Chapter 21

21

"How much? How much will it be?"

What is this? Kang Seok frowned. It was because Go Dohan, who was so close, made him feel uncomfortable.

Kang Seok pulled his head back as if he had an orange stuck between his neck and chin. It was a struggle to create some distance.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"The painting. The painting."

The painting?

Kang Seok turned his head. At the same time, Go Dohan naturally raised his elbow to give him a better view. Instinctively, Kang Seok slipped to the side and looked back.

Dozens of small sketches drawn in red pencil, depicting people, were stuck on a giant panel.

They were sketches drawn by Kang Seok himself.

His habit of drawing hundreds of sketches before making a sculpture hadn't changed, so each piece was meticulous. Of course, Kang Seok wasn't satisfied. He could draw better now than he did then. He had been improving all along.

Just as his desire for perfection was stirring again,

Go Dohan said once more,

"Sell it to me."

At that moment, as Kang Seok turned to look at Go Dohan, who kept repeating the same thing, he suddenly felt that Go Dohan's eyes were burning with a greater passion than his own.

No way. Kang Seok immediately dismissed the thought. He had seen Go Dohan for two years, even if not frequently. He knew Go Dohan well.

Go Dohan was a meritocrat with a romantic view of sketches, but fundamentally, he was a cynical and prickly cat.

A cat that had learned the bitter taste of society and became the leader of the back alleys. That was the Go Dohan Kang Seok had seen. What kind of passion could such a person have...

"I'll make you a master of Korean art. This work, and you who created it, deserve it."

...It seemed there was a possibility. Kang Seok looked at Go Dohan, who clung to him as if begging, in surprise. It didn't look that way to others.

'Teacher Go Dohan is clinging. Right? He's begging you to sell it, right?'

'I have eyes. I can see.'

'But this kid, Kang Seok, is really amazing. Even with the teacher clinging like that, he doesn't even blink.'

'Look at his raised eyebrows. It's a look that says he'll kill you if you don't back off... Shouldn't someone intervene?'

'His expression is really scary. If I were the teacher, I would have run 300 meters away by now.'

Kang Seok didn't know, but when his face was expressionless, he looked quite intimidating. And that's how it looked to Go Dohan too.

Go Dohan was frustrated because he didn't understand how Kang Seok had misunderstood his proposal. He was glaring at him as if he wanted to kill him.

I'm your teacher; why would I do something bad to you? Why are you glaring at me? Don't you want to sell it?

Go Dohan, feeling anxious, started speaking rapidly.

"No... Seok. This guy. Do you think it's common for someone to offer to buy a work before it's even finished? How many people are willing to pay the right price like me?"

"......"

"These days, unknown artists don't get the right price. They have no name or reputation, so they'll just get an average price based on the number of pieces."

"......"

What Go Dohan said wasn't a lie. In most cases, when an unknown artist submits a work, there are very few people who offer to buy it at a high price.

Out of ten people who offer to buy an unknown artist's work, nine are speculators who want to buy it cheap and sell it for a high price later, or opportunists who wait for a poorly selling work and try to buy it for a low price.

Therefore, an unknown artist's work can only be sold at a fixed market price based on the size of the panel.

"You may not know, but the price at which your first work is sold becomes the market price for your art. If you don't get the right price at first, you'll have to sell your work at a loss until you become famous."

That's why Go Dohan had suggested Kang Seok sell his work. Although he had acted a bit hastily, he was worried that if a naive kid like Kang Seok sold it cheaply out of kindness, it would be a big problem.

I wish you could understand my heart a little.

Kang Seok just looked at him silently.

"Seok. Do you think I'm like those speculators?"

He wouldn't keep this work like a speculator, waiting for the price to rise.

"Seok. Look. Is your work the kind that will be sold at a cheap market price like a street thug's?"

Go Dohan also turned his eyes to the work Kang Seok had drawn, following his own hand. The corners of his eyes trembled slightly as he faced the work.

It wasn't just a good drawing. Was there a work that fit the theme of this sketch exhibition as well as this? This was the culmination of what Go Dohan wanted to paint in this solo exhibition.

