The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 230

[Extra] 32. What Farewell Means

“You’re leaving?”

Gyeoul knew it too.

That they were from the city.

That they weren’t residents who were born and raised on Baekun Island and lived there, but that they had a home to return to someday.

She had also heard that the filming would take place for two weeks.

“Yeah.”

Gyeoul’s lips twitched at Halo’s answer.

She knew they had to go, but she didn’t know they would be leaving so soon.

Can’t you stay?

She wanted to ask, but she couldn’t.

Gyeoul looked at Halo’s sleeve and fidgeted with her fingers.

Just then, one of the production staff approached.

“Halo, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Ah, yes.”

The staff member looked at Gyeoul and waved awkwardly.

“Hi, Gyeoul…? Can I talk to your teacher for a bit?”

“Okay.”

Gyeoul ended up sending Halo away without saying a word to stay.

The school is bustling.

No, the entire Baekun Island is bustling.

Everyone was so busy with their daily lives that they realized too late that the last day of filming was approaching. They were belatedly rushing to say goodbye and preparing to have a good last day.

Watching the adults moving busily, Gyeoul thought.

It seems like I’m the only one who wants them to stay.

“Gyeoul, what are you doing?”

Gyeoul looked up as a shadow fell over her head.

Teacher Lee So-ra was squatting down, smiling kindly.

Teacher Sora, who was prettier than anyone she had seen in the village, always knew what she was feeling just by looking at her expression.

And because she would comfort her so kindly, Gyeoul tended to be a bit whiny with Teacher Sora.

“Are you leaving tomorrow too, Teacher?”

At Gyeoul’s question, Teacher Sora paused and stroked her hair.

“Yeah, I have to go.”

“Really?”

“…Our Gyeoul, you’re very sad, aren’t you.”

At those words, Gyeoul felt her eyes welling up.

Only then did she realize that she was upset.

At the village adults who were preparing to send them off without a care,

And at Halo, who said he was going back without a care.

“Aren’t you sad either, Teacher?”

And the teacher in front of her seemed that way too.

“What do you mean, not sad? Teacher is sad too. I want to play with Gyeoul more, and this place too-”

Lee So-ra looked around the village.

She waved her hand as she made eye contact with the villagers.

“It’s really nice. It’s the best place Teacher has ever been.”

“But you’re smiling.”

“Well, that’s…”

Lee So-ra chose her words carefully.

“Teacher is trying too. I’m holding back my sadness and trying to show Gyeoul only pretty things. That way, Gyeoul will be able to remember Teacher well, right?”

“Teacher is pretty every day.”

“Even prettier. So that Gyeoul remembers Teacher even prettier, so we can look forward to the next time. The village adults are doing that now too.”

Wearing slightly better clothes, preparing slightly better food.

“We’re all trying to remember only the good things.”

When Gyeoul looked confused, Lee So-ra added.

“There’s a saying that first impressions are the most important. Once you’re recognized, it’s hard to change that impression. That’s why people say you have to do well at the beginning. But, no? It’s not the first impression that’s important, it’s the last impression that’s most important.”

“Why?”

“People are too busy, their memory capacity is limited, or for various other reasons, they erase the distant memories one by one. But, you can’t completely forget everything about this person. So, you only leave one memory, and that’s usually the most recent memory. So, the very last impression.”

“That’s why everyone is working so hard to prepare. To leave only good memories of the village, so that they can think of it fondly at any time. That way, they’ll want to meet again next time.”

It didn’t seem like she fully understood, but Gyeoul nodded.

“Gyeoul, you want Haeil, or rather, oppa [older brother, used by girls], to remember only the pretty things about you, right? That’s why you can’t tell him not to go, right?”

“Yes.”

“You’re so mature, our Gyeoul.”

Lee So-ra hugged Gyeoul once and suddenly winked.

“You know what? Then, should Teacher help you with something? So that Haeil oppa can never forget you. So that he contacts Gyeoul first and comes to find you later.”

“! How?”

