The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 95

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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 95.
The scent was so subtle yet vivid, possessing such a peculiar allure that conjuring an image from it proved effortless.
The moment the familiar studio filled with this strange, lovely fragrance, Da Hye seemed to brighten as well, humming softly as she began her work.
‘The concept isn’t difficult….’
The problem lay elsewhere.
After mulling it over briefly, Ye Ji called Ji Min for the first time in a while.
With the call coming after so long, they exchanged brief pleasantries with each other.
“I need something, actually.”
Ji Min readily agreed even as Ye Ji dove straight into her request.
This time, she didn’t need a wooden canvas—she needed different materials altogether.
-Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to get you something good.
And then, after several more days.
A large aluminum canvas arrived at the studio.
It was unlike the ordinary canvases most artists used.
It was a complete aluminum canvas, with aluminum panels covering even the front surface.
Hyun Min, seeing what was questionably still called a canvas—more of an aluminum slab, really—looked bewildered.
“What on earth are you… trying to do this time?”
Even before such overwhelming visuals, Ye Ji remained composed.
“What do you mean, what? I’m going to work on it.”
Why else would I be asking?
Catching Hyun Min’s flustered expression, Ye Ji smiled faintly and offered a more thoughtful answer.
“I’m going to create a waterproof piece.”
Sometimes when work is exposed to the elements, it gets wet.
It was something she’d heard during an outdoor shoot in Jeju Island years ago.
Since then, Ye Ji had been thinking intermittently about creating work that could withstand water damage.
Did a painting have to be housed within a roofed gallery to be considered art?
Might paintings, like sculptures and installations, find an opportunity to venture outdoors?
While entertaining these thoughts, she realized this very piece could accommodate such an approach.
“I’m going to paint a scene with water droplets springing from a small fountain, lotus leaves, and wild grasses all mingled together.”
It was the landscape born from that fragrance she’d felt.
The wavelengths of light Ye Ji painted and the beauty of ripples.
She was certain it would make a compelling work, yet Hyun Min’s expression remained peculiar.
“So? What do waterproofing and this bizarre material have to do with each other?”
“So this. I’m going to make actual water flow over the painting.”
Water flowing over the painting?
Hyun Min’s expression shifted to one of surprise as he looked at the empty canvas anew.
He inhaled deeply once more the nostalgic fragrance that already filled the space abundantly.
“……That might actually work.”
At his words, Ye Ji picked up her brush with a smile full of conviction.
“It’s definitely going to become a wonderful piece.”
***
Once everything was decided, time flowed swiftly.
A beautiful season of warm sunlight and cool breezes passed in the blink of an eye.
Before anyone could be startled by the sudden cold, many things were rushing toward their conclusion.
“Well then. This is really the last one now.”
The first finale to arrive was the final class of Young’s special seminar.
His final class hour approached with Young’s cheerful voice, unchanged from the beginning.
“It’s more bittersweet than I expected, somehow.”
At Kang Hyeok’s somewhat offhand remark, Hyun Ah murmured in response.
“I know—it’s even more bittersweet than I thought it’d be…. It would’ve been nice if we could’ve taken it right through graduation.”
“Once the grades come out, there’s no need to keep taking this class anyway.”
Unlike the two sentimental students, Yu Ra stated the reality straightforwardly.
Differently from how she’d seemed difficult to approach at first, Hyun Ah offered a timid counterpoint.
“That’s not really the point, though…….”
Everyone felt the loss equally, yet thanks to this class, they’d managed to create joyful memories amid what could have been a bleak third-year experience.
Was it because graduation was drawing near?
Listening to the third-year students speak with heightened emotion, Ye Ji interjected softly.
“……So, no one’s curious about what’s sitting in the middle of the classroom anymore?”
Today, something large covered with cloth sat in the center of the classroom.
At Ye Ji’s question, everyone finally redirected their attention as if focusing on the lesson.
“Yeah, it’s actually best when things end while you still want more. We had a pretty good time together, didn’t we?”
No one could dispute Young’s words.
Having spent time together that could be called youth, they’d been able to reflect deeply and grow considerably.
Why they’d started creating art, what kind of art they’d pursue going forward.
Moments where diverse thoughts became possible.
It had been a valuable experience—a chance to examine themselves, which they’d been neglecting while frantically worrying about the immediate future.
“So what is that this time?”
As Yu Ra’s question followed, Young smiled meaningfully and removed the cloth.
What was revealed was one of Young’s famous works: The Million Dollar Void.
The Million Dollar Void. The work, true to its name, possessed quite an empty appearance.
A slate-blue safe with Young’s signature engraved into it. Wrapped tightly around it was bright yellow tape, sealing it shut. That was the entire piece.
“So today, befitting this final class, I thought we’d open this expensive void and see what we find.”
At Young’s words, Kang Hyeok’s expression became one of shock.
“Open it? This? But this must be worth….”
Being one of his representative works, it was undoubtedly worth billions.
Young shrugged at Kang Hyeok’s remark.
“Does that matter?”
“Well, it’s not nothing….”
Hyun Ah murmured uncertainly as well.
But Young had never been one to teach unilaterally.
If he were simply dismantling his own billion-dollar work for the sake of his students’ enlightenment, it would be quite burdensome.
He had always been both the subject and a participant in his own teachings.