Go Dohan, looking at the work that expressed more intuitively and directly than he could, swallowed hard.

"Of course not. Trust me. I'll give you the right price."

Go Dohan continued, as if entranced.

"If I buy this work, I'll display it at every solo exhibition. I'll make you famous. This work... this group portrait deserves it."

No. It has to. Go Dohan intended to be the cornerstone in processing this diamond in the rough. With his connections in the Korean art world, he could definitely do it.

Go Dohan looked up at the painting. It felt as if a sense of mission was rising in his heart, like a knight who had just received his appointment.

"I can't sell it yet."

If it weren't for Kang Seok's annoying words,

What?

Go Dohan looked at Kang Seok with an expression as if he had been doused with cold water. Despite the shadow cast by his hat, Kang Seok continued in a calm tone.

"I haven't even completed half of the work."

"Huh?"

Not even half completed?

This time, not only Go Dohan but everyone was surprised and turned to look at the painting. These highly finished red lines were not yet completed?

People's eyes moved from the red lines to the empty white canvas. So, the empty white space wasn't a beautiful blank space but just an unfinished part?

Go Dohan asked doubtfully,

"You mean this isn't finished...?"

"Yes."

Go Dohan swallowed hard at Kang Seok's firm answer. He wanted to say, "Do you really need to add anything more here?"

"When it's finished, we can talk again."

It was already perfect, and he couldn't understand what Kang Seok wanted to do. It might even ruin the work. Just because you hold onto it for a long time or work on it a lot doesn't mean it will become a better piece.

But Go Dohan couldn't say anything.

It wasn't because he couldn't say harsh words out of concern for Kang Seok, or because he was afraid of being hated by Kang Seok.

It was just because Kang Seok's eyes were shining so brightly. They were shining with confidence. So, Go Dohan couldn't bring himself to say anything.

'I want to believe you.'

Those were the kind of eyes that made you want to trust someone.

.

.

.

Twilight. Indigo sky. Under a white star that seemed to be painted in the night sky. A commotion broke out in the single-family homes of Yeonheung-dong.

"Be careful when you move it. Be careful!"

"Hey! If you drop the frame and damage the work, you'll be responsible! Don't carry it crookedly!"

"One, two, one, two...! Coordinate your breathing! Move in sync!"

The noise came from Go Dohan's studio. The front gate, which was usually only opened through a side door, was now wide open like arms ready to embrace.

Through the gap, a wooden panel wrapped tightly in silver plastic slowly appeared. It was the work Kang Seok had been working on.

Forty minutes ago, when Kang Seok declared he would take the work home as he got up to leave, Go Dohan insisted that the work must not be damaged, which led to this situation.

Usually, for such a large work, it wouldn't be moved before a solo exhibition, and if it were moved, it would be disassembled as much as possible. But Kang Seok's work was an exception.

"But what are you going to do with it?"

Someone suddenly asked Kang Seok, who was watching. Despite being excluded from moving his own work because he was too young, Kang Seok turned his head.

The one who spoke was Bae Jimin. Her bun had come loose during the move.

Kang Seok, not noticing her disheveled hair, awkwardly smiled back at Bae Jimin, who was smiling warmly, and answered.

"There's a necessary process for the work."

"Is that so? Can you tell me? Ah...! If it's not too much trouble. If you tell me, I can exchange it for installation ideas for my work..."

Bae Jimin's overly polite words continued. While half-listening and smiling, Kang Seok quietly refused.

"It's a secret."

"A secret... Yes, that's possible. But can you take such a large work home?"

Bae Jimin closed her lips after that. Inside her mouth, questions were swirling like laundry in a washing machine.

Is your house that big? Are you rich? Do you have a secret space at home where you can work? Does it mean you have tools for work at home?

All of these questions seemed too intrusive to Bae Jimin to ask. Whether she knew it or not, Kang Seok smiled and spoke.

"Of course not. My parents run a furniture store. I'm going to take it there."

While they were having this short conversation, a couple of high windows in the neighboring house opened and closed. They seemed curious about what was happening.

At that moment, the headlights of a truck appeared in the alley, accompanied by the sound of another window closing.

