The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 1501

< Changed People >

“I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

Halo tried to guess what kind of favor Jang Jin-soo would ask.

It would probably be something related to music.

Even though he was suddenly preparing for college entrance exams, Jang Jin-soo’s goal ultimately came down to becoming a singer.

Was he going to ask him to produce his debut track?

If other guys had asked him for a song as if they had commissioned it, he would have refused, but he felt like he could do that much for Jang Jin-soo.

Shy Jang Jin-soo slowly brought up the favor, as if hesitant.

“I was just thinking.”

“…”

As his words slowed down, Halo crossed his arms.

He seemed to be getting annoyed. Jang Jin-soo rubbed the back of his head and continued before that temperamental guy stormed off.

“When I enlist later, can you come to the military performance or visit me?”

“…What enlistment?”

That was an unexpected request.

Halo tilted his head at the sudden word, and Jang Jin-soo explained why he was asking this favor.

“These days, the kids talk a lot about the military and physical exams.”

But he still didn’t understand.

They could talk about the military a lot, but why was he suddenly talking about enlisting? He was dumbfounded that he was going to college to do music, and now enlistment on top of that. He wondered if he had given up on his dream.

“Are you not planning to be a singer anymore?”

“I’ll do it after I come back from the military.”

“…”

Halo was speechless at Jang Jin-soo’s matter-of-fact tone. Then, Jang Jin-soo suddenly tilted his head.

“Don’t you know that we have to go to the military?”

“You?”

“‘We.’ So, you and me.”

Jang Jin-soo kindly pointed to him and himself. Yes, he knew what ‘We’ meant, but Halo couldn’t understand why he was included in it at all.

“I have to go to the military?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

Jang Jin-soo shrugged and said.

“Who in Korea likes the military, but still, we have to go—”

“What are you talking about?”

“Huh?”

He was getting angry in a different way now.

Who in Korea likes the military?

Halo couldn’t understand why they had to go to the military, but he disagreed with Jang Jin-soo’s statement that no one liked the military.

There was a singer he didn’t like very much in the past.

He was a guy who he criticized for being worse than garbage every time he released an album. He hated him because he was a sneaky rat who asked him to look at his songs in front of him, but when that bastard enlisted, Halo expressed his respect.

Thank you for your support.

Because they exist, the nation exists,

Because they exist, he can live in peace.

They are truly men to be respected and heroes.

Therefore, they should be treated better.

Who in Korea likes the military?

Of course, we should respect and thank them.

Halo gave a long speech as if to correct Jang Jin-soo’s thinking, and Jang Jin-soo, who was listening with his mouth open, realized for the first time that Nohaeil was such a patriot.

After expressing his respect for their patriotism for a while, Halo added briefly at the end.

The reason why he can’t be a hero like them.

“But I’m not cut out for the military.”

“…No, what are you even saying?”

Jang Jin-soo’s expression slowly distorted, and then he burst out laughing.

“Who goes to the military because they’re cut out for it?”

:

Halo couldn’t believe it.

He knew that South Korea was still a truce state where the war had not ended… while doing research for the musical ‘Rock.’

Therefore, he understood that the mandatory military service system existed in South Korea, but he couldn’t connect it to the fact that he had to go.

When he couldn’t believe it, Jang Jin-soo directly searched the internet and showed it to him. Just like in the old days, when he showed him that ‘HALO’ didn’t exist in the world.

“…That’s right.”

Halo soon admitted it.

Well, he couldn’t deny it.

Unless Nohaeil returned before enlistment, he had to bear the burden of military service instead of Nohaeil.

For now, it was something that would happen later, so he decided to think about it later.

Soon, unlike when Nohaeil had a fit, Jang Jin-soo thought it was boring when he gave up. He felt like he had unintentionally teased him.

He didn’t think that Nohaeil hadn’t considered enlisting. No, how could a guy born in Korea not know about enlistment?

“Do middle school graduates not have to go?”

While Nohaeil gave up and sat still on the sofa, Jang Jin-soo was searching. Just in case. It seemed like Nohaeil’s ears perked up at that one word.

“No. The Military Service Act was changed around 2021. Middle school graduates are also active duty.”

He pretended not to care, but he could feel that he was paying attention.

Jang Jin-soo continued to chuckle inwardly and scrolled down.

The following listed the conditions for military service exemption.

There was no military exemption welfare for single-parent families, near-poverty families, or low-income families, but it said that military service exemption could be granted if there was a reason for difficulty in maintaining a livelihood.

“I wonder if I can get a military service exemption instead.”

