The Road to Glory Chapter 213 - [Side Story] Chapter 15. Who's More Famous?

The sound of crashing waves and squawking seagulls.

The white foam scattering as it hits the breakwater and the ship’s horn sounding from the port.

At this place that means life for some,

Travel for others,

And farewell for yet others, Halo heard countless sounds, but the incomplete music that didn’t satisfy him was washed away by the waves.

Looking at the sounds scattered like grains of sand into the sea, Halo thought that slumps were really no fun.

“Boss?”

Only when the Content Planning Team Leader called him again did Halo realize he was in the middle of a call.

“Yes. What did you say?”

“I called regarding the exhibition proposal from Professor Ma Taeho of Korea National University of Arts.”

The email that arrived for PD Namgung was immediately forwarded to the team leader and key label personnel.

“If Mr. Halo is positive about it, we can proceed right away. The content dates align perfectly-“

Normally, he would have been interested in a sound exhibition, but Halo simply conveyed his approval to proceed.

It wasn’t that he disliked the sound exhibition.

Though he wasn’t sure how sound collection ended up becoming an exhibition, he liked the theme of ‘sounds we miss while our eyes are open.’

He was curious about the other sounds that would be exhibited there.

“Then we’ll proceed with that.”

However, there was something else that caught Halo’s attention more.

Halo isn’t the type to be very interested in others. Rather than that, he focuses on himself or the music he creates, and occasionally that interest extends to those around him.

-Then won’t you teach me how to sing?

-No.

Originally, he would have just said no and been done with it.

-I have a lot of thoughts but it’s complicated. There are too many paths and I don’t know which is the right one. Am I weird?

-No.

-Why are you laughing? Am I really weird?

-It’s because that’s too normal.

-So you mean I’m not weird?

That relieved face from back then reminded him of childhood.

Why?

‘They don’t seem similar though.’

The old him wasn’t the type to be relieved by being called “normal.” If anything, he preferred being called special. If someone called him weird, he was the type to respond that they were just too stupid to understand. He wasn’t the same as the kid he met recently.

It wasn’t that he felt guilty about refusing though. If what the kid said was literally true, there wouldn’t be much need to learn from him specifically.

Rather than learning from someone else, they would naturally find and discover things on their own.

This isn’t to say that learning is necessarily bad.

Halo recalled the bros who taught him how to handle instruments way back when. Or the current hideout hyungs.

He didn’t think he could teach “kindly” like they did.

“Boss!”

While on the call, he had already arrived near the village chief’s house, and even before entering, delicious smells wafted out.

This was because they had brought out seasonal fish and food that had been stored in the jars.

The work the village chief had asked for wasn’t much.

How could they make city folk who visited the island do hard labor?

He just said to eat something delicious, that they would make seasonal dishes for early March, and asked them to bring some ingredients from a few houses.

Though one person got quarantined in the process, ultimately the village chief was moved by the village broadcast.

“Did you hear? They say someone from the broadcasting station came last night.”

“Ah.”

While the VJ was filming the appetizing lunch, Moon Seoyeon hurriedly relayed what she had heard from the village chief.

“I know.”

“! How do you know, boss?”

“I just ran into them. We talked too.”

Halo recalled the broadcasting station staff—no, PD Na Hyejoo and Writer Do Minhee whom he had encountered face-to-face on his way back.

Given how they pointed at him and asked in shock why he was here, it didn’t seem like they had come to meet him.

Of course, afterwards the two whispered for quite a while, and Writer Do Minhee showed some lingering attachment.

PD Na Hyejoo politely clarified that they hadn’t come to meet him.

“I hope there’s no misunderstanding. Furthermore, we have no intention of disturbing Mr. Halo’s rest or doing anything against Mr. Halo’s wishes. We just want Mr. Halo to have a comfortable trip.”

Anyone who knows PD Na Hyejoo would know how hard she tried to make a good impression. How intense must the desire be for a PD to want to cast a top star they accidentally ran into? Yet PD Na Hyejoo cleanly gave up this opportunity for the sake of future relationships.

