The Road to Glory Chapter 187 - I've Also Rested for a Long Time

Halo barely woke up past noon.

The encore concert that heated up the dawn ended much later than scheduled, and since it was long past dinner time for everyone, they had a late dinner gathering with the staff before parting ways.

After that, the boy returned to the hotel, fell into a deep sleep behind the blackout curtains, and when he woke up, it was two or three o’clock.

It was time to slowly start preparing again.

If last night was an after-party with the concert venue staff, today was scheduled for an after-party with many industry people and acquaintances.

The venue was the sky lounge restaurant where he had his birthday party two years ago.

He told people they could bring whoever they wanted, whether he knew them or not.

In other words, it was a chain invitation where those who were invited could invite others under their responsibility.

As a result, the party grew larger than he had expected.

While officially it was a concert after-party, it also became a meeting place.

Just as Halo was meeting acquaintances after a long time, the acquaintances were also seeing the boy after a long time.

Those who had lots to say about how the boy had been living and what he planned to do next responded to the invitation, and people who didn’t know much about the boy but wanted to become friends, those who wanted something, or those who just wanted to expand their network expressed their intention to participate.

Also, since what was self-proclaimed as the ‘Meeting of People with Nothing to Do’ and dubbed by others as the ‘Meeting of the Real Ones’ hadn’t been held due to Hwang Ryongpil’s retirement announcement and the youngest’s coming out, they decided to meet together.

Over there were actors who were busy these days appearing in dramas and filming CFs.

By the window, the boss of a major agency that was said to be creating a new rookie group could be seen, and in one corner, a director who was filming a movie in America was chatting with actors.

Though this was a familiar scene for him who had been the best party host in his past life, since this wasn’t a party he had planned early on, he didn’t expect so many people to come.

Usually, only the regular attendees came.

Well, parties weren’t rare. Even without Halo, there were plenty of stars who enjoyed meeting people and partying lavishly. Almost daily, whether it was home parties, comeback parties, composition parties, or parties with various other names were held. That’s why eventually only the regular attendees would come.

However, today was different.

Actually, it was natural that many people attended despite the sudden party.

No one needed to wonder about the top star who had been making headlines in the mass media until now.

Rather, they hoped to form close relationships.

Moreover, since there were other stars among those curious about the boy, they couldn’t miss the opportunity to expand their network.

“Congratulations on your first world concert.”

“You really worked hard. I really wanted to go to the concert, but I failed the ticket reservation…”

“By the way, is there any plan to produce Halo watches separate-“

“Thank you.”

“Next time, I’ll invite you.”

“Well, there might be good news soon.”

The people who entered the sky lounge first came to the host to thank him for the invitation and poured out friendly words. Whether they were actually friendly to him or not, there wouldn’t be any fools who would reveal their true feelings in a place with many watching eyes.

Of course, occasionally. If it was a relationship known to be bad, they could show it. However, in this life, he hadn’t yet seen anyone who showed their emotions to that extent.

Unlike in the previous world.

-What? Am I not allowed to come here? If it’s unpleasant, I’ll leave.

Back then, rather than renting restaurants like this, home parties were usually held at the ‘young man’s’ mansion. His house was a three-story mansion in London, and from his mansion, you could see the beautiful London night view.

The young man, who enjoyed meeting new people and had little space restriction as he used the entire first and second floors as party venues, always allowed chain invitations. This meant that even those without invitations were welcome.

However, he had an uninvited guest.

More precisely, he was a rather annoying guy.

A guy who would appear wherever he went and pick fights.

The guy whose actions were merely amusing and not worth paying attention to appeared at his party one day.

He came in nonchalantly, wearing a smiling mask and greeting.

Gazes toward them increased one by one.

Since it was well known that this guy whose name he couldn’t even remember disliked him, people seemed curious about how the young man would handle it.

-That can’t be.

The young man soon smiled softly.

With shadows cast by the lighting above his head, the young man was a living statue itself. As his features that sometimes didn’t look human formed soft curves, the women who came with the guy stared at him as if enchanted, and sighs arose from around them.

-Have fun.

The guy loses his smile.

Though he seemed to be trying his best to smile, his muscles could be seen twitching.

