Chapter 3

It was a beautiful gray.

I drew this.

The line drawn on the Kent paper resembled a sharply curved 'ㄱ', as if an airplane had landed and taken off again, with the beginning and end as sharp as needles and the middle blunt.

The position was also perfect.

The line starting from the left eyebrow bone and extending to the bridge of the nose hinted that this sketch would eventually reveal a half-right-side composition, the most beautiful in plaster drawing.

I leaned back and admired the line, then gripped the pencil again. The pencil sharpener, which had conducted heat appropriately, slipped into my hand.

Indeed, it was different from before yesterday.

I could feel things I hadn't felt until yesterday. Just by wiggling my fingers, I could sense the weight of the air flowing between them. My senses were at least ten times sharper than usual.

I raised my eyes slightly. Beyond the easel, I could see the back of Venus's head. My vision was twice as clear as usual.

I could express a clump of hair as if it were wriggling, but what I wanted to draw was not the back of her head.

I closed my eyes again. Soon, the half-right-side of the Venus plaster statue I had seen when passing by the easel was drawn in my mind. I was amazed at how vividly I could recall it, as if I had taken a photo.

It was certain.

The heightened senses and exceptional memory.

This was from my past life.

When I recalled my past life after the accident yesterday, my senses and memory, like Michelangelo's, had awakened along with the memories.

Just as these thoughts were connecting, a sudden sound of pencils drawing on paper came from all around, reminding me that the exam was ongoing.

Yes, the exam was ongoing.

The changes happening to me now were incredibly surprising, but it wasn't the right time to just sit and marvel.

Let's draw first.

2.4cm. I placed my thumb over the logo of the Tombow Mono pencil, which was engraved above the sharply sharpened graphite. The wood grain, cut by a knife, touched my thumb.

I pressed the pencil, remembering the position where the cutter had passed, and moved it. The deep black of the Tombow Mono left a black and white spectrum as it followed.

Smoothly— I drew the line without hesitation, not blinking once. The movement of the pencil gradually sped up. Hurry, before the concentration fades! I traced the lines in my mind on the white canvas, circling and circling.

Quickly, intensely, without stopping!

I drew the pencil like a possessed person, madly.

━ ♪♬♪♬

Then the bell rang.

My ears twitched, and my body moved.

━ ♪♪ ♪

Chopin's Ballade No. 1 highlight. The bell signaling the break. The moment I recognized it, my concentration broke, and the sound pierced my ears.

At the same time, all the sounds of the world returned. The heightened senses that had soared to the sky came back into my body. I felt suffocated. Phew, I burst out breathing. I had forgotten to breathe while concentrating.

"Okay, those who need to go to the bathroom, go and come back. Those who want to continue drawing, keep drawing."

"If you're caught looking at your phone in the bathroom, you'll lose points!"

The voices of the young teachers, who were teaching the drawing class under Mr. Goh, echoed throughout the practical room.

When did 50 minutes pass? I turned my head, hearing the bell from the main building. I was dazed. The sky beyond the wide-open window was a clear blue.

"Su-jin, I'm going to the bathroom..."

"Sure, let's go together."

The girls paired up and headed to the bathroom, while the relatively fewer boys in the art department gathered in a corner of the practical room.

Some students examined their own drawings or stood up to observe the plaster statue.

"Hey, hey, look. Kang-seok is spacing out."

"Leave him alone."

"Is he having trouble drawing?"

"...But I can't understand why he can't draw despite working so hard. Is it really that difficult?"

While taking a brief break, the group of students shot barbs. Their voices, not caring whether they were heard or not, hit the mark precisely.

They seemed to be reaffirming their own position by looking down. Some students' gazes followed them and landed on me.

If it were me from yesterday, I would have been hurt by those words and gazes. But not today's me. I shot them a smirk.

"...Did Kang-seok just laugh at us?"

"...What?"

There were 2 hours and 10 minutes left until the exam ended. They would understand why I laughed when the time was up. For now, I wanted them to be curious about why I laughed.

With that thought, I laid down the pencil. It was time to fill in the surfaces.

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.

.

Time teacher Im Woo-hyun looked at his watch.

There were about 4 minutes left until the end of the third period break. The students were frantically working on their easels, trying to make a final push.

Their expressions were all bad.

The plaster statue lacked the luster needed to express a glossy shine, the mass was too bulky to describe sharply, and the fundamental white color made it difficult to reveal the contrast by pressing down darkly at this point.

I could see the students in class D struggling, unsure how to finish their work.

'This... It's more discriminating than I thought.'

Despite being a staple of Korean fine arts entrance exams from 1980 to 2000, the plaster statue seemed quite unfamiliar to these students. They revealed their basic skills without any filter in front of the plaster statue.

The 'plaster drawing,' once a symbol of rote learning, had become a hidden card for evaluating basic skills. It was a long time coming.

Looking at his watch out of habit, he realized 2 minutes had already passed. There were 2 minutes left. It was time to start preparing. Im Woo-hyun straightened his back from the wall.

At that moment, a woman with a bob cut approached him.

"Mr. Im Woo-hyun."

"Ah, Ms. Jang Yu-min."

