The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 211

# 21 When We Meet Again

“There aren’t any decent music stores around here. What should we do? Should we go to Jongno first, or grab a bite to eat?”

My mother was disappointed that there weren’t any good music stores nearby. She lamented that the search results only showed Jongno in this vast city of Seoul. She was sure there were good places nearby, but she was frustrated that she didn’t know them.

However, Halo thought going to Nakwon Arcade [a famous shopping center in Seoul specializing in musical instruments] wasn’t a bad choice. You should always visit the store in person to check the condition of the instrument before buying it. Even if it’s mass-produced in a factory, the sound and feel are different.

If custom orders weren’t possible, it was better to play and choose in person.

Nakwon Arcade was originally a market for merchants, but it became famous as a music arcade when music stores began to move in around the 1970s. So, it could be called a department store for music stores.

Honestly, it was hard to imagine.

I’ve been to streets with music stores, but a department store made up of music stores was a first. I was personally very excited.

Of course, a piece of bread is better than the songs of birds [a Korean proverb meaning practical needs come before aesthetic pleasures].

“Let’s eat first.”

“Okay. Let’s eat nearby. I heard a burger place just opened. It’s a famous chef’s burger from overseas, and you can choose how you want your steak cooked, or something like that?”

“Sounds good.”

It’s usually a place with long lines, but we got in quickly thanks to good timing. The burger set, which cost 30,000 won [approximately $25 USD], was delicious.

Fresh lettuce and a handmade patty instead of a regular one. Halo took a big bite and his eyes widened.

I haven’t had a bad meal since coming here. At this point, I wondered if the food from my hometown that I had eaten all my life was wrong.

‘Well, maybe delicious food has emerged over time.’

I was planning to go straight to Jongno after the meal.

“Oh my, your brother’s coat looks great on him.”

“Brother? Hohoho.”

“Aren’t you siblings? I thought you were close siblings because he looks so young….”

How did we end up shopping on the upper floors of the department store?

Actually, shopping itself wasn’t bad.

I was tired of wearing only school uniforms, so buying my own clothes was interesting and fun.

However, that’s only for the first couple of times.

Halo, who had always worn clothes that someone had brought him, became indifferent to shopping.

I’m starting to want to go to Jongno.

I feel like I’m going to get hungry again before I even get to Jongno.

But my mother was beyond being stopped.

She was taking the employee’s excellent flattery well and picking out clothes for Nohaeil.

Halo left his mother and the employee to their pleasant time and turned to look at the store mirror.

The Nohaeil in the mirror was newly styled.

Everything from the T-shirt underneath to the coat and shoes was newly purchased.

Halo lifted his bangs. They were starting to poke his eyes and become annoying.

The time to cut these shaggy bangs seemed to be approaching.

Halo, holding up his bangs, was briefly impressed by Nohaeil’s skin.

As expected, his skin is good because he’s young.

There’s no need to worry about wrinkles or freckles, and he even has peach fuzz.

A real kid who doesn’t drink or smoke.

Come to think of it, it seems like this is the first time I’ve looked at Nohaeil’s face in detail.

Halo stared for a while before stepping back.

#

We arrived at Nakwon Arcade just before sunset.

The arcade, lit by the setting sun, was quiet after four o’clock. It was mostly silent, except for the occasional sound of instruments from afar.

That is, until two people who looked like easy targets walked in.

Halo, who had imagined a department store, was surprised to see the store owners coming out of their shops and trying to grab them. It wasn’t a department store, but more like a street market.

“Come in and look at the instruments, miss!”

“Are you looking for any instruments? We have everything from orchestral instruments to pianos, and even drums upstairs.”

As they entered, people who had been leisurely looking at their phones or televisions suddenly perked up. People talking to them, people staring intently.

Especially since it was a time when there weren’t many customers, attention was focused on them.

“Where should we go in?”

Halo looked around the arcade.

Gazing at the guitars on display.

Some of the arcade owners, realizing he had come to buy a guitar, shouted for him to come over, but he ignored them and walked on, looking at the guitars displayed in the shop windows.

Park Seung-ah wondered if she was seeing correctly as he passed by without a second glance.

Wouldn’t it be better to go inside and take a look?

Around that time, Halo stopped at one place.

It was an old store located in the innermost part of Nakwon Arcade.

The instruments, the old sign, and even the grandfather clock on the store wall created a classic atmosphere.

The display case contained everything from sleek red electric guitars to acoustic guitars. The display case wasn’t much different from other stores, but the unique difference was the streamlined folk guitar in the far corner.

‘Is it a bit similar?’

Halo tilted his head.

It wasn’t exactly the same, but for some reason, it reminded him of the guitar Gibson had made for Halo.

Similar white body, streamlined shape.

“You have a good eye.”

An old man came out of the store after spotting a customer.

The old man with glasses looked like a craftsman at first glance.

Nakwon Arcade wasn’t just a retailer that sold instruments, but also repaired them. There would be real craftsmen.

“It’s the most useful one here.”

“It looks like it.”

Every arcade has guitars on display.

But looking at the condition of the strings, I knew that the purpose of the display was strong.

Of course, you can change the strings, but looking at the body, it didn’t seem like it would produce a sound that suited his music.

There were a few that looked similar to Nohaeil’s guitar.

Yes, Halo realized that Nohaeil had come here and bought a guitar.

“Do you like this one, Haeil?”

My mother, who had been looking at violins and other stringed instruments, came over and asked.

“I do like it. But I don’t need a folk guitar right now.”

“Then?”

“Can I see some electric guitars?”

At Halo’s question, the old man pointed inside.

As if there were more instruments inside.

