He drew a line on the sketchbook.
Swish-
‘Good.’
Hyunsoo thought that no matter how much tablets advance, the feeling of a pencil tip touching the sketchbook and the white noise from the friction could never be matched.
‘It’s going better than I thought?’
Although it was lacking compared to Pete’s students, the line came out smoother than expected.
It was because of his experience attending an art academy in elementary school.
- You have to draw a lot of lines. It’s not something you can understand with your head, you have to repeat it infinitely until your hand gets used to it. Even tens of thousands of times is not enough.
The headmaster who taught harshly. 12-year-old Hyunsoo resented him a lot.
‘He showed me directly when I complained about the lines looking the same. Even thinking about it now, there was a huge difference.’
The lines drawn by a skilled person’s hand were straight and pleasing to the eye. Simply using a ruler did not produce the same feeling.
The shock motivated him to focus on practicing each line. After days of drawing lines, he certainly saw results.
‘And I can’t ignore my own experience.’
Scratch scratch-
Hyunsoo’s lines improved quickly.
It was because past memories flooded back as he drew the lines.
‘Just what I’ve seen over the shoulder…’
In fact, he had worked with countless illustrators while running a company.
Hyunsoo got involved in every product development and directed them himself. He designed various artificial body parts and discarded tens of thousands of drafts.
There was no one who studied the body as much as him, and he even attended autopsies whenever he had the chance.
‘If only my body were healthy, I would have drawn them myself.’
It was difficult to convey the exact image in his head to the illustrator.
- No, not like that. Thinner lines. The lines of the kidney funnel are very delicate. See these two photos? The ideal shape is somewhere in between. Do you understand?
The illustrators probably found it very frustrating too.
Rather than explaining in words, if he could draw it roughly, they could grasp it and complete it quickly. But the difference was hard to narrow down, causing product releases to be delayed by months.
Scratch scratch scratch-
Hyunsoo drew the rough sketch of Lugerfield as he recalled working with numerous illustrators over 30 years.
He perfectly mimicked their movements, breathing, and gaze.
‘Is this even possible?’
He felt it while playing basketball before, but now he was even more amazed.
He had almost 100% control over his body.
If he grasped the principles correctly, his body followed his thoughts precisely.
Was it because of his deep understanding of the human body? Or because the hardware was superior? Or because the software was well-coordinated?
Anyway, Hyunsoo easily drew Lugerfield’s rough sketch.
‘Just by looking at the result, you can see the process of getting there.’
Just by looking at the final rough sketch, everything was calculated. How he held the pencil at a certain angle, with what strength he drew. There were a few errors, but they were adjusted through repetition like zeroing a gun.
‘Is this my own optimization?’
Hyunsoo now reached the level of just copying what he saw.
“Hmm.”
He was satisfied with the result.
“What is this!”
Adriana was startled after briefly looking at Hyunsoo’s drawing.
“How did you draw it so exactly? Is copying your specialty?”
“Hmm… I guess you could say that?”
Adriana gave a somewhat bitter smile and focused on her work.
“As expected. Talented people are different from high school.”
“……”
Hyunsoo was about to console her but closed his mouth after glancing at Adriana’s drawing.
‘Well, not being able to draw well doesn’t mean you can’t be a designer.’
‘It’s not going as well as I thought.’
Hyunsoo’s mom, Gwak Hee-ae, kept erasing her drawing with an eraser.
Although she received much inspiration and emotion from looking at Lugerfield’s original, it didn’t translate into her drawing.
It was disheartening.
‘But I was once a promising Hongdae student.’
She wasn’t particularly good at drawing, but she had the basics.
She often received compliments for capturing the points well in her designs.
Your work shines the most when it’s made into a physical product.
You really have a knack for making things. How can you make it so well?
We made the same design, but only yours looks like a luxury item.
She was especially skilled with her hands, excelling in making things herself.
She often made clothes by cutting fabric, and she was skilled in handling leather to make shoes and bags, competing for the top spot in her university.
‘Those were the happy days.’
She received many scout offers from companies. Some seniors even suggested opening a workshop together.
Maybe if she hadn’t gotten married suddenly. If she hadn’t had a child so early, she might have had fewer regrets about her fashion-making dreams.
Raising Hyunsoo was enjoyable because he was so pretty, and she thought she could live happily as a mother, but… there was always an unfilled void.
Not being able to do what she considered her lifelong vocation left her with lingering regrets.
‘I was really desperate.’
To not lose her touch, she subscribed to fashion magazines even while raising her child, and whenever she had time, she diligently made things like knitting or clothes.
She didn’t want to lose herself as a woman, Gwak Hee-ae, by being buried in the life of a mother.
Even when her health deteriorated due to decreased stamina, she couldn’t let go of fashion.
Even if everyone else gave up, she couldn’t give up on herself, Gwak Hee-ae.
With her personality, she worked hard on house chores and raised her son diligently. And she studied fashion in her spare time, even cutting down on sleep.
Whenever she was too exhausted and thought about giving up, her husband encouraged her, and now even her son was helping.
‘I never imagined such a great opportunity would come.’
Thanks to her son, she walked around the campus of Pete, which she had only imagined, and attended a lecture by the world-renowned designer Ralph Lugerfield.
With the path laid out for her, she just had to learn to her heart’s content, but…
She sighed while looking at her drawing.
‘Have my hands become too stiff?’
She drew diligently, but the result was a pathetic drawing. She identified the points she wanted to design, but her hands didn’t follow.
‘As you get older, you can’t do things you used to be good at.’
She was so upset she almost cried.
Did her son notice her distress?
“Mom, are you doing well?”
Gwak Hee-ae was startled and quickly covered her drawing.
“Oh? Uh… It’s been a while, so it’s not going well.”
