[The Real Slim Shady]

Things were progressing smoothly between Jack and Mary, well, as smoothly as they can after entering a relationship literally a few hours prior to this chapter taking place. Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, nothing sexual really happened between the two after they kissed and left for school. Of course, Jack had to walk Mary home first so she can change into more fitting clothing to come to school in. Jack of course didn't go out nude or wearing Mary's underwear, which will haunt him until the day he dies, and was at the moment wearing his usual clothes accompanied by his trademarked red-tinted circular sunglasses.

The newly formed couple had met up with their best friend who also likes to constantly wear sunglasses, Vin Jin, and booked it to school so they wouldn't be late. All the while Vin continued to flex on both of them about how he eased through an OK Audition. Both Jack and Mary congratulated him, of course, they were happy their friend was making it far with his... admittedly subpar rapping. Although both Jack and Mary couldn't help but sweatdrop when Vin kept going on and on about some "short, fat and ugly as a shit loser", Vin's words, not theirs.

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Jack, Mary and Vin had barely made it to class before the bell rang and the first couple of classes followed soon after. The moment the first class was over a short break followed soon after, pretty much a good majority of the Vocal and Dance Department class hoarded around Vin Jin. Everyone was talking about how he was the only one to pass the OK Audition which was apparently being run by some big shot Jack didn't bother remembering. By looks of the flyer Vin Jin oh so graciously provided without any flexing whatsoever, the OK Talent Agency or whatever they were called was looking for young, talented and aspiring singers.

"Hey Vin, I heard you got accepted into OK!"

"Isn't that Won Joon Kim's agency? That's awesome!"

"Dude I can't wait to hear your album!"

Jack couldn't begin to fathom how Vin could suck the attention and compliments like a sponge and not get nervous when literally tens of people surround him from all sides. So while his only other male friend in the whole school happily allowed himself to get "admired" by his fellow classmates, Jack and a few other students just sat back by the sidelines, Mary included. The blonde was literally his... "deskmate"? Is that a thing? Well, whatever the noun is, she sat next to him, finito. Much like Jack, Mary appeared uninterested in gathering attention to herself and just scrolled through her phone, looking at dog videos and got knows what.

"I do feel a little bad that I was the only one to pass. Too bad for you, self-proclaimed rapper," Jack perked up a little as he heard Vin's smug tone, the words appeared to be directed at one student, in particular, one that Jack didn't even notice existed until now.

A fat, extremely short and ugly as hell guy who appeared to just be minding his own business with a pair of headphones in his ears. The guy certainly didn't look like someone an agency would want to employ, even if his skill was good which, if you couldn't tell, Jack had no idea if this guy was even half-decent.

Now Jack knew he wasn't much of a looker himself, at least that's what he told himself whenever he saw himself dressed in a mirror. Spoiler alert: he's wrong, it's just his fashion sense that drags down his sex appeal. Still, Jack felt bad that he was slightly relieved someone like this existed in the world. It was of no secret that Jack knew he was anything but a good person, but to be glad that someone else is getting socially messed up rather than him made him sick to his stomach.

Alas, his body did not move even when Vin violently kicked Duke Pyeon, the short fat guy, in the side, "Geez, you're an embarrassment! I was scared that this pig would pretend to be friends with me!"

Jack tuned out the loud bullying, distracting himself as much as he could with Mary. Sigh, what a bother. Why can't Vin hold himself back a little? Jack understood that he was ecstatic for being accepted into OK, but this was going a bit far. He could only hope Vin would forget about Duke before long so that the guy doesn't have to suffer anymore. He didn't even notice when the main topic changed from Vin Jin's impressive achievement to the festival that was soon going to take place at the school.

'Wait... a... festival? Oh... oh no. People!' yup, Jack... was most certainly going to do his damn best to blend into the background as much as he physically could, no way he was going to take the stage in front of hundreds of teens.

Unfortunately for our less-than-fashionable main character... fate, once again, is a whore.

"Hey Jack, you still got those sick moves from middle school?" GODDAMN IT VIN, shut the fuck up!

While Jack should have felt flattered by the uncharacteristic compliment from Vin, he certainly was feeling anything BUT thankful! Now the spotlight was on him and the whole class was interested. If Jack wasn't so nervous and surprised a vein would have popped on the side of his forehead from anger.

"Eh? Jack Ho? Him?"

"He can dance?"

"Hold on, what? How come nobody knows about this?"

"Every department can have up to three performances, Jacka-boy here can breakdance faster than a helicopter. What do you say? Wanna show off?" it wasn't so much of a question rather than a direct challenge from Vin, and in blind annoyance, Jack made a mistake.

