The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 23

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

Episode 23.
Han Gyu’s car was quite nice.
Actually, it was very nice indeed.
It was a German import—dusty, but not old-looking.
“I guess your grandfather pays you a lot of salary,” Yeji said.
She glanced around the car as they left Seoul, asking the question.
Han Gyu laughed softly at her words.
He wasn’t so lacking in perception as to miss why she’d say such a thing.
“He pays enough that I’m not disappointed, but not enough to buy a car like this.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the navigation screen showing their destination, telling her to contact her parents.
Yeji nodded without complaint, texting her mother.
If he hadn’t earned it himself, then Han Gyu’s family must be quite well-off.
In fact, it was a predictable pattern.
“How many artists can pursue their craft in this day and age without financial cushion?”
The privilege of spending one’s fierce, hungry twenties doing what one wanted.
Yeji couldn’t refute his words, only recalling older times.
Her past life, blindly obsessive to the point of foolishness.
She’d scraped together money for materials by taking on ridiculous odd jobs, bit by bit.
Those years of struggling, willing to go hungry if it meant buying better supplies.
So desperate she hadn’t even noticed her eyesight fading.
A life spent breathlessly between survival and the hunger to create.
But now the situation was different.
Though unusual, it wasn’t as though people like her didn’t exist at all.
Yet the world grew faster and more efficient.
In such a world, art became a luxury.
And to young people chasing ideals and romance through their youth, society easily hurled accusations of wasting their lives.
…….
But was that really right?
Wasn’t humanity surrendering something far too precious?
The result-obsessed value judgments that treat failure and experience as waste.
Art, now the exclusive domain of the wealthy, just felt… off, somehow.
While Yeji gazed out the window, lost in thought for a moment,
they drew near a factory in the suburbs, not far ahead.
“Here it is. The canvas factory,” Han Gyu said.
The high-ceilinged building was more warehouse than factory.
“Hello,” Han Gyu said, pushing the door open with ease and stepping inside first.

“Oh, hello,” the workers called back.
“We didn’t get a call about this, did we?”
The employees, busy at their tasks, seemed to recognize Han Gyu.
He leaned over and gave Yeji a quiet hint.
“Jung Teacher uses materials from here for all his work.”
Han Gyu turned to address the workers.
“I’m not here because of Jung Teacher’s things today.
He extended his hand to Yeji.
Yeji caught on immediately and pulled the small plywood work from her bag, which she’d put back earlier.
“I was wondering if you might be able to manufacture plywood like this right away.”
At Han Gyu’s words, a worker who’d been eyeing Yeji with curiosity took the plywood.
Turning it over to examine the craftsmanship, the worker nodded.
“Of course it’s possible. But… wait a moment!”
The worker hurried toward the office in back.
In the meantime, Yeji looked around.
The space was filled with various fabrics and woods stacked on all sides.
To Yeji, the factory resembled a treasure trove.
For art to become reality, it needed a foundation.
Whether cloth, wooden plywood, stone, or tile.
Somewhere, you needed space and surface to create upon.
Materials were always the first consideration when she worked on a piece.
If she could obtain a space like this, stacking materials without worry and painting freely—how happy would that be?
As Yeji’s eyes swept the surroundings, a woman emerged from the office.
“Han Gyu! What brings you here?” she called out cheerfully, her voice bright.
The woman who emerged seemed about Han Gyu’s age.
She wore a work uniform caked with sawdust, yet carried a refined appearance.
“Hi there. And who are you?” she asked upon spotting Yeji, greeting her with warm energy.
Yeji bowed politely in return.

“Hello. I’m Yeji.”
“Yeji?”
There was a subtle emphasis on her last name, and Yeji hastily waved her hand.
Come to think of it, Han Gyu shared the same surname by chance.
“Oh, we’re not family or anything like that. I know him through Hae Yoon—through a teacher.”
She’d almost reflexively called him “grandfather,” and added “teacher” to avoid misunderstanding.
The woman, eyes narrowing with interest, offered her hand.
“Really? That’s unusual. Nice to meet you. I’m the owner here—Ji Min.”
Yeji was slightly startled to feel how calloused the other’s hand was.
Scars and wounds covered it, giving it an almost rough appearance.
“How old are you?”
“I turned eighteen this year.”
Upon hearing Yeji’s age, Ji Min’s expression grew even more intrigued, and she nodded.
At that point, Han Gyu stepped between them and broached the subject.
“I came to get some plywood she needs.”
“Right, I heard,” Ji Min said.
But despite the mention of a purchase, Ji Min’s attitude seemed somewhat ambiguous.
Ji Min shrugged and continued speaking.
She was someone who worked in woodworking, and the canvases and frames made here were quite expensive.
Her main clientele were already established artists actively creating work.
The implication was that such materials were excessive for students.
“Our staff was flustered, wasn’t it? You could just buy something like this from anywhere nearby—why come all the way here?”
“You’ll see,” Han Gyu said simply.
With that, he handed Yeji’s piece to Ji Min.
“Did you… paint this?” Ji Min asked, studying the plywood.

