Chapter 75 (2) - The Mysterious Art Museum
A few days later, at the W Hotel theater.
Irina, who had become accustomed to the theater where she practiced every day, hesitates upon seeing workers hanging in the air, a scene unlike the usual quiet atmosphere.
The beautiful Monica, standing in the middle of the stage, claps her hands and shouts.
"A little more to the left! The wire is twisted, there! No, not there, a bit more to the side! Yes, about 10 degrees to the right. Okay, good. Fix it like that."
Irina, watching from the audience seats for a moment, steps lightly onto the stage.
"What's going on, Monica?"
Monica, wearing a red blouse, smiles with her charming, similarly colored lips.
"Have you been well, Irina? I came here at Jeong-hoon's request."
"Jeong-hoon?"
Irina's face lights up at the mention of Jeong-hoon. Monica doesn't miss her expression.
Monica said with a faint smile,
"You've been having dinner together every evening for over a week now, haven't we?"
"..."
A blush spreads over the ice maiden's face.
"Oh, well."
"Looks like you've developed feelings*."
[T/N: Its "," a Korean term derived from Hanja, representing a complex mix of affection, love, and emotional attachment that doesn't directly translate to English.]
"Feelings?"
"Oh, it's a Korean word. Or was it Chinese? Anyway, it's a word with a lot of meanings. I learned it because it seems to encompass a lot of positive emotions."
"How do you use it?"
Monica searches for the character on her phone and shows it.
"Like this."
"Hmm, it's an interesting character. Is this also Korean? Korean seems more concise."
"This is a Chinese character, but apparently, it's not commonly used in China."
"Hmm, I see."
Irina stops the conversation and looks up.
A huge TV monitor is being brought onto the stage, which only had wires installed. The workers, pushing the monitor on a wheeled cart, shout,
"A bit more to the right! Yes! Push it like that!"
"If you bring it in like that, you can't hang the wire, you know. Come in from the back!"
It seems this is what Jeong-hoon had requested.
Realizing what Jeong-hoon's artwork might be through the monitor, Irina asked Monica,
"Digital media art?"
Monica nodded.
"It looks like Jeong-hoon is becoming a Wagner this time. He's such an interesting person."
"Why is he interesting? Digital media art isn't unfamiliar to modern people."
Monica crosses her arms and laughs.
"When I first met him, he reminded me of Alphonse Mucha, the Czech painter who represented Art Nouveau."
Irina, looking at the ceiling painting Jeong-hoon drew, tilts her head.
"The styles are completely different. That painting looks like it's from 18th-century Austria."
Monica shrugs with a smile.
"Right, Min-yeong's mother's portrait and that painting give off a vibe as if Klimt has come back to life."
Monica, looking up at the ceiling painting with Irina, said,
"But now he seems to be following the path of Wagner, who created a comprehensive art of poetry, dance, and music. But that might be my misconception."
Misconception?
A strange way of conversation, acknowledging one's own words as a misconception. Irina looks at Monica with a face that seems to ask what she's talking about.
Monica gestures with her eyes and says,
"Look at the angle of the monitor."
The monitor, being pulled up into the air by workers on ladders using wires. Irina, still still watching the monitor not yet hung properly, asks,
"It doesn't seem to be hung correctly yet."
"No, it will be hung at that angle."
"..."
Irina looks at the monitor again.
It's strange. The painting should be installed at an angle visible to the audience.
In fact, her request to Jeong-hoon to provide a painting was initiated with the hope that the audience would feel Chopin's music more deeply. She wanted them to see the painting and music together and experience its lyricism and emotions in detail.
But the center of the direction in which the monitor is being installed is not the audience seats.
Instead, the monitor, being installed in a direction that is more visible from where she sits at the piano, will appear tilted when viewed from the audience seats.
"Will it be visible to the audience if installed like that?"
Monica, resting her arms on her waist, says,
"The technology of MG is amazing. Even if viewed at an angle, the panel is clear."
"..."
But why hang it like that? This is her stage, not a tech exhibit to showcase MG Electronics' technology.
Monica's voice reaches Irina, who is quietly watching the monitor.
"The person Jeong-hoon wants to show this painting to is not the audience, Irina."
What does she mean?
A painter not showing a painting to an audience, spectators? Then for whom did he paint it?
Monica, receiving Irina's puzzled gaze, smiles and says,
"Jeong-hoon wants you to see the painting, Irina."
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