He shrugged his shoulders and sighed before Mary could so much as try and save her boyfriend from doing something he was clearly uncomfortable with, "...Sure."

'FUCKING SHIT GODDAMN IT VIN I WILL EAT YOUR FUCKING HEART AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-'

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Life is hard. That much was a given to everyone that has lived for more than 14 years. Unfortunately, most forget about how hard living day to day is when they blindly savour short happy moments. What's the point of all this nonsensical philosophical garbage? Well, these weird philosophies one would experience during post-nut clarity were all going through Jack's mind. He was tired, mentally, from the stunt his male friend pulled. To prevent any further inner turmoil, Jack had pretty much snagged Mary and dipped. Nothing personal, Vin. Now, Mary and Jack were wandering the streets, going shop to shop and buying a few snacks on their way. Now, the very attractive blonde was snacking on a corndog while Jack was chewing some bubblegum, they decided to take a shortcut to Jack's place by going through something akin to the slumps.

"You think Vin is gonna be pissed?" Mary's question almost felt rhetorical, of course, both she and Jack knew the answer.

"Fuck 'im," Mary lightly snorted at Jack's expressionless tone, her boyfriend looked quite annoyed at having to perform in front of the entire student body.

"Oh, you'll be fine! At least you don't have to participate in the festival slave auction," Jack blinked once, twice, and then whipped his head to look at his nonchalant girlfriend.

"The what now?" Mary blinked as she literally just realised that Jack has literally never even heard of J High's speciality during one of its many annual festivals.

"Uh... you'll see!" Jack certainly did not like the sound of whatever the hell "festival slave auction" was supposed to be, he just hoped it was not what it sounded like.

Either way, if Vin had tried to force him into participating in THAT he will personally bring that glasses-wearing fucker up the podium and RE-Taekwondo kicks his balls into his stomach harder than he did with that thug back in Chapter 3. You mess with the bull and you get the horns, as the saying goes. Speaking of the glasses-wearing jackass, the couple stopped as they literally saw him and two of his other no-name friends pass by. Giving each other a confused glance, Jack and Mary decided to inconspicuously follow Vin and his group of two idiots, after all, both knew Vin of all people wouldn't just randomly pass by a neighbourhood like this.

"Yo, Duke!" and as if by a twist of fate the two of them stumbled across a familiar yet all the more worrying sight of Vin messing with Duke, although this time, it wasn't a physical confrontation or verbal assault.

Because of the distance between the couple and the three musketeers, Jack and Mary could hardly tell what they were saying. They would occasionally pick up on the conversation when one of them shouted, which was quite often mind you. As far as they could tell, Vin and his group of friends was bothering Duke, nothing unusual there. However Vin took it a little too far, Jack and Mary didn't know if he threatened Duke or Duke's grandma that worked an udon stand or whether it was just a misunderstanding on the elderly lady's part, either way, Vin and his two friends stuffed their faces with all the food they could find in the udon stand before leaving.

"Sigh, what the hell is that idiot doing now?" Mary was obviously unhappy with Vin's behaviour, she viewed his actions as those of a child.

Jack however seemed to stay silent as he stared at the retreating figure of Vin and his two lackeys, an unreadable expression on his face as the orange glow of the afternoon sun gently reflected off of his crimson glasses.

With a deep breath followed by a sigh, Jack had silently and rather menacingly walked toward Duke and his strangely happy grandma. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate that Duke's grandma went to take out the trash that Vin and is his friends made would be up to you, the reader, to decide as this was one less person for Jack and myself to deal with. Mary wanted to follow her boyfriend and ask him what in the world he was thinking at that very moment, Jack seemed to telepathically sense her thoughts and dismissively waved his hand in the air, wordlessly telling her to stay back.

Duke had stood there, unmoving as he appeared to desperately try and hide his anger and self-loathing so that his grandma wouldn't get worried. He missed Jack's approach until a shadow loomed over his short and wide figure. He awkwardly stumbled backwards as he suddenly came face to face with the towering figure of Jack Ho. Thanks to the afternoon sun reflecting off of his circular crimson glasses, the pair of shades glowed an ominous maroon colour. Suffice to say, Duke Pyeon was intimidated. But his previous anger and guilt had kept him from cowering or running away. Where would he even go? He lives here, he couldn't leave his grandma alone with Jack! He was friends with Vin for crying out loud! He must be here to-

"Hey," just like that, Duke's mind had stopped, like a car hitting an immovable roadblock.

A single word was all it took for any semblance of bravado to flee Duke's body, leaving him a trembling mess. A short moment of silence followed with Duke's body growing colder and colder by the minute from sheer nervousness. This wasn't like any of his many bullying scenes,... was outside of school with someone that could force Vasco onto his knees.

