Baek Myunghee stood up in surprise.
"Seok got in an article?"
The chair scraped roughly against the floor as she rose abruptly. Baek Myunghee hurried over to Kang Chaeyoung.
"I'm telling you it's true...!"
"Chaeyoung, wait a moment."
Kang Chaeyoung's eyes sparkled as she held out her phone. From behind Chaeyoung's bouncing shoulders, Kang Seok approached, scratching the back of his head.
"Seok, what on earth is this all about?"
"Well... uh..."
Although the question was meant for him to explain, Kang Seok brushed the tip of his nose with his index finger and avoided eye contact. His earlobes were slightly red, making him look shy.
"Shy? About what?" A bunch of question marks popped above Baek Myunghee's head. Then Kang Chaeyoung came up beside Kang Seok and poked his belly with her elbow.
"Explain it, oppa. Hurry up."
Neither the pestering Chaeyoung nor the shy-looking Seok made sense to Baek Myunghee.
While the kids finished eating and rested, it seemed they had exchanged some secret talk during the meal.
After patiently waiting, Kang Seok slowly lifted his gaze and met Baek Myunghee's eyes.
Right then, as Baek Myunghee nodded urging him to explain, her view was blocked by a white object — it was an envelope Kang Seok suddenly handed her.
"An envelope?"
Without thinking, Baek Myunghee took the heavy, thick envelope. What could it be? She looked down at the unopened envelope slowly.
"...Oh, mother!"
It was money. All in 50,000 won bills with images of Shin Saimdang and King Sejong. Baek Myunghee's eyes grew huge like lanterns. Even at a glance, it looked like several hundred thousand won.
She was so surprised she couldn't speak. Baek Myunghee recalled the past few weeks.
Since winter vacation started.
Even though the winter break of second-year high school students preparing for art college entrance exams is an extremely important time, Kang Seok's attitude was strange.
He avoided special academy classes he was supposed to attend, claimed he had to do club activities, and went out from morning until night — it seemed like he'd given up on the entrance exams.
Come to think of it, who would let a student do club activities from morning till night at this time?
Baek Myunghee had a reasonable suspicion. It looked like he wasn't going for club activities but to earn money.
She never once thought it was fortunate to save on academy fees...!
At that heartbreaking moment when she thought her son was feeling the family's financial strain—
"I got this from the mural club. I didn't do any part-time job."
Kang Seok cleared up Baek Myunghee's misunderstanding. Baek Myunghee blinked.
"Really?"
Which mother wouldn't wonder what her son was thinking?
But Kang Seok's eyes spoke the truth — he looked like he wanted to say, "I know what you're thinking, but no."
"Really..."
He actually did the club activities. Now that she thought about it, a comment from another parent crossed Baek Myunghee's mind — that participating in the Cheonghwa Arts High School club activities was a great help for the self-introduction letters in art school admissions.
Luckily, it wasn't that he gave up on entrance exams because of the family's situation.
Baek Myunghee took a deep breath. She felt relieved. But only for a moment. Then her breath grew quick again.
"How much is this? No, what kind of club activities did you do? What kind of school club is it that they give out this much money...!"
She had so many questions. Grasping the envelope tightly as if to cling to her surprise, Baek Myunghee was even ready to confront anyone who had wronged her son by throwing this money in their face.
"Mom, it's not strange money. The mural club entered a high school mural contest and we won first place. That's why I got this."
"You need to explain properly. Listen, the prize money for first place is normally ten million won, but since you did the best, the school generously gave you five million won. Isn't that amazing?"
"They gave Seok five million won?"
How good does someone have to be to get half the prize money for themselves? Baek Myunghee slumped down. The cushion on the chair deflated with a soft sound.
"He must have done really well. There's an article about the high school mural contest win and it's all about him."
Baek Myunghee, weak in the knees, received the phone Kang Chaeyoung handed her. Chaeyoung sat perched on the wide window sill to Baek Myunghee's left.
Kang Seok also quietly sat on the window sill to Baek Myunghee's right.
After secretly telling his mother about winning the prize, Kang Seok had been so focused on the phone that he hadn't read the article himself.
"Where's the article..."
"Scroll down more. More. More. Yes, there!"
Kang Seok's pupils widened as he looked at the endlessly scrolling screen with a strange expression.
[Cheonghwa Arts High School Lifts the '8th Championship Trophy' at the High School Mural Contest]
The article was real.
[Seoul = Sangeuneul Newspaper] Reporter Kang Hana = On the 16th, Cheonghwa Arts High School won first place at the recently held Seoul City High School Mural Contest.
This marks their 8th victory. We spoke with mural club teacher Joo Sarang, who led the team. How did she win the 8th championship trophy?
Q. Reporter Kang Hana: This is already your 8th victory in a large-scale public art competition. How have you been able to maintain such a record?
A. Joo Sarang: (laughs) Normally I would say it's thanks to my efforts. And it was. I'm usually hands-off as long as the results are good. But today I have a different answer. There was an unbelievable raw gem in my treasure chest. Thanks to him.
Q. Can you tell us who that is?
A. Of course. I'm here to brag. Kang Seok. (makes a V sign with fingers) A second-year student who joined the mural club this year.
Q. Is he the student who painted The Creation of Adam on the 8th floor of Renaissance Complex Shopping Mall?
A. Yes, Kang Seok painted it. He was the one who thought of the painting best fitting the Renaissance theme and also painted it. Didn't he do wonderfully? I even take a one-hour detour home just to see it.
Q. Why do you say The Creation of Adam fits best with the Renaissance name?
A. It's quite literal. The Renaissance was a time focusing on human-centered beauty, not gods. Humans were the main subject of interest. You could call it a return to Greco-Roman ideals. In that sense, Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam, painted over four years on a huge ceiling in an uncomfortable posture, is a celebration of humanity and fits perfectly with the Renaissance spirit.
