Van Gogh Reborn!

Chapter 143:

Chapter 143

I had no choice but to sing, and Cha Si-hyun joined me in the chorus, adding to the excitement by changing the camera angle.

The chat window was flooded with exclamations.

Are you filming something?

My grandfather smiled happily from behind the smartphone.

I felt miserable.

I was reminded of the trauma of being forced to dance and sing when I was in kindergarten.1)

I could not forgive the nicknames Jjungjjung and Jang Mirae.

Stop sending me money. I dont want it.

I shouted, but they all laughed and enjoyed it.

Every time I fixed the camera angle, someone else sent a donation.

[Baek Yujin donated 1,000 won]: One more song

Just show us your face lol

Lets go for one more song.

Im not doing it.

[Grammar Judge donated 1,000 won]: The last lyric oh yeah is not a registered interjection in the Standard Korean Dictionary. However, it is listed as a noun meaning dirty and filthy.

Please sing a duet with Angli.

Honestly, its too much to sing only one song for 100,000 won.

[Jean Francois Mirae donated 1,000 won]: Ill buy you jajangmyeon. Lets dance too.

[Jiwoo K donated 1,000 won]: Please upload the edited video for the article.

I was about to tell Jang Mirae to buy jajangmyeon with my own money, when I was startled by the chat from Kim Jiwoo.

I couldnt show my face if they put this on the article.

You wrote it! Im never doing an interview again!

The viewers sent fire emoticons again.

Media suppression.

Shut up!

Cha Si-hyun made a fuss, and the chat window was filled with accusations of media suppression.

I finally calmed down and sat down.

I laid the cutter knife flat and scraped off the paint gently. White lines appeared as the paint peeled off.

Candy surfaces are not smooth, right? It looks similar if you scrape it like this.

I didnt know watercolor paint would work.

Cha Si-hyun watched with curiosity.

You have to control the pressure gently. Otherwise, youll tear the paper.

I checked the chat window while working carefully, and they were all angry that they couldnt see because of my head.

Its almost done.

I took out the clock parts that I had prepared in advance.

What is this?

A clock.

I know its a clock. Why do you only have this?

Im going to attach it here. I have one for you too. Take it.

Cha Si-hyun blinked and looked back and forth between me and the clock parts.

Where did you buy this?

Daissso.

Daissso?

Yeah. They have everything.

Daissso has everything.

I drilled a hole in the middle of the candy drawing and connected the hour, minute, and second hands that I had separated from the wall clock.

I looked for something with a simple structure, so it wasnt hard to assemble.

It worked well when I put in the battery.

Is this how you do it?

Yeah.

Cha Si-hyun did a good job too.

Clock makeover?

Its pretty but I dont know what it means lol

I want to eat jeyuk-deopbap.

Set the time.

It looks like a marble lol

You just need to write the numbers now.

Its supposed to be candy.

It looks delicious for a clock.

Its a candy clock. Im not going to draw the numbers. Si-hyun, lend me that.

Okay.

I made sure that our candy clocks were visible side by side on the screen.

Ferdinando Gonzalez hung two wall clocks side by side at the Whitney Biennale. There was no title, but the subtitle was Perfect Lovers.

Some people in the chat window knew and some didnt.

He put new batteries in the identical clocks at the same time, so they would run together. On the first day, they looked exactly the same, but when I went there a while ago, one of them had stopped and the other was moving precariously.

One stopped.

Cha Si-hyun responded appropriately, making it easy for me to talk.

I think he expected that too. He meant that even if they spent time together, they would have to let go of one of them someday.

Someone in the chat said that they were not perfect lovers then.

You can see it that way. But I think Gonzalez is cool for being able to say that he was perfect even though he knew that. It means that all the time they spent together was perfect.

I understood the meaning of this work more deeply after learning about it from my grandfather and the media.

I wonder if perfect lovers really means lovers these days.

What do you mean?

