Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: My Daughter Is a Genius Painter 070
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As soon as we arrived at the studio, Daeun checked over the equipment she'd organized a few days earlier.
Honestly, calling it "equipment" was a bit of a stretch—it was just paints and brushes and the like—but to Daeun, every bit of it seemed special.
"Daddy, when can Daeun draw a pikture?"
"Yeah, Daeun wants to draw a pikture quickwy!"
"Yeah! Daeun start wight away!"
I couldn't help but smile at how eager she was to paint.
"If you want to draw, go ahead and start right now."
We'd already exchanged basic greetings on the way up, and President Jeong wouldn't be here for a while yet.
Clink.
So I set up the canvas for her and got the paints ready, making sure she could paint comfortably.
"Daddy, tank you!"
"If you need anything else, just let me know. While you're in the studio, Daeun..."
I gave her a thumbs-up.
"...you're the queen."
"Queen? Daeun queen!"
Her eyes sparkled at the word "queen."
"Of course. You're basically the owner here."
"Then what about Daddy?"
"Daddy..."
Hmm, what would suit me?
Servant had a bad ring to it. Ah!
"Assistant."
"Assistant."
"Yeah, that's what you call someone who helps out from the side."
"Oh! Togeder with Daddy!"
"Right, so Daddy will be Daeun's assistant. Tell me whenever you need anything, and I'll help as much as I can."
"Yeah! Got it! Then Daeun gonna paint now!"
With that, she grabbed the pencil she'd brought from home and sat down in front of the canvas to start drawing.
'Well, she can draw whatever she wants.'
We'd be working here for quite a while anyway.
Normally, you'd paint something themed for the exhibition, but Daeun was still young, and the world as she saw it was the theme itself—so any painting would do.
That's why I'd told her to paint whatever she felt like.
Scritch scritch.
Daeun began to draw.
I watched her for a bit with my arms crossed, then got lost in thought.
'Hmm, nothing to do.'
Everything was already tidied up, and there was no need to make busywork.
President Jeong still had time before arriving.
'Maybe I should paint something too.'
As I headed quietly to the storage room where the equipment was kept, thinking that...
Bzzz—
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and a text came in.
The sender was none other than...
'Oh, Jiyul's dad.'
It was from Jiyul's dad, whom we'd met at the play park yesterday.
[Daeun's dad! Did you get home safe yesterday? Things were so hectic I couldn't message!]
Even just reading the text, I could feel his energy jumping off the screen.
[Ah, we got home fine. You and Jiyul too, right?]
As soon as I replied, a response came in less than a minute.
[Of course! Jiyul woke up this morning and started singing about missing Daeun right away. Took forever to calm her down!]
I couldn't help but chuckle at something so trivial.
Sure, after waking from my coma, I'd texted and called a lot of people, but chatting with Jiyul's dad felt completely different from before.
What was it? Maybe because the topic was kids, it just naturally made me smile.
[Daeun did the same. Looks like they had a ton of fun yesterday. We should hang out again sometime. The kids would love it.]
[Do you like camping by any chance?]
The word "camping" put me in a great mood for no reason.
'Camping sounds perfect.'
Imagining setting up tents on a grassy field, cooking the food we'd brought, and watching the kids play made me want to head out right then.
[Oh, sounds great. I'm free anytime, so just pick a date that works for you and Jiyul. I'll make it work.]
[Alright, I'll find a good day then. Oh! I took some pics of the kids playing yesterday on my phone. Sending them over! Lots of cute shots of Daeun too.]
Photos? I was caught off guard.
[You took pictures?]
[Yeah, work keeps me busy, so I miss Jiyul a lot. I take tons of photos to look back on whenever. Yesterday was no exception. Hang on!]
Sure enough, Jiyul's dad sent over a massive batch of photos from yesterday via messenger.
Over 100 shots, easy.
'He really took a lot.'
But more wasn't a bad thing.
No, it was great.
'Oh, this one's adorable.'
There was even a photo from before Jiyul's dad had gone to the bathroom—and before he'd come over to talk to me.
Daeun's excited face as she climbed the slide was captured perfectly.
There were a few shots from the goldfish scooping game too, taken at angles I couldn't figure out, and most of the photos showed the kids' bright smiles beautifully.
[Thanks so much.]
[No problem! If you're looking back through them, I'll send more!]
His message made me feel a bit guilty all of a sudden.
'Ah, I should've taken some pictures too.'
Come to think of it, even though we'd been out and about with Daeun all this time, it hadn't occurred to me to snap photos with my smartphone.
Of course, I'd taken a few with the Polaroid and such, but like Jiyul's dad said, smartphone pics would be easy to pull up anytime.
'I need to take more from now on.'
As I resolved to do that...
A sudden thought hit me.
