Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 181

Early October. Woojin’s new house was very busy.

Maybe because he knew so many people now, he had guests almost every week.

Jayden and Seokhyun came on the first day of the move. They said they came to help him move in, but they didn’t really do anything and just relaxed.

They came back again the very next day for the housewarming party with Soyeon, Sunbin, and some other close friends.

“Wow…” Soyeon looked around the living room, impressed. “We are in the same Seongsu-dong area, but why is your house so much better than mine?”

Jayden grinned, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “Soyeon, there’s a way for you to live in a house like this too.”

“Oh? What is it?” Soyeon asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Become the owner of the house here,” Jayden teased. “Marry Woojin, and…”

“Are you asking for trouble, Jayden?” Soyeon warned playfully.

The day after his friends visited, Park Kyungwan and other people from Cheonwoong Construction came by, along with Woojin’s right-hand man, Jintae. Woojin’s mother, Joohee, was on a trip, so Woojin could easily welcome his guests.

“Executive Director,” Kyungwan said, looking at the many boxes, “what are all these boxes…?”

“You know I went to Russia for work recently, right?” Woojin replied.

“Yes?”

“Their vodka is very famous.”

“Don’t tell me all these boxes are… full of vodka?” Kyungwan asked, surprised.

“Keep them safe,” Woojin said. “I’ll come here to drink sometimes.”

Kyungwan looked surprised. “No, why are we drinking at your house? When there are so many good bars nearby.”

“The view is amazing,” Kyungwan said, walking to the window and looking out at the city. “The view is like art. If you drink here, you don’t even need snacks. Right, Jintae?”

“Why even ask?” Jintae agreed quickly. “Haha! In that case, shall we open a bottle first?”

“These people…” Woojin said, shaking his head with a small smile.

“Sounds good!” Kyungwan cheered.

“Executive Director, I’m going to tell your wife,” one of Kyungwan’s colleagues joked.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Kyungwan waved his hand dismissively. “If my wife knows I’m drinking with you, she won’t say a word even if I stay out all night. If I say I have a meeting with CEO Seo, she practically pushes me out the door!”

“……”

After Kyungwan, Jintae, and the others left, the last guests to visit were the crew.

Despite their busy schedules, all three of them visited Woojin’s house without exception.

In fact, although they were the last in order, these were the people who had booked Woojin’s housewarming the earliest.

“As expected of someone working in this industry, the interior is neatly done.”

At Jaeyeop’s exclamation, Suha, who followed him in, added a word.

“I agree. I should ask Woojin to do the interior when I move in too.”

“Move in? Where are you moving into? Cheongdam is still far off.”

“I have to get into Mapo Clio first. Just wait half a year for the move-in!”

At Suha’s words of half a year, the manager couldn’t help but interject.

“It won’t be half a year, sis. The completion is scheduled for June, so it’ll be July next year….”

“It’s already the end of 2011, so half a year is practically the same thing.”

“……”

Perhaps it was because they were celebrities who had experienced many good houses, but among the guests who came to the housewarming, these three seemed calm about the house.

It was more like they were genuinely congratulating Woojin on finally moving into a good house.

However, among the three housewarmings, today’s was the most special.

Besides Woojin’s house, there was one more house they had planned to look at.

Moreover, that house was a super-luxury house more than twice as expensive as Woojin’s.

So, after chatting for about an hour with light desserts, the four of them slowly got up.

“Then, it seems like we’ve seen enough of Woojin’s place… Shall we go upstairs?”

At Suha’s words, Jaeyeop next to her wiggled his bottom.

“Heh heh. Shall we? I wonder what a penthouse in this kind of apartment feels like….”

Ria, who had been quietly sipping her drink, also opened her mouth.

“But shouldn’t we call the CEO first and let her know?”

The place these four were visiting today was Seokjung’s apartment, an upstairs neighbor in the same building as Woojin.

Seokjung’s house was a whopping 120-pyeong duplex penthouse.

Even Woojin couldn’t help but be curious about the ultimate in residences.

All three of them had become quite close to Seokjung, so when Seokjung heard that they were visiting Woojin’s house, he invited them to his own house as well.

