Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 116

The filming crew of wrapped up another day in a warm and cheerful atmosphere.

Although the viewership ratings hadn’t yet broken through the 20% mark, they were still cruising smoothly around 19-20%.

It seemed they might soon be able to aim for the top spot among weekend entertainment shows.

Moreover, what was even more encouraging was that the number of views for ‘replays,’ one of the key indicators of a successful entertainment program, had once again exploded.

Thanks to this, Yoon Jaeyeop, who finished filming in a great mood, packed his things and said to Ria, who was beside him,

“Ria, how about we all go for a drink together for the first time in a while today?”

“Oh, now?”

“Yeah, right now!”

“But if it’s all of us… who exactly? Suha and Woojin are definitely included, and what about Dooyoung or Minha?”

“Hey, are you ignoring Dongwoo?”

“Ah, right. Dongwoo was there too.”

“Anyway, it’s not going to be a huge gathering like that. I was just thinking of the four of us having a drink.”

“Well, I’m in. Where did Suha and Woojin go?”

Today’s filming was just before the interior renovation of Jaeyeop’s house was set to begin in earnest.

It was a shoot to do a final check, along with a few simple missions.

Because of this, Jaeyeop, Ria, Suha, and Woojin from Jaeyeop’s team were filmed separately, each performing different missions.

They gathered at the final filming location near the end of the shoot.

But Jaeyeop and Ria were confused when the two people they thought had just arrived suddenly disappeared.

“Huh, that’s right. Where did they go?”

“Did the PD call them?”

But then, Suha appeared from the opposite side and cleared up their confusion.

“Woojin left first, Oppa.”

“Oh, Suha!”

“Huh? Woojin left?”

“He got permission from the PD and left right after we arrived here. He seemed to have something really urgent to do? He told me to tell you both he was sorry for leaving first.”

At Suha’s words, Jaeyeop and Ria tilted their heads.

They had never seen Woojin disappear this quickly after filming ended.

“He’s always busy. I hope there’s nothing particularly wrong?”

At Ria’s words, Suha shrugged her shoulders and replied,

“Well, he must be particularly busy.”

Jaeyeop also said a word.

“Hmm. This is a bust.”

Ria glared at him slightly after hearing Jaeyeop’s words.

“Wow, Jaeyeop. A bust! Are you now openly favoring only Woojin?”

Suha also chimed in from the side.

“I know, right? Look at how he favors Woojin. Amazing…”

Jaeyeop, hearing the words of his two younger colleagues, looked rather dumbfounded.

“Wow, what’s with you two? Who’s always abandoning this old Oppa and only taking care of Woojin!”

“Hmm, did I do that?”

“I don’t remember that.”

“I’m so sad, so sad. My younger colleagues are picking on their older Oppa.”

Suha and Ria couldn’t help but chuckle at Jaeyeop’s exaggerated gestures.

“Anyway, does that mean there’s no drinking tonight?”

“No. Let’s just have a simple drink, the three of us. I found a new great restaurant.”

“A bust, you said?”

“Seriously, you’re so petty, Yuria.”

Jaeyeop, who playfully scowled, continued,

“It’s not that, I just had something I wanted to ask Woojin today, so I said it was a bust.”

Suha asked first instead of Ria.

“Something to ask Woojin?”

“Yeah.”

This time, Ria asked.

“Is it related to real estate?”

Jaeyeop nodded and replied.

“Yeah, something like that. I was going to ask him something because of my mother’s situation… but it’s not urgent, so it’s okay.”

At Jaeyeop’s answer, Suha and Ria nodded in agreement.

If there was something to ask in a field related to real estate, it was certainly a shame that Woojin had left first.

“Anyway, shall we have a drink, the three of us?”

“Call!”

“I don’t have any particular schedule afterward either.”

“Great. Let’s just have a light drink for two hours and then go home.”

The three, who were perfectly in sync, told their respective managers and then got into Jaeyeop’s car together.

Thus, the friendship(?) of Jaeyeop’s team was growing stronger today as well.

Being in the construction industry for a long time means experiencing many dirty deeds.

Because so many different people gather, all sorts of things happen.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the entire industry is like that.

It was only natural that there were more honest and diligent people than dishonest ones.

Anyway, one of the events where such behind-the-scenes dirty incidents occur most often is the bidding war for Gangnam’s reconstruction, in which construction companies put all their efforts.

Even within the industry, the construction company bidding war was called a ‘den of corruption’.

These corruptions could be said to be the following kinds of things.

[ XXX Apartment, Reconstruction Bidding War, Market ‘Turbid’ with Rampant Money Bundles]

– Last summer, Mr. O, who was about to hold a joint briefing session for construction companies and a vote for the members, had an absurd experience.

– He received a luxury bag worth ten million won as a gift from an official of a large construction company A, which had entered the bidding war.

[XXX Apartment Member: Of course, I refused and sent it back. How could I accept something like that?]

– Mr. O refused, but an even more absurd thing happened afterward.

– This time, Mr. O’s child was contacted by construction company B.

– It is said that Mr. O’s daughter found an envelope containing money worth several million won in a promotional flyer from Construction B that she received on her way home from school.

[Construction B Official: A service employee meant to show sincerity… I think they put it there (in the promotional flyer) because it was easier for your daughter.]

