Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 117

Since his design was chosen on Wednesday, Woo-jin could only think about the bidding war.

He had passed one big test, but winning the bidding war for Chunwoong felt like an even bigger challenge.

‘I need to find the direction that gives Chunwoong the best chance.’

To be clear, thinking about the bidding war wasn’t really Woo-jin’s job, or WJ Studio’s job.

The design company was supposed to work with the construction company to make the design better until they presented it together.

But that work could wait until Monday when everyone came back to the office.

So, Woo-jin was in the office with Jin-tae, analyzing data.

Jin-tae was supposed to be on vacation until Friday, but he came in because Woo-jin asked him.

“So, what do you think, Jin-tae? Do you understand the process a bit now?”

“Roughly. I can see the big picture.”

“It’s not a big deal once you know, right?”

“Not a big deal, my foot. How do you know all this stuff when you’ve never even worked at a construction company?”

Woo-jin chuckled to himself at Jin-tae’s words, ‘when you’ve never even worked at a construction company.’

He couldn’t exactly tell him the truth.

‘I’ve been through bidding wars more times than I can count….’

Jin-tae was helping Woo-jin analyze data from past bidding wars.

Specifically, data from Chunwoong Construction about the bidding for the Ahyeon-dong project.

Jin-tae had been a carpenter for a long time, but building projects were new to him.

So, he didn’t know much about it.

Woo-jin was teaching him the basics.

“I’m just well-informed because I’m interested.”

“That’s nonsense….”

“Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now, is it?”

“Right.”

“Today, we need to find the key.”

“The key?”

“What kind of game needs to be set up for Chunwoong Construction to have even a slight advantage over the other construction companies.”

Actually, Woo-jin didn’t really need Jin-tae’s help to analyze the bidding war and plan strategies.

It would be better to talk with Department Head Park Kyung-wan to develop a strategy.

However, Woo-jin wanted Jin-tae to get experience by working together this time, for the future.

Jin-tae was talented and would do more work for Woo-jin in the future.

“From what I’ve heard, the important thing is to reduce surprises.”

“Right. Once they start spending a lot of money… it’ll be even harder for Chunwoong to beat Jeun.”

“So, can’t we just find out which companies are trying to unfairly influence the association and stop them?”

“How?”

“Tell on them, I guess. If we tell on them for breaking the rules about city building projects, wouldn’t they lose their chance to bid?”

Woo-jin smiled and shook his head at Jin-tae’s simple question.

If it were that easy, he wouldn’t be worrying so much.

“No, it’s not that simple.”

“Why?”

“Of course, that would be the best way if we could. But the current law is a bit of a mess.”

“Hmm…? How so?”

“Even if you find good proof and show it to the authorities, they just pay a small penalty and that’s it.”

“Crazy.”

“The management departments are all in the same situation. Nothing can be done. There was even a time when companies could pretend the money they used for unfair influence was just a normal business cost, you know?”

“Wow, whether it’s a small shop or a big corporation, the construction business is all the same.”

“That’s how it is.”

It was a common practice in the business.

These unfair practices were so normal, people did them without feeling bad, even though they knew it was wrong.

Construction companies trying to influence association members had been happening since the 1970s, and the government had ignored it for so long.

New government workers also thought it was normal.

They learned the job thinking, ‘That’s just how it is.’

This couldn’t be solved just by ‘telling’ on them.

It was hard to even find proof, but even if you did and complained…

They would act like they were listening, but secretly ignore us.

‘They might even think I’m clueless.’

So, Woo-jin thought and thought.

How could he turn this unfair bidding war around?

Of course, he could do his best with the design and hope the association members liked it.

But that wasn’t Woo-jin’s style.

If there was anything else he could do, he wanted to do it to make sure Chunwoong had the best chance of winning.

“So, is there really no way?”

Woo-jin shook his head at Jin-tae’s words.

“No, there must be a way, definitely.”

“Hmm…? Do you think so?”

It seemed impossible, but Woo-jin was sure there was a way.

‘In the 2020s, this bad practice disappeared and fair bidding became normal. There must have been something that caused that.’

He remembered the future he had seen.

Just as Woo-jin was thinking, Jin-tae suggested something he hadn’t considered.

“Hey, Woo-jin. What about this?”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“The association members are the ones getting the unfair money, right?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then what if we talked to the association and stopped it from the start?”

