't be paying attention to the sidelines right now…!)
Jihoon frowned.
(What's with that look?)
Inside the cockpit, Taejun gripped the steering wheel tightly. The final corner was rushing toward him fast. He made a split-second decision and downshifted hard, hoping the engine braking would help slow the car.
The sudden force made the rear end fishtail. The tires screeched violently against the track.
Screeeeeech!!!
The sound was so sharp and piercing that spectators barely had time to cover their ears. The brakes dragged harshly, sparks flickering where the wheels scraped against the asphalt.
In the pit lane, Jihoon's face instantly drained of color.
"The brakes are failing!" he shouted.
Car number 7 lost stability, hurtling into the turn at an uncontrollable speed. Beneath the unnaturally bright full moon, the champion's final lap was unraveling before everyone's eyes.
Taejun's eyes widened.
"What...?!"
The car didn't slow down. It charged into the corner far too fast.
A deafening crash exploded across the track.
The car flipped under the blinding floodlights and the crowd's horrified screams. Black smoke billowed into the air. Taejun's body was violently thrown from the wreckage, and his neck struck the concrete barrier with brutal force.
The roar of the engine sputtered and died. Under the cold moonlight, his name, so loudly chanted moments before, fell into silence. And the world before his eyes went dark.
"Kang Taejun, the eldest son of the chairman of Kang Motors, has suffered one of the most severe accidents in recent years of motorsports competition at Yongin Speedway in Yongin, Seoul. He remains in a coma and is in critical condition. Police authorities and the team's engineers are urgently investigating the cause, including a possible brake system malfunction that may have been a key factor in the incident…"
The news anchor's voice trembled slightly.
Footage of the black-and-red number 7 car flipping across the track replayed again and again on the television screen. The wail of sirens echoed faintly from the small speakers, filling the old apartment in Mapo.
But in the cramped living room, Han Seoah wasn't looking at the screen.
She was kneeling on the floor, her hands shaking as she pressed down on the tiny chest of Bam, the black Persian cat she had raised since high school.
"Bam… breathe… can you hear me… come back to Mom… please…"
She performed chest compressions over and over, tears dripping onto the glossy black fur that was slowly growing cold.
"Bam… don't leave me…"
The small body in her arms gave a faint twitch.
And then....!
Bam drew one last breath.
It was so soft, so fragile, like a single gust of wind brushing briefly against her back.
The body in Seoah's arms fell still.
"No… no… Bam!"
Her cry shattered the quiet room. Tears streamed endlessly down her face as her trembling hand wiped the droplets falling onto the cat's lifeless features.
On the television, the report about Kang Taejun's accident continued to replay without pause.
But Seoah's world had fallen silent.
Everything around her began to move more slowly… and slower… until the stillness itself felt suffocating.
"Seoah… sweetheart…"
A middle-aged woman's voice came from behind her.
Kim Minjung, her forty-two-year-old mother, hurried over and knelt beside her daughter, her face filled with worry.
She wrapped her arms tightly around Seoah's shoulders.
"That's enough, honey… Bam isn't in pain anymore."
Seoah shook her head violently.
"I couldn't save him… Mom… I couldn't save him…"
Minjung gently stroked her daughter's hair, fighting back her own tears.
"You did everything you could… Bam knew how much he was loved."
Seoah held the small body even tighter, as if afraid that the moment she let go, even the memories would slip away.
Outside the window, the full moon continued to cast its cold silver light.
On the other side of the city, in a hospital room, Kang Taejun's heart monitor let out a long, unbroken tone.
And in a small apartment beneath that same moonlight, something was about to change both of their destinies forever.