The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 87

The rookie who got ganged up on by three people was knocked out cold.

“You crazy bastards!”

As the rookie collapsed, the Code Name members jumped up from the sofa. Dread threw an ashtray that whizzed past Sanghyun’s head. Seeing this, Inhyuk rushed in and slapped Dread across the cheek.

“You son of a bitch!”

The rookie, who had been knocked down, got up, and Kim Hwan immediately charged at him. The rookie was slammed back to the floor, and Woosung kicked Kim Hwan.

“What are you doing!”

“Stop! Stop!”

Just then, Code Name’s manager, who had entered the waiting room, and Woominho, Bang Minsik, Yongjoon, and Hwang Insoo, who had come after doing the final instrument check, were surprised and jumped between the two groups. Thanks to their timely arrival, the fight didn’t escalate further.

“Let go! Let go of me! Those sons of bitches!”

Woosung of Code Name struggled while being held by the manager. However, the manager, who didn’t know the full story but assumed it was Code Name’s fault, desperately tried to stop him.

Woosung, held by the manager, hurled insults.

“You sons of bitches! Do you know who we are? You guys are stuck in some backwater, making pathetic music!”

“What! So what! You’re just backup dancers who dance to songs written by the company like parrots, daring to insult someone!”

“What? You little…!”

“Why? Didn’t the company tell you what curse words to say next? Should I tell you!”

Park Inhyuk’s face turned red as he spewed out insults. It was the first time seeing Park Inhyuk, who was always flexible and gentle, like this.

“How much makeup did you crazy bastards put on your faces that there’s powder on my fist? Why didn’t you just put on lipstick too?”

Park Inhyuk shouted, looking at the fist he had used to hit Rookie and Dread. Then, Junhyung, who had been cursing beside him, barely suppressed a laugh.

“Hyung, don’t make me laugh.”

“No, seriously. Look at this.”

Park Inhyuk held out his fist, and as he said, there were white powder stains on it. He blew on it, and the powder scattered.

“Is this ‘Scatter, Senbonzakura’ [a reference to a powerful technique from the popular anime *Bleach*]?”

In the end, Junhyung couldn’t hold back his laughter. The L&S members and Kim Hwan, Woominho, who were holding them back, also couldn’t help but chuckle at Park Inhyuk’s unexpected behavior.

The Code Name members’ faces turned red at the sight. It was even more so because they were self-conscious about wearing heavy makeup, which was contrary to their usual masculine image.

The Code Name members spat out curses again, but they couldn’t rush in as easily as before. Earlier, it was four against four, but now it was four against eight, including L&S.

“You sons of bitches! You’re screwed now. You know who we are, right? Do you know what company we’re with?”

“Oh, I’m so scared. What? Are you going to sue us or something?”

Park Inhyuk sneered. Rookie gritted his teeth and said.

“Keep talking. You’re pretending to be calm, but you’re shitting your pants inside, aren’t you?”

“Go ahead and sue us if you want. Let’s see what happens.”

Park Inhyuk said so nonchalantly that Code Name’s manager was on edge. The incident had already happened, and they had to resolve it somehow, but there was no sign of it calming down. Moreover, there was something unusual about what Park Inhyuk was saying.

It wasn’t a bluff; it seemed like he really had something.

The manager hesitantly approached the 888 Crew.

“Um, please don’t do this here…”

However, Sanghyun stopped the approaching manager.

“I know you feel like you’re being unfairly treated, but those bastards don’t seem to have any intention of apologizing.”

“You crazy bastard! Why should we apologize? Who threw the first punch?”

“Did you guys hit Miju noona [older sister or female friend] first? Or not? You’re supposed to be men, and you hit a woman? Did you get confused about your gender identity because you put makeup on your face?”

At the mention of hitting Miju, the expressions of the L&S members, who didn’t know the exact situation, turned fierce in an instant. Another shouting match ensued. This time, Deputy Manager Go Won-guk, who had rushed over in shock after hearing the commotion, stopped the fight.

“You sons of bitches. Get ready to eat prison food.”

