Chapter 407 |
Side Story (24)
After the episode aired, the public response exploded.
— I’ve never seen an idol rap like that before. The fact that it was freestyle is actually legendary. He was so pissed off he wanted to beat that guy up, so he just let loose and said whatever he wanted … Everyone else prepares everything in advance, but he goes freestyle and doesn’t even stumble. That means he was confident he could completely crush his opponent. How confident do you have to be in your own skills for that;;
└ And Lee Chise never disappoints himself
└ Wow, this is so real
└ Damn, he killed it
— Oh no, he looks like he’s about to cry……
└ Looks like his eyes are kind of watery
— Do. Not. Ever. Touch. Seo Yutae.
└ What kind of award?
└ A punching-bag award?
└ Oh my god, you psycho LOL you’re seriously so mean for that
— Lee Chise rapping with way more force than his usual tone was insanely cool. I come back to watch it regularly
— Going after Seo Yutae in front of Lee Chise was crossing a line. If you watched their recent group content, you’d know the Prism members are basically family. He wasn’t even bringing real facts, just parroting whatever those Cyber Wreckers say. Pathetic. How is this any different from insulting someone’s parents? Even in the rapper scene, family is off-limits. That was a massive overstep
— LilQ … if only you hadn’t touched Lee Chise, you might’ve gotten away with pretending nothing happened and done fine. Why did you do that … Did you really want the title of ‘the real rapper who puts idol rappers in their place’ that badly … You dug your own grave, so even your fans can’t really defend you now
— The fact that he actually got cut off by xoxo afterward makes it a pure cinema LOL. He completely blocked any chance of him making a comeback … Lee Chise is always smiling, so I thought he was on the gentler side within Prism, but wow, he’s scary
└ But honestly, even if Lee Chise hadn’t cut all his connections, that guy still wouldn’t have made a comeback, right? Remember what he said before he even started rapping
└ Oh shit, Lee Chise’s rap was so insane that I totally forgot, but yeah, that guy mocked Seo Yutae for being backed by LSH, didn’t he? Yeah, just go home already…
— Lee Saehwa must’ve been genuinely flustered too hahaha how is this any different from a mouse trying to bite a lion? This isn’t even worth responding to
└ The baby wolf already took care of that mouse!
Most of the reactions were admiration for Lee Chise and pity for lilQ.
‘…Baby wolf? They’re not talking about Lee Chise, are they?’
Seeing the very last comment comparing Lee Chise and Choi Jeokhyeon to animals made me feel uneasy. If you ever met them in real life, you might say that about Lee Chise, but there was no way Choi Jeokhyeon could ever be described as something cute like a lion.
[Young Master 1: You’re holding back well, right?] [Young Master 1: I can tell just by the smell whether you smoked or not, so don’t even think about sneaking one.]
Look at that.
That terrifying text from the Demon King.
I left Choi Jeokhyeon on read and went back to checking the fans’ reactions.
— I was literally clutching my hair the second the rap started because I was so freaking overwhelmed My idol is a straight-up Hip-Hop God, how is this even real? I’m beyond happy, I just want to throw the window open and scream at the top of my lungs. This is agony
— To think that the way to make THE Lee Chise that furious is to insult Seo Yutae … are you crazy? You’re just making us fans feel so incredibly proud of your bond
— Let’s be realistic. In a no-holds-barred1 diss battle, who has the upper hand? Lee Chise, who’s had zero personal scandals his entire idol career, or him, who’s been living like a total thug since high school? It was obvious he prepared thinking, ‘Well, he’s an idol rapper, he won’t go that hard on camera~‘, but then Lee Chise just went full no-filter and beat the hell out of him
└ Uh-huh, our boy is from Prism. They can stay mad.
— I know I shouldn’t, but this is the first time I’ve seen Chise angry, so I’m actually feeling … some kind of way. He debuted ages ago, but I’m still seeing a whole new side of our Mr. Sunshine. Is this for real?
— Would
└ Ah, f***, the fact that you just wrote “Would” and nothing else is killing me
— (Stomach Medicine ad meme) I was so pissed listening to that guy’s rap I thought my head would explode, but the moment Chise started rapping I felt refreshed. He absolutely pulverized the guy before Sera even had to step in. Yeah, that’s my kid.
— Yutae keeps getting name-dropped even in industries that have absolutely nothing to do with him is such superstar behavior. People just can’t leave him alone. His peach blossom fate2 is insane. And he himself doesn’t care at all. This checks every box for being an icon of the era. Underline it twice
— How is it even possible to have a living legend, a musical genius, the hip-hop #1 a top-tier actor, the king of fancam views, a legendary vocalist, and the person with the most CFs in Korea all in one single group? This group is literally overpowered
The Seras didn’t seem worried about Lee Chise at all from the start. They were furious at the rapper who carelessly mentioned my scandal, of course, but when it came to Lee Chise’s rap, they were just plain proud.
