The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 2031

<[Side Story] 5. Being an Instructor at a Music Academy>

[Hello, everyone. This is Noh Hae-il]

Heu… Hehehe… Hehehehe.

Majoring in directing at the Department of Theater and Film.

With high specs, having won awards in school contests, university student advertising contests, and various advertising contests,

PD [Production Director] Namgung of the current content planning team, who applied to Label H purely out of fan enthusiasm, was watching the video while making strange laughter.

“PD Nam, let’s have lunch togeth-… No, never mind. I won’t disturb you. Carry on.”

PD Namgung, not even noticing his superior flinching and turning away, watched the video with such intense eyes for a while, then tilted his head.

He rewound and paused the video.

[I think I’m in a slump]

Soon, a scene appears where the members encourage him, who was embarrassed. It was heartwarming and nice to see, but on the other hand, it was also worrying. That was the first impression.

However, after watching all the recorded footage for a week, the impression was, ‘What is this?’

Clearly, he said he was in a slump.

Hae-il, who lives in the penthouse or studio on the top floor of the company building, showed no signs of a slump at all.

The sight of him playing the guitar under the sunlight and writing in a notebook, tearing it up and throwing it on the floor if he didn’t like it, was Hae-il as usual.

It didn’t seem like a slump; there wasn’t even a hint of stress, and his expression wasn’t dark either.

And the ‘practice songs’ that Hae-il was humming were so good to PD Namgung’s ears – of course, his voice is a cheat code – that he couldn’t understand why they were practice songs.

Even

[Hey, kid. If you came, you should say you came.]

[I told you.]

[When I asked if the weather in LA was nice, you said you were in Korea, is that what you call telling me?]

[Anyway, I heard you’re making a comeback.]

[Changing the subject. Yeah. Wanna listen?]

Hae-il, who visited Shin Joo-hyuk upon hearing the sudden news of his return, showed off his arranging skills, saying that this was his taste.

“Why does he say he’s in a slump?”

The more he watched, the less he understood why he was in a slump.

‘Am I misunderstanding the definition of a slump?’

PD Namgung himself seemed to be trapped in a slump he couldn’t understand at all.

And that was a swamp that viewers who would watch the video later would also fall into.

Anyway, the devoted members are now trying to overcome Hae-il’s slump in any way they can.

The first one, an outdoor shoot with Han Jin-young, is today.

Where was it again.

“They said it was some music academy.”

#

“Teacher!”

“Oh, hey guys.”

“I practiced a lot today!”

“Can you take a look at this?”

The children who rushed over surrounded Han Jin-young.

The figure behind him flinched at the rush of the kids, but Han Jin-young skillfully dealt with them.

“Did you all finish practicing? You all did? Good job. Now go and do it twenty more times.”

“Ehhh?”

“Seung-joon, did you do all the homework I gave you?”

At his words, the echoing voices dwindled.

“Teacher.”

“Yeah, Eun-ji. What’s wrong? Is there something difficult?”

“Yes, I don’t understand this.”

“But, the teacher is busy right now, can I look at it later? I’ll definitely look at it.”

“Okay!”

He quickly cleared the bustling street.

“Teacher, teacher, who’s coming today? The director said they’re filming.”

“Is a celebrity coming? Is it Hae-il?”

Han Jin-young flinched, but the children’s conversation continued without noticing.

“You idiot. Hae-il is in LA, why would he come here.”

“Teacher is Hae-il’s bassist.”

“What if he’s Hae-il’s bassist. Hae-il went to LA alone. Abandoning the teacher!”

“Gasp, was the teacher abandoned?”

“Maybe he got fired and came here.”

“Hahaha, kids. That’s not it?”

Han Jin-young refuted that it wasn’t, but the children, who had their own clear ideas, were unlikely to listen properly.

And there was no way that loud voice wouldn’t be heard by the ‘guest’.

The figure behind him began to tremble.

Han Jin-young felt even more embarrassed.

Fortunately, when the class bell rang, the children ran into the practice room.

“Huu.”

He felt relieved.

“You seem quite like a teacher.”

At that time, Hae-il, who had been quiet until now, spoke.

“I’ve barely gotten rid of the beginner’s touch.”

“You’ve been teaching kids all vacation?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

The place Han Jin-young brought him to was a practical music academy in Hongdae [a district in Seoul known for its arts scene and indie music]. It was a practical music academy that taught everything from lower elementary school students to adult hobby classes, but he heard that the entrance exam classes were separated elsewhere.

Han Jin-young had been working as an instructor here since last summer.

His brother, who runs the academy, suggested it, saying what if he had nothing to do these days, and Han Jin-young, who initially had a reluctance to teach someone, ended up doing it after several persuasions.

And it was more manageable than he thought, so he stayed as an instructor like this until he returned to Korea.

“I didn’t even know I had this aptitude, but it seems to suit me quite well. It’s a bit unexpected, right?”

He felt that it suited him much better than the DJing he had been doing for a long time.

The kids were cute, and teaching suited him better than he thought. He felt more proud than anything else when he was helpful to people and their skills improved visibly.

“I didn’t even know you’d bring me here, but it’s not unexpected.”

“Huh?”

“You taught me well before, too.”

“? Who did I teach? When? Hey, Hae-il.”

Hae-il didn’t answer and went ahead.

Han Jin-young tried to call his name loudly but lowered his voice.

There’s no one in the hallway, but just in case.

And he thinks.

Aside from Jin-soo, Hae-il was good at everything from the start, so he wondered what he had taught him.

