Artifact Reading Inspector

Chapter 95: Medici of the 21 st Century (1)

Eunhae’s reply was quite unexpected. The employee came back and, judging from her slightly red face, she had faced a protest.

“They want to see you now, sir…”

Haejin thought he had made a mistake as his employee had been humiliated, but Eunhae saw it from a different perspective.

“How dare they command someone else’s employee? Do they think yelling loudly will solve their matters? That’s funny! I’ll take care of them. Go back to your work.”

Eunhae made the employee leave and then stood up. She smoothed the wrinkles of her blouse and skirt with her hand. Then, she firmly spoke to Haejin.

“I’ll take care of this. Don’t come out.”

“O, okay,” Haejin blankly answered.

Eunhae walked out and saw two women and a man waiting in the hallway.

They were Yaerin, her client and her attendant. They were surprised to see Eunhae walk toward them with confidence.

“Huh? Why are you here?”

Eunhae answered as if it was nothing, “Haven’t I told you? I started to work here today.”

“Oh, really? Congratulations. You got a job immediately. Anyway, can we meet the director?”

“She’s here. I’m the director, so if there’s anything you want to say, tell me.”

Yaerin was clearly shocked.

“You’re the director? What are you talking about? Mr. Haejin is the director. Where is he?”

“I’m sorry, but I am the director of this museum now. Mr. Haejin will handle the appraisal and purchase of the artifacts. Do you understand?”

Yaerin was dumbfounded. Her client talked instead.

“We came here because things are urgent. So, bring him here first.”

“Have you made an appointment?”

“No, but…”

“Mr. Haejin is working on the restoration of our new artifact. So please, wait quietly, or make an appointment and come back later.”

Eunhae was firm. The woman was enraged and raised her voice.

“Hey! Are you kidding me? I’m just trying to meet an appraiser, and you treat me like this?”

Eunhae didn’t even blink an eye at the rude protest. She snapped her finger at the guards.

They had been watching and, when their director called them, they came quickly.

“Please escort them out.”

“Okay.”

“Wait, wait!”

Things were going too bad. Yaerin raised her hands to stop the guards, she then pleaded to her client.

“Madam, please calm down. I can’t take care of this if you act like this.”

“How am I supposed to be not mad at this?”

“Please calm down, let me handle this.”

She turned to Eunhae and said, “Why don’t you get rid of these guards first?”

Eunhae nodded and instructed the guards to return to their positions. Then, she gave a warning.

“And if you’re here for business, treat me as the director in front of others, Ms. Song Yaerin.”

“Huh! What the… okay, Ms. Yu Eunhae.”

Now, Eunhae was in control of the situation.

“Then, are you willing to wait now?”

“Hu… how long do we have to wait?”

“About half to one hour, I think.”

Eunhae spoke vaguely on purpose. The time was either too short or too long to leave, and she wanted to discourage her opponents even more.

“Okay then, please tell Mr. Haejin that a problem has occurred because of the Salvador Dali’s painting he appraised, and we must get an answer. We need his answer.”

“Hmm… we’ve done our appraising, and at the time, our appraiser said examining the painting with X- ray would give you the answer… I can’t see what other answers you need. Are you saying Antoni Pitxot’s signature wasn’t there?”

Yaerin slightly frowned at hearing ‘our appraiser’, but she pretended she didn’t hear that and said what she wanted.

“It’s not that… just tell him it is about the authenticity of the painting.”

Eunhae could guess how things were going. She nodded.

“Okay. I’ll let him know. Then…”

Eunhae turned around and went back to her office where Haejin was waiting for her. She then told him what had just happened.

“What is it? If there was a problem with my appraisal, they would have said so, therefore that’s not what this is about…”

Haejin was curious, he stroked his chin and spoke to himself. Eunhae sat down next to him and said her opinion.

“It can be it, or maybe not. Dali’s paintings are hard to get. Apart from the money, Haevici must have offered to buy it for its client with slightly stricter terms. What is important is that the contract must include a clause about the refund or a conclusion of the appraisal, and I think their problem is about this.”

“You mean that clause would not be in favor of Haevici?”

“Yes. However, even though Salvador Dali made many paintings, bringing his painting into Korea is not easy at all. And the buying agency would be in trouble if the owner of the painting demands unfavorable terms.”

“Then, it is likely that the problem is about the refund process.”

“I haven’t heard the details, but I think that is most likely, too. If there’s nothing wrong with the refund process, Yaerin wouldn’t have come here… as you know, Yaerin does not work at Haevici Gallery. Technically, she is the manager of Yuseong Media’s advertising team. But now, I can see that she is trying her best to take care of this problem.”

