The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 821

< 82. It Showed a Little >

“You’re already leaving after being here for such a short time. I don’t want to go. It was really fun.”

Although the departure schedule wasn’t set for long, it wasn’t exactly a short trip either.

However, after following Haeil, who navigated LA with surprising ease, and jamming out with impromptu music sessions, it was soon time to board the plane again.

Everything felt like a daydream.

American broadcasting stations, impromptu performances, and luxurious five-star hotels in Beverly Hills. Even the LA cityscape glimpsed from afar.

Soon, the brilliant night view was swallowed by the clouds.

“Next time, let’s get a formal invitation and come. All of us.”

“Where are we supposed to get invited to stay at the hotel we stayed at?”

“Hmm, well… the Grammys?”

“Wow.”

Nam Gyuhwan was unimpressed, offering a soulless reaction to Han Jinyeong’s simultaneously realistic and utterly unrealistic answer.

“Why? Our CEO might even win a Grammy.”

“That’s a bit much…”

In the first place, Boy only sings songs in Korean.

Realistically, even Billboard would be a stretch, let alone a Grammy.

“Anyway, Haeil is sleeping soundly.”

“Well, he had something to keep him up at night.”

When Han Jinyeong looked puzzled, Nam Gyuhwan replied with a suggestive grin.

“The singer he met at Everssince… what was her name? Anyway, they shared a deep hug and even kissed when they parted.”

“How unsophisticated. It’s not a kiss, it’s a *bise* [French greeting of a light kiss on the cheek].”

“What’s that, you weeb [derogatory term for someone obsessed with Japanese culture].”

If the stewardess hadn’t arrived just then with ramen filled with shiitake mushrooms, Moon Seoyeon might have actually grabbed his collar.

The halo [airplane contrail] appeared around the time the announcement was made that they would be arriving at Incheon Airport.

Nam Gyuhwan, who had starred in one melodrama and one action movie each, saw the boy next to him wake up and immediately cut to the chase.

“CEO, did anything really happen?”

“?”

“With Olivia.”

“Ah.”

He wondered what he was talking about.

Haeil smiled faintly, and Nam Gyuhwan interpreted it as a denial.

He deeply sympathized and felt sorry, as if he had lost a relationship himself.

*Well, Olivia was surprised when she heard Boy’s age. He hasn’t met her since, so it seems like it’s really over.*

“I once had a love like that.”

“Is he crazy?”

Haeil watched their banter and smiled, not mentioning that he had received Olivia’s contact information.

He didn’t intend to contact a young friend who was only 21 or 22 years old.

[Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving at Incheon Airport shortly. For your safety, please fasten your seatbelts-]

Haeil stretched as he listened to the announcement.

He thought he should go straight to the studio and work on the album he had stopped working on. He had gotten enough sleep on the plane.

However, he had to revise his plans.

He had to work on the album, but ‘immediately’ might be difficult.

What greeted them at the arrival hall was a barrage of cameras and shouts directed at Boy.

“It’s Noh Haeil!”

“Noh Haeil, I heard you’ve been invited to the TDS talk show-”

“Are you aware that the video of your LA cafe performance is becoming a hot topic in Korea?”

Perhaps it was a shout-out to Korean pride rather than to Boy himself. Reporters were frantically snapping pictures.

Not as intense as when a top star arrives,

There was still a considerable amount of interest in his activities abroad.

Perhaps it was only natural.

It wasn’t that they had deliberately courted attention on social media, online communities, or with reporters, but it wasn’t like they were just staying still in the United States.

@jh1230 Wow… I met Noh Haeil

└ ??? Noh Haeil? Where?

└ What if there’s no proof?

└ I’m at Santa Monica Beach right now, and Noh Haeil is busking with a black *hyung* [Korean term for older brother or male friend]??

└ (Proof)

└ What sociability *dㄷ* [Korean slang expressing surprise]

Whether it’s my singer or someone else’s singer, just meeting a celebrity made their fingers twitch with excitement.

