The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 281

Glorious Tides – Episode 28 (28/237)

# 28. I Like It Much Better

“…”

It was unexpected.

I always thought this day would come, but I didn’t expect it to be so soon.

I knew who the calm-looking man who opened the door was as soon as I saw him.

There’s no question that Noh Hae-il looks more like his mother than his father, but his mouth and thick eyebrows definitely resemble his father.

Noh Hae-il’s father had returned.

“Oh my, why are you here so early?”

My mother, surprised by the sudden opening of the door, went to the entrance. Seeing the suitcase he brought, she realized he wasn’t just stopping by.

“I promised I’d be here before Christmas.”

“Still, I was surprised because it was earlier than I thought. You should have said something when you arrived at the airport.”

A low, resonant voice, like something out of a man’s dreams, was heard.

Jang Jin-soo felt like he knew where Noh Hae-il’s tone came from.

“Hello. My name is Jang Jin-soo, Hae-il’s friend.”

Jang Jin-soo jumped up and bowed 90 degrees.

Professor Noh’s authoritative yet restrained atmosphere made him bow his head involuntarily.

The man’s gaze reached him.

Jang Jin-soo was as nervous as if he was being judged.

“Nice to meet you.”

However, the gentle tone and faint smile eased the tension.

Fortunately, Noh Hae-il’s father showed a positive reaction, unlike the adults who were prejudiced against Jang Jin-soo’s appearance.

“Hello.”

Hae-il also greeted him.

His expression was calm, but his tone was formal and distant.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

“Yes.”

He might be disappointed that his son felt distant from his father after a long time, but the man greeted him as if it were nothing.

Without closing the distance further, he examined Hae-il with his eyes. As if observing something.

“You seem a bit different.”

“Is that so?”

He definitely had changed.

But it was hard to express what had changed.

At least his appearance was exactly the same as the son in his memory.

‘I’ll find out when I talk to him,’ he thought.

It was time to take the luggage into the room.

The man lifted the suitcase with one hand.

“Have you had dinner?”

“Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“I’m not hungry, how about a cup of coffee?”

“Sure. What kind of beans?”

“Your favorite.”

Jang Jin-soo, who had been staring intently at Hae-il’s father as he entered the room with his mother, put down his spoon. There was no way he could keep eating.

“I’m going to-”

“Did you say your name is Jin-soo?”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t find the timing to escape.

“Yes? Yes, yes.”

“Are you in the same class as Hae-il?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Ah, I see. Please continue to be good friends.”

“Yes…”

Noh Hae-il’s father came out of the room and sat next to Jang Jin-soo. Jang Jin-soo, who had ended up sitting next to him, froze, unable to put down or pick up his spoon.

Fortunately, Noh Hae-il’s father didn’t talk to Jang Jin-soo any further. He calmly savored his coffee.

The kitchen was quiet for a while.

‘Nothing’s happening,’ Jang Jin-soo thought.

Watching carefully, Jang Jin-soo, who had been frozen like a stone, slowly relaxed.

At that moment, Noh Hae-il’s father opened his mouth.

“Come to think of it, I recently watched an interesting video.”

“Interesting?”

“Teaching Assistant Kang showed me a video that’s popular on YouTube these days. And do you know what surprised me?”

Noh Hae-il’s father looked straight at Hae-il and said, raising the corners of his mouth as if he found it amusing. Everyone in this place knew what video he was talking about.

“I heard you’ve been doing something fun lately.”

“You saw Hae-il busking!”

The father nodded and took another sip of coffee.

The rich aroma of coffee beans spread throughout the house.

“What have you been up to?”

“…”

Was he angry? Or was he accepting it positively?

Hae-il couldn’t figure out his father’s reaction at all.

It wasn’t exactly a positive tone, but it wasn’t a tone that told him not to do it unconditionally. It was ambiguous.

In fact, he would have immediately fought back, thinking of his old father.

However, Hae-il was calmer now that he had reconciled with his mother.

He didn’t see the man as ‘his father’ and recognized him as a different person, thinking he could persuade him even if he opposed him.

“It’s what I like the most.”

Hae-il replied as if it were obvious.

Silence passed between the father and son.

Jang Jin-soo, who was caught in between, felt like he was suffocating. He didn’t know if he was even breathing.

“Are you studying hard?”

“Honey, let me talk to you-”

The mother tried to intervene as she watched the father and son engage in a war of nerves, but Hae-il’s answer was faster.

“It depends on what kind of ‘studying’ you’re talking about.”

“You won’t be able to get into the university you want if you do it half-heartedly.”

“‘The university I want’?”

“Isn’t it?”

The father crossed his arms.

It was just like Noh Hae-il.

The father stared at Hae-il for a long time before saying.

“You’ve changed a lot since I last saw you.”

#

Professor Noh Yoon-hyun of Korea University discovered his wife and his son’s friend, who had turned pale. They seemed to think he was angry.

