Van Gogh Reborn!

I went to school after a long time. 

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“Goodbye, grandpa.” 

After waving my hand to grandpa, I headed to the classroom. 

I missed a lot of classes, so I don’t know whether I will be able to follow the class. 

I can keep up with the general subjects somehow, but the content of the afternoon one hour class will be very difficult. 

Furthermore, it is impossible to understand because I did not take classes for seven weeks from the time I started preparing for the Whitney Biennale. 

It will be hard to follow even with Sihyeon’s notes I received in between. 

Standing in front of the classroom door, the door opened. 

This automatic door was also a real eye-opener when I first experienced it, and I still wonder how it works. 

Is there any installation art that moves when a person approaches? 

As soon as I entered the room I saw Sihyeon lying face down on his table. 

It’s the same posture as when I first saw him. 

I don’t think the other children are here yet. 

He doesn’t seem to have any intention of getting up, so I poked him and soon he flinched. 

The boy lifted his head gently with a frightened face. 

I laughed with pleasure, but he was already tearing up. 

It breaks my heart to think that he has been alone. 

“Hic Hic.” 

“Don’t cry.
Why are you crying?” 

Sihyeon took a notebook out of his bag. 

It’s the coloring book that I gave him as a present. 

“I did everything.
The end.
I did it all, but you….”  

“Should I have given you one more?” 

“Uuuu, I hate you.” 

I crouched down in front of Sihyeon’s desk. 

I carefully looked at his coloring book one by one. 

Roses are only red, Penguins are only navy, spongeBob is yellow, and they are all painted thick without adjusting the pencil pressure, but it shows that he has worked hard not to cross the line. 

The color sense when I saw him draw [blue tree] was not revealed, maybe because of his habit of searching for the correct answer. 

“You worked hard.” 

“Un.” 

“Why did you paint the roses red?” 

“Because it’s red, isn’t it?” 

“There’s pink and white, too.
There are yellow roses, too.” 

Sihyeon wiped away his tears. 

“You’re right.” 

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“You can paint it blue or green.
Nothing is decided.
Like your blue tree.” 

“Un.” 

“But you did a good job in keeping the color within the line.” 

“Really?” 

“Really.” 

Sihyeon smiles broadly. 

I try to teach him from my experience, and I don’t know if I’m doing it right. 

If he found peace in his mind by focusing on coloring, I guess that’s enough. 

“Why didn’t you call me as soon as you came?” 

“Since I was going to see you today anyway, so….
ouch?” 

Sihyeon punched me with his hand, which felt softer than cotton. 

“Here….” 

I took out the workbook that Sihyeon gave me. 

I worked hard to solve it, but it was so hard that I don’t know how much I got right. 

“Did you do all this?” 

Sihyeon asked as he turned the page. 

“I have to do it if I want to do well on the test, right?” 

“That….I lied.” 

“What?” 

“It won’t come out on the test.
This is Middle school math.” 

I was dumbfounded as I was looking at the clever guy, who laughed and said. 

“Daddy said that studying hard makes you a great person.” 

He seems to have lied to me. 

“Didn’t he tell you that you shouldn’t lie?’ 

“He told me that a while ago.
I got in trouble for lying about eating two snacks in a day.” 

It’s cute, but it’s weirdly upsetting, so I poke his face with my finger and he laughed. 

It’s a relief that he brightened up quickly. 

“So, you will be in Korea, right?” 

“Yes, for now.
Once I finish the work for the movie, I’ll go on a trip with grandpa to study and draw pictures.” 

“Okay.
What did you do? Was it fun?” 

“It was a lot of fun.
Do you know the White Cliff?”

“I don’t know.
Where is it?” 

“Britain.” 

I took out my smartphone and showed the picture, and Sihyeon opened his mouth wide and said, 

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“Wow.
Is there a place like this? Isn’t that a graphic?” 

“Yeah, isn’t it amazing? There are even painters who drew a lot of pictures of this place.
I couldn’t do it because of work, but I’m going to draw it while looking for a place like this during vacation.” 

“That sounds fun.”

Sihyeon’s eyes were shining. 

He must be very envious since he doesn’t hide the signs of wanting to go. 

“Tell your parents.” 

“It hasn’t been long since I’ve been to America.
Will they let me?” 

“We can go during vacation.” 

“Ah,.…” 

Sihyeon lowered his head sullenly. 

“My mother told me that we’ll be going on a trip to Europe during vacation.
With family.” 

“It’s nice.
Traveling with family.” 

“Yeah… But there’s no grandpa.” 

“Did he die?” 

Sihyeon shook his head. 

“I think he had a fight with Daddy.
Daddy hates grandpa very much.” 

