"Son. What could I possibly help with on this piece?"
Even as Kang Hyun-do spoke to Kang Seok, his eyes remained fixed on the artwork. From the moment the wrapping was removed until Kang Seok moved the piece into the workshop inside the furniture store, Kang Hyun-do's gaze never left the work.
The human figures drawn with a red pencil kept making him look again and again. Every time he glanced, a new person seemed to catch his eye, pulling his gaze back repeatedly.
Our son made this.
Kang Hyun-do's eyes grew thick with emotion.
"Dad! Look at this!"
It felt like just the other day when Kang Seok, with hands smelling of laundry soap, was holding up a piece of soap. Now, his son had grown to the point his shoulders reached Kang Hyun-do's own, and he was creating works twice the size.
It was a moving moment.
But.
No matter how much he felt that way, Kang Hyun-do still didn't understand.
What exactly was his son aiming for by bringing this work all the way here? Embarrassingly, Kang Hyun-do was not a skilled artist himself. That was clear even from his business card.
On his card, he was not a designer or artist, but simply the owner of Seok's Furniture Store.
"Father, I think I'm going to need your help. Do you have some time?"
What could there possibly be that he needed help with besides moving the piece into the workshop?
Kang Hyun-do reflected on the conversation he had with his son while driving the truck.
"I think we need to start working on it right away... Are you sure you have time?"
"Of course. It's my son's request. We're going straight to the furniture store, right?"
"Yes, thankfully. I'm glad you're helping. It'll make things much easier."
"Hmm?"
Why would there be any part of this perfect piece that needed his hands? Kang Hyun-do was lost in such worries when—
Crack, snap!
The sound of wood being torn filled the workshop. The noise was loud enough that Kang Hyun-do instinctively turned his head.
His eyes landed on Kang Seok, ripping off the back panel of the wooden frame.
"Phew!"
Surprised to see Kang Seok so absorbed in removing the wooden panel, Kang Hyun-do called out.
"Seok, Seok-ah!"
"...Hmm? Yes? What did you say?"
Kang Seok looked up, his face expressionless as if startled. He must not have heard. Kang Hyun-do wondered if he should ask again, but now wasn't the time.
"Never mind. Actually, do you need help?"
"This...! I can do it, in a flash!"
Kang Hyun-do hurried to his son's side.
Crack, creak, snap, bang!
Even as Kang Hyun-do approached, Kang Seok was hammering the wood like he was attacking something. Wearing work gloves, he ripped the wooden boards off with surprising skill.
When had Seok learned to do that? Kang Hyun-do wondered, just as he reached right in front of him.
Without touching the paper or the panel's frame, Kang Seok only tore off the back panel, then exhaled and stepped back.
"Phew... done."
Kang Seok brushed his hair back and looked at Kang Hyun-do. Removing the back panel of an 800-size piece wasn't easy, but Kang Seok finished it cleanly with just a few gestures.
Kang Hyun-do was speechless with surprise, and Kang Seok smiled faintly.
"Pretty clean, right?"
"Pretty clean?" Kang Hyun-do's eyes shifted to the wooden panel frame, still perfectly square without a scratch. Calling this skill 'pretty clean' was too modest.
The Kent paper originally glued on the panel and the drawing paper on top were untouched, preserving their spots without a wrinkle despite the rough removal from behind.
Only the necessary parts were touched, minimally.
"Son, you're too humble."
"...Is it that much?"
"When did you learn to do this? With skills like this, I could just hand over the furniture store to you right now."
"Haha... No thanks. It's your store, after all. But Father, I think you'll need to help me now."
The word 'help' made Kang Hyun-do straighten his back, his shoulders tense.
At the same time, Kang Seok's calm voice settled over his shoulder.
"Remember the stage set you made for my play back then?"
"Stage set?"
Kang Hyun-do frowned, not sure what he meant.
"You know, the one with the lightbox where you cut and glued cellophane and black paper?"
"Oh!"
The stage set of colors and shadows! The memory flashed in Kang Hyun-do's mind and he nodded.
"How could I forget?"
Out of guilt for not always buying pretty picture books, he and Kang Seok's mother had put their heads together to come up with that makeshift solution. Kang Hyun-do's eyes were soaked in memory.