[Breaking News))) Noh Haeil appears in LA right now]

└ Why is this real?

└ Why don’t I have LA

└ Looking at the picture, he looks so happy

└ So, am I the only one curious? Why is Noh Haeil in the US? He said he was preparing a new song

└ I don’t think it’s a music video, was there an event?

└ What is that

└ Does anyone here know lol

If dozens of sightings were considered clickbait,

When dozens of sightings appeared, the clickbait became a fact.

Soon everyone was curious.

Why Noh Haeil was in the United States and what he was doing.

And soon they discovered it. The traces of the singer who had no intention of hiding it in the first place.

What the fans discovered was [Everssince Performance] uploaded directly to YouTube.

Someone added subtitles to the video that initially had none and re-uploaded it to YouTube, and the full video spread.

A successful stage that evoked a movie-like narrative and emotion. Also, the ending where the initially distrustful audience shouts for an encore was enough to give the viewer chills.

[Why isn’t this a movie ㅜㅜㅠ Someone make it]

└ Something like this?

Protagonist – I can lead this performance!

Villain 1 – Do whatever it takes to cancel the performance!

Dark figure 1 – Session gone underwater… that’s a good scenario. Proceed

└ ㅅㅂㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋThe genre has changed [Korean slang expressing amusement]

[I thought pop would suit him well, but it’s melting]

└ The singer’s expression seems to be melting too

└ Noh Haeil is still a minor, be careful

└ What am I;;;

└ Is there a video with better sound quality? It breaks when I listen to it loudly with the sound full

└ Doesn’t Noh Haeil call him there?

└ That singer’s performance was helped by a session gone underwater ㅇㅇ

└ When is Noh Haeil’s concert or fan signing? I want to properly make him sing a pop song. His voice sounds familiar

└ Oh, you too?

└ ㅇㅇ It’s not the same, but it seems like he’s been influenced a bit

[But didn’t someone say Noh Haeil can’t speak English?]

And it didn’t end here.

Sometimes reporters are more persistent than the public.

They thought Noh Haeil went to the United States for some purpose, whether it was an event or schedule, and finally heard about the TDS broadcasting station talk show.

It’s a talk show that’s not well known in Korea, but anyway, the information that it’s a large broadcasting station and known to the locals was enough to produce sensational articles.

Isn’t what the public is most interested in K-pop? In other words, the Korean Wave. Overseas broadcasting invitations, which are the biggest indicator that the Korean Wave is spreading, were enough to cause this situation.

Click click click!

“Noh Haeil, please answer!”

“Noh Haeil, the people you met on the talk show at TDS-”

Then, in that moment.

The most useful question was heard.

“Noh Haeil, have you finished working on the new song? What is the exact release date of the new song?”

Haeil raised the corners of his lips.

#

“Noh Haeil, it showed a little, that’s right.”

“Crazy?”

“Yeah.”

A reporter named Namdareun looked at the announcement with an absurd expression.

Watermelon – Latest Single Album (Domestic)

[(NEW) Lighthouse of the Night │ Noh Haeil]

On the day of return.

Sound source released at 12 PM.

The promotional effect of an independent label without a promotion team was created by them.

“I heard it was tonight. I thought it was nonsense, but it really popped up at 12 PM. I don’t know if 12 o’clock is tonight.”

“More than that, I thought the album work would take three more months. Was it made so quickly?”

“Well, he must have prepared it while *rendezvousing* [meeting romantically].”

If you calculate the time roughly, I think he prepared it since the *rendezvous* filming.

“He’s a great kid.”

Reporter Namdareun crossed his arms and listened to the single. In fact, he had already heard the song at the guerrilla busking, but listening to the properly recorded sound source was refreshing.

“How do you think the results will be?”

“Chart-in will be easy.”

“The expression ‘easy’ is funny, but I think so.”

