Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 187

As they got closer to the nursing home, Woo-jin felt his heart beat faster. He was excited and a little nervous to see it finished.

Woo-jin chuckled, “Haha, it’s really finished.” The entrance to the nursing home was now perfect. Last time he was here, it was busy with workers planting trees and putting the final touches on everything. Now, a brand new gate stood tall and shiny, looking very impressive.

Woo-jin sighed happily, “Wow, it really feels good, doesn’t it?” He wanted to take a picture with his phone right away. But he was driving. He also felt a little silly to stop the car just to take photos.

But Jayden and So-yeon were already taking lots of pictures, laughing and pointing. They were too excited to worry about looking silly.

“Wow! This is amazing! Really amazing!” Jayden shouted, taking another photo.

So-yeon sniffed, “It’s so beautiful! I’m so happy!”

Woo-jin had seen it many times during inspections. But for Jayden and So-yeon, this was the first time they saw the finished building.

They had visited once or twice while it was being built, but that was mostly when they were building the base.

So, it made sense that they were much more excited than Woo-jin.

Woo-jin glanced at So-yeon in the mirror and smiled. “Han So-yeon, are you crying?”

So-yeon’s voice wobbled, “Crying? No! Why would I cry!”

Woo-jin teased, “You spent ages doing your makeup. If you cry, your mascara will smudge.”

So-yeon gasped, “Oh no! Has it?”

Woo-jin laughed, “I thought I saw a panda in the back seat.”

“Aaaargh!” So-yeon playfully yelled and quickly looked for her small mirror. Of course, Woo-jin was joking. A few tears wouldn’t ruin her makeup.

Vroom – While they were all talking excitedly, Woo-jin drove through the gate and into the nursing home grounds.

The first thing Woo-jin noticed was the slope leading down to the parking lot. It was exactly how he had designed it, and he felt proud of how it looked.

Slowing down, Woo-jin began to drive slowly along the slope.

The slope was a place where you had to drive slowly, but Woo-jin drove even more carefully.

For most people, a parking lot is just a place to park. But for Woo-jin and his team, this parking lot was special. They had worked on every detail of it. Every part of this space was important to them.

‘If we had more money, I could have made it even fancier,’ Woo-jin thought. ‘It’s still good though.’ This parking lot was not like the usual boring parking lots at other nursing homes.

Because of how the nursing home was built, the parking lot entrance was the first thing visitors would see. They knew they couldn’t make the whole parking lot amazing, but they made sure the entrance and the slope looked as good as possible.

Jayden and So-yeon had become quiet now, looking closely at everything around them. Woo-jin had worked on many buildings before, but for Jayden and So-yeon, this was a very special and important moment. They were learning a lot.

Seeing their design become real was a key step for them to become better architects.

Screech – They reached the top level of the parking lot. It was full of cars, unlike the lower levels which were empty. Woo-jin frowned. ‘Hmm? Why are there so many cars already?’ The ceremony wasn’t for another hour. But there were already so many cars. Even if you counted the staff cars, it was a lot. ‘Did I get the time wrong?’ Woo-jin wondered. He dropped Jayden and So-yeon off at the building entrance, parked his car in the last empty spot, and came out, still confused. But he knew he had the time right. The parking lot, which was huge with space for over 200 cars, was going to be completely full today.

Last summer, Bruno had been a judge at the SPDC competition. He remembered Woo-jin’s presentation and was really excited to see the finished nursing home. He had asked So-yeon if he could come with her today.

“So-yeon, you’re going to the nursing home ceremony this afternoon, right?” Bruno asked.

“Yes, I am. Sorry for leaving early, Bruno. Thanks for letting me go.”

“Don’t worry about it, So-yeon. This is your first building ceremony! You have to be there.”

“He he. I’m so excited, Bruno. It would have been even better if you could come too… It’s too bad it’s on a weekday.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me.”

“Really?”

“I was thinking of leaving work early too, just like you.”

“Does that mean…?”

“Let’s go together, So-yeon. I’ll drive you to Seongsu-dong to meet Woo-jin.”

“Yay!” So-yeon cheered.

Bruno could have driven straight from his office to the nursing home with So-yeon. But he wanted to go with Woo-jin too. It wasn’t much extra driving to go to Seongsu-dong first. Bruno wasn’t officially invited to the ceremony. He was very busy, but he had some free time now, so he decided to go. He thought it would be nice if the three of them arrived together.

