Chapter 43

43

* * * *

A dark night.

Two figures stood on the terrace, facing the cold winter wind. With a clink, two wine glasses collided. The Pinot Noir, a pale ruby color, resembling a mix of red fruit and grape skins, was poured into the glasses.

Chae Mi-jung slowly turned the glass of Pinot Noir and cautiously opened her mouth.

"......Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

The person asked, Lee Min-hyuk, suddenly opened his eyes wide as if he didn't understand what she was saying. Seeing his innocent surprise, Chae Mi-jung felt relieved that his mental state was still healthy and slowly brought the Pinot Noir to her lips.

"I'm worried because Father said he's going to give the Seongbuk-dong house to that high school sculptor...! I'm just worried, you know."

Even if Father has three more houses and a wealthy family with ample assets, it's still surprising to give something away so easily... How moved must he be?

Chae Mi-jung shook her head, recalling the events of the day. The image of the sculpture she saw today flashed in her eyes. It was truly magnificent. The wings and claws that seemed to move, and the ear tufts, lingered in her mind. It was a sculpture that seemed to contain life.

– '...Teacher... Thank you. Really, thank you. I haven't seen my father this excited in a long time... This is all thanks to you, the sculptor teacher.'

She also recalled the face of Lee Min-hyuk, who bowed his head several times, expressing his gratitude.

From Kang Hyun, who was only watching their reactions upon hearing about the house being given away, to Kang Seok, who subtly asked if he would have a place to stay if he were given the house, the scenes came back to her one after another.

"Worry? But that house wasn't even going to be inherited anyway."

"Huh?"

"Think about it. That house was like Father's nest. He didn't build it himself, but he moved in and had a deep attachment to it... When it comes to his personality, he would have demolished it when he left, not given it to anyone."

Chae Mi-jung looked at the wine. It seemed to make sense. Her hazy memories from recently became clearer.

Right. The Seongbuk-dong house was something he would have held onto tightly. It was a place he always returned to, even when he lived outside for weeks or months due to his research.

"......Well, if you're okay, that's fine."

Chae Mi-jung swallowed a piece of cheese to soothe her bitter heart.

"Then, where will Father live?"

"I don't know. We'll have to see when we move the stuff."

"......You look happy."

Lee Min-hyuk smiled warmly.

"Of course. It's been a long time since Father has shown such enthusiasm, and I'm really happy about it."

Lee Min-hyuk's cheeks were flushed from the wine. Seeing him so happy after only seeing him look tired and haggard recently, she felt relieved.

As she was about to take another piece of cheese, she suddenly thought about the sculpture. Chae Mi-jung's eyes widened. Wait, oh! Her lips curled up into a wide smile.

"That high school student, the sculptor... He will definitely become famous, right?"

Lee Min-hyuk had an expression that said, "Of course."

"Famous or not. How many great sculptors are there like the teacher? He will definitely become famous, right? But did you have doubts after seeing the work? Did you really see it properly?"

"......Of course, I saw it properly! But you never know with life, so I just asked."

"Hmm."

"Anyway! If he becomes famous... I heard that famous artists sell their works for tens of billions in Hong Kong. Will he become that famous?"

Lee Min-hyuk put down his wine, finally understanding what she was getting at. This woman was thinking about a sculpture that would be more valuable than the Seongbuk-dong real estate.

When he heard that it might be better to have a work of art than to pay taxes on what they owned, Lee Min-hyuk declared:

"Absolutely! I will never sell it!"

"Who said I would sell it? And it's not even yours, it's Father's."

"No way!"

He will pass it down through generations. Lee Min-hyuk, rarely raising his voice, strongly expressed his intention. The two, now slightly tipsy from the grape aroma, flushed faces, and expressed their opinions. It was a night under the moon.

.

.

.

"So? So? Are we moving?"

Kang Chae-young's eyes sparkled with anticipation as she bit into a dried squid. If there were a life-changing lottery, this would be it. She turned her head sharply towards Kang Seok.

Her eyes were filled with overwhelming emotion. Kang Seok, ignoring his sister's emotion, dipped the squid in mayonnaise and soy sauce. The spicy flavor of the green pepper stabbed into his mouth.

Kang Hyun, who had been drinking beer, laughed with a red face.

"We are. We're moving."

"Wow!"

Kang Chae-young, excited, stomped her feet. Her toes, which were on the ground from the folding chair, vibrated and were felt by everyone. Kang Seok, drinking a grape-flavored carbonated drink, resolved to change the dining table when they moved.

"Then, when are we moving? When are we going to Seongbuk-dong?"

"It won't be that quick. There are many things to handle, like transfer taxes, so they said we should wait about three months... We can only set the moving date after that."

"Ah, I'll wait for half a year!"

"What? They will also take care of the taxes?"

Kang Chae-young nodded, and a surprised Baek Myung-hee chimed in. Taking care of the taxes as well. Baek Myung-hee's eyes widened like a rabbit's.

"How expensive must Seongbuk-dong be? They said it could be a tax bomb, but Mr. Lee Young-hyuk will take care of it. He asked if we could wait for about three months, and I immediately agreed. But it will take longer than that. After that, we need to clean up the house..."

"Oh my."

Baek Myung-hee blushed. To solve even unexpected issues and hand them over... She couldn't help but be happy. Baek Myung-hee clapped her hands in joy and then stopped.

"......But how can I feel sorry for Professor Lee Min-hyuk? As a son, I feel depressed, and if I give him a gift with my own money, it's like I'm being robbed."

Kang Hyun laughed at her pure concern.

– 'Really, it's fine. My family is separate, and... my grandfather, my father's father, had a lot of money. Father has three more houses, and with the considerable wealth my grandfather accumulated, we can live comfortably even after this.'

– 'But...'