"How much for some udon?" Duke didn't so much as think twice about Jack's question, the fear of being too slow to answer forcing his mouth to move by itself.

"S-Sorry, but there's no udon left!" beads of sweat rolled down Duke's face, he really hoped he wouldn't often the much taller teen standing in front of him less he faces the beatdown of his life.

"I know," this time, Duke couldn't help but blink in confusion, "I asked the price!"

Duke let out an embarrassing squeal that sounded like that of a pig, alas he didn't bother with embarrassment and shut his eyes in what he presumed to be an oncoming beating, "I-I-It's $2.39 for a bowl..."

"...Here," but, that physical abuse he was so used to never came, nothing did.

Surprisingly, in front of Duke was not a tightly clenched fist but a stack of $20 bills. Together, their worth was about $140, a huge overestimate of what Duke's grandmother would make in a whole week let alone one day. The short guy couldn't help but stare confusingly at the money Jack offered him.

"...For the trouble my friend caused your grandma," Jack waved the thin stack of $20 bills in front of Duke's face, the poor guy could only reluctantly accept them, his mind still having trouble processing what just happened.

The surprises just kept on coming as Jack suddenly started tapping Duke on his shoulder before suddenly tightly grabbing it and bringing his mouth right next to the shorter guy's ear, "Look... If you had one shot... or one opportunity... to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment... Would you capture it...? Or just let it slip?"

Duke couldn't do anything except listen, and listen he did well. He listened the hardest he has his entire life as his mind slowly recognised the words coming from Jack's mouth. His eyes widened slightly as he recognised the original progenitor of Jack's last words to him as of now...

"The opportunity comes once in a lifetime. 'Till the roof comes off. 'Till the lights go out. 'Till your legs give out, don't you dare give up. Even when headstrong incels like Vin stand in your way, rip that shit 'till your bones collapse. It's the only chance you got, so you better make it count and lose yourself in the moment... Don't let me down. Once the festival begins and you are on the stage... you better rip that shit!"

And with one final tap on his shoulder, Jack straightened himself out before beginning to walk back to his waiting blonde girlfriend. Staring at the man's retreating back, Duke couldn't help but hold back tears that threatened to overflow. This was the first time in his whole life, the first time since his birth and the first time since he came to J High that someone told him something like that. It was the first time that someone... believed in him. Wiping his tears away with his sleeve, Duke couldn't verbally return Jack's words of encouragement. Alas, he smiled as the disappearing figure of Jack gave him one last gesture that made his day all that brighter...

...A thumbs up...

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The next day came quicker than Duke would have liked, and, unsurprisingly, the moment he walked into the classroom everyone was already laughing at him. Almost everyone, he noted. By the text that was written on the chalkboard, all directed towards Duke's poor way of life, Vin could not keep his mouth shut. Oh well, this wasn't the first time Duke had to ignore someone's abuse. But this time... it felt a little different. This time... there was someone actually waiting for him to take the spotlight. Finally...

"Oi, move it you pig!" sadly, some things just never change as Vin grabbed Duke by his hair and forcefully brought it down, "Stop blocking the way, dipshit!"

With Vin arrived Mary who was of course keeping herself quite close to Jack who on the outside appeared quite uninterested in the bullying taking place literally right next to him. However, even with his head down, Duke could see past the crimson mirrors hiding Jack's eyes... He was looking at him... Waiting...

"Alright, any other festival show participants? The teacher made me compile this list so I might as well do it now," Mary was given the mundane task of making a list of all Vocal and Dance Department participants that would perform at the festival, so far two of the three spots were taken and by the looks of it, that was all from their department.

'He's waiting for me...' that's right Duke, Jack is indeed waiting for you to finally grow a pair and show everyone what you are really made out of.

It should not be the appeal that determines one's worth in society. It should be their passion and determination. At least... it was supposed to be. Everyone always preaches about inner beauty, yet the celebrities one sees on TV and on the internet are all handsome and beautiful... What a world of hypocrisy we live in.

'...I won't disappoint him...'

Shakily, the classroom turned to silence as Duke shyly rose his hand. He did it. He just took his first step into the spotlight. His first moment of fame, even if everyone ridiculed him now. After all, he is not tall, he is not handsome, he is not rich... and he is certainly not Eminem. No, he will be his own person. He will have to become his own star so that one day... he can repay the favour of a kind classmate. Jack couldn't fight back the small grin as he saw Duke finally make a stand for himself, even if Jack himself knew nothing about Duke's style of rapping. Everyone should at least be given a fair chance. This was Duke's chance, so he better not miss it.

...

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"...Lose yourself in the music and go all out from the beginning, you might not get another chance..."