Love and death are two wings that carry a good person to heaven.

"Love and death are two wings that carry a good person to heaven."(Amore e morte sono due ali che portano una brava persona in paradiso.)— Michelangelo Buonarroti —

At the time Kang-seok had left for Yang Seon-gu's hanok residence,Jo Dong-beom was whistling while observing a turquoise butterfly.

He was reassured by the triple-layered safety setup: a stand carefully secured with a glue gun so it wouldn't get damaged, and even a glass dome covering it.

At Dong-beom's feet lay dozens of glass butterflies he had crafted, trying to replicate the turquoise butterfly he was now observing.

Compared to Kang-seok, who had made tens of thousands to produce a few thousand, Dong-beom's pace and output were nothing impressive—but the level of focus he had achieved made him feel genuinely proud.

Dong-beom looked at the butterfly, clenching and unclenching his fists.Its delicate wings looked like they might fold and soar toward the glass dome at any moment—so graceful and refined.

It was fascinating.

Dong-beom traced Kang-seok's techniques reflected in the butterfly's wings with his eyes.An artist's style usually stays consistent, but his teacher was an exception.

Looking at works like Father, exhibited at the Bloom Art Museum, or Leap, recently unveiled by Professor Lee Min-hyuk, Kang-seok seemed to favor thick, firm, masculine lines—very straight and strong.

Yet when Dong-beom thought of Glass Peony, exhibited at the Peony Gallery, or Psyche (Ψυχή) at Yongshin Land, he was reminded that Kang-seok could also create works with delicate, flowing curves—almost the opposite of his usual style, evoking a feminine sensibility.

How could an artist's identity be so contradictory?

Could someone's environment, ideology, values, and personality create such divergent artistic styles?

Dong-beom let out a breath of admiration.

"It's like he carries two artistic souls. It's amazing."

And that's not all.

Just when you think you've understood his duality, he produces masterpieces like Sunset or The Radiant Buddha (광화여래불)—works where masculine and feminine aesthetics coexist in harmony.He was, truly, a genius without limits.

Dong-beom slowly lifted his head.

At the far end of the studio, deep inside and hidden from the light, he could see Sunset through the slightly open door.Even in the dark, with all the lights off, a red gleam shone like a fine crack of light.

Gulp.

Dong-beom swallowed.

He was reminded of the red glass Kang-seok had briefly worked on there—a red so vivid, it didn't seem like any man-made color.

Clenching his fist again, Dong-beom ignored the blisters and pain on his hand, which had been gripping tools for so long.

He stood up.

Kang-seok had told him he wouldn't be coming to the studio for the next few days while he worked at Yang Seon-gu's hanok.

"Until he's back, no matter how it turns out, I'm going to give it my all."

Following the upward instinct of all humans, Dong-beom wanted to walk even in Kang-seok's shadow.

Only then, perhaps, this timid student—who didn't even dare to call him "master" in public—could finally stand tall and say with pride, "I am his disciple."

Dong-beom picked up his sculpting rod again.

It was time to practice.

"There's not a single rock left intact because of you, Seok."

Yang Seon-gu grumbled at Kang-seok as he moved to select stones. His speech had grown noticeably informal and relaxed over the months of working together.

It felt like he'd gained a grandfather he never had. Kang-seok smiled quietly.

"Smiling, are you?"

"Yes."

Yang Seon-gu was smiling too. Despite his grumbling tone, his voice was full of laughter, and his lips were curled up to his cheekbones.

"Sheesh, really..."

As Kang-seok walked, he recalled a recent conversation with Jung Byung-kwon.

"Yang Seon-gu seems to be in a good mood lately. It's all thanks to you, Seok."

"Me?"

It had happened when Kang-seok had fled to the sculpture studio to escape classmates frantically preparing for college entrance exams.Jung Byung-kwon, a student of Yang Seon-gu, had offered unexpected gratitude, leaving Kang-seok puzzled.

"What did I do?"

"Well… You know that Yang Seon-gu is the biggest collector of sculpting stones in the country, right?"

He hadn't.

But Kang-seok had nodded anyway.

He had heard Yang Seon-gu was a first-generation sculptor and, before that, a collector of stones.

"He's known in the auction circles as a major buyer—he'd snatch up any unique stone he found. He has plenty of ancestral land, and since he always wanted to decorate it with stones, he could never have enough. Eventually, he fell in love with the shapes and entered sculpting when he was still young."

"But these days, young sculptors don't really work with stone anymore."

Jung Byung-kwon had looked regretful.

Nowadays, there are so many materials and methods—3D modeling, clay, resin—that you don't need to chisel stone anymore.

Real stone carving had long been out of fashion. With synthetic marbles and soapstone carving now more practical, sculptors were turning away from actual stone.

Even public works like fountains and garden statues were produced en masse by factories based on submitted mockups.

"And we're supposed to call them sculptors?"

Yang Seon-gu felt disheartened by the direction of modern sculpture. His students, including Jung, all knew this.

