The Road to Glory

“Then. Want to work together once more?”Halo blinked at Music Director Park Jeongho’s question. The music director quietly waited for his answer, as if he was sincere.Thinking about it, the way he had only spoken positively about the drama and filming set probably had this intention.Halo slowly shook his head.“Thank you for the offer, but there’s music I want to do right now.”At that answer, the music director cleanly backed off.“It was just a suggestion, so don’t feel burdened. Well, it wasn’t empty words either. Think it over later if you want. Drama music has a lot of appeal in many ways. It’s fun too.”“Director!”The music director, who had winked at him, turned around. Assistant Director Lee Jong-seop was calling him.“The PD is calling for you.”“Okay, just a moment. I’ll look around a bit more before leaving. I have some work to do.”“Yes, thank you Director.”Gillaon politely greeted him.“Wow! You’re so cool.”And as the director walked away, Gillaon exclaimed in admiration.“The director just asked you to work together, and you turned him down right away.”He had heard about rejecting love calls from producer hyungs and bosses, but to Gillaon, rejecting the music director’s offer felt very different.“Wasn’t it a good opportunity?”“Well, I don’t like halfhearted things.”While OST work was fun, he didn’t want to do it again. Well, if his music was ever used in a drama or movie in the future, that could be different.“Though, we’re too busy going our own way right now.”At Halo’s words, Gillaon nodded in understanding.Since they were here, Halo sat in the staff section and looked around. In fact, this was almost the first time he was properly seeing a filming set. He had visited before, but it was to see a friend, not because he had business at the filming set.If he came, too many people would gather, making it difficult to proceed with filming.His statement about liking this place was sincere.From the staff working hard to keep people out,To the sound equipment and cameras moving as instructed,To the actors amidst the crowd in paddings.The way each piece was stacked to create the drama was beautiful.Watching them, Halo fidgeted his fingers.A few notes came together like Legos to form a melody.It wasn’t a completed song, but he wanted to release it as sound.He regretted not bringing his guitar.Tapping his fingers, Halo watched Lee Jeongmin in front of the camera. Wasn’t he twenty-nine? The actor in the school uniform didn’t look out of place at all.In the scene of being instructed to frame the protagonist using a recommendation letter as an excuse,The conflict and agony shown were like those of a high school student. Even though it wasn’t a completed drama yet, the actor’s skilled performance made it not seem awkward at all.-How does it feel?The director’s words suddenly came to mind.The change caused by his whim of thinking Heetae’s story shouldn’t end that way.“Cut!”“Wow, I’ve never seen him do an NG. I didn’t know Lee Jeongmin was such a great actor.”Seeing the actor seriously watching the camera next to the PD and talking about his own performance, he did feel a subtle emotion.“Are the seniors not coming?”Gillaon, who had received snacks that actor Lee Sora had sent, said regretfully.As Halo received bread with a coffee aroma, he asked. He opened his eyes wide at the buttery fragrance and savory taste within the coffee aroma, and the soft bread. He had thought it would be a scone with coffee flavor, but it was delicious.Gillaon also put the bread in his mouth, saying “I wanted to greet them and go.”Next, Halo drank the coffee in the cup, and“!”Immediately spat it out.Who had poured water into the espresso?Instead of the bitter and rich bean aroma it should have, it tasted like water with cigarette ash in it.“What is this?”“You don’t drink americanos? Such a kid’s taste.”“!”Gillaon said as he drank the americano that tasted like water with cigarettes.Halo was dumbfounded.To be called a kid by a kid.“There should have been lattes besides americanos.”Then Gillaon pointed to the coffee truck.It was the truck surrounded by staff.“Go get another one. Oh, and don’t get lost staring at actress Lee Sora.”“Actress Lee Sora?”Halo, who hadn’t paid close attention to the coffee truck until now, furrowed his brows as he looked at the banner. Along with the face of the actress in a school uniform, there was an inscribed cheering message.As for falling for her and getting entranced-.“She looks too young though.”When Halo said that after intently watching for a while, Gillaon sprayed out his americano.“Um… Those aren’t words we should be saying?”For one, they were seventeen years old, andOn the other hand, actress Lee Sora’s age was thirty-three.Even if she suited a student role well, it was strange for a seventeen-year-old to say she looked too young.“I think actress Lee Sora is thirty-two years old…”“She’s over thirty?”Halo looked back at the banner in disbelief.No matter how he looked, she only appeared to be in her teens to his eyes.Even when he first saw Roh Haeil, he thought he was an elementary school student, and this gave a similar feeling.