Artifact Reading Inspector

“Korea Appraisal Committee? Did they issue a certificate? But she didn’t say anything about it! Did she talk to you about it when I wasn’t around?” Haejin asked a series of questions.

Eunhae shook her head while also looking surprised, “No, I didn’t know about it either, of course. I also just called Mrs. Haewon, she said she didn’t know, and if she had received a certificate, she would have told us…”

Haejin stroked his chin. He had to think.

“Why? It can’t be that you made a mistake while appraising, right?” Eunhae asked as she found it strange for Haejin to look worried.

However, Haejin shook his head, “That’s not it. I don’t know which appraiser is here right now, but most of the appraisers of the committee are highly conservative. Actually, in appraising, the perfect answer often doesn’t exist, so they are usually not this passionate when it comes to the authenticity of a painting. Especially when it’s not their own business…”

“Well, that is how all the appraisers I’ve met until now are. Of course, except for you…” Eunhae commented.

That was probably why Haejin had left an impression on Eunhae when they first met. There were few appraisers who gave absolute answers right on the spot like Haejin.

Haejin then said, “And this case is even stranger. It’s not like this is about a celadon or porcelain. Frankly speaking, Korean appraisers do not know much about western paintings. They have less experience with them and haven’t grown up while enjoying them.”

“Umm… I think you are right,” Eunhae replied.

Haejin then continued, “Yet, they are so eager to prove that a western painting, a Renoir, is fake? They couldn’t have had enough time to do scientific tests.”

Scientific tests take a lot longer than most people think.

X-ray test and infrared light test are simple, but tests that require samples of the paint might take longer than a year.

It had been about 24 hours since Haejin gave Haewon the certificate that said the painting was real, so the time must have been too short for them to get any scientific evidence.

“They can’t be doing this without a plan… but I can’t see what they are after. What are you going to do? Should I tell them they should leave?” Eunhae asked.

Haejin then replied, “It will only make things worse. They have come all the way here, so they won’t leave in peace if you tell them to just leave. Where are they?”

“They’re at the café on the ground floor,” Eunhae answered.

“Tell them to come to my appraisal room. I’ll be waiting for them. And…” Haejin handed the cat to Eunhae while saying, “Please tell our staff to take care of him for today.”

“Okay, I will also go home with him from now on. My cousin has raised a cat for long, so I can get cat food, and everything he needs,” Eunhae replied while carefully taking the cat.

Next, the cat looked at Haejin. If it had been human, Haejin would have asked if it had anything to say, but he couldn’t. So, he just smiled and waved his hand at him.

He then went to his appraisal room and sat down where soon a group of people came in.

They were four men and a woman, all over 50. The woman put her hands on her waist and lifted her chin high after saying, “Are you Park Haejin or something?”

“Yes, I am…”

The woman didn’t let him finish, “Just because you learned a few things about appraising, you shouldn’t have said that you can take the responsibility for the prime minister’s wife!”

“What I told her was not something I couldn’t take the responsibility for. I have issued a certificate in my name, so if I was wrong, I will have to pay for it according to the laws,” Haejin calmly replied without blinking an eye.

The woman, instead, thought she was winning and raised her voice even higher, “You think that is taking responsibility? You have lied to the prime minister’s wife and what? Legal responsibility? The prime minister is the second on the hierarchy ranking? You know that, right? He is the second highest man in this country when it comes to authority!”

Haejin then said, “The second on the hierarchy ranking is the chairman of the national assembly. The prime minister is the fifth. And, why are you saying that I lied? I just told her what I saw. Tell me honestly, weren’t you the one who lied about the painting?”

“What, what?”

“Never mind. If you are the person who sold the painting, the men behind you must be the appraisers,” Haejin then looked behind her.

Behind her, the oldest man had a face with numerous wrinkles. His gaze also looked dark, maybe because he was tired. That old man then said, “I am Kim Chaemu. I am from Haenul Appraisal Agency which is nearby. You might have heard of it. I am also the chief appraiser of Korea Appraisal Committee.”

“Oh, I think I’ve passed by your agency a few times,” Haejin spoke as if he wasn’t impressed at all.

Chaemu was a little offended and raised his eyebrows, “Really? Then it is good. Anyway, I’ve just heard about what happened.”

Haejin then replied, “You just heard about what happened and came in a group, so sure that I was wrong? Korean’s meddlesomeness is famous worldwide, but I didn’t know it was this strong.”

Next, a man behind Chaemu, in a modernized hanbok, spoke in a hoarse voice, “Hey… I cannot hear this nonsense anymore. This man here has been working as an antique appraiser for 40 years. He started living with antiques before you were even born. How rude…”

He was even pointing his fingers at Haejin while yelling. However, Haejin just crossed his arms and smiled coldly while saying, “So, the longer you appraise antiques, the better you are. I’ve never heard of that before.”

“You… you…”

Then, Eunhae came in. She felt the cold atmosphere in the room and her face hardened in a second, “What is going on here? Sir? Where do you think you are to act so rude like that?” Eunhae scolded.

