I Became A Renowned Genius At My Arts High School - Chapter 198



Only Noblemtl

Episode 198. Black Snow (2)

“Humphrey? Well, he wasn’t the type to like hanging out with people.”

“He was different from other designers. He was neither sociable nor charismatic.”

“I remember him as a guy who did very unique designs, although there were more bizarre ones.”

“He was a mysterious figure. Whenever someone spoke of Humphrey, there was always one person who would ask, ‘Humphrey? Who is that?’

If a documentary about Humphrey’s memoir or life is made in the future, those who worked with him will likely be interviewed like this.

Judging from the few images I’ve seen in passing, he’s probably a very introverted, eccentric guy who produces designs that are difficult to understand.

Perhaps it would be difficult to find someone who could testify to how much Humphrey loved Sasha, how sincere he was to her, and how fiercely he tried.

If things continued like this, if we left it like this, it was clear that it would happen like this again.

“Humphrey!”

Su-hyeon forcefully opened the door to the warehouse on the fourth floor of the Shasha Annex and called Humphrey.

“Eek. Wow… … This is surprising.”

Humphrey’s small voice came from inside.

“I didn’t sleep. I… I’m awake now.”

There was a loud noise of something falling, and then Humphrey came out, rustling through the obstacles.

“Let’s talk for a moment. This isn’t the time for us to be doing this.”

Soo-hyun looked into Humphrey’s eyes and spoke forcefully.

***

“That… that can’t be.”

When I told him the whole story, Humphrey’s face turned pale.

“I… I didn’t hear anything like that. There was a meeting.”

“okay.”

Su-hyeon nodded.

As for his relationships with other designers, I could roughly infer them from what I heard from Humphrey.

We can’t expect the kind of consideration that Jang would give by inviting the gloomy Humphrey to a place he improvised.

Whether the bullying was intentional or not, Humphrey is also responsible for not being able to take care of himself.

After all, this is a competitive society.

Soo-hyun let out a small sigh. The problem wasn’t what had already happened or how she felt about it.

The impending deadline was a major problem.

“But do you know what the first deadline is?”

“That… … is probably just a theme sketch.”

“We need to figure it out. We don’t have enough information. Oh, can I ask the person in charge about the submission schedule and content? No. Let’s go together. The person in charge is the one you saw at the last presentation.”

“Oh… that’s right.”

“Yeah. And if the first assignment is a theme sketch, how long do you think it will take?”

“Bah… … If you stay up all night, it’ll be fine.”

“also?”

Humphrey assured me with a haggard face, as if he had been up for several nights.

Soo-hyun shook her head and said.

“There must be another way. And Humphrey, I have a favor to ask.”

“Please… please?”

“Okay. Let’s move.”

“uh?”

Humphrey asked back with a frightened look on his face.

“I think it would be better if we stayed in the studio at least until the show starts. Right now, we’re on an isolated island. It’ll be hard to get our act together like this.”

“But, but.”

Humphrey licked his lips.

He knew the reason why he had come to the warehouse, but he also knew that he couldn’t avoid it forever. He just didn’t know that it would come so soon.

“don’t worry.”

Soo-hyun patted Humphrey on the shoulder and said.

“If there are people who talk nonsense to you, I’ll give them a good beating. And I told you, your design this time is really awesome. Trust me. Don’t you?”

“Oh. I don’t believe you.”

“Okay then.”

Su-hyeon smiled refreshingly.

“Let’s go meet the person in charge first.”

Soo-hyeon turned around and walked away with brisk strides, and Humphrey bowed his head and followed behind him cautiously.

Fortunately, the person in charge was in the office at that time, so I was able to meet him right away.

“The first deadline is really in two days.”

It was just as Michael had told her. Su-hyeon looked at the large schedule that the person in charge had organized and looked at her future plans.

“What exactly is the assignment that needs to be submitted by the deadline?”

“Hmm. The goal is to see the overall tone, so a theme sketch is enough.”

“Does the quantity or size matter?”

“Usually it’s brought like this.”

The person in charge gestured to a stack of portfolio books on one table.

Although he was giving me the answer right away, his face was filled with doubt as to why he was asking me this now.

“Thank you. But.”

Soo-hyun, who had been asking detailed questions about things she was curious about, opened her mouth with a meaningful smile.

“Wasn’t this show a show that Shasha was preparing for with all their might?”

“yes?”

The person in charge asked, blinking his large eyes slowly.

“It’s a show that requires a lot of money and manpower, so I think it would be better if it was more organized. The schedule, including the first deadline and rehearsal, seems to pop up all of a sudden, and I don’t remember ever receiving a document that was organized all at once.”

“Of course, that’s something that Sasha’s designers should know.”

“Not outside writers.”

Su-hyeon responded to the arrogant smile of the person in charge with the same smile.

“As you know, this project is a collaboration between Jacqueline’s new designers and Shasha’s new designers. Jacqueline’s new designers don’t know anything about Shasha’s practices. If Shasha wants to produce the best results, I wish they would take care of these aspects so that the artists can focus on their work.”

“Ahem.”

The face of the person in charge was strangely distorted, as if his pride had been damaged.

But Soo-Hyeon didn’t say this to scold him, embarrass him, or start a fight.

“Right. How much work would there be to prepare for such a big show? Perhaps you were planning to announce it verbally at the beginning and then use proper channels to announce it later? So I think you left the management of the partners to the designers until the first deadline, but I’m cautious.”

As I gave him a slight escape, the person in charge nodded with an awkward smile again.

