“Finally!” You sighed when Jooheon arrived in front of your house.

  You quickly grabbed a few things you’d be needing and a black snap back before swinging the door open and rushing to Jooheon’s car. You buckled your seat belt and looked at him.

“Took you long enough.” You said, surveying his expression. His eyes get slimmer.

“I’m gonna leave you here to walk.” He said, not taking his eyes off the road ahead.

  You sit back in the seat, inhaling deeply and exhaling just as deeply. This would be the third round of the underground rap competition you both had signed up for. Each round was an individual round, the semi-final would be a duo round. You’d gone up against two rappers who were pretty good. You weren’t really nervous, but there was an, almost, awkward feeling.

“Yo, (Y/N), we’re here.” Jooheon said, his voice breaking you from your thoughts.

  You quickly hopped out of the car and headed into the avenue the underground rappers were performing at tonight. As soon as you walked in, you were welcomed by the sound of cheering, more cheers as Jooheon entered. Following Jooheon, you made your way through the crowd to the participant panel. Jooheon was sitting on your left, someone you were friends with, Yoonho, on your right.

  After a few rappers went up, it was your turn. You began to feel worried because Jooheon hadn’t gone, yet, and you didn’t want to go up against him because 1.) he was one of your closest friends, and 2) he would most likely win. When your opponent’s name was called, you were relieved, it wasn’t Jooheon.

“Come on, (Y/N)!” You heard Jooheon shout over the crowd’s roaring. You began to feel warm, no doubt due to the lights and shyness. Not Jooheon.

  You took a deep breath and began to rap, putting your all into it. You really hoped that you’d be able to stay in this competition longer than the last one. After you finished, you sat back down next to your friend. He put his hand up, signaling for a high five, which you happily gave him. You sat back, confident you couldn’t lose.

  Jooheon was next to go once your opponent was off of the stage. He looked in your direction, something close to a smirk present on his face. You rolled your eyes, he was gonna show off. You hated him sometimes, you remembered, how he always liked to do a little bit better than you did. Soon enough, he was walking off the stage, leaving the crowd to go wild, some shouting things like, ‘He’s gonna win for sure’, or ‘I love you, Jooheon’, which definitely didn’t make you jealous, not at all.

“Nice work, Jooheon.” Someone says, they looked familiar, then you realized it was Changkyun.

“As always.” Another rapper, Gunhee, says from in front of you, chuckling slightly.

“I could’ve done better, honestly.” He says brushing it off. You want to punch him.

  Sure, he is your best friend, and, yes, you liked him, that was obvious, but there were those times where you’d just love to punch him. He sat back down next to you.

“What’d you think?” Jooheon says, eyes disappearing when he grinned at you.

“It was good.” You say shortly, not wanting to make it obvious you were slightly jealous. Just slightly.

“That’s nice to know.” He says, turning towards the stage to watch the next few rappers.

  Eventually, the competition come to a close, you were feeling thankful. The judges and audience began to vote for each round. You grinned when they announced your name, and, of course, after they announced Jooheon’s, too.

  Jooheon offered to take you out to eat, which you gladly accepted. Not eating for the past 3 hours was really taking its toll on you. You both got into the car, Jooheon drove to a small fast food restaurant. You were glad when you bit into your cheeseburger, its delicious flavor filling your mouth. You jumped when something touched your face. Looking up from your food, you made eye contact with your rapper friend.

“There was something on your face.” He said, shrugging a little. You smile.

  You and Jooheon were, finally, at the semi-finals, and you couldn’t wait to hear the results.

“Jooheon, do you think we’ll pass?” You asked knocking shoulders with him. He looked at you.

“Of course we will! We are two of the best rappers!” He said, an excited glimmer shining in his eyes.

  You smile back, heart beginning to beat faster due to his smile. I might not survive these feelings any longer, Lee Jooheon, you think, sighing inwardly. In a few minutes you’d have to perform with Jooheon. You were so, terribly nervous now.