Halo readily went inside.

“First, this side is archtop, and that side is solid. Our store only deals with these two guitars. What are you looking for?”

“Solid.”

“Then, you’ll have to go over there.”

Halo tapped the body with the back of his hand and followed the old man’s guidance.

“Like this Fender style. It’s famous as the instrument that everyone knows Jimi Hendrix used.”

“And this side is-.”

“Gibson.”

“Hmm.”

It’s the same name as his world. Feeling an inner sense of familiarity, Halo stared intently at the Gibson guitar. The old man, thinking he was interested, rattled off a list of famous players.

Actually, I don’t know even if I hear it. I know a few, but mostly I don’t. It’s probably because of my still lacking common knowledge.

However, the characteristics of the electric guitar are familiar.

It’s not a completely different world, maybe it’s the same Gibson. It used to have the characteristics of existing stringed instruments – violins, etc.

Halo stroked the body.

Park Seung-ah approached, watching Nohaeil engrossed in the instrument.

“How much do they usually cost?”

“Your son has a good eye, so it looks like it’ll be quite a bit.”

“Yes?”

The old man laughed.

“The Strat that your son is looking at carefully costs about 20,000 won [approximately $17 USD], and the Les Paul Special costs about 15,000 won [approximately $12 USD].”

“If it’s 10,000 won [approximately $8 USD]?”

“Of course, it’s a hundred.”

“Hmm.”

It’s expensive.

Of course, it’s an instrument, so it’s bound to be expensive, but in Park Seung-ah’s eyes, it just looked light and flimsy, so she thought it would end within 10,000 won.

But I can’t just tell him to leave when he’s so engrossed in looking at it.

Park Seung-ah decided to buy him one with a big heart.

“Hmm.”

The old man and Park Seung-ah wait for a short or long time.

Neither of them had any intention of interfering with the choice of the young middle school student.

Park Seung-ah doesn’t know what’s good even if she looks at the guitar, and the old man realized it with his long experience.

That boy has a clear sense of what he wants and won’t listen to anything you say.

You can tell just by looking at him.

That he’s a kid who does music.

I suddenly become curious.

What kind of music will a child who looks at a guitar so passionately play? You can listen to jazz concerts at the jazz club on the first floor of the arcade, but it’s been a long time since I stopped going there because it’s a place that young people frequent.

“Would you like to play it once?”

Halo raised his head at the old man’s suggestion.

It seems cunning that he listens well to things like this while ignoring everything else.

It doesn’t suit his model student-like impression at all.

“Play?”

“You can only know if an instrument is a good match by using it, so you should try it out.”

There’s no big change in expression, but there is a reaction.

The old man asked again.

“You never know. If you play well, I might give you a discount. If you don’t like it after playing, you can just leave it, right?”

So, this old man must have been quite bored.

He already liked the instrument, but Halo grabbed the guitar at the expectant eyes of his mother and the old man, who was asking if he would give it a try.

“Okay.”

There is no separate headset amplifier to connect to the electric guitar. The old man just connected the amplifier as if he didn’t care what kind of performance he would give.

Halo picks up the white Gibson guitar and pulls the strings. My mother flinched for a moment at the louder than expected sound.

It’s not strange for an instrument to make noise in a music store. The other arcades outside didn’t pay much attention to them, thinking that’s how it is.

Halo pulls the strings again.

But this time, he took the proper stance.

His back straightened.

And the changed look in his eyes caught my attention.

I’ve already chosen the song.

It’s a song I haven’t played in a long time.

Halo smiled.

My second album, which has not yet been released to the world.

[Spring again. Again, Spring]

#

If his first album ‘Struggle,’ released in his teens, reflects a turbulent period, his second album was released at the age of twenty.

It was a time when everything was expected and everything was good.

Maybe that’s why the emotions of that time were reflected in the song.

When he left home, music was the only thing for him, but at the same time, it caused him pain. Music was an opportunity for hardship and an object of testing.

But as his song became known to the world, the world around him changed one hundred and eighty degrees.

That change clearly influenced the song.

If his first album ‘Struggle’ was quite divided in terms of likes and dislikes, his second album was the most popular album and held the crown for the longest time.

At this time, everything was good for him.

New friends and lovers.

The people who recognized him, his music, and the world were all good.

I soon got used to it, but even so, this was the closest time to pink in his life. It was the freshest time, and I expressed that I was happy with my whole body.

There is no soft melody violin, no elegant harp, no orchestra to fill the sound richly.

It will be enough to express the joy of victory with an electric guitar.

Like this.

The tapping foot stops.

The music also stopped, and Halo opened his eyes.

I saw people gathering one by one at the electric guitar that was ringing through Nakwon Arcade, but when did they gather like this?

The narrow entrance was so full that I couldn’t get out.

If the flute-playing uncle led the children, what he sang was the middle-aged men who were the owners of Nakwon Arcade.

They erased their sullen and boring expressions and were staring blankly at him.

The magic was broken when someone’s applause rang out.

Clap… Clap clap clap!

Whistle!

Everyone started clapping together as if a floodgate had burst.

The old man, who should have opened the entrance, was also clapping heavily with passionate eyes.

He seemed to have forgotten all about greeting customers and doing business.

“This is….”

How long has it been since I felt my heart pounding so hard?

They seemed to have returned to their youth someday.

Halo smiled at the Nakwon Arcade, which had become a mini-concert.

This is it.

It can’t be compared to singing someone else’s music.

It’s much more fun and happy to play my own music.

Even when I collapsed from exhaustion and sat down, even while breathing roughly, Halo couldn’t erase his smile.

The name of this song is,

When we meet again

When we meet again