The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 82

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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 82.
At first, the canvas was so pristinely white it was almost oppressive, without a speck of dust.
Now it bore countless footprints from the students and Young.
There were even stains where food had been dropped and eaten on it.
The white canvas was now sufficiently stained that no one minded treading across it anymore.
“Hmm, this?”
Only then did Young, who had been tidying the space, rise to his feet and move toward the light switch.
Click—
With the sound of the switch, darkness engulfed the surroundings.
A night when the sun had completely set.
The faint glow of the school’s streetlights filtering in from outside.
But soon another switch clicked, and the space filled with a blue light.
‘Is that a UV lamp?’
Ye Ji squinted slightly at the unfamiliar light and lowered her head.
Then she saw something—a drawing rendered in fluorescent material on the white canvas beneath her feet.
“Oh….”
Kang Hyuk stepped back in surprise.
As the students retreated one by one, the image beneath them gradually revealed itself.
What had been drawn in fluorescent material was a cityscape so clear that everyone could recognize it.
The sharply pointed Empire State Building.
A view of New York.
“I hadn’t shown my homework yet, right? For two months I wandered through a city of illusions, chasing dreams.”
Young’s voice was full of his characteristic playfulness and lightness.
But Ye Ji knew better.
He was not a person who was light all the way through.
Rather, he was someone who masked depth with that lightness.
“In a way, maybe I felt something similar to what Yura felt.”
Now, anywhere in the world, location hardly mattered when it came to expressing one’s artistry.
“For now, I’m thinking of doing some work in Seoul too.”
Click—
As the fluorescent lights came back on with another click of the switch, the drawing on the canvas vanished as if it had never been there.
Hearing the resolve of Young and Yura, Ye Ji thought it was deeply personal for each of them.
But there was one thing Ye Ji was missing.
The reason they had come to think this way.
It was because of Ye Ji herself, climbing ever higher with the strength and talent of one person, without end in sight.
“Well then, that concludes today’s class!”
Young’s cheerful voice followed.
“See you next time.”
***
Ye Ji’s second semester of her second year was progressing smoothly.
Three times a week she attended Special Class, and after school she headed to the Studio.
Perhaps it was because her longing for painting had become so keen that she thought of nothing else all day.
Though the hours were shorter than during vacation, her work pace had barely slowed.
When she immersed herself in work, barely breathing, she would come to her senses only after midnight.
Coming home late, she would collapse straight into sleep.
It was a tight but regular schedule, and Ye Ji found it quite fulfilling.
For a second-year student at an art high school, it wasn’t actually that grueling.
Among friends who ran frantically between academy and academy by force.
Ye Ji spent time on her own terms.
At least it was a busyness she could take responsibility for, since she had chosen it herself.
“Would you be interested in doing an interview?”
Around that time, Hyun Min proposed it to Ye Ji.
“Most things seemed unnecessary, but I came across a decent journalist, so I thought I’d ask.”
If Hyun Min said it like that, there was no reason to decline.
“Sure, why not.”
When Ye Ji agreed without much thought, Hyun Min’s expression actually changed.
“……Didn’t you hate interviews and things like that?”
At Hyun Min’s words, Ye Ji laughed softly.
She didn’t particularly like them, that was true.
But.
“Don’t you remember?”
Ye Ji had made contact with journalists several times before.
Especially during the Practical Exam. How many journalists had approached her then.
“If there’s a need, I’ll do it.”
Back then, Ye Ji’s purpose in giving interviews was to amplify the story and keep the injustice she had suffered from being buried.
She had used interviews with journalists for that purpose.
She hadn’t cared about the interview content itself.
After all, they had approached her more out of interest in the corruption at the art school than interest in her as a person.
Of course, some of them had been interested in her work and interviewed her because of that.
But the situation was different now.
Recently she had been refusing all interview requests in order to focus on her work.
“I needed to distinguish whether someone would properly look at my work and write about it, or not. I don’t have that ability.”
But if Hyun Min could tell the difference?
“If you recommend them, there’s no real reason to refuse.”
At Ye Ji’s words, Hyun Min nodded slowly.
Honestly, Ye Ji could probably distinguish if she set her mind to it.
But she simply didn’t want to spend time on such matters, being so obsessed with painting.
In that sense, it was fortunate for Hyun Min.
It meant he had a role to play.
“Alright, then I’ll schedule it in a way that takes up as little of your time as possible.”
“Okay. Let me know once it’s set.”
At Ye Ji’s words, Hyun Min made a gesture of acknowledgment.
Everything was proceeding smoothly, and the scorching summer was slowly fading away.
***
School hours were the only time Ye Ji could really study.
Ye Ji, who had been reviewing the previous lesson with earbuds in, suddenly lifted her head.
The noise beyond her earbuds was several times louder than usual.
“Why is it so loud?”
For some reason, students from other art courses had gathered in Ye Ji’s classroom.
It almost looked like nearly all the second-year cohort had assembled.
Since such a thing rarely happened, Ye Ji looked at Da Hye sitting beside her with a puzzled expression.
“What? What happened?”
At Ye Ji’s question, Da Hye laughed.
She seemed to have been waiting to see when Ye Ji would notice.
“You’re only just noticing? Something did happen. The School Festival is coming up soon.”
High school festivals tend to have very different atmospheres depending on the school.
Cheonglim Art High School was no exception.
At schools where the entertainment department is the main focus, the festival is a major event, while at others it passes quietly.
Cheonglim was somewhat special, with both the entertainment department and other art courses like the painting department being well-known.
As a result, the school’s atmosphere was characterized by its contrasting nature.
