Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 242

The first Saturday of August, August 4, 2012, was the day for the International Living Fair at COEX.

It was the opening day of a special event. This event was new and combined two things: the Korean Wave Content Exhibition and the Living Fair.

The exhibition was very big, using both Hall A and Hall B of COEX. Staff were busy working from very early in the morning.

The booth settings and inside construction were finished, but there was still a lot of work to do.

“‘Gaon Interior’ Manager! Please move the props this way!”

“That’s the main lobby, so don’t touch it! It’ll get in the way of visitors, so don’t put the sofa there!”

“Make sure the decorations and items look good together!”

In Hall B, where the Living Fair was mainly set up, the biggest booth belonged to Min Joo-young’s company, .

Bellostones was chosen to have the main booth at the Living Fair even before they decided to combine it with the Korean Wave event.

Because of this important booth, CEO Min Joo-young arrived at COEX very early, at 5 a.m.

Everywhere you looked, even in the areas near the main entrance, you could see Bellostones products.

Min Joo-young was someone who needed to see everything herself to be happy with it. That’s why she had to be there so early.

But even though she came so early, Min Joo-young looked energetic.

It was clear that Bellostones would become much more well-known because of the exhibition.

Just having the main booth at a normal Living Fair would already more than double how well people knew Bellostones.

But with Woo-jin helping, the event was now much bigger, maybe even three times bigger than she first imagined.

“Working with TV and movies… I never thought of that!”

Joo-young couldn’t even guess how big the impact of this event would be.

“Manager Go, are we finished checking everything?”

“Yes, CEO. You’ve worked so hard since very early this morning.”

“It’s no problem. It’s my job, after all.”

Min Joo-young smiled and looked around the booth again.

“It’ll open in 30 minutes… Just check the staff one more time. And Manager, please get some rest.”

“Yes, I will, CEO.”

The manager bowed and went into the booth. Joo-young smiled softly and followed him inside.

Even the lobby where Joo-young was standing was basically part of Bellostones’ booth.

‘The design is really well done.’

The materials were all from Bellostones, but the designs were all from WJ Studio.

And even within WJ Studio, Woo-jin had done most of the design work – over 90% of it!

As Min Joo-young walked through the space just before the exhibition opened, she admired it again.

‘At first, before the items were displayed, she thought the design was too plain. But now she saw it was perfect for showing off the products.’

Thinking she should do one last check, Joo-young carefully looked at every corner of the booth and walked slowly.

Joo-young walked through the lobby and stepped into the Bellostones booth. *She took a breath, feeling a flutter of excitement.* And then she saw it. The set. It was even more amazing up close. It was huge, taking up more space than three or four normal booths put together! *Was it too much space? No,* Joo-young thought, *it was perfect.* The set was like a small building, but so beautiful. It looked like it came from an old story, but also felt fresh and new. *Sunlight streamed through the high windows of the booth, making the white Bellostones walls glow.* It really was a work of art.

Everything used to build this mini-building was made by Bellostones.

Min Joo-young thought this set would show off how great Bellostones’ materials really were, better than ever before.

“I heard there are many of these buildings at the real set in Icheon. I have to visit it after the exhibition.”

CEO Min Joo-young hadn’t visited the Icheon set yet.

Actually, she hadn’t gone there since they finished building it.

She was too busy to visit before, especially with getting ready for the Living Fair. But seeing this set in the booth made her decide she *had* to find time to go, even if she had to make a quick trip.

And Joo-young became very interested in the drama , which was filmed in such a beautiful set.

What would the drama look like, filmed in such a beautiful place?

She was interested in the story, of course, but she was also really curious to see how beautiful the drama would look.

“It’s too bad the Living Fair isn’t after the drama comes out. Bellostones would be even more famous then.”

Min Joo-young smiled and shook her head.

Just the fact that they had a display this good was much better than they had planned.

She thought it was too greedy to want even more success.

Tap- tap-

Joo-young walked around the booth, thinking about this and that.

About 10 minutes later…

“Oh, CEO!”

Just before the exhibition opened, Joo-young saw someone she was happy to see.

“Haha, I heard CEO Min was here early?”

It was Seo Woo-jin, the CEO of WJ Studio, who made the exhibition possible.

Many people were involved in the exhibition at COEX today. But Woo-jin was one of the most important people for its success.

From the organizers like the Seoul Design Foundation and the Korea Creative Content Agency, to the companies participating like KSJ Entertainment and Bellostones.

Woo-jin had influenced the exhibition in many ways.

So, Woo-jin wasn’t late because he wasn’t involved. Actually, it was the opposite.

Woo-jin had been meeting with the organizers since early this morning.

“So, what’s the chairman saying? Happy?”

Woo-jin smiled and answered.

“Well, everyone’s in a good mood.”

“Really?”

“Ticket sales have broken all records… The marketing is working very well.”

“Oh… I guess we can look forward to today.”

“That’s right.”

Woo-jin met with the organizers this morning to plan the next steps after the Living Fair.

To make everything work together well, they needed to guess how popular the Living Fair would be.

“Joo-young.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know how many people visited the Living Fair on its first day last year?”

“Usually, the first day doesn’t get more than ten thousand visitors. It’s mostly for buyers and staff,” someone replied.

