2025-09-11: For Exposure, Again!
- Log: 2025-09-11
- Cast: Masao Inaba, So-young Park
- Where: Cardboard Dragon, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: September 11, 2025
- IC Date: July 20, 2012
- Summary: When trying to jump Yusuke in an art store didn't exactly work, a useful coincidence points her towards Mark instead.
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
The week has begun in early July, and Masao "Mark" Inaba is being punctual
about the return of Myunghon's finished dry cleaning. (His mother showers
endless praise about how he's being responsible and good at being interested in
the family business and has been insufferable. But, you know, he loves her
anyway.)
He doesn't have a better place to go find them to deliver the laundry back,
so he's got no choice but to just make use of the spare store key and make sure
they're there. One ride in the family's car by the same aforementioned parent
later... it's late in the morning, and Masao's just navigated the outdoor fire
escape to get inside the Cardboard Dragon. Everything, up to this point,
largely goes as normal and expected. Just get this delivered, leave them the
text that their clothes are in the store, lock back up, and get on with his day.
Already going to be tricky threading the needle getting into his online
college courses as it is...
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
Someone is waiting inside the store. This wouldn't be so unusual, except the
Cardboard Dragon is supposed to be closed at the moment, and she doesn't
exactly look like she's your average customer here to buy some trading cards.
Tall and in her mid-twenties the woman has an air of self-assurance to her, sat
on the couch in the living area as if it were her home with a violin at her
chin. At the sound of the door opening she looks up to deliver a megawatt smile.
"Hello! We finally meet!" she says without any preamble at all, full of cheer,
her bow still moving across the strings as she finishes whatever she was
playing. With a bit of a flourish that looks more like an ingrained behaviour
than an attempt to impress anyone, she lowers the violin to her lap. "I've
heard a lot about you."
The way her grin turns lightly mischievous suggests she knows just how
ridiculous this whole situation looks at first glance, but for whatever reason
she seems to be rolling with it anyway.
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
"Huh. Is violin playing?" Masao wonders to himself as he's getting the door
open. A neighbor? He doubts Myunghon would've left a television or radio on, or
something, from when they last talked. ...It's low on the list of 'weird things
that might be dangerous,' as he turns the key and opens the door--
'Hello! We finally meet!'
"WHOA," Masao flinches at the surprise that anyone would be here right now.
No, this is the Cardboard Dragon, he didn't accidentally just break into
someone else's place...
He slumps some, hand to the back of his head. "Shit, you startled me, so
wait-- friend of Myunghon's, or somethin' like that, right?" He takes back his
composure. "Yeah, sorry for uh... interruptin', just here to deliver back their
dry cleaning and..." Check the place over to discover someone else has been in
there, playing violin and waiting for him.
Masao is a little shorter than she is, and not all that terribly imposing a
figure 'at rest,' so to speak. He tries to roll with the awkwardness of it,
much as he can in the moment. "...So, uh, you waited here for me?"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young looks immensely pleased at the noise of surprise and the flinch,
which is perhaps rather mean of her in the moment. She might feel bad about it
later, but probably not. "Sorry, sorry, I couldn't resist," she says with that
bright smile. "I've been spending some time looking after the place recently,
and after all the times that someone surprised _me_ by barging in all of a
sudden thinking Myunghon was back, I wanted to get my own back."
She easily waves away Masao's worries about interrupting. "It's alright - and,
please, go right ahead. I don't know where they wanted it put, but I assume
they told you." She's carefully watching out of idle curiosity, wondering
whether Masao's been given the go-ahead to climb up to the mysterious third
floor, but otherwise seems content to leave her meddling at that as she starts
to carefully clean her bow. "I'm family, actually! It's a bit complicated, mind
you. So-young Park," she introduces herself with another smile, of which she
seems to have an endless amount.
"And, yes, actually! Coincidence is on our side, it seems, because I was
hoping to talk to you at some point. You came recommended by-- ah..." Ah.
So-young isn't terrifically great at retaining names, not least of people she's
only met once who carefully avoided giving his own out for much of their
conversation. "Probably another of Madarame's ex-students. Even taller than I
am. Short blue hair. Made up almost entirely of knees and elbows." It's not a
stretch to connect that to one Yusuke Kitagawa.
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
"...Yeah, I could get that," Masao more or less lets the idea of a playful
revenge on those surprising her roll off his back as he gets the laundry - and
the spare keys, which he dropped in his surprise - back in his hands and fully
where they need to be. (Which is to say, not outside.)
"All they said was that I oughtta 'steer clear' of the third floor, but...
that's where they live, and they got a broken arm." There's really no two ways
about it, Myunghon is an incredibly unique individual and that is the most
diplomatic way to put it in the moment. If they got family(, actually, it's a
bit complicated), that makes the logistics of where and how to leave it a bit
less enigmatic and worrisome!
A bit less.
Masao lets So-young keep hold of the conversation while he hoists the laundry
further along inside. The Inaba Dry Cleaners does good work, and so does Masao,
even if it's not the kind of work he wants to pursue doing. He's an artist!!
