3
# 3. Korea Arts Gifted School
Kim Seungho had very few memories of his mother from his childhood.
Given the nature of her job, which frequently required her to relocate, it couldn't be helped.
Even so, when it came to his education, she had influenced him far more than his father ever had.
Of course, that was partly because his father was practically useless in that department, forcing her to take charge.
In any case, one thing was certain.
Without persuading his mother, changing his future was out of the question.
"So, if you quit the academy now and start preparing for art, do you actually have a plan?"
The fact that his mother had said that much...
was practically the same as saying she was willing to trust him.
Feeling inwardly relieved, Kim Seungho revealed the first step of his plan.
"I'm going to start preparing for the Korea Arts Gifted School entrance exam."
"You mean... the school right next to our house?"
The Korea Arts Gifted School, commonly known as Hanyeong.
Every talented student in the arts applied there, and only the very best survived its rigorous selection process.
It had always stood just beyond his reach despite being right next to his home.
Whenever he listened to stories from acquaintances or the artists he had supported in his previous life, he had always
wondered what life inside that school was like.
And now, by sheer coincidence, he had returned to the past just as it was time to prepare for high school entrance
exams.
It almost felt like fate was giving him another chance to fulfill the dream he had abandoned.
"Isn't that where all the best art students go? There's less than a year left. Can you really do it?"
"My grades are good enough that I should pass the second stage without much trouble. Just let me have one private tutor
to prepare for the third stage."
"And if you fail? What will you do then?"
"The Hanyeong entrance exam is in June, so I'll immediately prepare for a regular arts high school afterward. If I fail
that too, I'll give up completely."
Given how much time he had already devoted to painting in his previous life, he was confident he could pass a regular
arts high school entrance exam even if he started immediately.
But that was something only Kim Seungho himself knew.
His mother silently compared the six months remaining before the Science Gifted School entrance exam with the drawings
lying before her, carefully weighing the possibilities.
The silence didn't last long.
"I'll look for a private tutor."
It was the moment he returned to the very first page of the dream he had folded away years ago.
As the tension left his body, the arms and shoulders he had overworked all day began throbbing.
"If you wanted to study art that badly, why didn't you ask me to send you to an academy back then? You gave up so
quickly that I thought you weren't serious."
"Yeah... I wonder why I did."
Back then, he had probably been terrified of leaving the stable path laid out before him.
And yet...
this was the only time in his life when changing directions would still be acceptable.
Kim Seungho let out a long sigh of relief and exhaustion.
Thinking the discussion had finally ended, his father, who had simply been watching quietly the whole time, suddenly
chimed in.
"So, we're done talking, right? Let's eat dinner. It's getting late. Should we order fried chicken?"
They had just been discussing their son's future, and now he was talking about dinner.
Still, with his mother being so strict, Kim Seungho couldn't help appreciating how easygoing his father was.
"Chicken? Forget that. I heard there's a great soft tofu restaurant nearby."
"Huh? But you don't even like soft tofu..."
"What are you talking about? I love it. Besides, just look at your stomach."
"That's right. I was about to say something myself. This is getting serious. Since we're talking about it, I'll ask your
aunt to help manage your diet."
Preventing his father's sudden death was just as important a task.
Making that silent promise to himself, Kim Seungho deliberately looked away from his father, who now resembled a puppy
caught in the rain.
---
After staying at his mother's house for a few more days, Kim Seungho returned home with his father.
Their family home stood like an isolated island amid the bustling businesses that catered to students near the school.
It was a detached house with its own garden.
He had later heard that even Hanyeong students often wondered who could possibly live there.
The truth was much simpler.
His grandfather had never wanted to sell it, and the family wasn't short on money anyway.
As soon as he returned home, Kim Seungho quit the academy preparing students for the Science Gifted School entrance
exams.
The backlash was even stronger than he'd expected.
"Seungho, be honest with me. Did the teachers do something to upset you?"
"No. Nothing like that."
"That doesn't make sense. Who starts preparing for Hanyeong this late? If someone gave you a hard time, you have to tell
us so we can handle it."
"If I had to complain about something... it'd be this."
He hadn't merely been another student.
He had been considered one of the academy's brightest prospects.
Naturally, the staff reacted strongly.
Even the other students couldn't stop gossiping.
"Preparing only for an arts high school would already be late. Hanyeong? Seriously?"
"He must've studied so much that he finally lost his mind."
"I even heard a rumor that his family's emigrating."
The cold stares directed toward someone who stepped off the path everyone else followed.
One of his friends even worried that there were far too many rumors going around.
Kim Seungho, however, not only ignored them—
he found himself enjoying the reactions.
"If my family were poor and my grades were average, do you think anyone would care about my future?"
"...Well, I guess not."
Besides, like other gifted schools, Hanyeong began its admissions process in June.
No one had the luxury of worrying about someone else's future when they had their own entrance exams approaching.
"I've always wondered who lived in this house. I can't believe I'd end up coming here as a tutor. Life really is
unpredictable."
His private tutor was a young woman who had graduated from both Hanyeong and Seoul National University's College of Fine
Arts.
She had been tutoring students ever since college to save money for studying abroad.
Most importantly,
she happened to be the relative of one of his mother's trusted acquaintances.
Everything had been arranged remarkably quickly.
