Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 103

The second episode of was the part Woojin was most looking forward to.

It was the episode where Woojin would properly appear, and at the same time, his design for ‘Café Fresco’ would be shown to many people.

So, Woojin was planning to watch the live show at home if he could, at least for this week.

But Woojin had to work. A meeting was suddenly set for Sunday, even though he planned to rest.

He was so busy he didn’t even think about the TV show. The meeting continued until the evening.

But that didn’t bother him.

The business owner he was meeting was an important client for the future.

Maybe not as important as Kang Seok-jung, the founder of Café Fresco, but still important.

“I think I made the right choice to meet you today, CEO Seo.”

“Haha, you’re too kind. I enjoyed it as well.”

“Honestly, I only came here because Ria recommended it. I didn’t expect you to be so detailed.”

“It’s my job. I should do even better if I can.”

“Hehe, I’m so happy, I don’t know what to say!”

“Then, please leave carefully, CEO Han!”

“CEO Seo, you too! I’m sorry for bothering you on the weekend.”

The person Woojin met was introduced by Yu Ria.

She was the director of a beauty salon that Yu Ria had been going to since she started her career.

Her name was Han Seon-ah, and she was the founder of a hair salon brand called ‘Seona Hair.’

She was in her early thirties, about the same age as Suha.

And one more thing.

‘Seona Hair,’ like ‘Café Fresco,’ was another promising brand that Woojin knew.

‘Networking is the most important thing in business.’

In 2010, Seona Hair was not yet well-known.

Among celebrities, it was known as a professional salon that was good at doing hair.

However, Han Seon-ah only had one regular store near KBC in Yeouido, and there were no franchise stores.

So, was it just by chance that Woojin was able to meet with the director of ‘Seona Hair’?

Of course not.

Woojin had read that ‘Seona Hair’ started as a salon for celebrities and became famous.

So, he had subtly asked the celebrities he knew from TV about it.

Suha and Jae-yeop didn’t know about Seona Hair, but Ria was a regular customer who had been going to the salon since it opened.

Because of that, he was able to have this meeting.

‘I didn’t expect it to be today, though.’

Even if Woojin knew about Seona Hair, he couldn’t just suddenly say he wanted to design the interior.

It wouldn’t make sense to bring it up without knowing if the CEO of Seona Hair needed an interior design.

So, he had been dropping hints and waiting for Seona Hair to start growing.

He was also thinking of going to get his hair done there.

‘But I ended up meeting her as a business owner before going as a customer…’

Woojin’s efforts created another connection with a promising business owner.

Today’s meeting was very successful.

[I’ll bring the contract to your store next week!]

[Hehe, great! Then I’ll see you then.]

Woojin smiled as he read the text message from CEO Han Seon-ah.

It seemed almost certain that WJ Studio would design the new ‘Seona Hair’ store.

All that was left was to sign the contract.

‘Good.’

However, the contract with Seona Hair was not yet for a franchise, which was disappointing.

Han Seon-ah had only come to Woojin to move the store to a larger location.

‘Well, Han Seon-ah is going to become a famous beauty expert, and Seona Hair will become a franchise soon. There’s no need to rush.’

Even on the way home, Woojin was thinking about the meeting.

Woojin had completely forgotten about the second episode of that he had been thinking about that morning.

Woojin usually forgot small things when he was focused on important matters.

The meeting with Han Seon-ah was more important than watching the live show.

“Haa, I ended up working all day again. I should go to bed quickly.”

Woojin got home after ten o’clock, quickly washed, and went to bed.

He was tired from preparing for the meeting and talking.

Woojin fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

The second episode of disappeared from Woojin’s memory.

The next morning, Woojin remembered .

Vroom- Vroom-!

Woojin started the car to go to school, and his phone rang.

“Huh? Why is Seok-jung calling me so early?”

The phone call reminded Woojin of what he had forgotten.

[Woojin.]

“Yes, older brother (Woojin used the Korean term ‘hyung-nim’ to show respect). What’s going on?”

