Chapter 10

10

It was the sky.

Yumikyung almost believed it. If it weren't for the artificial rectangular shape and the few colors visible next to the sky, she would have believed it was the real sky.

It was that vivid and realistic.

Closer. The moment she thought she wanted to get closer, her body was already moving. Her feet stepped out of the elevator and moved forward.

Her head was tilted back, ready to take in the mural with her eyes. But she had no time to be aware of it.

'The sky looks like water is flowing.'

It wasn't a color that could be simply defined as blue and clear. It was as if light blue hydrangea petals were scattered.

Still, what a unique mural. Normally, to achieve overall completeness and control the drying of the paint, one would work in a circular order.

Kangseok divided the wall into 15 sections with invisible lines and completed one section at a time, spaced out over days.

'Judging by the seven filled squares, it seems he completes one section per day...'

The hazy colors that seemed to express the flow of air were impossible to identify. It wasn't just a single pigment but a blend of several paints that naturally blended together.

Yumikyung deduced as she observed Kangseok. Kangseok was painting the wall with something gray. The glossy square shape suggested he was painting the area for the day.

'What is that gray? Varnish?'

Recalling if there was a gray varnish, Yumikyung quickened her steps. Curiosity was bubbling up.

As she approached, the scent of grass mixed with water became more noticeable. Yumikyung didn't think it was because real sand from a riverbank was used. She noticed something else.

'It's changed!'

In the brief moment she quickened her pace, the tool in Kangseok's hand had changed. This time, it was a flat spatula. The skill with which he smoothed out the protruding parts wasn't something he had just learned.

'Just like Teacher Jusa... No, but didn't this person major in sculpture?'

Yumikyung stepped forward, confused. Thud. Something caught her foot. Small containers filled with colored sand had rolled out of an overturned box.

It wasn't hard to guess what the containers were.

'Natural pigments!'

A material that boasted strong preservation, hardly changing color or deteriorating over time. Yumikyung's eyes sparkled. It wasn't an easy material... He was using it.

The colors were vivid despite not being overly bright. It seemed the vividness was due to the natural pigments he had mixed himself.

Using natural pigments instead of acrylic paints for a mural was romantic. It was an almost surreal scene, like visiting 16th-century High Renaissance Italy.

'Now that I think about it, the picture the senior is painting... I've seen it somewhere...'

Italy. The word brought the picture to mind. Yumikyung's eyes widened. The Catholic headquarters, a city-state in Southern Europe, an inland country surrounded by Rome, Italy, with the Pope as the head of state, and its most impressive and ancient artifact.

She remembered seeing this picture in the ceiling fresco of the Sistine Chapel.

'The ceiling fresco painted by the artistic seeker Michelangelo Buonarroti...'

The central ceiling fresco, the fourth part, and the most famous picture in the Sistine ceiling.

.

Yes...! It was the Creation of Adam.

With a clear conclusion, the image of God and Adam reaching out to touch each other was fantastically depicted in the empty space.

Yumikyung shivered all over. Goosebumps covered her body.

...Amazing!

The massive wall burst with a massive emotion, even though it was still unfinished.

She was curious. What was he thinking, how would he complete the picture, and as a Western painting major, she wanted to get closer to Kangseok. Just as Yumikyung was about to poke Kangseok's back with her finger.

"What are you doing, Yumikyung?"

A neat voice pierced her ear. Yumikyung shivered at the breath on her ear and stepped back like a crab.

Her cheek brushed against bleached hair. Yumikyung instinctively recognized who was next to her.

"T-Teacher..."

It was Jusa who spoke to Yumikyung.

Jusa asked with a very curious look.

"What are you doing on the 8th floor?"

Her eyes were dark, questioning what Yumikyung was doing there. Yumikyung involuntarily turned around. Kangjiwon, who had been out of sight, was being dragged away by Park Jonghyun.

"Sorry, sorry. The elevator went to the wrong floor... Haha... I was just... going... Haha..."

With that, Yumikyung slowly backed away. Her eyes couldn't leave the mural and Kangseok. To an outsider, she looked like a tragic heroine.

Jusa watched Yumikyung until her hair was out of sight, then sighed deeply.

Indeed.

Yumikyung and Kangjiwon were not known for being tight-lipped.

'The rumor will spread in no time.'

In other words, quietly admiring Kangseok's painting would be a thing of the past from today.

Jusa looked at Kangseok with a hint of regret. Just now, there was a commotion, but Kangseok continued to focus on his painting. Fresco painting required intense concentration, but his focus was extraordinary.

It was also impressive.

His furrowed brows and stubbornly closed mouth were very different from the Kangseok she had known. He looked like a sensitive and stubborn artist.

Thinking this, Jusa chuckled. After all, how many artists weren't sensitive? Shrugging her shoulders, she slowly returned to her spot.

* * * *

Kangseok quietly held the tracing paper and ink. His concentration from his past life, as if possessed, was guiding him.

He heard nothing around him and was interested in nothing. It felt as if only the white world and the wall existed.

