Chapter 33

33

* * * *

— "What was the question again?"

— "I asked if there was any evidence to support the story that the Renaissance master Michelangelo Buonarroti was obsessed with muscles." Professor.

— "Ah, muscles. Michelangelo's love for muscles is well-known. Evidence. Well, you don't need to look far; just look at the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, and the answer is clear."

— "The answer is clear?"

— "Yes, they are full of muscles."

— "Muscles...?"

— "Michelangelo used only male models for the figures he depicted, regardless of who they were or their gender. So, if you look closely at Michelangelo's paintings, you'll often see women as just lumps of muscle with breasts attached."

— "......Wow. Why did Michelangelo do that?"

— "I don't know. However, if you think about Raphael, who used women as models without hesitation... the inference is that depicting lumps of muscle was Michelangelo's choice."

— "I see. It's something to ponder. Professor, may I ask one more question?"

— "Of course."

— "Michelangelo is also famous for painting dynamic poses. Where did he get the references for those dynamic poses? From models? Or from his imagination based on knowledge from anatomy?"

— "There's no definitive record, so we don't know. But if we rely on speculation... he might have gone to the Roman stufe, public bathhouses, to observe and draw naked men."

— "Public bathhouses?"

— "Yes. There's a theory that Renaissance artists often visited bathhouses to study the human body. In fact, on a piece of paper where Leonardo da Vinci noted down his to-do list, it says, 'Every Saturday, go to the bathhouse where I can see naked men.'"

— "......It feels credible when you say Leonardo went to the bathhouse to see naked men."

— "Right? So, if Leonardo did it, Michelangelo, who was even more passionate about studying the human body, would have visited bathhouses frequently. That's the theory. And the fact that there are paintings of old men in the frescoes, which he might have seen in the bathhouses, supports this theory."

— "So, is that the secret behind why Michelangelo's Sistine frescoes, which Joshua Reynolds called the language of the gods, comprehensively depict the human body?"

— "As I said, it's just speculation, so we don't really know. However, if Michelangelo really did visit bathhouses to study the human body, it makes sense that his experiences there are reflected in the frescoes. After all, Michelangelo had an exceptional memory and could remember things he saw easily."

— Excerpt from an interview with Professor Park Ji-yeop of the Department of Visual Arts at Han Yang University of the Arts

* * * *

"Sir, to see improvement in your health, it won't happen in just a day or two... How about signing up for a one-month or three-month membership?"

"Sir, are you interested in learning personal training (PT)?"

"Right now, we have a free one-time PT session. How about trying it out and then deciding?"

Sir, sir. After sitting down as if in a trance, various sounds flew into his ears, but Kang Seok listened with one ear and let them go with the other.

Kang Seok's gaze was fixed beyond the shoulder of the person in front of him, on the people exercising.

Every time the man in front of him raised and lowered his shoulders while explaining with his hands, Kang Seok's eyes shook as if in an earthquake. More accurately, they were moving.

Kang Seok's eyes moved rapidly as he absorbed information.

He intended to engrain everything in his mind.

Numerous people, numerous samples. The movement of muscles, posture, expression, center of gravity, and the transfer of force, all revealed through the movement of bodies.

Kang Seok's brain raced to process the influx of information.

Old knowledge overlapped with new, twisted, and reorganized. Kang Seok felt a sense of exhilaration and resolved to visit often. A new task was added to his mind.

Kang Seok's lips moved.

"Let's start with a three-month membership."

.

.

.

Deep night.

In the dark backyard of a furniture store, where the moonlight was blocked by trees, Kang Seok, who had locked his bicycle and stood up, looked up at the sky.

"......It was heaven."

For Kang Seok, who was deeply immersed in the Hellenistic philosophy that pursued sensuous beauty by revealing the human body and emotions, it was a heavenly time. The 88-year-old Michelangelo, who had nestled in his stomach, must have danced with joy.

In a very short time, he had obtained countless samples.

And now he could do this every day without worrying about others' opinions. How wonderful.

'Maybe I should bring a drawing pad from tomorrow. It's good to memorize, but I should really do some sketching... So, I should sharpen several pencils in advance.'

As Kang Seok opened the back door of the furniture store, various thoughts followed one after another in his mind. His happiness circuit, which had lost its original purpose, was running wild.

Ding, the sound of the door opening, and hurried footsteps from the inner room could be heard. Just by the sound of the footsteps, he knew it was his mother.

"Are you here?"

With a bright smile, his mother, Baek Myung-hee, came out. She seemed to have come out in a hurry, as she held a flower in one hand and a glass vase filled with water in the other.

