The Reborn Genius of an Arts High School - Chapter 99

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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 99.
“The first batch of works is finished packing.”
Ye Ji nodded at the shipping company’s words.
The front of Seong Su’s studio was crowded today.
Not mere objects, but artworks that couldn’t be damaged.
Works carefully wrapped by fine art transport specialists over several hours were being loaded methodically into the truck.
Today marked the day when nearly forty completed pieces were finally heading to France.
The shipping representative continued speaking to Ye Ji.
“Regarding the customs tariffs and invoices that arise from transport….”
“Invoice…?”
What’s that about?
Seeing Ye Ji’s puzzled expression, Hyun Min stepped forward.
“Ah, you can discuss that with me.”
Hyun Min, who had been organizing the shipments on his laptop, spoke up.
Though she didn’t know the specifics, it seemed that sending things overseas involved very different procedures depending on whether it was a single shipment or a large batch.
Back when she’d sent works for the competition’s first round of judging, she’d simply shipped them like ordinary parcels.
Watching him discuss something about complicated documents, Ye Ji simply gave up trying to understand.
She thought that without Hyun Min, she might have faced difficulties in areas she never could have anticipated.
“Where did you learn all this?”
“Han Gyu taught me.”
“…When did Han Gyu become your…?”
“He’s not quite old enough for the ‘mister’ treatment yet, is he?”
More than a decade’s age difference was enough to warrant that distinction.
Ye Ji nodded casually as she replied.
She didn’t know the full story, but it seemed the connection had come from their meeting when she’d returned to Korea from Paris the other day.
“Still, we’ve only completed half the task.”
After neatly handling the first shipment.
Ye Ji and Hyun Min, now alone, both placed their hands on their hips and surveyed the studio.
With the works gone, the space felt strangely empty.
“Only that one’s left now.”
Hyun Min pointed to the canvas occupying one wall prominently, even amid the emptied studio.
Most of the remaining twenty or so works were in states needing only drying or final touches.
Only this one was genuinely unfinished.
The ambitious large-scale work she’d been preparing most carefully.
“You can finish it, right…?”
At Hyun Min’s question, tinged with both worry and anticipation, Ye Ji nodded.
Yet her expression wasn’t the usual confidence-brimming one.
“I have to finish it.”
That work held significance beyond ordinary.
***
Montrebleu in Paris.
There too, a dozen or so workers were moving with works in hand.
It wasn’t often that works stored in underground vaults were removed in such large quantities.
Chloe, who’d come to the gallery to discuss the exhibition pushed to summer, stopped short at the unexpected scene.
Spotting Marc overseeing the operation, Chloe approached him directly.
“What are all these works? Is there an external exhibition somewhere?”
Marc had seemed to be in a good mood recently.
But now his expression was so grim it cast a pall over those around him.
He glanced at Chloe, then offered a terse reply tinged with a sigh.
“No, we’re selling them at auction.”
Suddenly? This many?
Was the gallery’s financial situation that dire?
On second thought, that couldn’t be it.
Then was it Marc’s personal problem?
“…Did you lose money on an investment?”
“Something like that. These are all…—hah, never mind. They’re his works.”
Marc had been about to say something harsh, but managed to finish more civilly.
If it was Julien, he was an established artist of Catherine’s generation, decent enough.
That he was inferior was Chloe’s personal view.
But he was an artist with clear ambitions and consistent goals he pursued, with a direction the public expected of him.
Chloe thought Julien’s popularity owed in part to his painting style, which resembled Catherine’s.
In that sense, she didn’t think poorly of him.
After all, she too looked up to Catherine as a role model at certain points.
Anyone who could recognize Catherine’s potential and talent—Chloe didn’t want to think of them as a bad person.
“Was there some problem?”
Had they quarreled?
Even so, putting one person’s works up for auction in such quantity was extreme.
It was nearly an act of retribution.
And Marc wasn’t an individual—he was the director of a gallery.
For a place like Montrebleu to flood the market with one artist’s works all at once?
That was tantamount to announcing the person had problems.
Without a genuinely serious issue, a mere personal disagreement wouldn’t drive it this far.
“Have you heard recently of an artist named Goyo?”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard the name.”
At the unexpected name, Chloe’s brow furrowed slightly.
Goyo was a hot name in Paris lately.
A department store in the city had apparently made a fuss thanks to an artist suddenly becoming famous through a collaboration with Celian.
“You haven’t seen the work directly, though?”
“Not exactly. I’m not interested in luxury brands.”
Why was he suddenly bringing this up, and what did it have to do with Julien?
Within that bewildering conversation, the procession of works heading out came to an end.
Marc then turned his gaze and gave Chloe a subtle once-over.
For a successful artist, she was rather plain.
Not shabby, but someone who didn’t particularly indulge in luxury.
Marc regarded her with a displeased expression and offered his rebuke.
“Why don’t you carry something decent instead of an eco-bag, as if you’re still a girl in her twenties?”
Chloe suddenly felt caught in the crossfire.
“Expensive bags are just inconvenient. Why would I…”
“Come along anyway.”
Marc cut off Chloe’s protest with a gesture.
The amiable grandfather-like Marc had vanished somewhere.
Only the fastidious gallery director remained, and his secretary tensed and followed him.
