Van Gogh Reborn!

Chapter 301:

301

The Final Showdown (6)

“Please state the summary of the charges.”

The prosecutor stepped forward.

“The defendant sold 97 pieces of art to the Korean Art Association through his father, who was the chairman of the association, using the association’s operating funds for four years from 2025, and exhibited them in his own gallery.”

Choi Kyu-seo had been selling his works to the Korean Art Association by taking advantage of his father Choi Young-soo’s position as the chairman.

Not only that, he also made unfair profits by selling his works to the association and then exhibiting them in his own gallery and reselling them.

The trial proceeded and the prosecutor requested the witness to appear.

Baek Seol-ki took the stand.

She answered the judge’s questions in a trembling voice and swore to tell the truth as it was.

The prosecutor stepped forward.

“I will first establish the truth. Do you have any record of being investigated by the authorities for the same content?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Did you work at Cyclamen for five years from 2024?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of work did you do?”

“I worked as a secretary.”

“Whose secretary were you?”

“Choi Kyu-seo’s.”

“Since you were his college senior and junior, you must know well about Cyclamen and Choi Kyu-seo.”

“Yes.”

“Cyclamen bought and exhibited 166 pieces of art in the last four years. Do you know where the money came from?”

“It was the Korean Art Association’s operating expenses.”

“What kind of art did you buy with the Korean Art Association’s operating expenses?”

“Choi Kyu-seo’s works.”

“How many pieces were there?”

“97 pieces.”

The prosecutor secured the testimony and turned to the judge.

“Your Honor, the Cyclamen art transaction ledger submitted as evidence proves that the witness’s testimony is true. The defendant disguised the sale of works that he did not actually sell and embezzled the Korean Art Association’s operating funds.”

The defense attorney cross-examined, but only confirmed the facts and could not reverse the situation.

Despite everything being clearly revealed, Baek Seol-ki was afraid to look at Choi Kyu-seo in the defendant’s seat.

She was bound by the experience of being abused by Choi Kyu-seo for years.

“Please consider his first offense and treat him leniently.”

The defense attorney finished his defense.

“Defendant.”

The judge called Choi Kyu-seo.

“Do you have anything to say?”

Choi Kyu-seo stood up.

Baek Seol-ki felt her heart tighten as she looked at his back.

“It is true that I did some unreasonable things while running a business and trying to make profits. But it was all for the development of the art world. The works I bought with the Korean Art Association’s operating funds were not only mine, and the cases where I sold the works and exhibited them for resale were also a way of co-owning them because they were expensive. I feel wronged.”

The judge glanced at Choi Kyu-seo.

“Defendant. The evidence shows that the entire sales amount went to your personal account.”

The judge’s voice was angry.

“Your actions were not for the art world, but for your own greed. How can you say that you were for the art world when you monopolized the funds that were formed for the sake of many artists?”

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“…I’m sorry.”

“Do you really repent? Don’t you have someone else to apologize to?”

The judge scolded Choi Kyu-seo, who could not say anything.

“…”

He looked very unfamiliar to Baek Seol-ki.

Choi Kyu-seo, who was always arrogant, if not confident, in front of anyone, was only bowing his head.

She, who had been untouchable in the art world with her father’s influence, was nothing but a criminal in society and court.

Baek Seol-ki felt the fear in her chest gradually fade away.

“The verdict will be announced on Thursday, March 14th. The verdict will be announced even if the defendant does not attend. If you disagree, you must appeal within 7 days and submit the appeal to this court. The trial is over.”

Baek Seol-ki watched Choi Kyu-seo being led out by the court staff and left the courtroom.

“You did well.”

Yoo Ra-im came up to her.

We became close after working together on the Korea-France joint exhibition, but Baekseolgi was terrified of this trial and asked me to accompany her to the courtroom.

“I saw that he still hasn’t come to his senses. He thinks he did it for the sake of the art world. If it weren’t for the judge, I would have given him a piece of my mind.”

Baekseolgi smiled weakly.

After the trial was over, I felt so relieved that I wanted to lie down right away.

“Why? Are you tired? Do you want to sit for a while before we go?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Then let’s go eat something delicious.”

“Okay.”

Yuraim took the wheel. As she drove slowly, she remembered the good news from yesterday.

“Hey, did you see that?”

“What?”

“You know, what Choi Gyu-seo did.”

Choi Gyu-seo had made a last-ditch effort to accuse Baekseolgi of stealing his work and claimed that it was unfair that he was the only one punished.

At one point, there were voices in the Bulhandang group calling for Baekseolgi’s expulsion.

She was already overwhelmed by preparing for the Venice Biennale, and the trial and the negative public opinion had drained her physically and mentally.

“Yeah…”

“Yesterday, there was a post saying that it wasn’t your fault. You should check out the forum.”

I didn’t know what kind of insults I would find.

I had never encountered such irrational hate comments before, and they made me suffer for days.

I didn’t feel like it, but since my friend insisted, I had no choice but to log into the art forum.

“Was it ‘Baekseolgi controversy summary’?”

Yuraim told me the title of the post.

It was the most upvoted post on the site.

The person who wrote it introduced themselves as a graduate of the Korea University College of Fine Arts and explained the relationship between Baekseolgi and Choi Gyu-seo.

They said that Choi Gyu-seo had deceived Baekseolgi and not only devalued the award she had received, but also prevented her from participating in other competitions and exhibitions using the exhibition as an excuse.

The people who had been victimized by Choi Gyu-seo also commented that they had been treated the same way by him.

└She’s a victim too, you know?

└She might be the biggest victim of all.

└If this person hadn’t collected the evidence, Choi Gyu-seo would still be active.

