The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 45

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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 45.
The midterm exam results came as something of a surprise to Ye-ji.
What struck her more was that everyone around her seemed to think it was only natural.
‘I didn’t expect to come first again…’
Thanks to Da-hye, it seemed she’d also benefited considerably from having access to a skilled tutor.
Moreover, not only had her own scores risen quite a bit, but Da-hye’s had as well, so both were satisfied.
From Ye-ji’s perspective, the school atmosphere right now was as good as it could possibly be.
Everyone had their own circumstances, but they all seemed to be engaging in healthy competition and putting in genuine effort.
The fact that she could learn alongside them felt like a stroke of luck in itself.
As she went through her days like this, the deadline for the work she’d promised to Shin Myung-hee had dwindled to just one month away.
Of course, the actual deadline was still further off, but when she factored in the final exams, the practical window of time was about that long.
And that amount of time was sufficient for Ye-ji.
“Ah… ugh.”
Ow, my back.
Ye-ji groaned as she slowly straightened her body, which had been hunched over the painting.
Once she got absorbed in painting, this was always the problem.
After hours bent over in that crooked posture, her vertebrae seemed to be crying out in protest.
She’d thrown herself into work from morning on the weekend, and it appeared she’d overdone it.
“This won’t do.”
Ye-ji grunted and began stretching as she got to her feet.
No matter what anyone said, for Ye-ji, health came second only to painting.
You could only live long and paint long if nothing hurt.
It was a perspective born from experience, so Ye-ji was quite earnest about her health.
‘I absolutely won’t accept missing out on painting because of something ridiculous.’
Even as she stretched the stiffness out of her body, Ye-ji’s gaze remained fixed on her painting.
On the canvas laid out on the floor, paint was layered thickly in multiple coats.
Over the deep blue depths she’d painted as background, Ye-ji had delicately placed translucent jellyfish.
“Hmm…”
Ye-ji turned her head gently as she stretched, viewing the painting from several angles.
Capturing a translucent quality while using thick, opaque oil painting was quite a challenge.
“Alright…”
Once she’d loosened up somewhat, Ye-ji picked up her brush again over the work.
Jellyfish soft and blurred like gelatin submerged in water.
And tentacles swaying with the currents.
She carefully traced the naturally flowing curves, correcting the parts that needed work.
Since the background she’d painted earlier was completely dry, it wasn’t difficult to revise just the portions she’d worked on today.
A canvas that seemed to hold the vivid blue of the sea itself.
The blues layered over it held a peculiar warmth of light.
The coldest color, yet also the warmest. Blue.
Ye-ji concentrated intently on her work again for quite some time, trying to capture light within those dynamic curves.
“Ugh…”
Ye-ji decided to correct her earlier thinking.
There was an extremely difficult aspect to this work.
Namely, the fact that her back and neck felt like they might snap while she painted lying over the canvas on the floor.
After another couple of hours had passed, Ye-ji rose with a sound of discomfort and began tidying her surroundings.
The next phase of work wouldn’t be possible until the oil painting she’d set aside had dried completely.
“……”
Checking that it wasn’t yet terribly late, Ye-ji gathered her things lightly.
The best thing about having a studio was that she didn’t have to lug all her art supplies around with her.
With just her phone and wallet in hand, Ye-ji decided to walk the hour-long distance home as exercise.
The weather had been nice lately too, so it was perfect timing.
Everything about her life had taken on a peculiar quality of peace and comfort.
***
In a department store under SS Group in Seoul, in its VIP Lounge.
The luxury shops provide special services for customers who spend unimaginable sums annually.
They don’t need to tire their feet walking through stores directly.
Dedicated shoppers carefully select items suited to their tastes and present them right before their eyes.
“The artwork in the lounge has changed? I’ve never seen this style before.”
A young VIP who’d casually charged tens of millions of won looked around the lounge and spoke.
The dedicated shopper assisting with her purchase answered cheerfully and courteously.
“Ah, yes. The chairman purchased this painting personally, I understand. You have quite an eye for noticing such details.”
The painting the VIP mentioned was newly hung this season.
The spring landscape suited the mid-May timing perfectly.
Since spring these days passed so quickly, it was difficult to feel spring in the world outside.
For that reason, a work that conveyed spring was all the more uplifting.
The VIP, who had been gazing quietly at the work, asked her shopper a question.
The fact that the chairman had personally purchased it seemed to have piqued her interest further.
“It’s lovely. It must be by a famous artist? Who is it?”
“That’s not the case, I’ve heard. Apparently, it’s a high school student artist…?”
At those words, the VIP rose from the sofa where she hadn’t moved since arriving and approached the work.
Beneath the piece, engraved on an elegant aluminum plate, was a brief caption with minimal information.
Series, “The Seasons” — “Spring”
Artist — Ye-ji Lee
The caption contained only information in Korean.
In an era when captions tend to be needlessly filled with English to appear sophisticated.
Even that felt refreshing, so the VIP examined the multi-part work carefully.
