Van Gogh Reborn!

243

Banksy (2)

“Okay. Good luck. I’ll contact you again.”

-Yes.

After hanging up, Bang Taeho organized his thoughts.

As Ko Hun had said, living in Paris had its advantages.

It was better to stay in Paris than to travel back and forth between Seoul and Paris, considering the cost.

The expensive airfare and accommodation were also a problem, and he felt like he was wasting time on the 11-hour one-way flight.

Not to mention, the frequent travel and the changing time zones were exhausting.

Bang Taeho went to the living room to find his wife, who was drained after the deadline.

Lee Hanna, a writer who was trying not to think about anything, lay on the sofa and answered with her eyes closed.

“Hmm.”

“Do you want some juice?”

“Hmm.”

Bang Taeho poured some orange juice and handed it to his wife.

Lee Hanna straightened her legs and leaned back on the sofa, taking in the sugar and the fresh citrus scent.

“You’re giving me something sweet first. It must be serious.”

Lee Hanna turned her head and glared at her husband, then smiled. His expression was very serious.

“What is it?”

“Ko Hun said he’s forming a group of painters.”

“Is it like a club?”

“Yeah. He’s thinking of a corporation based on artists. They work together and share the profits. Like Sunflower right now.”

“Are you going to be unemployed?”

“Is that so?”

Lee Hanna chuckled and took another sip of juice.

“By the way, Ko Hun is amazing. He keeps trying new things. How about Henri Matisse?”

“Not right now.”

Lee Hanna nodded.

“I need to look for a new artist.”

If Ko Hun set up his own corporation, there would be no extension of the contract with her husband.

Recently, Ko Hun had made a lot of money and brought in a lot of revenue for Bang Taeho’s Sunflower, but now there was a crisis.

“That’s not it.”

“Hmm?”

“He asked me if I could take over the company.”

“…”

“Honey?”

When his wife just stared at him without blinking, Bang Taeho called out anxiously.

“Oh, sorry.”

“You were surprised.”

“I was wondering if I should spit out the juice or swallow it. Why didn’t I hear the sound effect? It’s a cliché scene, but I need to find a different way.”

Bang Taeho snickered.

“Hmm.”

Lee Hanna held the juice in her mouth and sorted out her thoughts.

Considering the size, scalability, and future of the company, it was better to accept Ko Hun’s offer.

There was one year left in the three-year contract with Ko Hun.

If Ko Hun wanted to start his own corporation, he couldn’t extend the contract.

Instead, he had to seize the opportunity to capture both Ko Hun and Matisse at the same time.

Lee Hanna quickly figured out what her husband was worried about.

“The problem is not the company, but going to Paris.”

“That’s right.”

“Tell me. You must have thought a lot before talking to me.”

Lee Hanna put down the glass.

“If the artists gather, the company will grow bigger and there will be more things to do. Other companies will also be interested, so the information you get will be more diverse.”

“That’s true.”

“And you can save on airfare and accommodation. You can also rest or do something else while traveling.”

“Yeah.”

Lee Hanna just agreed, not interrupting Bang Taeho’s words.

“That’s all improvement. I felt it when I worked in New York and Paris. The market is really big and the scope of what you can do is different.”

“It must be.”

“Yeah. The same goes for the opening. I think there will be a big change soon. Centered around Ko Hun and Matisse.”

“Hmm.”

“I don’t want to just watch it. I want to create a trend, not just a good exhibition. I want to do something that will be recorded in art history someday.”

“How?”

“By publishing a thesis on the tendencies of the two artists’ works, or by inviting other artists who respond to them. I also want to actively promote it to the media and open an exhibition of Hoon and Marso’s works.”

Hanna nodded.

“I thought it would be something you would have to choose when Hoon builds his own gallery, but it seems to have been brought forward.”

Taeho was dreaming.

He wanted to put Hoon on a bigger stage, and he wanted to establish a solid position in the mainstream art market.

It would be difficult, but he was studying hard, and he wanted to plan a better exhibition and challenge other tasks like .

