I Became A Renowned Genius At My Arts High School - Chapter 190



Only Noblemtl

Episode 190. Whale’s Memories (3)

Meanwhile, Soo-hyeon, left alone, stared blankly at the whale painting.

“Why did you do that?”

A drawing taken in turns with Henry.

When the whale appeared in the first scene, Henry drew a large father whale and a baby whale in the next scene.

After that, Su-hyeon drew a scene of three whales meeting a school of fish, and Henry drew a scene of whales enjoying a meal with their mouths wide open.

Next, when I showed him a picture of a cool stream of water gushing out from a whale’s blowhole, Henry smiled. Henry drew a rainbow around the stream, and in the seventh picture that followed, Su-hyeon drew many sea creatures.

The atmosphere was good up to that point, but Henry suddenly got up from his seat and declared that he was giving up. Then, without any chance to stop him, he packed his bag and left.

Why on earth did that happen, and for what reason?

What could have triggered Henry when the proper stimulation hadn’t even begun?

I didn’t have to wonder for long.

Not long after.

Ding dong.

The studio bell rang. It was Henry.

“Henry, why were you…? What’s wrong with you? Where does it hurt?”

Henry came to see Soo-hyeon with a pale face. Soo-hyeon was worried that he had to go to the hospital right away because his face was so pale. However.

“It’s nothing. It happens often. The crisis has passed.”

Henry waves his hand and flops back down in his seat.

“I have something to tell you.”

And Henry opened up about his past for the first time.

***

“I never thought of drawing a picture. Now that I think about it, that’s true. It might have been good for me to think of something if I drew it myself.”

“So you’re saying the picture was definitely a stimulus?”

“Yes, I’m sure. So, Soo-hyun, can you draw a picture like this with me again?”

Su-hyeon smiled at Henry’s earnest eyes and patted him on the shoulder.

“Of course. What’s the big deal? I’ll be here every day, so come whenever you want.”

Henry nodded happily, and from the next day onwards, he visited Soo-hyun’s studio every day.

Of course, new memories did not come to mind every time.

There were days when debris would fly out, and days when nothing happened. At those times, Soo-hyun would encourage Henry not to be anxious, and Henry would nod with a much more gentle face.

About a month passed like that.

One night, or rather, early morning, when the paintings Henry had drawn were almost filling up one of Soo-hyun’s shelves.

Tiring ringing …

A loud bell rings, shaking the silence.

Su-hyeon, who had been in a deep sleep, opened her eyes with a start. At first, she thought it was someone from Korea calling her because of the time difference, but it was Jacqueline.

-Soohyun? We’re in big trouble.

A rare, flustered voice. The clock was pointing to 2:00 in the morning.

“What’s going on? Why are you doing this, Jacqueline?”

-That’s it, Henry. Henry collapsed and went to the hospital.

“Huh? Henry?”

That day, Henry said he was going to throw a party for the first time in a long time. The only difference was that it was the last party to declare the end of this useless gathering. But that’s where the accident happened.

-They say Henry had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital, but he looked for Soo-hyun several times before losing consciousness.

“Me?”

-I don’t know the details. I heard it happened around midnight, and I just got a call that he went to New York Hospital. Do you have any idea why Soo-hyun and Henry came looking for you? No, I’m really sorry, but could you come to the hospital right now?

“Of course. I’ll be there right away.”

– It’ll be hard to get around at this hour. Actually, I sent a car a little while ago. Take it and come. I’ll be there too.

Henry suffered from panic disorder. He had hyperventilation syndrome.

Even when he was fine, he occasionally had difficulty breathing, complained of anxiety, and even broke out in a cold sweat.

They said that if you take a tranquilizer and control your breathing, it will subside quickly, but today even that didn’t work.

He had a seizure and fainted, and he might have gotten hurt when he fell. Worries came flooding in. Soo-hyun jumped out of bed, changed her clothes, and packed her small belongings.

Not long after, the car Jacqueline sent arrived in front of Soo-hyun’s house.

