Chapter 52 - The Diss Battle (Part 2)

It was almost time for us to begin filming. A cameraman walked into the waiting room. A VJ. The VJ was Jun-jin.

“Oh hi, Jun-jin,” I said with a wave.

Jun-jin greeted me back with a smile and a small bow. This guy. It was actually nice to see him again.

“Hi, Sian. How are you?”

He must have been happy to see me as well, because he seemed excited when he asked me that.

“I’ve been good. Getting busy,” I said, getting up from my seat.

And when I did, Jun-jin gulped. He was clearly affected by my body. I was only wearing a simple pair of jeans and a white T-shirt, but it was already enough to turn heads. Even for me, every time I looked in the mirror, I was amazed at how sexy I turned out to be. Still. It made me feel irritated to have men look at me that way. Why? Because I’m also a guy. I’ve probably already recited the sutra at least a million times at this point.

“What are you looking at?”

“Oh, hehe…it’s nothing.”

Jun-jin answered, hurriedly detaching his eyes from my boobs. I swear, one more look and I’ll stab his eyes out.

“So, are you ready?”

“Yeah. You’re just here to film me, right?”

“Yes. Just some behind-the-scenes stuff. And also an interview with you and Mine Boo.”

Jun-jin turned his head, looking for Mine Boo, but she was in the bathroom. After saying all those nasty things to me, she said she had to go brush her teeth.

“She went to the bathroom.”

“Oh, really? Then can I interview you first?”

“Sure,” I replied, returning to my chair.

Jun-jin held up his camera.

“Are you going to ask the questions? What about the writer?”

“Oh, it’s just a simple one so they told me to do it,” Jun-jin answered.

So I asked, “And the writer?”

“She went to see Lil Sniper...”

“Oh, okay.”

I nodded. No surprise there. Lil Sniper was the most famous contestant here. Of course, I’m the most popular with the public. But for those living the contemporary lifestyle, Lil Sniper was the biggest name in the industry, so naturally, the spotlight would be on her. To be honest, there’s a lot of people supporting me in the comments, but also a lot of haters, because it’s very obvious that I was placed on the show ahead of the others. On top of that, I can’t even rap.

“We’ll start the interview then.”

“Okay.”

And just then, Mine Boo walked into the room. The moment she saw us, she said, “What the hell? Why are you interviewing her first?”

It was clear that she was displeased as she had spit out the words with the most unpleasant, bitter look on her face.

“Wh-what...?”

Jun-jin stammered, clearly having no idea what he did wrong.

“I said why are you interviewing her first? I’m older and more famous. I’m Mine Boo. Mine. Boo! How could you not know that? What are you, mister, a rookie?”

“I…I’m not that old...”

“Are you an amateur? How could you have no manners?”

“Oh…I’m sorry. Hahaha...”

Jun-jin gave out a nervous laugh as he turned the camera towards Mine Boo.

“Then we’ll start with you...Sian, is that okay?”

Jun-jin looked incredibly apologetic when he asked me. I immediately nodded.

So Mine Boo got her interview first. The moment the camera turned on, her face brightened immediately. She looked much more feminine as well.

“How are you feeling today, Mine Boo?”

“I feel great!”

Mine Boo answered with a bright smile. That made Jun-jin brighten up considerably as well. He still looked nervous though.

“You look like it as well. So in a few minutes, you’ll be going against Sian in a rap battle. Are you excited?”

“Of course!”

She was full of energy. Anyone watching her would’ve instantly become happy themselves. That’s impressive.

“That’s good. Did you know about Sian before the show?”

“I’ve seen her on TV a few times. She’s good at dancing and she lost a lot of weight. But with rapping, well...I don’t really know why she’s on the show. What do you think, Sian?”

Mine Boo was suddenly looking at me. Jun-jin turned his camera towards me as well. Was I supposed to clarify? Well, then, fine I will.

“Yeah. I was put on the show.”

“Oh.”

“Pfft.”

At my answer, Jun-jin gave a neutral answer whereas Mine Boo snorted. Then she continued, “To be honest, I don’t get it. How could an idol with no skill be put on a show like this? Are the executives backing her up? All powerful people are the same.”

It seems that Jun-jin agreed with those remarks because he nodded.

“Yeah, they are.”

Honestly, I agreed with that too. Look at me. I became the victim of the powerful Grim Reaper and was put into a woman’s body. No matter how much I prayed, the Grim Reaper was not saving me anytime soon and no change. Fucking heavenly bastards.

“Oh Sian, do you agree?”

“Yeah. I was put on this show against my will,” I found myself saying.

I mean, it was the truth. It’s not like I wanted to be here. Of course, I did like the idea of being able to diss Jinwoo. But anyways, it’s a bother. I doubt Jinwoo would be happy to hear that.

“Oh my god, Sian. Did you just insult your company?” Mine Boo asked with a grin.

“It’s not an insult if it’s a fact.”