“Ahem.”That’s when it happened.Gillaon turned around when someone cleared their throat.A man in padding was coughing and rolling his eyes.When his gaze met the woman with her arms folded behind that man, Gillaon snapped his mouth shut. He wasn’t going to say anything further, but it seemed he had started some gossip.Fortunately, they didn’t say anything in particular.After glancing at Gillaon and Roh Haeil, they headed towards the schoolyard where the vans were parked.#Kim Kyungho was startled as he got into the van.It was because the witch intently looking into the large mirror suddenly pursed her lips and smiled. It gave him goosebumps.“Nuna, why suddenly like that?”“Kim Kyungho.”“Yes.”“Do I still look like a student? A bit young?”Kim Kyungho frowned at that unexpected question.Regardless, his actress was satisfactorily examining her face in the mirror like the witch from Snow White.“Come to think of it, even the ID check last time…”“Nuna.”Kim Kyungho said seriously.“Shouldn’t you show some self-awareness by now instead of acting immat-““Hey!”“Sorry.”When Lee Sora shouted, Kim Kyungho finally realized his lowly position. After grumbling for a while, Lee Sora folded her arms and put down the mirror. Fortunately, it seemed her self-admiration had ended.“Go out and buy some drinks.”“Drinks? Will Dr. Pepper do?”“No, just for me. Buy enough for the director, staff, and other actors to have some too.”“…”How many staff were there?Wasn’t she just trying to give him a hard time by making him buy them?Kim Kyungho pursed his lips and turned around.Then, Lee Sora’s voice was heard again.“And Kyungho.”“Yes.”“What kind of drinks do kids like these days? Buy some drinks that kids these days like too.”Kim Kyungho turned back and shook his head.He was already twenty-eight. The ‘kids’ Lee Sora was referring to seemed to be the ones who had blurted out that absurd comment about her looking too young, but weren’t they clearly middle or high school students at a glance?“No, nuna. How would I know what kids like these days?”“Then I, who’s so immature, should know?!”“I’ll be back.”Creak. The van door opened and closed at the same time.Lee Sora sighed as she watched his departing back, feeling exasperated. Her manager was fine in every other way, but lacked some awareness, which was the problem. Well, as long as he was kind and did his job well.“His name was Roh Haeil, right?”Then Lee Sora recalled the name she had happened to overhear. She hadn’t meant to listen, but overheard the staff gossiping. The singer who sang the Heetae theme, they said. A rookie who hasn’t debuted yet, but the music director really liked him.As for the Heetae theme, they had discussed it among themselves a few times too. That the writer changed the script because of that theme. She didn’t know if it was true. While the Heetae OST she heard in the drama was good, she couldn’t tell if it was good enough to change the script for.However, it was certainly true that Heetae’s lines and scenes had increased.Lee Sora recalled the boy who had been behind Gillaon. Even though he hadn’t debuted yet, his gaze towards her had been quite brazen. Not in a bad way.-She looks too young though“Hmm, not a bad kid though.”She nodded. Then she smiled wryly and picked up her phone. Her neat fingers quickly typed on the keyboard.[Lee Sora: Hey Joohyeok][Lee Sora: The kid who sang the Heetae theme came to the filming set and he’s way better than you lololol]He usually checked messages quickly, and the ‘1’ disappeared instantly. He had clearly noticed.[Lol]His reply came right away too.Though unlucky, Lee Sora giggled as she imagined the face beyond the phone.[Lee Sora: You should have come here today][Lee Sora: You’d be shocked to see him][Lee Sora: He looks a bit like you lol][What are you talking about][Nonsense][Lee Sora: I’m serious lol][Lee Sora: Too bad you couldn’t come because of your schedule today lol]It was clear he didn’t believe her words at all.Whether he read them or not, Lee Sora was used to it and put her phone down before opening the van door.It wasn’t long after that her phone, left on the seat, rang.[I’m a bit curious now]#Not long after returning from the filming set, the 14-episode drama [From Today On] headed towards its finale by airing episode 13.While the students had accepted the protagonist as their true teacher, the chairman still wanted to drive the protagonist out somehow.So last week’s story was about them using the most well-behaved model student Heetae to frame the protagonist for admission corruption.Other than that, original fans set the viewer message boards on fire over Heetae’s increased role compared to the original. In fact, even for non-original fans, the existence of such an indecisive character was maddening to watch.The actor’s great performance contributed to the intensity as well.And at least those who had read the original knew that the episode 13 airing today would be Heetae’s biggest turning point.No matter how many chances the protagonist gave the Heetae being manipulated by the adults, Heetae ultimately did not take the protagonist’s hand in the end. He remained the only student the protagonist failed to save.