The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 871

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People often call Korea a barren land for rock music.

In reality, the rock market in Korea isn’t very large and is getting smaller.

Due to various controversies, the exposure of rock stars and rock bands on television has decreased, and dance music, represented by K-pop, has become the mainstream in the Korean popular music scene instead of rock.

However, we can’t say that rock is completely dead because outstanding vocalists from Hwang Ryong-pil to Shin Joo-hyuk are still holding onto rock in Korea.

They still release albums, and their albums frequently appear on music charts. In addition to them, other bands are constantly knocking on the doors of terrestrial broadcasting and YouTube, and there are still many passionate rock bands in the indie scene.

That was it.

Until now, that was Korean rock.

Established figures exist, but it’s their personal popularity, not the popularity of rock itself. The power of these established figures is weakening, and rock is being seen as a music genre that may disappear someday.

Then, a name became known to the world.

A pivotal figure who evoked the glory of Britpop and heralded the revival of ‘rock’.

Occasionally, ‘he,’ who was speculated to be a dead rock star from the past, appeared in the world, and ‘his’ music swept across Europe, over the Atlantic to North America, and across the Pacific to Asia.

The moment he showed influence on the Korean music charts, many people recognized the existence of ‘rock’.

Realizing that it was still tenaciously continuing its life somewhere.

And, right on time, a musical that had been in development for several years began production in earnest.

It was an original musical [Rock], dealing with the story of a youth and a rock band in the 1960s, known as the dawn of Korean rock.

The script was already out, but the musical [Rock], which had failed to find investors as interest in rock in Korea died down, might have ended at the planning stage like any other original musical script.

However, as ‘HALO’ topped the Korean music charts, all fate changed.

Investors realized that the rock market was alive and promised production support. However, they wanted the musical to be produced as quickly as possible.

Exactly at this time.

At this time when ‘HALO’ revived rock and Korean public interest in rock was revived.

The basic plans, such as the scenario, the direction of the work, and the scale of production, had already been established, and now the roles of the key figures who would lead the work were important.

Since it was a ‘musical’ and not a ‘play’.

The roles of key staff members such as composers, lyricists, directors, and even music directors and choreographers.

“This musical is about the passion and struggle of a Korean rock band in the 1960s.”

Tap tap.

Director Park Jung-ho typed diligently, carefully crafting the sentence.

“Director, who are you sending it to that you’re writing so meticulously?”

“There’s someone. A friend I cherish.”

“Why not just contact them by phone-.”

“I have to show sincerity. Sincerity.”

“Well, it’s not like you’re sending it to Hwang Ryong-pil.”

“I already sent it to Hwang Ryong-pil.”

“You’ve already gotten the okay from Shin Joo-hyuk, so isn’t everything done now?”

Director Park Jung-ho ignored the assistant director’s words and continued typing rapidly.

He understood the mindset of getting advice from actual rock stars since it was a musical about a rock band. Receiving songs from them – although they might need to be arranged to suit the musical – would also be quite marketable. But.

“Label h? Isn’t that where he’s signed? It’s an independent label, to be exact.”

“You know it well.”

This didn’t make sense.

Even more so because he already knew the artist belonging to this label.

“Isn’t Noh Hae-il a bit inexperienced? I know he’s talented, but he’s not a rock musician. And popular music and musical music are a bit different….”

“…”

“Besides, I doubt Noh Hae-il is someone Director needs to pay this much attention to.”

He knew that Noh Hae-il was a sensation, topping the current music charts, but he didn’t understand why music director Park Jung-ho would send such a detailed email, considering his experience and seniority.

“Moon-joo.”

“Yes, Director.”

“You’re saying that because you haven’t seen it.”

“Haven’t seen what?”

Suddenly, Director Park’s hand slowed down.

Old memories came back.

Director Park had seen many people who were called geniuses, but among those many people, there was only one who seemed like a true genius.

The day the Hee-tae Reprise from the drama ‘From Today, We Are’ first rang out in the world.

He said honestly in an interview, but people believed he was exaggerating. How could that song be created in less than 10 minutes?

Yes, he wouldn’t have believed it either if someone had told him that.

But he saw it, and he confirmed it again in ‘Rendezvous’.

