Episode 23
"What are you going to do now?"
"Huh?"
Summer break at Seoun Arts High School.
As I packed my bag and walked out into the hallway, someone grabbed me and asked.
I looked toward the voice to see Park Yunseok staring at me with a serious expression.
"Today? I'm going to Hongdae."
"Not today. I mean what are you gonna do during break."
…How am I supposed to understand when you leave out the subject like that?
Seeing his expectant expression, he seemed to think I'd be doing some kind of special training during vacation.
'Not really.'
After thinking briefly, I continued my answer.
"Same thing during break. I'm planning on going to Hongdae."
"…Is there something in Hongdae?"
"Ah, Park Jahun agreed to busk with us."
Before I could add an explanation, Kim Drum, who'd followed me out, cut into the conversation.
Then, giggling like usual, he added on.
"Our team clicks too well to just do it once and disband."
"…The drummer who played the second bounce. I listened to your last performance. You preserved the drums that Park Jahun had laid down nicely."
"Huh? I listened to your team's performance closely too."
Then the two of them exchanged a handshake awkwardly.
'Did these guys go to the same school for three years without being close?'
I felt anew just how much of a my-way person Park Yunseok was.
"Anyway, busking... aren't you preparing separately before appearing on the program?"
"The program?"
"I heard you're going on that program, don't tell me you aren't?"
"If you mean School Rapper 2, yeah. I decided to audition. Busking is just for the experience."
"Hmm, anyway, is it some kind of competition? You didn't seem like you lacked experience."
'Well, I've been rapping for ten years, so of course.'
When I stopped there, Kim Drum looked at me as if disappointed.
"…I wanted to play more with them."
"Keh, right?"
"Yeah, they're easy to push around."
"…Was that it?"
Hearing the answer, Park Yunseok made a subtle expression.
"Well, it'll be a month before we see each other again. Prepare well and come back. It'll be different from the concert."
"...? Sure. Take care. See you later."
A month from now would still be before break ended, so I wasn't sure what he meant by 'see you,' but.
Kim Drum seemed equally clueless.
"What's happening in a month?"
"Dunno... I'm going to an audition."
"...Is he going on School Rapper too?"
"Probably not."
I racked my memories from my previous life, and sure enough, he'd never been on School Rapper.
'He went on Show Me the Money, but not when he was in high school.'
"Well, maybe he'll record some music and show us."
I'd heard he'd been working on beats in various styles lately.
Maybe he meant he'd send those.
"Anyway, are you going to Hongdae today?"
"Yeah, I was planning on looking around."
I nodded.
Hongdae, where countless music and people intersected.
Today, after a long time, I was going there to see how people were busking these days, planning to look around briefly.
It had been so long since I'd last been there that I felt merely going would be quite healing.
"Don't tell me you're planning on going alone for something like that?"
"No? Seonji's coming with."
It just so happened Seonji was free too, so we were going together, but Kim Drum made a mischievous expression.
"Ooh... a date?"
"...What date with a kid."
"Aren't you a kid too?"
"...Anyway, it's not like that. We just happen to be free at the same time."
"If that's the case, can I come too?"
"Aren't you going to practice? The entrance exam is soon."
"I already hit my quota for today this morning."
Whether he was confident he could spare a little time, Kim Drum pounded his chest.
"I'll ask Seonji first."
"Sure. But where's Oh Seonji? Isn't she coming right away?"
"She said she'd change clothes. Let's head out first."
I told him and moved my feet.
'It's really been a while.'
The days when I had wandered after barely escaping Finally.
Hongdae was what had reconnected me, who had been isolated, back to music and musicians.
I was on my way to reunite with the streets of that night.
* * *
'Will this be okay?'
In Oh Seonji's room. She thought as she checked the clothes she wore in front of a full-length mirror.
But after staring for a few minutes, parts that looked like flaws caught her eye.
'Let's wear something else.'
Turning her head sharply, Oh Seonji searched for other clothes.
On the bed, clothes she had put on and taken off were piled up in a heap.
'I think this is the best.'
The outfit she had settled on was similar to the dress she'd received praise for from Park Jahun at the concert.
Humming while looking in the mirror again, Oh Seonji.
She thought she was probably excited because of the relief from finishing the concert. And the thought that she was properly resting for the first time in a while.
[Jahun: Kim Drum is asking if he can tag along, is that okay?]
'...There'll be three of us.'
For some reason, after checking Park Jahun's message, her excitement rapidly died down, but.
"You're early, Oh Seonji."
"You're here?"
When they arrived at Hongdae Street, the meeting place, Park Jahun and Kim Drum were waiting.
"Yeah, but... Kim Drum, you don't need to practice?"
"...You guys aren't my lesson teachers, why are you so interested in my practice?"
Then Kim Drum added as if realizing something.
"Don't tell me you're all that worried about me? Thanks. Oh Seonji, you're the only one. Keke."
"...Yeah."
It was his usual laugh, but for some reason today it felt more detestable.
"Anyway, there are so many people. Did everyone from Seoun City gather here?"
"Seriously, I could leave you behind and you wouldn't even notice."
"...Huh?"
"Never mind, by the way, have you all been here before?"
Leaving Kim Drum behind, I approached Park Jahun and asked.
"I came often."
As he said that, Park Jahun looked around fixedly.
His expression was so wistful that it made me wonder if he came here long ago.
"Seonji, you?"
"It's almost my first time."
At her answer, Park Jahun smiled and continued.
"Watch closely. It's just beginning."
I didn't ask what he meant.
That something which was beginning was entering Seonji's eyes too.
People unloading luggage from a large van onto the street.
None other than various instruments and equipment.
