The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 124

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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 124.
Ye Ji couldn’t help but be puzzled.
How on earth had So Min found out that she was participating in a Blank project?
And more to the point, why did So Min care?
While Ye Ji stood there bewildered for a moment.
Ha Eun, observing the standoff between them, drifted toward Ye Ji’s side.
It seemed she’d decided So Min was harassing Ye Ji.
At the sight of Ha Eun’s fierce expression, So Min let out a scoff.
“What, like I’m some kind of handmaiden?”
…If anything, watchdog might suit her better.
Ye Ji found it peculiar that So Min would say such a thing right in front of Ha Eun, who looked ready to actually bite.
Ye Ji herself wasn’t exactly mild-mannered, but she didn’t enjoy seeking out confrontation.
So Min, by contrast, was the type to openly display hostility and meet opposition head-on with force.
No wonder, then, that half the school seemed to have fought with her at some point.
“That’s enough, both of you.”
Ha Eun wasn’t Ye Ji’s servant, and So Min wasn’t actually tormenting her.
They just needed to exchange information—why deliberately stir up trouble?
Ye Ji raised her hands like a referee trying to calm two fighters and asked So Min directly.
“Anyway, why are you asking?”
“Because Na Mi Rae is competing in this Blank Newcomer Competition.”
……Who was that?
An unfamiliar name, completely new to her.
When Ye Ji didn’t respond, So Min’s eyes grew darker.
“……She was a student under Professor Hae Yun’s guidance at the studio. Now she’s transferred under my father.”
I’m not even sure why I’m telling you this….
She muttered it almost to herself, her expression wavering between whether she should be saying it at all.
But having started, So Min pressed on to the end.
“There’s something off about her. Really, it’d be better if you didn’t get involved.”
Ye Ji didn’t even remember the person, but it was obvious this wasn’t someone particularly worthwhile.
Since she had a tendency to quickly forget anything unpleasant, Ye Ji simply nodded in acknowledgment.
So Min, noting Ha Eun’s bewildered expression, took one more deliberate glance.
And then, with exaggerated care, she wove her way between the two of them to leave.
The deliberate shoulder-bump made Ha Eun’s scowl deepen again.
True to her tempestuous age, this had become an argument over unclear grievances.
Still, because Ye Ji had mediated, it didn’t escalate into a fight like the first time.
“Why would she suddenly warn you about that?”
Ha Eun’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she spoke.
“Is she trying to cause you trouble or something?”
Ye Ji had to admit, something did seem off about it.
But then again.
Considering her behavior just now and her general nature, it didn’t seem like malicious intent.
She tended to react honestly.
Rather than scheming in the shadows, she was the type to grab someone by the hair the moment judging went awry.
So Ye Ji didn’t think So Min was capable of such complicated machinations.
Ye Ji looked again at the painting So Min had created.
The solidity and straightforward intensity emanating from the ink, layered many times over to create depth.
A strength she hadn’t seen before in So Min’s earlier works.
Perhaps she’d gained some insight through today’s session.
But So Min was fundamentally not the gracious type, not even in empty words.
Rather than simply thanking her or honestly saying today’s lesson was good.
It made more sense that she was settling her debt internally through corresponding action.
“……Kids will be kids.”
When Ye Ji said this of So Min, Ha Eun giggled.
“You say that when you’re the same age?”
True enough.
Perhaps So Min’s hostility and sensitivity toward her had reasons too.
Since Ye Ji didn’t know her, she couldn’t say for certain.
It might have been some kind of rebellion.
But there was no need to go out of her way to understand So Min so deeply.
“Let’s go.”
Ye Ji left the classroom with Ha Eun again.
If details became necessary, she could just ask Han Gyu about it.
***
Despite the urgent request for theme and materials, Blank took quite a long time to respond.
It wasn’t until nearly a month had passed that the response finally arrived, explaining the delay.
There had been more applicants than expected, and the selected participants had to be reclassified according to their themes.
It made sense that the staff would need considerable time to verify and compare each applicant individually.
The project guidelines had finally arrived.
Hyun Min and Ye Ji were going over the details together.
The first floor of the studio.
Hyun Min, sprawled across the sofa in a posture that was neither lying nor sitting, glanced at his laptop as he spoke.
“Guess that’s why they asked in advance. You’ve got plenty of free time anyway, right?”
Prepare an artwork matching their assigned theme within two months.
And the exhibition would showcase only their work and the theme they’d submitted earlier—Ye Ji nodded as she read that much.
“The scale isn’t that large anyway. Two months should be enough.”
There was even a note that this project would not feature professional judges.
Only. The results would be determined by visitor voting.
Like the survival programs popular these days, it placed all decisions entirely in the hands of the public.
“Your theme doesn’t seem to overlap with anyone else’s. It was something about infinite possibility toward the world and oneself, right?”
Overlapping themes had been adjusted, but Ye Ji hadn’t received any such contact.
At Hyun Min’s words, Ye Ji shifted slightly in her upright posture as she checked her mobile phone.
There was actually quite a bit she wanted to say about that.
“I wanted to add more to it.”
“Ah, you can save that for when you explain the artwork later.”
Hyun Min had distilled the lengthy thematic consciousness Ye Ji had written out into a single line summary, with cold efficiency.
Through this project, Hyun Min had discovered that Ye Ji was more talkative than he’d expected.
