Van Gogh Reborn!

260

Admission (3)

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Sure.”

Cha Jae-woo looked at Cha Si-hyun, who got up listlessly.

He was worried sick about his only son, whose shoulders were always slumped.

“Did something happen at school?”

“I don’t know. He says he’s fine whenever I ask.”

Seong Hyun-joo sighed.

“He doesn’t say much, so I wonder if it’s because Hoon went abroad. He’s been like that ever since.”

Cha Jae-woo nodded at his wife’s guess. He must have felt lonely after his best friend left.

“Should we go somewhere this weekend?”

“He doesn’t like going anywhere.”

He wanted to cheer him up somehow, but he didn’t know how.

“Maybe it would be better if he went out a little. Or how about sending him to France for the break?”

Seong Hyun-joo thought for a moment and nodded.

He didn’t like going far, but he always followed along with Hoon.

“I want to go with him this time.”

“We can take a few days off, right?”

“Wouldn’t he be more upset if we came back soon?”

“Hmm.”

The couple fell into a dilemma.

Both of them were professional managers who had important tasks ahead of them, so they felt reluctant to take a long vacation.

“Can we ask Hoon’s family for a favor?”

“They’ve been taking care of him all this time. It’s embarrassing now.”

“Let’s go with Si-hyun and greet them. And explain our situation.”

Seong Hyun-joo sighed at Cha Jae-woo’s words. She felt sorry for not being able to take a month or two off for her son.

But there was no other way, so she nodded.

“What should we prepare?”

“Yeah.”

They had always sent gifts as a thank-you whenever they asked for their son, but they always came back.

The couple pondered for a while and headed to their son’s room.

“Si-hyun, can we talk to you for a bit?”

“Yes.”

Cha Si-hyun opened the door and came out.

His desk was full of blue tree paintings. On his computer monitor, a Pingoo channel video was playing.

The couple confirmed that their expectations were right and nodded. They sat down in the living room and asked their son.

“Si-hyun, do you want to go to France for the break?”

“France?”

Cha Si-hyun’s eyes lit up.

Seong Hyun-joo felt relieved and explained what he could do and what was good about going to France.

“Yeah. You’ve been studying hard, so I want you to relax. You can visit museums and play with Hoon. It’ll be fun, right?”

Cha Si-hyun nodded vigorously.

“Then when are we going?”

“On the day of the break. Right away.”

Cha Si-hyun hugged his mom and ran to his room, leaving his dad waiting with his arms spread.

Seong Hyun-joo chuckled and comforted her husband instead of her son.

Cha Si-hyun entered his room and called Hoon. As soon as the call was connected, he shouted.

“I’m going to France!”

-France? When?

Hoon, who was eating lunch, asked in a daze.

“For the break! July 20th!”

-Grandpa, Si-hyun is coming to visit on July 20th.

-That’s nice. Is it the break?

-Yes. Is he coming alone?

“No. With my parents. Are you busy then?”

-Work is always there.

Cha Si-hyun was flustered.

He thought he could play with Hoon if he went to Paris, but he stopped thinking when he said he was busy.

-I have to keep working because I have a lot of places to submit next year.

“Can’t I draw next to you?”

-Why not. You haven’t been to the Louvre and Orsay, right? Let’s go together.

“If you’re going just because of me, you don’t have to.”

Chasi-hyun hoped that Ko Hun wouldn’t force himself to make time for him.

He wished that his friend, who had visited the Louvre Museum and the Orsay Museum several times, wouldn’t waste his time for no reason because of him.

-I go there whenever I have time.

“Huh?”

He was puzzled when he said that he went to the places he had visited whenever he had time.

-I can’t see everything even if I go several times. The exhibits change every time.

“Then can I go with you?”

-Of course. I’m eating right now, so let’s talk later.

“Okay!”

After finishing the call, Chasi-hyun watched the video that was uploaded on the Pinggu channel.

Ko Hun was drawing murals with the kids at the Dallida Square and the Bugrenelli Shopping Mall.

All the art-related YouTubers praised Ko Hun for his positive influence on society.

The news also reached Korea and was briefly introduced on the news.

He was overjoyed to think that he could be with his proud friend soon.

Chasi-hyun, who was rolling on the bed, suddenly remembered what had happened at school. He hugged the blanket and worried for a while.

The phone rang.

It was Ko Hun.

“Yeah.”

-Why do you sound like that?

“Uh. Did you finish eating?”

-Yeah.

“What did you eat?”

-Grilled salmon, pumpkin salad, and pasta with shrimp.

“Was it bad?”

His friend, who usually used all kinds of compliments and hard-to-sympathize metaphors when he ate delicious food, told him his diet plainly unlike usual.

-It wasn’t bad. What’s wrong.

Ko Hun asked with concern.

He wanted to talk more about the fantastic oil pasta, but Chasi-hyun’s voice didn’t sound good.

“I feel sorry for Hyunwoo.”

