Chapter 7

In a studio near Seokgwan-dong, a female student was speaking in an irritated voice.

“Teacher.”

“…”

“Teacher!”

It was Seo Ji-won. She was speaking to Professor Lee Jong as if she was arguing with him.

Sensing that she wouldn’t give up, Professor Lee Jong sighed, put down his paintbrush, and said, “Yes, I’m listening.”

“The workplace recruitment test. Why did I fail?”

“…I see. By any chance, did you see Jaeha’s drawing?”

“That’s…”

“You must have not seen it.”

Professor Lee Jong smiled as if he knew this would happen. At the same time, Seo Ji-won flinched.

But there was nothing she could do to refute.

As the professor said, it was true that she left early under the pretext of having an appointment. Nevertheless, she still felt that it was unfair.

‘I thought I’d pass.’

She thought that she would be the special one among this year’s freshmen.

After all, wasn’t she ranked first in the practical test?

She even checked the skill level of the other students in advance through her father’s connections with Han Ye-won’s faculty to make sure that she would be the best.

‘The files said all their skills were just so-so.’

So she had left the academy without much worry. However, the notification she received from her phone yesterday was completely unexpected.

‘I’ve failed? Nonsense.’

She knew the skill level of Lee Jae-ha who took the recruitment test together with her.

An average level according to the entrance exam standards.

His drawings that were shown in class were pretty good compared to other students, but it was still no match for hers.

She thought that she was definitely going to be the one to get the seat in Professor Lee Jong’s studio.

But when she was pushed back, she realized that something had gone wrong.

“…Please let me know. Why did I fail?”

Professor Lee Jong smiled at her question.

“Why don’t you go to the academy and check the paintings yourself?”

Seo Ji-won became silent.

It was unacceptable for her to go all the way back to the academy and look at other people’s paintings because of her pride. Professor Lee Jong told her to do so because he was well aware of this fact.

He continued in a calm voice.

“Since we’re all in the same department, we’ll probably run into each other a lot in class, right? If you have an opportunity, I think it would be good to have a conversation with him directly and think about it.”

“Teacher!”

‘Do you want me to bow down to him?’

She frowned because the thought of that was even more absurd, but Professor Lee Jong said with a smile.

“Maybe this is an opportunity too?”

“What?”

Seo Ji-won wrinkled her beautiful forehead when he said it was an opportunity.

“I remember when you said that the level of the other students was so low that it wouldn’t be fun. What do you think now?”

“…”

Seo Ji-won’s face turned red.

‘Yeah, I did say something similar.’

She stood still, thinking she shouldn’t have said anything back then, but Professor Lee Jong continued with a happy expression.

“School is a place of learning. If you think about it, there will definitely be something that you can achieve if you speak with Jaeha.”

The bottom line was that I didn’t want to tell you.

Seo Ji-won bit her lip harshly before turning around.

“…I’ll be back later.”

With those words, Seo Ji-won left the studio.

Thud.

Professor Lee Jong grinned as he watched Seo Ji-won’s retreating figure.

‘It’s been a while since Ji-won did something like that.’

She was a child who lived on her own high horse.

‘I’ve never seen you care about other people’s paintings.’

Wasn’t his role as a painting teacher simply an extension? Ji-won had nothing to learn from other instructors because of their poor skills. Even if all of them were called prominent instructors, those people were not perfect in Seo Ji-won’s eyes.

She used to be confident and relaxed, but now she’s nervous about just one undergraduate.

‘This is also about youth and learning’

I liked this year’s freshmen.

Especially Lee Jae-ha.

I want to help and improve his skills.

‘Come to think of it, there will be a contest soon.’

What kind of work would Lee Jae-ha submit?

A pleasant atmosphere of imagination unfolded.

*

Meanwhile, in the classroom.

‘…What’s wrong with you?’

Seo Ji-won glared at me.

Even if I tried not to be conscious of it, I couldn’t ignore it because her gaze was so balant that it was difficult to ignore.

It was ridiculous.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

They competed fairly, and he had won in the end.

That was it.

