5
# 5. The Beginning and the End
"Let's call it a day."
It was one of the two weekly tutoring sessions.
After the lesson ended, the tutor studied Kim Seungho's face.
"You've been pretty tired lately, haven't you? Just hang in there a little longer. The third stage will be over soon."
"Not really. I'm actually more relaxed now that I don't have to worry about my school grades."
This was the point when both the student and the teacher should have been exhausted.
Even so, Kim Seungho continued to devote himself silently to his drawings.
"He's so mature for someone his age."
Sometimes he was almost too mature, reminding her of the middle-aged students she had once taught at the community
center.
Still, one thing was obvious.
He had been raised remarkably well.
"Excuse me, Teacher. Could you come over here for a moment?"
As she headed toward the front door, someone called out to her.
It was Kim Seungho's father, who looked much slimmer than when they had first met.
Wondering what was going on, she walked over, only for him to suddenly hold out an envelope.
"Um... Sir, I thought this month's tutoring fee wasn't due until next week."
"We wanted to show a small token of our appreciation."
"Our appreciation? I truly appreciate the thought, but he's only just passed the second stage."
"Please don't say that. Without your help, there's no way our son could have made it this far."
The tutor couldn't quite process what was happening.
Normally, Hanyeong entrance tutoring focused only on the third stage, and Kim Seungho had been no exception.
Since he had already prepared so well for the second stage on his own, she had simply concentrated on helping him with
the third.
"We may not know much about the art world, but we do know Hanyeong is the hardest school to get into. A kid who's never
even attended an academy couldn't possibly have made it to the third stage without your help."
"...Excuse me? An academy?"
"Seungho kept insisting private tutoring alone was enough, and it turns out he was right. Anyway, please accept it. My
wife already agreed."
Completely bewildered, the tutor accepted the envelope that was practically forced into her hands.
Before she even had a chance to explain that Kim Seungho's fundamentals had already been exceptional when they first
met, she found herself gently ushered outside.
Of all the students she had ever taught,
Kim Seungho understood every lesson better than anyone else.
And now she had learned that instead of building his foundation at an academy...
he had been entirely self-taught.
"That ridiculous genius..."
Muttering to herself, the tutor decided it was best not to think too deeply about it.
---
Time flew by after the second-stage results were announced.
One day,
with Hanyeong's final entrance examination just around the corner,
Kim Seungho said goodbye to the tutor who had guided him for more than six months.
"Thank you for working so hard all this time, Seungho."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you. If I end up preparing for a regular arts high school, I'll see you again."
"I don't think that'll happen."
Embarrassed to say it himself, Kim Seungho simply smiled.
In truth,
he wasn't worried about failing.
Against other middle school students, the advantage of time was simply too great.
No matter how everyone else performed,
he would simply paint a picture that satisfied himself.
Holding onto that resolve, he spent the remaining days preparing.
Eventually,
the day finally arrived.
[Korea Arts Gifted School
Fine Arts Department
Third-Stage Examination]
Unlike the second stage, which had been held in separate classrooms,
the third-stage examination gathered every applicant together inside the school's gymnasium.
Kim Seungho found his assigned seat among the long rows of desks.
"The open space feels much less suffocating."
The seating appeared to be arranged alphabetically.
By chance, he had been assigned the seat in the very corner.
Every examination on the first day would take place there.
"Advanced sketching in the morning.
Watercolor and essay in the afternoon."
Unlike other gifted schools, which evaluated students through various creative problem-solving exercises,
Hanyeong simply locked applicants inside the examination hall and made them draw all day.
According to rumors,
by the end of the watercolor exam, students' hands were trembling from exhaustion.
"Testing, testing. Can everyone hear me in the back? Put away everything except what you need on your desks."
Once the time came,
a proctor stepped onto the platform and began explaining the instructions.
As Kim Seungho absentmindedly watched,
he remembered something his tutor had repeatedly emphasized.
The advanced sketching exam generally fell into one of two categories.
Either the subject itself was extremely complicated...
or the applicant had to creatively reinterpret the given subject with their own ideas.
Which type would this year's exam be?
Everyone waited anxiously.
The moment the proctor revealed the still-life arrangement,
sighs echoed throughout the gym.
Problem
Depict a scene in which a small electric fan destroys a pineapple.
Time Limit: 3 Hours
"So sometimes they combine both types into one nightmare."
The fan and the pineapple were already time-consuming objects to draw.
On top of that,
they had to creatively transform the scene.
It was an absurdly difficult assignment.
Quite a few students looked completely overwhelmed.
But no matter how much they panicked,
the exam question wasn't going to change.
"If it's difficult for me,
it's difficult for everyone."
Steadying himself,
Kim Seungho picked up his pencil.
---
Beeeeep!
Beeeeep!
"Time's up! Put your hands on your heads!"
The morning session had truly lived up to its title of "advanced."
The examination hall descended into chaos.
"Holy crap... This is really a high school entrance exam?"
"I've drawn all these objects before, but the moment they said to destroy them, my brain completely froze."
"Are the people who wrote this exam obsessed with being different? Did they really have to make it this bizarre?"
The gym filled with complaints and helpless laughter.
But the students' frustration quickly faded.
"We're handing out lunchboxes! Eat at your seats and bring your trash to the front afterward!"
Kim Seungho wasn't completely satisfied with his morning piece either.
He couldn't shake the feeling that he had interpreted the word "destroy" a little too literally.
Still,
the lunch break was far more important than dwelling on a finished exam.
If he didn't eat properly,
there was no way he would survive the four-hour afternoon session.
