Episode 7: Episode 7: Entrance Exam!
A large sedan smoothly glided down a path lined with falling autumn leaves, buffeted by a strong wind.
The atmosphere inside the car was more tense than ever. Shin Taemin stared out the window in frustration. The colorful autumn leaves seemed to dance freely in the space. When he lowered the window, a cool breeze and the strong scent of early morning grass filled his nose.
“You’re not nervous, are you?”
A deep voice immediately made the air feel even heavier. The voice was always steady, neither fast nor slow, and had a way of tightening up loosened nerves like a splash of cold water. It wasn’t a concern or a question from his father, just a way to elicit an expected response.
“Of course not.”
Shin Taemin bit the inside of his cheek and smiled outwardly, trying not to show any tension. Despite the awkward tone, he always maintained a clean and neat appearance. His smile was flawless. Although his neck muscles were a bit stiff, he was fine.
After getting out of the car and formally greeting his father, who nodded slightly and disappeared, Taemin walked for a few minutes.
The campus, with its bright green lawn under the sunlight, was quite to his liking.
He appreciated the neatly trimmed round evergreen trees, and the rectangular exposed concrete buildings that matched them well.
With every step he took, he reminded himself that he started this because he liked it, so he needed to work hard.
Korea Art Middle School, Korea Art High School, Korea Art University. The path was always set, and he just had to follow it.
With his father being an art history professor here, it was an easy path.
It wasn’t about cheating but about having always received education at such a high aesthetic standard that such an exam was a breeze.
Having grown up reading columns and theses of renowned critics day and night, how could he not know the standards of evaluation in the art world? It was as clear as day.
What on earth do they mean by world-class art? It was just laughable.
Despite graduating from prestigious schools, not a single person among those called geniuses truly impressed him.
‘The path is already set. Being the top scorer in today’s exam is only natural.’
Kang Lim had arrived early and was mingling among the kids. The line that had extended outside was slowly shortening, and it was only at noon that he could reach the top of the stairs.
The exam proctor guided the kids for classroom assignments, and entering the auditorium, Kang Lim saw students holding their exam tickets and standing in line. They all held plastic art supply boxes and looked nervous.
‘Wow. I didn’t realize it when I was in line, but there are really a lot of people. They said there’s another group in Auditorium B. This is nuts.’
Kang Lim watched the line of black-haired kids moving. There were so many that they looked like a swarm of ants. However, he knew that half of them were just filling space.
The real threats were those who had prepared for this their entire lives.
‘In fact, except for those kids, they don’t even look at the college entrance exam scores. The rest will be shocked by the level of the English test, and then drop out in droves after the practical exam.’
He settled at the assigned desk and opened his art supply box.
Of all places, why did he have to sit at the very back of this vast auditorium? A tall kid sat in front of him, making it even more frustrating. Although it wasn’t a still-life drawing exam, having his view blocked bothered him.
‘He’s freakishly tall. And using such expensive materials.’
He peeked at the art supply box of the student in front of him.
Barbara brushes and limited edition Van Hol watercolors filled the box.
He was flexing in an exam setting with imported materials instead of using domestic ones.
Would a kid using such materials be good at drawing? Or was that a bias?
Just then…
The exam proctor took the microphone.
“There’s no need to open your art supply boxes. Please put them under your desks immediately!”
The words rendered his previous thoughts pointless. Kang Lim looked around.
The kids seemed puzzled as well. But what could they do? They had to follow the proctor’s instructions.
Slowly, the students lowered all their materials under their desks.
“Alright. We are now distributing the exam papers. You will only need to take out a 4B pencil from your box.”
As soon as he received the white exam paper, he passed it backward, just as expected.
He could tell a strange problem had been given by the murmurs he heard from the front.
The noise grew louder from the entrance of the auditorium, like a crescendo.
‘Crescendo, indeed… What kind of problem did they give?’
The student in front of him received the exam paper.
The kid chuckled as soon as he saw it, then handed Kang Lim the last remaining sheet.
‘I’ve seen that side profile somewhere before… Who was it?’
The familiar face briefly irritated him as he took the paper and read it.
[Draw a sphere.
Perspective: Politics, Society, Culture, Art, Science.
Materials: 4B pencil, eraser
Time limit: 6 hours]
The proctor, holding the microphone, spoke loudly again.
“Only 4B pencils and erasers are allowed. Similar dry materials like charcoal or conte are not allowed, nor are 2B, 6B, or 8B pencils.”
Sheets of paper and lined answer sheets were passed down from the front again.
“You will draw on the blank sheet and write your reasoning on the lined answer sheet. The reasoning carries significant weight in the evaluation, so think carefully before writing.”
It was a typical Hanyang Art University problem. They required you to write down your thoughts.
It wasn’t a university you could get into just by drawing well.
‘Wow… This problem is unique.’
Kang Lim looked around again.
Judging by the expressions of the kids, questions were about to pour out.
Breaking through the tension, a boy from afar raised his hand first and shouted.
It was a very familiar squid-like face.
“I’m Lee Hyunseong! Can I ask a question?”
