DMZ Qi and the Unexpected Rap Acclaim
Suhyeon glanced around before spotting a sign visible through the car's windshield.
Panmunjom 300m
A single thought struck him like a blow to the back of the head.
'Ah. Yesterday, while searching for a qi-rich spot, I was thinking of something like the Amazon rainforest. But Korea has one too. Untouched land where no human hand has reached. The DMZ—Demilitarized Zone. Land that's stayed in its pure natural state for over 70 years, with no one setting foot in it. I completely forgot about it.'
He turned to the manager at the wheel.
"Seongcheol hyung. Are we performing at Panmunjom today?"
“No. We can’t do it right at Panmunjom. There’s a small special stage set up inside a nearby military base. It’s a morale show mainly for the soldiers of the 25th Division stationed around Paju and Papyeong.”
"Ah, got it."
As he replied, Suhyeon stared at the thick band of qi densely packed across the sky starting from about a kilometer north.
'That's gotta be at least five times denser than downtown Seoul. I didn't sense a thing even at Heyri, but now that we're this close to the DMZ, it's finally hitting me. In that case...'
Suhyeon muttered quietly, his voice laced with disbelief and a hint of irritation.
"This is insane... Does this mean I have to volunteer for active duty and frontline fence guard?"
A little later, Suhyeon had finished BBG's performance on the special stage and was watching Pink Berry's set. He noticed how the soldiers, who had sat quietly like Buddhist monks during their show, were now going wild over Pink Berry.
'Whew. Feels like looking at myself a few years from now. Somehow, I've gotta figure out a way to tap into all that qi in the DMZ. Otherwise...'
Suhyeon spotted his manager standing stage-side, mouth agape, mesmerized by Pink Berry.
"Seongcheol hyung. Give me a bunch of coins so I can grab some coffee and drinks from the vending machine."
After getting the coins, he said he was heading to the bathroom and bought a cup of coffee from the nearby machine. Then he found a small clearing out of sight from prying eyes.
He quickly calculated the directions and began swiftly setting up the Water Qi Gathering Formation with the coins— the same one he'd repeatedly failed to activate in his living room back home.
'With this much qi, it might just surpass the activation threshold. If the formation works, I can figure out how to harness the qi.'
He carefully placed the paper cup of coffee in the center of the formation, built the basic structure around the kan trigram, encircled it with dui and xun, and rapidly completed the array. Then, with bated breath, he squatted down and waited about five minutes.
'This is just a test, so this setup should be enough.'
After cautiously dismantling the formation, Suhyeon picked up the paper cup and took a sip of the coffee. He closed his eyes, carefully sensing the qi as he swallowed.
A moment later, he opened his eyes.
'Success. The formation activated. It did activate, but... the effect is too weak. Sigh. In that case.'
"Guess active duty enlistment is locked in. Haah. No way around it if I want to properly cultivate neigong."
Bitter about the results, Suhyeon smacked his lips and headed back to the performance area.
On the drive back to the company after the troop morale show wrapped up, the manager said,
"Everyone worked hard performing today. Later tonight, that [School] drama episode airs where Suhyeon did the cameo as the rapper. Let's watch and review it together."
"What do you mean 'together'? I'll watch quietly at home by myself."
Gyeongbin, sitting beside him, replied in surprise.
"Huh? Suhyeon hyung, you can rap too? Then I have to watch with you, obviously. I'm BBG's official rapper. I'll give you my evaluation—strict and sharp as always. Time to face the verdict..."
Seongbin chimed in.
"I'll watch too. No schedule tonight. Gotta see our BBG leader on TV."
Marvin jumped in like he'd been waiting.
"Rap, huh? I'll watch and judge too."
"You guys... ganging up to tease me, right?"
In the end, he couldn't sway the members' stubbornness, so they decided to monitor together. Later, Pink Berry members heard about it and joined, saying they wanted to watch too.
Soon, BBG and Pink Berry members crowded into BBG's practice room to watch TV.
[School] started.
Suhyeon appeared as the senior rapper.
Suhyeon began his rap. It seemed unedited—a full-shot scene without cuts, riding the thump thump, beep beep~ beat, broadcast straight out.
Gyeongbin, who had been grinning at the TV expecting to tease, grew serious. The other rowdy members fell silent, holding their breath.
The rap ended.
Silence hung for a moment.
Then gasps of admiration erupted.
Flustered by the unexpected praise, Suhyeon scratched his head and glanced at Gyeongbin.
"Gyeongbin-ah. What do you think? Gotta hear the verdict from BBG's official rapper."
"Hyung, it was good. A bit amateurish in spots, but the delivery and rhythm are top-notch. Especially..."
"Especially?"
"Hard to judge perfectly from one listen, but there's this subtle pitch variation that hooks you. What is it... seongjo? Yeah, that tonal thing. It's catchy, not bad at all. It's a unique charm only you have."
"Tones, huh. The PD on set mentioned something similar... You mean like the four tones in Chinese?"
"Ah, exactly. Similar to that, but since it's Korean, no actual tones... yet somehow it's woven into the rap. Keen ears would've caught it. And it doesn't sound off—it's subtle, riding the rhythm, your signature flavor. Didn't know you could rap like this, hyung. I'm impressed..."
"You're hyping me up too much. Glad it's not bad, at least."
'Guess my past life's Chinese shows in speech but comes out in rap.'
Then Erika from Pink Berry, checking viewer reactions, said excitedly,
"Suhyeon oppa! Reactions to your rap are great. Most people are saying you rap way better than expected. No heavy editing, but everyone's calling it cool—it's blowing up."
"Really? Was worried, but glad. No bad takes?"
"Bad ones? Hmm... Like, 'Thought he was just a dumb thug with a bad personality, but damn, he can rap decently.' That count?"
"Whoa..."
"And there's a reply under it."
"What'd it say?"
"'Call him Rapachi from now on.'"
"Rapachi?"
"Rap-decent thug... Rapachi..."
"...Ugh."
"But overall reactions are positive, oppa. Don't worry."
"Got it. Oppa'll treat tonight—let's grab dinner. Samgyeopsal, all together. Cool?"
Then the manager's phone blared loudly. BBG members' phones started ringing one by one, and Suhyeon's too.
Starting with that cameo airing on TV, evaluations of Suhyeon began shifting positively, bit by bit.
The next day, Suhyeon was meeting with Park Sil-jang.
"Suhyeon, saw you last night—rap was solid."
"Not me being good; PD shot it well."
"Whatever. After that, calls started trickling in from folks wanting to use you. Word's spreading, and now with TV proof, expect a lot more inquiries. Once Problematic Human airs next week, we can push you everywhere."
"Thank you. I'll work hard."
"Good attitude. First off... word on the Moonlight Escort supporting role audition."
"Ah, quicker than expected. Results?"
"You passed. Director Jeong pushed hard for you. Main and supporting cast are set—crank-in two months. So..."
"Yes? So...?"
"You'll go to the action school in Heyri twice a week for action training."
"Twice a week? That often?"
"What? That's not often. Only two months till shooting—time's tight."
"When do I start?"
"Today."
"..."
A little later, Suhyeon headed out to the Heyri Martial Arts Center in the car.