Change is inevitable, but for someone who'd dedicated his life to stone, it must have been painful.

"Then you showed up, Seok."

"…"

Kang-seok had gone after the stones no one else wanted—pestering Yang Seon-gu to bring this one, that one—and started carving them himself. Just like Yang had done in the past.

And slowly, the world began to shift.

People started noticing Kang-seok's work. Even if he hadn't made it himself, they were drawn to that aesthetic—commissioning or seeking hand-carved or marble sculptures again.

In a world dominated by abstract, deconstructed forms, Kang-seok had introduced a new paradigm—or rather, brought an old one back.

"It's like the world of sculpture, once dying, has come alive again. That's what the master said."

"…"

"These days, he's floating on air every time you contact him."

"…"

"Thanks, really."

Kang-seok's lips twitched, remembering Jung's hand gently brushing his hair. After hearing all that, how could he take Yang Seon-gu's grumbling seriously?

"You're happy, aren't you?"

"Me? Happy? Ha, you're ridiculous."

Yang Seon-gu stroked his beard like a mountain sage and burst out laughing.There was something utterly pure in that laughter.How could someone that old still feel so untainted?Kang-seok looked around in wonder.

Marble stones were piled high.

It was clear that Yang Seon-gu had gone out of his way to bring out every block in Kang-seok's preferred dimensions.

As he walked slowly, Kang-seok felt the marble calling to him.

Each time he looked at a stone, images would flicker in his mind, forming and vanishing over and over again.

Rather than chasing those inspirations, Kang-seok let them flow as he surveyed his surroundings.

Then Yang Seon-gu, sensing Kang-seok's momentary distraction, casually threw out a question:

"If you finish this project well, you're becoming a building owner, right? That one with The Creation of Adam you recreated—was it Renaissance?"

"How do you know about that?"

"I've known Director Jin from Bloom Gallery for ages. If something goes in one ear over there, it reaches me in three hours."

"Really?"

That was news to Kang-seok.

He turned his head slightly.

He thought he heard water flowing in the distance.

Was there a stream nearby?

Just as the thought crossed his mind, Yang Seon-gu nudged him gently in the side.

"Even if it's a bit on the outskirts, it's still in Seoul. You're practically rich now. Maybe you should buy the quarry in Jeongseon once you become a landlord."

The quarry in Jeongseon—South Korea's only marble quarry.

"Wouldn't make stone sourcing easier? I could even visit now and then."

"Why don't you buy it, teacher?"

"What good would it do me at this age? Just makes estate planning harder later."

Yang Seon-gu gazed into the distance with eyes that seemed to peer into death.

Then, once again, the sound of water came—louder this time.

Before Kang-seok could ask about it, Yang Seon-gu spoke first.

"The waterfall's falling pretty hard today."

"Waterfall?"

"Yeah."

He gestured past the marble with a wide sweep of his sleeve.

"There's a waterfall around here. Sometimes when the flow is strong, you can hear it even from here. Sounds pretty loud this time. Maybe some animal kicked a rock loose or something."

"…Maybe."

Kang-seok listened blankly to the waterfall crashing down.

As he followed the sound, his eyes fell on two slabs of marble in the direction Yang Seon-gu had pointed.

The right one was bigger; the left one was slightly smaller.

But both were large.

Hmm.

Kang-seok narrowed his eyes.

The waterfall continued to roar.

The sound of a stone rolling.

The swaying breeze.

Trees visible beyond the marble.

As he took in all of it, something shaking in the breeze caught his eye.

There were two figures.

Kangseok looked at them and slowly opened his mouth.

"Let's go with these two."

"What? Two?"

Yang Seongu widened his eyes and turned to Kangseok.

His look seemed to ask, Are you thinking of sculpting two statues?

Kangseok shook his head.

"This piece is both two and one."

"Huh?"

If it's two, it's two. If it's one, it's one. What does that even mean? Yang Seongu blinked. Regardless, Kangseok said he chose to go with these two and turned his back.

Now, until the rest of the marble was cleared and the yard was empty, he thought he could get started with some sketches. Making sure he didn't lose the image of the two figures that had appeared, Kangseok quickly walked away, sketching them in his mind.

...

It took a full day to clear away the 18 marble blocks that Yang Seongu had filled the yard with so casually, as if it were nothing.

Once those 18 were cleared, only two remained.

This time too, numerous cameras were recording the two marbles, now slightly spaced apart so they wouldn't interfere with the sculpting.

Yang Seongu sat on the wooden floor, stroking his beard as he looked at Kangseok's laptop connected to the cameras. The footage had just passed the five-second mark.

Remembering the numbers from before, Yang Seongu chuckled to himself.

He recalled the time thousands of people had flooded in just to watch the muted video, because the sound of the carving had been too loud for microphones.

He wondered how many days it would take to reach those numbers again. As he stared happily at the laptop cord, making sure the battery wouldn't die—

[hi][Seok's here][Seok's here][You're here!!! We've been waiting!!!][Waaaah! It started!][I came from watching Psyche. It was insane. Anyone else come from Psyche?]