– 'And, isn't the sculpture worth that much money?'

He looked relieved, as if he was paying off a debt he couldn't clear through his father. Even his wife, who was the only one with a somewhat bad expression, quietly smiled when he laughed, as if she couldn't stop him.

"Professor Lee Min-hyuk doesn't think that way."

Kang Hyun took a sip of beer.

"I thought our family was the most harmonious in the world, but there are others."

"Huh?"

"No, there are... Ah! It's refreshing."

Kang Hyun, putting down the beer can, smiled and spread his arms wide. He then hooked his arms around his son, who was diagonally across from him.

"Our son!"

"Father. Beard. Beard. Ow!"

Despite his son's dislike of his rough beard, Kang Hyun rubbed his face. It was truly a happy day.

* * * *

A blue sky.

Jo Dong-beom bent over, sweating. Despite it being winter outside, the workshop was excessively warm.

"Teacher, have we moved everything?"

Jo Dong-beom turned and asked. Kang Seok, with a calm expression, nodded.

"Yes, it seems we have."

Kang Seok, who had given up on correcting the "teacher" title, slowly looked around. The plastic bags containing materials from Miracle Makeup had been moved to the workshop.

"But it might get really messy, is that okay?"

The reason he came here instead of a furniture store was that this project was expected to be very messy. It couldn't be avoided. Kang Seok looked around the workshop, seemingly reluctant.

"It's fine. Use it as you please. Just treat it like your own home and use it freely. Isn't that what a project is about?"

Jo Dong-beom insisted it was fine. In fact, if he didn't do this, he wouldn't be able to easily connect with Kang Seok. Jo Dong-beom was willing to dirty the workshop a hundred times over if he could work with Kang Seok, who he considered a once-in-a-lifetime talent.

Kang Seok, nodding as if sighing, agreed.

"I'll help clean up."

"It's fine. That's not something a teacher should do. It's the student's job."

I never said I would take you as a student. Kang Seok, suppressing a smile, turned his gaze.

At the end of his gaze, a hand cart was loaded with boxes that looked like size 5 postal boxes. They contained materials he had requested separately.

– 'I got them for you because you asked, Mr. Kang Seok... What are you going to use them for?'

– 'Are they all legal materials?'

– 'Of course. You can use them freely.'

– 'Good.'

– 'You're going to use them for your work, right? I read your proposal, but I didn't understand it well. From the content, it seemed like you were making dummies or navigators for surgical practice. If you're making dummies or surgical navigators, wouldn't the materials I prepared be enough? Why do you need research papers and surgical records? ...What are you trying to make?'

Park Ji-yeop's voice echoed in his mind. The boxes contained medical materials, including research papers and surgical records.

"Teacher, what are we going to do now?"

"Make yourself comfortable."

Kang Seok, cutting the tightly tied rope with a knife, thought. What did I say in response?

– 'It's one step above that.'

– 'One step above...? What do you mean?'

Is that even possible? Can it be done in 49 days? Isn't it too ambitious?

Park Ji-yeop looked at Kang Seok with worried eyes. He knew about Kang Seok's anatomical knowledge.

Kang Seok's anatomical knowledge was incomparable to that of a student in the Department of Sculpture and was on par with that of medical professionals. If Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci, known for their deep anatomical knowledge, were to reincarnate, they might be like Kang Seok, with a profound understanding of the human body.

Park Ji-yeop, not wanting Kang Seok to get criticized, advised him to make a simple human model. If he used his anatomical knowledge to create anatomical illustrations, no one would criticize him.

Thud.

The box was torn open with a rough sound, revealing white papers tightly packed inside. They were the translated materials that Park Ji-yeop had quickly obtained.

Kang Seok was impressed by how quickly Park Ji-yeop had obtained them. He wondered if the rumors about Park Ji-yeop being a human anatomy enthusiast were true, given that he had collected such materials.

"These are... all papers?"

Jo Dong-beom, who had approached, looked into the box. His brows furrowed as he read the Korean papers.

Prostatectomy. Pulmonary nodule resection. Cesarean section. Thoracotomy. Cerebrovascular surgery. Abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery. Artificial blood vessel replacement surgery... The endless list of surgical procedures made Jo Dong-beom look puzzled.

Is this right?

"Are these the right materials? They seem wrong."

"They are the right materials."

Jo Dong-beom, confused, took out the papers. What could an artist need these for? He recalled that Kang Seok had mentioned a human anatomy project.

"Teacher, what are you trying to make?"

Kang Seok's eyes sparkled with pure enthusiasm.

"A body."

"A... body? A human?"

What is he talking about? Jo Dong-beom, listening to Kang Seok's words, which sounded like he wanted to be an alchemist, looked down at the papers. If he was making a human, why did he need these surgical records?

"Specifically, I want to create a body that contains human diseases."

"......So, like a dummy or something used in surgery? The kind of special makeup used in medical dramas?"

Jo Dong-beom had heard of such things. Given that his teacher was strong in three-dimensional sculpture, he thought he could make them well. Jo Dong-beom nodded, understanding, but Kang Seok negated it.

"One step above that."

"......One step above?"

Jo Dong-beok's expression changed, mirroring Park Ji-yeop's. Is that even possible? But if it's his teacher, maybe he can. Jo Dong-beok's expression became calm again.

Is a glass flower something a human can make? It was not right to apply ordinary common sense to Kang Seok. Jo Dong-beok, flipping through the papers, asked, pretending not to be curious.

"Then, what will you call it?"

If it's a new concept, what will you name it? Jo Dong-beok muttered, thinking he might need to file a patent.

Kang Seok, lifting a paper on pulmonary nodule resection from the box, read it quietly. What will you call it? After a moment of thought, he quietly murmured in the silence.

"maktub (maktub, so it is recorded)."

44. Now, behold.