Episode 52: Trust
“Looks like you made headlines,” Ryu Miyeon commented leisurely while sipping her black tea.
Her posture was relaxed, but her eyes were not.
Ryu Junhee, sensing the unspoken warning to watch his words, replied with a slightly pricked expression.
It was always Ryu Junhee who got excited and had his breath mixed in his tone.
“It’s not my fault. The article came out weird!”
“But they wouldn’t have made up something from nothing. You need to be more humble.”
“Agh! Noona, all you ever care about is this family, right?”
Ryu Miyeon sighed as she looked at Ryu Junhee, whose eyes were slightly red.
Maybe it was because he was the youngest by a long shot.
He was way too immature.
Ryu Junhee grumbled without backing down.
“I really wish Dad would trace the family tree. Everyone says my hard-earned work is just because I’m from a rich family. Do you know how frustrating that is?”
“It’s true that you learned to paint in a favorable environment. Your start was different.”
“Fine! Let’s say that’s true. Does that mean everyone will turn out like me? Try making Seoyeon a famous artist by spending billions on her.”
Ryu Miyeon frowned as she watched Ryu Junhee cling to his niece.
“Why drag my daughter into this? She’s going to manage the arts anyway.”
“…”
Ryu Junhee didn’t continue. Seoyeon was a cherished niece, after all.
And just then, he noticed a camera on the desk.
It was a camera he had given Seoyeon as a gift.
“Seoyeon is so unique. Why did she go to art school…?”
Curious about what photos Seoyeon had taken, Ryu Junhee picked up the camera.
He turned it on and went into the photo album, opening the folder of taken photos.
As he flipped through the photos one by one, surprise spread across Ryu Junhee’s face.
His body naturally leaned forward.
He brought his fingers to his mouth.
As if he couldn’t even blink, he stared intently at the photos.
Tension flowed through his entire body.
Ryu Junhee had to grip the camera tightly to hide his trembling.
After a while,
After viewing over two hundred photos,
Ryu Junhee, with a dazed look and his mouth slightly open, said,
“Noona, I take back what I just said.”
“What?”
“Seoyeon seems to have awakened. Let’s make her an artist right away. She’ll be bigger than me. What did you feed her?”
As the noisy Ryu Junhee stopped moving and became serious, Ryu Miyeon burst into laughter.
“Haha. Do you really think Seoyeon took those?”
“No, you’re right. It’s not Seoyeon, it’s awakened Seoyeon. She’s insane, completely insane. Is she a genius? She’s definitely my niece! The blood is different, damn it. I should have known when she said she wanted to study at art school. I’m such a foolish uncle…”
Ryu Junhee put down the camera and clenched his fists tightly.
As he exhaled heavily, he felt something swell up inside his chest.
Although much time had passed since she had already been surprised once, Ryu Miyeon could laugh at the urgent Ryu Junhee.
But she felt similar emotions.
“I was as surprised as you. But Seoyeon didn’t paint those.”
“…Then who did?”
“Seoyeon told me this evening. It’s a friend’s painting.”
“…A friend?”
“Yes.”
“Well, Seoyeon couldn’t have done it. She suddenly became a genius. How old is this friend?”
Ryu Junhee, having interacted with many artists abroad, had a broad concept of friends.
Most of his friends were more than ten years older than him.
“Twenty years old. But what’s more amazing is that this student has thousands of such paintings at home. They’ve been painting since they were six years old. The paintings you just saw were also from that time.”
“…What?”
Just the fact that they were twenty was surprising enough.
But even more unbelievable facts kept pouring out, leaving him speechless.
Seeing the usually talkative Ryu Junhee speechless, Ryu Miyeon continued.
“The photos are nothing. There’s a real painting too. Take a look. Photos can’t capture this atmosphere.”
Ryu Miyeon pulled out a painting that had been leaning against the sofa and placed it on the desk.
“……”
The woman in the painting was sitting by a window.
It was a perfectly clear day with not a cloud in the sky.
