I Became A Renowned Genius At My Arts High School - Chapter 169



Only Noblemtl

Episode 169. New Face

slap!

The woman, who had come down to the second floor in an instant, swung her arm wildly and struck the back of the man who was crouching down.

“Ahh!”

The man screamed and twisted his body.

“Sophia! Don’t do this! It hurts too much!”

The man looked up at the woman with a face that seemed as if he was dying from injustice.

“Do you know him?”

Soo-hyun asked Steve cautiously.

“Unfortunately, that is true.”

Steve looked at the man with eyes filled with complex emotions. Sensing Steve and Soo-hyun’s gaze, the man turned his head and made a startled face.

“No, Steve. What are you doing here?”

“Oh my, Steve.”

The man named Peter, as well as Sophia, who was chasing him, seemed to know Steve.

Steve shook his head at the two who were confused.

“I came here because my friend was looking for a house. By the way, Peter, do you live here?”

“me?”

“No, you don’t have to answer.”

Steve shook his head and said to Soohyun.

“Let’s just go see the fourth house.”

“uh?”

“Everything here is good, but the fact that we’re in the same building as this guy is fatal. It’s best to stay away from this type of guy.”

As Steve shook his head, the man protested with a look of injustice on his face.

“Why are you doing this without even knowing what’s going on?”

“I have no intention of interfering. Finish things well with Sophia.”

Steve waved his hand as if to cut off the hand, and was about to turn Soo-hyun away, who had a look on her face like she didn’t know what was going on.

“There’s no need for that.”

A woman named Sophia came forward, crossing her arms.

“what?”

“If you like this house, tell your friend he or she can live there.”

“uh?”

“Peter is going to be kicked out of here next month anyway.”

“No, why?”

“Why, why? Because I can’t pay. Because I’m an eccentric artist whose art isn’t even recognized.”

Sophia shook her head, then coolly picked up the shoes she had thrown away earlier, put them on, and climbed the stairs.

“And I don’t plan on ever coming here again.”

I don’t know the details of the story, but it seemed like this guy, Peter, was about to be kicked out because he couldn’t pay his rent, and his girlfriend was breaking up with him.

I wondered if it was okay to hear something like this at first sight, but Peter approached Steve with an awkward smile.

“As you can see, the situation is like this. So, since it’s not dinnertime yet, can we eat together?”

“what?”

“I haven’t eaten since last night.”

***

Steve said he wanted to look at the fourth house anyway, but when I contacted him, it was already sold.

Eventually, I decided to sign a contract for the third house I had seen earlier and contacted the landlord, who told me to wait for about two hours.

We decided to have dinner while the landlord came home, and somehow Peter happened to join us.

“So you’re the friend Steve always talked about?”

Peter liked the dough.

Even though he showed that to Soo-hyun, whom he was meeting for the first time, and Steve, whom he knew, he didn’t seem to care, and for now, he was only focused on eating, as if the food in front of him was important.

“Steve told me several times that there was a great artist in Korea. He said that he was going to come to New York. Wow, but he didn’t say anything about women.”

Peter asked playfully, but Steve answered unfazed.

“But what did you do to Sophia?”

“uh?”

“Even though you’re a bit of a hothead, you don’t seem like the type of person who would throw a shoe at someone in anger. Besides, I heard you called me a con artist earlier. Did you do something bad?”

“Hey! No way!”

Peter opened his mouth wide, as if he was jumping up and down and having difficulty getting out the details.

Then, swoosh-.

Steve dropped the bowl of food that had been in front of Peter.

“for a moment!”

Peter, feeling a sense of crisis, said, closing his eyes tightly.

“Actually, last Friday was Sophia’s birthday.”

“however?”

“You know what Sophia is like.”

Sophia was said to be a famous fashion model. Her life was glamorous and she was surrounded by many successful people. She was careful to consume in accordance with that.

“She asked me several times what gift I wanted. So I said I’d buy her a necklace. A luxury item.”

“Huh, you really meant to say that and gave me a fake one? That’s what got me caught?”

Peter pushed the bowl of food he had pushed aside back towards himself, keeping an eye on Steve, and continued speaking.

“I didn’t really lie. I gave it to her as a luxury pendant that only five pieces were made by a new, up-and-coming brand. Sophia also said it was really pretty and liked it.”

Peter stuffed a large piece of rolled up spaghetti into his mouth and munched.

“But, I guess I got embarrassed when I showed it off at the party that night. Oh, it was just Frankie who got caught.”

“If it’s Frankie, is it the Frankie from the mirror work?”

“Yeah, she’s doing pretty well now. She’s out of Brooklyn and moving to Soho. Anyway, when Frankie saw the pendant, he said, “Your boyfriend made this for you?” and Sophia became the butt of jokes. Well, I guess I’m the loser and the weirdo among them, so there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Oh, like that.”

Steve made a pitiful expression, then pushed the salad in front of him towards Peter.

Peter picked up his fork, dipped the salad in, and stuffed it back into his mouth greedily.

“Peter created a group called Taylors and is active in it.”

Meanwhile, Steve briefly introduced Peter to Soo-hyun.

“Taylor?”