“Of course. We were planning to give you the details and schedule for the collaboration early next week anyway.”

“That’s really great. I guess I was a bit hasty. Anyway, thank you for your consideration.”

Soo-hyun greeted him politely, and the person in charge tilted his head to the side with a smile on his face. Humphrey stood behind him with his mouth wide open.

After a while.

“You, you… you are really the best.”

As soon as they came out into the deaf hallway, Humphrey let out an exclamation of admiration.

“That person in charge is a really scary person. He doesn’t even treat rookies like us… like people. Um… sometimes, even when I talk to him, he doesn’t even respond.”

“Really? What’s the problem with personality? As long as you do your job properly, what’s the problem? You’re just someone you see at work.”

“Well, still.”

Soo-hyeon looked back at the moved Humphrey and said.

“Now we won’t have to worry about scheduling. If the first deadline is just a theme sketch that can gauge the overall tone, we won’t have to reveal our weapons right away.”

“What, a weapon?”

“I’m talking about Black Snow. We need to prepare properly and release it.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“So this time, let’s just give the main colors of white and black and a few object sketches. That way, you won’t have to stay up all night. I’ve already done quite a bit.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Then we’ve bought some time. Should we do it right now?”

“what?”

Humphrey asked with a puzzled look on his face. Seeing that made Soo-hyeon feel weak for a moment, but she shook her head.

“I’m talking about moving. Even though it’s hard, let’s move some of the important stuff.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah. Right now.”

As Soo-hyeon spoke with blazing eyes, Humphrey shut his eyes tightly.

“Okay, okay. Let’s go.”

***

“uh?”

“what?”

“why?”

As Su-hyeon and Humphrey opened the door to the shared studio and placed the items they had loaded onto the cart in a heap on the empty space, the designers in the studio began to whisper.

Humphrey’s seat, which had been empty for a long time, was a mess.

Trash that no one knows who placed, scraps of fabric, individual sketches and drawing tools, unorganized supplies, and unsightly drips of dye.

“after.”

Soo-hyun checked it for a moment, sighed, and said.

“Are all the items left here really unclaimed? If there are any items you want to take, you’d better put them away while I bring the cart back. I’ll be pushing everything away when I get back.”

“What is it?”

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

Designers also responded one by one to Su-hyeon’s declaration.

“The space to work with Humphrey is limited and his condition is not good. I will return to my original position, so there will be no problem, right?”

As Soo-hyun smiled, the designers hesitated and said.

“Oh, really?”

“Well, then we should clean it up. We didn’t do it on purpose.”

“That’s right. I used it because the space was empty.”

But aren’t they people who are beyond common sense? Or are they just pretending to move because it’s the words of an outside writer?

It didn’t matter either way.

After seeing the designers tidying up Humphrey’s desk one by one, Su-hyeon left the studio with Humphrey and pulled a cart.

After about three round trips, I was able to move most of the important luggage.

Humphrey carefully wiped down the now-clean workbench and began placing items on it one by one.

Su-hyeon and Humphrey were as absorbed in their work as before, and the other designers, perhaps conscious of the tight deadline, stopped hanging around and went back to their own work.

Two days passed like that.

“Humphrey?”

Shasha main building conference room.

When Jang met Stacy, who was in charge of new designers, he shrugged his shoulders as if he was surprised by the new information she had asked him.

“Well, isn’t it a good sign that we’re back in the shared studio?”

“Well, I think it’s more because of his partner’s influence than because Humphrey has changed. So we don’t know what the signal is yet.”

“Anyway, you met the first deadline, right?”

“Well, it’s at a level where it can somehow pass the cutoff line. We’ll have to wait and see if the exact design comes out though.”

“Stacy, don’t hate Humphrey so much.”

Jang said with a leisurely smile.

“Jang, that’s your problem. Why are you defending that kid that everyone says is not right?”

“You’re working hard. But it’s also kind of… pitiful.”

“Oh, like that.”

Stacy sighed softly and shook her head.

“Because of that child’s unfortunate circumstances? Jang, there are plenty of people in this world with such stories.”

“No, that’s not it.”

Jang shook his head.

“You work so hard, but you still don’t get the hang of it. It’s better to be lazy and use tricks. You work day and night, but you don’t get any results.”

“Pfft.”

Stacy burst out laughing at that.

“That’s true. There’s no unrequited love this passionate. It seems like that kid is the only one who’s lovesick for Sasha.”

“Whew. It’s no laughing matter, Stacy. In fact, I’ve had a hard time watching her grow weary. After all, I was the one who chose her as an intern, and I had high hopes for her at one point.”

“We all know that.”

“When you came out of the co-working space and locked yourself in the warehouse, I thought that was really the end… … But I guess you plan on doing your best with this last opportunity. Yes, that’s courtesy to Sasha.”

When Jang nodded with an incomprehensible expression, Stacy, who had been blankly staring for a moment, quickly agreed and opened her mouth.

“That’s right. Now that I think about it, the feeling has changed a bit. Before, you brought in weird things that you couldn’t even judge as designs. But this theme is a ‘reversal’ with black and white as the main colors. The design hasn’t been done yet, but as a theme, doesn’t it seem pretty good?”

“……what?”

At those words, Jang’s expression changed.

“huh?”

“Stacy, what did you just say?”

“What? Oh, you mean Humphrey’s theme?”

“That kid brought up the theme of reversal?”

Jang, who had been shaking his head, suddenly got up from his seat.

The composure that had been there until just a moment ago was gone.