Devil’s Music

Late afternoon in Daniel Weiss's office.

Geon, who had come to visit, was sitting on the sofa drinking coffee. Daniel Weiss, grateful to Geon, continuously expressed his thanks and had gotten an album he personally purchased autographed. Daniel Weiss, pleased with the signed album page, had it displayed with the CD case open and adjusted the position of the CD several times to get the perfect angle.

"Ha ha, this new collection makes me happy to have in my office. I'll make sure to buy and keep all of Kay's albums from now on."

Geon, who had been sipping his coffee on the sofa, smiled.

"Thank you, Daniel."

"Thank you? I'll keep asking for autographs every time I buy one, so please don't be bothered, ha ha."

Knock, knock.

A knocking sound came from outside the door, and Daniel approached the sofa, saying,

"Come in."

The person, trying to be silent, opened the door and peeked inside.

"Did you call for me, boss?"

Daniel sat opposite Geon and said,

"Ha ha, yes. Please, come this way."

As the woman, cautious in her movements, entered, Geon greeted her with a pleased expression.

"Ah? Abigail! Long time no see."

"Yes, it’s been a while... Huh!! Kay?"

Abigail, with her red hair neatly tied up and secured with mesh, was startled and froze on the spot when she saw Geon raising a hand from the sofa. With wide eyes and frozen in place, she was observed by Daniel, who smiled and said to Geon,

"You two know each other, right? I thought it would be comfortable to have someone familiar, so I chose Abigail as the contact."

"Ah, that’s thoughtful of you. Thank you for considering that."

"Abigail? Come and sit here. Abigail? Abigail Cheshire?"

After Daniel called her name several times, Abigail, who had been blankly staring at Geon, jumped in surprise but still couldn't speak, just looking at him with wide eyes and shrugging her shoulders. Daniel, noticing her strange behavior, shook his head and said,

"Come and sit down, Abigail."

"Yes, yes!! Sorry, sorry."

Abigail hesitated for a moment before she sat on the sofa and carefully placed some documents on the coffee table. She then sat down, unable to look directly at Geon and blushing.

"It's closing time now. You can enter from now. I've informed security, so don't worry, and if you need anything, just ask Abigail. Abigail? If it's too much to ask, you can always ask Kate. Oh, Kay. You know the staff member Kate, right?"

As Geon nodded, Abigail suddenly looked up and said hurriedly,

"Too much to ask? No, not at all! I'll handle it!"

Daniel Weiss smirked and nodded.

"Really? I thought young Abigail might have a lot to do after work, no?"

Abigail flustered and said,

"Ah, no! I just watch Japanese anime at home all day... Huh! No, I didn't mean that!"

Abigail covered her mouth after speaking, her eyes wide as she noticed Geon’s reaction.

'You fool!! It's been a while since you saw him, and this is what you do?'

Internally cursing herself, Abigail was quietly watched by Daniel, who shrugged and got up.

"Alright, if Abigail is fine with it, let's leave it to her."

Daniel gestured towards the door to Geon.

"Shall we go then? It's your first day, so I'll join you."

"Ah, thank you, Daniel."

The two left the room as Abigail, still covering her mouth, hurriedly followed them down the long corridor. Walking beside Geon, Daniel asked,

"Is there a particular piece, era, or genre you are interested in?"

Geon thought for a moment and then replied,

"Well, I've seen most of the paintings during the last job. Are there any new pieces recently?"

Abigail saw her chance and stepped forward,

"Boss, there are some paintings we agreed to exchange for a joint exhibition with the National Gallery in the UK."

Daniel snapped his fingers,

"Oh, right. The exchange started two months ago, so Kay hasn’t seen them yet?"

Geon brightened up,

"Really? I'm looking forward to the paintings from the UK."

"Ha ha, don't expect too much. It's just an exchange exhibition, after all. There are only ten paintings."

"Heh, ten is enough, ha ha."

"Heh, Abigail, which section was it again?"

Abigail flipped through a folder and replied,

"It’s in section D-6, boss."

"Good, let’s head there now."

Upon reaching D-6, Daniel began to explain about the paintings at a special exhibition

titled "The National Gallery of the UK". Playing the role of a curator, Daniel enthusiastically shared details while Geon looked around the room. The circular room wasn’t a perfect circle but a polygon that looked circular due to the straight lines connecting it. After scanning the ten paintings on each wall, Geon turned back to Daniel, who was still explaining, when his eyes caught two paintings shining with multiple colors.