Only those in modeling and practical music majors truly enjoyed the school festival.
The more classical departments treated the Practical Exam as the main focus instead.
As a result, the painting students viewed the school festival as merely the last time to enjoy themselves before the Practical Exam.
“This year everyone’s saying the painting department should do something too.”
Since they all had to prepare for the Practical Exam, it was difficult for each painting class to do something substantial.
In that sense, an atmosphere had formed where all the painting majors would get together and do something as one.
“Third-year students couldn’t do it anyway, so wouldn’t this be your last chance?”
At Da Hye’s words, Ye Ji also took out her earbuds and nodded.
It wasn’t wrong.
It was one of the few remaining opportunities to create a significant memory from high school.
It would be a shame to just let such moments pass.
And at the front of the classroom desk, where this conversation was taking place, stood a familiar figure.
“I think I know who’s driving this atmosphere.”
Naturally.
Hyun Min was stepping forward to gather opinions.
As far as Ye Ji knew, among all the painting students at this school,
Hyun Min was the only one who seemed to enjoy school life with no apparent worries.
The closer she grew to him, the more convinced she became, but no matter how she looked at it, he clearly had a certain ease about him.
“The seniors who participated before mainly did face painting or caricature events.”
An event that would capture the interest of the entire student body enjoying the festival.
It was the easiest topic for the painting department to take on.
But it was equally tedious.
Naturally, that wasn’t the direction Hyun Min wanted to go either.
“That’s why! I’ve come up with something?”
An excited Hyun Min began writing on the blackboard.
“Let’s do this!”
Three words were written on the blackboard.
Escape Room.
***
Cheonglim Art High School’s festival was always a hot topic each year.
With such a concentration of talented and charismatic students.
It always generated buzz and spread widely on social media.
Particularly students from practical music or dance departments could gain considerable fame from it.
Because of that, agencies would sometimes make contact, so everyone enjoyed their youth while treating it as an opportunity and worked hard.
Of course, that’s only the story of certain departments specialized in such events….
“Huh?”
On the day of the festival-related teacher meeting.
As the teachers reviewed the participation applications, a note of bewilderment escaped their lips.
It seemed they all had questions about the same thing.
“Is the painting department participating together this year?”
“That’s unusual…?”
“Usually cases where a whole department participates are rare….”
The entire department moving as one unit?
Among the puzzled teachers, Mi Jin, who taught sculpture practicum for the painting department, spoke up.
“Oh, this year’s painting second-years have such good chemistry.”
Both their skill and their group dynamic.
They were exceptionally good compared to previous years.
If she could teach students like this every year.
The overall level of the students was quite solid.
“They said they’re all decorating the Practice Room together for some kind of escape room game.”
“But looking at the proposal, it seems more like a haunted house?”
They had already finished recruiting friends from the dance department’s dance club.
It seemed they would divide makeup and background paintings among everyone.
“They’re asking to use a corridor at the far end of the Practice Room for a week before the festival to prepare.”
“Is that possible?”
“There are plenty of practice rooms, so if we coordinate beforehand, it should be manageable….”
The hands of the painting department teachers grew busy.
As they compared their practice room rental schedules,
an older Year Head muttered with displeasure.
“What kind of painting department participates in the festival, with these second-year students who should be preparing for practicum….”
Pointlessly. Tsk.
Still, the Year Head was a Year Head.
Among the teachers actively reviewing materials to make the students’ plan a reality, an awkward atmosphere hung in the air.
Wouldn’t it be possible to proceed with this…?
Then again, when you think about the midterm and the Practical Exam, there really isn’t time….
“What?”
But a startlingly light exclamation shattered that atmosphere and rang through the staff room.
It was Young, who happened to be in the staff room coordinating grades for the Special Class.
Peeking out slowly from behind a partition, Young gestured toward the teachers who had been meeting at one table.
“You know what you call someone like that? A square. Right?”
I’ve learned a lot of Korean lately.
Young continued in Korean, pronouncing it even more awkwardly than usual, like a foreigner.
Eventually the Year Head’s face flushed red, but he simply laughed it off awkwardly.
Young was an external instructor.
Usually external instructors lack weight in their remarks, but he was a world-renowned artist.
‘There’s nothing to say, tsk.’

If a person that even the Principal and the Board Chairman took notice of suddenly quit, it would be a real problem.
As the Year Head barely managed his expression, Young continued.
“But that sounds fun.”
Young was the type who wouldn’t want to miss out on playing along with the students.
“Can I do it too?”
“What? No, well….”
Mi Jin, reading the situation, quickly stepped in.
“Usually in these cases a supervising teacher is assigned.”
However important academics and achievement were, some younger teachers wanted students’ school days to be truly student-like.
Just spending a week together to pull off something wouldn’t ruin their lives.
Rather than letting such moments slip away without creating memories worth keeping for a lifetime.
“If you’re willing, we’d really appreciate it if you’d take charge.”
If Young took this on, the higher-ups wouldn’t be able to interfere with unnecessary objections.
“Oh, great! Sounds fun. I can do this, right?”
Whether Young understood that or simply found it genuinely fun and wanted to participate.
It was impossible to say for certain, but with him volunteering like that, there was no one who could stop him.
Moreover, beyond that, if he were to participate and enjoy it with the students, wouldn’t it surely be an incredible experience for them?

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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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