Everything has to be judged by listening to both sides, but from what I heard from Sihyeon, his father is a very practical person. 

If such a person hates his father, then there must be a reason. 

Sihyeon does not seem to know the exact situation, maybe he wants to protect his young son. 

“I see.
The important thing is that your father and mother love you.
Oh, my grandpa asked me to bring you over.” 

“Really?” 

I’m even curious about why he was that happy while asking Sihyeon to come over. 

“Yes, this Thursday evening.
Do you want to come?” 

“I’ll go.
I bought some paint.” 

“Paint?” 

“Yes.
I told my father I wanted another color pencil, and he told me to tell him everything I wanted.
Daddy’s cool.” 

“Great.” 

“Hehe.
But it didn’t work out like you did.” 

“Not like me.
Hey, do you know how long it took me to do that?” 

“How long?” 

“10? No, 11 years?” 

“Lie.
How can you practice for 11 years, when you’re 11 years old.” 

“Well….that’s how hard I tried.” 

Sihyeon shook his head and took out his smartphone. 

He went into the photo album and showed off the paint set he got from his father. 

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“ Wow..so many colors.” 

Thirty-two 15ml tubes are arranged in two rows. 

I think it’s too much for a child to use, but a good one is a good one. 

“Watercolor?” 

“Watercolor?” 

“Yeah, you mix it with water while adjusting the concentration.
Like I’m grinding ink.” 

“Can’t I just apply it on?” 

“There’s nothing you can’t do.
Then there’s no reason to use watercolor paint.” 

“What’s the difference?”

“It’s different to adjust the concentration.
Watercolors can be expressed transparently and paint can be used to smudge on purpose.
Oil painting can use a brush touch to make use of the texture, and it can be drawn differently with watercolors.” 

I have not used watercolors much. 

It was a hassle to carry water outdoors, and I had to use oil paint for the painting I wanted. 

However, because of its unique atmosphere, I will try to deal with it properly someday. 

“Can’t you use both?” 

“Both? I haven’t thought about it.
There’s nothing you can’t do in art, right? Everything’s fine if you draw it well.” 

“There’s nothing you can’t do.” 

“Here’s the thing.
If you really want to find an answer, look for as many answers as possible, not one.” 

“Oh.” 

It seems like saying that there are more answers might make sense for him than saying that nothing is wrong in art. 

What a strange fellow. 

“Then let’s play with this.” 

“Okay.” 

“What snacks should I bring? Whale chip?” 

“I’ve already tried it before.
Whale chips are good, but I want to try a new one.” 

“Huh, then how about Turtle cookies?”

“Why do all the names of snacks in your company go like that?” 

“It’s cute.” 

A whale chip and a turtle cookie. 

I would regret it if I had filtered it out just by looking at the name, but I feel sorry for the sense of naming. 

Thursday. 

With Sihyeon, I was drawing an apple in the studio, when the light suddenly went out. 

It was a place with blackout curtains, so it suddenly became dark in front of me. 

Sihyeon, who was flustered, turned on the light, and suddenly grandpa, Aunt Mirae, Uncle Bang Tae, and Sihyeon started singing. 

“Happy birthday to you.” 

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“Happy birthday to you.” 

Aunt Mirae was holding a cake with candles. 

“Happy birthday dear Little Hun.” 

“Congratulations.” 

“What is it?” 

“Well, it’s Hun’s birthday.’ 

What’s the date today? 

Was it June 1?

POP! 

“Argh!” 

Uncle Bang pulled something and there was a popping sound. 

“You were surprised!” 

Sihyeon and Aunt Mirae laughed as I screamed in surprise. 

It’s somewhat unfair, but I can’t help but laugh when I see them smiling. 

I think June 1st was my birthday. 

“Hun, Blow out the candles and make a wish.” 

I blew out the candles, praying for my grandpa to live a long and healthy life. 

Uncle Bang handed out a gift wrapped in plastic. 

“Congratulations, Hun.” 

It’s quite heavy. 

It is also relatively large as a 20F canvas. 

“Thank you.
Can I untie it?” 

“Sure.” 

When I opened the package, I saw a part of the Starry Night I drew. 

[Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece book] 

“Hahaha.
I don’t know if you’ll like it.
I bought it because I thought you might want to see it often because you like Van Gogh.
The explanation is well written.” 

It’s an unexpected gift. 

Oh my God. 

My paintings are so fine. 

My drawing. 

My drawing that I’ve seen all my life. 

“Don’t you like it? Shall I change it to some other painter’s?” 

“No, it’s really…..
really good.
I’ve really wanted to have it all my life.” 

The author of this book knows how to look at my paintings. 

Sometimes, I can use it to recall memories.