The guy’s mouth opened as if to say something, but as new people entered the mansion, the young man’s attention scattered. He greeted the actress from a recent hit movie familiarly.

-I heard you’ve been busy lately. Is it okay for you to be here?

-It’s not usually allowed, but. If you’ll play with me, I might stay a bit longer.

The young man casually passed a glass to her after sharing a bisou.

And then gave the guy a look asking if he hadn’t left yet.

The guy, who came to his senses belatedly, greeted the greatest actress of this era.

-I enjoyed your movie. But I don’t think the movie captured all of your beauty.

-Oh my. Is that so?

As the actress laughed happily, the guy observed the young man and the actress.

-By the way, you two seem close. Perhaps-

The actress gently closed her eyes and stroked the young man’s shoulder.

She didn’t seem to dislike such misunderstandings.

-We’re good friends. Right, honey?

-You’re my favorite friend.

Though it was just a simple comment, the actress’s face turned red.

At that moment, the young man noticed the guy’s eyes blazing.

Suddenly, conversations that someone had shared came to mind.

Most were rumors about who was interested in whom.

Was he in there too?

Whatever it was, it was true that the guy was very interested in the actress, and he seemed to have misunderstood the relationship between the young man and her.

However, the young man had no intention of clearing up the misunderstanding.

He might have found the guy annoying, but they weren’t close enough for him to bother clearing up misunderstandings.

-You seemed a bit struggling lately, but I’m glad.

It was a sudden comment.

-What?

Was I struggling? As the young man tilted his head, the guy carefully added.

-I liked it, but I don’t know why everyone else… I got scared to release albums. Well, I was lucky that people liked mine.

It was around when he released his 4th album.

The guy who released an album around the same time overtook him for the first time.

Though it was through his specialty and he was reversed, anyway, the guy’s performance was higher at the time.

-If you’re worried, you can always tell me. It would be good to share help as fellow singers and composers.

-Help? What help?

The young man asked with pure intentions, but it was enough to sound like ‘You, helping me?’

-Anything. You might get stuck while composing. Slumps are something we all go through. I have quite a collection of practice pieces? I could give you some.

The guy who naturally expected anger or annoyance couldn’t control his expression at what followed.

-Ah, no thanks. Your stuff isn’t my style.

-!

-By the way, do you get stuck while composing?

He was genuinely curious since he had never experienced a slump, but it seemed to have triggered some point in the guy. The guy spat out curses and grabbed his collar. Their relationship was always like that.

A relationship where if the guy threw a punch, he would throw one back.

He clearly disliked him, but he was a really strange guy who would imitate his music and band.

“Haeil, so about that.”

Halo returned to reality.

In front of him were Sin Joohyeok, Liv, and Lee Seongrim. People commonly known as the Hwang Ryongpil corps. They were his acquaintances who had treated him well from their first meeting.

Since they originally had their own music, they had no need to imitate his music, and they were already shining beings themselves.

“I was wondering if you have any separate schedules after the concert.”

“Why?”

“The teacher is retiring soon.”

Ah, he remembered what he had forgotten.

Hwang Ryongpil, who suddenly mentioned retirement last year, said he would retire after his concert this February.

The boy, who had received a guest invitation early on, naturally accepted, and after saying they would meet soon, they couldn’t meet due to the world tour.

“We were talking about this among ourselves.”

Halo, who thought they might be planning some event, soon opened his eyes wide.

“How about making a song for the teacher?”

“Everyone gathered here has agreed to participate. That is, everyone except you, kiddo.”

No wonder they said they were gathering.

He thought they were just happy to meet people who were hard to see.

“I’ll do it.”

“We’ve only talked about it, haven’t made any progress. But since we’re gathered together, something should come out.”

“We’ve already done it once before.”

Those who had participated in Rendezvous sympathized with Liv’s words. On the other hand, those who hadn’t participated patted them, saying they were only sympathizing among themselves. Even though they didn’t actually work together since it was a duet song.

“Let’s meet soon, but there’s something most important.”

Sin Joohyeok zipped his mouth.

It couldn’t be more obvious who they were talking about.

Teacher Hwang Ryongpil’s retirement is in February. National tour concert.

Until then, they would make a song without the teacher knowing.

“But let’s not make something boring like ‘Teacher’s Grace’.”

