The Road to Glory Chapter 172 - It Was Like a Halo

It would be a lie to say they weren’t expecting him.

However, no one would have been disappointed if he didn’t come.

His casual mention of coming to Korea University next year was just something said in passing, fitting the mood at the time. There was no obligation to keep it, and perhaps he had forgotten after a whole year.

Isn’t a year enough time to forget?

And so much had happened since then.

So them sitting on the stone steps of the Beodeulgol Amphitheater, chatting quietly, was just a lingering attachment. They were planning to leave before midnight, before the last train.

“Am I too late?”

They recognized him instantly at those words.

The chatter stopped.

Their turned heads met with a figure emerging from the darkness.

“!”

A silent scream stimulated their brains.

The boy, who had grown much taller since then, casually waved in greeting.

“Seems like I came just in time.”

They were so stunned by his playful expression that they didn’t even notice he was speaking informally.

Just nodding dumbly until finally-

“It’s Haeil!”

“Haeil!”

“Halo!”

Screams of his name burst out from everywhere.

People jumped up and ran forward. Was this a dream or reality?

“How did you get here?”

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Don’t you have the London concert soon? Is it okay not to leave?”

Questions mixed with affection, worry, and confusion were directed at him.

Even as adults rushed over, the boy sat calmly at the edge of the stage, dangling his legs, and said:

“I promised I’d come back, didn’t I?”

Speaking of a promise that everyone surely must have forgotten.

“Isn’t that why you were waiting?”

The boy lifted his deeply pressed hat and asked, as if knowing everything.

“Right?”

[Breaking News: Halo appears at Beodeulgol]

└ That’s a lie

└ It’s true, he came to keep his promise

[When asked why he didn’t go to England, he said he was recovering from a cold. Must have caught it from being in the rain ㅠㅠ]

“What’s this?”

“What?”

“People on Everytime just posted that Halo is here.”

“What, must be another lie.”

Two new posts immediately appeared on Korea University’s community site, Everytime. It was Thursday, the last day of the festival. The festival performances had even ended, and the remaining food stalls were closing up.

The two posts that went up at that time didn’t have many viewers, and even those who saw them didn’t believe them.

Why would Halo, who had an upcoming London concert, come to Korea University?

Moreover, because there had been so many false claims about Halo coming on previous festival days, the poster was immediately condemned as a boy who cried wolf.

Then, as people started posting about hearing Roh Haeil’s voice, the community began to heat up.

[The student council president suddenly ran out with all the student council members while drinking. What’s going on?]

[What? Really? Did Halo really come to school? I just got home, should I put my shoes back on?]

└ You’re still falling for this?

[OMG Roh Haeil WTF]

[Hey, I think I saw Brian Berry at our school]

└ What’s this random comment

└ OMG Son Hyeongmin is touring the school now

└ The school’s really gone crazy

[I’m near Beodeulgol and I checked – 20 minutes ago]

└ Should I catch the last train or go to Beodeulgol? I need to choose

└ When did the writer arrive?

└ ????

└ Hey

└ Did this person get kidnapped?

Meanwhile, at the Beodeulgol Amphitheater, student council members had gathered.

As soon as they received Halo’s message saying he had arrived, they abandoned their drinks and snacks and rushed over.

“Halo-ssi!”

“To think such an honored guest would come to our humble place!”

“Welcome! We’ll prepare everything right away!”

“Thank you so much for coming!”

The student council president rushed over, and the festival technical staff began handling equipment they hadn’t yet returned.

The stage lights came on.

The Korea University students who had been sitting on the ground right below the stage or beside it, chatting with the boy before they arrived, had to step back with mixed feelings of disappointment and satisfaction.

Halo got up from his seat leisurely.

The long chat had been enjoyable.

Those who couldn’t hide their affection and chattered away were like baby birds following their mother.

But still, singing would be the most enjoyable part.

Those sitting at the very front of the stage looked at him with worried eyes.

He wondered if he shouldn’t have mentioned catching a cold.

Still, they would soon forget about it.

They wouldn’t be able to think about anything else.

“Thank you for waiting.”

This time, Halo offered words of gratitude instead of a greeting.

People who had heard the news rushed to find empty seats one by one.

It didn’t matter if they had to sit next to strangers. Only the distance from the boy mattered.

“I was really happy when I saw you waiting.”

After calmly expressing his feelings, Halo thought about the advantages of unofficial guerrilla performances, or busking.

While his concerts were fun too, wasn’t this one of the perks of busking?

“So…”

Letting the audience choose the songs.

“Is there a song you’d like to hear?”

He wanted to sing the songs they wanted to hear, for the people who had waited so desperately for him.

Of course, he could guess what they might want to hear.

Halo smiled deeply when he heard requests for Roh Haeil’s songs.

From then on, a dreamlike summer night busking began.

<Lighthouse of the Night> <Another Day>

They requested both Halo’s songs and songs by other artists.

While each song had its own charm, by the fourth song, Halo realized what they all had in common.

They were all gentle songs that didn’t strain the voice too much.

