I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 198

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 198
The car door stood wide open, and from outside, the hip-hop music that Min-guk had so desperately longed for came pouring in like a torrent of madness.
I spoke once more to the trembling Min-guk.
“Min-guk, go on in. This is the very club where Eminem began performing—the legendary birthplace of hip-hop. Just as Jerusalem is the holy land of Christianity, this place is the holy land of hip-hop.”
“Hic… hic.”
Min-guk looked as though he was about to break down in tears.
[Adolescence really does make a spectacle of itself.]
At that moment, Jung-woo—whom I hadn’t expected to move—stepped out of the car first.
“Sung-guk, I want to check that place out.”
“What?”
As I looked at him in surprise, Jung-woo took Min-guk’s hand.
“Min-guk, this is the Eminem holy site you’ve been singing about every single day. We came all this way—are you really just going to turn back now?”
“Hic….”
Spurred on by Jung-woo’s provocation, Min-guk steadied himself. Then he looked at me.
“Hyung, I’m going in.”
[This wasn’t what I expected at all….]
I’d anticipated that Min-guk would first cling to me in fear, crying and begging forgiveness for all his past misdeeds.
At that moment, Jung-woo stepped out through the open car door.
And Min-guk, trembling though he was, managed to exit the car as well.
No matter how thoroughly the Samjeon Group’s Protocol Team had positioned themselves around us without our knowledge because of Tae-guk, I couldn’t let those two—who could barely speak English—walk into the Detroit Hip-hop Club alone.
I quickly rose from my seat and grabbed Jeon Tae-guk.
“Why me?”
“Because if you go, the Protocol Team will actually pay attention and protect us properly.”
“Jeon Sung-guk, are you using me as a hostage? If I get kidnapped by gangsters in a place like this, it’ll become an international incident for South Korea.”
“Hyung, just be careful with your Rolex watch first.”
Jeon Tae-guk hurriedly unfastened his watch and placed it in the car’s safe.
“Wait….”
Then he removed all the various luxury items wrapped around his body and put them in the safe as well.
“Hyung, you should keep your wallet with you.”
“Oh, right! But I’m the one paying?”
“Hyung, don’t you know about noblesse oblige? It’s what wealthy people are supposed to do.”
“Something feels off… I always seem to be under your spell, Sung-guk.”
Jeon Tae-guk took only his wallet and stepped out of the car.
* * *
The thunderous beat echoed out, and atop it, the voices of rappers spitting out lyrics could be heard even outside the club.
This was the Detroit club where Eminem had grown up battling in rap competitions.
As Min-guk, Jung-woo, Jeon Tae-guk, and I reached the entrance, a massive Black man blocked our path.
“Who the hell are you guys?”
At his rough English, Jung-woo and Min-guk trembled like aspen leaves in the wind.
[So I have to step up again?]
I approached the Black man and whispered something to him. The harsh expression that had been on his face moments before vanished, and he ushered us inside the club.
“Friend, welcome. Come on in.”
I led the way, stepping through the entrance first.
The club interior was already thick with heat and energy.
Min-guk, who had been trembling with fear since arriving in the United States, pressed close to my side for the first time.
“Hyung, what did you say to him just now? What did you tell him that made him welcome us like that?”
“Nothing special, really. I just said we were guests and deserved a warm welcome.”
The club was already thick with cigarette smoke.
Min-guk had taken hold of my hand, and the innocent, gentle Min-guk from childhood had returned.
“Hyung, aren’t you scared?”
“Min-guk, this is a place where people live too. Your idol Eminem came from the Detroit Slums, didn’t he?”
Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind us.
“Who’s talking about me!”
I turned around with a smile playing at my lips.
There stood Eminem, Min-guk’s hero.
I quickly embraced him.
“Eminem, it’s been a while.”
“Sung-guk, when did you become this cool!”
Min-guk’s eyes widened as he witnessed this scene.
“Sung-guk, where’s that younger brother of yours who’s been obsessed with hip-hop lately?”
“Right here. He kept singing about how Detroit is the mecca of hip-hop and wanted to come see it for himself.”
Eminem strode toward Min-guk.
“Is your dream to become a rapper?”
“Y-yes… Eminem.”
“Why are you so stiff, kid!”
“I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like this before.”
“Then, how about I show you what it’s really about?”
Eminem said that and immediately leaped onto the stage.
