The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 68

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

Episode 68.
“What are you planning to do?”
Father asked after hearing the Guide’s words.
Ye Ji answered without hesitation.
“Let’s just go by ourselves. There’s somewhere I want to see.”
Ye Ji stretched out her hand and pointed in one direction.
The direction from which the Cathedral was visible.
She didn’t know how much Saint-Denis had changed, but if they went that way, they would come across her old house.
There was also a Market in between, which was reasonably lively, so it would be nice to look around a bit.
Since the Saint-Denis Cathedral was a large building visible from a distance, it made a good excuse.
“(Oh, me too.)”
Seeing Ye Ji’s gesture, Ethan quickly wedged himself between the father and daughter.
Watching him do that despite her father’s obvious disapproval, Ethan was quite the character.
Rather, was it because she came from a culture where fathers with daughters were naturally cautious around boys her age….
‘Though I’ve only seen that kind of scene in TV dramas and movies.’
In my past life, I had no parents to begin with.
So there was nothing really to compare.
“(May I come along as well?)”
In the meantime, Lucas also joined the group.
“(There’s nothing wrong with it, but….)”
Ye Ji, wondering what kind of arrangement this had become, glanced over at her father.
“Dad, relax a little…….”
She’d said one Ethan was already too much, and now Lucas was joining too.
With her father’s wariness deepening, she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or not.
If she’d known this would happen, she should have told Elisa not to leave early and to stay a bit longer.
“That’s just prejudice, Dad.”
“Being cautious about anything is never a bad thing in this world.”
That wasn’t exactly wrong, either.
At her father’s words, Ye Ji simply sighed quietly.
Still, since the two boys seemed to understand her father’s gaze and behaved accordingly, it was a bit less embarrassing.
“(The world is harsh, after all.)”
At Lucas’s calm response, Ye Ji laughed awkwardly.
Since they couldn’t waste any more time, the group slowly moved toward their destination.
With each step they took, Saint-Denis was not the city of Ye Ji’s memories.
“(It’s so vibrant.)”
Just as Ethan said, the city was filled with Graffiti throughout.
Vivid primary colors were mixed and splashed, taking up space.
In the past, she had only defined Graffiti as mere vandalism, antisocial behavior, or rebellion.
But now those pieces clearly occupied a place within the realm of art.
Who could say they weren’t works of art?
Walking through the street with that sense of wonder and strangeness, Ye Ji suddenly came to a stop.
‘It should be….’
Around here?
Following Ye Ji’s halt, everyone in the group stopped as well.
Ye Ji looked around.
Surrounding the area were all newly built structures.
Though she thought she might be mistaken, looking around again confirmed it.
Even though the road had been repaved, she could have recognized this much.
This was definitely where her old house had been.
“(Hey! Don’t do that~!)”
“(I’m going over there!)”
“(Won’t you come here?!)”
The place where she once drew paintings in solitary silence was now filled with noise.
The empty lot had become a playground.
The ramshackle hut that had been uselessly sprawling was now neatly repaired and unrecognizable.
And at its entrance hung a sign that read “Orphanage.”
Lucas tapped Ye Ji’s shoulder as she stood dazed.
“(Over there….)”
Following Lucas’s hand, Ye Ji turned her gaze.
Could the child be about five years old?
A small child was holding onto the hem of Ye Ji’s pants.
Wondering what was going on, the child seemed interested in the Keyring hanging from Ye Ji’s bag.
It was nothing special—just a Hamster Figurine she and Da Hye had won at a claw machine while walking together.
“(Do you want it?)”
She detached the Hamster Figurine holding a brush and asked, and the child nodded eagerly.
At the child’s innocent expression, she hesitated for a moment.
She knew from her own childhood in the orphanage what that life was like.
“(Then, this is a secret from your friends.)”
When some children have something others don’t, they become targets of jealousy.
Of course, that wasn’t unique to orphanages—it was the same in society as well.
As she quietly handed it over, the child who nodded eagerly broke into a wide smile.
“(Thank you! So… wait! Hold on! Where are you going?!)”
The child carefully tucked the figurine into her pocket and then suddenly ran inside.
The orphanage in Saint-Denis had been in the worst location in her memory.
But she was relieved to see that after she’d disappeared, it had been relocated to a better spot.
Since it was land of the unclaimed, the state probably put it to better use.
It was a good use of the space.
Better than she’d expected or imagined.
“(She’s surprisingly compassionate, isn’t she?)”
At Ethan’s observation, Ye Ji felt a bit embarrassed.
Now she had parents who stayed a few steps behind her, watching over her and giving her their full support.
But Ye Ji had memories of her orphan years.
She knew well how lonely children without anything to rely on could be.
Even if it was mere sympathy, that didn’t matter.
Of course, some proud children might dislike being pitied, but that was something she couldn’t know.
Back then, she had even longed for that kind of sympathy.
Lost in thought, as she waited a moment, the child came running back with short legs, pitter-patter.
“(This, this! A gift!)”
What she handed over was a Drawing of a Four-leaf Clover.
The clumsily drawn picture in the sketchbook wasn’t done with crayons or colored pencils, as one might expect.
It was drawn properly with brush and paint.
How could an orphanage have such materials…?
“(Did you draw this?)”
At Ye Ji’s question, the child nodded very proudly.
“(I drew this, and it… the teacher and I saw a clover the other day, and… so…!)”
Perhaps that’s what it felt like to have someone talk to you and have a conversation.
