The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 63

< Verse 10. 888 X 888 (End) >

At first, I thought it might work, but these days I wanted to sue him for defamation.

“I told you, I’m not doing the interview.”

“Hey, who are you to decide whether he does it or not? I’m asking you to get Mr. Bae to do it!”

“I’m not doing it.”

Hwang Ju-cheol finally sensed something strange in the staff’s words. *I’m not doing it?* It sounded like he was saying *he* was Mr. Bae.

“Could it be….”

“Absolutely not.”

The staff member went inside the building. As a last hope, Hwang Ju-cheol sent a text message to Mr. Bae’s number, which he had obtained from his junior.

Then a very firm reply came.

-I told you I wouldn’t do it, right? If you want to see the performance, wait in line. And if you take pictures and comment as you please, I will sue you. You know my family has a lot of money, right?

Hwang Ju-cheol checked the text message and frowned. Then, he cursed under his breath and trudged to the very back of the line. The already heavy camera felt even heavier.

Now Hwang Ju-cheol was getting stubborn.

‘Okay, let’s see if you guys do the interview or not.’

Hwang Ju-cheol gritted his teeth and frantically grabbed his phone and made calls. Eventually, after twelve calls, he managed to find the number of the owner of Club Hommie.

‘Damn it, the battery is low too.’

Now that he knew the number, there was nothing to fear. Hwang Ju-cheol called the owner.

“Ah, of course. Yes, yes. I will include the map and specify that it is Club Hommie. Oh, the promotional effect is needless to say. Our magazine has over 30,000 annual subscribers. You know that, right? Every beauty salon in the country has our magazine? Hahaha.”

Hwang Ju-cheol held the phone for a long time and groveled.

“Haha, just have the owner call Mr. Bae and get him to do the interview. I don’t want much. Surely Mr. Bae wouldn’t refuse the owner’s request, would he? Ah, and….”

Hwang Ju-cheol gently scratched at what the Club Hommie’s owner wanted to hear and said what he wanted.

“There’s a team called 888 among today’s guests, could you please tell Mr. Bae to get them to do an interview too?”

Hwang Ju-cheol calculated in his head. What if he could get an interview with the 888 crew?

‘This is a blessing in disguise.’

If the owner of Hommie asks, Mr. Bae can never refuse the interview. Mr. Bae has put in a lot of time and effort to perform at Club Hommie every month.

“Yes, yes. Oh my, they are all Mr. Bae’s younger siblings [close friends/mentees], there’s no way they can’t do that much, right? Unless Mr. Bae ignores the owner’s request, there’s absolutely no way.”

Hwang Ju-cheol finally finished the call with the owner of Club Hommie and smiled triumphantly. Then he confidently entered the club.

The club staff who was doing the ticketing stopped him for a moment, but mentioning that he had talked to the owner and to ask the manager opened the way.

‘If I get an 888 interview, the boss will be very happy.’

If there is only an 888 interview, the show business manipulation controversy will naturally be resolved, and the interview can create a big issue depending on how it is packaged.

Hwang Ju-cheol, who entered the club, started taking pictures of the audience enjoying the pre-show DJ party with a relaxed mind.

***

“Ah! Hyung [older brother/male friend]!”

“Signal, signal!”

“Ah, I got caught again….”

“Ah, I’m really going crazy.”

“Quiet! I can’t concentrate!”

Park In-hyuk shouted.

“What did you do so well to shout!”

“I’d rather drive with my *Initial D* skills that I’ve been honing…!”

“Jun-hyung, that’s a crime!”

“Ha-yeon! Right now, In-hyuk hyung’s driving skills are a crime!”

The 888 crew members were shouting at the top of their lungs.

Not on the stage, but on the road.

‘I can’t believe I trusted In-hyuk hyung. I was stupid.’

‘He’s bad with directions, bad with a sense of direction, bad with senses, and looks like a flounder.’

Sang-hyun and Jun-hyung lamented.

The reason why the exciting trip to Seoul turned into a racing game time attack [a game mode where you have to finish on time] was very simple.

‘Trust me! I’m the best driver.’

It was because they believed Park In-hyuk’s boast.

The 888 crew rented an 11-seater van for the Hommie performance. Originally, they were planning to take the train, but it was because of the transportation of the T-shirts, banners, and towels prepared for this performance.

The beginning of the incident was craftsmanship.

The first craftsmanship was Woo Min-ho’s. In order to entrust the printing to a company, computer design work was eventually required, and Woo Min-ho’s craftsmanship took a day. Thanks to this, the delivery was pushed back to next week, and in order to find the goods on time, they had to visit the factory directly to pick them up.

The second craftsmanship that became the starting point was Sang-hyun’s. Sang-hyun, who had shown his entrepreneurial spirit after a long time, greatly increased the order quantity of goods in order to lower the unit price and invest in the future.

100 T-shirts, 10 banners, 100 towels of two types, 50 each.

As a result, the production date increased, and in order to use them in time for the performance, they had no choice but to visit and pick them up at the Incheon Industrial Complex themselves.

The third craftsmanship was Jun-hyung’s. Jun-hyung’s craftsmanship was very special, and that was his delusion. Jun-hyung often made mistakes about appointment times or dates. However, Sang-hyun could not have imagined that Jun-hyung would mistake the ‘school opening date’.

‘Isn’t our school opening this week?’

‘It’s next Monday.’

‘Really? Are you sure?’

‘I’m sure.’

‘That’s strange… I thought it was this week?’

‘It’s next week, okay? We’re just going to have fun at the performance, have a great time in Seoul on Sunday, and go to school and sleep on Monday.’

