Each person has their own story to tell, their own struggle and Jinhwan was no different. He quickly learned that in life the only person he could depend on was himself. From an early age, Jinhwan had to learn how to live on his own, growing up in a foster home where his parents cared more about the monthly checks that came in from the government rather than how Jinhwan was doing in school or rather what he was doing. At the age of sixteen he was basically on his own, his foster parents figuring since he was able to work legally he could support himself as well.

Crashing on friend’s couches and working part-time jobs had become second nature to the man and dreams of the future were hazy and uncertain. That was until he witnessed his first freestyle rap battle ever on the streets while walking home from grade school one day. That was his first moment of clarity. The notion that everything he had been feeling could be put down on paper and could be rhythmically spoken with such beauty mystified him. From that moment, he began scribbling lyrics down on anything he could get his hands on, bobbing to the beat of the music that played in his head.

Jinhwan could still remember how nervous he was during his first battle at the age of fourteen. Everyone laughed at him when he first walked up stage, and although he barely made it to the second round at least it gave him experience that he could learn from. His style of artistically joining words together creating rhymes that weren’t chock full of insults but rather depicting struggles everyone could relate to, had garnered himself a large following. One that would always have clubs packed just so they could listen to what would come out of the man’s mouth next. Nothing was rehearsed with Jinhwan. He would take one look at his opponent and instantly find something flawed about them, fake or forced so they could fit into some mold of what people assumed rap artists were about and start from there. Soon Jinhwan became a household name in the world of underground rap, earning him his own set of groupies as well.

Most people assumed Jinhwan was like all the other rappers, obsessed with getting their big break, in love with women, alcohol and quite possibly drugs. But Jinhwan was the polar opposite of the image of a jaded rapper with rock star mentality. For him, the only stable part of his life, before he met Yumi, was his music. It was the only thing that kept him grounded and allowed him to vent every emotion he felt growing up. It was his version of release. To him it was always about the music, or at least it had been at one point in time.

Jinhwan sat in his manager’s office staring at the small laptop screen. Headline after headline, stories about him and the female pop artist in a relationship had been spreading like wildfire and Jinhwan couldn’t understand how it even happened. Fans of the Queen of Pop had gone so far as to even find remote similarities between the two deeming them as “couple” items, so as to validate that they had in fact been dating. Jinhwan groaned when he saw separate photos of him and the female artist placed side by side, a red circle around their watches. Apparently the watches were exactly the same and fans assumed they were couple watches, when in reality it was the groom’s gift Yumi had given to him the day they got married.

The rapper looked down at his phone, watching as it vibrated once again in his hands. Unlike the two times before, this call came from Yumi’s father. Jinhwan sighed, realizing this was just another reason for her parents to hate him even more than they already did. Knowing her father would probably just yell at him, shouting out the age-old story that he would never be good enough for his baby girl and she should just leave him, Jinhwan was hesitant to answer.

Yumi, unlike him, had a modest upbringing. Money was never an issue in her household, and being the younger of two daughters, Yumi got whatever she wanted, except she didn’t like to live that way. She didn’t want to grow up being spoon-fed, and was adamant about working during high school to pay for her own additional expenses. Yumi was on track to becoming a therapist, but after a year into her marriage with Jinhwan she had to forgo her dreams in order to work full time to be able to support them. Jinhwan had been trying hard to break into the music industry and with his time split between small-time performances and recording in the studio his inconsistent monetary contribution wasn’t helping much to keep them afloat.

He could still remember what it was like when Yumi first introduced him to her parents. He was already apprehensive about whether or not they would like him, but the moment Yumi walked out of the room to help serve the tea, her parents did a total 180 and he knew since then that they would never approve of him. It was obvious how much her parents looked down on him, thinking he would never amount to anything. It was the sole reason why he worked so hard to try and make it big. He figured, since rapping was the only thing he was good at he might as well use that to make a living. Jinhwan was aware of how his devotion to making a name for himself was also the same thing that tore him and Yumi apart, but he had to do it. The rapper figured they could reconnect after he got his break, after he was able to ensure she would live the same lifestyle she had lived before they met, before he, to use the words of her mother, “ruined her life.”

So, the rapper worked his off. Humiliating himself in front of crowds just to have someone buy his EP. Even his manger thought he was a joke, but Jihwan didn’t care, he had to get his name out there in the mainstream world. To prove to his in-laws that he did have what it took, that he loved their daughter enough to forgo any ounce of pride he had. But his determination didn’t go without repercussions, the biggest one being working long hours and coming home late. Not wanting to interrupt her sleep, Jinhwan even started to sleep in the second bedroom, not realizing that his one move out of concern over her sleep would be the cause of her restlessness at night.

