Chapter 50 - Self-Introduction

After about five minutes, the producer finally turned to look at me.

“You can go in now Sian!”

“Thanks.”

I gave him a bow and then opened the door. I walked onto the set. It was really dark in there. As soon as I walked in, everyone turned to look at me. At the center of the table was Snake. He looked so pretentious, sitting there with his sunglasses on and legs casually crossed. But at the moment he saw me, he straightened his legs.

“Pfft.”

I approached Snake with a small smirk. Him and the female rappers sitting next to him. In total, there were five contestants. Well, six if I counted myself. They told me there were going to be nine, so I guess three were still waiting for their turn. Anyways, I stood in front of Snake. The female rappers on either side of him stared at me with cold expressions, and I gave them a smile back. That only made them angrier. Maybe they thought it was rude.

“Hi, Sian.”

Snake was the first to greet me. I couldn’t really tell because he was wearing sunglasses, but it almost seemed like he didn’t want to make eye contact.

“Good morning,” I said with a small smile.

Just then, one of the rappers raised her hand. I didn’t know who she was. She was really tan with a lot of makeup, and I could immediately tell she was tough.

“Yeah Christine?” Snake replied.

“Aren’t you guys from the same agency? That seems a bit unfair,” Christine said.

That girl did not sugarcoat. Just as I expected.

“I understand. But I never give special treatment. Even if I did, it wouldn’t help that much. And I have no intention of going easy on Sian just because she and I are from the same agency.”

Snake spoke like he meant it. The other rappers nodded at that.

“Alright, go ahead and introduce yourself,” Snake told me.

I smiled and stared at all the rappers. I still had no idea who any of them were – well, aside from Christine who I knew just now. Then again, most of them aren’t mainstream, so they wouldn’t be that popular. Though they probably were well-known amongst other rappers.

“Okay. I’m still pretty bad at it but I thought I would perform a rap for you.”

But just then, Christine cut in.

“I heard you were specially requested to be on this program.”

A diss from the start. She was ruder than I thought. But Christine wasn’t finished.

“You can’t even rap so you just used your connections to get onto the show. Isn’t that worse than an idol using her popularity to promote a TV Show?”

I began to see red at those words, but I recited my sutra again to calm myself down. Jinwoo had warned me. Don’t use your fists and be careful with your words. I was an idol now. A member of Lovely Girlz. The most popular member at that. I couldn’t let my behavior reflect poorly on the other members. If I was a solo singer, I would’ve put my fist in her mouth by now.

“You don’t have to like it,” I said.

“What?”

“Hey, don’t be rude, you bi...Christine. Hehehe.”

I gave her a sweet smile.

“It sounds like you were about to curse at me and then stopped yourself,” Christine pointed out with a smirk.

“My bad. Next time I won’t stop myself.”

I meant that too.

“You’re just as stupid as I saw you on TV.”

“You should try being on more shows sometimes yourself.”

Christine’s face hardened at that statement. She added, “This isn’t the only show you’re doing right?”

I pretended to look surprised. Then I added one more blow.

“You should do your best to not get eliminated then. Instead of saying useless crap.”

At that, Christine bolted from her seat and approached me with murder in her eyes. So I glared back. I considered showing her up right then and there but it wouldn’t be fun if she submitted right away, so I held myself back. For a while, we glared at each other until Snake spoke up to end it. Then, I sat down in one of the empty chairs. The air got so tense that I didn’t get to do my rap.

Another rapper came in after me. Her name was Gina Kim and from the start, she looked like a cheerful person. Even her introduction seemed cheerful. She was just full of energy. I could tell that she was a nice person. And this one had been a girl group member as well. She was a good rapper herself but the group hadn’t done very well. The agency terminated its contract with her and she was now basically unemployed. She would occasionally be featured on songs, but she wasn’t that well-known. She was pretty, but she also looked a bit wary. Right now, she worked part-time at a restaurant but sucked up the courage to apply for the show. Anyways, she did her introductory rap and then another girl came in. Her entrance was a forceful and dramatic one. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a black tank top. The outfit showed off all of her curves.

“Whoa.”

I gasped. She was bigger than Yoo-jin. But who is she? Suddenly, I wanted to know everything about this girl. Who was this sexy vixen? I glanced over at the other rappers. They also seemed shocked and already looked like they hated her. Even Christine was glaring at her. The girl looked at Snake and slowly began to approach him.

“How are they so big?”

They were jiggling as she walked...they really were unbelievable...her face was...well, not my type to be honest. Her body more than made up for it though.

Anyways, the girl stopped in front of Snake. After a while, Snake grinned at her and said, “Hey, Lil Sniper.”

So she was Lil Sniper.

***

“Hi, Snake. Long time no see,” Sniper said with a smile.

Snake replied, “Yeah. I heard you’ve been busy?”

“I am. I opened a café in Gangnam. I’m so busy running it that I wasn’t able to see you more often.”

All the other rappers nodded. It seems they knew about the café. I turned to Gina, who was now sitting next to me.