"By..." Probably another of Madarame's ex-students. Taller, short blue hair.
Does that ring a bell...?
"Huh. I hadn't talked much to his other students," he did get one drunken guy
yell at him incoherently shortly before Madarame's confession, and that sure
was an event to walk into just coming home to Japan. "But... yeah, I'm Inaba.
Masao Inaba," he bows properly... and rises up with a more youthful smile. "But
it sounds like y'know me better as 'Mark!'"
It's good to be known and recommended for that, even as awkward as that
meeting was! Is! It's still happening.
"Wish they'd told me, we coulda coordinated 'bout makin' sure we got
everything where it needed to without them riskin' falling down stairs over
carryin' their laundry... still. Glad I'm not keepin' watch on my own, then."
"Anyway... I guess if they're interested in me I'll run into 'em sooner or
later, so... what's up?" He stands up straighter, hands in his hoodie pockets
as he sets the laundry basket down. He's not sure what this conversation's
going to be about, but, that's just adulthood, isn't it?
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young snorts in amusement as Masao sums up the situation, sinking back in
her seat as she folds her arms. "I don't have permission to head up there
either," she laments. "Hell, I don't even know where things go in the actual
store. It'll probably be fine if you leave it in the space by the stairs - so
long as they can get to it quickly."
Her eyes stray in the direction of the old building stairs and elevator,
currently partially blocked by Johnny-kun the plastic plant. "I'm beyond
curious what might be waiting up there, but even I'm not rude enough to power
my way up into someone's private space, even that of family. If someone showed
up in my apartment unannounced I'd certainly pitch a fit, so I suppose I
shouldn't be a hypocrite about it."
'Should' is doing a lot of work in that sentence. So-young has been, and will
be, a hypocrite whenever she wants to be. But even she recognizes that breaking
this particular facet of trust would be a bit beyond the pale.
"If it helps at all, I think I might have made him a bit paranoid," the woman
adds as she picks up her purse and hoists it onto her lap. She's a lot more
finely dressed than you'd expect someone hanging around the Cardboard Dragon
after hours to be - a black evening dress as if she's just come from the
theatre - but then, Myunghon wears a lot of formal monochrome clothes too.
Maybe it's a family thing. "He might have just decided to offer you up to me as
a sacrifice."
She winks, to show she's kidding, and extracts a business card to offer it
over once Mark's done with the laundry: So-young Park, Guest Conductor, Tokyo
Philharmonic. She lets silence reign for a moment, and then nods her head,
suddenly turning solemn. "When I talked about wanting to commission an artist,
your classmate said that they were feeling betrayed, and might never be able to
work in the art world again. I'm curious what you'd say to that."
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Neither of them can go up to the third floor, then. That... complicates
things. All he can go by is So-young's word then, just putting it in the space
by the stairs, once he's got the opportunity to do that. He's in a middle of a
conversation now, after all.
"They're already puttin' a lotta trust in me as-is," Masao concurs. Not like
they have a reason to go barging in, unless they both heard a burglar or
something. Myunghon could afford to have one less thing to worry about than
people seeing whatever's on the third floor.
On to the subject of the ex-student...!
A morbid joke, a wink, and a business card taken. So-young Park, Guest
Conductor, Tokyo Philharmonic. That's not a small feat at all!
She relays the tail about wanting to commission an artist, but... their
feelings about being betrayed, and might not able to work in the art world
again...
Masao's expression hardens. "What? Give up on art?!" Masao quiets and thinks
about it. "...Nah, they must've known Madarame a lot longer than I did. If
everything he said in that press conference was true..."
The street artist puckers his lips at the thought of it. "What I say to that,
is that I'm not gonna take this opportunity from him," he looks up, "Madarame's
whole thing really messed up a lot of my own shit, but I ain't gonna build a
career off the back of another artist he hurt."
He shakes his head. "Hard enough to live the life of an artist these days,
y'know?" Exhibit A - still working at his family's business and having to move
back in with them.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young stares for a long moment as Mark answers, her eyebrows going up in
surprise. For all her boisterousness, she seems to be well aware of when it's
most important to shut up and listen as someones deliver a speech - after all,
she's not just a professional musician but also a professional member of the
audience when she needs to be, and she implicitly understands the importance of
a dramatic moment.
Then, she simply bursts straight into laughter.
Quick to hold up a hand in surrender, it takes some time for her to subside,
still sniggering to herself in between her replies. "Honestly! What is with
this sense of responsibility? The two of you said the exact same thing!" she
grins brightly as she folds her arms, certainly not looking as put out as she
sounds. "Quite aside from the fact that I've never met an artist that could
affort to turn down a particularly juicy commission, why are you both acting as
if there's a limited amount of art available in the world? Since when was the
pursuit of putting paint to canvas first-come first-served?"
She settles down at least a little, though she's still grinning. "First, let
me put your concerns to rest directly. I run a series of weekday orchestra
performances out of the Bunkamura in Shibuya, and my personal goal is to try to
get as much new blood involved in them as possible. Guest musicians, unusual or
more up-to-date setlists, whatever it takes. Recently, I've also been granted a
little in the way of gallery space in the foyer, and I plan to match
performances to themes - to art."
