The Road to Glory

The Sangam-dong neighborhood of Mapo-gu, Seoul, was always filled with office workers. Especially the cafes and restaurants near the broadcasting stations were constantly receiving orders, making the concept of weekends meaningless.On the 18th floor of HBC Broadcasting Station’s Second Building.In the [From Today On] meeting room, the music support team sat sipping cups deeply stained with bite marks, or leaning against the walls.“We should be wrapping up the OST work soon.”One of them trailed off after saying that.As soon as the drama synopsis came out, they had composed music fitting for the drama and cast singers.They could consider the famous singers already cast.However, the music director and executive producer had requested a youthful and unique vocal color for the character’s theme song, so the casting wasn’t fully complete yet.‘It’s good to find a youthful voice for a youth drama, but I didn’t expect it to be this delayed.’They had to make some progress before the broadcast began.Of course, some shows left recording until the second episode. These days, if the response was good, they could add more OSTs too.Still, it was right to finish the work for the theme of the supporting(?) character appearing in episode 2.“For a new singer, um, how about Gillaon?”“Gillaon, you mean Soyou’s Gillaon?”“Yes, the Gillaon from P-R. The one the director also found entertaining.”The music director raised his head at the familiar name.“That only stayed entertaining for like 2-3 episodes. The teaser was well-picked though.”“Well, it did pretty well anyway. So what about Gillaon?”“Gillaon… Wouldn’t Yujin suit his character better than Heetae? They’re brighter.”“Whatever works.”“Alright, let’s request her.”“And Heetae?”“…Let’s put that on hold for now.”The crew cut who had suggested P-R’s ‘Gillaon’ folded his arms as if he expected that reaction.“Are you still waiting on that NuTuber or something?”They should have finished casting long ago.But since someone caught the director’s eye, this holding pattern dragged on endlessly.It wasn’t even a famous person, just some kid who uploaded one measly video – why was he so obsessed?!Of course, they had seen it too.How good that kid’s singing was.The sensitive youngest team member had tears in his eyes.They fully understood it would suit the gentle, model student Heetae’s character theme perfectly.Still, this was too much.“At this point, shouldn’t we just give up? We’ve done everything we can. If he doesn’t want to do it, that’s his loss, not ours.”With no response from other side and not even a proper confirmation, they couldn’t just keep waiting around.It was just some random NuTuber, not even a professional.A new voice, a character theme song.They got that it fit well, but there were surely plenty of other singers who could sing well and pull off a character theme song if they looked.What more could they want?“Come on. The director is already hooked. In fact, he even suggested contracting that NuTuber for the song. It just didn’t work out because of image mismatch with the drama. If it was a tearjerker romance, he would’ve put it in.”With the persistent objections and complaints from his team, as the director he couldn’t leave it unresolved forever.Drama production was already underway, but still…it really would be great to get them.“Let’s wait one more day.”The director made the concession as if he had no choice.#Creeeak.“Hmm.”Halo scrolled down, checking NuTube.Of course, he wasn’t checking the [HALO_Official] account this time.It was the [wave_r] account he had completely forgotten about and buried.  He logged in with the automatically saved ID.He thought it would just be buried among the countless videos.The subscriber count had decreased in the meantime – people had unsubscribed thinking it was a dead account.However, there were still people listening to [Confession], and people asking him to release it on Watermelon.Some subscribers probably even forgot to unsubscribe, while others were waiting.Halo played [Confession] and stared at the phone number Kang Yeongmin had found for him.Kang Yeongmin said by now, they might have already finished casting. But he said to give it a try if Halo was interested.Originally…Halo wouldn’t have been interested.If it was a composition request, maybe, but this was a request to vocals for a drama original soundtrack.‘In a word, it’s asking me to sing someone else’s song.’He had never sung anyone else’s songs in his life.He had received many requests for features or duets, but always declined. He was too busy with his own music, and there were many songs he didn’t want to sing due to quality issues.Come to think of it…This was a situation where he didn’t even know what song it was.Originally, he surely would have declined.But what nagged at him was that this opportunity didn’t come to ‘Halo’.This OST request was Roh Haeil’s share, the result he should have attained.Thinking that Roh Haeil could have taken the stage starting from this request, he couldn’t bring himself to decline it.‘Roh Haeil definitely would have taken it, right?’Halo drummed on the desk before picking up the business card.Then with his other hand, he firmly pressed the number.Gripping the phone, a man’s voice immediately came through.[Yes, hello?]#“Yes, hello?”The assistant director took the call in a hunched posture and left the meeting room. Those who glanced at him lost interest.For broadcasters, holding their phone was a daily routine, so no one scolded or took offense if they answered calls or were on their phones during meetings.More importantly, the executive producer was right there.The executive PD looked at the music director one last time as he wrapped up the meeting.“Jeongho.”“Yes.”He addressed the music director seriously for some reason.Then he sighed deeply and said, “Let’s settle for this much.”The music director’s eyes widened.The executive PD added, as if he knew everything.“I’m disappointed too, but we can’t keep clinging to this. There’s more than just one singer in the world.”“…True.”“And how did the Gillaon casting go?”“Of course he accepted.”The assistant director handling the casting shouted out.The executive PD thought they had dragged it out a bit too long.There was no need to be so obsessed over the supporting character’s theme song when even the lead’s didn’t take this long.The music director honestly admitted it too, about to say ‘Understood. I’ll give up and request other agencies’ casting.’The assistant director who had left to take the call burst back in, he waved with the brightest face seen all year.“Director, PD! It’s here!”“You order some tteokbokki or something?”When the PD casually asked, the assistant director shook his hands.