Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Clouds That Listen
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"Yes."
At the sudden comment about his good looks, the PD tapped Manager Park Ki-cheol on the shoulder.
"Hey, I told you, didn't I? He's a super famous painter."
At those words, Manager Park Ki-cheol grinned and changed the subject.
"What do you mean? I had absolutely no ulterior motive. I was just purely saying he's so handsome."
"Don't lie. I can see the madness in your eyes right now."
"Yes, really."
Whoosh!
With an exaggerated gesture, he pulled out his phone and examined his own eyes.
"Nah, no it's not. Don't scare me like that. I'm really terrified of that stuff."
As he spoke, Manager Park Ki-cheol subtly glanced at the monitor filming the inside of the studio.
"Erina's friend was supposed to come today, but... uh?"
"Oh, I heard Erina's friend got into an accident."
"Yes."
"So she's at the hospital now and called to say she can't make it."
"Th-then what do we do about the filming...?"
Whoosh!
Turning his gaze back to the monitor, it still showed Erina and Daeun facing each other, painting.
"They're... doing fine."
"Yeah, things were so hectic she forgot to call you."
"Oh, that happens. But... who's that kid?"
"Oh, that's Daeun."
"Her name's Daeun?"
At the question, the PD smiled and pulled my arm.
"This is the daughter of the handsome painter Kanghyeok Lee."
"D-daughter? Are you married by any chance?"
"I was totally shocked at first too. I thought some college kid had gotten her in trouble or something."
No, what...
"Wow, I was really surprised. Who would've thought he had such a big daughter."
He made a face full of regret.
"But want me to tell you something even more surprising?"
"What is it?"
"That Daeun over there."
The PD spoke with a mysterious smile.
"She's a genius."
"Yes?"
"A genius in art. I heard she's even having an exhibition at XX Department Store this time."
"Y-yes? An exhibition? H-how old is Daeun, by the way?"
He was so seriously shocked that I started feeling embarrassed for him.
But since he'd asked, I answered.
"She's five."
"F-five years old...? What was I doing at five?"
How would I know that?
"She's truly amazing."
"I'm still constantly amazed myself, though I haven't seen her paintings yet... Oh, looks like she's done."
As he spoke, the PD looked at the monitor, where a slight change had occurred from the constant scene of her just painting.
"Oh, seems like she's finished."
Daeun's back was captured on camera. And beyond her, partially obscured by Daeun, her painting was intermittently visible.
"Switch to camera 3."
"Yes."
At the director's command, the camera switched, and Daeun's front view appeared on the monitor.
Having finished her painting to her satisfaction, Daeun beamed with a huge smile, her expression making everyone watching smile involuntarily.
At the sight of such an adorable Daeun.
"Wow..."
Manager Park Ki-cheol said to me with a half-dazed expression.
"Excuse me, sir, have you ever thought about having Daeun try child acting?"
What was this now...
Child actor?
* * *
At Manager Park Ki-cheol's words, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.
'Could Daeun be a child actor?'
Of course, I had no intention whatsoever of making her do it just because he suggested it.
But I could at least think about it.
'She'd probably suit it well.'
For starters, Daeun objectively looked very cute and lovable, resembling Hyorin and me.
That alone gave her a huge advantage, but what mattered most for child actors was probably memorizing lines.
In a way, Daeun's perfect memory ability would be the ultimate efficiency for remembering scripts.
In other words, if she became a child actor, she could do it more than well enough.
Well, of course, I had no plans to make her do it.
"Looks like they're about to talk about the paintings now."
At the PD's words, I turned my gaze to the screen.
* * *
Daeun and Erina sat facing each other.
At that moment, Erina spoke first.
"Daeun, what painting did you want to draw for me?"
She'd been drinking chocolate milk when she suddenly thought of a painting she wanted to draw, she'd said.
So she looked quite expectant about what painting it would be.
But Daeun said,
"Auntie first!"
"Yeah, show me yours first?"
Nod!
"Yes, Auntie, show me yours first!"
I'd assumed she'd show hers first, of course, but Daeun broke expectations by asking Erina to show hers first.
Erina pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay, then I'll show mine first. The painting I drew is..."
Swoosh.
As she spoke, Erina turned her canvas with her painting.
Naturally, the painting inside faced toward Daeun, revealing what it was.
The painting Erina had drawn was none other than a flower painting.
A unique style flower painting with an attractive purple hue.
"It's the flower I draw best, and my favorite flower."
"Wow, pretty. The flower is super pretty!"
The flower's shape was a bit unusual.
It didn't seem like a typical flower, but Erina's following explanation let everyone know what it was.
"The flower's name is iris."
"This brush?"
Daeun held up the brush she was holding.
Nod.
