Golden fan

Dude, you might be right. I ordered the official acrylic stands from the Lezhin Amazon store and 704 is drawn holding a gold and blue fan. They're all seen wearing clothing of a different era. I thought it was purely aesthetic and a nod to the pairing but that would make a lot of sense.

Ohmygosh, really?? Neat! That's really interesting to learn, tysm

That is super cool. I kinda suspect that when Geumseun talks about "a long time ago", he means a reeeeally long time ago, like Joseon-long-ago--the clothes would make sense. Maybe he was a ritual or weaponry fan that was so old, prized, and important that he developed a consciousness? I don't really know if that's a thing with Korean goblins but...
Perhaps the golden fan was something belonging to someone like San, who had basically a free pass to commune with the spirits? A person like a spiritual medium, maybe someone who had a tragic life and/or death, that the fan, as an object, had to witness helplessly? That would fit with the theme of the story...

Forgive my replying again, but I went to take a look at the standies you mentioned and wow! Yeah, at 1st glance they seem pretty modern; short hair, no hats. But looking again, they are probably rife with symbolism. There's a crane in every picture, or at least a wing, and each character is portrayed with one of the "four noble plants" associated with the four seasons, life and death motifs, plus an object.

This is a fun project! ヾ(☆▽☆) Let's break it down:

704, Spring. Noble plant: prunus (plum/apricot) blossom, symbolizes purity, integrity, longevity; returning to bloom (life) after Winter (death). He holds a blue-silk-and-gold fan. He and Eunjae each have a crane wing in the foreground of their portraits; a crane is supposed to come and carry your soul to heaven when you die.

Eunjae, Summer. Noble plant: orchid, refinement, nobility, scholarly pursuits; a seemingly delicate plant that nevertheless thrives (life) in barren soil (death) other plants may not tolerate. He wears the goblinstone bracelet.

Geumseun, Autumn. Noble plant: chrysanthemum, fidelity, sincerity, elegance; blooming (life) at a season when most other flowers have withered (death). His golden eyes and blue hair mimic the colors of 704's fan. He holds a teacup decorated with plum blossoms. He's the only one of the four depicted in profile. You can see more crane in this portrait, Geumseun actually gets some bird feet. But evidently the cranes love San the most, because they all end up in his portrait.

San, Winter. Noble plant: bamboo, strength, flexibility, virtuous conduct; steadfast and unchanging, it is green (life) in all seasons. Bamboo is also associated with warding off ghosts--a bamboo fire is supposed to scare the creepies away, haha. He holds what I'm 90% sure is a strawberry flower; their meaning is respect, affection, and innocent love. While the other three have their objects in their right hands, San holds the flower in his left. An offering, then? There's snow in the background and a pair of cranes in the foreground. Those who choose solitude in life are supposed to become cranes after they die, and cranes symbolize all kinds of other stuff too, including longevity and enlightenment, with two cranes together meaning ultra longevity.

These are all really popular artistic motifs and symbols, so I won't read too much into it, but I think the characters have been matched up with their respective Noble Plants and seasons very well! The objects each character holds are especially interesting. All those cranes are a good sign, hopefully the opposite of death flags (≧∀≦)

Now I'm going to re-read the story and sleuth around for more hidden (or not-so-hidden) clues and symbols! (๑•ㅂ•)و✧

Whoa!!! This is SO cool! I had no idea about the Four Noble Plants/Noble Gentlemen and so glad I learned some art history today. Thank you so much for doing this! Your breakdown makes so much sense! I had no idea there was so much symbolism in these stands. Geumseun and Eunjae arrive today, San tomorrow, and 704 later next week. I’m so much more excited for it now and can’t wait to look at them up close with your analysis. Very much appreciate you taking the time to do this!

Please do share if you find any interesting clues and symbols. Would love to hear your thoughts! I remember San making a reference to Geumseun’s name and the fan being depicted in one panel but can’t find the chapter. Please let me know if you do! Thanks again!!!

I had a lot of fun! Those standies are so nice (I didn't even know that kind of merch existed for this comic!), and the more I look at the pictures, the more I think the artist was super clever in arranging the characters with the symbols. For instance, with 704 and the plum blossoms, that could symbolize his returning to life as a reaper after a period (evidently a long one) of Winter/death. And Geumsun's chrysanthemums would be blooming alone after the plum blossoms had long since fallen from the tree. LOL, I made myself sad ╥﹏╥ . Meanwhile, the crowding of symbols of life, longevity, and strength in San's portrait make me worry less for his future than for any other character's, though I have a feeling he's going to take a real beating in the future, poor guy, simply because he's such a spiritual tank. I'm even starting to wonder if he even *can* die--but I bet we'll get a couple of good scares before we find out!

I am going to enjoy my re-read today and rather than looking at the composition as a whole, I'm going to break things down piece by piece and try to look at them through the "artist's eye"--doesn't this seem like one of those works in which every other panel hides a secret? We've got what's going on upon the surface, and then there's every other little thing like the position of a character's hands, their bodies, their expressions, the relative position of objects+character+dialogue in the panels... well, artists have to cram a ton of information into a relatively small space and they can't (and usually don't want to) do it all with dialogue bubbles--right? Or maybe I'm just looking for reasons to spend my weekend poring over the story (≧∀≦)

I will be sure to share any information of interest I uncover. We've already seen something odd about the reaper's marks/spiritual tattoos/whatever those are. That's definitely something I want to investigate. And one of the untranslated raw chapters has Yama talking more than he ever has before, revealing a huge amount of info all at once, so I need to go over that again too. It's SO hard because I don't speak or read Korean, but I'll do my best (๑•ㅂ•)و✧ Dictionaries, assemble!

The stands are really eye-catching thanks to some great detailing (and symbolism)! One further piece of information I'd like to share regarding the artwork for San...

Like you guessed OP, he’s holding a strawberry flower, which is pretty interesting: Eunjae’s birthday is on the 4th May which is represented by ---> strawberry flowers!! So yeah, the fact that San’s holding Eunjae’s birthday flower is a nice little detail that I thought was really sweet.

Ahh, thanks for sharing! I didn’t know there are flowers for every day of the year in Korea. That’s pretty cool. There is so much detail and symbolism I would have missed if not for this post.