The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 110

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 110.
The more she thought about the artist known as Goyo, the deeper she seemed to sink into a labyrinth.
An artist whose manager was willingly taken on by a chaebol heir.
Moreover, she possessed both talent and boldness that belied her age.
Even when presented with Hansung Electronics’ business proposal, she showed no wavering—only interest in the direction she desired.
In transactions like this, tens of billions in won would normally exchange hands at minimum, and if terms were pressed aggressively, it could easily reach hundreds of billions.
‘She didn’t seem interested in any of it….’
Did that mean such sums looked like pocket change to her?
“I don’t think she’s an ordinary person,” the Secretary offered cautiously.
Jae Hyun nodded in agreement with her assessment.
“I think so too. She’s definitely not from an ordinary background.”
Truthfully, before the meeting, he’d wondered if it was excessive.
Having an executive attend a meeting with just one artist—he’d thought it was absurd.
Yet Jae Hyun reassured himself with conviction that it was fortunate he’d come instead.
“She’s definitely an artist whose connections we need to cultivate now.”
She simply hadn’t yet engaged in any public activities.
The premonition that they might have grasped the starting point of someone destined for greatness felt extraordinarily strong.
And he trusted his own instinct—the instinct of someone who had climbed from staff member to executive.
***
Two high school students sitting in an ordinary kimbap restaurant looked utterly unpretentious, but the documents in their hands were anything but.
“The taste is decent, but the portions are way too small.”
“Restaurants like that lack substance.”
Hyun Min concurred with Ye Ji’s remark and began arranging the dishes and water glasses.
That the two of them held not simple test papers but contracts worth enormous corporate sums in their hands was something no one else would ever know.
“He seemed like a decent person, though? Better than I was worried about.”
From Ye Ji’s perspective, Jae Hyun didn’t strike her as someone who would harbor troublesome prejudices simply because she was young.
Hyun Min nodded in agreement, then tilted his head uncertainly.
It seemed premature to think of it so simply.
In Hyun Min’s eyes, Jae Hyun was a man who exhibited the distinctive pride—or perhaps arrogance—peculiar to corporate executives.
The fact that such a person had treated them considerately, maintaining propriety throughout….
“I’d say we gained the upper hand first, actually.”
“Hmm.”
At Hyun Min’s playful response, Ye Ji tilted her head with a skeptical expression.
“You deliberately revealed that you’re an SS Group heir?”
“Not deliberately.”
A mysterious artist shrouded in secrecy, with the second son of the SS Group chairman as her manager.
An artist who gave no response to any proposal—until the word “charitable project” changed everything.
With so many elements converging, even an executive vice president from Hansung Electronics would find it difficult to underestimate Ye Ji.
In any case, it was a fact that could shield her from the various concerns she’d harbored.
She’d worried about unnecessary prejudice arising from her young age and limited career.
“It’s the best way to cut short the pointless time spent gauging the other party’s standing and playing tug-of-war.”
It’s effective, simple, and quick.
Ye Ji accepted Hyun Min’s explanation.
Certainly, much discussion had felt condensed in that exchange.
“I’m grateful, but don’t do that next time.”
Hyun Min had lived his life deliberately avoiding exposure of his identity.
And though he was grateful for the help, he felt somewhat apologetic about it.
But at Ye Ji’s words, Hyun Min merely shrugged.
“I’m at the age where I’ll be getting my ID card soon. I can’t hide it forever anyway.”
The way he smiled with a playful expression still made him look like nothing more than an immature high school student.
“Once you become even more famous, it’ll all sort itself out anyway.”
The way he added it so lightly made him seem even younger.
Her own appearance probably didn’t look much different from a typical high school student either.
In that sense, Hyun Min’s action might well have been more helpful than she’d initially thought.
“True. If that hadn’t happened, it probably would’ve taken longer to have such a serious discussion. Anyway, thanks.”
Thinking that way, Ye Ji replied casually and popped a pickled radish into her mouth.
But as she did, Hyun Min, watching her with an odd expression, let his words trail off.
“It’s not all because of me, though….”
After all, Hyun Min was only in a supporting role.
Rather, the attitude Ye Ji displayed surely had the greater impact.
An unflappable demeanor belying her age and experience.
She neither tried to sell herself nor made excuses—she simply acknowledged the value of her work and conversed at ease.
Such composure would have made quite an impression.
In fact, Hyun Min’s background was merely one element supporting the fact that Ye Ji’s attitude wasn’t bravado.
While various contractual considerations swirled through Hyun Min’s mind, Ye Ji remained largely indifferent to such complexities.
“What does any of that matter, anyway?”
What mattered to her was that an environment had been created for her work to receive fair evaluation.
That alone. So Hyun Min let out a quiet laugh.
In the meantime, the tteokbokki and fried items they’d ordered arrived in abundance.
The sashimi arriving piece by piece was nice, but to Ye Ji, the red tteokbokki before her looked far more appetizing.
After popping one red tteok into her mouth, Ye Ji opened the contract file again.
“Do we need to decide quickly?”
“It’d probably be best to decide within a week, wouldn’t it?”
Hyun Min replied while reviewing the contract again.
He was more interested in the contract terms, but Ye Ji’s attention gravitated toward the charitable project section.
She already had sufficient funds for her current artwork and living expenses.
The collaboration with Celian, the proceeds from works sold at her solo exhibition.
If she were so inclined, she now possessed enough to purchase a modest building in Gangnam.
But Ye Ji had no interest in such desires.
