The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 294

< Verse 46. Rapstar >

Late June 2011.

Starting with three performances in LA, Sanghyun and the H&R INC crew began their journey in earnest.

The Golden New Era Tour, which began on June 22nd, was scheduled to hold 26 performances in 9 cities until the end of July, before heading to Mexico.

The original schedule had Toronto, Canada, following the US, but the Mexico leg was confirmed just before the tour began, making Santa Fe, New Mexico, the last city on the US tour.

This meant that they would cross the border into Mexico straight after the Santa Fe performance.

Therefore, the Golden New Era Tour team had a tight schedule, starting in the West, touring the Central and Eastern regions for a little over a month, and then returning to the Southwest where New Mexico is located.

In terms of dates, they were performing almost once every 1.4 to 1.5 days, which was a much tighter schedule than usual tours.

Tours usually last from a minimum of 3 months to over a year once they start, so even with a tight schedule, they rarely performed more than once every two days.

However, since the Golden New Era Tour was a world tour, they decided to quickly complete the US leg and schedule the overseas tour with longer travel distances more leisurely.

The musicians at H&R INC all agreed, as they would only have to endure one tough month before things got easier.

Thus, days of constant travel and performances continued.

For the musicians who continued to work on music every day even inside the private jet, their main mode of transportation, this tour was literally all about music, ‘except for sleeping time.’

However, Sanghyun had to temporarily halt his music activities upon arriving in Kansas City, Missouri.

Nothing had happened.

He was simply taking the time to meet a welcome face.

“Sanghyun!”

“Wow! Hyung [older brother or male friend]!”

Sanghyun approached a man who had become even larger in the time they hadn’t seen each other and bumped fists with him.

“Wow, how much bulking up have you done? You were big before, but now you’re like the Hulk.”

“Western guys are strong. You have to make an impression from the start.”

“I thought you were about to retire, hyung. How did you decide to come to America?”

“This punk, talking about retirement to a perfectly healthy guy. Don’t you know that baseball players are in their prime in their mid-30s? It’s when the brain and physique are properly harmonized.”

That’s right. The welcome face Sanghyun met in Kansas City was Han Gwangsu, a Major League player who had traded his Gwangju Tigers uniform for a Kansas City Royals uniform in January of this year.

Sanghyun didn’t know much about baseball, but he knew that KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] players had to complete several years to acquire FA [Free Agent] status and transfer overseas.

So, he felt puzzled when Han Gwangsu received the transfer offer, but thinking back, it had already been six years since he performed at the Mudeung Stadium.

‘Wow, already six years. Seven years if you count the years.’

For Sanghyun, the modifier ‘compared to his experience’ was always attached to him. This was because he had fewer years in music compared to his fellow musicians.

But he was already a 7-year rapper.

He had started music at 18 and was now 24 years old.

It’s a cliché, but he really didn’t know how time had passed.

As Sanghyun was marveling at the time that had flown by, Han Gwangsu suggested they move first.

He could feel people’s attention pouring on them as Han Gwangsu, who was doing quite well with the Kansas City Royals, and America’s hottest musician were together.

America had a culture of respecting celebrities’ personal lives, but this culture did not apply to celebrities like Sanghyun.

So, Sanghyun entered a Korean restaurant that Han Gwangsu frequented to avoid people’s attention.

But it wasn’t quiet there either.

Sanghyun and Han Gwangsu were able to start their meal only after receiving enthusiastic responses from the restaurant owners and the customers who were already there.

“Wow, the popularity is no joke.”

“I think half of it is hyung’s popularity?”

“I come here every week, and this has never happened before.”

Sanghyun smiled awkwardly at Han Gwangsu’s assertion.

In fact, this level of reaction was so commonplace that it wasn’t considered special.

‘I thought it was a bit cocky, but?’

While Sanghyun was thinking that, Korean food, which he hadn’t had in a while, was laid out on the table, and the meal began.

“I told you to come even though I’m busy, right?”

“No, I am busy, but not super busy. And if I come to Kansas City, I should definitely see hyung. How long has it been since we last met?”

“Wasn’t it at the farewell party? And you call once in a while during the holidays.”

“Ah, that was in February 2007.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s right. Wow, so you’ve been active in America for over 4 years already?”

“I reached the top in 4 years, so isn’t it a bit slow?”

“This crazy bastard?”