“Calm down, (Y/N).” Jooheon laughs when he sees your expression.

“Easy for you to say. I mean, everyone thinks you’re the best, and I’m… I’m just average.” You say, looking down at the floor, even more nervous at the thought of him thinking you were joking.

“Come on, (Y/N), You can’t be ‘just average’ if you made it this far.” Jooheon says, putting his hand over yours.

  Sighing, you nod. You just wanted to get this performance out of the way. Thankfully, you and Jooheon were paired up for the duo round, so you were a little less nervous. When you heard the MC call yours and Jooheon’s names, you jumped, not expecting the loud voice to cut through your peaceful thoughts.

“Let’s crush them, (Y/N).” Jooheon said, walking past you and onto the stage.

  You and Jooheon were to perform second, so you had time to mentally prepare yourself, but even that limited time seemed too short. You quickly get up onto the stage, embracing the loud cheers of the audience. After what seemed like an eternity, your performance was over, the voting now taking place. Whoever lost would have their spotlight turned off, and that’s not something you want to experience, not when you made it this far. You felt Jooheon’s hand grab yours, reassuringly squeezing it.

“Don’t worry, (Y/N).” He whispers into your ear, you close your eyes.

  You hear the crowd going wild, you opened your eyes, feeling so relieved. The spotlight on you and Jooheon was still on. You sighed, laughing softly afterwards. The crowd cheered even louder when the MC began to talk about the next round.

“For the finals, Jooheon and (Y/N) will compete against each other.” Your heart dropped. Why did this have to happen? You continued to smile anyway.

  You and Jooheon were finally leaving the avenue. You were both talking about the upcoming battle.

“I think you have the potential to beat even me.” Jooheon said, his smile was so big, his eyes began to disappear. You felt your heart practically jump out of your chest.

“Jooheon!” You heard a familiar voice from behind you. You turn around.

  It was one of his ‘fans’. She came to every rap battle Jooheon participated in. You saw how she ran up to him, ignoring you, not that you were offended.

“Are you busy tomorrow?” She asked, eyes full of hope. You didn’t huff at all, nope.

“Ah, yeah, I am.” Jooheon said, wrapping his arm around you. You smile down at the floor.

“Oh. Okay. Sorry to bother you.” She said, her smile no longer there.

  You and Jooheon got into his car and sat in silence. You were just tired and wanted to think about what your next rap would be like. Jooheon didn’t say anything as he drove to your house. When he pulled up to the small building he looked at you.

“Bye, (Y/N), see you later.” Jooheon said, smiling when you replied to him.

  You watch as he pulls out of your driveway, putting a hand over where your heart is. That was the first time he said anything when he dropped you off. You really couldn’t wait till you saw him again.

  The next time you see Jooheon is two days later, on the day of the rap battle final. Even though Kwangji had helped you tremendously with the composition, You felt like you could melt into a puddle of nervousness. You really couldn’t sleep the night before. Never have you ever been so nervous, except for maybe recently, when you were alone with Jooheon, but that was besides the main point. You rapped first, knowing that Jooheon was intently watching you made you want to be eaten up by the floor.

  You finished your rap, not really feeling confident, how could you when Jooheon was looking at you and would hold the eye contact you made with him. You sighed. How were you going to win anything.

  The music for Jooheon’s song started up, you liked it. It was different from the usual vibe Jooheon went with. Here and there, you found a few of the lyrics cute. Your heart stopped.

“Even though we’re on opposite sides of the stage, just know the best spot for you is the empty one next to me.” Jooheon let the lyrics flow through the mic, hand motioning towards you. He was on the last bit of the lyrics, now. “Even if you don’t win this competition, just know that you already won my heart.”

  You blush, though you’d probably deny it. It doesn’t matter; Jooheon already saw it.

  Naturally, Jooheon won the finals, but you weren’t sour about it. Why should you be if you were happy about the alternate prize you earned. What was the prize, you ask? The relationship you now have with Jooheon, the best underground rapper who gave his heart to you.