As the situation was finally being resolved with the mediation of Deputy Manager Go Won-guk, Rookie gritted his teeth and said to Park Inhyuk. Then, Park Inhyuk snorted.

“Go ahead and try. My parents are very successful prosecutors and lawyers, you know? Let’s see what happens.”

“Um, let’s talk first, shall we?”

As soon as the words ‘prosecutor’ and ‘lawyer’ came out, Code Name’s manager was startled and rushed to Park Inhyuk. The Code Name members, including Rookie, also changed their expressions.

In fact, Code Name had caused a major accident when they were with their previous agency, and their contract was terminated. Moreover, they had to pay a huge amount of penalty fees.

It was Ohkyung ENT that paid Code Name’s penalty fees at that time and recruited them. Therefore, the contract between Code Name and Ohkyung ENT also had a violence prohibition clause that could only be seen in the contracts of martial arts fighters.

Of course, if the opponent was easy to deal with, Ohkyung ENT could appease them appropriately. But if their parents were incumbent prosecutors and lawyers, it was a different story. It was necessary to consider who was more at fault, but if the CCTV footage of them hitting a woman first was released, Code Name would be ruined.

Realizing their situation, Code Name’s momentum subsided. The 888 Crew also regained their senses as they looked at the manager who kept saying sorry and Deputy Manager Go Won-guk who begged them to be patient. Sanghyun checked on Sangmi, Miju, Hayeon, and Minji. They were not hurt.

He thought that violence was not the right solution, but the moment Miju screamed, he couldn’t bear it. No, he didn’t even consider the option of enduring it. He only had the thought of killing that bastard who laid a hand on Miju.

Sanghyun thought that anyone here would have acted the same way in the same situation. Because the people here were family.

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], go out right now and get another waiting room. I don’t want to see those bastards’ faces, so as quickly as possible.”

“O-okay. I understand.”

Dread ordered the manager. At that moment, Sanghyun paused.

“You… what’s wrong?”

“What?”

Dread frowned at Sanghyun’s sudden question. He habitually tried to put a cigarette in his mouth but threw it into the ashtray when he saw Deputy Manager Go Won-guk.

Then Sanghyun spoke again.

“What’s wrong with you.”

“What is this bastard talking about?”

“What’s wrong with your voice.”

“What are you talking about, you crazy bastard? Did you get hit in the head and go crazy?”

He didn’t know when they were fighting without seeing anything, but Dread’s voice was incredibly hoarse. Sanghyun knew that kind of voice well. When you drink a lot of alcohol and throw up, stomach acid flows back and damages your throat.

When he was a rookie at the company, the voices of his fellow new employees were always like that after company dinners.

“You’re going to perform with that voice?”

“What are you talking about since a while ago?”

Dread frowned.

“How are you going to perform with that voice.”

“What, are you an aspiring manager? Do you want to be our manager?”

The Code Name members listened to Dread’s words and burst into sarcastic laughter. However, they didn’t seem to have any worries about the stage.

Sanghyun was dumbfounded.

‘These bastards are going to lip-sync.’

No wonder they didn’t even do a dry rehearsal, let alone a dress rehearsal. When he heard the rumors that Code Name was lip-syncing, he thought they were playing an AR [All Recorded track, a backing track with vocals] with a lot of vocals. Lip-syncing was an absurd thing in hip-hop. But looking at Code Name’s attitude now, Inhyuk was right. Just backup dancers.

Hip-hop is music born from the streets and music that draws a circle. If you can speak your mind, you don’t need to prepare anything. But Code Name had no intention of speaking.

‘These bastards are a team that is mentioned to the public when it comes to Korean hip-hop.’

Sanghyun suddenly thought of what BAEGA had said at the after-party of Club Homie’s performance.

‘If you pour a bucket of dirty water, you need a hundred buckets of clean water to wash it away. Do you know what I mean?’

Sanghyun was ashamed to be performing with these bastards. He didn’t want the audience to watch Code Name’s performance today and think, ‘So that’s what hip-hop is.’ So he didn’t want to talk to them anymore.

Just then, Team Leader Ahn Cheol-seung and Code Name’s manager came in and moved Code Name to a spare staff room.

