The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 40

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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 40.
What is this?
Ye-ji was slightly startled by the crowd of onlookers surrounding her.
Curious glances and cameras clicking away.
The reason their attention had converged on Ye-ji among so many students was unmistakable.
It was the distinctiveness of her painting.
“She didn’t paint the sky here.”
“But doesn’t it still look so bright and clear?”
The murmurs of spectators conversing with their companions reached Ye-ji as well.
It was a brilliant spring sky, and as was typical of landscape paintings, everyone had been focusing on that clear, luminous blue.
While others labored to capture a beautiful sky of their own, Ye-ji had drawn her eye elsewhere—to what lay beneath that sky.
The trees, radiating with crystalline brilliance as they caught the light of that pale blue expanse above.
She had rendered them as if captured from directly above by a drone—a complete bird’s-eye perspective.
Instead of the pale blue that filled everyone else’s canvases, Ye-ji’s overflowed with the tender, verdant green of fresh spring growth.
As though a cloud drifting across the ground were gazing lazily down upon what lay beneath.
Warm, gentle greens clustered together like cotton clouds.
Moreover, the composition held a perfect rendering of the surrounding landscape.
At the center, the geometric ceiling of the great Greenhouse. And branching from it, the pathways that connected through the Greenhouse.
Linear elements cut through the verdure at precisely the right proportions.
Those paths, dividing the greenery with perfect measure, prevented the composition from becoming overwhelming, lending it instead a tranquil atmosphere.
The luminous, translucent watercolor tones—perfectly harmonizing with the warm, leisurely light of a spring afternoon—doubled the work’s appeal.
…….
As Ye-ji observed the crowd’s reaction, her eyes suddenly met those of Yu-ra, who was looking in her direction.
It was impossible to know how long Yu-ra had been watching.
Ye-ji could see more than five people standing still to observe Yu-ra’s work.
But more than ten people had gathered around Ye-ji’s station.
The scene resembled a popularity contest, and Ye-ji felt oddly uncomfortable about it.
“Excuse me.”
“…Yes?”
A foreigner among the spectators, speaking halting Korean, suddenly addressed her.
“Finished? You…?”
“Ah, yes. I’m all done. Finished. Finish.”
When Ye-ji answered the foreigner, who was communicating through gestures, he asked another question.
“Photo? A bit… is it okay?”
From his gestures, it seemed he wanted to be photographed together with the painting.
While bashful, wasn’t that a compliment in itself?
She nodded readily.
“Ah, yes. Yes.”
It’s not like she had any reason to refuse….
“Look how awkward Ye-ji is.”
“Hey! Hey! Try to look more natural!”
As she struck an awkward V-pose in front of her work, laughter burst from Hyun-min and Da-hye and the other friends who were watching.
“Be quiet!”
Embarrassed, Ye-ji barked at them, only to spark another round of laughter.
With the foreigner thanking her and disappearing once the work was complete, the other spectators dispersed as well.
Her face was beet red, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
“If you get any more famous later, we’re in for it. Go learn how to pose naturally from Park Se-hee.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? You want me to hire a professional model just to draw one circle?”
Learn posing techniques from a model just to take a commemorative photo?
When Ye-ji shot back with exasperation, Hyun-min chuckled.
“If you asked Park Se-hee to teach you, she’d be thrilled to show you.”
…That did seem likely.
“Anyway, even if you learned, I don’t think it would suit you.”
At Hyun-min’s remark, Ye-ji glared at him playfully.
Unable to muster a retort—
Ye-ji grabbed leftover fruit from Hyun-min’s lunchbox and studied her friends’ paintings.
Recently, Da-hye’s skill had been improving by leaps and bounds.
It hardly seemed like she needed Ye-ji’s help anymore.
As these thoughts crossed her mind, a question belatedly surfaced.
‘What did Yu-ra paint?’
Should she go take a look?
After all, it was Yu-ra who had sought her out first, wanting to see Ye-ji’s work.
Though she’d only caught a glimpse of faint pencil sketches in the planning phase.
Given that Yu-ra had even brought juice and looked at her work, it only seemed fair for Ye-ji to go and see hers too.
She wasn’t thinking about it in a way that looked like rivalry, but even if it did, she didn’t much care.
‘When did I start worrying about such things?’
Hyun-min, noticing Ye-ji lost in thought while staring at her half-drunk orange juice, suddenly offered her something.
“Are you not going to drink this? Want it?”
What he handed her was a banana milk in a chubby plastic carton.
Since she’d just received something, it felt awkward to go empty-handed.
She could buy him a new one later.
“Thanks.”
As Ye-ji approached Yu-ra with the banana milk, the girl turned her head at the sound of footsteps.
“…So you finished.”
Yu-ra spoke quietly upon seeing Ye-ji.
Ye-ji handed her the milk and answered.
“Here. I enjoyed the juice earlier. And I was curious what you painted.”
As Ye-ji offered the milk, Yu-ra lifted her hand from her sketch and showed her the finished work.
It resembled a typical landscape painting, yet something about it felt distinctly different.
While others had focused on realistic color tones and perspective—which made sense given how objectively beautiful the scenery and weather were—
Yu-ra had chosen to express these using unconventional, distinctive hues.
The sky was a soft, pale lilac; the trees bore leaves in shades of deepening blue.
Rendered entirely in soft tones that suited the medium of pastel.
Through the shadows, she had applied chiaroscuro to give the work depth despite its delicate palette.
If Ye-ji had differentiated through perspective, Yu-ra had differentiated through color.
Even the spots where powder had drifted and blended appeared intentional.
Trees and grass swaying in a gentle breeze.
An expression of movement that felt utterly natural.
Undeniably skillful.
“I think I lost this round.”
