Merry Christmas in Advance

"It hasn't changed here."

Halo looked around while lifting his cap.

Unlike the shops near his home that played the same music every day, this street played music he had never heard before, old or very niche.

It wasn't bad.

Or rather, he would have been disappointed if it was similar to his neighborhood. As the place where he first set foot, it couldn't be boring.

Halo pushed back his bangs and tucked them into his cap, putting his hands in his pockets. It was now fully winter. The air was so chilly that he could barely keep his hands out for ten seconds.

Especially since Halo had never experienced such a cold winter before, he felt twice as cold as others. If he stood still for a bit, it seemed like he might get frostbite.

To avoid freezing to death.

And to stay warmer than others, he had to move more.

"They're preparing for Christmas here too."

However, the reason this cold wasn't so bad was perhaps the excitement that came with winter.

Halo stopped in front of the large tree set up in the square. It was refreshing that this country on the opposite side of the Earth celebrated the same day.

Some couples or friends would pause in front of the tree. Since there were about ten days left, the tree wasn't fully decorated yet, but there were signs of decorations.

Empty gift boxes with 'Do Not Touch' written on them.

They would stand next to the tree, strike the same pose—a heart shape—then leave with happy smiles.

"Oh, looks like someone's grown a bit?"

He heard those words when he met Han Jinyeong at the hideout after a long time. Han Jinyeong showed a pleased expression at seeing Halo after so long.

"Kids really do grow up fast, huh?"

"I grew?"

"Yeah. Want me to measure you again?"

At the mention of growing, Halo nodded his head without realizing it.

He had looked the same in the mirror.

Receiving Halo's eager gaze, Han Jinyeong brought the tape measure used for measuring outfits.

"Oh."

Han Jinyeong let out an exclamation as he stretched out the tape measure.

"You did grow."

On one side, Halo, who had doubted No Haeil's growth, beamed.

"How much did I grow?"

"Didn't you say you were 165cm before? Then 1.4cm."

"...14cm?"

"If it was 14cm, I would have noticed without measuring. 1.4cm."

"..."

Although he didn't curse out loud, Halo's expression soured. If it was 1.4cm, it meant his soles had gotten thicker rather than him growing taller.

Halo, who had even suspected the pain in his joints was growing pains, clicked his tongue, thinking, 'Well, if that's how it is.' Considering that No Haeil was sixteen years old, it was a bit frustrating. His father was tall.

"Just wait a bit. You'll grow soon."

Han Jinyeong said with a chuckle, as if he knew Halo's feelings. His laughter seemed more like mocking than encouragement.

"But you might grow faster than Jinsoo."

No, he was definitely mocking him.

Halo clicked his tongue, finding it absurd that someone younger than him was mocking him like this.

He didn't understand why Jang Jinsoo was being compared to him at every turn.

"By the way, Haeil needs to work hard."

"Exercising?"

"No? Well, that's not wrong. But not just exercise, he needs to work hard at other things too."

Halo wondered what he meant this time.

"I mean Jinsoo. From the reaction, it seems like he'll become really famous if he appears on broadcasts. You better hurry up, or Jinsoo might not even recognize you later."

"..."

It wasn't worth considering.

Since he didn't come here to listen to idle chatter, Halo got straight to the point.

"I need a midi orchestra instrumental."

"Not even paying attention."

When Halo didn't pay attention, Han Jinyeong muttered that it wasn't fun. It seemed Han Jinyeong was bored.

"Oh, by the way, how did that bet turn out?"

"What bet?"

"The view count bet you made with Jinsoo."

"Ah."

It seemed like he was talking about a bet that had ended a long time ago.

When Halo shrugged nonchalantly, Han Jinyeong's eyes widened.

"Did you win, Haeil? You ended up surpassing ten thousand views? I guess it's not that hard with that kind of song."

He didn't seem extremely surprised, but rather convinced.

"So can you tell me the channel name now? That brat Jinsoo refused to tell me till the end, saying not to help, but in the end he lost."

A dry laugh escaped him.

There must have been a reason he was so confident he would win. Just how much he wanted to beat him.

[HALO_Official]

It had been a while since Halo had entered this channel too.

He had enjoyed the comments for a while but then got too busy to check.

After that, there were quite a few new comments and subscribers.

The channel was the same as ever.

With no channel art or picture, it was immediately apparent that the channel was empty, but the view counts on the album tracks that were all uploaded at once were packed full.

There were still those familiar commenters showing up every day, and new ones leaving their attendance as well.

"Whoa, the number of subscribers..."

With only four songs uploaded.

Compared to other channels that had uploaded forty or four hundred videos, this was more shocking. Even more shocking were the number of likes and comments.

No matter that it was pop music in English.

Han Jinyeong, who had been about to say something, recalled what he had said earlier and closed his mouth. It seemed No Haeil didn't need to worry about Jang Jinsoo becoming famous first.

"Are you going to release a second album too?"

After gazing at the channel for a while, Han Jinyeong asked. He scrolled past the comments filled with requests for praises and new releases. Surprisingly, the usernames were all different.

"Yes, I'm working on it right now."

"...You're already working on it?"

"Although I was too lazy and fell behind, it's almost finished. I'll upload it before the end of December."

"It's almost finished?"

Han Jinyeong subconsciously counted the dates with his fingers. So it seemed like No Haeil had released those four songs about a month ago.