The appraisers who had been accusing Haejin looked toward the voice, “Huh? Oh, it’s…”

Eunhae had worked as an art director for years now, so it was only natural that they knew each other.

“Mr. Kim? Don’t you know me? I’m Lim Eunhae. Are you making a fuss in my museum?”

Unlike the other appraisers, Chaemu continued to speak boldly, “You don’t know what this is about. This is serious. This man here has issued the wrong certificate, and it is about to cause a huge problem.”

“What huge problem? How huge is it for you to act like this in my workplace?” Eunhae must have had some power over Insadong.

Even though she had stopped being the director of Hwajin’s Saeyeon Gallery, she used to have great power back then.

“The man who sold the painting to this lady is from the Japanese consul. Why would he sell a genuine painting while claiming it to be a forgery? Unless he is a fool… can’t you see? This is really bad. This might accelerate to the diplomatic problem!” Chaemu said.

Haejin had seen how the painting had really gone to Haewon by using his magic, so he knew that Chaemu was lying.

The person who had given the painting to that woman had been a Korean, not Japanese, and he had bought it from an American before that.

And now Chaemu was suddenly talking about the Japanese consul… he was clearly up to something.

“The Japanese consul gave the painting to her? Okay, let’s say that’s true,” Haejin said.

“It is the truth!” Chaemu replied.

Haejin continued, “Whatever. So, you have proof that says the painting is fake, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t be doing this.”

“That’s, that’s…” Chaemu suddenly started to stammer.

That gave Haejin a clue. Although they believed the painting was fake, they were not sure of it. Did they even look at the painting? They might even be accusing Haejin without having looked at the painting.

Haejin found it so ridiculous that he smiled, “Fine. Well, as you are insisting so hard that I was wrong, I accept that. Should I appraise the painting again, right in front of everyone? Would that be enough?”

“That’s good!” One of the old appraisers yelled as if he had been waiting for Haejin to say that.

Haejin wondered from who and what they had heard for them to be so sure….

“Then let’s have the painting brought here. Eunhae, could you call Mrs. An and ask her to send the painting here?”

Eunhae nodded, “I will call her right away.”

Eunhae got her phone and left. Then the woman, who had sold the painting to Haewon, yelled from the back, “I’ve already told her! She’s coming with it!”

Next, she turned to Haejin and warned him while shaking her thick cheeks, “You’re in big trouble now. You should get yourself an expensive lawyer. I am going to sue you and demand compensation!”

Haejin couldn’t see what she could have possibly lost because of him, but after the mention of the Japanese consul, her threat was nothing to him.

If someone had spent five billion won to bring down the prime minister, it had to be for political purposes, and now a Japanese consul showed up…

Haejin then replied, “Whatever. We must appraise it again to find out which of us is right, so why don’t you wait outside? I’m quite busy…”

Even being in the same room with her was tiring, so Haejin tried to make her leave. Then, Eunhae came back, “She is on her way…”

“I told you so. This will end soon,” the woman was confident.

However, Haejin ignored her and talked to Eunhae, “We have our own lawyer, right? Call him.”

The woman spoke first before Eunhae could say anything, “Why? You need a lawyer’s help to find a way out of this?”

“No, I am going to make sure that I was and am right about the painting. So, if there’s anyone who should brace oneself, it’s you. I will sue you for fraud,” Haejin replied.

“Ha! What nonsense…” she turned around and left the room while her appraisers followed her one by one.

However, the youngest of them lingered behind and said to Eunhae, “I think it is fake… are you going to be okay?”

Eunhae shook her hands, “Oh, you can’t trust me? Appraiser Park Haejin here is the best in this country. China, America and even the Medici of Italy have acknowledged his skills. You don’t know who you are accusing, right?”

Well, it wasn’t like what Haejin had done had been in the newspaper. Only those who knew about it spread the words, so even the people who were working in the same field wouldn’t fully know about Haejin’s skills.

Although the man looked down, he said what he had to say, “Of course I know you are smart and wise. Everyone does, but it is not good this time.”

“It’s not good?” Eunhae asked.

He glanced at the door and spoke carefully, “They have planned everything.”

“Planned everything?” Eunhae was confused.

“I don’t know for sure, but it sounded like that… anyway, we should talk after the painting arrives,” the man said before leaving.

“Uh…” things were going differently than Eunhae had expected. She looked at Haejin, but of course, he didn’t have any other way, either.

“They have planned everything? But what difference can more planning make? This is about finding out if the painting is real,” Haejin replied.

“Yes, it makes no sense.” Both Eunhae and Haejin were curious. Soon, they got their answer as Haewon showed up with the painting.

“I’m sorry, I am slightly late,” Haewon then had an employee put the painting on the table.

“Haha… this is surprising,” Haejin laughed.

“What? Why?” Haewon’s eyes shook while asking her questions.

Haejin really wanted to ask her something. Did she really think he wouldn’t be able to realize that it was a different painting?