Van Gogh Reborn!

Chapter 196: The Painter (4)

Chapter 196 The Painter (4)

Cha Si-hyun shakes his head.

He still remembers how he cried in fear when he met Henri Marso before his grandfather’s comeback. He seems to have a grudge against him.

His grandfather also has a TV appearance scheduled after dinner, so it would be too much to visit Marso’s house, which takes two hours to go back and forth.

“See you tomorrow. I have a prior engagement.”

-There’s pizza.

“I can eat here too.”

He seems to know that I go crazy for pizza.

-Explain.

-Go Hoon, this is Arsen.

“Hello.”

I don’t know what he’s trying to say, but I’m not going to see Marso right now.

-I’ll prepare a potato pizza with plenty of Jersey Royal potatoes grown on the British island of Jersey.

Jersey Royal?

That’s too fancy for a potato variety.

-Jersey Royal potatoes are a variety that balances starch and moisture. You can feel the fluffy and chewy texture.

“Hold on.”

-Also, the bacon made by Raymond, the chef, boasts a rich meat flavor and a savory taste. He smoked the Iberico Bellota pork in a traditional way.

“So?”

-I’ll use at least three kinds of cheese. You won’t be disappointed with the Campania mozzarella cheese and the Swiss Appenzeller cheese, which passed strict standards.

“…”

-And I’ll drizzle Madame Sherry’s special mayonnaise on top.

“We’re in front of the Saint-Louis Bridge.”

-I’ll be there in 40 minutes.

As soon as I hung up, my grandfather sighed.

“I had no choice.”

“Are you going?”

Cha Si-hyun, who doesn’t understand French, asked.

“Yes.”

“Why? Let’s not go.”

“I have to go.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he put fluffy and chewy potatoes, Appenzeller cheese, and Sherry’s mayonnaise on it.”

Cha Si-hyun narrowed his eyes.

“Are you talking about pizza?”

“He said he made the bacon himself.”

He stuck out his mouth.

“I don’t want to go. I hate that old man.”

“Is there a problem?”

Blanche Fabre intervened.

“He said he’s not going.”

“Why?”

He asked directly in English, since it was cumbersome to translate in the middle.

“It’s not often that you get a chance to meet Marso.”

“I hate that old man.”

“Do you hate him too?”

Blanche Fabre’s eyes sparkled.

“Then you should go and scold him.”

Maybe it was because he found a comrade.

He clenched his fist and made a face, looking excited.

“How?”

“You have to criticize his narrow-mindedness that only draws self-portraits and point out his childishness that ignores others.”

Should I take him with me?

It’s not wrong, but if I say that to Marso, things won’t end well.

“I don’t like fighting.”

“You can’t run away. Nothing will be solved.”

“I don’t have to go and fight.”

“Don’t you say you don’t have a chance to meet Henri Marso?”

“Still, I don’t want to say that much. It will hurt him.”

“He’s not the kind of person who gets hurt by that.”

"How do you know, sis?"1)

“He didn’t flinch even when tens of thousands of people cursed him. He’s the kind of person who says he’s right even when eight billion people criticize him.”

He seems to know him well, even though he hates Marso.

“Hoon-ah, I don’t think your grandfather can go. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Arsen will take me back too.”

“Don’t play too late. You have a schedule tomorrow.”

“Yes. What about grandfather’s dinner?”

“Just eat around here. Call me if anything happens. If your grandfather can’t go, Taeho will go.”

“Okay.”

Even though the landlord is weird, it’s the safest place in Paris.

My grandfather also nodded his head, having changed his mind about Marso a lot.

“Dad. I’m going to Marso’s mansion now. You don’t have to come since it’s like this. I’m fine. Don’t ask.”

“…”

Blanche Fabre called her father.

I wonder what he would say if he knew what she was up to.

I think she’s as reckless as Marso.

“Yum.”

The Bertillon gelato ice cream I ate while waiting for Arsen was delicious even in the cold.

**

“Sir, Go Hoon is here.”

“Tell him to come in.”

Henri Marso frowned, feeling happy that the cheeky kid finally recognized him and prepared a dinner.

Behind Go Hoon, who entered the hall, two kids were clinging to him.

‘Where does he keep bringing them from?’

One of them was the one who talked back to him in Korea, and the other one was new to him.

He told him to bring them, but he didn’t like the kids multiplying. He wanted to have a calm conversation with Go Hoon.

“Look. He’s scary.”

“…”

Cha Si-hyun and Blanche Fabre hid behind Go Hoon at Henri Marso’s intimidating attitude.

Blanche Fabre, who was ready to fight, unexpectedly behaved quietly, and Go Hoon felt relieved.

“What about the pizza?”

Go Hoon asked as he sat down in the seat he was guided to.

Henry Marso winked at me.

“What have you been up to?”

“Just wandering around.”