[What do you mean, what’s going on, you rascal? Hey, can you talk for a minute?]

“Yes, 형님. Please speak.”

[It seems like we’re going to be very busy starting next month.]

“I’m busy enough now, 형. What’s going on again?”

[You. Didn’t you watch the show yesterday?]

Woojin was speechless.

He remembered that he had forgotten to watch the show.

“Ah……? The show……?!”

[Ha, this guy really lives mindlessly. How can you be more mindless than your 형 who’s almost forty?]

“I guess so. I forgot to watch it.”

Not watching the show wasn’t a big deal, but Woojin was surprised.

‘I wouldn’t have been able to watch it anyway because I was in a meeting. But still, where is your mind, Seo Woojin.’

He should have checked the reactions after the show.

[Anyway, because of what was on TV yesterday, our office phone is ringing off the hook right now.]

Woojin was confused.

“Not the café, but the office?”

After Café Fresco was on , Seok-jung was expected to be busy.

But he didn’t understand why he would suddenly be busy as well.

[Yeah, the office. Franchise requests are pouring in like crazy right now.]

“Excuse me……?”

Woojin realized what Seok-jung was saying.

‘After the show, franchise requests must have started pouring in.’

If the number of franchise requests increased, WJ Studio, which designs the store interiors, would also be busy.

Woojin was surprised and curious about the show he hadn’t seen.

He wondered how good the show was that franchise requests had exploded, not just the number of café customers.

But Woojin’s surprise didn’t end there.

[We have three franchise meetings scheduled this week alone.]

“What did you say?”

[Now that it’s becoming a big deal, it seems like there’s competition to open a store earlier? Haha.]

The calls that Seok-jung was receiving were leading to meetings beyond simple requests.

“Wow. What was on TV? I should watch the replay right away?”

[Yeah, you rascal. How can you forget to watch the show you’re on?]

“Ugh, I guess so.”

Woojin was genuinely surprised.

Franchise requests could come in, but the rate at which those requests lead to contracts is not very high.

Becoming a store owner by opening a franchise is part of starting a business.

Therefore, it takes a lot of thought and time to make that decision.

But the very next day after the show, three contract meetings were scheduled?

This was an enormous ripple effect.

“형님, you can’t just accept everyone who wants a franchise. You know that, right?”

[Huh? What are you talking about?]

“I mean you should analyze the area and only give franchises to locations where the store can succeed.”

[Hmm. I haven’t thought about that.]

“It may be good for the company to increase the number of franchises, but you also have to think about the future.”

[Future?]

“You should think that the brand value decreases each time a store fails and closes.”

[Conversely, the more successful stores there are, the higher the brand value will be?]

“That’s right.”

Seok-jung was surprised.

WJ Studio, which designs the interiors, would want the number of franchises to increase.

But Woojin was giving more cautious advice.

[Let’s talk about this again sometime.]

“When?”

[We have to see each other before the meeting.]

Woojin sighed.

“형님. You said the meeting is this week.”

[Two cases on Thursday and one on Friday. They all decided to come to the head office.]

“Ugh, I don’t have time.”

[I’ll go to your office. Would that be okay?]

“Okay, 형님. Please set a time for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

[Hehe. Okay, thanks. Then I’ll hang up for now?]

“Yes.”

Click-

Woojin put the earphones down and sighed again.

“Sigh.”

It was good for business to be busy.

But he thought he wouldn’t have any energy left at this rate.

‘Haa, I wish there were 10 more hours in a day…’

Woojin arrived at the school parking lot.

Today was a day with only one class, but as soon as the class was over, he had to go back to the office for a meeting.

‘And after that meeting, I’ll have to revise the design plan again.’

October had just started, but it was already the middle of the month.

And by the end of October, the results of the design competition for the Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment complex will be decided.

‘I wonder if I’ll be able to rest around that time.’

Was it because he was living his life again?

Woojin’s time seemed to be flowing faster than others.