VIP Early Access
Eksklusif untuk member VIP
Password Protected
Chapter ini dikunci dengan kode khusus
Chapter 52: The Adults' Conversation
TL: Enuma ID
A nearby hospital.
Lee Jun lay on a bed in the emergency room.
His bow tie had been undone, and his aunt held it along with the beret.
The ER doctor checked his vital signs.
Ẇе ḃṅ о̆ v̀ ĕl̃ Е̊ ňũ m̆а
Temperature normal. Pulse normal. Blood pressure normal.
He checked the pupillary reflex with a penlight, too. Nothing wrong.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"He's perfectly healthy."
the doctor said.
"He didn't faint, he's just asleep. He concentrated for a long stretch, got worn out, and dropped off. It's the same as when kids play their hearts out and then keel over once they've run out of steam."
"He's really all right?"
Е̃ n ûḿ à .і̇ ḋ
asked Lee Jeong-su, Lee Jun's father.
"Yes. Don't wake him; just let him sleep it off. No special treatment is needed."
His mother, Han Su-jin, let out a long breath.
"So he just wore himself out playing. Good grief, whoever heard of dozing off in the middle of painting like that? Nearly scared me half to death."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Lee Jeong-su stood silently beside the bed, watching Lee Jun.
There was yellow paint on the shoulder of his suit. It had gotten there when Lee Jun clung to him.
W е̌ b̆ǹо v.е̃l̂ Е ǹu̇ m̃ а
"We'll move him to the observation room, keep an eye on him for a couple of hours, and once he wakes up you can take him home."
"Thank you."
The doctor drew the curtain closed and left.
Following the nurse's directions, they moved Lee Jun to a bed in the observation room right next door.
On the bed, Lee Jun slept dead to the world. He didn't so much as stir while they moved him.
Lips slightly parted. A smudge of paint on his chubby cheek.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
His parents and his aunt gazed at the sleeping Lee Jun, finally able to breathe easy.
Kim Yo-han stood outside the observation room.
He didn't go in. This was family time.
Park Sang-hoon came over. Two paper cups in his hands.
"Coffee."
"Thanks."
W̌ еb̈ǹ о̆ v̀ e l Ӗ n um å
The two of them leaned side by side against the hallway wall.
"He okay?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"He's okay. Just asleep, they said."
"Good to hear."
Park Sang-hoon drank his coffee. The vending-machine stuff tasted like nothing.
"Hey."
Е̂n um̀ ӓ
"What."
"That really was something this time."
Kim Yo-han didn't answer.
"Three hours. A six-year-old. And in front of hundreds of people, no less."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"I know."
"You were something too. Explaining the whole thing in front of the reporters."
W̊ e bn о́ v̌е̄ l̈ Е n ǔ m а̌
"You're the one who made me do it."
"Since when have you ever done what anyone told you to?"
"Shut up."
Park Sang-hoon closed his mouth.
Kim Yo-han took a sip of coffee. His hand trembled, just barely.
"Damn it."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Kim Yo-han pressed a fist against the wall.
Park Sang-hoon glanced at it and looked away.
"Don't work yourself up. It all turned out fine."
"It turned out fine in the end, sure. But what if it hadn't?"
Kim Yo-han's fist shook.
"It's only because Jun painted well that it worked out. He painted well, so he got the applause.
Е̃n̈ u m̆ а̇. i d̃
But what if. What if his nerves had gotten to him and his hands had shaken?
What if he'd knocked over the paint? What if he'd burst into tears in front of everyone?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"......."
"Then what would've happened? The whole country would've seen him fumbling in front of the cameras.
So it was ghost-painted after all, a fake just like they said. That's the kind of thing he'd have had to hear.
And you'd ask a six-year-old to carry that?"
Е̊.n u ḿа. ĭd̆
Kim Yo-han buried his face in his hands, as if to hide his contorting expression.
"And if that made Jun come to hate painting, if every time he picked up a brush he thought back to today?
If it left him with some kind of trauma, people watching, doubting, cornering him to prove himself?
Once something like that lodges in his head, it's all for nothing. However much talent he has, it's over."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Park Sang-hoon sighed.
"What can you do. There are bastards everywhere you go."
E̊_nu̇m а
Kim Yo-han shook his head weakly.
"No. I got complacent. I figured there was no way any adult would set out in earnest to ruin a six-year-old child. That's why I left an opening."
A little of the coffee he was holding spilled. It wet the back of his hand, but Kim Yo-han didn't care.
"I couldn't do a thing. After I made such a big show of saying I'd handle it somehow."
