The Road to Glory Chapter 190 - Shape of Love

[The protagonist of the Daon Awards was already decided!]

[HOT: Common World Stars’ Music Performance Bet]

└ The biggest name bet of the 21st century OMG

└ How does he make a name bet with someone who impersonated him? Is he crazy or is this just fresh;;

└ Wait, are they really close before that?

└ Name bet with an impersonator vs Having dinner face-to-face with ex and current lovers

└ First time seeing the former but the latter is common in our country lol

└ ?? Since when did our country become Hollywood

└ Even Hollywood actors were shocked by the former one, go check SNS

└ So when is March 21st coming?

[HALO’s new song release date confirmed for March 21st]

[HALO’s new song vs Jason Dyke’s new song]

└ But isn’t this a one-sided match?

└ Who can beat The Sun

└ If the winner becomes The Sun, doesn’t that mean The Sun will definitely win?

The bet between Halo and Jason Dyke became such a hot topic that it even overshadowed the favoritism controversy of the Daon Awards and the White Grammy controversy.

However, even this commotion couldn’t compare to the controversy he caused in the previous world.

The name bet only received some bewildered reactions, but compared to the previous world’s controversy where people called him mentally ill and demanded punishment, this one was smaller in scale and received more positive responses.

People didn’t take it as a serious bet to begin with, and some even saw it as a manly response that wasn’t crude.

He could create bad controversy if he wanted to.

This was something that even Halo found strange.

This world seemed, how should he put it, favorable to him.

Even with the same music, while some people occasionally called it old-fashioned, it was more loved in this world.

Was it because he was a minor?

Halo stopped thinking about it.

He had no desire to analyze crowd psychology from psychological, philosophical, or social perspectives. He had no interest, and even if he listened, he wouldn’t understand anyway.

And now he was busy with something else.

Halo lifted his notebook while lying down.

Musical notes were tangled and wandering around freely.

Though others might find it hard to read with no staff lines and randomly placed notes, to Halo, the notes came to him as sounds.

-There’s something you haven’t tried. Love songs.

Halo couldn’t escape Sin Joohyeok’s suggestion that had stuck with him until the end.

Well, it wasn’t about singing about passionate love for some woman, but rather he decided to make music about his love for his fans, parents, friends, and people he was grateful for.

He also decided on the album title.

HALO 14th Album: Shape of Love

He planned it as an EP album with 8 lyrical tracks.

‘But why.’

Halo hummed while looking at the sheet music.

There was nothing more to add to the music.

It was perfect as it was, and trying to add anything would break the balance.

‘But why don’t I like it?’

While there was nothing wrong with the sheet music itself, he just didn’t like it.

To be more specific, it felt like something important was missing.

Was he just feeling weird because he made a song that didn’t suit him?

Although it was his first time making a song with ‘love’ as the theme, Halo didn’t think there was a problem with the song itself.

When he couldn’t figure it out even after much contemplation, Halo closed his notebook.

If it was something that important, it would come to him soon.

Halo thought about the project he was planning to do with others.

After ‘The Last DaY’, he had come to know the joy of collaborating with various people.

He was thinking of doing another collaboration this time too, but…

After recently visiting Hwang Ryongpil’s home, Halo changed his mind.

“Haeil, it’s been a while.”

After announcing his retirement, Hwang Ryongpil, who had been avoiding the mass media, wore an unexpectedly gloomy expression.

Like it had once been Halo’s dream, he had chosen to retire while at his peak.

As much as it was the future he wanted, and as much as he had worked for a long time, he thought he would live happily and feel relieved after retirement, but Hwang Ryongpil looked older.

Just last year, his young man and health that had him wearing leather jackets and riding motorcycles were nowhere to be found, and seeing the frail old man made Halo honestly feel uncomfortable.

“Are you si-“

Sin Joohyeok covered his mouth.

Walking in cheerfully and casually, he signaled with his eyes not to say anything.