“She works at Yuseong Media? Then why is she so passionate about Haevici’s business?”

“Umm… this is a little sad, but… Yaerin already has a fixed fate. She will inherit Yuseong’s hotel and the gallery when her brother inherits Yuseong. As she thinks Haevici will be hers one day, she has to take care of it.”

“Wow… she is getting a hotel and a gallery, and that’s sad? If it were me, I would be delighted.”

“It is sad for Yaerin. There are many people in Yuseong keeping an eye on the chairman’s children, so she cannot afford to make even one mistake. That’s why she is in such a hurry now.”

“Hmm… so, what are you going to do?”

“Me? No, we should meet them, hear what they have to say, and you will make the decision. We’re not directly involved in this, so you can do as you want. If things get complicated, I’ll take care of everything.”

“Haha! That’s a relief.”

Having a good manager was awesome. They chatted like that for about half an hour and went out to the hallway. Their faces were full of anger.

“You must have been very, very busy.”

Yaerin spoke with her teeth clenched.

“Oh, a little. I heard you’re here because of the painting? Is there a problem with my appraisal?”

“The painting’s owner refused to give a refund. She can’t believe what you said.”

Of course. A young man in Asia, that the owner had never met before, was saying it was fake. It would have been stranger if that had been accepted immediately.

“That can happen. Then I’ll take full responsibility if the X-ray doesn’t show anything. Would that be enough?”

“Please, don’t speak so vaguely… isn’t there anything you can do?”

Yaerin was begging. Haejin wanted to help her, but there was nothing he could do. The painting was perfect.

“Let’s go inside and talk.”

Haejin had Eunhae handle Yaerin’s client and took Yaerin far away. They want far enough and Haejin asked, glancing at Eunhae.

“At how much did you sell the painting?”

“Ha… one billion and 960 million.”

That wasn’t expensive for a Dali. However, that money isn’t small at all, both to the buyer and the buying agency.

“What does the buyer want?”

“She wants to get a refund, of course.”

“And you?”

“I cannot give her a refund. The painting owner has to, but she is firmly refusing. The problem is that according to the contract, a refund is possible in only one situation: if the painting is fake.”

That was troublesome since it was hard to determine a painting as a fake legally.

Even if the painting had Pitxot’s signature, no one could be sure that Salvador Dali never laid a hand on it.

“You do know that I can do nothing to help you, right? I cannot change my opinion about the painting…”

“No, there’s something you can do to help me.”

“What? What is it?”

“Actually, the painting’s original owner is a woman named Alexandra Belkins.”

“Who is she?”

“She is presumed to be Charles Saatchi’s lover.”

Charles Saatchi is a businessman in England. He is famous for his obsessed collection of contemporary art and sponsoring art.

His influence is huge. If an artist manages to impress him, then that artist will become a widely-known master.

Every artist he picked has succeeded.

He is called the Medici of the 21 st century.

“So, you want me to fight Charles Saatchi?”

“No, no. That’s not it.”

Yaerin quickly took out her phone and showed Haejin a photo. It was the photo of a painting.

“What is this?”

“She asked you to appraise this painting if you are such great appraiser.”

Yaerin said as she asked, but she was clearly trying to test Haejin.

“Will she accept the fact that her painting is fake if I appraise this correctly?”

“That’s…”

Of course, she hadn’t gotten a promise.

“Okay. They’re waiting, so let’s go.”

Yaerin said she still had more to say, but Haejin ignored her and started walking. She followed him.

“So, what’s your answer?”

Haejin really didn’t want to take that test when he saw that arrogant woman.

“I’ve heard briefly. You came here because you want me to take the test?”

“Yes, but I am shocked. What is all this? This painting is worth two billion, and we’re talking about its authenticity… let’s finish it here, okay? I’m so angry.”

“I see, but I cannot just do it.”

“What are you talking about? You started it, so take care of it!”

Yaerin tried to calm her down again.

“Madam, please. Let’s hear him first. Mr. Haejin? What are you saying?”

“I’ve never appraised for free till now. I asked you to find a person for me when I appraised Dali’s painting for you, but you never got me the answer.”

“That’s, that’s because we’re still looking for him.”

She didn’t care about it after she got what she wanted. Maybe she had forgotten all about it.

“Appraising this painting is not a problem, but I will get my fee this time. Go and tell that Charles Saatchi or his girlfriend that an appraisal through a photo is more expensive… tell them that I’ll get 3% of the price as my fee, and I’ll send them my conclusion when the money is in my account.”