When Noh Haeil said he was releasing a new song, there was talk that he was following Halo, but it’s certain that it will be quiet for a while.

Well, it will be noisy if the song doesn’t do well.

Since it sounds good to him, I think the results will be good. He’s the friend who is most anticipated in Korea, if not abroad.

“I wonder if Noh Haeil is sleeping now.”

Reporter Namdareun’s colleague scoffed at his words.

“What, is he a good little kid? He’ll go to sleep right away when it’s 12 o’clock. He won’t be able to hold anything in his hands because he’s nervous right now.”

“Even if he’s crazy, would he be like that?”

#

It’s not always the case.

Those who are almost always in Noh Haeil’s studio, although there is no specific work schedule, shook their heads as they looked at the firmly closed mastering room.

“The album was released today, what are you recording?”

“Are you stupid? I guess he’s putting vocals on the session recording he did recently.”

“No, I know that. But why? Now?”

Isn’t it a time when someone can’t focus on anything because of the results that will come out soon? Well, their young CEO isn’t the type to be so anxious. Still, I wondered if there was anything to be busy about.

“So how is it?”

“What?”

“The song that the CEO is preparing now.”

“Ah.”

Nam Gyuhwan, who recorded the overdubbing first, asked Moon Seoyeon. Moon Seoyeon would know well because she overdubbed after the bass and drums were recorded.

She rolled her eyes and recalled the memory.

“It was good.”

“But?”

“Um…”

Moon Seoyeon felt the limits of her vocabulary and pondered.

She can’t think of a word to express it properly.

If I had to say it.

“It just didn’t seem like the CEO’s style.”

“Style?”

“Should I say the song is very simple? Should I say it’s punk?”

“Simple but punk?”

It definitely seems far from Noh Haeil’s songs.

Still, it’s not impossible. I thought the next album concept would be punk.

“*Hyung*, haven’t you heard it?”

“I haven’t heard the finished version either. I don’t go in when I’m working on an album.”

“That’s right. I don’t go in because I’m afraid of disturbing him.”

Haeil isn’t trying to hide it desperately, but it was especially curious because it was proceeding with overdubbing, unlike when recording ‘Lighthouse of the Night’.

What kind of song is he making?

Nam Gyuhwan, who glanced at the mastering room for a moment, suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

“But, CEO, doesn’t he sing pop songs?”

“Huh? Why?”

Han Jinyeong’s face became subtle for a moment at Nam Gyuhwan’s question. He felt deja vu. I think it was like this when I asked something before.

However, I couldn’t argue with his expression, so I ignored it. There’s something more I want.

“I just… I thought he would sing well.”

If it’s an English song, I listened to it when I was doing jazz, and I listened to it again with the video uploaded, but I wanted to listen to it properly with pop or rock.

I just have a strange feeling.

The strange resonance I felt when I watched Noh Haeil’s Halo cover live at the talk show continues to this day.

I feel like I need to listen to pop to get rid of it.

“You’re good at English. With British English that is rare in Korea.”

English with a strong accent.

Since he’s not a native speaker, I can’t judge what kind of accent it is, but I knew it was British English.

“Let’s have a company dinner sometime. How about going to a karaoke together?”

“We can just sing here, why bother?”

“Ah, that’s right. Should I ask the CEO to sing pop?”

“Why are you so obsessed with pop?”

Nam Gyuhwan stuttered at Moon Seoyeon’s sharp criticism.

He can’t say it because he thinks it’s really strange and crazy that he’s thinking like this.

“You… Why are you obsessed with my every word? Do you like me? Ha, don’t like me.”

“Crazy bastard.”

In the end, Nam Gyuhwan changed the subject and was naturally cursed.

“But what are you looking at, *hyung*?”

“The label’s official email.”

“Official email? Can we see it too?”

“Well, I don’t care as long as you don’t delete it.”

Moon Seoyeon and Nam Gyuhwan also approached the computer at Han Jinyeong’s words.