People call contemporary art contemporary art these days. It means the art of the same era, but even though they group them together, the artists are all living in different times.

Oh.

They have a contemporaneity that influences each other, but they will close their eyes one by one.

Thats sad.

It cant be helped.

Everyone has a different time limit and a different beginning and end.

But I can still call this eras art contemporary art because I was influenced by my grandfather, Jang Mirae, Angli Marso, and Ferdinando Gonzalez.

Just like Angli Marso was influenced by my grandfather and me.

Its because they give each other strong inspiration.

Even if Ferdinando Gonzalez dies, his spirit will remain in a corner of my heart.

I dont know if youve seen the article, but Gonzalez has someone named Louis. Hes very sick.

I only mentioned Louis, who was reported in the media, because Gonzalezs illness seemed to be still a secret.

I saw it too.

He made it while thinking of his dying lover.

It was a homage to Untitled: Perfect Lovers.

Is this a Ferdinando Gonzalez advertisement today?

Oh, Im worried. I hope no one bothers Hun because of this.

Ferdinando Gonzalez is a hypocrite. If he wants to be gay, he can do it alone. Why did he have to reveal it? Hes such an influential person.

Look at that That crazy person

I dont think thats the right thing to say. If you look at the article that just came out, Gonzalez has AIDS too. Being gay always ends badly. There was someone who regretted it too.

Thank you for your concern. Im scared too. I might get hated for saying something wrong.

I couldnt help but be afraid.

Im a person who sells my work with fame, reputation, and popularity.

Whether I sell paintings or do broadcasts like this, or advertisements like the contract with Shuimink, they are all based on peoples interest.

If my perception from the public gets worse, I will lose my source of income.

Its like falling back into that abyss.

Thats why I was afraid to support Ferdinando Gonzalez.

When I heard what my grandfather and Jang Mirae said, there were more people who hated them than I thought.

Its ridiculous to ask for their understanding, because Im not very friendly to homosexuality either.

But what is right is very clear.

You said being gay ends badly, but maybe youre right.

Carefully.

I spoke clearly.

But I think this way. Do we have to make a better choice? Who decides what that good result is?

Bang Tae-ho warned some viewers who started a fight.

He asked them not to kick them out of the chat and continued to talk.

My grandfather and my future aunt told me. The reason why freedom is good is not because it produces better results. Its because its precious in itself.

In the 19th century, many people died in France in search of freedom.

They knew that they had to find freedom for themselves, not for anyone else.

The process was not smooth.

Some people who advocated for freedom became greedy for power, and in the process, a pig wearing a human mask became the emperor.

The French citizens who killed all the nobles to gain freedom learned another fact in the war that followed.

That freedom came with responsibility.

My freedom is something that only I can enjoy and only I can be responsible for.

Thats why I cant be responsible for others and taking away someone elses freedom is a crime.

Im not saying that youre wrong for hating homosexuality. I just feel like I know how someone who lost their loved one felt when they made this work. So. I want to cheer for them.

Why should I pity him?

Ferdinando Gonzalez is a great artist who has struggled all his life to connect the difficult genre of conceptual art with the public.

All I can do is watch him from a distance, not give him hasty comfort.

Not saying weird things like the people from the American Democratic Party who said they would protect him.

Not wrapping up nice words in a plausible way, but just making sure hes not lonely.

Like a delicious candy thats not burdensome for me or him.

I think its better not to draw numbers!

Chasi-hyun, who was staring at the candy clock next to him, raised his head and said.

I asked him what he thought, curious, and he gave me the same answer.

You dont know when it stops.

*

I feel like Ive overcome another crisis.

Ferdinando.

As soon as I opened my eyes, the manager called the doctor urgently.

The doctor asked me a few questions and confirmed what I had expected.

I dont know if it will be tomorrow or a week later, but I feel like I wont be able to wake up again if I fall asleep now.

