Entertainment Life With A Camera

Chapter 50

What will be the song’s title?

Park Jinhyuk started rapping when he was in the midst of an emotional storm, in his second year of middle school.

‘He’s so cool…!’

-I’m a second-year middle schooler who’s interested in hip-hop! Nice to meet you!

└ Wow, the hip-hop scene is getting younger. Even middle schoolers are here.

└ Don’t mind the comment above^^ Welcome.

He became immersed in hip-hop and participated actively in related communities.

-LoveJ is here, hi

-LoveJ, why don’t you make a mixtape and upload it on MusicCloud?

‘Mixtape?’

Park Jinhyuk registered his account on MusicCloud and recorded his rap with free sources as background music. 

He uploaded it on the community.

‘Oh, my god! Sis!’

Park Jinhyuk’s sister, Park Seohyun, who had been eavesdropping, flung open Park Jinhyuk’s door.

‘Why don’t you stop being gloomy in your room and go audition for something?’

‘Should I?’

‘You don’t sound too bad to me. Well… you’re good.’

Park Seohyun felt that her brother’s skills were quite good, even though she didn’t know much about rap.

Park Jinhyuk, a middle schooler, blushed at his sister’s rare compliment.

‘If you’re going to do it, do it as an idol. I always wanted to have an idol brother.’

‘Really?’

Park Jinhyuk nodded his head after some hesitation. 

That was the moment when his career path was decided in two minutes.

-Didn’t LoveJ say he was a middle schooler?

-He’s so good? What was I doing when I was in middle school? I feel so inferior lol

-LoveJ, do you want to join our label?

-Does anyone know LoveJ’s contact?

Without knowing that his mixtape caused a stir among the hip-hop community, Park Jinhyuk knocked on the door of an idol agency. 

That was BHL Entertainment.

And the person who offered LoveJ a label deal was BlueMix.

-Come back, LoveJ

-Come back and let us hear your other songs

LoveJ stopped visiting the community he used to frequent after that. Many people who had heard his mixtape looked for Park Jinhyuk.

-Does anyone remember LoveJ?

-Listen to this. It sounds exactly like LoveJ, right?

And a few years later, Awi’s debut song spread among the hip-hop community. 

Awi’s debut song was produced by Black Rush Jung Sejun, who was recognized in the hip-hop scene despite being an idol, so it spread faster.

‘This sounds familiar… Is this guy LoveJ? He sounds just like LoveJ.’

And BlueMix heard the voice of LoveJ he had been looking for in Awi’s title song he happened to hear.

‘What’s his name… Park Jinhyuk?’

He checked the birth year and it matched with the third year of middle school when LoveJ disappeared. 

BlueMix jumped up as if he had been struck by lightning.

(Was it you who uploaded mixtapes under the name LoveJ when you were in middle school?)

(Yes, that was me…)

The second episode of ‘Idol Rapper’ started with Park Jinhyuk’s bewildered face.

Even among Lim Jihun’s biased editing favoring NNetSpoon, BlueMix’s presence was undeniable. 

The screen time of Park Jinhyuk related to BlueMix also increased naturally.

(Ah… I finally found him…)

BlueMix said with a sigh as if he had been relieved. All the attention of the contestants was focused on Park Jinhyuk and BlueMix.

The screen changed suddenly and a VCR showed why BlueMix was looking for Park Jinhyuk.

“Wow, hyung, you were amazing after all?”

“Wow, we’re in the same group as a genius?”

The members made a fuss over Park Jinhyuk, who scratched the back of his head shyly.

‘So you’re saying that even Jinhyuk hyung, who is a genius of producing and a god of beats recognized by BlueMix, couldn’t beat the corruption of the broadcasting station and got second place?’

[Isn’t it ironic? That’s life.]

‘Can’t I just hit you once?’

[If you can hit me, go ahead~]

Jin flew around and dispersed like smoke. Ahh, that annoying bastard. Ian sighed deeply.

