“Starting from today, we’ll have small sessions in class once in a while to get all of you to get ready for the future.” Mr. Cho began the class with all of the student’s attention. “What job do you think you all will have when you’re all adults? What kind of career do you plan on having? Will you be happy with the choice of career you choose? These are all questions that you should all be thinking about right now. You all might be just juniors but it’s never too early to be thinking about your futures.”

He began walking down the rows of desks, passing out each person a sheet of paper. “I want you all to answer this question and we’ll discuss about it afterwards.”

“It’s a simple question but please give my realistic answers.” Mr. Cho took out his timer out from his desk and set it to the 20 minute mark. “20 minutes starting... Now.”

Jeongguk read the question on the top of his sheet with a blank stare. Where do you see yourself in 5 years and in 10 years?

He thought long and hard and asked him the same question over and over again but no matter how much he thought about it, Jeongguk had no idea what he wanted to do in his future. Was he going to be a lawyer? Government worker? Doctor? He didn’t have any interests in those jobs.

Was he going to be work under his father as a financial advisor? But wait, was he even going to college?! He didn’t even know where to go to college or if he wanted to go to college at all.

This kid had no plans or dreams to accomplish when he was older. On the other hand, everyone else in the room was writing. He could see everyone concentrated on their writing and hear all the pencils moving against their papers.

Before he knew it, 20 minutes were already up. The timer went off and everyone had placed down their pencils already.

Jeongguk looked over to his neighbor’s papers and he could see that they were filled with words. The only thing he had written in the past 20 minutes was, In 5 years, I see myself, and that was basically it. He was a failure and he knew of it himself.

“Times up.” Mr. Cho walked in front of his desk and leaned on it. “I want to know what you all wrote.” He scanned the room to call on someone.

Since Yoojin was the new girl, he thought that it would be a nice opportunity for the class to get to know her more, which was why he called on her. “Yoojin, why don’t you tell the class what you have on your paper?”

“Yes.” Yoojin stood up from her desk and cleared . “5 years from now, I will be studying and working hard while attending law school in Seoul National University to earn my degree to become a lawyer. In 10 years, I would by then have a stable job as a lawyer and work in court to bring justice to the country.”

“Is that really what you want to do? That’s a pretty difficult goal you have there.” Yoojin slightly nodded. “Well if you try your best and work hard enough, you’ll get there for sure.”

Mr. Cho went around the room and asks more students on what they have written. As expected, many of them were to be successors for their parent’s companies or to work under them. Many of them were also similar Yoojin’s. They wanted to become lawyers or doctors and had set high expectations for themselves.

What Mr. Cho really wanted to know was whether their goals were something they wanted to do themselves or what their parents forced them into doing.

Nervously hoping that the teacher wouldn’t call on him, Jeongguk heard all his classmates’ futures. He envied them for what they have written. *Why didn’t I just make something up? Aish my grade…” He shook his head in frustration.

Mr. Cho called on him. “Jeongguk, let’s hear yours.”

“Mine?” Jeongguk didn’t know what to say. “I…”

Should he lie? But then the teacher will find out that he had nothing written on his paper later on anyways.

“I don’t have anything written.” He shamely spoke. He could feel stares from every direction on him at the moment but he didn’t mind. What he was worried most about was his grade in this class.

“That’s okay.”

Those were not words that he was prepared to hear. “Are you going to bring down my grade?” Jeongguk asked.

“No,” the teacher replied. “I’m not going to grade you on what you want to do and how you want to do it. If you don’t have anything planned yet, start thinking about it which is what you’re doing now. This is just a start for you all to find the future that makes you happy. It doesn’t matter what other people think as long as you like what you’re doing. I want you all to remember that.”

Jeongguk thought to himself about what Mr. Cho had said. Find the future that makes you happy.

What kind of future did he want for himself?

After school that day, he was at the library studying with his tutor. He spent the last hour bored out of his mind.

His tutor was a middle aged man. He worked for the school offering tutoring to the parents who have failing children, such as Jeongguk. He could sense that his tutor was had a cold. His sniffing and sneezing was way obvious which was another reason he wanted to leave even more.

30 minutes in, the man fell asleep. Why would his parents hire someone like this?

In the library, there were other students trying to study and do their homework. Once in a while, Jeongguk would receive a few glances from students who were disturbed by the snoring creature sitting across from him.

Across the library, he spotted a girl wandering in the part of the library where no one ever goes to.

That section of the library had books filled with college leveled text books on every type of subject you can think of. Barely anyone in the school goes there. Why would they when the books had nothing to do with their classes.

With curiosity, Jeongguk looked over to the subject the girl was checking out books at.

Government and Law

*What high school student is able to understand books about government and law? … She looks familiar.*

Squinting a bit, he was able to get a clearer look on the person’s face. “She’s that girl in class. Youngjin I think her name was.” He said to himself. “Why would she be over there?”

He saw her take a few books and sit down at an empty table. She began reading and it looked like she actually understood every word that was written in the highly advanced book.

Jeongguk scoffed. *What an overachiever. She probably thinks she better than everyone else and pretends to read them.*

30 minutes later, he couldn’t take it any longer. Jeongguk packed up his bag and left the library.

It’s not like his tutor would even notice. By the time he wakes up, tutoring would probably be over already.

Because he left an hour earlier than he was supposed to, he decided to take a longer route home to stall time.

The sun began coming down and the darkness began to cover the sky. The more he walked, the more unfamiliar his surroundings were to him. *I have no idea where I am now. Maybe I should trace back my steps back to school and take the regular route home.*

At that moment, his stomach began to growl and he felt the rumbling. “I’m starving…” He walked a little farther and as if his prayers were made, a convenient store was right around the corner.