But now, Seo Ji-won was looking at me as if I were a deadly enemy.

Let’s think about what’s wrong with her for a moment.

A guess flashed through my head and struck me like lightning.

‘Are you the kind of person who blames others for their own failures?’

What kind of trick do you think I used to make you fail?

It was a pretty probable guess.

‘How mean.’

I had never met her in my previous life, so I didn’t know how she typically was, but she must have been this kind of person.

But

I’m the winner.

And a loser is a loser at best.

There’s no disadvantage for either side when the competition is between undergraduates, so it’s best to ignore it. Besides, no matter how much Seo Ji-won stares, it’s actually cuter than anything else.

‘Do you want me to write an apology letter? Or will you attempt to throw a ball of paper in my face?’

I continued to disregard Seo Ji-won’s stare and prepared for the class. A middle-aged professor soon entered the classroom.

Tap, tap.

The professor was a woman in sophisticated clothing. Seeing that her hair was colored almost entirely grey, she must have been quite old, but her age was overshadowed by her elegance.

No, actually, even her age seemed to complement her sense of style.

‘I wasn’t aware of this in my previous life, but now that I see her, I know she’s amazing.’

The professor’s name is Kang Noah, and she was the one who showed sophisticated fashion with a sense of the future to me.

She was a godmother of the Korean design industry.

‘I wasn’t interested in anything about her when I was an undergraduate, and after I got a job, I only got tired of hearing that name.’

No matter how legendary a person is, if he or she is not interested, then he or she is just a machine that gives out tasks.

By the time I had realized her true greatness, it was too late.

‘I’m going to get everything in this life.’

While Lee Jae-ha was making up his mind, the professor stood on the podium and said with a smile,

“Nice to meet you all. My name is Kang Noah, and I am in charge of this year’s design expression techniques class. It’s your first time seeing me like this, right? But I’m sure there are some of you who have encountered my works before.”

It was a bold self-introduction.

‘I don’t know you, but you know my works.’

She was entitled to say that. In fact, she deserved it.

“Please look over here.”

She displayed some of her designs on the PPT.

From small beverage bottles to corporate logos and clothing, products with no common denominator passed by.

“I’ve seen that before.”

“Awesome. I drank this drink just this morning, too.

Astonished voices rang out from among the students.

After giving a unique self-introduction like that, Professor Kang went straight to the topic.

“Han Yewon students always surprise me. This applies especially to last semester’s students. I hope that all the freshmen will be able to demonstrate great performances just like their seniors. Now, let’s start today’s class.”

The noisy students became quiet in an instant.

Professor Kang Noah skillfully manipulated the PPT to display a picture. The painting was one that I’ve seen many times before.

It’s a picture using optical illusion.

It was a picture of an angel coming down from heaven. However, if you look at it differently, you could see it as a devil.

Several similar paintings passed by.

Professor Kang Noah asked in a voice full of joy.

“What did these paintings look like to you?”

“······.”

The students were silent and unmoving.

Professor Kang Noah sighed and said,

“I’ll give the student who answers first an attitude score.”

[TL/N – Think of attitude score as extra credit]

“Me!”

One student raised his hand, and if he was claiming to be an artist, he had his long hair tied back.

By the way, that student was a man.

It’s unconventional, but having long hair tied back is Han Yewon’s style.

“Yes, tell the students here what you noticed.”

“Hmm.”

He coughed and said,

“Sometimes it looks like a rabbit, but if you look at it with one eye closed, you can see it as a human.”

“So how, or why can the same painting look so different?”

“That’s… depending on what you see first, it seems a little different… or …”

While the student was hesitating, unable to come up with a definite answer, the professor turned her head and said,

“Yes, thank you for your answer. Then this time… there. The student in a black shirt. Would you like to answer this?”

Oops.

I was singled out.

However, it was not too much of a burden because I could get extra credit from this situation.

I have a useful answer in my head.

Getting up from my seat, I said

“The reason why each piece looks different despite being the same painting is because each person has a different perspective of things.”

“Be specific, what would it be?”

It starts now.

I took a long breath and began to pour out words one after another.

