The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 2021

< [Side Story] 4. Hello, I'm Roh Haeil >

There was a steady demand for a day-in-the-life documentary about Halo.

People wanted to know what kind of house the star lived in, what his daily routine was like, what he liked, what clothes he wore, and showed constant interest in aspects not revealed on broadcasts.

And some were curious about Halo’s musical work environment.

How could such good music come out? How much effort did it take to produce such good music, and above all, how was a ‘genius’ different from ordinary people? They were curious.

In particular, wasn’t he an artist with less exposure than a typical star? It wasn’t that broadcasting stations told him not to appear; he received daily offers for reality shows like ‘Omniscient Interfering View’ or ‘Home Alone,’ but he had never appeared on one.

The label was clearly aware of the fans’ needs. In fact, if he hadn’t had overseas schedules, he would have appeared on similar entertainment programs. From a certain point, Halo had started to be more active.

If he hadn’t spent a month participating in fiery movie auditions and advising on film music, he would have definitely appeared on Korean broadcasts.

Thus, the stone Jang Jin-soo threw created a large ripple in the calm lake.

– I think I’d be most curious about seeing Roh Haeil making music for his next album.

– Wouldn’t the boss just making music be the most convincing?

That was like scratching their itch and a shocking blow to the back of their heads.

Why hadn’t they thought of filming it themselves?

It wasn’t like Halo didn’t have the money to create content. It wasn’t like they didn’t have staff or channels to utilize.

The money was enormous just from music royalties, and if it was lacking, they could always make more by filming commercials or whatever. Frankly, even if they just spread the word about content production, investors or advertisers eager to get involved would try to jump in.

The staff was just as good.

It might have been different in the past. Now, the label had the organization and manpower in place. Moreover, it hadn’t been long since such a system was created, so all the employees were passionately committed.

Lastly, the channel, well.

As Halo continued to reject entertainment offers, they even received suggestions asking if there was a particular show he wanted to do, and the OTT [Over-The-Top, referring to streaming services] market was also active in this day and age.

But they didn’t even need to go that far.

Because there was YouTube.

The market that had made the faceless singer Halo a global star.

Halo had two channels in that market.

Not to mention the Halo_official account with a huge number of subscribers, Roh Haeil’s original account, “wave_r (Waver),” also had about a million followers.

Some might say it’s small, others might say it’s large. But, let’s just say that “Waver” only has the very first video from the beginning.

It wouldn’t be as stable in revenue as appearing directly on the OTT market or broadcasts.

However, while it’s not stable, YouTube also has potential.

They wouldn’t have to worry about initial viewership.

With the name “Halo” alone, all sorts of places would promote it for them.

As soon as the content outline came out, the content planning team quickly created a format.

A format for Halo, by Halo, and for Halo, only possible because it was a label dedicated to one artist.

:

Halo’s daily life is the same as usual.

Even if cameras were installed to capture all his movements, including in his penthouse, nothing changed.

Halo’s morning is influenced by his bedtime the night before, but he usually wakes up early.

Many people imagine an artist who burns the midnight oil and stays in bed until sunset.

Also, many people associate Halo’s usual laid-back attitude with a lazy morning, but he wasn’t as much of a heavy sleeper as people thought.

Thus, in a room darkened by blackout curtains, Halo slowly got up and got out of bed.

Until he entered the bathroom, put on a bathrobe, and came out to the living room, he would be no different from any other office worker.

Of course, the house he lives in is not ordinary.

Halo, who put a vinyl record on the turntable, turns his back to the music and turns on the coffee machine.

He started his leisurely morning with a cup of strong espresso instead of a meal.

Halo, who had been blonde for a long time last year, had returned to black hair. He was taking a break before dyeing it another color. He was also thinking about what color to dye it. For reference, the label had high votes for blonde, pink, and khaki brown.

The cameras – or CCTVs – installed in his penthouse captured that leisurely morning along with the splendid walls.

The turntables and audio interfaces that take up one side of the living room, including several audio systems worth tens of thousands of dollars, and the vinyl piles were by no means neat, but they would stimulate someone’s romance.

Soon, Halo put down his espresso cup and got up. Kicking away the crumpled paper balls at his feet, he prepared to go to work.

Instead of the front door, Halo immediately got on the elevator and pressed the 3rd floor.

The high-ceilinged 1st floor has a lobby and a cafe.

The open 2nd floor has an employee lounge and a record archive. The office is on the 3rd floor.

In fact, he doesn’t go to the office often – he’s usually in the studio – but today the content planning team PD [Production Director] called him.

Halo’s label, which everyone was curious about and wanted to join.

The planning team PD, who majored in film directing and joined H out of fandom, opened his mouth while filming his star slowly approaching.

“Hello, Mr. Halo.”

The red dot on the camera blinked.

Halo looked at it for a moment and soon sat comfortably on the sofa opposite him.

The sunlight coming in from the east-facing window illuminated half of his face.

What would the reaction be when Halo’s daily reality is revealed? No need to ask.

The fans would be as happy as the excited PD. The word failure was not in their dictionary.