Ms. Jang Yu-min, who was in charge of the drawing class C, was a new teacher recruited from Anseong Arts High School to Cheonghua Arts High School. She chattered excitedly like a playful child.

"Cheonghua Arts High School is definitely different. Everyone is so talented."

"Of course. This is Cheonghua Arts High School."

In reality, the students had already surpassed the high school level a long time ago, but the exam had revealed their differences.

"That's right. This is Cheonghua Arts High School."

Im Woo-hyun nodded, looking slightly unimpressed. It was 11:30, and the exam had been ongoing for three hours.

Without hesitation, Im Woo-hyun walked towards the students.

"Okay, the exam is over! Everyone, take your hands off the paper!"

Jang Yu-min glanced at Im Woo-hyun for a moment, then turned to class C. She clapped her hands and opened her mouth.

"From now on, touching the drawings is considered cheating. The class presidents of each drawing class, collect the drawings... Oh, and check if anyone has forgotten to write their name in the bottom right corner before you bring them!"

Sighs of disappointment echoed throughout the room. At the same time, the sound of folding chairs and easels being put away filled the practical room.

As the plaster stands and easels were removed, the practical room returned to its original spacious form. The class presidents of each drawing class collected the students' drawings from the clips.

Each time a drawing was handed over, the presidents checked the name in the bottom right corner and folded the corner to hide it, preventing any cheating.

This was also the case for Oh Hye-jung, the class president of class D. She carefully examined each drawing.

By checking the drawings of the students in class D, who had similar skills to hers, she could roughly estimate her own ranking. Maybe she could move up to class C this time. Oh Hye-jung's hands moved faster.

Oh Hye-jung's rank was 62nd out of 80 students in the art department. For her to move up, most of the students in class D needed to perform worse than her. Thud, thud, as she approached Mr. Im Woo-hyun, her hands stopped at the last drawing.

...What is this?

.

.

.

"Hye-jung, are you okay?"

"..."

"Hye-jung?"

"...What?"

Kwon So-hee, who had been in the same art school as Oh Hye-jung since middle school, looked at her with a worried expression.

From Kwon So-hee's perspective, Oh Hye-jung had been acting strangely since the exam ended. She seemed to be in a daze, and her face was flushed, as if she had a fever.

"Hey, are you really sick? Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

"No, no, I'm fine."

Oh Hye-jung shook her head, gripping the blanket tightly. As she followed Oh Hye-jung's gaze, she saw the teachers arranging the papers for evaluation.

Is it because of the results? Should I tell her I'll check for her so she can go with peace of mind? Just then, Kim Dong-hwi from the next class approached, his cheeks twitching.

Ah, why is this unpleasant guy coming over again? Kwon So-hee frowned as Kim Dong-hwi moved a folding chair next to Oh Hye-jung.

"Oh Hye-jung, did you see Kang-seok's drawing?"

"..."

"Kang-seok's drawing. Since you're the class president of D, you must have seen it while collecting the drawings, right?"

"Uh, yeah."

As Oh Hye-jung awkwardly responded, Kim Dong-hwi got straight to the point.

"How was it? Did he draw well?"

"Hey, Kim Dong-hwi, Hye-jung is sick right now. Don't bother her and just ask Kang-seok yourself. He'll tell you if you ask."

"Ah, should I? Hmm. I was going to ask, but I was afraid it would be embarrassing."

Kim Dong-hwi's cheeks twitched. He looked as if it had turned out well. Kwon So-hee looked at him with a disgusted expression.

Kang-seok, who had always been the worst in all practical classes for two years, would likely be the worst again this time. Why would he need to ask?

Besides, as a student in the A class for drawing, Kim Dong-hwi had no reason to be curious. He just wanted to enjoy the moment when Kang-seok was the worst.

"You really need to stop."

Kwon So-hee wasn't a crusader for justice, but Kim Dong-hwi's behavior was too childish for a high school student.

"What? You're talking strangely, Kwon So-hee."

Kim Dong-hwi hated Kang-seok, and the reason was well-known.

During a group project on expression techniques in the first year, Kim Dong-hwi had spread false information. It all started when Kang-seok pointed it out. There was no way to not know.

Kwon So-hee opened her mouth to tell the whole story, which was taboo to Kim Dong-hwi, but Oh Hye-jung spoke first.

"Kim Dong-hwi, are you curious about Seok's drawing?"

The sudden change in the conversation went unnoticed, and no one realized that Oh Hye-jung had called Kang-seok by the more familiar "Seok."

Kim Dong-hwi looked at Oh Hye-jung with a strangely disappointed expression.

"Uh? Well, I was going to ask Kang-seok directly, but can you tell me?"

"Sure. It's that one."

Oh Hye-jung pointed to a specific spot.

Kim Dong-hwi, Kwon So-hee, and the other students around them naturally followed her finger. Oh Hye-jung's finger pointed precisely to the last drawing in class D.

The very bottom row, a position that couldn't be mistaken. The students stood up from their chairs to see Kang-seok's drawing.

That one? Before they could deny it, they were shocked.

There was Venus.

Literally. No one thought it was a drawing made of lines and surfaces. The goddess of love and beauty was alive and breathing within the A4 paper.

"...No way."

As Kim Dong-hwi's hand, which had met the benevolent gaze, dropped, a pencil fell.

4. Thud