Chapter 104
Chapter 104
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Painting Happiness
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pictures are said to be windows into the heart.
'It feels like the painting is capturing exactly the situation Aram wants.' In the picture Aram had painted, a round moon hung in the sky. And below it stretched a blue meadow under a deeply darkened night sky. By dabbing the paint on lightly, she'd made the grass in the meadow look alive, and with nothing else added to the meadow except the grass, it evoked a subtle sense of quiet solitude. If I pondered what kind of happiness this represented... A soft smile. 'She captured her own happiness perfectly.' The happiness Aram painted was her true desire for rest. It was like a landscape born from the instincts of someone who needed respite and fresh air more than anyone. At that moment, Aram stepped up to her painting and began explaining it to the group.
"Um... The reason I painted this landscape is that I focused on my own emotions for the theme of happiness. In our busy daily lives, rest might be what we need most, but amid all the fatigue from endless entanglements and relationships, I painted this hoping people could find the happiness of rest by looking at it."
The one who reacted most strongly to her explanation was none other than Erina.
"This painting is amazing. If it were for sale, I'd buy it myself."
As she spoke, Erina's face took on a slightly bitter expression.
"Honestly, I've been so swamped with my schedule lately that it's been tough. When you talked about graduation projects earlier, I could relate a little, even if not completely. My calendar is packed, my body's exhausted, but I still have to paint for my solo exhibition... At some point, painting started feeling like a chore. And it was the one joy in my life."
Erina said painting had become difficult for her too. Well, that made perfect sense. What started as a hobby had turned into work at some point. In its own way, that was pretty heartbreaking. 'When your one true hobby becomes your job, it can no longer be your source of happiness.' Some might think otherwise. Doesn't it make you happy when your hobby becomes your job? But that's said by people who don't get it. Sure, it might feel like bliss at first, but on the flip side, it piles on massive stress. For your life's joy to turn into stress...
"So lately, the stress has kept me from painting at all, but seeing Aram's picture really feels healing. Like, 'This is true happiness~' you know?"
Erina gave it glowing praise. Thanks to that, Aram's expression brightened considerably.
"Thank you! I'm really glad I came now. I've been struggling a lot, actually."
Somehow, they'd ended up supporting each other. Just then, Daeun shot her hand up.
"Me next! I wanna go! Daeun wants to!"
"Yeah, show your painting, Daeun."
"Yeah! Daeun show drawing and explain!"
If that's what our Daeun wanted. I was nodding at her when— Erina suddenly raised her hand and spoke to Daeun.
"Hey, Daeun. If it's okay with you, could auntie go first?"
"Auntie?"
"Yeah, I think showing my painting right after Aram's would work well."
Daeun seemed to think for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay! Daeun can wait!"
Oh, what a good girl. Unlike most kids her age, Daeun didn't throw a tantrum and graciously yielded to Erina. Erina thanked her sincerely.
"Thank you so much, Daeun."
Whoosh! Then Erina turned her painting around to show everyone. Her picture. 'I get why she wanted to go first.' It was the complete opposite vibe from Aram's. Erina's painting was filled with countless people smiling brightly.
Erina's painting featured quite unique characters.
Big-faced smiley figures, all with beaming smiles.
Repetitive motifs like this usually make viewers feel a bit repelled.
But thanks to Erina's distinctive style, this one felt warm and approachable, unlike the norm.
'Laughter is contagious, huh?' Contagious laughter—no matter who started it, what mattered was that everyone was laughing.
"I painted this because I wanted to smile. As you all know, my job requires constant smiling."
A job where you have to smile, but wanting to smile... It might sound contradictory, but it could also mean smiling on the outside without truly smiling inside.
"But those smiles are mostly fake ones. So I painted people smiling for real, because I wanted to. That's my happiness."
Unlike Aram's empty-space happiness, Erina expressed it through a crowd bursting with laughter. I could see why she wanted to show it right after Aram's. Seeing Erina's painting, Aram unconsciously smiled.
"You're right. It really is contagious. I'm smiling without realizing it."
"And seeing you smile makes me smile too."
"Yeah."
Everyone burst into laughter at that. After a good long laugh, Erina finally calmed down and turned to Daeun.
"Now, shall we see Daeun's picture for real?"
Daeun thought for a second, then shook her head.
"Daddy's first!"
"Yeah, Daddy's."
"Yeah! Okay too."
I nodded at the question of whether it was fine to go first.
"Sure, no problem."
Watching us, Aram smiled and suggested, "How about this? You two show yours together."
"Yeah, together!"
"Yes! It feels like there'd be some great synergy if you both showed at the same time. What do you think?"
I glanced at Daeun. She looked back at me, and after locking eyes— A grin.
