- - Summer, 2003 - -

His stupid blank stares and his stupid lyrics and his stupid friend, 'that stupid Seunghyun kid'--Jiyong twisted his pencil in his fingers, glaring into space as he pictured him sleeping in the back of the classroom without being bothered by the teacher. 'Why does he get away with like that?' The more he thought about it, the tighter his fist wrung around his pencil. 'If he was only going to sleep through the whole class, why did he even bother showing up... really...' After all, if the fact that he didn't show up at all the month before showed anything, then it wasn't as if Seunghyun had any problem with simply not showing up to school at all...

Something about that particular thought suddenly made him snap out of his daydreaming, and he bit his lip as he glanced down at his notes. --he'd fallen behind in the lecture again. With a huff he loosened his hand up and put his pencil back to paper, hurrying to catch up. That stupid Seunghyun kid, distracting him from his homework... he needed to focus. He couldn't afford to have bad grades, for fear his mother would pull him out of his training. Sometimes it was like he could feel her standing next to him, tapping him on the shoulder and constantly reminding him that his education had to come first, humming that if he couldn't handle the two at the same time then the training would be the first thing to go.

But lately there was someone else standing near him too... that Seunghyun kid. He could see the picture of his dumb smile in the corner of his mind, with his stupid perfect face, and his stupid notebook full of lyrics. Sometimes it felt like Seunghyun was closer to being a real-deal rapper than he was himself.

Jiyong's fist clenched so hard that his pencil snapped. "Ah... really?" he sighed, opening his hand to stare at the two separate pieces. His friend gave him a funny look from the other end of the desk they were sharing, but he just ignored him and turned to get another pencil from his bag. In the same moment he heard the sound of chair legs squeaking as someone pushed back from their desk, and when he looked up he saw Seunghyun's looming figure walking out. Jiyong whipped around in his chair, glaring after him in shock as he slipped out the door.

No one else even batted an eyelash; why was he the only one who looked? Had nobody else even realized that he'd just left? He glanced around the room to where his various friends were sitting; all of them were absorbed in their notes and hadn't so much as looked up. With a grimace he put his head down again as well, trying to hide the blush of embarrassment that was creeping to his face.

He looked for Seunghyun at lunch time, and even caught himself listening extra hard for the sound of the classroom door sliding open again, thinking for some reason that he was going to come back. He never did; and it wasn't long before Jiyong accepted the simple fact that he was going crazy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Class finally drew to a close; Jiyong and his friends spilled into the hallway like a bunch of fish leaping free from a net, loud banter raising up from their group as they quickly hurried out of the building and into the yard. The dirt crunched beneath their shoes as they walked along, the top of Jiyong's head growing warm as the sun's rays beat down on his dark hair and an easy smile playing on his lips as he felt the weight of his worries lifting away. He could go to practice and play with Youngbae and forget about everything that had bothered him this morning, he thought, his smile only growing more at the thought.

He said goodbye to his friends and took off down the street at a quick run, suddenly feeling so full of energy and so eager to get home to change his clothes so that he could get to practice that much sooner. As he ran the sound of cicadas buzzed all around him and the air felt so warm that he almost swore he could take off into the sky like a bird if only he had wings... he knew he really couldn't but he still stretched his arms out, closed his eyes and pretended just a little bit anyway once he turned the corner onto his street. He quickly composed himself as he reached the steps that lead up to his apartment building, letting his bag hang off one shoulder and shoving his hands into his pockets to look cool in case any of the girls who lived in the building were out and about. Once he reached his apartment he kissed his mother on the cheek, patted his dog, then changed clothes and left as quickly as he came. He jumped the last step in the stairs outside and broke into a run again, turning the corner of the front gate and--

... and toppling to the ground as he ran full-speed into someone that had been leaning against the fence just on the other side of the gate.