"Yes, I'm here. Did you buy flowers?"

"Yes. The furniture store seemed too bleak, so I bought one from the flower shop in front. Isn't it beautiful?"

"It really looks fresh."

Flower shop. It was a name we hadn't heard in a long time at home.

My mother, who used to love tending to and looking at flowers, often visited flower shops to decorate the furniture store when I was young, but I hadn't seen her do that since we were in middle and high school.

Reflecting on it, the time when my mother stopped visiting flower shops coincided with when I registered for an art academy in the second year of middle school. Ah, why didn't I realize it? Kang Seok stopped and looked at Baek Myung-hee, who was standing and smiling brightly.

She had never expressed regret or resentment about not being able to visit flower shops, so I didn't know. I was the cause.

I should be grateful that our family's situation has improved enough for her to visit flower shops again, or I should be sad that I prevented her from pursuing her small hobby. Kang Seok was torn and swayed.

"Seok?"

Baek Myung-hee looked at Kang Seok with clear eyes, puzzled by his standing still. Kang Seok's lips moved.

"......That's a new vase I haven't seen before. Did you buy it too?"

The question that came out of his mouth was completely off-topic.

"Oh, this one?"

Baek Myung-hee laughed. Since she was happy, it was fine. Kang Seok decided to buy flowers soon and give them to Baek Myung-hee as a gift and moved his steps, following Baek Myung-hee, who was carrying the vase to the table.

"I was going to show it to you anyway. I made this?"

"Did you, Mom?"

"Yes, I did. Do you remember the workshop across the alley from the supermarket? It used to be a large craft workshop. There was a workspace in a garage-like place."

There was definitely such a place. Kang Seok nodded. Baek Myung-hee placed the vase on the table and continued as she inserted the flower.

"It's now a glass workshop. They were running a free one-day class for the opening, so I went and made one. What do you think, son? Is it pretty?"

Baek Myung-hee proudly lifted the glass vase with the flower inserted. Kang Seok's gaze fell on the vase rather than the flower.

My father, who is an artist, is very talented, but if this is really made by my mother, her talent must be superior to his.

The transparent glass vase, with a shape that looked like an inverted keyhole due to its round bottom, had intricate patterns etched all over it.

"Did you engrave all these patterns yourself?"

"Yes, I did."

Baek Myung-hee burst into a laugh like silver bells. On a late night, Kang Seok, who had visited the furniture store to refine an owl sculpture, chatted with Baek Myung-hee.

It was such a night.

* * * *

"Is there more snack? This seems too insufficient."

"Excuse me?"

On a warm noon in winter, Kim Yun-seo, who was enjoying the sun that penetrated the cold wave, looked at her boss, the director and owner of the Peony Gallery, Seol Yeo-jin, with a strange expression.

"The person coming today is... "

"Kang Seok, the artist of the work."

"The person... so, one person is coming?"

Seol Yeo-jin looked at Kim Yun-seo as if it was obvious. To avoid her puzzled gaze, Kim Yun-seo looked at the snack basket on the desk.

Can this even be called a basket? During the conversation, she had placed 28 types of snacks in a glass bowl for easy eating.

The snacks were piled up so high that they could be called a tower rather than a bowl.

If you picked the wrong snack, it would tilt like the Eiffel Tower and eventually collapse like a sandcastle. And yet, it's not enough?

"......Is the person coming today an artist or a sumo wrestler?"

"What? What are you talking about, Yun-seo?"

"No, it's not that."

If you say so, then. Kim Yun-seo reminded herself of her professional mindset and moved quickly. She would bring more snacks from the break room. She had to bring all of them. Kim Yun-seo moved excitedly, thinking of bombarding her boss with snacks.

Seeing Kim Yun-seo leave the director's office with quick steps, Seol Yeo-jin sighed.

Even after saying that, Kim Yun-seo seemed unaware of how important the visitor, Kang Seok, was today.

It's my fault for hiring a non-specialist as a secretary. Just hold on. Just hold on. The kid is nice. Seol Yeo-jin sighed again and opened the third drawer.

A box of high-end chocolates made by a famous French chocolatier appeared at the top.

Seol Yeo-jin, without hesitation, picked up the box of chocolates that she herself couldn't bear to eat.

If I give them lots of sweets, the sugar will boost their mood, and they'll happily sign the contract.

Thinking of filling Kang Seok with high-sugar chocolates and snacks today, Seol Yeo-jin felt excited. Just as she was calming herself down, the direct line phone connected to the director's office rang.