Han Gwangsu laughed at Sanghyun’s joke, saying he was still the same.

“But are you really not busy? I saw in the newspaper that you’re performing almost once every 1.5 days?”

“If you pack the performances together, it’s like that statistically. If you rest for two days and perform for four consecutive days, it’s one performance every 1.5 days.”

“Oh, that’s true too.”

“But hyung, you’re already reading English newspapers? When I first came to America, I didn’t like reading because even though I had no problem with conversation, the letters didn’t register well.”

“That’s······.”

“Well, teamwork is important in sports, so communication must be important, right? You’ve prepared a lot for the transfer.”

“······I saw it in the Korean newspaper.”

“Ah······.”

After a moment of silence, Sanghyun shouted, ‘Korean newspapers are the best for Koreans!’ but Han Gwangsu ignored him.

The two, who had been relieving their happiness with jokes, shared various stories.

Han Gwangsu enjoyed telling stories about what had happened in Korea over the past 4 years and the public opinion related to Sanghyun.

Sanghyun simply enjoyed speaking Korean.

In fact, Sanghyun had no opportunity to use Korean at all, except when talking on the phone with friends in Korea.

Because of this, he even made Korean raps on purpose, feeling a sense of crisis that he might have to study Korean rap again later.

Han Gwangsu, hearing Sanghyun’s story, asked with a puzzled expression.

“I saw in the newspaper that a Korean lawyer joined your company? Don’t you talk to him in Korean?”

“Ah, you mean Attorney Lim? No way. I might get hit if I meet Attorney Lim.”

Sanghyun let out a wicked laugh.

As Han Gwangsu said, he does talk to Attorney Lim in Korean.

If there are other people present, they speak in English to be considerate of them, but when they are alone, it is natural to use Korean.

However, Attorney Lim has become the busiest person at H&R INC and doesn’t have time to meet with someone like him.

‘No, what is this? How is he busier than when I was working with CEO Oh Yeonju!’

‘Isn’t that how company life is?’

‘It’s because of you! You bastard!’

Attorney Lim was the person at H&R INC who knew Korean laws, regulations, and the implicit rules of corporate activities best. Except for Sanghyun, who didn’t show it.

That’s why he was busy.

Too busy.

To prepare for the establishment of H&R INC Korea after the Golden New Era Tour.

Of course, Attorney Lim was busy, but he wasn’t really angry.

In Korea, all he could do was lubricate the giant gears to keep them running smoothly.

But not now.

Now, he was doing the leading and important work of finding and inserting the necessary gears for H&R INC.

He grumbled every time he saw Sanghyun, saying that he was too busy because of him, but anyone could see that Attorney Lim was passionately engaged in his work.

“H&R INC Korea is being established?”

Han Gwangsu asked after hearing Sanghyun’s words.

“Can it be established? The Ohkyung Group must be grinding their teeth because of the Oprah Winfrey Show, right?”

“It’ll be fine. Well, Hadel will take care of it.”

Unlike when he was running the 888 Crew, Sanghyun wasn’t paying any attention to business matters.

If President Ha needed advice, he would have asked him already.

So, the fact that he hadn’t said anything meant that there were no problems with the progress.

“Then what happens to the 888 Crew?”

“It will become the 888 Label and become H&R INC’s third sub-label. Oh, saying it like this makes it sound like we’re on the verge of creating a pan-national label.”

“Ah, do you know that there are often rumors of discord between you and the 888 Crew in Korea whenever something happens?”

“Discord? Why?”

Sanghyun asked back, completely unexpectedly.

“Why else? It’s because you’ve been holed up in America for 4 years. It’s not like you don’t have money to come to Korea, right?”

“I have money but I’m not coming, so there’s discord? That’s an extreme conclusion.”

“That’s how the media is. I even had rumors of being bullied within the team because I didn’t high-five after hitting a home run. Oh, right. There’s also a story that you’re going to naturalize.”

Listening to Han Gwangsu’s story in detail, the rumors of discord had been around for quite some time.

When Sanghyun sang ‘Eight, Eight, Eight Remix’ on The X Factor or shouted out the 888 Crew on the Oprah Winfrey Show, those stories disappeared, but they were mentioned again after time passed.

In fact, that was likely because Sanghyun had originally planned to go to Korea two years ago. He thought it had been a long time back then.

