Chapter 16

Art Museum Tour

And so, the rainbow-haired old maid’s impromptu tour began.

“Ooh. Is that how it works?”

“Yeah. Cool, right?”

“It’s worth looking at, I guess.”

“You’re so prickly.”

Every time Rainbow Hair stopped in front of a work, she rattled off an explanation without hesitation. What era the painter was from, why the painting was famous, what techniques were used, and so on.

She definitely knew a lot, and seeing how she made it entertaining for the listener, I could tell she had not gotten 1.5 million subscribers for nothing. Getting 1.5 million with tiny content like art was seriously impressive.

“This work was influenced by Post-Impressionism, so the division of color fields...”

“What’s that?”

“Just think of it as dividing the picture into sections and painting them different colors.”

“Aha. I understand when you put it that way. But what’s Impressionism?”

“Hmm... Impressionism is, you see. After cameras appeared, painters gave up on drawing things realistically and started going, ‘Just scribble it roughly! Capture the feeling!’ That kind of thing.”

“Oh, that makes sense. It really does feel like that.”

After walking around like that for quite a while, at some point the atmosphere of the exhibition hall changed completely.

Once we passed the area lined with paintings in antique-looking frames, we entered a bare space where works were sparsely hung on white walls. Even the lighting, and somehow even the air itself, felt different.

“Unnie. What’s that?”

A single black dot on a pure white canvas. What is this, some kind of joke? I have never seen anything like this before.

“Ah, that. It was painted by a master of contemporary art. It’s considered the essence of minimalism...”

“It’s just one dot.”

“Right. That’s correct. It’s just one dot.”

“That’s displayed here too? I could paint something like that.”

“Here you go again. It’s not that simple. The philosophy contained within that single dot...”

I listened to her explain for quite a while, but I still did not really understand. So what is she saying? A dot is a dot.

In the end, perhaps Rainbow Hair gave up on explaining too, because she sighed and casually said.

“I’ll just tell you this. That painting probably costs over a billion won.”

“Whaaat?”

Over a billion won for one dot?

“That’s insane. Then maybe I should paint a hundred dots and buy the entire museum.”

“Pwahahaha.”

Rainbow unnie burst out laughing.

“Hey, contemporary art isn’t some kind of joke like that. But you really are hilarious.”

Hilarious, my ass. I was genuinely shocked. Was it not one of life’s great injustices that the annual salary I earned in my previous life by working overtime as routinely as eating until I died did not even reach the toes of that one dot?

Ah! Could that work perhaps be expressing exactly that? What the fucking...

Well, even so, looking at paintings was more enjoyable than I expected.

Whether I understood them or not, walking around and looking at huge paintings had a certain charm. In my previous life, I had neither the time nor the mental room to visit places like art museums. On weekends, I was too busy lying around like a corpse worrying about going back to work the next week.

Thinking about it that way, I suddenly felt grateful for this leisurely indulgence.

“What about that one?”

I pointed at a small painting hanging in a corner. It was a gloomy picture painted entirely in dark colors.

“Ah, the painter made that late in life while suffering from depression. That’s why the colors are so dark.”

“Oh. No wonder. Looking at it makes my mood sink.”

“Right? Emotions get put into paintings. If the painter is suffering when they make it, the viewer can feel it too.”

“Hmm.”

I quietly stared at the dark painting.

...I felt like I understood it somehow. Like having everything, yet feeling empty inside, unable to be filled by any color. Maybe that was what this painting was like.

Suddenly, I remembered Shin Jisoo’s empty eyes at the birthday banquet.

...No, forget it. Why am I suddenly getting sentimental over one painting?

“You.”

“Yes?”

Rainbow unnie stared at me as she spoke.

“You really have a good eye. You haven’t learned any of this, but you somehow get straight to the heart of it. You’re fascinating.”

“Really? Hehe.”

Compliments do feel good. Not that I’m a whale, and I’m not going to dance either.

We slowly made our way through the exhibition hall. It took about an hour and a half? I had no idea how unnie’s stream was going, but judging from the expression she made whenever she looked at her phone, she seemed pretty satisfied.

“That’s everything.”

“It’s over?”

“That’s all for this exhibition.”

“Aha.”

“Ah, what a shame. I’ve never met a kid like you before.”

Unnie fiddled with her phone as she spoke.

“Can’t we meet again? If you’re okay with it, give me your contact information.”

My contact information.

I somehow felt reluctant to give out my personal number. I had a feeling Ms. Sejin would scold me.

Ah, in that case—.

“Unnie, you said you have a contract with Shinil, right?”

“Hm? Yeah.”

“If you want to contact me, just contact them.”

“What? What does that mean?”

Unnie looked dumbfounded.

“If I contact them... they can connect me to you?”

“Yes. Probably.”

It would be a little weird to give my number to just anyone. And annoying too. If she really had a reason to see me, she could contact the museum side and reach me that way, so that was enough.

“...Hey. What are you, really?”

Unnie lowered her voice as she asked.

“You don’t seem like an ordinary kid. The museum staff call you ‘Miss,’ and if someone wants to contact you, they should go through Shinil?”

“Come on, it’s nothing special.”