The truck had the name "Seok's Furniture Store" printed on it in a cute font. As soon as Bae Jimin pointed to the name "Seok" with her finger, the truck door opened with a bang.

"Seok!"

Kang Hyundo got out of the truck with a bright face. Kang Seok, noticing his father's searching eyes, stepped forward slightly. Naturally, Go Dohan and a few others gathered around.

* * * *

"Today, I saw that Teacher Go Dohan really likes you."

In the quiet truck, Kang Hyundo's soft voice settled. Kang Seok, who had been half-closing his eyes to the song playing on the truck radio, opened his eyes.

"Ah, is that how it looks?"

"Yes. Everyone helped you move the work, and it seems our son is getting a lot of attention."

Kang Hyundo looked happy.

A month ago, as a parent who had been advised to make Kang Seok give up on art school, it was a good thing.

Kang Seok leaned against the window. A chill rose up. It was a temperature in stark contrast to the hot heater.

As Kang Seok pressed his forehead against the window and watched the scenery pass by, Kang Hyundo spoke lightly but cautiously.

"Son, what about sketches or Western painting?"

Pfft. Kang Seok let out a deflated laugh in response to Kang Hyundo's probing. He knew why his father was bringing this up.

After all,

A small, 88-year-old old man was nestled in Kang Seok's dantian.

Although in his previous life he had lived as a stubborn and bad-tempered Michelangelo, it was 88 years.

As a sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. He had met countless people and had to deal with numerous interpersonal troubles. He had been painting since he was 13, so that period alone was 75 years.

That meant he had been playing mind games for 75 years. Thanks to this, Kang Seok's intuition, recalling his past life, was now as fast as a sports car.

'Father wants me to change my major.'

Father doesn't know that he's recalling his past life.

So, from Kang Hyundo's perspective, it might have seemed that all the sudden rise in his son's reputation was due to his major.

"Uh-huh?"

Kang Hyundo urged an answer with hopeful eyes. It seemed he genuinely believed Kang Seok's talent lay in sketches or Western painting.

Even after seeing the sculpture Kang Seok had made, he still thought so. Kang Seok let out another deflated laugh.

Kang Seok was a sculptor to the bone.

In the end, his favorite and best field was sculpture.

No matter how much his father wished, Kang Seok wouldn't waver. And if his father thought his talent was in painting, showing his talent as a sculptor would solve the problem.

But it didn't seem bad to go along with his father's wishes for now. Kang Seok answered obediently.

"It's interesting."

"Of course, right?"

Kang Hyundo's excited voice carried over from the driver's seat.

"I think painting is a very beautiful genre. Isn't it beautiful, painting?"

Kang Seok answered with a smile to Kang Hyundo's transparent question.

Painting is beautiful.

Kang Seok, looking at the traffic light, was lost in thought.

He didn't have a good feeling about painting in the past. To be precise, he hated it.

He was buried in the more grand and magnificent art of sculpture. But that was an old story.

When was it? Kang Seok recalled his past life. It must have been when he was over seventy. He had definitely succeeded in reconciling with painting over a long period of time.

* * * *

【 I always believed that sculpture was the lighthouse that illuminated the path of painting, and I never gave up that belief.

Just as the sun and the moon have different roles, there is the same difference between these two.

But now, thinking about it, from a philosophical perspective, I realized that these two have the same purpose and are one and the same.

I changed my mind.

Being a painter doesn't mean you can't do sculpture, and conversely, a sculptor should also be good at painting.

I believe these two can coexist harmoniously.

Rather than wasting time on unproductive arguments, it's better to spend that time creating one more figure, so such arguments should be thrown away. 】

- Excerpt from a letter Michelangelo wrote to historian Benedetto Varchi at the age of 73

Thud! With a loud noise, Kang Seok's work was placed on the ground. Kang Hyundo, amazed by the size of the work, couldn't help but marvel.

"Our son is really amazing."

What was he doing when he was Kang Seok's age? He hadn't done a work of this scale. How did his son inherit such incredible genes? Kang Hyundo couldn't hide his excitement.

So, it was even more puzzling.

"Son, what can I help with for this work?"

22. Son