Van Gogh Reborn!

285

The Villain (5)

It was a word that I squeezed out of courage.

But Choi Kyu-seo was still smiling.

His expression was like soothing a child who was throwing a tantrum, and Baek Seol-gi felt more and more intimidated.

“Do you know why I brought you here?”

He spoke in a gentle voice.

“I did it because I didn’t want to leave you in that disgusting school. When you win an award, they only congratulate you in front of you, but they talk bad about you behind your back. The professors? They’re just using the students who want to make a spec.”

It wasn’t a lie.

There were people who congratulated him on his prize, but there were also unfounded rumors that he had received Choi Kyu-seo’s help.

Some professors didn’t even pay him and used the students for their own work, and they often excluded them from the list.

“Instead of that, I wanted you to stay by my side and learn how things work here, and make your own work without worrying about money. I wanted you to grow steadily.”

It wasn’t easy to major in Western painting and find a stable job.

Although he started with the minimum wage, he steadily raised his salary and now he had a decent income.

Many people looked at him with envy as he followed Choi Kyu-seo.

“Seol.”

“…”

“I know. You did it with your own strength, so of course you want to do it. I’m so happy, too. How do you feel?”

Choi Kyu-seo chuckled.

“But you know from your social life, right? It’s not easy to be a full-time artist.”

There were a lot of aspiring artists, but only a few could work as artists.

Among them, only a handful could hold solo exhibitions.

Solo exhibitions didn’t mean success either.

Many aspiring artists envied them, but they also ended their careers after a single exhibition.

He had seen countless people who made great works but couldn’t even shine for a moment.

“I know you’re impatient. It’s hard, so I know you’re happy to get some recognition like this. But I want you to go far, Seol.”

Baek Seol-gi was confused.

It seemed like Choi Kyu-seo was right.

If he didn’t get attention at the Venice Biennale, there was no future.

‘You should worry.’

Choi Kyu-seo smirked.

He knew Baek Seol-gi’s weakness very well.

He knew that if their relationship changed because of this, he wouldn’t be able to work in the Korean art world.

Not a young age.

Financial worries.

Anxiety about whether he could achieve something at the Venice Biennale, and uncertainty about what to do afterwards.

Choi Kyu-seo took advantage of that.

He had learned from a young age how to deal with people.

It was no use forcing or nagging them, he had to show them what they wanted.

Desperate people had no choice but to cling to him.

Without knowing that they were dependent on him, believing that he could get them someday.

“Me.”

“Yes.”

Baek Seol-gi lifted his head.

He met Choi Kyu-seo’s warm eyes and felt like he had done something wrong.

He was grateful and sorry for him, who was trying to correct him from going the wrong way.

He was confused.

He couldn’t decide whether to believe him or not, that he had misunderstood him for the past few years, and that he was actually caring.

“It’s okay. You can make mistakes. You’re human.”

“…”

“The really bad thing is not repenting even though you know it.”

“…”

“And there’s no one more foolish than making a mistake knowing what will happen.”

Tears welled up in Baek Seol-gi’s eyes.

“I don’t think you’re like that, Seol. If I did, I wouldn’t have brought you here. You know me.”

“Sir.”

Choi Kyu-seo sighed as if he had no choice.

“Do you need to walk the hard way?”

“What?”

“Just trust me and follow me. Do you think I would make you do something bad?”

Choi Kyu-seo told him not to bother going back.

He said it would be easy if I just followed him a few steps behind on the smooth path he had prepared for me.

“Right?”

Choi Kyu-seo urged me to answer.

I looked at him and slowly shook my head.

He had given me an answer when I was hesitating at the crossroads of choice.

“I’m fine.”

“…What is?”

“I can do it by myself.”

Choi Kyu-seo glared at me with cold eyes as I got up from my seat.

“You can’t do this to me. Do you know what you’re doing right now?”

“Yes. I do.”

I bowed my head and left the office without looking back.

“Ha.”

Choi Kyu-seo sneered.

He couldn’t understand why I chose the hard way over the stable one.

‘How stupid can you be?’

If I had just taken what he gave me, he would have continued to adore me as he had until now.

But now that I had turned away.

He couldn’t let me go.

Meanwhile.

I reached the elevator and leaned against the wall, feeling my legs give out.

‘I messed up.’

I wondered if Choi Kyu-seo was right.

I had followed him with that thought from the beginning and regretted it for the past five years.

I had to please him in every way, or he wouldn’t let me have an exhibition.

I had to go out and pick him up in the middle of the night without a word of complaint.

I never had a weekend off.

I felt how miserable it was to live depending on someone else.

As I was thinking that.

I heard him say that I just had to follow him and realized that I had been relying on him all this time.

‘Freedom is like that. It’s not good because it brings better results, but because it’s good in itself.’

‘Only those who fight fiercely can attain freedom. And all the artists we know have fought like that.’

‘There’s no such thing as a good experience. You have to try to experience as many things as possible.’

That’s what I used to tell my students over and over.

‘I was wrong from the start.’

I admitted that it wasn’t just Choi Kyu-seo who used me, but I also tried to use him.

It was just a matter of power difference and that’s why I suffered.