"You packed the snare and everything, right?"
"Man, what do you take me for."
A conversation between the person moving the drums and the one shouldering the guitar could be heard.
"Remember last time when you left only the snare behind and ended up borrowing one from the owner of the nearby instrument shop?"
"No, that's why since then, even if I don't pack everything, I pack the snare."
They said that, yet their eyes were meticulously checking the equipment they had brought.
"Wow... I got nervous for a second thinking they were talking about me."
At the sound, Kim Drum stroked his chest and spoke.
"...Have you ever left your snare behind too?"
"No, when we did it at school, I often left my sticks behind."
Kim Drum looked dizzy at the thought of what if he didn't bring his snare later.
It was while we were watching them set up like that.
From a short distance away, it seemed the setup was already finished, as music began to be heard.
"Huh? Looks like they're rapping?"
Hearing the voice matching lyrics to the beat coming from the amp, Kim Drum moved his steps toward it.
The place we approached was a bit less crowded than the previous street.
But the people holding microphones were immersed, continuing to rap as if they thought this place was a concert hall.
They spat out their lyrics and stories toward the empty air without stumbling.
Seeing that figure, Park Jahun came to mind before I knew it.
'...It reminds me of Jahun.'
The sight I had seen countless times while playing the piano as accompaniment.
Of course, 'Jahun's stage was better' to an incomparable degree compared to those rappers over there.
Though I was feeling that Park Jahun's rap was better.
At that moment, a similar thought flowed from Kim Drum's mouth.
"I bet you're better?"
The problem was that the voice was rather loud.
"Uh...."
Kim Drum, realizing the situation, quickly shut his mouth, but it was already too late.
"......"
The others, excluding the rapper holding the mic, were showing uncomfortable expressions.
'It'd be best to get out of here.'
The moment Seonji tried to quickly leave her seat.
Once again, the one who moved to resolve the situation was none other than Park Jahun.
"It was a freestyle, right? Mid, mid, I was surprised hearing those rhymes."
Walking to the center, Park Jahun spoke to the rappers.
Even Seonji, who didn't know much about rap, could tell it wasn't just empty talk.
"The mention of the beat earlier was a punchline, plus even using the rhyme this person used."
The rappers' expressions began to loosen bit by bit.
"It's not easy to do pure freestyle this cleanly, you guys are amazing."
Perhaps because he was having fun talking like that, a smile began to form on Park Jahun's face.
"Hmm, a student who knows a bit about rap?"
"Ah, I rap too. If it's alright, could we do a few lines of freestyle together?"
At Park Jahun's words, the rappers gladly passed the mic.
Just from his gestures, it felt like he was an old friend they'd known for a long time.
"Okay, what about the beat?"
"Of course it's boom bap. And a really dope one at that."
Naturally receiving the mic and stepping into the center while rapping, Park Jahun.
When one rapper pressed the play button on the pad he was holding, a thick beat that Park Jahun had requested flowed out.
Listening to it, Park Jahun's smile deepened further.
—What brought me here was my friend's slip of the tongue.
Thanks to that, I get to step into what would've ended as mere eye candy and run—.
Park Jahun's rap that started like that.
"Holy shit!"
This time, broad smiles bloomed on the rappers' faces.
Since it wasn't prepared lyrics, the rhymes and rhythm became simpler, but the rappers didn't mind much.
That was the taste of street rapping, and more than anything, somehow they became immersed in Park Jahun's rap.
It wasn't just the rappers.
"That guy's good."
"Did they just start? Let's watch!"
The crowd gathering from around, and even Seonji who had been watching from the beginning.
Everyone concentrated and listened to Park Jahun's lyrics.
Park Jahun, who unlike myself who tried to avoid it, chose to confront and resolve it once again.
'...He's pretty cool.'
His every move was captured without omission in Seonji's eyes.
* * *
Even after the beat cut off, I exchanged a few more lines of rap with the rappers.
It was the passion of the street I hadn't felt in a while, so I continued rapping joyfully.
"Dude, that was really impressive. You rap well? You didn't even tremble doing it on the street."
When I finished rapping, one rapper walked up to me.
I probably had more experience rapping on the streets, but since I couldn't say that, I chose a student-like remark.
"I was trembling inside. I'm far from doing it like you guys."
"Man, so humble. But are you active?"
"I'm still preparing."
"Hope that preparation wraps up quickly. Did you decide on a rap name?"
'A rap name....'
For a moment, many thoughts passed through my head.
In my previous life, I had been active under the rap name Bard, but now it was okay to change it.
Since I hadn't released any music or been active yet.
It meant it was okay to have a new name.
After some thought, I continued.
"I'm Bard."
In the end, I decided on it as my rap name this time too.
Bard, meaning a minstrel or poet.
Just because I'm living again doesn't mean the direction of my life will change.
"Oh, Rapper Bard. Let's see each other again later."
After a brief greeting, I looked back at my team members.
Kim Drum came into sight with his head hung in a tearful expression.
"...Sorry."
"Don't worry too much, it was resolved well."
"Ha, this mouth of mine is the problem. My mouth."
I smirked and hit the guy's shoulder.
I didn't feel like blaming him. Thanks to Kim Drum, I had checked something too.
[The effect of Bridge (1) has activated!]
[People's concentration on 'Park Jahun's' stage increases!]
A window that popped up the moment I started rapping.
'So this is how it's applied.'
I hadn't easily understood what it meant for concentration to increase, but seeing the rappers' reaction, I got it.
They were pricking up their ears so as not to miss a single rhyme.
'It's almost a shame it's limited in duration.'
Of course, I intended to devour every last thing I could take during that time without leaving anything behind.
The Regressor on the Beat