“There’s a way. Shall we go somewhere for a bit with Teacher?”

#

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, Haeil. You know, by any chance-”

PD Na [Production Director Na] asked very politely if he could sing a song for the villagers today. He said he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to.

But, since he was planning to sing even if they didn’t ask him to, Halo immediately agreed.

“I will.”

It was nothing special.

However, PD Na looked very touched, as if he didn’t expect him to agree to this.

“Thank you, Haeil.”

Then, he belatedly added that he was going to put it in as the last scene of today’s festival. He said that if he had said it was because of the production, the offer might have sounded like a coercion…

“It’s not a difficult request.”

“Still, it’s in our contract. We will never force you to perform or play music.”

Halo smiled faintly at the declaration that he had never forgotten.

“I understand. Then, please take care of the last filming.”

As the boy walked away, PD Na stroked his chest.

“Take care… Yeah, yeah, I have to do well.”

Let’s keep the line appropriately and treat everyone equally today.

There’s no one among the cast who isn’t a top star, so there’s no reason to discriminate against anyone, but if I show a special fan heart to someone, the others might feel bad. She wanted to remain a PD who works well and keeps the line well to everyone.

“Am I doing well?”

“Hmm.”

Writer Do Min-hee’s expression turned cold.

“Well, yeah.”

She answered, but it seems that her fan heart has already been revealed to someone.

She doesn’t tremble at all when answering other cast members, but when she talks to someone one-on-one, she gets nervous and can’t control her expression.

Writer Do Min-hee turned her gaze away so that she wouldn’t make eye contact with PD Na.

It was then.

That a girl so cute that she wanted to pinch her cheek came into her eyes.

“Oh my.”

Writer Do Min-hee, who admired without realizing it, covered her mouth.

:

Haeil looked for Gyeoul, who had gone somewhere in the meantime.

She was gone for a while.

She wasn’t in the place where the kids were, and she didn’t seem to be with her mother.

“Haeil.”

Haeil turned his head without thinking at Lee So-ra’s call.

“Why-”

And stops talking.

The eyes of the young men in the village are on Lee So-ra, who is dressed up prettier than usual.

Kwon Jae-ik saw it from afar and laughed in vain, chewing on a candy bar; it was a different look.

But the important thing wasn’t Lee So-ra.

A head popped out from behind Lee So-ra in a white dress.

“…”

The girl wearing a dress made by reforming Lee So-ra’s cherry blossom dress looked like a baby cherry blossom. Her shy red cheeks were also cherry blossom-colored, and her face, which she had been hiding (?) between her thick hair, was also fair.

Her deer-like eyes looked up at him and called.

“Teacher.”

“…?”

A familiar voice was heard from the girl he was seeing for the first time.

Gyeoul’s voice that could not be denied.

“Why are you wearing a skirt…?”

Something flashed across Haeil’s face, whose reaction was slower than usual.

Lee So-ra chuckled as her expression gradually changed.

“Haeil, how could you have thought that such a pretty child was a boy until now?”

The camera director was already zooming in on Haeil’s expression.

“You’re so heartless.”

Lee So-ra’s teasing was not heard by Haeil.

Because the memories of the past were flashing through his mind.

From Lee So-ra saying ‘Don’t you know?’ meaningfully, to the title of ‘sister’.

And above all.

-If someone says it’s weird, you say it’s weird too.

-What if they still do it?

-Then hit them first. Men are fists.

He vividly remembered teaching her how to make a fist and fight,

And the pranks he played thinking she was a boy.

Even if he didn’t know anything else, the face of a gentleman who had learned manners at home or in public school was devastated.

“I’m telling you because I thought you’d never notice.”

And the embarrassing history has already been left behind.

Hadn’t he called Gyeoul a ‘boy’ on the morning show?

Lee So-ra chuckled and gently pushed Gyeoul’s back.

“Teacher.”

Gyeoul looked up at Haeil.

She seemed to be expecting something.

Haeil fidgeted, and his lips twitched.

