Kim Namjoon - Decision

< Second round >

"A-achoo! It's rather chilly." I crossed my arms tightly across my chest as the cool breeze brushed past me, making me shiver. The sky was mottled with fluffy white clouds, the rays from the sunlight barely peeking through them. I was dressed in a simple graphic shirt and black shorts, sporting a black wool beanie. I took a glance at my phone. 1:15pm. Quite early. I then pushed open the glass doors and casually strolled into the building of Big Deal Squad.

Upon entering, I swiftly went to the reception to report my attendance. "Your audition number is #20, please take a seat there while waiting for your turn." The receptionist politely informed me with a slight smile on her face. I smiled back in response, then turned around to find an empty seat in the waiting room that was filled with contestants. Resting back on the white chair, my attention was briefly caught by a tall, young man. He was in an all-black branded outfit and he had his head held up high, seemingly like he was looking down on the people around him. I felt like I had seen his face before, but at that moment, I could not recall when I had seen him. As though he had felt my gaze on him, he briefly cocked his head in my direction, his lips pulling into a slight smirk before he walked away into the audition room. The eye contact felt too coincidental, I decided not to dwell too much into it and went ahead to put in my earphones to listen to my recording for the audition.

...

"Good afternoon, I'm Choi Min-Jun, 'Menace'." The tall young man greeted the judges as he strolled inside the audition room. The two judges instantly wore amiable smiles on their faces the moment he walked in, as they stood up from their seats. Sleepy was quietly observing the man with an almost imperceptible frown. He then forced a polite smile at Min-Jun.

"Please start when you're ready."

...

Min-Jun's performance was good, he was relaxed throughout the performance, his rap clear and steady, not missing a beat. However, when compared to 'Runch Randa', his performance seemed slightly lacking in comparison. He lacked the strong presence the teenager had that could attract people's attention.

"Bravo! As expected of the nephew of our CEO!" The judges showered him with praises after he finished, while Sleepy kept the polite smile on his face, keeping silent. Min-Jun had a look of triumph on his face as he chuckled in response. Sleepy immediately felt a sense of hidden danger.

"So...are you planning on recruiting 'Runch Randa' as a trainee? I saw that he beat me in the first round." Min-Jun raised an eyebrow, his tone overbearing as he casually strolled around the room with his hands in his pockets. The room was silent, aside from Min-Jun's heavy footsteps. Hearing his question, Sleepy gritted his teeth and his smile faded.

"...and what do you think of him?" Sleepy stepped cautiously towards the man, his expression unreadable. Min-Jun smirked as he tilted his head down to look at Sleepy condescendingly. He softly patted Sleepy's back.

"You know that I don't like people standing in my way. Do not overstep your boundaries...what if I just simply don't like him? I don't care about his age. I always get what I want." He then raised his voice so that the other two judges could hear him, ignoring Sleepy's presence. "You know what to do." A look of understanding flashed across the judges' faces as they hurriedly went to reassure the man.

"O-of course! Don't worry...don't worry..." , "Haha, the kid will never compare to you!" Listening to the judges' shameless boot-licking, Sleepy stood to the side, anger burning inside of him as he watched the judges escorting the man out. He had to think of a way to help the innocent child, without attracting Min-Jun's attention and causing more danger to himself.

...

"Number 20, Runch Randa."

Hearing his name, Namjoon stood up from his seat and shoved his earphones inside his pocket. When he was about to push open the door, he noticed the tall man whom he had seen earlier, leaning lazily against a wall near the door. Feeling a burning stare on his back, he turned to the man whose eyes were locked onto him. The temperature seemed to drop by several degrees.

"Good luck." The man said in a mocking tone. I kept a blank expression on my face, not giving him the pleasure of seeing me aggravated. I looked up at him.

"Who are you?"The young man pushed himself of the wall and walked past me. He whispered next to my ear and replied, "Choi Min-Jun", enunciating every syllable clearly.

...