Kangseok gently placed the tracing paper and ink on the plaster and carefully traced over the already sketched lines with a pencil.

If he drew carelessly, the proportions could be off due to the large size of the wall, so this process was essential. It also saved time. Though it was an old-fashioned method compared to a projector, Kangseok moved his body with ease.

"...Ah. Why... Fill... Adam...?"

Kangseok, who had been moving as if one with the tracing paper, blinked. He thought he heard someone's voice. Who was it? Kangseok moved the pencil line again. The process of transferring the sketch to the tracing paper was almost complete.

"Seok? Why did you choose to paint the Creation of Adam?"

It sounded like a woman's voice. What? Kangseok frowned and asked. Didn't someone ask? He didn't know. Don't talk. Kangseok shook his head irritably and moved his hand.

It was his work time. A time when no one could disturb him. As he moved his arm roughly, the white world had turned as dark as night.

A dark night. The Sistine Chapel, deeply blue, with everyone gone. The memory of walking to the painting he was working on, unable to resist Pope Julius II's stubbornness, suddenly came to mind.

Relying on candlelight, he illuminated the painting in the darkness for a long time and asked me.

"Is this how you see humans?"

What did I answer then?

"I just wanted to depict the moment humans were first created, innocent and free of sin, grateful for the gift of life..."

That's what I answered, right? Is that correct? As he pondered, the answer came from elsewhere.

"That's what Michelangelo said. The scene in the movie where Michelangelo praises humans through the Creation of Adam. Right?"

What?

He snapped back to reality.

Looking to the side, the Sistine Chapel and Pope Julius II were gone, and only Teacher Jusa stood next to him.

Oh my.

Kangseok's ears turned red. He had been too focused. Not just absorbed in the memories of his past life, but he had even repeated the lines out loud.

Kangseok opened his mouth awkwardly.

"Did you say something to me just now?"

"Huh?"

"I didn't hear it well."

Teacher Jusa had a strange look on her face. She seemed to think she had already heard the answer. Should he admit he was daydreaming? But Jusa chuckled and spoke.

"I asked why you chose to paint the Creation of Adam out of all the Renaissance paintings. You gave a very good answer."

Jusa patted Kangseok's shoulder and walked past him. She was heading to another floor. As he watched her, Jusa stopped by the escalator and turned to him.

"I'll definitely include this content."

"Huh?"

Include it? Where? Kangseok looked at Jusa, puzzled.

"I'll come again! Keep up the good work...!"

But Jusa's mouth didn't open again. As a result, Kangseok watched her waving hand with a puzzled look as she descended the escalator.

* * * *

"Wow. Wow. Unbelievable."

"That's what Kangseok painted?"

As Jusa had predicted, after Yumikyung and Kangjiwon visited, the 8th floor became a playground for the mural club of Cheonghwa High School.

– "He was really painting the Creation of Adam. Filling the entire large wall...! Wow. I've never felt goosebumps from a high school student's painting. How can someone with such skill be at the bottom? Are all second-year students monsters?"

Following Yumikyung, who was known for not lying, children flocked to the 8th floor in groups the next day.

Kangseok sighed, feeling the presence of the children who were admiring his work.

The peaceful paradise that belonged only to Kangseok came to an end in just seven days.

Now, with thirty students from Cheonghwa High School taking turns to visit, the 8th floor had lost its tranquility. Kangseok continued to paint.

Kangseok's brush showed no sign of trembling.

It was as if he was depicting the moment God extended his hand to give Adam intellect, just like the painting. With a small brush, Kangseok infused life into the mural as if he were a god.

Even though it might have been annoying to be watched while working, thanks to his experience of being watched by Catholic believers and cardinals for four years in the Sistine Chapel in his past life, it didn't bother him.

Moreover, he was nearing the final stages of his work. Kangseok's hand moved quickly to fill the last section.

The reason more children had gathered than usual was to see the completion of this massive mural.

"Really, he's finishing that huge thing in just 16 days."

"He'll definitely finish it today, right?"

"Of course. Haven't you seen him complete one section per day?"

Most of the children had already finished their own mural work, so their words were filled with ease. In fact, they had already sensed it.

The twenty-nine murals they had completed were not the important ones. Even without the calm-eyed teachers Jusa and Craffiti, they seemed to know.

The completion of this work would mean winning the high school mural competition.

And this mural, a recreation of the Creation of Adam, would become a symbol of the Renaissance-themed shopping mall. People would turn their steps to see this work.

Just like the mural village Ihwa, which became famous over a decade ago.

.

.

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Early January.

Under a sky as white as snow, the camellia tree planted in the backyard of Seok's furniture store was in full bloom.

Kangseok's mother, Baek Myunghui, was staring blankly at the camellia tree. At that moment, a yellow-billed magpie landed on a thick branch in a familiar pose.

At the same time, the voice of her second daughter, Kang Chae-young, came from behind.

"Mom! Mom! Look at this!"

Kang Chae-young, holding a metal spoon in one hand and a phone in the other, ran over with a wide smile.

"Our brother is in the news!"

11. Baek Myunghui was startled and got up from her seat.