‘I hope I feel that same excitement I felt when I first saw Woo-jin’s design,’ Bruno thought. ‘I wonder if the real building will be as impressive.’ Bruno got into Woo-jin’s car. They drove to the ceremony, the car filled with happy chatter. When Bruno saw the nursing home, his eyes widened with interest.

‘Okay, let’s take a good look around,’ Bruno said. Jayden and So-yeon were already very excited and loud when they saw the nursing home. But Bruno was calmer. He knew this building was well-designed and interesting, but he had seen many amazing buildings before. He wanted to see if the real building made him feel the same way Woo-jin’s presentation had.

‘Using the natural dip in the land for the underground parking was a brilliant idea,’ Bruno thought. ‘And it’s done so well.’ Even someone who wasn’t an architect could see that this nursing home was special. It looked beautiful because all the parts fit together perfectly, and it felt grand and spacious.

But Bruno, who knew a lot about architecture, saw even more amazing things as he walked inside. It wasn’t just pretty. Everywhere he looked, he could see that they had thought carefully about the people who would use this building. ‘This isn’t just about saying nice things about user experience,’ Bruno thought. ‘It’s real. It’s not perfect, but you can see how hard they worked to make the best possible place for people.’

What impressed Bruno most was how easy it was to move from the parking lot into the building. Woo-jin and the others walked from the parking lot towards the office near the lobby on the second floor to meet the people running the ceremony. It was almost a straight walk, with hardly any turns. And even though they were going from the underground parking to the second floor, they didn’t have to walk up any slopes, except for a short elevator ride. Everything else was flat.

This might seem normal for a building on flat land. But Bruno knew that this area was very difficult to build on. It was hilly and uneven. He also knew they didn’t have much money to spend. So, the fact that Woo-jin had created such a smooth and easy flow, without having to do a lot of expensive digging and leveling of the land, was really amazing to Bruno.

‘He made it even harder for himself by adding his own design ideas to all the building challenges,’ Bruno smiled to himself. ‘Woo-jin has built something truly special.’ Bruno had seen enough for now. He followed Woo-jin into the office.

“Oh, Bruno, you don’t have a name tag, do you?” Woo-jin asked.

“Haha, because I wasn’t invited,” Bruno joked.

“Invited or not, everyone will be happy you’re here,” Woo-jin said.

“Heh heh, you think so?”

“Definitely, Bruno.”

The office inside was quite plain. It had simple floors like any office, bright white lights, and white walls. This made sense. It was just an office to manage the building, not a place for visitors to enjoy. It was designed to be useful and simple. That was the best choice when they didn’t have a lot of money. Bruno nodded and followed Woo-jin into the office.

But just as Bruno took a few steps inside, someone shouted, “Oh! Who is this!”

“Hmm?” Bruno turned around.

“Bruno! Long time no see!” A man sitting on the sofa jumped up and greeted Bruno like an old friend.

After parking and looking around, Woo-jin was thinking about the building and not much else. He noticed there were more people than he expected, but didn’t think too much of it. But when he went into the office to get a name tag for Bruno, Woo-jin stopped in surprise. The office was full of people talking and moving around. And some of them… Woo-jin knew them! ‘Isn’t that the Chairman?’ he thought. ‘And Professor Yoon is here too?’ Ahn Jung-muk, the head of the Seoul Design Foundation, and Professor Yoon Chi-hyung from K University. Woo-jin couldn’t believe these important people had come to his ceremony. He felt a rush of joy and thankfulness. ‘These very busy people came all the way here… I’m so grateful.’ Chairman Ahn and Professor Yoon were both famous architects before they became leaders and professors. Just them being here would make today’s event, which was like Woo-jin’s first big moment, much more famous. Woo-jin felt incredibly happy. He quickly walked over to greet them. But as he got closer, Woo-jin was even more shocked. He hadn’t seen him clearly from far away, but there was another person there he never expected to see. ‘Wait… is that…?’ He had never met this person, not even in his past life. But he was so famous, everyone knew his face. It was Gu Yoon-kwon, the Mayor of Seoul, the most loved mayor in recent times. He was sitting right there with Chairman Ahn and Professor Yoon.