Chapter 15

15

"Wow..."

At the short exclamation of amazement, Gangseok turned his head.

What is it? Behind him, many people had gathered, standing in a semicircle as if watching a street performance.

'They were watching.'

He wasn't surprised that they were looking at his drawing. It was a drawing worth watching. If they had just passed by, he would have doubted their eyesight.

Gangseok turned his head fully, organizing his thoughts. His gaze landed on a woman. She was the one who had made the sound and was today's model.

The moment the model met Gangseok's gaze, she instinctively covered her mouth, which had opened wide. Her ears were red, and she seemed embarrassed by her overly loud reaction.

"I'm sorry. Was my voice too loud? I was startled for a moment..."

Maybe her voice was too loud and caused a disturbance. The model, Go Yu-min, said this with a red face. Gangseok waved his hand, as if to say it was nothing.

"It's break time, right? What does it matter if you make a loud noise? More importantly, do you like the drawing?"

"Of course! I love it. I want to take it home. If it disappears halfway, you'll think I took it."

Go Yu-min's friendly chatter continued even with her cheeks blushing like peaches.

While Gangseok and Go Yu-min were having this conversation, the gathered third-year students were looking at the drawing with noticeably stiff faces.

It was because of what Gangseok had just said.

— "It's break time, right?"

Break time.

As Gangseok said, it was break time.

This was the first break time they had been given. However, today's figure drawing was scheduled to proceed with 20 minutes of posing and 10 minutes of rest.

In other words, this drawing was completed in less than 30 minutes from the start.

'This was drawn in 30 minutes...'

'All that's left is to write the date and name in the bottom right corner, and it's done, right?'

The students turned their heads to look at their own drawings on the opposite side.

Due to the angle, they couldn't see them clearly, but most were just finishing their sketches or had just finished their sketches and were starting the initial shading.

His hands were really fast. There was a significant difference in speed. And it didn't seem like he could capture the form so well.

'Look at these soft, plump arms. It really looks like they would sink in if you touched them.'

It was unbelievable how he captured the texture in such a short time. The third-year students unconsciously scanned Gangseok's pencil case, wondering if there was a difference in materials.

'Is he using 8B to lay down a dark base in one go? Otherwise, how could it be so dense?'

'Come to think of it, it's also unbelievable that he can draw so quickly in this spot. I've never seen him get up. Did he take a photo with his phone and draw while zooming in? Some people are particularly good at copying.'

'Look at that delicate touch on top of the density. Can you really create so many textures with the same pencil? Maybe it's possible with 8B, 4B, 6B, and 2B. Is he using them like that?'

However, there were no special tools or methods visible in his pencil case or on his easel. The third-year students bitterly recalled the lesson from yesterday.

Indeed, the world is wide, and there are many talented people.

Meanwhile.

Once Go Yu-min's mouth opened, the words flowed like a stream.

"But how can you draw so well? You didn't learn on your own, right? Which art school do you go to? When did you start?"

There were too many questions.

Gangseok rolled his eyes, flustered. The cold and intellectual atmosphere he had when posing was gone, and a rabbit seemed to be hopping in front of him.

"Um... so..."

"Is it something like being a protégé of your uncle?"

What? Gangseok tilted his head reflexively.

"Your uncle?"

"Ah! You don't know...!"

The model, Go Yu-min, clapped her hands and turned around. She then pointed towards where the teachers were gathered and called out.

"Uncle!"

Everyone turned their heads towards the sound of "uncle" that suddenly echoed in the drawing room. The teachers also turned their eyes towards Go Yu-min. Is one of them your uncle?

"Ah."

The one who responded was Go Dohan, who was wearing a cap pulled down low.

Everyone's eyes widened. Uncle. Isn't that what you call the male siblings of a married father?

"Have you been married?"

"Teacher, have you been married?"

Not only the third-year students but also the part-time teachers looked at Go Dohan with surprised expressions.

Under the focused gaze, Go Dohan adjusted his cap, cleared his throat, and opened a magazine. [Art College Entrance Exam]. It was one of the monthly magazines read by students preparing for art college entrance exams, their parents, and teachers.

Teacher Go Dohan covered his face with the magazine.

"Break time is over. Sit down."

"Huh."

"Ah!"

"Ah, teacher!"

...

Complaints rained down in the drawing room, but the tyrant of the drawing room, Go Dohan, didn't budge.

Squish, squish.

In the end, only the sound of pencils being used remained in the drawing room. For hours, everyone drew with their mouths agape. The students glanced at the clock.

It was almost lunchtime.

Everyone's pencils had noticeably slowed down. The sharply sharpened pencils stared at the model for a long time before very carefully and gently touching the paper.

Now, they were just adding a bit more detail to the face, erasing highlights from the hair, and filling in the gaps. They were only doing a little to improve the completion.

There was almost no aggressive movement to increase density or volume.

Except for Gangseok.

Squish, squish, squish!

Gangseok had almost completed one in 30 minutes and continued to move his pencil roughly for 4 hours.

'What could he possibly have so much to express that he keeps drawing for 4 hours?'

