Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The café where I agreed to meet my brother was on the outskirts of the city.

He had rented the whole place for the day, so when I stepped into the empty café, a hand suddenly rose from one side.

A familiar face.

Just older than I remembered.

It was my brother, whom I hadn't seen in a long time.

"You're here."

"Yeah. You've aged a lot since I last saw you."

"Take a good look. That's what your face will look like soon."

"Don't curse me."

"Pfft."

The last time we'd seen each other, we'd parted without a single smile.

The fact that we could laugh like this now meant we'd both gained some breathing room.

My brother had done a lot for me.

After Grandfather died, when it felt as if there wasn't a single person in the family on my side, he had still supported me in his own way.

When I was younger, I'd gotten angry that he never openly took my side.

Now that I was older, I didn't see it that way anymore.

"Are those people your guards?"

"Yeah."

"Damn. Guess you really made it."

"Didn't you contact me because you already knew I'd made it?"

My brother snorted and shook his head.

"Right. Then make sure you put a fat envelope in at my wedding."

"Sure. Don't worry. I'm rich now. I can pay back the money you lent me too. Actually, forget everything else. Give me your account number first."

My brother frowned, looked away, and unnecessarily took a sip of coffee.

His refusal to accept money was so obvious that I didn't bother pressing.

I really would have to make the wedding gift generous instead.

"By the way, all those people are Hunters, right?"

"Why?"

"It'd be embarrassing if they could hear our conversation."

"What are we even going to talk about that's so important?"

"Idiot. Don't you manage your reputation?"

"...Sigh."

I let out a breath, then asked the guards to give us some privacy.

They seemed to understand and bowed without complaint before stepping outside.

They'd already told me there were no obvious threats inside the café.

"...What are you about to say that made you send everyone out?"

My brother stayed silent for a moment as though choosing his words.

Then he asked,

"Are you coming to my wedding?"

"You were the one who brought up the wedding gift."

"That was a joke."

"Some joke. I'm going. Isn't that why you sent me the invitation?"

"I sent it to let you know I'm getting married."

"Hyung."

"Our parents are coming to the wedding. You know that, right?"

"..."

In other words, he was asking if I'd really be okay attending when it meant seeing our parents again.

Honestly, I still wasn't ready to face them.

Maybe I'd never be ready.

My brother seemed to deliberately push at that uncertainty.

"Do Hwa-in. After you cut off contact with our parents... I don't know about Dad, but Mom suffered a lot. Dad probably regretted some things too, even if he never said it. He probably didn't expect you to stay away for this long without contacting anyone."

"..."

"But that's all. The conflict between you and Dad came from his resentment toward Grandfather. I think if you two meet, you'll just start fighting about Grandfather again."

"..."

"And looking at you now, you still don't seem ready to give Dad even a little ground."

"Don't you think we've come too far for me to give ground now?"

My brother let out a short, humorless laugh.

"Fair. You already make a living through sculpture. Asking you to give that up isn't exactly 'giving a little ground.'"

I quietly looked at his face.

Maybe it was because there were a few years between us.

There weren't obvious wrinkles, but maturity and exhaustion had mixed together in a way that was hard to separate.

His face looked even darker while talking about our parents.

Come to think of it, my brother was the last person I spoke to that day.

While I clashed with Father over sculpture, our parents had clung more and more tightly to their obedient eldest son.

And then that eldest son ran out after the younger brother who'd stormed out of the house...

Only to come back alone.

After that, every time news about me appeared on television, he must have been stuck between me and Father.

Thinking about that made me feel sorry for him.

My thoughts became complicated, so I changed the subject.

"...What kind of person is my future sister-in-law?"

"Hmm... a docent."

"Huh?"

"She works as a docent at a private art museum."

I couldn't hide my surprise.

A docent wasn't an artist.

But a museum docent was certainly a profession closely tied to the art world.

"...Do Mom and Dad know?"

"They do. We already had one huge fight about it."

"What got into you...?"

He normally gave in to our parents more easily than he let on.

"What can I do? I love her."

Ugh.

No matter how much my brother had helped me, hearing about his love life was something I could never get used to.

I made a disgusted face, then became concerned for his fiancée.

"Is she okay with all this?"

"Your future sister-in-law is the same as me."

"The whole love thing?"

"Yeah."

My brother gave me a teasing grin.

He looked smug.

But there was concern hidden in his expression too.

It made sense.

Most of the bride's guests would probably be people from the art world.

At this point, I was honestly surprised our parents were even planning to attend his wedding.

