The Road to Glory Chapter 150 - Changed People

“I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it.”

Halo tried to imagine what kind of favor Jang Jinsoo might ask for.

It would probably be related to music.

Although he was suddenly preparing for college entrance exams, saying he was going to university, Jang Jinsoo’s ultimate goal still came down to being a singer.

Would he ask for help producing his debut song?

If others had asked him to work on their songs, he would have definitely refused, but he felt he could do that much for Jang Jinsoo.

The timid Jang Jinsoo slowly dragged out his words, as if such a favor was a big deal.

“I was just thinking…”

“…”

As his words got slower and slower, Halo crossed his arms.

He seemed to be getting irritated. Jang Jinsoo, rubbing the back of his head, continued speaking before that ill-tempered guy could storm off.

“Later, when I enlist in the military, could you come to a morale-boosting performance or visit me?”

“…What enlistment?”

That was a favor he hadn’t imagined at all.

At the unexpected word, Halo tilted his head, and Jang Jinsoo explained why he was making such a request.

“These days, the kids talk a lot about the military and physical examinations.”

But it still didn’t make sense.

They could talk a lot about the military, but why suddenly discuss enlistment? It was ridiculous enough that he was going to university while doing music, but now adding enlistment on top of that? He wondered if Jang Jinsoo had given up on his dream.

“Don’t you want to be a singer anymore?”

“I’ll do it after I come back from the military.”

“…”

Halo was at a loss for words at Jang Jinsoo speaking as if it was natural. Then, Jang Jinsoo suddenly tilted his head.

“Do you perhaps not know that we have to go to the military?”

“You?”

“‘We’. That is, you and me.”

Jang Jinsoo kindly pointed at himself and Halo. Yes, he understood what ‘we’ meant, but Halo couldn’t understand at all why he was included in it.

“I have to go to the military?”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

Jang Jinsoo said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Who in our country likes going to the military, but we still have to-“

“What are you talking about?”

“Huh?”

This angered him for a different reason.

Who likes going to the military?

Halo couldn’t understand why they had to go to the military, but he opposed Jang Jinsoo’s statement that no one likes the military.

There used to be a singer he didn’t like very much.

He had criticized that guy, saying his songs were worse than trash every time he released an album. He hated him, thinking he was a cunning rat asking him to check out his songs while badmouthing him behind his back, but when that bastard enlisted in the military, Halo expressed his respect.

“Thank you for your support.”

It was because of them that the country existed,

It was because of them that he could live peacefully.

They were truly men to be respected, heroes.

Therefore, they should receive better treatment.

No one in our country likes the military?

Of course, they should respect and be grateful to them.

Halo gave a long speech as if to correct Jang Jinsoo’s mindset, and Jang Jinsoo, listening with his mouth wide open, realized for the first time that Roh Haeil was such a patriot.

After expressing his respect for their patriotism for a long time, Halo briefly added at the end

The reason why he couldn’t be a hero like them.

“But I’m not cut out for the military.”

“…I was wondering what you were going on about.”

Jang Jinsoo, who had been slowly distorting his expression, suddenly burst into laughter.

“Who goes to the military because they’re cut out for it?”

:

Halo couldn’t believe it.

He knew that South Korea was still in a state of ceasefire, not having ended the war… he had learned this while researching for the musical ‘Rock‘.

So he understood that there was a mandatory military service system in South Korea, but he couldn’t connect that to the fact that he had to go.

When he couldn’t believe it, Jang Jinsoo directly searched the internet to show him. Just like when he had shown him that ‘HALO’ didn’t exist in the world back then.

“…I see.”

Halo soon admitted it.

Well, this couldn’t be denied.

Unless Roh Haeil returned before enlistment, he would have to bear the duty of military service instead of Roh Haeil.

For now, since it was something that would happen later, he decided to think about it later.

As he gave up quickly, unlike when Roh Haeil had a fit, Jang Jinsoo found it boring. He felt like he had unintentionally teased him.

He didn’t know that Roh Haeil hadn’t considered enlistment. No, how could someone born in Korea not know about enlistment?

“Do middle school graduates not have to go?”

While Roh Haeil was quietly sitting on the sofa after giving up, Jang Jinsoo was searching. Just in case. At those words, Roh Haeil’s ears seemed to perk up.

“No, they do. The Military Service Act changed around 2021. Even middle school graduates are active duty now.”

He pretended not to care, but it was obvious that he did.

Jang Jinsoo kept chuckling inside as he scrolled down.

Below were listed the conditions for military service exemption.

There was no military exemption welfare for single-parent families, near-poverty class, or low-income class, but it said that if there were reasons for difficulty in maintaining livelihood, one could receive a military service reduction disposition.

“I wonder if I could get a military service reduction instead.”