"So I can at least say you wouldn't be taking a slot away from anyone else.
It's a rotating slot: there is always next week, or the week after, and so on."
So-young looks up, a frown coming back to her face. "What worries me is that
this pupil was worried about public backlash from their association with
Madarame. Now, I can personally say I don't give a damn. Art is art, and talent
is talent. But I'm not the sort of person who can just encourage someone back
to art if their heart's not in it. That's why I asked."
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
There is laughter, and there is blinking.
"Both of us? We said the same thing. You're for real on that." Exasperated,
as she goes into detail about how they really can't afford to turn down
particularly juicy commissions, and she's not wrong. Once more, that head at
the back of his head, having it bowed at the odd humbling.
Do all artists share the same braincell?
Still, he calms down as she better explains the situation as to the hows and
whys of what she's doing, and going for a rotating slot - but, more detail
about the pupil's worries.
...And why he's being reached out to.
"All right... yeah, I get you." Does he, this time? That he doesn't have this
fear of association - given the timing of Madarame's fall happened *just* as he
came back to Japan - really is a point of social privilege, isn't it? (Despite
how much of a mess *that* created too...)
"I'll reach out to 'em. Tall guy, short blue hair, really thin... do I have
that right?"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
"Almost to the word," So-young replies flatly, though with a grin on her face.
That's probably an exaggeration on her part, but she does mean it in spirit -
if nothing else, the thrust of their argument was quite the same. She's quick
to wave Masao to the other end of the couch, pulling out a small portfolio of
photos.
"These are some of the previous artists we've had on. The photos aren't
terribly good, but hopefully you get an idea of what I'm shooting for." What
she's looking for seems... extremely freeform. Outside of a general theme, the
actual works on display seem to be more or less up to the artist, which is a
remarkable amount of freedom for So-young to give up for the sake of a
commission. But a booklet tucked in between the pages seems legit enough - it's
a programme for one of the shows, and features the artist's name and a little
bit of blurb about why they picked their theme.
"You can leave the scoring side of things up to me. If you're feeling angry
and violent, there is plenty of classical music I can use to match. If you're
feeling mellow and pastoral, we can break out the woodwinds. If a beat is what
you need, then I will not disappoint," she adds with that same iron-clad
self-confidence. "What I'm interested in is giving people a platform and seeing
what it is they want to present most."
She hesitates when Masao mentions reaching out to the other student, and you
can see her expression start to shift into another round of mild but amused
exasperation. "... while I would not mind you doing so in the least, I think I
should make it completely clear: I am trying to see if you would also be
interested in presenting something. Why only hire one of you when I can hire
both?"
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
Masao, waved over, takes a look at the portfolio. He blinks a few times at the
third one. "Oh, cool, you got that guy, never even heard of the stuff he did
for that--"
He's impressed! Whoever that name was he saw there, that's impressive, and
he's looking intently at the second and fifth ones too. He nods a few times as
she talks about how she tries to match to the artist's mood. That is about as
close to a blank canvas as it gets...
"All right, yeah - I'd be down," he says, setting down the photographs he's
been geeking over for the last half-minute, sure is a lot of fortuitous
circumstances falling into his lap lately! ...Maybe it's okay for good things
to just be good, even if how they're coming into his path is kinda weird.
"...Yeah, I wanna see to it you get to hire both!"
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
With a pleased smile, So-young nods her head. "Hang onto that card, then. As I
said, I don't mind what theme you want to present, so long as I get some notice
about it. Old or new paintings, it's up to you what you want to showcase. If I
were you, I might consider working through your feelings about Madarame - or
that's what I would have said at first. But it doesn't seem like it's affected
you nearly as much as the other young man."
There's no judgment there. Rather, So-young can't help but feel a certain
degree of relief, because she's not lying when she says she's not suited to try
to encourage someone back into art. This is the downside of being so headstrong
about her own creativity - she's not well placed to be the voice of empathy,
and she was slightly dreading the idea of someone being so disillusioned that
they decided not to go for it.
"Well, I will leave contacting him up to you. I did, ah, kind of accost him in
an art supplies store and ask about Madarame point-blank. In retrospect, that
may not have been the most successful opener in the history of the world," she
says that, but she still doesn't look all that cut up about it...
<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.
"Heh. Well... I can't say I'm completely free of the guy," Masao says as he
takes the card on his person for later. "But one way or another, still an
artist! And... I'm just gonna get out what's in my soul through that, y'know?"
He smiles to that, because of course he's going to. But the tentacles of where
Madarame had his terrible grip on the art world doing what he was doing...
that's a taller and taller task for anyone a part of the art world, isn't it?
"...I mean if it was anything like how we just met, yeah?" In a blunt 'you
think?' kind of look on his face. "But nah... I'll do what I can there."
...
Someone's got to, when everything has gotten weird and it feels more and more
like people are really fighting uphill against things that just seem impossible
to overcome by the momentum of society and its expectations and opinions, don't
they?