"Yeah. They say it got named iris because the bud looks just like a brush dipped in ink. Cool, right?"
"Yes! Super fun! Daeun wikes fwowers!"
"But this flower has an even cooler flower language."
"Flower language? Flowers talk?"
At Daeun's innocent question if flowers talked, Erina chuckled lightly and replied.
"Hmm, flower language is like... assigning meanings to flowers... Oh, is that too hard?"
"Flowers talking!"
"Yeah, maybe that's easier to understand. Right. Flower language is what flowers say."
"Then what does this fwower say?"
"Hmm, the flower language of this iris is..."
Smile.
Erina looked at her drawn iris and said,
"Good news. That's the iris's flower language."
"Good news."
"Yeah, I drew this flower hoping good news always comes to you, Daeun."
At those words, Daeun looked once more at the iris Erina had drawn.
The iris drawn as if lightly touched.
But its beauty was in no way light.
It felt just like the iris's flower language—like it would bring good news.
"Daeun wikes the fwower."
At that, Erina smiled and asked,
"Then will you show me your painting now? I'm really curious what Daeun drew."
At those words, Daeun gave a slight smile, seeming a bit shy, and said,
"The painting Daeun drew is this."
With that, Daeun turned her painting so Erina could see it.
The painting Daeun had drawn on the canvas was something completely unexpected.
"The sky."
What Daeun had painted was none other than the sky.
Fluffy clouds floating in the blue sky.
And birds flying through them, along with the sun.
Erina, surprised by Daeun's utterly unexpected painting, asked curiously,
"Can I ask why you wanted to paint the sky for me?"
Just as wonder filled everyone about what meaning it held.
Daeun shyly said,
"Mommy said so. That the sky's cwouds wistens to evewything!"
"What?"
"So Daeun painted the sky. So Auntie can teww evewything to the sky Daeun painted! So Auntie! Cheer up! Daeun's cheering for you!"
Hyorin had told Daeun that the sky's clouds listen to all stories.
I had no idea what stories Hyorin wanted to tell the sky's clouds so badly, but perhaps Daeun thought it was good, so she painted the clouds.
"So the reason you wanted to paint the sky for me was..."
"The cwouds wistens to evewything! Auntie tewws evewything to the cwouds!"
At that moment, Erina's expression grew strange. It looked like smiling, but her eyes seemed somehow sad.
Then, stuttering slightly, she asked,
"D-Daeun... h-how did you know?"
What on earth was she talking about?
As question marks filled everyone's minds watching this.
Manager Park Ki-cheol, who had been watching the whole scene, spoke up.
"Daeun really is a genius. But how on earth did she know?"
So what had Daeun figured out that made even Erina and Manager Park Ki-cheol say this?
Without taking his eyes off the screen, he said,
"That Erina has depression."
The atmosphere instantly grew heavy.
* * *
Not long ago, Erina had received psychiatric treatment for depression.
One of the causes was the countless malicious comments on her articles and photos.
At first, she'd tried ignoring them, but as the hate comments grew excessive, she finally exploded.
From then on, she'd suffered intense stress, and eventually developed a mental illness.
'Did Daeun notice from Erina's painting?'
It's said that paintings contain the painter's psychology.
It's not something you can force into them; it naturally seeps in.
That's why fields like art psychology exist.
Swoosh.
"Are you okay?"
Due to Erina's sudden emotional shift, filming was paused.
And understandably so—shortly after Daeun's words, Erina had collapsed in place, sobbing uncontrollably.
As if someone had gently soothed her heart.
"Yeah, I'm calming down now."
I handed her a paper cup of water and sat across from her.
"That's a relief. I was so worried when you suddenly burst into tears."
"I'm sorry. Listening to Daeun, I just... tears came out before I knew it."
Anyone in that situation probably would've cried.
"By the way, the flower painting you gave Daeun."
"Oh, the iris?"
"Yeah, is that an iris?"
At the word "iris," Erina nodded.
"Yes, it is. In foreign countries, they call irises that."
"Oh, I thought so."
"But why?"
"Well, do you know Vincent van Gogh by any chance?"
"Van Gogh, the mad genius painter, right?"
Who in our country doesn't know Van Gogh? He's famous enough to be in textbooks.
"But why Van Gogh?"
"Hmm, your story earlier reminded me of him."
"My story?"
"Yeah, Vincent van Gogh's favorite flower was the iris, just like yours."
"R-really?"
It was true.
Especially from 1888, he obsessively painted only irises.
"Yes, he painted irises in all sorts of techniques. Do you know why?"
The reason Vincent van Gogh kept painting irises.
Erina shook her head and asked,
"Why was it?"
At her question, I smiled faintly and explained the reason.
Smile.
"They say Van Gogh believed that irises have the power to protect the human heart from restless souls."