(Park Seon cut off his lyrics again!)

“No, that wasn’t a situation where he could do that.”

The malicious editing of Park Seon continued in the second episode as well. Ian frowned at Park Jinhyuk’s sigh.

“I wonder if Seon is okay…”

Jo Taewoong expressed his complicated feelings for Ian.

***

Time passed quickly, and it was the end of May. 

Awi completed their digital single work that would be released in June.

But they didn’t have time to rest for a while and started working on their first full album that was scheduled to be released in October.

The full album had more songs than the mini album, and it was the company’s policy to pay more attention to the first full album.

“Jinhyuk, are you okay with working with me? BlueMix said he wanted to work on the live song together.”

“Hyung, I’m going to make our group shine. Hyung’s songs are good too.”

Lee Juhyuk looked at Park Jinhyuk with a touched expression.

While Awi was busy preparing for their next album, Park Jinhyuk, who appeared on ‘Idol Rapper’, was also facing the final live broadcast.

“Did you write the lyrics?”

“Yeah, here.”

Park Jinhyuk handed over a neatly printed paper. Lee Juhyuk’s expression hardened as he read the lyrics.

“Hey… this is…”

“Hyung, just listen to me once.”

Park Jinhyuk told him about the fight between the PDs he had heard directly on ‘Idol Rapper’, and about Lee Jongsoo PD, who was friendly to Park Jinhyuk.

‘Hyung, I’m not stupid, I’m just oblivious. This PD will pass this, right? Besides, that BlueMix is on my side too.’

“Hey, even so, this is… isn’t it risky?”

Lee Juhyuk had found it strange that Park Jinhyuk, who had faithfully followed his advice to avoid Kim Hyun’s bad editing as the episodes of ‘Idol Rapper’ progressed, had done so.

Was this a buildup for the final live broadcast? Lee Juhyuk sighed.

“Anyway, who are you going to feature with?”

“Ian.”

“Of course… Then let’s hear Ian’s opinion too.”

“Should we?”

Park Jinhyuk agreed easily to Lee Juhyuk’s suggestion.

Among the members, Ian had a reliable side for some reason.

He knew well how the broadcasting station worked, how to deal with reporters, and how to catch sasaengs.

He had a vibe that came from experience. 

A second-time idol feeling. Sometimes he was more trustworthy than the manager.

“Ian, can you come here for a moment?”

“…?”

Ian was listening to Kim Joo-young and Kim Hyun’s dance lesson in the practice room.

“What? Why did they only call Ian?”

“There’s something going on.”

Park Jin-hyuk ignored Kim Joo-young’s grumbling and took Ian to the producing room.

“What’s up?”

“Can you do a featuring for my live song?”

“Oh, sure. I’m happy to do it.”

Ian sat on the small sofa in the studio.

“Hey, that’s not the problem. Do you want to see the lyrics that Jin-hyuk wrote?”

Lee Joo-hyuk sighed and handed him a paper.

‘What’s going on?’

Ian quickly scanned the paper. Jin and Ian exclaimed at the same time.

[Wow, is this what Park Jin-hyuk is capable of?]

“Wow, this is…”

“Listen to me, Ian. The PDs there are not very friendly with each other…”

As he listened to Park Jin-hyuk’s words about the rivalry between Lee Jong-soo and Kang Byung-in, the co-PDs of ‘Idol Rapper’, and how Blue Mick, a strong music producer, was on his side, Ian stared at Jin intently. Jin cleared his throat and said.

[Isn’t it a weird timing?]

‘So?’

[I think we can avoid trouble if we just stay away from Kang Byung-in PD, who was ordered to choose the contestants. Lee Jong-soo PD is going to move to JBTC after this. He’s a fanatic fan of hip-hop.]

‘Then it should work, right?’

What if that PD turns against us? Ian made an interested expression and Park Jin-hyuk swallowed his saliva.