Reason and emotion fought fiercely, and no words came out.

In the end, reason won.

“It suits you well. It’s pretty.”

His face is very strange for a compliment.

Lee So-ra ended up holding her stomach and laughing.

“But am I the only one who didn’t know? Did Hyung [older brother/male friend] Jung-min or Hyung Jae-ik…?”

“Hahaha. I really didn’t know…”

Lee Jung-min smiled awkwardly.

“Because she looks like our Darin.”

“Hehe.”

Kwon Jae-ik also added and gently stroked Gyeoul’s hair.

He liked her more than the other kids.

“To know someone else’s pretty daughter as a boy. Haeil has to reflect on himself for the rest of his life.”

Lee So-ra was busy teasing the real boy, and Gyeoul was fidgeting as if she was awkward with the dress. Haeil regained his mind around the time the village festival preparations were finished. Of course, his gestures towards Gyeoul became a bit awkward, but that would soon get better.

The village festival was held in the vacant lot next to the school.

It wasn’t as fancy as a city festival.

However, it resembled the atmosphere of the village of Baekun Island.

A more splendid dinner and alcohol than usual. Soda.

It was enough to have children who were just happy because there were no classes, and villagers who decided to play only today.

And music that is essential for a party.

They ate really full and played full.

Full of music and full of rest.

It seems like they left a full impression, enough to not be hungry for a while.

“Please get a good rest since you have to leave tomorrow.”

“Have a good night.”

“Good night.”

“Go in.”

And they parted as usual for those who would be leaving by boat tomorrow.

I thought they would cry when they parted, but no one cried.

Not even them.

“If you’re going to sleep anyway, go in and sleep.”

“I’m not going to sleep today.”

And they sat around the platform.

Everyone had a peaceful and satisfied face.

“Ah, I’m full. I think I’ll gain 3kg [kilograms] today.”

“You can gain more.”

“I can gain more. I look like a pig on TV.”

Today, they continued the conversation without fighting in particular.

“Jung-min, aren’t you tired?”

Kwon Jae-ik asked casually.

Just like he does to other people.

“…I don’t think I’m tired.”

When Lee Jung-min felt sorry, he said, “You’re young, you’re young. When I was young, I was fine even if I didn’t sleep for a few days,” and that was it.

“I’m so full that I can’t sleep either. Is there anything we can do? Is there anything we can play?”

PD Na, who realized that the cast members were not going to sleep at night, shook his head, starting to come out in shifts with the assistant director.

“What were you doing without preparing something like that? Haeil, is there anything you play with kids these days?”

“Music?”

“…”

The PTSD from the first day was about to come up again.

As Kwon Jae-ik’s mouth closed, Lee Jung-min smiled faintly.

Well, is there anything to do?

It’s a shame to spend the last day sleeping.

Lee Jung-min, who put his hand in his pocket without thinking, took it out at the rustling sound.

“This is…”

“Is that a note?”

“They ended it early to give this.”

It seems that he wasn’t the only one who was sad that the party ended too early.

Kwon Jae-ik and Lee So-ra also shone their eyes and gestured for him to open the note.

“This is not what you expect…”

“Then what is it?”

Lee Jung-min carefully opened the note.

It was the note from the treasure hunt they had done before.

The treasure hunt that they couldn’t solve because they were having so much fun.

The child originally had it, but he gave it to him before parting ways and went back to his family as if it were natural.

-It’s difficult for us, so please solve it, Teacher.

It seems like it wouldn’t be meaningful if we didn’t do it together, but the child gave it to him as if it were natural and went back to his family.

“It’s a treasure hunt.”

“Treasure hunt? It’s been a while since I’ve heard that. But is this a treasure hunt?”

“It’s a problem that hasn’t been solved yet.”

At that moment, Kwon Jae-ik jumped up.

Lee So-ra also got up without saying a word, and Haeil, who saw the two, re-strapped the guitar case he had loosened.

Lee Jung-min looked at them with a flustered face and eventually followed suit.

“Shall we try it?”