Hae-il watched the child sitting next to the teacher in the practice room through the glass window.

“So, how should we play this?”

“-Louder and louder!”

Han Jin-young, who taught them MIDI [Musical Instrument Digital Interface], and his old self were superimposed on them.

“So, what we’re going to do today is teach the kids?”

As he always says, he didn’t like kids.

And “A kid doesn’t like kids.” Han Jin-young always found that fact funny and gave him a sly look.

As Hae-il’s expression gradually distorted, he soon shook his head.

“Unfortunately,”

“Today is not about teaching kids.”

Ah, I can’t stand it.

He was happy with the honestly brightening expression.

“It’s true that I taught kids, but I didn’t just teach kids.”

“Then?”

“Say hello to the director and let’s go up. I’ll explain as we go up.”

Hae-il nodded obediently.

The class Hae-il will be observing today is not the lower grade children’s class, but D class of the adult hobby class.

If adult hobby classes A and B are scheduled to coincide with the after-work hours of office workers, D class is the only afternoon class.

Rather than office workers, there were various occupations such as housewives, freelancers, and students on leave who could spare time at two or three in the afternoon, and it was the smallest class.

Therefore, it was easy to get permission to film.

Adult class that does not require parental permission.

All you had to do was get direct consent from a small number of people.

However, Han Jin-young never thought he would actually film.

He was thinking of bringing Hae-il to observe, but he didn’t even think about filming.

The content planning team begged him to leave a source on their first outing (?), and Han Jin-young accepted on the condition that everyone agreed.

The director brother would have nothing to lose, so he would say OK.

While thinking that someone among the students would object.

But everyone agreed. There were people who asked for mosaic or editing if they appeared, but it was almost unanimous.

“No, the person you’re bringing, of course, I heard about it, but so, is it really Hae-il? No, should I call you Noh Hae-il? A precious person in such a humble place… It’s really an honor to meet you.”

“Please call me comfortably.”

“How dare I, how can I comfortably…”

The director, who discovered Hae-il, who came to get permission to observe and qualify as a temporary instructor, completely forgot about the permission.

Although he can play various instruments, as a guitarist, his main major, his impressions will be special.

“Is it possible to get an autograph?”

“Of course.”

The director, who had completely forgotten why Hae-il was here, became a fan and took out a guitar.

I heard that he brought a G company’s child with a big heart. Han Jin-young only saw it once, how much he cherished it.

The director, who received Hae-il’s autograph on such a body, couldn’t lower the corners of his mouth at all.

“Hyung [older brother or male friend], so are you going to hire him as a temporary instructor?”

“Rather, I think I should ask you. Of course, anytime.”

What qualifications does Hae-il need?

To the 21st century’s best vocalist and guitar genius. It was burdensome to bring such a huge person.

“But Jin-young, there’s something.”

“Yes?”

The director suddenly asked with a sober face.

I’m like this, but the students…

“Will the class… work?”

He was genuinely worried.

And the director’s worries became reality.

#

In advance, they had only asked the students for permission to film and said they would call a session to help with the performance practice.

Maybe they could guess that a celebrity was coming because of the filming, but no one imagined that Hae-il would come.

“Wait a minute…”

“It’s Hae-il.”

“Hae-il?”

“No, is it Hae-il?”

The students, who had been looking with curious eyes when Hae-il appeared, doubted their eyes when Hae-il took off his sunglasses, and when he took off his mask, someone dropped the pen they were holding.

Typically, reactions that people show when they feel shock and extreme joy occurred in succession.

Roll roll.

The pen rolls on the floor and reaches his feet.

While everyone was mesmerized by Hae-il, who took off his sunglasses and mask and greeted them, Hae-il calmly picked up the pen that had rolled to his feet and returned it.

“Can, can I receive this?”

“You dropped it?”

“Ah.”

Could these be the same people who were nervous about the upcoming performance until the day before? Han Jin-young looked around awkwardly and decided to finish the introduction first.

“As I told you in advance, this is a guitarist who will help with today’s practice. Let’s give him a round of applause-.”

They weren’t listening at all.

Han Jin-young, who had excluded lower graders from the filming crew because they were difficult to control, realized that adults were not necessarily better at controlling themselves.

It looked like adult ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder].

Still, Han Jin-young knew how to focus them.

“So, everyone, the performance is only a week away, right?”

“!”

“Ah, I forgot.”

“Teacher, can we postpone it for a month?”

Reminding them of the performance seemed to bring people back to their senses. A celebrity wasn’t important right now.

No, if it’s Hae-il, it’s important.

The time was approaching when their terrible bass performance would be revealed to the world.

People who had invited friends or family without thinking showed suffocating expressions.

“You’re all doing well. I believe you’ll do well.”

Han Jin-young said skillfully and held out his hand in front of Hae-il.

“As you all know, this is Hae-il. Some of you are preparing Hae-il’s songs, right? I specially asked him for you, so let’s all welcome him.”

People’s faces turned white.

It’s good to see Hae-il.

Bringing the original singer himself was another burden to show off his bass skills in front of the artist called the music genius of the current century.

Still, it’s good to see my singer or celebrity’s face.

Hae-il, who came to the front of the stage, waved his hand and greeted them.

“Hello, this is Noh Hae-il. Nice to meet you.”

Everyone welcomed him with a wow!

He thought he would only say one word like that, but Hae-il, who smiled, added.

“And I look forward to today.”

“?”

What? What are you looking forward to?

Han Jin-young flinched at the unteacher-like words, but he stayed still because he seemed to have succeeded in grabbing people’s attention.