The child wanted to say more and spoke hastily,
but seemed to have so much to say that the words weren’t coming out easily.
Just as Ye Ji was about to crouch down and wait patiently,
an orphanage teacher in an apron approached from a distance.
“(May I help you?)”
“Oh.”
Apparently, she was concerned that the child was suddenly having a conversation with a stranger.
Since that was natural, Ye Ji explained.
“(I was passing by, and the child wanted my figurine, so…)”
“(Yeah! Teacher, teacher! This noona gave me this! Look!)”
The child bounced and proudly showed the figurine to the teacher.
“(She said thanks and gave me this drawing in return. It seems you offer art education to the children here.)”
Ye Ji showed the teacher the Four-leaf Clover Drawing the child had brought.
During her time at the orphanage, she’d struggled to get even a single new crayon.
Those were the days when she drew with worn-down, stubby crayon stubs, rubbing them until they were nearly gone.
Back then, the deprivation of those days made her realize the need to have abundant materials to work with.
At Ye Ji’s words, the orphanage teacher continued, looking flustered.
“(Oh, it’s not like that. The original owner of this orphanage property was a painter.)”
The conversation between the orphanage teacher and Ye Ji was in French.
Ethan, watching from behind, showed signs of curiosity.
Just as he was about to interrupt the conversation, Lucas pulled him aside and gave him a brief translation,
and the orphanage teacher continued speaking.
“(When our orphanage took over this property and had it repaired, there were an enormous amount of art supplies left behind.)”
Not that there was an enormous amount left….
Scratching her head, Ye Ji felt embarrassed but couldn’t deny it.
The large-scale works she used to create.
Thinking about how she used to apply paint heavily using the Impasto technique,
the materials she’d left behind were, by her standards, enough to complete only two or three works.
If the children practiced using them, they could draw thousands of pictures and still have supplies left over.
“(We even tried selling them, but painters who use that much material buy wholesale at discount, so they won’t buy materials that have been sitting around for over a decade….)”
Somehow the explanation sounded more like an excuse.
The teacher seemed worried that rumors might spread about the orphanage being wealthy, which could reduce donations or cause problems.
Ye Ji responded kindly to clarify her intentions.
“(I was just curious because it’s rare to see a child using such difficult materials. We work in art as well.)”
At Ye Ji’s words, even the typically expressionless Lucas managed an awkward friendly expression.
Ethan, not understanding what was being said, smiled tactfully.
The orphanage teacher, seemingly reassured, nodded as well.
Unable to resist during the conversation, the child nestled into the teacher’s arms and showed off the figurine.
“(In any case, it’s something to be grateful for. It’s good that the children have something they can use without worrying about money.)”
Ye Ji felt something strange at the sight.
She held a peculiar sense of compassion toward her past, which had remained incomplete.
It had felt like an unfinished black mark on her history.
But unexpectedly, even left incomplete, that life had held meaning.
Marc and Chloe, who had been influenced by her, went on to become impressive figures,
“(I’m going to be a painter like this too!)”
the child said, having spent a long time boasting about the figurine she’d received to the teacher.
A person who holds a brush and draws pictures.
How much deeper meaning the child’s words carried didn’t really matter.
A glimmer of light that could be called a dream in the joyless life of an orphanage.
If the child was happy, that was enough.
After that, Ye Ji and the three others continued exploring the city.
The city, which was just being flooded by young artists, was brimming with vitality.
As if reborn.
The city was taking on a new form.
The various galleries that had recently opened everywhere were filled with young, experimental artists rather than the established famous painters.
Works that wouldn’t be seen in other major cities.
Even if tastes differed, they were enough to catch a glimpse of new perspectives.
…….
Before leaving Saint-Denis, Ye Ji took one more look around the city.
The sunset over the city, both strange and familiar.
After letting that image sink into her eyes one last time, Ye Ji boarded the tour bus again.
Strangely, she felt a sense of strange liberation.
“(It was a decent city.)”
At Ethan’s words, Ye Ji nodded.
It had certainly been a more stimulating travel destination for a young artist than a typical tourist spot.
And so they rode the bus back to Paris.
“(Now it’s just the results announcement left.)”
At Ethan’s words, Ye Ji nodded.
The lingering impressions of what she’d seen remained,
“(You’re also aiming for the Grand Prize, right?)”
At Ethan’s question, Ye Ji suddenly regained a sense of reality.
The Grand Prize, the highest award.
Its special prize was a solo exhibition.
Any award would carry meaning, but for Ye Ji, a solo exhibition in Montmartre held particular significance.
“(I suppose so. If I’m going to have my first solo exhibition, I want it to be in Montmartre.)”
At Ye Ji’s answer, Ethan nodded.
Everyone probably came to this competition for that rather than the prize money.
There was also a Jury Award and a Popularity Award besides,
‘but since they didn’t reveal the second round works this time, the Jury Award and Popularity Award might be combined.’
Or perhaps just different names.
Both could end up being something closer to a Jury Award.
The day of results announcement was now just around the corner.
Lost in thought, Ye Ji gazed out the window toward Paris.
The outing to Saint-Denis, which held its own meaning for everyone, ended that way.
***
And so another day passed.
The day of the results announcement. Morning dawned.

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