Chapter 57

57

* * * *

The evening of June 13.

Gangseok completed the sculpture.

At the Bloom Art Museum, Exhibition Hall 4, where the sculpture was being displayed under the direction of Yang Seong-ku, the patriarch of the sculpture world, blackout curtains were drawn both inside and out.

Several layers of barricades.

All doors to Exhibition Hall 4 were blocked to prevent anyone from entering, and the number of security personnel at the Bloom Art Museum was increased by 1.5 times. Additionally, special security guards were hired through a security company.

People passing by the Bloom Art Museum late at night murmured, as the scene almost resembled a crime scene.

This unprecedented event only added to the mystery.

That day, another strange rumor spread over the walls of the museum.

“There’s that foreign sculptor, right? It seems he finally completed the sculpture, and people say they turn to stone when they see it.”

“No, they say people die.”

“No, that’s not it. They say you get cursed when you see it, and people fall into a panic and become violent.”

“I heard it makes your heart race.”

“After the fourth look, your heart stops.”

It was an unexpected urban legend.

* * * *

June 14.

A day when fully bloomed roses seemed ready to fall at any moment.

On the third floor of the Delphinium Hall, where the contrast between the blue sky and the red roses in the flower bed was beautiful, a cool breeze blew into the drawing room.

Students, dressed in aprons or work clothes over their uniforms, were working in silence.

“Doesn’t it look unfinished if we finish it like this?”

“Of course. We’re about to take photos for the exhibition catalog soon. Isn’t this a bit too much? Try to make it more dense.”

“How can I make it denser here? Oh, I laid the initial layer too thinly. No matter what I do, it won’t come out.”

A female student majoring in Western painting threw her brush, a Barbara brush, in frustration. Her friend, who was using a hog bristle brush, looked at her as if she was being unreasonable.

Just as she was about to say something, Im Woo-hyun passed by.

“Instead of wasting time, focus on your brushwork. Brush.”

It was a sharp rebuke. The female student who had thrown the brush picked it up with a pout, knowing it was the right thing to say.

“Oh, if this were a major class instead of a drawing class, I would have asked the teacher to look at it.”

“You have high hopes for Teacher Sa. If you do that, is it your work or the teacher’s? Where else would you get the chance to work on exhibition pieces during class time? This time, the art theory teacher was determined to keep up with the syllabus and refused to allow it.”

“That’s just the art theory teacher being weird. Or maybe he’s taking out his frustration on us because things didn’t go well with his last boyfriend.”

For the third-year students of the art department at Cheonghua High School, the graduation exhibition in the first semester is the final school activity due to the nature of the college entrance exams. Since only the first semester of the third year reflects in the internal grades, they need to focus on their practical and college entrance exam preparations after the reflection period.

Therefore, the graduation exhibition holds a special meaning for the students. When it’s time to finalize the exhibition catalog in June, art teachers often allow students to prepare their works during practical classes to help those who haven’t completed their pieces.

That’s exactly what was happening now.

That’s why, even during drawing class, students could work with acrylics or oils and move their brushes.

Some design majors brought unused desks from the supply room to sit and work on their laptops, as their works were videos.

Sculpture majors, who couldn’t work in the classroom, received permission from their teacher and went to the sculpture studio as a group.

‘Is this high school or college?’

Im Woo-hyun had a tired expression, reminiscent of his college days when he used to work late into the night. His head turned instinctively to a certain spot as he recalled those days.

Where Gangseok was.

Gangseok, unusually, was holding a brush.

He held a wooden palette covered in oil paint in one hand and dipped a hog bristle brush into an oil container placed on a folding chair, quite skillfully.

“Didn’t you say these aren’t the pieces you’ll submit for the graduation exhibition?”

Im Woo-hyun asked as Jang Yu-min approached.

Jang Yu-min, who taught drawing with Im Woo-hyun and Son Dong-wook, glanced at him with her auburn bob cut.

“Yes, he’s a sculpture major.”

Carving marble was something only a few knew about. Ah, he’s not carving marble but has already completed it.