“It really doesn’t sound like nothing special.”

That was when it happened.

Unnie suddenly flinched, bent down, and whispered quietly into my ear.

“Lili, do you feel it too?”

“Feel what?”

“That big guy over there. He’s been following us this whole time. We should tell the staff—.”

Her gaze pointed toward the bodyguard guy, who was standing a reasonable distance away.

“Ah, that ahjussi is my bodyguard.”

“...What?”

Unnie’s eyes widened.

“B-Bodyguard? You have a bodyguard too?”

“Hmm... I don’t think I need one either, but yes, I do have one.”

Unnie’s mouth fell open.

Was having a bodyguard really that surprising? Well, I suppose it would be for an ordinary person.

Unnie looked back and forth between me and the stupid bodyguard guy, then muttered with a look of realization.

“...You really aren’t an ordinary kid.”

“Unnie isn’t ordinary either. You have rainbow hair and you’re an old maid.”

“...You really are cheeky. That’s why I like you even more.”

Unnie chuckled and reached out to mess up my hair, but I quickly dodged. A body trained through daily exercise—now I had the physical ability to evade an amateur attack like this.

“Don’t touch my hair. I’ll have to brush it again.”

Ms. Sejin will scold me.

Anyway, that was how I parted ways with the rainbow-haired old maid.

When I went to the parking lot with the bodyguard guy, Driver Park was waiting with the car.

“Did you see everything, Miss?”

“Yes. It was more fun than I expected.”

“Paintings are worth looking at, aren’t they?”

“Yes, yes. Ah, and ahjussi, ahjussi. Jinhyuk ahjussi.”

“...Yes, Miss.”

“You saw how well I got along with that unnie at the museum today, right?”

“Yes. I saw. You spoke very well with her.”

“Right? As expected. I guess I’m pretty sociable. But ahjussi, why don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“...Well.”

“You should’ve tried hitting on that unnie earlier. She said she’s unmarried. She’s twenty-nine too. Hehehe.”

When the bodyguard guy shut his mouth with an expression that said he had no idea how to answer, Driver Park chuckled. As expected, this guy really is secretly fun to tease.

Satisfied with myself, I leaned back, and drowsiness washed over me.

“Yaaawn...”

Come to think of it, today had been a very long day.

I had exercised since morning, suffered through studying, eaten, studied again, ridden in the car for an entire hour to the art museum, and then talked for ages with a woman I had never met before.

In the past, I would have spent the whole day rolling around on my bed. How long had it been since I had moved around this much on such a packed schedule?

Maybe it was the first time since my previous life.

“Ahjussis. Good work today.”

As I muttered while resting my head against the car window, Driver Park laughed heartily.

“Work? You worked harder than we did, Miss.”

“Then I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

“Yes.”

“Sleep comfortably.”

By the time we arrived home, the sun was slowly setting, lightly painting the sky. I felt like there had been a painting like that among the ones I saw today...

“Driver ahjussi, Do Jinhyuk ahjussi. Rest well today.”

“Yes. You get some good rest too, Miss.”

After saying goodbye to the two of them and entering the house, I found Ms. Sejin waiting at the entrance.

“Welcome home, Miss. How was your first outing?”

“I’m completely drained. I didn’t know a single day could be this exhausting.”

“Still, you look well.”

Do I? Well, I was tired, but I was not in a bad mood. If anything, I felt strangely accomplished.

“I met an interesting unnie at the museum too. Apparently she’s a streamer. Her hair was all rainbow-colored.”

“A streamer?”

Ms. Sejin’s eyebrows rose slightly. Why?

“Yes. She said she had 1.5 million subscribers. Apparently she has a contract to promote the museum, and she explained the paintings to me too.”

“I see.”

“I made sure my face didn’t appear. Don’t worry.”

“Well done.”

Only then did Ms. Sejin relax her expression. Had she been worried when she heard the word streaming?

Warm soup was waiting on the dinner table. I never knew home-cooked food could taste this heavenly after going out.

But there was no defeating overwhelming drowsiness. I kept yawning throughout the entire meal.

“Yaaawn...”

“You must be very tired. Go to bed early tonight.”

“Yeees...”

When I returned to my room, my body felt as heavy as lead. By the time I barely finished showering and came out, my eyelids kept sinking. I wanted to collapse straight onto the bed and sleep.

But—.

I staggered over to the desk and turned on the computer.

“I still have to stream.”

Nobody was forcing me. It was not as though that many people watched me, and I did not make any money from it.

But this was a promise I had made to myself. To turn on the stream every day.

In this boring second life of mine, I had decided that at least this one thing, I would keep doing consistently.

In my previous life, I had worked myself to death doing only what the company told me to do. I had never once chosen something because I liked it and followed it through to the end. So I wanted to keep this promise, at least.

“Yaaawn...”

Well, let’s just make today’s stream short. I’ll say hello, kill some time with a game, and then go to sleep.

With a limp hand, I pressed the stream button.

“Yaaawn... have you been well, my ignorant subjects?”

-??? what’s with your voice

-Did you just wake up?

-You sound kinda languid

-Oh my, is this an invitation to bed?

-What’s with the energy today lol

-Is this another new concept?