“How did the vote go?”

“I saw it on my way here. Damien Carter won, right?”

“And you had the leisure to wander around? Are you out of your mind?”

“What else can I do? Should I carry a sign or something?”

“You should do something, anything. Do you want to lose to a stuffed animal?”

“If you know so well, why don’t you help me out, Marso?”

As Go Hoon and Henry chatted casually, Chasiyun and Blanche whispered to each other.

“What are they talking about?”

“They started arguing as soon as they saw each other. Are they really friends?”

“That’s what they say, but I don’t know.”

“They can’t be friends if they talk like that. He’s mad at him for not finding the pizza.”

“I’m scared of that old man.”

“I don’t like him.”

“Yeah.”

“But he’s handsome.”

“…?”

Soon, the potato pizza that the chef of Marso’s mansion had made with great care was placed in front of the kids and Marso.

Go Hoon’s eyes sparkled as he eyed the pizza.

‘Nice.’

The pizza shone brightly under the chandelier.

The golden potatoes on top of the melted cheese were flaunting their beauty, and on top of them lay thick slices of bacon that were crisped on the outside.

Under the crunchy surface, there was bound to be plenty of juice from the melted fat.

But what made this pizza even more special was the homemade mayonnaise that Sherry Gado sprinkled along the outer ring of the crust. It had undergone enough Maillard reaction to have a light brown color.

I swallowed my saliva and took a deep breath.

The aroma of potatoes, cheese, pork, mayonnaise, and bread baked with aged dough was rich and irresistible.

I lifted a slice of pizza.

“Yum.”

The potato pizza’s passionate love found my mouth with a scorching heat, and I had no choice but to close my eyes.

We had already felt each other enough with our eyes and nose, and now we only had to love with our lips and tongue.

Henry Marceau lifted the corner of his mouth as he watched Go Hoon in ecstasy.

“What will you do after the contest?”

Go Hoon snapped out of his blissful state.

“I’ll stay a bit longer if I make it to the top ten, otherwise I have to go back.”

“Be realistic. You have to aim for the second place.”

“You’re not telling me to go for the first place.”

Henry Marceau, who was about to claim the first place as his own, became aware of Cha Si-hyun and Blanche Fabre.

Go Hoon finally came to his senses.

“You met Si-hyun last time, right?”

“I don’t care about him.”

“That’s Blanche Fabre. Fabre, this is Marceau. Say hello.”

Blanche Fabre lifted her head without changing her posture of cutting the pizza and glared at Henry Marceau.

Marceau had no interest in the platinum-haired brat either.

They locked eyes for a moment, then he brought up the question he wanted to ask Go Hoon again.

“How long are you going to keep coming and going?”

“Why?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

Go Hoon took a big bite of his pizza and sorted out his thoughts.

The European and North American markets were definitely bigger and easier to work in than South Korea.

Especially for Go Hoon, who didn’t need any adaptation period in terms of language and culture, there was no reason to hesitate.

“My grandfather is looking into it for me.”

“Yeah? Where to?”

Henry Marceau couldn’t hide his excitement and raised his voice.

“Burbank?”

Henry Marceau widened his eyes as he watched Go Hoon casually eating his pizza.

“California?”

“Yes.”

“Why there!”

“I have an old house there. It’s also good for movie work.”

“You’re going to live there for such a lame reason?”

“Why are you getting angry again? It’s just one of the options I’m considering.”

“Where else then?”

“New Malden.”

Henry Marceau’s temples throbbed as Go Hoon mentioned London.

He was frustrated that Go Hoon was talking about Burbank and London instead of Paris, the capital of art, where he lived.

“You have a house in Paris too! What did you do with the one on 12-14 Rue Thomas Mann in Gobelins?”

Go Hoon blinked.

“How do you know that, Marceau?”

“What?”

“How do you know about the house in Gobelins?”

He couldn’t say that he had investigated Go Hoon’s past because he was suspicious.

Henry Marceau racked his brain.

“There.”

“Where?”

“I tried to buy it, but it was under your name.”

“You tried to buy it?”

Henry Marceau, who couldn’t even lie properly, was replaced by Arsen.

“It’s a place where the real estate value has been rising steadily since the new town development. We’re also buying a few other places besides that one.”

Go Hoon nodded.

“I’m not selling it. I have tenants too.”

“I don’t need it!”josei

Henry Marceau snapped his fingers on the table.

“Why are you so angry?”

“I’m not selling the house. You’re so low. You think you’re cool when you get angry like that.”

“I don’t understand why that old man is angry.”

“If you’re cool, you know how to be sweet.”

“…?”

Meanwhile, Blanche Fabre and Cha Si-hyun were having a lively conversation.

****

1)Cha Si-hyun used ‘you’ to refer to Go Hoon, but he meant ‘older sister’ rather than ‘you’, so I wrote it as above.