The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 1101

< Where are you, Rohssi? -110>

[I got the first and last concert tickets. I’m posting a review, prepared to be cursed at]

“How did they manage to get both concerts? The reaction is insane.”

“The post might be taken down soon.”

“The person who wrote it seems happy, though.”

“Of course.”

The day after the concert.

Despite being told to take a few days off, the members gathered at the label as if it were their real home, monitoring the reactions.

Han Jin-young sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, flipping through a tablet.

Next to him, Moon Seo-yeon held a transparent box. Nam Gyu-hwan, mistaking the sofa for being behind him, leaned back and knocked over a stack of extra gifts.

Not many, only about a dozen.

After setting the shopping bag back up, Nam Gyu-hwan stared at the box Moon Seo-yeon was holding.

“But what’s that?”

“This? The request box from yesterday.”

Moon Seo-yeon shook the box as if it were obvious.

The remaining balls rolled around inside.

“No, I mean, why haven’t you thrown it away yet?”

“Ah, I was going to ask that too.”

At Han Jin-young’s words, Moon Seo-yeon opened the box.

Now she could grab as many balls as she wanted.

“These are from the grateful people who came to the concert and wrote diligently. How can I just throw them away? And aren’t you curious? What songs everyone requested.”

Having only picked a few balls, those balls could not possibly represent everyone’s opinions. There would be another lineup of requested songs.

Intrigued by Moon Seo-yeon’s words, they decided to count the votes.

First, about 43% were Korean songs.

There were old songs, requests to dance instead of sing, and *aegyo* [acting cute] songs that were popular in the idol scene at one time.

They all giggled, imagining what their expressions would have been if those had been chosen.

“Wow, but no one listened.”

Almost no one accepted the request to write only one song. They could feel the determination to have their songs sung no matter what, without skipping them.

It goes without saying what the remaining 56% consisted of.

“How did this not get picked?”

“I thought at least one pop song would come out.”

“We sang a *chanson* [French art song] instead. Let’s pretend we sang it.”

From HALO covers to pop songs that made it onto the overseas Billboard charts, to musical OSTs [original sound tracks], they requested a variety of songs, and it was amazing that none of them were chosen.

“You know what’s even more surprising?”

“What is it?”

“It seems like Hae-il was the only one who picked a request to sing an unreleased song.”

“Gasp!”

It didn’t make sense not to pick a pop song, which accounted for 66%, but it was also amazing that he picked the only request out of 830.

Naturally, everyone thought of the unreleased song.

A song that even they had heard for the first time.

The song titled ‘Until dawn comes,’ sung by the boy, was somehow special. From the humming and the Korean lyrics that emphasized the rhythm to the melancholic yet bright melody.

The bright yet empty emotion was somewhat different from Noh Hae-il’s songs until now. The lingering feeling that shook and tugged at the heart was not something that could be easily shaken off. It was as if this was—.

Moon Seo-yeon said.

“It’s like a HALO song.”

“I thought so too. Not from the 9th album, but a song from after that?”

The Korean lyrics suited it well, but since the boy had perfectly translated HALO’s 4th album into Korean, they thought this might be something like that as well.

Han Jin-young nodded in agreement with Nam Gyu-hwan’s words.

As much as they had a strong impression of the unreleased song, the most talked-about thing right now was Noh Hae-il’s ‘unreleased song.’

Of course, besides that, the last concert had so many impactful moments that people were crying, saying the concert was legendary.

No matter how much they argued that the performance, cover, setlist, or concept was better when our guest came, there weren’t many things that could beat Noh Hae-il’s *chanson* (+French conversation) and Noh Hae-il’s unreleased song.

They were already dying of frustration for not being able to attend all the concerts, but the fact that he was setting legends every day, and furthermore, that he played a rare *chanson* and an unreleased song at the last concert, was really something to be jealous of.

Although filming was prohibited, those who had taken *jik cams* [fan-taken videos] through the strict security uploaded the *chanson* to YouTube.