Does Father have some kind of fate tied to the art world?

For someone who hates it so much, he keeps getting tangled up with people connected to art.

"Hyung, I've been thinking."

"...?"

"Your wedding is going to have a lot of people from the art world anyway. And our parents are probably going to make it obvious they're uncomfortable."

"...What are you trying to say?"

"What if I give you a congratulatory sculpture as a wedding gift? At least it'll show your bride that she has one more person on her side in her husband's family. And it'll leave a strong impression on her guests too."

"Hmm."

My brother rubbed his chin and thought for a while.

Something was bothering him.

I immediately knew what.

"You don't have to. I didn't call you here to ask for a sculpture. And..."

He paused before continuing.

"Our parents' reaction. Are you really prepared to deal with it?"

"..."

My brother raised his coffee cup, finished what remained, then looked directly into my eyes.

"...Even so, I can't keep making you suffer because of me."

My brother's lips moved slightly.

Then he muttered quietly.

An ordinary person might not have heard it.

But as an Awakened, I heard him perfectly.

"Little bastard. You've grown up."

I was already an adult when I left home.

Seriously.

I turned my head away, and he continued.

"One last thing."

"...?"

"I've already seen your face, so that's enough for me. Don't keep trying to give me things. If you act like that everywhere, people are going to call you a sucker."

"You really can't say anything nicely until the end, can you?"

"Pot calling the kettle black."

With that, my brother left the café.

Under his coffee cup was enough money to pay for both drinks.

I took a deep breath and stood.

I was going to go drink.

Contrary to my brother's worries, I made up my mind that day.

I would give him one hell of a wedding gift.

It wasn't a decision made because I'd been drinking.

This was important to me.

Someone who ran away in the end because he couldn't stand and fight.

That was how I saw myself.

Which was exactly why I decided to make a sculpture.

My parents' approval?

I didn't particularly need it.

This sculpture was a message to them.

A message saying:

I'm already a proper artist.

Thankfully, Kim A-rang, my brother's fiancée, was thrilled about receiving one of my sculptures.

Judging from how awkward my brother sounded when he passed along her response, she must have been even more excited than he'd expected.

All right. Then what should I make for them?

It would be displayed at the wedding.

Obviously it needed to contain a blessing for their marriage.

And I also had to consider the venue's atmosphere, size, and layout.

I immediately began exchanging information with Kim A-rang through my brother.

Where they'd booked the wedding.

Where the sculpture would be placed.

When it needed to be finished and delivered.

Things like that.

Apparently they were planning quite an elaborate wedding.

Rather than a normal wedding hall, they'd rented an outdoor venue for quite a long time.

The ceremony and meal would both take place there.

They thought my sculpture would work well near the entrance.

To help with the concept, I also asked how the two of them had met, dated, and eventually decided to marry.

After writing down all the small pieces of information I'd need, I started developing the concept in earnest.

I'd delayed contacting my brother for a while, but thankfully there were still about two months until the wedding.

If I spend the full two months focused entirely on sculpture, I should be able to finish in time.

I turned and looked outside the window.

Fresh green shoots were beginning to sprout from the branches.

Water gushed steadily from Chaeri's drinking fountain.

These days, Chaeri preferred flying around outside to staying indoors.

Warm yellow sunlight filled the yard.

Spring was coming.

My brother and his fiancée had met through an acquaintance.

They'd liked each other from the very first meeting.

But while they were still getting to know each other, my brother learned that she wasn't a museum docent in the historical sense.

She worked at a private art museum.

So he told her about our parents.

About me.

Then he tried to break up with her.

The only reason their relationship survived was because of her.

Kim A-rang believed that love was something you fought to win.

She kept contacting my brother.

She even went to his house to persuade him.

You love me too, don't you?

If you let me go because you're worried about your parents' opposition, are you sure you won't regret it later?

If you stay beside me and keep loving me, then I'll endure your family's opposition too.

Even just hearing it secondhand...

That definitely sounded like something someone from the art world would say.

And considering my brother fell for it, apparently that man had a more sentimental side than I'd thought.

Anyway.

They started dating.

Naturally, once our parents learned about his girlfriend, the conflict became severe.

But in the end, my brother and Kim A-rang won.

Still, once they're officially family, there will probably be even more difficult situations.

My brother would constantly have to mediate.

Sometimes he might even have to make firm decisions.

...He'll handle it.

There were obvious hardships ahead.

Yet for some reason, I couldn't really imagine my brother becoming unhappy.