If she hadn’t already cast a mentor, she might have been tempted, but she didn’t want to be greedy when she already had one.

“But why did the broadcasting station come out here? It doesn’t seem like they came to meet you, boss.”

Originally, not many people knew Halo was here.

“I think they said it was location scouting.”

“Are they filming a drama here?”

After all, they had said it was a village where the footage would come out beautifully. At that moment, the village chief joined their conversation: “They came to see Gyeowool.”

“Gyeowool?”

“There’s quite an unusual child here.”

The village chief said, sitting on the wooden platform under the ginkgo tree.

“Unusual?”

Han Jinyeong sat down bringing burdock root tempura and grilled mackerel, followed by Nam Gyuhwan.

By now, the platform was set with dishes rivaling the meal they had at grandmother’s house.

“Should I say their behavior is different from other kids?”

The village chief scratched his head.

“Sometimes they seem like a child, but there are times I don’t understand them.”

Even when with other children, it seemed like they were looking somewhere else, and the pranks they played were different too.

Back when the music room was still intact, they would sneak in and mess with the instruments, and when the music room instruments broke down, next they went into the broadcasting room and pressed various things.

After the microphone sucked in machine noises and terrorized villagers’ ears for 5 minutes, access to the broadcasting room was prohibited.

“Still, they’re quite pitiful. When their father who went out to sea didn’t return, their mother went crazy for a while, but they stuck by her side and wouldn’t leave.”

Sometimes other people’s stories can be enjoyable, but sometimes they can be uncomfortable.

It makes you wonder if it’s okay to hear such stories that make people’s hearts uncomfortable. This was such a case.

When everyone fell silent, the village chief looked around wondering what he had said wrong. Not knowing what the problem was, the village chief anyway returned to the main point.

“It’s really fortunate the broadcasting station came this time. Meeting a good teacher will change their fate. I didn’t know that child was a prodigy. Is that why they liked the broadcasting room so much?”

Halo, who didn’t know what program the broadcasting staff had come for, paused his chopsticks at the word “teacher.”

It wasn’t that he disliked the word teacher.

He just thought it wouldn’t be easy if that child was even slightly similar to his past self. And on the other hand, he was curious.

About who would be the teacher.

#

“Hello, let me introduce myself again, I’m PD Na Hyejoo from MNC’s Current Affairs and Culture Division. These are the works I’ve been in charge of. Mother, have you perhaps seen ‘I Don’t Want to Know That’? I was the assistant director there.”

Na Hyejoo sat in front of Gyeowool, Gyeowool’s mother, and Gyeowool’s siblings, showing her credentials.

“Yes, you’re saying our Gyeowool is a prodigy?”

“Yes, that’s right. However-“

She learned about the child called Gyeowool through a NuTube video. PD Na Hyejoo and Writer Do Minhee, who were looking for prodigies not just through people’s reports but also directly, browsed SNS whenever they had time,

and through an unknown algorithm, a video from Baegun Elementary School came up.

It seemed like a former elementary school teacher had uploaded it as a vlog, and this scruffy kid was filmed along with it.

Perfect pitch that could identify all piano notes.

With just that one video, PD Na Hyejoo made inquiries here and there and managed to find the name Baegun Island.

Now sitting in front of this kid.

Since that video was all they had to assume Gyeowool was a prodigy, she needed to confirm.

“Could you show us Gyeowool’s talent again?”

PD Na Hyejoo just needed to see again that Gyeowool had perfect pitch.

However, strangely, Gyeowool’s mother tilted her head for a moment and started rummaging through a drawer saying ‘I wonder if this will do.’

And she takes something out.

It was a very old sketchbook with the name ‘Jin Gyeowool’ written crookedly above childish drawings.

“This is what I have, ahem.”

“You can speak comfortably, mother.”

Though she said that, Gyeowool’s mother showed no intention of comfortably using dialect.

“But what is this?”

Gyeowool’s mother gestured with her eyes to take a look.

“At first I thought it was just scribbles.”

