The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 1721

< Episode 172 It Was Like a Halo >

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t expecting it.

But even if he didn’t come, no one would have been disappointed.

Saying he would come to Korea University next year was just a passing remark, something that came up in the moment. There was no real reason to keep that promise, and maybe he had forgotten about it after a year.

Isn’t a year enough time to forget?

And so much has happened in the meantime.

So, them sitting on the stone steps of Willow Creek Outdoor Theater, chatting away, was just lingering attachment. They were planning to head back before the last bus left at midnight.

“Am I too late?”

The moment I heard that one sentence, I knew right away.

The chatter stopped.

And the heads that turned met a figure emerging from the darkness.

“!”

A silent scream stimulated the brain.

The boy, much taller than before, waved his hand casually in greeting.

“Seems like I made it just in time.”

With his playful face, they didn’t even notice he was speaking informally.

They just nodded blankly, and then finally—

“It’s Halo!”

“Halo’s here!”

“Halo!”

His name burst out from everywhere along with screams.

People jumped up and ran forward. Was this a dream or reality?

“How did you get here?”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Your London concert is soon, shouldn’t you be leaving the country?”

Questions mixed with affection, worry, and confusion were directed at him.

Even as adults rushed over, the boy sat on the edge of the stage, dangling his legs, and said calmly.

“I promised I’d come back, didn’t I?”

Saying the promise that everyone must have forgotten.

“So, isn’t this what you were waiting for?”

The boy asked, lifting the hat he had pulled down low, as if he knew everything.

“Isn’t that right?”

:

[Breaking) Halo Appears at Willow Creek]

└ BS [Bullshit]

└ It’s real. He came to keep his promise

[When I asked if he didn’t go to the UK, he said he had a cold and was recovering ㅠㅠ I guess he caught a cold in the rain ㅠㅠ]

“What’s this?”

“What is it?”

“There’s a post on Everytime saying Halo came.”

“What, another lie, probably.”

Two new posts immediately appeared on Korea University’s community, Everytime [an online forum for university students]. It was Thursday, the last day of the festival. The festival performances were even over, and the remaining food stalls were opening.

The two posts that were uploaded at that time were not seen by many people, and even if they did see them, they didn’t believe them.

Why would Halo, who was about to have a London concert, come to Korea University?

Moreover, there had been so many lies about Halo coming on previous festival days that the writer was immediately branded as a boy who cried wolf.

Then, someone left a comment saying they heard Noh Haeil’s voice, and the community started to burn up.

[The student council president suddenly ran out with the student council while drinking? What’s going on]

[What? Is it real? Did Halo really come to school? I just got home, should I put my shoes back on?]

└ Are you believing this again

[Wow, Noh Haeil is crazy]

[I think I saw Brian Berry at our school]

└ What is this guy suddenly saying

└ㄷㄷㄷ Son Heungmin is touring the school right now

└ The school is a mess

[I’m near Willow Creek, I’ll check it out ㅇㅇ] – 20 minutes ago

└ I have to choose between taking the last bus or going to Willow Creek, please let me know

└ When is the writer coming?

└ ???

└ Hey

└ Did this guy get kidnapped?

In the meantime, student council members flocked to Willow Creek Outdoor Theater.

As soon as they saw the message that Halo had arrived, they abandoned the alcohol and snacks they were eating and ran over.

“Halo-nim!”

“No, how could such a precious person come to such a humble place!”

“Welcome! We’ll prepare everything right away.”

“Thank you so much for coming.”

The student council president ran over, and the festival staff member in charge of technology began to handle the equipment that had not yet been returned.

The stage lights came on.

The Korea University students who had been sitting on the floor right below the stage, or sitting next to it, chatting with the boy at the center, had to step back with half regret and half satisfaction before they arrived.

Halo got up leisurely.

The long-awaited chat was enjoyable.

Those who couldn’t hide their affection and chattered were like baby birds following their mother bird.

Still, the most enjoyable thing would be singing.

Those sitting in the very front of the stage looked at him with worried eyes.

He wondered if he should have said he had a cold.

Still, they would soon forget.

Because they wouldn’t be able to think of anything else.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Halo threw words of gratitude instead of greetings this time.

Those who heard the news and came one by one hurriedly sat in the empty seats.

It didn’t matter if they were next to strangers. Only the distance from the boy mattered.

“I was really happy when I saw you waiting.”

Halo, who calmly expressed his feelings, recalled the advantages of an unofficial guerrilla performance, that is, busking [street performing].

His concerts were fun too, but wouldn’t this be an advantage of busking?

“So, about that.”

Leaving the song selection to the audience.

“Is there a song you want to hear?”

He wanted to sing the songs they wanted to hear for the people who had been waiting for him so eagerly.

Of course, he could guess what they wanted to hear.

Halo smiled deeply when Noh Haeil’s song was heard.

From then on, a busking like a midsummer night’s dream began.

They requested Halo’s songs, and they also asked him to sing songs by other singers.

Although they were all music with different charms, Halo realized the commonality while singing the fourth song.