"Kang Ji-won's a guy who's played politics in this world for twenty years. When someone like that sets his mind on screwing you over, what are you supposed to do?"
Kim Yo-han stared gloomily down into his cup.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Should I have carved out a place for myself in the Korean Art Association too? Built up connections in politics? Like Kang Ji-won?"
Park Sang-hoon scratched his head.
"Maybe then you could've headed it off ahead of time...... but then you'd never have crossed paths with Jun in the first place, would you."
Park Sang-hoon patted Kim Yo-han on the shoulder.
"There's nothing to blame yourself for. Whatever the grown-ups said, Jun overcame it on his own. And in a way none of us could ever have dreamed up, an artistic one at that.
And you're Jun's painting teacher. Just think about how to help Jun paint even better."
Ěnùmа. і̂d
It was unexpected. Kim Yo-han found himself looking at Park Sang-hoon in a new light.
He'd always taken him for a man who knew nothing but money. To think Park Sang-hoon had a side like this.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Yeah...... I suppose so."
Kim Yo-han thought for a moment, then knocked back his coffee.
Cold vending-machine coffee. It tasted awful.
Then someone came toward the two of them.
Wе ḃ no v̆ e l Е n̆ū m̂ а̌
Yu Ha-na, grand-prize winner of the upper-grade division.
And her parents, the painter Byeon Jin-hyeok and Director Yu Seo-jin.
"Ah! Director Yu!"
Park Sang-hoon straightened up.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
He pushed off the wall, hid the hand holding his coffee behind his back, and plastered on a salesman's smile.
"My, my, Director Yu, what brings you here?"
Wе̊ ḃn о̌ v е́ l̀ _Е n úm̂ ȧ
In an instant he'd switched into 'happy merchant' mode.
'Of course he did.'
Kim Yo-han eyed Park Sang-hoon as though the man were pathetic.
The Sehan Museum, run by Director Yu Seo-jin, was among the most prominent private art museums in the country.
And Park Sang-hoon is an art broker.
His job is to connect artists' works with museums or collectors. Taking a commission along the way is Park Sang-hoon's main source of income.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
One of Park Sang-hoon's key clients was the Sehan Museum. Though, of course, Park was very much the one holding the weaker hand.
"Director Park, you're here too."
"Yes. I'm one of Jun's recommenders, after all. I'm here acting as a guardian."
"I see. Is little Lee Jun all right?"
"Ah, yes. They say he's only sleeping."
"That's a relief."
Е̇n̄ū ḿ_ӑ. i d̊
While Park Sang-hoon and Director Yu talked,
Kim Yo-han looked at Byeon Jin-hyeok, standing beside Yu Seo-jin.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Byeon Jin-hyeok looked at Kim Yo-han in turn.
The two were meeting for the first time.
But they knew of each other.
Byeon Jin-hyeok, who had built his career at home and won the Artist of the Year Award.
Ѐn û m ǎ
Kim Yo-han, on the other hand, who had gone abroad, failed, and come back.
Their fates might just as easily have been reversed.
If Byeon Jin-hyeok had never married and gone abroad. Or if Kim Yo-han had stayed at home.
Two men who had led different lives, and yet, between people truly devoted to painting, there was something that connected them.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Kim Yo-han held out his hand first.
"I'm Kim Yo-han. I'm serving as Jun's art teacher."
Е ñ ů m̂ ӑ . і̄ d
"Byeon Jin-hyeok."
The two shook hands firmly.
"I heard you gave a comment on Jun's work at the exhibition. Thank you."
Byeon Jin-hyeok shook his head.
"I only called a good painting a good painting."
It was brief. But Kim Yo-han knew the weight those words carried.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Byeon Jin-hyeok was not a man who commented on just any painting. Because the word of an 'Artist of the Year' winner carries that much influence.
"Today's painting made an impression on me as well. He used a technique different again from the submitted piece. Alla prima."
"Yes. I think he painted that way with the on-the-spot conditions in mind."
"Remarkable. That he'd switch techniques like that at his age, and that he'd make such a judgment call."
"Yes. He really is an astonishing child."
"Even so."
Е̃ num̄а̀ .і̂ d̄
Byeon Jin-hyeok's expression grew a shade harder.
"Putting a child on a public stage like today's is something I find hard to condone. Even if a fine work came of it......"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Byeon Jin-hyeok glanced down for a moment at his daughter, Yu Ha-na, who was clutching his lapel.
"Before he's a painter, he's a child. He's still at an age where he ought to be protected."
Kim Yo-han nodded slowly.
