The Road to Glory Chapter 122 - What Do You Think?

The stage of the art center where Roh Haeil’s fan meeting was taking place was decorated like a typical classroom, fitting the “school” theme.

A large screen visible from anywhere in the audience seating area seemed ready to display a boring PPT presentation soon.

In front of the screen were desks and a teacher’s podium reminiscent of a 00s era school.

Next to the podium was a green chalkboard. Written in small letters on it was “pork cutlet” with five stars next to it, reminding anyone of the most important part of their school days – school lunch.

But most importantly, written in large letters on the chalkboard was “New Transfer Student!”

The audience seats began to fill with people of all ages, many wearing school uniforms. Even those without uniforms tried to dress as close to a school uniform as possible. It wouldn’t have been strange to think this was a school festival being held in an auditorium.

Once everyone was seated, the theater doors closed.

Along with that, it gradually darkened. Around the time the murmuring of people quieted down, a familiar melody was heard.

The title track from Roh Haeil’s regular album played softly as background music.

With that, the stage lights came on, revealing a boy sitting on top of a desk, dressed as a transfer student wearing a hoodie under his school uniform.

He smiled and waved one hand at the 1,052 classmates in front of him.

“Hello everyone.”

And so the fan meeting began.

#

Whoever proposed it, the school-themed fan meeting was clearly suggested by someone educated, from the start to its composition. Of course, the elites who made it through the 1052:N competition ratio would have been happy with anything.

While the small theater concert focused on Roh Haeil or Roh Haeil and guests, the fan meeting centered on Roh Haeil and the Roh Haeil band.

What this means is that no outsiders were called to MC this fan meeting. That’s not to say there was no host.

“Ahem, nice to meet you all. I’m Principal Nam Gyuhwan.”

It means that all the members of Roh Haeil’s band took on MC roles for their respective parts.

To match the “school” theme.

The fan meeting’s opening and introduction of the schedule was done through a lecture by Principal Nam Gyuhwan, who recently got an afro hairstyle.

“The college entrance exam is over. I have good news for you. Today’s classes will be shortened to 4 periods-“

What? Only 4 periods?

People who had been happily listening to the principal’s lecture and Roh Haeil’s congratulatory speech as both transfer and current student representative booed.

“Teacher, I want to study more!”

“Teacher, I failed a year!”

“I signed up for night self-study! Mom told me not to come home until 10!”

Some people burst out laughing at the irony of young adults and middle-aged people saying things that would make teachers cry tears of joy if this were a real school, thinking the kids had finally matured.

But everyone had equally serious faces.

What’s with just 4 periods? We should have 7 periods packed full, plus night self-study.

However, Principal Nam Gyuhwan calmly refuted:

“Everyone, studying is about stamina. You know rest is the most important, right?”

“Well, a year or so is doable.”

“Your mother… That’s a bit hard to argue with…”

He stubbornly insisted on shortened classes.

As the introductory lecture with the schedule overview ended, the ‘Welcome to my world’ bell rang, and first period history class began.

The chronology of Roh Haeil, who debuted on February 28th.

Although it hadn’t even been a year yet, the quality of material shown in less than a year was impressive.

People always say “Where did our singer go?”, but considering what he’s shown in less than a year, it didn’t seem like much of a hiatus at all.

The video timeline progressed.

From late winter to spring, May festivals, countless stars of summer, an LA cafe, and then Roh Haeil’s regular album, guerrilla performances, followed by footage from the small theater concerts.

Live footage that had never been released except for fancams existed here.

Following the small theater concert, Scorpion’s concert appeared briefly. The boy who appeared as a guest at Scorpion’s concert treats the audience to dazzling guitar play, a new song, and the unreleased track ‘Until dawn comes’.

People entranced by the music wished to see the full video rather than just edited clips, but all things must come to an end.

However, they didn’t even have time to feel disappointed that the music had stopped.

Because as soon as the first period history section ended, the band’s accompaniment was heard. The fan meeting officially began with “Voice to voice”, a track from Roh Haeil’s first regular album.

Second period was Probability and Statistics.

A subject some might despise, but this corner was about the survey results from users who succeeded in ticketing. Math teacher Moon Seoyeon, acting as MC, displayed big data on the screen.

[SNS, Stargram, NuTube, Communication, Schedule]

These were the things fans most often requested from Roh Haeil, and also the most searched terms online recently.

“Do some SNS!”

“Please, NuTube and Stargram!”

“Haeil, tell us your schedule too.”

People shouted as if they’d been waiting for this, and the boy sitting on the desk held the microphone with a troubled expression.

“Am I that interesting?”

No, he might actually be enjoying this.

Even though he already knew the answer, the boy who asked like that made the fans anxious.

Only after confirming the fans’ love once more did the boy smirk.

“Alright. I’ll give it a try.”

It was something he was planning to do eventually anyway.