[Why does he appear so much][Is the writer themselves???][Just skim and skip over it;;;]Soon, the gym basketball court where ‘that scene’ would take place.Viewers were already venting their frustration.When the protagonist entered the gym to find Heetae, instead of the protagonist’s theme, Heetae’s theme song started playing.The beginning was the same as before.Which made it even more uncomfortable.Heetae’s inner thoughts, which he could not think about one more time.The more his inner monologue played, the more uncomfortable it became not just for Heetae, but also for the protagonist who had given up on Heetae.The protagonist told Heetae to reveal the truth, but Heetae could not. Just like the original, the protagonist reached out his hand for Heetae to come with him, but Heetae’s theme kept playing endlessly as he struggled, and in the end, he could not take that hand.Sighing deeply, the protagonist walked away.Watching the gradually distancing sneakers,Heetae’s head dropped.Regret and fear enveloped his face.The door closed with a click.Up to here was the original ‘that scene’.If it had been the original Heetae’s theme, it would have returned to the beginning with a repeat sign.However.Thump.With an unconventional piano sound, the song changed.The first to reflect this was not the actor’s performance, the camera movements, nor the backdrop.The screen was frozen. But viewers unconsciously felt that something would happen, different from the original.[I close my eyes again like that]The lyrics were clearly the same, mixed with breaths, yet[Melting into the rising sunlight]Something was changing.Click.Heetae raised his head, and the camera raised its head along with him. The gym door was closed.Yet the protagonist was leaning against the closed door, calmly watching Heetae.Thump. A basketball bounced off Heetae’s hands and rolled against the wall.Along with it, the protagonist’s sneakers, which had distanced, approached him with large strides.Light entered from behind the protagonist.It was the sunset on the playground coming in through the gym window.The sunset reached Heetae’s feet.The shadow drawn beneath Heetae began sliding back, carried by the sunset.The protagonist entered Heetae’s tear-filled eyes.What expression he wore or what he said was not shown.Yet the strong cigarette smell he carried stopped right before Heetae’s nose. Without the slightest distortion, Heetae raised his head and looked at the protagonist.“Heetae.”Such a voice was suddenly heard.“Having a hard time because of the adults?”“!”The protagonist did not reach out his hand to Heetae.That was the same as the original.But he stayed by Heetae’s side, leaning against the basketball hoop.“You just needed a good adult too.”The protagonist took out a lighter from his pocket.He did not light it, but turned the zippo lighter as if wanting to, making clicking sounds. He said a teacher he once met had given it to him.“I don’t seem to be a good adult either. As I always say, I’m not a good teacher. I have a bit of a temper, you know.”The casual voice shook Heetae.After clicking the zippo lighter for a while, the protagonist stopped at some point.“But after meeting you all, I think I roughly know what a good adult is. Roughly.”Heetae looked up at the protagonist.“Heetae.”The protagonist gently called Heetae’s name.“Come at your own pace. It’s okay to be late.”Heetae wiped his eyes with his sleeve.Only then did his sobbing vision become clear.“I’ll wait until you come.”There was a teacher warmly smiling, watching over him.“I may not have money, but I’m a billionaire when it comes to time. Yeah.”The person cracking such a lame joke could not appear so grand.Heetae’s reprise played.A path where Heetae’s life could head towards a whole note instead of a repeat sign came into view.Whether that whole note was a good or bad ending was unclear.But Heetae decided to no longer live trapped by a repeat sign.It was an excruciatingly slow pace, but only when the sunset faded and moonlight filled the gym did Heetae finally stand before the teacher.The tightly closed latch had at last opened.And with it, the latch on the viewer message board opened too.[Heetaeeeee!!!][What’s Heetae’s song? It’s insane!!!][Who sang this???][ERROR: This is an inaccessible site]Along with a few posts, the viewer message board crashed entirely.“Sob.”His mother cried listening to Heetae’s reprise that occupied the entire ending of episode 13.Heetae’s song soaring to a high note.Rather than wandering lost, it moves forward. No one may know his path, but everyone will cheer him on.Because.Everyone has been Heetae at some point in their life.Those who were once Heetae have grown into adults and comfort their past selves. Through Heetae’s story and his variations, they gain courage to move forward.#:The OST is an important device that completes a drama.It dramatically highlights a scene, creates memorable moments, and those moments etch the OST into memories for a long time.And so this may soon mark another beginning.[89. A Repeating Life (‘From Today On’ Heetae theme (Reprise)) | Roh Haeil][100. A Repeating Life (‘From Today On’ Heetae theme) | Roh Haeil]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)!