Now that everyone who said they would participate in the project had gathered, even if serious discussions would come later, opinions started coming out one by one.

“Right. I’d rather sing ‘Wrong Meeting’.”

“How about making it a diss track?”

“Who? The teacher?”

“What about twerking?”

“Wow. The teacher might cancel retirement while grabbing his neck.”

“All good, but who’s going to do it?”

Though most were silly comments, Halo really imagined it and burst out laughing. So it seemed like proper brainstorming was done.

Whether this should be called a conclusion or not,

They made a promise not to sing sad songs and set a schedule for when to meet.

And somehow the conversation went in a strange direction.

Everyone gathered around the piano.

It was when those who were bored or had already met the people they wanted to meet were leaving the party.

“Let’s see who composes better.”

While talking about the dedication song for Hwang Ryongpil, it seemed to have turned into a pride battle about who composes better. The context of conversations between drunk people wasn’t something to understand.

An ad-lib battle unfolded in a corner of the sky lounge.

Not a rap battle, but a composition improvisation battle.

Halo, who somehow became the judge, while wondering what topic to give, turned on an alarm bell sound.

The bell rang for about 10 seconds.

The battle was to create music longer than 30 seconds using this bell sound. Any repertoire could be used, but the music had to include the alarm bell sound.

Someone who thought for a moment tried the piano and soon said they could do it and started playing.

As expected of a ballad singer, a sweet ballad came out.

And another artist who had been quietly listening raised the corner of their mouth.

As a rapper, they poured out rap using only the alarm bell sound rhythm.

And they claimed they did better and asked for judgment.

“Oh, The Sun.”

They were definitely drunk.

One person took a reverent pose with both hands clasped towards Halo, who was much younger than them.

“I succeeded in ticket reservations for both the Seoul concert and Nanji concert. Just wanted you to know.”

“What, you got both? After telling me you failed. Don’t tell me you also have a Halo watch?”

“That…”

The rapper who was a ticket reservation victor but not a gacha victor knelt down.

The ballad singer who failed even ticket reservation said to punish that guy because they couldn’t go to the concert because of him. A great criminal who violated the principle of one person, one concert.

It was unclear when their country became communist.

Halo smiled faintly and tried to take the hand of the fan with higher loyalty.

At that moment, someone stroked Halo’s head.

“But shouldn’t we verify our judge’s qualifications first?”

“…That’s true.”

“Judge, show your qualifications!”

Sin Joohyeok who turned the tables giggled saying it was fun.

“Wait, if it’s Halo’s composition, we need to find something harder.”

“Right. Let’s find something he absolutely can’t make.”

“We have to win at least at times like this.”

The situation was quite fun.

Halo who had been quietly listening smiled.

“Are you sure you can win even at times like this?”

“!”

At that moment sparks flew.

It was the kind of annoyingness that made you want to throw a punch.

However, the records spoke for themselves.

Those who couldn’t refute gritted their teeth and tried to find strange sounds.

“How about this?”

Then, someone shouted.

Another person listened and frowned then brightened.

“What is it?”

Seeing their expressions, it was clearly something unusual.

Halo who was listening to the sound they played soon had to laugh helplessly.

“No.”

He had given them a proper melody even for an alarm bell sound.

What they were playing wasn’t such a melody, but an animal’s cry.

Aeaeaeaeaeng.

And it was a sound that all humans hate.

A mosquito.

“Try making something with this.”

Everyone’s expressions were crafty.

They were looking at him with expectant faces.

Not expecting in a good way.

‘This must be hard for you too?’ Their expressions said they thought he absolutely couldn’t make it.

That was enough to stimulate Halo.

A mosquito sound.

It would have been easier if there was a guitar.

After all, the sound most similar to a mosquito sound would be string instruments.

However, all that was in the sky lounge was this grand piano.

Halo wiggled his fingers.

He closed his eyes and concentrated on the sound.

Even without strings, there should be many ways to express it.

Actually, a mosquito sound isn’t a cry.

It’s a sound made by the mosquito’s wings vibrating the air. In other words, it would be closer to wind sound.

Wind sound.

Halo suddenly recalls that music can be made even without instruments.

Halo placed his hands on the piano and counted the beat.

Three, two, one.

He didn’t press the piano right away.