"I want to recreate that lightbox here and attach it."
...?
The memory-soaked gaze wavered as Kang Seok pointed to the panel missing its back.
"You mean here?"
"Yes, on the back side here."
Kang Hyun-do fell silent.
Kang Seok was pointing to the very work he had been creating. More precisely, the back panel just removed. In other words, he wanted to replace the wooden back panel with a lightbox.
"Is that possible?"
Put a lightbox here? Is that possible?
"Theoretically, yes."
What wouldn't be possible? It's just huge. Kang Hyun-do stared blankly at the piece. It was massive — ridiculously massive.
He'd heard it was an 800-size piece.
Size 800 is roughly like four 200-size panels combined, about 520cm tall and 364cm wide.
Big enough to easily cover an entire wall.
No wonder Go Doo-han had to rip off the first floor veranda window of the studio. Luckily, their studio ceiling was high.
Kang Hyun-do thought while looking at the piece filling one entire wall of the furniture store.
It was that big.
Seeming unaware or unfazed by its size, Kang Seok nodded as if grateful to be able to make it, then emphasized,
"You'll help me, right?"
"Of course."
The words came faster than expected. Though Kang Seok would handle most of the work himself, Kang Hyun-do could tell him a hundred or a thousand times how to build the lightbox.
Now Kang Hyun-do understood why Kang Seok layered dozens or hundreds of small sketches.
What would happen if the lightbox behind turned on?
A glowing reddish light full of dozens of colors came to mind.
He couldn't even imagine the color exactly, but his heart raced with anticipation.
His son was definitely a genius.
...
Lightbox.
A device with lighting installed inside a rectangular or desk-shaped box. On top, translucent plastic or glass plates are layered to create a surface.
Its typical uses are threefold:
First, stacking manga drafts and drawing sheets on top of a lightbox to trace or edit.
Second, layering multiple drawing sheets to create frames for animation.
Third, sprinkling sand on the lightbox for sand art or attaching cellophane and black paper for children's play and entertainment.
The lightbox Kang Hyun-do had made for young Kang Seok back then was for the third purpose.
"Ta-da! Look at this!"
"What is that?"
"Dad's going to show a play with this today. Excited?"
"Wow! I'm really looking forward to what Dad is going to show us. Right, Seok?"
Colorful storybooks or comics for little kids were quite expensive. Even though most books were borrowed from the library, getting new releases was impossible.
So when Kang Seok was little, in a dark room, a lightbox was turned on, and his parents attached puppets made of cellophane and black construction paper onto wooden chopsticks and personally read stories to him.
It was a colorful, dazzling story that glowed in the dark.
Bang bang. Tap tap!
While watching wires and plastic being taken out of the storage, Kang Seok busied his hands.
In his hands was a blue Prisma color pencil. Although the sharply sharpened lead was too soft and would easily crumble with a bit of pressure, the paper remained perfectly clean.
Yet his hand moved quickly.
He hadn't finished drawing all the pictures to fill the panel, as he had told Godoo Han.
More than half still needed to be filled, so there was no time for laziness.
Kang Seok started spontaneously drawing a person who would not exist in this world, mixing features of people he had seen on the street that day.
Meanwhile, he carefully reviewed his memory and subconsciously checked if he was accidentally drawing a real person—worried about likeness rights issues.
"I have to be thorough with this kind of thing."
Mistakes or negligence could be dangerous.
Just as Kang Seok was focusing on completing one person, Kang Hyun-do, who was taking out materials to make the lightbox, plopped down in a chair.
In his hand were some small nails—probably to fix the plastic on the back.
Thinking he might be taking a break, Kang Seok glanced over, and Kang Hyun-do's lips moved.
"Now that I think about it, I'm sorry."
An apology came from his open mouth.
Surprised, Kang Seok asked,
"For what?"
Suddenly, what was he apologizing for?
Kang Hyun-do hesitated, then slowly added,
"…for not being able to buy you many toys. Your mom and I, because things were tough, couldn't give you a lot. You probably wanted many things to have, to eat, places to go... Looking back, I always made compromises."
"..."