Jang Jinsoo, who had naturally assumed he would enter active duty, scratched his cheek. His mother had left home long ago and never returned, and he had never seen his father working.

“I might be able to get it if I do well?”

As the conditions became more complex, Jang Jinsoo skimmed through it and turned to look at Roh Haeil. He flinched when their eyes met immediately.

Roh Haeil had been staring at him for some time.

“Why?”

Roh Haeil asked seriously.

Jang Jinsoo, who had been surprised, grinned at the reversed situation where he might get Grade 4 if he did well, while Roh Haeil could go on active duty.

“Hey, I’ll definitely come visit you.”

“Why.”

“Well, that’s what the Military Service Act says.”

“Why.”

Roh Haeil seemed to be insisting that only he couldn’t go now.

“That’s great. Let’s become a hero. Roh Haeil.”

“…”

When Jang Jinsoo threw back the words he had said, Roh Haeil’s lips tightened.

It seemed like it was the first time he had beaten Roh Haeil.

The guy who had been consistently relaxed since they first met never lost. Even when they made bets, when he thought he had won, Roh Haeil ended up winning in the end.

As Jang Jinsoo was thinking about the past, he noticed the corners of Roh Haeil’s mouth turning up slightly. A sense of foreboding came over him.

Nothing good happened when that bastard made that expression.

A nightmare etched in his mind suddenly popped up.

“Come to think of it.”

Jang Jinsoo hoped Roh Haeil’s mouth would close again.

“We made a bet a while back, didn’t we?”

“Y-yeah?”

It was the memory he had just recalled.

About a year ago, they had made a bet on the number of views their music would get on NuTube. Needless to say, that’s now HALO’s “Struggle” with billions of views.

Of course, this was before the name HALO was known to the world.

“What did we bet on back then?”

A bet naturally comes with a prize.

Jang Jinsoo tried hard to remember what happened a year ago, which he couldn’t recall.

What did we bet? Money?

He wasn’t short on money, so it didn’t seem like he would suddenly bet money.

At first, he was going to ask him to make a song.

So did they bet on a song?

No, there’s no way Roh Haeil would ask him to make a song.

Then.

“Ah!”

Jang Jinsoo’s eyes grew wider and wider.

He finally remembered.

“No, wait, Roh Haeil. That’s not fair.”

It was just a trivial bet they made about view counts.

Of course, they had bet a wish ticket, but to use it like this?

The ill-tempered Roh Haeil spoke.

“What’s not fair?”

With the worst expression possible towards Jang Jinsoo.

The crazy Roh Haeil smiled brightly.

“Let’s become heroes together.”

Shit, he made a big mistake.

Of course, military service reduction due to difficulty in maintaining livelihood has stricter conditions than Jang Jinsoo thought. Just having an unemployed father isn’t enough to receive a reduction.

The condition of being confirmed as lacking the ability to work due to illness or mental and physical disability would be difficult to meet unless his father was recognized as a person under limited guardianship or guardianship.

But Jang Jinsoo, not knowing this, felt like he had fallen into hell the moment he saw hope for military service reduction. The devil Roh Haeil was grabbing his ankle and dragging him down to hell.

If he had known that a single bet from the past would come back as a butterfly effect to drag him down like this, he would never have made it.

However, he couldn’t put spilled water back in the glass. In the end, it seemed he would be enlisting together with Roh Haeil.

The thunderstruck expression he had when he first learned he had to enlist was gone, and now Roh Haeil looked extremely cheerful.

It was infuriating and exhausting at the same time.

Once again, he ended up being backstabbed by Roh Haeil.

For now… since it’s a future matter, let’s think about it later…

Jang Jinsoo, feeling much older, decided to postpone this worry for later. They were still 17-year-old youths, and it was a long time until they had to take the physical examination, right?

“Hey.”

In the end, Jang Jinsoo’s request for a visit or a morale-boosting performance was forgotten. Halo, excited about beating a kid about the same age as him, glanced at Jang Jinsoo.

Jang Jinsoo, shocked by the existence of the wish ticket, gave no response.

Although he had no intention of giving up the wish ticket, he could grant other requests. After thinking for a moment, Halo opened his mouth.

“Should I make your debut song for you?”

He was free now, so he could do that much.

He felt a bit guilty about the quality of “Show By Show” that he had hastily made for Jang Jinsoo before, and he thought he could make something better now.

“No thanks. I don’t need it.”

Not knowing how many people wanted a song made by him, Jang Jinsoo kicked away his good fortune.

“I’ll make my own debut song.”

“Why? You’d like what I make better.”

Now he knew there was no malice in that guy’s words.

And knowing that he wasn’t the type to readily offer to make songs, he realized this was Roh Haeil’s change of heart and goodwill.