They were all calm music that didn’t require excessive use of the voice.

Since he was about to have a London concert and even had a cold, people were taking care of him in their own way. So that there was no strain on his voice.

“ Please sing it!”

“ too!”

“Ah, and too!”

Halo, who neatly pretended not to hear the love songs, thought people were stupid while singing the songs he wanted to hear.

He didn’t have to worry about it.

In addition, something kept piling up in the guitar case he had thrown on the stage when he came up. It wasn’t like he threw it to put things in, but since someone turned the overturned guitar case right side up, snacks, water, and gifts began to pile up.

He was grateful, but.

He didn’t need them to take care of him.

Halo shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.

In the end, they would try to take care of him until the end when he left.

They wouldn’t listen no matter what he said.

So, he wouldn’t listen either, and he came up with the song they wanted.

Maybe, that’s it.

The one he sang at the Korea University festival last year—.

“This time, I’ll sing the song I want to sing.”

The people who were enthusiastic about whatever he said were startled by the title that followed.

“EverEnd.”

A song that might strain his ‘voice,’

It was the music that remained a legend at the Korea University festival.

The video that still comes up at the top when you search for Noh Haeil’s mic-less performance.

Before people could stop him, Halo opened his mouth.

[Someday the end will come]

:

And the next day, Korea was in an uproar after belatedly receiving the news.

Among them, the most enthusiastic response came from the Korea University community.

[Why didn’t I believe it? Why didn’t I believe it? Why didn’t I believe it?]

[I went home early and slept because I had a Friday morning class, but I really want to kill myself yesterday!!! Please sleep when you die!!!]

[How could you not tell me!!!!! Why didn’t anyone tell me he came!!!!]

└ Everytime was noisy yesterday

└ I thought it was obviously an aggro [act of provocation] ㅎ···

Posts that were hard to see as coming from a college student with intelligence were uploaded, but no one thought it was strange.

If the number of people who saw the boy’s stage from the night before to dawn was only about a hundred who came to the place, the rest all missed it.

Even people who were in Korea and people who lived in Seoul were upset,

Among them, the most upset were the Korea University students who spent a third of their day at school.

But the bus had already left a long time ago.

All they could do was read the reviews and hypnotize themselves that they had also seen the busking performance.

[I’m one of the suicide squad who waited for Haeil yesterday, and I found out why I left my Instagram unattended]

He has a lot of photos and videos he took while traveling, and he finished organizing them, but he was busy with this and that and couldn’t find the right timing to upload them

└ We’ll decide the timing, so just upload it!!!

└ Wow, if it’s something he took while traveling, is it from January, February, or March of this year? Right before Halo’s identity was revealed?

[But I saw Halo again]

Maybe it’s because he’s usually a shit king [unreliable person]

I didn’t think he would come because he has a London concert

I thought he would have forgotten, but he remembered and kept his promise

└ People keep forgetting, but Noh Haeil has never broken his word

[I’ll just say one thing and leave]

I was blown away the moment he came to the concert hall yesterday and said, ‘Am I too late?’

He had a cold, but he performed passionately until the encore of EverEnd, and I almost cried yesterday

I’ve decided to be a Sun Dan [devoted fan] forever

I’ll always support whatever Halo does, and I’ll consider anyone who criticizes him as an enemy

└ I’m sorry, but that’s not one thing, teacher

└ No, but you have to exclude things like crime

└ ㅅㅂ [an expression of frustration] So, are you not going to listen to Halo’s songs?

└ The Halo fandom is like that, why is everyone going crazy as they go?

Around that time, Halo was flying in the sky with the members who were glaring at him.

He was embarrassed that he couldn’t stand the short recovery and ran out, laughing ha ha ha.

But the members couldn’t hate the boy who said he had fun.

“Let’s go together next time.”

How could they hate an employer who spoke so brightly?

Han Jin-young stroked his head, and Moon Seo-yeon erased her sulky expression.

Halo, who promised Nam Gyu-hwan, who was upset that he went alone, that he would go together next time, was finally able to relax when he returned to his seat.

And when the atmosphere was relaxed, Moon Seo-yeon opened her mouth again in a cheerful voice.

“Ah, by the way. Did you know that Brian Berry is coming to our concert?”

“Brian Berry? I’ve heard of him somewhere.”

“He’s a movie director. I enjoyed the music movie that came out two years ago.”

It was a documentary film about the life of a famous singer and his music. Nam Gyu-hwan, who heard the title, also exclaimed, “Ah!”

He couldn’t not know the title of the ten million-dollar movie.

“I saw an article saying he came to Korea to see the president’s concert. I saw it a few days ago, but.”

At that time, her boss had a cold, so she couldn’t say anything.

“President, do you know director Brian Berry too?”

Moon Seo-yeon was about to ask what it felt like to have a famous Hollywood movie director come to Korea to see his concert, but she suddenly realized that the boy didn’t know much unless it was related to music.

But this time it was different.

“I know.”

Well, he’s not just a director, he’s that BB.

Isn’t he even a music movie director?

