I Became A Renowned Genius At My Arts High School - Chapter 159



Only Noblemtl

Episode 159. Rainy Season (1)

Su-hyeon’s house faces southeast.

The living room, decorated like an atelier, gets plenty of sunlight, but it is also greatly affected by the weather.

In times like these, the color of the air we see keeps changing, which makes me think about the color of the paint I should put on the canvas.

“This is why the Impressionist painters would go crazy.”

Impressionist painters, who tried to capture the impressions of the moment by moving outdoors rather than being confined to their studios, had to wrestle with light that changed every moment.

The colors would have shaken breathlessly as objects changed the positions of their shadows from moment to moment, revealing various charms.

Objects that used to be adorned with bluish reflections take on light brown reflections in the afternoon, and when trees with leaves sparkling on the periphery suddenly reveal their central branches, I feel confused and impatient, and maybe even want to cry.

“Compared to that.”

Su-hyeon snickered, then checked the condition of the canvas and frowned again.

The scorching summer was becoming warmer as the rainy season approached.

The amount of sunlight can be controlled with curtains, but the problem is humidity.

Whenever I paint with watercolors, I can feel that the paper is already soaked with moisture the moment I touch the brush.

Oil painting was also slower. The paint dried much more slowly.

Still, thanks to the hurry, I was able to finish the new work somehow.

There was no place to touch up as long as I was careful to add a few touches.

It was a shame that the paint hadn’t dried properly until this morning, but I thought I’d be able to get started on the work by the afternoon.

“For now, it’s a forced break.”

dump.

Su-hyeon sat on the single sofa and looked at the painting that was almost finished.

A new work created by exploding emotions that have been building up since Steve left.

The title that Soo-hyeon gave it was ‘Impression of Memories’.

The first painting highlights objects that were precious to the two when they were together, and the second painting contains objects that connect the two after time passes and they grow apart.

They felt different from the works I had drawn before.

Su-hyeon’s drawings were always calm and restrained, but this time, they were filled with the emotions of the day they were drawn, and just looking at them made my heart ache.

“Would other people think so too?”

Since I was still immersed, I needed an objective perspective.

Su-hyeon picked up the phone.

It was to invite my masters, James Lee and Jun.

***

The next day around lunchtime, James Lee and Jun visited Su-hyeon’s house.

“Summers in Korea are really murderous.”

James Lee kept moving his fan-holding hand with a tired look on his face.

He was used to London’s summers being like spring weather in our country, so the intense heat of Korean summers was bound to be a burden.

“You shouldn’t be tired already. The real heat comes after the rainy season.”

James Lee became sad when Soo-hyun gave him advice.

“Yeah. I avoided it last year because I was going home to London, but I’m really getting to experience it this year. Oh my gosh. The weather is really amazing. But more than anything, the sticky feeling is really hard to bear.”

Flutter flutter.

The damp air in the heat that could not be cooled by anything like a fan made it difficult to breathe.

Since dehumidifiers were not yet common, the only way to lower the humidity was to turn up the boiler. James Lee and Jun shook their heads, saying that every time they performed that ritual, it felt like experiencing hell.

“It’s torture to turn it on when there are people around. It’s the worst to turn it on when you go out.”

“We haven’t been out much lately. The painting is in a hurry. Anyway, my body is hot and my head is dizzy. It’s not easy.”

However, James Lee stubbornly refused to turn on the air conditioner.

“Jun has air conditioning sickness. He should avoid air conditioning for the time being.”

Jun, who was more vulnerable to the heat than James Lee, said he caught a summer cold after turning on the air conditioner too much to cool down the boiler.

It was truly heartwarming to see James Lee enduring the heat and fanning himself while looking at it with pity.

Soo-hyun secretly handed him an iced coffee. In front of Jun, she put down some herbal tea that was good for colds.

After a brief tea time, James Lee and Jun stood up to admire Su-hyeon’s new painting.

“Hmm.”

“hmm.”

James Lee, who had been admiring the painting for a while with an expression that was difficult to read, laughed and asked a question.

