The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 1441

< Toward One Place >

A song fitting for spring flowed from the old radio.

The grandmother knitting closed her eyes and enjoyed the old Britpop. The music from the radio had surprisingly good sound quality for something reminiscent of the 60s and 70s, but she couldn’t have imagined it was a song from last year.

Suddenly, she thought she had heard the clear voice somewhere before. However, she dismissed it, distracted by the sound of crying coming from outside.

“Row, I hate you!”

The sound of crying, which she heard every two to three days, arrived like clockwork today as well.

Looking beyond the window, she saw the foreign boy who had arrived last month standing with his arms crossed and a sulky face, while the children clung to his waist, sobbing.

‘What happened this time?’ she wondered.

Did someone get hit by a ball while playing soccer? Or did someone fall off the swing? Or did the boy refuse to give in during an argument again today?

Still, seeing them clinging like that, she figured they would soon be running around cheerfully again.

If it were something really serious, they wouldn’t be clinging to him like that.

But for some reason, the children’s crying didn’t stop easily today.

“Row, don’t go.”

Tom, who was particularly fond of the boy, pleaded.

“Can’t you stay here forever?”

“No, I can’t.”

Row’s answer was firm as always.

Row doesn’t comfort them like other kind adults. He doesn’t give them what they want right away, and he never changes his mind even if they whine.

Tom thought he was stubborn and not at all like an adult.

Still, they liked Row.

They fought and cried every day, but they were happy because they always won when they were on the same team.

And even though he didn’t comfort them when they fell, they liked that he waited for them anyway.

They liked that he bothered them but didn’t push them away, and they liked his casual kindness of patting their heads.

Above all, Row’s singing seemed more special than anyone they had ever seen.

When he sang with a smile he didn’t often show, his beautiful voice would scatter their usual resentment like sand, leaving only affection.

They wanted Row to be with them forever.

That’s why they may have felt an even stronger sense of crisis.

Nothing has changed.

The lake is still calm, smoke is coming from the chimney, and Row’s attitude is as usual.

But they had a strong feeling that Row was preparing to leave.

“Are you perhaps leaving?”

Amy asked, and Row nodded.

After that, all the children in the village clung to him, begging him not to go.

But as always, the stubborn Row never listened to their pleas.

The villagers themselves began to notice the change when unfamiliar cars entered the village. Large, expensive cars came, and strangers visited.

“Are you kidding me?”

Tom asked again.

“Today is April Fool’s Day. Is that why you’re lying?”

“Do you not want me to go?”

“Yes.”

“Then I won’t go.”

“Really?”

Row raised one corner of his mouth as if to ask if he really believed it.

It was exactly the face he made when he was about to play a bad prank.

“Don’t lie! You’re going to go!”

Tom was furious.

Row had been consistently a bad older brother since the first time he met him.

But what’s worse are the adults in the village.

Even though they were crying, they didn’t say a word to Row not to go.

Tom resentfully looked at the grandmother who was giving Row a gift, as if she had been waiting for him to leave.

If the adults told him not to go, maybe Row wouldn’t go either.

He couldn’t understand why no one was stopping Row.

“Kid.”

Row called him.

He didn’t want to answer, but because today might be the last day, Tom reluctantly opened his mouth.

“What.”

“If you miss me, come see me anytime.”

“…”

“Well, it’s not like I’m someone you can see whenever you want. But I’ll make time once.”

“Whatever. You’re a jobless bum who does nothing.”

“…”

Row, who had never lost an argument, closed his mouth for the first time.

“You always went out to the fields and played without doing anything. My mom says people who don’t even have the will to get a job are called discouraged job seekers.”

“Do kids these days know words like that?”

Haillo clicked his tongue.

Well, he had been lazing around for about a month.

It was enough for the children to see him that way.

Discouraged job seeker Haillo tapped the impudent kid’s head.

“So I’m going to look for a job now.”

“It’s not that easy to get a job.”

“Still, there are many places that want me, you know?”

Tom didn’t remind Row that reality is colder than he thinks. ‘Yeah, just live positively,’ he thought.