"I really was always hungry as a student."
Even though he had eaten a hearty breakfast,
three hours of nonstop drawing had left him starving.
After polishing off every grain of rice in his lunchbox and walking over to throw away the trash—
"Dormitory room assignments have been posted near the entrance! Please check them in advance!"
"I was wondering when they'd announce them."
As the nickname "camp" suggested,
Hanyeong's third-stage examination lasted two days and one night.
Applicants spent the night in two-person dormitory rooms before attending interviews the following day.
Since Kim Seungho planned to commute from home if accepted,
this might be the first and last time he ever stayed in the dormitory.
"I won't unpack until tonight anyway, but I should at least check."
A long line of students had already formed in front of the notice board.
While waiting for the crowd to thin,
one student wandering nearby caught his attention.
Partly because he was a tall boy standing among a crowd of girls.
But mostly because...
Kim Seungho recognized the face.
"There's a crazy number of people here, isn't there?"
The boy pointed at himself as if asking whether Kim Seungho was talking to him.
When Kim Seungho nodded,
the boy walked over.
He was at least a head taller than Kim Seungho, who was already tall for his age.
Combined with his narrow eyes and solid build,
he gave off an intimidating impression.
The students nearby quietly stepped aside.
"Yeah.
Guess we'll just have to wait."
But contrary to his appearance,
the boy's voice was calm and gentle.
There was even a hint of relief in it.
Like Kim Seungho,
he had come alone without knowing anyone.
"I'm Kim Seungho.
You're Kang Geunseong, right?"
"Huh? How do you kno... Oh, right. My name's written here. My brain's completely fried."
Kang Geunseong laughed awkwardly as he pointed at the name embroidered on his middle school's gym uniform.
Seeing that expression,
Kim Seungho remembered their first meeting in college.
Back then,
Kang Geunseong had dyed his hair bright blond and looked like a complete delinquent.
Compared to that,
this version of him was incredibly harmless.
"The crowd's getting smaller. I should go check."
"Yeah. I guess all the boys are probably on the same floor anyway."
"There aren't many of us...
Oh."
Their names,
arranged alphabetically,
weren't far apart.
Next to both of them was the exact same room number.
Room 201.
"I was worried it'd be awkward spending the whole day with some stranger.
This is such a relief."
After checking the room assignments,
Kang Geunseong chatted nonstop.
"So he really was shy despite how he looked."
Apparently happy that someone had spoken to him first,
Kang Geunseong refused to leave Kim Seungho's side.
Considering Kim Seungho also didn't know anyone at the moment,
he certainly didn't mind.
"I'm from Dongtan.
What about you?"
"I live around here.
Close enough to walk."
"Seriously? Lucky you. I had to wake up before dawn just to get here, and then I saw that exam question. My brain
completely stopped working."
"Don't worry.
You'll pass."
"Huh? Out of nowhere?"
In his previous life,
Kang Geunseong had attended Hanyeong before enrolling in Seoul National University's Design Department.
He always insisted that his drawing skills weren't very good because he majored in design.
"What a liar.
He was always so modest."
It had also been Kang Geunseong who later told him how difficult this year's entrance exam had been.
Unfortunately,
that part hadn't been an exaggeration.
Still,
he had graduated at the top of his class at Hanyeong.
There was no way he'd fail just because Kim Seungho was here.
"I just mean we should be confident and give it everything we've got."
"Oh... Right. Thanks. But since you live nearby, can't you just go home instead of staying in the dorm?"
"This isn't exactly a school field trip."
Meeting his old friend again,
Kim Seungho found him even more innocent than he remembered.
---
Soon,
the afternoon examination began.
The unexpected reunion had eased his nerves,
but now Kim Seungho forced himself to focus again.
This was the exam he had struggled to understand the most—
and therefore the one he had worked hardest to prepare for.
"My tutor always said getting into Hanyeong was hundreds of times easier than actually making a living as an artist."
Kim Seungho remembered the words she occasionally muttered with a weary expression.
Convincing others through art required tremendous courage and effort.
But once someone chose this path,
there was no escaping it.
"We're handing out the exam papers! Don't touch them until the bell rings!"
Kim Seungho,
along with every other applicant in the gym,
placed a hand on the exam paper.
Beeeeep!
Beeeeep!
The moment the signal sounded,
everyone unfolded their papers at once.
Watercolor and Essay
Depict a scene where the beginning and the end of a life become one.
Time Limit: 4 Hours
Compared to recent years,
the prompt looked deceptively simple.
Several applicants immediately began sketching ideas.
But before long,
they were clutching their heads in frustration.
"They're really asking too much of kids who haven't even had the chance to bloom yet."
These were only third-year middle school students.
To them,
the end of a life was little more than an abstract concept.
Simply put,
they were being asked to create, in four hours,
a work based on a theme that even professional artists would struggle to tackle.
But...
"I've already lived that moment."
The moment when his life as a businessman who had abandoned his dream came to an end.
The moment he was given a second life.
After briefly considering the composition and how he wanted to express it,
Kim Seungho placed his pencil on the final sheet.
He was the first applicant to begin drawing.
The perspective was from the driver's seat of a car,
looking out through the windshield.
It was a familiar scene,
yet fundamentally different.
In the painting he had created in his previous life,
he had captured the instant of emerging from the tunnel into blinding light.
This time,
he intended to paint what came after.
The world beyond the light.
"Now...
I can finally imagine the scenery outside the tunnel."
The final painting he had left unfinished in his previous life.
He decided to complete it here.