Chapter 20
-School Rapper Season 2, counting down to production?
-What kind of rappers will be discovered this time? School Rapper begins accepting applications.
After sending Kim Drum off, I sat in the recording studio and skimmed through the articles.
-If this one succeeds too, the adult rappers should be on edge.
-I saw last time that even the young kids were good. I hope a lot of talented kids come out this season too.
There was definitely a charm to a competition exclusively for students, different from adult rappers.
That heat still lingered with the public.
By the way, for me—who had lived until just before thirty—to participate here.
It was a strange feeling.
'I even almost went out as a recruited cast member.'
The moment Yeon Jimin came to visit flashed through my mind again.
-We need student Park Jahun, for School Rapper 2.
She had said she wanted to put my character into this work.
Perhaps it wouldn't have been bad if I had just taken Yeon Jimin's hand right then.
'…Even though it's a work that remained as black history, there's always a biggest beneficiary each season.'
With the information I had, if I had accepted the casting offer and joined, I could have risen to that position.
It meant there was enough merit for the system to offer it as a reward.
Even so, I chose a path not in the system.
'First off, I don't want to live according to someone else's intentions.'
Doing as told, going with the flow.
A life that became a dissonance from living like that….
Once is enough.
-…You said you'd audition?
Yeon Jimin's voice was full of worry.
Because of the nature of survival programs, the preliminaries have many variables.
She must have been worried that I'd get eliminated before even filming episode 1, but….
'Was it because I wanted to succeed through an audition program that I wanted to appear on the show?'
My goal was not to advance to the next round stably.
Nor was it that I wanted to build fame and raise recognition like that either.
As I told Kim Drum, I simply….
Applied to do music.
I looked over the preliminary round format I had set aside.
[On-site Preliminary - Designated Beat.]
Will present a personally composed rap by choosing one of the three beat tracks below.
1. what time. - lil jaesn.
2. sandle. - baycode.
3. 2201 - laodric.
I nodded while playing one of them.
'As expected, they really make good songs.'
A beat that didn't get boring at all even though it was familiar enough to be ingrained in my ears.
Listening to 'sandle.' made by producer Baycode, I reminisced about the old days for a moment.
-Hyung, aren't you thinking of remixing this? If you release it again, it'll break into the upper ranks of the charts.
-I do have the thought. But the timing is a bit off because I missed it. I should have done it right when School Rapper was happening then.
-…Why didn't you do it then?
-I was going to suggest we remix it if there was a kid among the School Rapper applicants who fit this beat… but there wasn't one worth doing it for.
-Couldn't you have done it with other rappers?
-I got busy after that, you know. Since there weren't any impactful kids among the students, I just forgot about it.
Baycode, from whom a subtle regret was seeping.
'This time, I'll make it so he can remix it.'
I quietly raised the corners of my mouth and began writing down lyrics.
The most unfortunate music among hyung's songs that hadn't received the spotlight.
I intended to attach my name in front of it and make it rise up the charts.
* * *
"Hey, Park Jahun! Are you all ready?"
At the voices of team members calling me, I opened my closed eyes.
The waiting room of Seun Hall. Students in the middle of dressing up came into view.
Students excited despite having dressed up. Excitement for the performance surged beyond worry.
Empathizing with that feeling, a chuckle escaped me without realizing.
'So today is finally the day.'
The day to present the song prepared while coming up through competitions.
It was the day of Seun Arts High School's concert.
Putting School Rapper aside for now, our Second Bound.
It meant it was time to focus on that.
'Since I even told her to come watch.'
Didn't I even boast to Yeon Jimin?
It was my turn to show the basis for that today.
"How do I look?"
"You look fine."
In a shirt and cardigan. And Kim Drum, who had even styled his hair with pomade, asked me.
"Well, since it'll be hidden by the drums, people won't be able to see it though."
"…Park Jahun, even you."
The guy acting hurt by a light joke.
Better than him looking just excited.
"Are you guys ready?"
Having finished preparing to go on stage for the concert, Seonji came walking over.
"Oh, you put some effort in today?"
"…It doesn't look weird?"
Seonji wearing a yellow one-piece and even light makeup.
Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've seen her dressed up.
"How does it look to Jahun?"
"Pretty."
"Th-thanks."
It wasn't empty words. I could see glimpses of her future self who was called the goddess vocalist.
Kim Drum asked Seonji with anticipation.
"What about me, Oh Seonji. Do I look okay today?"
"Huh? You look fine but…."
"…Why are you trailing off? Huh?"
Seonji's gaze turned toward me.
Then, Sung Yuri, who was getting her makeup done in one corner, cut into the conversation.
"It's because Park Jahun stands out more."
Normally she had a straight image, but in private she was just an ordinary student.
She placed her hand on Seonji's shoulder with a tap, seeking agreement.
"Right?"
"…Yeah, it's my first time seeing you dressed up."
"Wow, look at you guys. What's the difference between me and Park Jahun?"
"Are you really asking because you don't know?"
Though I couldn't relate, since Kim Drum was frustrated anyway, I laughed for a while because it was fun.
'Come to think of it, it's been a while since I dressed up too.'
Saying I was going up on stage for the concert, the beauty department helped with my makeup.
Wondering how it was, I checked the mirror.
Eyebrows several times thicker, skin almost close to pure white.
…At this level, it's like I've become a different person.
-When you get on stage, your face will all get washed out by the lights so please make it as strong as possible!
The words our department teacher had earnestly asked for came to mind.
Thanks to that, rather than makeup, the result was something that felt like wearing a mask.
It wasn't this bad even when going up on a concert stage.
"Hehe, this is the best work of my life. Thank you, sunbae."
"Oh~ so the skill was on this side?"