“Row, you’re good at singing, so you’ll be fine somehow. If Row releases an album, I’ll save up my allowance and buy one.”

“Oh? Just one?”

“…Okay. Two, especially. And I’ll pray that you can be on TV too.”

Haillo laughed happily and replied.

“Okay. I’ll watch TV hard from tomorrow. I’ll try to be on soon.”

“…”

Tom thought it was nonsense, but he didn’t argue so that Row could be happy. Instead, he spotted a car and an old man he hadn’t seen in a while – August Veil – and his expression turned gloomy.

“Then, goodbye.”

Tom couldn’t answer now.

He was struggling to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out again.

Row was bad until the end.

He gets in the car without looking back.

The grandmother came behind Tom and patted his shoulder.

The children looked at the car, sobbing, and the villagers stopped working and came out to send off the beloved boy.

At that time, the melody of a guitar was heard from somewhere.

It was the melody of a guitar with the letter H engraved on it, familiar to the village children.

At that, the children began to sing while crying. Swiss yodel [a form of singing involving rapid changes in pitch]. The song the boy had played for them.

As the song gradually came to an end, a girl’s hand came out from beyond the window. The boy, who had never been good to them even once, gave a thumbs up instead of praise.

“Row! No!”

“Don’t go, Row!”

The children’s cries calling for Row mingled with the car engine sound. The car slowly started.

Haillo quickly took his hand off the window.

Instead, he leaned on the window and rested his chin. His ears chased the voices calling him.

Only when he could no longer hear them did Haillo finish raising the window.

“May I turn on the radio?”

“Yes, please do.”

The driver, tense at the sight of the boy who had reappeared after a month since the Paris incident, turned on the radio.

News was flowing from there.

[Breaking news]

As Haillo seemed to be listening, the driver stopped trying to play music.

[HALO’s 13th album has been released at the same time-]

“Can you play music?”

“Yes, I understand.”

The driver was curious about the rest of the story, but changed the music according to the boy’s request.

Soon, classic pop music flowed from the radio.

Haillo leaned comfortably against the seat.

Perfectly spring.

It was only 9 days until Coachella [an annual music and arts festival held in Indio, California].

#

April 1st.

[He’s here!]

Like its alias, April Fool’s Day, an audio source of a singer is released like a lie.

He was a man who had been active as a faceless singer for a year, and no information about his nationality, race, or age was known.

However, he was a star who received more attention and affection than anyone else for a year, and was a genius who showed unbelievable sound source activity.

Like people call it Monthly Haillo, he really released a sound source once a month.

December of the year before last. Starting with the 1st album Struggle – the sound source release was made the year before -,

Last year, on December 31st, he released the 11th album Catch me if you can

And this singer, who released a total of 12 albums in one year by releasing the single album IAMHALO, a masterpiece, showed the aspect of Monthly Haillo this year as well.

[Finally, the 13th album!]

Of course, all 12 albums he released were EP albums [Extended Play albums – longer than a single, but shorter than a full album] – MINI albums according to foreign standards – and there was no regular album.

But no one ignored him.

Rather, they felt sorry for him for not being able to reach number 1 on Billboard [a music chart that ranks the popularity of songs and albums in the United States] and not winning a Grammy Award [an award presented by the Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry] because all of his albums were digital albums and he did not do any activities other than sound sources.

It was believed that he was either a retired singer from the past or one of the legendary singers currently active, but his identity was still unknown.

Among the candidates, instead of the pop stars so far, there is confusion as to whether he is a new singer from the East.

When HALO’s 13th album Endofthewar (End of War), which people had been waiting for, was released, they stopped what they were doing and immediately pressed their phones.

[···It’s not there]

[It’s not there?]

[Row’s unreleased song? Dawn something? That song is not there]

[I knew it. What 13th album.]

[I knew he couldn’t be Asian. 16 years old? Even a passing dog would laugh]

A total of six songs.

The title that was revealed as ‘Until Dawn Comes’ was not visible. People who thought it wasn’t Noh Hae-il ran out and laughed.

[Or maybe it just didn’t come out because it didn’t fit the concept of this album?]

[It’s too early to be sure with this. First of all, the voices are the same]

Someone immediately refuted.

