Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 261

The cold wave at the end of January was a brutal slap. Even wrapped in my thickest coat, the icy wind bit through the fabric, stealing my breath. Each step crunched on the frosted asphalt of the parking lot.

*Deep breath, Woo-jin, deep breath.* I straightened my collar, the wool scratchy against my suddenly clammy neck. Today was the day: Chunwoong Construction headquarters in Jonggak. Just the thought made my stomach tighten.

As I walked towards the towering glass building, my reflection stared back – a man trying to look calm, but the jump in my pulse betrayed me. This meeting… it felt different, more important than any before.

Ding!

As the elevator doors reopened, a welcoming voice greeted me.

“Yo, CEO Seo. You’re here?”

“Managing Director, how have you been?” I replied.

“Me? Always the same,” Kyung-wan said, spotting me and offering a bright smile.

It had been several months since we last met, and we both seemed genuinely pleased to see each other.

“How’s work these days?” Kyung-wan asked.

“We didn’t manage to secure many contracts at the end of the year… but the performance itself isn’t too bad,” I answered.

“Actually, isn’t it more like you didn’t *take* them, rather than *couldn’t* get them?”

“Why do you think so?” I asked, intrigued.

“Because I figured you’d have already hit your limit,” Kyung-wan chuckled.

“Haha! Did you take a peek at our financial statements or something? You’re like a ghost,” I joked.

Despite the time that had passed since our last meeting, we exchanged stories without any awkwardness as we walked. We were like good friends, despite the age difference. We got along very well.

“Many construction companies go out of business even when they seem to be making money. They take on too many projects without thinking carefully,” I said.

“True,” Kyung-wan agreed.

“Chunwoong is a big company, but… you guys bid on quite a few projects until the beginning of last year. If you bid that much, even Jeun Construction would feel the pressure, wouldn’t they?”

“Not really. Don’t underestimate Jeun too much. Even though they seem that way, their financial power is substantial. When it comes to money alone, even SH Corporation would have to take a step back.”

“Hmm. Is that so….”

We continued to walk.

The first person I met upon arriving at Chunwoong Construction headquarters was Park Kyung-wan, but the person who had actually made the appointment with me was someone else entirely. So now, we were walking to meet ‘that person.’

“By the way, where are we going?” I asked.

“To catch the elevator.”

“Hmm? Then why did you tell me to get off on the third floor?”

“That elevator doesn’t go to the top floor.”

“Ah…!”

“There’s a separate elevator for executives. Follow me.”

The person I was scheduled to meet was none other than the one sitting in the highest place in this Chunwoong Construction headquarters.

Step- Step-

As we walked across the lobby on the third floor, a luxurious elevator came into view. It was exclusively for executives, operating only between the first basement parking level and the top three floors of the headquarters.

As Kyung-wan approached, the security guard bowed slightly and pressed the elevator button. After a moment, the elevator arrived.

I watched the series of events, then exclaimed in admiration as soon as I got into the elevator.

“Wow, I thought I’d been to Chunwoong headquarters quite a bit, but I didn’t even know there was an elevator like this.”

Kyung-wan replied with a smile.

“There are probably quite a few employees who don’t know about it.”

“I guess so. There wouldn’t be much reason to come this way in their usual routes… they might not know if they weren’t interested.”

As the elevator began to move, Kyung-wan asked with an intrigued expression.

“By the way, CEO Seo.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“Me? Why?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

“The first time I rode this elevator, I was sweating bullets.”

“Ah.”

“You’re not going to meet our CEO thinking he’s just some neighborhood 아저씨, are you?”

“No way. Of course not.”

Although I spoke calmly, I was indeed nervous. Chun Jong-geol, the highest person at Chunwoong Construction. It was impossible not to be nervous in a situation where I was going to meet him.

It wasn’t simply because Chun Jong-geol was the CEO of a large construction company. He was a self-made man in the Korean construction industry, and someone I had admired since my previous life. The very fact that I was going to meet such a person face-to-face was enough to make me nervous.

