The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 77

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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 77.
From Ye Ji’s perspective, Yoon So Hee was a genuine celebrity—someone who appeared frequently on television.
The only Asian model on the runways of countless luxury brands,
a special guest on variety shows who always arrived adorned with flashy accolades.
Ye Ji gasped involuntarily as she watched So Hee emerge with the staff.
“Wow….”
When she’d seen Se Hee, she’d thought, so this is the kind of person who becomes a model.
But Yoon So Hee was on an entirely different level.
Even just wearing the outfit and walking past, you could feel the difference in dimension.
Of course, she wasn’t simply pretty like a famous actor or influencer.
Rather, she transcended that typical beauty—her body bore perfectly proportioned lines, and the aura that emanated from her was something else entirely.
‘She’s a celebrity….’
That was exactly the impression she gave.
She’d stepped forward but suddenly stopped, then spoke with a serious expression to someone beside her.
Probably her manager.
After their brief exchange, So Hee entered the center of the Shooting Location.
The merciless summer sun beat down from above, and lighting reflected from all sides.
It would have been difficult to even open one’s eyes, yet So Hee emanated a surprisingly calm atmosphere.
…….
At one corner of the Shooting Location, Sung Soo and Ina—the Celiane marketing team lead who’d arrived late—
were reviewing footage they’d just shot.
Ye Ji quietly approached the monitor as well.
In the eyes of those checking the results, a quiet satisfaction bloomed.
Ye Ji too nodded at the sight, which harmonized just as she’d hoped.
A blue sky and an even deeper blue Sea.
The horizon of the Sea, restless with rolling waves, appeared sharp and clear within Ye Ji’s Artwork.
And yet somewhere, subtly….
“Hmm….”
All three—Sung Soo, the editor, and Ye Ji—tilted their heads with a subtle expression of unease.
It was certainly natural.
Natural, yet something about it felt subtly off.
There was something that nagged at her attention, but pinpointing exactly what it was proved difficult.
Ye Ji, nearly pressing her face into the monitor, suddenly shifted her gaze to the set itself.
In the brief moment, a stylist was wiping the model’s sweat and touching up her makeup.
Their eyes met for an instant, but So Hee’s attention was fixed on Sung Soo and Ina, not on Ye Ji.
Ye Ji’s gaze, too, landed not on So Hee but on her own large Artwork positioned behind her.
“The, uh, blue might be a bit….”
Didn’t the color look different when she saw it with her own eyes versus on the screen?
The Artwork she’d seen with her eyes was nearly the same color as the Sea itself.
But strangely, the Artwork captured in the photograph bore an ambiguous cyan tint.
When Ye Ji spoke, Sung Soo agreed.
“Everything else looks fine, but could you adjust just the blue in that Artwork?”
“I’ll match the tone for you.”
The Retouching staff member holding the laptop answered flatly, then made slight adjustments to a few color settings.
Remarkably, the color shifted to the exact tone Ye Ji had envisioned.
“Ah, yes. This looks much more natural.”
The comfort and softness bestowed by great nature.
To express that, there was a need to reduce the color contrast slightly.
The comfort that similar tones throughout could convey.
That visual ease would naturally evoke such a feeling.
As Sung Soo and the team lead moved off to resume shooting, Ye Ji took a seat right beside the Retoucher.
“Do you usually do Modifications like this on-site?”
The Retoucher smiled warmly at Ye Ji’s curious question.
“Generally, yes. If possible, it’s best to avoid using materials that reflect light.”
The Retoucher offered Ye Ji some helpful advice.
“See the Moss spread across the floor right there?”
Dark green Moss clung thickly atop the Black Volcanic Stone where the Artwork rested.
“Sometimes when those are hit by the lights, the color reflects unexpectedly.”
Ye Ji nodded at her words.
So that subtle cyan tint she’d felt in the Artwork was because of that.
“That’s why galleries have white or black walls—it’s for the same reason.”
Even if light reflects, it won’t affect the color tone.
Ye Ji slowly nodded at her explanation.
That would generally be the case, certainly.
But couldn’t the opposite sometimes be true?
What if one deliberately used the reflected light from the set….
“Are you here in connection with the Artwork placed on the Shooting Location?”
Someone addressed her, pulling Ye Ji from her musings.
It was So Hee’s manager, who’d been watching her.
“Oh, yes….”
Ye Ji’s mind was already tangled with the ongoing shoot on the monitor and a tangle of thoughts, so she answered half-absently.
The idea that her own work harmonized with another’s creation, becoming something entirely different.
The shutter sound from Sung Soo’s camera continued without pause.
Fresh results appeared on the screen with each shutter click, captivating her attention.
Just as Se Hee had instructed, the model was primarily striking poses that emphasized her upper body.
“I’m the manager for that model, Yoon So Hee, who’s being photographed over there.”
Before Ye Ji could even look away from the monitor, a business card found its way into her hand.
“That Artwork—what’s the artist’s name?”
Against the nearly-straight horizon, a white sleeve curved softly like a cloud, billowing in the wind.
Like adding a single round cloud to an otherwise empty, brilliant blue sky.
Deeply absorbed, Ye Ji sadly didn’t hear the manager’s question clearly.
“……Sorry?”
At Ye Ji’s bewildered repetition, the manager’s expression shifted to an embarrassed one.
“Ah, never mind. You’re working.”
The manager stepped back half a pace, saying she hadn’t meant to interrupt.
“Just… if you could contact me sometime. Please do….”
At the manager’s repeated request, Ye Ji’s face went blank.
Wait, what did she even say? She hadn’t properly heard in the first place.
