The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 621

< Episode 62 Our Music Didn't Die >

Half an hour ago.

They were sitting or standing in the smoking booth, led by Hwang Ryong-pil. Hwang Ryong-pil was a chain smoker, so there was no point in waiting for him to finish. People who finished smoking vacated their spots as if they were used to it.

Hwang Ryong-pil put his second cigarette in the ashtray and turned his head. Jang PD [Production Director], wearing a gray shirt, stayed in the same spot even as almost everyone else left.

“So, what’s the reason you followed me all the way out here, PD Jang?”

Hwang Ryong-pil realized that he wouldn’t be able to escape this persistent gaze unless he spoke first.

“Is there a special reason to come to the smoking booth?”

As expected, PD Jang retorted with a sly tone.

Hwang Ryong-pil chuckled.

It was absurd that he hadn’t even taken out a cigarette in the smoking booth.

“It must be quite harsh for non-smokers.”

Their eyes met.

PD Jang rolled his eyes, gauging the situation. He seemed to be testing the waters.

If he didn’t do it now, there wouldn’t be any more time to talk.

Knowing this, PD Jang cautiously opened his mouth.

“…But, Teacher, were you serious about what you said earlier?”

“About what?”

“Earlier. About the collaboration.”

Hwang Ryong-pil pretended not to know until PD Jang directly mentioned ‘collaboration’.

He remembered that the teacher had definitely said that.

“PD Jang, do you still not know me that well?”

“It’s just that I’ve never seen you say something like that before.”

“Why? Is it not something that concerns you?”

“The way you say it makes it seem like you’re serious.”

He had come to see how the music scene was playing out, but he got an unexpected gain.

PD Jang held back his twitching cheekbones.

He wasn’t a skilled actor, so it showed.

Well, it didn’t matter if it showed a little.

Anyone who knew anything would already know.

What other reason would a variety show producer have to follow Hwang Ryong-pil around?

Also, it was a well-known fact that PD Jang had tried to cast Hwang Ryong-pil several times before but failed.

“Teacher, do you still have no intention of appearing on TV?”

“Why? Are you preparing a new program?”

“You know that.”

“I’m busy making my own music. And your style doesn’t suit me.”

PD Jang nodded as if he knew everything.

PD Jang had created quite a few survival audition programs, and Hwang Ryong-pil didn’t like survival shows where passing and failing were clearly distinguished.

Even if the music scores were recognized, he didn’t think that there was such a thing as passing or failing in music. So he had been rejecting participants as well as judges.

PD Jang, who had been trying to cast Hwang Ryong-pil by any means, realized that this was his chance.

“Teacher, then what if it’s not a survival show?”

“Are you giving up your style?”

“Rather than giving up, I really want to cast you. And I also thought of a format that looks fun even without a survival show.”

It had just popped into his head.

It wasn’t completely organized yet, but now was the time to pull the trigger.

Of course, the teacher’s reaction to PD Jang was still ambiguous. However, PD Jang believed in Hwang Ryong-pil’s eyes, which were burning brightly as he looked at the ‘interesting young friend’.

“Teacher, you’re going to collaborate with that friend, right?”

“Are we back to that story again?”

“If I set up the stage for you, how about it?”

“…”

“A stage befitting the return of a Korean legend.”

PD Jang spread his arms like a salesman.

Hwang Ryong-pil let out a hollow laugh.

“PD Jang, do you see me as someone who cares about that kind of thing?”

“Our music hasn’t died.”

“…”

“How about a program with this theme?”

It worked.

PD Jang knew that the carefully crafted phrase had worked. The fact that Hwang Ryong-pil, who was always firm with him, didn’t reject him right away meant that he was drawn to it.

Of course, Hwang Ryong-pil got up from his seat, saying, “Eh.”

“I don’t know, it’s not something I can decide alone.”

PD Jang smiled brightly.

It was practically permission.

If it went on like this, he would appear on the show.

The head of the department wouldn’t be crazy enough not to set it up when Hwang Ryong-pil was going to be on it.

That meant that the reboot audition, trot audition, idol audition, and arrangement battle royale that PD Jang had scribbled in his notebook weren’t a waste at all. Even PD Jang thought it was much more interesting.

“I’ll get permission from Madam!”

Hwang Ryong-pil left the smoking booth without even pretending to listen. PD Jang smiled and followed him, despite the strong smell of cigarettes.