“You’ve already asked a question, and introductions are unnecessary. Names are not needed today. Just write your exam number on the back! Otherwise, you will be automatically disqualified.”
The kids erupted in laughter, and Kang Lim chuckled along.
As dumb as he seemed, Hyunseong was at least lightening the mood in the exam hall.
The proctor handed the microphone to Lee Hyunseong.
It was to let all the kids hear the question.
With the microphone in hand, Lee Hyunseong spoke confidently.
“I don’t know what a sphere is. Is it the circle I know? I can’t read Chinese characters.”
Laughter erupted again.
“Yes. It’s the 3D sphere you know. You’ve all drawn cylinders, pyramids, and spheres when you first learned drawing, right? That’s it.”
“Ugh… The sphere was the most annoying thing back then, and now I meet it again…”
As he rambled, the proctor snatched the microphone back, and giggles spread through the hall again.
Kang Lim quietly laughed but then suddenly stopped.
‘Wait, no. Come to think of it, that guy passed.’
He remembered what Lee Hyunseong had said in his previous life.
[No, seriously. I crumpled the paper and still passed!]
‘Could it be… Did he pass by making a sphere out of crumpled paper?’
It was clearly an oversight by a professor. It was disappointing that such a work was selected.
Surely, Professor Goo Haeyoung didn’t select it… He had applied to learn from that professor.
Or maybe Lee Hyunseong wrote an excellent answer sheet.
No, even if he wrote like Hemingway, they wouldn’t pick a mere talker…
No, Lee Hyunseong wasn’t even the type to write eloquent critiques. He had to know something to do that.
Kang Lim shook his head, overwhelmed by various thoughts.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on trivial things.
What was important was his own drawing.
Scratch, scratch.
The sound of pencils starting work immediately filled his ears.
Was it because it was a real exam hall?
The sound made him feel slightly anxious, unlike usual.
It felt like being unable to turn the first page of the test paper in a college entrance exam hall.
‘Calm down. This isn’t a problem you can solve without thinking.’
Kang Lim swallowed and calmed his racing heart.
They had given them 6 hours for the exam. That was 2 hours more than a typical university exam.
It wasn’t an exam to pressure the students. It was one to thoroughly consider and present your own answer.
Having honed his skills over the years, Kang Lim was confident that his thought process could differ from others.
‘The given materials are simple, and drawing a sphere is straightforward. So… The key point of this exam question is ‘perspective.’ A sphere in the context of politics, society, culture, art, and science… Surely the kids would struggle to express even one concept well. But what if… What if I could draw a sphere encompassing all these perspectives?’
An idea flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning, causing his head to ache.
The great figures in politics, society, culture, art, and science, their achievements, and the events they triggered scrambled his mind.
It was the first time he had such a vast amount of information flowing out all at once.
Whenever he recalled something, it was usually organized like files coming out of a folder…
Now, it felt like a grand library in his head had collapsed, with pages of books fluttering everywhere.
‘How on earth can I condense all this information?’
Tick-tock.
The given time flowed fairly and swiftly.
While Kang Lim was still figuring out the theme and composition of his drawing…
Some kids had already finished their first sketches and started writing their answer sheets.
Since they needed to write about their thought process, they wanted to jot down their ideas before shading.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, he stood up slightly and looked around.
.
.
.
The universe was unfolding everywhere!
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune…
‘Insane. Is this the solar system?’
The kids were all drawing round planets, except for the one in front of him.
Five hours after the exam began.
Shin Taemin sharpened the details of his completed drawing with the pencil tip.
The ‘perspective’ Shin Taemin chose for the problem.
The theme of his drawing was ‘Art,’ and it was intended to mock the entire exam hall.
He was completing a drawing that would make everyone a subject of ridicule.
He raised his head and looked down at the kids diligently drawing.
Thanks to his tall height, he could see far ahead.
‘They’ll all fail within the first four meters. All drawing planets… Isn’t it foolish to draw what comes to mind first?’
People’s thoughts were usually quite similar. Even thinking one step further was often at a childish level.
Those who stood out slightly were just drawing objects that came to mind when thinking of round things.
Soccer balls, light bulbs, and the like.
They all focused on the sphere but missed the ‘perspective’ mentioned in the problem.
‘The sphere is a trap, fools…’
Although the quota was 20 students, he thought it would be difficult for even 10 to pass this year. Thinking so, he started writing his answer sheet.
Tap, tap.
He lightly brushed off the eraser dust from the drawing and stood up.
It was 5:30 PM.
Thirty minutes… There was no need to draw anymore.
Thinking that there might be decent kids in Auditorium B, he raised his hand.
He handed his drawing and answer sheet to the proctor who approached him.
Just as he was about to take out his art supply box and leave the classroom…
When he turned around.
Shin Taemin’s eyes widened.
‘This… What is this guy drawing? What’s his intention?’
It wasn’t a drawing that could be completed within the given time.
For the first time in his life, Shin Taemin felt his own drawing was lacking.
Thirty minutes of spare time?
He didn’t deserve to be leisurely.