└This is why you shouldn’t listen to one side only. Where are all the people who were bashing Baekseolgi?

└Is this also this person’s claim?

└Do you think the police would have let Baekseolgi go if she had really taken or stolen something? The investigation and the trial are already done.

As I read the post again from the beginning, I noticed Yuraim’s trace in the photo that proved that they were a graduate of Korea University.

“…Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For this.”

“What are you talking about?”

Baekseolgi started to shed tears, and Yuraim was flustered.

“Hey, why are you crying?”

I was grateful. Relieved. Exhausted.

It was hard to express it in one word.

“It’s okay. It’s over. You’ve submitted your work, so let’s rest until the opening.”

Baekseolgi nodded.

“You worked hard. Really.”

-We received your work without any problem. Thank you for your hard work.

Ma Eun-chan received a text message from Bang Tae-ho.

It was about the arrival of her work for the Venice Biennale.

“Thank you! You also worked hard, Director! I’ll leave it to you to make it awesome! Have a nice day!”

She replied and lay down on the bed.

The rusty spring squeaked.

She had been working non-stop for five months since last October, and her tense body and mind finally got some rest.

“Ah.”

A complex emotion flowed out with a sigh.

She still couldn’t believe that her work was exhibited at the Venice Biennale.

It felt even more like a dream because reality had hit her so hard.

She had managed to survive on the 5 million won creative support fund from the Venice Biennale, but now she had to find a job again.

“I don’t think one will be enough.”

She was short on money because she had taken a long break from her part-time job.

Ma Eun-chan turned on her laptop to look for a job.

I browsed through the job sites, thinking that I wouldn’t refuse any job as long as the time and pay were right, but there weren’t many jobs that I could do while attending school.

Brrr- Brrr-

My old phone, which I bought eight years ago, rang with difficulty.

“Hoon?”

Ma Eun-chan answered the phone.

“Hi!”

-Hi?

“It’s a greeting. Why? What’s up?”

-Taeho said he received your work, so I called you.

“Oh, yeah. Ha~ It was really hard. It was the first time I spent so long on one thing. How about you?”

-I submitted mine too. It seems like everyone has submitted theirs except for Henri’s work.

“Only him? What on earth is he making?”

-Him?

“He’s like a big brother.”

I was amazed that he called him a big brother so casually, even though we had only met once or twice and he was ignored by Henri.

Ko Hun laughed.

-I don’t know. He’s making it in Venice, so it must be pretty big.

“I guess it’s not a painting. I’m really looking forward to it. Yours and his too. How can I wait until August?”

Ma Eun-chan complained about the postponement of the Venice Biennale.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism took over the management of the Korean Pavilion, because the Korean Art Association, which had been operating it, was sued.

As a result, the Korean Pavilion, which was being reorganized, was audited along with the Greek Pavilion, the Russian Pavilion, the Venezuelan Pavilion, the Spanish Pavilion, the British Pavilion, the Japanese Pavilion, and the Hungarian Pavilion, where similar cases occurred.

The Venice Biennale Organizing Committee requested the reorganization of the national pavilions with problems and postponed the opening to August.

-It’ll come soon if you do other things.

“I guess so. Oh, you must be really busy. You have to do the Kassel Documenta, the Münster Sculpture Project, and Art Basel.”

-I prepared the Münster Sculpture Project with Henri last year. I finished the Documenta and Art Basel too.

“Wow. Then you have some free time. You’re so diligent.”

-Not really. I did it in advance because of the movie work.

“Movie?”

-The Lupin series.

Ma Eun-chan opened his mouth wide.

“The sequel is coming out?”

-Yes. I’m going to work as a manager again, so I think I’ll be busy. We’re going to start next month.

“That’s awesome. Manager is a high position, right?”

-I’m in charge of the concept art team. There’s no high or low. We all work together.

“I see.”

-So, I have something to tell you.

“Yeah?”

-I’m looking for someone to work with me on the concept art team. You submitted your work too, so how about doing it with me until you go back to school?

“Huh?”

Bang bang!

“Shut up!”

He was so surprised that his voice got louder.

The person who lived next door banged on the wall and Ma Eun-chan whispered into the phone.

“Sorry. Just a sec. I’ll go outside.”

-Okay.

He hurried out of the building and took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart and called Ko Hun.

“Hello?”

-Yes.

“So. You’re saying that I should join Christine Norman’s work. Is that what you’re saying?”

-That’s right.

Ma Eun-chan rolled his feet with his mouth open. He was so happy that he wanted to scream right away.

“But I’ve never done concept art before. I don’t have any experience in concept art, let alone anything else.”

-I think you’ll be good at drawing with a theme, based on what you and Henri drew. Your description is also detailed. No one has experience from the beginning. I did it for the first time two years ago. Is that bad?

“No? You’re lying. I can do it well. No, I’ll do it well! I really want to do it!”

Ko Hun laughed at Ma Eun-chan’s honest answer.

-Then, do you have time from next month?

“Yes yes!”

-The pay won’t be much.

“That’s okay!”

He had to make a living, so he had no choice, but he felt that the time he spent was too precious.

I wanted to do something that would build my career in art, even if it meant earning less money than doing something unrelated.

-We can only hire newbies as part-timers. It’s about $2,500 a month, is that okay with you?

“A month?”

-If that’s too low.

“No! That’s enough! More than enough! I’m so happy! Thank you!”

“Who’s screaming in the middle of the night!”

I looked around nervously.

-Good. Then I’ll let Norman know.

“Okay!”

After hanging up, I looked at my phone and raised both arms in the air.

‘This is more than just good luck.’

I texted Hoon a bunch of thank you messages and ran around the boarding house yard.