Turning his head back to Daniel and then quickly back to the paintings, Abigail also turned her head to look where Geon was looking. Daniel, seeing their interest, walked over to the paintings they were observing. Standing with his arms crossed in front of the painting, Daniel turned around and said,

"You seem to like this painting?"

Feeling bad for interrupting Daniel while he was explaining, Geon smiled apologetically,

"Ah, sorry. I was listening, but this piece really caught my attention."

"Ha ha, no problem. It’s a Georges Seurat, after all."

"Georges Seurat?"

"Yes, he is... Ah! Excuse me for a moment."

Just as Daniel was about to explain, he checked his ringing phone and said,

"Ah, sorry, this is an important call. Abigail? Could you please explain for me?"

Daniel left the room, and silence fell in the exhibition hall. As Geon waited for Abigail to start her explanation, she suddenly stood in front of the painting and apologized,

"Ah! Sorry."

Geon smiled and offered his hand,

"No worries, it’s been a while since we've seen each other, and we haven’t even properly greeted. How have you been?"

With a gentle word, Abigail wiped her hand on her clothes before shaking his hand,

"Yes, yes. I’ve been fine."

"Why are you so nervous? You’re not sick, are you?"

"No, not at all."

Abigail, sweating, quickly shook her head,

'You’ve changed, become a big star. It’s not easy to be casual like before!'

As silence fell, Geon pointed to the painting and asked,

"Could you please explain this to me?"

"Ah! Yes, yes! Of course."

Standing in front of the painting, Abigail took a deep breath,

'Now's the time to show off as a curator!'

As Geon quietly focused on the painting, Abigail’s calm voice began,

"Georges Seurat is a French Neo-Impressionist artist. Born in 1859, he was a genius who died young at the age of 32."

Geon pursed his lips and unfolded his arms,

"Neo-Impressionism? Died at 32?"

"Yes, Neo-Impressionism is an art derived from Impressionism, unlike Impressionism which captures emotions momentarily, it involves meticulous studies on light and adds a systematic and scientific theory to analyze how unique colors change according to the surrounding environment."

"Hmm..that sounds complicated."

Geon's comment about the complexity made Abigail feel more confident, knowing more,

"Georges Seurat once said, 'Art should be more systematic and scientific. Achieving harmony through certain laws is the true goal of art.'"

Geon stepped closer to the painting to look more closely,

"But...this painting seems quite unique."

"Yes, right. He’s a painter who uses pointillism."

"Pointillism?"

"Yes, it’s a technique where you dot the canvas with a single pure color without mixing water or other paints. From a distance, the colors that the artist intended to express should be perfect, so research is needed on which color to dot where. It’s a labor-intensive process as each piece requires dozens of studies to complete."

"So, without mixing the paints, a single pure color seen from a distance looks like a blend of several colors?"

"Yes, exactly. This painting is called 'Bathers at Asnières', and the one next to it is 'A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'."

Geon, emitting a greenish hue, glanced back and forth between the two paintings,

"Hmm, but... looking at them, they seem like relaxed scenes of resting or playing in the water, but they feel more about comfort or relief from fatigue."

Abigail's eyes widened as she continued to watch Geon's profile,

'Amazing. I thought I knew more than him, but that’s a mistake. He might not know the theoretical part, but his understanding of art is on par with the boss!'

Impressed, Abigail continued,

"You’re absolutely right. It's true they are relaxing, but not just playing around. The people swimming or resting on the grass in this painting are workers from the factory you see in the background with black smoke rising. It depicts them taking a brief rest in the afternoon after hard labor."

Geon, looking at the factory drawn vaguely in the distance with perspective, nodded,

"That explains the emotion."

"Yes, but since each dot is painted by hand, it's very difficult

for the artist to make. Georges Seurat spent his life painting these, which is why there are not many pieces left by him. He died young because of an illness."

Still energetically explaining, Abigail's voice filled the room as Geon stared intently at the painting,

'This is it! Emitting a greenish hue, but other than the grassy areas, you don’t see green anywhere else in the painting. Pointillism, a technique of creating a completely different color by dotting pure colors, is exactly the research material I was looking for.'

Geon's eyes sparkled as he continued to gaze at the two vibrant paintings.

>

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