Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 184

Kang So-jeong was Kang Seok-jung’s younger sister. This meant she was from a very rich and powerful family, what people in Korea called a ‘chaebol’.

In other words, she was a direct descendant of the NA Group’s owner family, one of the top-ranked big companies in the country.

So, if she had asked her family for help, she wouldn’t have been short of funds for a drama set.

Even if she had only asked her father, the CEO of NA Food One, her older brother who was set to inherit the position, or her younger brother Seok-jung, who was greatly expanding his business through Cafe Fresco, she could have easily secured close to ten billion won, a truly enormous sum of money.

But she didn’t.

From the start, more than half of the money that allowed her to establish KSJ Entertainment and get to where she was now came from her inheritance.

She didn’t want to receive any more help from her family in the process of growing her business and succeeding.

She believed she could do it herself, just like her younger brother Seok-jung had succeeded with Cafe Fresco.

‘I’ve done well enough so far.’

So-jeong had been working day and night, often skipping meals and staying late at the office, to make a success.

wasn’t just a drama that KSJ Entertainment had invested in.

Although it wasn’t publicly known, ‘Meditree,’ the production company of , was practically a subsidiary of KSJ Entertainment.

Thud!

“Hoo. Looks like I made it on time….”

So-jeong parked her sleek black car in the grey concrete parking lot of the knowledge industry center where WJ Studio was located. She smoothed down her smart jacket, making sure she looked professional, and got on the elevator.

Today was the first day she was meeting Woo-jin since Seok-jung’s housewarming party.

‘I hope things go well.’

If the conversation she had with Woo-jin at the housewarming party was just a casual chat, the meeting they had scheduled for today was an official meeting between companies.

Her heart beat a little faster as she raised her hand to knock. She felt a mix of excitement and worry. Would this meeting go well?

So-jeong knocked on WJ Studio’s door.

When running a business, one faces various situations.

These include unexpected crises and opportunities that were never even anticipated.

Therefore, one of the most necessary abilities for an owner is the ability to react quickly to any situation.

Depending on how one responds to the same situation, the results can vary greatly.

Depending on how one uses their head and how one uses the situation, it is possible to turn a potentially dangerous situation into an opportunity.

In that sense, Woo-jin’s greatest strength as a businessman was his ‘resourcefulness’ in using situations.

He was very good at seeing how things that seemed different were actually connected. He could use these connections to make things work even better.

This shone when resolving the Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment issue and when winning the construction rights for the pavilion at the Wangsimni Parafield site.

And it was being demonstrated without fail at this very moment, as Kang So-jeong visited his office.

“So,” Woo-jin began, leaning forward slightly, “if I understand correctly, CEO So-jeong… you’ve already got the land?” He raised an eyebrow slightly, waiting for confirmation.

So-jeong nodded in response to Woo-jin’s question.

“Fortunately, yes. This land was first meant for a factory for NA Food One, her family’s company. But the area around it became protected as a ‘green belt,’ meaning they couldn’t build a big factory there. So the factory plan didn’t work out.”

“Oh, if it’s a green belt, then a drama set can’t be built either….”

“Ah, the land I have isn’t in the green belt. It’s on the border. Only a portion of the land owned by the company was designated as a green belt, so it wasn’t a good place for a factory anymore.”

“Ah, I see….”

“My older brother was going to sell it off cheaply, so I bought it.”

“To use it as the set for ?”

“Yes.”

As So-jeong continued to speak, the situation became clearer and clearer in Woo-jin’s mind.

“CEO So-jeong.”

“Yes?”

“According to the map you showed me, the area isn’t 1500 pyeong. It looks like it’s over 2500 pyeong at a glance….”

“Ah, the area itself is almost 3000 pyeong. But there’s no need to use all of that area, is there?”

“Ah, is that what you meant?”

“Yes. To be exact, it’s 2850 pyeong… Rather than filling that entire area with a limited budget, I thought it would be much better to increase the quality and only make it about 1500 pyeong.”

“Ah, I see.”

“By the way, you’re like a ghost. You almost guessed the area just by looking at the map.”

“Well, this is my job.”

Woo-jin leaned back slightly in his chair, took a slow sip of his coffee, and a faint smile touched his lips. The coffee smelled rich and dark in the air. He set the cup down gently and then looked at So-jeong, his eyes bright with interest.

Now that he had grasped the situation to some extent, it was time to take out the cards he had prepared.

“Have you ever considered increasing the budget?”

“Of course. I’ve been running around trying to secure funds until yesterday.”

Woo-jin’s voice became more subtle.

“Then, have you ever considered receiving additional investment?”

“Hmm…!”

At Woo-jin’s question, So-jeong’s expression became slightly strange.

This was a more difficult issue.

If WJ Studio invested, the picture could be drawn beautifully.

If Woo-jin participated in this project as an investor, he would put more effort into designing the set.

But there was one problem.

The budget for the project had already been finalized.

If additional investment was received in this situation, the shares of existing investors, including So-jeong, would be reduced.

Sensing her mood, Woo-jin opened his mouth again in a subtle voice.