“Suhyun, what happened to you?”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s rare for a painting style to change so drastically. It’s only when there’s a major incident.”

“I just felt a little lonely when my friend left.”

“Ahem. Yeah. That could be true. Anyway, seeing this reminds me of what you said when you came to London?”

When Soo-Hyeon went to London to take lessons from James Lee, she had some concerns.

The biggest of these was that the cells that felt emotions were as if they were dead and did not respond, making it difficult to convey messages.

James Lee, who gave her advice on her worries, said it was okay and that this was what made Soo-hyun’s drawings so charming.

James Lee was bringing it up.

“I thought you had a great ability to control your emotions without being childish, but this time, your emotions came out without filtering. But it’s not childish or burdensome, and it’s persuasive.”

“I’m so happy. If I always overdo it, I’d be tired, but when someone who doesn’t usually do that draws a picture like this, I feel even more moved.”

Jun-do also liked James Lee’s generous comments.

“It felt like something just burst out.”

Su-hyeon confessed her experiences over the past few weeks.

What emotions filled your heart, how they flowed out through the tip of your brush, how inspiration found you.

As Su-hyeon felt and as James Lee and Jun sympathized, Su-hyeon’s latest painting is full of surging emotions.

The point that Soo-hyeon had been worrying about burst like an old wine bottle.

As the characteristic that could be a strength but was also a weakness was broken on its own, Soo-hyun experienced climbing over the wall once again.

Steve’s presence and our friendship guided me to the next level.

“By the way, congratulations.”

After talking about the picture a bit more, Soo-hyun checked in on James Lee’s recent activities.

“I heard the exhibition schedule has finally been set?”

“Haha. Yeah. It took longer than I thought.”

James Lee, who recently expanded his field to include installation art, put a lot of effort into his new work, and it was his first new work in several years.

“The internal reaction is that it’s already a hit?”

“I like it too. But I can’t judge it before I open the lid.”

James Lee smiled slightly.

He said that he felt nervous every time he held an exhibition, so it was expected that this time would be the same.

Soo-hyun nodded, vaguely understanding the tension. And.

“There’s not much left to see like this.”

James Lee stopped fanning himself uselessly and wiped away the beads of sweat that were streaming down his face.

“What is it?”

“We’re planning on going back as soon as we finish up a few things. The gallery will take care of the exhibition preparations, so we can come back when it opens.”

“Oh. That’s right.”

Su-hyeon answered with a blank expression.

Perhaps it was natural. James Lee and Jun’s home was London, so their journey had a set end. Steve, James Lee, Jun. They all just went back to where they came from.

It was just that the time we spent together was so fond that I felt sad.

“I’ll come visit often!”

But Soo-hyeon shook off her feelings of depression and spoke cheerfully.

If we each work hard in our respective positions, we will have the opportunity to meet again, and it will definitely be a better place than now.

“Yeah. If you’re going to come, come in the summer. London has a nice climate then.”

James Lee chuckled and nodded to Soo-hyun.

***

Heaven help you.

After the painting had dried properly, the rain poured down as if it had been holding back for a long time.

Swaaaahh …

It seemed like there was a hole in the sky.

It rained heavily for over three days without stopping.

Rattle rattle.

The typhoon shook the windows violently.

Kurururung-.

The sky growled threateningly.

“Wow. Should I watch a horror movie?”

That couldn’t be possible.

There was a power outage.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had an experience like this.”

It suddenly occurred to me that power outages have been frequent since I was a child.

It would be restored if she waited for a while, but it was quite eerie to be home alone, so Soo-hyun searched through the storage room while there was still light and took out a candle and a lighter.

Chiik-.

I turned a paper cup over, made a cross-shaped hole in it, put a candle in it, and lit it.

I was thinking about putting on some music, but I quickly realized that it wouldn’t work during the power outage, so I shook my head. That’s when I spent my free time again.

Ding dong.

Someone rang the doorbell.

“who are you?”

Su-hyeon, who approached the front door with an umbrella, was startled.