“Can I take a look?”
Honestly, she felt a bit embarrassed.
“Sure… but don’t expect too much.”
Her son examined her drawing with a very serious face.
Whenever he made that face, he looked so grown-up. When did he grow up so much?
‘At least I raised my son well.’
Her son smiled brightly and gave her a thumbs-up.
“Mom, this is really good.”
“Sonny? Are you praising it too much because it’s your mom’s work? Remember, in class, we are strangers?”
“Okay, then Hee-ae. As a fellow student, I’ll give you a sharp critique. Scalpel!”
“Oh, Hee-ae? Let’s hear it then. Cut it up as much as you want.”
“This 1954 model’s point and identity are its angular elements, right? The idea of changing it to a completely rounded image is interesting. Honestly, if you go a bit overboard, it would ruin the balance, but you kept the lines very sensibly.”
“…How did you understand my intention from looking at this?”
Gwak Hee-ae looked at her drawing again with suspicious eyes.
Even though she drew it herself, she couldn’t believe he evaluated it so accurately just by looking at the drawing.
“How did I know? Just by looking, I could tell. But it would be neater with a little touch-up.”
Her son quickly erased a few parts with an eraser and started sketching over her drawing.
It was so natural she didn’t have time to be surprised. By the time she came to her senses, the touch-up was already done.
“Wow. I’m really impressed.”
Hyunsoo fixed the drawing exactly as she had envisioned it. In less than 5 minutes, he perfected it.
“When did you get so good at drawing?”
“You know, I attended art academy.”
“Of course I know. You were decent for a 5th grader, but not this good.”
“Is my mom getting old? I was really good back then too, and do you think I’ve been slacking all this time? I’ve been drawing to clear my mind.”
“Really?”
With the added nostalgia, it kind of felt true.
“My son is amazing. No wonder you said you’d handle the design. I feel reassured.”
“Hehe, but you have to help with the making. I can’t do anything.”
“Alright, you can count on me for that. Let’s not get intimidated by the university students and do our best.”
“Of course, with the best hands Hongdae produced, Gwak Hee-ae, what can’t we do?”
“I can’t live. Did your dad tell you that?”
Gwak Hee-ae regained her characteristic smile.
Talking with Hyunsoo relieved a lot of the pressure of having to do well.
Most importantly, since her son was doing well, she felt she could rely on him even if she didn’t do as well.
After that, she participated in critique sessions with confidence, and although Hyunsoo helped, her design received many compliments from other students.
- Indeed, you have considerable skill. The 1954 line has such a strong identity that it’s hard to alter, but you infused new life into it without killing its elegance. It’s at a level where it could be sent to Coco’s chief designer right away. I’m glad I showed you my rough sketch.
She recorded Lugerfield’s praise with his permission.
It was a perfect day without any shortcomings.
‘Hee-ae, being the mother of Hyunsoo is just as good as being a world-renowned designer. I’ve lived well.’
She looked at Hyunsoo with a proud face.
Hyunsoo had lunch with Jessie on Monday at school.
“How was New York?”
At her question, Hyunsoo shrugged his shoulders once.
“It was hectic. It was my mom’s first time in New York too, so we spent the whole weekend going around museums. I’m already tired thinking about going there every week.”
“Surely it’s a city of culture and art. How was Mr. Lugerfield’s class?”
“It was good. He is a really good teacher. In movies, fashion moguls are usually very sensitive and finicky, right? He wasn’t like that at all, and he was very considerate of the students, so it was fun.”
“Hmm.”
Jessie scanned Hyunsoo’s face with a somewhat unsatisfied look.
“Was there anything special?”
“Special?”
“You know, you’re good at that. Showing off brilliant talent with a nonchalant face.”
“Hahaha. Our Jessie has been watching too many K-dramas over the weekend. I’m not even in the art field, so what could I have done so well? Actually, my mom got a lot of praise for her sense. The teacher even gifted her his original sketchbook.”
Jessie’s eyes widened.
“Whaaat? You received Lugerfield’s sketchbook with his designs?”
“Yes. He said it was from his Coco days. It has a lot of handbag designs, and there are quite a few unpublished ones.”
“……”
She was so astonished that she was at a loss for words.
And it didn’t even end there.
“Hyunsoo?”
Rockwell, who had never shown up in the student cafeteria before, suddenly sat at the same table.
“Oh, our precious Goldenstein’s precious one is with you. I hope this old man isn’t intruding?”
“Not at all. Did you come to see me? Student council matters?”
“No. I believe you will handle the student council matters well enough. I was personally curious about something regarding you.”
Hyunsoo responded.
“Yes. What is it?”
“I heard you declined Ralph’s offer?”
“Ah, yes, it turned out that way.”
Rockwell smiled faintly at his nonchalant reaction.
“Hahaha. Art scholarship students would faint if they heard this. Declining a collaboration with Ralph Lugerfield in Coco.”
“It was too much for me. As you know, I’m not aiming to be a designer.”
“Ralph isn’t that kind of person, but he personally called to praise you. Thanks to you, Clark’s (Soderman) complaints about this support being excessive have disappeared. If you need anything in the future, feel free to contact me directly.”
Rockwell handed him a business card with his personal number and stood up.
“This clueless old man will leave you two alone now. It seems your girlfriend is quite upset.”
“……”
Now that he mentioned it, he could feel a sharp gaze. Jessie was silently glaring at Hyunsoo.
“…You said nothing special happened.”
“Well, I declined, so it didn’t happen.”
“What did you do in the class?”
“Nothing much… Do you want to know?”
“Play-by-play. Report everything.”
‘Is it because she’s young? Even her serious face looks like a doll.’
Hyunsoo chuckled, recalling Lugerfield’s reaction when he saw his rough sketch.