It was the kid who had been bothering Chasi-hyun.

-Go on.

“He tried to get some support a while ago.”

-Support?

“I don’t know. From what the kids say, it seems like tuition.”

-His family must be having a hard time.

“I guess so. But the other kids are bullying him.”

Chasi-hyun told him what had happened at school for the past few days.

The kids who were playing as usual changed their situation after seeing Park Hyunwoo’s tuition support application.

The kids who had followed Park Hyunwoo changed their attitude and started to ignore him, making him carry their bags or picking fights with him, and even preventing him from eating school meals.

-He wasn’t the type to just take it.

“At first, Hyunwoo fought back, but he couldn’t say anything when the kids said they would tell his dad. They said he was going to school thanks to the tuition his parents paid.”

-Sigh.

Ko Hun sighed.

He was appalled that the 11-year-old kids were threatening others with their parents’ social status.

He didn’t know what to say when they said that the school’s support policy was as if they were doing him a favor.

“I don’t know what to do.”

-What?

Chasi-hyun didn’t answer. It was hard for him to tell his only friend his shameful point.

-It’s okay.

“……You were like that too. I thought it was a punishment.”

-Yeah.

“I didn’t bother Hyunwoo because he was being bullied.”

-Yeah.

“But it hurts to be bullied. He must be having a hard time anyway.”

-Yeah.

“So I told the kids not to do that today.”

-And then they do that to me too. I’m such a fool.

“No, you’re not.”

He might feel a bit happy when misfortune befell the person who had bullied him.

He might hope that he would reflect on his wrongdoing that he got back.

Because I’m human. Because I hate him.

That’s a natural reaction.

But was it because of my experience of being bullied? Or because of my kind nature?

Cha Si-hyun stood up for the kid who had tormented him.

“You’re awesome.”

-Awesome?

“Yes.”

-I don’t think so. … I’m scared to go to school tomorrow.

The world doesn’t change just because I fought with the kids in my class.

Nothing changes.

But for a kid whose whole life is the small world of school, saying that won’t ease his worries.

It would only make him feel more frustrated and misunderstood.

“Did you tell your parents?”

-They would worry. … I must be a real coward.

“No, you’re not. You’re very brave.”

-Brave?

“Yes. You knew, didn’t you? You knew and still helped him.”

-Well, yeah. But I couldn’t even speak properly. And I’m scared to go to school. What if they do that to me again tomorrow?

Cha Si-hyun’s voice trembled.

He was worried about what would happen tomorrow, as he had been bullied before.

I understood his feelings well enough to know that I couldn’t comfort him with irresponsible words like “it’s okay”.

“…”

-I suck.

“No, you don’t. You’re cool.”

All I could do now was to encourage Cha Si-hyun not to lose his courage.

-I’m not cool at all. I feel like crying.

“It’s okay to cry.”

-Huh?

“You can cry. You can be scared. That doesn’t matter at all.”

-I don’t know.

“The really shameful thing is to stay silent when you know something is wrong. When Park Hyun-woo bullied you, the other kids just watched, right?”

-… Yeah.

“You’re different from them. You stepped in when someone was in trouble. Even though you knew what would happen, even though you were afraid, you stepped in. That’s really brave.”

Cha Si-hyun didn’t answer.

“What are you afraid of those kids who stayed silent? If they curse at you, curse back. If they hit you, fight back. You’re much braver and cooler than those guys.”

Sniff. Sniff.

I heard Cha Si-hyun start to cry over the phone.

He probably didn’t accept everything I said. He would still be scared.

But at least he would feel some comfort from knowing that I empathized with his actions.

I felt the same way.

The critics, the colleagues, even the family didn’t understand my paintings. Only Theo liked them. He supported me.

Thanks to Theo, I didn’t lose my courage.

How much time had passed?

Cha Si-hyun calmed down.

“And.”

-Yeah.

“You should tell your parents.”

-They would worry. I don’t want to show them this.

He didn’t want to show them what he thought was a pathetic sight.

It’s natural for a child, regardless of age or status, to want to show their parents their best side.

I did the same. I painted my room and self-portrait beautifully and sent them to my mother.1)

But.

“What if they find out later that you were suffering alone? They would be more upset.”

-…

“And you should tell them. That you fought for a poor person. You can be proud of that.”

It wasn’t a pathetic sight. It was a matter of telling them that he was a proud son.

When I said that, Cha Si-hyun hesitated for a moment and then asked again.

-Really?

“Of course. It’s obvious.”

1)Vincent van Gogh completed in September 1889 to celebrate his mother’s 70th birthday.

It was a time when he was physically and mentally exhausted, as he died less than a year later, but van Gogh portrayed himself more neatly than in other self-portraits he painted around the same time.

His cheeks were flushed with blood, his scruffy beard was neatly shaved, and his hair was neatly combed back.

Wasn’t it because he didn’t want to worry his elderly mother?

Still, his expression looked somewhat depressed.