Chapter 6
All of Yeji’s work was done at school.
She was the one personally chosen and expected by the artist Chloe—someone all the students admired.
That alone made people look at Yeji with jealousy and suspicion.
But it didn’t last long.
“It kind of killed the mood. You all saw what she can do, right?”
Before long, students started gathering around Yeji, whispering among themselves.
Yeji had already expected this.
“No matter where you go, if you stand out, people will doubt you.”
Even in her past life, her talent often brought suspicion.
There was no need to respond in any special way.
In the end, the best solution was to prove it herself.
That’s how she had slowly climbed up—from the very bottom to becoming an artist invited to exhibitions.
“Compared to that, kids being jealous is almost cute.”
So Yeji deliberately worked only in the studio where everyone could see her.
Layer by layer, the paint built up, looking like a deep blue ocean that could swallow everything.
At first, people thought it was nothing special.
Some even mocked her, saying she was just pretending to paint well.
But when she began painting flower petals over that deep blue, everyone had to admit it.
“Even that base sketch is something we all did in oil painting class.”
Whether they wanted to deny it or not, they couldn’t.
Yeji had turned a practice piece from class into a real artwork.
While others left their practice sketches behind and used familiar materials like watercolor or acrylic,
Yeji showed a clear difference.
“I heard only one person last year finished an oil painting for this competition.”
“Of course. Who finishes an oil painting in just a month?”
It wasn’t just because oil painting is difficult.
Its biggest drawback is how long it takes to dry.
You paint, wait for it to dry, then paint again—repeating the process.
“For average students, finishing an oil painting in a month is impossible.”
You can’t complete an oil painting in one go.
You paint a base layer, wait days for it to dry, then add another layer and wait again.
If you paint over wet layers, the colors mix and ruin the piece.
So while waiting for paint to dry, you can’t really do anything.
In reality, the actual time you spend painting is reduced to about one-third.
For students unfamiliar with finishing full works, that’s a huge loss of time.
But for Yeji, who remembered her past experience, it wasn’t a problem.
Instead, she used the drying time to study her school subjects.
Kim Jian stood among the whispering students, watching Yeji’s back as she worked.
Jian was the top student in the first-year art department.
She had always been seen as the perfect model student.
Compared to her, Yeji had seemed pretty average.
“Out of nowhere… Lee Yeji?”
But after Chloe Choi appeared, the whole school started paying attention to Yeji.
Last semester, Yeji’s grades were only average.
She had never seemed like a rival—just a classmate.
Jian clenched her teeth.
“Everything has completely changed now.”
She had always believed she was the most promising first-year.
But in an instant, that changed.
She felt extremely uncomfortable with Yeji’s sudden rise.
And it annoyed her even more that she hadn’t noticed Yeji’s talent before.
“Hey, let’s go. We should just focus on our own work.”
“Yeah… this is just making me feel bad.”
The students who had watched Yeji with suspicion eventually admitted her skill and left.
Even as everyone looked at Yeji’s painting, Jian focused on her hands and brush.
Pink, yellow, and blue paints were squeezed onto the palette, mixed roughly, and placed straight onto the canvas.
It didn’t look precise—more like rough strokes.
But after repeating it a few times, the canvas bloomed with dozens of flowers.
“…Done.”
Jian frowned at Yeji’s quiet murmur.
Applying unmixed colors all at once wasn’t something just anyone could do.
The texture, amount of paint, and pressure of the brush all affected how colors blended.
Yet Yeji perfectly used the impasto technique she had only seen in theory books.
Her brush controlled everything in a single stroke.
No wonder she still had time even while doing oil painting.
“But… she makes it look that easy?”
Jian had even asked her academy teacher.
Despite paying nearly double tuition for a prestigious instructor—
“To paint like that in oil, you need a lot of practice. You can do it too if you practice.”
So she believed she could learn it too.
But then—
“You know oil painting isn’t used in entrance exams, right? Are you going to ruin your future for one school exhibition?”
That answer changed her mind.
It was true.
Giving up preparation for a good university just to impress one artist was foolish.
Jian had always planned her future perfectly.
But still…
“I’ll head out first. See you tomorrow!”
Watching Yeji leave with a satisfied smile, Jian turned away.
She didn’t want to understand why she felt this sense of loss.
With one week left until the deadline,
Jian had no choice but to do her best—
No matter what.
She had to succeed.
Days of exhausting school, boring classes, and pressured painting passed quickly.
Before long—
“Excuse me! Let me through!”
“Wait! Don’t touch it—it’s not dry!”
“Who got pink paint on my clothes?!”
The submission deadline for the exhibition approached.
Students were bringing in their work, installing pieces, or finishing them on the walls.
In the chaotic scene, second-year students at the registration desk watched lazily.
“Sigh…”
A first-year approached, carrying a wrapped painting.
“Class, name.”
The second-year asked without expression.
“Class 1, Lee Yeji.”
“Lee Yeji…?”
They exchanged looks.
“Isn’t that her?”
“Yeah… that’s her.”
“Wait, I thought she was doing oil painting. Is it already dry?”
If it was safely packaged, that meant it had fully dried.
They hadn’t expected that.
After checking her name, they gave directions.
“First-year section is over there, Area A.”
Yeji nodded and walked away.
Then—
“Hey! Wait! We were supposed to check her work!”
They called her back.
“Can we see your piece?”
But Yeji calmly replied:
“You’ll see it anyway when it’s displayed. Just come later.”
Then she left.
The second-years frowned, but couldn’t stop her.
“Why would they ask me to unwrap it in that crowded place?”
Yeji shook her head.
“And why talk like that right in front of me?”
To her, with the memories of a thirty-year-old French woman, a one-year age gap meant nothing.
“…And who is Yura?”
She made a mental note of the unfamiliar name and headed to Area A.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“You’re late.”
Her classmates’ works were already displayed.
“Isn’t the deadline at 6?”
Soon she understood why everyone came early—
They were finishing their paintings directly on the walls.
Yeji found her spot easily.
Her name and caption were already there:
Lee Yeji (Art Dept. 1-1)
“Full Bloom”
Oil on Canvas, 60.6 × 72.7 cm
She unwrapped her painting.
“Hey, Yeji.”
Dahye greeted her.
Her own piece was a detailed geometric acrylic painting.
“You’ve become quite famous.”
Yeji smiled slightly.
“Because of Chloe, right?”
“Of course. She said she’s looking forward to your work.”
Yeji lifted her painting.
“Yeah. I was looking forward to it too.”
To what she herself could achieve.
After hanging it, she stepped back and looked.
For a moment, she felt overwhelmed.
Now she could finally see her work clearly.
No more straining blurry vision like in her past life.
The painting showed a deep blue scene, like water flooding through a window.
Flowers submerged beneath the surface shimmered in distorted light.
“…It turned out pretty well.”
“Still lacking in fine detail.”
But detail wasn’t the most important thing.
It was the emotion—
Melancholy, heaviness, and hope blooming within it.
Her feelings about her new life.
“Wait… that’s a first-year’s work?”
“No way. Someone else must have painted it.”
“Is she Yeji?”
Students gathered around.
Even upperclassmen came to see.
Then Jian approached.
“You’ve improved a lot.”
Yeji considered how to respond modestly—
But Jian continued:
“Anyone would think someone else painted it for you.”