“It’s quite refreshing to see a few new artists forming a group and working together on a project. I also had the opportunity to see the work of an artist I met at a gallery a few months ago, and it was good. Well, Peter is known as a friend who works with glass.”

“I see.”

Su-hyeon nodded.

“I’m still relatively unknown, but I’ll be famous soon. I’m really confident in my work.”

Peter spoke to Soo-hyun with a confident face.

“That’s why I’m sure that the pendant I gave to Sophia will become an incredible luxury item someday. Because it’s a piece I made myself.”

At this point, I was curious about Peter’s work. I wondered what kind of work he did with glass. But it wasn’t the right time to ask the question.

“Of course it’ll take some time. Hey, if I don’t pay the rent in two weeks, I’ll get kicked out of the house.”

Peter, who had been confident until just a moment ago, had an anxious expression on his face as he realized the reality. He couldn’t even see an inch ahead. He didn’t even have enough money to buy food, let alone pay rent, so his mental state was deteriorating. Steve looked at Peter and asked him with a pitying look.

“Why don’t you just sign a contract with the gallery? I heard they did make an offer.”

“Well, for now, Free Collection and Adgoodman are the best… … .”

“But? Why, are the conditions not good?”

Peter said, frowning.

“If I go, Taylor’s activities will be limited. I want to work with artists who I like. My goal is to work on bigger and bigger pieces. But it seems like the galleries there don’t think that’s the case.”

“Oh, but the rent is already a problem. What are you going to do?”

“Well, this is the kind of ordeal that artists go through. And I’m going to have an exhibition in a week. I hope my work sells there.”

Peter chuckled again, then fixed his gaze on the menu with a serious face.

“Steve. So, how about an extra side of fries?”

“what?”

“When I become a famous writer, I will repay you tenfold, a hundredfold. So, let’s have one more French fries. Okay?”

Steve was silent for a moment, then went to the counter and ordered more fries and a soda.

Even though he looked rough, he was actually a warm-hearted guy.

***

Two days later.

Su-hyeon finished moving safely.

Thanks to Steve and Peter’s help, I was able to buy furniture in good condition at a good price, and I also finished cleaning it thoroughly.

The painting tools, clothes, and other belongings I brought from Korea also found their places.

“You have to be careful of gaps like this.”

And Peter gave a tip to Soo-hyun, who was afraid of rats.

“Even if a small gap under a door doesn’t seem like much, it can be a mouse entrance. You have to block it tightly to be safe.”

“Ha. So there’s a rat here too?”

Seeing Soo-hyun looking anxious, Steve came up with another idea.

“How about raising a cat instead?”

But the idea was immediately met with opposition.

“If you keep it as a pet, then it might be okay, but if it’s because of rats, then it’s useless.”

Peter shook his head.

“Even the ferocious stray cats of New York would run away when they come across a rat. With rats this big, how can you guarantee that a cat would win? Besides, cats aren’t the type of animals that would risk their lives chasing rats.”

Peter said he was born to an immigrant family and spent his childhood in a quiet rural area, but when he turned twenty, he came to New York City full of dreams.

And he said he was experiencing the New York despair, with its high prices, low chances of success, and rats.

“New York will always have rats unless they solve its garbage problem. There’s a constant supply of food waste, and the rats won’t go away.”

Then Peter clapped his hands together as if he had remembered something.

“Ah. A while ago, a work based on rats in New York appeared. I don’t know what the reaction will be, since it’s an installation that triggers trauma just by looking at it.”

“okay?”

“Actually, for artists, everything is a source of material and inspiration. And New York has a lot of such elements. There are artists who create works using not only rats but also water tanks.”

“Water tank?”

Soo-hyun asked with curious eyes. It was a strange sight to see in New York.

Each of the buildings had a hut-like structure on top of it, and when I asked Steve about it, he told me that it was a water tank that pumped water from the reservoir and maintained water pressure.

There are said to be over ten thousand water tanks in New York alone.

“There is a joke that says that Italy has the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, and New York has the Water Tank. Especially to the eyes of a foreigner, they are novel landscapes, and they are good subjects for artists.”

Steve nodded as Peter elaborated.

Well, it may have already started.

Soo-hyun also nodded quietly.

Steve’s suggestion played a big role, and the exchange program was a catalyst for her to get moving, but there was a clear reason why Soo-hyun had come to New York.

To witness the activities of contemporary artists up close, interact with them, develop their work, and find a direction to move forward.

I vaguely thought that if I stayed in a neighborhood where new writers gathered and naturally interacted with them, I would be influenced by them, but after listening to their stories, I felt like I was already pretty close to my goal.

I thought it would be fun to see some interesting work up close through Steve and Peter.

“I was already curious to see the work of young artists. Is there any place you can recommend?”

“uh?”

“The gallery is great, and the open studio is great. I’m curious about what everyone in New York does.”

As soon as Soo-hyun finished speaking, Peter and Steve opened their mouths.

“Then how about we start by looking at my studio?”

“My studio too. If I tip over, my nose will touch it.”

“uh?”

“let’s go.”

“wake up.”

Steve and Peter smiled and urged Soo-hyun on.