The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 117

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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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Chapter 117.
Jae Hyun arrived at work waiting for the design team’s confirmation.
Having pushed forward the collaboration with Ye Ji, he was acutely conscious of what kind of evaluation it would receive.
His mobile phone chimed while he was thinking this over.
[If you have no urgent matters, would it be possible to discuss the Goyo Edition project you requested in thirty minutes?]
[If the Technical Team is available, we would appreciate it if you could call them as well.]
[We apologize for reaching out directly, as this is an urgent matter.]
Until now, SS Group had undertaken countless collaborations under its name.
Of course, since most had been with corporations rather than individuals, it was typical for everything to proceed by protocol.
But this project with Goyo had quite a few unusual characteristics.
Ordinarily, such a direct request would have struck him as discourteous.
But Jae Hyun immediately called Tae Yun and gave his orders.
“Reserve one of the conference rooms and let the design team know!”
***
In one of Hanseong’s conference rooms.
Those gathered arrived slightly earlier than the appointed time and immediately began broaching the main topic.
“You’ve all reviewed the email Goyo sent, yes?”
The designer looked exhausted enough to collapse, yet her eyes gleamed with an oddly vibrant intensity.
“If we pull this off properly, it’s going to be a massive hit.”
Seo An, who had even brought printed materials, stated it with an intensity of gaze that was almost fierce.
But there was a rather daunting condition attached.
‘If we pull it off properly.’
The implication was clear: if execution failed and sales didn’t materialize, that would be marketing’s or the technical team’s problem.
“Is that… all of it?”
Tae Yun had also found the email Goyo sent to be intriguing.
They were quite interesting, solid ideas.
Even a simple comparison showed that.
They hadn’t seen this caliber even in collaborations with luxury brands.
Customers wanted something fresh, yet they also despised anything too conspicuous.
In the face of such contradictory demands, choosing the safe middle ground was the designer’s inescapable lot.
On the surface, Goyo didn’t seem terribly different.
The only distinguishing factor was her use of pastel-toned yellow on the exterior design.
But instead, she had proposed a different direction altogether.
Her suggestion was to 3D scan the artwork and produce a three-dimensional case.
“It doesn’t look particularly difficult….”
According to the technical team’s assessment, it wasn’t that challenging, and it was certainly feasible to implement.
“What about the packaging concept?”
Like drawing a ring from a jewelry box.
Goyo’s idea was to create the package box in the same manner—the product would be inserted vertically.
Given that the overall design drew inspiration from jewelry, it was an elegant approach.
At Seo An’s aggressively direct questioning, Jae Hyun and Tae Yun exchanged glances.
“For now, we’ll need to look into the unit cost and production process, but it doesn’t seem impossible….”
Cost wasn’t a concern.
Being a special edition, they could simply charge accordingly.
Jae Hyun continued carefully.
“The real question is the design itself, isn’t it? That’s why she sent it to you first—to see what revisions you thought were needed.”
At Jae Hyun’s response, Tae Yun nodded as well.
He thought that once something was finalized in either technical or marketing terms, they could then offer further input.
But at that, Seo An pressed her lips together.
“What I should revise….”
Seo An, who had been deliberating at length, started to speak but then hesitated.
“Honestly, there’s nothing.”
In truth, as a product designer, she probably should have voiced some additional opinion, but she genuinely couldn’t spot a single point that needed correction.
As a product, it clashed with none of the existing designs or colors they’d released.
Goyo’s idea possessed both the particular quality and the restrained elegance that an edition should have.
That’s why she had been asking whether there would be any additional problems in proceeding directly to production.
“What does this person actually do? I thought you said she was a painter?”
Not someone who’d worked in product design before?
At Seo An’s question, Jae Hyun was actually rather taken aback.
“Well, not exactly….”
“She couldn’t have, actually….”
Jae Hyun and Tae Yun, who knew Goyo’s true identity, let their answers trail off vaguely.
Seo An’s face twisted with incomprehension, but they couldn’t simply divulge information about Goyo on a whim.
Meeting no clear answer, Seo An leaned back in her conference chair and released a long sigh.
An idea with neither excess nor deficiency—perfectly calibrated.
This wasn’t a matter of skill; it was a matter of understanding.
Usually, with initial design concepts, the bulk came overwrought with ideas, and paring them down was the designer’s job.
Particularly, Goyo was a painter who worked with surrealist pieces and a quite complex palette of colors.
Naturally, one would have expected extensive revision work to turn it into a product….
…….
This level of skill, of restraint.
Moreover, this understanding—considering not only the product itself but the various production processes and departmental deliberations required.
When you thought about it, she might actually be a designer rather than a painter.
Seo An, unable to arrive at a conclusion, eventually rose from her seat with a sigh.
“…Then, let’s lock this in as is.”
I’m heading out early….
Leaving those words behind, Seo An’s retreating figure looked somehow hollow.
But at that reaction, Jae Hyun couldn’t suppress a smile.
***
Once the collaboration piece with Hanseong had its direction firmly established, everything flowed smoothly onward.
Was it because their schedule was urgent from the start?
Whenever Ye Ji contacted them about the artwork, they promptly scheduled the next step.
Without requesting any particular revisions, they soon wanted to proceed directly to 3D scanning the piece.
Ye Ji herself was keenly interested in this new venture with her own work, so the expedited progress was nothing but welcome.
What would it feel like to have her work scanned so perfectly?
What impression would it give—her artwork coming alive with three-dimensionality on a screen?