He felt it was possible with Hoon.

“That’s good. Why hesitate?”

Hanna asked.

Taeho looked into the eyes of his beloved wife and said.

“You and Yeeun are my dreams.”

He wanted to live happily with his wife and daughter, so he wanted to hear their opinions.

Hanna, who had been listening to him while asking questions, lightly grabbed his cheek.

“First of all, pass.”

She would have been greatly disappointed if he had hesitated because he was worried about her and their daughter.

She couldn’t bear the thought of her loved one giving up his dream because of her and their child, feeling like an obstacle.

Fortunately, her husband didn’t seem to think so.

“I can’t speak French. Neither can Yeeun.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll ask Yeeun too, but she might hate it. She just made some friends. Going to another country might be scary.”

“I guess so.”

“Don’t you hate it when I and Yeeun struggle?”

“Of course. Even more if it’s because of me.”

There was only one answer.

“Go.”

“Huh?”

“Go by yourself.”

Taeho was stunned by Hanna’s conclusion.

“No. That’s not it. How can you say that. We have to live together wherever we go.”

“What’s wrong with that. We have a house in Seoul and a house in Paris. It’s good to have one more house.”

“Huh?”

“What about the house?”

“…I think I can buy an apartment with the money I made this time.”

“Did you make that much?”

“900 million?”

“Hee.”

Hanna’s eyes widened.

“My husband is capable.”

“It’s thanks to Hoon.”

“Were you just playing? Then you should give that money back to Hoon.”

“Haha.”

The couple joked lightly.

“Anyway, it’s good. I have a place to go on vacation when I finish this work. I.”

“Honey…”

Hanna stretched.

“I have my own work and Yeeun has her own community. You have your own world too.”

“…”

“We’re not getting divorced or sending Yeeun for adoption. What’s wrong with doing what we want in our own places. Family should support each other, not confine each other.”

Taeho closed his eyes.

That was the reason he couldn’t bring himself to say let’s go to Paris.

He couldn’t force his wife and daughter to give up their world so far, and to face a new and unfamiliar environment because of his selfishness.

“If Yeeun was young, I would have opposed it too.”

Hanna continued.

“She’s busy playing with her school friends now. She doesn’t even play with me. And she knows what you and I do.”

Taeho didn’t know what to say, so he just looked at his wife.

“It’s not like you’re going without a plan. You have a dream, a goal, a plan, and a good enough ability. How can I stop you. You’ve been offered a good position by famous artists. What are you worried about.”

“Honey.”

“If.”

“I’m home!”

As Hanna was about to set a condition, their daughter Yeeun came back from school.

“Sweetie, can you wash your hands and come here for a bit?”

“Okay.”

Bang Ye-eun washed her hands and came out to see her mom and dad.

She noticed that the atmosphere was different from usual and clung to her mom.

“Why?”

Bang Tae-ho spoke up.

“Dad has something he wants to do, and I’m curious what you think about it.”

“What is it?”

“You know what Dad does, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, he wants to do it in a bigger place. Paris, you know? France.”

“Again?”

The word ‘again’ hurt his heart.

“It’s not right away, but it might take a long time. We’re going to live there.”

Bang Ye-eun’s lips drooped.

“Dad wants to live with you, but what about you?”

“Me too.”

Bang Ye-eun held her mom’s hand tightly and answered.

“If we go to Paris with Dad, we’ll have to say goodbye to our friends. And we’ll have to learn French.”

Bang Tae-ho didn’t know how his daughter, who was in second grade of elementary school, would accept living in another country.

He worried that she would be hurt by the difficulties of learning a different language and culture and the problem of racial discrimination.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he was being selfish.

He was a veteran with a brilliant career as a curator and a manager, but he was a first-time parent and he didn’t know how to solve this problem, how to explain it to his daughter.

“Can’t we just live here?”

“We can.”

“Then why go?”

“You saw Dad’s exhibition, right?”

Bang Ye-eun nodded.

“I want to make it bigger and better. There are a lot of people who want my work.”