“The investment I’m talking about won’t be in the form of a typical investment.”

Woo-jin raised his index finger and pointed to the map So-jeong had brought.

“How about making the entire site you own into a set?”

“Tell me more.”

“We, WJ Studio, will cover the portion that exceeds the budget you have already allocated.”

“……!”

“Instead, how about we, WJ Studio, have the ownership of this set in proportion to the cost invested?”

So-jeong was slightly taken aback by Woo-jin’s proposal.

It wasn’t because his proposal was absurd.

It was just that it was a proposal in a way she had never thought of.

“You’re not investing in the drama, but in the stake in this set?”

Woo-jin smiled and replied.

“Of course, I’m somewhat interested in the stake in the drama itself….”

Woo-jin tapped the table lightly with his finger.

“If we move on to investing in the drama copyright, you’ll be very conservative, CEO So-jeong.”

Woo-jin and So-jeong’s eyes met in the air.

“I have to put out the cards I can show you and adjust the specific ratio.”

Now that Woo-jin had mentioned his interest in investing, it was the beginning of a complete business deal, apart from their personal relationship.

When So-jeong initially talked about building a set with a size of about 1500 pyeong.

The amount she had presented to other companies was roughly a little less than 1 billion won.

When looking at just the category of drama set production, it was by no means a small amount, but it was definitely not enough when considering the special design concept and the size of the set she had in mind.

And this cost was naturally included in the production cost of the drama .

500 million won per episode.

Since it was planned as a total of 20 episodes, the set production cost was also included in the total production cost of about 10 billion won.

So, if WJ Studio invested about 1 billion won, almost 10% of the stake would go to Woo-jin.

So-jeong didn’t see this as entirely negative, considering that the drama quality would improve with a larger production cost, but the problem was the other investors besides her.

They would never want their shares to be reduced.

‘It’s going to be really difficult to persuade them.’

But if it was an investment in the way Woo-jin said, things would be different.

In general, a drama set is just a means to improve the quality of the drama.

Investors and production companies usually don’t covet the additional income from the set.

What Woo-jin was aiming for was precisely that part.

“I’d have to get an exact estimate, but… to draw the picture I have in mind on about 2,000 pyeong, I expect to burn about 2 billion won in additional costs. The total budget would be about 3 billion won.”

So-jeong’s eyes widened at Woo-jin’s story.

But since he hadn’t finished speaking yet, she quietly drank her coffee and listened.

“Instead of participating in the development with this amount of money from our WJ Studio, we would like to take ownership of this set for that cost. In the future, this filming location could become a tourist attraction, or it could be rented out as a filming location for other dramas. We would share the profits generated from that in proportion to our stake.”

It was a proposal that was not bad at all from So-jeong’s point of view.

It was easy to persuade other investors in this area, and it was a proposal that was not bad at all from her point of view.

But Woo-jin’s proposal didn’t end here.

“Of course, it would be nice to get a stake in the drama itself as much as the cost invested, but I know it’s going to be difficult.”

Woo-jin swallowed dry saliva once and then opened his mouth again.

“So, what I want to propose is an adjustment of the ratio for that stake.”

So-jeong, who had been listening to the story, opened her mouth with an interesting expression.

“So, you’re saying that you’ll receive a portion of the total amount you’ll invest as a stake in the drama, and the rest as ownership of the set?”

Woo-jin smiled.

“That’s exactly it. You can give us as much as 2% or 3% of the drama stake, if possible. I want to receive at least 1% as a stake in the drama.”

So-jeong, like a businesswoman, quickly calculated in her head.

Woo-jin’s proposal was attractive and subtle.

From her point of view, the stake in the drama itself was much more valuable than the ownership of the set.

So, she judged that it would be a good deal if she could make this proposal by handing over the ownership of the set as much as possible.

But there was one problem here, and that was whether the set designed and constructed by Woo-jin would really be worth the additional cost of 2 billion won.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Woo-jin, but rather an instinctive anxiety about a field she didn’t know well.

So, So-jeong quickly turned her head.

She instantly came up with a way to resolve this anxiety and make it a complete win-win situation.

“Then how about this, CEO Seo.”

“Yes?”

“Since you’ve given us this kind of proposal, I’ve been thinking about having WJ Studio take over the ownership of the drama set altogether.”

“……!”

“We don’t spend any money on the set production cost, and WJ Studio bears the entire amount.”

At the unexpected proposal, this time Woo-jin had an interesting expression.

“Can you tell me more specifically?”

So-jeong’s words continued again.

“Instead of saving the set cost, we will sell the land we bought as the set site to you at a low price and give you a little more stake in the drama. How about that?”

“That additional stake is….”

So-jeong, who had already finished calculating, presented a specific figure.

“I think it’s possible up to about 2~3 percent. Is it possible?”

“I’d have to draw up a specific contract….”

Woo-jin, who had all the pictures neatly drawn in his head, reached out to her.

“Okay. Let’s proceed in that direction.”

The two businessmen, who had neatly secured what they wanted, looked at each other and smiled pleasantly.