Jang Jin-soo, who thought he would naturally go into active duty, scratched his cheek. His mother had left home a long time ago and had not returned, and his father had never been seen working.

“I might be able to get it if I do well?”

The conditions became more and more complicated, so Jang Jin-soo looked roughly and turned to Nohaeil. And he flinched as soon as their eyes met.

Nohaeil had been staring at him for some time.

“Why?”

Nohaeil asked seriously.

Jang Jin-soo, who was flustered, smiled at the reversed situation where he might get a Grade 4 [unfit for active duty] and Nohaeil might go to active duty.

“Hey, I’ll definitely visit you.”

“Why?”

“No, that’s what the Military Service Act says.”

“Why?”

Nohaeil seemed to be insisting that he couldn’t go alone.

“That’s good. Let’s be heroes. Nohaeil.”

“…”

Nohaeil’s lips hardened as Jang Jin-soo returned the words he had said. It seemed like it was the first time he had beaten Nohaeil.

The guy who had always been relaxed since they first met never gave in. Even when they made bets, even when he thought he had won, Nohaeil ended up winning.

Jang Jin-soo, who was thinking about the old days, noticed that Nohaeil’s lips were twitching up. A sense of foreboding washed over him.

Nothing good ever happened when that bastard made that expression.

The nightmare engraved in his mind suddenly popped out.

“Come to think of it.”

Jang Jin-soo hoped that Nohaeil’s mouth would close again.

“Didn’t we make a bet a long time ago?”

“Th, that’s right?”

It was the memory he had just recalled.

About a year ago, they had made a bet on the number of views of the music they uploaded to YouTube. It goes without saying that it was HALO’s Struggle, which now has hundreds of millions of views.

Of course, that was before the name HALO was known to the world.

“What did we bet on back then?”

Bets are naturally followed by rewards.

Jang Jin-soo forced himself to remember a year ago, which he couldn’t even remember.

What did we bet on? Money?

He wasn’t short of money, so he didn’t think he would suddenly do that with money.

First of all, he was going to ask him to make a song.

So, did we bet on a song?

No, there’s no way Nohaeil would ask him to make a song for him.

If so.

“Ah.”

Jang Jin-soo’s eyes widened more and more.

He finally remembered.

“No, wait, Nohaeil. That’s not right.”

It was a trivial bet on the number of views.

Of course, he had bet on a wish, but was he going to use it like this?

Bad-tempered Nohaeil said.

“What’s not right?”

With the worst expression for Jang Jin-soo.

Crazy Nohaeil smiled brightly.

“Let’s be heroes together.”

Shit, he bet on the wrong thing.

Of course, military service exemption due to difficulty in maintaining a livelihood has more difficult conditions than Jang Jin-soo thought. His father being unemployed alone is not enough to receive an exemption.

The condition that a person is confirmed to be unable to work due to illness or mental or physical disability will be difficult to meet unless his father is recognized as a limited or incompetent person.

But Jang Jin-soo, who didn’t know that, felt like he had fallen into hell the moment he saw the hope of military service exemption. The devil Nohaeil grabs his ankle and drags him to hell.

If he had known that one bet from the past would come back as a butterfly effect and grab him like this, he would never have made it.

However, he couldn’t put the spilled water back in. In the end, he was going to enlist with Nohaeil.

Nohaeil, whose expression was like a bolt from the blue when he first found out that he had to enlist, looked very cheerful now.

That made him angry, but also tired.

In the end, he was backstabbed by Nohaeil this time too.

For now… it’s something that will happen later, so let’s think about it later….

Jang Jin-soo, who seemed to have aged a lot, decided to postpone this worry for later. They are still 17-year-old youths, and there is still a long way to go before they get a physical examination, yes.

“Hey.”

In the end, Jang Jin-soo’s request for a visit or military performance was gone. Halo, who was excited to beat a kid who was about a dozen years younger than him, glanced at Jang Jin-soo.

Jang Jin-soo, who was shocked by the existence of the wish ticket, did not answer.

He didn’t intend to take back the wish ticket, but he could grant other requests. After thinking for a while, Halo opened his mouth.

“Shall I make your debut song?”

He was free now, so he could do that much.

He was also concerned about the quality of ‘Showba Show,’ which he had made roughly for Jang Jin-soo in the past, and he thought he could make it better.

“No. I don’t need it.”

Without knowing how many people wanted the song he made, Jang Jin-soo kicked away his good fortune.

“I’m going to fill my album with only my name.”

“Then, let’s put it to a vote and release the one with the higher votes.”

