The Road to Glory Chapter 125 - Catch Me If You Can

“What’s all this? Are we going camping?”

“Ramen and kimchi are essentials when going abroad, you know? What about you? Are you going to Caribbean Bay or something?”

“Europe is all about beaches. And the best ones are nude beaches…”

“Nude or not, it’s going to be freezing cold. Even the Mediterranean is cold in winter. But Jinyeong-oppa, what’s that?”

“Oh? They said you need locks to avoid pickpockets.”

The carrier adorned with numerous locks looked more like it was sealing dangerous items rather than travel goods.

“It’s not that no one brings them, but it seems like we won’t be able to carry it around either…”

Moon Seoyeon’s luggage was actually quite substantial too. When told to pack lightly, the members had brought carriers packed to the brim, cluttering the label’s office.

It was then that a salaryman visited the label.

“Hello. It’s, um, been a while.”

The members looked at each other, confused by the unfamiliar office worker.

‘Been a while?’

‘Who is he? Do we know him?’

‘No idea.’

Only Halo, who had allowed him to come to the label, knew who he was.

“It’s been a long time since I promised, hasn’t it?”

Not that long. Just a bit? At the boy’s response, the salaryman rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Given how much he had boasted, he was quite late and had nothing to say.

“Let’s look at the item first.”

To break the awkward atmosphere, the man started unpacking what he had brought. A huge bag. As people’s gazes converged, the salaryman proudly opened the bag.

“It turned out better than expected.”

“!”

“What do you think? Do you like it?”

Halo, who had been quietly examining it, eventually nodded.

The time was December 28th.

A preview of the original musical ‘Rock‘ was being held in Jamsil. The L Theater was busy inside and out. Inside, the audience kept calling for curtain calls, while the musical ticket manager was constantly answering phone calls, and the on-site ticket manager was surrounded by people who had just watched the preview.

When the gleaming eyes, reflecting the heat of the musical, fixed on him, he felt like he was in a horror movie.

But this too must mean that the musical is on the path to success.

Although the part-time worker didn’t care about the outcome of the musical, as a musical enthusiast – that’s why he was working part-time at L Theater – it was different.

He twitched his hand, thinking of the ticket he had hidden in the safest place. He was dying to know the reviews. If he hadn’t been on duty, he would have grabbed his phone immediately.

As time passed, December 31st arrived. The date of Rock‘s first performance was approaching.

From the afternoon, L Theater was bustling with ticket winners and those hoping to get cancellation tickets. Some were even looking for merchandise in advance.

“Don’t you have any music boxes here?”

“Huh? What?”

“No, never mind…”

Some were looking through the pamphlets, trying to find which numbers Sin Joohyeok and Roh Haeil participated in.

“It’s not written here?”

“It really isn’t. How inconsiderate.”

“Still, we’ll probably be able to tell when we hear the songs, right? Both Roh Haeil and Sin Joohyeok have distinct styles.”

Critics who hadn’t attended the preview also started appearing as the performance time approached.

As audience seating began, a man sitting in the second row center of the VIP section was absentmindedly looking at the stage when he suddenly startled.

It wasn’t that someone had appeared on stage, but rather he noticed the family sitting in the first row in front of him.

He didn’t actually know who the middle-aged couple was.

He just thought, as a musical enthusiast, that the tall middle-aged man shouldn’t sit in the back, and the elegant-looking woman was talking to her son seated next to her.

The middle-aged couple just seemed like a happy couple, nothing strange about them. It was just that the person sitting next to them wasn’t an ordinary person.

“Are you really not going to tell me which song it is?”

“No. It won’t be fun if I tell you in advance.”

“Alright, I’ll look forward to it. Mom can tell whose song it is just by hearing the accompaniment.”

‘Mom? Ah, so that’s his mother! No wonder they looked alike.’

Even with masks on, the boy and the woman looked quite similar, recognizable just by their eyes.

‘Wow, amazing. Roh Haeil came with his parents. I wonder if I could ask for an autograph.’

It was clearly a private time, so he hesitated to approach.

And it was the same for others too.

The woman sitting next to him was staring intently at Roh Haeil’s profile with burning eyes.

She seemed to want to speak, her mouth opening and closing. Her last bit of conscience held her back. When their eyes met, the woman looked embarrassed.

‘Perhaps?’

‘Yes.’

‘It wouldn’t be right to approach now, would it?’

‘Probably not.’

‘Um, by the way, did you come alone?’

And there were more than just a few people thinking like this. Whispers of ‘It’s Roh Haeil!’ spread, and the gazes of those seated in the audience converged on him.

