The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 53

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

Episode 53.
Final examinations had begun.
Unlike the midterms, the Practical Examination came first for the finals.
Of course, that didn’t apply to Ye Ji.
“My arm’s killing me….”
At a Chinese Restaurant near the School, where Da Hye had come to lunch after her exam finished.
Da Hye rubbed her arm and grumbled.
A four-hour Practical Examination where you had to complete a Painting was genuinely grueling work.
“The Special Class doesn’t even take the Practical Examination, and I’m dying of envy. Seriously!”
Ye Ji, setting out utensils and placing them in front of each of them, let out a soft laugh.
“But you’re evaluated by the same standards as the third-year students, and your test scores still show up?”
“Oh.”
That was… a point.
Da Hye, making that expression, added further.
“Still, it’s Absolute Evaluation though! Not Relative Evaluation!”
Of course, because it used a standard rather than comparison, it couldn’t help but look like a special privilege.
“It’s true, but I’m basically completing a work almost every other day. And sometimes the instructor gives personal assignments too.”
This would also be a special privilege, if anything.
But how many students would actually have the skill to deserve such a privilege?
Da Hye, who had been grumbling, rolled her eyes.
“…Well, then I guess just taking one test and being done with it would be better.”
At least you can practice for a test in advance.
It seemed less stressful than suddenly being asked to draw a picture on an unfamiliar theme or an arbitrary assignment.
Da Hye, agreeing, suddenly remembered something and asked.
“But didn’t you say it was more doable than you thought? Didn’t you mention once that some senior got assigned to write down what they like?”
With an assignment like that, it should be manageable, right?
To Da Hye’s words, Ye Ji shook her head side to side.
“That senior ended up not completing the assignment.”
They’d only written down that drawing was their favorite thing.
They’d failed to write down a clear reason why.
As a result, the next theme became whatever they liked most.
Da Hye, hearing Ye Ji’s explanation, sank into a thoughtful expression.
“True, I like drawing most too, but it would be pretty difficult to explain why I like it.”
In the moment of drawing, though, she still feels good.
Of course, there are also moments when she struggles and feels stressed because of work pressure,
but as though addicted, she picks up the brush and pencil again.
“The straight lines that flow from my hand, perfect proportions, those sorts of things becoming real, and someone seeing that finished work — that’s incredibly satisfying, which is why I keep drawing….”
Ye Ji nodded at Da Hye’s words.
She mixed her Jajangmyeon, which had just arrived, and answered.
“You understand it well. There’s no need to be eloquent about it anyway. What matters is whether you’re aware of yourself.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
I’m just not articulating it well — I’m not ignorant of it.
Watching Da Hye nod, Ye Ji thought to herself.
If someone asked her what she liked most, it would be Painting.
Painting was what made her — someone unremarkable — into someone special.
She loved realizing the Mental Imagery and imagination that filled her mind.
She loved showing it to others and receiving their praise and admiration.
And she also loved how the work that reached others in this way was understood differently by each person.
Presenting a work and interpreting it was the highest form of communication that human beings could achieve.
“That instructor’s personality is really unusual, isn’t it? He didn’t scold her for not doing the assignment?”
Da Hye, nearly inhaling her Jajangmyeon, suddenly asked.
“Hmm? Mm….”
Ye Ji, equally with her mouth full of Jajangmyeon, nodded.
Give me a moment to swallow….
Da Hye, seeing her hesitate instead of answering right away, burst into laughter and ordered a drink.
“Nobody’s going to steal it from you, so eat slowly.”
That’s not it….
While the Practical Examination was taking place, the Special Class conducted their own lessons.
It wasn’t only Da Hye who’d been drawing all morning.
Ye Ji, who was genuinely hungry, was only able to continue her thought after finishing the cola Da Hye poured for her.
“He didn’t say anything, but instead my next Painting theme became things I like.”
The reason she was especially hungry today was also because she’d worked hard to complete that work.
Hearing Ye Ji’s words, Da Hye’s eyes lit up as she asked.
“Really? What did you draw?”
***
At that moment, in the Practice Studio where the Special Class lesson was being held.
Gang Hyuk and Hyun A remained in the room.
“I… I think… I want to quit….”
Facing Hyun A, who spoke those words, Gang Hyuk scratched between his brows with an uncomfortable expression.
“Well, that’s your choice.”
Gang Hyuk wasn’t really trying to stop her.
He was simply asking, as though to confirm whether she understood.
“I heard your School had the Practical Examination today, right? You’ve already missed the test, and if you quit here, there won’t be a grade.”
Unless it was an illness or special recognized reason, it would be marked as a zero.
Yet even at Gang Hyuk’s words, Hyun A, her head deeply bowed, still nodded.
Then she quietly averted her gaze.
At the end of Hyun A’s line of sight lay Ye Ji’s Painting.
‘Things I like most.’
The theme of the Painting she’d drawn today.
Ye Ji, unusually, had created a very ambiguous Abstract Painting.
Noticing Hyun A’s gaze, Gang Hyuk exhaled a sigh.
“I know Ye Ji is younger than you, but she’s a bit….”
A genius outside the ordinary mold.
That’s how Gang Hyuk evaluated Ye Ji.
Unable to express it well in Korean, he’d gestured vaguely, but Hyun A understood perfectly.
“……Yes, I understand….”
Ye Ji’s work was luminous overall.
It was full of violet and blue, with bright yellow popping through at intervals as an accent.
The abstractly scattered colors were composed entirely of curves.
