Rap Headache

Last night, they postponed the formation of groups to allow everyone to think about what they wanted to do with regard to their abilities and the camp's sake. It was a puzzle though if everyone had managed to get proper sleep or if they spent the night thinking. 

"Who wants to go vocal?" 

Almost everyone raised their hands. Jun looked at Sujin and firmly said, "First and foremost, Sujin has to be in it. No doubt that he's our best vocalist."

If this was war, it would simply be utter stupidity not to send their best soldier to the battlefield that suited him the most. 

Because Jun firmly expressed his stand, nobody objected. Nonetheless, the fact that only three slots remained worried the others, which showed in their expressions. 

Everyone clapped at Sujin, who humbly bowed his head. But various calculations ran through their minds.

"I want to sing." Timidly, Hyeon-ju continued, raising his hand. 

Jun knew ETM's lead vocalist would vie for the vocal spot, so he made him sing a line from the selected song. The youth's voice suited the pop ballad and, in the end, the other Inhabitants had no choice but to agree. 

Kato and Min lowered their hands. Jun looked at them and both said that they would just try for dance. 

"Two more for vocals," Jun announced after writing down Hyeon-ju and Sujin's names. 

"I think Chul-moo is good," recommended Sujin. 

It happened that Chul-moo had also not yet lowered his hand. He was indeed the type of trainee that excelled at singing. 

Surprisingly, Daeho who also wanted to try vocals, lost to Seong-hun. When the selection for dance began, Daeho also tried for a slot, but the guy who specialized in b-boying, Dae-hyun, got it. The rest were automatically Juwon, Min, and Kato. Daeho's face turned ashen when he realized that he would have to join the rap team. 

The two groups were finally completed. 

Puzzled glances went to Jun. Juwon asked, "Jun, you are our best hip-hop dancer after Neo. Are you sure you want to do rap?"

A forced smile showed on Jun's lips. "Four needs to be in the rap team. My voice is kind of suited for rapping, so I chose it."

"Stop lying, the two of us never took rap lessons in our previous agency." Juwon furrowed his brows, sending Jun a weird look. 

"I listen to some of KAISER rapper Levi's rap songs. And I rap a lot at home," Jun immediately responded.

A skeptical gaze came from the other boy. He was his best friend after all. With his lips forming a thin line, Jun kept eye contact to make himself look convincing. 

Actually, the best or rather, the most passable rapper among them was Sujin. The latter had at least a few months of rap training. Prior to Jun and Juwon joining Nova as trainees, Sujin had been one of the potential rappers of the Nova boy group that debuted two years ago. But when somebody else took his place in the debut group, he switched to vocals while also showing lead dancer material potential. 

In other words, Sujin could rap. 

But as said earlier, Sujin was their best singer. Would it not be a sin to not make him lead the vocal group?

"Xavi, me, Seth, and Daeho will be in the rap team." Jun gave the three a glance and two of them wore gloomy expressions like the world had just come crashing on them. Only Xavi looked fine. But was he really? 

"Will Xavi be alright?" asked Kato.

The top visual of BOI had a look on his face that said, 'Does Xavi even know what is going to happen to him?'

Xavi was a foreigner. It was understandable that people would be distrustful of his fluency in the language. 

"No problem!" Xavi answered in English. Naturally, it further fueled their anxiety instead of reassuring them. 

"Brother, I have never explored raps before," Seth's face was truly pitiful. 

"Me too." Daeho also looked lacking in confidence. "Is there anybody who wants to swap places with me?"

The boy looked like he wanted to jump off a sinking ship to save his life. 

The ones from the vocal and dance groups exchanged glances and tacitly kept their silence. In reality, they knew that the rap team would be compromised. Even if they do better than the rap team of the Barren Lands, so what? How better would it be than the average person? The viewers watching would mercilessly judge their rap skills and criticize them. Nobody would buy the excuse that they were newbie idol rappers even if it was the truth. 

Daeho bitterly smiled. "Then can we re-audition for parts? I, I mean, we need to make sure that those selected are really the best for the category."

Sujin sighed and raised his hand. "Singing is what I am most confident about. I can rap. But if I were to switch with somebody, it would only be Jun. Are you willing?"

The one asked immediately frowned, "No." 

Sujin shrugged and spoke no more. The rest also shut their mouths. 

Kato, who was selected as the dance leader, led his three teammates to the basement training room. Sujin also brought his teammates to another practice hall. The four, consisting of Jun, Xavi, Daeho, and Seth, stayed behind. The latter two still had downed spirits, but they were sensible enough to approach Jun and apologize. 

"I'm sorry, brother. I was just flustered."

"I'm sorry, Jun. Let us do this together." 

Jun nodded wordlessly and simply played the song assigned to the rap team. 

Everybody had already listened to it yesterday and once more realized that one factor that made people want to avoid this group was this song. 

"It is a KAISER album intro song." 

An album that just came out a year ago and was still extremely fresh to the memories of KAISER's countless fans. 

It was an intro song that had narration for its beginning part and a proper melodious chorus where KAISER's vocal line showcased their unique voice color and techniques. The general populace loved the title track and some b-sides while the other songs, including this intro, were extremely well-liked within the fandom. 

'Problem number 1: It's from the group with the largest fandom. Recent too, so the comparison will be brutal.

Problem number 2: The task is to replace everything with rap except the chorus.'

"We have to write our own lyrics or somehow turn the talking verses into rap," Daeho commented after reading the mission for the nth time. 

Xavi asked, "Do we really have to remove the verses? I actually think the talking parts are cool."

"We have to follow the rules," Seth reminded him in an almost inaudible voice. 

Silence reigned for almost a minute. 

"...I'm sorry, but I feel like we're doomed from the get-go." Daeho slumped down on his chair.

Jun felt a headache listening to the downcast tone of the two. He felt glad that Xavi was at least here. 

After a few seconds of silence, he simply decided, "Daeho and Seth will sing the chorus. Xavi and I will rap."

The two coincidentally glanced at Xavi at the same time. Their faces paled. "Brother Jun, are you sure?"

Jun had great patience, but he was not one to always hide his feelings. He was annoyed so he let it show. Daeho, who was older than him, and Seth, who was younger by three years, flinched at his sharp gaze. Especially when he asked, "Any objection?"

They simultaneously shook their heads before lowering their line of sight. They felt a bit aggrieved, yet they were also relieved. They were worried about Xavi's ability to do the task, but they did not want to rap more. The conflict between the two feelings made them unable to choose how they should react. 

Jun sighed, reading into their thoughts through their faces. 

"Xavi and I need to write our lyrics. In the meantime, you two should practice the chorus. Let us gather here at exactly 7 pm to report our progress to each other."

"Okay." Xavi gathered his things without forgetting to grab a few snacks from the rack. 

"...sure." Daeho and Seth swallowed their sighs as they bobbed their heads.