[Why a *chanson* from a Korean singer? I was angry that even the caption was written in French, but my anger melted away when I heard a foreign kid wrote it. But Noh Hae-il is crazy, his French is crazy too, wow…]

[This is a song I really like ㅠㅠ Please upload a cover of it on YouTube. Why only at the last concert]

[Was Noh Hae-il originally good at French?]

└ I heard he was in a foreign language high school prep class in middle school

└ Foreign language high school prep class? lol I don’t know about anything else, but that pronunciation can never come out in Korea

└ Did Noh Hae-il study abroad in France?

Etc., questions arose, but the *chanson* that was uploaded on *jik cam* was half tears and half pleas to upload it on YouTube.

On the other hand, the reaction to the unreleased song was more intense.

[He sang an unreleased song at the last concert? Ahㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Just singing what’s on the setlist is enough]

[(Question) Person who went to the last concert. Isn’t this song a bit different from Noh Hae-il’s songs? Is Noh Hae-il retiring?]

└ He’s just starting, what retirement

└ No, the song’s atmosphere feels a bit like that

[But why are there *jik cams* of the *chanson* and the encore, but none of the unreleased song?]

└ I heard someone got caught right before

└ Still, there are 830 people, someone must have filmed it ㅅㅂㅏ

└ Why are you suddenly cursingㅜ

└ Are they keeping it for themselves or trying to sell it for a high price?

└ What is this, an NFT????

└ Pleaseㅠㅠㅠㅠsell it

It didn’t end with the reaction of ‘a singer finished a concert well.’ The mouths of the 830 people were not heavy, and since many people hadn’t heard it, it generated countless stories.

As reporters flocked to the label to get information about the new song, HALO arrived at the S Hotel.

The boy in a hooded zip-up and cap entered the hotel lounge & bar, ordered a mango shaved ice, and sat in a corner with separated space. It was a corner with a good view of the outside.

As he stared out the window until the mango shaved ice came out, a native Parisian was heard.

“Bonjour.”

One was Per Aspera, the creative designer of ‘Arbor,’ with dirty blonde hair.

And next to him was his young daughter, holding onto his clothes.

“This is my daughter, Rose Aspera.”

Unlike her father, Rose, with clean blonde hair, green eyes, and a pale face, stood still like a doll, holding onto her father’s clothes.

As HALO noticed that her eyes were somewhat unfocused, Per Aspera asked.

“May I sit down?”

When he nodded, Per Aspera first picked up his daughter and sat her down, then sat down politely.

“Actually, I didn’t think Mr. Roh would meet me.”

“That’s not something someone who came to have a meeting on the last day of the concert should say.”

“I apologize for the rudeness. But I felt like I would never meet you otherwise.”

He was smiling, but it seemed like he was asking if that’s why you came to this place.

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

Besides, he wasn’t actually waiting in the lobby.

Telling the staff that he had a meeting wasn’t to actually create a meeting, but simply to convey a message to him.

“We all don’t like old-fashioned methods, do we?”

Emails or phone calls, those old-fashioned things.

Hae-il agreed that he wasn’t wrong.

He had always liked people who recklessly charged in. It’s not like they get hurt by charging in, and he can’t control them anyway.

He met people who came to his company day and night better than writing ten letters with the same content.

“You don’t seem like a Parisian.”

“I hear that often.”

It might be rude, but since the other party started the rudeness, they didn’t care about being rude to each other.

An espresso is placed in front of Per Aspera. He committed the atrocity of putting several sugar cubes into the espresso. Not noticing Hae-il’s twitching eyebrows, he even savored it.

“I enjoyed Mr. Roh’s concert. It’s my first time seeing a concert in Korea, and even though I couldn’t understand the language, I felt like I understood. ‘Music is a language written by the gods.’ I deeply sympathized with something someone said. And, again, thank you for singing the *chanson* for Rose. Rose really liked it. Right?”