It would be a truly great talent to screw up with such good source material.

“Hello, everyone.”

The scenery of Seoul is reflected next to Halo.

People who thought he was in LA would be surprised. That’s how the story of ‘Welma World’ would begin.

“I’m Roh Haeil.”

Welcome to my world.

It was the legendary interview that would make up the teaser and the first episode of ‘Welma World’.

#

“Is this thing running now?”

“I don’t know.”

“They’ll tell us when they’re filming, right?”

Moon Seo-yeon waved her hand at the camera and got up. In fact, the camera was already running, but there was no one there to answer.

The members are sitting in a circle in the current studio, which is decorated similarly to the label in Seongsu-dong. During the long vacation that Halo gave the members while he was on overseas schedules, the members enjoyed their own time.

After a long break, they seemed eager to work again. Unfortunately, Halo didn’t have any songs in mind yet.

It’s not that there were no songs at all, it’s just that there were no songs he wanted to release under Roh Haeil’s name.

The reason why he hadn’t been active under the name Roh Haeil until now was not because the name Halo was so valuable, but because there were no songs he wanted to release as Roh Haeil.

Having released his 14th album ‘Lovethisworld,’ Halo, who seemed to have 정리한 [jeongnihan – organized/settled] his past, wanted to focus more on the present.

Especially under the name ‘Roh Haeil,’ who had given him the present.

However, ‘music for others,’ which he wanted to do as Roh Haeil, was more difficult than ‘music for myself.’

That’s right.

Halo honestly admitted it.

He was having difficulties.

Maybe this is what they call an artist’s agony.

He was worried alone in the United States, and he impulsively returned home because he thought he couldn’t go on like this.

Halo said directly.

“I think I’m in a slump.”

“Yeah, right. ···Huh?”

Han Jin-young asked again as if he had misheard,

“Pardon?” “?!”

Moon Seo-yeon and Nam Gyu-hwan reacted in the same way.

Suddenly, a slump?

Without any warning or signs?

But Halo was serious.

If this isn’t a slump, then what is?

He had worried for a long time when he was making his 14th album, but that was just worrying about what kind of music to make.

He wanted to make ‘music for others,’ but now that he couldn’t write any songs, it felt like a real slump.

The members blinked and soon made serious faces.

This was not something to joke or play around with.

It could happen to anyone, and that wouldn’t be different even if it was Halo.

“Actually, it’s not strange. Everyone experiences it. You’ve just been unusual until now.”

Han Jin-young nodded as if he understood.

Moon Seo-yeon looked at Halo with a determined expression.

“Boss, look at me.”

“Yes.”

She asked with a serious face.

To let him know that this is natural.

“Do you feel like my songs aren’t very good these days, and that no matter what I do, I’m just standing still?”

Halo rolled his eyes.

He hadn’t particularly felt that they weren’t good.

His songs, he was always the best.

However, it was true that no matter what he did, he couldn’t think of Roh Haeil-style music, so he nodded for now.

“Do you suddenly want to quit everything and run away?”

It depended on what he was doing, but if he was doing something boring, he wanted to run away.

Halo nodded.

“Everyone experiences it. It’s not strange, I, Jin-young oppa [older brother/male friend], and even he have all experienced it. And it’s strange because it’s the first time. It might not be as big a deal as you think.”

“I will also do my best to help.”

Everyone put their heads together and began to review ways to overcome the slump. Since they had all experienced the problem at least once, they each had their own methods.

“I just hang out with people?”

Some people meet positive people in places with alcohol and music.

“I try to feel the fun by redoing things that I used to enjoy in the past.”

Some people try to find their original intentions again.

“I don’t have much, but it just disappears on its own if I repeat my routine.”

“Hmm···.”

Those are actually things Halo already does. He always hangs out with people, plays and makes songs.

The members didn’t seem to think this was helpful either, so they racked their brains again.

And finally, someone said.

“Refresh.”

Although it was fundamental, refreshing the mood and recharging energy was an effective method.

There are many activities that can refresh you.

Doing things you don’t usually do is also refreshing, meeting old acquaintances after a long time, listening to music you haven’t listened to in a long time, or traveling are also good.

Anyway, the point is that it’s an activity that Halo wouldn’t have done often.

The first things that come to mind are extreme activities such as bungee jumping, rock climbing, and paragliding, but everyone is against that.

His parents, members, label, and fans.

Even when he rides the motorcycle that Scorpion gave him as a gift, many people worry about him, so that side was absolutely not allowed.

“An activity that I’ve never done before.”

“What activities hasn’t the boss ever done?”

At that moment, Moon Seo-yeon and Han Jin-young raised their heads.

Their eyes met.

Maybe they both thought of the same thing.

“Perhaps?”

“You too?”

Halo had given the members a long vacation due to overseas schedules.

The members spent their own time.

That was also a meaningful activity that they would have wanted to try someday if they had time, and it was probably an activity that Halo had never done.

“I didn’t really do anyth-.”

While Nam Gyu-hwan closed his mouth at Moon Seo-yeon’s glare, Han Jin-young smiled faintly and said.

“Then shall I be the first one?”