When the 2nd year junior in charge of me spoke proudly, Sung Yuri chuckled and tapped her shoulder.
"No, no. It's all thanks to your natural looks. Really good."
The junior making two thumbs up at me.
…After making me into practically a different person and everything.
"I'll go to the bathroom for a bit."
The gathering gazes were a bit burdensome, so I hurriedly headed outside the waiting room.
"Wow, are there already this many people?"
"…Are you going too?"
"No, I'm going to get water."
I walked the hallway of Seun Hall together with Kim Drum, who had followed me out.
What stood out through the window was cars lined up and parked.
Even though there was still about an hour left, it was enough to fill the parking lot.
"Aren't those all foreign cars? Tsk, look at that. That black car is a nice one too."
"Well, I wouldn't know…."
The black sedan that had just parked. From there, the sight of a man getting out came into my eyes.
It was a familiar car. No, impossible to forget.
'Baek Cheolho.'
To think that guy came to watch today's concert too.
Seeing him fully set in a black suit, my brows furrowed on their own.
"Hm? It looks like he knows Lee Hyunsang?"
As the guy got out of the car, Lee Hyunsang hurriedly ran over to exchange greetings.
'…There shouldn't be a connection to Lee Hyunsang at this point.'
I thought back to when I was at Finale.
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way for him and Baek Cheolho to meet at this point.
'Since Lee Hyunsang had transferred to the provinces thanks to the trio plagiarism incident, after all….'
Thinking that far, I got a sense of how this happened.
Lee Hyunsang, who had avoided transferring by confessing, unlike his previous life.
Then he was probably caught by Baek Cheolho and signed a contract.
"They suit each other well."
Seeing those two gathered together, a chuckle escaped me without realizing.
"What?"
"It's nothing, let's go."
Those guys who will embrace each other and fall into hell.
Leaving them behind, I moved my steps.
* * *
July. The season when summer ripens.
Another heat was ripening at Seun Arts High School.
Today was once a year.
It was the day the concert, where participants were selected through competition, began.
Seun Hall, on a scale not inferior to other performance halls.
Even the crowd lining up to enter there.
A man who entered through the main gate exclaimed at that sight.
"Oh…. The scale is no joke?"
"The scale isn't everything, but… the level of performance unfolding today will certainly be good."
The person who entered with him replied.
The person walking with a shaggy beard was none other than Kim Jeongsik, a teacher at Seun Arts High School.
"If you say it like that, it makes me look forward to it even more."
"I hope at least that taking time out of your busy schedule was worth it."
Kim Jeongsik said while looking at the man laughing cheerfully.
"Ah, it's fine. It's good to preview new musicians early."
Hearing the answer, Kim Jeongsik nodded.
'It feels like yesterday when I happened to meet him when he was young and worked together.'
For a moment, his first meeting with him flashed through his mind.
A boy simple in both appearance and behavior.
That boy, who had possessed only a clear passion for rap, had before he knew it become a successful rapper and was standing before him.
'Now he's become a proper head of a label.'
Though his former simplicity remained, other things had settled on the face that once had only passion.
Confidence in what he had achieved so far, and ambition to achieve even more.
Combined, they were creating a relaxed aura.
"Uh… is that Lil Jaesn!?"
Students passing by approached cautiously upon seeing the man.
"Yes, it's me. Hello!"
Perhaps because this situation was familiar, the man smiled and took pictures with the students.
'Well, there's no way the students wouldn't know.'
A newly established label 'OAG', where monstrous rappers had gathered to the point of being called ecosystem destruction.
The representative of this group currently shaking the Korean hip-hop scene was precisely the rapper Lil Jaesn standing before Kim Jeongsik.
Watching that scene, Kim Jeongsik offhandedly tossed out a remark.
"Perhaps, you might meet a boy similar to you."
"A boy?"
Lil Jaesn asking what he meant.
Kim Jeongsik pondered for a moment then shook his head.
Because he lacked the eloquence to gush about the emotions he felt.
So instead, he decided to give a slight hint.
"You'll know when you see the stage."
Since the boy scheduled to go up on stage would make him understand the meaning of those words as soon as he heard them.
"Haha, whether it was the past or now, making people puzzled is the same."
Lil Jaesn said brightly.
"I have to judge, so I need to go this way."
Kim Jeongsik finished guiding him to his seat, pointed to the front seats, and greeted him.
He wanted to check Lil Jaesn's reaction while watching together, but he had work to do anyway.
"See you again after it's over."
After Kim Jeongsik turned away like that, as Lil Jaesn was about to sit, a familiar face came into his eyes.
"Uh? Writer!"
Yeon Jimin, the writer of 'School Rapper' whose filming was scheduled from a month later, was entering Seun Hall.
To run into someone he only saw in the office for work meetings or contacted only by phone in such a place.
He approached her with a delighted heart.
"Uh? Jaesn-nim?"
Yeon Jimin, not having expected to see Lil Jaesn here, looked at him in surprise.
"Did you come to see the performance? To see students to recruit?"
"Yes, what brings Jaesn-nim here."
"There's a teacher I know who invited me to come see today, so I came right away."
After exchanging a few words, they could instantly tell they had come for similar purposes.
Because both had come to Seun Hall after someone's invitation, to see the rookies.
"Then watch well, Writer!"
Feeling a slight sense of kinship, the two returned to their seats.
"The 33rd Seun Arts High School Regular Concert!"
At the moment the audience's anticipation was boiling over, the MC's words spread throughout Seun Hall.
Watching its beginning, Lil Jaesn and Yeon Jimin fell into thought.
'Who on earth is that boy.'
'Which stage is student Park Jahun.'
The fact that they had actually gathered to see the same person was something they hadn't noticed in the slightest.
Regressor on the Beat