Van Gogh Reborn! - Chapter 73

The hard math class is over.

I looked for pictures on the Internet to soothe my devastated mind.

I usually found it by the artist’s name, but as a result, I could only see the works of people I knew.

“What should I search for?”

I didn’t know what to search for, so I searched for famous paintings.

Search results showed, my [starry night] at the beginning.

“What are you looking at and laughing?”

Sihyeon talked to me.

The guy who used to draw on the tablet without raising his head all the time at school approaches first as if he had become quite used to me.

“Starry Night.”

I turn the tablet around and showed it, and his eyes shine looking at it.

“Cool.”

Sihyeon tilted his head.

“Is this a tree?”

“Yes. Cypress tree.”

“It looks strange. It’s huge.”

Seeing Sihyeon interested in my painting made me happy

Sihyeon blinks.

“Isn’t the Cypress tree associated with death?”

” It’s an indication of a journey to the stars. Vincent believed that if you die comfortably in old age, the journey to the stars begins.”

It’s awkward to tell my story as a third person.

“It’s sad that he wanted to die. So did he kill himself?”

“No, never.”

I denied it again because I was afraid that it might create some strange thoughts in the innocent child.

“Vincent painted a lot of symbols of death when he was alive. Vincent believed that life is nothing but a journey towards death.”

Sihyeon made an expression as if what I said was incomprehensible.

“It means everyone will leave one day, so stay true to life. And Vincent thought that if he did his best and lived a satisfying life, the end wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

“I hope his journey in the stars was satisfying.”

Sihyeon shook his head as if he had lost interest since he didn’t understand half of what I said.

“In the past, the atmosphere was clear, so he could have seen the stars well.”

Instead, he brings up a story he knows.

It’s a childlike reaction.

But what he said was true.

[Starry Night] was painted when I was staying at Saint-Remy’s nursing home.

At that time, I was very confused mentally, so my life was irregular, such as waking up until dawn or sleeping until sunset.

And then, one day.

Before sunrise, I found a group of stars filling my window.

I leaned against the window until I could not see it, drunk on the dazzling new star above the tranquil hospital room and the panoramic view of Saint-Remy.

It was yearning or maybe it was longing.

“What’s this pointed building?”

Sihyeon broke my thoughts.

Sihyeon pointed to the church spire that stood out among the other buildings.

“Vincent’s father was a pastor. So whenever he saws a church, his hometown came to his mind,”

Sihyeon thought hard with a hmm sound.

“Did he want to go home?”

“…Maybe he did. It reminded him of his happy days.”

As Sihyeon said, I may have identified my hometown with the stars in the sky.

Precisely, the happy times.

I may have wanted to go back to the days when I was with my family without any worries.
At that time, I was tired enough to get admitted to the mental hospital.

“Hun.”

While talking about painting with Sihyeon, a student approached.

His name was Park Hyunwoo.

He’s a smart kid who was kind of a leader-like figure in the class.

Sihyeon, who was talking to me suddenly turned his head sullenly and returned to his seat as soon as Park Hyunwoo came.

Park Hyunwoo didn’t look at Sihyeon, came straight to me, and asked.

“Do you want to join our investment club?”

“Investment?”

“Yes, we only deal with stocks, and we’re focusing on KOSPI and NASDAQ.”

Grandpa once said that it was something that I should know.

When I said I wanted to only draw, grandpa said he would introduce me to a professional investor he knew.

“I was planning on leaving it to a professional.”

“That’s fine, but it’s a lot of fun if you try it yourself. There’s a lot to learn, right?”

Park Hyunwoo turned his head and asked the other classmates for consent.

Other children nod their heads.

I don’t really intend to learn, but I felt bad to refuse his offer without any reason.

Friendship is important and it will not be bad if it does not interfere with my drawing.

“When are you going to do it?”

“An hour after school, there’s a club room.”

I don’t understand the consideration of Korean elementary schools, which give separate rooms to 10-year-old children’s club activities.

Is this the power of tuition fees.?

“Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

“Really? Then do you want to come tomorrow?”

“Okay, fine with me.”

The sweet break soon passed and the harsh science time came.

Fortunately, I was relieved to hear the words I knew – solids, liquids, and gasses.

But that didn’t last long, soon, the incomprehensible words began to strike me – liquid crystal, supercritical fluid, plasma, fermion aggregation, superconductor, and superfluid.

After a long battle with sleepiness, the frustrating Science class came to an end, and soon it was my favorite lunchtime.

“Thank you !”

Lunchtime began with the children’s cheerful voices.

I didn’t have the energy to move right away, so I fell on my desk.

When I turned my head, Sihyeon, who usually comes and asks me to go to eat together, was also lying down on his desk.

When I went to his desk and tried to raise his head slightly to see if he was drawing, he shrunk even more.

“Sihyeon. Let’s go to eat.”

There was no response.

“Aren’t you hungry? Today there will be Chocolate milk.”

I shook him because I was worried that he might be sick and was lying down.

“Aren’t you feeling well?”

When I lifted up his head, tears welled up in his eyes.

“What’s wrong Sihyeon? Huh? Is it painful somewhere? Let’s go to the nurse’s office.”

“It doesn’t hurt anywhere.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“I’m not crying!”

I don’t know what’s wrong with this guy.

I patted him on the back.

“I don’t know what it is, but you have to tell me. Tell me everything since I’m older than you.”

“…who’s older?”

“I’m 10 years old. You’re 9 years old, aren’t you?”

Korea is a country that has a culture where you have to respect the person who is older than you, even if the person is older by one year.

It’s something I can’t understand, but it’s very useful at times like this.

