novelThe Meaning of Lion Tamer (3)
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"Uh..."
Byeongguk looked back and met Haejin's gaze. He was implying that it was up to Haejin to make the decision.
Eventually, Sungjun gestured at Haejin to sit on the opposite sofa.
Haejin didn't understand what was going on, but he couldn't just run away. Therefore, he sat on the sofa while dragging Byeongguk to make him sit next to him. It was to show that Byeongguk deserved to sit as well.
"Khmm..."
Sungjun's face hardened as he didn't like an art dealer sitting opposite to him. He considered most art dealers as people who traded with stolen goods.
However, he couldn't just tell Byeongguk to sit up, so he was going to continue speaking. Then, however, he was dumbfounded again. His daughter plopped down next to him.
"Why did you sit? Get up."
"I want to hear as well. Although you made me buy the painting, in the end, it was me who bought it. I have the rights to listen to what you are about to say."
That argument had some logical flaws, but Sungjun couldn't argue with his daughter anymore. He sighed and resumed talking.
"Huh... you, are you also good with ceramics?"
Haejin didn't know what Sungjun wanted from him, but he wasn't really interested in hearing him out.
He didn't like the young girl who was raising an eyebrow at him but, more than that, he wanted to go home and rest since he was exhausted after using the magic.
It had become less painful but, if it had been as strong as when he was in the Cheonjiin Appraising Agency, he might have thrown up there.
"No, I'm not. I came here with my uncle, not because I am a great appraiser."
For a moment, Sungjun looked panicked for the first time. He had asked that to be sure before he got to his point. He didn't expect that Haejin would back off here.
"You came to help your uncle, who came here to sell a celadon, but you are not good at ceramics?"
"Yes. So, if you want to give me a task, please think carefully. You must be determined that you will not make me responsible for the gains and losses from the outcome of my appraising."
Sungjun had never heard anything this straightforward. He couldn't even close his mouth.
"You are not the only appraiser in this country. Dad, forget it. We can find someone else..."
"Be quiet! If you don't want to get up, stay still, " Sungjun yelled at his daughter, he then continued to speak, "An art dealer called Yang Sojin visited me a week ago. Have you heard of her?"
Sungjun got to the point without any useless chat once he realized that with Haejin, formality wasn't needed.
Haejin had never heard of Yang Sojin, so he looked at Byeongguk.
He explained, "She is the director of Haneul Gallery and the best art dealer in Korea. She works on all kinds of antiques, Eastern and Western..."
"Yes. She showed me something, offering a difficult deal."
Sungjun got up, went somewhere, and soon put a photo on the table.
Before Haejin saw it, he just wanted to go home...
However, the moment he spotted the celadon in the photo, he started leaning forward.
"It's a greyish-blue-powdered celadon."
It was a short remark, but Sungjun read the exclamation in it. He nodded.
"Well? Isn't it good?"
The object in the photo was a grey-blue celadon. Haejin couldn't measure its size, as it was a photo, but the elegant line that started at the round, ample shoulder and shortened to the bottom was impressive.
Additionally, the thick spiral pattern that ran down from the top to the bottom was bold without any hesitation. It was good.
"Yes, it is really good."
"But there's a problem. The owner is Japanese, he also wants to trade it for something of my own. So, it is giving me a headache."
"He is not going to sell it?"
"He will not sell it for money, regardless of the price, and will only trade it for the thing in my gallery."
"Your gallery..."
"Saeyeon Gallery. I own it."
Haejin was quite coincidentally going to meet Eunhae again.
"Then, you want me to re-appraise the thing that Japanese wants in return."
"Yes. It has been appraised again by the experts, but they only said absurd things. I want you to go there and appraise it yourself."
"Even if I go and appraise it, I might tell you something similar to what those experts said."
"That can happen."
"And unlike them, I have a very high fee."
"I know."
"But, is there a reason for you to choose me? Was it only because I found out that the painting was a fake?"
Sungjun's daughter also agreed with Haejin. She nodded and looked at her father.
"I have seen a lot of people who try to look worthy. However, they all get timid in front of me. They don't state their opinion because they want to be likable. But you are different. Few have requested tens of millions in front of me. You are either mad or confident."
"I have already told you I am not confident when it comes to ceramics."
"So? Are you going to refuse this task?"
Of course not. The greyish-blue-powdered celadon in the photo was worth at least five billion.
"No. I will take it."
"See? If you are really not confident, you wouldn't have accepted it."
Sungjun smiled as if he knew it. His daughter, however, objected.
"He could really be mad... no, he may just be overconfident or in real need of money."
She couldn't call Haejin mad because he had revealed the fake painting.
"If he is that mad, that is also an ability."
Sungjun didn't even blink an eye at his daughter's complain. He looked at Haejin's.
"As I said, my fee is 1% of the appraised price. Even if it's a fake, it is 1% of the real price. Which object do you want appraised, the ceramic in the photo in your gallery?"