“So are you saying you got on the show with the executives’ help?” Jun-jin asked, looking genuinely surprised.

What was he doing, pretending to be all sincere all of the sudden?

“No. There’s no help. They wrote me in without even asking me.”

“Oh~”

Jun-jin gave a look of understanding. But there’s no way this is going to be allowed on TV. The ones who first casted me was Mu-music. Mu-music really wanted me and brought the subject up with Jinwoo, meaning that it wasn’t just Jinwoo who was involved, it was Mu-music as well. So there’s no way something like this would be allowed to air. That’s why there’s no need to be so serious, Jun-jin.

Jun-jin didn’t ask me any more questions. It was like my answer had sapped every will out of him. He turned back to Mine Boo instead and said, “One more question. Do you think you can beat Sian?”

“Absolutely,” Mine Boo said.

Then she turned to me with a smirk and asked, “What do you think, Jun-jin. Do you think she’ll lose?”

Jun-jin looked nervous.

“Um…uh...”

Jun-jin eyed me nervously, unable to open his mouth.

“You can be honest, Jun-jin,” I said, giving him my sweetest smile. He gulped.

He already knows what I’m like, so he was probably contemplating how he was going to get out of this alive.

“Well, I...”

“Yeah?” I asked innocently.

“So…I think…Sian...”

“What?!” Mine Boo suddenly shouted.

“losing is...”

That calmed her down.

“..not a possibility.”

“What!”

Mine Boo shouted again. I gave a victorious smirk. Boo got up from her seat, looking murderous, but she somehow refrained and stomped out of the waiting room instead, slamming the door behind her. She was furious.

“Uh...”

Jun-jin did look like he felt bad. Considering that it was his fault that a contestant was angry…

“Don’t worry. She’ll be back,” I said with a bright smile. To think he picked me. I was starting to think that he wasn’t so bad after all.

“Will she come back...?”

“She will, so don’t worry. Where else would she go?”

Jun-jin nodded at that.

“So what about my interview?”

“Oh right!”

And we started on mine. After a few minutes, it was time for us to go on set and Mine Boo returned.

***

The set.

A stage was set up in the middle with the seats for the contestants set up on the right and seats for the judges on the left. The other contestants had already taken their seats along with some of the judges. First, there was Snake. And there was Hippo, another famous rapper. And next to her was the Father of Korean Rap himself, Jongmin Lee.

Soon, the cameras started rolling and a spotlight was put on the judges. We immediately began to cheer and clap as loud as we could.

“Are they famous?” I asked Gina. I really didn’t know anything about any of the rappers.

“Of course, especially Hippo, since she’s still promoting and doing other activities. You know the drama Warriors of the Sun?”

“Yeah,” I answered with a nod.

It was a war-time romance drama about soldiers who fall in love on an army base and it was really popular.

“She sang the theme song of the drama.”

“Ooh.”

That’s right. She had an amazing voice, but the theme song was a ballad. So she can rap and sing as well. Nice.

“Then who’s the guy next to her with the beard?”

I gestured to the unkempt looking guy next to Hippo. His beard was really getting out of hand. I kind of wanted to burn it off.

“That’s Jongmin Lee. He’s the Father of Rap in Korea.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“He must be good then.”

“Well...”

Gina seemed to hesitate. The truth was, just because you were dubbed ‘the Father’ of anything didn’t mean you were good. It could also simply mean that you were the first.

Jongmin was the first to speak.

“Hi, everyone,” he said with a smile.

We all cheered. Just like you would for any girl group. Just because he wasn’t mainstream didn’t mean that it was any different.

“I’m Jongmin Lee and I’ll be a judge of today’s mission. It’s nice to meet you all!”

We all cheered again. Then Hippo introduced herself, and then Snake. After some more small talk, we decided on the order. First, it would be Christine vs Ga-yoon. Then Lil Sniper vs Ji-hyun. Third was Gina vs Minji vs Ha-jeong. And the last would be me and Mine Boo.

“Okay, we’ll start with the first battle! Christine and Ga-yoon, please come on stage!” Snake said.

Christine and Ga-yoon walked towards the stage and turned to face us. Christine. She really was pretty. And confident as well. But I don’t know if she has the skills to back that up. I guess we’ll find out soon. What I do know is that she didn’t care what others thought of her, and that was something I definitely liked.

Then there was Ga-yoon. She sort of looked like a wannabe thug. Apparently, she was the mean girl at her high school. She ranked first on a rap program and her body was pretty nice. She was twenty-one, which made her a year older than Christine. What kind of insults would these two have for each other? It would’ve been more entertaining to watch if they simply started a cat fight. But still, I was excited.

“So, are you guys ready?” Snake asked.

“Yes!” we all exclaimed.

