Against All Odds (Jennie x Reader)

01 - Leaving Hell Behind

"Got the full kilogram?" Tyrell asked you in a hushed whisper.

"Yeah bro, it's in the bag. This should give us enough money for a while".

You handed him the duffel bag full of cocaine with a grimace. You hated having to sell drugs - all the lives they ruined, how they kept your people living in poverty. But by the same token, it was the only way you knew how to make money out here in Compton, Los Angeles. And maybe your only ticket out.

There's no sugarcoating it, you've had a rough life. Your dad was involved with the Crip gang and shot when you were 8, leaving your mom to raise you and your little sister alone. The pain was unbearable, so you turned to writing rap to vent it out.

You found your passion in the music. You were a natural lyricist, and had a talent for producing too - at the age of 21 you were already a 3x champion of the LA rap battle league, had 2 mixtapes, 'From Nothing' and 'Gang Related', not to mention production credits on some well known albums.

You hadn't signed a record deal yet, but you were well known in the hood and hyped to be the next to blow up. Some people even said you were the next coming of 2pac or Kendrick Lamar.

But for now, you were just trying to help your mom get by. She tried everything to be a good parent and keep you away from the streets, and it almost worked - you did well in school and got a full scholarship to a music college to study music production.

Everything was great, until you found out your mom and sister were getting evicted from your small house unless you could pay the late rent. You had to drop out of college 2nd semester to try and help gather up $5000 by the end of the month.

Which is what brought you here, in this dark alley handing the drugs to your best friend.

"We gotta get out of this gang shit soon man, I don't know how much longer I can do this" you told Tyrell.

"But what else can we do? This is the only life I know" he replied. You saw the pain in his eyes.

"I don't care if hell freezes over, we'll find a way homie" you reassured.

You both deserved better than this; it wasn't by choice you had to make a living this way.

Later that evening you got to your tiny little home on the corner. The police had roped off a crime scene, but it meant nothing to you - just another day in the hood. You walked through the front door.

"Hey Y/N!" Your 10 year old sister Jessi called. "How was working at the restaurant?"

"Good Jess." you lied. You couldn't let her know the truth. "You studying hard at school?"

"Yeah, I aced my math test today!"

"That's my little sis"

It scared you to think that your father had told a similar lie to you when you were young, hoping to provide a better life for you than he had. But he was dead, and here you were, lying to your sister as you followed in his footsteps.

You made up your mind right then that Jessi wouldn't have go through the same thing. She was a smart kid, and deserved every shot at a real education and proper life.

You went to your room and fired up the computer on your home studio. For the last month you had been going nonstop making beats, selling some online but mainly trying to be build recognition and gain exposure. It was your best skill, and maybe your best shot at making it in the music game.

You were about to add some 808s and kicks to the beat when you saw an email. It was from some company called YG.

Mr. Y/N,

We are YG Entertainment, a multi-million dollar entertainment company in South Korea. Our company is at the forefront of the industry and has produced many top tier artists. We are currently recruiting talented individuals from across the globe for our in-house production team.

Your production work on Roddy Rich's album has come to our attention. We feel your skillset aligns with the style we want to present moving forward to continue our legacy of success. We would like to offer you the position of Assistant Producer in our main office in Seoul. If you are interested, you can reach us at (###) ### - #####.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Hwang Bo Kyung
CEO
YG Entertainment

You checked to see if it was a scam, but it was legit. Your heart leaped. You grabbed your phone and punched in the number. A Korean voice answered the phone, but after some confusion you were transferred to an English speaker.

The representative said they thought your production style was a perfect match for the company and the Hip-Hop projects they had planned. He outlined the job: you would be working alongside Teddy at THEBLACKLABEL, a sub-label of YG.

The base salary was $90,000/year plus production royalties and bonuses. They even offered to pay for your flight, housing and Korean lessons. You told them you were in on one condition - your mom and sister came too. After a long conversation and some negotiations a deal was agreed. You rushed to tell your mom.

"I knew you would make it" she said to you, tears in her eyes. "Your talent is unbelievable. Soon you will be writing billboard topping songs" she smiled.

"Relax mom, I'm just happy to find a good job" you mumbled, trying to contain your excitement.

"It sounds awesome, but I don't even speak Korean!" Jessi exclaimed.

"Relax sis, you'll to to an international school. They speak English there, and you'll learn Korean."

"Wow.. well then I'm in!"

You half expected her to protest moving out. That was, until you remembered the three of you would finally be leaving this hell behind, and starting a new chapter in your life.

It felt like you had the world at your feet, and there would be infinite possibilities out in South Korea. Anything could happen.