Noh Hae-il’s genius, that flashing genius that instantly churned out unbelievable melodies, was not edited.

How different could musical music be from popular music?

If it were that different, ABBA’s music would never have become the number for the musical Mamma Mia.

And how much musical music do people know as popular music?

Memory from Cats, Defying Gravity from Wicked, etc.

The big picture was the same for any music.

Director Park Jung-ho frantically typed again. He could hear the assistant director grumbling beside him.

“I still don’t know. Whether Noh Hae-il makes rock music well, or whether Director needs to send him such a love call.”

“Moon-joo, I’m telling you this for your own good, be nice to him.”

“Yes? Suddenly?”

“He’s going to climb higher as long as he doesn’t cause trouble.”

“Well, he’s seventeen now, so he’ll do well as long as he doesn’t cause trouble.”

“And who knows? Maybe people will come to see the musical because of his name value.”

“Oh, Director.”

The assistant director scoffed and turned his head.

The first performance of the musical is expected to be in December at the earliest, and April at the latest. There’s not much time left, name value?

He was just saying it, but it was absurd.

“Even if he has ticket power, it won’t be when our musical is playing. Besides, who’s going to come see a rock band musical that Noh Hae-il participated in? They’ll come to see the lead actor.”

#

After sending away Shin Joo-hyuk, who suddenly came to ask for producing, Hae-il, who opened his email, was able to find it among the pile of emails.

“It’s here.”

The sender ID was written as Park Jung-ho, and the title also stated ‘Korean Original Musical Rock (tentative title)’.

The email included a rough outline of the musical and a polite request to participate as a composer.

‘Then. Would you like to work together again?’

‘Thank you for the offer, but I have music I want to do right now.’

‘I was just saying it, so don’t feel pressured.’

The conversation at the filming location came to mind.

At that time, he thought they were only talking about drama music, but he heard that he was a director who worked in various fields such as dramas, movies, and musicals.

“This musical is about the passion and struggle of a Korean rock band in the 1960s.”

The phrase that caught his eye.

More than passion, struggle, and the genre of rock, what caught his eye was the year.

Wasn’t it a familiar time period?

Of course, it would be different from what he knew.

This wasn’t his world, nor was it his country. Still, it was a familiar time.

-I wanted you to produce it.

-We would like you to participate as a composer. Details….

At the same time, requests came from two people.

Broadly speaking, it was the same content, but in detail, one was producing, and the other was a composer.

“I’ve never made musical music before….”

Hae-il put both hands behind his head.

It was interesting.

However.

He understood why one side was asking him to produce, but he didn’t quite understand why the other side was asking him to compose a musical.

“Hmm.”

Hae-il recalled his schedule.

HALO’s 7th album still had plenty of time, and Noh Hae-il’s full album was planned to take a long time.

What he wanted right now was intense stimulation.

He was originally thinking of going on a trip somewhere-.

The corners of his lips slowly turned up.

“I can’t stand not knowing what I’m curious about.”

Hae-il checked the number written in the email.

It was the same as the one saved on his phone.

He wasn’t going to do the musical right away, but he was thinking of scheduling a meeting.

#

Meanwhile, the heat of TDS’s ‘A Midday Show’ HALO special was transmitted across the Atlantic. Unintentionally, to an unexpected person, who originally had no interest in the ‘A Midday Show’ at all, but was very interested in another ‘H’.

[Bell Morrison Praises ‘HALO’s Son, ROH’]

“Is this woman crazy?”

A half-smoked cigarette fell to the ground.

A large work boot stepped on it and extinguished the embers.

A lip piercing and a small scorpion tattoo on his cheek, Roman letters tattooed on his neck above his leather jacket.

SCORPION.

Lily, the leader of the outstanding British metal band Scorpion, chewed on her tongue and lowered her phone display.

“You need to stop. How many sons of the sun are there? Even the mafia boss doesn’t have that many sons.”

On the scrolled-down screen, a video thumbnail appeared. Lily, who was about to leave a comment with insults as usual, paused when she spotted a familiar face.

“My God…. Who is this?”

Asians generally looked similar to him, but there was one face he remembered.

He seemed a bit bigger, but he couldn’t easily forget that arrogant expression.

