The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 127

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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 127.
A quiet studio in the Mountain Village of Jeongup, belonging to Hae Yun.
A large window stood open wide.
Han Gyu was leisurely taking his rest with a cup of tea.
The sky was a clear blue without a trace of fine dust, and distant mountain peaks dotted the horizon.
In moments like these, living in the countryside felt rather agreeable.
The noise of vehicles, the bustle of people—
This quiet life, so unlike Seoul’s rhythm.
Perhaps it suited his nature better than he’d realized.
Of course, some worried that country living meant falling behind the world, but he was not among them.
Hae Yun, whom he looked after, was still an active master in her prime.
Being under such a master afforded him no shortage of prestige.
And lately, the exhibition in France was becoming increasingly concrete.
As far as the atmosphere went, it was effectively confirmed—only the date remained to be coordinated.
It seemed likely to happen next year.
This was driven by Hae Yun’s own desire to debut new works at her first overseas exhibition.
“But, is that really true?”
At the voice from outside, Han Gyu glanced toward the window.
It was Jung Won, one of the disciples, pulling weeds in the garden that bore her name.
She had become the eldest among the disciples since Na Mi Rae’s departure.
“Is what true?”
Han Gyu, not grasping her intent, asked in return.
It was only after Na Mi Rae left that Han Gyu realized, somewhat to his surprise, that the age gap between himself and the disciples wasn’t as wide as he’d thought.
Jung Won, wearing a large straw hat that blocked out the sun entirely, clarified her question.
“Well… I just heard from Na Mi Rae that she’s switched to studying under Han Mu Young, and apparently she’s doing some exhibition now….”
Han Gyu let out a derisive snort at Jung Won’s words.
Yes, that Na Mi Rae was the root cause of everything.
It wasn’t that nowadays’ kids simply refused to run errands and only wanted to do their own work.
It was because Na Mi Rae had originally fostered that very atmosphere, conspiratorially warning them not to suffer losses.
After she left, everyone quietly began dividing the various chores among themselves.
In the old days, the weeding—just like the snow clearing in winter—would have all fallen to Han Gyu alone.
Now they were all sharing the responsibility a little.
Han Gyu rehashed his negative thoughts about Na Mi Rae as he spoke.
“The Blank Competition? You need to have held a solo exhibition at an officially recognized art facility to apply—that’s why none of us qualified.”
At Han Gyu’s words, Jung Won sighed softly and nodded.
The expression on her face suggested she now understood it wasn’t such an easy condition to meet.
A solo exhibition at an officially recognized art facility required satisfying two essential conditions.
First, you had to own dozens of artworks that you yourself had painted.
Second, you had to cover the costs of exhibition rental, promotion, and so on.
Until you reached the level where museums came calling on their own, most artists had to open solo exhibitions and build their own reputations.
Since solo exhibitions didn’t end after one or two, this meant tremendous expense.
If any disciple claimed they could do both, Han Gyu or Hae Yun would naturally introduce them to galleries they knew.
But both conditions were difficult to meet….
……
Han Gyu’s brow furrowed as his thoughts reached that point.
It was because of the phone call from Ye Ji yesterday that nagged at him.
—”Did a disciple named Na Mi Rae really go to study under someone named Han Mu Young?”
Suddenly hearing her name from Ye Ji on the phone.
Even when she was here, she had openly complained about Ye Ji and created a subtle tension.
—”It seems she’s competing in the Blank Newcomer Exhibition.”
And apparently Han Mu Young’s daughter had been the one to tell Ye Ji this.
At first, Han Gyu couldn’t fathom what kind of pairing this was.
—”But that person seems to have some grievance against me, from what I heard.”
—”She does dislike me. Still, she’s not the type to fabricate things. It feels like there’s something real there.”
He was certainly surprised that the girl could speak so casually about being disliked by someone.
But beyond that, what struck him more was her ability to listen without dismissing the words and judge the situation objectively.
Most people would dislike anyone who disliked them, and easily interpret things subjectively.
Yet a mere nineteen-year-old possessed such perspective.
Han Gyu found himself continually amazed by Ye Ji.
In any case, what mattered was that the name Na Mi Rae had come from Ye Ji’s mouth.
“Really?”
“I just thought you should know, since you both studied under the same teacher.”
“Well, I’m not sure.”
After talking with Ye Ji yesterday, Han Gyu had been thinking continuously.
He wanted to find some information that might ease her discomfort.
Something that would let her focus more on her work.
“Say, do you remember hearing anything about Mi Rae having a solo exhibition?”
When he asked Jung Won while they were on the subject, she tucked the weeds she’d pulled into a basket and answered.
“I can’t quite remember—maybe she did, maybe she didn’t….”
Jung Won, tilting her head, gave a slight frown.
“That senior has a habit of being pretty vague about things, you know?”
A group exhibition and a solo exhibition were fundamentally different tiers.
Even sharing the space with just one other artist halves the required area.
Whether an artist alone can fill an entire space speaks to their capability.
The difference in experience was substantial.
“She always asks about it so ambiguously—whether it was a solo or a group exhibition—that we’ve all gotten confused a few times.”
It was tedious trying to tell each time whether it was a misunderstanding or not.
As this repeated, the other disciples simply stopped asking for specifics.
Everyone was so stuck out in the countryside that going outside for exhibitions was hard enough.
“Plus, apparently her mother is incredibly wealthy over in Jeju.”
Though honestly, how much of that is true is hard to say.
But what matters is—
“Since she holds a lot of exhibitions over there, there’s no way to verify. So we just let it slide most of the time.”
