The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 34

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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 34.
Moreover, Se Hui had been the first model for his representative series, “Humanity and Nature.”
For Seong Su, it was only natural to want to do anything for his niece, who modeled for the work that had made his name.
— Whenever you need photographs, just tell your uncle. If they’re your photos, I’ll fly in from New York to shoot them myself.
Because of this, Se Hui’s college entrance examination had a certain unfair advantage.
To be a model with a portfolio of photographs taken by a renowned photographer who’d captured her at her most striking—it was an extraordinary head start.
But that wasn’t all.
Modeling was a field where natural talent loomed especially large.
Se Hui had inherited only the best features from her French mother, a former model, making her quite promising as a model herself.
And her father was a successful businessman with a solid foundation, so she’d never had to worry about money in her life.
Wealth, beauty, and connections.
Se Hui’s future seemed assured.
Yet Se Hui found no joy in that life.
‘It’s like spoiled discontent, I know… but I can’t help how I feel.’
She’d joined the Broadcasting Club and tried all sorts of things, searching for some spark of vitality.
But faced with a reality that refused to change, doubt had set in.
Around the time she was considering studying abroad, convinced there was no hope in Korea.
“Can you help me with something?”
That was when she first met Ye Ji.
To be honest, at first she’d thought it was an interesting story.
That the model student of the Art Department, the elite Kim Ji An, was such a bastard!
But gradually, her interest shifted to Ye Ji’s genuine passion for art.
“I mean, once you expose all this, they’ll just order a reassessment anyway—so why work so hard on it?”
On the day she was preparing the scheme to make a fool of Kim Ji An.
She’d asked Ye Ji this question as the girl worked so fiercely to complete her piece.
Fortunately the work had been successful and her grades reflected that, but hadn’t it been an incredibly risky gamble?
She could have focused on general coursework instead, which would have made her college entrance prospects far more stable.
Ye Ji’s choice was dangerous—it could have sabotaged both her practical grades and her academic standing.
“I didn’t do it for the grades.”
But Ye Ji had answered as if Se Hui were asking the obvious.
“That bastard ruined my work. I couldn’t leave my piece damaged like that.”
Revenge was revenge; the work was the work.
For Ye Ji, they were separate.
In fact, even Ji An’s wrongdoing had become a kind of inspiration for her.
The anger it sparked had given her something she wanted to express.
“I had something to express, and a place to show it. I couldn’t just sit still.”
Of course she had to paint.
Ye Ji’s answer had struck Se Hui quite forcefully.
Maybe what was making school feel dull
was her own compliance with an environment obsessed with grades and results.
With that realization, Se Hui spent her break differently than usual.
She took time to think again about what she wanted to do as a model, and what her dreams really were.
“I wondered what wind had changed your mind, and it turns out something like this happened?”
When her uncle visited Korea after a long time, they had quite a substantive conversation.
Self-expression through art.
Watching Ye Ji, Se Hui wanted to find a clear sense of direction for herself as a model too.
When her uncle heard what had happened at school, he leaned in, interested.
“Uncle, listen—that girl isn’t ordinary, I’m telling you. Something’s different. The way she thinks, her work, everything.”
Even though Se Hui didn’t know much about art, she could feel it was different, and she chattered on about Ye Ji.
She even showed him the promotional posts on social media, genuinely impressed.
It was more like a fan’s devotion than friendship, and she knew it herself, but it didn’t matter.
As Se Hui kept raving about how special Ye Ji was, Seong Su showed more specific interest.
“Already showing work at an exhibition with established artists…”
So what kind of work did she do?
Once his curiosity about Ye Ji was piqued, he immediately began researching the exhibition.
He used his connections to attend the opening of Jeong Hae Yoon’s exhibition.
Because it was a weekday, Se Hui couldn’t go with him—she could only feel disappointed.
After that.
“Bought it.”
“…Bought? What?”
“Your friend’s painting. The girl named Ye Ji.”
When she heard that he’d simply purchased one of Ye Ji’s paintings, she felt a surge of pride.
Then came Monday evening of the following week.
When Se Hui returned home, exhausted from school and academy, her uncle was there again.
“Uncle, you’re here a lot these days. Aren’t you busy?”
At Se Hui’s question, Seong Su looked deeply troubled.
Just last Friday he’d been excited, saying he’d bought a good piece—so why did he look like death itself?
“Uncle, what’s wrong?”
When she asked her father, he answered with exasperation and annoyance.
“That genius artist friend of yours won’t return his calls.”
“…What?”
Finally, Se Hui heard the full story.
He’d bought the work and given Ye Ji his business card, asking her to contact him.
“Why hasn’t she called?”
It was clear he was bothered—the weekend had passed and the weekdays were now continuing without any contact.
“What if she thinks you’re a suspicious person?”
Because of the setting, he’d had to leave in a hurry without explaining properly.
And besides, Seong Su was outwardly just an ordinary middle-aged man who went around in rumpled hiking clothes.
A sensitive eighteen-year-old high school student might not exactly be eager to call first.
Though it was a bit much to see him stewing over it like this.
“That’s so like you…”
Despite his credentials and appearance, Seong Su was oddly passive—it was in character.