Q. Do you think Kang Seok knew all that when he painted it?
A. I wondered too, so I asked him why he chose The Creation of Adam. Kang Seok told me, "I just wanted to paint the moment when humans were first created. Pure, innocent, grateful for the gift of life without sin…" It's a quote from a film about Michelangelo. Kang Seok knew why he was painting it. I sensed that the day Kang Seok finishes that painting, our victory would be certain.
Q. Did Kang Seok paint the entire work alone?
A. Yes. Although time was tight, Kang Seok did it. He finished it, and we won.
[...]
Q. Sorry for talking so much about Kang Seok during the interview.
A. (laughs) It's okay. That was the point.
Q. One last question. What kind of artist do you think Kang Seok will become?
A. (after a long pause) One thing is certain. We will see something we have never seen before.
?????????
"I'll definitely include this."
So this is what they meant by including it. Kang Seok, who was secretly reading the article over Baek Myung-hee's shoulder, chuckled.
If you think about it, Ju Sa-rang was really outstanding at this kind of performance. While Kang Seok recalled Ju Sa-rang, Baek Myung-hee read the article several times over a long while, then held her breath. Her nose felt a sting.
So this was why Seok had been spending almost the entire vacation outside, claiming he had mural club activities day and night.
Reading through the article, she understood.
The article stated that if they won, the best painter would receive five million won. That must be the reason.
"They said even collateral loans wouldn't work. Where would you get five million won right now?"
She couldn't ignore it. Baek Myung-hee clenched the envelope tightly, as if she might crumple it. After all, she was the one who had said they needed five million won.
She forced herself to stay strong. If she loosened even a bit, tears might burst out immediately.
"I wish Seok's dad were here with us right now..."
Being someone who cried easily, expressing gratitude was never easy for her. But Kang Hyun-do was away on a business trip for the first time in a long while.
"Mom, don't you think Oppa is a real genius? Look, the article says that the victory was all thanks to him. What if he becomes famous? Should I practice getting his autograph?"
"Why would you be practicing autographs?"
"Is that so?"
Like a good sibling pair, Kang Chaeyoung and Kang Seok exchanged trivial jokes and chuckled softly. They've really grown up. Baek Myung-hee turned her head quickly and wiped her eyes.
She couldn't show weakness in front of the kids. And she didn't intend to take the money either.
She didn't want to be a parent who took away what her children had, even if she couldn't be one who gave them everything good.
"Seok, I don't think this money is meant for me."
"...Huh?"
"It's your money, so why are you giving it to me? You should use it yourself."
Oh.
Kang Seok looked at her with a surprised expression, as if he hadn't expected that. His eyes were slightly bigger, and his mouth partly open—it was cute.
It was the exact same expression he made when he couldn't memorize the multiplication table as a child. Baek Myung-hee smiled gently and held out the envelope.
This isn't right. Kang Seok stiffened, caught off guard.
He probably needs five million won, right? His bewildered gaze turned toward Kang Chaeyoung, who was nodding vigorously beside him.
There was no way to say in front of Chaeyoung that the rent had gone up and they needed five million won.
He had only thought about solving the problem by getting the five million won. He never considered that the person who should receive it wouldn't take it.
As Kang Seok stammered, trying to find words,
Ding dong.
The door opened. Everyone naturally turned their heads in that direction. It was Kang Hyun-do.
Unlike Baek Myung-hee, who was tearful, Kang Hyun-do appeared with a face full of excitement.
"Daddy's home."
More than his confident walk today, what caught Kang Chaeyoung and Kang Seok's attention was what Kang Hyun-do was holding.
A cake.
A cake.
A cake that you could only see on birthdays, held in Kang Hyun-do's hand. And not a plain cream cake from the local bakery.
Kang Chaeyoung looked at the sticker on the cake with a startled expression. It was a strawberry chocolate cake from a large franchise café on the main street corner.
"Dad?"
"Daddy?"
Baek Myung-hee looked at Kang Hyun-do in surprise.
"Where did you get the cake from?"
"Oh, this? Haha, I saw it on my way back from the business trip, so I brought it."
A business trip? Something twirled in Baek Myung-hee's eyes.
"By the way, how did your business trip go?"
She clearly remembered Kang Hyun-do boarding the truck early in the morning with a catalog full of samples, looking determined.
"Well, about that..."
Kang Hyun-do avoided eye contact, looking troubled, then suddenly smiled brightly like a clever rascal.
"It was a huge success! They paid right there on the spot. Two deals."
Kang Hyun-do handed Baek Myung-hee the receipts. 19 million won. It showed that a total of 19 million won was paid at once.
No matter what furniture was sold, even after subtracting costs, at least five million would remain. Baek Myung-hee hugged Kang Hyun-do. Kang Chaeyoung, not knowing all the details, waved her hands excitedly, thinking it was good news.
It was literally a double blessing.
That evening.
Kang Seok handed Kang Hyun-do five million won again, saying to add it to the business, but Kang Hyun-do responded like Baek Myung-hee—with a firm refusal.
Eventually, the five million won ended up back in Kang Seok's hands. Seeing Kang Seok struggling, Baek Myung-hee, while spreading the blanket, laughed and suggested:
"Since this is the first money Seok earned, he should spend it on whatever he wants. What are you worrying about?"
Use it wherever you want.
Kang Seok, who had been agonizing for days over what to do with the money after Baek Myung-hee's words, finally reached a decision.
At the breakfast table where the whole family was present, Kang Seok pulled out the five million won and said:
"Let's go to the hospital, everyone."
The family stopped eating, surprised, and asked again:
"Suddenly?"