And at the same time, everyone’s eyes lit up.

I wondered what Han Jinyeong was so focused on.

It wasn’t strange.

As it is the label’s official email, there are many invitation emails as always, but the one at the top stood out.

“Well, it’s time for the CEO to go out.”

“That’s right. It’s strange that they didn’t call him sooner.”

“What? They didn’t call our CEO? Not that he refused?”

I don’t know why, but it’s true that he should have gone out a long time ago. At least if you’re a Korean singer, you don’t go on other entertainment shows, but you go on this show.

Of course, there are many controversies and singers who boycott it. Still, it was a good opportunity for rookies.

“Shall I tell him?”

“…You’re too loud, so I’ll go.”

Nam Gyuhwan stepped up, saying he would listen to the album he was currently working on at this opportunity.

Around that time, Haeil was recognizing the same news in a different way.

He was sitting on the sofa in the mastering room, doing something else. I thought of something while clearing my head for a while.

“It’s really there.”

He had been searching the internet for about thirty minutes.

Just when he was about to give up because there were only stories about surfing

He found the name .

That name was the letters engraved on the gift that the people who came to see him at the airport besides the reporters gave him.

Just in case, he searched for it on the internet and finally found it.

It’s an internet cafe where Noh Haeil’s fans gather.

“There’s even something like this in the world.”

Saying old-fashioned words, he immediately pressed the join button.

Unofficial fan cafes are usually divided into cases where the membership requirements are strict and cases where they are not, but Noh Haeil’s fan cafe was the second case.

It seems that the purpose is to receive more members as the name Noh Haeil has recently become known to the public.

Therefore, Haeil also joined without difficulty and discovered that a lot of people were gathering and talking. Even now, the latest posts are being uploaded.

He always loved those who loved him.

Who would hate fans who talk and talk about him?

Haeil lay on the sofa and watched their conversation. Malicious comments had already been deleted by active members, so only praise and interest in him remained.

Among them, there was a post that caught Haeil’s eye. It was a post that was uploaded with the same title every day, so I couldn’t help but press it.

[Music Show Prayer +56 days]

Slogans and goods are all ready!!

Now all that’s left is the music show…!

I believe that the moon will soon appear somewhere on terrestrial television…

As soon as the news of the appearance comes out, I’ll do Zero Two in the office

└What did the people in the office do wrong;;;;

└At this point, the moon will be scared and do it once

Haeil chuckled.

Several such posts were posted, and the pledges were different each time. I don’t know what the pledge posted today – Zero Two – is, but I thought it might be something like a punching bag.

‘Music show. It’s not bad to go out once.’

Anyway, I was thinking of going on the radio or TV once to promote the new song. I wanted to do something I hadn’t done before, whatever form it took, but I only knew that the music show they were talking about had been invited, but I hadn’t accepted it yet.

He rolled around and slowly wrote a comment.

Everyone was upset that there was no news, so I thought I’d let them know first

└ I’ll definitely go out once. See you then.

And just when I was about to go back to work.

“!”

Reply notifications rang several times. The red bell was ringing in the upper right corner, so I couldn’t help but press it.

He pressed the notification, expecting the fans’ cheers.

└ What is this bastard ㅅㅂ [Korean slang expressing frustration]

└ Is this the first or second time you’ve seen the moon impersonating? Report it

└ Don’t play with desperate people ㄲㅈ ㄱㅅㄲ [Korean slang telling someone to get lost]

“…Huh?”

I didn’t expect this.

Haeil was embarrassed for the first time and checked if he had really been reported.

And soon he saw the blocked phrase and burst into laughter in disbelief.

Nam Gyuhwan, who came into the studio at that moment, freezes when he sees him.

“Did you go crazy while working on the album…?”

Not long after, an article is posted on the internet.

[Wave Riding] Breaking news!!! The moon is coming out on a music show

Soon after, the wave brought by the article covered the cafe.