The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 221

The Tides of Glory – Episode 22

# 22 First Filming

“Oh, Hail’s here. Long time no see.”

“How have you been?”

Nothing’s changed here.

Hailo entered a scene that remained unchanged even after a long time.

With a nod, the older guys greeted him happily.

They say they’re busy, but they’re always here.

I don’t know if they’re really busy.

Especially Kim Deok-soo, who has never been absent, might really be unemployed.

“What’s that? Did you buy a new guitar?”

“Guitar?”

They were just waving their hands in greeting, but they showed great interest in the case Hailo was carrying.

They flocked to him as if a mega sale had started at the mart.

“Wow. You spent some money.”

“Is that a Gibson? Looks like it.”

“Good condition? Where did you buy it?”

The guitar Hailo showed was a typical Gibson Les Paul guitar with a mahogany body and rosewood fingerboard. Wine-colored with a clean gloss.

Han Jin-young, who quickly checked the tuning, lightly admired it.

It must have cost at least two million won [approximately $1,500 USD].

“I got it at Nakwon Arcade.”

“…Wait, Nakwon Arcade?!”

He was nodding quietly, but at the end, he shouted.

Hailo looked at him, puzzled.

There’s a saying called ‘Yongpal’ in the world.

It’s a term used to refer to unscrupulous electronics vendors in Yongsan Electronics Market, meaning people who scam customers with component prices.

Just as Yongsan Electronics Market is notorious for electronic products, Nakwon Arcade is the most notorious place for musical instruments.

It is the most famous musical instrument market in Korea, so even ordinary people can easily access it, but if you’re not careful, you can become a sucker who pays twice the market price.

“No, there are so many scammers there. You should have told me before going. Or gone with someone. What do you mean two million? You must have been ripped off for two and a half million. How much was it?”

“In cash-”

“You even paid in cash?”

The older guys were in shock.

Hailo couldn’t understand them.

That’s because the old man who handed him the instrument, saying it was already his, had no malice at all. With teary eyes, he told him to come back if he needed an instrument next time.

He even gave him his business card, saying he would get it for him no matter what.

“About, one million seven hundred thousand won, maybe.”

“…? What? One million seven hundred thousand?”

“Weren’t you scammed?”

This was surprise in a different sense.

The older guys began to doubt if it was a real Gibson.

After comparing everything from pickups to tuners to product warranty, they reacted sequentially.

“Hey, Hailo, where did you buy this? I’m going to buy one too.”

“Really. Not bad?”

Hailo didn’t explain why he got the discount, but he kindly showed the old man’s business card. As if it wasn’t just empty words, the older guys wrote it down.

After talking about the guitar for a while, the older guys went back to the first question they asked.

“Come to think of it, we haven’t seen you lately. Is it because of the final exams?”

“Yeah, Jin-soo said you guessed number 3. Hehe.”

“You have to guess at least once. It’s all memories.”

Did he even say that?

Jang Jin-soo, that bastard, is lighthearted in his actions and lighthearted with his words.

Hailo snorted and replied.

“His score was lower than mine, though.”

“…Did Jin-soo guess number 1?”

“Number 3 is the rule. Jin-soo doesn’t know anything.”

The older guys denied the reality that solving hard can result in a lower score.

There was no point in mentioning it further, so Hailo just shrugged.

He put the guitar back in its case.

He came not because he had something to do with them, but to find the notebook he had left behind.

He had left Noh Hail’s notebook behind last time.

Hailo, who took the notebook on top of the computer case, was about to return home.

“Oh? Are you leaving already?”

The older guys seemed surprised that he was leaving so early.

Hailo showed his notebook.

“I just came to find this. I’ll come again next time.”

“You seem very busy these days. It doesn’t seem like you’re being scolded because of your grades, so did you perhaps join an agency?”

If he was being scolded because of his grades, Hailo wouldn’t be carrying such an expensive guitar. Hailo shook his head at Bae Gong-hak’s question.