I could see the soaking wet babies through the small glass window made at eye level above the door.

“What, why are you here in this weather?”

Su-hyeon hurriedly opened the door.

Cha Yoon-hee, Park Seon-hwa, and Oh Yu-na were trembling.

“I hate being alone in the dark.”

Oh Yu-na spoke coldly and quickly headed to the front door. The kids were all soaking wet, as if the umbrella was useless. Su-hyeon, who had handed them a towel as soon as he came into the house, felt it was not right and gave them a T-shirt as well.

“Seonhwa and I were at school. While we were working, the lights suddenly went out. We had no choice but to rush out with the kids, but it was pouring rain, and I saw Oh Yuna squatting in front of the school supermarket buying snacks. So I told her to go to your house.”

“Did you buy some beer too? It’s still cold.”

The kids smiled brightly, pointing to a bag of beer cans and snacks.

“Welcome. It’s dark out here, so I was wondering what I should do to pass the time alone.”

“Yeah. There’s nothing to do on days like this. We’re humans who are accustomed to civilization, so without electricity, the things we can do are reduced by half.”

“That’s right. But it’s strange. How did the doorbell ring earlier when there was a power outage?”

As the conversation continued naturally, Park Seon-hwa brightly mentioned that she had rang the doorbell at Soo-hyun’s house, and there was silence for a moment. And then.

“Gyaaaah!”

“Eww!”

“Mommy!!!”

The children screamed one after another.

“I’m scared! Where on earth did the doorbell sound?”

“That’s right! Are you a ghost? Aaaah! I’m so so scared!!”

“Wow. This is it! Four people sit in a corner of the room, one at a time, and take turns switching seats clockwise! If you tap someone who’s sitting, they get up and go to the next corner, and if you tap them again, they get up and go to the next corner. Normally, if there were four people, there wouldn’t be anyone to hit the fourth time, but this is the story of how they played in a circle all night and only realized in the morning that one of them was a ghost and passed out!”

“Ah, it’s scary! Stop it! Why is the doorbell ringing when there’s a power outage anyway!”

Soo-Hyeon spoke briefly while looking at the children screaming as if they were going to cry.

“Oh. I guess the power outage is over.”

I looked out the window and saw some houses with lights on. Soo-hyun ticked. She turned on the light switch.

Pabat.

The house suddenly became bright.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“Why did the power outage end then?”

“That’s right. That’s strange. The moment you pressed the doorbell, the electricity came on?”

“No, Su-hyeon, why did you turn all the switches down? If you had left them there, you would have known right away when the power came back on.”

“I just put it down as soon as the power went out because I thought something might go wrong.”

“Oh my.”

“Oh.”

The kids who had been grumbling with slightly embarrassed faces briefly bumped the beer cans in their hands together.

“Shall we watch TV?”

Since it had come to this, we agreed to postpone work and rest for the day, and ordered chicken to go with beer. The rain had stopped for a while.

However, unlike Seoul, it seemed like the rain did not stop in other regions.

No, it was getting worse.

“Oh my gosh.”

“Wow. Is this real?”

Breaking news was playing on the turned-on TV.

Even during the brief power outage, significant rain damage was occurring here and there.

“They say eight people are missing.”

“Huh. Look at that town. It’s completely flooded.”

“They’re taking people on a boat? Where is that?”

The kids who were watching the news quietly put down their beer cans.

It was a misfortune that happened in real time.

I felt bad about watching it while drinking beer in the safety of my home.

“It’s a mess every year.”

“That’s right. But the affected areas were like that again the following year.”

“Oh no. The cow is floating away. What should I do?”

The children stamped their feet in frustration.

Soo-hyun was also watching the TV screen with a worried heart.

The flood damage was so miserable and heartbreaking. It was not something I could turn away from, thinking it was someone else’s problem. Was that why?

Su-hyeon unconsciously let out her heart’s voice.

“Hey guys. How about we do something meaningful this summer?”

At those words, the children’s attention turned to Soo-hyun.