The Road to Glory Chapter 215 - [Side Story] Chapter 17. Crying Then Laughing

Musical Score (樂譜): A record of musical notes written with specific symbols.

Historically, various types of musical scores existed, but currently, the staff notation is universally used.

Of course, lead sheets consisting of chords and lyrics are also highly utilized in modern times.

Nevertheless, what people first encounter is still the staff notation made up of five lines and symbols.

Staff notation consists of various elements such as key signatures indicating the music’s tonality, time signatures, clefs, and measures.

These elements go beyond being mere collections of musical symbols, helping to convey the music’s content to others both supplementarily and visually.

Just like how books visually convey someone’s experiences or imagination.

Musical scores have many similarities with books.

They’re not just chunks of text written in a different language, but they also allow for implicitly formed rules.

For instance, horizontal writing (left to right).

Rules whose origins are unknown are now being used unconsciously, like breathing through the nose or blinking.

When Halo first saw Gyeowool’s sketchbook, he read it from left to right too.

The absence of staff lines wasn’t much of a problem since staff line spacing is usually consistent, making it readable as if the lines were there.

But something was strange, how should he put it.

The music wasn’t connecting properly and kept getting cut off.

He understand using spacing instead of lines to express measures, but this wasn’t just about the missing measure lines—the order was strange.

Yes, it was like puzzle pieces made of single measures that hadn’t been put together yet.

As if asking to be assembled directly.

‘Well, look at this.’

Halo smiled slightly and tried fitting the puzzle pieces together in his head.

There were some ambiguous measures, and while it might not turn out exactly as intended, he could understand what the intention behind drawing it this way was.

This was both a score and a picture.

In other words, it was their own score that didn’t apply the rules made by adults, and it was more like a drawing than a book.

Let’s think about it.

People usually write horizontally on lined paper or staff paper, but how do people draw on sketchbooks or drawing paper?

When drawing a cottage, they would typically draw it right in the center.

That’s the difference.

The child wrote music starting from the very center of the blank sketchbook like drawing a picture, and it gradually spread outward.

Just like any person’s drawing where they draw without thinking about size, and toward the end, the drawing gets smaller or the measures drawn on the side become messy due to overlapping.

Looking at it according to adult-made rules, this would be a very strange score. It would become quite nonsensical music. Some people might think it’s just fooling around.

Only a very small number of people would be able to understand it.

Halo returned the sketchbook to Gyeowool and said,

“You should have drawn the staff lines properly. No one else can understand it this way.”

If only the order had been properly indicated, it would have conveyed what was wanted better.

Halo started to scold but then smiled faintly.

“Still, you did well.”

He hummed the assembled puzzle of music.

The humming reached their ears along with the slapping waves.

The child’s eyes grew round.

It seemed the crying had disappeared completely.

“I can connect it well.”

There was no object in the sentence, but Gyeowool understood immediately what it meant.

-You said you wanted to connect sounds. What kind of sounds do you want to connect?

-I want to connect the sounds Mom used to hum

-Can you connect them?

-Huh? I don’t know about that. I have many thoughts, but it’s complicated-.

This was a continuation of that conversation.

‘He acknowledged it.’

Someone who was supposedly very famous in Seoul.

Someone whom the PD from the broadcasting station had praised like worship.

Gyeowool read sincerity in that expression and attitude. The writer who had been quietly standing behind also kept nodding in agreement. It couldn’t have been just a courteous response. Hadn’t they subtly avoided answering when asked if they were more famous than the teacher?

‘He said I did well.’

The mood kept getting better.

What the teacher had said had long since flown from their head, and they just felt like floating on the seawater.

Even the sketchbook they were going to throw away became good again, and they just wanted to show more to this person.

Then he would praise them again, saying they did well, right?

Although the desire to win against this person remained, it seemed like they didn’t necessarily have to win.

Gyeowool covered their face with the sketchbook and giggled behind it.

“Crying then laughing-.”

Moon Seoyeon poked Nam Gyuhwan’s side.

Be quiet. Are you trying to make the kid cry again?

As Nam Gyuhwan was feeling wronged about never having made the child cry.

Someone stood before them.

“Excuse me, could I talk to you for a moment?”

It was PD Na Hyejoo.

“With us?”

“Yes, and with Gyeowool too.”

“?”

#

“This comes next… sir.”

“Oh? Like this?”

“Yeah. No, yes.”

Gyeowool explained the order of the ambiguous measures.

Halo nodded and played the guitar, while Gyeowool pretended to be polite while letting out giggles.

Although they tried not to show it, it was all visible to adult eyes.

