The Rap Star [EN]: Chapter 34

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Sanghyun and Junhyung spectacularly bombed their final exams and devoted themselves to the final preparations for the L&S performance on Saturday, July 23rd.

Since summer vacation started on July 19th, they planned to skip school and practice from then on.

BAND L&S X 888 CREW

This was the name decided belatedly for the performance.

Originally, only Sanghyun and Junhyung’s names were supposed to be on the poster, but it was newly decided on the day the members of L&S and 888 Crew met.

Only Sanghyun and Junhyung were performing, but it was fine since they represented 888 Crew.

‘Anyway, they’re not promoting it well enough.’

Sanghyun felt a deep disappointment seeing L&S’s promotion methods. It was a time without Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even YouTube, but the promotion was severely lacking.

At best, they were unilaterally posting on Cyworld’s ‘Gwangju 20-30 Gathering’ [a popular Korean social networking site] or to people who liked music in Gwangju, and underground band clubs.

“Can I redesign the poster?”

When Kim Hwan, who majored in visual design, suggested this, L&S’s leader, Hyung Minsik, didn’t seem to think the poster was that important.

People who like music will find it on their own.

That was Hyung Minsik’s mindset. It felt like the stubbornness of an underground musician.

If even Minsik, who respected mainstream music, had this mindset, Sanghyun could only imagine what other bands were like.

However, the moment the L&S *hyung*s [older brothers/male friends] saw the draft of the poster that Hwan had newly created, their eyes turned to hearts.

“Awesome!”

“Wow, designers are different.”

The poster, which received praise, had the letters L&S and 888 Crew on a green background close to emerald, and the idea was amazing. The phrase was simple:

Band L&S8 Crew

The shape overlapped L&S and 888.

The idea of giving a special effect to &S8 to make it look like 888 stood out.

In Junhyung’s expression, it was a poster of ‘swag explosion’.

First of all, the deep white letters of L&S were designed in relief. The white letters on the green background caught the eye even from a distance.

And the letters 888 Crew were engraved in a rough tone of black, symbolizing black music. When viewed up close, the letters 888 Crew were even clearer.

In other words, L&S was seen first from a distance, and 888 was seen first up close.

The final poster design was like this:

Band L&S8 Crew

(Band L&S X 888 Hiphop Crew)

2005. 07. 23 18:00

Entrance Fee : l&S8 won

Smooth straight line

And at the very bottom of the poster was a simple but clear map.

There was a conflict of opinion with L&S regarding the admission fee. Originally, the band *hyung*s were going to hold a free performance. However, Sanghyun explained that L&S holding a free performance could harm other bands.

If a band with similar skills held a free performance, general audiences unfamiliar with performances might recognize, ‘Ah, this level is a free performance.’

The ambiguous price set at 1888 won was decided to receive 2000 won from those who wanted to, returning 112 won, and donating all the admission fees from those who didn’t to a suitable place.

The president of *부드러운 직선* (Smooth Straight Line) [the venue] changed the rental fee to free after hearing the purpose of the performance.

A city musically isolated and with an inactive underground scene. Gwangju’s underground was like an island in the Korean music scene, but the related workers inside had their own strong bond and sense of unity. Sanghyun felt good.

The 50 printed posters were attached here and there, including Sejong Music Store, at Sanghyun’s strong insistence.

“You can’t ignore marketing.”

Park Inhyuk, who dreamed of a hip-hop agency, strongly agreed with Sanghyun’s claim.

The performance practice was coming to an end. In the total 2-hour running time of the performance, the time Sanghyun and Junhyung were responsible for was about 40 minutes.

About 30 minutes of that was a collaboration song with L&S.

The remaining 10 minutes were entirely 888 Crew’s time.

‘I wanted to put Hayeon’s song on the set list.’

He was dying to hear Remission again, but it wasn’t something Sanghyun could decide.

Sanghyun and Junhyung were now treated almost like L&S members. They had become that close, and trust had been built. But there was an existence that was excluded from that, L&S’s vocalist, Cha Inhyun.