Im Woo-hyun’s gaze shifted to the empty leather sofa that used to belong to Go Doo-han. Recently, art teachers couldn’t even leave the principal’s office, as they were busy with meetings. The same went for Go Doo-han.

Im Woo-hyun recalled Go Doo-han’s frustration, wondering if he was an artist or a teacher these days.

– ‘If it weren’t for Gangseok, I would have told them to do it on their own and gone to the drawing room. Damn it.’

Just as he thought this, Jang Yu-min’s admiration reached his ears.

“But I’ve never seen such a talented student before. Were all geniuses like this in high school?”

Were they all like this?

Im Woo-hyun’s eyes returned to Gangseok.

More precisely, to the four easels in front of him. Finding oil painting tedious due to the long drying time, he had set up four easels and was working on different paintings simultaneously.

In other words, he was painting four works at once.

“Someone as ambitious as Gangseok is rare.”

Just because someone has the ability to dig multiple wells doesn’t mean they can draw water from all of them. It’s a matter of consistently digging one well until water comes. Gangseok worked like a machine gun, shooting until the water came.

It felt like he was achieving results through time and volume. A truly violent harvest.

“Still, preparing for the exhibition must be tiring, but seeing him work so hard, I really think he’s a born artist.”

Jang Yu-min smiled, seemingly moved, as she looked at Gangseok. It was probably because of the nature of the paintings Gangseok was working on.

“A surprise gift? Isn’t that too romantic? When is Gangseok moving?”

“Maybe... it’s a bit late, but it should be around the time of the exhibition or shortly after.”

...

...

...

Unaware that Jang Yu-min and Im Woo-hyun were talking about him, Gangseok continued to work with his brush.

Gangseok, who had set up the four easels in a semicircle, slightly adjusted his body angle from left to right as he applied the brush to the canvas.

On one canvas, he painted himself, his father, mother, and Kang Chae-young looking at the screen with a dignified smile.

On another, he painted his mother turning around and smiling, with a close-up of her upper body against a blue sky and a flower field.

On another, he painted Kang Chae-young’s face, making a V sign and smiling widely, showing her dimples.

On the last one, he painted his father sitting in a chair, leaning back and smiling, with wrinkles appearing charmingly.

These were the paintings he planned to hang in the living room of their new home. The living room of the single-family house in Seongbuk-dong was so large that even four large paintings wouldn’t make it feel cramped.

‘Well... I can hang them wherever I want when we move.’

Gangseok smiled. At this rate, even if oil paintings take a long time to dry, he could finish them before the move. He was satisfied with the paintings, which were more vivid and lifelike than photographs, and continued to work with his brush.

Painting family portraits as gifts was surprisingly his first time.

Until now, he hadn’t been able to satisfactorily capture his family’s faces in his paintings. Thinking about how fortunate it was to finally be able to do so, he continued to work with his brush.

The bell rang.

It was the signal for a break.

‘Already?’

Gangseok, thinking of going to the restroom, placed his wooden palette on an extra folding chair next to him. As he got up to leave, his eyes met someone’s.

It was Park Hye-yeon.

Looking at her cat-like eyes, Jin Se-hyun, who had been standing nearby, waved his hands in panic.

“I, I wasn’t trying to disturb you. I just thought you were painting so well, and I wanted to watch...! I, I was watching from behind because you were so focused... I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”

He was about to cry, even though he hadn’t done anything. His smooth talk, which had made him quite famous in the art department, was now inflated into a rumor.

Besides, it was break time.

It’s not like he owned the place; he could stand anywhere and watch anything. Gangseok waved his hand to show it was fine.

“What’s the big deal?”

Gangseok roughly calmed down the bowing Jin Se-hyun and tried to pass by.

“But it’s really beautiful.”

He heard a murmur. It was Park Hye-yeon. Gangseok turned around. Park Hye-yeon’s gaze was on his mother’s smile.

After a moment of contemplation, she looked at Gangseok with a blank expression.

“You. Not just the Venus plaster drawing, but this too. Looking at it, you seem to be good at drawing women?”

...What?

Gangseok’s eyebrow twitched.