'Is it even possible for him to have produced new songs already?'

And more songs came out after that? Is this a factory? Moreover, he said he fell behind because he was too lazy?

It made no sense. Han Jinyeong let out a bewildered laugh.

'Well, I guess he could have composed them. But will the quality be decent?'

Even as he tried to rationalize it like that, recalling the quality of the songs on the first album made his thoughts stop. It didn't make sense for someone who made those kinds of songs to have made new ones sloppily.

"..."

Like before, Han Jinyeong didn't know what to say.

#

"You’re leaving now?"

"Yes."

"Okay, bring Jinsoo next time. I'll buy you both something tasty."

After leaving the hideout, Halo checked his phone. His mother's message had arrived a few minutes ago.

[Mom: Haeil, want to eat omakase?]

[Mom: A friend of your father's invited us, what do you think?]

"Hmm."

So far, he hadn't had any bad food here. Halo didn't know what omakase was, but he replied that it sounded good and headed for Hongdae subway station.

[Mom: Then let's eat for dinner, don't be late]

[Mom: We'll have omakase today, and watch the first episode of Soyou tomorrow]

He could feel the anticipation in her text.

She had eagerly sought out the first episode since Monday, and he thought she would forget by Wednesday, but in the end, she remembered.

Well, it would be hard to forget.

He didn't know how much money the production company had spent, but the outdoor bus stop ads and NuTube were full of it.

"Hey, did you see the Soyou preview this time?"

"Yeah, NCs went all out for this one."

Even on the street, the people passing by were talking about Soyou.

At this point, Halo was getting sick of it.

It was better to listen to Christmas carols.

Halo paused for a moment until their voices faded away.

Turning his head, he saw a woman's photograph with hair as white as Santa's attached to the glass window.

Inside, hairstylists were moving busily.

And a boy wearing a cap, 166.4cm tall, caught his eye. The boy's bangs were so unruly that he had pushed them up into his cap.

'Since I was going to get a haircut anyway, might as well.'

It wouldn't be bad to just shave it all off.

Sometimes he did want to shave his head.

He couldn't because of his manager and staff's objections, but he was tempted.

However, when he entered the hair salon, the hairstylist assigned to him reacted glumly.

"You want to shave it all off? Are you being serious...?"

"It's not like you're old enough to go to the military yet, and I heard the two-block haircut is popular these days, but the teachers might not like it."

While not mentioning it directly, the hairstylist was saying through his whole body that it wouldn't suit him.

Halo gazed intently at his reflection in the mirror. If it was the real Halo, any hairstyle would suit him well. But the one sitting in front of this mirror was No Haeil.

"Your friends might call you a monk."

"A monk?"

"Don't kids these days not know? A baby monk."

"!"

Halo's eyes widened.

He didn't want that.

He wanted to look manly, not like a baby monk.

Then how should he cut his hair?

"If you want to make a bold change in style, how about a perm or coloring?"

The hairstylist asked Halo, who had been contemplating for a while.

"Since it's vacation now, is there a color you've wanted to try?"

He then handed Halo a book on coloring.

Halo had never considered coloring before, so he blankly looked at the book. Coloring? What coloring?

He flipped through the book, but nothing caught his eye.

It had been when he wanted to just shave it all off.

The model on the last page caught his attention.

"You like that one? It will take quite a while though."

Halo tapped on the chair.

He was slowly leaning towards it. If not shaving it all off, then this seemed good.

Halo sent a message to his mother saying he might be a bit late. The hairstylist draped a towel around his neck, saying she would have to take good care of it.

Receiving the hairstylist's ministrations, Halo closed his eyes.

#

When he opened his eyes, quite some time had passed.

His mother, whom he didn't check with, had sent the address and asked him to come by a certain time, and Halo replied that he was done.

Is it alright?

Halo fiddled with his familiar yet unfamiliar hair and wore his cap again. He wore the cap not because his hair was irritating, but because he didn't want to carry it around.

Then he recalled being told not to touch his hair, but figured the pressure from the hat would be fine.

He got on the Line 2 train and checked the transfer station.

Always having taken only Line 2, transfers were unfamiliar to him, but not difficult. Luckily, he was able to get a seat after transferring.

Sitting in the seat closest to the door, he leaned his head against the pillar. He just had to go straight from here.

The warm air made him relax.

Halo looked around the subway.

It was different from Hongdae, which was full of excitement in anticipation of Christmas. Merely reducing the subway line from 2 to 1, people's faces seemed to have gained an extra line. Rather than awaiting Christmas, they were simply enduring day by day.

As the subway stopped and departed again.

Someone got off and someone else got on, but it didn't change much.

That's when it happened.

As the stopped subway departed again, a piano-like sound was heard. Except for the soft murmurs, it had been quiet on the subway, so most people turned their heads.

"!"

Like them, Halo turned his head and discovered a man close to the elderly age.

Despite the winter, he was wearing shorts and slippers, and more surprisingly, he took out a melodica and was about to play it. The melodica had definitely come from him.

Halo had occasionally seen it in his hometown, but this was the first time he had seen someone play an instrument on the train since coming here.

"A street vendor?"

He didn't seem like a street vendor. The middle-aged man was only carrying the melodica, without any other bags.



On the clattering train, curious eyes turned towards the melodica-holding middle-aged man.