"...You're quite right. I regret not stopping it, even by force."
Е̄.n̄ um а
"I heard about your exchange with the Korean Art Association's vice president. I know that you were against it, Professor."
Byeon Jin-hyeok took out his business card.
"If you ever find yourself in need of anything, please get in touch. If there's any way I can help, I'll cooperate however I can."
"...Thank you."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Kim Yo-han took out his own card and they exchanged them.
Byeon Jin-hyeok understood. That Kim Yo-han had objected too, but had lacked the power to change the situation.
W̃е b ǹ о̆ v̄е l Еñŭ m̃ а
A precious talent had come that close to being ruined. At the hands of adults.
Byeon Jin-hyeok wanted to help too, if there was anything he could do.
As a painter who had established himself first. As a father with a daughter.
"By the way, are the boy's parents inside? I'd like to meet them."
said Yu Seo-jin. Her daughter Ha-na was already peering into the observation room.
"Ah, yes. They're inside. Jun's parents and his aunt, together. Would you like to come in?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Park Sang-hoon led them into the observation room. The three of them, Ha-na included, followed behind.
"Excuse me, Jun's family."
"Oh, yes. Park seonsaengnim."
"There are some people who'd like a quick word. This is Director Yu Seo-jin of the Sehan Museum and her husband, the painter Byeon Jin-hyeok. And this is their daughter."
Jun's mother rose first and greeted them.
"Oh, oh, you're the ones who were sitting right next to us. Hello there."
Е n̊ ú.ḿ а. і d̈
Ha-na had been a grand-prize winner too. Since they'd been seated right beside each other at the ceremony, Lee Jun's family remembered their faces.
Director Yu glanced once at the sleeping Lee Jun, then spoke quietly.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"...This might turn into a bit of a long conversation. Could we step out into the hallway for a moment to talk? There's something important I'd like to discuss with you regarding little Lee Jun."
"Ah, yes. Of course."
At the mention of Jun, his parents and his aunt So-young followed her straight out into the hallway.
Only Ha-na didn't go along.
Ẃ ё b̂ n̆ò v̇е̊ l Е̇ n̊ u m а
There was nothing fun about sitting and listening to grown-ups talk.
"Hmm."
She peered down at the sleeping Lee Jun's face. There was paint on his chubby cheek.
"What a dummy. If it were me, I wouldn't paint in a spot like that."
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
He'd gone and painted, silly boy, just because the grown-ups told him to. Right up until he wore out and fell asleep.
Maybe it was because he was still so young, but he was clueless about the way of the world, hopelessly clueless.
Ŵ eb n̊ ov̆ е́ l̆ Е̊ núm̈ а
"Hmm?"
On the table beside the bed lay the bow tie and the beret.
Ha-na tried the beret on her own head. It was a little big.
She took out her phone. She checks herself in the camera.
"It looks better on me, though?"
But this beret had become far too famous.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
Even if Ha-na liked it and wore it, all she'd hear was that she was copying Lee Jun.
Ha-na snapped a single photo, then took the beret off.
Then she slipped out to see what the grown-ups were talking about.
For some reason, her mother was lecturing Lee Jun's family.
"—but even so, having the child do nothing but paint and not even sending him to kindergarten simply doesn't make sense. Kindergarten matters for a basic education, yes, but it matters even more for meeting children his own age and building social skills. No matter how well a child paints, if he never learns to get along with others, he'll end up an outsider at school as well. And if the child can't adjust to school life and grows depressed, then painting will be the least of your worries. When that happens, how do you, his family, intend to answer for it?"
Under Ha-na's mother, Director Yu Seo-jin's machine-gun scolding, Lee Jun's parents and aunt hung their heads as if they were criminals. Kim Yo-han and Park Sang-hoon played dumb and pretended not to notice.
W̃е.b̈ǹ о.v еĺ Еn̊ um̄_а
Ha-na tugged at her father's lapel.
"Dad, stop Mom, please. This is so embarrassing."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"When has your mother ever listened to me?"
"You're always like this, Dad."
In truth, Ha-na herself had played no small part in why Yu Seo-jin was coming on this strong.
'Mom, but he still can't even read all of hangul. Looks like all he does is paint, every single day.'
En u m а̄ .і̊ ď
That was what Ha-na had told her mother back at the awards ceremony.
For Yu Seo-jin, the very incarnation of early education, it was not something she could let slide.
A child due to start elementary school next year. And yet he hadn't mastered hangul. Which meant school life wouldn't go smoothly, he wouldn't fit in with friends, and in the end he'd lose interest in painting altogether.
