Section One: [F e l i x] Don’t.

  Felix sat at the bench, head on his hands with his elbows propped up against the sheet music ledge. He had been running through a section of the music. A difficult passage faced him, and he looked down at his pinkish fingers.

Should I take a break?

The 17-year-old boy rubbed his fingers as he stood up from the bench and glared at the clock. 8 pm. It was time that he was able to leave from the piano studio. He had been going to that piano studio in Seoul since he had transferred there from Australia.

“Mr. Lee.” A booming voice came from hallway of the studio. “Play that passage two more times and I’ll let you leave.”

He placed down his bag, along with his phone and earbuds. Slouching, he trudged back to the piano as his teacher had ordered him to. Adjusting himself onto the seat, he placed his fingers on the keys. Counting in his head, he struggled to hit all of the keys perfectly, but he knew that if he was able to, he could leave. And of course, listen to his music. Coming from a wealthier family, the Lees had moved to Korea to start and expand their business using a contract that was offered to them exclusively if they moved. Felix was furious to learn that he would have to leave all his friends, but his parents just didn’t care. His parents were on the stricter side, and Felix felt obliged to always obey what they told him to do. Don’t do this. Don’t say that. Don’t go there. Their words always seemed to echo in Felix’s head whenever he tried to slightly disobey what his parents told him to do.

Don’t listen to that. That thought hit Felix in the middle of the passage. He had a secret that he was keeping from his family. As passionate as a pianist that he was, he had a desire that he worked to fulfill.

He wanted to rap.

Thinking back to when he first found the mixtape CD at his high school. The CD had been left on his desk from the last class, with the clear spot where the label was scratched off of the case. The CD itself  had nothing written on it. Being his curious self, Felix waited until his parents left to some fancy dinner party so that he was home alone, and he listened to it. A steady beat played quietly in the corner of his room, and three voices took turns rapping on the track. Felix loved it. After 16 minutes of rap, the CD clicks off randomly. Huh, probably unfinished. He sat for about an hour doing nothing but listening solely to the partial mixtape on loop before his parents came home. He decided to keep the CD safe inside his bag, and he never chose to take it out in fear of his family discovering it. Felix can never forget what they said when they abruptly opened the door and heard the music: “Felix! What are you listening to? Don’t forget that you are a classical child! You will listen to OUR music and play the instrument we tell you to! Don’t ever think about making that type of music. Your mind will be corrupted. Don’t keep listening-”

Plink! An incorrect note resonates through the room as his thoughts come back from reality. He can’t believe that he got lost in his thoughts again. He took his hands down into his lap and his eyes followed as he lowered his head in shame.

“Mr. Lee. You cannot keep playing that passage like this. It’s supposed to be rubato but you play it way too rhythmically. Remember that you are playing Debussy! You are playing too roughly! I understand that you are very tired from being here for the past eight hours, so I will let you out from the studio now. However, you must be back here at the studio tomorrow at 6 am. Got it?”

Felix sighed quietly. “Yes, I understand.” He grabbed his bag and phone, and he proceeded to hop out the studio. He plugged his earbuds in but noticed that his phone didn’t have any battery. Dang it. He forced his phone and earbuds into his bag. He really loved the feeling of walking out alone on the street although he lived in the crammed city. It was a Saturday night, and Felix really felt an urge to walk out later that night, but he knew his parents would never let him.

I’m sneaking out later.

Section Two: [C h a n g b i n] Preparation

“Ready, Changbin?” Chan nudged the 19-year-old as he walked out from the room into the production studio where Jisung was already sitting.

“Sure, I guess,” Changbin mumbled as he practiced keeping his dark facade. He gave up when he collapsed onto the studio chair, giggling. The three sat down, leaning over Chan’s keyboard and laptop. The trio, known as 3RACHA, uploaded their tracks onto Soundcloud and YouTube. Despite being quite unpopular, the trio kept making music for the sake of enjoying working together rather than making the music for fame. Changbin was glad to find friends that didn’t care about making music for the money and fame, as well as being able to make music with those who let him rap with his own styles. The trio was working on the second half of their first mixtape that evening, as they had a performance of their first mixtape at an underground venue called “Ugly Junction” at 11 pm.

“It’s ten o’clock guys. We should leave around 10:30 for the junction,” Jisung reminded the others.

“Good idea,” Chan replied, placing layers of audio on top of each other. “By the way.. Changbin? Do you have that CD with the first mixtape on it? I think we need to add about three more tracks on it before we can start the second mixtape.”

“Yeah, I have it right here.” Changbin reached into his backpack, the soft cloth of the high schooler’s bag enveloping his hand. He opened the back pocket and there was nothing in it. He panicked as he started opening the other pockets. He saw Chan raise his eyebrow out of the corner of his eye as he began throwing things out of his bag. “I swear I just had it!” Chan and Jisung signed as Changbin turned red and buried his face in his Gyu plushie.

“Do you know what his means, Binnie?” Jisung asked worriedly.

