Chapter 991: It Was Beautiful From Far Away.. (3)

Chaos erupted for a while.

“Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk...?”

“So Ri Hyuk’s appearing as King Sun Wooju, but you went on as Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk?”

“Pwahahahahaha!”

Street Boys were already clutching their stomachs in laughter while Day Z asked curiously,

“So yesterday’s competition already ended?”

I took off the mask again and answered.

“Yeah. It’s over.”

“What happened? Who won between Ri Hyuk and oppa??”

Nayoon widened her innocent-looking eyes.

The other singers also stared at me with equally pure expressions, but I refused to be fooled.

This was a trap.

-Who won? I can’t tell you.

The moment I said that, I’d corner myself.

-Wow! So Ri Hyuk and King Sun Wooju really did face each other in the finals?

-That’s insane...!

-So Seo Ri Hyuk VS Sun Wooju actually happened.

Which was why my answer had already been decided.

“You’re curious, right?”

“Yes!”

“If you’re really curious......”

Just as I was about to continue—

The Street Boys rappers answered in bored voices.

“Yeah yeah, you’re just gonna say ‘Watch the actual broadcast,’ right?”

“We know your pattern, Commander. You’re gonna smile all annoyingly and go, ‘Please tune into the broadcast~ Kyaruk!’”

“......”

I stared at them silently.

The Street Boys members hurriedly changed their tune.

“Ah, uh, but we still want to hear it.”

“Wow... I really want to hear Commander’s voice...!”

I smiled contentedly.

“Yes~ You can find out by watching the actual broadcast~!”

“Knew it.”

Only Jihyuk, Hongju, and the rappers cheered enthusiastically.

The others looked unimpressed.

Hanjo clicked his tongue like it was obvious.

“I don’t even need to watch it. He definitely went on as Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk and swept the whole competition.”

“Please refrain from baseless speculation, Hanjo-ssi.”

“The evidence is extremely clear.”

My best friend pointed at me.

“Do you realize how vicious this guy is?”

“......”

“The kind of person who’ll obtain whatever he wants no matter what. That persistence. Those evil strategies. That devil brain.”

Twitch twitch!

“And that genius-level vocal and composing talent.”

Twitch~ twitch~

“He’s the kind of guy who absolutely gets what he wants.”

“True.”

“That’s facts.”

I silently endured the slander and accusations pouring toward me.

I remembered one of Teen Spirit’s famous quotes.

-Hyungnim, remember this. A true gentleman endures like hell. That’s why we put up with your Monthly NewBlack content.

Hanjo clicked his tongue again like he’d already figured everything out.

“He probably joined the show intending to boost Ri Hyuk’s popularity, but before he realized it, he was already in the finals delivering some terrifying performance... while Ri Hyuk’s breathing fire through his mouth.”

‘How did he know?’

“Look over there. Wooju’s eye just twitched.”

“That wasn’t a twitch. I’m low on magnesium.”

Even I thought that excuse sounded pathetic, and everyone burst out laughing.

Then they excitedly continued talking among themselves.

“Wow. I already feel like I watched an entire episode of Mission Singer.”

“Right? There’s no way Wooju wouldn’t make it all the way to the finals.”

“But hearing about it like this just makes me want to watch it even more. Two king-level vocalists from the same group facing each other?”

“NewBlack civil war is insane....”

Watching everyone lament how they were supposed to survive until Friday without spoilers, I smacked my lips.

“I was trying to keep it secret too......”

“But Hyunjo hyung ruined it.”

“Exactly.”

It was all because of my best friend of four years, who knew me too well.

While everyone continued talking about Mission Singer, my same-aged friend approached me.

“So? What about my deduction?”

“Mmm....”

That sharp observational skill that had memorized every single one of my habits.

It honestly felt like he had at least Level 0.5 Deoksun-level interest in me.

I couldn’t help but admire such friendship.

So I gave him the greatest compliment I could offer a best friend.

“Lee Hyunjo-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“Do people around you often tell you you’re no fun?”

“Sniff....”

Hanjo headed off to change outfits looking utterly heartbroken while LB clapped excitedly.

“Fight! Fight! Fight...!”

“Namu.”

“Yes.”

“Go change your clothes.”

“Sniff....”

The other members dragged LB away while scolding him.

Then my eyes met Jihyuk’s, who had been waiting for his turn while the seniors changed.

He looked seconds away from tearing up.

“Jihyuk-ah. What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s just... thinking that sunbaenim lost.......”

He looked exactly like someone thinking, My bias would never lose!

I burst out laughing.

“Jihyuk-ah. I didn’t lose.”

“......?”

“You’ll understand once this week’s episode airs.”