As Ye Ji pored over the charitable materials the Secretary had handed her, Hyun Min posed a question.
“Why are you studying that so intently? Are you genuinely interested in the charitable side, or is that really why you want to do this?”
At Hyun Min’s question, Ye Ji fell into thought.
She hadn’t considered herself particularly altruistic.
But….
“Back when I was deep in the competition, you know.”
If she had to pinpoint when she became interested and drawn to this direction.
“I saw an orphanage in France.”
The place that had been Catherine’s home, now transformed into an orphanage.
The art supplies that had accumulated from her own selfish pursuits had become dreams taking root in the children growing up there.
Though unintended, wasn’t that itself a form of contribution?
She still kept, framed in one corner of her studio, a Clover Drawing the orphanage children had given her.
“So I just thought—people who want to paint but can’t, because their circumstances don’t allow it. I wanted to help them. That’s the thought I had.”
The minuscule typeface wasn’t particularly easy to read, but the content itself was substantive.
Among the documents filled with various applications and usage methods, related case studies.
“Hey, it’s all getting cold.”
True to form, the moment Ye Ji became absorbed in something, she lost all awareness of her surroundings—she’d set down her chopsticks without realizing it.
When Hyun Min broke through her concentration, she lowered the contract file and picked up her chopsticks again.
“Charitable giving for people who want to paint but lack the resources to do so—that actually fits quite well, doesn’t it?”
The reason Hansung approached Ye Ji this time.
It was because her work was art that maximized visual impact through emotionally expressive color.
A Collaboration Edition featuring Goyo’s pieces alongside theirs.
What if they could give back through those products?
Support and patronage for budding artists in the art world—that would make for quite compelling direction.
Though nothing was definitively decided along those lines just yet.
“Exactly.”
Ye Ji agreed with Hyun Min’s sentiment, but the business reasoning remained somewhat hazy to her.
What mattered to her, ultimately.
Was simply wanting to do it.
“If I wanted to focus and contribute in this direction, would that be possible?”
“Well, something like that should be doable, I think.”
Hyun Min made notes while deftly continuing to eat his tteokbokki.
Only then did Ye Ji realize Hyun Min was ambidextrous.
The way he ate without spilling a drop, all while taking notes, was nearly a parlor trick.
Noting that Ye Ji was simply watching him, Hyun Min posed another question.
“Are there any restrictions on subject matter for the works?”
“I don’t think that would be much of an issue.”
Since the company would be handling it, they’d naturally settle on inoffensive themes that wouldn’t create problems.
But there was another requirement she had.
“Instead, I’d like technical support if possible.”
The nature of Ye Ji’s work was actually difficult to convey fully through a monitor.
Most of the oil paintings people knew struggled to transmit their appeal through a screen.
Even the works of world-renowned Impressionist masters suffered from this limitation.
The overwhelming sensation from the actual scale and the dimensionality imparted by the Impasto Technique.
Such qualities were difficult to appreciate in their fine detail when fixed as image files.
And yet, that the work still moves people to call it beautiful—that is the work’s true greatness.
“Since we’re doing this under the name Goyo, I’d want to give an impression as close as possible to seeing the actual piece.”
Unlike the great works of the past, Ye Ji now had access to modern technology.
Just as she’d conducted immersive experiences of her work through installation art at the Celian fragrance pop-up.
This time, if possible, she wanted to borrow Hansung Electronics’ technological capabilities.
“Hansung Electronics should be able to apply 3D Scanning to my work and implement dimensionality through various methods, shouldn’t they?”
Of course, this project would already have meaning simply through its charitable intent.
But that didn’t mean she wanted to repeat a piece she could already execute alone whenever she wished.
Ye Ji wanted to treat every opportunity as a chance for new experience.
Sensing Ye Ji’s intention, Hyun Min’s eyes narrowed.
“……You’re planning to make full use of this opportunity?”
“Exactly. If we’re going to do it anyway?”
At Hyun Min’s question, Ye Ji responded with a grin.
He nodded in agreement with her intent and jotted down several additional notes.
“I’ll organize the proposals and send them your way again.”
“Okay.”
Then let’s finish eating.
Having concluded what wasn’t quite a meeting, Ye Ji picked up her chopsticks once more.
This semester is shaping up to be anything but leisurely….
‘But busy might actually be better.’
Ye Ji brought a vibrant energy to the table as she ate her tteokbokki with relish.
***
The new semester at Cheonglim Art High School.
A time when every student steels their resolve and clarifies their goals.
For Lee Ha Eun, who had entered the Western art program upon becoming a second-year student, this semester felt especially significant.
“Why won’t you let me? There’s no student in my year with better qualifications than me!”
Ha Eun was daily hounding the teacher’s office, pleading with her homeroom instructor.
The reason was singular.
She wanted to be admitted to the Special Class.
“The Special Class is for third-year students only.”
“But Ye Ji got in as a second-year last year!”
“That’s…!”
In the face of Ha Eun’s unreasonable persistence, her homeroom teacher Park Ki Hoon couldn’t conceal his bewilderment and rubbed his forehead.
What made it worse was that he’d been Ye Ji’s homeroom teacher when she was in first year, making it all the more awkward.
“Please, I want to! Let me in!”
Ha Eun made an impassioned appeal, as if she were about to throw herself on the floor of the faculty office.
Ha Eun’s desperate fixation on the Special Class now was rooted in none other than Ye Ji.
She was the very student who had flipped a table at the art department booth and destroyed Ye Ji’s work.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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