Episode 34: The Regular Customer
In front of the T building of the Hongik University Graduate School of Fine Arts.
“Damn… I’m not a janitor.”
Hong Yoon-gi gathered and organized the trash he had picked up.
He thought it would take him going around the entire Mapo-gu area to fill one bag, but surprisingly, after just three weeks of circling around Hongdae, he had already filled twenty large bags.
If it weren’t for a friend in Hongdae, it would have been difficult to find a place to store this.
“Ouch, my shoulders hurt.”
Hong Yoon-gi massaged his left shoulder with his right hand.
Picking up trash, washing, and drying it to use in his artwork repeatedly had left him sore all over.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Hong Yoon-gi thought of his two teammates.
Thinking about how Kang Lim and Lee Hyerim were working comfortably on the computer in a cool room made him feel a bit annoyed.
But what could he do?
He wasn’t as skilled, so he had to help out however he could.
“Well, since he said he would negotiate the price down, I guess I have to trust him.”
Hong Yoon-gi stretched by turning his neck.
As he straightened his back and took a deep breath.
Honk-Honk-
A Damas van arrived at the playground with the sound of a horn.
The window slid down, and the delivery driver poked his head out.
“You’re the person Kang Lim introduced, right? I’m supposed to move this to Korea National University of Arts, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Hello.”
Hong Yoon-gi hurriedly ran to the Damas van, carrying one bag in each hand.
The delivery driver also got out to help move the bags.
But it was strange that the bags were so light compared to their volume.
“What’s in these to make them so light?”
“Just… discarded plastic containers and cans. There are also disposable cups and forks.”
“Ah, I see.”
“See what?” Hong Yoon-gi tilted his head at the delivery driver’s reaction.
Usually, when asked to move things for an art school, they would expect it to be artworks and would find it odd if it wasn’t.
This reaction was quite different.
As Hong Yoon-gi paused due to the driver’s strange reaction, the driver spoke.
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to get the other two bags?”
“Oh, right!”
After moving all the bags, Hong Yoon-gi got into the passenger seat.
As soon as he closed the door and the car started moving, he began asking the questions he had been curious about.
“Sir, why are you moving this so cheaply? Are you and Kang Lim close?”
“Ah, I helped him move books for a project before. The work he did back then was so good.”
“Wow, you liked his work so much that you gave a 20,000 won discount? You must really like art.”
“No, I wasn’t really interested in art. But seeing those old books transform so beautifully made me like it a bit more.”
“Was it an installation piece? I’d like to see it too.”
The delivery driver smiled, thinking of Kang Lim.
“And Kang Lim is such a neat person. Just like he looks.”
“He does look clean. Very fair-skinned.”
“Not just his work, but the person himself is great too.”
“…Really?”
“Of course. The security guard at the library where Kang Lim got the old books said he came back after the project was done, brought him a drink, showed him the artwork he made with the books, and even gave him a photo.”
“Wow, that’s really considerate.”
“Yeah. So I wanted to help him out too. Usually, people say they will repay you later and do nothing. So I just think of it as a thank you if they even say thanks… But I was really surprised.”
Listening to the driver, Hong Yoon-gi glanced at the back seat.
Indeed, he thought, ‘That kind of person would do this kind of work.’
“So you weren’t surprised when I said it was trash.”
“Right. Kang Lim can make even old materials special. Honestly, it takes 500 years for plastic to decompose. If it can be turned into an art piece, wouldn’t that be great?”
“But can’t we just recycle them instead of making them into art?”
The driver shook his head.
“No, in reality, only good-quality plastic gets recycled. 70% of it is incinerated.”
“Really?”
“Yes. How long did you collect these?”
“Three weeks.”
“Wow, with this much, people will realize a lot. They wouldn’t have imagined it would be this much…”
“True… I was surprised too.”
How on earth would Kang Lim make an artwork suitable for the summer festival out of this trash?
Hong Yoon-gi became increasingly curious about Kang Lim’s work.
Kang Lim was checking the stairway project with Lee Hyerim as he passed through the main gate of K-Arts.
They had to submit the materials today if they wanted to start making the stairs, so he was feeling a bit rushed.
After checking the file with the exact measurements.
He typed a message.
[Kang Lim: Noona, everything looks good, but isn’t 15cm too narrow for the stair treads? Let’s make it 30cm to be spacious. We also need to consider the chair function.]
[Lee Hyerim: Oh dear. I made a mistake thinking only about the stairs. I’ll fix it immediately. Anything else?]
[Kang Lim: Let’s make the stair angle about 40 degrees. There will be elderly and children coming to watch the performance.]
[Lee Hyerim: Ah! Yes. That sounds good.]
[Kang Lim: Everything else is perfect. I love the U-shape bend. It will make the buskers look like the main stars. Thank you for your hard work.]
[Lee Hyerim: I’ll correct that and upload it to the web hard you mentioned.]
[Kang Lim: Yes. Thank you.]
[Lee Hyerim: Oh, and can you decide on the artwork title? We need to make a nameplate with your name on it.]
[Kang Lim: Huh. Just my name? That feels a bit unfair.]
[Lee Hyerim: Of course, only the planner’s name goes there. There are many planners who just give ideas and do nothing… You don’t need to feel guilty at all.]
[Kang Lim: …Hmm. Let me think about the title a bit more.]
[Lee Hyerim: Alright. I’ll leave the title blank for now!]
[Kang Lim: Okay.]
Before he knew it, Kang Lim arrived in front of the sculpture art building and quickly climbed the stairs.
The materials science professor’s office was on the second floor.
He paused to catch his breath, feeling out of breath.