That bastard isn’t even pretending to listen.

“Huh? Whose song will get more votes… wanna bet?”

Laughter leaked out between the words bet.

It was clear that that bastard said bet on purpose.

Jang Jin-soo, who was suffering from neurosis from the word bet, screamed and ran out of the room. A cool laugh was heard from behind. He will never bet with that bastard again. Devil bastard, crazy bastard.

#

Halo chuckled and laughed, then slowly stopped laughing.

He was going to make it for him if he really wanted it. If he didn’t want it, he couldn’t help it.

He wondered why these people asked him for songs as if they had commissioned them, even though the guy next to him didn’t ask him to make them even if he made them for him.

Halo found emails and messages piled up with contacts from people he didn’t know. There were quite a few people asking him to make songs for them. Among them were entertainment industry seniors and agency officials.

The requests were polite, and they also suggested collaborating because it would be a good opportunity for him.

Well, there’s nothing new about it.

It was like this in the past, and it’s just a repetition.

But hasn’t he ever taken on songwriting work specifically for someone?

Conversely, he didn’t put other names on his albums.

Nohaeil occasionally received requests, but it wasn’t to this extent, so he wondered if it was because of the name value of ‘HALO.’

In fact, there is a reason for this.

There was a reason why he revealed his identity at Coachella, but there was a more direct reason.

After Halo revealed his identity at Coachella,

The moment the title song of the 13th album, ‘Until Dawn Comes,’ was released on overseas music platforms to domestic music platforms.

Korea’s largest music platform, Watermelon, did something unprecedented.

The platform, which was originally famous for being arrogant, put up a banner like ‘The Country Where the Sun Rises First in the World.’

It was done voluntarily on a platform that would never have accepted it without good music scores if it were another singer.

And also, the singer name and composer name that had been ‘Nohaeil’ were changed to ‘Nohaeil (HALO)’ in bulk, which left a strong impact on the public and the industry.

Including the fact that Nohaeil had eaten the music charts as two names for a year, there was also an impact from the bulk change.

But more than anything, a song that Nohaeil’s fandom or a small number of industry people had been quietly talking about went viral.

It was Soyou’s support song that hit Korea in December of the year before last.

[Show by Show (Show your show 3) ⎪ Jang Jin-soo (JJ)] was.

A single rookie, or rather, an amateur’s song that had topped the music charts, resurfaced.

Not many people in the world look at single music information in detail. They usually only look at the music name and singer. However, when Nohaeil was changed to ‘Nohaeil (HALO)’ in bulk, the music information was bound to be more noticeable than ever.

The industry was talking about whether this Nohaeil was that Nohaeil or a namesake, and the fandom was quietly talking about whether Nohaeil was close to Jang Jin-soo, so wasn’t this a song made by Nohaeil? The song was completely in the eyes of the public only after more than a year.

————

Show by Show

Jang Jin-soo (JJ)

Album: Show your Show Season 3

Release date: 2030.12.14

Genre: Hip hop

Lyrics JJ │ Composer JJ Nohaeil (HALO) │Arrangement Nohaeil (HALO)

————

If someone said that Nohaeil’s song was successful because Nohaeil sang it, this was a complete rebuttal.

Nohaeil had actually made an unknown rookie the number one on the music charts.

Even though Jang Jin-soo didn’t show great potential at the time, he was just an ordinary talent.

This was enough to make agencies that wanted to make a new group successful and established singers who were always looking for songs turn their heads.

He made Jang Jin-soo number one on the music charts,

What about me? It was a thought that anyone could have.

Of course, there was the problem of whether Nohaeil would accept it, but they thought that if they coaxed Nohaeil well enough, he would accept it.

Because Nohaeil is only a sixteen-year-old kid who doesn’t know the world.

That, sixteen. Halo, who doesn’t know the world, flew a paper airplane. The roughly folded request flew through the air and crashed somewhere.

He was like this in the past, and he is the same now.

There are many people in the world who try to get something for nothing.

Even if they put a spoon on it, his rice bowl wouldn’t be empty, but narrow-minded, he didn’t let them eat him up.

“It’s not fun.”

He folded the paper airplane again.

His hotel room is full of paper airplanes.

Among them, there are not only mild requests to release songs, but also various things. For example, a handshake of reconciliation sent by XYC Broadcasting Station?

When his mother, who went to prepare for the move for a while, comes, she might ask why he made such a mess.

Anyway.

He has no intention of making songs for just anyone.

Well, unless they make him want to write a song,

Or if they make an offer that he would find interesting.