“What?”

Jin-tae got more excited when Woo-jin looked surprised.

“You said the money companies spend on unfair influence ends up as extra money for the association members, right?”

“That’s right.”

“So, if the members are losing out anyway… if we get the association to say ‘no’ from the beginning, the other companies can’t do anything, right?”

“……!”

Woo-jin seemed to realize something and became silent and thoughtful.

After a moment, Jin-tae shook his head and scratched his head.

He realized the problem as he spoke.

“No, it still sounds like nonsense. If the association members knew that, they wouldn’t be listening to bribes, would they?”

But Woo-jin seemed to disagree.

“Wait a minute, Jin-tae.”

“I was just throwing out ideas. Don’t take it too seriously……”

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

“Huh?”

“I think I’ve found a way.”

“What?”

Woo-jin jumped up, looking at Jin-tae in surprise.

“Just a moment. I’ll be right back after sending a text.”

“……?”

“I think I see a good path, if we do it right.”

Woo-jin suddenly grabbed his phone and left, as if he had an idea.

Jin-tae was left alone in the conference room, confused.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

Jin-tae watched Woo-jin go towards the president’s office, tilting his head.

The idea Jin-tae had wasn’t really a solution.

Jin-tae stopped talking as soon as he brought it up, like he knew it wasn’t right.

Controlling the association members was as hard as controlling the other companies.

If the Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment association members were reasonable, they would have suggested ‘Fair Bidding’ before anything else.

But there was no sign of that.

It was clear that Chunwoong Construction wouldn’t succeed by appealing to the association.

They would probably say, ‘Are you too cheap to spend money on sales? Then give up and leave.’

But when Woo-jin heard Jin-tae’s words, he remembered something he had forgotten.

He thought of a powerful way to control the association, or the association president.

‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

It was in Woo-jin’s past, but it would happen soon.

He remembered the ‘big problem’ that would happen in the after the bidding was over.

[Department Head. Are you free after work? I have something to tell you about association member sales…….]

Woo-jin texted Park Kyung-wan, ran to the president’s office, tore a sheet of paper from a notebook, and spread it out.

He quickly wrote down the information before it disappeared.

After the Cheongdam Seonyeong project was approved with the Artia brand from SH Corporation, a group called the Emergency Response Committee (ERC) sued them two times. This group was against the building project.

The first lawsuit was from people who had lost their membership, and the association won easily.

But in the second lawsuit from the Seonyeong Apartment Shopping Center Association, the association lost in the second court, and they panicked.

The Shopping Center Association sued to try and cancel the permission for the whole project to exist. If they lost the final court case in the highest court, the project would be stopped completely.

The main reason the association lost this lawsuit was…

Woo-jin wrote quickly, then paused.

‘Association President Kwak Hong-shik. It was that old man’s fault.’

He hadn’t thought about these things before, but as soon as he remembered one detail, more and more memories came back.

The reason the association lost to the ERC.

The reason they paid over 10 billion won to the ERC and reapplied for association member sales.

He even remembered that.

‘I wish he had just stolen money like other association presidents. That old man is too soft…….’

Woo-jin remembered titles of articles he had seen.

[Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment (Cheongdam Artia Riverview), Unfair Application for Association Member Sales?]

[Controversy over preferential treatment for only some association members in the application for specific unit types!]

Kwak Hong-shik, the president of the Seonyeong Apartment Redevelopment Association, had favored some members in the unit type application.

The ERC of the Seonyeong Shopping Center Association had set a trap.

‘I didn’t know the ERC would set such a careful trap.’

They had paid some association members in the ERC to give up in the unit type application.

Then, they sued, claiming the association had unfairly favored others, as if they hadn’t given up on purpose.

Woo-jin remembered this well because a similar thing had happened where he used to work.

He had looked into the Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment case while searching for court cases.

It might seem like a coincidence, but these kinds of lawsuits happen often when you work in this business for a long time.

Woo-jin remembered everything and organized his memories.

Park Kyung-wan replied.

[Where should I go?]

Woo-jin replied and left to meet Kyung-wan.

[There’s a place called Seongsu Pocha near Seoul Forest. Can you come there?]

Kyung-wan replied right away as Woo-jin went down in the elevator.

[Okay. I’ll go right now.]