Oil On Canvas

“Is there a corpse or something there?”“Sorry, but at least it’s not a corpse.”Dojin swallowed the words he had been about to joke about. After all, he was someone who could extract information like a viper, even here.“It’s not like it can be hidden anyway. I know the studio too, and there’s no place where something could be hidden.”It was a conversation that seemed to be completely out of touch with the situation. To avoid snickering, Dojin slightly turned his head.Well, at this point, it wasn’t entirely an inaccurate statement. The false wall had already been shattered into pieces.“Now that I know there are paintings here, I really don’t have much desire to go anywhere. You can’t hide anything inside the studio. If we keep hiding it here, not only will I be involved, but others will come too. And they won’t be as generous or kind as I am. So…”The auctioneer’s job was to sell things. Selling things, in the end, was about seducing people.And that was the job of this dreadful Luca Orsini.“Tell me what Dojin wants.”It was an obvious trap, but there was no other way that seemed possible.If that was the case, and there was no other method than to pass over it, Dojin planned to use it to his advantage as much as possible.“Just make one promise.”“Tell me.”“Please don’t touch anything I’m restoring. Or rather, let me finish restoring it. Taking the paintings is fine, do whatever you want with them.”It was a simple request that sounded perfectly reasonable.Even for Luca, it seemed like a trivial request with nothing to lose. Yet, he didn’t immediately bite on Dojin’s words.“You were called in for cleaning, right? You want to clean those paintings by yourself?”“It’s my responsibility.”“Didn’t you used to dislike cleaning?”“Huh?”Luca’s pale green eyes narrowed, as if showing some emotion.“I don’t understand why you’d think that. Cleaning is a fundamental part of restoration.”“Wasn’t it that you lost interest the moment you heard ‘cleaning’ when you first got the restoration commission?”It was a sharp observation.To Dojin, cleaning was a tedious task. It was fundamental to restoration, important, and there were subtle differences in cleaning techniques that only restorers might understand. But still, cleaning could be compared to a basic interview process—it wasn’t really that much different.What Dojin wanted was major surgery. A delicate task requiring creativity, deductive reasoning, and concentration all at once. The act of bringing torn and erased paintings back to life with his hands.But who cared about Dojin’s personal feelings? What did Luca Orsini care about any of that? Right now, the important thing was that Luca promised Dojin something without suspicion.“If you don’t make the promise, I can just call the police. I’ll say it again, I have the evidence, and even if I don’t go to Italy, I could go back to Korea.”Strangely, Dojin had faith that Luca wouldn’t let him go that easily.‘The police will never be called.’Someone who wanted to stir up such a commotion wouldn’t have come here alone after confirming his grandmother’s death.And Dojin’s judgment wasn’t wrong. Luca, having finished calculating in his head, smiled faintly.“Fine. I promise, Dojin.”“You’re saying you’ll entrust me with everything I’ve restored so far, right?”“For now.”“For now?”“I thought this one-sided arrangement didn’t feel quite right. I need to see what’s hidden before I can judge. Let’s leave some room for negotiation.”If Dojin pressed further, who knew what Luca might say? In a situation where everything could fall apart, he couldn’t push any harder.“Luca Orsini. But for now, you understand that I’ll keep restoring the paintings, right?”“That’s right. Though I’m not sure if it’s entirely under my authority.”Dojin ignored the last part. If that “Water Play” above really was Water Play, then the last piece and its location were discovered at the Orsini household, so the ownership would naturally belong to the Orsini family.That didn’t matter. Dojin didn’t want to own the painting.No matter who owned it, he just didn’t want to lose the opportunity to restore it. As a restorer, he wanted his name to be forever attached to the masterpiece. To do that, it was better to be on good terms with the Orsini family.The two headed to the top studio. Following the man up the stairs, Dojin thought back to the long argument.Why?Why was Luca trying to hide something?Was it for money?“But can I ask one thing, Orsini?”“Ask.”“Didn’t you say you didn’t need money?”“Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t need money?”“If you needed money, you’d have sold those paintings from your childhood. There’s no other famous Marisa piece like that. And you don’t seem to have any particular affection for either your aunt or the painting itself. So, if it’s not for money, honestly, I don’t really understand why you want to look at these paintings…”“Everyone has their own reasons.”Luca drew a line with a meaningless remark. It was clearly something Dojin didn’t need to know. It was a bit overstepping, but Dojin thought that as he opened the studio door.“This is…”“The inside’s a bit messy.”“A bit? Messy?”The first thing the man said as he saw the studio, wide open, was this.Dojin quickly stepped inside. He stood in front of the scattered Water Play canvas pieces on the restoration desk, trying to block the view. But Luca’s gaze was fixed on the destroyed wall, which now looked like a construction site.“I don’t understand what this mess is about.”The man approached the half-finished false wall. His face, alternating between checking the real wall behind it, looked serious.While Luca was absorbed in the broken wall, Dojin stretched his arm behind him, folding the linen beneath the canvas fragments. The pieces of the masterpiece disappeared under the linen.“Ugh.”In his haste to hide it, two large pieces of canvas fluttered down beneath the workbench.“I don’t think Dojin can restore everything from East Asian painting to oil painting, and even frescoes.”Luca didn’t look back. But Dojin was agonizing over how he could get such large pieces onto the desk without them being obvious.To touch a restoration piece, he had to wear gloves, but if he suddenly put on gloves, it might look strange.‘If I just hold the edge and clean it later…’Dojin justified his actions to himself as he quickly picked up the canvas pieces.“The one in front is a copy. The brushstrokes are rather sloppy. But why is it here, and why is it broken?”“That one!”It was a disaster.At the sudden sound of Luca’s voice, Dojin hurriedly shoved the pieces into his pocket—really hurriedly. His voice grew higher as well, and Luca turned toward him with a questioning look on his face.“No, that one… Signora told me not to touch it.”“Are you saying it was always like this?”Dojin simply nodded. Signora was dead, and Dojin alone knew the secret: the reason that wall was in such a state was because of him.If it turned out that the false wall was aged due to Uncle Nadia’s feelings, or if Water Play had some value aside from being hidden, he could always ask for restoration later.‘I’m going crazy.’No matter how much he justified it, a lie was still a lie. His lips were parched.Luca kicked the ladder that had fallen beside the wall, as if trying to catch some evidence, like a detective.The problem wasn’t just that. The picture fragments stuffed into his pocket. Even if the pocket contained fire, it would have been preferable to this.“Dojin.”The man’s gaze moved from Dojin’s pale face to the strangely concealed desk. His insides twisted.Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.And at the most inconvenient moment, the security alarm went off.“Aren’t you supposed to turn off the alarm? You’ve probably been here a lot.”It was hard to read his expression. He seemed pleased, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly why.Dojin didn’t want to, but he made an effort to not look back and pressed the password to deactivate the alarm. Turning around after deactivating it, Luca Orsini was staring at him from right next to the workbench where Water Play had been placed.With the linen cover pulled back.“Now that I understand Dojin has permission to be here… I’d like to ask, what is this?”The green and blue, slightly disheveled but already adjusted face of a woman, and the canvas fragment were now fully visible. Dojin’s throat tightened.“It’s a painting I’m trying to restore.”“It doesn’t look like you’ve started yet. Was this in the crate over there?”“Oh, no.”How could he even think that the crate stuffed in the corner was relevant?“Dojin, do you know that you’re not particularly good at lying?”“Huh?”“Knowing yourself is important. If your opponent figures you out first, it’s hard to respond, right?”Before Dojin could respond, Luca reached out with his hand to grab the canvas frame. He couldn’t stop him in time.“For example, I have quick eyes. Reflexes are an important asset for an auctioneer.”As he spoke, the man flipped the canvas over. The remaining pieces revealed the back with black stains.Luca fell silent for a moment, then muttered with a sigh.