The moment Eminem took the stage, the club erupted in cheers.
“Alright, so today we’ve got an aspiring rapper from South Korea watching my performance. Let me show him what it’s all about!”
“Yeahhhhh!”
And then, finally, the theme song of “8 Mile” began to play—that masterpiece that contained Eminem’s entire life.
Watching Eminem perform live, both Min-guk and Jung-woo were streaming tears of emotion, while the club filled with countless voices rapping along to every word.
I leaned close to the moved Min-guk and whispered.
“Min-guk, remember this feeling forever. One day, you’ll stand on a stage just as magnificent as this.”
“Uh-huh…”
“For now, just enjoy the performance. We can talk about the rest when we get back to the hotel.”
“Okay!”
Min-guk answered eagerly like before, no longer fidgeting, and devoted himself entirely to savoring Eminem’s performance.
At the same time, there was one other person in the club who was passionately enjoying this stage.
It was Jeon Tae-guk.
Jeon Tae-guk had become utterly captivated by Eminem’s performance.
[Here comes another headache.]
* * *
The limousine heading back to the hotel still radiated the heat of the concert.
Eminem’s greatest hits continued to flow through the vehicle’s speakers.
Min-guk and Jung-woo were deeply moved by having witnessed their idol Eminem perform live.
And Min-guk had shed his adolescent pretentiousness, returning to his genuine, warm self.
“Hyung, did you see? Eminem was really incredible, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah. He was incredible.”
“Hyung, but how do you know Eminem?”
“Sung-guk, I’m curious about that too.”
Jeon Tae-guk chimed in.
“I’m friends with Eminem’s daughter on FaceNote.”
“No way!”
Min-guk’s jaw dropped.
Eminem was famous for being a devoted father.
“There was a student who left enthusiastic comments on a trainee video I posted before, and it turned out to be Eminem’s daughter.”
[In other words, Eminem’s daughter is my fan.]
“After that, Eminem opened a FaceNote account to follow his daughter, and he contacted me separately, pleading with me to help his daughter focus on her studies since she was always watching my videos instead of studying.”
Min-guk, Jung-woo, and Jeon Tae-guk all stood with their mouths agape, unable to close them.
[Well, what’s the big deal about that? I’m Jeon Sung-guk.]
I shrugged my shoulders and paused for effect.
“Hyung, so? So what did you do?”
“I contacted Eminem’s daughter Hailes and told her, ‘I’d really like you to study hard. I’m attending Harvard too.’ After that, Eminem promised me he’d repay this debt of gratitude since his daughter has been focusing on her studies.”
I had just used that precious opportunity because of my younger brother who was barely entering puberty.
“Sung-guk, but why didn’t you tell me? I was terrified coming to the Detroit Slums.”
Well, if I’d told Jeon Tae-guk about this plan, everyone would have known about it by the time we were on the airplane to Detroit.
Still, I didn’t let it show.
“Hyung, thanks to you, everything went smoothly. Please tell the Protocol Team how grateful I am too.”
“Got it.”
Just then, Min-guk looked up at me with sparkling eyes again.
“Hyung, I’ll remember you as my benefactor for life.”
[You’ve been indebted to me since the moment you were born as my younger brother, Jeon Min-guk!]
But I couldn’t be so harsh to someone who had just escaped adolescence.
“Min-guk, from now on you’ll listen well to what I say, right?”
“Yes!”
“Oh, we’re meeting Eminem at the hotel. Who wants to come?”
The moment I finished speaking, all three of them raised their hands eagerly.
“Hyung, me!”
“Sung-guk, me too!”
“Sung-guk, whatever the bill is at the hotel today, I’ll pay for it!”
* * *
A suite room at a Detroit hotel.
Shortly after, the doorbell rang and Eminem entered the suite room.
Eminem greeted me with a slight smile.
“Sung-guk, if my daughter finds out I’m meeting you like this separately, she’ll kill me.”
“I’ll have to repay this kindness again. Hailes is studying hard, isn’t she?”
“Fortunately, she doesn’t take after her mother. She’s quite good at studying.”
The poor relationship between Eminem and his wife was an openly known fact.
“Eminem, you must be exhausted after the concert, but thank you for coming all the way here.”
“You’re the benefactor who made our daughter study hard. I can’t ignore that. I hear your younger brother likes me?”