“She has a café in Gangnam?”

“Yeah. You don’t know it? It’s really famous.”

“Oh really?”

“A lot of famous rappers have performrd there. And the atmosphere is great too, so a lot of people go,” Gina said.

Then she added, “But more than that, it’s because Lil Sniper is pretty famous herself. Everyone in this industry knows who she is. Her shows are always sold out too.”

“Oh.”

She was more famous than I thought. It would be better for me to be on her good side. You never know, she could be of use to me. Not that I wanted to pretend to be friends with her.

Anyways, Snake was still talking to her.

“Well, thanks for coming onto Un-Position Rapper. Could you show us your introductory rap?”

Lil Sniper smiled.

“Is that really necessary?”

All the female rappers smiled at that. I guess since she was so famous, they couldn’t just say anything. Nor did they want to ruin the atmosphere. But just then, Christine raised her hand.

“I don’t know who you are.”

And just like that, the temperature dropped ten degrees. Lil Sniper stared at Christine for a long time. Then someone laughed.

“Hehehe.”

Minji Joo. She was a year above Lil Sniper and the oldest out of all the contestants. She also used to be a member of a first generation girl group. She raised her hand to her face as she laughed and everyone began to join in. It sounded like everyone was impressed with Christine’s counter. Though a few were probably laughing at Christine as well. And Lil Sniper was also smirking at Christine.

“Pffft.”

Sniper gave Christine a condescending look before adding, “Do you really not know me?”

“Yeah, I don’t,” Christine answered coolly.

Did she really not know her? Or was she just trying to start something? Well, either way, I was starting to enjoy myself.

“Fine, then I’ll show you. Try not to pee yourself.”

At Sniper’s direct words, a few of the rappers seemed to recoil, but Christine’s face didn’t change. I had to give it to her – I was impressed. When she was doing it to me, I wanted nothing but to pull her hair out, but to think that she has the guts to do that to someone that famous. She was gutsy and ballsy. I like it.

Anyways, the tension became so high that Snake had to intervene again.

“Hey guys, come on now. Let’s not start something. Well, not yet anyway. Hey Sniper, show us what you got!”

Lil Sniper tore her eyes away from Christine. Then, she started her rap.

“Yo. My name’s Lil Sniper. I’m cool. I got no fear. I got no one who dares to fight me. But how about you?”

Sniper jerked her head at Christine before she continued.

“Before you shit yourself, open your eyes little child. Forget panties. You. Gon. Need. Diapers.”

Sniper finished by giving Christine the middle finger while Christine looked absolutely furious. The other rappers began to clap...and cheer.

“Aaaaay!”

“Wow! Cool!”

“Okay, Sniper!”

But I didn’t clap. I just smiled. Snake noticed and turned to me.

“Sian, you don’t look too impressed with Sniper’s rap.”

“A dog could’ve written a better one.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at my response. I even heard the film crew gasp. I was sure they’d edit it out though. But to be honest, I had said those words without thinking and even I felt a little bad for saying them. Anyways, at those words, Sniper turned to me.

“A dog could’ve written a better one? Wow, you’re hilarious.”

Sniper smiled and went to sit down. Then she turned to look at me again. Her gaze was so strong that no one could say anything. Anyways, as Sniper kept staring at me, she muttered, “Kids these days have no manners.”

At her words, the room became cold again. Just then, the door opened and another contestant came in. The last one.

“She’s pretty sexy.”

She was. When she got closer, I was able to get a better look. Her face just looked tough. Almost ghetto. She had a bitter expression on her face. I know I shouldn’t judge based on appearance, but that was my first impression of her. Her body was amazing nonetheless. Tall and slender. Plus a curvy body revealed by a tight tank top. Not as big as Sniper’s but comparable. Anyways, she approached us and stood in front of Snake.

“Hi. You’re Ga-yoon Park, right?”

“Yes, I am. Hello.”

Ga-yoon tossed her hair back to one side as she bowed.

“You guys know Ga-yoon, right? She won first place on one of the most famous rap competition shows,” Snake said.

Everyone nodded in recognition. Judging by their face, some of them did know her. But once again, Christine looked unimpressed. She had dissed me and insulted Sniper. Now it looked like she was planning to go against Ga-Yoon. Was this some sort of strategy she was working on?

Well, anyways, Ga-yoon did her rap and that wrapped up the introductions of all nine contestants. Everyone was still smiling. But people were definitely going to hear about this. A lot of insults had been exchanged and this channel had a lot of viewers. Someone was going to be painted as the bad guy and someone would become the good guy. Some would cry and some would smile. I liked this. Being on Fifteen was all about being nice and polite, which had been suffocating. It seemed like this show would allow me to be a little more direct. Of course, not too direct. But, I was looking forward to being allowed to speak my mind about others through rap. Though the editing team would have to do their job well...they will, right...? I’m supposed to be the underdog. The hero. If they make me look like the bad guy, it will be for nothing.