‘I have to fix it now.’

I decided to walk without leaning on anyone.

“…”

I got on the elevator and clenched the USB drive in my pocket.

‘I’m glad I didn’t use it.’

It was a weapon I prepared in case Choi Kyu-seo threatened me.

It contained some of the evidence and circumstances of his corruption, but I didn’t want to show it.

I knew too well that the media was on his side and I had no power to sway public opinion.

‘I’m not clean either.’

I had turned a blind eye to what he had done, even if it was because of his coercion.

I couldn’t lift my head as I walked out of the building.

“Arghhhhh.”

Kim Ji-woo tore his hair as he sorted out his interview materials.

He had followed Bang Tae-ho to Korea and tried to uncover the corruption of the Korean Art Association, but he had no income to speak of.

Everyone he suspected to be involved kept their mouths shut.

It was too much to write an article with just the circumstantial evidence he got from Bang Tae-ho.

“Sigh.”

He lay down on his desk and spaced out.

His phone rang.

It was Bang Tae-ho.

“Yes. Director.”

-Are you okay to talk?

“Sure. What’s up?”

-I made an appointment with the writers for a meeting, and I thought it would be nice if you came too.

Kim Ji-woo jumped up.

“Great! Of course.”

-Haha. We’re meeting at the office the day after tomorrow. 3 o’clock.

He didn’t need to check his schedule.

I would have postponed anything else if I could cover the first orientation of the Firestarters.

“I’ll go. For sure.”

-Okay. And there’s something else I want to ask you.

“Yes?”

-The truth is, the writers we selected are not very well-known.

“Oh. I see. That makes sense.”

They had chosen writers under 35 years old, after all.

The only artists under 35 who were getting attention in Korea were Jang Mi-rae, Choi Kyuseo, and Ko Hun.

-I hope they can get some exposure in Europe before the Venice Biennale starts.

Kim Ji-woo nodded.

“Don’t worry. That’s only natural. I was planning to cover the Firestarters anyway, since I’m interested in them.” 𝐟𝖗𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝗯𝐧𝖔𝐯𝐞𝐥.𝗰𝖔𝗺

-Haha. Thank you. I’ll have some portfolios ready for you to see when you come the day after tomorrow.

“Okay!”

-By the way, about that name, Firestarters.

“Ahaha. Hoon kept calling them that, so I guess it stuck with me. The official name is too long, the France-Korea Joint Exhibition.”

-It’s a bit awkward on the internet these days.

“Hey. It’s fine. It’s not like everyone sees them negatively. What. There are real firestarters out there.”

He was referring to the Korean Art Association and the couple Choi Kyuseo and Kim Soohyuk.

-Well, that’s good then. How’s the situation over there?

“Sigh. Honestly, not much progress. I have suspicions, but no evidence. And no one inside is willing to tip me off.”

-I see.

Bang Taeho was also frustrated.

-Anyway, let’s cheer up. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.

“Okay. Take care.”

Kim Ji-woo hung up and looked over the list of the Korean Art Association members.

He had marked the ones he had met with a red line, but there were not many names left.

‘What will happen?’

He tapped his cheek to clear his mind and started to prepare for the interview the day after tomorrow.

He needed some basic knowledge to decide what to ask the writers.

‘Kim Youngil. Yuraim. Park Junsu.’

He had been in the art world for a long time, so he had heard their names at least, even if he didn’t know them well.

‘Ma Eunchan?’

Kim Ji-woo narrowed his eyebrows at the name he had never heard before.

He couldn’t know every artist, so he searched the internet, but only irrelevant documents came up.

The only information he could find was the age written on the list that Bang Taeho had sent him.

20 years old.

‘Is he a college student? Impressive.’

Kim Ji-woo thought he would ask his colleagues if they knew this college student named Ma Eunchan and circled his name.

‘Baek Seolgi? Who’s Baek Seolgi?’

It was an uncommon name, so he wouldn’t have forgotten it if he had heard it.

‘I’m a bit surprised. Why are there so many people I don’t know?’

Kim Ji-woo searched the internet for Baek Seolgi.

“That looks delicious.”

There were several pictures of baekseolgi, a fluffy rice cake.

“Beans are a waste.”

He saw a baekseolgi made with mung beans among the pictures and shook his head as he logged into NewTube.

He thought that if they were active, they might be mentioned on NewTube.

But there were only videos about how to make baekseolgi.

‘She’s 29 this year, she must have started her career a while ago.’

As he scrolled down the screen, he started to see videos of Choi Kyuseo.

‘Oh, bad luck.’

He was about to close the internet window when the word baekseolgi caught his eye.

It was written as the planner’s name in the description of Choi Kyuseo’s video.

“Huh?”

The name was also on other videos.

There was no proof that it was the same person as the Firestarter participant, but it was a rare name, so he started to watch the videos.

‘Is this her?’

In one of the vlog videos, a woman who looked like a secretary appeared briefly.

She was explaining Choi Kyuseo’s schedule.

She looked like she was in her late twenties.

“…No way. Why would Choi Kyuseo’s secretary join the Firestarters?”

Kim Ji-woo shook his head.