The Road To Glory [EN]: Chapter 971

< Omission and Prejudice >

“J-Just kill me.”

End of July.

A tremendous heat wave had arrived.

It was around the time when citizens, unable to sleep due to the tiresome cicada sounds and humidity that felt like being in a hot bath, began to head to the mountains, the sea, or Caribbean Bay for summer vacation.

Moon Seo-yeon, having paid a delivery fee of 3,000 won to receive a liter of iced Americano, held the coffee like a cup of poison and muttered.

“I didn’t even drink this much Americano when I was on a diet…”

Then, turning her head, she saw Han Jin-young and the boy having a serious conversation beyond the glass window. Nam Gyu-hwan had long since succumbed to caffeine overdose and was lying on the sofa.

Moon Seo-yeon, well aware that this was her future, was about to lie down on the sofa and die, but upon seeing the rough draft of HALO’s 8th album jacket uploaded in the group chat, she smiled brightly and said.

“Let’s cheer up again.”

She opened the conference room door energetically.

The cover for HALO’s 8th album, set to be released in early August, was in production.

Starting with HALO’s 6th album, Dancing in the Rain, they had been using illustrated covers.

To talk about this, we need to go back to a day in May.

HALO had unusually requested Veil to create the 6th album’s illustrated cover.

And Veil, who would do anything for his requests, gladly accepted.

August Veil personally visited workshops to select someone who could draw the picture HALO wanted, and narrowed it down to about three people.

However, one of them declined due to scheduling conflicts before even hearing the name ‘HALO,’ and another naturally thought it was a scam and refused.

The Austrian illustrator who received the commission drew ‘four feet dancing in the rain’ with some skepticism, and instantly rose to become a top-tier illustrator who drew ‘HALO’s 6th album cover’ in the indie scene.

HALO, which had caused a sensation with every album released, changed the life of an illustrator with their 6th album, and he literally made a fortune, even appearing on the Ellen Show in the United States, gaining tremendous wealth and popularity.

From then on, it wasn’t just the illustration industry that was buzzing.

Artists who could be generally referred to as ‘artists,’ including illustrators, street artists, painters, printmakers, designers, and cartoonists, began to make requests to Veil.

Please let them draw HALO’s album.

Including people who wanted money and fame, people who just wanted to draw his album for HALO, and even people who would draw for free, wanting nothing more than to meet him once, or even just see him from afar.

Around that time, how many artists had gathered in front of Veil’s company? HALO had no idea.

Anyway. That day, there was even a false report on the news that artists had collectively stood up for their rights.

Through the countless solicitations, requests, and threats, the cover for HALO’s 7th album, Requiem for the Dead Peter Pan, was drawn by a famous French fairy tale artist.

The illustration, which beautifully and Märchen-like [fairy tale-like] digested the gruesome fairy tale image of the dead Peter Pan, adorned the front page of the newspaper along with HALO’s shocking song.

It was very unusual for a singer’s album cover to grace the front page, rather than a political or social issue, but the number of copies sold proved that they were not wrong.

Of course, the fairy tale artist did not experience as impactful a rise as the 6th album’s illustrator.

He was already a famous artist, and the profits earned from the album cover were donated entirely to children’s organizations.

However, there was a rumor that he had received HALO’s autograph, which the artist dismissed with no comment.

And back again.

End of July.

Moon Seo-yeon, who was the first in the world to see HALO’s 8th album cover, checked the illustrations from time to time with a proud face.

If someone else were to check her phone, they might find it strange.

The theme of HALO’s 8th album was horror.

The scary illustrations were by no means pleasing.

Anyway, by this point, everyone would have realized something. The meeting currently in progress was not about HALO’s 8th album.

HALO’s 8th album had already been recorded long ago.

What they were doing now was, rather.

-Ask and Double

It could be said to be an extension of that.

The flapping of wings caused by criticisms such as ‘Nohaeil’s music is always the same,’ ‘He can only do acoustic and ballads,’ and ‘The next album will probably be the same.’

“Ugh, it’s difficult even after listening to it again.”

Han Jin-young crossed his arms and pondered.

“Are you still worried about the album concept?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s really difficult.”

If it were another singer, they would be taking time to find a better song, a better hook, a better melody line, but this meeting was closer to a concept meeting.

They had listened to the songs that HALO had occasionally made.

Each one was good, but what made them so troubled was that the themes, concepts, and even genres of the music were all different.

HALO, who had been told that he could only do one genre, poured out all sorts of inspiration, and this was the result.

The sounds of the played albums mixed together.

A whistle followed by the sound of a motorcycle engine.

Dissonance and sounds of all genres mixed together.

It was only natural to feel like going crazy.

Acoustic.

Math rock and alternative rock.

Acappella, electronic, and even hip-hop.

All genres were gathered, so it was no wonder it was chaotic.