Then knocked on the door.
“What was so urgent? He seemed out of breath when he came in.”
The printmaking assistant professor asked the anatomy professor, Yoon Hyun, looking at him.
Kang Lim had disappeared quickly after receiving the books and expressing his gratitude.
“Professor Han Jung-pil seems to have introduced him to a municipal public project. He’s a very popular student.”
“Wow… Didn’t Professor Han Jung-pil become the public art advisory committee chair this time?”
“Yes. He used to do a lot of campaign projects with companies. Unlike other agencies, there were no corrupt practices… I think that’s why he was selected.”
“Wow. The school will shine if it makes the news.”
The printmaking assistant professor smiled and reviewed the sample textbooks.
“Even though it’s for the next education curriculum, I hope it gets used soon. The reviewers were asking where we got such student artwork. Even though it wasn’t just Kang Lim’s work, they specifically praised his.”
“Haha. My book is getting a great response for its high quality. Everyone talks about the quality of the illustrations.”
“Of course! It topped the art book category as soon as it was released! Professor Shin Han-soo must have been really surprised.”
“Oh… I only rose to the top momentarily because of the release and advertisement. I can never surpass Professor Shin Han-soo. He’s been number one for ten years…”
“Oh, come on. You’re being humble.”
Yoon Hyun thought as he turned the cover of the thick medical anatomy book and art anatomy book.
The content had been in a completed stage since the research had been ongoing for a long time, but the publication kept getting delayed due to a lack of illustrations.
He hadn’t expected to find such a good illustrator and publish it so quickly.
There was no one capable enough to hire as an assistant.
“How many illustrations are in total?”
“Kang Lim drew 50. I drew some as well.”
“Wow. How much did you pay him?”
“150,000 won per piece.”
“Wow…! So he earned 7.5 million won in about two months? He must miss such a part-time job.”
“I’m the one who’s missing out… I want him to make material for class, but he’s too busy.”
“True. Class materials don’t pay much.”
“Haha.”
Yoon Hyun chuckled while looking at the drawings Kang Lim had made.
“Oh, by the way, did you know? Kang Lim was also featured in Art Magazine K.”
“What? How could he get featured there?”
Yoon Hyun’s eyes widened at the unexpected news from the assistant professor.
Art Magazine K was a magazine where freshmen couldn’t get featured.
“He did a group exhibition in Insadong before, and that work was featured in the rising stars section.”
“Wow… No freshman has been featured there before, right? That’s amazing.”
The assistant professor smiled and answered.
“No, professor. There was one person. Ten years ago. I wasn’t at this school then, but Junhee Ryu was featured. Though it was around his graduation time.”
Yoon Hyun clapped his hands as if realizing something.
He remembered the student with bright blonde hair.
The same hair color as Professor Gerald Moore.
“Ah, Junhee. Junhee was really good too. I remember Professor Gerald Moore liked him a lot. He was a bit arrogant though.”
“Oh, come on. He was really good… He has several exhibitions lined up in New York next month… He’s a genius too. We haven’t had a student like him.”
“Hmm… Maybe. But in terms of anatomy, Kang Lim is the best. He might become even greater than Junhee. Junhee had many opportunities to be known abroad because he was from a wealthy family.”
“True… Considering Kang Lim’s different conditions and similar achievements, I have high expectations for him too.”
The two professors thought of the youngest member of the Jeil Group, Junhee Ryu, and Kang Lim.
They were completely different personalities like black and white.
Kang Lim got off at Euljiro Station and headed to ‘Jooyoung Joo-hyung’.
On the way, he stopped by the largest bookstore to buy this month’s Art Magazine K.
The magazine was displayed on a stand right at the entrance, so it didn’t take time to find it.
Buzz-
As he opened the door and entered, Mr. Kim Jooyoung came out from between the large printers.
Mr. Kim greeted him with a bright smile.
“The student is here again!”
“Hello, sir.”
Mr. Kim Jooyoung only greeted so brightly to those whose work he liked.
When someone with bad work asked for something, he would just pull out mock-ups from the machine without saying anything.
There was something else only regulars knew.
Mr. Kim Jooyoung had a special discount.
He was someone who helped students a lot if their work was good.
“He opened the store in a remote location because he wanted to make good products… He’s a special person.”
He once saw a student get a 10% discount.
The student got the discount for illustrating a cover that was featured in a singer’s album.
He jokingly promised to continue working with Mr. Kim Jooyoung.
“But honestly, even if they don’t keep such verbal contracts, there’s nothing to complain about…”
Kang Lim already knew.
Mr. Kim Jooyoung disliked seeing good works not being made because of money.
“Though he’s not skilled in painting… He would work all night to paint my work.”
He wouldn’t regret entrusting CNC work to Mr. Kim for a lifetime.
He knew Mr. Kim would keep upgrading the machines to top-notch.
Having such a regular was a big help.
Mr. Kim kindly asked.
“But the web hard you uploaded isn’t out yet. What’s up?”
“Sir, I’m sorry, but can I ask you a favor? Could you reduce the CNC price a bit?”
Mr. Kim looked a bit bewildered at Kang Lim’s sudden request.
Although he was a student with great work, Mr. Kim didn’t know much about him or which school he was from.
“Hmm… I don’t help just anyone. I need some proof.”
Kang Lim placed a series of books and magazines on the desk: Tomorrow’s Art Magazine, a high school textbook, a medical anatomy book, an art anatomy book, and Art Magazine K.
“My works are featured in all these. Is this enough to trust me?”
“…All of these?”
Mr. Kim’s eyes shook intensely.