I regret not spending even a minute more with Louis, barely holding on to the thread of consciousness.

Im glad I did everything I could.

The Louis Foundation will exhibit <79kg> and <34kg> as long as the asset managers do their job.

They will help the artists who are in a difficult situation every year.

Louis.

Huh?

I want to talk to Louis.

As I uttered the words with difficulty, the manager shook his head with a sorry face.

Hes impatient.

He seems to want to leave first without saying goodbye.

Tell me. Honestly.

The manager swallowed his words a few times.

Hes unconscious. Its going to be hard.

I see.

It was something I had expected for a long time. I dont think Ill be alone for long.

He must think so too.

My throat tightens.

My chest shrinks.

Because we were always together.

Because we were together even in death, I thought it was okay, but I feel like Im going crazy when I think I cant see his witty smile anymore.

At the same time, I wonder if I really did everything I could.

I wonder if the things Ive done for ten years will be meaningless and forgotten after I die.

Will <79kg> and <34kg> be considered as trash?

At the end.

I couldnt be sure of anything.

Woo-woo-woo-

The manager checked his phone and asked cautiously.

Its Goseo-yeol.

I can barely nod.

-Ferdinando!

Seo-yeol.

Did the manager contact him?

Or did the reporters already spread the news about me. No, I collapsed during the event, so of course they did.

Seo-yeols face on the other side of the screen looked flustered.

I.

My eyes keep closing.

I hope Seo-yeol will be more active.

I wonder if my words are getting through.

My voice doesnt come out well.

With Hoon. Show me a more amazing world. To more people.

-You

Thank Hoon for me. 79kg and 34kg. I wouldnt have thought of it if it wasnt for sweet happiness.

At first, I thought the word chocolatier was a joke.

I couldnt go there myself because I was sick, but I could see through the virtual exhibition how Caroline Strick gave me such a cool name.

The sweetness that conveys happiness.

Love without lies or pretense.

There was nothing better than chocolate to make <79kg> and <34kg>.

I changed it to candy because of the problem of stacking and storing a lot of it, but I got the idea from Go Hoon.

-Ill go now. If I hurry.

Seo-yeol.

Theres something more important than seeing him again.

Itll be okay, right?

Im scared.

The day I die will be quite noisy.

Maybe there will be someone who will remember me a year later.

But what about ten or twenty years later?

Will I be erased by the people who envy me?

I keep feeling anxious.

-Ill take care of your work.

Seo-yeol promised me with confidence.

I can trust him.

I feel a little relieved.

Thank you.

By putting as much candy as Louiss weight in various museums, the visitors will enjoy it freely.

And Louis and I will live forever among them.

Like love that fills up again and again every morning, even if its empty.

I hope it lasts forever.

-Hoon, Si-hyun. Can you hold that for a moment?

Seo-yeol turned the camera to show two boys holding the clock.

One was a cool painter I met last year, and the other was a kid I didnt know.

He smiled and said.

Thats awesome.

I was surprised that the last piece of art I saw was a re-creation of my work.

And it was a work dedicated by a young genius who will create another flow in the future.

Although I only greeted him once, Go Hoon showed me as if he had known me for a long time.

I wish I had shared the same time with that kid.

If I had more time, I could have gotten more inspiration from each other.

-The title is Ferdinando and Louis.

I was surprised by the young painters words.

-This is Ferdinando. This is Louis.

Ah.

Yes.

I wont be forgotten.

As long as that kid remembers me, even if the people who envy me erase my name, my traces will remain in the world of Go Hoon and that kids works.

Its an honor.

I hope they have hope and courage in their future that will not be swayed by any adversity.

I need to rest.

-Yeah. See you tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow.

***

1)In 2024, when he was only six years old, Go Hoon was tempted by the chocolate Mont Blanc of his kindergarten teacher Ambre (33) and danced to Sur le pont dAvignon (On the bridge of Avignon).