With the London concert coming up and him having caught a cold, people were being considerate on their own. Making sure not to strain his voice.

“Please sing _____!”

“<Dream> too!”

“And <Confession> as well!”

Halo smoothly ignored all the love songs and thought the people were foolish as he sang the songs he wanted to hear.

They didn’t need to be so considerate.

Additionally, things kept piling up in his guitar case that he had tossed aside when getting on stage. He hadn’t left it open for donations, but someone had turned the overturned case right-side up, and since then snacks, water, and gifts had started accumulating.

It was nice but…

They didn’t need to take care of him like this.

Halo shook his head as if it couldn’t be helped.

In the end, these people would try to be considerate until he left.

They wouldn’t listen no matter what he said.

So, he wouldn’t listen either, and recalled the song they would want.

Maybe, that one-

The one he sang at last year’s Korean University Festival-

“This time, I’ll sing a song that I want to sing.”

The people who had been enthusiastic about whatever he said were startled by the title that followed.

“EverEnd”

A song that might strain his ‘voice’,

And the music that remained legendary at Korea University’s festival.

That video that still appears at the top when you search for “Roh Haeil no mic.”

Before people could stop him, Halo opened his mouth.

[Someday [It will end]

:

And the next day, Korea was in an uproar when they belatedly received the news.

Among them, the Korea University community had the hottest reaction.

[Why didn’t I believe it? Why didn’t I believe it? Why didn’t I believe it?]

[I went home early because I had morning classes on Friday, but I really want to kill myself from yesterday. Sleep when you’re dead!!!]

[How could no one tell me!!!!! Why didn’t anyone say he came!!!!]

└ Everytime was noisy yesterday though

└ I thought it was just trolling… ah…

Posts that could hardly be considered coming from intelligent university students appeared, but no one thought it was strange.

From the previous night to dawn, if everyone who had seen the boy’s performance was there – about a hundred people – then everyone else had missed it completely.

It was frustrating even for those who were in Korea, those who lived in Seoul.

But among them, the most frustrated were the Korea University students who spent a third of their day at school.

But the bus had long since passed.

All they could do was read the reviews and hypnotize themselves into believing they had seen the busking performance too.

[I was one of the die-hard waiters for Haeil yesterday and found out why he hasn’t updated his Instagram]

He has lots of photos and videos from traveling, and he’s finished organizing them, but he’s been busy and couldn’t find the right timing to post them

└ We’ll decide the timing, just post them!!!

└ Wait, if they’re from traveling, was that from January, February, March this year? Right before Halo revealed his identity?

[But I saw Halo again]

Maybe because he’s usually such a troll

I thought he wouldn’t come because of the London concert

I thought he would have forgotten, but he remembered and kept his promise

└ People keep forgetting, but Roh Haeil has never broken his word

[Just one thing to say]

The moment he came to the venue and said ‘Am I too late?’ was epic

He had a cold but still performed EverEnd and even did an encore, I almost cried

Decided I’ll be The Sun’s fan for life

I’ll stan Halo no matter what he does, and consider anyone who criticizes him my enemy

└ Excuse me, but this isn’t just one thing

└ But you should draw the line at crimes

└ LOL so you won’t listen to Halo’s songs?

└ Not The Sun but another Hellygan joined, including the one above

└ Why do they all go crazy as time passes, both Roh Haeil’s fandom and others

Around that time, Halo was flying through the sky with members who were glaring at him.

Laughing haha while feeling embarrassed about running away unable to endure his short recovery period.

Still, the members couldn’t stay mad at the boy who said he had fun.

“Next time, let’s go together.”

How could they be mad at an employer who spoke so innocently?

Han Jinyeong ruffled his hair, and Moon Seoyeon erased her sulky expression.

To Nam Gyuhwan who was sulking about why he went alone, Halo promised they would really go together next time, and when he returned to his seat, he could finally relax.

And as the atmosphere relaxed, Moon Seoyeon spoke up again in a bright voice.

“Oh, by the way. Did you know Brian Berry came to our concert?”

“Brian Berry? I’ve heard that name somewhere.”

“He’s a film director. I enjoyed watching his music film that came out two years ago.”

It was a documentary film about a famous singer’s life and music. Nam Gyuhwan also exclaimed “Ah!” when he heard the title.

How could anyone not know the title of a film that reached 10 million viewers?

“The news said he came to Korea to see boss’s concert. I saw the article a few days ago.”

At that time, she couldn’t mention it because her boss had caught a cold.

“Boss, you know Director Brian Berry too, right?”

Moon Seoyeon was about to ask how it felt to have a famous Hollywood director come to Korea just to see his concert, but suddenly realized that if it wasn’t related to music, he probably wouldn’t know much about it.

But this time was different.

“I do.”

Well, he’s not just any director, but THE BB.

Plus, he’s a music film director.

However, there was a hint of laughter in the boy’s voice when he said he knew him, which seemed a bit odd. Not enough to ask why he knew him, just enough to think it was strange and move on.