Rose, who had been still like a doll, nodded her head greatly.

Hae-il quietly listened to Per Aspera’s concert review, and at some point, he put down his spoon.

“Let’s get to the point now.”

The reason they met wasn’t to listen to concert reviews. At the boy’s words, Per Aspera took a sip of his espresso and nodded.

Per Aspera didn’t explain about Arbor step by step, but immediately showed him his drawing book.

Saying that everyone would know about Arbor until now. He said that he came to show how he would create Arbor in the future as a creative designer—that is, the head designer.

“Is it okay to show this kind of thing so easily?”

When Hae-il asked, flipping through the drawing book, Per Aspera shrugged.

“Normally, it’s not okay. This is just a sketch I drew while watching Mr. Roh’s concert yesterday.”

“Hmm.”

“If you refuse, I plan to discard it as is.”

He said it lightly, but he seemed sincere.

The design book scheduled for disposal had quite a few decent designs that someone would find very precious. In fact, it didn’t look like a sketch.

A coat modeled after a *hanbok durumagi* [traditional Korean overcoat], or a zip-up with paintings of the sea, peaches, and cranes.

Overall, it was impressive that it was leaning towards oriental paintings, but what stood out more was that it looked good to wear anywhere.

“It seems like you don’t prefer things that are stuffy.”

That’s right.

Once, a long time ago, there were times when he didn’t even want to wear socks, so he wore shoes barefoot or cut his socks below the ankles to use them.

Hae-il roughly looked at the design book and put it down.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s all good.”

“Can I take that answer as meaning you’re interested in Arbor?”

The eyes met.

Hae-il smiled and leaned back on the sofa with his legs crossed.

“But is this how this brand usually does things?”

Feeling that it was a sudden question, Per Aspera expressed his doubt.

“It’s not like the brand doesn’t have a staff in charge, and it’s not common for the CD [creative director] to come out. There are even fewer cases of them watching the concert.”

He used to get along well with designers in the past, but that didn’t mean they would come to his concert. Well, there were places to meet more easily than concerts back then.

For example, there were many corners to meet, such as fashion shows, award ceremonies, and parties, so they wouldn’t have felt the need to come to his tour.

“It’s not a common case. In fact, it’s almost something that doesn’t happen.”

Per Aspera readily agreed.

“It was also difficult to come to the concert. I’m curious, did you deliberately book a small theater concert? How much effort our staff put into ticketing. In the end, we only got one ticket, so it cost quite a bit to get the seat next to it. I bought the one that came up as an *am 표* [scalped ticket] on the first day for twice the price. Thank you for announcing the gift news later. Seeing the *am 표* dealer contact me to return the ticket, I wouldn’t have sold it if it had been a little earlier.”

He wasn’t curious about the behind-the-scenes story of the ticketing.

“Still, Rose said she wanted to see Mr. Roh’s performance, and I also wanted to meet you in person, so the cost is not a waste.”

Per Aspera stroked Rose’s hair.

Rose’s eyes twitched, then looked straight ahead again. Her pupils were trembling slightly. Hae-il thought she was trying to see him.

“Rose has very poor eyesight.”

Suddenly, Per Aspera spoke in English. So that Rose wouldn’t hear.

“It’s not that she can’t see at all. She can distinguish outlines and colors. Just think of her as someone with very severe astigmatism and nearsightedness.”

Just because a young child watches television up close, her eyesight wouldn’t get that bad. She probably has a disease. The reason he brought his child to a business meeting must be the same.

“Instead, Rose has good hearing. She can distinguish people by the sound of their footsteps and is the first to notice the breakdown of instruments. She also knows how to find good music. Do you perhaps like children?”

Hae-il answered.

“No.”

Perhaps not expecting him to answer so firmly, Per Aspera paused for a moment. Then, as if he had decided to pretend he didn’t hear, he continued.