30 minutes later, in the hallway of a VIP ward at New York Hospital.

“What about Henry?”

As I got off the elevator, I saw Jacqueline, who had just finished talking to the doctor.

“I took a tranquilizer and fell asleep.”

“Ha. Okay. Are you okay?”

“The doctor said he seemed to be under a lot of stress or mental shock… … I heard from the person who brought Henry to the hospital that there was an altercation at Henry’s house.”

“What is this?”

“Well, one of the guests drew something on Henry’s picture. He’s an artist named Eddie, and he’s had a crush on Henry before. Even so, he’s not the type of person to get so upset over a broken picture, so I don’t know what happened. Anyway, we’ll just have to wait for him to wake up.”

When Soo-hyun saw that one of the shelves in the studio was filled with Henry’s paintings, she suggested that they frame a few of them.

Henry was shy at first, but he frowned and picked out a few pieces after much thought, and he took them home a while ago. If someone at the party had touched them, Henry would not have stayed still.

“You said it was a painting of Henry?”

“is it so.”

“So you’re talking about the picture Henry drew?”

“hmm?”

“If it was a painting I did in my studio, I would be angry. It was a painting I cherished very much.”

“Wait a minute. So you’re saying Henry drew the picture?”

Jacqueline asked back, her eyes wide.

“It’s been about a month already. Since we last painted whales together in my studio.”

“Oh, my goodness. I thought he was just talking nonsense, but it turns out he really was saying that Henry drew a picture and someone messed with it.”

Jacqueline shook her head several times, muttering to herself as if it was an unexpected development.

And then the unexpected happened.

“So in the end, it was all because of that damn whale!”

A man with a very angry face appeared at the end of the hallway.

A middle-aged man strides toward me, exploding with rage at the explanation of someone who appears to be an attendant.

There was no need to introduce him separately, because his face was exactly like Henry’s.

“Liam?”

Jacqueline pretended to know him, even though she had a face.

“ha.”

The man let out a cold sigh, perhaps not feeling particularly happy about the situation.

“Are you going to let this kid keep being so obsessed with whale pictures?”

The same attitude as a parent protesting to a teacher.

“Jacqueline, I always appreciate your concern for him. But this is so disappointing. Everyone knew what their intentions were for rushing at him, and Henry is still a minor.”

“Yes. And the guardian is you, Liam.”

The man paused at the words that hit the nail on the head, then placed a hand on his forehead as if in pain.

“Anyway, this situation can’t continue. Even though I didn’t like it, I left it alone because I thought it was better than letting the condition worsen. I can’t do this. It’s impossible to leave Henry in New York like this. It’s better to send him to a recuperation facility, even if it means forcing him to do so.”

That was when.

Knock knock.

The hospital room door opened and Henry, his eyes wide, strode down the hallway, dragging an IV bag.

“henry!”

“are you okay?”

“You shouldn’t get up. I said you need to rest for now.”

Henry looked around at each of the people who were concerned, then fixed his gaze on his father, Liam, and opened his mouth.

“Stop it, Father.”

“What? You, you punk! Even after ending up like this.”

“I… … my memory came back.”

At those words, everyone there froze like ice.

***

“Please save the child.”

Summer of 1990. Angela went on a trip to the zoo with her beloved son, Henry.

On the opening day of the newly renovated aquarium, Henry went out to show off his favorite whales, but his car, which had been running fine, suddenly stopped and a passing car happened to spot him.

I asked for help, and it was a mistake.

“If you want to live, ride quietly.”

A fierce man threatened him with a knife. If he had been alone, he would have called for help or run away, but little Henry was being held captive by another man.

thud.

How much time had passed, trapped in a dark warehouse with not a single light shining on it, without being able to tell if it was day or night?

“Your husband doesn’t seem to love his family very much.”

I’m starting to understand the situation.

A planned crime, not an accident.

They targeted a wealthy businessman’s family, bribed an insider to break into the car, get the driver to call in sick, and kidnap Henry and Angela.

When things did not go as he wanted, he did not hesitate to use threats and even violence.