He always enjoyed conversing with fans.

That’s when Moon Seoyeon, who had been quietly waiting for the boy’s answer, whispered into the microphone.

“Everyone, actually, we have a lot of unreleased videos. We’ll try to get them uploaded.”

Her voice was soon drowned out by cheers.

Originally, they bought the camera to monitor performances.

Somehow they ended up with quite a few videos of the members chatting, the boy intensely focused on playing in the sunlight, and so on.

Moon Seoyeon recalled the most impressive video she had kept, thinking it might be useful someday.

The video of the members sitting around at the label listening to ‘Welcome to my world’, being moved, opening up about their true feelings, and the boy’s disgusted reaction afterwards.

Besides that, there were plenty of videos that would make fans’ eyes roll back, like footage from their LA trip.

The big data and survey results shown in first period history and second period probability and statistics were good, and the boy’s performances during breaks – with MC members frantically running to join as session musicians, which was another point of laughter – were also good, but there were one corner fans were looking forward to the most.

Third period Korean Language Arts. In other words, the ‘Q&A’ corner.

Korean teacher Han Jinyeong, who had let down his dreadlocks into a ponytail, read post-it notes people had left on the blackboard as he ran the corner.

Picking up one post-it, Han Jinyeong held back laughter as he began reading the very first one.

“Haeil, be honest. You enjoy tormenting us, don’t you?”

Hahaha! Amidst the laughter, the boy’s indignant “When did I ever?” could be heard. Similar questions were, of course, about the small theater concerts.

“The small theater concerts were nice, but do you have any plans to perform at bigger venues?”

“Is there a hidden meaning behind 830?”

Sympathetic laughter erupted at the fans’ tearful questions.

And from someone’s question that hit the nail on the head, they learned the reason for their suffering.

“I’m asking just in case, but Haeil, you’ve never tried ticket booking yourself, right?”

The boy blinked.

Honestly, he had never tried ticket booking even once. What reason would he have to do ticket booking? He usually received tickets from acquaintances, and if he just mentioned it to someone, they would soon present them to him.

He had never done ticket booking, not in the past and not now. He had heard it was difficult and seen people crying on fan cafes, but it was hard for him to truly feel it.

When the boy didn’t answer, Han Jinyeong added something not written on the post-it note, hoping it wasn’t true.

“What would you do if you failed to get tickets for the date you originally wanted to go?”

The boy answered nonchalantly.

“I’d just get tickets for a different date.”

“…Um, Haeil.”

Ah-.

The fans couldn’t hide their sighs, and even Han Jinyeong couldn’t help clicking his tongue. And this statement would forever remain as one of Haeil Antoinette’s famous quotes.

Of course, theoretically, it wasn’t wrong. If there were tickets left, you could buy them for a different date.

He just missed the fact that this doesn’t apply to Roh Haeil’s concert tickets or tickets for any artist of a certain scale.

Despite hammering another nail into the fans’ hearts like this, the boy still couldn’t be hated.

A question from a fan who had hastily written on a post-it after opening their merchandise:

“Wasn’t it hard preparing the music box?”

The boy looked around at people and asked back.

“You didn’t like it?”

People all refuted together.

“No!”

“I really like it!”

“I like it so much I could die!”

“Right?”

He naturally thought they would like it.

A music box was something he had always wanted to make with his music in it. Since people usually liked the things he liked, he thought it was obvious.

The boy who shrugged then soon grinned and added.

“But don’t die.”

“You need to listen to my songs for the rest of your life.”

“!”

The casual speech concept was a stroke of genius.

The speechless fan wanted to bow 108 times to whoever suggested the casual speech concept.

While the speaking part was post-it Q&A, the writing part was fans’ letters to Roh Haeil. In particular, there were a few concepts, and the most impressive was a letter from a Roh Haeil fan from one year in the future.

[We finally succeeded in getting tickets for all the concerts!]

It contained a fan’s future diary entry about Roh Haeil performing at the Seoul Arena Complex Cultural Facility next November and achieving tickets for all concerts.

The Seoul Arena Complex Cultural Facility is Korea’s largest concert venue to be completed in October 2025 near Changdong Station, able to accommodate up to 28,000 people for standing performances.

“If he performs there, ticket booking should be easier.”

“Seoul Arena is enough for we all watch the concerts.”

“By then, we’ll no longer be just sharks.”

The happy future diary entry was enough to stir many fans’ hearts.

In fact, Halo agreed with this part. While small theater concerts were nice, he was thinking of performing at a bigger venue next time.

“Let’s meet at Seoul Arena next year.”

In reality, unless you’re of a certain caliber, you wouldn’t even think of performing at a large venue like Seoul Arena, but the fans were happy either way. Even if it didn’t actually happen at Seoul Arena, they hoped for a venue big enough for all the fans to watch them.