“It’s not that, I just have a lot to do these days.”

Didn’t I say it?

I don’t think I said it separately.

Originally, unless the manager took care of him, that’s all.

He wasn’t the type to go around telling other people about his business.

His mother really did as she promised.

She went with him to buy the instrument he wanted, looked for a gym near the house, and seriously considered a studio.

In fact, it was just a verbal promise, so it didn’t matter if she didn’t really listen.

He was going a different path than before, so they could have opposed it like them. It was obvious that she was approaching carefully.

He felt sorry for thinking they were similar.

So Hailo is also cautiously approaching, though awkwardly.

He doesn’t hate people who love him, so he’s trying to act carefully, unlike him.

“I’m going to exercise.”

“Ah, exercise is important!”

“…”

The older guys looked at Hailo up and down and nodded.

Suddenly, he felt a little bad.

“Yeah, you need to grow taller.”

His pride was pricked by a passing remark.

“He’s the type to grow late, so if he works hard, he’ll grow a lot.”

Even if you ignore race or innate conditions,

Is it because Noh Hailo is smaller than his peers that he’s worried?

“…I heard that when I was young too.”

Kim Deok-soo, who was reading a comic book, said in a barely audible voice.

“…It wasn’t.”

“Ah. You didn’t reach 170… [centimeters, approximately 5’7″]”

“Shh.”

A short sigh.

The kick that seemed to tell him to be mindful left more hurt or shock on Kim Deok-soo and Hailo.

He realized why he suddenly felt bad.

Hailo recalled his appearance when he was over 190 [centimeters, approximately 6’3″] and compared it to Noh Hailo.

Like this, skinny.

His face is whiter than girls of his age.

And if his height never grows from now on.

“Fuck.”

That should never happen.

Hailo enjoys showing his appearance to others, but he would be too embarrassed to show it if he looked like that.

“Goodbye.”

Hailo went up the stairs with a serious face.

The three brothers in the hideout who watched the scene from behind said.

“Hailo got angry? Why did you provoke the kid?”

“I didn’t mean to provoke him, but he got angry at that. He’s still a kid.”

“Am I a kid too for getting angry?”

Kim Deok-soo, who was hurt in his pride for no reason, sniffed.

“Jin-soo gets angry when you talk about height too.”

“Jin-soo is a kid too.”

“Don’t provoke the kids for no reason.”

“But honestly, it’s fun.”

“That’s true.”

It’s annoying because two tall guys – 184 [centimeters, approximately 6’0″] and 176 [centimeters, approximately 5’9″] – are doing that.

Kim Deok-soo instinctively looked for a comrade.

“I hope Jin-soo is filming well.”

“Jin-soo is so sociable, everyone will like him.”

The song Hailo made is also good, so I wonder if he can pass the second round.

They thought vaguely, as they had no broadcasting experience.

#

Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do Ilsan [cities in South Korea].

In a large studio in the suburbs, filming for ‘Show your show’, which will be broadcast in early to mid-December, is in full swing.

The successful candidates who came on stage show their performances and receive evaluations from the judges.

Jang Jin-soo, who was initially excited and constantly reacting, became exhausted from the endless filming.

It’s cold, I’m hungry, it’s hard, and I’m sleepy.

His turn is nowhere in sight, and he longed for home.

Jang Jin-soo wriggled his body while covered with a blanket.

The hard plastic chair made his buttocks throb, not to mention being cold.

The filming was endlessly long and boring.

Above all, the rigid atmosphere was the most uncomfortable factor.

‘It would be nice to have just one person I know here.’

Should I have told Noh Hailo to come out?

Jang Jin-soo was huddled up like a cat abandoned in a new environment, and when he occasionally heard a sound, he only peered around like a meerkat.

Surely, Noh Hailo would click his tongue or turn his head when he saw this.

That annoying bastard’s attitude, which would normally make him feel bad, is now desperate.

