Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 240

The destructive power of the media is beyond imagination, especially for a major entertainment show like , which has been a top-rated program for a long time. Two years after it started, almost everyone in Korea knew about the show.

Because of its popularity, even famous celebrities wanted to be on as guests.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Director Jo Yong-hyun was taken aback.

Woo-jin was essentially saying he had enough influence to suggest filming locations and content for such a well-known show.

Jo Yong-hyun’s first question was almost automatic: “Is… is that really possible?”

Woo-jin answered immediately, “It is possible.”

“Not just possibly possible… you’re saying it’s definitely possible?” Jo Yong-hyun asked.

Woo-jin replied, “Of course.”

Woo-jin’s answer was short and firm. Jo Yong-hyun was speechless for a moment. He became very quiet.

‘Is this… just a bluff?’ he wondered.

As one of the original cast members, it was possible that Woo-jin was friends with the PD of .

But being friends didn’t necessarily mean he could influence the show’s direction. So, from Jo Yong-hyun’s perspective, Woo-jin’s guarantee sounded like empty boasting.

Of course, Woo-jin wasn’t bluffing at all.

‘I guess he won’t believe me easily?’ Woo-jin thought.

This was a plan Woo-jin had been working on since last week, even if the deal with Icheon City didn’t happen.

Woo-jin thought back to his phone call with PD Gong.

[Woo-jin’s voice in his memory]: “CEO Seo! Did you see last week’s show?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Yes, I did.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “What did you think? I talked about you a lot, right?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Yes, you did. You mentioned me many times in last week’s episode.”

In any case, even without the Icheon City deal, it was in Woo-jin’s best interest for all the projects related to to succeed, from the Living Fair to the set location.

Like a tangled skein of yarn, Woo-jin was involved in every aspect of this project.

So, in a phone call with PD Gong a few days earlier, Woo-jin had subtly brought up the subject.

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “I told you, I put a lot of thought into it. Did you see that… that Wangsimni Pavilion was shown as background footage?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “I did.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Hehe. Well, now I’ve kept my promise… it’s CEO Seo’s turn to keep his.”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Hmm. I suppose so.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Oh, come on, CEO Seo. It’s time to stop holding back and come out once in a while, isn’t it?”

While keeping his promise to PD Gong, who had agreed to appear on after a long time, Woo-jin had also subtly offered the idea of filming at this set.

Very enticingly.

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Of course, PD-nim. Have you ever seen me break a promise?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Uh. Well… I suppose not.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Of course, I’ll be appearing soon as promised to PD-nim, but…”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “But what?”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Regarding that filming, may I make a suggestion?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “A suggestion…”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “I have some good content that PD-nim will like.”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Oh ho!”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “How about it? Would you like to hear it?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “I’m all ears.”

Woo-jin’s idea was to use the set in Icheon as the filming location for .

This was a well-thought-out plan that benefited everyone.

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “You know that set in Icheon? That’s the set I designed and built, right?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “I know.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “I was thinking of offering it as a free rental for the special show where I’ll be appearing after a long time…”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Oh…?”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Hehe. Sounds tempting, doesn’t it?”

The words people use can make a big difference, even when saying the same thing.

Even when telling the same story, Woo-jin made it seem like PD Gong and the crew were benefiting by saying things like, ‘I’ll lend you the set for free.’

Because of this, PD Gong was more likely to think Woo-jin was showing goodwill rather than making demands.

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Jackpot. Of course! Great! I was worried about what to do since we were running out of content.”

Of course, no matter how well Woo-jin spoke, he couldn’t create benefits that didn’t already exist for PD Gong.

However, Woo-jin’s idea was clearly helpful to and PD Gong, and he simply presented it in a way that made it seem even better.

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “If you create some fun content, I’ll connect you with CEO Kang, too.”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “CEO Kang? Ah! CEO Kang So-jeong?!”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Yes. Since you’re filming at the set anyway, it would be even better if you could cast the drama’s actors as well, right?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Ooh…! I hadn’t even thought of that.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “So, how about we do it this way?”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “I’m all for it, of course! If I stick with CEO Seo, I always get something good!”

Once this deal was made, Woo-jin would say:

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “No, I’m more grateful to you, PD-nim.”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Huh?”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Thanks to you, my set will be promoted… and CEO Kang will probably be grateful too. It’s a chance for the actors in her agency to be on .”

In this way, it was impossible for the other person to feel bad in a conversation with Woo-jin.

[PD Gong’s voice]: “That’s why I like our CEO Seo.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Thank you.”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Anyway, I’ll see you soon.”

[Woo-jin’s voice]: “Yes, PD-nim. I’ll call CEO Kang So-jeong right now.”

[PD Gong’s voice]: “Good! Great!”

In any case, these conversations had already happened between PD Gong and Woo-jin.

Therefore, no matter what Icheon City decided, the filming for would be scheduled at the set in the next week or so.

But Director Jo Yong-hyun had no way of knowing this, so he wouldn’t be able to refuse Woo-jin’s offer.

There was no better way to boost the region’s visibility than to be on television.

“If things go as CEO Seo says… there’s nothing better than that…” Jo Yong-hyun mumbled.

