The Mysterious Art Museum

Chapter 15 (1) - The Mysterious Art Museum

"It will be an incentive-based contract. As you know, Mr. Ban Jeong-hun is not well-known in the industry, so the incentive share will not be large."

Hearing Lee Soo-young's words, I didn't even care about the incentives. I was frozen at the mention of an upfront payment of fifty million won. Just by signing, I would be getting an amount of money I had never seen or heard of before.

"Incentives?"

I reflexively repeated her words as a question, to which Lee Soo-young responded.

"It's a contract based on sales performance. There are no incentives if sales are under 300 units. However, if sales exceed that, 1% per unit sold will be paid as an incentive."

How much is 1%?

The average price of a refrigerator is around two million won. So, 10% would be two hundred thousand won, and 1% would be twenty thousand won... So I'd only get twenty thousand won for each refrigerator sold? Wait, is that the issue right now? The upfront payment is fifty million won.

I need to sign this immediately.

I rummaged through my pockets. It's impossible for an artist not to have a pen.

Instead of a fancy fountain pen, a pencil came out, but that's okay. Ah, the contract should be signed with a ballpoint pen, right, of course.

Not having a ballpoint pen, I looked up to borrow one from Lee Soo-young when Monica, who had been alternating between looking at her phone and the portrait, spoke.

"Fermare (Stop)."

I didn't understand what she said, but I stopped moving and stared intently at Monica conversing with Lee Soo-young. They seemed to be discussing something serious, which appeared to be bad news.

Casting glances at me and repeatedly confirming the same thing, Lee Soo-young cautiously said.

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"I'm sorry, but could you come to MG Electronics headquarters by 10 a.m. tomorrow?"

"What...?"

Why there?

Lee Soo-young took the contract in front of me and put it back in her bag. It felt like fifty million won was flying away right before my eyes.

"Why is that...?"

As she was putting away the contract, Lee Soo-young said.

"After the contract, you'll need to come to MG Electronics for a while. Didn't you see it at the end of the contract?"

I didn't see it.

Nothing else registered in my eyes except the mention of fifty million won as an upfront payment.

Lee Soo-young explained that participating in the design and receiving incentives meant being recognized as a refrigerator designer, and for that, participation in the design process was necessary.

I understand that, it would be a good experience for me. But why is she taking the contract?

Lee Soo-young glanced at Monica, who was silently observing me, then said.

"It seems the chief designer has something she wants to check. Can you come tomorrow?"

I hesitated, fiddling near the pocket of my trousers, touching the two hundred thousand won I had received earlier.

"Well, I live day-to-day, so not working and commuting is a bit..."

When Lee Soo-young relayed my words to Monica, she smirked and responded. Lee Soo-young translated.

"If the contract is finalized, you'll need to come to the headquarters for about a month, and we will pay you a wage for that. We'll give you two hundred thousand won as a daily wage."

Wow, a daily wage of two hundred thousand won? If I work 20 days a month, that's four million won. I swallowed hard and nodded my head.

"If that's the case, I can."

"Good, then we'll see you tomorrow."

The two people who got up from their seats. I looked at them blankly and got up late.

Monica said something to me, but Lee Soo-young didn't translate her last words and just said goodbye and left.

I was left alone in the cafe and recalled Monica's last words. I had no idea what she was saying in Italian, but I remembered the pronunciation.

"Sei... sospettoso? Something like that."

I turned on the language search on my phone and said the pronunciation I had heard. Then, the phone interpreted my pronunciation like this.

'You are suspicious.'

I lost my words for a while as I looked at the sentence on the phone.

'The chief designer from Italy.'

She must have a keen eye for art, as she noticed the big difference between the portrait I drew and the contest work. To be honest, I can count on one hand the number of times I lied to someone in my life. That's why I feel uneasy.

I want to confess now, but who would believe me if I say this?

I clenched my fist and bit my lip.

"This is not the time to do this, let's study Alphonse Mucha's painting style all night. Then maybe I can get through this."

I have been fond of copying his paintings since high school, not even college. To be honest, I can copy some of his paintings exactly without looking at the original. I can copy them so precisely that no one would think they are forgeries unless they are experts.

Of course, that's assuming that she can pass the test with the existing paintings.