Jiyong hit the ground like a falling tree, the unforgiving cement sidewalk tearing his elbows and his palms open as he rolled and finally slid to a stop, immediately beginning to groan in pain as soon as he ceased moving. He could hear the other person hissing and cussing a few feet away; apparently they had fallen down, too. Carefully he began to roll over, sitting up and looking at his hands to assess the damage--the heels of both his palms were scraped and beginning to bead up with bright red blood, tiny rocks and dirt speckling his wounds like pepper on a piece of meat. "Smooth..." he mumbled under his breath, wiping his hands off on his pants before he looked up to see who he'd tripped over.

His heart all but fell out of his .

"," Seunghyun hissed from just a few feet away from him, and Jiyong jumped to his feet as he watched the other yank his beanie off to rub the spot where his head had bounced off the concrete. Blood crept to his face, simultaneously angry and scared for his life all at once. He saw all fifteen years of it flash before his eyes; 'so this is how I'm going to die,' he thought. He was going to die a nobody... no, not just a nobody, even worse--a nobody who wasn't a rapper, a nobody who was still a . Cause of death? Having his face pounded in by Choi Seunghyun.

'At least my outfit is fly,' he thought to himself, swallowing hard and curling his hands into fists, not about to go out without a fight. Seunghyun looked up at him with a sharp glare that sent a sudden quake into his kneecaps and made him take a subconscious step back. Maybe he wouldn't pound his head in until he was ashtray-shaped after all. Maybe he'd just stab him to death with the daggers his eyes were throwing at him instead.

"What are you doing outside my house?" Jiyong asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. There was still a spark of anger deep down that made him want to know just what the this creep was doing sneaking around outside his building. "Did you follow me? You followed me, didn't you?" He'd probably been following him home for weeks now, silently planning to kill him...

"Some apology. What the were you doing running out of there like a bat out of hell?" Seunghyun mumbled under his breath, his kneecaps cracking as he finally got back to his feet and began to meticulously brush the dirt off his clothes, the beanie pulled back over his buzzed-short black hair. "I live just down there, idiot," he explained, jerking his head toward another smaller, older apartment building at the end of the street. "I've known where you lived for months now. It's hard not to when you're always making such a scene on your way home every day." Goosebumps went up Jiyong's arms; 'he's known for months?' He took another step back, his body language even more defensive. Seunghyun gave him a funny look. "What is your problem?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest with a sneer. "I was waiting for you... you said you wanted to go to that rap battle. It's tonight."

Jiyong blinked, his memory jogging as he looked back to the memory of their train station encounter to recall their conversation. He had indeed agreed to go--in some sense, anyway--but he must have forgotten about practice when he said that. Youngbae would be so angry if he was late again, not to mention if he didn't show up at all... "Ah--" he breathed as he looked away, beginning to try to explain.

The other boy cut him off with a quick scoff, causing Jiyong to quickly glance back up, his body tensing again as he assumed he was probably get his face punched in now. But to his surprise Seunghyun only muttered a dry, "figures," with a shake of his head, brushing his clothes off once more for good measure as he turned and began to walk away.

Jiyong stared after him, confused. Wasn't he about to kill him just now? And now he was letting him go free? He waited until Seunghyun turned the corner at the other end of the street and was no longer in his sights before he himself turned and started in the direction of the train station. However he walked much more slowly than before, his eyes on the ground as he tried to process everything that had just happened. It didn't take him long to realize the kind of impression he'd left the other with when he turned down the rap battle; he stopped in his tracks, gasping under his breath.

Now Seunghyun thought he was scared to go, and tomorrow he was going to tell the whole school that Jiyong wasn't a real rapper. His reputation would be shattered so badly there would be no pieces left to even make sense of.

Jiyong turned and ran after him faster than he'd ever run in his whole life, faster than if he were being chased by cops with a baggie of weed in his backpack. He ran like a madman until he found him sitting at a bus stop two blocks away with his headphones pulled over his ears, seemingly lost in some other world. He slowed to a walk, only now able to feel the stitch of pain in his side from running so fast, eventually bracing himself on his knees to catch his breath. When he no longer felt dizzy he took a seat at the opposite end of the bench, staring bewilderedly at the other as he nodded his head gently to whatever was playing on his walkman, apparently unaware of Jiyong's presence with his eyes closed. At that moment he almost didn't seem so threatening, thought Jiyong.