"Sounds good. You okay with that, Daeun?"
"Yeah! Daeun likes showing with Daddy!"
With the decision made so quickly, I picked up my painting and stood next to her. Standing side by side with Daeun, I could naturally see her painting too.
"Huh."
And Daeun saw mine.
"Eh?"
Daeun was surprised, and so was I. Noticing the odd vibe from our reactions, Aram asked, "What's wrong? Something happen?"
"Uh, did you know somehow?"
"Know what?"
"No, I was just thinking your suggestion was spot-on."
"Yeah?"
"You'll see."
I turned to Daeun and asked, "Ready?"
"Yeah! Daeun ready!"
"Then on one, two, three, we turn them."
"Okay!"
At her response, I spread my fingers and counted slowly.
"One, two, three!"
On the count, Daeun and I simultaneously turned our paintings to face the group. And the reaction that followed was...
"Huh."
"Yeah."
Exactly like ours. Aram asked in genuine shock, "Why are your paintings identical?"
They were. Daeun's and mine were exactly the same, as if we'd planned it from the start.
What were the odds that a sudden inspiration I painted matched Daeun's exactly?
Probably pretty low, I'd say.
"Wow, they really are the same."
"Doesn't that mean you two share the exact same idea of happiness?"
At Aram's words, I looked at Daeun and asked,
"Is that true, Daeun? Is this really the happiness you thought of?"
Daeun beamed and nodded vigorously.
"Yeah! This is Daeun's happiness!"
The painting Daeun and I had both done was a family photo.
With 'family' as 'happiness'—I couldn't help but smile at Daeun's message.
'I never imagined Daeun was thinking the same thing.' No one was missing from it. Not Hyorin, not me. We hadn't spent much time together as a family, so it would've been easy to leave someone out, but Daeun didn't. Neither did I—I'd painted a complete family photo, one we'd never actually be able to take in reality. There's only one reason I saw this as happiness.
"Everyone has dreams, right? I wanted to paint mine."
Everyone dreams. But no one dreams of achieving every dream fully. Even unfulfilled dreams bring happiness while dreaming them. That's the happiness I wanted to capture. And I... 'At least in the painting, we look happy. That's a relief.' Hyorin, me, and Daeun smiling happier than anyone in the picture. Seeing our family's joy made me smile. They looked so incredibly happy. For a moment, it even made me envious, wondering if it was real. Daeun felt the same.
"Daeun like Daddy too! Like Mommy too! Like Daeun in picture!"
Her words that she liked everyone brought a natural smile to my face. Daeun was no different from me. She just couldn't express her thoughts and feelings fully yet. If she could, she'd probably say the exact same thing as me.
"I like them all too."
"Yeah!"
With all the paintings revealed, we naturally moved to the next step. Subtle tension hung in the air as eyes met. After some hesitation over who would speak first, Erina stepped up.
"Okay, shall we do a popularity vote? See whose painting gets the most votes."
Gulp. The moment had arrived. As everyone tensed, Aram spoke for the group.
"If we say whose we picked, it might hurt feelings. Let's do it anonymously."
"Daddy, what anonymous?"
"Not anonymous—anonymous. Means no one knows who picked what."
"We do that way too?"
"Yeah, we can."
Aram grabbed some Post-its from the table, tore off four, folded them into identical balls, and handed one to each person. She lined up the paintings and placed four narrow-necked containers in front.
"Simple! Take your ball, go around, and drop it in the container in front of the painting you like."
"Oh! Then others see too!"
At Daeun's sharp point, Aram laughed and added, "Everyone else will have their backs turned, so it's fine."
"Ah! Then great!"
"Alright, let's start the vote."
The popularity vote began. Starting with Daeun, each person circled the paintings and dropped their ball into their favorite. Everyone voted, and Aram picked up the containers with the results.
"Let's check! Drumroll... First, my painting!"
Rustle.
"Wow! One vote! I thought I'd get zero! Whoever you are, thank you so much!"
Aram: one vote. Next, Erina.
"Oh! Erina got one too!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! Tied with me."
At this point, I felt a flicker of unease. 'No way it's all ties.' The worry was brief as counting resumed. Aram checked Daeun's.
"Huh, one here too! Now it's all tied?"
Haha, who'd have thought every single one would tie. I hadn't even considered it. 'Hmm, what now?' This was a problem. We'd agreed on one for exhibition, but with a four-way tie, picking just one felt impossible. As we stared at the tied paintings— An unexpected solution came.
"How about exhibiting all four?"
"Huh? When did you get here?"
"I've been watching from a bit ago. So, what do you all think of showing all four?"
President Jeong, likely the final authority on this event, had appeared and resolved it in one go.