The Road to Glory Chapter 197 - The Thing I Love Most

The life that ‘I’ wanted most?

“Boss, are you alright?”

“…Yes, I’m fine.”

“You didn’t drink earlier, did you?”

When Moon Seoyeon looked at him suspiciously, Halo shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

“I might have had a drink?”

Both Moon Seoyeon and Halo knew that he hadn’t even had a single drink.

Moon Seoyeon erased her worry at the playful joke and gave him a light pat.

After sending off the members, Halo returned to his room.

The wind came in through the open window.

Halo stood in front of the window to close it.

There, the brilliant night view of Seoul spread out before him.

It had quite a different feeling from the serene London.

Seoul’s nightscape, filled with artificial lights, was brighter and had a more futuristic feel. A city of people living for tomorrow’s self, shining with all their might right now.

Halo looked at that familiar sight with fresh eyes.

He reached out and placed his hand against the window.

The cold sensation seemed to bring him back to his senses.

Then, BB’s voice echoed again.

-At least to you, ‘he’ would be an unfortunate person and artist. If you’re living the life that ‘he’ would have wanted most.

At that time, Halo had stupidly argued back.

Grammy, appearance.

Things that the usual him wouldn’t have brought up.

-Are those things really that important to you, and to ‘him’?

Yes, BB was right.

The Grammy was what he had despised most.

And appearance, well.

Hadn’t he already proved it?

That Halo could succeed without showing his appearance, without showing anything, just like in the previous world.

No matter what he looked like, whatever he was, people loved his music, and ultimately called him glory.

Bringing up appearance now was no different from being stubborn.

It was embarrassing how foolish he had been.

He wondered why he made such a pointless argument.

Although BB had casually moved past it, he must have known he was acting like a child.

BB’s voice pierced precisely into his eardrum.

But if I had been him,

(But if I had been ‘him’)

I would have been envious of you.

(I would have been envious of you.)

His question came back and struck like a dagger.

-Why did you have to create a story about such an unfortunate person?

Various voices merged to attack ‘him.’

-You, who live the life he would have wanted

had never thought about it even once.

For Halo, there wasn’t much difference between the previous world and the current one.

Getting popular with the same album again,

Living glamorously surrounded by many people remained the same.

Performing at concerts.

Receiving cheers from the audience, love from fans, and hatred from some.

Wasn’t it not just similar, but exactly the same?

Then, someone asked.

‘Is it really the same?’

It sounded like BB’s voice, and it was also the voice of ‘previous world’s Halo’.

‘Is there really no difference?’

A man was reflected in the window.

His eyes met with ‘previous world’s Halo’.

Unlike when they met on the train, he didn’t look so weary.

Halo quietly looked at him, then sat on the sofa.

Then the reflection showed ‘previous world’s Halo’ sitting on the opposite sofa.

‘Previous world’s Halo’ was suddenly holding a guitar. Behind him, countless people passed by.

They each carried a piece of the story told to BB.

Parents with cold expressions and

A brother twirling his finger at his head.

The roommate who was shocked when he broke the guitar,

Eddie and the bros who patted his shoulder as they passed by.

The shabby-looking boss he first met in the park,

The many guests who visited his party, and even the session members who didn’t last long were reflected.

The last to appear was the manager who stayed with him until his end.

The manager passed by ‘him’ holding his children’s hands along with his wife.

‘Previous world’s Halo’ doesn’t look back at them.

Whether they stay or go, he sits on the sofa, no, on a smooth rock, singing.

Halo felt like he knew what song it was.

He picked up the guitar carelessly leaning against the sofa and started playing.

‘Previous world’s Halo’ briefly looked up as if hearing the sound, then smirked and continued singing.

Though no sound could be heard, Halo knew he was matching his playing.

These were the tracks from his newly made 14th album.

Songs for people echoed in the hotel room.

Though there was clearly only one sound, Halo heard two.

The missing sound was being filled.

Halo couldn’t find a more ideal sound than this.

‘Previous world’s Halo’ nodded approvingly.

His eye-smile seemed to ask, ‘You like it too, right?’

Halo slowly nodded.

“Yes, I like it.”

A song for his mother and father who accepted him after hearing <Confession>.

A song for Jang Jinsoo and the hideout hyungs who took in a boy with nothing and taught him everything from start to finish.

Music filled with joy about friends like Sin Joohyeok and Hwang Ryongpil,

And affection for the members who spent time traveling together.

August Veil who said it was good no matter what music he made.

And above all, music for the countless people who loved him passed by. The night view of that day when they celebrated his birthday was contained within.

Halo honestly admitted.

That this world was more favorable to him and his music.

After finishing eight songs, ‘previous world’s Halo’ also stopped playing.

Like always, the picture-perfect ‘previous world’s Halo’ smiled with satisfaction.

Then suddenly, as if telling him to look to the side, he winked.

Halo was afraid ‘he’ would disappear, but slowly turned his head and soon discovered it.

Unlike ‘previous world’s Halo’, the window reflected countless people surrounding a boy. With smiling faces like in a family photo, they were people who loved the boy, and people the boy loved.