However, the boy’s voice, saying that he knew, was somewhat mixed with laughter, so she thought it was a little strange. It wasn’t to the point of asking why he knew, but just enough to think it was strange and move on.

“He must be busy preparing for his next movie, so he just watched the concert and left the country right away, right?”

“Ah. He said he’s leaving the country today.”

“Ah ha, I see. He stayed longer than I thought. If he’s leaving the country today… Huh?”

Moon Seo-yeon nodded and then tilted her head.

How does he know that? Was it in an article?

But she had never seen such an article.

The news about director Brian Berry’s departure was over since he came to Korea.

So, if he didn’t see it in an article.

That’s how he can be so sure—.

“President, are you perhaps acquainted with Brian Berry? President?”

Isn’t it because they know each other?

I haven’t heard him say when he met him.

Moon Seo-yeon asked again when she didn’t hear an answer—.

“I think Haeil is sleeping.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, I guess he was tired.”

Han Jin-young answered instead.

“Well, the president was busking all night.”

“My mother said he came in late at night. He must be tired.”

“And he has a cold.”

“I have to pack his medicine.”

The topic of conversation returned to the boy’s health.

Moon Seo-yeon was worried that he might have a cold, and she forgot about the question about Brian Berry.

So, when did he meet Brian Berry?

And eighteen hours later, a man landed at LA International Airport.

As soon as he came out of the arrival hall, a friend who came to pick him up followed him.

“Hey. Brian.”

“I can go on my own.”

“Did you finish your work well?”

Brian Berry, also known as BB, lowered his sunglasses.

Long dark circles were under his eyes.

However, BB stretched refreshingly as if he didn’t feel tired at all.

“So, about the script. I said I wanted to capture his life.”

BB’s friend, who was watching his reaction carefully, asked.

His name was Thomas, and he was a business partner who started a film production company with BB.

“You said you were going to create an amazing script and persuade him.”

“I’ll be honest. I failed.”

“Really… what?”

Thomas, who thought he had completed the script to some extent, opened his eyes wide. He failed? You?

He asked back as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Why can’t I fail?”

BB asked back, but Thomas didn’t answer.

BB failed.

He wasn’t surprised that BB failed to achieve exactly what he wanted. He was surprised that BB came back even though he failed.

Because BB, as he knew him, was someone who would never come back until he found out what he wanted.

For example, BB was the one who spent months living in places where homeless people lived in order to deal with the homeless life of the main character.

“Then are you going to pack what you need again and go?”

“No.”

BB got into the car without paying attention to Thomas, who was about to die of frustration. Thomas gestured to the driver to go to the company and urged BB.

Eventually, BB, who exhaled cigarette smoke, answered.

“Instead, I got something better.”

“What’s better?”

“I met him.”

“···!”

Thomas jumped up and hit his head on the car ceiling and sat down again.

He met him.

“Then, did you persuade him to make a movie?”

“No.”

“Ah, then you promised to make a good script soon.”

“That’s not it either.”

“You’re not just bragging that you met Halo, are you?”

“I got his autograph too.”

“Oh, my god. It would be great if he did it on the contract.”

“Of course, I got it in my notebook.”

Thomas eventually turned tomato-like.

“Where did you meet him? At a concert?”

“No, at a university.”

“What university.”

BB, who watched Halo’s concert, followed Noh Haeil’s footsteps, and couldn’t find a connection between Halo’s music and his life, ran into Halo while on a pilgrimage.

-Hello, Mr. Halo.

He was wearing a hat and a mask, but BB recognized him at once.

-I’m Brian Berry. I run a small film production company.

Most people would be horrified by the introduction of a Hollywood giant, but the boy didn’t seem to know the name well.

Or he knew it, but he didn’t care what he was introduced as, or he had such an indifferent personality.

-Could you please give me a coffee time?

-Unfortunately, that won’t be possible. I have a cold

-Oh. Oh my god.

-Instead, how about that?

What the boy pointed to was chicken skewers in a food truck.

The boy, who ripped off the wallet of a Hollywood giant, slowly walked on the grass and had a conversation.

It was a very valuable time to get for a few dollars.

“How was Halo?”

Thomas, who knew he was a great Sun Dan, asked him.

It was a question that could be interpreted in many ways.

BB recalled the boy he had met at Korea University.

The young boy, who caught his eye as the person who shook the world,

He seemed used to dealing with people compared to his young appearance, he was mature, and so the conversation was enjoyable. In fact, he wanted to have a conversation with him for months, not just a cup of coffee.

But BB had something he wanted from him, and in the end, he tried to persuade him.

The reason he came to Korea.

-So I tried to create a character that best suits your music.

-And?

-That’s the end. I haven’t figured it out yet.

He failed and was going to spend months in Korea.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he had thought of something.

-A person who best suits my music.

I don’t know what that means, but somehow I felt like I had found the answer.

To be exact, it felt like he had found someone who had the answer.

Brian Berry, the giant of Hollywood, who begged rather than declared that he would visit him next time, found the word that best suited him in the nicotine smoke.

“It’s like halo.”