Watching Lee Chise confidently take first place in the diss battle with a unanimous vote from the judges, I spoke.
“That’s impressive. Did those lyrics really just come to you automatically on the spot?”
“Hmm … I usually get ideas as soon as I hear the beat, but I don’t really remember how it was that time.”
“Well, it was years ago. You probably forgot most of it by now.”
“No, it’s more like … even right after rapping, I couldn’t remember what I did. I didn’t realize it myself, but I guess I was pretty angry.”
At Lee Chise’s answer, Yoo Jay, slightly tipsy, asked in a teasing tone, “Wasn’t that the first and last time Chise-hyung ever got that angry on camera?”
Despite the obvious teasing, Lee Chise didn’t seem embarrassed at all and replied cheerfully, “Of course. I can’t just sit back when someone messes with our members.”
Since he didn’t get a fun reaction like he usually does with Cha Woon, Jay seemed to lose interest immediately. He crushed his empty beer can and spoke.
“True, if Hyung hadn’t gone that far, the rest of us would have exploded already.”
“Exactly. If someone hits you once outside, you have to kill them and come back with your head held high. That’s Prism.”
“Our main rapper isn’t just decent at rapping, you see. Tell everyone to get lost. The hierarchy’s already settled.”
I couldn’t tell whether they were drunk on Lee Chise’s rap or on alcohol, but everyone’s faces were flushed as they went on and on boasting about Lee Chise.
“Our group has a hip-hop number one! Seo Yutae only ever deals with the best! Hahaha!”
“Alright, that’s enough drinking. You’re starting to get drunk.”
After they’d been carrying on like that for a while, Nam Yihwon caught a glimpse of Cha Woon’s face and asked, his eyes widening in total disbelief.
“…Hyung, are you crying?”
Hearing that, I turned to look at Cha Woon, thinking, ‘No way‘. He wasn’t quite crying yet, but his eyes were a little glossy. I had no idea what part of Lee Chise utterly destroying someone was supposed to be touching.
“For real?”
“He’s crying?”
“Hey, who gave our lightweight Woon-hyung a drink?”
As everyone’s gaze snapped toward him like a pack of meerkats, Cha Woon hurriedly covered his face with his hands and started making excuses.
“No, it’s just, I’m really proud…….”
“That hyung is like that because he’s getting old.”
“Cut the bullshit, Nam Yihwon. I said there isn’t much of an age gap between you and me.”
“Ahahaha! We already watched this live years ago. Hyung, are you that proud of me?”
When Lee Chise burst out laughing and asked that, Cha Woon, his face beet red, answered quietly with a small, “Yeah…….”. At that, the members, who had been fully prepared to tease him for crying at such a weird moment, suddenly fell silent.
“…Should I go on one too? Is there no acting survival program? I’ll show everyone what I’ve got.”
“Sit still. You know acting survival shows are hard to turn into entertainment. Besides, are you confident you won’t spark a personality controversy if you go on a show like that?”
At Jo Inchan’s rational point, Nam Yihwon pouted and grumbled about how unfair it was. Jo Inchan let out a long sigh, grabbed Nam Yihwon’s protruding lips, and stuffed a candy in it.
“Woon-hyung didn’t even come out of his room when you won an award at the film festival not long ago, so stop sulking.”
“…Really?”
Nam Yihwon’s eyes widened before curving into a slightly irritated crescent.
“Ohhh, is that so? So Woon-hyung was really happy that I won an award.”
Cha Woon shook his head frantically.
“You! Jo Inchan! Don’t say nonsense like that. When did I ever do that!”
“Huh? Was that supposed to be a secret? Sorry…….”
“…No. Never mind.”
‘Idiots…….’
Seemingly delighted by the endless praise prison the Prism members had locked him in, Lee Chise grinned broadly, rested his chin on my shoulder, and asked, “What about you, hyung? Your dongsaeng went out there all on his own and did this well. Feeling proud?”
And at that exact moment, Yoo Jay rammed his head into my side.
No matter how good Lee Chise’s win had made them feel, it didn’t make sense that the guys who’d been so furious just a moment ago were suddenly acting completely wasted. I suspected, ‘These rascals are just pretending to be drunk on purpose’, but for some reason, I was in the mood to indulge them today.
I propped up Yoo Jay’s forehead with my palm and replied,
“I’m proud.”
“…….”
“There’s never been a single moment when I wasn’t proud of you guys.”
This time, every member except me flushed bright red.
“Hic.”
Jo Inchan even started hiccuping.
‘Good grief.’
What’s with this ticklish atmosphere all of a sudden?
If they were going to get this shy every time, they shouldn’t have started teasing me in the first place.
“Shouldn’t you guys be used to this by now?”
“Uaaaaaah!”