When Seunghyun finally opened his eyes he jump slightly as he saw him sitting there from the corner of his eye. Jiyong flinched a little too, putting his guarded expression back on and shoving his hands into the pockets of his three-sizes-too-big jacket, his eyes turning toward the ground again.

"You followed me, didn't you?" Seunghyun chimed, obviously mocking him for what he'd said earlier.

The line of his mouth became flat as he pursed his lips into a frown. "I know you thought I was just scared to go but I'm not. I have important things to do. Not that you'd know what that's like or anything," he retorted back to him, his tone flat. 

"Why are you always so rude?" the other sighed, marvelling at his tone.

Jiyong didn't reply for a long moment, glaring off into the distance with hope that the bus would appear, though he knew they'd be waiting for a while. "Where did you go today after you left?" he eventually asked, giving the other a critical once-over.

"Maybe I didn't go anywhere," he countered nonchalantly, closing his eyes and leaning back against the back of the bench.

Jiyong furrowed his brows at this answer, continuing to eye the other again as he waited for him to give a more specific one. A minute passed and he did not get one. "That makes no sense," he started. "If you leave one place you have to go to--"

"I went home. You talk too much."

With that the two of them lapsed into silence until the bus arrived, and for the time being Jiyong had forgotten how mad Youngbae would be that he wasn't at practice. In fact he felt oddly at peace as he boarded the bus after it had arrived, with Seunghyun letting him take the window seat and settling in beside him shortly after, his walkman playing and his eyes closed once again. He watched him, wondering for a moment what song he was listening to, then gazed out the window and watched the scenery go by.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was easily a half-hour later when Seunghyun stirred as the bus stopped, wordlessly nudging Jiyong with his elbow before he got up and made his way to the front. Jiyong followed him, staring back at the people who remained in their seats and watched as they passed. He hadn't realized that the sun was beginning to set until they stepped out of the bus and onto the street, and he glanced at his watch nervously for a moment. "Where are we?" he asked Seunghyun, who was carefully winding his headphones and putting them into his pocket.

"We're in Gangnam. Come on," he replied, leading the way. After a few blocks of walking--Jiyong stared at his reflection in every glass window they passed and read every neon sign while they traveled, wondering if this was where real rappers lived--he ducked into an alleyway between two buildings. The restaurant in the front of the building looked like it was closed, but he'd noticed some people who standing outside of it anyway.

Feeling nervous, Jiyong fell a few steps behind Seunghyun, watching as he went around the back of the building to where an even larger group of people were gathering. All of them appeared to be much older than they were, possibly in college; Jiyong swallowed with some difficulty, then put his hands in his pocket and kept his head down as he hurried to catch up with Seunghyun. He was talking with a group of guys; one of them had a large tattoo on his neck and a jagged white scar that spread across the side of his skull, like a lightning bolt was trapped under his skin. He looked old enough to be out of the army, so Jiyong wondered if maybe something had happened during his service. His eyes turn downward again when the man caught him looking, and he pretended not to listen as Seunghyun talked to them. With the way they joked around with him... something seemed off. Did they think that Seunghyun was closer to their age than he actually was?

"Who are you?" someone in the crowd asked, gesturing in his direction. He looked up, gathering his breath to introduce himself.

"His name is G-Dragon," Seunghyun answered for him. Jiyong's brows stitched up, a sharp glare shot toward the other. Since when did he know what his pseudonym was?

Another older man from the group let out a laugh, looking at Jiyong from around Seunghyun to jeer at him. "Aren't your clothes a little big?" Thoroughly irritated now, Jiyong began to pipe up once again--

"That's how he dresses. Is that a problem?" Seunghyun interrupted. "Leave him alone." He tugged on Jiyong's sleeve, ushering him away from the group to a door into the back of the building. When they stepped inside Jiyong realized that the restaurant at the front of the building was more or less just for show, because this... this looked like a club. Albeit a somewhat crappily build club--the walls weren't finished and even though posters had been stapled up all over the place he could still see insulation poking out in some places, not to mention the air ducts were visible in the ceiling--but a club nonetheless, complete with air filled with so much cigarette smoke he could have cut it with a knife. There were few lights except for at the front of the room where a small stage covered with Marley flooring had been built, large speakers towering at either side of the platform. Was this where rappers really hung out at?