Sang-hyun firmly believed in Jun-hyung’s confident words.

If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t have made a plan to pick up the goods at the Incheon Industrial Complex on Friday.

The last craftsmanship was Park In-hyuk’s bluff. Park In-hyuk had the ultimate beginner driving skills.

Sang-hyun, who unexpectedly went to school on Friday, quickly tried to send a mobile unit consisting of Kim Hwan and Park In-hyuk to Incheon. However, Park In-hyuk’s boast stopped Sang-hyun’s worries.

‘Hey, I’m the best driver. I’ll get you to Incheon in two and a half hours. Let’s leave on Saturday.’

‘Do you know the way?’

‘I haven’t been to Incheon… Isn’t that what maps are for? And people who are good at driving can find their way by instinct, right?’

‘Are you sure? Then let’s leave at 6 a.m. on Saturday.’

‘What 6 o’clock? Let’s leave here at 9:30. We can arrive in Incheon at 1 o’clock. It’ll take an hour from Incheon to Sinchon [neighborhood in Seoul], right?’

‘The rehearsal is at 4 o’clock, will it be okay?’

‘If it’s 4 o’clock, we can have a bowl of sashimi for lunch at Incheon Port and go.’

Sang-hyun really trusted In-hyuk. Really.

But… but….

“Ah, hyung! What are we going to do now!”

“The performance is at 7 o’clock, right? We’re almost at the end, so it’s after 8 o’clock, right? We can get there by then!”

“No, what are you talking about? How can a guest who is invited be late for a performance?”

“Shut up! It’s distracting!”

Sang-hyun shed tears as he watched Park In-hyuk’s driving skills. He would rather drive himself. But no matter how great Sang-hyun’s driving skills were, what could he do? He didn’t have a license.

“Ah, why did noona [older sister/female friend] get a Class 2 license!”

“Ah, oppa [older brother/male friend]! It’s all because of you that the fire is spreading to me!”

“Why are you angry at Min-ji unnie [older sister/female friend]? It’s all because of stupid In-hyuk oppa!”

“As expected, Sang-mi is the only one on my side. Oh, come here, our Sang-mi.”

Sang-mi laughed without knowing Sang-hyun’s feelings.

Oh Min-ji, the last resort who had driven Sang-mi to Jeonju for the Jeonju World DJ Festival, had a Class 2 ordinary license. In other words, she couldn’t drive an 11-seater.

‘Provide irreplaceable service!’

That’s what Sang-hyun often said to his subordinates when he was doing business.

‘Former subordinates. The truly irreplaceable service that I have mentioned countless times is here.’

Sang-hyun had no choice but to shed tears once again.

Park In-hyuk set an unbelievable record of five and a half hours from Gwangju to Incheon. It took him a whopping three and a half hours to get from Incheon to Sinchon.

Even though it was a Saturday with a lot of rush hour, it was an unbelievable record. He got lost three times.

In addition, the time it took to pick up the members when leaving Gwangju.

The time it took to pick up the goods after arriving in Incheon.

The time it took to stop by the rest area.

Including the time it took to eat because they couldn’t perform hungry, the time they actually arrived at the venue was 8:40. There was no such thing as being late.

“Run! Run!”

“We have to change our clothes first!”

“Ah, that’s right! Clothes!”

“Min-ji noona! What size are you? L? XL?”

“Shin Jun-hyung, do you want to die! I’m S!”

“A, are we supposed to change clothes here?”

“Girls have to change in the bathroom! No, In-hyuk hyung can just wear it here, right?”

“I, I can’t do that!”

“Video…! The only thing left is the video!”

“Min-ho oppa! Find the size instead of taking that kind of picture! Towel! Where’s the towel!”

“Sang-mi! If you look at my phone list, there’s someone called Mr. Bae, send him a text message that we’ve arrived!”

The audience who came out to smoke for a while while watching Hommie Vol.1 and the merchants around Club Hommie opened their eyes wide at the sudden market.

Five men and three women were making a fuss, shaking the car.

“Min-ho hyung, go ahead and find the camera position first! Wear your clothes later!”

Woo Min-ho ran away with a T-shirt and a towel in one hand and a camera in the other.

The audience who came out to smoke for a while during the performance watched the sudden commotion and discovered something. It was the clothes that these people were hurriedly putting on.

“Those people….”

“*헐 [Korean slang for ‘OMG’]*. Isn’t that 888?”

The faces of those who were changing into white T-shirts with the phrase ‘888 X 888’ were also familiar. They were the ones who appeared in the Hommie Vol.1 teaser video.

“That’s right! Eight eight eight.”

“I think that’s right?”

“What? Did they just come?”

A small number of audience members picked up their phones and cameras. The scene of them rummaging through the car looking for something was captured on camera. Someone asked out loud.

“Is that the 888 crew?”

“It’s not eight eight eight, it’s eight hundred and eighty eight. What time is it now?”

“It’s almost nine o’clock…?”

“Ugh! Which team is performing now?”

“I saw IK ending.”

“Oh, goddamn.”

After IK is Playline. After that is the 888 crew.

There was a little time left, but when they realized that it was the next turn, they felt it.

“Excuse me! I’m going through!”

Except for Woo Min-ho, who went in first, seven people ran into the club. Lee Sang-hyun, Shin Jun-hyung, Kim Hwan, Park In-hyuk, Woo Min-ho, Shin Ha-yeon, Oh Min-ji, and Lee Sang-mi.

That’s how eight people finally landed at Club Hommie.

< Verse 10. 888 X 888 (End) > End

ⓒ