Wooooaaaaah!
Teacher Joo Sa-rang is the best!
In front of Seoul City Hall, a loud cheer echoed. At the same time, a flock of pigeons took flight.
The pigeons soared into the gray-blue sky in the shape of a "V." Students from other schools looked on in surprise. Teacher Joo Sa-rang chuckled softly. The kids hugged each other joyfully.
Amid the black padded jackets the children wore, glimpses of the Cheonghwa Art High School uniform appeared.
"Cheonghwa Art High School..." muttered a member of Jinho High School's art club nearby. Then, as if on cue, nine tour buses appeared in front of City Hall.
The high school mural exhibition was about to begin.
National funding evaluation project for visual arts.
The high school mural exhibition.
This project began as the public art project Art in City 2006, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, organized by the Public Art Promotion Committee, and sponsored by the Lottery Commission.
The Art in City 2006 project aimed to improve the living cultural environment of neglected areas through public art. Among these was the Naksan Project, which Kang Seok heard was the predecessor of the high school mural exhibition.
"That was the Ihwa Village, right?"
Jangsu Village, located between Hyehwa Station and Dongdaemun Station.
A humble but ambitious project aimed to rejuvenate the visually degraded area of Ihwa Village through murals at a relatively low cost, hoping to revive the community.
The goal was to keep the residents from leaving.
Moreover, to protect the village.
To rekindle the life spark of Jangsu Village.
That was their aim. In 2010, a variety show introduced the Wing Murals of Ihwa Village, and the small spark lit by the Naksan Project caught fire.
The following year, Ihwa Village became famous as a mural village, and mural painting on village walls spread like wildfire across the country.
"The beginning of Ihwa Village, the grandparent of mural villages."
But as fire doesn't only bring hope, the flame that brightened the neglected darkness grew wildly and burned down the foundation.
In 2016, residents of Ihwa Village, who had triggered a nationwide mural painting craze, began to complain about the hardships.
With trash, noise, and unwanted visitors, the village no longer felt like a home but just a mural village.
Only now do banners asking for consideration hang, and through the cracks of time, smooth coordination between tourists and residents has made it a popular date spot.
But at the time, it was a huge headache for the government.
Criticized as public art that lost its meaning, pressured to find solutions, and with the fate of a new national industry uncertain.
Then, the Sankang Group proposed one thing to the government.
That was the high school mural exhibition.
"If trash, noise, and unwelcome visitors are the problem, then let's place the murals where those things won't be a problem," they said, twisting the direction.
Thus, a public art project was founded.
Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, organized by the Public Art Promotion Committee, and sponsored by Sankang Group.
Again, Art in City Again, ACA.
Commonly called the high school mural exhibition.
For a public art project that introduces a new project each year, it was an unusually long-term project.
Though inspired by 2006, the high school mural exhibition's goal was not to improve the rundown Jangsu Village.
Their goal was to improve the visual environment of neglected downtown commercial areas.
Places where people should gather but don't. Places losing function and gradually fading into society's shadows, igniting a small spark.
That was their project goal.
"And we're the cheapest labor they hire for that goal."
Kang Seok scanned the approaching commercial buildings coldly.
The high school mural exhibition provided qualified high school art club teams with enormous sketchbooks—city buildings—and painting tools free of charge every year, building the project on very cheap labor.
High school students got a line on their school records and resumes, while the government achieved a win-win by improving public job opportunities without large expenses.
"No need to build new buildings, it's free, and since it only happens briefly in the off-season, local residents don't complain."
The traffic light changed, and the stopped tour buses accelerated. A graffiti-covered wall brushed Kang Seok's gaze.
"Nowadays, mural prices range from about 30,000 to 60,000 won per square meter, and the minimum cost for areas under 30 square meters—excluding options—is 1.4 million won as a baseline…"
Kang Seok rolled his eyes briefly, calculating.
There are 17 high school teams participating this time, using 10 buildings. Each building requires at least 20 mural paintings.