The really fortunate thing was that while Roh Haeil was slowly gaining recognition overseas, foreign fans weren’t numerous enough yet to threaten domestic concert seating.

For idol groups discussed as world-class, foreign fans would sometimes try booking tickets for domestic concerts, but Roh Haeil’s fans were relieved their singer wasn’t that kind of idol.

After reading the fans’ support, the last class of 4th period, Art, proceeded.

First, the visual arts portion was photo time and selecting the best-dressed.

One might wonder how there could be a best-dressed when everyone was wearing the same school uniform, but it seems not everyone had their alma mater’s uniform. There were people who came wearing creative uniforms.

From someone cosplaying a character from the drama ‘From Today On’, to anime uniforms one might have heard of, to uniforms that looked like what they would have worn in elementary school rather than actual elementary school uniforms. Going even further, there was someone who came wearing hanbok as if it were a Sungkyunkwan scholar’s uniform.

The best-dressed winner was given one wish. They could use that wish to request something from Roh Haeil. Most chose things like photos, autographs, hugs, and other personal requests, while some even gave gifts instead.

Of course, there was also a best-dressed winner who wanted to play the “Of course” game:

“You know you’re the coolest in the world, right?”

Most questions were actually borderline excessive flattery.

“You’ll do another fan meeting next year too, right?”

“Of course. Naturally.”

“And have a concert at a big venue.”

“Of course.”

“You won’t forget us today, right?”

The boy paused at the fan’s words, then soon smirked.

“How could I forget you.”

“!”

The boy may have lost the “Of course” game, but it seemed the real loser was the fan who screamed and ran away.

And following visual arts came physical education.

[Those days back then]

Roh Haeil sang ‘Ever End’ and came down from the stage. Light followed wherever the boy went.

[That time]

He high-fived people, briefly sat on the stairs to take photos since there were no empty seats, and after making a full round of the hall, returned to the stage and gestured like a conductor.

Lastly, music.

[We who wandered there]

Left, right.

Voices rang out only from where the boy pointed.

[At the end of this road]

When he raised both hands, the voices finally came together.

And so the fan meeting schedule ended.

But just as concerts have encores, fan meetings have what you might call after-school activities. This meant there was still the seat draw left. People could leave anytime, but they couldn’t bring themselves to vacate their seats just in case.

What you could get from the seat draw was similar to what the best-dressed winners got. With the fan meeting coming to an end, most people chose autographs or commemorative photos.

In fact, all the likely questions had already been asked, and in a free democratic society, personal gain was more appealing than public interest. Also, they didn’t want to ruin the fan meeting of the boy they liked by asking mischievous or inappropriate questions.

At that moment, a man who won the seat draw spoke up when his turn came.

“What do you think…about being called Halo?”

With that one question, the bustling fan meeting venue became quiet, almost chilly.

Right after Roh Haeil’s birthday party, [HALO 10th Album Cannot be cut] was released, and everyone had moved on saying “I told you it’s not him.”

Fans who had been criticized for the ‘Roh Haeil = Halo theory’ frowned, thinking ‘Why ask that now?’, while some were curious about the boy’s reaction.

The boy on stage stayed still for a moment, then raised the corners of his mouth. He knew someday someone would call his name. When that time came, he intended to respond just as he had to Nam Gyuhwan and Scorpion.

Whatever the intention, the person who asked indirectly instead of bluntly had a familiar face.

Halo soon remembered the oddly shaped glasses. It was the person holding a camera and murmuring in front of his label.

Halo felt puzzled about why he asked like that, and at the same time felt his heart sinking. Was he displeased that a reporter had come to a place meant for fans? Or-.

Finally, the boy smiled faintly and opened his mouth.

With what he most wanted to say right now.

“What do you think?”

#

And so Roh Haeil’s three-hour fan meeting came to an end. Vivid reviews filled with not just Roh Haeil’s live performances, but also the words he left behind, poured in.

And as Roh Haeil’s merchandise – music boxes, hologram cards, and daily life photocards – were revealed there, those who failed to get tickets went beyond shedding tears of blood to actually vomiting blood.

At that moment, the youngest writer of ‘Spring Again’ who was reading the reviews of Roh Haeil’s fan meeting suddenly opened her eyes wide.

If she had been a regular member of the public or a fan, there would have been more noteworthy news to focus on, but as the youngest writer on the variety show team, only one thing caught her eye.

Roh Haeil’s upcoming schedule that he revealed during the Q&A corner.

“PD-nim! Big news!”

When the youngest writer suddenly stood up, everyone in the meeting room turned to look at her. Ignoring them, she shouted:

“Roh Haeil has plans this winter?”

It was news they hadn’t expected at all, but the youngest writer was strangely excited. Soon, words that would provoke a reaction from the PD were added.

“He says he’s going on a European trip.”

“!”

Whether by coincidence or divine intervention, it matched perfectly with their schedule.