'If he keeps touching it so much, it won't look good; it will just turn black.'

'Why aren't the teachers stopping him...?'

'Being too fast is also a problem.'

The third-year students shook their heads.

To avoid disturbing the drawing, they intentionally avoided looking at Gangseok's drawing from the second break onwards.

As a result, none of the third-year students knew how his drawing was progressing. However, one thing was clear.

If he kept piling on the density, it would only get duller, not better.

Improving the completion is good, but moving the pencil so roughly wouldn't yield any results.

When you lay the pencil flat and move it like you're coloring, you get that sound. While you can draw darkly, it smears what you've already drawn.

At the beginning, you can build up the density tightly by changing the direction you lay the pencil. But once the density is high, even if you keep pressing down, it won't increase indefinitely.

Unless the paper tears.

'He can't not know that...'

The third-year students, now with a look of confusion, finished their drawings while listening to the continuous sound of the pencil moving without a break from start to finish.

At that moment, the alarm went off.

It was the end of the four hours agreed upon with the model. Go Yu-min, Go Dohan's niece, stood up sharply.

"Bring your drawings here."

While Go Yu-min was getting down from the table with the help of Jang Yu-min, the part-time teachers came forward to collect the drawings.

"Good job. We're going to have bean sprout soup for lunch, so let's move quickly."

Bean sprout soup!

The students, who thought they would only have school lunch, moved excitedly at the news of eating out. They also glanced at Gangseok, who was bringing his drawing from the corner.

They were curious about how his drawing had turned out. Then, Gangseok tilted the drawing board he had placed on the easel.

Huh?

The third-year students, who were watching, stopped in their tracks. They stopped because they saw Gangseok tilt the drawing board and reach for the kraft paper that was stuck between the easel and the board.

The paper. Something they hadn't paid attention to before. Come to think of it, they had only been given one sheet each, so why were there several sheets in there?

...Huh?

The third-year students looked at Gangseok with a "what if" expression. And Gangseok did not disappoint their expectations.

Gangseok took out the kraft paper that was stuck inside and walked forward. In other words, that was also a drawing.

What...!

The students, who were holding their papers, now openly looked at Gangseok. One of them pointed at the paper Gangseok was holding.

"Gangseok, is that... all..."

"Excuse me?"

"Is that... all drawings?"

Gangseok furrowed his brow. He had a "what are you talking about" expression. After a moment, he nodded.

"Yes. Drawings of the model."

"......Wow!"

Someone gasped.

"How many... how many are there?"

"Four."

Four! While they had been drawing one for 4 hours, Gangseok had drawn four.

"Can we... can we see them?"

"Yes. Go ahead."

Gangseok handed over the drawings with a nonchalant attitude. However, his eyes were sharp like a hawk's.

It was as if he would lash out at anyone who smudged the drawings or handled them carelessly. The third-year students, unaware that they were intimidated by a student a year younger, respectfully took the drawings with both hands.

They carefully turned each page.

"Wow... wow..."

"They're all different. The compositions are all different."

"Exactly. It's like he saw her from different angles. Wow... how? He was in the same spot the whole time."

"The first one was a drawing that could only be made from that spot, right? He just drew from anywhere."

"How good do you have to be at drawing the human body to do this?"

"His observational skills are also incredible. Look at the earrings. They're all different angles."

The third-year students couldn't stop looking at the drawings.

Completing a figure drawing in an hour from different angles in the same spot. It sounds easy, but even in Seogyodong, where the best teachers gather, they couldn't do this.

He's crazy. Really crazy.

"Wait. Where did he find the time to draw these? I saw him go to sharpen his pencil. He took his time."

"I saw that too. And he went to the bathroom."

"Hey, I saw him go to get a drink."

Drink. Right. The third-year students turned their gaze to where Gangseok had been sitting. On the chair he had placed on the table, there was a can. A grape-flavored carbonated drink.

Seeing it made the boiling feelings of inferiority and frustration evaporate.

Moreover, look at Gangseok's expression. That calm face, as if he didn't think he had done anything special. It was a face that even Buddha would acknowledge as free from suffering.

'He's on a different level.'

'How dare I even think of competing. Wow... I really can't compete.'

'I'd rather act cool in front of a caterpillar than pretend to be good in front of him, really.'

The third-year students shook their heads.

It was a complete defeat.

"Hurry up and bring your drawings!"

* * * *

"Here you go."

"Okay. It's hot."

"Thank you...!"

Clack, clack. The bean sprout soup was quickly placed on the table. It didn't take long for the soup to be placed in front of the seventeen people and the silver tray to be cleared away.

"Let's eat."

"Enjoy your meal!"

"Thank you, teacher!"

"I'll enjoy it!"

The children lifted their spoons towards the steaming bean sprout soup. It was lunchtime.

Go Dohan, watching the children start eating, added finely chopped seaweed to the boiled egg in his rice bowl.

Go Dohan lifted his spoon and looked ahead. In front of him was Gangseok.

Go Dohan, who had been rubbing the seaweed into the boiled egg, spoke casually.

"Are you preparing a figure drawing for the solo exhibition?"

16. Preparing...?