"I heard your father runs a restaurant. I used to eat there often when I was in school. Good food and great prices."
"Really? Which one?"
"Huh? You've never been to your father's restaurant?"
"My father owns several restaurants..."
"Oh..."
His first impression of her was that she seemed a little absentminded.
But the moment the conversation shifted to lessons, her attitude became completely serious.
"Your mother said I should discuss the lesson plan directly with you."
"Was that rude of me?"
"No, not at all. It's just unusual. First, can I see what level you're at?"
Instead of explaining, Kim Seungho handed over the drawings he had prepared beforehand.
They were all sketches he had completed after returning home from Daejeon and before finding a tutor.
Carefully examining each sheet, she gave a small nod.
"These are good. I don't think you need help with the second stage. We'll just focus on preparing for the third."
The Hanyeong admissions process consisted of three stages, much like other gifted schools.
The first stage was document screening.
The second was a basic sketching examination.
The third was an intensive camp.
The reason Kim Seungho had hired a tutor despite years of drawing experience was precisely because of that final camp.
Over two days and one night, applicants were evaluated through advanced sketching, watercolor painting, essay writing,
and interviews.
"Let's try the watercolor and essay section now."
"Right here?"
"Yes. We'll shorten the time and reduce the size. I just want to see your overall sense."
On the very first day of tutoring, she suggested solving an actual past entrance exam question.
Hearing that made Kim Seungho wonder what it would've been like if he could remember the theme from the year he should
have taken the exam.
"What was the Hanyeong entrance exam like? Hmm... can we talk about something else instead...?"
The only thing he remembered was a Hanyeong graduate he had met in college looking absolutely horrified whenever the
subject came up.
As for the actual exam topic...
he couldn't remember it at all.
Receiving the exam paper, Kim Seungho stared blankly at his tutor.
"...This is really a past exam question?"
"It is. I'll give you a collection of previous questions later. Read through them when you have time. For now, start
drawing."
The task presented a passage from a philosophy book and instructed applicants to reinterpret it using ordinary objects.
For a high school entrance exam, it was absurdly difficult.
He had expected something challenging...
but this was on another level entirely.
"So life isn't supposed to be easy, huh."
Digging through every memory he had of Hanyeong's admissions style from that era, he somehow managed to fill the page.
After carefully reviewing both his essay and drawing, the tutor tilted her head.
"That's strange. The drawing is clean and enjoyable to look at. But why does your essay sound like it was written by a
middle-aged man?"
Ouch.
Because he had run out of time, he had practically scribbled the ending.
His tone and word choice had apparently betrayed him.
"I'd have to see more to be certain, but I think you have a natural sense for arranging a composition in a visually
appealing way. That kind of thing really stands out when judges look through lots of similar drawings."
Maybe she was just encouraging him,
but the corners of his mouth had just begun to lift...
when she immediately pointed out a flaw.
"This part here. Why did you separate this object from the others?"
"Huh? Um..."
"You can't do that. In interviews, the better the drawing is, the more questions like this they'll ask. If you can't
explain your reasoning properly, they'll deduct far more points than you'd expect."
By the time applicants reached Hanyeong's third stage, everyone already possessed solid drawing skills.
Quite often, the essay and interview were what determined whether someone passed or failed.
"But if you consciously draw while thinking about how you'll explain it later in the essay or interview, it becomes
obvious. Then your drawing loses points instead."
"I see..."
"It's difficult, isn't it? But if you keep practicing with me, you'll eventually learn how to naturally express your
thoughts through your artwork. That's exactly what the third stage is looking for."
Twice a week, the tutoring sessions revolved around mock exams and detailed feedback.
Even on days without lessons, Kim Seungho continued completing assignments every single day.
Little by little,
he came to understand why Hanyeong evaluated students this way.
"That's right. A painting that ignores the viewer has no meaning."
In his previous life, Kim Seungho had spent countless hours shut away in his studio, painting works that no one ever
saw.
To him,
this process wasn't simply preparation for an entrance exam.
It was preparation to finally show his art to the world.
He struggled through mountains of assignments late into the night.
Whenever someone casually suggested he should sacrifice his grades since he was pursuing art anyway, he simply ignored
them—
and still managed to keep his place as the top-ranked student in the entire school.
Thus passed the most intense months of his life.
---
"You chose a bird from the given keywords. Why?"
"Because I wanted to express the sharp elegance of fully spread wings while contrasting it with the softness of
feathers."
"But your essay says you wanted to convey a spirit of challenge."
"Every challenge is accompanied by hidden fear. That's the contrast I wanted to express."
"Then why did you choose this composition?"
"I wanted the viewer's eyes to first be drawn to the fully spread wings, then naturally move down to the bird's slender
body."
Question after question came flying at him,
and Kim Seungho answered every one of them without the slightest hesitation.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
His tutor applauded enthusiastically.
"I keep telling people that smart kids should study art too. You drew one bird and came up with all those answers so
naturally. I couldn't even do that when I was preparing for my own entrance exams."
"That was a compliment... right?"
"Of course. I don't think you'll have any trouble in the interview anymore."
Somehow, his speaking ability seemed to have improved even faster than his drawing skills.
In any case,
with every preparation complete,
the admissions process for the Korea Arts Gifted School finally began.