“But the chairman purchased this personally?”
A high school student’s work, purchased by the chairman herself?
Holding a VIP’s interest and keeping them in the lounge is critical.
These wealthy who find shopping itself bothersome, having new items gathered in a private room and choosing things with a wave of their hand.
Their time spent equals revenue.
“That’s exactly what I was wondering about, so I heard quite a bit of talk when bringing the piece in.”
Even while answering the VIP, the shopper subtly began arranging new products as though tidying up.
Watches and handbags at prices ordinary people wouldn’t dare consider.
A world where, if such things appealed to you, a single card swipe was all it took — a different existence.
Once the VIP had gotten to her feet, she showed interest in the products the shopper had just laid out.
It could seem too much like salesmanship and actually dampen interest, so the shopper skillfully continued the conversation about the artwork.
“See how it says ‘series’? I’ve heard that the chairman wanted to purchase all the other seasons together as well.”
“…Wanted to?”
“Yes, exactly! She couldn’t get them, apparently. The competition was so fierce that she could only manage to get spring. Can you imagine?”
The story had a bit of exaggeration, but as a VIP, she had no way of verifying the facts.
Yet for someone living in a world where money solves everything, something that money couldn’t buy was quite intriguing.
It sounded even more rare and valuable.
In the meantime, the VIP, who had almost inadvertently tried on a watch worth tens of millions of won, nodded with satisfaction.
“Add one of these to the car as well. As for that artist… I should look into her later.”
The satisfied shopper, having made her sales figures, decided not to be greedy.
“Yes, I’ll prepare that right away.”
Handing over a black card, the VIP turned her gaze back to the painting on the wall.
***
Shin Myung-hee burst into laughter as she listened to the report coming through her secretary.
“What?”
“It seems the VIPs are showing considerable interest in Ye-ji’s paintings. The staff in that department would like to receive additional information about her.”
Being a VIP shopper at a department store was truly a grueling profession.
Sometimes you had to act like a friend or a child, but when needed, become a complete errand runner.
For them, drawing out VIP interest was their skill, and they’d request anything necessary to achieve it.
But the request was for information about Ye-ji?
“Apparently, after always seeing works by the same familiar famous artists, seeing an unfamiliar name is sparking their interest in various ways.”
“…Better than those expensive, trendy works by famous overseas artists?”
Until now, the lounge had featured works several times more expensive and talked-about than Ye-ji’s pieces.
Yet those had no effect beyond raising the value of the space itself.
Because they were already familiar artists, they actually failed to captivate the wealthy.
“Probably because it’s a debut work purchased personally by the chairman.”
Everything worn, carried, and owned by the wealthy becomes viral.
Even if an influencer did it, it would cause a shortage. That’s the age we live in.
But one of Korea’s top companies’ chairman bought a newcomer’s painting?
Of course, people naturally wanted to follow suit and purchase one themselves.
They wanted to align their taste with theirs, or it was simply blind imitative desire.
But what mattered was,
“Moreover, it’s a painting.”
There was investment potential in that the work’s value could rise in the future.
Now was the cheapest time to buy.
It was natural to think that way.
“I told you so? She has potential.”
Then, a young man reclining on a large sofa in the chairman’s office spoke up.
“No matter how much Mother purchased the painting, it wouldn’t get that kind of reaction if it were mediocre.”
People would have tried to mock it, saying the chairman’s eye had failed.
The boy, sitting on the sofa in the chairman’s office leafing through scattered documents, was wearing a Cheongrim Arts High School uniform.
The young man who’d made direct comments along with the term “Mother” turned his head.
“Isn’t that right, ma’am?”
Addressing the chairman’s secretary politely, he was Kang Hyun-min, a classmate of Ye-ji.
“Yes. Your words are also correct, young master. Ye-ji’s painting looks sophisticated even to someone unfamiliar with art.”
Most contemporary art was difficult to understand at a glance.
But Ye-ji’s work was intuitive and beautiful.
Listening to the secretary’s response, Myung-hee raised one eyebrow wryly.
“So why did you suddenly come around to a place you always hated so much? What wind blew in?”
Hyun-min wanted to hide the fact that he was the son of a wealthy family.
What wind had made that boy, who always hid it, suddenly show up today?
Although he pretended to be cheerful and lighthearted, Myung-hee knew her son well.
As Myung-hee asked her calculated and strategic son, Hyun-min gave a slight shrug.
“Well, in a few more years, I’ll be an adult myself.”
It was a broad answer with multiple underlying intentions.
Hyun-min, as though what concerned him right now wasn’t particularly important, asked the secretary again.
“But how far will you disclose information about Ye-ji?”
Clearly, the interest of the wealthy would soon take concrete form.
There was a high possibility they would try to contact Ye-ji to obtain her works.
When the secretary seemed hesitant to answer immediately, as if trying to gauge Hyun-min’s intentions, Hyun-min added first,
“I’d prefer it if you didn’t make it public, if possible.”

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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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