Unable to endure the long silence, the members suddenly shouted and chugged the beers in front of them.
‘These guys drink every time they get a day off, don’t they ……. Is it because they don’t have hobbies?’
What were they going to do if they suddenly dropped dead like that?
They really should learn something from Pantheion, who still just have snack parties together like well-behaved kids.
While thinking that, I calmly patted Yoo Jay’s head like doting on a mutt. Immediately, the other members started protesting, saying I was playing favorites with Yoo Jay or whatever.
All Yoo Jay was doing was sticking quietly to my side, so what was their problem?
They kept pestering me with “What about me?” “Me too?” until I finally gave each of them a pat on the head. Only then did the ruckus finally die down. If the juniors who firmly believed Prism were dignified seniors saw this scene, how dumbfounded would they be?
Then Jay, looking slightly sulky, brought up the finals.
“No matter how high the ratings for the diss battle were, what’s the point? At the end of the day, the all-time most legendary performance of the entire series happened in the finale.”
“Come to think of it, didn’t you feature on that stage, Hyung?”
“It was rare for Chise-hyung to ask if you could go on stage with him. You know he’s not the type to ask for favors like that.”
Now that he mentioned it, Lee Chise asked me if I could feature for him right before the finals.
Regardless of the circumstances, the reason Lee Chise joined that survival program was to prove his worth as a rapper in his own right. That said, even I was somewhat aware that my name came up far more than necessary throughout the entire season.
That’s why back then, I thought that any involvement from me wouldn’t really benefit Lee Chise, so I deliberately showed no reaction to the program at all. I even went out of my way to avoid mentioning it in front of fans.
“Hyung, can you perform with me for my final stage?”
But then, unexpectedly, Lee Chise came to see me right before the finals.
There was no way I’d turn down a member asking for help, so I accepted right away, though I did find it a little strange.
“What kind of wind was blowing that day?”3
When I asked, Lee Chise slowly lifted his gaze, as if recalling the moment of the finals.
“Back then……”
You can support this translation through Buy Me a Coffee -`♡´-
previous
next
Translator’s Corner:
- The word used is 다 까놓고 (Laying it all out). It refers to a dirt-digging style of rap battle where all personal secrets and past mistakes are being brought up. ↩︎
- 도화살 (Dohwasal), a concept from Korean fortune-telling (Saju) that literally means “Peach Blossom Fate“. It is believed that someone with this saju is fated to be attractive. Actually, this is considered a bad fortune, especially for a woman.
Why? Peach blossoms are not necessarily known for their beauty (unlike roses, for example). Nonetheless, they have their own charms, and they have such delicious smell that entices the insects to flock to it. The insects (not just the bees and butterflies, but all sorts of terrible insects, too) apparently become addicted to the aroma of peach blossoms eventually, and they will die around the peach blossoms after pining for it for days. In the olden-day Korea, where sex was viewed as a negative thing, it was said that if a woman has a dohwasal in her saju, then she would not be able to satisfy her needs with just one man, and that she would end up prostituting herself, or become a gisaeng. If a man married a woman with this saju, he would lose all of his chi (“기,” life energy) and die early. Meanwhile, if a man had a dohwasal, then he would eventually become enticed by drinking and women, and eventually lead his family into destruction.
But well, society has changed these days and so many people admired people with dohwasal quality because, let’s be real, who doesn’t want to be born naturally attractive …. it’s now considered positive, as it’s perceived as sexy and attractive by the opposite sex.
For the record, the most famous celebrity with this saju is Sulli. Back in the day, there was a saju reading about Sulli that went viral because her peach blossom fate is so strong. Her Month Branch (the season you were born in) contains the Peach Blossom star conjoined with the Emperor energy, which is the strongest stage of the Twelve Zodiac (십이운성/十二運星)). The Five Element in her chart (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Wate) corresponding to the dohwasal is excessive, and the Earthly Branch (roots/inner nature) of the Peach Blossom emerges into the Heavenly Stem (outer appearance). Hers is such a powerful month-branch Peach Blossom, overlapping based on both the year branch (the energy of the year you were born) and the day branch (the specific day you were born). Basically her whole saju pointed about how she was born to be a celebrity and attracted attention whatever and wherever she goes. This is also why, other than because of her visuals, Sulli is the abolute representative of human peach in idol scene. ↩︎
- 무슨 바람이 불다 (What wind is blowing), is an idiom. Just as a sudden gust of wind changes the weather, this phrase describes a sudden change in a person’s mood or intentions. It’s basically mean “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”, but you know, I like keeping things literally. ↩︎
I’m back, My house elictricity is fine now. The culprit is the rice cooker, it kinda … idk what it is called, but it’s burning.
Kpop today is very noisy with ZB1 5 members renewal and Min Heejin won the case against Hybe. I got sidetracked a lot with the saju reading too.