So, the total number of people in today’s gathering was six.

The four people waiting at Woojin’s house, Seokjung, and Sojeong.

“It’s okay. I just asked Sojeong.”

“Huh? What?”

“Sojeong said she’s already arrived upstairs. She said we can come up now, okay?”

Sojeong, whom Suha was talking about, was her agency’s CEO and Kang Seokjung’s younger sister, Kang Sojeong.

“Great. Then let’s go, go!”

“Gooood!”

The four people who heard Suha’s story immediately got up from their seats.

Among them, the most excited one was Woojin.

He didn’t seem disappointed at all that the three of them didn’t stay long at his house.

‘Krooh, I should enjoy Seokjung hyung’s house today.’

In fact, the longer the guests stayed at home, the more there was to clean up.

Woojin, who was already sick of housewarmings, wanted to go up to Seokjung’s house as soon as possible.

“It’s right upstairs, so we can go up the stairs.”

“You’re really close neighbors.”

“There was a reason why Seo Woojin suddenly moved in here.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it to get the benefits from the house above?”

“Correct!”

“That’s right. With CEO Kang’s status, it’s not crumbs but something very valuable.”

“Heh heh.”

The three people who came out of Woojin’s house chatted as they went up the stairs.

And there, they were able to receive a warm welcome from the homeowner, Seokjung.

“So kind of you all, busy as you are, to come to such a humble abode… Please, come in.”

Typical new apartments usually have about two to four units per floor.

The usual structure involves a small main hall shared by two elevators, with one unit on each side.

Woojin’s home, , was no different.

Even on the 45th floor where his apartment was located, there were two other units besides his.

But the top floor…

The penthouse was different.

The entire 46th floor of belonged to Seokjung.

Seokjung’s penthouse, where he lived alone, was huge, as big as three normal apartments put together, about 200 square meters.

“Wow, this is something…” Woojin said.

It was Woojin’s first time stepping into a penthouse of this caliber, and he couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement.

Of course, Woojin had seen many luxurious penthouses in virtual models and images, but entering a real, lived-in penthouse was a completely different experience.

Woojin knew there were different kinds of penthouses, from nice to amazing. This Clasia Forest penthouse was definitely one of the most amazing, the very best kind.

Excluding the detached houses in Hannam-dong with spacious yards and security guards, it was safe to say that there was no more lavish home than this.

‘Every single finishing material is literally coated with money. No wonder Chilseong Construction went all out on this residential-commercial complex,’ Woojin thought.

Woojin looked around, impressed. But because he was an architect, he also started to check how the penthouse was built.

The first impression was of an incredibly lavish space, but his professional eye couldn’t help but notice some shortcomings here and there.

‘If the living room had been directly connected, the sense of openness would have been much better. It’s a bit disappointing that the view is obstructed,’ he thought.

He couldn’t help but compare it to the penthouse of the Cheongdam Summit Apartment, which he had designed himself.

‘In terms of scale and finishing materials alone, this place is a bit more luxurious than the Summit penthouse… But the overall design is better there. Chilseong Construction’s interior style is just too antique,’ Woojin mused.

Woojin couldn’t stop thinking about the design, like a habit. But his friends just looked around with wide, excited eyes.

Especially Jae-yeop and Yuria, who would soon live in a penthouse themselves, were on the verge of a complete meltdown from their happy daydreams.

“Wow… so this is what a penthouse is like…” Yuria said.

The feeling of a penthouse, which hadn’t quite registered when Woojin showed them the floor plan, began to sink in more deeply after seeing Seokjung’s home as a real-life example.

“Woojin,” Jae-yeop called.

“Huh?” Woojin responded.

“Hey Woojin, about our place… any chance you can make it happen faster? I’m dying to move in after seeing this!” Jae-yeop asked.

“……. Am I the one building it?” Woojin asked.

“Aargh! I want to move in quickly too! This is crazy! It’s so amazing!” Ria exclaimed.

Seeing Ria so excited she almost couldn’t speak, just making happy noises, Seokjung and Sojeong laughed, enjoying her reaction.

