“The support is amazing. Jun-wan, you married well.”
“……”
“This place, you see, is a Korean restaurant opened by someone who worked as a royal chef in Daejeon for 30 years, so its reputation is tremendous. Ordinary people can’t even make reservations.”
“Really, Professor?”
“They don’t do takeout, so she’s really talented. You guys have to eat this without leaving a single grain of rice. It’s really hard-to-get food.”
The lunch boxes were generous enough to exceed the number of people. Perhaps because of the professor’s explanation, everyone picked up food as if possessed. Having subsisted on kimbap and cup noodles every day, the researchers’ appetites facing high-quality food were like a pack of hungry ghosts.
Thank-yous flew constantly. Those who had seen Yu-shin’s face praised her in unison. The topic of the meal was undoubtedly Kim Yu-shin, who had bought and offered the lunch boxes. Those words weighed heavily on Jun-wan’s shoulders.
“At least pretend to eat. Don’t you see the kids watching?”
Choi Seon-jong jabbed Jun-wan’s side with his elbow. Instead of picking up chopsticks, Jun-wan only wiped his dry face. His mouth was parched.
“Eat. I have someone to contact briefly.”
“Make sure to tell them thank you!”
The professor’s words flew and stuck in his back. Jun-wan left the lab and leaned against the hallway wall. Even holding his phone, he hesitated for a long time.
His mood was too troubled to express in words. Support—who asked for such a thing? It was hard to understand Yu-shin’s behavior of not only coming in person but even offering a meal tribute.
Not knowing this, I happened to say bitter words to Yu-shin.
What was his expression? His face with laughter gone was sullen, and his eyes were fully sharpened. He’d spent time and money to save face, but didn’t hear a thank you and only received pointless rebuke.
It’s natural to be upset. Jun-wan tapped the phone screen while pressing his throbbing forehead. His thumb moved slowly and sluggishly.
Yu-shin was indifferently looking out the window. Suddenly, he felt a vibration in his hand.
Park Jun-wan What’s with the lunch boxes?
It seemed like he could read the voice from the text. Yu-shin stared at the phone and muttered.
“What do you mean ‘what’—is this your first time receiving lunch boxes?”
He typed exactly what he’d muttered and sent it. A reply came immediately.
Park Jun-wan You wasted money. The lab provides meals.
I already regret it tremendously. I should have sent cheap hamburgers instead.
Park Jun-wan Hamburgers are also excessive. You don’t need to do this kind of thing next time. Thank you for bringing the stuff. Get home safely.
“His personality is really weird.”
He didn’t reply and put down his phone. At the grumbling sound, the taxi driver glanced back. Yu-shin sighed and turned his head toward the car window.
Park Jun-wan was the most difficult type to understand among all the people Yu-shin had encountered. Just when I’m upset by his callous attitude, my heart melts at the kindness revealed subtly.
A person goes back and forth between cold and hot baths. Being tempered in it countless times, he couldn’t get a read on him at all.
Suddenly, the conversation they’d had earlier came to mind. Not counting a nicely packaged artist as a job—thinking about it again, it was a ridiculous statement.
I haven’t picked up a brush in a while. He’d just tried to take a brief break, but he didn’t know that would cause misunderstanding.
Yu-shin had never bragged about his talent anywhere. Works were always released under a pen name, and exhibitions were always held with specific galleries. The people who know his identity are limited. Most people in the industry estimated Yu-shin to be an 80-year-old man.
“Did I rest too much?”
Yu-shin’s philosophy was to walk his own path unshaken no matter how others judged, but this time he was strangely angry. Jun-wan’s misunderstanding kept poking at his quiet artistic soul. It was a new stimulant he’d never experienced before.
Yu-shin immediately called Chief Manager Min. He told her he needed to set up a studio in the newlywed house.
***
The newlywed house had more than half of its rooms unused. Yu-shin looked around the house, searching for a suitable space.
“Could we open up the wall to make use of it?”
“The construction would be quite extensive.”