The viewer count began to skyrocket.

Yang Seongu's eyes went wide again.

Before Kangseok had even done anything, the chat was already exploding with people eager to talk among themselves.

[Me][I'm a high schooler T_T Why is it adults-only? Was there some controversy?][Uh... if you're a guy, you'll understand. It's for adults. Psyche is... that kind of being.][Huh?][Psyche is legendary. I realized I could fall in love with a statue. I've watched it 5 times now. Never gets old. I wish the viewing time weren't limited.][Agreed.][I succeeded the first time but keep failing now. It's selling out faster each time. My potato PC can't handle it.][Go to an internet cafe.][Internet cafe + phone + laptop = best combo.][So much small talk. The live hasn't even started yet.][ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Maybe it's because there's nowhere else to talk about Kangseok?][There is a fan cafe now. Go chat there. Focus on the art here.][But he hasn't even started sculpting yet...]

What is all this...

Yang Seongu could barely follow the speed with his aging eyes. He slowly scrolled with the mouse wheel to read each chat.

Just then, Kangseok stood up in the video.

Yang Seongu also stood up from where he was watching the screen.

Kangseok moved out of frame. He was holding something unusual—not a grinder, but an axe.

Sometimes when carving wood, he used an axe to chop off large unneeded parts. It seemed he was about to do something similar with the marble.

Normally, Yang Seongu would've stopped him immediately—but this was Kangseok. Telling him how to handle marble was pointless.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind—

CRACK!The axe struck the marble without warning. Parts already marked with a chisel began to fracture and fall away with loud cracks.

[Whoa!][Powerful!][It's splitting like lightning!][Wow... insane.]

As expected, the chat exploded.

To others, it looked as if unnecessary parts were falling away like armor being stripped off.

"Heh. Stubborn yet sly like a fox," Kangseok smirked.

The live stream was for fame. Kangseok wanted to be known more than anyone. He had to become the best sculptor. For that, he was more than willing to put on a show.

THWACK!THWACK!

Kangseok burst into laughter as he watched the chunks of marble fall.

"He really is an interesting man."

Park Sunwoo, the youngest of the Sangkang Group family, let out a laugh. On his phone, a gif titled "Typical Sculptor of the Peninsula.gif" played.

It showed Kangseok swinging his axe, chunks of stone flying. The gif had gone viral as "how sculptors work on the peninsula."

Thanks to that, Kangseok's fame had spread beyond art lovers to the general public.

"Some are worried that Mr. Kangseok's image may be getting too lighthearted."

Ryu Junghyung, adjusting his glasses, expressed concern. The cord attached to his glasses swayed slightly.

Park Sunwoo waved off the concern.

"Do you really think our Mr. Kangseok is someone whose image can be diminished by a few memes?"

Of course not.

Park Sunwoo was certain.

Smiling again, he turned from his phone to his computer, where Kangseok's live stream was playing in real time.

The camera showed Kangseok from a distance.

Sometimes the angle switched to a closer camera, but the default was a wide, straight-on view.

Kangseok was sculpting on the larger of the two statues—on the right. Beyond him, the faint form of a woman was emerging.

Only her face, looking skyward, and her right ankle sticking out of her robes were visible—but they were being revealed so quickly that no one felt it was too slow.

He's faster than most seasoned artists. It's like he's on 2x speed, Park Sunwoo thought, amazed.

"Seriously, how should I thank him? Looks like he's making two sculptures..."

Park Sunwoo rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

He's not making separate male and female bathhouses, is he?

The plan had been to create a mixed-gender outdoor bath where anyone in swimwear could enter. But now, with two sculptures, he wasn't sure what Kangseok intended.

Just then—

On-screen, Kangseok lifted something.

"What's that?"

"Hm?"

Ryu Junghyung and even Bloom Art Museum director Jin Dowook got up and leaned toward the screen.

"Huh?"

"Hmmm?"

Their faces mirrored Park Sunwoo's puzzled look.

A new tool had appeared—something that wasn't an axe, grinder, hammer, or chisel.

Their eyes were glued to it.

It resembled a bent arrow.

At the end of a curved wire, a tiny sharp woodworking chisel was attached—like a tail.

There was no official name—it seemed homemade.

What's he planning to do with that?

All three stared at the screen with the same thought.

Kangseok brought the arrowhead to the edge of the woman's robe, where her toes peeked out. He tapped it gently with a hammer.

"What the...?"

The tip glided into the stone like cutting tofu. Like an endoscope, it wormed its way inward.

Following the white cloth's lines, Kangseok repeatedly inserted the tip and brushed away the dust.

No one could guess what he was doing.

But one thing was clear.

As the camera switched and showed Kangseok's face, someone typed in the chat, as if possessed:

[Whatever it is, he's about to show us something incredible.][Just like he always does.]

Exactly two months remained until the deadline for the sculpture's completion.