The winning team gets 10 million won, the runner-up 5 million won, and the rest 2.5 million won participation awards. It was an absurd gold mine.
"Alright, kids. Let's get off."
While Kang Seok clicked his tongue at the absurd way the project was run, the largest team, Cheonghwa Art High School, arrived at the destination.
Peeking out the window, Kang Seok saw a tall building—the building assigned to Cheonghwa's mural club team.
He stood up.
In front, under the guidance of Teacher Joo Sa-rang and a graffiti team sharing the studio with her, students were getting off the bus.
Kang Seok slowly followed the line and got off.
The first thing he saw was the signboard.
"Renaissance." It was written on a large sign above the entrance to the gray building's first floor.
The confidence at the time of opening was evident. The Renaissance Complex Shopping Mall. This was the building assigned to Cheonghwa Art High School.
Kang Seok frowned sharply as he looked up at the Renaissance Complex Shopping Mall behind the students.
"Renaissance... what a name."
Renaissance.
The name of the era when Michelangelo lived in a previous life.
While Kang Seok was lost in this strange thought, Joo Sa-rang pulled out a pencil from her ear and brushed back her stray bangs in front of the students.
"As you can see, this complex shopping mall, Renaissance, is the building assigned to our coloring team. It's the largest scale in this high school mural exhibition, and unlike most teams assigned two or three groups per building, we're the only team assigned to this building."
She smiled proudly.
It was a smile born from her proud career of winning the Art in City Again project seven years in a row since the project's launch—a bizarre and haphazard public art project.
Joo Sa-rang reminisced for a moment then turned around. The Renaissance was an eight-story complex mall with one basement and seven floors above ground.
The mural club coloring team consisted of 30 students total, and there were 30 mural spaces.
The exhibition lasted 16 days, 2 weeks and 2 days.
Only students who had been active in the club for over 3 months could participate in the murals. So, each Cheonghwa student had to handle at least one wall to keep things tidy.
Looking at the Renaissance, which required nearly half of their winter break, Joo Sa-rang took a deep breath.
"Alright... let's go!"
Joo Sa-rang stepped forward boldly. This was the first step toward Cheonghwa Art High School's eighth victory trophy.
.
.
.
During the high school mural exhibition, the complex mall was empty as operations were suspended. It was time given for personal site visits to check mural spaces.
Buzz—buzz.
Kang Seok's head, inspecting the seventh floor alone, dropped. More precisely, towards the vibration from inside his padded jacket pocket.
He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his phone. KakaoTalk notifications appeared one after another at the top.
[Oppa!]
[Oppa!!!]
[Photo]
[Did you really carve this, oppa? Seriously? Ah, why am I crying? Really?]
It was Kang Chae-young.
She must have seen the cradle left in the studio. The image of Chae-young's jaw dropping in shock made a breathless smile escape Kang Seok.
Buzz—
[Oppa]
Buzz—
[Oppa, answer me]
[Oppa, are you busy?]
[Please answer when you see this, oppa]
Keep her curious. Kang Seok, replying that he was busy, put the phone away and glanced over the seventh floor again.
He seemed to have seen enough. Without regret, Kang Seok stepped onto the escalator going up to the eighth floor.
As he slowly rose, the noisy voices of the students began to reach his ears. Most had quickly scoped the place and gone up already.
Listening to their buzzing conversations, Kang Seok pondered.
Everyone wants to be MVP, right? And they must have realized it already. The mural spots suitable for MVP were already decided.
Not always, but if you win, there were a few large mural spaces whose contribution could not be ignored. Kang Seok recalled them one by one.
The huge wall in the center of the basement floor plaza.
The exterior wall directly visible from across the first floor.
The wall in the lobby entered through the first-floor entrance.
A gigantic pillar visible when moving from the 1st to the 8th floor via the central escalator.
A slippery wall extending up to the ceiling of the 3rd floor boutique mall.