Only the shadow of a tree branch from outside the window fell obliquely across her face.
It was a lonely and barren tree with no leaves left.
The woman looked exhausted, like a dried-up riverbed.
What on earth had happened?
She seemed to be suffering from severe despair, now too drained to even feel sorrow, plagued by a sense of powerlessness.
The moment Ryu Junhee made eye contact with the woman in the painting, he felt his breath catch.
The woman’s hair, drawn incredibly realistically, swayed in the cold winter wind.
Looking at the painting made his heart ache.
Even if one can draw like a photograph, it doesn’t mean one can capture the subject’s emotions.
But this painting reflected all the feelings toward the subject, giving a meticulous sense of presence.
It felt like he was actually in that place…
As Ryu Junhee admired the painting, Ryu Miyeon spoke.
“We’re thinking of selecting the artist for our sponsorship. As you can see, they’re already a complete artist. We want to support them with whatever they need.”
Ryu Junhee nodded.
The talent was undeniable.
It was a talent that any sponsoring company would be grateful for without any conditions.
Moreover, if they exhibited at the Heyum Seoul Gallery and the Paris Gallery, they might be able to recommend them for the Biennale that Hong Aram mentioned.
To be able to run at the top of one’s career so quickly.
Ryu Junhee wanted to share this good news quickly.
“They say geniuses are also born at the right time. That saying is spot on.”
“Why?”
“There’s Kim Seonbong, the artist participating with me in the group exhibition at next year’s Venice Biennale, right?”
“Yes, the Oriental painting artist.”
“Right, he got dismissed from his professorship for sexual harassment and is being kicked out of the Biennale. There’s an empty spot, and I think this artist can fill it perfectly.”
“Oh my, how did I not know that?”
“Well, it hasn’t been reported yet. For now, try to schedule a couple of solo exhibitions for them. I’ll discuss the rest with Aram and Professor Koo Haeyoung.”
“Okay, I hope it goes well. It won’t be easy to persuade the organizing committee.”
“No, it should be possible with this level of talent.”
Suddenly, as Ryu Junhee was talking, Seoyeon’s face popped into his mind.
He was a little worried about his niece.
“But noona, Seoyeon always pretended to be an ordinary student. Is it okay for her friend to know? She always hated it when people found out she was the granddaughter of the chairman because it made them uncomfortable.”
Ryu Miyeon laughed and said,
“If it’s Kang Lim, it should be fine. There seems to be a lot of trust. Seoyeon has never taken care of anyone like this before. You know that too.”
“The artist’s name is Kang Lim? No way, it’s not a guy, right?”
“He’s a guy.”
“Damn it…”
Ryu Junhee felt a strange emotion.
It was as if his beloved and beautiful niece, whom he had adored since she was a baby, had already grown up.
He wondered if she was already thinking about dating.
He felt a little jealous.
“Sigh, I should schedule a seminar at Hanye University and check on the juniors.”
A few days later.
As usual, the Introduction to Digital Design class was conducted by Professor Shin Wonjin, who had the students review the design steps he demonstrated.
Mostly, they followed methods for creating text shapes or visual effects.
At the beginning of the semester, even a few clicks required repetitive tool demonstrations, with students asking to see them again.
But these days, they could create something just by seeing it once, which showed significant improvement.
As expected, the students had strong fundamentals, so they caught on quickly.
‘But there’s one student who’s way too good for just having fundamentals. They have an amazing sense, as if they’ve lived as a designer…’
Shin Wonjin quietly observed Kang Lim, who was following the class attentively.
With his skills, this class should be boring, yet he never showed any sign of it and attended class like an ordinary student.
You’d expect complaints about it being too easy…
A calm and humble student.
‘He deserves some praise. This is really…’
Shin Wonjin was particularly taken aback by the children’s book project Kang Lim submitted for the midterm evaluation.
Each typography design must have taken a long time, and the fact that he completed it during the midterm period was hard to believe.