While telling him that he wasn’t sick.

Halo didn’t continue speaking and just quietly looked at the old man before leaving.

A few days later.

People gathered to make tribute songs for Teacher Hwang Ryongpil.

Among them, some planned to release solo songs, while others planned duets. Since they promised not to make only sad songs, everything else was possible.

“Haeil, you’re particularly quiet today. Something on your mind?”

“…”

Lee Seongrim told him to speak up if he had any concerns.

However, Halo kept his mouth firmly shut.

What came to mind after seeing Teacher Hwang Ryongpil wasn’t just simple worry.

Rather…

Halo thought.

What if he hadn’t died, and had announced his retirement at the world’s most glamorous awards ceremony.

He had only imagined the Grammy’s being shocked and horrified, but after that… he had never thought about what came after retirement.

Would it have been enjoyable?

I feel like I would have had fun.

However, Teacher Hwang Ryongpil clearly wasn’t.

Something else showed on his face.

That dark and gloomy thing suddenly reminded Halo of old memories.

Halo watched people discussing the tribute songs.

It might be sudden for those discussing making songs together.

“Would it be okay if I do it alone?”

But there would be no turning back on the decision.

Since he had already decided on the song.

“Somehow I knew you would.”

“Ever since Joohyeok said he’d do it alone, I had a feeling Haeil would too.”

“Wow, then this time we’ll really see who’s better with the same theme.”

“Who can move the teacher more?”

“It won’t be as easy as the after-party last time?”

People accepted it coolly.

Though he said he’d do it alone, there was no reason to leave right away.

They had planned to eat together anyway.

Halo wrote down the lyrics while organizing them.

“By the way, what should we eat?”

“Just order whatever.”

“No, we have a growing teenager here. Haeil, is there anything you want to eat?”

“You’re talking like you’re going to pay.”

“Come on, I’m your senior, don’t I have enough money to buy my junior a meal? Just say whatever you want.”

They opened their wallets as if telling him to say anything.

Halo looked at them quietly before answering.

“French fries.”

“Huh?”

“I want french fries.”

#

Time passed with every moment.

Halo’s album work, Hwang Ryongpil’s tribute song, and the interview too.

BB vaguely felt that it was approaching its climax and ending.

However, he still couldn’t predict how this story would flow.

This was because ‘another HALO’ didn’t follow typical scenario narratives.

While there were relationships that caused him conflict, they didn’t have much impact on ‘another HALO’. This was true for both family and lovers alike.

Moreover, ‘another HALO’ gained huge popularity with his musical talent and beautiful appearance, enjoyed parties, and was loved by many people. If things continued like this, it would obviously be a happy ending.

It was unclear why it felt so precarious.

“It was on one of those days.”

BB cleared his thoughts and focused as the boy’s story began.

Life was flowing successfully.

There was no one to stop the young man who caused the so-called ‘Love yourself’ incident at the awards ceremony. It was certain that no matter what he did, his fandom wouldn’t waver, and the boss could no longer interfere with his albums.

Rather than giving up, it was closer to a compromise.

He realized that if he didn’t touch the albums, the young man was somewhat cooperative in other matters. In fact, this compromise happened because the boss was elderly while the young man was in his prime; if he had been a bit younger, the conflict would have continued.

It was on that day.

The young man was in a good mood for the first time in a while.

The boss no longer interfered with his albums, and many people carried his slogan. And finally, contact was made.

Before his debut.

The bros who taught him music.

Contact that had been cut off when they were scammed by a Scottish label was finally restored after almost ten years.

Strictly speaking, it was contact from someone who knew his bros, but this time it was certain. The young man went to the address while holding their photos.

It wasn’t in Scotland, but London. It was even in the outskirts, not far from his house.

What happened after Scotland?

What had his bros been doing?

They’ll be surprised to see me, right?

What should we do for fun from now on?

One by one, things he wanted to do with his bros came to mind.

