The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 98

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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 98.
Hansung Electronics. A tech company that rivals first or second place not only domestically but globally.
The reason they suddenly reached out was somewhat broad in scope.
They wanted to entrust her with a collaboration project for a new product they were launching.
They said the exact details could only be disclosed after meeting in person and signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement—quite a cautious approach.
“Essentially, they figure it’d be more meaningful to work with an artist who’s both domestic and currently the hottest creator right now—that’s the stance they’re taking.”
While Ye Ji reviewed the details, Hyun Min summarized it for her as well.
She could grasp the general gist of it.
“So they just want to meet in person, right?”
Since it was confidential, eventually they’d have no choice but to meet and discuss it directly, no matter how far off that might be.

“Besides, Celine already knows who you are.”
From Hyun Min’s perspective, there wasn’t much difference.
To formally draw up a contract, Ye Ji’s personal information would inevitably be disclosed to some degree.
She didn’t yet belong to any fixed agency or gallery—she was simply a lone artist working as an individual.
“Back then, I hadn’t decided whether to use a pen name yet.”
It was different now that the name Go Yo had begun to circulate.
Of course, since they’d both be signing a confidentiality agreement, they’d keep the secret.
‘I wonder if they’ll think I’m too young.’
There were many prejudices and gazes that she’d wanted to avoid through her pen name.
Meeting face-to-face was still something that made her uneasy.
“Then, should we not do it?”
Hyun Min wasn’t of the opinion that she absolutely had to.
To outsiders, it might look like an opportunity she naturally had to seize from a major corporation.
But from Ye Ji’s perspective, it wasn’t.
The collaboration proposal didn’t mention at all how they wanted to use her work or in what direction.
It was unclear what would happen.
This was why Ye Ji didn’t sense much merit in it.
“For now, if there’s nothing urgent, let me think about it more. I want to focus on my solo exhibition right now.”
“Well, looking at the date in the proposal, there’s still plenty of time. Think it over at your own pace.”
Ye Ji was still in the period where she wanted to focus on her solo exhibition.
Hyun Min, accepting her conclusion, nodded.
And Ye Ji picked up her brush again.
Because Ye Ji was treating this matter relatively lightly, she failed to anticipate.
How large this would come back to haunt her.
***
Soon the trees shed all their leaves, becoming bare—the season of nakedness.
The second semester was gradually drawing to a close.
Once again, Ye Ji had secured first place in her department without any major variables.
She thought her general academics grades had dropped somewhat, but the wall of perfect scores in practical skills still seemed formidable.
The only element that had changed was that Da Hye had now become someone who could be counted on one hand in ranking.
‘…I thought it couldn’t be helped to drop a little.’
This result came from the fact that Ye Ji’s mindset differed from that of ordinary students.
Everything granted to someone who had lost everything, or who never had anything to begin with.
Her very level of concentration in her studies couldn’t help but differ from that of other children.
What a world—where one could eat and study without worry, draw pictures, and everyone praised you.
At times, Ye Ji even wondered if she were living too comfortable a life.
She was always grateful to her parents who fed and supported her.
“Do you really have to be first to satisfy yourself?”
Hyun Min offered a playful jab, watching Ye Ji never drop from first place.
“I’m just working hard, that’s all.”
“I worked hard too, in my own way.”
At Hyun Min’s defensive answer, Da Hye spoke firmly.
“That ‘own way’ is the problem, isn’t it.”
Da Hye, who had pulled nearly all-nighters throughout the exam period, said this with an expression mixing joy and exhaustion.
Still, despite what she said, Hyun Min too had come away with grades that were his “own” kind of improvement.
Of course, compared to Ye Ji and Da Hye, who had now completely entered the upper tier, he was still far behind.
“At this rate, Hyun Min’s going to catch up to me too.”
Dong Ha muttered as he checked the public rankings posted at the front of the classroom.
And yet his hand never released the mobile phone game, which is why Hyun Min shook his head.
“Isn’t your grade actually doing suspiciously well considering how much you game?”
“That’s because I’m naturally smart—born with it.”
“So are you saying I’m naturally dumb?”
“You’re getting poor value for your effort… Ah! Ow, why—this jerk….”
Hyun Min and Dong Ha, who had grown considerably closer since the festival, bickered.
Aside from them, everyone checked their rankings—some laughed, others sighed.
All felt nervous about becoming third-year students soon, yet nothing changed dramatically.
After all, there were only two classes in the Western Art Department.
The likelihood of being assigned to almost the same class next year was great.
Because of that, the feeling of reaching the end of second year didn’t really hit them.
It was simply another break arriving.
After the final exams ended, Ye Ji also left early in the afternoons and headed to her Studio.
Anyway, everyone at school was just killing time with practical training during that period.
And quite a few students were attending academies, making it possible.
It was thanks to the relatively relaxed attendance policies of an art school.
But even in such peaceful school days, there was the occasional unexpected incident.
“Unexpected? Do you really think so?”
While Ye Ji was attending school part-time, Se Hee had become Student Council president.
Ye Ji had thought Se Hee had been oddly quiet lately, and it seems it was because she’d been busy running for president.
While Ye Ji was preoccupied with the Julien situation, Se Hee had been busy searching through the entire school.
“You were the only one who didn’t know.”
Hyun Min teased Ye Ji, but when Se Hee heard this, she made a wounded expression.
“Ye Ji! That’s not fair, is it? Pay some attention to me!”