“It was the first time in a long time that Rose said she wanted to go to someone’s concert. It was inevitable that I went to Mr. Roh’s concert.”

It sounded like his daughter’s wish was more important than business. Per Aspera, who was about to bring up the story about the ambassador again, looked down at his phone for a moment.

A call had come.

“Just a moment.”

Per Aspera excused himself and left the seat for a moment.

In the window seat of the S Hotel lounge, a 17-year-old boy and a girl who wasn’t even 10 years old were left alone.

When one person disappeared, the seat became quiet.

Hae-il didn’t bother to open his mouth, and the girl only hummed something while looking at the air, not starting a conversation.

“···.”

“···.”

Eum eum-.

At first, he didn’t know, but the melody that kept ringing in his ears was somehow familiar. He heard that she had good hearing, but it didn’t seem like that meant she could sing well.

Hae-il, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.

“That’s not how you sing it.”

At those words, Rose slowly turned her head.

Although her focus wasn’t completely on him, a question mark appeared on her pale face.

Hae-il corrected the wrong part.

“The note is wrong, and the lyrics are wrong too. It’s ‘at dawn.’”

“At, at dawn.”

It just seemed like Korean was difficult for her.

“Do you know English?”

“A little.”

He didn’t really trust those words, but he thought it would be better than Korean, so Hae-il told her the original lyrics.

HALO 13th album. The title track, and the song he wrote while thinking about the end.

Until dawns come

When he sang it in falsetto to match the child’s range, she followed along better than in Korean.

If it had been another HALO album, she wouldn’t have been able to follow along.

Hae-il smiled faintly as the child followed along without difficulty.

And Hae-il realized that Per Aspera, who had finished the call, had come to their side. Per Aspera was looking at him with subtle eyes.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t like children?”

“I don’t like them.”

Hae-il answered firmly, returning his upper body, which was about to cross the table, to its original position. Per Aspera, who had been quietly looking at the boy, smiled softly and nodded.

“I see.”

“···.”

“Rose, what did you talk about with Mr. Roh?”

“At dawn.”

“?”

He seemed to have heard them singing, but they were whispering and singing, so he couldn’t hear properly.

Sauvage? Severe? While inferring the meaning of the code-like words, Per Aspera urgently announced that something had come up.

“I hope you will think positively about Arbor.”

The attitude of not necessarily receiving an answer and breaking up cleanly contained the pride of being the head designer of a brand with a very long history.

Hae-il also cleared the mango shaved ice that he had finished eating, got up, and shook hands.

“I’ll think about it carefully.”

“Rose, you have to say goodbye to Mr. Roh.”

Rose, who had gotten up from her seat, raised her head.

In her eyes, he could vaguely see golden hair.

He didn’t know if she was smiling, angry, or what kind of expression she was making, but her gaze was quite warm.

Like the thin sunlight coming in through the curtains.

Rose held out her hand. The boy, who had hesitated for a moment, took her hand. The boy’s hand was as warm as her hair.

“Rose, say goodbye.”

She didn’t want to say goodbye, but Rose reluctantly opened her mouth at her father’s urging.

“Goodbye.”

“Hae-il.”

At that moment, the world around her became quiet.

It was as if time had stopped.

The boy’s eyes widened. And Per Aspera was embarrassed by the girl’s words.

However, time started flowing again at the sound of someone ordering at the counter.

“No, Rose.”

From Per Aspera’s voice.

“He’s not Hae-il, he’s Mr. Roh.”

The boy, who was holding the girl’s hand, stopped and let go of her hand.

“He’s not?”

“No.”

Per Aspera excused himself and bowed slightly, then took Rose’s hand again. Soon, the father and daughter began to move forward.

“He is.”

“He’s Monsieur Roh.”

“Hae-il is also Rohssi.”

“Hae-il is just one word.”

“Is it different?”

“It’s different.”

Hae-il quietly listened to the conversation between the father and daughter that he could hear in passing, and at some point, he smirked.

“Her hearing is good.”