Jinhwan’s eyes darted back from his cell phone to the laptop screen and burying his face in his hands he sighed. How could the media contort the truth this far? Yes he had been meeting up with the female artist but only in hopes to be featured on her upcoming single. Did the photographers not see the flurry of people around them? Managers, assistants, producers; her whole entourage was with her every time they met. The rapper slumped back into his chair and shut his eyes. He was already trying to get over the brief sense of defeat when he heard she claimed that he was too “gangster” for her image and backed down on the option of collaborating together, and now he had this to worry about. Staring down at his phone, Jinhwan began to dial Yumi’s number. He had to let her know it wasn’t true. He knew she had to hear it from his own mouth, and not from someone else, and then he’d worry about getting an earful from her parents later.

“Whoa there, no calls.” Baek Kyoung said, stealing the rapper’s phone from his hands.

Reaching out to grab his phone back Jinhwan shook his head. “No, I need to call Yumi. I have to tell her not to pay attention to this.”

Baek Kyoung stood firm in his statement. “No, I can’t let you do that. This just might be the best thing that has ever happened to you.” The rapper’s manager began to tell Jinhwan about the numerous radio and television stations that are now calling to see if he would appear on their show. “You, my friend, just got your big break.”

“This is not how I wanted to get it!” Jinhwan yelled back, astonished that his manager would be so pleased about this. “I’m married for ’s sake. I love Yumi, not that.” He added pointing to the picture of the singer on the computer screen.

His manager looked back at him indifferently. “Newsflash Jin, but no one knows your married, and to be honest I’m glad they don’t. That way we can milk this story for everything its got, besides they’re the ones that backed down on doing the collaboration. Consider it their payback.”

“Their payback? What about Yumi? Do you even know what she’s probably thinking right now? Look, let me just clear it up with her ok?”

“No. You’re being watched like a hawk now, I’m sure they are even trying to get access to your phone records to verify. No calls, and no visits. Sit your down, we have things to discuss.” Baek Kyoung growled, pulling on the man’s arm when he tried to stand up to leave. Jinhwan fell back into the chair and shut his eyes, praying that Yumi wouldn’t misunderstand. The last thing he needed right now was to see her cry, again.

“I just – I don’t know. It’s just getting hard, you know?” Yumi said softly into the phone, trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn’t wake up Jinhwan who was sleeping in the other room.

The couple had been married for a close to a year and Yumi was still wondering when her happily ever after was going to start. Money had been tight and she tried her best to hide the fact from Jinhwan, sneaking around behind his back taking the subway at night instead of cabs like how he told her to. When all her coworkers would go out for lunch, she would settle with eating her home-made snacks just to be able to save money. She already had to put school on hold for the time being and was starting to think that she would never be able to complete her degree.

Although at the time she would never admit to it, Yumi knew they jumped into getting married too quickly. She lived at home, he slept on his friend’s couch and neither of them had a stable income. But, despite knowing her parents would never approve, when Jinhwan told her she was the only person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and asked her to marry him, Yumi immediately said yes. Call it young love, call it stupidity; whatever you want to call it – it became her reality. The two had decided to get married on such short notice that Yumi didn’t even get her dream wedding and instead settled for getting married in court with only her older sister and Teddy, Jinhwan’s best friend, present.

Jinhwan wasn’t entirely clueless to their financial struggles, as he even knew that each paycheck he put into their bank account depended solely on his ability to win a battle or actually score a gig. But he never thought they were doing that bad, at least not to until he overheard Yumi talking to Hiromi, her sister.

“I can’t.” Yumi said back to her sister, the tears streaming down her face naturally. “I can’t go to the parents. You know how they feel about Jin, I can’t – but,” she sighed, wiping her tears away. “I’m not even sure if we can pay next month’s rent. I barely had enough for the water bill.”

The next words she said hurt Jinhwan’s pride and ego more than anything. Sniffling Yumi quietly spoke out. “Can you please? I promise I’ll pay you back when I get my next check.”

It was then when Jinhwan realized he had to get his act together. He had to strive to be better so she could depend on him and no one else.

Letting out a deep breath, Jinhwan pushed the key into the hole and unlocked the door to their apartment. Today had to have been the longest day he ever experienced and he was surprised he managed to escape Baek Kyoung’s grasp to go home. Every part of him wanted to run into Yumi’s bedroom, to wake her up and tell her none of the reports were true but he figured if his day was hell, her day was probably worse. Pushing the front door open he immersed himself in darkness, locking the door behind him he made his way toward the second bedroom. He didn’t get as far as he wanted when his back collided harshly against the wall after their German Shepherd leapt at him in the dark.

“Roman?” Jinhwan asked worriedly. “What are you doing outside?”  Even if Yumi were asleep and accidently left the bedroom door open, the canine would have stayed by her side, regardless of who came through the door. Looking up into the dark living room, he saw the outline of Yumi sitting on the couch. “Yu-Yumi?”

“I want a divorce.”

word count: 2247

...now you know his side...

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