They would collaborate on work together, and get chased by the police after causing trouble.

Dan had confidently said to just trust his driving skills then.

What else was there?

-And when one of us retires, let’s write a retirement song too.

Along with pleasant old memories, thousands of questions and expectations arose.

There was also a small doubt during this time.

‘Why didn’t they contact me all this time?’

Forgetting him didn’t make sense.

Even if they cursed him, many people wanted him, and there was no one who didn’t know him.

And as everyone said, his appearance wasn’t one that could be easily forgotten.

There must have been circumstances.

Since he was cool, he decided to forgive such minor circumstances.

Actually, he was fine with whatever his bros might say.

No matter what appearance his bros had, he would recognize them,

And he would tease them about how far he had come and ask how they were doing.

Eventually, they would play together, sing, and dance like old times.

The young man knocked on the door with a brighter face than usual.

What came out wasn’t a hyung but an old man.

“Hello, I came after receiving contact. I heard Eddie is here-“

The old man in shabby clothes seemed to recognize him.

“Come in.”

The old man guided him inside.

The young man entered without any suspicion.

There was an unpleasant smell inside, but anything was fine if his bros were here.

There were photos of his bro and occasionally photos of his siblings on the corridor leading inside and above the fireplace.

While there were no photos of the young man among them, many articles were attached to one wall.

They were articles about the young man.

Yes, his bros hadn’t forgotten him.

“You’re exactly as he described.”

“Did he talk about me a lot?”

“Of course. He always talked about you. He would get angry if anyone spoke ill of you, and praised you endlessly about how angelic you were and what amazing talent you had, almost to the point of being tiresome.”

“Really?”

The young man smiled brightly.

So he praised me behind my back even though he always said I was ugly?

He decided to tease him about this too.

“Everyone really wanted to see you.”

In his joy at finally meeting his bros, the young man didn’t notice why the old man was using past tense.

“I wanted to see you too. I kept trying to find you. It took too long though. No, why didn’t you come to see me?”

It shouldn’t have taken 10 years.

He had lived a flashy life causing trouble and making scenes so they could find him.

With his home address, label, and schedule all known, how hard could it have been to find him?

As he was grumbling, the door to the main room opened.

The young man erased his disappointment and raised his hand in greeting.

However, upon seeing inside, his expression slowly hardened.

“Eddie?”

The person he had so wanted to see was there.

Though a bit different from his memory, it was his bro.

But…

He didn’t care about wrinkles on his face or whatever.

But he hadn’t expected to see him lying down, dependent on an IV drip.

“Eddie!”

The young man ran to him.

Why are you lying down like this? He wanted to grab his collar to wake him but couldn’t grip it for fear he might really die.

This wasn’t how he had imagined his bro.

“Why are you like this? Why-“

This isn’t my bro.

The young man denied it but then met Eddie’s eyes as he lay there.

He couldn’t deny it anymore.

Those were definitely Eddie’s eyes.

His lips trembled.

Instead of his once pleasant voice, a metallic sound came out.

“—?”

Still, he called the young man by his old name.

Just like back then.

“Halo… it really is you. It’s been so long.”

And his current name too.

Everything was the same as before, only Eddie’s appearance was different.

The young man stared blankly before asking.

“What are you doing right now?”

Like the ill-mannered kid from ten years ago.

Perhaps remembering that, Eddie laughed saying “You haven’t changed” before coughing.

“Why are you like this? Where did everyone else go?”

“Sit down first, Halo.”

“Explain first. You’re now-“

The young man’s mouth opened and closed.

Though he looked like he could die at any moment, he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

It felt like saying it would make it come true.

“Halo, you look handsome even making that expression. You were like that before too.”

“Stop talking like some dying old man!”

He couldn’t hold back when he heard another cough.

Eddie was so thin and festering that it wouldn’t be strange if he died at any moment.

His face was pale and lifeless, and his hands were cold.

“I really missed you, Bro.”