Because no one truly lost in this season of Mission Singer.

I looked at Jihyuk with the benevolent expression of a senior imparting wisdom.

Then Junghyun whispered beside me,

“But you did lose.”

“......”

One by one, the performers returned after changing outfits.

Today’s concept was—

[Lemon Company Hip Hop Division]

A fake corporate skit concept, like those comedy variety shows where entertainers pretended to work at companies called “OO Corporation” or “XX Company.”

Naturally, the oldest and most senior person present, Haetion sunbae, became the division head.

“Uh, yes.”

Wearing a loose suit with his buzz cut and trimmed beard, Haetion awkwardly cleared his throat.

“Today, at NewBlack Company’s......”

“It’s Lemon, Deokbae hyung.”

“Ah, right right. Lemon Entertainment Company’s... ah, hold on. My tongue got twisted.”

“What kind of rapper gets tongue-tied, hyung?”

Even though he regularly appeared as a judge on hip hop audition shows, this kind of variety content clearly wasn’t his specialty.

“Teacher! We’ll teach you!”

Street Boys, who had once learned rap from Haetion, stepped up to offer guidance as variety veterans.

LB took the lead.

“Teacher, on MyTube these days, you just gotta go all-out. Like, total confidence! Pow! Fire! That kind of vibe!”

“R-Really?”

“Just look at NewBlack. They go completely overboard! But they’re still cute.”

“But they’re handsome.”

“Sniff sniff sniff....”

Everyone burst into laughter as LB retreated with emotional damage.

Thanks to LB loudly stirring up the atmosphere as the mood-maker, the set became lively in an instant.

I sent him a grateful look.

‘Good job.’

‘??’

I became flustered seeing LB blink like he had no idea what he’d done.

“So it wasn’t intentional....”

“Namu secretly has a really high comedy batting average. The problem is that he gets too excited running to second base and ends up getting tagged out.”

I found myself agreeing with Junghyun.

Anyway, filming for today’s segment, Formation of Lemon Company’s Hip Hop Division, proceeded smoothly.

It was basically one giant party fueled by completely nonsensical ad-libs.

“First, a greeting from the division head.”

“Yes. Today we stand in a truly honorable place. The rappers of Lemon Company have gathered together......”

Haetion even performed a ceremonial ribbon cutting with a giant blade.

“Next, we’ll proceed with the celebratory performance.”

“We’ll get the atmosphere going first.”

Then the idols came out dancing weird dances to hype up the crowd.

It was basically everyone saying random nonsense, but somehow that made it even funnier.

PD Seong, who had been directing NewBlack TV ever since History Exploration Squad, muttered with satisfaction,

“I think today’s footage is gonna turn out great.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a good feeling.”

I stood beside the PD while watching the monitor.

One of the agreements with TBC was that my face couldn’t be revealed before the broadcast aired, so I’d be wearing the mask again later.

The plan was to upload this immediately after Friday’s Mission Singer broadcast, since at that point my identity still wouldn’t have been publicly revealed yet.

“But Wooju.”

“Yes?”

“At first, didn’t we say we were just filming a simple performance video?”

“We did.”

“So how did things end up like this?”

“Isn’t this how things always go for us?”

At first, this was the conversation we’d had with the NewBlack TV staff.

-We’re thinking of filming a rap performance video with some rappers. Around five minutes long.

-Really?

That had been the original proposal.

But then—

-We recently acquired a label, so we thought maybe the rappers under our affiliated labels and us together—

-But Lemon Entertainment has other rappers too, right?

-Yeah, but everyone’s probably busy... would they even come if we asked?

-They’ll come.

And they really did.

-Come to think of it, wouldn’t it feel disappointing if we just filmed the performance and left? What if we also filmed a skit?

-That sounds good.

And thus the situation snowballed.

This absolutely wasn’t the original intention... but by now, we were used to things spiraling like this.

Besides, it was actually a pretty good concept.

-Lemon Entertainment has these kinds of hip hop artists!

It was a perfect opportunity to promote that.

“Okay! We’ll stop here for now!”

PD Seong clapped his hands, wrapping up the skit filming.

“We’ll film the skit with Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk a little later. For now, let’s move on to the performance shoot.”

“Yes!”

“Let’s do one rehearsal first.”

The concept was basically a hit-song medley where each artist performed about thirty seconds of one of their signature songs.

After lightly discussing movement positions, filming officially began.

The first performer was Plo, a rapper in his twenties.

The freckled rapper with dyed blond hair stepped forward holding the mic while performing his hit song STAR.

Living with anxiety and fear

Was normal to me

Poverty was my closest friend

The lyrics described how he’d struggled through childhood in a poor hillside neighborhood before fighting his way up to where he was now.