“We should do it properly while we’re at it. Please combine this room with the one across. The bigger the windows, the better. Natural light is most important.”
Yu-shin listed out what he wanted point by point. The studio space absolutely had to be spacious. He carefully examined the direction of incoming light, ventilation, and even the humidity inside the room before deciding on the location.
Combining two rooms on the first floor would make it quite a major construction project. The construction schedule alone would easily take over two weeks. They decided to finish as quickly as possible, even if it meant bringing in more workers.
Shortly after construction began in earnest, a truckload of belongings arrived from Yu-shin’s main house.
The contents were all materials and tools he’d used previously. Scrolls, painting boards, and shelf units for storing rice paper filled one of the empty rooms.
“You said you’d rest for two or three years. Our young master, what made you change your mind?”
Chief Manager Min murmured beside him. Her face bloomed with a smile.
Chief Manager Min loved watching Yu-shin paint more than anyone. She was the most delighted to hear the news that he was resuming his work.
“Just… well, I thought, what’s the point of just playing around.”
Yu-shin answered indifferently. He walked around and began examining the materials that had been moved to the newlywed house one by one.
From the next room came the clanging sounds of construction. Dust and particles floated in the air. It was fortunate Jun-wan was away from home. Of course, there was no construction in the evening, but with his fastidious personality, he would definitely be appalled to see the house turned into such a mess.
“The Minister and Madam are both overjoyed. They’ve been so excited lately they can’t even sleep at night.”
“They’re always so dramatic.”
Yu-shin laughed it off. He’d already received calls from his parents anyway. They’d been pestering him to stop by the main house and show his face. Yu-shin could only end the call after promising to have lunch together sometime soon.
“…The brushes are in poor condition.”
Yu-shin fiddled with the brush tips. Though Yu-shin was lackadaisical about most things, he was meticulous when it came to anything related to painting.
“Ae-gyeong, I’m going to the art supply store.”
“Shall I come with you?”
“No, please watch the house.”
After leaving the house under construction in Chief Manager Min’s care, he stopped by the art supply store to purchase necessary materials. A big spender’s shopping was on a different scale from the start. The art store owner recognized Yu-shin as a discerning professional.
Having stopped by the art supply store after so long, he seemed a bit excited. Because he frantically bought this and that, he ended up spending more money than expected. He arranged to have the purchased materials delivered to the house soon.
While he was out, he also stopped by Hannam-dong. Yu-shin’s older sister Kim Sara ran one of the country’s premier high-end boutiques. Thanks to her innate sense, the business was flourishing day by day.
Upon hearing her younger brother was coming, she had cleared out the entire store. As soon as she saw Yu-shin, she swaggered.
“I cleared two hours because of you. You’re spending a hundred million won today.”
“Boss, you have no conscience. Are you a robber?”
“You’ve got plenty of money, you cheapskate. Do you know how hard I worked to meet your demands? Your standards are ridiculously high, always looking for hard-to-find stuff. Why do you do that?”
Yu-shin narrowed his eyes. He took a sip of the juice Kim Sara had provided.
“So you did find them?”
“You better buy them.”
Several hangers rolled in on their wheels. These were the summer clothes he’d asked Kim Sara to get a few days ago.
Yu-shin got up from the sofa and walked over to the hangers. He was more interested in Jun-wan’s clothes than his own.
“The suits… all look similar.”
White, black, or charcoal and deep navy. An array of calm, composed colors. Of course, he could get suits in brighter colors if he looked, but Jun-wan definitely suited these achromatic tones.
“What are you talking about? They’re completely different. Look at this exquisite tailoring and silhouette. Dior is elegant and Armani is sexy.”
“Mm… that’s true.”
Yu-shin nodded. Up close, you could tell the materials were exceptional. The matte texture exuded refinement and the feel was smooth. The difference would stand out even more when worn than when just looking at them.
The better the clothes hanger, the more expensive clothes show their true worth. Yu-shin pictured this man wearing these clothes in his mind. Ah… the money won’t feel wasted.
“I’ll buy them all.”
