Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 182

Woo-jin suddenly remembered things from his past. These memories were like puzzle pieces, slowly fitting together.

*Ah, so that’s why KSJ Entertainment became so big so quickly,* he thought.

He hadn’t paid much attention to some things before. But after hearing So-jeong’s story, they started to make sense.

‘A rookie agency growing into one of the largest entertainment companies in just three years… it would have been difficult without a jackpot like Millennium Love, I suppose.’

After learning that KSJ Entertainment was closely related to Millennium Love, he understood why this Clascia Forest in Seoul Forest was one of the main filming locations.

Seok-jung had owned a penthouse in this Clascia Forest even before his connection with Woo-jin.

Even if Café Fresco failed, Seok-jung would still have lived in this place in Woo-jin’s past life.

‘Representative Kang So-jeong, who has been to Seok-jung’s place, might have chosen this place as a filming location… or maybe she received sponsorship….’

Up to this point, Woo-jin had just been thinking about interesting facts.

So-jeong’s proposal to create a set for filming was more than just interesting; it was tempting to Woo-jin.

Even though Woo-jin hadn’t even heard her specific story yet.

He could accurately guess what that set was referring to.

‘The set location is probably Icheon.’

Even as of 2011, Icheon City was most famous for its ‘Icheon Rice’.

However, after began airing in 2013, the most famous thing in Icheon was the drama set of .

The place where ‘Seo-hoo’, the male protagonist who has lived for over a thousand years, first appears, and the place that plays an important role as a trigger for time regression in the drama, Cheonsin Palace.

The Cheonsin Palace set built in Icheon was an architectural structure with a dreamy atmosphere, like a palace built above the sky.

‘I was very disappointed when I actually went there, though….’

In fact, the Cheonsin Palace set in Icheon became famous because was so popular; it wasn’t a set with high architectural quality.

It was too difficult to build architecture that matched the drama’s setting from the beginning, so in reality, it was built shoddily, and most of it was covered with CG.

Nevertheless, because was such a hit, this place, the most important location in the drama, had no choice but to become a tourist attraction.

Woo-jin, who was a fan of in his past life, had been disappointed after visiting this place.

So, apart from any material gain, it was only natural that he would be intrigued.

‘This could be fun?’

However, if he came on too strong, So-jeong might think it was strange, so Woo-jin pretended not to know and broached the subject little by little.

“Well, we can certainly do drama set work if we want to.”

“Oh…! Really?”

“What kind of set do you need?”

So-jeong looked a little embarrassed at Woo-jin’s question.

The concept of the set itself was so difficult.

And the explanation that came out of her mouth a moment later was enough to embarrass everyone who was with her.

“That’s… I need a palace floating on the clouds. A palace made of clouds.”

“Sorry, could you say that again?”

“Well, I’ll cover it as much as possible with CG… but please keep in mind that the overall feel of the set itself should be that dreamy atmosphere.”

At So-jeong’s words, Seok-jung asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“A cloud palace? That sounds a bit… fantastical, doesn’t it?”

Su-ha also added a word with wide eyes.

“I know, right? Isn’t the concept a bit too much? It looks difficult to make the set… but wouldn’t it look very childish if you made it like that?”

Woo-jin couldn’t help but laugh as he listened to those stories.

When was first broadcast, the most common viewer reaction was that it was childish.

It was so cheesy that it made your toes curl, but most viewers said they couldn’t change the channel.

Nevertheless, it was a legendary drama that eventually set unprecedented viewership ratings and overseas export records.

Woo-jin smiled and asked So-jeong.

“What kind of palace are you talking about?”

“Yes?”

“The image of a palace is different for each country. The Forbidden City is a palace, and Gyeongbokgung Palace is a palace. Although it’s a tomb, the image of India’s Taj Mahal is also a type of palace.”

So-jeong’s eyes widened as if Woo-jin’s reaction was unexpected.

“First of all, in terms of worldview, it’s a palace close to traditional Korean architecture….”

“I see.”

“You’re not surprised, Representative Seo?”

“Why?”

“Whenever I brought up this story, everyone had the same reaction as Su-ha and Seok-jung oppa.”

Woo-jin smiled and retorted as if it were nothing.

“Really? I think it looks fun.”

“……?”

Ria and Jae-yeop looked at Woo-jin at the same time with embarrassed expressions.

The two of them weren’t that close to So-jeong yet, so they couldn’t speak carelessly.

‘He says this childish concept looks fun……?’

‘Is he saying that sincerely……?’

But no matter what other people thought, So-jeong was overjoyed at Woo-jin’s words that it looked fun.

“Wow! Really?”

“Yes, I’m telling you.”

“Hehe, Representative Seo has insight, as expected!”

Su-ha gave a disapproving remark with a dumbfounded expression.

“Insight? Come on, Woo-jin, are you serious? If you say you think this looks fun…….”

“I’m not just being polite; I really think it looks fun.”

“Re…ally?”

Woo-jin smiled and added a word.

“You know, architects love to do new and interesting things. Where else would we get to build a cloud palace? It’s a really unique project!”

By the time Woo-jin finished speaking, So-jeong was already looking at Woo-jin with sparkling eyes.

In fact, So-jeong wasn’t telling this story to Woo-jin for the first time.

There were companies that specialized in producing drama sets, so she had already looked into that area first.

However, KSJ Entertainment, being a new company, couldn’t have had a generous production budget, and the concept of the set itself was so difficult.

So-jeong was rejected by most companies.

[With this budget, we can barely build a plain Hanok design without any concept, Representative.]

[Re, really?]

“Of course. You’ll probably get the same answer even if you go to other places besides us.”

“Hoo…….”

