CMT Ch19

Director Kwon Seungsil took a few steps back to check the angle at which her gaze met the frame. She nodded slightly, then turned around and asked:

“What do you all think? It’s not just me who thinks it looks good, right? It’s fine?”

“Yes,” the remaining staff members answered in unison. In truth, they had reviewed it so many times that they had long since lost the ability to discern whether it was good or not. The director smiled broadly and gave her final approval.

“Alright, let’s finish it like this without touching it anymore. If we keep staring at it, we’ll keep finding parts that bother us, so once it’s done, we shouldn’t look back.”

Good job. Well done. People encouraged each other in unison once again. The preparations for the newly launched spring exhibition were in their final stages. Director Kwon Seungsil had come down to the exhibition hall herself for a final review and just finished the last inspection.

The planning team members sighed. Ah, it’s finally over. Where’s the end? It starts again tomorrow. Amidst the grumbling people, the director drew attention.

“Good work, everyone. To celebrate the successful completion of preparations, tonight we’ll have a team dinner…”

“…”

“Would I be too insensitive a boss if I suggested that? Let’s just go home for today, and we’ll have a team lunch sometime soon.”

“Yes!”

The team members left the exhibition hall with refreshed smiles. As Seoyoon was walking among the crowd, he turned his head at the light tapping on his shoulder.

Although he hadn’t been with the company long, Seoyoon had made a close colleague two years his senior. Yu Insang, who had been the youngest until Seoyoon arrived, was a rare type not often encountered in everyday life, which helped them become close more quickly. He approached Seoyoon’s side and whispered so others couldn’t hear.

“Team dinner is team dinner, but how about we have our own dinner today? Just something light.”

“I’m fine with that.”

“There’s a new standing bar nearby that’s supposed to be good. We’re tired from standing all day anyway, so it’s perfect to have a quick drink and then head home.”

“I can’t drink much, is that okay?”

“Yeah, just briefly. Let’s have one or two drinks and go.”

Before Seoyoon could open his mouth, he stopped at the sound of the director calling “Han Seoyoon” from behind.

“Okay.” After quickly answering, Seoyoon approached the director, while Deputy Yu, who had been talking with him, pretended as if their dinner plans had never existed and drifted away with the other employees.

Seoyoon felt somewhat nervous, as the last time he had a one-on-one conversation with the director was during the hiring interview. As he was trying to figure out why he had been called, the director began with a perfunctory compliment.

“You’ve worked hard since joining us. Team Leader Kim feels sorry that we put you to work right away without giving you time to adjust, even though we hired you because we needed the manpower.”

“Not at all. It was my first time preparing for an exhibition of this scale, so I enjoyed it.”

“How do you find it now that you’ve been here? Is it manageable?”

“Yes. It’s my first time working in a real art museum, and the team atmosphere is good too.”

The director stopped her slow pace. Seoyoon, who had been glancing at the other staff members walking ahead, looked at her quizzically. She seemed to have something to say.

Surely she’s not trying to fire me after lulling me into a false sense of security with praise. Having experienced an unexpected team restructuring once before, Seoyoon couldn’t help but worry. However, the director’s question was unexpected.

“Han Seoyoon, are you still seeing Director Kwon Kijung?”

“Pardon?”

“Director Kwon said at our house that he was seeing you.”

Seoyoon swallowed hard. If she was directly confirming what Kijung had said, it meant the news had already circulated among the Kwon family members. Even if Kijung hadn’t mentioned it, his parents had spread the word here and there the very next day after he came to greet them, so it was only a matter of time before the rumor spread.

Seoyoon hesitated, unable to definitively confirm or deny. Although their last conversation had ended with accepting each other’s conditions, they hadn’t even met face to face since spending that first night together.

Of course, things hadn’t been completely idle in the meantime. As Kijung had instructed, Seoyoon had contacted his secretary and gone to get fitted for clothes at Kijung’s regular tailor. He underwent detailed measurements, including arm and leg length, chest, waist, and even neck and wrist circumferences. The tailor informed him that it would take about three weeks to complete the clothes, and that he should come back once more in a week for a fitting.

While it would take a long time for the custom clothes to be finished, he was given several outfits to wear in the meantime, as per the request to prepare suitable clothes for him to wear until then. That day, Seoyoon returned home with Kijung’s secretary, and the shopping bags and boxes full of expensive clothes further strengthened his adoptive parents’ conviction. If it weren’t for those shopping bags, the lack of meetings since that day would have raised suspicions long ago.

Clutching the items that were either payment or gifts, depending on how one looked at it, Seoyoon pondered what to do and sent a text message to Kijung.

[Director, thank you for the gifts today.]

The reply came after a few hours.

[From tomorrow, wear the clothes and send me a photo before you go to work.

Only with what I sent today.]

Although he had already been told that Kijung would manage his attire, receiving the actual text message felt surreal. Especially after checking the contents of the boxes.

Kijung’s gifts weren’t just simple clothes. With coordinated outfits for each day of the week and even the order to wear them specified, it felt like a symbolic item proving that the promise that started from a one-night game was still being maintained.

They were all much lighter and softer than what he usually wore, and he still wasn’t completely used to the texture and weight. Every morning, standing in front of the mirror dressed in the clothes he had sent, feeling the strange sensation of belonging to a man whose voice he hadn’t heard even once since that single night.