“It really feels like forever since Uncle held a solo exhibition in Korea!”
Ye Ji was jolted from her reverie by Se Hee’s voice from the taxi seat beside her.
The two were now heading toward the opening of Seong Su’s solo exhibition right after school ended.
The gallery called Blank was not particularly large, but it had developed quite a reputation overseas.
“But isn’t your uncle affiliated with another gallery?”
“He was originally with Mirok, but apparently they made an agreement for this domestic exhibition.”
From what she heard, it seemed Blank Gallery had paid a considerable sum for Seong Su’s solo show.
“But why is Hyun Min so busy he can’t come today?”
Hmph, I’m disappointed.
At Se Hee’s playful tone, Ye Ji gave an awkward laugh.
In fact, Blank was the contemporary art gallery in which SS Group held the largest stake.
Because of that, most of the staff there knew who Hyun Min was.
Especially since his great-grandmother ran the place—it was awkward in various ways.
‘It’d be funny if a nephew who doesn’t normally even call suddenly reached out and tried to keep the staff quiet, right?’
So Hyun Min had said he’d visit separately and quietly another time, choosing to lie low today.
Someday his background would all come to light, anyway.
‘If Se Hee found out, it’d be all over school within half a day. Not yet.’
Ye Ji recalled the words Hyun Min had left her.
There was still time before third year ended.
It seemed he preferred it to come to light later.
“But he said an important appointment conflicted with this. Can’t be helped.”
At Ye Ji’s words, Se Hee also pouted and nodded.
“Which is why it’s disappointment, not anger.”
Se Hee’s honesty about her feelings and brightness were part of her charm.
In the midst of such an exchange.
The taxi pulled up before the gallery before they knew it.
“Uncle! Congratulations!”
“Congratulations.”
Se Hee and Ye Ji, carrying a large flower wreath they’d prepared, promptly offered their greetings to Seong Su at the entrance.
He looked utterly drained from exchanging pleasantries with countless people.
“Oh, thanks for coming….”
At his weary voice, Ye Ji, who had been smiling, surveyed the flower wreaths lined up at the entrance.
Ye Ji had sent a wreath instead of a bouquet.
Of course, it was under the name Goyo, not her own.
“That one drew quite a bit of attention….”
Following Ye Ji’s gaze toward the wreaths, Seong Su spoke with a somewhat tired expression.
Being unskilled at dealing with people, he’d found it quite awkward when people asked about Goyo’s identity.
Lying felt transparent, and when he said he couldn’t tell them, people only pressed further, asking him to share….
Ye Ji hadn’t anticipated such a situation either, so she felt equally awkward.
“I’m sorry. Since we meant it as congratulations, I thought it would be better to send it under a name people would recognize.”
“No, no…. It’s fine with me.”
After all, the collaboration with Celian had been something he and Ye Ji had done together.
People would naturally ask about it, whether or not there was a wreath.
Seong Su laughed it off, saying he’d come prepared for such things.
“Go ahead and enjoy the exhibition, then.”
As Se Hee led the weary Seong Su away, someone else promptly approached Ye Ji.
“My goodness! Is that you!”
Ye Ji turned toward the cheerful voice she heard.
It was Ina, the team leader from Celian.
Since Ye Ji was still keeping her identity hidden, Ina couldn’t call out loudly, but her pleasure was evident in every line.
“It’s been such a long time. I was really shocked when I heard about the Paris work.”
You’re doing okay, right?
At the way she expressed her concern for things Ye Ji had almost forgotten, Ye Ji smiled warmly back.
“Yes, I’m doing well. How have you been?”
“Well, I’ve been so busy I’m going crazy.”
At Ye Ji’s polite greeting, Ina grinned and tapped her shoulder with a meaningful expression.
“I was so busy I almost started resenting you, our wonderful Ye Ji.”
At Ina’s quip, Ye Ji burst out laughing.
Then, moving slightly closer, Ina lowered her voice and added.
“And thanks to you, I think I’m about to transfer to the Italy headquarters soon.”
Nothing’s confirmed yet.
But Ina smiled, as if sharing the news specially in advance.
“You really have talent. Promise you’ll still answer when I call, even after you become super famous?”
Ina, clearly having had much good fortune, was unusually bright.
The peculiar high-pressure atmosphere that fashion-world executives typically carried had almost entirely vanished.
Ye Ji also harbored gratitude for this woman who had first believed in her and entrusted her with work, so she could laugh along.
“It’s all thanks to your eye, Team Leader. Please feel free to contact me anytime.”
But she had already collaborated with Goyo twice since then.
Further reruns wouldn’t gain the brand much in terms of image.
No matter how beautiful and striking something was, repetition would cause people to lose interest.
It wouldn’t be easy for Goyo to work with Celian again for some time.
Ina seemed to understand this as well, answering with a bright smile.
“Right, next time I’ll treat you to something delicious. Let’s meet at an expensive restaurant.”
But even so, for the sake of a possible future reunion.
They exchanged contact information for a private meeting, and Ina took her leave again.
Having arrived after school, the formal opening event had already concluded.
Since all the artist talks were done, everyone was winding down after viewing the exhibition.
Though somewhat scattered, the atmosphere actually felt quite fresh for viewing the work.
The small human artifice expressed within Seong Su’s grand natural landscapes.
Following the photographs that held those traces, Ye Ji came to a stop.
“Hm?”
Standing there was a person she hadn’t expected to see today.

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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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