As I thought over their love story, a myth came to mind.

A famous one.

The marriage of Eros and Psyche.

Eros was a god.

Psyche was merely human.

Eros's mother, Aphrodite, opposed their marriage and gave Psyche four tasks that were nearly impossible to complete.

And after overcoming every trial and finishing them all, Psyche became a goddess and married Eros.

There were many details missing from that summary, but that was the general shape of the story.

Psyche, fighting to claim her love despite her future mother-in-law's opposition, reminded me of Kim A-rang.

But more than that, I wanted to emphasize what the myth represented.

Love comes with hardship.

But beyond that hardship lies joy.

That wasn't true of every relationship.

Still, I hoped it would be true for my brother.

Not that my brother is anywhere near as impressive as Eros.

I would put that wish into the sculpture.

The moment I decided on the direction, inspiration began pouring out.

Countless paintings and stories connected to the myth flashed through my head.

I'll use that scene.

One image solidified in my mind.

The most ecstatic.

The most beautiful ending in the entire myth.

"For the material... let's use the Portuguese marble I brought in before."

I'd had the Portuguese marble in my workshop for quite some time.

I brought it in around the same time as the ebony when I was making my itemized sculpting tools.

Some had been used to create my stoneworking tools and protective equipment.

Even after that, there was still enough left for an extra-large sculpture.

That was because I'd ordered the largest blocks possible when I bought it.

"The color has a pink tint too. It'll look beautiful once it's finished."

Portuguese marble was particularly known for its reddish tone.

Its colors ranged from pale pink to deep ruby red.

The stone I owned had a slightly reddish-pink base with white marbling.

I began preparing for the sculpture.

I walked around the marble again and again, revising the sketch.

Then I spread a large sheet over the floor to catch falling stone.

I didn't plan to use a grinder.

My tools were already items.

And because I wasn't carving only two human figures, I didn't need to remove huge amounts of stone all at once.

[If there's anything to discuss about the wedding, coming here in person will be faster than calling or texting.]

The final preparation was warning my brother that once I started working, I would be difficult to reach.

I placed my widest chisel against one corner of the marble.

Then I tightened my grip on the hammer and swung.

CLANG!

A clean sound rang out with the satisfying sensation of a perfect strike.

I adjusted my hearing-protection headset.

Then swung again.

And again.

Rumble....

Each time the chisel dug into the marble...

Each time another piece of stone fell away...

Pale dust filled the air.

Like clouds hiding the summit of Mount Olympus.

By the time the Eros and Psyche sculpture was about halfway finished...

My brother came to visit.

He arrived wearing a slightly exhausted expression and didn't even enter the workshop.

Instead, he claimed the living-room sofa.

"Hey. If you hadn't offered to give us a sculpture, we might've been in serious trouble."

"Why?"

I was eating the sushi he'd brought because I'd skipped lunch.

Then my brother suddenly said that.

"A-rang loves the idea way too much. Apparently she's been a huge fan of your work since <Pilgrim>."

"Really? That's something to be grateful for."

I nodded and popped a piece of egg sushi into my mouth.

"I'm not making this up either.... Ah! You have some kind of fan café, don't you?"

"Huh? Uh...."

Did he mean Dowon?

Surely not.

"A-rang is a member of your fan café."

"Seriously...?"

"Yeah. Here's proof."

He slid his phone toward me.

The screen showed the fan café login page, a hand making a V sign, and a verification note reading:

[Docent Kim A-rang]

When I looked more closely, her membership level was actually pretty high.

Has my future sister-in-law also been leaving comments promoting my work while going on about the Hongik Ingan spirit?

I stared at my brother in disbelief.

He snorted and added,

"She's been bouncing around saying marrying me was the best decision she ever made. So anyway, give me an autograph."

"Didn't you just tell me not to do anything extra for you?"

"I don't need one. A-rang wants it."

"Well, that's different."

Seriously.

A future family member was my fan.

Life really was strange.

I didn't have a proper signature, so I neatly wrote the three characters of my name.

My brother immediately started making demands.

Write his fiancée's name at the top.

Add a wedding congratulations message underneath.

He thoroughly got what he wanted before taking the paper.

"She's also been worrying about where to put the sculpture after the wedding. Oh, would it be okay to display it at the art museum where she works?"

"That's fine. If it's in a museum, they'll take good care of it too."

And that wasn't the only benefit.

More people would get to see it.

I wanted all of them to bless my brother and sister-in-law's love.

And while I was at it...

Maybe I'd gain some Aura too.