If there is a single advantage to that unlucky bastard, it was his relaxed attitude wherever he was.

He doesn’t get nervous wherever he is, and rather, he gets pissed off when he faces the expression that looks down on him as if he were a king, but still, the tension is relieved. The problem is that it’s relieved to the point where he doesn’t get nervous.

It’s a hundred or a thousand times better than the participants, no, the competitors, who occasionally send glances and keep him in check without saying a word.

“Number 37. Mr. Mad Hatter. Please come to the backstage.”

Out of 101 successful candidates, stage 37 is now in progress. Jang Jin-soo swallowed hard at his upcoming turn. Number 56. He repeats the order he already knows.

And he wonders if this order is the order of acceptance.

He didn’t care about this order from the beginning.

When there were already well-known people in the single-digit numbers, he thought it was okay.

But when he saw a child who looked like his age at number 27, he started to care.

In the past seasons, that is, in Soyou seasons 1 and 2, there were also people of the same age as Jang Jin-soo.

One was a middle school student, and the other was an elementary school student.

There were cases like that in the past, so there are few samples to conclude that this will happen today, but it’s subtly 신경쓰인다 [a Korean word meaning ‘to be bothered’ or ‘to be concerned’].

Because there was always talk about the Soyou’s past season contestants.

For example, something like a ‘lunch kid’ quota.

Even though they don’t have the skills to pass, there is always one elementary, middle, or high school student, so everyone says that.

Isn’t there a separate ‘lunch kid’ quota or ‘because you’re young’ quota?

In fact, this is not bad for Jang Jin-soo.

He doesn’t know if there is a real quota, but if there is, he wants to use it.

He wanted to pass no matter what.

At first, he thought he was the only elementary, middle, or high school student in this place.

However, when someone of a similar age to him came out in the previous order, he couldn’t help but be conscious of it.

If that child receives a higher evaluation, Jang Jin-soo is likely to fail.

In other words, so far, only one middle school student has appeared per season in Soyou.

“…He was good.”

Jang Jin-soo said anxiously.

Number 27 was so skilled that he didn’t seem like a middle school student. The judges gave positive reviews on all areas of rapping, vocalization, and showmanship, saying that they didn’t think about his age at all.

Even affiliated with a famous label.

Jang Jin-soo, who saw a child affiliated with the label he wanted to join, felt a sense of inferiority similar to what he felt towards Noh Hailo.

Fortunately, he had already felt it once, so he wasn’t desperate.

‘I’m confident in my song too.’

What he believes in the most is his own song.

My song that Noh Hailo composed and I wrote the lyrics for, which I thought was my song from the first time I heard it.

Jang Jin-soo took a deep breath and waited for the stage.

He believed that his skills would have improved since he had worked harder since he applied.

“Jin-soo! Fighting!”

A short break was given before his turn.

Number 27, who was following the manager to greet his label seniors, saw him and ran up happily.

“You can do well.”

This bastard is unnecessarily cheerful.

If he was as unlucky as Noh Hailo, he would have cursed at him.

“Oh, oh.”

“Let’s definitely stick together and go to the finals!”

People around him cast envious glances at number 27.

They also seem to think that number 27 will definitely pass.

“Let’s do that.”

Jang Jin-soo clenched his fist together.

Number 27 waves his hand as if telling him to come back.

Number 27 is bright from beginning to end.

In some ways, he doesn’t seem to be conscious of him at all.

Yeah, he’s good. He knows it well, so he’s so relaxed.

But he can’t help but feel humiliated.

He wants number 27 to be surprised by his show and to be conscious of him.

As a competitor.

“Number 56. JJ, please prepare for the stage.”

Finally, his turn has come.

Once again, number 27 encourages him as if telling him to do well.

‘I can show you too.’

Jang Jin-soo went up to the backstage, determined to press him down.

The stage to show is acapella rapping and his own song.

Nothing has changed except that he will be doing live what he did in the first round.

Jang Jin-soo took a deep breath.