Thanks to Dad’s simple explanation, she understood the situation, but she didn’t know what to do.

“I just want to know what you think. There’s no right answer.”

Lee Han-na hugged her daughter.

Encouraged by her mom’s touch, Bang Ye-eun finally opened her mouth.

“I want Dad to do what he wants. But.”

“But?”

“…Mom can’t play games.”

She couldn’t play racing games with Dad when he left. Every time Bang Tae-ho left the house, Bang Ye-eun played games alone and felt lonely.

“Then do you want to be with Dad?”

Lee Han-na asked.

“Dad doesn’t know how to take a walk.”

Lee Han-na chuckled.

As her daughter said, Bang Tae-ho didn’t know how to enjoy a leisurely walk.

He didn’t notice where the flowers bloomed, how warm the sun was, how the wind felt, what expressions the people on the street had, or where the ants were going.

“Then we need both Mom and Dad, right?”

“Yes.”

Bang Ye-eun nodded.

“What do you want to do?”

“What do you want to do?”

When Lee Han-na asked, Bang Ye-eun asked back.

There was only one thing she could say to the two people she loved.

“Ye-eun, will you go with Dad? We’ll play games with Dad on weekends and take walks with Mom. I’ll buy you anything you want.”

“A car too?”

“A car?”

Bang Ye-eun nodded.

“Not a game console, but a real car?”

“That’s my dream. A driver like Lewis Hamilton.”

Bang Tae-ho was surprised by Lee Han-na’s words.

He knew she liked racing games since she was young and she recently took up a hobby of children’s kart, but he didn’t know she dreamed of Formula 1.

He remembered how skillfully she handled the racing wheel and nodded.

“Okay. I’ll buy you one when you get your license.”

“Really?”

“Not a Formula 1 car, though.”

Lee Han-na smiled.

“Do you think you can handle all the studying? You have to learn French. And if you want to be a driver, you have to go to racing school too.”

“I’ll do it.”

If her dream was to be a Formula 1 driver, then going abroad would be better for her education.

I didn’t know if my daughter was aware of the harsh training and competitive system, but I wanted to support her as best as I could if she had something she wanted to do.

Eun-hana, who was listening to the mother-daughter conversation, sighed as if she had no choice.

“Well, I guess I have no choice. Maybe I’ll write my next work with a Paris setting.”

I was preparing various things to plant sunflowers in the square, but I had never painted a mural before, so I asked for my grandfather’s help.

“Can I use oil paints?”

He asked me as he picked up some acrylic paints that he had never used before.

“Acrylic paints last longer.”

“Will they not fade?”

“They’re better than the others. Come to think of it, I should also bring some varnish.”

He seemed to be choosing the paints that would preserve the best, since they couldn’t be permanent.

“Let me see… I got the brushes.”

He also brought some wet wipes and rags, probably to clean the dirty walls and streets.

“Do I need to bring any oil?”

“You paint with water for acrylics. If you adjust the concentration well, you can use them like oil paints.”

“They’ll dry faster with water.”

“That’s right. You have to think carefully. If you squeeze out the paints and leave them like when you paint with oils, you won’t be able to use them. The brushes will get ruined too.”

I had to paint quickly and smoothly.

I was grabbing a big brush when I saw a paint can.

“How about painting with paint?”

It felt like paint would be better than acrylic paints, since they were cheaper and more commonly used for building exteriors.

“People use a lot of latex paint. But it’s a bit hard to handle if you’re not used to it. It takes a lot of effort too.”

I felt reassured that he prepared everything to suit my experience and conditions.

“By the way, how is Rabani doing?”

“He’s getting discharged next week.”

“He’ll like your painting.”

“I hope so.”

I never imagined painting on the streets before, but I hoped he would like it.

“If the reaction is good, I want to paint in the 15th district too.”

“Why there?”

“A lot of Koreans live there.”

“Haha. You’re going to fill Paris with sunflowers, huh?”

My heart raced at my grandfather’s words.

Paris full of sunflowers, it sounded exciting even in my imagination.