People were already beginning to fill the room up around the stage; he squinted through the smoke a little harder and saw that most of them had drinks in their hands. Realizing there was a bar here, he nervously leaned closer to Seunghyun, who appeared to be looking for someone. "What if someone finds out we're not old enough to be in here?" he asked quietly, trying not to catch the attention of anyone around them.

Seunghyun's expression remained unphased. "Don't worry about it," he replied, still scanning the crowd of people. "You're with me, so they won't bother you."

Jiyong's face twisted up at him. "How old did you tell them you are?"

It seemed that Seunghyun spotted whoever he was looking for; he began to walk off. "Don't worry about it," he repeated from over his shoulder, smiling crookedly. Jiyong followed him closely, avoiding the eyes that looked at them as they pushed their way through the crowd to a corner at the side of the stage. Seunghyun began talking to someone when they got there; he saw a familiar face when he looked around him to see who it was, immediately recognizing him as Seunghyun's friend from school, the same one who had been sitting next to him in school this morning. He quickly ducked back out of sight before he was seen, trying to hear their conversation over the sound of the music that had begun playing. Because of how close they were to the speakers he could barely make out what they were saying, despite the fact that the two were practically yelling at each other. When he peeked around Seunghyun again he could see them going over a piece of paper together...

People began to take to the tiny stage; the music got louder, and Jiyong watched with eyes like saucers as they started off the first of many several rounds. Each person had a minute--some of them got booed off the stage, and some of them got applauded. From what he could tell some contenders were local favorites, and at the end of three one-minute-turns per person they never seemed to have any difficulty coming up with a winner, simply judging by how hard everyone screamed for either person. Once he'd figured out the system he settled into the crowd to watch, soon feeling brave enough to clap and scream along with everyone else. Some time later the announcer introduced someone by the name of 'Tempo', and the crowd gave them a particularly loud welcome. Jiyong stood on his tiptoes, trying to see past the people in front of him.

He gasped when he saw Seunghyun stepping onto the stage, never having realized he'd moved from where he was standing next to him before, and quickly pushed his way through the crowd to get a better look. Seeing him on stage was shocking; the silent, sleepy, slacking kid he sometimes saw in class (but more often didn't) was full of style as he stood up there and delivered flawless, cunning rhymes with a confident attitude that drove the audience wild. He really seemed like... a real rapper, Jiyong thought. While watching him he found himself unable to scream and hollar and wave his fists around with everyone else. He could only stand as still as a statue and stare in shock until the entire battle drew itself to a close; Seunghyun was eliminated in the third to last round amongst all the other artists who had won their own qualifying rounds, but Jiyong still waited with baited breath for him to come back to where he stood with Seunghyun's friend from class.

Jiyong was silent as he followed Seunghyun outside once again, too lost in his thoughts to make any comments. His ears were ringing and his body felt like it was buzzing, maybe from adrenaline. He didn't speak until they had walked all the way back to the bus stop; when he sat down he realized that night had fallen while they were inside, and he peered at his watch a little cautiously. 11:43PM. His mom, no doubt, had heard that he didn't show up at practice and was going to skin him alive when he got home.

"So... Tempo, huh?" he mumbled, looking over to Seunghyun. He only nodded, so Jiyong continued, a bit more quietly. "Where did you learn to rap like that?"

"I just taught myself by listening to music... that's all," the other responded with a shrug.

They did not speak for the rest of the night after that, boarding the bus in total silence and simply staring out the window as they headed home. Once they arrived back in their neighborhood they swapped a quick "goodnight" wave, each of them going to their respective apartment buildings and disappearing inside.

Of course, Jiyong got the -chewing of his life from his parents the moment he walked in--not to mention Yang Hyunsuk himself had left a calm-but-scalding message for him. At Seunghyun's place, on the other hand, nothing was out of the ordinary. After checking on his mother and sister he turned out the lights and simply put himself to bed.