"Both. I need to know which one is worth more. But, why don't you show me some gratitude? I am paying you a high fee, so what about a buy one get one free?"
Sungjun coolly accepted the 1% fee, so Haejin could just say no. However, that would be too cold.
"Okay. I will, however, get 1% of the most expensive between the two. Do you agree?"
"Hmm... fine. That will do."
Minsung, who had been watching, quickly interrupted.
"But sir, the fee could then be over a hundred million."
"That's fine. When Yang Sojin gave me this photo, it didn't seem like she had only one of them. She wanted something more from Saeyeon. What if I become the only one who gets fooled?"
"Then, she might have things that she wants from other galleries..."
"Anyway, go to Saeyon Gallery as fast as you can. As I said before, the fee for your earlier appraisal will be in your account today."
"I understand. Then, I guess we will meet again after I am finished."
"It has been a good time."
Byeongguk was about to leave when Sungjun added.
"Oh, Director Lee Minsung will take care of the money for you."
Sungjun got up and went into his study as if he had nothing more to say. However, his daughter stood up, her eyes were sparkling.
"I will see you at the gallery tomorrow."
"You don't have to come... if you are going to be there to distract me, why don't you just wait for the result?"
"I-I won't... anyway, I am going."
Even though she had a thick skin, she couldn't help but notice how she behaved today. That was why she left with a steamed red face.
Haejin and Byeongguk went back to the Four Seasons Hotel riding the same car they had used previously. Haejin then collapsed on the bed.
"Byeongguk, let's go to Insadong later. Let me rest for now."
"Why are you so weak at such a young age? Don't you need to be examined at the hospital?"
In fact, Haejin had gotten a lot better than a few days before, but he couldn't tell that to Byeongguk, so he just ignored it.
"Let's eat meat for dinner. I am famished."
"Then, let's go out and eat now."
"No. I must get some sleep now."
"Very well. Hey, but how did you know that painting was a fake?"
"I went to Italy with father once and I saw the real painting there. So, I was sure that this was a fake and took a closer look."
"I almost had a heart attack. He had hung that painting at the best spot, so he must have liked it a lot, and you called it a fake... it felt like I was visiting hell."
Even though Byeongguk has a lot of guts, he now looked relieved. He must have been genuinely surprised.
"While I talked to Lim Sungjun, I could see why he hung it at the best spot."
"Really? There's a meaning?"
"He looked at the man taming the lion and thought he, like the man, was controlling a country. He must have thought he was the king of this country."
"Well, he is the No. 1 of Hwajin, so he can think like that."
"Oh, by the way, why did you say three billion earlier?"
Byeongguk took out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He drank it and winked.
"You think he would have bought it if I had said two billion? He wasn't going to buy it, anyway."
"He wasn't going to buy it?"
"I knew it the moment I saw him. He would buy it after at least two, three meetings."
"Wow... I didn't know that, but you are a real seer."
"Kkkk... hey, you seem to look down on me because I spent few days in school, but I am considered a petty criminal only in Korea. In China, I am famous. It was just that I got unlucky and got busted... khmm... anyway, I could tell that he had done a background check on me."
"Huh? Then, he knew you are a grave robber!"
"Of course, he did. He must have thought the celadon might also be a stolen artifact."
"That would not have stopped him from buying it..."
Unrecorded, illegally excavated artifacts could be bought at a lower price. Sungjun wouldn't have refused to buy it only because it was a stolen good.
"Yes. But he didn't want to buy it at the right price. I could not just say that I will lower the price in there, like street merchants do. He couldn't say 'I will buy it at ... won, ' so he was going to kick me out first and see how things would go, but my reaction was different from what he had expected, so he was surprised.
Haejin could now understand the earlier situation.
"Then, you said three billion because..."
"I thought he would call me again only if I lower the price by more than 50%. So, I asked for three billion... if I knew this would happen, I would have said four billion. What a shame."
Wow... he just earned three billion in a few minutes and felt bad about not getting an additional billion... should I just call him bold? Or a fraud?
"So, you were thinking of 1. 5 billion?"
"Yes. I can see in his eyes that he knew who I was, so I was going to give up the celadon at 1. 5 billion. But my new nephew gave me an additional 1. 5!"
Now that he thought about it, Byeongguk had earned 1. 5 billion more thanks to Haejin. He couldn't let that go.
"You're right. Then, shouldn't you give me my share?"
"Hh... originally, when things like this happen, people try to keep everything, but you and I go way back. Nevertheless, I sold the celadon, so your share is five hundred million. How's that?"
Haejin raised his hands high.
"Yay!"
"Hahaha! But you shouldn't get excited like that."
"Why?"
"You think they will give you three billion at once? In your dreams."
Haejin was a little disappointed, but five hundred million was big! He was definitely having steak for dinner.
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