To Ye-ji, who was quietly admiring it, Yu-ra spoke in a remarkably matter-of-fact tone.
Wait—
“…Wasn’t it not really a competition to begin with?”
At Ye-ji’s words, Yu-ra shifted her gaze back to her own painting and spoke.
“Maybe not for you, but for me, it was.”
She wanted to see. To compare.
That’s why she’d orchestrated this situation, Yu-ra explained with utter composure.
There was something strange in the calm tone of her voice.
It left a slightly bitter taste.
Was it really right to determine superiority through simple comparison?
When the materials and approaches were completely different at that?
…….
Ye-ji’s pride was slightly wounded.
‘This was just something I painted for fun today. I’m capable of creating something far greater.’
She didn’t want to stand here and claim victory or defeat in these circumstances.
Seeing Ye-ji’s less-than-satisfied reaction, Yu-ra turned her head and looked up at her.
After observing the apparent displeasure on Ye-ji’s face, Yu-ra paused briefly, then continued.
“…I’m sorry, but I can’t settle for paintings that don’t win recognition from others.”
Yu-ra’s voice remained steady as she spoke.
“I don’t know what your standards are, but by mine, I lost today.”
It was then that Ye-ji understood.
Yu-ra had spoken quietly and matter-of-factly, but what she was feeling now was not calm at all.
Yu-ra was experiencing frustration.
She was simply suppressing it, keeping it hidden beneath her composed demeanor.
And wasn’t the phrase “today’s painting” an implication that there would be others to come?
“…You didn’t bring a straw?”
Yu-ra called out to Ye-ji, who was lost in thought.
The abrupt topic change was so sudden that Ye-ji reflexively held up her empty hands.
“It’s fine without one.”
Yu-ra answered with a cynical smile, then simply popped the carton open and drank the milk in one long gulp.
The conversation ended there as she returned her attention to finishing her painting.
Even though she’d said she lost by her own standards, her determination to complete the work to the end left Ye-ji choosing not to interfere.
She found herself thinking that Yu-ra was peculiar, but also… rather admirable.
People with this type of temperament sometimes achieve unexpected growth.
Those with an exceptionally strong competitive spirit.
Ye-ji believed that competitive drive was a more formidable desire than simple ambition.
The determination to defeat someone gave a person an exceptionally clear objective.
She had a hunch that she and Yu-ra would become entangled again before long.
When Ye-ji returned to her station, Da-hye was holding her brush and making sounds of anguish.
“Noooo! Ahhhhh!”
With only ten minutes left until the deadline, she was frantically completing her work between cries of desperation.
Unlike in the past, when she would have roughed through the finish, she was now working hard to maximize the final quality.
Da-hye, too, had changed considerably compared to last semester.
The catalyst of memories from a past life was an intensely personal experience, but it wasn’t just Ye-ji who was changing because of it.
Everyone around her was changing too.
***
The outdoor sketching session had concluded with great success.
For Ye-ji, it had provided valuable food for thought in many ways.
And so everyday life continued.
Until Friday arrived.
“Oh… you’re here?”
The moment school ended, Ye-ji headed straight to Seong-su’s Studio.
The second floor of the Studio, revisited, had changed more than she’d expected.
He had not only reorganized the space but had even reinstalled the lighting.
Moreover, thanks to a blackout curtain dividing off the area where his previous works were stored, the space felt considerably more expansive.
“You really didn’t need to go this far…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I hired someone to do it.”
‘Right, but if he hired someone, he must have spent money too…’
The thought that it might be excessive crossed her mind, but she reasoned that his standards were simply different and chose to express only gratitude.
“In any case, thank you for accommodating me.”
“I’m just bribing you to do good work for me later, so don’t worry about it.”
Ye-ji laughed along with Seong-su’s chuckle.
If he had shown consideration for her, then she could repay that kindness going forward.
“Did the canvases arrive today?”
“Yes, they should be here by now…”
They should arrive around this time.
Ye-ji casually turned her gaze toward the Studio window, looking out at the street below.
And sure enough, a truck was just pulling up the alley.
“Ye-ji! Hello!”
Ji-min spotted her first and greeted her cheerfully through the truck window.
“Oh, is that the person?”
“Yes, that’s her. Hello! Boss!”
Ye-ji returned the greeting from the window.
By the time they hurried downstairs, Ji-min’s employee was already unloading the canvases.
“To the second floor… oh, let me…”
Seong-su fidgeted and tried to help, but Ji-min stopped him.
“You’re the photographer, right? Step back. This is about technique in how you carry them.”
Anyone who hasn’t used canvases before, stay out of the way.
With that, Ji-min handed Seong-su her business card and effortlessly hoisted a canvas larger than herself.
Then she turned to Ye-ji and asked.
“So! Are the results in yet? I came early just because I was dying to know.”
Ye-ji was taken aback watching Ji-min lift a large wooden-framed canvas so easily, but she answered nonetheless.
“Still no… They said it would come out at seven.”
Ye-ji had checked as soon as school ended and kept refreshing right up until she came to the Studio.
Unlike the previous first-round announcement, which had come early, the results still hadn’t appeared this time.
They’d said it would be announced at noon French time, but this time it was running late.
Following Ji-min, Ye-ji picked up a smaller canvas and headed toward the elevator.
“Check just in case!”
“Should I?”
Seong-su, overhearing their exchange, showed interest as well.
“What…? Are the results coming in today?”
“Oh, well…”
As Ye-ji accessed the website again—
Ji-min filled Seong-su in on the situation.
After waiting for the refresh to complete, which seemed to take longer than usual, a new banner appeared on the screen.
“…!”
The Montblanc International Youth Art Competition.
A banner announcing the Second Round Award results.

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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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