“You either need to increase the budget by at least double, or change the concept to something more moderate… If you proceed without doing so, the result will probably be incredibly childish and sloppy.”

The biggest problem with the Cheonshingung concept wasn’t that it had to float in the air.

Cheonshingung was meant to be a magical palace in the sky, like something from an old Korean story.

That part was going to be solved with CG anyway. What was more important was that the building itself had to feel like it was made of clouds.

It was a strange idea. They wanted the Cheonshingung to be like a fairy tale palace hidden in the clouds. Imagine soft, white clouds, like something from a dream. But at the same time, it had to be grand and strong, like a real Korean palace with colourful roofs and elegant lines.

Experts worried this mix would be hard to get right. They thought it might easily look silly and childish.

So, they had no choice but to avoid it.

Clients usually complained if the results weren’t believable and impressive, no matter what they had asked for.

Of course, Woojin didn’t think building this set would be easy.

However, he remembered the set from the old drama. It was clearly fake, with clouds that looked like cotton candy and palace walls made of thin wood that wobbled. Even though the drama used that kind of set, it was a huge hit.

He was interested in this project because he thought it would be a special experience as an architect.

“What is it, a house where the Jade Emperor of the sky lives or something?”

The Jade Emperor is like the king of gods in Korean stories.

“W-Well… something like that.”

“What is the approximate size of the entire set you are thinking of?”

“About 1500 pyeong… ?”

Woojin asked Sojeong about different things, and the people with them heard the story too.

Yuria listened, her smile fading. Her eyebrows drew together, and she looked down at her drink, not saying anything.

‘If it’s , I think Minwoo has been offered a role in that drama….’

Woojin didn’t know, but Minwoo had recently received an offer to play the main character in .

Yuria, who was in the same agency, knew that.

Yuria bit her lip. Minwoo really wanted this role. But if the set looked silly, would the whole drama be bad? She hoped Woojin knew what he was doing.

In fact, when Sojeong first mentioned this story, she seriously thought about rejecting the offer to Minwoo.

The setting and idea seemed too childish.

But when Woojin showed interest and tried to do something, even this childishness started to look okay.

She knew Woojin had good instincts.

“I will visit the office soon. Let’s talk more about the specifics then.”

“W-Would you… ?”

So, Seokjung and Woojin’s housewarming party became the start of a new project that no one expected.

“Talking about work even at a gathering like this… You really are a workaholic, Seo Woojin.”

“Why are you like this, hyung? Did I bring it up? CEO Sojeong mentioned it first.”

“But you’re the one who turned a casual chat into a work meeting!”

“Anyway!”

No one there had any idea what would happen in the future because of today’s events.

Not even Woojin, who knew some of the future.

Days turned into weeks. Sojeong was busy, and Woojin went back to his usual work. But the idea of the sky palace stayed in the back of his mind.

After that day, Woojin’s daily life went on as usual for a while.

Sojeong, who had talked as if she would give the set production to Woojin right away, was busy and didn’t contact him for a while.

Woojin wasn’t going to bring up the project first.

To be exact, Woojin was so busy that he forgot about that day’s events for a while.

“Hyung Jintae, the Fresco Suwon Station branch started its finishing construction yesterday, right?”

“Don’t worry, it’s going well without any problems.”

“I guess so. We’ve already done dozens of Cafe Frescos… You could probably build one with your eyes closed now, hyung.”

“Haha, it’s not that easy yet.”

“Is Team Leader Kim in charge of the Seona Hair side?”

“Yeah, I’ve given all the work to Team Leader Kim.”

“Okay, then… Now, the only thing left to do today is to stop by our company building site.”

“Are you going again today?”

“Of course.”

“You’re so hard-working….”

“Ugh, it’s already past quitting time. How come I never leave on time?”

“Tell me about it.”

WJ Studio’s number of employees had more than quintupled since last year, but they still needed more people.

Of course, because they were so busy, sales kept going up.

Ding-!

Woojin left the CEO’s office with Jintae, got in the elevator, started the car, and headed to the company building site.

These days, Woojin always visited the construction site of the new company building last on his schedule. The reason for coming was simple.

The Golden Print, which first appeared on the site, was gradually changing as the company building was being built.

Woojin first thought that the Golden Print on the drawing was only changing according to the design, but he recently realized that wasn’t true.

The Golden Print glowed on the site, a shimmering gold outline of his design. It shifted and changed as the workers built, like a living drawing in light.

The golden hologram of the site, which only Woojin could see, was continuously showing the shape of shadows as the construction went on.

Woojin was checking it every day to see if the construction was going well.

If the construction went even a little bit differently from the drawing, the pattern of light that Woojin designed would be wrong.

Woojin was able to watch more closely through the Golden Print.

‘Well, there haven’t been any days with any problems, but I still feel better if I check it and go home.’

Checking the Golden Print, which changed every day, was partly for watching the construction, but there was another reason too.

Looking at the Golden Print, which changed day by day, made the WJ Studio’s company building, which was being finished, feel more real.

It was like getting a sneak peek at the space of light that he had designed and created day and night through the Golden Print.

So, even though it was late, Woojin headed to the site before leaving work.

There, he felt proud as he looked at the slightly changed appearance of the Golden Print today.

‘Wow, it looks like this side wasn’t here yesterday.’

If the construction keeps going at this speed, it seemed like he would be able to see the almost finished company building by next summer at the latest.

Thud-!

Woojin closed the door and got out of the car, and admired the site for quite a while.

But after about 10 minutes had passed?

Just as Woojin was about to get back into the car to go home, a familiar woman’s voice came to his ear.

“CEO! You were here!”

Golden Print