Ah.

Instinctively, Seol Yeo-jin knew what the call was about. With trembling hands, she picked up the receiver, and the expected words came from the other end.

— Director, Kang Seok has arrived.

"......Please show him in. Politely."

Was I speaking coherently amidst my stammering? As she was thinking this, Kim Yun-seo, who had returned with a full arm of snacks, filled her field of vision.

Seol Yeo-jin gestured for her to arrange the snacks neatly on the desk and stood up.

.

.

.

"Excuse me."

Click, Kang Seok opened the door. As soon as the door opened, he saw Seol Yeo-jin and a woman with a short haircut in a black suit standing at attention.

"Mr. Kang Seok, it's been a while."

It's only been two days. They signed the exhibition contract on February 6th, and today is February 8th. Kang Seok, unsure of how to react to Seol Yeo-jin, smiled politely.

"Yes."

"Shall we sit and talk?"

Silence is golden. Kang Seok, guided by the woman with the short haircut, walked to his seat.

Sitting on the sofa, Kang Seok tilted his head to one side, looking at the pile of snacks on the side and above, which resembled mountains and seas. What is all this? At first glance, they look like snacks, but with this plating, they almost look like modern art.

Is this modern art? Kang Seok, looking at the snacks with a cold eye, saw Seol Yeo-jin casually pick up one of the mountain-like piles of snacks.

"You can eat as much as you want. I prepared them for you, Mr. Kang Seok."

For me?

Kang Seok's expression became even more enigmatic. To others, it might look like he had no expression.

— 'You can't let the witch take your painting. Let's go.'

Is this why she was called a witch? The situation reminded him of the candy house in Hansel and Gretel. Kang Seok, secretly guessing why Go Doo-han called Seol Yeo-jin a witch, slowly picked up a snack.

"Anyway, Mr. Kang Seok, I'm not usually this style... Does your visit here mean you accept the mural proposal?"

Straight to the point. Kang Seok easily recalled someone. This is Go Doo-han's typical way of speaking. And Kang Seok found this style very fitting.

"Yes, as written in the contract."

The contract stated that he would receive a payment of 20 million won plus additional fees for completing a mural on a wall within a week.

If that's true, there's no reason to refuse. Artists are beings who must continuously produce works. And they're offering a lot of money. What reason is there to refuse?

Considering his glorious past, it might be a low price, but there are few people who would pay this much to the current Kang Seok.

"Of course, as written in the contract. When you came in, did you see the large white inner wall inside the entrance of the Peony Gallery?"

The large white inner wall inside the entrance of the Peony Gallery. Kang Seok recalled it. It was definitely the wall he saw when he passed through the glass automatic doors.

It was a large wall, typical of exhibition galleries, with a high ceiling and a wide entrance. Kang Seok nodded, recalling the wall.

"Since it was a hasty renovation of an old building, the paint job is quite poor. Especially the entrance, which hasn't been renovated, is even worse."

Seol Yeo-jin's words flowed smoothly, like a prepared script, making Kim Yun-seo marvel.

"It's a headache. The entrance of the gallery is important for image management... and it's also awkward to show the renovation process while the gallery is operating. As you know, it's a glass door, so we can't just stop operations during the renovation. When I was pondering this, I saw the work you painted, Mr. Kang Seok."

Kim Yun-seo maintained a poker face.

If Kim Yun-seo's memory is correct, it was Seol Yeo-jin who dismissed the employees' suggestion to prioritize the entrance renovation, emphasizing the importance of the interior.

"When I saw that painting, I thought, 'This is it.' The Renaissance Mall is also gaining popularity due to the mural you painted. There was an article about it being a successful example of public art."

"......"

"If I could paint a similar mural on the wall... I thought my long-standing problem would be solved."

The logic didn't quite add up.

She didn't want to show the renovation process, but it was okay to show the mural painting process. However, neither Kang Seok nor Seol Yeo-jin paid attention to this.

The reason always matters.

Seol Yeo-jin looked at Kang Seok and spoke softly.

"Will you help me?"

There was no intention to refuse from the beginning. Kang Seok nodded silently. Seol Yeo-jin's face brightened, while Kim Yun-seo maintained her poker face.

"However, there is a condition."

"Condition... what kind of condition?"

"I want to do a mural (壁花) rather than a mural (壁畫)."

"Huh?"

Kang Seok's gaze was fixed on the glass bowl filled with snacks.

34. Mural (壁花) rather than Mural (壁畫)