RAH 08

Chapter 8 …

Yeji pulled a cap down over her head and headed straight for Yerim Art Center.

Since she was riding in her parents’ car, she arrived much faster than usual.

Even early in the morning, the Yerim Art Center was packed with people.

More accurately, it only looked crowded because everyone was gathered in front of Yeji’s painting.

“How…?”

Before she could even ask what had happened, Yeji saw her torn painting.

The lower section in particular, where the flower petals had been painted, had been damaged.

A sharp object, almost like a knife, had slashed through the canvas, leaving a long gash.

“You’re student Lee Yeji, right? What are we supposed to do about this…”

“Something like this has never happened before…”

“It was perfectly fine when we closed the center after the submission deadline yesterday.”

“And of all times, the CCTV…”

Teachers and various officials surrounded Yeji, offering excuses and words of comfort.

But none of that mattered to her.

Tilting her head slightly, Yeji stared at her painting and asked:

“If I modify the piece now, will it still be accepted?”

The area fell silent for a moment.

“It should be.”

It was Chloe.

After hearing what had happened, not only the judges but even the principal had rushed over.

The principal looked pale, faced with an unprecedented situation.

“W-Well… the circumstances are unfortunate, but fairness is also…”

“So it’s fair that a student’s work was ruined before judging because of the school’s negligence?”

Cold sweat appeared on the principal’s forehead at Chloe’s words.

The Yeonsil Exhibition was an event students poured everything into.

Creating a special exception out of nowhere was exactly the sort of thing that could cause trouble later.

“Even so, that’s a bit much. What about the students who met the deadline properly?”

“Exactly. It’s unfortunate, but can’t we simply take that into account during judging?”

Besides Chloe, all of the other judges voiced their opposition.

As if they had coordinated beforehand.

Every single one of them firmly objected.

“…”

Jian had also come after hearing about the situation.

Watching everything unfold, he nervously bit his nails.

His mother, standing beside him, lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Son, don’t worry.”

Jian looked at his elegantly composed mother.

“Wouldn’t it be rather low-class if a painting by someone with no proper background won first place?”

“…”

Jian understood exactly what his mother meant.

“Our son is far more qualified. And I’ve already spoken to the judges so they’ll understand.”

Had she merely spoken?

To ensure her intentions were properly conveyed, there was no doubt material compensation had been involved as well.

Jian knew very well what kind of person his mother was.

If it meant making him the greatest painter in South Korea, she would do anything.

And in that regard, he wasn’t much different.

“R-Right. We’ll discuss a fair solution to this matter, so everyone, please disperse!”

The teachers hurriedly cleared away the spectators gathered around the painting.

Most of them were students participating in the exhibition and their parents.

As the crowd dispersed, Yeji and Jian’s eyes met for a brief moment.

Jian felt irritated.

Yeji wasn’t flustered.

She wasn’t even sad.

Why was she so calm when her painting had been damaged?

“Nothing is going to change.”

Comforted by his mother’s words, Jian turned away.

The sudden appearance of a genius.

Something like that couldn’t possibly become an obstacle in the path of someone like him, who had steadily walked the road of an elite all his life.

“…Yes.”

Trying to shake off the anxiety that kept clinging to him, Jian desperately wanted to believe that.

“Are you seriously telling me the CCTV that had always worked just happened to stop working yesterday evening?”

The principal’s office was in complete chaos.

Even the security company had been called in to inspect the situation.

“Someone cut only the power line connected to the CCTV covering that exhibition hall.”

The cleanly severed cable was proof.

No external intrusion alarm had gone off, meaning it was the work of an insider.

The security company distanced itself from responsibility.

Then who was going to take responsibility?

As the discussion went nowhere, Chloe finally addressed the core issue.

“So, what exactly are you going to do about this?”

She looked directly at the principal.

Wiping his sweat-soaked forehead with a handkerchief, he replied:

“F-For now… shouldn’t the judging proceed as scheduled?”

In other words, Yeji’s damaged work would be judged as-is.

Murmurs spread throughout the room.

The art teachers who had come after hearing the news whispered among themselves.

Chloe had spent almost her entire life in France and wasn’t particularly familiar with Korean culture, but—

‘It’s the same everywhere.’

People whispered and complained, yet nobody openly challenged the principal.

Chloe knew she was the only one in a position to properly object.

“A student has been placed in an unfair situation, and you’re just going to leave things as they are?”

Because sacrificing one student would make the problem disappear?

As Chloe bluntly exposed the principal’s intentions, the atmosphere turned cold.

“It’s not as simple as you think.”

One of the other judges responded.

Apparently he was the director of some gallery.

Though it was a gallery Chloe had never even heard of.

Most of the other judges were professors at domestic universities or people of similar status.

None of them were remotely on Chloe’s level.

“Do you realize how important academic evaluations and college admissions are in Korea?”

“If we schedule a second round of judging, it’ll affect final exams.”

“If we do that, we’ll have complaints from the entire student body.”

If it had been the principal or teachers saying such things, it would’ve been one thing.

Oddly enough, the other judges were even more aggressive than they were.

“It’s not that we’re trying to ignore your opinion, Ms. Chloe…”

The judge’s excuses grated on her nerves.

Something about all of this felt suspicious.

Chloe had only agreed to serve as a judge this one time.

If she didn’t feel like it, she could simply walk away.

Given the circumstances, no one would blame her for doing so.

There was no reason for her to get involved.