He went in and grabbed an ice cream bar and bag of crackers and went to the counter to pay.

Behind the counter was a guy, probably a college student. His hair was up and the sides of his head were shaved. He could see the letters ‘RP’ on one side.

Jeongguk hasn’t seen many young people work at convenient stores before. He’s always thought that students were only to go home and study after school, not work on convenient stores till night.

The guy scanned his items and placed it in a bag. “It’s 6,550 won.” Jeongguk paid him and the guy handed the bag.

While exiting, Jeongguk scrambled through his bag and opened the ice cream bar then popped it in his mouth.

He looked around him to find the way back home but he had forgotten where he had come from. Jeongguk scratched his head in confusion but chose a route hoping it’d be the correct one.

Instead, that led him to stairs leading to an underground subway. Thinking that maybe there would be some kind of map down there, he went in. As we walked deeper in, he began hearing music and a loud base that made his chest pound.

He wondered. “What kind of subway is this?”

He debated with himself whether or not he should turn around and leave. What if it’s some kind of club where old men came to play? What if it were a bunch of gangsters that hung around there beating people up? But his curiosity got the best of him and he walked in deeper.

Turning the corner of where the music came from, in front of him was a crowd of people surround something. There were probably around 50 people there chanting.

Walking closer, he sees what they were cheering for.

A hip-hop rap battle.

Two guys were battling with each other, finishing off after one another and showing off their skills.

When one of the guys clearly won, the loser stepped out, ashamed of his loss.

Another guy who looked as if he were the MC of the battles stepped to the center. “That was so intense!” The crowd continued to cheer. “So who’s next? Who has the guts to challenge Kyung, the guy who has won 3 battles in a row so far?”

There wasn’t a hand who wanted to volunteer. “Any takers? You over there! You look like a good rapper, come and challenge him! …No? Oh alright.” The MC looked nervous. “If there isn’t anyone else, the winner will be Kyung and he will receive the reward of 100,000 won for today.”

Still, not a person volunteered… Until a person shouted out, “Rap Monster’s here!”

The crowd began to chatter about the arrival of the guy named Rap Monster who Jeongguk had no idea was.

The group of people began to chant. “Rap Monster! Rap Monster! Rap Monster!”

The guy so called “Rap Monster” squeezed through all the people and managed to get to the center.

Jeongguk recognized him. The convenient store, the guy who check out his food, that was Rap Monster. *So that was what RP meant.*

The MC looked relieved that Rap Monster appeared and whispered something into his ear. “Thank god you’re here. I was about to give out the reward out to someone else. Where were you?!”

“I was held up at work.” He smirked and smacked the MC on the back. “I’m here now aren’t I? Let’s get this over with.”

“We have another contestant! Rap Monster has come back for another win! Will Kyung be able to defeat the defending champion or will Rap Monster once again gain another victory.” The MC got the crowd ready for the epic rap battle that would be starting in seconds. “Let’s go!”

Another beat played and the two rappers bounced their heads to the music.

Kyung began his rap first with confidence to win. He impressed everyone there and was proud of himself but once Rap Monster rapped, Kyung’s rap was nothing.

Rap Monster told off Kyung and the crowd went, “Ohhhhhhhhhhh!”

The crowd cheered louder for Rap Monster than Kyung’s rap.

Rap Monster laughed at the reaction he was getting compared to his opponents and you could see the fury Kyung had in his eyes.

This time, with more determination, Kyung started again.

“It’s cringe worthy. Can you laugh at this?
You gotta shut your mouth
Do you think I am making a joke because of me daffing?
When I hop on the music I don’t joke.
Think what you want to think because I’m the one on top.
It’s no joke.”

Rap Monster scoffed at his self-absorbedness and gave a rap in return.

“I got the gift of the gab. Who stops me huh?
I got a burden. I am the flower of the flock in their own league. I am conspicuous. It’s such a mismatch.
Regardless of amateurs and pros they benchmark me.
Good exemplified taxis thread their way dodging me.
I pronounce any words clearly till my mouth dries up.
I got acromegaly on the aspect of my capacity. My skill is still improving.
I am not in the same league with them. I take rank with top rappers.
You can’t get with me, spitting this . My talent is unusual.
I am the mascot of the third-generation hip-hop.”

(Block B - No Joke + a bit modified.)

 “Rap Monster! Rap Monster! Rap Monster!” Fans flung their hands in the airs to cheer him on.

Not being able to take it anymore, Kyung pushed through everyone and left.

“And…. Rap Monster is the winner!” The MC clapped and everyone else followed.

Jeongguk felt amazed at what he had just seen before his very eyes. The excitement felt like nothing he had felt before. The rappers impressed him so much that he thought maybe, just maybe, that he was able to rap as well as them.

He might have found the thing his life has been missing for the past 15 years.

“I just don’t know how you do it man.” The MC moved away from the mic to talk to Rap Monster. “You are my friend and I do help you any way I can to help you win the prize, but you, you don’t even need my help. You are really talented.” He slapped Rap Monster on the back, feeling proud.

“Now, are there volunteers to go against Rap Monster for the reward of 100,000 won? Anybody?!”

It was silent, for nobody wanted to volunteer. Rap Monster hoped that there would be no one else to battle so he could claim the money and leave.

The MC was just about to announce the end of the day’s rap battle when suddenly, in the crowd of heads, a hand popped up unconsciously.

“I volunteer!”

The MC squinted to find who the hand from afar belonged to. “Yes, come, come!”

He waited for him to come to the center then asked him a question. “So what’s your name?”

“Jeongguk.”