Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 132 Chaebol, Painting, and Happy Tears (2)

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However, it was none other than Roy Lichtenstein. It made Haejin somewhat worried.

Lichtenstein’s paintings were lively with his unique cartoon-like style, but they were not too exaggerated.

Unlike abstract impressionism of the other pop artists who ruled the American art world, he clearly wasn’t romantic. He was realistic.

However, the problem was not the painting itself, it was about the political situation around it. Haejin didn’t know much about politics, but even he knew that Hwajin had gone through a series of troubles because of Lichtenstein’s painting.

Additionally, if the painting Haejin was about to appraise was the one that had been controversial before, it was even worse.

Hwajin would have to solve this matter, even if it cost not 10% of the painting’s price but 50%.

As nothing had been revealed so far, he asked Eunhae to find out if there were any paintings of Lichtenstein that belonged to an unknown owner. Then, he went to sleep.

He still had 14 hours left, so there was no need to hurry.

Ding! Ding!

With the announcement of the plane landing soon, seatbelt signs started blinking.

Haejin woke up. He tried to get to his senses, but his mind was still blurry as if he had returned to his former weak self before he learned magic.

After he learned new spells with the brooch Hassena had bought, he had slept a lot, but he still felt tired.

His body was probably trying to keep sleeping to recover the mental power that had been consumed through magic.

After the plane landed, he disabled his phone’s plane mode and turned it off and back again. Then, he got a number of messages.

Most of them were from the cell phone service, but there was one from Eunhae.

[There are three Lichtenstein paintings owned by unknown owners. But the one which is most likely to be in Korea is Happy Tears. Check news articles of November 2007.]

Eunhae thought Happy Tears was the most probable one as well. Haejin didn’t have to read the articles to know what they said.

After he passed the entry procedures, he got the car he had parked at the parking lot and went to Incheon Port immediately. As it was almost midnight, there were few cars on the road. He arrived in no time.

He then went to the port to find the container. A few men in black suits recognized his car and came closer.

He opened the car window just a little bit. One of them then asked, “Are you Appraiser Park Haejin?”

“Yes, where should I go?”

“Follow me, please.”

The man just started to run. So, Haejin drove after him. He ran for about 300m and then stopped. He pointed at a direction.

“There.”

Haejin walked toward that direction. After walking 10m between containers without any light, a man suddenly appeared and opened a container for him.

Creaaak…

Sounds of rusty iron doors opening, that never felt pleasant, hit Haejin’s ears. Then, he was blinded by the bright light. It was as bright as a department store.

“It’s been a long time.”

Inside, there was Hyoyeon, wearing luxurious clothes, and a man with a painting.

Hyoyeon was enjoying some wine while having her legs crossed. It looked somewhat natural, probably because she was so beautiful.

“Yes. I thought you would never come to me no matter how bad it was… I guess you were in a hurry?”

That was sharp. Hyoyeon drank the rest of the wine in one gulp. Then, the man next to her filled her glass.

He looked sharp. He was probably a bodyguard who was a former member of the special force. He was also working as Hyoyeon’s attendant.

“Actually, it was a little humiliating. To ask for your help again after what you did to Saeyeon Gallery…”

“What I did to Saeyeon Gallery?”

Haejin innocently asked back, but Hyoyeong smiled and changed the subject.

“Anyway, you came just in time. As the situation is quite urgent, let’s talk later and get to the point now.”

Haejin didn’t want to talk to her anyway, so he thought it was better that way.

“All the better for me. But…”

The painting in front of Hyoyeon was Happy Tears by Roy Lichtenstein, just as Haejin had thought.

“But what?”

“Hwajin owns this? I think I saw news articles that said you didn’t.”

Hyoyeon turned back as if she had heard something bad and said, “You were brought here to appraise, not to investigate.”

There was a reason for her to react so sharply.

In 2007, Kim Sangcheol, a lawyer of the then head of Hwajin’s legal team, suddenly had a press conference and exposed Hwajin’s secret funds. Among what he revealed was a list about thirty works of art that Hwajin owned.

At the time, Saeyeon Gallery, that used to handle Hwajin’s artifact purchase, bought 30 artifacts at Christie’s of New York. The most expensive one was Roy Lichtenstein’s Happy Tears that was worth 7.15 million dollars.

It caused quite a stir, and eventually, an independent counsel looked into it. However, it concluded that Hwajin didn’t own that painting and it just ended like that.

So, if this painting got revealed, it would be more than just an 8-billion-won painting getting stolen. It would make Hwajin’s case of the secret funds resurface again. It would be like an atomic bomb.