The two faced each other and the rest of us focused on them. Soon, the music that Christine had selected began and the battle kicked off.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

***

Christine began to spit her lines out at Ga-yoon. She was strong. Strong voice as well. It’s like…how should I say this…a surprise from someone with a face like that? Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand a thing she was saying. Her delivery was shaky. Her words kept slurring together? Ga-yoon dug into her ear and cupped it as if she couldn’t understand Christine either. That only made Christine angrier and made her more intense, which made her even harder to understand.

“That’s disappointing,” Lil Sniper muttered from the seat next to me.

I looked at her. She was watching Christine with a pitying look on her face, clearly not impressed.

“Maybe she’s nervous,” I said.

Sniper looked at me and snorted.

“Nervous? You think anyone can come on this show? This is for professionals. You think she’s nervous? If she is, she has no right to be here.”

“You’re kind of harsh.”

“God, you’re na?ve,” Sniper snapped.

Then she added, “You, Sian.”

“Yeah.”

“If you don’t want to end up a mess, you better watch it. You don’t want to get on my bad side. Unless you want to get hurt, that is.”

Sniper said, glaring at me. Well, that was rude.

“Do you want to spar with me sometimes?”

“Spar? What the fuck are you talking about?”

Sniper snorted again before turning her attention back to watch Christine and Ga-yoon.

Christine’s part was soon over and then it was Ga-yoon’s turn. She had a husky voice. A strong and powerful one. Good delivery on top of that. Christine tried to look like she didn’t care and even shrugged at one point, but you could tell Ga-yoon was getting to her. I guess since she was still young, she hadn’t learned how to properly control her emotions yet. Ga-yoon was really going for it and she was good. She wasn’t just spitting things out. She knew what she was doing. When she was finished, we all cheered for her. Her rap had been good. It was the kind that would get into Christine’s head and make her doubt herself. Suddenly, Christine turned her face away. The camera was aimed at her face and she showed up on the big screen. That’s when we all saw it. She was crying.

“Oh my...”

It was not a pretty sight. Watching the tears come out of a face that pretty was just heartbreaking. I wanted to hug her. The other girls may have found it irritating, but as a guy, I felt the need to protect her.

Anyways, the judges soon made their decision and declared Ga-yoon the winner. Christine continued to cry as she came down from the stage. Some of the contestants, including Gina, walked over to give her a hug. Me too, actually. I gave her a big hug and told her that she had done well. Christine buried herself into my arms and I could feel myself reacting instantly. Are you kidding me? I recited my mantra to myself to stay under control and continued to pat her on the back.

It was now time for the second battle. Gina, Minji, and Ha-jeong all walked onto the stage. First off, Gina. We knew she was good but for some reason, she just wasn’t getting the recognition she deserved. And then there was Minji. At thirty-one years old, she was the oldest here. And she was pretty well-known as a member of a first generation girl group. But she wasn’t that popular, only enough to trigger nostalgia in some people. And lastly, Ha-jeong. She was also in a first generation girl group, but since the group hadn’t done very well, she was the typical case of a washed-up celebrity. Basically, they both had the experience and credibility of first generation pop stars. Maybe that’s why they had become so inseparable.

The three stood in a triangle formation on stage and soon started. Looking at their faces, Minji certainly looked like the strongest, wisest person in the group. Ha-jeong, on the other hand, looked a bit nervous. Gina had a small smile on her face. The music started and Ha-jeong went first. And her victim was Gina. She tossed her long hair back and approached Gina. She leaned her face in and then started her rap. It was fast and powerful, but it was hard to understand what she was saying. We did hear a few things and most of it was cursing. Cursing and personal attacks. It was harsh. Stuff like how Gina’s rap was low quality and she probably spread her legs to make a living. Of course, it didn’t mean anything, but accusing Gina of sleeping around? Wasn’t that kind of low? I guess Gina felt it too, because her smile was starting to go down a notch. It looked like she was trying not to cry. And on top of that, Ha-jeong was legit spitting on her as she spat out her lines. Her very repetitive lines.

“It’s all just cursing.”

I tsked. What kind of rap was that? Even primary school students wouldn’t do such a thing.

“Pfft.”

Suddenly, Sniper laughed. I turned to stare at her. I wanted to ask her what her problem was when she obviously felt the same way, but I had an image to protect. I had my mic on as well. I couldn’t let the staff know about my true personality. I was now a member of Lovely Girlz. So I asked sweetly.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s just funny that you would say that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked with a sweet tilt of my head. Sniper then answered, “Isn’t it worse for you? I heard you spread your legs for Chun-ah?”

“What?”

What the hell? Does she even know that she has her mic on? Oh, but a quick glance told me she didn’t. When did she take it off? I should as well.

“I heard you slept with the guy to get popular. So, who are you to talk?”

Sniper smirked. I began to take off my mic. After I was finished, I looked right at her. Then I opened my mouth and just let it all out.

Beep-beep–Beep-beep—Beep-Beep—Beep Beep—Beep—Beeeeeep—Beep—Beep—Beeeeeep—you crazy.