[Now the Heligans [a fictional name for HALO’s fanbase] will soon terrorize that kid’s house]

[He went into hiding because it’s hard to prove. It was innovative]

[It was right that Korea conspired to create a fake Haillo]

A foreign reporter who had been quite suspicious of Noh Hae-il’s disappearance excitedly wrote an article about ‘national lies’.

At that time, someone discovered an anomaly in the album.

[But something is strange about this album? Why is there no title song?]

[···Really?]

Because the word (title) that was always in the first row was not visible. The question spread like a wave.

[It’s real. Why is there no title? There has never been a time like this]

[Who releases an album and misses a song? Isn’t it just intentionally removing the title?]

HALO’s 13th album, released on April Fool’s Day, was supposed to end all the confusion, but on the contrary, it remained in a form like a lie.

Whether there was no title song originally, or whether it was accidentally omitted, or whether it was intentional. Veil was flooded with inquiries, but no proper answer came back.

And at the same time this day.

The Coachella performance schedule, which runs for 6 days from the 9th to the 18th, was announced, creating another shock.

Originally, there was a lot of talk about the placement of the main stage and the sub-stage, but fans who knew Coachella well knew that the stage location was not the most important thing.

The most important thing at Coachella was the stage order. In other words, stage time.

The singer who received the hottest time was considered higher at Coachella, and the hottest time was naturally the night when the day was ripe.

So, what was more unbelievable than the singer Noh Hae-il receiving the main stage was the time he received.

Coachella Stage:

Roh, Hae-Il 20:30-21:20

HALO 22:30-

It wasn’t strange that Haillo, the headliner, received the hottest time, but it was very strange that the boy suspected of being Haillo received the opening stage for Haillo.

Some questioned the boy’s qualifications for receiving a better time than pop stars, and some seriously questioned the reason why the boy was able to receive that time.

[Roughly, we can divide the cases into two]

[Either Row is the real Haillo, so they put the stages together, or even if he’s not, he’s the hottest right now, so Coachella is intentionally trying to get attention]

[Isn’t it because Row isn’t the sun that he got the stage?]

Anyway, one thing was certain.

That the truth will come out at Coachella.

Whether Noh Hae-il is Haillo or not, Coachella will be the most successful ever, and all broadcasts and cameras will flock there.

[ㅅㅂ···. I’ll just set the annual leave to 2 weeks]

[75,000··· There are definitely a lot of seats, but why doesn’t my seat seem to be there?]

└ No

└ 830 VS 75,000

└ My singer is a superstar, so I’m happy and good···. Ha…ㅠㅠ

└Hae-il is not HailloㅋㅋㅋDon’t say nonsense that makes me angryㅋㅋ

[But isn’t it legendary if both Noh Hae-il and Haillo don’t come to Coachella after doing this?]

In Korea, there were widespread rumors that all broadcasting stations were preparing. It was so natural that no one questioned it.

The attention that had been focused on Noh Hae-il’s acquaintances began to turn to Noh Hae-il and Haillo again.

At that time, contrary to the chaotic atmosphere, this place was extremely quiet-.

“How have you been?”

“Well. So. How about you?”

“I’m fine.”

“···.”

“···.”

Amidst the chaotic bar, four men sitting around in a room are sitting quietly.

“Thanks for telling me then.”

“What? Ah.”

“If I hadn’t evacuated in advance, I would still be surrounded by reporters.”

“It’s nothing.”

As the conversation was about to stop again, Bae Gong-hak raised his glass.

“It’s been a long time since we met, shall we cheers?”

“Yeah, let’s cheers. Joo-hyuk, it’s been a long time.”

It seems that it will take a long time to fill the gap of ten years for old friends who have faced each other after ten years.

Just as he was about to drink a glass of beer to fill the awkwardness, his cell phone rang.

“Uh.”

A different color appeared in Han Jin-young’s eyes as he looked at his cell phone.

As he slowly put down his glass, three men looked at him.

“Sorry, guys.”

“What is it?”

“Something came up, so I’ll have to drink later.”

“Is it important?”

“Yeah.”