It had been about a week since taking and sending photos became part of his daily routine, but he had never received a reply. Whether there was a response or not, Seoyoon sent the message as Kijung had instructed before going to work every day.

Today too, Seoyoon was wearing the “gift” he had sent. Feeling more like a secret lover than a publicly dating partner, he hesitated to give a definitive answer when asked about his relationship with Kwon Kijung.

“It’s as you’ve heard.”

Giving an ambiguous answer that was neither confirmation nor denial, but rather deferring to someone else’s words, the director seemed to accept it and nodded.

“I don’t intend to interfere with your personal life, but if it becomes public knowledge, there might be talk of nepotism in hiring and such.”

“I’ll work hard and do my best.”

“Hm? Don’t misunderstand, I’m not telling you to do anything. As I said at the beginning, your hiring was considered before all this. We have no intention of dismissing someone we wanted to hire just because the situation has changed. However, if the need arises, I’ll have to explain to Team Leader Kim, so I thought I should confirm with you beforehand.”

The situation had become somewhat peculiar. Until just before joining the company, they had been complete strangers, but in a matter of days…

It was still a fake relationship tenuously held together by the pretext of one night. Unable to be certain himself, he couldn’t give a confident answer. Perhaps it would end anticlimactically even before the “necessary situation” the director spoke of arose.

“It seemed like nothing was going on until you joined, so how did this happen?”

“Actually, we met by chance at the museum after I started working. He came to see the paintings.”

“I guess fate does exist.”

Having satisfied her curiosity to the necessary extent, the director didn’t pry further and smiled as if she understood.

“We have many of Jo Myungshin’s paintings, you know. He comes to the museum regularly to see the paintings. I’m not sure if you’ve heard.”

“Ah… yes.”

“The chat went on too long. We should prepare to leave. Han Seoyoon, get home safely. Good work.”

“Yes.”

The director headed towards the office, and Seoyoon followed a few steps behind before stopping. He turned his head to look at the entrance of the permanent exhibition hall, which was always open.

Having frequented the exhibition rooms of Hyunsong Art Museum countless times since his undergraduate days, he had actually visited the permanent exhibition less often since joining the staff, especially areas with infrequent changes. Several of Jo Myungshin’s paintings that the director had mentioned were hanging in Permanent Exhibition Hall 1, located in the main building.

“The Gates of Heaven”

The most eye-catching work was the abstract painting that was also his breakthrough piece. At first glance, it looked like a simple combination of a few colors, but as one gazed at it, it began to resemble a long-stretching road or a rising mountain. Upon closer inspection, there were several symbols hidden beneath the colors filling the canvas, like a hidden picture puzzle. At the very top of the canvas, part of a flower garden, seemingly representing heaven itself and considered the artist’s signature depiction, could be glimpsed. Seoyoon silently gazed at the canvas that made one imagine the end of the current world and another world beyond.

Jo Myungshin was Kwon Kijung’s birth mother. His parents divorced after 13 years of marriage. After the divorce, she moved to Germany, continuing her work and teaching activities there until she passed away a few years ago due to a fall. Seoyoon remembered the commotion both domestically and internationally at the time of her death.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been standing in front of the painting. His phone buzzed with a message from a colleague he was supposed to have dinner with, asking when he would be leaving work. Only then did he check the time and realize that 20 minutes had already passed. Seoyoon hurried towards the office.

“What were you talking about with the director for so long?”

On the slightly delayed way home, Deputy Yu asked abruptly as they walked together. Seoyoon blinked and replied.

“I don’t think we talked for that long.”

“You didn’t come in for quite a while.”

“Ah, the conversation with the director ended quickly. Being new, she gave me some advice. I was late because I was looking at paintings for a bit after our talk.”

“Seoyoon, you’re amazing. You looked at paintings again after seeing them constantly while preparing for the exhibition?”

Deputy Yu clicked his tongue as if disgusted. Among a team mostly composed of people who studied art, he had the unique background of majoring in performance and exhibition planning. He was both an essential member of the team and someone with a slightly outsider tendency.

“Since I got busy right after joining, I hadn’t really had a chance to properly look at the permanent exhibition paintings. I just briefly looked at Jo Myungshin’s work.”

“Ah, we do have quite a few of her paintings. She was related to the director for a while, though not anymore. There must be quite a few unpublished works too.”

The stand bar, their destination, was getting closer. He looked up at the sign and continued speaking.

“She has a family in Germany from her remarriage, right? I heard there’s still an ongoing inheritance dispute with them.”

“Really?”

As Seoyoon’s eyes widened at this new information, his phone in his pocket vibrated. Checking the caller, Seoyoon was startled and instinctively covered the screen.

“Excuse me for a moment, I need to take this call.”

“Take your time. I’ll just have a quick smoke over there. It’s non-smoking inside.”

Deputy Yu walked away, shaking his cigarette pack, and Seoyoon also took a few steps in the opposite direction before turning his head. Even though Deputy Yu wouldn’t be able to imagine who was calling, Seoyoon answered the phone in a hushed voice.

“Hello, Director.”

“It’s been a while. Have you finished work?”

“I just did.”

“I couldn’t make plans in advance, but would you like to have dinner together? A scheduled meeting was postponed.”

“Pardon?”

His brief response revealed his dismay at the situation. Although he had been secretly waiting for this call, of all days, it had to be today.