The Underground - 3RACHA

16

Jisung took a deep breath before knocking on Chan's apartment door. Looking at the building from the outside, Jisung realised that although it was nothing like his four-bedroomed house on the outskirts of the town, it was similar to the apartment he'd lived in with his parents when they were alive. It was more on the side of working-class than middle-class, but Jisung didn't mind that. He'd always felt more at home in places like this, even if there was more of a threat to his life in them.

When the door was pulled open, he was met with the sight of a slightly unkempt Chan with messy hair and oversized clothing, but Jisung thought he still looked good, especially with that bright smile on his face. "Hey," Chan said, "come in."

Jisung did so, and let his eyes wander around Chan's apartment that was small but cosy looking. Where he stood was the living-room which contained nothing more than a sofa and a small television, but to his right was an open door that lead to a somewhat more lively kitchen. Down the hall were two closed doors that Jisung guessed were a bedroom and a bathroom. "I like your apartment," Jisung decided, spinning around to face Chan with a smile.

"Oh, thanks. It's a bit small but...it could be worse."

"So..." Jisung said after a moment of silence, "are you going to teach me how to rap?"

A grin appeared on Chan's face, "come with me," he said, grabbing Jisung's hand before the younger had a chance to protest. With that, he led Jisung into one of the rooms that Jisung discovered was the bedroom.

Jisung smiled as he looked around Chan's room. It was bigger than the living-room, but barely as the double bed and a desk with music producing equipment on top of it took up most of the space. It was the type of equipment he'd always wanted but couldn't afford. He didn't know where to begin with it anyway as it all looked so intricate. "This must have cost a fortune," he said, stepping closer to the desk and examining the equipment on top of it. He was too scared to touch anything out of fear of breaking it.

"It wasn't too much. Everything I have is mostly second hand and was cheap to begin with," Chan admitted but that didn't dim Jisung's enthusiasm about the equipment.

"This is amazing! Oh my god, have you made songs? Can I hear them?" He asked, more full of life than Chan had ever seen anyone get over simple producing equipment before.

Chan chuckled, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge. "You can hear one...on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Rap for me," Chan said, a grin tugging at his lips. He'd been dying to hear Jisung properly rap since he'd overheard him in the bathroom and now that he was getting close to that opportunity, he was more excited than he expected he would be. "Maybe you can hear two if you're good," he winked.

Naturally, Jisung was nervous at the idea of rapping in front of someone. He'd rapped in front of Hyunjin a few times, and usually, Hyunjin was polite with his responses, but other times he was horrible and knocked Jisung's confidence significantly. The past three times he'd rapped in front of him, Hyunjin had torn him apart and didn't bother to put him back together. Jisung hoped Chan wouldn't do that.

Jisung inhaled as he moved to stand in front of Chan. He tried to maintain eye contact but had to look away after only a second. "Um..." he started, staring down at his hands and trying to find his words, but nothing came to mind. It was just like when he'd tried to rap at The Underground. "I don't..."

"It's ok, the rap doesn't have to be yours. Just give a shot at anything," Chan said, reaching for Jisung's hand and giving it a squeeze.

Jisung smiled, his confidence improving a little as he knew Chan wouldn't be horrible to him like Hyunjin was. Chan was nothing like Hyunjin. "Ok," he nodded, taking another deep breath, "but...it might not be very good."