Han Jin-young slowly got up from his seat.

Bae Gong-hak and Kim Deok-soo asked if he really had to go, but Han Jin-young was firm.

At that time, Shin Joo-hyuk said casually.

“Then, see you next time.”

Shin Joo-hyuk had a face that he had noticed something.

Han Jin-young nodded and hurriedly got up from his seat. Like when he quit the club, he ran out with joy and excitement.

The remaining three men awkwardly stopped talking and forcibly continued.

“How have you been?”

“I told you earlier.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“Hey, cheers.”

“Cheers.”

Three glasses clinked.

Meanwhile, Moon Seo-yeon was at a tea house near Anguk Station.

“I heard you’re doing well these days.”

“Yes?”

“Soo-ah told me. That you went in as a session [a musician hired to play on a recording or in a live performance].”

The middle-aged man she was facing was her beloved professor and mentor from Hanyeojong.

“Yes, I’m having fun and happily.”

“Really? I was worried, but I’m glad then.”

“What did Soo-ah say?”

“Well, she was worried that you seemed to be wandering.”

“…”

‘Really…’

Moon Seo-yeon gritted her teeth and clenched her fist under the table. It seems like it’s time to use the self-defense skills she learned from Nam Gyu-hwan.

“But you don’t seem to be wandering.”

“!”

“Rather, you look more stable. Soo-ah, she should worry about herself.”

Moon Seo-yeon’s face slowly brightened.

She nods her head greatly.

Moon Seo-yeon was wondering what to say to her mentor, whom she had met after a long time, and she thought of the best news.

“Professor, I tried composing this time, would you like to listen to it?”

“Seo-yeon, you’re composing? You said you wanted to, yes, let me hear it.”

Moon Seo-yeon was looking forward to her mentor’s evaluation and was about to play the music she had saved in the cloud. At that time, the bell rang. She tried not to look, but the banner caught her eye, and when she realized it was the message from the president she had been waiting for.

Moon Seo-yeon forgot the music she was going to show her mentor and looked at the message. And she slowly raises her head.

“Professor.”

“Yes.”

“I’m really, really sorry, but can I show you the music later?”

The professor, who had a serious personality, looked at her and nodded. The professor, who was busier than her, took the time to come and meet her. She was really sorry, but she had somewhere to go.

“It was really nice to see you today, Professor. I’ll see you again soon.”

The professor always understood her. When she was in a slump, when she dropped out of school, and even now when she suddenly runs out like this. Moon Seo-yeon’s world was made up of such grateful people as the president, the band, and her teacher.

“Wait.”

Moon Seo-yeon, who opened the Hanok [a traditional Korean house] door, stopped before going out.

“Can you just tell Soo-ah one thing?”

“Of course.”

“Please tell her this.”

The professor, who had her eyes wide open, soon smiled gently.

“Thank you!”

Moon Seo-yeon started running with a bright face, holding her suit jacket in her arms. Without looking back, straight ahead.

Lastly, Nam Gyu-hwan-.

Thump thump-! He felt guilty for not being able to stop the Scorpion Reel’s attack and punched the sandbag. He would make anyone who came in next like this.

Nam Gyu-hwan ignored the coach’s words about participating in an amateur competition and briefly checked his cell phone. Soon, a message came into his eyes.

“Finally···!”

“Mr. Nam Gyu-hwan, can I talk to you for a moment···. Oh, where are you going!”

“My king is calling me.”

“Mr. Nam Gyu-hwan, no, wait a minute! Mr. Nam Gyu-hwan! You have to change your clothes before you go!”

He desperately called out to Nam Gyu-hwan, who ran out without even changing his uniform, but his voice didn’t seem to reach Nam Gyu-hwan.

“Let’s go. Mother, Father.”

“Can I take one more person with me?”

“Of course. But may I ask what kind of person you are taking with you?”

At the employee’s question, Park Seung-ah met Jang Jin-soo’s eyes and smiled softly.

“Family. Shall we say?”

In this way, the scattered shards of the Shikon Jewel [a reference to the anime series InuYasha, representing something fragmented and needing to be reunited] were gathering in one place.