If Gyeowool had been a puppy, they might have been wagging their tail like crazy. That’s how much their eyes sparkled, and their gaze wouldn’t leave the guitar and Halo.

That’s how the music was completed.

Though there were still many rough edges, considering that Gyeowool was only 10 years old and hadn’t received any professional training, it seemed like remarkable talent.

PD Na Hyejoo, hearing the interpretation that the score started from the center of the sketchbook, and listening to the music being completed, felt her mind going blank.

First came surprise.

Admiration and acknowledgment for Halo who interpreted this.

Then came- dizziness.

There was something she realized at this moment.

The program’s purpose was to connect talented mentees with mentors and develop the mentees’ talents.

Only now did she realize how shortsighted and hasty it was to simply intend to pair talented people together.

Education isn’t such a simple matter. Life isn’t that simple.

Just as someone who might be a good teacher for one person could be a bad teacher for another,

It was hasty to just pair mentors and mentees without properly considering their compatibility.

What would have happened if she had paired Gyeowool with Kim Sunchul according to the original plan? That person wouldn’t have properly seen Gyeowool like Halo did. Even if he had agreed, would it have been okay?

She should have looked more carefully at such an important matter that involved a child’s life.

At least like that-.

“This comes next, right?”

“Wow-! That’s right, that’s right… sir!”

She should have found someone who could properly understand the sketchbook the child drew.

PD Na Hyejoo had seen Halo comforting the child, and approached them while listening to the humming carried by the wind.

While blaming her past self who had firmly said she wouldn’t even come near and to rest comfortably.

Although she had become someone who said two different things with one mouth, it still felt like she had learned a lot.

“What? Who said Gyeowool has no talent?”

“Who? No, based on what?”

And when they heard the story of how Gyeowool came to cry, they were shocked.

PD Na Hyejoo didn’t specifically mention who that person was, or what tone and words he used, but she conveyed the negative response, and naturally, only questions about talent remained.

“A simultaneous three-note test?”

Halo expressed doubt about aural training.

PD Na Hyejoo also found that aural test strange and said she would show it, searching for the video.

Of course, Halo’s doubt had a different meaning.

He wondered why they would use a three-note test for a music prodigy test.

While knowing what sounds instruments make and what notes they consist of is very important, anyone could identify three simultaneous notes when all other sounds are blocked out.

Wouldn’t it be better to play a piece and ask them to perform it?

Or ask them to compose something directly?

“Ah, here it is.”

Anyway, PD Na Hyejoo found the recorded video and played just the sound, and Halo tilted his head while looking at Gyeowool.

As if asking why they couldn’t match it.

Gyeowool listened to the sound of the video they couldn’t match again and pouted. They looked very wronged.

“The sound… isn’t the sound strange?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

PD Na Hyejoo asked, not understanding.

However, Gyeowool waited for Halo’s answer, and soon he spoke.

“You couldn’t match it because it wasn’t tuned properly?”

“Because the sound is different.”

“Still, you should have matched this much. It’s not enough to be that distracting.”

“…Is that so? Sir?”

Halo answered too easily and nodded.

“That’s right. Just like how no one stops playing music just because it’s not tuned properly.”

Of course, that wouldn’t happen, but all sorts of things can happen during a performance. Guitar strings might break, or the sound might sound different due to weather. He understand having sensitive ears, but having an attitude of giving up in the middle because the sound isn’t good doesn’t look good.

“I understand…”

Gyeowool nodded dejectedly.

“?”

PD Na Hyejoo, who probably wouldn’t be much different from the general public regarding music theory, looked back and forth between the two with a puzzled face.

Neither the child who couldn’t match because it wasn’t tuned properly, nor the one saying they should have matched that much were people within her realm of understanding.

Moon Seoyeon smiled at her as if understanding.

PD Na Hyejoo was relieved that she wasn’t the only strange one, but she didn’t know that Moon Seoyeon was once a beloved talent at the Korea National University of Arts.

“But is tuning? originally difficult?… sir?”

“No.”

Halo firmly shook his head, saying that wasn’t it.

“Tuning isn’t difficult. It’s just basic. Well, they probably used something from the broadcasting station’s prop room. Those usually aren’t maintained.”

“…!”

Ah!

At those blunt words, PD Na Hyejoo shut her mouth.

It seemed better not to say who it was.

Not for that person’s sake, but because PD Na Hyejoo herself felt ashamed for bringing that person.

Fortunately, Gyeowool didn’t say that the person who gave the prodigy test was the mentor. It seems they had completely forgotten about it, but she hoped they would forget it entirely as if it had never happened.

Because she planned to go back to the beginning and find a better mentor.

“I think we should get going now.”

The ship’s horn sounded.

