The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 38

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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 38.
Monday—the return of school like any other day.
Ye Ji stepped off the bus and climbed the slope toward the school building.
Wasn’t this hill at least making up for her lack of exercise?
Lost in such idle thoughts and walking mechanically, a cheerful voice reached her ear.
“Ye Ji, hi!”
It was Se Hui, rushing over to link her arm.
Just as Ye Ji was about to return the greeting, her other arm was seized.
“Are you two going to be late again?”
It was Da Hye, linking Ye Ji’s other arm.
“We weren’t late last time.”
“Ye Ji nearly was!”
Before Ye Ji could respond, both friends had her arms locked in place.
What was this chaos at this hour?
“We might as well go together, all of us.”
“At this rate, all three of us will end up tardy.”
Even with Ye Ji’s words, neither of them let go.
“…What’s this? Is Ye Ji being arrested?”
Hyun Min smirked at the sight as he passed by.
Whatever this looked like, with Se Hui and Da Hye chattering from both sides, her mind was scattered completely.
Others besides these three greeted her as well.
As they climbed to the second-year floors, familiar faces abounded—and so did the greetings.
“Hi.”
“Ye Ji, hey!”
“Heyy!”
It felt like she was gradually becoming acquainted with more and more people.
Back in middle school, she’d barely known anyone outside her own class.
That everyone would acknowledge her existence and offer eye contact—that was something she’d never imagined.
All she’d done was paint earnestly.
The hallway during morning arrival was loud with greetings and chatter.
Especially so on a Monday following the weekend.
“Guys, this is huge. The dance teacher Hime and PE teacher Kim Tae Sik are dating!”
“No way…”
“It’s true! Dance students saw them on a date in Hongdae!”
“Wow, they got caught going all the way to Hongdae?”
Ordinary high school gossip.
Catching wind of students whispering about their teachers’ love life, Se Hui patted Ye Ji’s shoulder excitedly, saying it was insane.
“I need to ask the dance kids right away. Our class is this way! See you later~”
Only then did Se Hui release Ye Ji’s arm and dash toward her own classroom.
Watching Se Hui wave and disappear, Da Hye tilted her head.
“Does she not have friends in her own class?”
“I don’t think that’s it…”
Se Hui was outgoing—her network and friend group were nearly as broad as Hyun Min’s.
While many students greeted Ye Ji, Se Hui held her own in comparison.
And though she was quick-tempered at times, her upbeat nature had a way of lifting everyone’s mood.
“She’s quite unique, isn’t she?”
Da Hye chuckled even as she said it.
As the two entered their familiar classroom, the rumors and commotion lingered there too.
“I heard the Outdoor Sketching Class location changed tomorrow?”
“Oh, that’s unfortunate… Baeksasil Valley was close.”
Seeing the class president and his friend in conversation, Ye Ji asked.
“Really? The location changed?”
“Yeah, hey. That’s what I heard, anyway.”
At the class president’s reply, Ye Ji and Da Hye exchanged a late greeting, then looked at each other.
Da Hye asked the class president directly.
“Where else would it be? Haven’t you heard anything?”
“No idea. I didn’t hear that far. Our homeroom teacher will probably tell us later, anyway.”
…That was fair enough.
It wouldn’t change anything whether she found out now or later—just curiosity.
The sky visible through the corridor windows was bright blue, as if promising fine weather tomorrow.
The avenue trees beyond, full of green, echoed the classroom’s cheerfulness and that clear brightness.
Wherever they went, a change of scenery would certainly lift the mood.
“What are we doing in studio today?”
Putting aside what she couldn’t know in advance, Da Hye asked while preparing for the day’s classes.
Ye Ji glanced at the schedule taped to her desk and answered.
“Human Figure Watercolor today.”
“Ugh…”
More watercolor. How tedious.
Seeing Da Hye’s face twisted in clear displeasure, Ye Ji laughed.
Most university entrance exams focused on watercolor evaluation.
So the school couldn’t help but drill watercolor from every conceivable angle.
Ye Ji asked teasingly.
“All day Oil Painting versus doing Watercolor. Which sounds better?”
“Ugh, forget it. Then… watercolor’s better.”
In terms of difficulty, in every way.
Da Hye nodded, saying Oil Painting was worse by comparison, when—
Bang!
The back door of the classroom swung open with a sudden loud crash, shattering the peaceful atmosphere.
The gaze of all the chatting and studying students naturally converged on that door.
Standing there were third-year students wearing name tags of a different color from theirs.
“What the…?”
“Why are the seniors here?”
“What’s going on?”
Murmurs rippled through the classroom.
Ye Ji too looked at the unfamiliar crowd of third-year students with curiosity.
Seniors deep in university entrance exam prep—what business could they possibly have here?
But her wonder quickly shifted to bewilderment.
The female student standing foremost in that group walked straight toward Ye Ji.
‘She’s… coming to me?’
Sleek, long black hair and a sharp gaze.
Though only a year older, her presence somehow read as far more mature.
A stranger’s face, yet walking directly toward Ye Ji with clear intent.
As she drew closer, her name tag came into view.
‘Kang Yu Ra.’
Wait—where had she heard that name before?
Before Ye Ji could think, Yu Ra opened her mouth.
“So you’re that second-year prodigy everyone talks about?”
…What kind of situation was this?
***
Kang Yu Ra was known simply as “the one” at Cheongrim Art High School.
That’s what she’d been called.
From the moment she’d entered as top of her class until graduation.
She’d never doubted that the title referred to her alone.
The school held no one else with talent to rival her own—or so she believed.