“Lie.”

“No, it’s not.”

I searched my article on the Internet and showed it to him.

Kim Jiwoo’s first article about me states when I was born.

“Right? You should call me brother.”

“No. I won’t.”

“Then tell me since I’m your friend. There’s nothing you can’t say to your friend,”

Sihyeon muttered after looking sullen.

“You said you were going to play with them.”

“Yeah.”

“Uuuuuu.”

Sihyeon fell on his desk again.

He cried sadly, so I patted him on the back.

I don’t know what’s wrong with him.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want me to play with them?”

Sihyeon nodded his head.

“Why?”

No answer again.

I’m going crazy with frustration.

“If you keep crying like this, I won’t play with you.”

“………”

“…won’t play….Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

Sihyeon started to cry out loud and tears started rushing out of his eyes.

“Okay. Okay. I’m just joking. I will play with you.”

“You will play……Hik hik….”

As Sihyeon calmed down, I realized what was happening.
I’m his first friend and the only friend with whom he can paint.
He may be sad because he thinks that if I play with other classmates I won’t be hanging out with him.

I brought up a joke to make him feel better.

“ Sihyeon. Do you like me that much?”

“I hate you.”

Sihyeon fell flat on his desk again.

The joke doesn’t work.

“Then you can come with me. It’s good to have a lot of friends.”

“…they hate me.”

Maybe that’s why.

When we two are together, he is such a bright child, but during the class, he stays as if he doesn’t exist.

When Park Hyunwoo approached a while ago, he slowly returned to his seat.

I’m worried that he might be bullied.

“It’s okay. You have me.”

“You’ll hate me if you play with them.”

“Don’t worry because it won’t happen. Is Hyunwoo bothering you?”

Sihyeon hesitated for a while and then nodded his head.

“How?”

“Ignore it because it’s frustrating.”

He’s a sensitive child, though he’s frustrated.

In particular, it is an age when there are many emotional changes, so it should be treated carefully.

“Okay. Don’t worry.”

“What are you going to do?”

“If you deal with love, everything works out.”

Sihyeon’s face was colored with worry.

“It’s said in the book Gospel of Matthew — If anyone hits your right cheek, show them your left cheek and love our enemies & pray for those who persecute us.”

⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩⏩

“No!”

Bang Taeho, who opened an office in the Yongsan district, looked around.

He couldn’t afford the high monthly rent, so he spent the money he had saved to buy a small office.

With a desk, table, and a few bookshelves, there was no place to hang pictures.

But it was Bang Taeho’s first office.

“Whoa.”

He exhaled, strengthening his will.

“Congratulations, boss.”

His wife Lee Hanna congratulated him with a bump on his shoulder.

The poor office didn’t matter a bit.

Rather, her husband, who quit his stable job and courageously took a step towards his dream, looked cool.

She believed that the man she chose would succeed no matter how many hurdles come his way.

“Here”

Lee Hanna took her bankbook and card and handed them to her husband.

Bang Taeho opened his eyes wide.

“What’s this?”

“You’re going to need money to do business.”

Lee Hanna pushed the bankbook and card into the confused Bang Taho’s chest.

Bang Taeho carefully opened the bankbook.

After looking at it his eyes alternated between the bankbook and his wife.

221.89 million won.

“Wait. What is this?”

It was a huge amount that he didn’t think of.

He knew his wife was a fairly popular web novel writer, but he was surprised because respecting each other they managed their own income.

“If you don’t pay me back later, I’ll sue you, so pay me back no matter what.”

“No, it’s not. This isn’t…”

Bang Taeho shook his head.

“How can I take this?”

“Why? Aren’t you sure you’ll pay me back?”

“That’s not what I’m saying. I know exactly how hard you work, so how can I take this?”

Bang Taeho returned the bankbook and card in Lee Hanna’s hand.

“Thank you. I’m really encouraged.”

Then, he expressed his gratitude to his wife for willingly handing over the money she had saved and cheering for him.

Lee Hanna glanced at her husband.

“How are you going to do business like this?”

“Ah?”

“You should be polite if an investor comes. What are you planning on doing when an investor comes in to invest in your company? ”

“Well. That’s…….”

“Do it again. Right now you are meeting the first investor of your company, novelist Lee Hanna,”

Lee Hanna raised her head with her arms folded.

The figure was quite serious.

Bang Taeho held back his laughter and opened his mouth.

“Thank you for visiting, novelist Lee Hanna.”

“Nice to meet you. I heard you’re running an artist management company.”

“Yes. Right now we’re managing the works of Artist Ko Hun, the painter of [Frost Wheat Field] which was recently sold for a record price of $14 million.”

“Really? What are the next plans?”

“Artist Ko Hun will be attending the Whitney Biennale, the world’s largest art festival. Ko Hun’s reputation will increase.”

” Hmm…Ko Hun is still young, so he can develop more. At the same time, being young isn’t always good, is it? What are you going to do if he loses interest in Art? Your company doesn’t have other artists, right? Even if he doesn’t give up on Art, he could get into a slump. What are you planning on doing during that time.”

“I don’t think such a thing will ever happen? For Some Artists, Art is like oxygen, they can’t live without it. Ko Hun is one such Artist. ”

“You mean there’s no countermeasure?”

“It’s my job to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

“Really? I do know what a great person you are.”

“Hahaha.”

The couple ended up laughing.

Bang Taeho lifted his wife around her waist.

“Thank you very much, Darling.”

“I’ll kill you if you lose my money.”

“Uh… but. It may sound brazen, but can you keep it?”

“Why?”

“We need to have some insurance if I screw up.”