I Became A Renowned Arts Genius At My Arts High School - Chapter 4
“Oh no, we’re doomed.”
“Huh?”
“Hey, run!”
“Why?”
“The line at the cafeteria is already that long! Hurry, run! We’ll run out of tuna bibimbap if we’re late!”
As Soohyun was dragged along by Yoonhee, running, her thoughts gradually shifted.
Thud, thud, thud.
The feeling of her shoes hitting the floor.
Drip, drip.
The temperature of the sweat droplets flowing down her back.
Ahh—The sounds of vocal exercises and the lively atmosphere from the music and practical arts building.
Zing-ting-whoosh…
The grand sounds of string, keyboard, and wind instruments.
“The craziest thing is settling for reality and giving up on dreams and ideals!”
The sight of acting students preparing for a performance in front of the cafeteria, the echoes of singing and the rhythmic footsteps of the dance students passing by.
‘It’s too elaborate to be a dream. It’s not like an image made from memory.’
Eventually, as they reached the cafeteria, Soohyun could only nod her head.
For some reason, she found herself in Sehyeon High School, 1st year, 1st semester of 1995.
‘If it’s through my desire to paint again…… that the heavens have given me another chance, then I won’t waver this time, and I’ll see it through to the end no matter what.’
Soohyun clenched her fist with determination.
Returning to the past alone couldn’t bring her the satisfaction she needed.
Devoting herself solely to painting as her heart desired wouldn’t allow her to live a different life from the past.
‘I can’t just relive the past. If I don’t want to lose my environment, I need to change my environment.’
In the past, she had lived diligently, her problem was that she was too short-sighted. Focused on not missing out on sponsorships and scholarships, she couldn’t fully enjoy her school days. While she devoted herself to entrance exams and successfully entered a prestigious university, in hindsight, there were many other paths she could have taken.
“My perspective was narrow. I had no room to spare. Instead of obsessing over grades, I should have made friends with incoming students and joined clubs without hesitation.”
Instead of focusing on my grades, I should have socialized and built solidarity with the kids who came up to me. If she had, maybe more friends would have stood up for her when Kim Minjun stole her paintings, and falsely accused her. She wouldn’t have had to gamble her fate on a single sponsor.
‘This time, instead of hastily finding a way to survive alone, I need to build an alliance. If I want to confidently seize opportunities and avoid being taken advantage of like a fool, I need to change my passive attitude.’
Soohyun bit her lip as she recalled several events. As much as she knew the future, she couldn’t see it. Who would approach with goodwill, who would hide enmity and approach. And what events would unfold beneath the surface.
“If everything repeats like fate… I would turn that environment to my advantage. Clean up the mess, get rid of the threats. And this time, let’s test how far my talent can blossom in this environment.”
She took a deep breath.
Since she had made up her mind, there was no room for hesitation.
She was going to make things right, starting with the first case that she and her talented friends had lost.
The final exam for the first semester of the first year at Sehyeon High School was unfair from the start.
“Han Soohyun! Can’t you hear me?”
“Huh?”
Yoonhee pulled Soohyun, who was deeply lost in thought, back to reality.
“I’m talking about the exam. What do you think will come out? Huh? Just say anything.”
“The drawing exam?”
“Yeah. I’m so nervous. Honestly, isn’t it a bit much that they don’t tell us whether it’ll be a small or large piece?”
As Yoonhee took her place with a tuna bibimbap in hand, she grumbled while roughly mixing the food.
Sehyeon High School, being a prestigious institution, placed a significant emphasis on practical exams.
Especially the common art exam, regardless of the major, including the challenging gypsum art directly related to college entrance, was quite a burdensome subject. The wide scope was a headache.
“Ugh, are there really eight candidates for the exam? Look. For each gypsum piece, they arrange five positions, two for the front view, two for the side view. So, you have to draw at least 40 places, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then, 5 times 8 is 40. You have to draw a minimum of 40 pieces, right? But I couldn’t even touch two of the gypsum art candidates. I couldn’t prepare for 25% of the exam scope. Ugh.”
Soohyun chuckled, watching Yoonhee complain.
“The judging criteria will focus on understanding the essence and basics of drawing. Do you memorize the forms and draw them, or do you truly understand? How well can you express light and shade, represent masses and textures? They won’t be scrutinizing the technique for the first-year students.”
When Soohyun recapped the significance of the 1st-year drawing exam, Yoonhee raised an eyebrow, grumbled while making a pouty face.
“Well, then, it might be better to include large gypsum pieces in the scope. Like Apollo or Hermes. Making something like that can make a big impact, you know. At art academies, if students draw things like that, kids flock around, saying, ‘Wow, unnie and oppa create such amazing things.”
“For large gypsum pieces, you have to do it on 2-fold paper. Do you think 1st-year students can complete something like Hermes on 2-fold paper in four hours?”
“Well, yeah. Even with four hours, it’s tight for 3-fold paper.”