But he wasn’t.

Professor Noh Yoon-hyun was amazed by his son’s change and found it somewhat interesting.

He wanted to know what had happened to his indecisive son.

Noh Yoon-hyun’s son, Noh Hae-il, had always been like a sore finger to him. He wasn’t opinionated, he was indecisive, and his talents were mediocre. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see a path other than studying.

But what kind of change had occurred during that time?

‘Has he finally broken out of his shell?’ Noh Yoon-hyun wondered.

Noh Yoon-hyun liked people with strong convictions. To be precise, he liked people with clear goals, and the diligence and execution to carry them out.

He believed that only such people could succeed, and Noh Yoon-hyun wanted his son, who resembled him, to succeed.

So, he was secretly pleased with the sight of his son looking at him so clearly and saying what he wanted to say.

He thought he would be the same forever.

Noh Yoon-hyun, who was good at reading people, admitted that he was wrong.

He was even satisfied that the person who had shown him he was wrong was none other than his own son.

Of course, that didn’t mean he was going to unconditionally accept and let go of what he was doing now.

His son’s song sounded pretty good.

He also watched the YouTube channel that seemed to belong to his son.

He was quite surprised to hear the song he wrote to play for his mother. However, that was all.

Professor Noh Yoon-hyun was not the kind of parent who would unconditionally accept and let go of his son just because he suddenly wanted to do music.

Especially if it was a change that occurred without context like this.

Wanting to do music could be a simple whim of a teenage son.

Also, even if he was serious now, he might give up later.

Life is unpredictable.

As a father, he couldn’t simply look at it positively.

But before that. He wanted to know how sincere his son was.

“I’m telling you because I think you’ve forgotten.”

Professor Noh Yoon-hyun put down his coffee cup and stared at Noh Hae-il.

His son had a dissatisfied look on his face.

He was like a volcano about to erupt if you touched it.

Professor Noh Yoon-hyun smiled gleefully inside.

“I promised you a long time ago. The day you enter Korea University, I would give you my property without any conditions.”

“-”

“It’s not much, but enough so you don’t have to worry about starving to death. Yes, I said I’d give you 900 million won [approximately $750,000 USD].”

“!”

Jang Jin-soo’s eyes widened.

900 million? Not 9 won, but 900 million? Even Sim Bongsa [a character from a Korean folktale who was blind] would open his eyes at that number.

He thought Noh Hae-il was well-off, but he didn’t think he was that rich.

Seeing this kind of wealth being exchanged, he seemed like a real gold spoon [someone born into wealth].

‘…Envious bastard,’ he thought.

As if asking what he was going to do, Noh Hae-il’s father waited for Noh Hae-il’s answer.

‘This… I have to go to Korea University,’ Jang Jin-soo thought it was obvious.

It was a number that would shake even Noh Hae-il.

At that moment, the corners of Noh Hae-il’s mouth turned up.

He wondered what he was going to say.

Hae-il looked straight at Noh Hae-il’s father.

He couldn’t even imagine how much revenue Hae-il had earned with just one album.

Of course. How could Noh Hae-il’s father know what he didn’t know?

“Is there anything to think about?”

Noh Hae-il’s father said as if he naturally expected him to agree.

He was sure that the reason he couldn’t answer was because he was tempted by a mere 900 million won.

“I was just thinking about how much of a difference it would make.”

Then Hae-il opened his mouth.

The father didn’t seem to understand his words yet.

“Maybe several dozen times? Maybe several hundred times.”

“?”

“What do you get when you divide a billion by an endlessly increasing number? I’m not very good at math.”

“…!”

He smiled belatedly as if he understood.

“You don’t seem to know the value of money, but a public official takes about 1.2 billion won after working for 31 years.”

“Then how much do you think I’ll earn if I work for 31 years?”

The father looked at him without answering.

A hot gaze was fixed on him.

Even the mother couldn’t intervene in the war of nerves.

“How much do you think you can earn in the future?”

“I don’t know?”

The father smiled as if to say, “Is that so?” and Hae-il smiled back.

“I won’t be counting them one by one.”

“!”

As before.

There would be someone else to manage his assets.

He would just glance at it and let it go.

He wouldn’t look at it again or worry about it.

No matter how much he spent, more money would come in than he spent.

“I don’t know where that confidence comes from. Is it because you’re a middle school student who doesn’t know anything that you can say that? Or-”

The father’s eyes shone sharply.

‘I felt it from the beginning, but it seemed like my father wasn’t trying to oppose me unconditionally. His tone was definitely negative, but he looked at me as if he was telling me to try to persuade him, so I was confused,’ Hae-il thought.

“Is there something else I don’t know about?”

“You’ll know if you listen to Hae-il’s song.”

The mother intervened.

She didn’t know that Noh Yoon-hyun had already heard Noh Hae-il’s song [Confession]. The father slowly shook his head.