The wall of the 4th-floor comic cafe.
The massive wall in the 6th-floor movie theater lobby.
"To get five hundred, it seems best to win one of these seven," Kangseok thought.
But then he felt the need to correct himself. It wasn't seven. Kangseok took a step forward and got off the escalator.
The 8th floor.
Immediately visible after getting off the escalator was this enormous wall.
"There are eight walls in total up to this one."
Kangseok slowly examined the last wall that seemed like it would make him the MVP.
The huge white wall occupying one entire side of the 8th floor was quite imposing. To approach it, one had to climb a half-floor staircase, and in the middle of the wall, there was an arched passageway.
The archway was big enough for two or three people to enter simultaneously. Yet, the wall was so large that even this seemed small.
Beyond the passage, greenery was visible — this seemed to be the way to the rooftop garden on the 8th floor. Since everything else was blocked, the passage stood out prominently, as if designed to focus the gaze.
"Absolutely enormous."
Kangseok dismissed his thoughts on the final wall of the Renaissance Complex Shopping Mall and turned his body.
He faced the group where the Cheonghwa Arts High School students, Teacher Joo Sarang, and the Joo Sarang crew were gathered.
They seemed to be preparing for the mural assignment by putting up white posters on the wall next to the elevator. Kangseok approached slowly.
Just then, Joo Sarang stood up from a crouch.
"We're all here."
Joo Sarang roughly counted heads and nodded towards the posters.
The graffiti crew moved in perfect coordination, holding a paper box with holes.
"If we leave it be, you guys will probably just stick to a few walls. This time, we'll assign murals comfortably by drawing lots."
It seemed they were going to assign murals by lottery. Some kids complained, worried about the "bad artists" among them. Teacher Joo Sarang, scratching her head with a pencil, muttered tiredly:
"It's better for my sanity than later blaming students who greedily took good walls but painted like dogs."
"Any complaints?" Joo Sarang's black eyes turned towards the complaining kids.
Her eyes looked as black as if no light could penetrate them.
The kids who met her gaze gulped and shook their heads vigorously. The corners of Joo Sarang's eyes curved in a split second as if she would devour them.
"No complaints, then. Good. Let's begin. The order…"
Her gaze landed on Kangseok, who was at the very end. It had been a long time since they had made eye contact. Kangseok's pupils flickered, and her pale pink lips curved.
"Let's go in reverse alphabetical order?"
Reverse alphabetical order meant Kangseok would be last.
...
"B1-1."
B1-1.
The massive wall in the center of the basement 1 floor plaza. The main wall. Finally, someone got assigned the main wall.
The students' gazes shifted to the boy holding the paper. He was the ace of the coloring team in the mural club and a second-year student majoring in Western painting at Cheonghwa Arts High School.
"Lucky."
Kangseok's longtime rival, Kim Donghwi, took the B1-1 spot.
While envious eyes were on Kim Donghwi, Kangseok counted the remaining spots. The lottery continued.
"4F-6."
"Next."
"...2F-3."
Was the main wall assignment almost down to just the 8th floor? While Kangseok couldn't even touch any spots, more and more were taken.
Teacher Joo Sarang nodded with satisfaction. A few strands of her bright yellow hair fell loose.
At this pace, all the good walls would be gone before Kangseok's turn. Joo Sarang's eyes blinked rapidly, calculating.
"Kangseok has been majoring in sculpture for two years."
There was no chance to see his paintings or to expect much from them. Teacher Jeong Byeongkwon surely pitied Kangseok. Just working hard doesn't help in the high school mural contest.
So reverse alphabetical order was a good choice. Keeping the good walls away from Kangseok was neat. With this, an 8-year consecutive victory was practically secured.
Even as she organized her thoughts, Joo Sarang's expression was peculiar.
The spot for the muralist of 8F-1 on the top row of the poster was still blank.