“From colors to three-dimensional senses, what you expect from the artwork can be different. There may be a difference between looking at the entire painting and simply analyzing partial details. And there are also cultural differences.”

“Oh…·····.”

It wasn’t a special type of theory, but admiration was heard among the surrounding students.

Professor Kang Noah also said, “I like your answer.”

“The part about cultural differences was most impressive. All right. Please elaborate more for us.”

“There was a time when an American fashion brand entered Korea. It was a brand called Zilly.”

“Ah, I didn’t expect any of the boys to know the brand.”

Professor Kang Noah smiled pleasantly.

That was the reaction I intended to get from her.

That professor used to work in Zilly for a while.

I kept pretending that I didn’t know anything.

“Now, Zilly, who had thought they successfully settled in the domestic market, in fact, had to go through a catastrophic failure when votes were cast for the best in the domestic market.”

“How come?”

“It’s because different countries have different views.”

I took a break and then continued.

“At that time, Zilly was a brand that was a huge success on the mainland because of its minimalist design, but during that time, colorful clothes were the ones that sold well in the Korean market. So the boredom of simple designs was simply seen as lacking in proper style.”

“It’s clothing without personality… then Zilly must have been screwed. You don’t mean to always talk in such a manner, do you?”

Laughter erupted among the students at the professor’s criticism.

I shook my head calmly and said,

“No, Zilly was almost doomed, but they changed their sales strategy extensively and hit the jackpot with their new designs.”

“What kind of strategy was it?”

Professor Kang Noah asked with an expression showing that she was interested.

I replied in a clearer voice.

“Marketing with eco-friendly fashion.”

“Well, keep going.”

“At that time, Korea wasn’t without controversy due to environmental issues, and Zilly succeeded through marketing the image of an eco-friendly product on a design that followed the trend back then. It was a very successful strategy.”

It was literally what they did.

In fact, they sold products that had nothing to do with solving environmental issues, but they succeeded in reviving their company through such marketing.

How do I know this?

This is because it was an anecdote that I tiredly used over and over again when I was training my successors at the company that I worked for in my previous life.

‘It was an example of a good design that doesn’t necessarily sell well.’

And…

The person who set up the sales strategy for Zilly at the time is the person right in front of me now.

It was Professor Kang Noah.

She smirked at my answer and said.

“That was a good answer. Thank you. What’s your name and department?”

“I’m Lee Jae-ha, a visual design major.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I look forward to hearing more answers like that from you in the future.”

Surprised looks could be felt from the other students.

You must have admired me because of the fact that this strict-looking professor gave me a favorable gaze.

‘You’re lucky.’

Anyway, luck is also a skill.

“Is there anyone else who has an opinion?”

“······.”

“There isn’t, then I’ll continue the class.”

Unfortunately, nobody else got the next extra point.

Even if someone did, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the level of answers that I gave.

“Yes, even if you look at the same artwork like this, your feelings about the painting will be completely different depending on your perspective.”

Professor Kang Noah continued in a calm voice.

“I hope you can apply this lesson and get used to it as if it were like your hands and feet. That’s industrial design.”

Professor Kang Noah moved the presentation to the next slide.

There were some famous paintings floating around, from Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflower’ to Munch’s ‘The Scream’.

They were works that even ordinary people who were not very interested in painting would know.

Professor Kang Noah opened her mouth.

“Let me explain this challenge. Form a group of four people. Then, choose one of the famous paintings on the slideshow and create your own artwork based on that painting. Next class, let’s discuss things while looking at each other’s finished paintings.”

It was a fun assignment even though there were many art schools that did this.

A reinterpretation of classics, and a group discussion after analyzing the four people’s painting of an artwork in their own colors.

It was a task to recognize the view of others.

Professor Kang Noah added a condition here.

“However, the reinterpretation will require originality. The more interpretations that overlap with other students, the harder it will be to get good grades, right?”

It was a tricky condition.

She was basically telling you to think about it until your hair falls out.

[TL/N – Essentially, she’s just saying to think very hard about the assignment ]

So I thought about it.

‘I think I can do it.’