Yeji nodded, and Ji Min turned back to examine the work more carefully.
The reeds were positioned with a delicacy reminiscent of embroidery—appearing irregular yet achieving a subtle balance.
Just as the hardest thing is to appear unadorned while being carefully arranged, so too with art.
Making something by hand appear natural and comfortable to the eye required more than ordinary sensibility.
“At this level… I’ll give them to you. How many do you need? Just take some.”
But Ji Min attached a condition: wherever she exhibited, she had to contact her.
Though the atmosphere was quite warm, Yeji was bewildered and looked at Han Gyu.
Han Gyu, as if he’d anticipated Ji Min’s reaction, added calmly,
“We need about 300 pieces. Can you have them ready right away?”
“Yeah, well, that much is…”
Had she perhaps assumed the quantity would be small, as the girl was a student?
Ji Min, who had answered reflexively, stopped short.
After mumbling to herself once more in disbelief, she asked in a tone tinged with alarm,
“300 pieces? All at once?!”
“She’s going to exhibit them at Seohwawon. We need all 300 finished and shipped within three weeks maximum—if possible, 100 pieces per week.”
Han Gyu expertly adjusted the timeline based on Yeji’s working pace.
For a moment, Yeji understood why artists employed good coordinators.
“Make them from lightweight wood. We’ll be exhibiting them as a series and considering sales too, so they need to fit together perfectly without any warping.”
When Han Gyu meticulously added the specifications, Yeji felt very relieved.
Ji Min looked back and forth between them, both nodding as if to say that was all.
“Making them isn’t the problem…”
Then what was?
Yeji, too, looked between Han Gyu and Ji Min.
Even as meaningful glances passed between them, Ji Min only hesitated.
“Seohwawon… you said Seohwawon? At Seohwawon… an eighteen-year-old…”
300 pieces, 300 pieces, 300 in three weeks….
Ji Min muttered the numbers several times as if she couldn’t believe it.
If this were a joke, surely someone would’ve said so by now.
…….
Both of them wore utterly serious expressions.
At Ji Min’s reaction, Yeji felt slightly embarrassed, but rather it was Han Gyu who added,
“It’s because she’s been given a spot at Jung Teacher’s inaugural exhibition. You need to do it right.”
At that, Ji Min’s expression shifted to one mixed with alarm as she looked at Yeji.
“Ah… ha ha… Yes, somehow it just worked out that way.”
Ji Min’s honest expression showed goodwill mixed with embarrassment.
It was true they’d recognized her work and effort, but this wasn’t something she’d explained in detail.
Though her answer was somewhat modest through omission, Ji Min spoke with even greater surprise.
“Are the curator and that teacher people who let things just ‘work out that way’?”
Her imagination was only further stimulated by what might have happened between the lines.
Ji Min’s eyes widened in astonishment, and she gestured.
“Come on, follow me.”
Ji Min led the way inside once more.
Unlike the exterior, which resembled a woodworking shop, the office was furnished in a modern style.
…….
What emphasized this atmosphere was the artwork hanging on the office’s far wall.
Taking advantage of the factory building’s high ceiling, a single enormous work hung at the center.
A photographic piece capturing a solitary tree standing in an empty field.
A small rectangular frame positioned to emphasize the tree.
Atop the desolate landscape hung bright neon light.
This work, standing alone in the office, seemed to give personality to the tree within the photograph.
Ji Min asked casually as Yeji stared at the piece.
“Not bad, right?”
“This is…”
It was far more than “not bad.”
It was a work of considerable quality.
“My mom’s really interested in art, so she collects various pieces.”
At Ji Min’s words, Yeji turned her gaze from the work to look at her.
“And since our work is so varied, we meet all kinds of artists.”
Ji Min pulled a catalog from the corner of her desk.
It was clear they manufactured a wide variety of materials needed for all sorts of artistic work.
The type of plywood Yeji had been looking for naturally appeared in the catalog.
Upon seeing the listed price, she reflexively sighed.
Though she was already receiving support from her parents in the form of material costs instead of academy fees.
Even accounting for that, it was quite expensive.
Of course, Yeji believed there was no need to skimp when it came to her work.
Just as Yeji was about to nod, Ji Min spoke first.
“I’ll just give them to you. All 300.”
Just… give them?
She wasn’t selling dirt, so why on earth would she do that?
Seeing Yeji’s suspicious look, Ji Min added,
“Well, not entirely free. Later, among the pieces from your series at Seohwawon… I’d like five for myself.”
At those words, Yeji was momentarily taken aback.
Being asked for artwork might have sounded like an absurd condition at first.
“I want to give them to my mom. Of course, only if you’re comfortable with it.”
“The decision is yours. This kind of arrangement isn’t that uncommon,” Han Gyu offered.
He gave Yeji a subtle heads-up, as this was her first such experience.
But Yeji, with her past-life memories intact, already knew this convention.
Depending on the size of the help received, an artist gifts work of corresponding monetary value in return.
Such help took various forms.
Materials needed for artistic work, the provision of a studio or exhibition space, or even cash itself.
Such support was a form of patronage for promising newcomers.
If an artist didn’t recognize potential and value, they wouldn’t propose such arrangements in the first place.
“What do you think? Feel free to think it over,” Ji Min said.
At her words, Yeji fell into thought for a moment.
It was a good offer.
But….
“Five is a bit difficult,” Yeji said firmly.

“What about four instead?”
Beyond simply the value of the artwork, Yeji wanted to be clear about something.
Each of her pieces would be beautiful when displayed individually.
That’s how she’d planned it, so they would certainly be completed as intended.
‘But if my work hangs here…’
Yeji lifted her eyes again to look at the work hanging in the office.
Many other artists who came here to match canvases and frames might see her work.
She hoped whoever saw it would appreciate it with genuine appreciation.
Yeji was certain of the value her work held.
Rather than present it with awkward balance, she wanted to show it in its most beautiful form.
“Five would throw off the balance when displayed. Four would be much better.”
Ji Min, who had been waiting for Yeji to give her reasoning, looked momentarily stunned before bursting into laughter.

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