Chapter Text
Ever since Changbin was little, he never saw himself as rich. And up until he got into hip hop did he think that way.
His first taste of that was when he first got into underground rappers, listening to how they longed for many of the items he deemed unimportant or basic. And although he didn’t adorn himself in outfits that hinted at his wealth, there was always something.
“I’m just saying binnie, if you’re serious about this whole rap career business, I want you to at least be at a company that will guarantee you won’t go hungry.” His mother said over dinner.
Changbin nodded, “yes mother.” He knew if he tried to join a smaller company his generosity would be taken advantage of, again.
That’s how he ended up at JYP, coined one of the few “Token rich boys” but unlike hybrid rest of them. He wasn’t feared in the slightest.
“Hey Changbin!” A trainee shouted during their break.
Turning around he noticed it was Han Jisung. He was talented to say the least but often times annoying. “Yeah Han?” He quirked a brow.
The younger trainee stood confidently, “let’s battle, I wanna see how good you are.”
Changbin just sighed listening to the growing cheers from their peers. “Alright”
while he doesn’t quite remember what lines he told him, he does remember one particular thing that was said to him.
“how are you going to be a poor mans wannabe. Wearing clothes that look like mine but cost more than my training fees?
You can claim to be a rapper but there’s a reason you don’t write about issues of poverty. To you this is low risk. You fail, nothing a little money can’t fix.
For some of us this is it and I won’t let some short rapper with a loud voice stop me. Changbin, more like a Chihuahua.”
It was like that last line was only thrown in there to make it seem like the cocky kid from incheon didn’t strike his biggest insecurities. All he could do was sigh and shake his head, admitting defeat.
As he walked out another trainee came after him. “Jisung is just, threatened. I promise he’s fine once you’re not seen as a roadblock.”
Changbin turned around to see that it was Bang Chan that had stopped him. “It’s okay. Wasn’t expecting to get on his good side anyways” he scoffed.
“You wanna come to my studio and see if you can get on his good side?” He offered.
“why would I want to?” He asked.
Chan just smiled, “because I know how badly you wanna try the underground scene and I have a friend that could help.”
Those words were so tempting that Changbin nodded before he even knew what he was signing up for.
their first sessions were, awkward to say the least. It took a lot of convincing to even get Jisung to even listen to him. He didn’t understand why Chan couldn’t have asked himself. Eventually as they began listening to each other’s raps he realized something.
Suspicions were only confirmed one day when Jisung was having trouble reading some email from the company. “You never finished school?” Changbin said quietly.
“what tipped you off,” Jisung rolled his eyes, “it’s not something I keep secret. Schools expensive over here.”
“What do you mean over here?” He asked cautiously.
”I’ve been living in Malaysia since I was 7 it’s cheaper to live over there and take a few flights than have to pay for everything here. I’m sure you wouldn’t understand that,” he consoled mockingly.
Before anything else was said Chan walked in, “Okay I got the drinks, let’s finish these songs.”
that conversation filled in a lot of gaps for him. After that his behavior seemed to shift, because Jisung was actually taking a liking to him.
Once they were finally close, the biggest shock of their lives came. JYP himself invited them to his office.
“Your little hiphop group has taken off, how would you three like your own debut?” He said.
Their bodies all jolted with excitement but before they agreed the two younger rappers looked to the oldest. Who seemed to be calculating his answer very carefully.
“No,” Chan spoke for all of them. Causing the two to have to restrain each other from overriding the decision. They trusted his judgment.
Lets Just hope their friend wasn’t going crazy that day.
“No, what the fuck do you mean no?” Jisung yelled once they were back in the studio.
Chan just held up his hand, “I have a plan but I need you guys to not ask questions, for now, just start hanging out with the other trainees.” He said before heading out.
the two looked at each other, “He’s definitely lost it. How can he be so calm?”
Changbin scoffed, “you know he only shows us his true feelings on a good day, there’s only one person he’s really open with.”
Jisung nodded. “True.”
“But I have a feeling that things are going to get anything but easier from here.”