T/N: Due to Summer classes, I’m back to posting RCGC Tue-Fri.
With Jamal’s official release, the public immediately became noisy.
[ Rapper JS mentions composer HS on his personal social media: “This full-length album’s title track, ‘G.H.S,’ was made with respect…” ]
[ Jamal personally reveals the reason behind his name change on social media: “Most of the tracks on this full-length album were reborn with composer HS’s help, so I have changed my stage name to JS as well…” ]
Using the fact that he had a large number of followers, he promoted it himself on his own social media, of course.
On top of that, since this was Jamal’s first full-length release, and he was known as a fairly skilled artist in the amateur world, it drew a great deal of attention.
‘I didn’t know he was popular to this extent.’
Not only that, for some reason, SP Studio, which had produced the MV, also threw its weight behind it.
[ SP Studio releases behind-the-scenes film showing the production process of the ‘G.H.S’ MV! ]
[ SP Studio: This MV breaks away from the existing mold and captures the image of a true artist… ]
Thanks to that, the view count on Jamal’s uploaded MV surpassed one million in the blink of an eye.
Yes.
That alone would have been enough to make it a hot topic.
G. H. S
20xx.xx.xx
official release
But who would have thought they would boldly advertise the release in Times Square?
“Wasn’t that you?”
— I said it wasn’t.
“Are you really sure it wasn’t?”
— This time, it really wasn’t.
Sarah Stewart insisted she would die before admitting it was her, but…
(Jamal album jacket photo)
sara_G. H. S 20xx.xx.xx official release
Seeing as she had uploaded the exact same wording to her personal social media account, down to every last detail, it was obvious.
At least don’t make it so obvious.
Why was even Sarah Stewart stepping in and doing this?
To Hyunseung, this whole situation was extremely humiliating.
“Still, it’s an MV you personally funded. Shouldn’t you watch it at least once?”
In the middle of all this, Kim Woohyun came over first thing in the morning and teased him.
Yes.
That was teasing.
“It looked cool, though.”
Just look at that face, overflowing with excitement and the desire to make fun of him.
“If it looked that cool, then you can watch it to your heart’s content, Director.”
“It’s a tribute song for you. No, wait, a tribute MV, isn’t it?”
“Ah, that’s why I said I’m not watching it!”
Really, this was definitely teasing.
On his way home from work, Hyunseung somehow felt fatigue washing over him.
The reason was…
because ‘G.H.S’ kept playing on the streets the entire way.
— Godchis, Godchis, now devour him and rise even higher.
And that was not all.
Screech.
When he stopped the car at a red light and turned his head to the side, there was a man on a motorcycle wearing a helmet marked with his trademark flame symbol.
Since when had that become a trend?
Hyunseung tried hard to ignore it, to neither look nor listen, but…
he could not.
It had only been one day since the release, yet communities across the United States were already buzzing about Jamal’s song…
No.
About JS’s ‘G.H.S.’
Vroooom!
As soon as the light changed, Hyunseung overtook the man wearing the flame-marked helmet and sped up.
It’ll die down again soon.
However.
That was a complacent thought.
The next day, and the day after that too.
By that point, G.H.S was playing everywhere he went, to the point that he wondered if the whole world was trying to tease him.
At the company, reports on G.H.S’s performance poured in.
Kim Woohyun’s teasing continued.
And even when he went home, the menace known as his younger sister tormented him.
“Godchis! Godchis!”
And that was supposed to be his little sister.
“Stop it, will you?”
“Gasp! Lord Godchis has declared that I must stop.”
“I said stop.”
“Gasp! To think I dared to anger Lord Godchis!”
Hyuna had run all the way to the front door to greet Hyunseung when he returned from work, and she sang part of Jamal’s song ‘G.H.S.’
“Godchis, Godchis, now devour him and rise even higher. Yeah!”
“Don’t sing for the rest of your life. Especially not rap. Never rap.”
Ignoring Hyuna, Hyunseung headed straight to his room.
Creeak.
But someone was already inside the room.
And that person was…
his father, sitting in front of the computer and watching something.
“Father?”
His father had no idea Hyunseung had come in and was stuck so close to the monitor that he looked ready to crawl into the screen.
Bounce, bounce.
For some reason, his father’s shoulders looked excited.
‘What is he watching?’
Hyunseung carefully approached his father.
“Ah.”
A short sigh escaped his lips.
[ HS’s songs are like a drug to me. If he heard my song, he’d be soaked in ecstasy. ]
Just from the subtitles on the video, he could tell.
His father was watching Jamal’s ‘G.H.S’ MV right now.
[ I follow behind HS, and before I know it, I’m onstage. ]
Hyunseung ended up facing the MV he had been stubbornly avoiding all this time.
Since his father was watching it, he could not turn it off either.
Then, even though he could not hear it, as if he somehow knew what he was doing,
Swish, swish.
His father kept waving his hands like a rapper.
“Ha…”
Hyunseung placed a hand over his forehead and let out a sigh.
Because his father’s gestures looked similar to Jamal’s in the video.
Jamal has ruined my father.
[ Godchis, Godchis, now devour him and rise even higher. ]
Still, Jamal in the video looked quite professional.
So much so that it could not even be compared to the previous MVS.
Of course, with a professional production team attached, that was only natural.
But that was not all.