#

“Do you have a moment?”

Halo noticed someone trying to approach him but stopping. The one who was going to come first was the man who had winked at him. But when Hwang Ryong-pil asked, he gave up neatly.

“Shall we go out for a walk?”

“Yes, I’d like that.”

Halo agreed to Hwang Ryong-pil’s suggestion because he had a lot to say as well.

Shin Joo-hyuk tried to approach, but looked at them alternately and started talking to Lee Seong-rim again.

A man in a shirt approached them slyly.

Halo and Hwang Ryong-pil headed to the back of the house.

In the garden, which was decorated like an outdoor garden, there were a few small trees and plants planted. There were also benches to sit on and a swing that seemed to be for decoration, but there was no one there. It seemed that everyone was conscious of the possible attention, since they were all celebrities.

“When did you start music?”

Hwang Ryong-pil’s first words were that.

Halo, who thought he would talk about what happened inside or about the collaboration, hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.

“I don’t know exactly. At some point, I was playing the guitar and making music.”

“Who taught you the guitar?”

Halo closed his eyes.

It was a question he heard quite often.

Quite a few scenes flashed through his mind.

A wandering musician’s performance, performers on the TV screen.

“The world.”

His answer was always the same.

“The world taught me.”

Hwang Ryong-pil chuckled at that.

As if he had heard a satisfactory answer.

Along with him, birdsong was heard in the garden.

It was the sound of the beginning of spring.

Since then, Hwang Ryong-pil had a variety of conversations.

There were questions related to music, and he also heard about the process of persuading his parents.

Halo answered honestly.

And suddenly.

He thought that his conversation with Hwang Ryong-pil was leading somewhere.

Finally, his question reached the present.

“I’ve heard your music. Exactly-”

He frowned and estimated.

“Twice.”

“…”

“I heard it once in a drama, and once on the radio when I was moving according to my schedule.”

Halo was curious about what Hwang Ryong-pil would say about his music. He perked up his ears and waited for an answer, but unfortunately, Hwang Ryong-pil didn’t give an evaluation of his music.

However.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen you, but there’s a familiar footprint there.”

Halo stopped walking.

And slowly turned to the side.

“Isn’t music amazing?”

The old man’s transparent eyes seemed to be looking into the depths.

“With a few bars of melody, you can know what someone was thinking at the time and what emotions they were playing with. Also, you can get a glimpse of the person’s life. Like footprints on a white snowfield, you can see them forever unless the snow melts.”

Their eyes met.

Halo found an unknown expression.

Perhaps.

Maybe, the reason this person singled him out and suggested to catch HALO was.

“So I was wondering. That your traces don’t overlap with the life you said.”

“What kind of footprints did you see in my music?”

“There was someone who was going a similar path to me.”

Was it because he already knew?

Halo twitched his lips.

Maybe this person had already figured out to some extent what he was trying to say.

Halo wanted him to give an answer quickly.

So that he could hear the words he wanted.

And.

So that he could say.

Right, I am-.

Yes, I am-.

However, Hwang Ryong-pil turned the conversation instead of calling him out.

“You said you’re trying something new, right?”

“…Yes? Yes.”

A story about his current music.

“Trying something new means you’ve tried something different before.”

Something flashed across Hwang Ryong-pil’s face.

Halo felt that ‘maybe’ was becoming ‘really’.

Halo opened his mouth.

When someone wanted to duel with him, he wanted to be the one throwing the glove, not the one being hit.

Like in a Shakespearean play. He wanted to compete fairly, mentioning his family and name.

“I-.”

“Wait.”

Then, Hwang Ryong-pil cut him off.

“I want to find the answer myself. It’s not too late to hear your answer then.”

Halo tilted his head.

It didn’t make much sense.

In his opinion, Hwang Ryong-pil seemed to have already given half the answer.

“It won’t take long.”

He’s a very complicated person.

Of course, the footprints he left in the music told everything.

“We still have a lot of time left, so it’ll be okay. There’s enough time to collaborate. Then I’ll be able to be sure.”

Halo hoped that day would come soon.

#

And perhaps, he thought that day wouldn’t be far off.

After returning to the gathering, he received an email not long after.

KDS Entertainment Bureau. At first, he was going to refuse after seeing the words ‘entertainment broadcast casting’, but he paused after seeing the postscript.