“Ugh, I can’t watch this anymore! Tomorrow you go talk to that girl about it.”
At her father’s exasperated tone, Se Hui laughed.
Even as his brother chided him, Seong Su turned a pleading look toward Se Hui.
He wanted to talk with the young artist, yes, but he didn’t want to be misunderstood as a strange person.
His conflicted feelings had made him quite desperate.
“Fine, but you have to do something for me in return, Uncle!”
Se Hui seized the moment to quickly add her own request.
***
“Ye Ji! Ye Ji!”
As Ye Ji walked to school as usual, she turned at the sound of a voice calling from the school gate.
The cheerful voice was familiar.
It was Park Se Hui, who had helped her during the Kim Ji An incident.
“Hey, have a good break?”
“Seriously, when did the first semester even start…”
Se Hui waved her hand dismissively, as if bewildered.
“Anyway, never mind that.”
Ye Ji sensed that Se Hui had something on her mind.
She felt an odd familiarity—as if she’d seen Se Hui somewhere else before…
“You, last week…”
As Se Hui was about to say something, it clicked.
Ye Ji clapped her hands without thinking and spoke loudly.
“The photographer Seong Su’s work!”
Se Hui was definitely in one of those photographs.
“Yes! You found it?”
Se Hui responded eagerly to Ye Ji’s comment, smiling brightly.
The girl in the photograph had indeed looked slightly younger.
Maybe because she’d looked closely recently she’d remembered it, otherwise she wouldn’t have made the connection immediately.
But seeing her now in person made it clear.
“So… you knew that photographer?”
To be a model with a top-tier photographer as a connection.
When Ye Ji broached the subject first, Se Hui nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah! The thing is… Seong Su the photographer is actually my uncle!”
Surprise!
As Se Hui spoke in her cheerful voice, Ye Ji’s eyes went blank and rounded.
It really was true what they say—six degrees of separation.
“Really…? Wait, that person… is your uncle? He… oh!”
The fact that Se Hui was Seong Su’s niece was surprising.
But at the same time, another realization struck her, and Ye Ji jumped back, doubly startled.
“Oh! Right!”
She’d completely forgotten to contact him.
Yesterday she’d called Shin Chairman and immediately arranged to meet him, so her mind had been consumed with that.
Plus, she’d spent the rest of the day at the Aquarium, so she hadn’t had a moment to think of anything else.
And then she was supposed to call him too…
“I forgot to get back in touch with him.”
At Ye Ji’s words, Se Hui’s expression fell a bit.
“You didn’t think he was annoying or anything, right? With how disheveled he looks and his awkward way of speaking?”
Even so, he’s my uncle—wasn’t that kind of harsh?
But at the same time, since Ye Ji genuinely hadn’t called, she carefully chose her words.
“…That’s not it…”
Ye Ji gave a brief denial, afraid that any further explanation would be misunderstood.
Then Se Hui quickly grabbed her hand and said.
“Then how about it—come visit my uncle’s studio with me!”
“All of a sudden? The studio? Me? Why?”
At Ye Ji’s confused response, Se Hui nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah! I want to show you stuff, do things together, and get closer!”
It was a troubling list of reasons.
The way she was putting it, she really must be Seong Su’s niece.
But if it was his studio, did that mean he’d consented?
Could they just make plans like this on their own?
As various doubts remained unresolved, Ye Ji’s mind seemed to freeze up.
As a result, she couldn’t answer right away.
While this was happening, Se Hui, who’d been chattering away rapidly, held out her phone.
“So anyway, give me your number! I noticed you only follow our social media—I didn’t get your number.”
Clearly not just any ordinary person, judging by her striking beauty.
When she pushed the phone forward, Ye Ji found herself taking it and entering her number.
Is this what they mean by being swept along?
The moment Se Hui got her phone back, she called Ye Ji.
As they watched the connection appear on both their phones, Se Hui deliberately left a missed call, then saved the number to her contacts.
[Ye Ji♥]
“Save my number the same way, okay?”
…So much pressure!
As Ye Ji awkwardly laughed at Se Hui’s cheerful demand.
Someone suddenly patted Ye Ji’s back.
“Hey, hey! What are you doing! Tardy! Tardy! One minute till the bell!”
It was Hyun Min, who had just run across the school playground.
Looking around, Ye Ji saw other students rushing too.
When had the time gotten away like this?
Se Hui jumped in surprise and spoke hurriedly.
In any case, she’d achieved her goal of getting Ye Ji’s number.
“Gosh! I’ll text you! We’re hanging out together, yeah? You got it? For real!”
With that, Se Hui rushed ahead, her long hair flowing behind her.
Ye Ji felt drained from the sheer energy of it all, even from the morning.
But there was no time to stand around, so Ye Ji quickly gathered herself and quickened her pace.
So Se Hui really was the niece of photographer Seong Su.
She might be the only student at Cheongrim without some kind of connection or background.
Still bewildered, Ye Ji looked at the unfamiliar number in her phone as she hurried to class.
She wasn’t sure what the girl was hoping to accomplish.
‘A studio, huh…’
The workshop of a world-renowned artist.
That, at least, made Ye Ji’s heart race with anticipation.

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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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