Ye Ji scratched her head, looking at the business card she’d accepted.
‘I’ll have to ask about that later.’
Right now, the dozens of photos rapidly coming up on the screen demanded her attention far more.
Which of these was the best? How would she choose?
Ye Ji watched, entranced, as the editor rapidly sorted seemingly identical photos into A-cuts and B-cuts.
***
“Everyone worked hard today!”
That afternoon, after shooting wrapped.
A large Pension with several buildings clustered together.
The staff gathered at the accommodation were lost in the energy of their after-party meal.
“Fortunately, the weather cooperated and we finished as planned.”
“Tomorrow’s weather looks good too, so we should be able to wrap everything up by tomorrow.”
At the gathering, Sung Soo looked like he’d lost his soul.
The highest-ranking people on this project were the Celiane representatives and Sung Soo.
More than half the people there were sucking up to them.
Whenever Sung Soo so much as shifted, everyone clung to him asking what he needed.
‘Help me….’
That’s exactly what Sung Soo’s eyes seemed to scream, but Ye Ji just picked up her cola bottle and quietly rose from her seat.
Sadly, as a mere high school student, there was nothing she could do here.
‘Fighting…!’
Ye Ji made an encouraging gesture to the dying Sung Soo before slipping away.
For artists not particularly inclined toward socializing, such gatherings were truly hellish.
Turning her back on the commotion, Ye Ji headed toward the rear of the Pension.
Gradually, the sound of waves grew closer than the noise of people.
Sitting on a bench with a view of the Sea, Ye Ji finally relaxed.
A stray cat, having escaped the chaos like a fugitive, prowled nearby.
In that lull, Ye Ji pulled out her Mobile Phone.
[Boring.]
Though the Shooting Location itself had been fun.
She’d been able to think about what considerations were needed when artwork was captured in another medium.
What kind of material would be lit in what way, and how it could be utilized.
Mulling over such thoughts, that scorching afternoon had passed in a blink.
[Da Hye: Why? Are the adults just boring?]
[Among other things.]
The emotions of that moment evaporated in an instant, leaving her with a hollow feeling.
Was it because the contrast was so stark?
She had no desire to fit in with dull conversations and noisy surroundings.
[I just wish tomorrow’s shoot would come soon.]
That might actually be her truest feeling.
Tomorrow they’d move to a different location to continue shooting.
What kind of work would it be? What else might she see?
Filled entirely with such anticipation, time like this was merely tedious.
[Hyun Min: Anyway, you really can’t enjoy anything but Paintings, can you?]
It did seem that way about herself.
Though she didn’t dislike chatting.
Chatting with friends through messenger like this was actually fun.
After a long spell of messaging back and forth, the conversation had naturally shifted to what Ye Ji had experienced throughout the day.
[Da Hye: Tell me more tell me more.]
[Da Hye: What’s Yoon So Hee like in person?]
In person….
[Totally a celebrity]
She really was impressive.
Her head was genuinely small, and though delicate, she possessed an undeniable charisma.
Even from a hundred meters away, you’d think: that’s a celebrity.
[Hyun Min: She seemed like a good person though.]
Whether Hyun Min knew the models well or not, his eye for people was quite accurate.
And from what Ye Ji could see, Yoon So Hee was someone serious about her work and genuinely impressive.
Just standing still, sweat would pour and breathing became difficult in the height of summer.
After shooting for hours under both the sun and the lights,
she had every reason to complain, yet she smiled and engaged with the shoot without showing fatigue.
[She seemed like a decent person.]
Her professional demeanor left quite an impression on Ye Ji.
[She really seemed to have researched the concept thoroughly.]
Just as Se Hee had described, So Hee struck poses that emphasized the outfit while also harmonizing with the background.
This shoot was particularly challenging, with multiple intentions woven together.
And yet.
[She didn’t rest once and only thought about the concept and the shoot the whole time.]
Someone with strong pride and strong confidence in her work.
Ye Ji preferred people like that to merely nice people.
[Hyun Min: She climbed up from the bottom after all.]
[Hyun Min: So she’d have the skill and determination to match.]
[Da Hye: Wow the weather today was insane.]
[Da Hye: Seriously incredible.]
While she was chatting with her friends,
“Found it boring and came out?”
Someone spoke to her with an approaching presence.
Turning in surprise, she found Yoon So Hee standing alone, holding a single beer can.
“Hello.”
So Hee returned Ye Ji’s greeting with a rather warm hand gesture.
“I saw you at the set earlier. You came with director Park, right?”
It was a simple question, so Ye Ji answered simply.
“Um… yes.”
“Are you in college? You look young.”
“I’m still in high school. I’m eighteen.”
Ah, that explains it.
So Hee, glancing at the cola bottle Ye Ji had been drinking, nodded in understanding.
“Director Park calls you his niece, I think—are you actually his niece?”
“Not a blood niece, actually.”
So Hee gazed blankly toward the Sea as she continued.
Her bare face and comfortable manner of speaking.
“Feel free to be casual.”
“Then I can speak to you informally?”
Ye Ji reflexively nodded in assent.
“How do you know the director?”
“I just go to the same school as the director’s niece.”
I see.
So Hee, seeming interested yet not quite, gazed blankly before glancing back at Ye Ji once more.
Eighteen, a high school student.
At So Hee’s subtle expression, Ye Ji posed a question of her own.
“Don’t you usually feel the heat?”
Out of nowhere?
So Hee’s expression became puzzled at the sudden question, so Ye Ji added,
“It’s daytime. The sun was strong today and incredibly hot. I just wondered if you weren’t affected by it.”
At Ye Ji’s words, So Hee burst into laughter.

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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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