Moreover, the themes of the songs were the same.

You only had to look at the titles of the songs without even listening to the lyrics.

In conclusion, the songs that HALO had made this time had no uniformity. Just a list of good songs.

“There’s really no theme, and there’s no rule.”

“No rule, huh.”

Hearing Moon Seo-yeon’s words carefully, HALO suddenly raised the corners of his mouth.

“Everyone’s having a hard time narrowing down the songs, right?”

Han Jin-young, catching a subtle nuance in HALO’s question, looked at him subtly and nodded. Moon Seo-yeon did the same.

“Then.”

HALO’s mouth opened.

“Shall we just go with it as it is?”

At those words, the two people’s eyes widened.

“!”

“Yes? Like this… all of them?”

“I don’t think it’s bad.”

At first, he was thinking of releasing an EP album with the themes and subjects of the album matched, but his mind had changed. When had he ever lived with a theme in life and lived regularly?

“No theme is the theme. No rule is the rule. No uniformity is the concept. How about it?”

HALO smiled mischievously.

Moon Seo-yeon inadvertently agreed to his confident face, and Han Jin-young thought for a moment and asked.

“Then what about the album title?”

In fact, the story of the concept and theme was on the same line. It was difficult to decide on a title that would represent the album.

Usually, the album title was similar to the title track or was determined by the activity goals, music world, or special concept. In Nohaeil’s case, he followed the title track and the overall album theme.

But Han Jin-young asked if he was going to break that this time, and HALO quietly looked at the titles of the songs.

In fact, there was a song that he had in mind as the title track. Han Jin-young tilted his head at the song HALO pointed to.

“I thought you were going to go with rock for this title track, but are you going with acoustic?”

There was only one acoustic song out of the twelve songs. Rock and roll music were usually the main genres, but HALO picked an acoustic song.

He thought it was better than choosing acappella, but Han Jin-young and Moon Seo-yeon didn’t understand it well.

However, HALO didn’t seem to be willing to persuade them on this point.

“And the album title will be like this, with two letters.”

HALO pointed to the first letter with his finger, and the album title was created.

[-my world]

“Then this album.”

Moon Seo-yeon, who had been quietly counting the number of songs, shouted.

“It’s not an EP, it’s a full album. The first full album.”

“Oh? Come to think of it, is it the first full album even if you add them all up?”

“That’s right! President, shall we have a company dinner today to commemorate the first full album?”

A total of twelve songs.

Usually, an album with ten to thirteen or more songs is called a full album, so it clearly met the specifications of a full album.

“Anyway, I completely agree with the president’s opinion.”

Moon Seo-yeon still had questions about the title track, but she agreed, thinking that the president must have a reason. Above all, she liked the album title. It felt like it tied together songs with no rules or themes into one.

“It’s going to be a big hit again this time.”

The first full album of the reclusive (?) Nohaeil.

The album with twelve different genres didn’t even seem to need promotion.

Nohaeil’s full album?

This alone is ear-pricking [attention-grabbing].

Nohaeil’s rock.

And Nohaeil’s hip-hop.

Moreover, Nohaeil’s electronic music!

I can already imagine the fandom and the Melon charts [Korean music streaming service charts] burning up even though the album hasn’t been released yet.

“What are you going to do now?”

Han Jin-young gestured to wake up Nam Gyu-hwan, but HALO raised his hand and stopped him.

“I’m going to get a feature now.”

“Feature? Are you going to do a feature, President?”

“Yeah.”

It hadn’t been long since he realized that collaborating with KDS wasn’t bad after having a rendezvous [meeting]. HALO was thinking of doing a feature this time.

It seems like it will be a colorful work in many ways this time.

#

“Feature? Me?”

[No.]

Shin Joo-hyuk, who was on the phone, stopped walking in the agency hallway. He was dumbfounded by this firmness.

“Hey, look at this kid. You don’t have to be so firm. I don’t think I’m at a level to be treated like this.”

The staff passing by saw him and greeted him.

Not only the singer team, but also the actor teams 1, 2, and 3.

Shin Joo-hyuk also smiled with his expression and grumbled to the boy.

There wasn’t anyone in the country who didn’t know Shin Joo-hyuk’s name and face, but this arrogant kid seemed to not know him well.

“But how long has it been since you worked on a musical that you’re making a comeback-.”

While speaking, Shin Joo-hyuk once again recalled the true identity of this kid.

“…No, you were always like this. I forgot for a moment. That you’re a monster kid.”

Nohaeil didn’t even pretend to hear his mutterings and immediately got to the point.

[I was originally going to ask Senior Leeve for a feature.]

“Chaewon is on an overseas tour.”

[Yes, so I’m trying to find someone else.]

“Hmm.”

It was worth asking.

He was a guy who only worked in the studio, so he didn’t have a wide network, unless he had been in the entertainment industry for a long time.