It was clear this was something he did because it benefited him as well.
Having spent months together, everyone understood this much, so no further objections arose.
“After all, I’m the one creating that value. I can’t do anything if I’m hung up on such things.”
With those words, Young showed no hesitation as he cut through the tape sealing the safe with scissors.
Because it had been pressed down so long, the tape’s adhesive had melted and hardened onto the metal, refusing to come off easily.
Watching a billion-dollar work being damaged before his eyes, Kang Hyeok stood there in silent anguish.
“Anyway, so today we’re going to open this and fill that void together, and—ugh, why is this so sticky?”
As Young’s hands and scissors became increasingly messy, Ye Ji asked.
“But what’s the safe’s password? Is there actually something inside?”
Even in this situation, she was curious about that?
To Ye Ji’s question, Young simply demonstrated with his actions.
True to its name of the Million Dollar Void, the safe’s password was 0000. Inside was completely empty.
“Ah.”
Just as the name suggested.
Ye Ji too peeled away a strip of tape that had been hanging awkwardly at the entrance, following Young’s lead.
Only then did the completely empty safe door swing wide open, but Ye Ji contorted her face.
The adhesive remaining in her hands had become thoroughly sticky.
When she tried to pull her other hand away, the stickiness only transferred to both hands.
“Should we call this dirty regret?”
Like Ye Ji, Young—whose hands were equally sticky—murmured, and Ye Ji’s expression became even more complex.
Did he too harbor some lingering reluctance about ruining such an expensive work?
In the meantime, Yu Ra came closer with brushes and paint in hand.
“The regret is for you two who’ve already dirtied your hands to sort out….”
Hyun Ah and Kang Hyeok too subtly avoided the tape and approached with their own brushes and materials.
The sight of everyone gathered together, pooling their heads over a single work, recalled the final class of last semester.
The only difference was that then they could look forward to what came next, whereas now they had to speak of endings.
The completed work had transformed, vibrant with all manner of colors blended together.
Into his void of a work, countless hues had mixed like a dream, and within it lay five small glass beads.
It was a piece that evoked something like a mysterious anticipation, suspended and floating.
Five glass beads held within emptiness.
Gazing at them with a strange smile, Young attached a caption he’d prepared beforehand beneath the work.
[ Memory ]
Memory. Beneath that title, the names of five people were listed in a row.
Hyun Ah, her feelings running especially deep, carefully photographed the caption.
Kang Hyeok and Yu Ra simply stared blankly at the work.
Observing each of their different reactions, Young suddenly looked at Ye Ji and tilted his head.
The ordinary high school student reaction he’d expected was what the other three had shown.
Ye Ji instead seemed to be finding emotion in observing the other children’s reactions, much like Young himself had.
“Sometimes I think about it, but you really don’t seem seventeen at all.”
Caught somewhat by Young’s words, Ye Ji joked lightly.
“I’m eighteen actually. I’ll be nineteen at the new year.”
“Oh, this ridiculous Korean age system.”
The conversation drifted because of Ye Ji’s joking response.
But since Young hadn’t meant it seriously either, they let it pass as a joke together.
Then, looking at the completed work once more, he spoke.
“And this one, I’m taking with me. As a keepsake.”
Since it was something he’d brought in the first place, no one had any complaints.
Its social value had undoubtedly decreased compared to when he’d first brought it, yet for the five people gathered here, the safe now held greater worth.
We had filled it with memories, and Young closed the safe’s door.
It felt like a kind of time capsule.
“If you ever want to see it later, just reach out anytime.”
With that final farewell to Young, the special seminar came to an end.
***
But the semester wasn’t over yet.
School life remained demanding afterward.
The Annual Art Exhibition was about to begin immediately after.
“Class and name.”
Ye Ji’s friends, now taking on the role of second-year reception staff unlike last year.
Seeing a familiar face, Ye Ji remarked playfully.
“Do I have to tell you too?”
“No, you don’t. Our class is over there.”
With the class president’s laughing voice, Ye Ji moved to her designated location, carrying her work.
The atmosphere was definitely different from last year.
The moment Ye Ji appeared, the eyes of the entire Western Art Department in the gymnasium focused on her.
Since she no longer had reason to prove her skill, Ye Ji had mostly been painting in the studio rather than at school.
Though it was simply because the work was burdensome to carry around, everyone was clearly curious about her piece.
Under the burdensome gazes of classmates and underclassmen trailing after her.
Ye Ji slowly hung her work in her designated spot.
Ye Ji (Western Art Department, 2nd Year, Class 1)
「 Tomorrow 1」
Oil on Canvas, 90.9 x 72.7cm
A 30号 work took its place above the caption she’d submitted beforehand.
This piece was one of the works for her solo exhibition.
Light shimmering in pink and mysterious orange hues.
A puddle in the city reflecting that dreamlike sunset light scattered across clouds.
Beyond the ripples of the small undulating puddle, the building barely visible was a color familiar to the students.
Yellow walls and brown accents.
It was Cheonglim Art High School’s building.
The silhouette wavering on the water’s surface was something only those in the know could recognize, but that was enough.
Ye Ji’s anticipated tomorrow.
The value of precious daily life, unfolding day after day.
The first in a series of works painted while anticipating each day—ever new, yet still the same tomorrow.
Making that work public within school held meaning for Ye Ji as well.

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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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