“Let’s see how well you perform.”

“What can you expect from bastards who make lousy music.”

Code Name, who kept sneering until the end, left the waiting room. Team Leader Ahn Cheol-seung wanted to punch Code Name, who was cursing in the hallway, but he held back. Looking at their faces, it seemed like Code Name had lost, so he felt good. The 888 Crew kids were fine, but these guys looked like they had been hit.

‘They must have done something to deserve it. They didn’t get hit enough, did they?’

Based on his own experience, the 888 Crew and L&S were very nice friends. And Code Name was even more trash than their industry reputation.

Team Leader Ahn Cheol-seung guided Code Name to a cramped, dirty, and smelly room even in the staff room.

After Code Name left, the 888 Crew’s waiting room was quiet for a moment. It was Miju who broke the silence.

“Sangmi, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Is unnie [older sister] okay too?”

“I’m okay.”

“That’s a relief.”

Sangmi grabbed Miju’s hand. Oh Minji and Shin Hayeon were scared during the fight, but Sangmi wasn’t scared at all. She was rather cheering them on.

“Hwan oppa [older brother or male friend] should have broken Woosung’s nose there!”

Sangmi waved her fist in the air, and the overheated atmosphere calmed down.

“I’m going to put this in my webtoon today. Those crazy people are singers? They do hip-hop?”

“But Sangmi, if you mention Code Name directly, you’ll be infringing on their publicity rights and right to name.”

“Oh, then I’ll just say Code Name Pen. That’s okay, right?”

“Um. Then it should be okay? I’ll ask my mom.”

Park Inhyuk said, and Junhyung asked.

“Hyung, but are your parents really that successful?”

“Huh? No. Both of them have good reputations in the industry, but if they were really that successful, I’d be in Seoul, not Gwangju.”

“Then why did you say that?”

“Ah, it’s frustrating. And I didn’t lie? My parents are very successful prosecutors and lawyers. They go to the hiking club every weekend.”

“You crazy bastard.”

Kim Hwan gave a dumbfounded laugh at Park Inhyuk’s unfunny joke. Junhyung added.

“‘Scatter, Senbonzakura’ was really the best gag of 2005. How can this hyung make people laugh even during a fight?”

“Heh, isn’t that the great thing about this hyung?”

Laughter erupted, and the waiting room became noisy again. The incident was settled for now, but not everything was resolved. To completely relieve the uncomfortable and frustrating feelings now, one more thing was needed.

The 888 Crew and L&S members, who had been cleaning up the scattered lunch boxes, Miju’s clutch, ashtrays, etc., opened their mouths at the same time as if they had planned it.

“Are you ready to show them properly?”

“Is that even a question.”

“Hyungs, if you make a mistake in the performance today, I’m really going to get angry.”

“That will never happen, so don’t you forget your lyrics.”

“Those lousy bastards are after us, right? We have to make sure they don’t even dare to perform.”

“Those bastards are ruining the image of hip-hop. Today, the audience will watch those bastards and think that’s what hip-hop is.”

At Junhyung’s words, Sanghyun shook his head.

“No, the audience won’t think that today.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re up first.”

“Heh.”

Park Inhyuk exclaimed at Sanghyun’s declaration.

Looking at the clock, it was already 2:40. The 888 Crew and L&S members quickly changed into their stage costumes and waited in the hallway of the locker room connected to the stadium entrance.

“Wow, after all that commotion, I can’t believe the performance is soon.”

“Me too.”

“Don’t relax too much. It’s not good to suddenly get nervous.”

Then a staff member approached and told them that they had to go now. The 888 Crew and L&S members moved to the stage built in the middle of the baseball field.

-Boom boom boom boom!

-Waaaaaah!

-Gwangju! Tigers!

The cheering that had already started was heating up every corner of Mudeung Stadium. The sound of cheering music was heard, and the sound of colliding cheering sticks was heard everywhere.

The 888 Crew and L&S, who were crossing the stage with the staff, also attracted attention.

Finally, Park Inhyuk, Kim Hwan, and Oh Minji, the performers of the first song, Why Commin, went on stage.

End

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