“Right?”

“Why do you ask?”

“The chairman thinks about 20,000 people will come today…”

Min Joo-young’s eyes widened at Woo-jin’s words.

“Gasp…! Is that even possible? It’s hard to get 20,000 even on the second or third day…”

“I know, right?”

“But if the organizers are giving us these numbers, they’re probably pretty accurate. They used big data to guess this number. That’s amazing.”

“We’ll see if they’re right.”

Woo-jin nodded, watching Joo-young’s reaction. *Wow,* he thought, *she’s really surprised. Maybe this visitor number is a much bigger deal than I first thought.*

As Woo-jin was thinking, Joo-young spoke again.

“So, Representative Seo,” she said.

“Yes?”

“How many visitors do the organizers expect in total during the whole event?”

“They’re expecting about 300,000 to 500,000.”

Seeing Min Joo-young’s even more surprised face, Woo-jin smiled a little.

“Even without that, they said they think this will be the most visitors ever.”

“This isn’t just the most ever, is it? Hardly any Living Fairs have had more than 100,000 people so far…”

“First of all, it’s a week long, not three days… And it’s a truly international Living Fair, right?”

“Even so…”

“From the start, they’re aiming for more visitors than before, so I think it’s possible.”

Woo-jin, who had been chatting with Joo-young, slowly walked out of the exhibition booth.

Today, the first day of the Living Fair, is only for industry people, but Woo-jin and Joo-young would probably be very busy.

Most of the reporters and media were coming today, so Woo-jin had more than ten interviews planned.

So, they grabbed canned coffees to enjoy a quiet moment before the exhibition opened.

Joo-young, who had been inside the exhibition hall since dawn, wanted some fresh air, so she went to the terrace.

She pushed open the heavy terrace door, eager for a breath of cool air. The noise of the exhibition hall faded behind her. But the moment she stepped outside, she stopped.

Her eyes widened. She couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped her lips.

Woo-jin followed her out, a can of coffee in his hand. He saw her face and smiled. “More than we thought, huh?” he said softly. “It wasn’t anything like this earlier.”

Joo-young just pointed, unable to speak. Stretching out before them, like a giant, colorful snake winding around the building, was the line. People of all ages stood patiently waiting, their chatter a low hum that filled the air. Banners and signs for the Living Fair bobbed above the crowd, bright splashes of color against the grey morning sky.

The two Spanish architects, Bruno and Mateo, who were old friends, visited COEX today in a good mood.

“Haha, a buyer. I didn’t really come here to buy anything today,” Bruno said.

“You don’t have to buy something to be a buyer. If you’re just someone in the business, you can call yourself a buyer,” Mateo replied.

“I guess. If I see a material company I like today, I can tell the construction companies I work with… So, you’re not wrong,” Bruno said.

“Stop talking and let’s go in,” Mateo said.

Mateo had arrived in Seoul yesterday and stayed at Bruno’s house.

So, today, they drove to the COEX exhibition hall together in Bruno’s car.

“Hehe. I’m excited,” Bruno said.

“What are you excited about?” Mateo asked.

“I’m excited to see Seo Woo-jin’s work, and how he mixes media and space… I want to see how he did it,” Bruno said.

“It’s definitely an interesting exhibition,” Mateo agreed.

Mateo, holding the name tag that said ‘[Buyer]’, put it around his neck and went into the exhibition hall.

Even though they arrived early, they had to wait before they could enter the booth.

Of course, they could have called Woo-jin and entered without waiting, but they didn’t want to.

Both architects had plenty of free time after finishing their projects.

They wanted to see the exhibition and feel the real atmosphere of the place.

So, they decided to visit Zone A first, which featured popular Korean TV shows and music.

After looking around there, they could easily get to Zone B.

“Korean wave…” Mateo said.

“It’s not something we know much about, but I’ve heard that many young people in Europe are interested in Korean pop culture,” Bruno explained.

Mateo stroked his chin, looking interested. “I see. Interesting,” he said.

“Actually, I don’t know much about K-POP, but I’ve been enjoying Korean dramas lately,” Bruno admitted.

“Haha. I wondered what you were doing in Korea after the project, but you were just watching dramas?” Mateo joked.

“It’s more fun than you think! The stories seem simple, but they make you want to watch the next episode,” Bruno said.

The two designers looked at the booths in Zone A with interest, even though they weren’t really related to their work.

The Korean wave content was interesting, but that wasn’t the only reason.

The exhibition was about mixing this Korean content with designs for spaces.

The way Zone A was set up was well-organized and stylish.

So, after seeing all of Zone A, the two architects were even more excited.

“If we go over there now, it’s Zone B, right?” Bruno asked.

“That’s right. Shall we go slowly?” Mateo replied.

“Good. I’m very curious to see how these contents have been interpreted in terms of spatial design,” Bruno said.

Chatting, they entered Zone B with anticipation.

As they walked through a narrow passage and into the booth, they saw a wide-open lobby with a high ceiling.

The moment they stepped into that spacious lobby, they knew.

“Wow.”

“Kroooooh…!”

The impressive architectural sculpture at the back of the lobby was clearly Woo-jin’s work.