“I’m at the agency now, so I’ll ask around. But there might be rumors. Is that okay?”

[Yeah, well.]

He didn’t say anything longer, but it seemed like that’s what he wanted.

What a clever junior.

But Shin Joo-hyuk didn’t feel bad about his junior’s cleverness. He knew that you needed a certain amount of cleverness to live in this world.

Well, with the boy’s talent, people around him would take care of him even if he wasn’t clever.

“But don’t you really have anything for me to feature on? You took my motorcycle sound last time and didn’t contact me for a while, so I’m a little pissed.”

Shin Joo-hyuk also thought that if this junior ever asked for a feature or collaboration, he would refuse a couple of times to tease him before accepting.

But this kid doesn’t seem to have any intention of collaborating with him.

[I will definitely mention that your motorcycle featured.]

“Hmph… I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Laughter is heard from the other side of the phone.

I really need to set a date and instill some Confucianism [traditional Korean values].

Shin Joo-hyuk shook his head and went into the singer team.

He was going to meet with the president about the contract.

Shin Joo-hyuk, checking the time, shrugged his shoulders. Well, tell him to wait a bit.

“Oh my, who is this? Joo-hyuk, welcome.”

“Hello, Team Leader Lee. I’m here because I have something to ask.”

“Oh my, I have to help Joo-hyuk with anything he needs. What is it?”

One day later.

Shin Joo-hyuk thought that rumors would spread, but it was faster than he thought.

Of course, he’s a star who’s heating up the year.

It didn’t even take a day for it to spread from large agencies to small and medium-sized ones. Seeing that singers who had even a brief connection with him contacted him right away, he wondered if these people had been waiting for it.

[Wonder: ㅎㅎ Haeil, hello]

[Lee Sung-rim: Haeil, do you like fishing by any chance?]

[Leeve (Lee Chaewon): ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Let’s definitely do it together next time, Haeil]

Of course, not everyone accepted the rumor that Nohaeil was looking for a feature positively.

“Wow, this bastard has a serious case of star disease.”

“…A bit, right?”

“Is he at a level to get a feature? No, he can get a feature. But he’s not going out and getting it himself, he’s spreading rumors like this? This bastard has a serious case of star disease.”

“What should we do? Should we still ask him once?”

“What are you asking? Just cut him off.”

“But singers might want it-.”

“We need to cut his spirit once. That’s it, cut him off.”

“Yes, sir.”

At a mid-sized company, the president cut off Nohaeil’s feature without even mentioning it to the affiliated singer.

“First, I need to send the guide song. What, do you think I’ll feature on just any song?”

“Still, wouldn’t featuring with Nohaeil be an interesting experience, teacher?”

“That’s it. What would I do playing with a kid?”

There were also negative mid-sized singers who weren’t directly offered the feature.

Still, countless proposals to feature on Nohaeil’s label ‘H’ arrived.

Haeil, who had never proposed a feature to anyone or done it in his previous life, took it unexpectedly that so many people were sending love calls.

It’s not like he’s giving them his song, it’s just a feature.

Featuring is a collaboration, but in reality, isn’t it just singing a part and being done with it? But so many singers want it.

However, the other members took it for granted.

They had heard countless featured songs and knew that featuring wasn’t just about singing a part of the song.

Well, there could be many meanings to featuring.

Not only putting my name on that person’s album, but also new stimulation, experience, and friendship.

Among entertainers who are ghostly good at grasping public interest and crave their attention, who would hate to have a friendship with Nohaeil?

This is just a part of that interest.

“How about this person?”

“Hmm.”

Unlike the countless love calls that arrived, the selection was a bit difficult. HALO was picky, but the hip-hop song he wanted to feature on was originally based on Leeve’s vocals.

Haeil listened to the songs attached to the emails, identified their voices, and narrowed them down. Everyone was making interesting music, but there was no one who seemed to match his song.

Should I just ask Leeve when she comes back?

If she had gone on an overseas shoot instead of an overseas tour, he would have asked her remotely. He couldn’t ask a singer who was in the middle of a concert to record.

As the work of selecting a feature was delayed more than expected, Shin Joo-hyuk, who came to the studio to listen to his motorcycle feature, spoke up.

“You want a vocalist like Leeve, right?”

“…”

“Um. A good kid just came to mind.”

“I’ve listened to all the songs of the singers in your company.”

“Not our company.”

At those words, HALO finally raised his head.

Shin Joo-hyuk strangely dragged out his words. It seemed like something was bothering him.

“She has a good tone and sings well. I don’t know if she’ll be able to do it because she’s busy right now, but I can ask. But I don’t know if she’s really the kid you want.”

She has a good tone and vocals, so what’s the problem?

Then, Shin Joo-hyuk hesitated and opened his mouth.

“That kid isn’t just a singer.”