“I don’t understand. How can you be counting on a calculator when you have such a beautiful wife and only child to save? Would it make any difference if I let you hear the desperate cries of your child?”

“Don’t touch the child. I… I’ll tell you. Do whatever I say.”

The husband was a rational man. His calm demeanor seemed to have angered the criminal.

Angela used the receiver the killer had given her to convey the urgency of the situation, and after another long time, negotiations were finally reached.

“Mom, when are we going home?”

What was heartbreaking was that Henry, who was only five years old, was going through this ordeal.

The men kicked the child, who was crying in fear, with their shoes. If Angela hadn’t quickly wrapped her arms around Henry, he would have been badly injured by the violent kicks.

“Easy. Don’t cry, baby. It’ll be over soon. Daddy will come get us soon.”

Those guys were vicious.

He had them divide the bags of money and hide them, and promised to hand over the hostages after taking the last bag, but he actually gave up the last bag and planned to kill Angela and Henry.

“You broke our promise! Let us go!”

“What can I do if I change my mind? I should just think of it as unlucky.”

“Sleep. Don’t resist. The more you do, the more painful it will be. If you stay still, I’ll let you go without any pain.”

“What did we do wrong?”

“You know our voices. You know our accents. You’ve seen our faces.”

“I won’t tell. Never.”

“What about the child? Could the child speak?”

“Ha. These bad kids!”

Even though the odds were against her, Angela rushed at the men. She clearly felt that if things continued this way, they would eventually lay hands on Henry.

“Ahhhh-!”

“That’s right, I told you to be quiet!”

Thud thud.

Fists were flying from all directions.

Their rage continued long after Angela lost consciousness, with the brutal violence taking place right before young Henry’s eyes.

“Stop it! Daddy, please stop! Don’t hit my mom!”

“Get out of my way!”

bang!

The excited man beat Angela to death and then assaulted Henry as well.

Fluffy fluffy.

And the van carrying them moved to a good place to finish.

“Mom, Mom. Open your eyes. Please.”

“Henry… … Easy, don’t cry. Baby. Be quiet. Just wait a little. Daddy will definitely come to save us.”

“Mom. Mom.”

There seemed to be no hope.

What was scariest of all was that my mother’s breathing was becoming increasingly shallow.

But his mother hugged Henry with all her might until the very end.

And then, a miracle happened.

With a misfortune of unimaginable magnitude.

The police, who had been working with my father, belatedly found the criminals’ hideout and began pursuing them. The men’s car ran furiously for a long time, avoiding the police.

But was it decided that it couldn’t go on like this?

“Throw it.”

“what?”

“Throw them one by one!”

Knock knock.

The door of the moving van opened and the man lifted Henry out.

Sensing the crisis at that moment, the mother used her superhuman strength to hug Henry.

“This won’t fall off!”

“There’s no time! Just push them both away!”

The two were thrown from the moving car, and Angela died instantly.

Henry, who Angela had been crouching to protect until the end, also suffered serious injuries.

“Haa. Haa.”

Henry heard his mother’s last breath.

“… … My baby. … … Are you okay?”

Crunch. I heard the sound of bones breaking, a groan of pain, and a soft voice saying, “Thank goodness.”

Next, Henry saw his mother’s breathing suddenly stop.

Since that day.

Henry regained consciousness and cried several times as he lost consciousness again.

Henry’s father couldn’t even mourn his wife’s death because of the crying. Henry showed strange symptoms due to the shock of the incident, and his body became increasingly weak.

One day, while praying to God, the child’s soul was shattered.

When Henry woke up again, he couldn’t remember anything.

“What about Mom? Where did Mom go?”

Dad thought it was fortunate. That was how his lies began.

“Mom said she left for a while because something urgent came up. She’ll be back in ten nights.”

But now.

“I, I have all my memories back, Dad. Mom, sob. Mom… … lost a lot of blood.”

New York Hospital, 2000.

Now a fifteen year old boy, Henry finally regained all his memories and was leaning into his father’s arms, crying like a little child.