What kind of situation was this? Kang Seok didn't know how to react, so he rolled his eyes.
Night was dangerous, after all.
Looking at his sentimental father, Kang Seok fiddled with his hands, trying to figure out how to get through this.
While Kang Seok thought about how to soothe his sentimental father, Kang Hyun-do bowed his head deeply.
He thought words just came out easily because he was struggling. He rubbed a wooden nail rolling in his palm with his fingertip. It was rough.
"On Children's Day, Christmas, too… I couldn't properly give you or Chaeyoung what you wanted or wanted to eat. I always gave cheap or free things."
Thinking about how Kang Seok always brought paper carnations and letters on Parents' Day, and made sure to give wish coupons on birthdays, his heart ached.
Childhood never comes back, and how unprepared a parent he had been. Kang Hyun-do felt bitter.
Why did such thoughts come up all of a sudden?
Just don't make the mood worse.
Kang Hyun-do looked down at the translucent plastic. Trying to make the lightbox brought a sudden thought of young Kang Seok. He felt sorry for only being able to do things like that back then and quietly shut his mouth.
As he silently worked, there was a tapping on the desk. Looking up, Kang Seok was scratching his nose, looking troubled.
"Why is my dad like this?"
"Hm?"
"It sounds like he didn't take care of me. But we went to see flowers in the nearby park in spring, played in the valley in summer, went hiking in fall, and sledding in winter pulling sacks."
Hearing this calm voice, Kang Hyun-do wiped his nose.
"Dad."
"·········"
"I really don't know why you're like this... but I enjoyed every day."
"·········"
"I'm glad I'm your son."
Compared to his previous life filled with just work, this life was full of color.
Kang Seok smiled and said,
"And Dad, it's not too late yet."
Kang Hyun-do raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I'm eighteen. I'm still the age to enjoy Christmas and Children's Day."
"…Ha, haha… Is that so?"
"Yes. So if you earn well and prepare for those days, that'd be great."
Trying to lift the mood, Kang Seok put on a teasing face and spoke.
"You should look forward to next summer, Dad. What I'm interested in these days is plaster. Plaster."
"What? Plaster?"
"A big, smooth, flawless plaster would be a great gift."
"What's that?"
Laughter caught the tail of the words and followed.
In the deep night, light pierced through the shutters of the furniture shop and spread onto the street.
Inside the furniture shop, the only place shining like daytime in the darkness.
The father and son's conversation grew longer and longer.
Kang Seok drew blue lines freely on white drawing paper, while Kang Hyun-do hammered nails.
Now and then, Kang Hyun-do laughed while fixing small nails on the huge panel. It was the joy of talking with his son after a long time. Their conversation lasted until the night deepened and the shop lights went off.
Tuesday. Bright sunshine after a long time. Looking at the blue sky, Kang Seok roughly took off his padded jacket.
A little diagonally away, a man who modeled that morning was chatting with part-time instructors. An aspiring actor, maybe. Kang Seok absentmindedly let the info pass and picked up his spoon.
The porridge was freshly served.
"Thank you for the meal!"
Hearing one greeting after another, Kang Seok raised his spoon too, to eat the white porridge.
Then, Godoo Han, sitting ahead with a sulky face, suddenly said,
"Since you brought expensive porridge home, you should have eaten seafood jjambbong porridge or yukgaejang porridge."
He was upset because Kang Seok ordered plain white porridge despite seafood porridge being very popular lately.
"It's just tasty."
"So when are you going to show it?"
"What?"
The spoon hovered in midair. The white grains on the spoon strangely caught Kang Seok's attention. He hesitated, then Godoo Han asked with a subtle gaze.
"The work you're doing. You haven't brought it to the studio yet. How about tomorrow, after drawing class?"
He looked anxious. Tomorrow. Kang Seok glanced at his phone, feeling like he forgot something. Swiping the screen brought up his calendar.
Ah.
He had forgotten.
Kang Seok answered firmly,
"No."
"Hm? No? You have plans tomorrow?"
Thinking back, he probably hadn't said anything. He put down the spoon and said,
"Yes. I can't come tomorrow. I have to go to the hospital."
Tomorrow was the day they all planned to go for a general health checkup.