However, he became greedy to make his song reach the sky while creating , and then the time of his return was delayed due to Standard’s accident.

Now, he was delaying it a bit more in order to return in glory.

“Maybe even if you go to Korea and do ‘Ssesse’ [a popular Korean slang/dance move] with them, there will be rumors of discord. I’m telling you in advance. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you. I got a good idea thanks to hyung.”

“Huh? What?”

Sanghyun had originally planned to wear silk clothes with the 888 Crew. So, he didn’t care much about the public’s misunderstanding.

But it was also true that a very interesting idea flashed through his mind thanks to Han Gwangsu.

“It’s nothing. Hyung, you can’t drink, right?”

“It’s the season.”

“Then let’s order a soda or something. Ah, now that I think about it, you’re gone, so they won’t call it ‘Gwangsu Up’ anymore, right?”

“I lost that. Now it’s the Gwangju Tigers club’s cheer song.”

“Really?”

Their conversation continued. If they had the time, they could have talked all night.

But they weren’t idle people.

Sanghyun had to check the stage for the performance that would be held from tomorrow, and Han Gwangsu was also busy because it was the season.

So, the end of the pleasant time was approaching.

“Ah, right. Who sang the congratulatory song at hyung’s wedding?”

“You ran away after promising to sing, so I hired an even more amazing singer.”

“Who?”

“Me. I sang it, you idiot.”

“Ah, so that’s why hyung-soo [older brother’s wife] didn’t come to Kansas City with you?”

“······That’s convincing.”

Sanghyun and Han Gwangsu, who had been exchanging pleasant jokes until the end, parted ways like that.

“Have a good tour. I’ve developed a hobby of watching performances occasionally since I saw you perform at Mudeung Stadium. So, kill them all like you did back then.”

“Hyung, make sure to wear the championship ring.”

While wishing each other luck in the future.

Sanghyun started the tour from the next day.

The Golden New Era Tour attracted a huge number of spectators and recorded a sold-out streak for two consecutive days.

The price of scalped tickets soared, but even that was impossible to obtain due to the big hit.

On the second performance day, despite the performance starting at night, clashes occurred between the hooligans following the Golden New Era Tour and the citizens of Kansas City due to the long line that had started since dawn.

It wasn’t a pleasant incident, but it was something that made them realize the popularity of the tour.

Just as Sanghyun spent passionate and enthusiastic nights, Han Gwangsu spent passionate and enthusiastic days.

In the home game that followed two days later, he hit back-to-back home runs, recording his 7th and 8th home runs of the season at the same time. The 7th home run was a 3-run comeback home run, and the 8th home run was a walk-off solo home run.

Moreover, the opponent was the big money New York Yankees of the American League.

It was easy to imagine how enthusiastically the fans of the Kansas City Royals, who were in a long dark period, shouted ‘Han’.

Han Gwangsu said in the MVP interview.

“Challenging the MLB [Major League Baseball] was a very big adventure. Many Asian hitters have challenged the Major League, but they have not been able to break the perception that Asian power hitters cannot use their power on the American stage. And the reason why I, a coward, was able to take this adventure is thanks to a respectable young friend.”

“A young friend?”

The announcer of the MVP interview asked Han Gwangsu, who was stuttering in English.

“Yes, that friend challenged very bravely and succeeded. Because he overcame the limitations of race and finally reached the top.”

People thought that Han Gwangsu was talking about a baseball player. Some people even speculated that he might be talking about Ichiro.

“I gained confidence while eating with that friend and doing night training two days ago. I made up my mind. The Royals fans will hear my stuttering English often in the future. Because I will be the MVP many times.”

The fans screamed like crazy at Han Gwangsu’s calm yet bold remarks, and Han Gwangsu smiled and waved his hand.

Then the announcer asked.

“So, who is that friend?”

“It’s FiveSix. He will have another performance in Kansas City tonight.”

Sanghyun applauded while watching Han Gwangsu’s interview at the hotel.

It seemed that the people he had influenced were not just musicians.

Han Gwangsu, who wasn’t a major leaguer, became a major leaguer, and Sangmi was creating webtoons [digital comics] and rap musicals.

“What are you doing? Sanghyun. Let’s go.”

“I’m going to kill them all!”

“Did you eat your sanity along with your meal?”

And that day, Sanghyun presented a performance that would be forever etched in the memories of the citizens of Kansas City.

***