“Ah, I’m sorry. Sorry. You know how it is.”
“Yeah, I heard you were busy because of some crazy foreign guy.”
And then the conversation naturally drifted toward criticizing Julien.
When Da Hye joined in, the high school girls delivered cutting assessments.
…Did Julien know? That he was being harshly torn apart by Korean high school girls?
“Anyway, that guy probably has his career properly ruined by now. But congratulations on becoming president.”
As Ye Ji brought the topic to a close, Se Hee quickly grinned.
Se Hee’s simple nature made her easy to redirect.
“Who else in our year would make a better president? School image, care and affection for fellow students—nobody’s got the makings but me!”
Se Hee added cheerfully.
“Hehe, so in that sense, school power is now in my hands, you understand.”
“But is there actually any real power for the president to have in this school?”
Da Hye ventured.
After all, wasn’t the student council president basically just an honorary position?
Sure, she’d have the ability to relay student grievances to the actual school administrators, but….
At Da Hye’s response, Se Hee countered firmly.
“What? Whether it’s a small school or not, having power matters!”
Was that so?
Even as she listened, Ye Ji didn’t take much interest.
“For example, something like this.”
Se Hee, looking at Ye Ji, spoke with a meaningful expression.
“I might be able to find out in advance which teacher will lead the Special Class next year~?”
“Ah.”
At Se Hee’s words, Ye Ji let out a short exclamation.
Whether Young would teach it again or not—it was still uncertain.
If he didn’t….
‘Could a better teacher come?’
Young was a teacher from whom Ye Ji had much to learn, but what about someone else?
If it were a teacher with poor compatibility with her, there might be no point in taking the Special Class at all.
Certainly, it wouldn’t hurt to know in advance.
“And I also signed with an Agency this time!”
Ahem.
Se Hee, proudly straightening her shoulders, continued in that same boastful tone.
“Just wait a bit. I’m going to become a world-class model.”
She seemed to have mentioned something like that before.
But it didn’t seem to be mere talk without substance.
Se Hee was truly climbing toward her goal, step by deliberate step.
Ye Ji was simply a case of unusually rapid growth.
Realistically, ascending gradually like Se Hee was the normal path.
“I’ll cheer for you.”
One might expect Ye Ji to feel envious of a friend who had reached her dream in one leap differently from herself.
But those who watched Ye Ji up close couldn’t bring themselves to envy her.
Not simply because she was in a different league.
Ye Ji spoke of it as though it were nothing, but the hours she devoted to her work were never few.
Working as hard as she did was never an easy thing.
Effort on a different dimension brought results to match.
“That’s right! Let’s do well together next year too.”
When you thought about it that way, acceptance came easy.
Se Hee could beam a genuine smile at Ye Ji’s encouragement.
And so, amidst such peaceful daily life, the break began once more.
***
“So that’s all the reply we got?”
Kwon Jae Hyun, Executive Director of Global Marketing at Hansung Electronics.
The employees gathered at the marketing general meeting all shifted their eyes nervously in the chilly atmosphere.
“…Well, it’s….”
That’s the situation.
The marketing staff member in charge of SNS spoke in an almost crawling voice.
When they tried to reach Go Yo through her official SNS, the only response was to look elsewhere if they were in a hurry?
Of course, it was phrased more politely than that, but to Executive Director Kwon it was the same thing.
“Wouldn’t it be better to approach Celine instead?”
During the last new smartphone launch, they’d done a collaboration with a luxury brand, and the response had been quite good.
Thanks to using a brand popular with men, it became a hard-to-find limited edition due to early sellout.
So the employees’ question was inevitable.
Wouldn’t using a brand that was currently climbing in value be better?
But at that attitude, Jae Hyun’s voice only grew louder.
“We’re putting out this revolutionary product, and you want marketing to just rehash the same old thing?”
“Innovation demands innovation. We need to do something fresh and new—that’s what Hansung stands for!”
If we’re just going to do what we’ve always done, why are we even here?
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense, but truthfully, the employees’ concerns were reasonable.
“Go Yo doesn’t have any clear career outside of the Celine collaboration, after all.”
It could be just a flash in the pan.
Isn’t that too big a risk?
But by this point, such opinions had stopped reaching the executive director’s ears.
Having recently returned from Paris, the director had seen the pop-up store where Go Yo’s works were displayed and was already completely hooked.
The fact that he’d even switched his perfume to Celine’s latest meant the entire conference room was filled with a fragrant scent.
He’d fallen for it that hard.
Who could possibly stop him….
As they glanced at each other and tried to read the room.
“Actually, I have a contact at Celine, so I did some checking….”
One employee raised his hand cautiously and carefully.
“Apparently Go Yo doesn’t show much interest in money or fame.”
What does that even mean?
The director finally seemed to have heard something worth listening to and pressed for more details.
“In this capitalist world, why would anyone live without those things?”
“She has…her own different criteria, you see.”
After all, there are quite a few artists who are a bit odd and peculiar, aren’t there?
Only then did the director calm down somewhat at the employee’s words.
At any rate, the staff had done their homework—they weren’t just sitting around.
“Then find terms that would interest her and somehow set up the meeting.”
We’re Hansung. What’s the problem?
It was a statement dripping with corporate pride and arrogance.
Which was to say—he still didn’t understand that such things were meaningless to this artist.
“…Understood, sir.”
Guess they’d have to try again. What else could they do?
The shoulders and hearts of the marketing team members grew heavy as the meeting ended.

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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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