Colorful lights flashed overhead.

Among the crowd grooving to the music, I danced while wearing the crane mask.

‘Hello. I am Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk, hufufu.’

‘......!’

Everyone desperately avoided making eye contact with me while dancing.

Seeing Nayoon bite her lip and groove while staring at the floor only made me dance even harder.

‘I’m not letting this go!’

‘Sun Wooju!’

Ignoring the murderous stares aimed at me, I happily kept dancing.

Then the rappers stepped forward one after another.

Even though everyone wore suits to fit the company concept, each person had their own style.

Gold necklaces, beanies, different accessories—everyone added their own flair while performing together.

‘They’re good.’

‘Seriously.......’

The singers present all watched in admiration.

The same people who had stood awkwardly during the variety skit now exploded with energy like they were tearing apart their own home turf.

No need for alcohol

Because you’ll all get drunk on us anyway

Haetion finished his rap with his slightly slurred pronunciation.

After the other rappers shouted ad-libs and danced together—

This time, Street Boys’ rap line stepped forward.

‘Your humble servant arrives!’

‘Alright, let’s start the engine~’

Their loosened shirts and untied neckties made the suits resemble delinquent school uniforms.

That winter

With absolutely nothing

We arrived at Seoul Station

Street Boys’ rap line performed Seoul, 2012, a song about the days they’d lived together in a cramped one-room apartment.

The atmosphere shifted from wild partying to emotional storytelling.

Then Day Z stepped forward, completely flipping the mood again.

Her outfit combined a neat suit with flashy accessories that clashed beautifully against it.

If we’re going to burn

Then let’s burn bright red

Burn it burn it all

Just burn it all

Day Z rapped lyrics aimed at fans, telling them to rise so high that malicious commenters could never reach them.

Every time she gestured, everyone danced and responded together.

Then Junghyun walked out.

Climbing and falling

Pushing down again and again

That’s always how our conversations were

The singers cheered at the low-toned delivery of VIBE.

Just like the smash hit it had been on Mango Charts last year, everyone sang along to the chorus.

V-I-B-E

Your presence fills every place

The song Junghyun had written after getting inspiration from a massage chair had become wildly popular among people in their twenties.

Apparently universities had bombarded them with spring festival invitations because of this song.

Though after hearing the booking fee, they’d all reportedly run away.

V-I-B-E

Your voice fills the air

Street Boys slung their arms over each other’s shoulders while singing the chorus excitedly, with the rappers hyping them up.

Then finally, the aspiring idol trainees—and winner and runner-up of the hip hop audition show Next Mission—stepped forward.

Where are we going from here?

Is this staggering road even the right one?

That flickering light with no promise ahead

If not now, will we never cross?

This had been the Round 3 mission song.

Jihyuk and Hongju performed Crosswalk, the duet rap they’d done together—a song about the confusion of adolescence.

Apparently it was hugely popular among teenagers lately, and Jihyuk’s composing talent really shined through.

Two trainees expressing the anxiety of wanting to walk their own paths, yet feeling pressured to follow when everyone else crossed on the green light.

‘My junior.’

‘My junior indeed!’

Hanjo and I exchanged grins after making eye contact.

‘Sorry, but our kid’s better.’

‘Nope, Hongju’s better.’

The finals had been decided by an incredibly narrow vote difference, so the two high school rappers were basically evenly matched.

Of course, the rivalry only existed between me and Hanjo.

The two rappers themselves performed with perfect chemistry like close friends their age.

And then—

“Hoo.......”

Now it was my turn.

I was nervous standing in front of singers this talented, but I decided to do my best anyway.

As I stepped forward, everyone cheered me on.

“Yeah!”

“Our Nation’s Top Hip Hop!”

“Show us what you got!”

The seniors laughed and hyped me up enthusiastically while I grabbed the mic.

Rookie rapper “Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk.”

The moment the crane-masked figure appeared, the rappers burst into laughter.

‘That mask seriously pisses me off.’

‘Why is it so funny?’

But the laughter only lasted a moment.

As the previously timid-looking crane suddenly began dancing sharply in rhythm, everyone’s eyes shook.

‘What kind of dancing is that.......’

Even though the choreography looked light and flowing, the structure was incredibly solid.

As expected from someone chasing down NewBlack’s main dancer as the group’s second-best dancer.

The atmosphere was completely different from rehearsal.

‘Well... it’s still dancing.’

‘It’s just dancing.’

Everyone continued cheering with excited smiles.

Then the powerful music kicked in.

NewBlack’s greatest hit.

A song still loved for its addictive quality.

Nine.