It wasn’t just at the level of an assignment; it seemed like it was prepared for a competition…
Sure enough, he had even won the grand prize on the World Book website.
‘And yet, he sits there so calmly. Normally, wouldn’t you want to brag about it?’
After finishing the lesson by adding the final composite image,
Professor Shin Wonjin spoke up.
“Alright, that’s it for today. We have 10 minutes left, so let’s end by appreciating a good piece of work. Among the midterm submissions, there was one perfect work that I’d like to introduce. Interestingly, it was also submitted to a competition.”
The students put down their mice and stretched.
They murmured at the surprising news that someone had managed both an assignment and a competition.
Both Lee Hyunseong and Yoon Jangmi glanced at Kang Lim with knowing looks.
Kang Lim awkwardly smiled and turned his head.
‘No way, is he going to mention that here?’
He had read the judging comments on the competition website with his mother yesterday, and the praise was so excessive that he didn’t really want to show off.
But looking at the professor’s expression, it seemed inevitable.
“Kang Lim won the grand prize in the World Book children’s book competition!”
As Professor Shin Wonjin shouted loudly, the students said,
“Isn’t World Book a huge publisher?”
“Man, Kang Lim can do everything. Every week, he surprises me.”
“Is he a competition killer? He wins everything.”
Voices of admiration from his friends mixed with the noise.
Professor Shin Wonjin added fuel to the fire by addressing the now noisy students.
“You can see a preview of the winning work on the World Book website, so make sure to check out Kang Lim’s book design. Also, the judge for this competition was Wang Haeyun, a very famous illustrator. She’s the first Korean to be nominated for the Andersen Award! She praised our school’s student, which makes me very proud.”
Click. Click.
The sound of students logging onto the website echoed around.
With double-clicks, Seoyeon read the judging comments aloud.
“…?”
“Everyone must run a race once they’re born. But does losing the race make one a failure? This warm book reminds not only children but everyone who has endured a race of their own of its special value.”
“Hey, why are you reading that…”
Kang Lim was embarrassed, and Seoyeon chuckled.
When Seoyeon stopped reading, Lee Hyunseong continued in a teasing manner.
“The charming characters and the background illustrations where they live are outstanding. The layout of the horizontally long book makes you feel the journey. Especially, the final page uses the fold-out effect, making the already long book even longer. The scene where a cool wave crashes on the sandy beach and crashes into the sea is so dazzling that you want to dive in!”
“…”
“The anticipation for what adventures will unfold and who you’ll meet underwater makes you look forward to the sequel?! The artist has given children a special adventure to grow with, and I want to give them a big round of applause.”
As soon as the words ‘want to give them a big round of applause’ ended, the sound of applause and cheers erupted from all directions.
Naturally, when someone is shy, everyone wants to tease them.
“Class president! Class president! Class president!”
The students burst into laughter.
Only Shin Taemin, sitting opposite, quietly read the PDF file and said,
“Maybe because it’s just a preview, but it ends at a tantalizing point.”
“…So you have a taste for children’s books, huh?”
“Maybe, I didn’t know.”
Given the situation, Kang Lim made a suggestion.
“If you’re curious about the rest, I have an advance copy I made. I can give it to you.”
“Oh.”
“But in return, help me move my stuff before Professor Gerald’s class later. You’re moving to a different partition, right? It’s too cramped to display works during presentations. Let’s live a little further apart.”
“Hmm, but is it okay to move spots? We were assigned seats when we enrolled.”
As expected, Shin Taemin was a stickler for rules.
Kang Lim shook his head and said,
“Come to think of it, after the common practical classes, the classroom space has increased because students from other departments left. I don’t know why we’ve been using the assigned partitions. Both of us have a lot of work, and it’s cramped. Let’s just ignore it.”
Shin Taemin thought for a moment and then nodded.
Listening to Kang Lim, he realized that no one had explicitly told them to continue using the assigned partitions; they had just followed the initial instructions.
“Alright. I’ll help you.”