I went inside the room and bowed respectfully towards the judges, greeting them with a bright smile. For some reason, everyone besides Sleepy seemed to look at me weirdly, as if they were guilty of something. Suspicion bubbled up inside of me, I could feel that something was off. The only one who smiled genuinely at me was Sleepy. "You may start once you're ready."

Putting aside my worries, I decided to first focus on performing well in front of the judges.

...

"You did well! Don't let the nervousness get the better of you, you stumbled with the lyrics towards the end." Sleepy was the only one who commented on my performance this round, while the other judges silently wrote down notes with their heads down, their demeanor completely different from the first round.

"You may leave now. For this round, the results will come in two days time." One of the judges curtly informed me as Sleepy made his way towards me to show me out of the room. Once we walked out of the door, Sleepy pulled me to the side and spoke quietly to me.

"Don't audition for this agency anymore. They are only going to suppress you once you enter and not provide the resources you deserve as a trainee." Sleepy's sudden advise allowed me to automatically connect the dots.

"Choi Min-Jun. He's...the nephew of the... agency's CEO. It's because of him, isn't it." I deduced decisively after realizing that the young man had similar features as the CEO in the audition flyer I saw, and that they had the same surname. I also recalled seeing his name come in second after mine during the first round. My face darkened when I saw Sleepy nodding in confirmation.

...

Sleepy did not expect that the youth could figure out the culprit after just giving him a simple advice. His eyes widened slightly in surprise. The youth was quite perceptive. Sleepy tapped his foot on the ground as he fell into deep thought, Namjoon patiently waiting by his side.

After what seemed like about an hour, which in reality was only five or so minutes, Sleepy remembered an incident that occurred recently.

"Namjoon, I've thought of an idea. If you are willing to trust that I can find a better option for you, let's share our contact information to keep in contact. Anyways, after Min-Jun has set you as his target, the judges would find any reason they can to disqualify you from this round, like when you forgot your lyrics towards the end. And even if they decide to train you, you already know what will happen." Namjoon looked up at Sleepy, his expression bewildered.

"... Why are you willing to go so far as to help me?" At this, Sleepy simply chuckled.

"I was actually impressed during your first audition process, I know that you have high potential, and I also dislike doing such underhanded methods in order to please someone." Sleepy seemed to be sincere enough, and what he said was the reality of the difficulty he was facing. Thus, Namjoon understood that currently the best way was to accept Sleepy's help, in order to avoid any more pointless conflict in the future. He then accepted Sleepy's offer, and they shared their contact information with one another.

...

Later that night, Pdogg, a producer from a small agency, switched on his phone and saw a text from Sleepy:

Hey, I found a kid who fits your agency's standards. He's 14, a rapper by the name of 'Runch Randa', real name Kim Namjoon. Check him out.

Pdogg's curiosity was piqued. Sleepy rarely ever contacted him for no reason. He immediately went to look through the profile of Namjoon Sleepy had attached under the message he sent.

...

Two days later, I received a text from Sleepy in the afternoon:

Namjoon, the decision to disqualify you was also because of me. Be patient until I contact you further. Take this time to continue to brush up on your skills. I currently have my eye on several good agencies I can introduce you to. They are not big, but enough. I'm just doing this because I do not want to see a talent going to waste. You are not obligated to listen to me.

Reading his message, I read through the letter Big Deal Squad had sent to my home in the morning: We're sorry to inform you that you have not passed the second audition...

I was not surprised in the least by the result. I smiled softly, thanking Lady Luck in my mind that I had managed to encounter a good man like Sleepy. I surreptitiously placed the envelope containing the letter under my drawer, and leaned back on my bed to take a short nap. In the evening, I told my parents of the incident and was relieved when they simply patted my back and let me be independent with my career. For now, I decided to place my trust in Sleepy, as I continued to work hard and stay active in the underground hip-hop scene.

Sleepy only contacted me 2 months later, near to the middle of the year 2010.