“He must be busy preparing for his next film, so he probably left right after the concert?”

“Ah. I heard he’s leaving today.”

“Ah, I see. He stayed longer than I expected. If he’s leaving today… Huh?”

Moon Seoyeon nodded then tilted her head.

How does he know that? Was it in the articles?

As far as she knew, she hadn’t seen such articles.

Neither about Director Brian Berry’s departure nor any news about him since his arrival in Korea.

So if it wasn’t from articles…

The only way he could be so sure was-

“Boss, are you perhaps acquainted with Brian Berry? Boss?”

Because they know each other.

Though she hadn’t heard about when they met.

Moon Seoyeon asked again when there was no response-

“Haeil seems to be sleeping.”

“Already?”

“Yeah, must have been tired.”

Han Jinyeong answered instead.

“Well, boss did do busking all night.”

“His mother said he came home very late. No wonder he’s tired.”

“And he caught a cold too.”

“I should prepare some medicine.”

The conversation topic returned to the boy’s health.

Moon Seoyeon forgot about her question about Brian Berry while worrying if he might be coming down with a cold.

That is, about when he had met Brian Berry.

And eighteen hours later, a man landed at LAX.

As soon as he came out to the arrival hall, his friend who came to pick him up caught up with him.

“Hey, Brian.”

“I told you I could go by myself.”

“Did you finish your work well?”

Brian Berry, aka BB, lowered his sunglasses.

Dark circles had settled under his eyes from long fatigue.

However, BB stretched refreshingly as if he didn’t feel tired at all.

“You know, about the screenplay. You said you wanted to capture his life.”

His friend, who had been carefully observing BB’s reaction, asked.

His name was Thomas, BB’s business partner who had started a film production company with him.

“You said you would create an amazing screenplay to convince him.”

“I’ll be honest. I failed.”

“As expected… What?”

Thomas, who had naturally assumed he would have completed some level of screenplay, opened his eyes wide. Failed? You?

He asked again in disbelief.

“Why can’t I fail?”

BB asked back, but Thomas didn’t answer.

That BB failed?

He wasn’t shocked that BB had failed to achieve exactly what he wanted. He was shocked that BB had returned despite failing.

Because the BB he knew would never return until he got what he wanted.

For instance, BB was the kind of person who spent months living among homeless people to portray a protagonist’s homeless life.

“Then are you going to gather what you need and go back?”

“No.”

BB got into the car, ignoring Thomas who looked like he was about to die of frustration. Thomas signaled the driver to head to the company, then urged BB.

Finally, BB exhaled cigarette smoke and answered.

“Instead, I got something better.”

“Something better would be?”

“I met him.”

“…!”

Thomas jumped up and hit his head on the car ceiling before sitting back down.

Met him?

“Then, did you convince him to make the film?”

“No.”

“Ah, then you promised to make a good screenplay soon.”

“Not that either.”

“You’re not just bragging about meeting Halo, are you?”

“I got his autograph too.”

“Oh my god. If only it was on a contract.”

“Of course, it was in my notebook.”

Thomas’s face finally turned tomato red.

“Where did you meet him? At the concert?”

“No, at a university.”

“What university?”

While watching Halo’s concert and following Roh Haeil’s footsteps, unable to find connections between Halo’s music and his life, BB encountered Halo during his pilgrimage.

-Hello, Mr. Halo.

Though he wore a hat and mask, BB recognized him instantly.

-I’m Brian Berry. I run a small film production company.

Most would be startled by a Hollywood master’s introduction, but the boy seemed unfamiliar with the name.

Or perhaps he knew but had the kind of indifferent personality that didn’t care how someone introduced themselves.

-Could you possibly spare me some coffee time?

-Unfortunately, that won’t be possible. I have a cold.

-Oh, my.

-Instead, how about that?

What the boy pointed to was chicken skewers at a food truck.

The boy who managed to extract money from a Hollywood master’s wallet walked slowly across the grass, chatting.

It was time worth far more than the few dollars spent.

“How was Halo?”

Thomas, who knew well that he was an excellent The Sun member, asked him.

It was a question that could be interpreted in many ways.

BB recalled the boy he had encountered at Korea University.

The young boy who drew attention befitting someone who had shaken the world,

Despite his youthful appearance, he seemed comfortable dealing with people, was mature, and thus made for enjoyable conversation. In fact, if he could have, BB would have liked to talk with him not just for coffee time, but for months.

However, BB had something he wanted from him, and in the end, tried to convince him.

The reason he had come to Korea.

-So I tried to create a character that would best match your music.

-And?

-That’s it. I haven’t been able to conceive it yet.

Having failed, he was planning to spend several months in Korea.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, a gleam appeared in his eyes.

-A person who best matches my music.

Though he couldn’t understand what that meant, somehow it felt like he had found an answer.

More precisely, it felt like he had found someone who had the answer.

Brian Berry, Hollywood’s master who returned after making what was more of a plea than a declaration to visit again, found the word that best suited him through the nicotine smoke.

“It’s like halo.“