Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 137

Woo-jin had seen the CEO of Cheonwoong Construction from afar.

And once about six months ago, at the Mapo Clio construction site.

Despite having seen him only twice, the appearance of Cheon Jong-geol, the CEO of Cheonwoong Construction, was still vivid in his mind.

Of course, this was partly due to Cheon Jong-geol’s presence, which made him seem like a small giant, and his special position as the CEO of Cheonwoong Construction, but Woo-jin could confidently say that the biggest reason was this: His striking hairstyle.

His perfectly groomed, snow-white hair, reminiscent of white snow, was an unforgettable sight. It also suited the weighty presence that Cheon Jong-geol exuded.

‘He felt like a veteran commanding a battlefield,’ Woo-jin had thought at the time.

He believed there would be no one else with an impression as instantly memorable as Cheon Jong-geol.

But today, Woo-jin had to revise that thought slightly.

Like CEO Cheon Jong-geol, this new man also had striking white hair. But where Cheon Jong-geol’s hair was perfectly styled, this elder’s was wild and untamed, like a lion’s mane. Woo-jin had never seen him before, not in this life, nor in any imagined past.

Kyung-wan chuckled nervously, “Ah, Elder, you’re being a bit harsh, even with our young guest here.”

The white-haired man turned to Kyung-wan, a playful glint in his deeply set eyes. “You’re still a kid yourself, you little rascal.”

“I’ll be getting my star next year; shouldn’t you stop treating me like a kid now?”

“Star? What star? Are you some kind of general?”

“Didn’t you know? I’m becoming a managing director now.”

Adding to that, his deeply sunken eyes and caterpillar-like white eyebrows, prominent cheekbones, and wrinkled nose.

“Gwang-hyeok.”

“Yes, Brother.”

“This little rascal, a managing director?”

“That’s how it is. Heh heh.”

The impression of this elder named ‘Hwang Jong-ho’ was, in some ways, even more intense than that of Cheon Jong-geol.

“Hehe, I’ve grown quite a bit. So now…….”

“No, you little rascal.”

“Yes……. I understand.”

Woo-jin, staring at the man who uttered the very folksy and flavorful curse ‘you little rascal,’ barely managed to swallow the chuckle that was about to escape.

‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chief Park so flustered before.’

The sight of Kyung-wan cowering was refreshing and amusing enough to make him laugh, but this occasion itself was not a lighthearted one. The identity of the elder berating Kyung-wan also did not seem light at all.

So, after glancing around for a moment, Woo-jin entered during a brief lull and bowed to the two men.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Seo Woo-jin, the CEO of WJ Studio.”

Immediately after speaking, Woo-jin’s eyes met Hwang Jong-ho’s in the air. And it was Hwang Jong-ho who extended his hand first.

“Pleased to meet you. I’ve heard about you occasionally from this Park Kyung-wan. I’m Hwang Jong-ho.”

Woo-jin was momentarily startled by the neat tone, which was quite different from how he treated Kyung-wan. Come to think of it, it wouldn’t make sense to treat Woo-jin, whom he was meeting for the first time, the same way, but he still felt an inexplicable sense of incongruity.

Perhaps sensing Woo-jin’s unease, Hwang Jong-ho chuckled and said.

“I’m not such an impolite person.”

“Ha, haha. I didn’t think so, sir. And you can speak comfortably.”

After exchanging greetings with Hwang Jong-ho, Woo-jin immediately introduced himself to Oh Gwang-hyeok, who was next to him. He was also a key figure in Cheonwoong Construction and not someone without presence, but because Hwang Jong-ho’s character was so strong, Woo-jin felt a little more at ease.

“I’m Oh Gwang-hyeok, the executive director of Cheonwoong Construction.”

“I’m Seo Woo-jin.”

“Hehe, I can’t possibly not know CEO Seo. Aren’t you the top contributor to Cheonwoong’s sales last year?”

“It’s not quite like that……. But still, I feel good that you’re praising me, Executive Director.”

In a warm atmosphere that was quite different from their rather intense first encounter, Woo-jin naturally sat down facing the two men.

And after a while, Woo-jin was finally able to learn Hwang Jong-ho’s identity.

Before the food was fully set, Hwang Jong-ho briefly left his seat with Oh Gwang-hyeok.

“I’m going to have a cigarette……. Make sure you’re grilling the meat properly. Got it?”

“This is a place where they grill for you, though?”

“Don’t talk back, you little rascal.”

“Yes, sir.”

In the meantime, Woo-jin couldn’t hold back and asked Kyung-wan about Hwang Jong-ho’s identity.

“Chief.”

“Yeah?”

“But who is that man, anyway?”

And his identity was more impressive than Woo-jin had imagined.

“Hehe, you look like you’re dying of curiosity, right?”

“Yes. Please, just tell me now.”

“The former head of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) office……. And the former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF).”

“What……?”

“He’s just unemployed now, but anyway, he’s a very important person.”

“……!”

“If he didn’t have any political ambitions, he probably would have received a lot of calls from the political world, right?”

“That…… must be true.”

Hwang Jong-ho’s identity was, in fact, an elite who had risen to the highest position as an economic official in domestic institutions.

“As far as I know, he had the ability to become the Minister of Economy and Finance, but he seemed to have suffered some dirty work internally.”

“Dirty…… work?”

“I don’t know the details. He doesn’t really talk about that.”

“Hmm…….”

“Anyway, make sure to make a good impression today. Even though he’s retired, his power is as good as when he was active.”

Woo-jin nodded and took a sip of cold water.