“Yes I do..” Changbin wavered, cupping his cheeks in attempt to act cute before Jisung and Chan would start to yell at him. “I’ll find it later.. But now we should get changed.”

The boys had left their change of clothes on the shelves of the studio, right by a curtain that they used to change behind. They hoped to upgrade once they got some money from recognition, but for now they decided they would use what they have and take their time and effort to exchange for fame.

Jisung was the last to step out of the curtain before the three took their bags and loaded Chan’s car. The 20-year-old Chan felt like an older brother to the other two, making him obliged to keep them safe. They set out for the junction.

Section Three: [F e l i x] Plan in Action

“Felix, how was your lesson?” Mrs. Lee asked Felix as the family ate dinner.

“It was good,” Felix mumbled between bites.

“Let’s try that again. Properly please. Felix, how was your lesson?” Mrs. Lee repeated more firmly.

“It went well, mom. I continued working on the passage and Mr. Sohn told me that I am steadily improving. He requested for me to come again tomorrow, so I will walk to the studio tomorrow at 6 am,” Felix responded, annoyed. “Also, I am done with my dinner, and I am going to sleep. Good night.” Felix’s mother raised her eyebrows suspiciously.

“Not going to study tonight, Felix?” 

“No. I’m fine. I will tomorrow.”

Felix waddled upstairs, his pace quickening to a brisk walk. It was already 10:45 when he finished eating. He was used to late dinners anyway, because he would stay up very late and sometimes pull all-nighters a couple of times a week to keep up with his testing in his class. Felix quickly closed the door behind him. He was already changed from the lesson, so he took out the piano books from his bag and he took his phone from its charger. Placing a pillows in his bed in place of his body and turning off the lights, he was ready to go. He checked the doors again, and then proceeded to quietly pry the window open. Stepping on the chair and then on the sill, he flipped himself out the glass before closing it again. From there, he stepped down from the roof and jumped onto the concrete, briskly running until he got far away enough from the house.

 I’ll turn my music on once I reach the plaza, he thought. He liked hearing a mix of the nature as well as listening to his rap on his phone before having to delete his history because of his parents constant checking. Getting lost in the sounds of nature was extremely relaxing; rustling leaves, the whistle of the breeze, the footsteps on the pavement, along with the moonlight gently illuminating the world around him.

Felix continued walking until his phone buzzed. Oh yeah, I should probably put my music on now. Wait- have I reached the plaza? He looked around as his heart stopped. Am I lost? 

He panicked as he looked around, in hopes of finding a place that he has heard of. Nothing. He briskly walked another corner as the same sounds that he heard from earlier became more eerie rather than relaxing. He stopped wandering, and proceeded to listen closely. He felt something under his shoes, but he just couldn’t get a grasp on it. He felt the presence of a beat around him, but he was thinking that it was just his imagination. No. It couldn’t be. Felix squinted and looked at the closed stores around him. He took a step back and his foot landed on a lower step, causing him to stumble backwards. Before he knew it, he was falling.

He hit the ground softly, except for a small gash near his wrist. Great. He thought. Now I need to hide this somehow at lessons tomorrow. He quickly wrapped it and tried to forget about it. He listened closely again.

“...루야     

I mean 할렐루야       

주님과 날 위한 말이지 할렐루야”...

Felix recognized it, but he didn’t seem to remember where it was from.

“Ey uh Dali, Picasso

내 작품을 만들어 내 일주일에

Ey ey everyday hustle”...

Felix can’t seem to remember whether the track that was being rapped was from the mysterious CD he found, or if it was one of the tracks that he saved on his phone but deleted from his history. He looked right at another set of stairs, and then he started down it. He discreetly opened up a handle to see a small underground venue. A small crowd stood around the stage with three rappers performing. Three handsome rappers. Felix felt his cheeks flush.

“I’m on a killing streak

너넨 죽는 중

Piercing gun, pimp c flow uh” …

No way. The track he was hearing was from the CD. Felix took the CD out from his bag. He walked toward the rappers, eyeing them closely.

One of them looked about his height, but probably a few years older. He wore a black hat and a blue jacket. Felix observed his English from the lines in his verses. Was he from Australia too?

The other stood at the side without a hat, and with a green camo sweater. His rap seemed almost lyrical, just as Felix had remembered it to be in the CD. Felix tried looking closely; was the rapper glaring at the CD in his hands?

The last was in the middle. The hat that he wore covered his face, making Felix want to come closer and observe. His shirt was tan and he was a bit shorter than Felix. The track ended and the rapper tilted his head up. Felix found him extremely handsome. He was lost in his thoughts again before noticing that the rappers were leaving the stage and walking towards the emptier back part of the venue, where Felix was. A duo took the stage before Felix noticed that the trio was coming straight towards him. He hyperventilated for a second, as he pretended to check his bag.

“Hey. Can we talk to you outside for a second?” the one in the camo asked.

“Uh, sure,” Felix responded, voice a bit shaky.