“I know how you persuaded your mother, but I don’t like emotional appeals. Usually, the reason people appeal emotionally is because they don’t have the confidence to prove it.”

Hae-il didn’t think the same tactic would work twice. In fact, if he had met someone as rational as Noh Hae-il’s father, the tactic might not have worked the first time either.

Hae-il thought it was better that way.

It’s easier to persuade rational and reasonable people than emotional people. They’re the kind of people who say OK if you show them reasonable evidence. The man in front of him couldn’t be compared to his biological father, who wouldn’t listen to anything he said.

“Still.”

Hae-il thought Noh Hae-il’s father was like a record label president. No matter what he did, he was someone who approached him practically. He was as infinitely rational as his father, and everything could be persuaded with practicality.

“It’s the first time you’ve ever insisted on doing something.”

So Hae-il forgot one important fact.

“I like it much better.”

Noh Yoon-hyun was Noh Hae-il’s ‘father’.

The father was proudly looking at him.

#

“You, as soon as you came, you’re picking on the kid…!”

Park Seung-ah slapped Noh Yoon-hyun on the back as soon as she entered the room. There was a smack, but Noh Yoon-hyun didn’t even flinch.

“What on earth happened?”

He asked, rather puzzled.

Noh Yoon-hyun was curious about what had changed his son so much.

“It’s a long story.”

“Our night is long too.”

Park Seung-ah glared at him, rolling her eyes.

She didn’t like that her husband was picking on his son instead of getting along with him after seeing him for the first time in a long time.

“I had something else to say, but I’ll postpone it until tomorrow.”

“What is it? Is it important?”

“Yes.”

He had to talk about college-related matters too, but the atmosphere was such that he couldn’t say anything.

“Do you know that Hae-il made a song for me? If you see it too.”

“I’ve already heard it. It was easy to find.”

“And yet you told him to study?”

“I need to know what he’s thinking. And I still think it’s right to just study if you’re mediocre.”

“How can you say that after listening to that song?”

It wasn’t wrong.

Park Seung-ah also thought it was right to study if you weren’t particularly good at anything, and that’s why her goal was Korea University. But her mind changed when she heard Hae-il’s song.

There may be many sons who enter Korea University, but there will be no sons who make music for their mothers.

“Then when are you going to believe in and support Hae-il’s talent?”

“He has to prove that in the future.”

“You said you liked it.”

He did like that confidence.

But this is this, and that is that.

Noh Yoon-hyun said arrogantly.

“If he’s my son, shouldn’t he be like that?”

His expression was exactly like Noh Hae-il’s, so Park Seung-ah couldn’t hate him.

#

“Hey, don’t ever call me or invite me again. I’m never coming to your house again.”

Jang Jin-soo’s face was pale.

He didn’t know why he had indigestion, but he had so much indigestion that he couldn’t breathe. Hae-il grabbed the first aid kit and gave it to him, and Jang Jin-soo found a digestive medicine in it and took it.

“Your father is really scary. Isn’t he angry?”

“I don’t think so.”

“That’s not angry? Then how scary is he when he’s angry? No, but what makes you say that? 900 million, no, is 1 billion won the name of someone’s dog house?”

Jang Jin-soo said, feeling sorry for himself.

1 billion won isn’t money that just anyone can have.

And on the other hand, he was ashamed of himself for being tempted and compared to Noh Hae-il, so he argued.

“As a dog house name,” Hae-il imagined for a moment. “It’s kind of rockin’.”

How could a dog house name be Billion.

Jang Jin-soo agreed with Hae-il and laughed.

“And Noh Hae-il.”

“?”

“Make sure to watch SOYOU episodes 1 and 2.”

Jang Jin-soo, who had been laughing for a long time, said as he was about to leave.

He had already made a fuss with his mother, telling her to watch episodes 1 and 2, and he didn’t know he would say the same thing again.

“My mother will watch it anyway.”

“No, not your mother, you. You have to watch it. I’m even prepared to edit it, that’s how well I spoke.”

Hae-il scoffed.

It wasn’t even edited, but he was showing off.

Episode 1 will air on December 13th, and episode 2 on the 20th. There’s still a long way to go, but Jang Jin-soo immediately urged him to make a promise.

“If I have time.”

Hae-il replied to the questioning gaze.

“I think I’ll be recording my second album.”

“! Already?”

It hasn’t been that long since the first album came out.

He wondered if a song could come out this quickly.

It seemed like it hadn’t even been a month since he uploaded it last time.

He was amazed at how he could mechanically churn out songs like this.

“No, but you can watch SOYOU. You finish recording quickly!”

Jang Jin-soo was admiring what kind of song would come out, but then he suddenly remembered. Unlike him, Noh Hae-il really finished recording in one take. So he wasn’t really saying he was too busy to watch it, but he was making excuses because he didn’t want to watch it. As he spoke, he got angry and his voice rose.

However, Hae-il didn’t even pretend to listen and touched his shaggy bangs.

“Busy.”