It was difficult to specify exactly what it was, yet the gathered curves almost resembled flower petals.
A cheerful, whimsical feeling.
But if that were all, she wouldn’t have felt so intimidated.
Though the form appeared ambiguous at first glance, the composition achieved perfect balance.
Ye Ji’s favorite colors, her preferred medium in Oil Painting, a clear sense of direction achieved through a single Vanishing Point.
It was evident what Ye Ji — as a person — preferred.
She disliked anything ambiguous and loved what was certain and clear.
And she probably liked soft, rounded things — flowers and bright things.
It was a Painting where preference was visible.
But.
“Well, I… I got it wrong anyway….”
Hyun A had drawn nothing today.
Ye Ji’s Abstract Painting, brimming with individuality and taste.
Yu Ra, who’d drawn her own workspace.
Even Gang Hyuk, who’d made a piggy bank.
They’d all clearly expressed what they liked, but she had not.
“I’m… different from them…. From the start….”
She’d probably been included in the Design Department because she was the one additional person needed.
Hyun A, already convinced of this, dug her nails into her tightly clenched fist.
Seeing Hyun A like this, Gang Hyuk shrugged.
“If you chose it yourself, I can’t stop you.”
Gang Hyuk didn’t particularly feel any obligation or sense of responsibility.
“The class will continue anyway, so do as you like. Absences are up to you.”
That was the best consideration Gang Hyuk could offer.
At his words, Hyun A bowed slightly before slipping out of the Practice Studio as though fleeing.
Watching her departing figure, Gang Hyuk scratched the back of his head roughly and gazed at his own Painting.
This time too, he’d drawn alongside his students.
“…….”
His Canvas, filled entirely with jet black, had white paint dripping down like rain.
Vertical streaks of rain, drawn with identical thickness and identical spacing.
‘Dark night! Falling rain! Ever wandered around in that? It’s actually pretty incredible.’
Though he’d spoken it like a joke, Gang Hyuk regarded his own Painting with his head tilted slightly to one side.
To be honest, he was still in the process of discovering what he liked most.
There was no certainty in his life.
On some days he liked that, on others he didn’t.
It was merely a change in interest based on caprice.
For someone living a life of endless whims, the word “most” was a rather cruel standard.
But the fact that he didn’t know this didn’t cause any real problem.
Wasn’t he being recognized and accepted perfectly well without that substance?
“Things like that can’t be learned because someone teaches you.”
There was no way but to realize it on your own.
Gang Hyuk, realizing anew that he truly didn’t suit teaching, let out a bitter smile.
If the student called Hyun A didn’t come back tomorrow, it wouldn’t be surprising.
It tasted somewhat bitter, but Gang Hyuk decided not to think too deeply about it.
***
“I feel like my stomach’s about to burst. Really….”
“Ugh, standing up just makes me feel fuller.”
Ye Ji and Da Hye emerged from the Chinese Restaurant, groaning.
They’d talked about the works they’d drawn in the Special Class, the exam, what was coming with the break approaching.
They’d kept ordering food while talking about this and that, resulting in overeating.
“The bus should come soon. See you at tutoring tomorrow.”
Da Hye, checking her Mobile Phone, called out in a hurry.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow!”
After seeing Da Hye off, Ye Ji herself began to move at a leisurely pace.
The Bus Stop was near the School, so she had to head back that direction.
The sky on this warm day hung cloudy, as though rain might fall.
Perhaps it would rain? She didn’t have an Umbrella.
As Ye Ji gazed at the sky, she suddenly recalled Gang Hyuk’s work.
Getting caught in the rain on the way back might not be so bad.
“…….”
And naturally, she found herself recalling the other students’ paintings she’d seen today.
Particularly Hyun A’s empty Painting.
At just nineteen years old, why was her life so complicated?
Her troubled expression kept drifting back into her mind….
“…?”
Instead of merely recalling it, Ye Ji found Hyun A standing right before her eyes, and she tilted her head in puzzlement.
Today was an exam day, so everyone should have left in the morning.
Hyun A stood sighing deeply, her expression even more troubled than when Ye Ji had seen her during the special class.
Then suddenly, their eyes met.
“…….”
For a moment Hyun A averted her eyes, but perhaps because their gazes had met so directly?
Feeling that it was too late to ignore, she looked back at Ye Ji half a beat later.
“You haven’t gone home yet?”
Though timid, she seemed to be a person of good heart.
Feeling a bit of sympathy, Ye Ji spoke to her first.
“…Yeah. I was just… about to leave….”
Hyun A, having said that, hesitated for a moment.
Though her personality was a bit stubborn, her social skills were far superior to Yu Ra’s.
At the sight of her hesitation, Ye Ji tilted her head again.
What was she doing?
At Ye Ji’s expression, Hyun A finally managed to continue.
“I’m not coming to class starting tomorrow. I’m quitting the Special Class.”
I’ve already told the instructor.
Watching Hyun A say this, Ye Ji felt slightly startled.
It had only been four days.
Of course, during that time Hyun A had seemed to struggle to keep up with the lessons.
But wasn’t this decision a bit hasty?
“So, just…. You and I won’t really have a reason to run into each other again….”
Speaking haltingly, Hyun A finally finished what she’d come to say.
“I wanted to say goodbye properly…. And wish you well.”
So then, goodbye.
As Hyun A turned to leave after saying that, Ye Ji suddenly grabbed her.
Though she herself thought it was impulsive, she found she couldn’t stop.
Her true feeling was that it was a shame to end things this way, however impulsively she was acting.
With that thought, Ye Ji made a sudden proposal.
“Would you like to hang out with me today if you’re not busy?”

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