It was as if someone had set the stage for him, and his potential had exploded.
Just like the unusual filming and directing techniques, Jamal’s gestures and expressions were also unusual.
Maybe it was the kind of thing that pulled the viewer in.
Yes.
There must be a reason everyone was making such a fuss.
Yes.
I get that, but why are all the props like that?
First, there was an already dark-skinned man with his eyes covered by pitch-black cloth.
Then there was him wearing a flame-marked helmet in the middle of rising flames.
Then he was sitting among pure white teddy bears that contrasted with his skin tone.
Then he was sitting in a place that looked obviously like an Animal Island background, pretending to fish.
Everything.
It was all filled with things that symbolized him.
Ow.
So this was why people on the streets were wearing flame-marked helmets, wearing T-shirts with teddy bears on them, and tying black cloth around their heads like bandanas.
Well, this is something…
Maybe the number of Animal Island users has shot up too.
Swish, swish.
As he watched his father, who was still waving his hands like a rapper even now, a thought occurred to him.
Rather…
Play games instead, Father.
It was only natural, but…
Jamal’s “G.H.S” settled into tenth place on the newly counted Billboard chart.
[ Billboard Hot 100 ]
1st And again – Daniel Parker
2nd shine bright – Daniel Parker
3rd it gets dark – Daniel Parker
4th childhood – Daniel Parker
5th Turn around – Sarah Stewart (Prod. HSxMatteo)
.
.
8th I’ll leave it – HS
9th More than just music – Vincent Mah
10th G. H. S – JS (Prod. HS)
In truth, it was not actually an obvious result. The Billboard chart was not such an easy place to break into.
For MisutSara, Vincent, and Daniel, it made sense, since their names carried weight.
But Jamal’s case was different.
He was a rookie, in the genre of rap, and on top of that, he had broken through the prejudice against Black people that still lingered in the world like residue.
He had succeeded in charting on Billboard.
Of course, it was possible because he had the name HS behind him.
Put another way, it also meant that the name “HS” had become that globally known.
Hyunseung had never intended to become this famous.
Still, if he had to pick out the good points…
“Right now, VINCIS stock is shooting up like it has no fear of the heavens!”
“I get it.”
“Hyunseung, you know I’m the one who first discovered Jamal and told you about him, right?”
“Yes, yes.”
For Executive Director Park and Director Kim, it was that the company’s stock price had gone up.
“Let’s go out for lunch today.”
“People will recognize you, won’t they?”
“No, no one will know.”
And for Hyunseung, it was that everyone on the streets was wearing the same helmet, so he could walk around comfortably.
No one would think he was the real HS.
“I’m hungry, so let’s hurry up and go.”
Hyunseung was just about to get up from his seat.
Bzzzzzz!
A fierce vibration rang from somewhere.
“Huh? It’s the crazy lawyer?”
Kim Woohyun looked at the words “Attorney Lee Eunwoo of Gaon” on his phone screen and asked back.
“Do you want to take it yourself?”
“Ah, yes.”
Hyunseung soon took the phone.
“Hello.”
— I almost died waiting.
“You didn’t die, though.”
— That’s true.
Not even ten seconds had passed since Hyunseung answered the call, and he already wanted to hang up.
How could someone who was supposed to be a lawyer have this little dignity?
“Excuse me, let’s skip the small talk and get to the point.”
— Sure. I dug around a bit, mainly around JN Entertainment’s CEO, and I found some incredible evidence.
“I don’t care about JN Entertainment’s CEO. I just need to catch Kim Wooseok.”
— Still, wouldn’t it be nice if we caught them all together while we’re at it?
At that question, Hyunseung snorted.
“Pfft.”
Human beings, by nature, tended to act in whatever way benefited them more.
Lee Eunwoo had probably been digging into Kim Wooseok and stumbled across corruption related to JN Entertainment.
And since that would make for a much flashier picture than a simple lawsuit, he was trying to increase the scale.
Right.
For the sake of raising both Gaon’s reputation and his own even higher.
“It seems like you want to increase the scale of the case and get a bigger score out of it, but won’t that end up causing needless damage to VINCIS?”
As Hyunseung narrowed his eyes sharply and asked, Kim Woohyun and Executive Director Park leaned in, trying to listen in on the call.
— Well, that’s true too.
Lee Eunwoo readily admitted it without any objection.
He was the kind of person whose motives were not just transparent, but practically exposed.
“I have no intention of playing along just to make you happy. Just properly handle the lawsuit you were assigned…”
Just as Hyunseung cut him off sharply,
— But we have to catch JN Entertainment too, or Kim Wooseok won’t lose even the nest he can return to.
With laughter in his voice, Lee Eunwoo added the words as if gently tempting Hyunseung.
— Then wouldn’t that be good for both of us?
At those words, Hyunseung’s expression hardened for a moment.
“Where are you right now?”
— Me? Korea, of course.
“Wait there.”
— What? Why so suddenly…
Hyunseung hung up without giving him any further answer.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Is that dog spouting nonsense again?”
As if they had been waiting for it, Executive Director Park and Kim Woohyun grabbed onto Hyunseung and asked.
“Please come in for a moment.”
Instead of answering, Hyunseung got up from his seat and called in Michelle, who had been waiting outside.
Then, after a moment,
“How about we eat our meal in Korea?”
HS asked in a fairly solemn tone.
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