Woo-jin spoke again, facing Jo Yong-hyun.

He needed to give Director Jo confidence and get what he needed to make the whole plan perfect.

Woo-jin leaned forward slightly. “How about this, Director?”

Jo Yong-hyun looked up, waiting. “Yes?”

Woo-jin said in a low voice, emphasizing each word, “I’ll get the filming date for set first. Then, I’ll email you all the papers.”

“……!”

“Then, starting from that date, I’d like you to move forward as well, Director,” Woo-jin added.

In these situations, Woo-jin believed that persuasion was useless. Showing action as quickly as possible was the fastest way to gain trust from this type of person.

So, Woo-jin had made a bold move, and he was confident it would work.

“Is that… really true?” Jo Yong-hyun asked.

“Of course,” Woo-jin confirmed.

Hearing this, Jo Yong-hyun’s eyes finally lit up.

If a plan with this much impact became clearly visible, he would have enough reason to support Woo-jin.

Jo Yong-hyun made up his mind and spoke to Woo-jin again. “Then I’ll trust CEO Seo and do all the paperwork first. I’ll take action after receiving CEO Seo’s documents, but I can prepare first.”

“Thank you, Director. I’d really appreciate it if you could do that,” Woo-jin said.

“And as I mentioned, the first step for our Culture Department will be to change the land use of the nearby forest land,” Jo Yong-hyun added.

“That’s also good,” Woo-jin replied.

Woo-jin looked satisfied at Director Jo’s words. He felt that the staff was handling the work even better than he had expected.

But Jo Yong-hyun’s story didn’t end there. He knew how to separate public and private matters.

“But you should know that this process of changing land use is more complicated than you think,” Jo Yong-hyun said.

“You mean…” Woo-jin asked.

“It takes a long time for the official announcement to be made,” Jo Yong-hyun explained.

“Ah, yes, I’m aware of that,” Woo-jin replied.

“And just in case, I’m telling you that land that isn’t absolutely necessary for the housing site won’t be included in the land use change,” Jo Yong-hyun added.

Woo-jin understood what Director Jo was saying and nodded.

“You mean the site where the set is already built will be excluded from the land use change?” Woo-jin asked.

Jo Yong-hyun was surprised, perhaps because he didn’t expect Woo-jin to understand so quickly. “Ah… that’s exactly right.”

This housing site project was ultimately meant to attract tourist facilities around the set.

Therefore, there was no reason to change the land use of the land where the set was already built. The set itself would already be a legal building according to the building codes for the original land use.

However, because the land use change would cause land prices to rise, Director Jo thought Woo-jin would expect the set site to be included in the change.

Woo-jin had already anticipated this.

‘It would be nice if they could change the land use of the set and make it a commercial district, but that’s too much to ask,’ he thought.

If the surrounding land prices rose anyway, the price of the set site would also increase to some extent. In addition, Woo-jin had already bought a lot of land around the set, so some of that land would certainly be included in the land use change.

Woo-jin was satisfied with this level of profit.

“Then it seems like we’ve sorted things out,” Woo-jin said.

“That’s right. Thanks to CEO Seo’s very unconventional idea…” Jo Yong-hyun replied.

“No, I honestly think the plans presented by Icheon City are even more unconventional,” Woo-jin said.

“I’m so glad you think so,” Jo Yong-hyun responded.

The business talk was mostly finished, but Woo-jin didn’t get up right away. Because Jo Yong-hyun was easy to talk to, they chatted a little longer.

Woo-jin slowly got up when his coffee cup was almost empty.

“Then, Director, I’ll contact you when the filming is scheduled,” Woo-jin said.

“Haha, thank you, CEO Seo. I’ll be sure to visit you that day,” Jo Yong-hyun replied.

“Your daughter is coming with you, right?” Woo-jin asked.

“Of course. I have to get autographs from the cast of ,” Jo Yong-hyun said.

Woo-jin and Jin-tae left the conference room and walked towards the parking lot.

Jin-tae, walking behind Woo-jin, asked with a puzzled look, “Hey, Woo-jin.”

“Yeah?” Woo-jin responded.

“Why did you bring me here today?” Jin-tae asked.

In fact, Jin-tae had barely said a word at the meeting. He just chimed in when they were laughing and chatting, and helped out a little.

But of course, Woo-jin didn’t bring Jin-tae just to use him as a driver.

“I need to see you too, Hyung,” Woo-jin said.

“Huh?” Jin-tae asked.

“There will be more and more of these meetings in the future… I can’t keep going all the time, can I?” Woo-jin explained.

“Ah… !” Jin-tae exclaimed.

Woo-jin smiled. “You and Seok-hyun are the most reliable, but he’s a bit… you know.”

“Why?” Jin-tae asked.

“Don’t you know even though you’re always with him? He’s so awkward,” Woo-jin said.

“That’s true,” Jin-tae agreed.

“If I send him to a meeting, he’ll probably just stammer and come back,” Woo-jin added.

Woo-jin and Jin-tae arrived at the parking lot. Woo-jin sat in the passenger seat and looked out the window.

Perhaps because the meeting went even better than expected, Woo-jin looked brighter than ever.