“No, not that…”“Then what?”“That NuTuber you wanted so badly, PD. He just contacted me. Said he wants to do it.”A brief silence fell.They had just concluded to give up in this meeting, and that’s when the contact came.The music director sprang to his feet.Ever since listening to [Confession], he had wanted to get that kid somehow. He thought that kid’s singing suited the character Heetae best, with the writer hinting at a twist.“Tell them to come right away!”The director jumped up and shouted.The assistant director, who knew just how desperate the director was, nodded.“Yes! I’ll let them know.”#“Recording a drama OST?”“Yes, I heard it’s a character’s theme song. Oh, but they said just because it’s recorded doesn’t mean it’ll definitely be inserted into the drama, so don’t get your hopes up.”“Even if they say that, it’ll probably be used, right?”Halo also nodded with a wry smile.If they didn’t choose his song, whose could they choose?“Alright. Did you happen to ask what drama it is?”“They said they’ll tell me the details at the meeting itself. All I heard is that it’s a drama premiering soon.”“Soon, huh?”It was a sudden meeting.However, at the mention of a drama OST, his mother readily agreed to take him, even canceling plans with a friend to drive him to a cafe in Sangam-dong right now.“That’s great.”His mother expressed her delight as she drove.“I haven’t had many songs I wanted to sing lately, so this is great. If it’s our son’s song, it’ll definitely be a good one, right?”“Hm?”She didn’t have any songs he wanted to sing?Halo tilted his head and replied,“You could just sing my own songs, though.”All this time, countless tracks had been released on platforms under HALO’s name – four on the first album, six on the second, five on the third, plus singles – quite a substantial amount.“Well, it’s…a bit hard for me to follow yours.”Halo turned his head at the unexpected answer.“My songs are difficult?”“A bit? I can do songs like ‘When We Meet Again’, but I struggle with your other songs.”With those words, a passing memory surfaced.His mother didn’t often hum his songs very well. In their quiet home, while she would absently hum along to music like a jukebox, she rarely sang along well to his songs.‘Was it because they were difficult?’He couldn’t quite accept that at first.It couldn’t be because of the English lyrics.His mother knew English, and ‘When We Meet Again’ was in English too.‘Then what’s difficult about them?’Halo tried to think about the differences between ‘When We Meet Again’, which his mother could somewhat sing, and his other songs.He couldn’t really pinpoint major differences.Was the former’s melody just brighter?But the upbeat, lively melodies on the upcoming third album ‘Even So We Do’ were similar. The lyrics were gloomy, and the performance crazily difficult, but not the melodies themselves.‘…Hmm.’He had a vague idea.He had deliberately made the rhythms and chords difficult, hellish even for other performers. The emotions, melodies, performance styles – he had tailored everything solely for himself.‘I guess they could be difficult.’Halo pondered those words all the way until arriving at the meeting place.#“Halo? What’s that?”The outside was always noisy.Korea changed rapidly too, but couldn’t keep up with overseas trends – new trends, new stars, new issues.Kim Kyungjin was always a beat behind everyone else around him.At that, his colleague mocked him.“Hey, if you’re working in this industry, you should’ve already known. What, did you just get back from a temple stay or something?”“When did I have time to see the Buddha? I gotta look out for artists.”“So what, you really just look at idols?”Not necessarily.Kim Kyungjin wondered what the big deal was for him to get scolded like this.“And what’s that about? If you went overseas and said that, you’d get your ass kicked? Didn’t you see our Korean singers putting a sun emoji on SNS when they went abroad?”“I guess? I’ll look into it later. Right now I need to pass something on to Laon.”Only checking the Watermelon charts and not Billboard, Kim Kyungjin simply thought some new star must have emerged overseas.Celebrity here or there, he had to do the work assigned to him first.He headed to the practice room where Gillaon would be. He planned to tell the rather low-energy Gillaon lately about a drama OST offer that had come in.It was a really great opportunity for a newcomer. Participating in an OST was a chance to easily get their name out to the public, and if the drama did well, the benefits were even greater.Of course, HBC wasn’t particularly strong with dramas, but they still occasionally had huge hits, right?He had checked the synopsis posted on the site too and it seemed decent.The storyline was about a former delinquent protagonist teaching high school delinquents who had given up on studying.With an original work too, the story shouldn’t go off the rails.“Laon.”Kim Kyungjin found Gillaon squatting in the practice room listening to music.“Yes, Hyung.”“Want to try doing a drama OST?”“A drama?”Gillaon raised his head.He was clearly interested.He explained roughly what kind of drama it was – the synopsis, production team lineup, and how great an opportunity participating in the OST would be.“I think it’d be good for you to join too. I heard quite a few new singers are participating this time.”“…Okay.”Gillaon gave a vague nod.It was an affirmative at least, but it felt halfhearted.Gillaon still seemed hung up on Soyou.Or maybe he was disappointed that a friend he had newly become close with had fallen from grace.It wouldn’t be good for this to continue.Kim Kyungjin decided to persuade Gillaon more maturely to take on the OST.“Don’t mope around like this, just contact them or something, Laon. I’ll buy you a meal. You’ll make money from recording the OST, so use that to treat yourself. Or if you’re not up for it, just bring a friend along too.”“!”Gillaon, who couldn’t even make contact and had been endlessly staring at his phone, raised his head with a start. It was a method he had never considered before. But it seemed like it could work.Jang Jinsoo had promised to introduce him to a friend similar to him someday. A co-composer and arranger of ‘Show by show’.Well, he was curious about that friend too, but his main concern was Jang Jinsoo for now.“Okay, I’ll make some money and contact him!”Gillaon shouted vigorously.Hi everyone, I've fully translated this series. If you love the series and wanted to binge read until the end, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. Instead of buying the advanced chapters one by one, you can buy them in one bulk (with discounted price too)!