“It’s more than just liking—he practically thinks of you as a god. He even calls that club in Detroit a sacred place.”
Eminem laughed pleasantly and turned his head toward Min-guk.
“You saw me at the club earlier, right? You’re a huge fan?”
“Yes, Eminem. I’m really a fan. Could I ask for a photo and an autograph?”
“Of course.”
Jung-woo and Jeon Tae-guk, standing beside me, chimed in as well.
“We’d like to ask for one too.”
“You came all this way, so of course. By the way, someone said earlier that you two are aspiring rappers?”
“My younger brother Min-guk and my friend Jung-woo.”
I pushed the two of them forward toward Eminem.
“Then, how about we hear you rap?”
“Here?”
Min-guk’s bewilderment was plainly evident.
“For a rapper, anywhere can be a stage. Back when I was nobody, I’ve rapped in front of just one audience member.”
“It’s not that… I’m just too nervous standing before the god of rap.”
“I’ve rapped in front of Dr. Dre before, and I was just as nervous as you are now. But if I hadn’t rapped that day, I probably wouldn’t be who I am today.”
[Hmm, Eminem does have a tendency to milk his backstory a bit….]
Inspired by Eminem’s words, Min-guk and Jung-woo gathered their courage and each performed a verse of Eminem’s rap.
Their rap skills were still rough, but Eminem listened intently until the end and began his critique.
“You both have talent for rap. Your sense of rhythm, which is the most important element in rap, is excellent. But here’s the thing—rap fundamentally requires you to practice writing your own lyrics.”
Eminem’s substantive rap lesson began.
“All my songs originate from my own story. My father abandoned me when I was five months old, so I don’t even know what he looks like. On top of that, my mother was depressed and a drug addict. As a kid, I got beaten up by other children for being a white person living in the slums. I was even beaten in a restroom so badly that I was in a coma for nine days.”
From Eminem, who was laying his story bare, I could strongly sense my father’s essence.
I interpreted his story into Korean for Min-guk and Jung-woo, whose English was still lacking.
“You both have enough talent as rappers. From now on, try practicing putting your own stories into your rap. Everyone got that?”
Eminem’s rap lesson, which lasted a full thirty minutes, came to an end.
Min-guk, his face touched with emotion, spoke to Eminem in halting English.
“Eminem, next time we meet… um… I’ll practice so I can have a conversation with you in English.”
“Good luck to both of you!”
Eminem embraced Min-guk and Jung-woo warmly before heading toward the entrance to leave the suite room.
“Eminem, thank you so much for tonight.”
“Sung-guk, here’s the thing. My daughter actually sang a song asking me to get just one photo with you if I ever met you. She said the charming man that Ashley Holmes mentioned in the Times—the one she posted on her desk—is her ideal type.”
Eminem let out a deep sigh.
“Sung-guk, I’m a father before I’m a rapper.”
“I understand that completely. I’m Min-guk’s older brother before I’m the CEO of FaceNote.”
Eminem took a photo of us together with the camera he’d prepared, his expression warm and genuine.
This settled part of the debt I owed Eminem.
* * *
On the airplane back to San Francisco, Min-guk reverted to his usual self and chattered endlessly with Jung-woo about the moving encounter with Eminem.
“Jung-woo hyung, did you see Eminem’s hand gestures during that verse? It was so cool.”
“Min-guk, didn’t Eminem say that a rapper who knows how to tell sincere stories is truly a great rapper, more so than flashy appearances?”
The two of them seemed to be having quite a deep conversation about hip-hop and music.
And Tae-guk, sitting beside me, was absorbed in something.
Ever since boarding the plane, he’d been sipping drinks continuously and writing something down.
“Hyung, what are you doing?”
“Sung-guk, would you take a look at this just once?”
“What is it?”
“Eminem said it himself—anyone who knows how to tell sincere stories can be a rapper. Sung-guk, isn’t twenty-three still not too late to become a rapper?”
[Of course it’s too late. Way too late. And as far as I know, he can’t even carry a tune…]
I kept my mouth shut and read through the autobiographical lyrics Tae-guk had written.
Born as the heir to the most successful Samjeon Group in South Korea—my fate was sealed from that very moment.
People say I was born with everything. But I’m a free spirit. Still a dreaming Peter Pan.
I let out a heavy sigh.
[Just when I thought we’d gotten past adolescence, now comes his twenties crisis….]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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