Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 200

Getting from Seongsu-dong to City Hall in rush hour was a long and difficult trip. Traffic was terrible.

In a straight line, it wasn’t far, but you had to go through Seoul’s old city center, which was known for terrible traffic.

So, as soon as his meeting with CEO Min Joo-young finished, Woo-jin hurried out of the office. That’s how he arrived at City Hall just on time.

As the City Hall building came into view, Woo-jin looked a little intrigued.

But what he saw was completely different from what he expected.

“Ah, the new building hasn’t been built yet.”

Since going back in time, Woo-jin hadn’t had much reason to visit Seoul City Hall.

He had passed by on the subway a few times, but this was the first time in a while that he was actually seeing the building.

Woo-jin had been thinking of the new building with its glass exterior, so he was surprised by what he saw when he arrived.

In the winter of 2011, Seoul City Hall’s new building was still covered in scaffolding.

The new building was being built, and the main building in front of it was mostly hidden by fences.

“So, that’s why they told me to come to the City Council annex instead of the City Hall building itself.”

Woo-jin quickly looked around the busy, traffic-filled roundabout and then smiled a little sadly.

He remembered several stories about the new Seoul City Hall building.

This new building would be finished next year. Sadly, it was already known as a building that many people disliked because of its design.

“Bad planning and people looking out for themselves… it was a building project that had a lot of problems with building rules.”

The Seoul City Hall building’s design had been changed five times.

This was because it couldn’t block the view of Deoksugung Palace, according to the ‘Cultural Heritage Protection Act’.

High-rise buildings near cultural sites have legal limits, so you need approval from the Cultural Heritage Administration to get a building permit.

The application was rejected four times.

This rule was based on the opinion of the person in charge, so the new Seoul City Hall building had a lot of difficulties from the start.

It would have been better if the result was good, but many architects and critics would keep criticizing its design.

A few years later, this new building was voted the worst modern building in Korea by architects.

Of course, in December 2011, only Woo-jin knew what the finished building would look like.

“The idea of using the lines of the eaves wasn’t bad, but there were too many problems when they tried to create it with the design.”

Woo-jin suddenly thought that if he had gone back only two years earlier, he could have entered this new building in a contest, but he shook his head.

If he had gone back in time two more years, Woo-jin would have been shaving his head and getting ready for a tough training camp.

“Phew. I only imagined it for a moment, but it’s really terrible.”

Woo-jin had been sweating from that thought. He soon arrived at the annex.

When Woo-jin arrived, Kyung-wan was already waiting in the parking lot.

“Seo Woo-jin, what took you so long?”

Kyung-wan greeted him, though it wasn’t very welcoming. Woo-jin smiled back and replied,

“You seem to think you’re a big shot now, huh?”

“What, you punk?”

“Hehe, I said you’ve become more handsome.”

“You’re still as slick as ever.”

Woo-jin asked Kyung-wan, who was sighing and shaking his head.

“By the way, isn’t there still about five minutes left?”

“If the Mayor calls you, you have to come and wait 20 minutes early, you rascal.”

“I wanted to come a little earlier too, but I was busy.”

“I’m sure you were.”

“Shall we go in then?”

“Let’s do that.”

Woo-jin, who had been arguing with Kyung-wan, walked towards the meeting place with him.

There, Woo-jin met two more people.

One person was Seoul Mayor Gu Yoon-kwon.

“It’s been a while, CEO Seo.”

“Have you been well, Mr. Mayor?”

“Haha, of course. Please, sit here.”

The other person was…

“Hey, why are you so late?”

“I’m late because I was waiting for CEO Seo!”

“Oh, really? Then I guess it’s okay to be late.”

“Wow, Elder. That’s not harsh.”

“Don’t be silly. Just sit down.”

It was Hwang Jong-ho, a former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, who had greatly helped Woo-jin stop the corruption at Paramount.

Hwang Jong-ho wasn’t supposed to be at this meeting with Gu Yoon-kwon.

The reason for this meeting was complicated, and it involved Park Kyung-wan.

The meeting started with a phone call Kyung-wan made as soon as he returned from London.

[Hey, Seo Woo-jin. Are you free soon?]

“What do you mean?”

[You have to make time, you rascal.]

“How can I make time when I don’t have any?”

[The new Mayor wants to see you soon, so… you don’t have any time planned?]

“No. I have to make it. Even if I didn’t have it, it’s there now.”

[Hehe. See? It works.]

While Woo-jin was in London, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced a bid for remodeling Sebitseom, an artificial island in Banpo Hangang Park.

Chunwoong Construction won the bid, so Kyung-wan had another chance to meet with the Mayor.

During a conversation with Mayor Gu Yoon-kwon, Woo-jin’s name came up.

Gu Yoon-kwon heard about EAC from Kyung-wan and asked him to arrange a meeting.

Woo-jin was surprised by this.

First, Chunwoong Construction bidding for the reconstruction of Sebitseom was different from what he knew.

He knew that the company that built Sebitseom would also be in charge of the reconstruction, but it had been changed to Chunwoong Construction.

“The only thing that’s different is me, so it must be because of me…”

This change was due to Woo-jin’s actions.

Dodam Nursing Home was built as an SPDC project, all thanks to Woojin.

Because of this, Chunwoong Construction bid on it.

And because the Mayor of Seoul came to the opening, Park Kyung-wan met Mayor Gu Yun-kwon. It all came back to Woojin.

And so, this meeting was set up. Woojin knew it was all connected.

But there was another surprise about this meeting: Hwang Jong-ho would be there too.