When Mr. O found the money in the envelope his daughter brought, he called to protest, but they even persuaded him to just keep it.

[Construction B Official: Our employee just did what was natural. I don’t know how much it is because I didn’t look in the envelope, but whether it’s 100,000 won or 1 million won, just use it for a simple dinner… So please see it in that context, and it’s better to just keep this (envelope of money)…]

– The lobbying of construction companies to win construction rights in reconstruction projects is becoming increasingly severe.

– High-priced valuables, as well as gift certificates and fruit baskets, etc…

Of course, paying separate compensation to members for construction orders is illegal under the Urban Redevelopment Act.

However, because it had been done as a custom, the industry regarded this lobbying as natural.

Therefore, competing in a bidding war without this kind of lobbying was too difficult in 2010.

It would take another ten years for the bidding war to become clean(?) with the intervention of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the slogan of a clean bidding war.

So, the first thing the Cheonwoong Construction TF team, which was preparing for the bidding war, started to worry about was this openly conducted dark deal.

“Sigh, isn’t there a way to stop this?”

At Kyungwan’s words, Oh Joohyung, the sales manager sitting next to him, shook his head.

“How can you stop this? If it were that easy, would I be doing this now?”

“Right?”

“Honestly, no construction company wants to do this… I wonder why we’re doing this…”

“Are you sure no one does? Myungsung or Jeun can’t do business without this, right?”

“Well, maybe. Haha.”

In fact, fighting a mud fight in a bidding war was just a chicken game.

Because they thought that the winner of the order would be determined by which construction company spread the most money.

While watching the competition, they continue to pour blind money, trying to spend even a little more.

Then, would it be good for the union to receive the money bundles and gift offensives?

That wasn’t the case either.

The money that disappears into the air is ultimately included in the construction cost calculated by the construction company.

As much as the cost of flying like this, the money going into the apartment is reduced.

This is the worst chicken game that no one can benefit from.

However, even knowing that fact, construction companies have no choice.

Unless all construction companies are guaranteed to have a clean bidding war.

‘Construction companies join hands and promise fair play? No way. They’re all just going to be secretly plotting behind the scenes.’

So, Cheonwoong eventually had no choice but to set aside a budget for this illegal lobbying.

And Kyungwan couldn’t help but feel bitter about the fact that the first task of the TF team formed for the was to budget for creating slush funds.

“Sigh. Let’s go home today and talk again next week.”

At Kyungwan’s words, Oh Joohyung sighed in response and nodded.

“Let’s do that.”

This week, when the design plan is set, is the week when only the big picture of the specific direction needs to be grasped.

So today is Friday evening.

Around 7 o’clock, when the work was roughly finished, Kyungwan got up from his seat.

Oh Joohyung, who was sharing data on order sales to help him, also stood up.

“Shall we have a light drink and go in?”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“We have to run hard from next week. When else will we have a drink if not today?”

Kyungwan nodded at Joohyung’s words.

He was one of the few friends Kyungwan had in the company, but it had been a long time since they had shared a drink because they were both busy.

Kyungwan was also in the mood for a drink.

“Yeah, well. Not bad.”

But as Kyungwan was packing his things with Joohyung and leaving the office, he received an unexpected text message just before getting on the elevator.

[Sender: Old Man]

He opened his cell phone to check the time without thinking, but a familiar number was stamped on it.

‘Hmm? What’s wrong with this guy all of a sudden?’

Kyungwan had been in contact with Woojin all day for work-related collaboration, but he thought that all the stories he had to tell today had been finished.

So, he was wondering about the text message that came after work, but Kyungwan checked the contents of the message without hesitation.

And the next moment.

“……!”

“Hmm? Mr. Park, what’s wrong?”

“No, just a moment.”

Kyungwan couldn’t help but be quite embarrassed.

‘Seo Woojin, this guy. Is he really using some kind of mind-reading?’

The text message Woojin sent contained a part related to what Kyungwan had been worrying about until just now.

[Manager. Are you free after work? I have something to tell you about union member sales…]

Woojin knows the physiology of this industry better than any practitioner Kyungwan knows.

Therefore, Woojin’s ‘union member sales’ must be related to the mud fight that Kyungwan and Joohyung had been worrying about until just now.

So, Kyungwan had no choice but to immediately revise his plan to have a drink.

“Hey, Oh Joohyung.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s drink next time.”

“Why, suddenly? Did something happen?”

Kyungwan, who was about to nod at Joohyung’s question, suddenly shook his head again and opened his mouth.

“Ah, no. Come to think of it, it would be better for you to go with me.”

“Me? What are you talking about out of the blue? Where are we going?”

Ding-!

Kyungwan grabbed Joohyung’s arm and went into the elevator that had just opened and said.

“Let’s have a drink, as you said. Instead, let’s bring a little kid.”

“A little kid?”

“Anyway, he’s a little kid you’ll have to meet soon. So, follow me without saying anything.”

Kyungwan was the general manager of this project, but in fact, Joohyung is the one who knows the dark business best.

The title of Sales Manager was not given for nothing.

So, Kyungwan dragged Joohyung, and Joohyung was dragged with an unknown expression and got into Kyungwan’s car.

The place they headed to was Seongsu-dong.

It was a street stall near WJ Studio.