The gigantic partition wall one must pass through to get to the rooftop garden.
The only mural location on the 8th floor — a key main wall — still had no owner. Surely, it wouldn't be assigned just like that? One side of Joo Sarang's eyes twitched.
The situation was unfavorable for Joo Sarang.
The lottery order was quickly nearing the end, passing Kim Donghwi. Fewer than four people remained. Joo Sarang's anxiety was becoming reality.
"5F-2."
"Next."
Three people left.
"Ah, 6F-5."
No, just one more dropped, so only two people hadn't drawn their lots yet. One was a first-year, the other Kangseok.
The remaining spots were 4F-4 and 8F-1.
The only person besides Kangseok who hadn't drawn was first-year Western painting major Kang Ji-won, who stepped forward.
Joo Sarang, Kangseok, and the students' gazes all focused on Kang Ji-won's hand. She slowly put her white fingers into the paper box. Her hand, which had gone deep inside, slowly emerged.
A paper was pinched between her fingers. A guy holding a marker silently asked what she picked.
"..."
Kang Ji-won's lips moved.
"4F-4."
Kang Ji-won drew 4F-4. The marker sputtered ink as it wrote her name next to the 4F-4 spot.
The strange gazes of the students naturally shifted to Kangseok. Calmly, he quietly watched his name being written at the top of the poster.
Looking at Kangseok's name being inscribed next to 8F-1, Joo Sarang thought:
"It's taken."
...
"This is good."
Kangseok looked around with a comfortable expression. The 8th floor, where everyone had gathered, was now quiet.
As soon as the mural assignments were done, everyone had gone down to their designated walls. They had to sketch designs and check the materials needed right away, so they must be busy.
Thanks to that, Kangseok was naturally left alone on the 8th floor. It had only one mural spot.
Maybe I should start planning.
Kangseok scratched the awkward ridge of his nose with his finger while staring straight ahead. He saw the arched open passageway above the four half-level steps.
Except for the sky visible beyond the passage, everything was white. How much had he stared at that white?
"Do I... have no choice?"
The only design that came to mind while looking at the wall in the quiet was just one.
Should I try?
The paper was an application form listing materials needed by tomorrow.
"If you bring this to the 1st floor desk, they'll get everything ready by tomorrow. Except today, you only have 15 days left, so it's best to order everything you need now. Some materials might take a long time to get. Write down everything you think of. You can request more later, but try to write everything today."
Recalling Teacher Joo Sarang's words, Kangseok slowly took out a pen from his pocket.
He began to write down the materials needed for his design one by one.
Since she said to write everything...
5 PM.
The early winter sunset dyed the sky. The public art project staff for the high school mural contest appeared in the lobby of the Renaissance Complex Shopping Mall on the 1st floor.
They were there to collect the material request forms from the Cheonghwa Arts High School mural coloring team. They had collected from the other 16 high schools, now only Cheonghwa remained.
"It's tight to bring everything by tomorrow morning."
The staff quickly gathered the papers. About 30 sheets, all densely filled. The young man quickly flipped through the papers, counting to see if the number matched the Cheonghwa Arts High School participants.
After flipping a few pages, his hand suddenly stopped. Among the densely filled pages, one stood out for being especially packed.
Even without reading properly, the demands looked serious. His brows furrowed sharply.
"Unlimited, huh? Trying to milk it dry. What did they order? Quicklime powder... quicklime...?"
The staff blinked.
He looked as if he wondered why this word appeared here. The first paragraph of the dense paper began like this:
[Hello. This is Kangseok, a second-year student at Cheonghwa Arts High School. Requesting mural materials for Renaissance 8F-1. Quicklime powder 120kg, natural gypsum powder 270kg, mica or soil and clean sand by the riverbank without salt 240kg, compressed cement 300kg, Serafix 240kg, 4,000 Baekgopa bricks (interior concrete bricks are not allowed), Aricho..., alkali-resistant earth pigments..., ...]