That was the scenario unspooling in Yu Seo-jin's head. All from a single remark from her daughter, that he couldn't read all of hangul.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"You're little Lee Jun's aunt, aren't you. That time we met at the Sehan Museum, I asked whether he was receiving any art education."
"Yes......"
Ẁ ěbn̂ǒv̊ӗl̀ Е̄ númа́_
Yu Seo-jin's target had shifted to the aunt, Han So-young.
"And you told me then that he wasn't getting any formal instruction. So I gave you my card, saying I could be of help."
"Yes......"
"So why didn't you call?"
Yu Seo-jin's gaze was cold as ice.
"W-well, the thing is......"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
She had thought Jun needed art education. That was why she'd contacted Professor Kim Yo-han.
If she'd been turned down then, she might have reached out to Yu Seo-jin's side, but since Professor Kim Yo-han had agreed to take Jun on himself, she'd figured there was no need. And so she simply hadn't called.
"Our cultural foundation also runs an art academy. The Sehan Art Academy. Have you perhaps heard of it?"
So-young shook her head. So did the parents.
Park Sang-hoon answered in their stead.
"The Sehan Art Academy is a comprehensive institute that teaches with art at its core. Naturally, it has a kindergarten division as well. If an English kindergarten is a kindergarten specializing in English, then the Sehan Art Academy is, in effect, a kindergarten specializing in art. And of course it has elementary and middle-school divisions too."
E ñ u m а̂ . і̂ d
"Ah, I see......"
"Would Jun be able to attend a place like that without balking at it?"
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
asked Lee Jun's mother, Han Su-jin.
Even back in Busan he'd had no friends his own age. And in Seoul it seemed to be much the same.
So she worried whether, sent somewhere like that all of a sudden, he'd really be able to adjust.
"With us, art is the center of everything. It's an environment where the thing little Lee Jun does best is the baseline. He'd have an easier time settling in there than at an ordinary kindergarten."
W ѐb nо v̈е̇ l Ѐ n̄ ùṁa
Lee Jun's father, Lee Jeong-su, asked.
"How much is the tuition?"
"If Jun comes to us, we'll take him on as a scholarship student. Fully waived, the whole amount."
Han Su-jin and Lee Jeong-su looked at each other.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"There is one condition, though."
Yu Seo-jin said firmly.
Е̌ṅ.u̇ m̈ă
"I hear his weekends are taken up with Professor Kim Yo-han's painting lessons. We'll respect that. In exchange, on weekdays we'll fill in everything else. Basic education, mixing with children his age, daily habits, and so on. And your family will need to follow our curriculum without complaint."
So-young looked at Kim Yo-han.
"What do you think, Professor?"
"......It's not a bad idea."
He nodded, arms folded.
"I do worry about whether Jun can blend into a kindergarten group, but he does need friends his own age. And the setting of an academy would be a fresh stimulus for him."
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
So-young nodded too.
"What do you think, Park seonsaengnim?"
Jun's parents turned to him with the question.
Park Sang-hoon nodded confidently.
"For a budding young talent in art, the Sehan Art Academy is the finest environment there is. Normally it's so expensive that... no, the admissions competition is so fierce that you can't get in even if you want to. If Jun can get in as a scholarship student, there's no reason to turn it down."
At that, Lee Jun's parents nodded as well.
Ẽ ǹũ m̌ӑ
Jun's parents' trust in 'Park seonsaengnim' was that solid.
Seeing that everyone was in agreement, Yu Seo-jin nodded too.
Baca cerita ini hanya di situs resmi Enuma.id!
"Then I'll get the paperwork started so he can begin attending from next week."
"Please take good care of Jun, seonsaengnim."
"We're counting on you."
His parents and So-young bowed their heads.
E n̄ ùm̀а .іd̂
Relieved that her mother's indiscriminate nagging was finally over, Ha-na too could breathe again at last.
That was when it happened.
"Auntie...?"
A small voice came from inside the observation room.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Right after, Lee Jun came out rubbing his eyes.
Barefoot. Hair all tousled.
Еn u m_а
"Huh...? Mom? Dad? Seonsaengnim?"
Lee Jun looked up at the grown-ups, his face still half-asleep.
A lot of grown-ups had gathered.
Mom, too. Dad, too.
There was no way they could be here. It felt like he was still dreaming.
Lee Jun blinked, dazed.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
*****
For more chapters, you can check out my Patreon here --> https://www.patreon.com/enumaid
Konten Bab Belum Tersedia
Bab ini belum memiliki konten teks atau sedang dalam proses penyuntingan.
