Van Gogh Reborn!

280

Caterpillar and Pork Rice Bowl (5)

He looked young for his age, probably in his early twenties.

His glasses had a broken temple that was taped together.

His messy hair was like a stiff brush with paint on it.

His cheekbones were gaunt and dry, his skin was pimply, and his lips were chapped.

He didn’t look healthy at all.

“…”

He quickly picked up his old easel, paint box, and folding chair that had fallen to the ground and got up.

“Is it really? Really Ko Hun?”

He tried to approach me, but Arsene stopped him.

“Please be polite.”

He looked at me and Arsene alternately and opened his mouth wide.

“Ahhaha. I’m sorry. I’m so happy. I’m a YouTube subscriber.”

He took out his smartphone and showed me the screen. I could see the sign that he had subscribed to Pingoo channel under the cracked screen.

He didn’t seem too surprised, so maybe he didn’t break it just now.

“Huhii.”

I heard a strange sound and looked up. He was covering his cheek and looking to the right.

“Henri! Henri Marso! Crazy. He’s so handsome. CG?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his honest admiration.

Marso, who didn’t care about the situation at all, gave him a glance.

He seemed to recognize him as his fan.

“This is not the time. What the hell is going on? I’m really glad I came this way.”

He opened his paint box in a hurry and took out a thin sheet of paper. It didn’t look like a good material for making a work. Maybe it was a paper for practice.

“Do you draw?”

He nodded with a smile.

“Can you give me an autograph? I really really like you.”

“Sure. What’s your name?”

“Ma Eunchan.”

He wrote his name and handed it to me. He smiled again as he looked at me and the paper alternately.

He didn’t seem like a bad person. I felt a friendly vibe from his smiling face.

“What were you doing here?”

“I was working and on my way home. It’s really amazing. I usually don’t take this road. But today I felt like taking a detour.”

He stretched out his hands as if he had met me.

“Did you fall? Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty tough.”

He didn’t look like it.

He looked like he would fly away if the wind blew.

“Work?”

“Yeah. I draw portraits around here. Oh, do you want me to draw you? I’ll do it for free.”

It was time to go.

“I’d appreciate it if you could do Henri Marso too.”

“Thank you, but I have to go.”

I told my grandfather that I would be back before dinner and it was getting dark.

I was about to politely decline when Marso came over.

“How much?”

Ma Eunchan’s eyes widened.

I felt the same way. I didn’t know what was going on.

“Huh? You can speak Korean?”

“Stop talking nonsense. How much is it?”

“No, no. How can I take money from you. Just a moment.”

Ma Eunchan unfolded his folding chair and dusted it off with his hand.

Henri Marso didn’t seem to like it and looked at Arsene.

Arsene and his servants brought a luxurious chair for their employer who was obsessed with hygiene.

He was carrying a chair with him even when he ran around the square.

“Uh…”

“Pay according to your skill. What are you doing? Come and sit down.”

“I said I was going to go.”

Marso checked his watch.

“Finish it in 30 minutes.”

“Leave it to me!”

‘Wow. He speaks Korean really well.’

Maeunchan was amazed by how well Henri Marso spoke Korean.

His eyes were as beautiful as emeralds, and she wanted to have them.

“Today, you only wore half of your usual outfit.”

Maeunchan smiled brightly as she checked Henri Marso’s clothes and hairstyle, which always became a topic of conversation.

Ko Hun, who was sitting next to him, was also adorable.

“See? You’re lucky.”

Maeunchan moved her pencil calmly in front of the two painters she loved.

She had learned a lot from drawing portraits on the street for a year.

She drew them a little better than they really looked.

She hated it when she exaggerated their beauty, and she didn’t remember them when she drew them exactly as they were.

She liked to make them look slightly more handsome and add a bright atmosphere to them.

“I’m glad I tripped. If I hadn’t, how could I have drawn Ko Hun and Henri?”

She didn’t care that she had fallen over her own feet while carrying an easel, a folding chair, and a paint bucket.

Maeunchan hummed a tune.

Meanwhile, Ko Hun, who had become a model, was observing Maeunchan.

He could tell that she was in a poor environment with her shabby appearance and old tools, but she looked very happy.

She moved her pencil while humming a song, and she didn’t look like a working person.

She was a different type of person from Henri Marso or himself, who clung to their paintings desperately.

“Hey! Do you want to listen to some music if you’re bored?”

“I don’t need it.”

Maeunchan offered music to the model out of consideration.

But Henri Marso, who was sitting next to Ko Hun with the purpose of being a portrait, didn’t want to bother with unnecessary things.

“Please.”

Maeunchan smiled brightly at Ko Hun’s answer.

“Then I’ll sing a song. I’ll sing another one later.”