Regardless, Park Hye-yeon stared into space as if deep in thought. Her cat-like, upturned eyes and hazel irises became hazy.

“Thinking about it, even in your first year, your works were mostly focused on women. I didn’t realize you were good at it back then... but now I see. This is your strength. The soft lines, the texture, the rhythmic curves.”

After mumbling this, Park Hye-yeon seemed to have resolved her curiosity and returned to her usual composed expression. She gave a slight nod and walked towards the drawing room door, pulling Jin Se-hyun along.

Jin Se-hyun, looking flustered, waved his hands like a stuffed animal.

“Let’s go to the snack shop. I’m hungry.”

“Are you going to eat that corn bread again? ...Your mother said not to eat too much of it... Hye-yeon, eating too much flour is bad for you. Let’s eat what your mother packed. Watermelon. How about watermelon? Don’t you like it?”

“Forget it. Let’s go. If you microwave it for 15 seconds, it’s heaven. 1,700 won for a taste of heaven, and you’re talking about watermelon?”

“...Really? I think watermelon is better.”

“Then you eat it.”

“Eh? Really?”

As they whispered, Jin Se-hyun and Park Hye-yeon walked away.

Gangseok watched their backs and slowly turned around. A mischievous voice from the past echoed in his mind.

【 Michelangelo’s favorite muscular bodies always remind me of bumpy walnuts. Don’t they look like men placed on a pedestal? That’s a sign of anatomical failure. 】

He had not spared his sharp criticism of Michelangelo, who depicted women’s bodies like men’s.

Gangseok’s lips twitched.

The mother, Baek Myung-hee, and the sister, Kang Chae-young, painted in the canvas were undeniably beautiful women. The gentle lines, the feminine neck and shoulders, the rhythmic curves, and the loving smiles. Who wouldn’t find this beautiful?

Gangseok looked at the canvas as if he were looking at a stranger’s work, his face expressionless.

How long did he stand there?

Before long, the bell rang again.

To Gangseok, it sounded like a wall breaking.

* * * *

The sky was filled with a red sunset.

It was in the heart of Daechi-dong, Gangnam.

Gangseok and his father, Kang Hyun-do, parked their truck in a spacious parking lot and pressed the elevator button. The 6th floor. When the elevator doors opened, Kang Hyun-do carefully turned to the left.

A sign was visible.

Sinus.

Latin for curve.

It was the name of a brand that wholesaled office furniture and equipment. Of course, they didn’t come to Sinus to see the products they produced.

“Hello.”

Kang Hyun-do subtly pointed to a spot, responding to the friendly woman’s curious expression. The object at the end of his finger was the Metius chair.

“I came to try sitting in that chair.”

“Oh, the Airgat?”

The reason Kang Hyun-do and Gangseok came to Sinus today was to try the Metius chair before buying it for their new home. They wished Baek Myung-hee and Kang Chae-young could have come too, but Baek Myung-hee had to look at furniture stores, and Kang Chae-young had to go to a cram school. They decided to come separately, and today, the two of them came first.

“You can sit down and try it.”

The female employee, pulling the chair, nodded, and Kang Hyun-do followed.

“Father, try it.”

“R, really?”

Kang Hyun-do, looking excited, didn’t refuse Gangseok’s suggestion. It was a chair he wanted to own if he ever had the extra money.

It was famous and, as far as he knew, the first brand in high-end chairs.

They came to try it out and buy it from the official website, but it felt a bit awkward. Maybe it was because they were the only customers in the furniture store, and it felt like everyone was watching them, even though no one was.

Seeing Kang Hyun-do’s awkwardness, Gangseok stepped in.

“Father, try adjusting the chair, and sit at the edge of the seat to feel the difference.”

“I... it feels good.”

“Is the B size right?”

Kang Hyun-do was sitting in the B size of the Metius Airgat Metallic version, which was the average size among the Airgat series.

“What about the headrest?”

“I, it feels good, hahaha.”

Kang Hyun-do, feeling awkward, kept saying it was good. His ears turned slightly red as he tapped the armrests, looking excited.

He had given up on the idea of buying such a chair when he was in his thirt