“We’re going to Lafanette Department Store.”
Chloe followed him as well, though her bewilderment persisted.
“Is this about the Goyo work that’s supposed to be there?”
“Yes. I think it’d be better to show you directly than explain.”
The distance wasn’t far.
The vehicle soon left the Marais District, but crowds were already thick as they approached the department store.
With the thought that it seemed busier than usual, Marc suddenly exited the car.
Chloe, who’d followed him out somewhat dazed, asked a question.
“Isn’t the VIP entrance around back?”
Was there any need to park at the crowded main entrance?
When Chloe asked with evident puzzlement, Marc answered clearly.
“We need to enter through the main entrance to see it properly.”
The main entrance was where the disputed work was displayed directly.
Certainly, if it was about that work, this direction made sense.
‘Did this department store really have this many people normally…?’
After nodding, Chloe followed him toward the bustling department store entrance.
“The popup featuring Goyo’s work has apparently had its duration extended beyond what was originally scheduled.”
Marc spoke to Chloe as they entered through the main doors.
It seemed that the planned Christmas decorations for year-end had been replaced with an extension of the Celian popup.
Chloe’s expression grew peculiar at his words.
“…That’s quite…”
“Unusual.”
Marc finished Chloe’s thought firmly.
Christmas wasn’t a minor holiday.
To postpone that for such a topic’s prominence—
Freshly impressed by Goyo’s popularity, Chloe moved deeper inside.
Upon entering, the first thing to strike her was a crisp, pleasant fragrance.
And above the throng of people, translucent beads in various hues floated suspended in midair.
Without thinking, her gaze rose, following the suspended installation.
“…”
Within that natural flow of vision, the work suspended above the popup came into view.
The scent was clear and gentle, yet somehow carried a hint of something subtle—a refreshing aroma.
The work itself was a piece rendered in warm, delicate colors that perfectly matched the fragrance—light yet somehow weighty, distinctive.
It harmonized beautifully with the dreamlike surroundings.
Even the subtle sound of droplets falling like background music amplified the experience of viewing it.
“Ah.”
It wasn’t merely a sound effect.
Only as she pressed closer through the crowd did she see it—
Small water droplets collecting on the suspended beads around the work were dripping onto the piece below.
Whatever material they were made from, the droplets produced a sound as clear as rain striking a roof.
It remained barely audible even beneath the crowd’s noise.
Illuminated by a spotlight, the droplets fell onto the work, shattered, reformed, and collected.
As she drew nearer, she could see the water rippling across the thick brushstrokes.
Standing almost directly beneath the work, Chloe suddenly realized something and pressed her hand to her mouth.
“This…”
The distinctive Impasto technique—thick paint, prominent brushstrokes where the brush had passed.
They bore the exact habitual manner of someone she knew well.
As Chloe looked at Marc with startled eyes, he nodded.
“That’s what I thought too.”
They were thinking of the same person.
It didn’t need to be said.
That bold, young Korean girl who carried Catherine’s fragrance—Ye Ji.
The work bore her distinctive habits intact.
So the girl had used a pseudonym and pulled off something like this?
Chloe nearly laughed, then caught herself.
But why did Marc look so troubled?
Marc whispered quietly to Chloe, his expression disturbed.
“Apparently, Julien himself pretended to be Goyo.”
“Didn’t you say he did a collaboration with some other luxury brand…?”
And it completely flopped?
Even Chloe had heard that much.
It seemed to have nothing to do with Celian’s Goyo.
Marc sighed and continued, a note of despair in his tone.
“The thing is, Pradel thought Julien was Goyo. They proposed the collaboration based on that.”
That Pradel would pursue such a venture was itself such a foolish decision as to be lamentable.
The project the director himself had proposed had failed spectacularly.
Naturally, those below him would harbor resentment and spread gossip everywhere.
From questions about the director’s competence to inappropriate remarks he’d made to employees and various partners over time.
In a situation where everything was being dragged into dispute, that his casting had been wrong from the start was only natural.
With a completely different quality of work unveiled simultaneously, the rumors inevitably shifted toward Julien.
“Julien cannot be Goyo. Pradel’s director was deceived.”
As she listened to Marc’s explanation, Chloe looked around with an alarmed expression.
It was such an absurd story that she worried someone might overhear.
Fortunately—or perhaps inevitably—those around them were all busy admiring or photographing the beautiful popup scenery.
No one paid attention to two middle-aged people speaking quietly beneath a work.
“How could someone…”
…pull off something so ridiculous?
Though Chloe muttered that, cold logic told her it wasn’t impossible.
Only a tiny few who’d kept a close eye on Ye Ji’s works could discern Goyo’s true identity.
Even the competition judges likely couldn’t remember the specific habits and characteristics of Ye Ji’s work in detail.
‘So there is a possibility.’
Just as Ye Ji’s works carried Catherine’s fragrance,
Julien and Ye Ji did share certain common points in that both modeled themselves on Catherine’s painting style.
It wasn’t an entirely implausible or absurd scenario.
The more Chloe thought about it, the more the pieces seemed to fit like a puzzle, and her expression began to mirror Marc’s.
“That bastard’s work—I cannot possibly keep it in the space where Ye Ji’s solo exhibition will open.”

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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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