Yet—

‘…This really bothers me.’

Was it because Yeji’s painting reminded her of Catherine, her longtime benefactor and teacher?

She didn’t want to let it go.

[Full Bloom]

Chloe took out her phone and looked once more at the photograph she had taken of Yeji’s painting.

Flowers trapped beneath water during the brief moment of full bloom.

The inexplicable sense of longing in the piece stirred her heart.

Flowers that had bloomed, yet never managed to rise above the water’s surface.

Unable to display their fragrance or colors, they remained submerged.

The strange melancholy conveyed through that depth somehow felt even stronger after the damage.

“If I modify the piece now, will it still be accepted?”

Chloe had been shocked when Yeji said that the moment she saw the ruined painting.

It was enough to make Chloe instinctively take her side.

Even adults felt sadness when a work they had poured effort into was damaged.

Some were driven to despair.

Yet that young student had remained unbelievably calm.

So calm that Chloe found herself wondering if she was really only seventeen.

And, if anything, perhaps Chloe herself was partly responsible for all this.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have singled out her painting with that comment…’

Perhaps it had provoked the jealousy of sensitive teenagers.

But regardless of the reason—

Whether she was actually responsible or not—

Chloe’s feelings were complicated.

‘Modify it…’

She couldn’t stop wondering about the intention behind those words.

That strange sketch she had first seen.

Then the work that had surpassed all expectations.

What kind of form would Lee Yeji transform it into now?

How confident was she to say something so audacious without hesitation?

“So, if you could please understand…”

Seeing Chloe lost in thought, the principal trailed off.

In the end, he seemed terrified that Chloe might refuse to participate in the judging.

“If we give her a chance to modify the piece without changing the schedule, would everyone agree?”

Chloe proposed.

The principal and the other judges exchanged doubtful looks before nodding.

“I-I suppose so?”

“Yes, as long as it’s fair to everyone…”

Fairness had already been destroyed.

What nonsense.

The entire situation disgusted Chloe, but she could endure it.

Lee Yeji.

She absolutely had to see how that girl’s painting would change.

That was the only thing she wanted now.

“Then let’s do this.”

“What kind of ridiculous nonsense is this?!”

An enraged Dahye slammed her hand onto the café table.

Hyunmin jumped in surprise and hurriedly tried to calm her down.

Meanwhile, Yeji sat there blankly crunching ice from her drink.

[Notice of Changes to Yeonsil Exhibition Judging Criteria]

A brand-new announcement had been posted prominently on Cheongrim’s homepage.

“During the ten-day exhibition period, additional modifications will be permitted, and all judging will take place on the final day of the exhibition.”

Hyunmin summarized the notice aloud.

“However, all modifications must be made on-site at the exhibition hall.”

“Damn it…! They should be catching the culprit! The culprit! How is this supposed to be a fair solution?!”

Dahye exploded again, and Hyunmin hurriedly forced her back into her seat.

Then he checked Yeji’s expression.

The person at the center of this entire incident was still quietly crunching ice.

“Are you okay?”

The question felt strangely familiar.

Yeji let out a dry laugh.

Okay?

“Yeah, I’m fine. Actually… this might turn out well.”

Had she finally lost it?

Both of her friends stared at her with that exact look, causing Yeji to shrug.

Of course, she didn’t mean the situation was good in an absolute sense.

Whoever had ruined her work, she fully intended to find them and make them pay.

But that was one matter.

What had already happened had happened.

Instead of stopping there, she had to move forward.

“There was a painter like Lucio Fontana, wasn’t there? The more I think about it, the more I feel like I might be able to create something even better.”

“Oh. Lucio.”

Hyunmin reacted as though he knew the artist, while Dahye tilted her head.

“Who is that?”

After a quick search, Dahye nodded in understanding.

The artist was famous for creating works by slashing monochromatic canvases.

“These things sell for billions of won…”

Yeji chuckled at Dahye’s comment after reading several articles online.

An artist who created works by cutting canvas.

His intention had been to break down the boundary between two-dimensional and three-dimensional space.

Hyunmin, who was knowledgeable about art theory, added:

“He’s a Spatialist artist. If you think about it that way… artistic value really depends on how you frame it.”

The moment she saw her torn canvas, Yeji had immediately thought of that artist.

“Exactly. It all depends on how you frame it.”

A new inspiration seemed to be forming, yet not quite.

That was why her thoughts had been tangled the entire time.

“You could even say that thanks to some idiot worse than a pile of dog bones, my work has gone beyond the limits of a flat surface.”

And perhaps this was also an opportunity for her to surpass the limits she had once faced as Catherine.

At Yeji’s use of Dahye’s expression, Dahye made an awkward face.

“I can think of one person right away.”

Yeji crunched another piece of ice before replying:

“So can I.”

Kim Jian.

No one had said it out loud, but he was the most suspicious person in this entire situation.

Dahye nodded and scooted closer.

“Isn’t his grandfather some former minister or something?”

Yeji laughed again.

A laugh mixed with frustration, disbelief, and anger.

Dahye had been about to continue talking, but she quickly fell silent.

Speculating about the culprit right now was pointless.

Even if Kim Jian really was responsible, focusing on that now would mean playing directly into his hands.

She would waste precious time instead of properly repairing her work.

“I should fix the painting first, then think about the rest.”

As Yeji spoke, Hyunmin—who had been quietly listening—smiled faintly, as though he had just come up with a good idea.