“This looks a lot like a painting I know.”A painting he knew.Of course, with the famous Orsini family, it was likely a painting many people had already seen.“Dojin. Wasn’t there a document attached to this?”“No, there wasn’t. I looked everywhere, and at least in this studio, it definitely wasn’t here.”Hiding something from someone who already knew everything would be laughable. At least, the fact that this painting resembled Water Play had been verified by the Orsini family, so if that was an accomplishment, it was an accomplishment.‘Whether it’s real is another matter.’Luca stared at the painting, still not properly formed. It wasn’t real emotion, and nothing could be inferred from it, but Dojin still asked:“Could it be a copy?”“Do you really think so, Dojin?”No, he didn’t. But Dojin didn’t answer. Sometimes, silence itself can be an answer.Luca and Dojin both looked down at the tattered remnants of what used to be a masterpiece, now barely recognizable. The silence was broken by Luca.“Is there anyone besides you who knows about this?”“I discovered it yesterday, so no one else knows.”“You asked to be allowed to finish restoring it, right?”“Yes.”“But it looks like you haven’t even started the restoration yet.”Luca’s Italian was slow, almost monotonous.“To be precise, you’re not restoring it right now, are you?”“Please, don’t be so petty.”“Petty?”He looked at him with wide eyes, as if he had never heard that word before. His teeth clenched.Sure, he’d been caught hiding it, but a promise was a promise.‘Does he think I don’t have a retort on the details?’Dojin was about to say that restoration began the moment the painting was taken out of the crate, but Luca waved his hand dismissively.“Since it’s not certain whether this is a copy or the real thing, it might be better to keep the existence of this painting a secret for now. We should start with appraisal, not restoration. We need to confirm if it’s real first.”His words were light and clever, but Dojin immediately understood Luca’s game. Anyone working in the art world would know that no matter what, it would be difficult to hide such an ambition.“If Orsini wants to keep it a secret, there must be a good reason for it.”“It’s nice that the conversation is moving quickly.”“No, I’d prefer if we could at least communicate a bit more. For now, I have no reason to keep a secret.”“Well… if Dojin wants to keep it a secret, I can provide the necessary financial support for that.”“No.”What kind of financial support does one need to keep a secret? A sneer formed. He was elegantly suggesting he’d hush him up with money.“First, please resolve the unreasonable treatment I’ve been receiving at Cà D’oro.”Even though there was no detailed explanation about the unfairness, Luca didn’t show even the slightest hint of surprise.“Understood.”“And if this painting turns out to be real, I want to take it on and restore it on my own. That will be my price for keeping the secret. Anyway, I’m already working and receiving a full salary.”“What if it’s fake?”“That…”He hadn’t even considered that possibility. He had never thought about it being fake, so the question caught him off guard. Seeing Dojin unable to answer, Luca continued slowly.“If an official appraisal deems it fake, the rule is to dispose of it. That’s the policy of the Batista Sorya Foundation.”Sometimes, there were foundations that put a lot of effort into managing forgeries. Naturally, since Batista’s name alone carried a lot of weight.Though Dojin didn’t believe it was fake, if it were a copy or a pastiche, there was no need to waste energy on it. Dojin nodded, and as if to confirm, Luca snapped his fingers.“In that case, I’ll have it appraised by the experts I know. They’re reliable, so it shouldn’t take too long.”Dojin had already had the year measured as a sample earlier this morning. He almost mentioned it, but closed his mouth.In any case, to confirm whether it was real, a detailed appraisal would be necessary. Dojin nodded.“However, I need to see all the relevant documents. Please show them to me, so I can understand.”“Understood.”Luca Orsini extended his hand. It seemed like he was offering a handshake. It was a large hand. Dojin briefly looked at it, then raised his head to meet Luca’s eyes. His expression was hard to read, but it was clearly a harmless one, pretending to smile.“Wait a moment. One more thing.”He still couldn’t trust him completely.