Ye Ji was the type who had quite a lot she wanted to say through her work.
Since she’d always conveyed it through the artwork itself, she simply hadn’t needed to voice it aloud.
Painters do speak through their paintings, after all.
But this time, unusually, she’d been asked to communicate through words first, so her sentences naturally grew longer.
“Besides, you’ll just say it all again through your work anyway, won’t you?”
Repeating the same thing only made it feel tedious.
Especially in an exhibition focused solely on theme and artwork as the criteria for judgment.
Words should be brief. The artwork should be powerful.
Ye Ji herself knew that speaking through her work suited her better, so she nodded without protest.
Though she agreed with the logic, it was still playful complaint between friends.
“First, let’s focus on the artwork….”
Hyun Min, organizing the schedule, checked the time.
“They should be here by now. Why haven’t they arrived?”
The reason they’d gathered at the studio today wasn’t simply because of Blank’s email.
It was the day Han Seong was supposed to send over the completed sample prototype for the Goyo Edition.
Of course, they’d exchanged messages during the sample’s production, but seeing the physical product in person was a first.
Thanks to Seo An’s aggressive and relentless attention to detail, the technical team had worked incredibly hard to perfectly recreate Ye Ji’s artwork.
The email that arrived boasted of the perfect reconstruction, so Ye Ji found herself genuinely anticipating it.
Just then, a car could be seen pulling into the parking space outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
“Oh, looks like they’re here.”
“…Is that the right car?”
At Hyun Min’s question, Ye Ji tilted her head slightly as well.
She’d expected it would come via courier, but what parked in front of the studio was an ordinary personal vehicle.
And stepping out from it was.
“Oh! Hello.”
Seo An.
Surprised, Ye Ji stood up from her seat and greeted her across the glass doors.
The sound probably wouldn’t have reached her, but unlike last time, Seo An appeared neat and tidy, and she smiled warmly back.
Seeing her with her arms full of things, Hyun Min hurried out to open the door for her.
“Oh! It’s no trouble at all. It’s nice to see you after so long. You’ve been well, I hope?”
Seo An politely declined Hyun Min’s attempt to take her things and stepped inside.
“Oh…. The studio has such a nice atmosphere.”
It truly felt like a sanctuary for artists—free and unforced.
Hyun Min, having come to Cheonglim not lightly, had arranged the space with considerable aesthetic sense.
“I didn’t expect you to come in person.”
“Of course I had to. I wouldn’t be so heartless as to just send something, would I?”
Han Seong was far more invested in this edition than Ye Ji had realized.
The expectations from above were high, and Seo An shook her head, saying it was absurd.
Since Seo An still carried everything bundled in her arms, Ye Ji offered her a spot on the sofa.
“Please, sit down. What is all of this?”
At Ye Ji’s words, Seo An sat on one end of the sofa and began to lay out what she’d brought.
“These are for you to enjoy while you work….”
She set down a delicately packaged cookie set first.
Then she pulled out Ye Ji’s original artwork, which she’d been keeping for precise comparison.
“Here it is. We’ve kept it carefully and worked hard to bring it to life.”
After producing the artwork, Seo An’s expression grew somewhat solemn as she retrieved a small box.
A jewelry case wrapped in richly textured, glossy dark fabric with an air of luxury.
“And we’ve completed the packaging exactly as you suggested. Please, take a look.”
Rather, it was a mobile phone package designed to look like a jewelry box.
Looking closely, Ye Ji could see the initials of Han Seong and Goyo delicately embossed in silver foil along the lower edge of the lid.
With anticipation, Ye Ji carefully opened the box upward.
The interior was wrapped in silk.
And in the center lay the mobile phone.
True to its foldable nature, it was positioned with the hinge rather than the flat side facing up.
This made it look almost like a bracelet or necklace crafted from precious metal.
As she drew out the product, cradled in soft fabric, the long-awaited physical form finally revealed itself.
“Oh….”
Even Hyun Min, gazing with anticipatory eyes, let out a small exclamation.
It was as if Ye Ji’s artwork had been precisely cut and pasted directly onto the back of the phone.
To both their eyes, it was recreated with truly flawless precision.
“We’ve produced the case to fit perfectly, just as you suggested.”
As Ye Ji examined the product, Seo An took the phone briefly from her.
With a soft click, Seo An slipped the case off slightly and handed both the case and the device back to Ye Ji.
“The back printed with the signature point color and the special custom case. Exactly as you described—it’s been made beautifully, hasn’t it?”
So that the edition’s special quality could be enjoyed, but also so one could sometimes appreciate the simple, neutral design of the standard phone.
The product had been implemented exactly as Ye Ji had imagined it.
“You must have worked so hard on this.”
Truly remarkable—how perfectly her printed artwork had been rendered on the case.
The sense of depth conveyed through dimensional texture, and the delicate colors that shone brilliantly like gems.
Even the tactile sensation when touched was similar, which explained why the technical team had struggled.
Seeing Ye Ji’s reaction, Seo An smiled with evident pride and satisfaction.
Normally, when producing editions in collaboration, Seo An’s job was to enhance the partner’s vision, to make it better and more excellent.
But this time was different.
She had poured all her effort into replicating it exactly as it was.
So, with equal parts satisfaction and a hint of nervous tension, she asked.
“Is this satisfactory for you?”

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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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