Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 23

“There’s an executive meeting tomorrow.”

“If you give this to me, I’ll try my best to get the budget.”

“Give me two days. That should be enough.”

Park Kyung-wan looked at Woo-jin’s model and laughed loudly, his face full of happiness until they said goodbye.

Woo-jin’s amazing model had given him a surprise advantage.

‘Choosing Park Kyung-wan was definitely a good move.’

Kyung-wan could have taken advantage of Woo-jin because Woo-jin was just a college student.

Kyung-wan was the one giving him work.

But Kyung-wan didn’t do that.

He didn’t foolishly harm the source of his good fortune.

Woo-jin was skilled and would have succeeded anyway. But Kyung-wan’s kindness made things easier.

And Woo-jin always returned a favor.

“The manager said he’d try to get as much of the budget as possible… I wonder if we can get about 1.5 times the normal price for this model?”

Woo-jin figured that a model like this would usually cost around twelve to thirteen million won.

But Kyung-wan knew this model was special and promised to get as much money as he could.

Woo-jin was hoping for about seventeen to twenty million won.

He knew the model was worth more than three times the normal price, but big companies don’t usually approve budgets that easily.

‘It should cost about one and a half million won to make, so I’ll have at least fifteen million left over. Even if I pay Seok-hyun four and a half million, it won’t be too bad.’

His bank account was almost empty, but he didn’t need to worry about buying materials right away.

He could get 10-20% of the money in advance and use that to buy the materials.

‘Making a model like this for fifteen million won isn’t very profitable, but… I need to think about the future.’

Woo-jin didn’t want to just do this one job.

He wanted to do more work for Cheonwoong Construction, and…

He wanted people to talk about his model when the model house opened, and get more work from other big construction companies.

He wasn’t going to accept every job.

Woo-jin wanted to make top-quality architectural models.

Instead of making regular models, which took a lot of effort…

He wanted to charge at least five times more for his special models.

After all, apartment projects cost trillions of won…

If a model could help sell apartments, a few thousand won was nothing.

But Woo-jin had missed one thing in his plan.

“Oh, Manager. You said you needed two days, but you’re calling so soon?”

Park Kyung-wan called Woo-jin in the morning while he was on the subway to school after sleeping well.

[It’s decided.]

“Already?”

[I did some work early.]

“Yes?”

[I’ll give you thirty-five million for this model. Is that okay?]

“……!”

Woo-jin was so surprised by the amount that he couldn’t speak.

‘Thirty… five million? Really?’

Woo-jin wanted to get fifty million for a model like this.

But he knew there was a normal price, and he thought it would be hard to change that in a big company. But…

Park Kyung-wan had almost tripled the price, like magic.

“Of course… it is. That’s enough.”

Kyung-wan laughed, as if he thought Woo-jin’s voice was funny.

[Haha, you’re surprised, huh?]

“I didn’t think you could get that much.”

[I wanted to get forty million. But this was the most I could get without more proof.]

“How did you do it?”

Kyung-wan told Woo-jin how he had done it, like he was telling a story about his great achievements.

Woo-jin was genuinely surprised.

‘Park Kyung-wan… was he this good?’

In just half a day, Kyung-wan had convinced the finance team and the marketing team.

He used money from both the model house budget and the marketing budget.

[Do you know how much money disappears in marketing every day?]

“How would I know?”

[Well, I can’t tell you exactly… but marketing in a big company is like pouring water into a hole that never fills up.]

From small flyers to big billboards to online ads.

A few thousand wasn’t much for Cheonwoong Construction’s marketing department, which spent a lot of money each year. Kyung-wan made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.

He made them think that spending a little extra on the model would greatly improve their marketing.

The marketing team strongly persuaded the finance team.

So, all the executives saw Woo-jin’s model at the morning meeting.

The result was the thirty-five million won that Kyung-wan had mentioned.

This was possible because Woo-jin’s model was so good, but Kyung-wan’s skills also played a big part.

[Did you know that Cheonwoong Construction is launching its premium brand in the Ahyeon 3-2 area?]

Woo-jin knew, but he pretended he didn’t.

“Well, I don’t know. Clio on the apartment wall? Is that a new brand?”

Cheonwoong Construction used to call its apartments CW, from Cheonwoong.

But to compete with other construction companies, Cheonwoong Construction took a chance.

They launched a new premium brand called Clio and completely changed the design of their apartments.

In Woo-jin’s previous life, this worked perfectly.

Cheonwoong Construction, which was in 10th place, jumped to 5th place within a few years after launching Clio.

Woo-jin already knew the name of the apartment in Ahyeon 3-2.

‘Mapo Clio Prestige. It was a very popular apartment.’

Before the new apartments, Ahyeon-dong was a bad neighborhood.

It was supposed to be developed as ‘Ahyeon New Town,’ but it was full of hills and old buildings.

But after the New Town was finished…

About 7-8 years later, Ahyeon-dong was a completely different place.

Apartments that cost 500-600 million won jumped to over 1 billion.

It became a new rich area in northern Seoul.

‘Ahyeon-dong was in a good location. It was perfect for work and life.’

It was close to the Yeouido financial district, Seoul Station, Jongno, and Gwanghwamun.

The Mapo Clio Prestige apartment would lead the way in Ahyeon New Town.

That’s why Woo-jin chose this apartment.

If people knew he was involved in marketing a successful apartment, his value would increase.

‘Why is he talking about the brand?’

Park Kyung-wan spoke again.

[The marketing team is planning to open a promotional center for the new brand.]

“A sales promotion center?”

[No, not a model house, you idiot.]

“……?”

[They’re creating a separate promotional center to promote the new brand itself.]

Woo-jin was surprised.

‘What? Did this happen in my previous life?’

He didn’t remember everything, but he didn’t know about a promotional center for Clio.

Kyung-wan continued.

[The timing is good. If you bring your model to the Clio promotional center… it will be perfect.]

Woo-jin looked interested.

Another unexpected event had happened.

‘That’s why thirty-five million was possible.’

Woo-jin quickly thought about how to use this event.

‘When does the promotional center open? It’s a great chance to promote WJ Studio.’

But Kyung-hwan interrupted his thoughts.

[So, Woo-jin.]

“Yes?”

[We need to move up the schedule.]

“Move up the schedule?”

It took over a week to make one apartment building.

To complete the Mapo Clio Prestige, he had to make sixteen buildings.

It wouldn’t take sixteen times as long because it was a module job, but it would still take about three months.

He had plenty of time before his vacation, but Kyung-wan sounded worried.

Woo-jin had a bad feeling.

And he was right.

[Let’s finish it by early April, kid.]

“Yes…? That’s crazy!”

Kyung-wan calmly spoke to Woo-jin, who had forgotten he was on the subway and shouted.

[That’s why I got you thirty-five million. Nothing is free, you know.]

Woo-jin laughed weakly.

‘I knew he was being too nice.’

But he wasn’t unhappy.

Woo-jin liked this give and take.

As Kyung-wan said, nothing was free, and Woo-jin didn’t like owing people.

“Okay, Manager. I’ll try to do it.”

[Hehe, I knew you would.]

“I’ll email you from school. Please send me the drawings and designs.”

[Okay. Take care, old man.]

Woo-jin hung up, feeling conflicted.

The plan was changing, but it seemed to be going well.

Golden Print