Some decided to ask for an autograph after the musical ended.

Soon, the lights in the audience dimmed with a broadcast announcement.

Until then, their minds were filled with expectations and anxieties about the musical’s premiere, and interest in Roh Haeil.

It didn’t take long for Jeongwoo and his song, his life, to erase their idle thoughts and replace all their thoughts.

The musical ‘Rock‘ is the story of Jeongwoo, a college student living in the 1960s and 70s, his friends, and the band ‘Red Dragonfly’ born in the early days of rock.

Jeongwoo, a Korea University student, is the only son of a family that’s not poor but tight on money. Regardless of how his peers live, he prioritizes the peaceful well-being of himself and his family above all else.

Of course, he has his own spark.

The desire to create a better world with his friends.

However, Jeongwoo considers his life more important and doesn’t engage in anything that might put his life at risk, refusing to join hands with his friends.

Then one day, after drinking with his friends, Jeongwoo goes to a club and encounters a rock band for the first time. In fact, the band’s music was merely an imitation of a famous band from across the sea, but the heat of rock is clearly transmitted to him.

He tries not to think about it, but it keeps coming to mind.

He sings in an empty classroom and runs into his first love, Hyerim.

Hyerim, who lives life passionately, forms a rock band with Minseop, his childhood friend, and her uncle Suil.

“The Beatles means beetles, they say. Let’s come up with a name like that.”

“What, like cockroach?”

“Do you want to die?”

While thinking about what Korean and everyday name they could use, a dragonfly lands on the windowsill.

“How about Red Dragonfly?”

“!”

It was clearly an enthusiastic response. Of course, Minseop, who likes Hyerim, grumbles,

“Wouldn’t darner be better than red dragonfly? They live longer and are stronger.”

“Hmm, I still think Red Dragonfly sounds more Korean and rolls off the tongue better. What do you think, uncle?” (TLN: 고추잠자리 (gochujamjali)/Red dragonfly)

“Do whatever you want.”

“Uncle agrees too. What about you, Minseop?”

“Whatever you like.”

And so, the name ‘Red Dragonfly’ was born.

The band, consisting of three college students and one unemployed person, is full of fights and laughter. They fight but quickly make up, becoming close enough to openly admit they all like Hyerim. And when they truly become a band-like band, they give their first performance.

Although there were many mistakes, it was a truly joyful first and last performance of the ‘Red Dragonfly’ band.

It seems that the ‘happily ever after’ ending doesn’t exist in reality. Suil – Hyerim’s uncle and the drummer – was arrested for his social activism, and Hyerim’s family wasn’t safe either. Minseop tells Hyerim to abandon Suil in order to save her.

In the end, the ‘Red Dragonfly’ band falls like a dragonfly hit by tear gas smoke.

Hyerim’s family goes missing, and Minseop is confined at home.

In this rapidly changing situation.

Jeongwoo, who had valued his own and his family’s well-being the most, only realized what he should have done after losing everything.

And that day came.

The people move forward.

Among them was Jeongwoo, holding a guitar.

He sang the people’s song, encouraging and joining them.

A huge wall-like shield pushes in.

The people are pushed back helplessly against the wall.

Dry ice spreads across the stage like tear gas smoke, and red velvet cloth flutters like blood.

Everyone knew it was a horrific situation.

[Our song brings wind and rain]

But even in such a situation, Jeongwoo didn’t stop singing.

[The blood and tears that soaked this land]

[Will bloom into flowers of hope]

Above the flowers of groans and despair

The song of youth that will come soon.

That they will eventually overcome.

[The flag we planted will greet a new day]

Someone watched, mouth covered, being drawn into Jeongwoo’s passionate performance.

They couldn’t take their eyes off.

The last moment of youth jumping into the flame, risking death.

The song rises to its climax.

[Look at that dazzling dawn]

Jeongwoo sang an aria full of joy while curling his body as if being beaten.

Our lives

Our homes

Our names

Jeongwoo recalled the friends he had lost, and smiled brightly through his tears.

All of these things-.

[Will return-!]

The final spark is completed,

As Jeongwoo finally collapses onto the ground, the curtain falls.

The moment the stage lights went out, a wave of applause, screams, sobs, and joy surged forward.

Some burst into tears and groans they had been holding back for fear of ruining the performance, while others seemed to want to express their emotion somehow.

“It went well.”

Halo, who had watched from the audience for the first time in a long while instead of from backstage or waiting behind the scenes, expressed his highest form of respect as a simple spectator, thinking that now he could go on his trip.