Ko Hun thought she would play music on her smartphone, but before he could ask, Maeunchan started singing.

She chose whatever she wanted.

She sang songs by popular idol groups and hit songs by singers who were no longer active.

‘What a weird person.’

She was very strange, singing and drawing on the street.

She didn’t sing very well, but she enjoyed it so much that it made him laugh and feel good.

His mood, which had been sour from arguing with Henri Marso all day, was soon relieved.

“By the way, do you really like potato pizza that much?”

She suddenly asked him while singing.

“Yes. I do.”

Ko Hun glared at Marso once and answered.

“Is it that delicious? Where do they make it so well?”

“Marso’s place makes it the best. The chef and Sherry Gado make it so that I can’t explain it. It’s like seeing Michelangelo’s ceiling painting.”

“I don’t know what you mean, but I think I get it.”

Maeunchan and Ko Hun laughed together.

They had both experienced the feeling of encountering something amazing.

“What about you, Mr. Marso? What food do you like?”

“Is that necessary for the painting?”

“Of course! I need to know more about you to draw you better.”

Henri Marso agreed with Maeunchan’s opinion after some thought.

“Kale juice.”

“Kale juice? What is that?”

“Juice made from kale.”

“Oh… Is it like orange juice?”

“It’s a bit sour, but Marso drinks it with fruit. Like apples.”

“It sounds like it might be good.”

Maeunchan, who had been chattering non-stop, became quieter as time passed.

She wanted to ask more and have more conversations, but she had to focus on the painting, so she suppressed her feelings.

Ko Hun, who was happy to meet her for the first time in person, didn’t try to talk more when she concentrated.

After the promised 30 minutes passed, Maeunchan put down her hand.

She got up from the chair, looked at the painting from a distance, and nodded her head. She showed the portrait to Ko Hun and Henri Marso.

“How is it?”

Ko Hun and Henri Marso raised their eyebrows as much as they could.

Henri Marso had three whiskers on each cheek and cat ears on his dark brown hair.

Ko Hun was in his arms with wings and antennae like a honeybee.

“Isn’t it cute?”

Ko Hun, who had expected a normal portrait, couldn’t say anything. Henri Marso jumped up.

“Why did you make me sit if you were going to do this!”

“Ah, ah. I have to observe.”

“What the hell are these ears! I want to die!”

“Oh, no. Don’t you like it when I draw you like this?”

“Who!”

“Pe, people. Huh? Is it weird?”

Maeunchan looked back and forth between the portrait he drew and the angry Marso, feeling flustered.

He had been drawing portraits on the street for a year.

He had devised his own way of drawing because ordinary portraits didn’t attract much attention.

He had managed to find some customers thanks to his drawings that added animal images to the portraits.

Ko Hun stepped in.

“Why a cat?”

“Well. It’s kind of a tsundere vibe.”

“What’s a dere?”

Angry Marso growled, not understanding the word tsundere.

Ko Hun also didn’t understand, so he searched on his smartphone and saw an explanation that it was a word for someone who seems cold and aloof, but is actually warm and affectionate.

“No. This person is just someone who does whatever he wants.”

“That’s the same.”

Ko Hun nodded his head after repeated answers.

“Then it seems similar.”

“Similar? What’s similar! Get rid of it now!”

“Uh. Then should I draw you again? It, it won’t take long.”

“No. I like it. Give it to me.”

“Really?”

“Why are you taking it!”

“You said you didn’t like it. I like it. How much do I owe you?”

“No. How can I take money. This is my true heart. As a fan.”

Maeunchan handed over the portrait to Ko Hun with a happy heart, but Marso snatched it in the middle.

Ko Hun and Maeunchan were nervous as Marso walked away briskly.

“What, what? He must be really angry. Is he going to throw it away?”

“He would have torn it up right here if he didn’t like it.”

“Then?”

“He either hates it or likes it. Or both.”

“…Huh?”

Arsene approached Maeunchan, who was bewildered.

“Thank you for your hard work. How much do you usually charge?”

“No. Really. I did it out of fan love. It’s enough that you modeled for me. I was so happy.”

“The author always says that you should pay a fair price for any work.”

“It’s really okay. Really.”

Maeunchan kept refusing, but Arsene took out his wallet and pulled out two 500-euro bills.

“Huh?”

“You seem happy. Thank you for your work.”

“Oh, no. I.”

Maeunchan couldn’t hold the bills that Arsene gave him properly. His hands trembled as he suddenly received a lot of money.

Ko Hun looked at Maeunchan, who was flustered, and smiled.

He knew better than anyone the joy and embarrassment of selling his own painting for more than he expected.

“Thank you. I hope to see you again.”

Ko Hun reached out his hand.

Maeunchan shook hands with him awkwardly and stayed there until Arsene and Ko Hun were out of sight.