PD Na Hyejoo opened one page without much expectation and her eyes flew open. This is…!

Though it was terrible handwriting and there were no staff lines so it was confusing for a moment, different musical notes were connected. There were no bar lines, but the spacing between notes probably indicated the measures.

‘This is incredible.’

Only Writer Do Minhee’s whispered voice could be heard.

Not just perfect pitch, but composing? The quality of the music didn’t seem to matter.

“D-did, Gyeowool do this?”

“Yes, they learned from the elementary school teacher and started fiddling with it on their own.”

This was definitely a prodigy.

No, they might even be a genius.

Suddenly, light seemed to shine from the scruffy-haired kid.

There is light at the end of hardship.

She heard her pastor father’s words.

But this was no time to be caught up in emotion.

Now that they had proven Gyeowool was a prodigy, it was her turn to persuade.

“Mother, Gyeowool is definitely a prodigy. And a very special child at that.”

“Our child?”

“Yes, they have a special talent.”

Gyeowool was too precious to stay here.

She carefully explained the program’s purpose—that they wanted to assign one of Korea’s outstanding musicians as a mentor to a child who needs musical education, and film their growth process.

“That all sounds good but.”

All sounds good ‘but?’ What could be wrong? PD Na Hyejoo’s heart sank at the mother’s words.

“I just feel sorry toward our child, so I’d like to do whatever our child wants.”

“Ah.”

If that was the case, it was fortunate.

This was as good as implicit permission from the guardian.

That is, if they could persuade Gyeowool.

“Mother, could you give us time to persuade Gyeowool?”

She didn’t think it would be easier just because they were a child.

Especially having just briefly seen another music genius a few minutes ago.

A genius different from other children.

“Hello, Gyeowool.”

They already seem different now.

Even while talking with their parents earlier, the child seemed uninterested and kept looking elsewhere.

“I’m a PD from MNC’s Culture Division in Seoul. Do you know what the Culture Division is? We film documentaries.”

“Seoul?”

“Yes.”

When Gyeowool seemed to show interest, PD Na Hyejoo eagerly responded. Gyeowool stared at her intently. PD Na Hyejoo felt like she was being interrogated.

“Perhaps-“

“Is that person from earlier very famous?”

“Huh?”

“That person earlier…”

“…Are you talking about Mr. Halo?”

Writer Do Minhee, who had been quiet in the back, cut in.

PD Na Hyejoo’s eyes flew open.

“Mr. Halo?”

“That person told me he was a singer, is he famous?”

“O-of course!”

“You just stuttered.”

“No-“

This wasn’t stuttering from lying, but from being caught off guard by such a question.

To ask if ‘the’ Halo was famous, of all people. Does this island not even get TV?

There was such a huge fuss about the Grammy.

Then PD Na Hyejoo recalled the very old TV in the room where she stayed. Though not quite a CRT, it wasn’t a smart TV and couldn’t do mirroring, only cable broadcasting.

And even that signal would waver when the wind blew.

Then maybe they wouldn’t know.

No. But how could they not know?

PD Na Hyejoo shook her head.

As a Culture Division PD, she couldn’t stand for this.

“He’s extremely famous. Want to see this?”

PD Na Hyejoo opened the tablet she brought.

And showed articles and videos one by one.

After showing even the Grammy Awards, when the child tilted their head, she opened NuTube this time.

“What’s this?”

“This is…”

It’s episode 2 of ‘Welcome to my World’ that she watched partway through yesterday.

After Halo and the members have a serious discussion about slump and decide to refresh, it ends right in front of Hongdae street.

More than the content, PD Na Hyejoo was more impressed by the chat. The chat passionately arguing whether Halo was in a slump or not.

PD Na Hyejoo thought he was in a slump since Halo himself said so. Of course, she could understand why people couldn’t empathize.

But that’s what makes someone a ‘genius.’

PD Na Hyejoo turned off NuTube and was about to try persuading Gyeowool. That’s when Gyeowool asked.

“Then is the teacher who will teach me more famous than this person?”

“Huh?”