'Wait, come to think of it, I have something I could give Jiyul's dad too.'
He'd captured the kids with photos, but I'd captured them with my eyes.
You might wonder what that means, but it was simple.
'Paint a picture and give it as a gift.'
It'd be a present only I could make.
I'd spent the whole day yesterday watching the kids, so no need for a separate model.
If I painted the happiest moments of the kids from memory and gave it as a gift...
'It'd be perfect.'
We were planning to meet up with Jiyul's family again anyway, so I could hand it over then.
Swish.
With the idea fresh in my mind, I hurriedly set up a canvas and paints.
A short while later, I settled in a spot a little away from where Daeun was working and started sketching on my canvas.
Imagining a cute, heartwarming scene of Daeun and Jiyul smiling at each other.
Scribble scribble!
And so, the studio filled only with the pleasant sound of pencils scratching away.
'It's been a while since I got this focused.'
How long had it been since I'd concentrated like this? I'd done plenty of work lately, but nothing quite like this.
Some might find my behavior odd.
Pictures are pictures, right? What's the difference?
But that's because they don't understand art.
Even the exact same picture carries vastly different emotions.
In that sense, the painting I was working on now felt incredibly weighty.
It was infused with so many varied emotions in every corner.
Streeetch!
'Ugh!'
I paused my painting and stretched long.
My body wasn't fully back to normal yet, so focusing too long wasn't good.
Nothing was urgent anyway, so I'd take it slow.
'I wonder how Daeun's doing.'
I glanced over at Daeun, who was painting a short distance away.
And on her canvas...
'Huh? What's this? Why's it blank?'
Nothing. Completely empty.
She should've been drawing busily, so at least as much as me or a bit less—but it was still blank.
What on earth? I got up and walked over to her.
Was something wrong with Daeun? I asked carefully.
"Daeun, honey, why haven't you drawn anything yet? Do you need something?"
She looked straight into my eyes and shook her head.
"No......"
She looked so down.
She'd said she wanted to paint as soon as we got here, and with her perfect memory, she couldn't have forgotten what she wanted to draw.
"Maybe tell Daddy what you want to paint? I could help a bit."
But she shook her head at that too.
"No way, Daeun wanna show Daddy suwpwise!"
"Yeah?"
"So secwet."
So she'd been planning to paint something to surprise me with.
What could it be? I had no clue.
But I couldn't keep pressing her.
'What should I do?'
No one can be perfect all the time.
Especially in art like painting, results vary hugely based on emotions.
Maybe Daeun not being able to paint right now was an emotional block.
"Hmm, usually, if a painting isn't coming together, forcing yourself to sit there doesn't make it happen."
Daeun looked surprised and asked.
"Daddy have times Daeun can't draw too?"
Not "couldn't draw," but "couldn't paint" would be more precise.
There was a time when strange thoughts gripped me, and I couldn't pick up a brush for ages.
But I couldn't tell her all that, so I kept it simple for her to understand.
"Of course. Which means you don't have to feel down about today's painting at all."
"Weally?"
"Yeah, really. When this happens..."
Tap.
I set down the pencil I was holding, and Daeun followed suit, placing hers aside.
I was about to smile and tell her she'd done well when...
"The painting isn't coming?"
Suddenly, President Jeong came up the stairs into the studio.
"Is that true?"
"Yes, ah, well......"
Of all the timing.
It was President Jeong, who'd lent us the studio, and here was Daeun unable to paint.
Daeun put on a gloomy face too.
"Daeun... can't paint......"
"Yeah."
President Jeong looked more shocked than anyone at her reaction.
"Whoa, no, that's not it!"
He waved his hands frantically, his face full of surprise, trying to clear up the misunderstanding.
"I didn't mean it like that.
'What I meant was, if the painting won't come, I'll just have to help you out.'
That's what I was going to say. Really."
Daeun blinked her big eyes over and over and asked.
"Weally......?"
He grinned.
"Absolutely. I've met so many artists, and sure, it'd be great to be in top form every day, but those days are rare. Most artists struggle with their paintings too. Right?"
She glanced at me from an angle he couldn't see, her expression begging for backup.
How could I not help with a face like that?
"Daddy's had that too. So when it happens......"
That's when President Jeong clapped his hands and jumped in.
"Ah, instead of this, how about we step out for a bit?"
"Daeun too?"
"Yes, why don't you both go out together? Get some fresh air, maybe take a drive. It could help."
Going out when she was stuck on a painting.
'It might not be a bad idea.'
Sometimes cooling your head was the best solution.
But his suggestion sparked my curiosity.
"Where to, though?"
He'd said it like there was somewhere specific.
So I asked, and his answer made my eyes go wide.
"How about visiting another artist's studio?"
"What? Another artist's studio?"