[Plus, after YANG Entertainment’s survival show, CEO Lim took a lot of N-net PDs and went to JBTC. Since then, N-net has completely boycotted YANG Entertainment.]

‘Oh, so that’s why YANG Entertainment’s singers didn’t appear on N-net music shows?’

[The problem is that they see this song as a diss to that era, and this part mentions Seo-on too?]

‘There’s a way around that.’

Ian handed the paper back to Park Jin-hyuk and suggested.

“How about adding Hyun-hyung too?”

“Would that be okay?”

“Hyun-hyung seems fine now, right? And besides, Hyun-hyung is the key to the satire.”

“That’s true.”

Ian pointed out the part that Jin had pointed out.

“But this part is written with Seo-on in mind, right? This is a bit risky. Hyun-hyung has to join to make it look like a revelation from back then, I guarantee it.”

“Is that so? Too bad… Well, then let’s change this part a bit… Actually, I also prepared a separate part for Hyun.”

Park Jin-hyuk accepted Ian’s opinion without hesitation and sneaked out another paper.

“I knew you would do this.”

Ian laughed as he said that.

Actually, he had noticed Park Jin-hyuk’s expression from before. It was not a naive look that wanted to avoid trouble at all.

“Alright… Let’s do it.”

Lee Joo-hyuk rubbed his head roughly and said. Even though he acted like that, his expression showed his excitement.

“So we’re going to cause some trouble?”

“Ian, go get Hyun too.”

Ian ran off to get Kim Hyun.

***

“Are you crazy?”

That was Kim Hyun’s first impression after hearing Park Jin-hyuk’s lyrics and explanation.

“Hyung, listen. YANG Entertainment and N-net are not on good terms…”

This time, Ian stepped forward and persuaded Kim Hyun.

Kim Hyun sat down on the sofa with a softened expression as he listened to Ian’s words.

“Why don’t you listen to me but listen to Ian?”

“He looks trustworthy. I would buy three of whatever he sells.”

Kim Hyun ignored Park Jin-hyuk’s tantrum and furrowed his brows.

He still hasn’t fallen for it… Ian pushed harder.

“Hyung, are you going to keep cursing N-net behind their backs?”

“…”

“That bastard PD who screwed you over, YANG Entertainment, and Park Sung-hoon. They’re all scumbags.”

“That’s true but…”

“You’re suffering alone if you keep it inside. No one knows. Only you’re miserable.”

“Sigh…”

“Look at Seo-on on TV… Hyung, I think it’s time someone knew.”

As Ian counted his fingers one by one, Kim Hyun sighed deeply.

Ian was speaking more passionately than usual, but maybe he wanted Kim Hyun to do what Kim Yong-min couldn’t do back then.

“Don’t you think it’s wrong? You barely got out of that mess, but they’re living their lives without knowing their faults.”

“That’s true but…”

“Hyung, let’s raise our voice.”

“Hey, don’t we have to get permission from the company for this?”

‘He’s almost there.’

Lee Joo-hyuk nodded at Ian’s eyes.

“Why do we need permission from the company? We’re doing our music.”

“Hey…”

“Even if they think we’re idols and they’re hip-hop, we shouldn’t think like that.”

“…”

“Let’s do it together.”

Kim Hyun closed his mouth at Park Jin-hyuk’s serious words. He thought for a while and grabbed Park Jin-hyuk’s hand.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

Park Jin-hyuk jumped up at Kim Hyun’s words. Lee Joo-hyuk calmed him down and said.

“Anyway, I think it’s better to tell the other kids too. They might hold us responsible if something goes wrong.”

“Of course.”

Ian went to call the other members who were still in the dance practice room. 

The three who stayed in the studio looked over the lyrics again with excited expressions. 

It felt great to plan something behind everyone’s back.

**

“So, what’s the title of the song?”

Kim Hyun asked and Park Jin-hyuk smirked.