“Introduce yourself. This is our vocalist, Cha Inhyun. He’s Sanghyun, and he’s Junhyung. Inhyun, you’ve heard their names a lot, right?”

“Hello, *hyung*.”

“Hello.”

“Ah……”

Inhyun, who had neatly cut his hair instead of the countrified shag cut he had at the hospital, couldn’t hide his embarrassment. He was by no means welcoming. Minsik was the most embarrassed by the vocalist’s attitude.

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah, no. Nice to meet you, guys. I heard you’re performing together this time. I’ve been busy, so I haven’t been able to come to the practice room lately. Let’s do well.”

“Yes! Please take care of us!”

Inhyun smiled as Junhyung approached him affably. Sanghyun was about to greet him too, but he felt Inhyun step back slightly.

“*Hyung*, my throat isn’t in good condition right now. I’ll just watch these guys practice, and I’ll do my practice in the evening.”

“Why? I was going to let them hear the new song you wrote. It’s totally awesome. It has a bit of a hip-hop feel too.”

Sanghyun and Junhyung were also curious about Inhyun’s song. This was because Bang Minsik had boasted about Inhyun’s song to be used at the upcoming Jeonju World Wide Indie Music Festival dozens of times.

“A really cool song should be shown on stage. I’ll show it to you next time. I’m sorry, *hyung*.”

“Huh? No, it’s okay. You don’t have to be sorry. I just thought Sanghyun and Junhyung were looking forward to it, so I thought they might be curious.”

“Sorry, guys.”

“It’s okay.”

Inhyun wasn’t a bad person, nor was he cold. Rather, he was a warm person and quickly became friends with Junhyung.

His singing also had a fantastic mid-bass range, just like Minsik had boasted. The shortcomings in the high notes were still there.

However, Sanghyun felt several times that Inhyun was uncomfortable with him.

No, it was a conviction beyond feeling.

The insensitive guys didn’t seem to notice, but Miju or Hayeon would occasionally ask Sanghyun if something had happened with Inhyun.

“What happened! Inhyun *hyung* is so good to me.”

Sanghyun said that and laughed it off, but inside, he was very disappointed with Inhyun’s attitude.

Because he really liked L&S’s vocalist, he wanted to get close to him. But Sanghyun eventually failed to improve his distance with Inhyun, and even finished practicing for the performance without knowing a clear reason.

The 888 Crew members seemed envious of L&S’s performance, and they spent more time devoted to music. On days when there was no performance practice, they gathered at Sanghyun’s house and spent time together.

Naturally, the friendship between the 888 Crew members deepened. In particular, he became even closer to Hayeon, who lived a 10-minute walk from Sanghyun’s house.

It became natural to see Hayeon and Sangmi watching TV and laughing when he came home after going out.

Sanghyun was happy with Hayeon’s presence, which healed Sangmi.

Time flew by like an arrow.

“Did you pack everything?”

“What is there to pack?”

“Water?”

“I’ll buy it.”

“Towel?”

“I’m not having a concert.”

Sanghyun chided Hayeon. Since they lived close, they decided to take a taxi together to the rehearsal time.

“When is Sangmi coming?”

“She’s coming with her friend to match the performance start time. I told her not to watch the rehearsal. If you watch the rehearsal in advance, the performance won’t be fun.”

“Sangmi knows almost all the songs anyway.”

“Still.”

Sanghyun shrugged his shoulders and looked up and down at Hayeon. He was so used to seeing her in her school uniform that he felt new seeing her dressed up in casual clothes.

“You’re not even performing, so why are you dressed up so nicely?”

“Are you measuring me up because you’re performing now?”

“I’m complimenting you on being pretty.”

“It sounds like you’re sugarcoating it……”

Sanghyun smiled and urged Hayeon.

“Let’s go quickly. We’ll be late for the rehearsal.”

Finally, Saturday, July 23rd.

The day of Band L&S X 888 CREW’s performance dawned.

End

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