“Ria, when you move into the Cheongdam penthouse, you have to invite us, okay?” Seokjung said.

“Of course, Director!” Ria replied.

The house was so large that it took more than ten minutes just to walk around, but no one seemed bored.

After thoroughly exploring Seokjung’s home, the four of them finally stepped out onto the terrace.

They stepped onto the terrace, which was like a secret garden hanging in the sky. It was bigger than most living rooms, filled with small trees in pots, colourful flowers, and soft lights that glowed like fireflies.

“The terrace is the heart of a penthouse, after all,” Woojin said.

“Huh? Why?” Ria asked, standing next to Woojin.

The terrace was certainly impressive, but to her, the duplex living room, resembling a hotel lobby, seemed much more magnificent.

However, after hearing Woojin’s explanation, she immediately nodded in agreement.

“The terrace isn’t included in the square footage. So, it’s service area,” Woojin explained.

“Wow, really?” Ria asked.

“The penthouse you’re getting is listed as being in the 80 pyeong range, but if you add the terrace, it’ll be an extra 30 pyeong, right?” Woojin said.

“Amazing,” Ria responded.

“It’s not included when calculating the price per pyeong, so it’s a total steal,” Woojin added.

Perhaps it was the cool autumn breeze of October, but everyone sitting around the terrace table looked incredibly cheerful.

The view from the terrace was breathtaking. The Han River snaked through the city like a silver ribbon, sparkling in the afternoon sun. From this height, Seoul spread out below them, a vast carpet of buildings stretching to the horizon.

Seokjung brought out a few bottles of premium wine he had been saving in his wine cellar, and as they each took a sip, the conversation grew livelier.

“Mmm, the aroma is really good,” someone commented.

“Hey, Seo Woojin. Who holds a wine glass like that?” Seokjung asked.

“Huh?” Woojin asked.

“You’re supposed to hold the stem. You’ll ruin the taste of the wine if you hold it like that,” Seokjung explained.

“Hehe, it tastes good to me anyway,” Woojin replied.

Perhaps because the members of the gathering were so accomplished, the topics of conversation were incredibly broad.

Private stories that started with the residents of Seongsu-dong boasting about their neighborhood, moved beyond business stories and even into the entertainment industry.

With three celebrities and an agency CEO sitting together, it was perhaps natural that stories about entertainment gossip became the main topic.

Woojin, who didn’t know much about this area, simply listened, but he was still enjoying himself.

The content of the conversations themselves was something you couldn’t pay to hear anywhere else.

‘Ah, so the reason Kim Iseol, who was doing so well, suddenly retired was because of a scandal with a member of parliament…’ Woojin thought.

But just as these stories related to the entertainment industry were going on for a while, a sudden remark from Sojeong pulled Woojin, who had only been an observer, into the conversation.

“By the way, Director,” Sojeong said.

“Hey. There are two directors here besides you,” Seokjung responded.

“Am I going to call my brother ‘Director’? I’m calling Seo,” Sojeong clarified.

“Yes?” Woojin asked.

Sojeong, meeting Woojin’s eyes, continued.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you,” she said.

Looking at Sojeong with sparkling eyes, Woojin replied with a puzzled expression.

“Go ahead,” Woojin said.

“Have you ever worked on anything like drama sets, Director Seo?” Sojeong asked.

“Set…?” Woojin asked.

Woojin’s eyes widened at Sojeong’s unexpected question.

But the story that would surprise Woojin didn’t end there.

“I’m investing in and planning a drama called ,” Sojeong revealed.

“Yes…?” Woojin responded.

“The world of that work is a bit unique, so we need to set up a separate filming location,” Sojeong explained.

“Ah…!” Woojin exclaimed.

“But I don’t have any connections in this area. Do you happen to do this kind of work, Director Seo?” Sojeong asked.

Woojin’s mind began to race as he listened to Sojeong’s story.

‘So, the main investor for Millennium’s You is SJ Entertainment…!’ Woojin realized.

The moment she finished speaking, Woojin instinctively smelled something interesting.