But partway through last semester.
Suddenly, unexpectedly, that same title began referring to someone else.
“You might be better off looking overseas rather than staying domestic.”
Everyone around her still insisted that domestically, Yu Ra was the best—that she should look to wider horizons.
It was the standard route for anyone with real talent in this field.
Korea’s too small, they’d say. Go abroad.
But that actually proved her own narrow vision.
That there was still so much left to do in Korea.
Why hadn’t she noticed that mountain standing right before her, waiting to be climbed?
“I heard she had an exhibition at Seo Hwa Won!”
“And the SS Group chairman and Jung Hae Yoon both bought her work.”
“She must have incredible backing.”
That’s how people spoke of “her”—
As if Yu Ra should naturally be envious and wary.
But Yu Ra was different.
She felt enormous interest in her.
‘If she’d succeeded through connections alone, she’d have done it already.’
Suddenly revealing hidden backing?
That didn’t make sense.
Yu Ra, having cultivated and awakened her own talent, felt that conviction even more strongly.
This girl must have broken through some wall within herself and was finally demonstrating her true ability.
‘That makes far more sense.’
Besides, Yu Ra was only nineteen, and Ye Ji was merely eighteen.
Perhaps Yu Ra had simply been early, and this was the right timing for Ye Ji.
For Kang Yu Ra, the appearance of Ye Ji carried profound meaning.
As if a long-awaited presence had finally arrived—thrilling.
A destined rival who might show her a direction she’d never conceived of.
That’s what Ye Ji seemed to be.
A third-year life that would have been stuffed with the tedious talk of entrance exams.
She’d been certain something would entangle them.
But.
“Will you keep doing this in college too?”
“Aren’t you guys going to college?”
“Of course you’re going to college!”
That wretched word: college.
All she heard from every direction was teachers nagging and pushing.
Though weeks had passed since the semester began, instead of the vibrant life she’d anticipated, only dull routine awaited.
What was college that it should bind her to such standards, stealing away the best years of her life?
“…This won’t do.”
At this rate, she’d waste her beautiful youth of nineteen trapped among college-obsessed peers.
If there was no natural intersection, she’d have to create one.
In the end, Yu Ra had no choice but to take action herself.
***
So it was that Yu Ra came to Ye Ji’s classroom.
“This is her, right?”
Da Hye answered softly on behalf of the speechless Ye Ji.
Yu Ra’s demeanor was ambiguous.
It didn’t feel hostile, yet she seemed cool and composed.
If anything, it was the expression of someone braced for something enormous.
Her face was rigid and stubborn-looking, yet her eyes held a familiar light—one Ye Ji recognized.
Interest. Curiosity.
“Seeing you in person for the first time.”
But despite her measured, careful tone, she was being quite forward.
Showing up out of nowhere—what was this supposed to mean?
Naturally they’d never met, and her intent was impossible to decipher.
The other third-years who’d come with her seemed equally puzzled.
They didn’t seem intent on intimidating anyone; they’d simply come curious about what Yu Ra would do.
“You don’t know who I am?”
Yu Ra pointed to her name tag as she spoke.
Kang Yu Ra.
The three characters on the badge weren’t unfamiliar.
All the more reason Ye Ji’s expression became unreadable as she answered.
“I’ve heard of you. The other day, from the seniors—they mentioned you sent some of them to check on my work during the sketching session?”
I overheard the seniors talking about it.
At Ye Ji’s words, Yu Ra tilted her head.
“…So that’s all you know.”
Was there supposed to be something more?
When Ye Ji’s eyes narrowed slightly, Yu Ra seemed a touch wounded in her pride.
Clearly she’d been expecting some particular response.
But Ye Ji wasn’t the sort to have much leisure for attention to her surroundings.
By nature, she didn’t tend to notice or dwell on what others were doing.
“…That’s fine. I’ll just have to get to know you from now on.”
Having reassessed the situation, Yu Ra added.
“You know there’s an outdoor sketching class tomorrow, right?”
Since the class president had mentioned it, Ye Ji could recall it easily.
Yu Ra’s voice continued, crisp and direct.
“Your second-year location will have changed.”
A cold gaze and quiet voice.
Yu Ra seemed as though she had more to say to Ye Ji.
Yet she didn’t elaborate further; she simply ended the conversation.
“I wanted you to know.”
There seemed to be so much left unsaid.
Her tone was quiet, yet she came across as someone inhabiting her own inner world.
“Right then.”
With that, Yu Ra turned and left.
Da Hye, who’d been ready to fire back if Yu Ra had picked a fight, just furrowed her brow.
“I don’t understand what she was saying, but somehow it feels like I do.”
Even Hyun Min muttered something under his breath, looking slightly dazed.
There was at least one comprehensible point in Yu Ra’s words.
That tomorrow’s change in the second-year sketching location was no coincidence—Yu Ra had orchestrated it.
And that it had something to do with Ye Ji.
But the intention behind it remained a mystery.
There was no logical reason for a top-ranked third-year absorbed in entrance exams to suddenly approach a second-year prodigy with such words.
Why did it keep feeling like she was getting tangled up with increasingly odd people?
Left in the classroom, Ye Ji stared blankly at her friends and asked.
“…So where exactly are we going tomorrow?”
***
The next day, the Changgyeonggung Palace Greenhouse.
Nearly a hundred second and third-year students from Cheongrim Art High School had gathered in front of it.
Each carried assorted art supplies, making the group quite conspicuous.
And naturally, Ye Ji and Yu Ra found themselves at the center of that gathering.

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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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