The first bar was whistling.

People’s eyes widened, and after whistling, Halo pressed the piano keys.

A fun and exciting 4-beat music was heard.

Right now there’s only piano, but if drums, bass, and guitar were added, it would add more strong energy.

The music repertoire continues without breaking.

However, when he ended the performance at exactly 30 seconds while continuing to create the song in his head, soon dumbfounded people’s sighs were heard.

“Ha.”

“Did you prepare this in advance knowing we would have a battle?”

“Let’s release it as is.”

Boring reactions followed as if they had suddenly sobered up.

Halo raised the corner of his mouth and threw out a comment to heighten the reaction.

“Don’t you have anything harder?”

“!”

“Wow, this guy-“

Now this is the right reaction.

The adults were annoyed but couldn’t say anything while grabbing their necks.

The reason they don’t hold bad feelings even though he’s unlikeable might be because only those who live and die for music gathered here. While they might want to forget about work at a place they came to have fun, seeing them talking about music and making music shows they must truly be crazy about music.

“This won’t do, I need to show the dignity of a senior. Haeil, move aside.”

When Halo obediently moved aside,

He suddenly started playing a different, more complete song than before.

And even started singing.

“What’s this, suddenly.”

It seemed like he had sobered up from getting fired up.

Halo also listened to his song with admiration.

At that moment, a middle-aged man burst in from among the spectators. He was the CEO of a fairly well-known label.

“That’s not allowed, Shinjae!”

“It’s already been leaked once, so what’s the big deal?”

“Hey, I said it’s not allowed!”

No wonder the completeness was so high.

Those who realized what was going on started laughing one by one.

It seemed ridiculous that he would leak a release track because he didn’t want to lose.

Of course, it was a song that had already been leaked on V LIVE, but still.

“When are you making your comeback?”

“Mid-February.”

“That’s soon.”

With January one-third gone, it meant there was about a month and a week left.

“You’ll be meeting me then.”

“Huh?”

The eyes of those who initially didn’t understand what Halo meant gradually widened.

“Wait, could it be.”

The boss beside him suddenly seemed to have sobered up completely.

“Are you making a comeback, Halo-ssi?”

That one statement spread like a tidal wave.

While actors might not care, singers couldn’t help but pay attention to news about someone who always impacts the music charts.

“When is it? This?”

Someone who had been speaking informally suddenly switched to formal speech.

“March.”

“March?”

Although he didn’t specify whether it was early, mid, or late March, people seemed to assume he would comeback on March 1st.

“Boss, can’t I just comeback tomorrow?”

“Should we?”

The boss and artist exchanged jokes with serious faces.

“I’ve also rested for a long time.”

At the boy’s added words, the surroundings fell silent.

The guy who just finished his world concert yesterday said he rested for a long time?

Released albums every month the year before last, 13th album release in March last year.

After that, he even participated in a song that hit Billboard #1 in summer, and that’s called resting for a long time?

Then am I retired?

People who had much to say but couldn’t opened and closed their mouths.

The after-party ended in shock and horror.

It didn’t even take a day for Halo’s comeback declaration to spread.

Not just in the Korean entertainment industry.

Because many people came to the after-party, Halo’s comeback date spread worldwide.

It might have been a premature announcement in a situation where composition wasn’t finished yet. However, Halo had no special schedules except interviews and the teacher’s dedication song.

Having decided on the title track, Halo decided to start composition work in earnest. That meant he would be holed up in his room.

It was something everyone was familiar with.

Not only was it a tight schedule, but Halo disappearing wasn’t a one-time thing.

However, there were people who couldn’t accept it familiarly.

“Looks like he won’t come this time either.”

The Daon Awards.

The faces of the hosts of the Daon Awards, the only state-certified music awards ceremony hosted by Daon, South Korea’s only state-certified music chart, darkened.

They couldn’t help it.

Because last year’s biggest winner didn’t attend, making it a half-baked awards ceremony. They couldn’t suffer the humiliation of this year’s expected biggest winner not showing up again.

If HALO were a foreigner it would be one thing, but now that it’s known HALO is Korean, who else would receive the awards if not him?

In a situation where viewers were asking if Halo wasn’t coming this time either, the Daon Awards decided to go find him directly.