Still, Jang Jinsoo didn’t need it.

“I told you, I’m going to fill my album with only my own name.”

“Then, let’s put it to a vote and use the one that gets more votes.”

This bastard isn’t even pretending to listen.

“Hm? Want to bet on whose song will get more votes?”

Laughter leaked out between the words “want to bet.”

It was clear that bastard had deliberately said “bet.”

Jang Jinsoo, who had developed a neurosis about the word “bet,” screamed “Argh!” and ran out of the room. He could hear hearty laughter behind him. I’m never betting with that bastard again. Devil bastard, crazy bastard.

#

Halo chuckled for a while, then gradually stopped laughing.

If he really wanted it, he was going to make it for him. If he didn’t want it, there was nothing he could do.

While the guy next to him wouldn’t ask even if he offered to make it, why did these people ask for songs as if he owed them?

Halo discovered emails and messages piled up from unknown people’s contacts. There were quite a few people asking him to make songs. Among them were senior entertainers and agency representatives.

The polite ones were requests, while others said it would be a good opportunity for him too and suggested collaborations.

Well, it wasn’t anything new.

It had been like this before, it was just repeating.

But, hasn’t he never specifically accepted songwriting work for anyone?

Conversely, he hadn’t put any other names on his albums.

Roh Haeil occasionally received requests, but they weren’t this desperate. He wondered if it was because of the name value of ‘HALO’.

Actually, there was a reason for this.

There was a reason why he revealed his identity at Coachella, but there was a more direct reason.

When Halo revealed his identity at Coachella,

The moment the title track “Until dawn comes” from his 13th album was released on overseas music platforms and domestic music platforms.

Watermelon, the largest domestic music platform, did something unprecedented.

The platform, famous for its high-handedness, voluntarily put up a banner saying “The country where the sun rises first in the world.”

For any other artist, they would never have done this without good music performance.

And also, they changed all the artist names and composer names that had been “Roh Haeil” to “Roh Haeil (HALO),” which left a strong impact on the public and the industry.

Including the fact that Roh Haeil had dominated the music charts for a year under two different names, there was also an impact from the overall change.

But above all, a song that only Roh Haeil’s fandom and a minority in the industry had been quietly talking about made a reverse run on the charts.

It was Soyou’s applicant song that had hit Korea two years ago in December.

[Show by Show (Show your show 3) | Jang Jinsoo (JJ)]

A song by a mere rookie, or more accurately an amateur, that had topped the music charts, resurfaced.

Not many people in the world look at single song information in detail. Most only look at the song title and artist. But when Roh Haeil was changed to “Roh Haeil (HALO)” across the board, the song information became more noticeable than anything else.

In the industry, people were buzzing about whether this Roh Haeil was that Roh Haeil or just someone with the same name, and in the fandom, people who had been quietly talking about how Roh Haeil was close to Jang Jinsoo and this must be a song Roh Haeil made for him, finally caught the public’s eye after more than a year.

—-

Show by Show

Jang Jinsoo (JJ)

Album: Show your Show Season 3

Release Date: 2030.12.14

Genre: Hip-hop

Lyrics JJ │ Composition JJ Roh Haeil (HALO) │ Arrangement Roh Haeil (HALO)

—-

If someone had said that Roh Haeil’s songs were successful because Roh Haeil sang them, this was complete proof to the contrary.

In reality, Roh Haeil had once made an unknown rookie top the music charts.

Even though Jang Jinsoo hadn’t shown tremendous potential at that time, but rather just average talent.

This was enough to make the eyes of entertainment companies wanting to make their rookie groups successful, and established singers always looking for songs, go wild.

If he could make even Jang Jinsoo top the charts,

What about me? It was a thought anyone could easily have.

Of course, there was the question of whether Roh Haeil would accept, but they thought if they could persuade Roh Haeil well enough, he would accept.

Because Roh Haeil was just a sixteen-year-old kid who didn’t know the ways of the world.

That sixteen-year-old Halo, ignorant of the ways of the world, flew a paper airplane. The roughly folded request flew through the air, hit something, and crumpled.

He was like this in the past, and it’s the same now.

There are many people in the world who want to take advantage of others.

Even if they tried to get a piece of the pie, his bowl wouldn’t empty, but narrow-minded as he was, he didn’t let them feed off him.

“How boring.”

He folded another paper airplane.

His hotel room was full of paper airplanes like this.

Among these, there weren’t just mild requests for songs, but well, various things. For example, a handshake of reconciliation sent by XYC Broadcasting Station?

His mother, who briefly went to prepare for moving, might scold him for making such a mess when she returns.

Whatever the case.

He has not the slightest intention of making songs for just anyone.

Well, unless they make him want to write a song,

Or unless they make an interesting proposal that would amuse him.