The Road to Glory Chapter 170 - The Second Birthday

“Hah…”

On the day of Halo’s concert at Seoul’s Nanji Park.

The office worker, who was once a fan of Roh Haeil and now a fan of Halo, looked up at the sky.

The ominous feeling since waking up was probably due to the unusually damp blanket and the humid air.

Also, the rhythmic sound hitting the roof.

The sound was so strong that she knew it was raining right away.

Soon, what she urgently checked was her text messages.

She breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there were no messages about the 5 PM concert being delayed or cancelled.

“Well, it can rain sometimes.”

She steeled herself and sent a ‘GO’ to the group chat.

People then started to proceed with their plans, encouraging each other.

As the previous birthday event at Korea University had been disappointing, this time they wanted to show an event without any mistakes or accidents. The only thing she was worried about was the concert being cancelled.

Whether it’s heavy snow, heavy rain, thunder and lightning, or even the end of the world(?), the event would proceed without any problems.

Essential for such an event was candles.

She, who had prepared LED candles early on, smiled confidently.

Although less romantic than real candles, the light of LED candles would never go out in any situation.

When she headed to Nanji Park, a thirty-minute distance, as soon as she woke up, there was already a crowd gathered despite the early hour. She wasn’t sure if it was thousands or tens of thousands. The sight of families, lovers, and friends gathered regardless of race, gender, or religion was quite spectacular.

Of course, this was because she was looking forward to Halo’s concert. If a third party were to see it, they might think it was a protest. There were many people there who were unsettling just by their presence, and as many who were sensitive enough to explode if provoked.

Harsh words were already being exchanged in one corner.

“How dare you litter at his concert venue?!”

“Wh-who are you?”

“Love earth, OK?“

“Ye-yes. Sorry.“

When the foreigners who looked least likely to love the earth pointed at the trash, the Korean family who had just come for fun hurriedly picked up the litter.

Satisfied with their improved behavior, the foreigners dispersed on their own.

It seemed that the day of world peace was not far off.

She looked at them plainly and hurried to the tent where she had secured a spot.

There was a [Do We Look Like Jaws to You?] tent next to the entrance booth, which she had obtained through a prior request.

“Fighting, everyone!”

The fan cafe members who had succeeded in getting tickets nodded with determined faces and started distributing LED candles to people in line along with permission.

Those who knew what day it was took them voluntarily.

While distributing, she encountered those foreigners from earlier.

Despite looking so menacing before, when handed the LED candles, they opened their eyes wide and stroked the candles with expressions like they were looking at lost kittens.

“Oh, so cute.”

“Thank you.”

“Kamsahamnida.”

They either clapped with both hands or bowed 90 degrees in Korean style greeting.

If she hadn’t seen that scene earlier, she might have thought they were quite polite.

Soon, admission began.

There was no security checkpoint like abroad, but there was a bag check, and if you calmly underwent the inspection, you were given merchandise as a ‘Well Done’ reward.

She already knew the list of merchandise.

Even knowing, her hands still trembled, but that couldn’t be helped.

Worried she might have missed something, she checked each piece of merchandise that should be there and-.

She was startled when the merchandise handout wasn’t over yet.

“And please take this too.”

“! There’s more merchandise?”

“It’s not merchandise.”

The staff member calmly handed over plastic-wrapped items.

Indeed, it wasn’t merchandise.

What the staff member gave her a handful of were hand warmers and raincoats.

After looking at them for a moment, she glanced at the rainy weather, and realized.

These were items her singer had personally prepared for the rainy day.

“Ah, Haeil really… How am I supposed to wear this.”

Her heart felt tight.

Roh Haeil wasn’t usually like this, but he could be so sweet at times.

Entering the venue, she carefully opened the packaging.

If it had been merchandise, she would never have opened it, but the hastily acquired raincoat was obviously bought from a convenience store or supermarket.

The quality reflected that too.

However, if there was one thing she missed-.

“Wait, there’s printing?”

It was the power of money.

The power that made printing possible even if they couldn’t produce tens of thousands of new raincoats within a week.

On the back of the opaque raincoat was printed a crescent moon design.

It was Roh Haeil’s mark from the <Do We Look Like Jaws to You?> fan club’s light stick.