“The genius boy?”

He remembered the little boy who accurately pointed out his mistake in Trafalgar Square one winter.

The guitar performance that little boy showed.

Even the arrogance that rejected him, who had never been rejected in a date with any woman.

It wasn’t a member recruitment for just anyone, but the expression that answered ‘nope’ was superimposed on the boy in the video.

He must be regretting it.

But he had no intention of giving him a second chance.

Because Uber had already left.

Lily snorted and clicked on the video.

“What’s this no-name talk show?”

It was a talk show with a considerable viewership, but he had never heard of it.

Why would he watch an American talk show when he didn’t even watch British talk shows? Unless he was on it, which he wasn’t.

The video cut out the talk show part and only had the stage performance.

So, Lily’s eyes lit up.

He had seen a folk guitar performance, but the boy was standing in front of the microphone.

He didn’t expect much, but he wondered if he should listen once.

Lily’s face, watching the video for the first time, had no more or less than interest.

But at some point, his eyes widened, and he briefly admired.

Then, his head gradually tilted.

Finally, the end of the video.

Lily’s expressionless face is reflected on the black screen.

Lily dropped the phone on the floor and picked it up again.

“Full video. Where’s the full video?”

He heard the boy’s singing voice for the first time.

All he knew was a clear voice with a thick Poshy accent [upper-class British accent].

He already knew that he spoke English well, but he reaffirmed it anew.

The boy Roh talking about HALO with the host Lucy.

He stared at the phone, frozen.

The boy singing the HALO song was constantly playing in his head.

The word ‘if’ came to his mind.

It might be a hasty guess.

No, a hasty guess? Can this be called a hasty guess? I think it’s a pretty reasonable guess.

He may live his life recklessly, but he’s not stupid.

The day he met the boy.

The unusually quiet Veil Corp.

And the old man said that he had already signed a contract with the boy. At that time, he didn’t care much about what the contract was about.

Several weeks later, HALO’s music distributor became VEIL. He asked the employees casually, but no one knew.

If he had come in person, someone would have definitely seen him.

Caroline, the person in charge, didn’t say anything, and he couldn’t meet the old man, who was a sun fanatic.

Of course, he didn’t believe it.

There was no way that old man wouldn’t have gone to see the sun.

However, since no one knew, he assumed that he had an external meeting or met via email or video call for the sun, who was extremely reluctant to show his face.

But what if the sun came to Veil in person.

He needed certainty, not this.

Lily, wiping the sweat from his hands on his joker pants, made a phone call to one place.

To the employee in charge of his world tour.

“Hey, Watson. About my Asia tour.”

He clearly remembered that the boy came from Korea.

“Add Korea too.”

[Suddenly? Hey, I said I wouldn’t go because I’m scared of nuclear weapons. You wouldn’t even pretend to listen when I said it’s South Korea, not North Korea, why suddenly!]

“Dude, when did I say I was scared! Stop talking nonsense and add a Korea tour.”

[No, Lily, where do you have time to add. You have to go to Japan right after 3 days in China.]

“Just take three days off before and after that. Well, did you start ticketing?”

[Not yet. Shit, you’re telling me to take three days off before and after? Are you planning to never tour in Asia again? Why are you suddenly like this. You said you don’t like Korean kids because they don’t buy albums.]

“You originally said that country doesn’t even have money to buy albums.”

[Um, look at you cleverly memorizing what I said. I thought you didn’t hear a thing.]

“What?”

[Okay, I’ll make an exception and touch this tour schedule only. I can’t take out what’s already in progress, so I’ll just add one day, right?]

“One day? Are you crazy? Are you telling me to get on the helicopter without even taking a dump?”

[Then how many days do you want me to add. It can’t be long. You know that.]

“A week.”

[Okay, three days. Bye]

Lily, looking at the phone that was cut off arbitrarily, thought that three days would be enough for now and headed to the hallway. Then, the band members called him.

“Lily, where are you going?”

“To see that damn old man.”

“Lord Veil? No, Lily!”

There’s no time to think about the members in detail. He grabbed the car keys. His heaving shoulders and bull-like breathing stretched out long.

“This old geezer. He lied to me that he never met him?”