Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 0

Prologue

I wanted to design.

I wanted to fill the world with the wonderful things I created.

My wish was… only that.

“Do you even have a conscience?”

“Excuse me?”

“You said it was ‘only that’.”

“……”

“Instead of that, why don’t you try scratching a lottery ticket every week like Assistant Manager Kim, Seo? That seems a bit more productive.”

Sigh-

A sigh mixed with a groan escaped his lips, and black smoke scattered into the air.

Seeing Woojin momentarily speechless, Manager Kwon added a word.

“Stop talking nonsense and go home quickly, you rascal. You know you have to go to the L Cinema site for supervision tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, yes. I guess I’m getting old, and my nonsense is increasing.”

Woojin glanced at Manager Kwon, who was patting his back, and chuckled.

Even though he was being sly with his annoying expression, he was one of the few people left by his side that he couldn’t hate.

“Ugh, I’m so sleepy I could die. I should just work on-site until next year and then retire.”

Hearing Kwon Jongwoo’s words, Woojin replied with a dumbfounded expression.

“You’re being very realistic, Manager.”

“Hehe, I’m at least more realistic than you.”

Chiiik-

Woojin and Manager Kwon, after putting out their still-smoldering cigarettes in the ashtray, went down to the office to prepare to leave work.

And after quickly packing his things, he slung his shabby backpack over his shoulder and passed in front of me, leaving the office.

“Want a ride?”

“No, thank you. I have plans today…”

“Don’t lie.”

“Seriously, I do.”

“Alright. Then I’ll go first today?”

He smirked at Woojin, then turned and walked out of the office door.

Squeak-

But at that moment.

As if he had remembered something he had forgotten, Manager Kwon glanced back at Woojin.

“Hey, Seo Woojin.”

“Yes?”

“Design. Is there anything special about it?”

“……?”

“That thing you always do. That’s design, you know.”

“What are you suddenly talking about…”

“So, straighten your shoulders and walk around. A man shouldn’t be so slumped over…”

Bang-

After spitting out what he had to say like a machine gun, he closed the door and left the office without giving him a chance to reply.

Watching him.

Woojin couldn’t help but chuckle again.

* * *

Woojin was a site manager at a fairly large construction company.

So, what Woojin did every day.

It was the role of overseeing the construction of numerous construction sites and interior construction sites.

So, Woojin knew very well what Manager Kwon Jongwoo’s encouragement meant.

-Those who don’t know anything about the practical work are in charge of design at the top… and these terrible drawings keep coming down to the site.

-Sigh, what can we do, Manager? Even if the drawings are terrible, it’s our job to make them perfect.

-It would be better if our Seo Woojin was promoted to design team leader. With Seo’s sense, he could create a really amazing building.

-I was feeling good for a moment… Can I believe that lie?

-Hehehe, of course not, you rascal. Design, what design… Let’s finish the carpentry quickly and go have a drink of makgeolli [Korean rice wine].

-Yes, yes. As you wish.

Manager Kwon Jongwoo often added, ‘Our Seo Woojin could design better than this,’ whenever he wanted to criticize the design team.

And Woojin, at least, knew that those words weren’t entirely empty.

‘Yeah, even that Deputy Manager Lim, who doesn’t even know how to read drawings properly, is acting like a designer… I’m a hundred times better than him.’

In the end, design is about materializing an abstract concept of beauty that exists in one’s mind.

In that sense, Seo Woojin’s work of taking incomprehensible abstract drafts and turning them into wonderful spaces could be called true design.

But even this plausible rationalization couldn’t completely lift Woojin’s spirits today.

It was a day when the frustration that had been building up while working on-site finally exploded.

“Sigh. If I go out for some fresh air, I might feel better.”

After tidying up his desk and packing his things, Woojin slowly walked out of the office.

* * *

Woojin headed to Gangnam.

But as he had told Manager Kwon, he didn’t really have an appointment.

He just had a place he wanted to go after work today.

‘It’s been quite a while… hasn’t it?’

Woojin’s expression was slightly flushed as he stood at the bus stop after getting off the bus.

A serene landscape and a calm atmosphere.

Although it was Gangnam, this place had a very different atmosphere from what people usually think of as ‘Gangnam,’ and it was like Woojin’s hometown.

‘This place… it’s still the same even after a long time.’

The place Woojin went to after getting off the bus was a dilapidated villa village on a high hill.

Gangnam.

A shantytown so run-down that it was hard to believe it was in Daechi-dong.

Just a short walk from here, there were fancy new apartments worth over a hundred million won per square meter, but.

This place was still the same as it was thirty years ago.

Of course, it wasn’t the dilapidated space itself that Woojin found beautiful.

It was the memories contained within that space that were still beautiful.

“It’s about time this place was developed.”

Woojin smiled wryly as he slowly walked down the old alleyway.

In fact, apart from Woojin’s happy memories, the reason why this run-down neighborhood hadn’t been developed was not so beautiful.

For a run-down neighborhood to be developed, the interests of the people living in that space had to align.

And the reason why this place hadn’t been developed yet was because everyone’s greed hadn’t been fully satisfied.

‘Well, you can’t call it all greed. There must be people who are actually struggling to make a living…’

Woojin shook his head.