The boy looked at them, then turned his head.

‘Previous world’s Halo’ was nowhere to be seen.

As if he had never been there.

Or as if he had gone to a very far place.

Only the sofa where he had sat remained alone.

Yet strangely, it didn’t feel disappointing or sad.

Even when he turned his head and found the empty window, he didn’t feel lonely.

The people who loved him would be in their original places.

Beyond the window again spread the view of Seoul.

His favorite view.

At some point, the view became blurry.

Halo immersed himself in music, playing again the songs he had reviewed with ‘previous world’s Halo’.

Songs for the people he loved.

Ah, he hadn’t thought of making songs like these in the previous world.

He wondered why he only made them now.

When it made him this happy.

The music that was said to grip and shake people’s emotions returned and shook him. A thrill covered him just like when he first made Struggle.

He was so happy in this moment of playing this song, and he truly loved this moment.

He loved this moment so much that he wished it would last forever.

He wished Roh Haeil would never return.

Although he had said he could return it whenever Roh Haeil came back.

That wasn’t true.

He couldn’t give it up.

But because it was Roh Haeil’s tragedy, he just wished Roh Haeil would never return.

No, rather. He wished he was the real Roh Haeil.

How wonderful it would be if he were Roh Haeil, who had everything he had wanted – parents, members, friends and business partners, fans who loved him.

He loved them so much,

This time made up of them,

This world where he lived together with them was so lovely.

The reason he kept talking about retiring was because he didn’t want to become like this.

Afraid that he would covet everything of Roh Haeil’s.

It’s not that he hadn’t considered the possibility that he had been reborn as Roh Haeil.

He used Korean naturally like Roh Haeil,

And everyone thought he was Roh Haeil.

Even his parents didn’t feel anything strange.

The same birthday. Similar name. Maybe Roh Haeil, who had everything he wanted, could be his new life.

‘But.’

However, Halo knew well.

That it was just his wish.

Nobody really knew what had happened.

He might have been reborn as Roh Haeil

Or he might have killed and stolen from Roh Haeil.

Since he hadn’t seen it himself,

Due to the slight possibility that he had forcibly taken Roh Haeil’s body, Halo couldn’t think of himself as Roh Haeil.

Especially since no one even knew Roh Haeil had disappeared.

He couldn’t abandon even that slight possibility just to ease his mind. If no one else, he shouldn’t forget Roh Haeil, and should spend his life being grateful and sorry at the same time.

Even if it meant living with a lifelong debt in his heart,

Even if it meant living in constant anxiety.

He never knew when Roh Haeil might return.

He had to cherish, treasure, and enjoy every day as if it were his last.

Of course he couldn’t retire.

How could he think of retiring when every day could be his last?

This world was too precious to give up.

After playing all eight songs, Halo realized.

What had been missing.

[Mr. Veil, I think we need to modify the album]

After urgently leaving a message for August Veil, who might have already started the album pressing work, Halo took a deep breath.

His eyes stung, and his throat was completely hoarse.

But he had to do it.

He had to savor this moment.

[Do as you like]

August Veil’s reply came right away.

Like someone who would accept it even if given right before the release date.

Halo hesitated briefly, then held the guitar.

In the same posture as ‘previous world’s Halo’ played in the park.

Embracing the guitar like hugging it, he began to let the world hear the melody existing in his mind.

Perhaps this might be closest to the love song Sin Joohyeok had told him to make.

It would be a song about love for someone,

And a song about love for this moment.

Hoping this world I love will be a warm world for you too.

And hoping that you too can come to love this world.

#

March 21st.

On a day when snow was melting.

The song that came out to the world was completely different from Halo’s music until now.

There was no bravery that didn’t compromise with the world,

No whirlwind that dragged others into his depression.

Perhaps it might be completely different from what people expected. Some might be disappointed.

Still, for some people, this music would be enough as it is.

[1. Love this world – HALO]

Halo’s full-length album.

The album, containing the existing eight songs, the dedication song to Hwang Ryongpil (‘Do Whatever You Want’), and the new title track, had a total of ten songs and became Halo’s first full-length album.

While the world is noisy with debates about whether to count from Roh Haeil’s full-length album or not. Isn’t it enough noise to start the year?

Today too, people go to work or school with their usual moderate noise. Horns blare on the roads, and voices rise up here and there.

The smell of bread spreading in the subway and the announcement “The train is approaching.”

The busy city’s day has begun.

And at this time.

Music that reached Billboard #1 right after its release plays.

“Wait, whose music is this?”

BB lifted his head suddenly.

“Can’t you tell just by looking? It’s the music of the man you love.”

At Tomas Benson’s answer, BB’s eyes flew open as he looked at the computer.

“Wow, I thought he was in a slump since he rested for a year, but Halo is really Halo. This song is really… Ha, life is unfair. Some people are music geniuses and scenario geniuses. I’m just a couch potato.”

At that moment BB slammed the desk.

“I got it.”

“What?”

“The ending! I know how to do it.”