Park Hyuk had finally completed his song.

The song, completed with ‘Park Hyuk’s’ interpretation and the composer’s feedback, was even better than he had imagined.

It felt like Jeongwoo, who lived through that era, could really have existed,

And that no one but such a Jeongwoo would be acceptable.

Of course, what he heard was the ‘Rock‘ starring Park Hyuk, so he didn’t know how the other double-cast version would turn out.

But he didn’t think about seeing it twice. They practiced together, so wouldn’t it be similar?

He could see another performance when he returned from his trip if there were any left, but he knew the planned performance period was until March. He didn’t even know if he’d be in Korea then.

His mother, who had been holding a handkerchief and tearing up since the musical’s intermission, now had her face buried in it. She wasn’t sobbing, but tears kept streaming down. She herself didn’t know if it was mourning for Jeongwoo, respect for Jeongwoo’s courage, or if she was crying because of the joy and emotion in Jeongwoo’s song, but one thing was certain.

The afterglow was intense, and she wanted to watch this musical alone several times.

“It’s really good.”

The curtain calls continued.

The fact that the curtain calls kept going on and on meant that the audience response was good. It might also be because the actors couldn’t break away from the lingering emotions of the stage.

Neither side wanted to end it. This stage.

When the curtain calls finally ended, his mother asked softly.

“The last number, it was your song, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I thought so. I was so confused with Jeongwoo’s number though.”

“That was mine too.”

“!”

His mother’s eyes flew open.

She hadn’t been confused. She had correctly identified her son’s songs.

After enjoying the lingering emotions for a while, his mother suddenly turned to look at her son, who had stood up from his seat.

Halo wore an expression of satisfaction, like someone who had just enjoyed a delicious meal. It was also the face of someone about to leave after completing all their tasks.

“Where are you going? …Are you leaving now?”

Halo looked at his parents and grinned.

#

The members remembered when they returned from LA.

How many reporters had swarmed the airport then.

They had tried to proceed with a discreet and swift check-in at the premium counter, but when the staff received Roh Haeil’s passport, their eyes lit up and they contacted someone.

“This way, please.”

And then people who clearly looked high-ranking came running, grabbed their carriers instead, and started moving somewhere.

The members, confused by the different procedure compared to when they left for LA, thought it might be because the airline was different, but as they went deeper into the airport, they became terrified.

“Where are we going now?”

“We’re not being kidnapped, are we?”

“Kidnapped at Incheon Airport? They’re probably taking us to a lounge, right?”

Han Jinyeong’s guess was wrong too.

Because where they were guided wasn’t a premium lounge, but a boarding gate. As they got into a vehicle at the boarding gate, which is rarely used except when planes are parked and connected by a tube, the members had their doubts.

And what they were guided to was a small plane.

Or more precisely, a private jet.

“Boss, did you buy a private jet too?”

Moon Seoyeon was shocked, knowing that Halo spent money like water, but buying a private jet seemed over the top.

“Unfortunately, not yet.”

He didn’t remember purchasing a private jet.

But Halo thought he knew who would do something like this. Someone who could prepare a plane along with his passport without even being told when they were departing.

“We hope you have a comfortable journey.”

A private jet personally guided by airport staff.

As foreign pilots and flight attendants came out to greet them in the luxurious interior, the ordinary members were extremely nervous.

Halo leaned back in his seat and put down the guitar case he had been carrying. The guitar case that ‘Per Aspera’ had gifted him on his birthday was impressive with its sleek curves, especially the golden chrysanthemum butterfly embroidered on the black background.

However, the real thing was inside.

After placing the guitar case on the remaining seat, Halo reclined on the cushion. There was no lengthy boarding process.

From check-in to takeoff, it took less than thirty minutes.

“What would you like to drink?”

“Do you have soju?”

“…We have wine and champagne prepared.”

Halo turned around.

The flight attendant whose gaze met his smiled kindly.

“Would you like a glass?”

The owner of this private jet is British.

The plane is already crossing the continent.

According to British regulations, those over 16 can have alcohol when accompanied by an adult. Even if purchasing alcohol is not allowed, what’s on this private jet has already been purchased.

Halo, who had just turned 16, said,

“I’ll have a glass, please.”

“Oh no, boss!” Before the members could stop him, he was already savoring the flavor of the wine.

While it was time for a quiet and peaceful takeoff in the sky,

The ground was not so.

As if only the eye of the storm was calm.

Like a gift to those who had been expecting HALO in December, HALO’s 11th album is uploaded to digital streaming platforms.

[New Releases]

HALO 11th Album – Catch me if you can