“I am here to appraise, but… I don’t want to be involved in a crime.”

If tax evasion had been everything, Haejin would have appraised it, but now, he thought he might end up helping Hwajin with its crime. He would have to turn a blind eye to the painting’s existence.

He might even get summoned by the prosecutors, and Hwajin could try to control him by saying, ‘you helped us, so we’re in this together.’

“Hey, Park Haejin! Are you kidding me?”

Hyoyeon jumped to her feet. She was enraged, but Haejin crossed his arms and shook his head. He was firm.

“You want me to just appraise this and quietly leave? A painting that is the prime evidence of a case that even went to the independent counsel? Getting 800 million won as the fee wouldn’t do me much good, compared to the harms it can bring me.”

Then, the man next to Hyoyeon started to walk toward Haejin. He was going to threaten him with force as words had proven useless.

He came without saying anything and tried to grab Haejin’s neck, but that moment, Haejin grasped that hand and twisted it.

“Aah!”

The man realized he had screamed and shut his mouth immediately, but he was still embarrassed. He glared at Haejin with a red face.

This was unexpected. Hyoyeon quickly backed off while her eyes were shaking.

And, with a bam, a man ran in and was about to lunge at Haejin, but the man with the twisted wrist stopped him, so he just stood there and started to watch.

Haejin had known this would happen since the moment he saw that guy with Hyoyeon.

So, he casted a spell that improved his muscles and reflexes, and it turned out that he had been right.

“This is how Hwajin handles matters? I’m disappointed.”

“Wha, what?”

Hyoyeon stammered in panic.

It wasn’t like Haejin used to belong to the special forces or something. He was just an appraiser, and he suddenly changed like that. It was enough to surprise anyone.

“Does your father know about this? Well, of course, he does. He has to know considering his temper… that must be why he sent you with these friends.”

Haejin let the man go. He thought he might attack again, but he didn’t care.

The man was going to break one of his bones this time, but he had realized Haejin wasn’t a normal guy. He just grabbed his soaring wrist and glanced at Haejin.

Maybe he knew that starting a real fight wasn’t going to end well.

Hyoyeon changed her method as she could see force wasn’t going to work.

“Hey! If you want more money, I will pay you more.”

“I don’t need your money. I already have enough money, and this might bite me back later. And frankly, it doesn’t have to be me. You can bring another appraiser. So, stop clinging on me.”

“Then, then promise you will not tell anyone what happened here today.”

Haejin could do that much. Giving a press conference to become a hero like Kim Sangcheol did wasn’t going to do anyone any good.

In the end, prosecutors had to take care of it, but most of them had received scholarships of Hwajin and were under its influence.

“Okay then, bye.”

Haejin smiled and turned back. He could feel the guy with the hurt wrist flinch behind him, but he just passed another guy watching with disbelief.

Then, he got in his car and went back to his museum. Eunhae was waiting for him there even though it was very late.

She was beautiful as usual, but today, Haejin couldn’t look at her eyes. He felt sorry about Hassena.

“What happened?”

“You must be tired, staying here till now.”

“Well, I couldn’t just go home. First, which painting was it?”

“It’s… it was Happy Tears, just as we thought.”

“What? Really?”

Eunhae looked shocked, then Haejin asked her what he had been curious about.

“You really didn’t know? Saeyeon Gallery must have bought it.”

“It was long before I started working there, so no, I didn’t know. And I never looked into the records. If I had known, I would have found out… I really didn’t know. And at the time, the independent counsel said there was nothing wrong, so I never believed Hwajin really had Happy Tears. Although I don’t trust them now…”

“Hmm…”

Haejin crossed his arms while Eunhae worriedly asked, “Have you appraised it?”

“I got to look at it.”

Actually, Haejin had kept looking at the painting since the moment he went in that container. So, although he stayed there for a short time, he had been able to examine it.

“And how was it?”

Haejin shook his head, and Eunhae spoke with surprise.

“No way. Then there was a reason why Hwajin called you.”

“Yes. They must have gotten a different appraiser to get it appraised before they asked me. And that person probably said it was fake…”

Eunhae took it from there.

“They couldn’t believe it, so they decided to ask you for the last time as you can be fully trusted. No way…”

Eunhae was right at being shocked. The painting was stolen, and although Hwajin tracked it and found a painting, it turned out to be fake. It meant it was a planned crime with thorough preparation, and multiple people were behind it.

“Let me ask you something. How on earth did they lose that painting?”

Eunhae had been waiting for that question. Her lips curled up, and she started to explain.