The captain was blowing the horn to signal it was time to depart.

Since the conversation wasn’t completely finished, the members glanced at her.

‘A better mentor…’

PD Na Hyejoo stole glances at Halo and Gyeowool.

Although no better combination appeared in her eyes right now, Halo wasn’t originally the type to do much entertainment, and since they met during his vacation, she was more hesitant to speak.

Moreover, she hadn’t even told them about her personal circumstances of losing the program. That seemed to cross a line.

“Then what happens to Gyeowool?”

Moon Seoyeon asked lastly, and PD Na Hyejoo steeled her resolve.

Not sharing her personal circumstances wasn’t just for their vacation but also her own will.

She absolutely wouldn’t let it be taken away without a fight.

She would get it back somehow.

“Since I’m certain, and Gyeowool wants to do it, I’ll look for a good mentor.”

Among the methods to not lose the program, appealing to emotions by telling them the circumstances and saying it’s for Gyeowool might help, but PD Na Hyejoo thought about it until the end-.

And finally decided not to say it.

Since when had she been lucky?

Since when had she been so emotional?

Melodrama has been out of fashion for a while now. Movies these days get criticized by audiences for this kind of thing.

However, she decided to indulge in a small desire.

“When we return to Seoul, I plan to submit a formal proposal to H Label as well. Then-.”

She’s not hoping for unconditional acceptance.

That would be too presumptuous. All she hopes for is-.

“I’m not asking you to definitely accept it. I just hope you would read it and know that there’s this kind of program, and this person is doing this kind of program.”

She knows how lucky it is to meet a star by chance and request them to read a casting proposal. Most casting proposals would be dismissed without even being read.

She decided to indulge only this much desire. It doesn’t matter if they don’t read it in Seoul. She would somehow get the program back and wanted to find Gyeowool’s real mentor.

Not trying to be a righteous person, she just didn’t want to remain a fraud to the child.

Hooo-.

The ship was advancing through the rough waves.

Soon the ship carrying Halo and his members disappeared beyond the horizon.

PD Na Hyejoo found Gyeowool sitting at the end of the pier, looking for the ship that was no longer visible.

Although the brief time spent with Halo was enjoyable, Gyeowool, who couldn’t hold on due to the memory of being rejected once, just sat at the end of the pier like a puppy waiting for its owner.

While humming music.

PD Na Hyejoo watched the child and belatedly clutched her head.

She had spoken trying to act like a cool and responsible PD in front of a favorite star, but reality hit her late.

How would she find a mentor who suits Gyeowool well, and how could she get the program back?

Broadcasting two identical programs is absolutely forbidden, and the other side has already finished their meetings.

“What am I going to do now?”

PD Na Hyejoo spun around in place.

Since she said this much, they might look for her program proposal in Seoul, but what if it’s not there?

“Did you comfort the kid well?”

Writer Do Minhee’s voice came from behind.

“That was ages ago. You’ll probably be surprised.”

It wasn’t her who comforted them, Halo comforted them directly.

“Why? Did you meet Halo or something?”

“Did you see?”

“From far away. This village is so small there’s no privacy.”

Writer Do Minhee said that she thought only the music was old-fashioned, but there’s nothing here.

“I saw that even the piano at Baegun Elementary School has been broken for a long time. It would be hard to do anything like mentoring in this village.”

“Mmm.”

“What, don’t tell me you’re giving up on the program? We have to find it somehow. I’m more fired up because of that bastard Kim Sunchul.”

Writer Do Minhee exhaled through her nose.

“Let’s cast a big star, and make the content blockbuster-level. Get lots of investment, and completely overhaul it, not just mentoring the kid.”

“…”

PD Na Hyejoo momentarily stopped thinking.

“What did you just say?”

“Let’s get the program back.”

“No, after that.”

“Cast a big star…”

“Yes.”

“Make it blockbuster…”

Completely overhaul it, not just teach prodigies.

PD Na Hyejoo said “again,” and Writer Do Minhee kindly repeated.

Completely overhaul it. Everything. All of it.

PD Na Hyejoo took in everything from Gyeowool at the end of the pier to the entire village at a glance. A village with nothing, and what it has is old. The villagers living there and a musically gifted child.

Suddenly, a bell rang in her head.

Ding-! A clear sound.

“This is it!”

PD Na Hyejoo shouted.

Not content with just that, she grabbed Writer Do Minhee’s shoulders in joy.

“This is it!”

Ding-!

The bell sound rang out.

They say when someone falls in love, you hear bell sounds and angel trumpets from behind, and it must be true.

PD Na Hyejoo had fallen in love with a program that hadn’t even been created yet.