‘When I first saw his image, he reminded me of Chief Kim Ji-hoon, whom I last saw before my regression…….’

Woo-jin, who briefly recalled Kim Ji-hoon, who was like a mentor at the woodworking site in his past life, shook his head to shake off the absurd thought.

Whatever Hwang Jong-ho’s image may be, one thing was certain. Even though he was a retired former official, if he had this much power, he would be able to provide the help that Woo-jin needed.

Of course, having the ability and providing help with that ability were separate matters. If he could only move Hwang Jong-ho’s heart, he would surely be able to take down Taeho Construction as planned.

But as Woo-jin was thinking this, a question suddenly arose.

“But Chief.”

“Why.”

“It seems like he’s actually part of your network……. Why did you say he was a connection you had to go through someone else to reach?”

“Elder Hwang Jong-ho?”

“Yes.”

Kyung-wan had clearly said that he was a connection he had to go through someone else to know, but from what he saw in front of him today, he also felt like he was a longtime acquaintance of Hwang Jong-ho.

But to Woo-jin’s question, Kyung-wan replied as if it were too obvious.

“Hey. Do you call someone you don’t even have contact information for an acquaintance?”

“Yes……?”

“I don’t even know the Elder’s contact information.”

“But how…….”

“He just always calls me whenever he’s having a drink with Executive Director Oh Gwang-hyeok.”

“Why?”

“He says I’m good at grilling meat.”

“…….”

“That’s been going on for ten years now.”

Woo-jin was momentarily speechless at Kyung-wan’s unexpected answer. Then, after a moment, he chuckled and joked.

“Perhaps……. You booked an omakase today because you didn’t want to grill meat?”

“Damn, did you catch me?”

Hwang Jong-ho was definitely an extraordinary person. In the literal sense of the word ‘extraordinary,’ he was an unpredictable and unique individual.

But apart from that, Woo-jin was able to clearly understand the meaning of what Kyung-wan had said. He could feel why this Hwang Jong-ho was definitely helpful in Woo-jin’s current situation.

It wasn’t just because of the power he held in the bureaucratic society. That was certainly an important factor, but more precisely, it was Hwang Jong-ho’s disposition that was very helpful to Woo-jin right now.

That disposition was his upright character, which was very sensitive to injustice. This was evident from his reaction when the story about the Cheongdam Seonyeong bid came up while they were eating meat and talking.

“Ha, those damn forked-tongue bastards. It’s so refreshing.”

“Actually, it was possible because the head of that association was somewhat reasonable.”

“Clean bid? So whose idea was that? Kyung-wan, was it yours?”

“Ah, no. This friend here designed it. I didn’t think it would work, really. Haha.”

Of course, just because Hwang Jong-ho had this disposition, Woo-jin couldn’t immediately talk about his current situation and ask for help. But it was true that it had become easier to bring up the story.

‘The topic of conversation has subtly shifted to architecture.’

This meant that there were small openings for Woo-jin to squeeze into the conversation, which had been mostly focused on Jong-ho and Kyung-wan.

In fact, until the story about Cheongdam Seonyeong came up, Hwang Jong-ho’s attitude towards Woo-jin had been somewhat indifferent. But from the deal with the association head to the clean bid that Woo-jin had designed himself, Hwang Jong-ho began to show more and more interest in Woo-jin after hearing this story.

Twenty-two. No, now twenty-three years old, he was able to come up with such ideas and design such a plan, which aroused Jong-ho’s curiosity.

Just as the meat was cooking deliciously, he was able to seize a crucial opportunity.

“Okay. If all these stories are true……. This young friend is definitely worthy of being called a real estate expert.”

As Hwang Jong-ho started, Kyung-wan quickly praised Woo-jin.

“That’s what I’m saying, Elder. Among the construction guys, he’s the first friend I’ve seen who knows so much about real estate.”

Jong-ho, who chuckled at Kyung-wan’s fuss, opened his mouth again.

“Then, CEO Seo.”

“Yes, sir.”

“May I ask for CEO Seo’s opinion on one thing?”

At Hwang Jong-ho’s words, Woo-jin’s eyes sparkled.

“Of course. What kind of opinion do you need?”

Woo-jin was able to score quite a few points with Hwang Jong-ho.

“It was a few years ago. When I was in the Ministry of Economy and Finance…….”

The topic of the conversation was about the real estate policies in 2007, when Hwang Jong-ho was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and real estate prices were rising like crazy.

“Hmm. In the end, you’re saying there were some problems with those policies back then.”

“Well, not exactly problems.”

“There’s no need to beat around the bush. What’s wrong is wrong.”

Somehow, Woo-jin ended up criticizing the real estate policies that had come out of Jong-ho’s head…….

“Actually, isn’t this a matter of hindsight? Now we can say that those policies were a failure because they led to even bigger surges……. But at the time, that might have been the best option.”

Those words were quite impressive to Hwang Jong-ho.

“That doesn’t change the outcome.”

“That’s true.”

Of course, he didn’t agree with all of Woo-jin’s opinions. Policy was not something that was driven by such simple logic, and Woo-jin could not have a better understanding of it than Jong-ho.

But in some ways, Woo-jin had definitely pointed out points that Jong-ho had not caught. And that was enough to move Hwang Jong-ho’s heart.

“Park Kyung-wan.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Thanks to you today, I’m leaving after hearing a lot of interesting stories.”

“You’re welcome.”

So when they left the restaurant after all the conversations were over, Woo-jin was able to receive a business card.

[Hwang Jong-ho, Honorary Professor of Economics at S University]

Woo-jin, who carefully put the business card in his wallet, clenched his fists without realizing it.