Out of time, out of luck

Maybe this will never unravel

Standing atop repeating time

At some point it all became heavy, ay

Wooju performed the rap section of Nine.

‘Huh?’

‘Wait...?’

During rehearsal he’d only hummed lightly, so nobody noticed.

But now that the real performance had begun and he was going all-out, it felt completely different.

The crane mask cheerfully performed the rap section of Nine.

Then a jazzier melody flowed out.

‘It’s Answer!’

Wooju swayed to the rhythm as if savoring the song he himself had composed before opening his lips.

It was the Korean version of Answer’s rap.

His hand gestures lightly tapped the air in rhythm, and before anyone realized it, their bodies were moving with him.

‘That tone is insane.’

‘Wait? Sun Wooju wasn’t this good before. Since when did he improve?’

‘What the hell is this kid?’

The rappers suddenly felt confused.

‘No... this is.......’

Strictly speaking, Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk wasn’t actually a rapper.

Position-wise he was NewBlack’s lead rapper behind Junghyun, but hip hop definitely wasn’t his main field.

Haetion blinked.

‘What is this?’

Sure, rap tone was something you could naturally be born with.

But those gestures, that instinctive ability to draw crowd reactions—

That level only came from practicing rap almost every single day.

The other rappers who noticed this wore similar expressions.

‘Uh...?’

The crane mask that had initially looked cute was gradually starting to feel different.

A cute crane destroying the ecosystem.

A person who only barely dipped one foot into rap was somehow threatening professional rappers.

‘Damn, this is dangerous.’

‘At this rate comparison comments are definitely coming.’

The rappers’ expressions gradually grew more serious.

Other than Kim Jihyuk—whose eyes sparkled like I knew my bias wouldn’t lose!—and the confused-looking Hongju, everyone wore similar expressions.

The eyes of Street Boys’ rap line and Day Z sharpened.

‘Ah, he’s so annoying!’

‘Wasn’t it enough that he can compose, sing, and dance?!’

‘Now he’s trying to take over rap too?!’

That wicked creature trying to invade rap after already conquering composing, singing, and dancing.

Of course, everyone knew Wooju had worked insanely hard to reach this level.

But that didn’t stop it from feeling unfairly irritating.

However—

“......”

The person feeling the most intense emotions here was someone else entirely.

The rappers turned their gaze.

‘Still, Junghyun-ssi probably already knew about Wooju-ssi’s skill....’

Kim Junghyun looked like a bear whose food bowl had just been stolen, his eyes shimmering with tears.

‘He didn’t know.’

Everyone instantly sympathized with Junghyun.

Even the other rappers felt threatened.

So how must Junghyun feel, standing right beside him all this time?

‘Junghyun-ssi....’

‘What kind of battle have you been fighting this whole time?’

Everyone looked at him with pity.

Meanwhile, Junghyun silently held back tears.

‘Hyung... go easy on me.......’

Right behind him.

No, practically right beneath his chin.

The image of his eldest hyung pressing a dagger to his throat while cheerfully asking, “So? What do you think?”

Junghyun’s lips puffed out slightly.

He looked exactly like a bear swallowing his sorrow.

‘You white-backed moth kind of hyung... tobacco cutworm kind of hyung... sweet potato hornworm and root-knot nematode kind of hyung.......’

All of them were names of sweet potato pests.

Ugh. I’m nervous.

After showing off my rap among all these professional rappers—

[Sunbaenims~]

Using a cheerful voice-modulated tone, I acted cute toward the seniors.

[Hello! I’m intern Nation’s Top Hip Hop Ri Hyuk, newly assigned to Lemon Company’s Hip Hop Division! What did you think of my rap today?? Wasn’t it truly worthy of the name Nation’s Top Hip Hop? Kyarurururu-!]

But the response I received was completely different from what I expected.

The senior singers suddenly crossed their arms.

Hanjo growled at me.

“You think hip hop’s a joke?! Huh?! You think you can become Nation’s Top Hip Hop with that?!”

Day Z bared her teeth like a chihuahua.

“Remember this, arrogant intern! Rap without hip hop soul isn’t real hip hop!”

Seeing everyone suddenly gang up on me, I looked for someone on my side.

Glance.

Junghyun avoided my gaze and muttered,

“Sweet potato hornworm....”

What was this bizarrely powerful insult...?

But before I could process it, more attacks flew in from my friends.

“How dare an intern get cocky!! Back in my day, you had to chant like a temple dog for three years before it counted as hip hop!”

“Are you happy stealing small business markets?! Does this make you happy?!”

The singers shook me around aggressively from all sides.

The crane could only wobble helplessly.

[......?]

What was going on?

Why was everyone suddenly so angry...?