“No, wait. I really can’t wear this.”

She hurriedly stuffed the raincoat back in.

With this mark alone, an ordinary raincoat had become limited edition merchandise.

The staff said it wasn’t merchandise, but this definitely was.

It was precious enough just because Roh Haeil gave it, but how could she wear something with the crescent moon mark too.

After carefully putting the raincoat back in its packaging to keep it dry, she even put it in her bag.

It was a reversal of priorities.

Satisfied with just using her windbreaker, the office worker stood in front of the stage.

The protruding stage connected to the main stage at Nanji Park venue.

While the Nanji venue had a ceiling structure made of steel, the protruding stage had no ceiling and was directly exposed. Thus, it was damp from the rain that had been falling since dawn.

It was fortunate that water wasn’t pooling, but it seemed Halo probably wouldn’t come out this far.

She was disappointed to be right in front of the protruding stage, but still happy.

“Well, today will be fun too.”

Because their boy who stood on the stage shone as always.

She, and the audience, thought.

We’ll endure getting rained on, and we’ve prepared a beautiful event.

So you just stand there, warm and safe, and sing for us.

Until then, they had no idea that Halo would dash out from under the ceiling.

##

For once, he greeted first today, and after a brief opening greeting, he immediately went on stage.

Given the day, the song he chose was “Life is delight” from his 12th album.

People screamed at the exciting disco pop melody that paid no heed to the weather.

Halo opened his mouth with a faint smile.

“Ladies and gentlemen”

Despite lyrics that might suit a suit, he was dressed casually with a raincoat and a cap worn backwards, which was amusing, but.

“I keep a promise. The music should get on tonight”

The drums and bass hit on the beat, creating a rhythm.

Many people were wearing the same raincoat as him.

It felt like everyone was wearing matching outfits.

Seeing him wearing that, the hand warmers must have been delivered safely too.

Still, it must be cold.

It’s not cold for November, but it’s late autumn rain.

Even wearing a raincoat, they’re still exposed to the rain, so their body temperature must be dropping.

‘I wish the rain would stop now.’

Unlike the slowly setting sun, the autumn rain showed no signs of stopping.

‘Can’t be helped. I can’t make the rain stop.’

He no longer had expectations for the weather.

He wasn’t the type to obsess over impossible things.

But that doesn’t mean he gave up.

He was the type to find what he could do and do what he wanted to do.

Therefore, what he wanted to do now was-.

To be together with these people.

After singing three songs in a row, Halo slowly moved forward as the melody of the fourth song began.

Those behind him were startled but couldn’t stop him.

The audience stirred, but also couldn’t stop him.

Unlike the members, they couldn’t be sure if this was planned or spontaneous.

Because-.

Fast tempo with intense sound

Syncopation-heavy bass.

The following accompaniment was from “Dancing in the rain” from his 6th album.

The music that best matched the rain.

“I can hear a song from somewhere”

The rain fell on his cap and raincoat.

Also, his exposed hands felt the cold.

He quickly got wet, but his steps as he walked onto the protruding stage became more and more cheerful.

So much so that one couldn’t think this wasn’t a planned move.

Halo walked out and slowly turned around once in the rain.

Like the protagonist of this song, led by the sound of singing.

Then he reached out to the side of the stage, brushing the hands extended to him.

It was cold.

It was obvious, but felt new.

Halo looked straight ahead.

He’d given raincoats and hand warmers so they wouldn’t be cold, but below the stage, a student was singing along to his song while getting rained on.

He impulsively moved forward, and then-.

“Ah…!”

“No way…”

It happened in an instant.

Halo, who had come forward, took off his cap, shook it once, and then put it on the student standing in front.

Then Halo looked around at the audience while getting rained on.

The song continued with his characteristic calm face, as if nothing had happened.

Tonight

Dancing into the rain

Halo grinned at the student who was frozen in surprise.

By the time the song ended, he was completely soaked like the audience.

He wasn’t as dry as before, but.

His rain-soaked hair stuck to his forehead and bothered him, but he was still more satisfied this way.

Meanwhile, the gazes on him were prickly.

They didn’t say anything because it was a performance, but the members were staring at him intensely.

And it was the same for the audience.