He suddenly felt sorry for himself for thinking about such things even after coming to a place of memories after a long time.

Since his work included on-site work for redevelopment and reconstruction, it was like he was still thinking about work even after leaving work.

‘Is this what you call an occupational hazard?’

Thud- Thud-

Woojin, who had walked deep into the darkened alley, stopped in front of an old gate, following a familiar path.

A detached house that wasn’t very big, but had a small yard attached to it.

This house was the house in his happiest memories, filled with Woojin’s memories from his elementary school days.

Of course, apart from the memories, it was a house in which Woojin had no stake left.

“Sigh.”

Woojin hesitated for a moment in front of the gate, then finally slowly reached out and opened the door.

Squeak-

Then, with an unpleasant metallic sound, the old iron gate, which looked like it would break at any moment, slowly opened.

There was no one to stop him from entering the house.

Of course, there was an owner of the house, but.

No one had been living in this dilapidated house for over a decade.

For Woojin, it was a space of memories where every corner was precious.

But for the owner of this house now, it was just a piece of gold land in the middle of Gangnam with high investment value.

“……!”

Woojin’s expression became even more flushed as he stepped into the yard.

His heart was pounding.

He had occasionally passed by this house over the years, but.

It had been almost thirty years since he had entered the house.

A place more beautiful than any other space in his memory.

Woojin slowly stepped into the house.

* * *

The reason Woojin came here today.

It was to resolve a question that had been in his heart for decades.

‘Was it really… as perfect a space as I remember?’

In Woojin’s memory, this house was the most beautiful and perfect space he knew.

It wasn’t just because of the happy memories he had.

Although it was just an ordinary detached house built on a small plot of land.

The finely divided sections and design made it a perfect space that was hard to believe was a house built decades ago.

This small detached house, filled with his childhood memories, may have been the driving force behind Woojin’s current self.

The numerous blueprints drawn by his hands were inspired by this small space.

‘Maybe it’s just a beautification of memories… but I wanted to check it out at least once.’

And one more thing.

Woojin, in this very place where his dream began.

He wanted to reaffirm his dream, which was now fading away due to the hardships of life.

He had a vague expectation that he might be able to revive the embers of passion that were fading away in the face of reality.

‘If only I could feel excited again like before…!’

Woojin, with trembling hands, slowly reached out and grabbed the front door.

Then, he carefully pulled the handle.

Clang-!

The old iron door, which was not only rusted but also corroded yellow.

The gate, which had its lock broken a long time ago, opened wide as soon as Woojin pulled it.

Then, Woojin’s pupils began to dilate as he stepped into the entrance.

A scene he had never expected unfolded before his eyes.

“Th, this is…!”

Was it because the beautiful fantasy in his memory was shattered?

No.

It was the opposite.

The space that unfolded before Woojin’s eyes was the very beautiful and perfect space he had vaguely imagined.

A space so beautiful that it was impossible to imagine that it was an old house that had been abandoned for years and was now waiting to be demolished.

The house in Woojin’s memories from his childhood was unfolding before his eyes.

“……!”

Woojin slowly stepped into the house as if he were possessed by a ghost.

And as if he were handling a precious treasure, he began to examine every corner of the house one by one.

‘It’s really just like in my memory…!’

From the umbrella stand neatly placed in the corner of the entrance to the beautiful wood-patterned bookcase placed between the living room and the kitchen.

There wasn’t a speck of dust on the furniture, and everything was exactly as Woojin remembered it.

‘How can this be?’

But after a while.

Woojin, who had been looking around every corner of the house, couldn’t help but be even more bewildered.

Even though he had been walking around with his shoes on because he was flustered, there were no traces of his footsteps anywhere in the house.

Even the faint footprints that had just appeared.

Swoosh-

They disappeared as if by magic, right before Woojin’s eyes.

“H, huh… !”

And at this point, Woojin couldn’t help but feel goosebumps all over his body.

All of this that was unfolding before his eyes was so unrealistic.

‘Is this a dream?’

But this was neither a dream nor reality.

That’s why Woojin started to get scared.

If he hadn’t met a ghost, this kind of thing couldn’t have happened.

‘Wh, what should I do…? Should I leave now?’

So, Woojin, without realizing it, took a step back and slowly started to leave the house.

But the next moment.

Woojin had no choice but to stop.

A familiar voice, which had been left deep in his memory, was heard in his ear.

[Amazing, Woojin.]

“……!”

[You really haven’t lost the dream you had thirty years ago, even after you’ve turned forty.]

Woojin was startled by the voice.

But apart from that, he didn’t feel goosebumps or scared like before.

Rather, the moment he heard the voice, he felt a warmth in his heart.

“A, ahjussi… !” [Ahjussi is a Korean term for an older man, like uncle or mister.]

[Now, as promised thirty years ago, I will give you a gift.]

“Yes…?”

[The dream that twelve-year-old Seo Woojin told this ahjussi.]

“……?”

[I will give you the opportunity to dream that dream again.]

Woojin began to look around, turning his head from side to side.

He didn’t know what he was talking about, but.

Apart from that, the owner of the voice was someone he had wanted to see so much.

But Woojin could never find him.

‘Oh, I’m dizzy…!’

At that moment, his vision began to turn white.