Diamond Dust Novel - Chapter 19

The bar, located in a narrow alley deeper within the bustling entertainment district, felt like a cozy hideout. It was a place selling Spanish-style tapas and wine, and the interior held only about four or five tables.

The atmosphere wasn’t solemn or stiff. The clothing of the people filling the tables, the pitch of their voices, and the music flowing through the room created an atmosphere that was actually quite casual.

At any rate, it was a place so sophisticated that it felt slightly awkward to me, someone who had spent the last five or six years in a fishing village without even a franchise pizza place, let alone a Spanish restaurant.

The man from the passenger seat seemed the most familiar with the place. He immediately gained everyone’s consent and, as soon as he got the menu, chose and ordered two or three tapas and a bottle of wine.

All four people, excluding me, seemed to be acquaintances of the restaurant owner. That alone suggested they had a certain level of private intimacy. At least, they were close enough to share a favorite spot.

“Can I call you Yihyun-ssi?”

I was drinking water awkwardly and hastily put my glass down, nodding to the man across from me.

“Yihyun-ssi, just call me Hyung (older brother), Inwoo Hyung.”

I knew his name was Choi Inwoo because I had checked the artist’s name during the VIP opening.

“How can you be Hyung to Yihyun, Teacher? Uncle would be more appropriate. Let’s just call him Teacher Inwoo.”

Juhan Hyung said this slightly flippantly toward the passenger, who frowned, resting his crossed arms on the table.

“I’m not Yihyun-ssi’s attending physician, so why should I be called ‘Teacher’? I refuse.”

“Then why do we call you ‘Teacher’ then? You’re not our attending physician either.”

Tch. The man clicked his tongue at Juhan Hyung’s retort. Although he seemed reluctantly defeated by Hyung’s logic, a new source of complaint followed immediately.

“The word ‘Teacher’ is enough just at the hospital. Do you know I feel twenty years older every time I hear that word? And you guys, you call all the other affiliated artists ‘Artist-nim,’ but only call me ‘Teacher,’ you know?”

“Aww, Teacher, we see you too often because of the Director. If we called you ‘Artist-nim,’ it would feel distant.”

Juhan Hyung, who was sitting completely sideways, leaning his back against the window, smiled faintly with a relaxed look, fiddling with his long, thin fingers.

“That’s right. It’s an expression of intimacy.”

Yuni Noona backed Hyung up. But the man didn’t let it go easily.

“What about Shu-shu? Then why do you call Shu-shu ‘Artist-nim’?”

Shu-shu. It was a name I had also heard.

I still remembered that word, with its sweet sound that seemed to clash with the low, husky voice of the Phantom Director.

Feeling a slight thirst, I drank a little more water.

Our group occupied the window seat closest to the entrance, and since there were five of us, one person had to sit with their chair facing the aisle. Juhan Hyung and Yuni Noona sat farthest inside, and I sat next to Juhan Hyung in the order we entered the place. And the seat facing the aisle, which might be the most uncomfortable, naturally ended up being the Phantom Director’s.

Since he was right next to me, separated only by the corner of the table, I pulled my feet tightly under my chair, worried that our legs might accidentally tangle or that I might step on his foot under the long tablecloth that covered our lower bodies.

He seemed uninterested in the place. He casually rested one arm on the chair back and slowly spun an empty wine glass with the other hand, barely listening to the conversations passing across the table.

Then why did he insist on coming here? According to the passenger, he hadn’t even invited him to come along.

“Artist Shu-shu… is close with the Director, but we hardly have any private interaction with him.”

Yuni Noona said this somewhat cautiously, lowering her tone from the playful excitement she had shown earlier. I might have been imagining it, but she seemed to be watching the Director’s mood.

The conversation momentarily paused as the friendly-looking owner brought over the wine. The dark red wine was slowly poured into the five empty glasses. This was my first time drinking wine.

As the glasses were filled, everyone lightly clinked their glasses together, even though no one had specifically proposed a toast. There was no formal toast either. The wine, which I was tasting for the first time, was more fragrant than beer, but the aftertaste left in my mouth after swallowing was stronger than I expected. The sensation of the flavor layering itself in my mouth as I drank more was new.

I suddenly realized I had already finished about half the glass and set it down. The three people, excluding the Director, were still talking about titles. I felt this discussion would go on all night if I didn’t offer a conclusion.

“I’m not a Phantom staff member… if it’s alright, I’ll call you Hyung.”

