Duke Pyeon was used to be rejected by companies because of his appearance. He's numb to it at this point. He knows that all he needs is one chance, just one, to make it big. To prove himself to everyone that didn't even give him a second glance.

Nobody wants to hear his voice, so he wrote down his emotions. He writes lyrics on the bus, just like Eminem did.

He was used to people whispering rude things about him on the street, and sitting alone on the bus. It hurt to be lonely sometimes.

He just has to put it down on paper. Eminem was really poor too. 'Just wait a little longer, grandma.' He thought when he heard the old woman groan in her sleep.

At school, things weren't much better. He was kicked around and bullied by others in the music department, especially Vin Jin. He was also surrounded by girls who made it clear that his body type wasn't welcomed. They were always cooing over boys like Zack, Jay, Vasco, Jace, Eli and Daniel. Conventionally attractive people.

He heard other students talk about the school's music festival and didn't bat an eye. He has better, more important things to worry about.

Even with all the struggles, there were a few things that kept him going. His grandmother, her cooking, and his only friend.

(Y/N) (L/N).

In some ways, you could compare the way he befriended her to the way you would lure in a stray cat. With food.

He remembered the night they met like it was just yesterday. He had been walking home late at night after waiting all day to audition for a company, only to be rejected as soon as he was seen.

He was frustrated, and all he had wanted to do was go home. He was just about to walk into his small apartment when he heard sniffling and hissed curses coming from the alley a few feet away from his front door.

He could have just walked inside and pretended he never heard it, but a tiny voice in his head told him to go check, so he did.

Maybe this could be his big break. And in a way, it was. Even if it didn't seem like it.

Of course you wouldn't thing 'Wow! That's my future best friend right there!' When you see a bloody and bruised girl leaning against a grimy garbage receptacle, glaring at you like you were the one that put her there.

When Duke gasped, the girl snapped her head up and looked at him. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the girl struggled to get up and make a run for it, but she was so weak that she just collapsed.

"W-Wait! Just one second!" Duke yelped. His grandmother had always told him to help those in need. He lifted his hands to show he was unarmed. "Are you alright? Do you need help?"

The girl laughed humorlessly. "I'm just dandy. Lovely weather tonight, isn't it?"

While Duke didn't appreciate sarcasm from the girl he was trying to help, he was used to it. "Wait here!" He said and ran inside.

He came back out a few minutes later, and the girl had seemingly crawled a few yards away from where Duke had found her.

Duke pretended not to notice and slowly walked towards her, ignoring her vicious glaring. He only stopped when the girl started to back away again.

He crouched where he had stopped and placed a roll of gauze, some pain killers, a bottle of water and left overs from his grandmother's food stand.

"Here, use these." Duke said, slowly pushing the water closer to her.

She didn't say anything, but she stopped glaring. After a few minutes of nothing happening, Duke went back inside after wishing her goodnight.

The next morning, the container of rice cakes was gone and the bottle of pain meds and roll of gauze was on his front step.

The next time Duke saw her was on his way to school, and she was walking into the Fashion Department's classroom. Before she walked in, she met Duke's eyes.

A few days later, he was walking home, not looking where he was going, too focused on writing lyrics. He only looked up when he heard his grandmother's voice. He found her chatting the girl from before, who had a bowl of udon in front of her.

When his grandmother saw him a huge grin spread across her face. "Duke! You didn't tell me you had such a lovely friend!"

Duke just continued to stare in shock, but looked away when the girl have him a shy smile. His grandmother rushed back to work to get Duke an after school snack.

Duke slowly walked forward and sat across from her at the plastic table. He tried to think of something to say, but before he could..

"Hi, I'm (Y/N)."

After that day, the two only got closer. It went from (Y/N) stopping by in the early hours of the morning, to coming to eat after school hours, to hanging out at school.

Duke trusted her so much that he showed her his music, and she trusted him enough to invite him into her small home, and introduce him to her brother.

One night, (Y/N) didn't have work and Duke hadn't been up to going to any trainee tryouts, so they decided to hit the courts and play some ball.

It was around 9:30pm when Duke had to take a break. "Where did you get all these moves from?" He asked between deep breaths.

(Y/N) sat next to him on the pavement. "I used to play in middle school." She answered.

"Oh." Duke said, "You never really tell me about middle school. What else did you do? Like for clubs and stuff. I used to be in choir."

(Y/N) released a breathy laugh. "I can imagine it. Baby Duke singing his heart out in one of those ugly robes."

Duke playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Well what about you? I can only imagine all the stupid things you did."

(Y/N) pressed her lips together and exhaled through her nose, and the lighthearted atmosphere was suddenly replaced with a tense one.

"What did you do...?" Duke asked, trailing off at the end of his sentence, sensing that (Y/N) was now uncomfortable.

"A lot." She answered vaguely. "But basketball was my favorite, since I was the best." She stood up and looked back down at him. "Up for another round?"

There were only two things that the two didn't talk about. Those were (Y/N)'s childhood, and why she showed up looking like she got jumped in the late hours of the night every once in a while.

It didn't make Duke push her away, no. If anything, it helped him relate to her. They both had it rough, as far as he knew. But they both put their heads down and kept going. It felt like it was them against the world sometimes.

Because of that, Duke respected her wishes. So when (Y/N) showed up at 1am with a bruise blossoming under her eye, he didn't question it. Instead he talked to her about one of his newest songs as she ate some leftover fish cakes.

(Y/N) bopped her head to the beat as Duke spit his lyrics, and when he stopped she gave him an approving look. She waved her hands back and forth while she finished chewing, refusing to speak with her mouth full.

When she swallowed, she immediately blurted "That's really good."

Duke shyly scratched the back of his neck and smiled. "Thanks."

"Have you considered signing up for the festival? People seriously need to hear you."

Duke sighed. "They need to hear me, but they don't want to see me."

"Screw what they want." (Y/N) scoffed. "You can't let what other people think get in your way. It doesn't matter what they think.Who are they to decide what talent looks like anyways?"

Duke may have laughed when she said that, but it hit something deep inside of him. That's why the next day, Duke was able to ignore the horrible rumors being spread about his grandmother's stall.

He was able to tolerate being called dirty, and Vin Jin forcing him to bow, and being called ugly.

Throughout all of his torment, he realized that Eminem had only been able to make it big and get attention because he was handsome.

But Duke wasn't Eminem.

He was none other than Duke Pyeon, a proud grandson,aspiring rapper and best friend of

(Y/N) (L/N). Nobody else.

So when a girl asked who wanted to perform at the festival, he raised his hand from his bowed position. He ignored all of his classmate's reactions. What they think doesn't matter, who are they to define what talent looks like?

If he wanted to follow his dreams, he would have to struggle more for it.