Before the audience could focus more on his health than the stage, Halo spoke first.

“Did everyone have fun?”

He quite liked questions with obvious answers.

The expected answer came.

Halo chuckled and put on his raincoat hood before people could worry.

He was already soaked, but everyone else was wet too, so what did it matter.

“Let’s go straight to the next song.”

Ta-da.

People screamed before the piano intro could last for 2 seconds.

The following song was so famous that there was no one who didn’t know it.

In the previous concert, he had barely sung it as an encore.

“I am HALO.”

But for Halo, it was a carefully chosen song.

How should he put it. A sense of debt.

Or maybe an order he had left out.

Halo, who had been loved as Roh Haeil in Korea for a year, felt indebted for not revealing to them first that he was Halo.

It’s quite late now, but.

It was a greeting he wanted to give, should have given, to Korea.

Hello, I’m Halo.

That’s why he chose this song.

It didn’t mean this song had no significance for Korean fans.

Rather, it held even more meaning.

The apology for not recognizing him earlier despite saying they were fans and liked his songs.

This song, mixed with affection and thrill, was the song his fans had been waiting for, and was enough to be a ‘signal’.

Not knowing which song he would sing, they had prepared many songs.

But for this song, everyone knew what to do without preparing in advance.

‘Now!’

Halo noticed light appearing in the audience that had been dark, just as he brought the microphone to his mouth.

It was a very feeble light.

But the lights began to bloom one by one, and started to spread.

Halo unknowingly missed the lyrics.

However, people didn’t notice that he had missed the lyrics.

Because their voices became his voice and spread out.

Just like that time at Coachella.

It was calmer than then, but there was a slightly deeper swell.

Soon, lights came rushing in like a tide in the darkness.

“Whoever I am.”

The lyrics that had become the fanchant for ‘I AM HALO’ followed.

“Whoever you are”

“Whatever you look like”

“We will call you glory”

Halo discovered a park full of light.

The scattered lights in the light looked like fireflies, or like a galaxy.

It was also the sight he had wanted to see the most.

When the song ended, Halo saw the candles prepared by the fans forming 17, and smiled helplessly.

‘You don’t have to celebrate like this.’

He thought it was fine, but he received congratulations once again.

He was surprised like last time. As it kept being so surprising and enjoyable, he found himself looking forward to his next birthday without realizing it.

“Really-.”

Thank you. Just as he was about to calm his mind and speak,

Halo thought this event was the end, but it was just the beginning.

“Haeil!”

“Halo!”

“!”

People called his name.

“Over there!”

“Look there! Haeil!”

Then they pointed somewhere.

He slowly turned his head and soon saw it.

“Ah…”

The Han River was in full view from the center of the protruding stage.

And-.

There was a cruise ship full of beautiful lights on it.

It was a large cruise ship, full of people.

They waved their hands and waved something.

Those things couldn’t be seen, but the large HAPPY BIRTHDAY message attached to the cruise ship was visible.

If he hadn’t walked out onto the protruding stage,

If he hadn’t tried to be with the people, he would have missed this moving sight, hidden by the steel frame.

“…”

Something caught in his throat, and his voice wouldn’t come out.

Fortunately, it wasn’t noticeable.

Because it was soon drowned out by a loud noise.

Fireworks burst brightly over the Han River.

These were fireworks led by Veil and the organizers, followed by sequential fireworks from the cruise ship prepared by the fans.

The fireworks scattered in the light rain were especially dazzling today.

What followed was a birthday song.

With the same melody but different lyrics, foreigners sang in their languages, and Koreans sang in Korean.

The lyrics were mixed and jumbled, but it didn’t matter.

Because the name that would be called at the end was the same.

The stage lights brightened, illuminating the boy.

The boy, who had been blankly staring at the event prepared by the cruise ship and fans,

thought he was truly happy.

The raindrops that had clung to the ends of his hair ran down his cheeks and fell to the ground.

Halo turned to the audience with a bright smile.

He had hoped the people wouldn’t be cold,

but it was he who had become warm.

---

Translator Note:
Damn, I feel like the author keeps delivering good content. They are really so talented. This is masterpiece. I’m just hoping that my translation is up to par with the author’s skill or at least good enough to convey what the author’s wrote.