It had the phone number of the person who identified himself as PD Jang, whom he had met at the gathering.

He said he was contacting him regarding the Hwang Ryong-pil collaboration.

[Mr. Noh Hae-il?]

And as soon as he made a call, he heard a voice that he vaguely remembered.

[Hello, this is the first time we’ve talked so directly, right?]

“Nice to meet you.”

Halo roughly agreed and waited for this person to get to the point.

As if he was busy, he heard voices calling PD Jang several times over the phone, and around that time, PD Jang brought up the main point. That is, about a program.

“A program?”

[One side is a Korean master. And the other side is a rising star who is just starting to emerge. It’s a collaboration that’s hard to see, and even I, who am not a musician, think it’s a waste to only show it in audio. So, how about properly setting up a stage?]

“In what way?”

He heard the sound of paper turning over the phone.

Soon, PD Jang told him the format of the program.

The title of the program has not been decided yet.

So he called it ‘Returns’ temporarily.

The meeting of legends and rookies.

Or a collaboration of legends that fans have dreamed of.

He was thinking of about seven teams, and he said that two artists would form a pair to create a duet song.

The composition of the program is real variety and music show.

[Show viewers the process of making music together,

Ultimately, the goal is to show the completed song in one place]

There was no way he couldn’t know what that meant.

[It’s not a survival show. There’s no competition in this program. There’s no failure, and no one is eliminated. The purpose of the program is for everyone to perform together.]

“A performance.”

Halo looked down at his limbs.

He had been training hard, but his body was exhausted from one broadcast and one radio show.

He thought he couldn’t even dream of a live performance for the time being.

If it goes on like this, he thinks it might be possible.

[Show people that our music hasn’t died yet]

From the PD’s words, Hwang Ryong-pil’s fierce eyes, telling him to catch bullfrogs together, came to mind.

[How is it?]

Halo didn’t give a definite answer, but PD Jang seemed to think that he would do it.

[I contacted you in advance because there are things to prepare before filming. The two artists decided to sing a duet.]

“Yes, that’s right.”

[Then first, we need to make a pair, right?]

When Halo didn’t answer, PD Jang quickly continued.

[Of course! Hwang Ryong-pil and Noh Hae-il have decided to collaborate. But! There are no other artists paired up yet. We can’t make pairs by drawing lots, so there needs to be a decision-making process, right?]

It seemed like just an excuse, but Halo raised the corners of his mouth at the suggestion that followed.

[I’m going to show a self-introduction and a stage, and give all the artists the right to choose.]

Along with the thought that it would be really fun, Hwang Ryong-pil, who told him to wait until he got the answer himself, came to mind.

From then on, he couldn’t hear PD Jang’s words well.

[So that viewers who don’t know Noh Hae-il well can know what kind of music Noh Hae-il is doing. And you never know? You might want to collaborate with other artists]

His heart is pounding.

He respects Hwang Ryong-pil’s opinion.

But he’s not a human who waits forever.

Rather, he wants to draw his sword first. He wants to imprint himself so that the other person has no choice but to recognize his existence.

A good opportunity to introduce him to Hwang Ryong-pil fairly.

[Noh Hae-il’s new song is good, but at first, I’d like you to show a cover stage so that we don’t know who you are. It would be prettier to make a love call in a situation where you don’t know who you are, and then choose, right?]

[So please do a cover stage]

Over PD Jang’s voice, Hwang Ryong-pil’s voice overlapped. This is the conversation we had then.

“Trying something new means you’ve tried something different before.”

I wanted to give the answer I couldn’t give then.

Halo jumped up from his seat and walked around.

He answered PD Jang roughly and thought about how to give an answer.

A grand debate takes place in his head.

Uninteresting ideas are discarded.

An ‘uninteresting’ stamp is stamped and ground in a grinder.

And finally, what’s left is-.

‘In my first stage…’

Halo stopped walking.

‘Let’s show me in a new way.’

“It doesn’t matter who I cover, right?”

[Oh, anything is fine as long as it’s not session 33.]

He became firm at the PD’s answer.

With the new attempt he’s making now.

Showing HALO in Noh Hae-il’s way.

Even if other people don’t know, if it’s someone who knows music,

If it’s someone who can recognize the footprints left in the music.

His answer will be fully conveyed.