I said this without much thought, as I probably wouldn’t have many occasions to call him anything at all in the future.

Yuni Noona and Juhan Hyung looked disappointed, like they had lost a game, while Inwoo Hyung looked like a child who had finally acquired the coveted toy after a fierce struggle.

“Then say it once. Inwoo Hyung.”

The table wasn’t very wide, so Inwoo Hyung’s face, leaning forward directly across from me, was quite close. It was a face that revealed expectation so honestly it was hard to disappoint.

“Inwoo Hyung… your main profession is a doctor, right?”

He smiled widely, revealing his even teeth. It was an objectively charming smile, making the corners of his eyes wrinkle slightly and his eyes appear to sparkle.

“Aren’t you being too much of an old man right now? Why are you so fixated on being called Hyung?”

The Director of Phantom shook his head and swallowed his wine, as if letting it trickle down his throat.

As if he were bored with this setting, his speed in finishing the wine was the fastest among us.

I briefly wondered if he wasn’t feeling completely comfortable here because I was present, but I quickly dismissed the thought. I could afford to take a bold attitude toward him.

“He’s cute. When he whines, calling you Hyung, you just want to grant him everything.”

Inwoo Hyung, the man from the passenger seat, who spoke with a dreamy expression, was a specialist in internal medicine and gastroenterology. He was also an affiliated artist at Phantom.

The Director of Phantom, Yuni Noona, and Juhan Hyung added that he was a dilettante doctor who mostly fooled around every day, attached to a small general hospital where his parents were the director and vice-director, respectively.

As a result of Phantom’s aggressive marketing focusing on the ‘Doctor Artist’ angle, he was a moderately popular artist whose paintings sold as soon as they were hung in the exhibition hall.

Both his parents were passionate art collectors, so he was familiar with art from a young age. He had been painting as a hobby for a long time and jumped into the art market at the Director of Phantom’s suggestion. Even if he wasn’t a full-time painter, he was already a professional artist in that he sold his paintings for money.

The memory of recommending his own artwork to him during the last VIP opening made my face feel hot. I distractedly drank the wine. When my glass was empty for the second or third time, Inwoo Hyung took the wine bottle from the steel bucket next to the table and refilled my glass.

“I apologize for that day. I didn’t know you were the artist… I don’t know much about painting and just said what I felt… I’m sorry if I offended you.”

“No, not at all. Why would I be offended? You didn’t say anything bad. It felt a little embarrassing, like being seen naked, but Yihyun-ssi’s interpretation resonated with me much more than those critics who just spout esoteric nonsense. Honestly, I felt like it was fate.”

If he hadn’t put on an exaggerated, playful expression while saying that last sentence, I wouldn’t have known how to react.

“Oh, that fate… You have so many ‘fates,’ Teacher.”

I was relieved that Juhan Hyung’s sigh and further comment lightened the mood a bit.

“This might sound arrogant, but… I think I know why your artwork, Artist… I mean, Hyung’s work, is popular. Because most people find it hard to be honest, even when they want to be…”

I hadn’t said this with anyone specific in mind, but strangely, my gaze shifted to the Director of Phantom as I finished speaking. Embarrassed by the direction of my own gaze, I brought the glass I was fiddling with to my lips.

I realized for the first time that alcohol was a pretty good shield for concealing expressions and gazes.

“Honestly, after hearing Yihyun-ssi talk that day, both Kuhn and I thought Yihyun-ssi must have majored in art, one way or another. We knew that wasn’t the case after Director Han told us.”

Kuhn.

It seemed he was mostly referred to by the title ‘Director,’ but I had heard him called by the exotic nickname ‘Kuhn’ a few times.

But even though I had helped at Phantom three times now, I still didn’t know the Director’s proper name. I could easily find out if I wanted to, but I didn’t want to ask the teacher, Yuni Noona, or Juhan Hyung about him. I didn’t even feel like searching for ‘Gallery Phantom’ on my phone, even though no one would see me.

“Anyway, I was genuinely happy that day. While people should appreciate art in their own way, according to their feelings at the moment, it’s still nice when someone sees the ‘me’ that I unknowingly poured into the work, you know?”

Inwoo Hyung’s words, spoken with a smile, seemed sincere, and I smiled back. I could vaguely imagine the welcome he was talking about. It was probably overwhelming, exciting… and perhaps he did feel fate. Like finding the one person who could decipher my personal code.

“Ah, Yihyun-ssi. What would you say about the painting in your living room? Aren’t you curious?”