[The appointment is set, but there will probably be one more guest.]

“A guest?”

[You remember Elder Hwang, right?]

“If you mean Elder Hwang…”

[Hwang Jong-ho, the elder. The one who helped us last time.]

“Ah, of course, I remember him. But why would Elder Hwang be at a meeting with the Mayor…?”

[Turns out, the elder was Mayor Gu Yun-kwon’s direct senior back when he worked at the Ministry of Economy and Finance (like the country’s money department).]

“Really…?”

[And I thought he had completely retired… Looks like he’s snagged another position this time.]

“A position?”

[It seems he’s been appointed as the Chief of Staff for Policy in the Presidential Secretariat.]

“Pardon?”

[He grumbled that he’d been roped into it, but from our perspective, it’s a great outcome.]

The Chief of Staff for Policy in the Presidential Secretariat is a very important job in the government, like a minister. They decide big things about government plans and what the country will focus on.

Therefore, this position was closely related to the construction industry, because policies related to real estate often came from the mind of this Chief of Staff for Policy.

Woojin and Kyung-wan wouldn’t expect any secret deals between politicians and businesses, of course.

Still, having someone in such an important position among one’s connections was bound to be a great help in running a business.

‘At least we can avoid being treated unfairly because of government policies.’

Hwang Jong-ho claimed he wanted to come simply because the position looked interesting, but that couldn’t be the whole story.

An ambitious new Mayor of Seoul and a new Chief of Staff for Policy about to be appointed.

The Executive Director of Chunwoong Construction, which had grown rapidly into the best construction company in the industry in the last two years, and the young architect Woojin, who had been the talk of the EAC not long ago.

There couldn’t be purely personal reasons for these four people to gather in one place.

So, Woojin found today’s meeting very intriguing.

The initial conversation would certainly start with next year’s International Living Fair, but many different things could come from this meeting, more than anyone could guess.

The positions of Mayor of Seoul and Chief of Staff for Policy in the Presidential Secretariat held far more influence than one might think.

So, Woojin, sitting around the round table, calmly sipped his tea, trying to calm his racing heart.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Hwang Jong-ho, with his distinctive raspy voice, spoke first.

“Executive Director Seo, I heard you went to London recently?”

Woojin had met Hwang Jong-ho a couple more times in private, so they weren’t on completely awkward terms.

“Yes, Elder. It just happened that way.”

“Heh heh. England. I envy you. I should have gone on a European trip before being dragged into the Blue House.”

“Hey, Elder. Do you even know what kind of trip Executive Director Seo went on?”

“Why are you suddenly butting in, you rascal?”

“Why do you only hate me?”

“Hate you? This is all affection, you know. Affection.”

Woojin and Gu Yun-kwon chuckled as they watched Hwang Jong-ho and Park Kyung-wan bickering.

Yun-kwon found it amusing because it was the first time he had seen this side of his superior, who had always seemed like a tiger, and Woojin still hadn’t gotten used to it, even after seeing it a few times.

‘He’s definitely an interesting person.’

On the bright side, their lively(?) conversation made the atmosphere much more relaxed, which could have been heavy.

“I heard Executive Director Seo gave those foreign blokes a good thrashing in London?”

“Ha… Haha. A thrashing? I learned a lot too.”

“Tsk, tsk, such modesty… I knew it from the time you dealt with that difficult situation in Wangsimni. Executive Director Seo is definitely something else.”

“Thank you, Elder.”

“Alright, tell us about your trip over there. The Mayor of Seoul seems to be the most curious about it.”

So, in a pleasant atmosphere, Woojin lightly told the three men about his trip to the EAC.

Even Kyung-wan was hearing the specifics for the first time, so the three men listened to Woojin’s story for a while.

Woojin’s story naturally led to the projects he was working on, and eventually, he explained the work of WJ Studio to Gu Yun-kwon and Hwang Jong-ho.

In the process, he also talked about Kyung-wan, Chunwoong Construction, and even SPDC.

Hwang Jong-ho and Gu Yun-kwon listened to the story with great interest.

“So, this all happened in the last two years?”

At Gu Yun-kwon’s question, Woojin nodded with an awkward expression.

“Well… that’s about right, Mayor.”

“Haha. I understand why my senior praises Executive Director Seo so much.”

“Heh heh, I told you so? At first, I wondered why that rascal was sticking so close to Executive Director Seo. But after watching for a few months, I quickly understood.”

“Oh, Elder!”

“Heh heh heh.”

The four men continued to talk in a good atmosphere, and almost an hour flew by.

As it grew dark outside the window, they moved to a restaurant that had been reserved in advance.

And here, the real discussion finally began.

It started with Gu Yun-kwon’s words.

“Actually, Executive Director Seo.”

“Yes, Mayor.”

“I arranged this meeting because there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“Yes? What…?”

Seeing Woojin’s tense expression, Yun-kwon burst into a hearty laugh.

“Well, in some ways, it might be a vague and abstract question…”

Gu Yun-kwon’s voice lowered slightly.

“I wanted to share some thoughts on the Seoul city planning projects that the previous mayor started.”

Woojin’s eyes widened at Gu Yun-kwon’s sudden remark.

Seeing this, Gu Yun-kwon waved his hand and continued.

“It’s not that grand. I was just curious to know what someone like Executive Director Seo, who is not only the most talked-about architectural designer recently but also has the youngest perspective, thinks about this.”

Listening to Gu Yun-kwon’s words, Woojin swallowed hard without realizing it.

It seemed that today’s meeting was more significant than Woojin had anticipated.