Han Gyu sank back into thought at Jung Won’s words.
Among his college classmates was someone working as a curator at Blank.
He’d actually asked him about Mi Rae early this morning, and he’d said she’d listed the Jeju exhibitions as her background.
So then—did she actually meet the requirements?
“Ah, but….”
Then Jung Won seemed about to say something and hesitated.
“What is it?”
“Oh, never mind. If I say anything it’s just badmouthing someone who’s not here.”
At Jung Won’s words, Han Gyu narrowed his eyes and set down the teacup he’d been holding.
Jung Won had been a disciple long enough to be testing the waters—gauging whether it was appropriate to gossip about Na Mi Rae right now.
“Just say it. I’m a bit bothered by something myself, so I’ve been looking into it anyway.”
The moment Han Gyu opened up like that, Jung Won spoke as if she’d been waiting for permission.
“Well, I’ve been curious about it too lately. I looked into Na Mi Rae, and apparently there was some trouble at her university?”
“…Trouble at university? What kind?”
Though startled by this sudden flood of information, Han Gyu
let Jung Won continue.
“During her graduation project, she supposedly stole a junior’s idea and almost had her graduation cancelled.”
Graduation cancelled?
“It was quickly discovered to be a misunderstanding, and it didn’t become a big external issue, from what I hear….”
Though she softened her words, Jung Won’s implication seemed to suggest there was more to it.
Besides, the phrase “graduation cancelled” wouldn’t surface as mere suspicion.
There had to be a reason behind it, surely.
“Aah, so what I’m saying is….”
When Han Gyu stared at her intently, Jung Won continued as if she couldn’t help herself.
“I heard it secondhand through my prep academy classmate, who went to the same school as Mi Rae.”
It was closer to the source than he’d expected.
A nagging discomfort that wouldn’t go away.
But to probe into someone’s past just because of that feeling….
“Then ask her directly.”
…!
Startled!
Both Jung Won and Han Gyu jumped to their feet at the voice that had suddenly appeared.
It was Hae Yun, who had approached unnoticed.
To the two who bowed in surprise, Hae Yun spoke again.
“Didn’t you hear? If secondhand gossip is making you uneasy, then bring her here or go find her. Just check directly, why don’t you?”
Even at Hae Yun’s words, Han Gyu thought it might be excessive.
Yet the discomfort wouldn’t fade, and—
Hae Yun’s desire provided a convenient excuse that felt quite appropriate.
“You heard that, right?”
When Han Gyu turned to Jung Won, she grinned and nodded.
“Then just give me two days off! I’ll find out and come back!”
People often assumed everyone in the countryside lived tediously, but sometimes that wasn’t the case.
“Go on then, come back safe.”
At Hae Yun’s gesture, waving her hand dismissively, Jung Won threw off her dirt-caked gloves and quickly dashed inside.
He hoped that this discomfort they were all feeling turned out to be nothing but misunderstanding.
“Nothing will go wrong, right?”
“It won’t—we’ll make sure it doesn’t.”
At Han Gyu’s words, Hae Yun replied curtly and stepped away.
Soon after, Han Gyu also nodded and returned to his work, ending his rest.
***
Time passed.
After submitting her work to Blank, now there was only one day left until the opening.
Ye Ji reviewed the precautions that had come from Blank once more.
The instruction not to promote her own work on personal SNS or the internet seemed somewhat peculiar.
While promotion of the exhibition itself was permitted, promotion that identified her specific work could be grounds for disqualification.
‘It makes sense—being a newcomer doesn’t mean you’re just young and unconnected.’
Faded celebrities, retired office workers—
Middle-aged and older adults seeking a second act in art also technically qualified as newcomers.
And there was clearly sufficient opportunity for someone to improperly boost their votes using such connections.
For that reason, the artists themselves weren’t allowed to attend the opening either.
It was a format quite different from ordinary events—daring, in its own way.
‘Even if word gets out through grapevines, there’s a limit to what votes that can produce.’
The public rule was simple: visitors would enter, observe, and vote for three works that captured their attention.
That was all.
Since all three had to be selected for a ballot to count,
even if an artist mobilized acquaintances to all vote for her work, if those voters also wrote in two other works that caught their eye,
such fraud would be sufficiently offset.
‘Coldly speaking, the vote count will reveal what people’s hearts truly lean toward.’
Not viewing only her own work,
but in an exhibition that included adults who’d started their practice similarly.
Ye Ji held both confidence that she would place first and anxiety over the possibility that she wouldn’t.
Moreover, even if she won first, she was curious how many votes she’d receive.
Thinking she couldn’t attend the opening made her feel genuinely disappointed.
She was so curious about how people would react to her work.
After organizing her studio for the first time in a while, Ye Ji gazed quietly at an empty easel that had held her most painstaking recent work.
‘Soon, I’ll know.’
Even without the opening itself.
Since there was no restriction on her visiting quietly later.
……
With so much on her mind, it didn’t feel like anything else would get done today.
While she still had time, she’d been sitting in on Da Hye’s tutoring sessions,
so on a day like today, she might as well commit herself to proper studying.
With that thought, Ye Ji picked up her heavy backpack and headed down the slope.
***
Seong Jin Ho, a culture reporter at Korea Metro Newspaper.
He was in an absolutely foul mood today.
It had been months since he started digging into Goyo’s true identity.
“Drop that and just cover the Blank exhibition opening, will you?”
With no results to show for it.
And as a senior field correspondent, when the Department Head told him to do something, he had to do it.
He also hadn’t been able to produce major stories lately, which was a fact.
He gathered his equipment with his junior and headed to the site.

A banner hung confidently, giving a sense of the event’s scale.

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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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