Moreover, the fact that I didn’t know the reason for the meeting also contributed to my nervousness.

‘How much of the story that he just wants to see my face should I believe….’

Ding-

While I was thinking such thoughts, the elevator arrived. We were soon in front of the CEO’s office.

Kyung-wan, standing in front of the door, cleared his throat once before opening his mouth.

“CEO, I’m here.”

After a moment, instead of a reply, the large door slowly opened.

Creak-

Chun Jong-geol is not the founder who established Chunwoong Construction. The one who first founded the company was Jong-geol’s father. However, it was none other than Chun Jong-geol who elevated Chunwoong Construction from a small and medium-sized company to a large corporation.

Therefore, even in my previous life, Chun Jong-geol was always mentioned when discussing outstanding Korean entrepreneurs. Within the construction industry, his business sense was superior to anyone else’s.

Perhaps it was because he had studied abroad in his youth? He had been talking about the ‘brand’ of construction companies since almost thirty years ago.

[Consumers deliberate the most when choosing a ‘house,’ more than when choosing any other product.]

[In order to build a house that can be chosen amidst those numerous considerations, we need to continuously manage and develop the value of the Chunwoong brand.]

It was even said that Chun Jong-geol was the first to propose the launch of the premium brand Clio. Of course, the specific design direction and details of the brand were all done by the working-level staff, but Chun Jong-geol deserved high praise just for coming up with this innovative direction.

Therefore, Jong-geol also had great pride in his own business capabilities.

But in recent years, one person kept catching Jong-geol’s eye.

[Hmm. Park Kyung-wan. That friend of mine… said he wanted to commission WJ Studio for the design?]

[Yes. They seem to have some skill, but their history is too short, and most of all, the age of the representative is too young to be reassuring.]

[Park Kyung-wan has a good eye… Hmm. Send me the blueprints.]

[You’re going to look at the contest blueprints yourself?]

[It’s fun. There’s no need to put on colored glasses before even looking at the blueprints.]

The first time ‘he’ caught Jong-geol’s eye was during the bidding for the Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment. It was only a story from two years ago. At that time, Chunwoong Construction still lacked a lot of recognition compared to Jeun Construction or SH Corporation.

Honestly, even when Park Kyung-wan said he would try to win the bid, Jong-geol was skeptical. With a design by a young CEO in his twenties, and carrying the newly launched Clio brand, which was just starting out, he didn’t have high expectations that they would really be able to win the Cheongdam Seonyeong Apartment bid.

But that young man in his twenties accomplished that feat as if it were a lie. Thanks to that, Chunwoong Construction was able to plant the name of Clio in the best location in Cheongdam.

Once this happened, even Jong-geol couldn’t help but become interested in that young man. So, already from that time, Jong-geol had been thinking that he wanted to meet a person named Woo-jin.

‘I should thank him sometime. If possible, it would be nice to make him one of our Chunwoong people.’

However, Jong-geol was also a very busy person, so that thought was not easily realized. Until then, his interest in Woo-jin was no more than curiosity, so it continued to be pushed down the priority list.

But as time passed, the CEO of that small, newly established design firm had become a giant. Of course, WJ Studio still had a long way to go before it could become a company as large as Chunwoong. But apart from the size of the company, the recognition it had built in this field of construction had grown to a level that even Jong-geol had to acknowledge.

[This Seongsu District project is also the work of that Seo Woo-jin, right?]

[Yes, CEO. Judging from the circumstances… it seems that CEO Seo Woo-jin was the one who set the stage.]

[Amazing. The ability to manage a project of this size….]

This was a growth that was so surprising that even Jong-geol, who had directly raised Chunwoong Construction, found it hard to believe.

So Jong-geol thought that he needed to check the size of Woo-jin’s potential before it was too late. If Woo-jin’s potential was only up to this point, it wouldn’t matter, but if he continued to grow at this rate, he thought that he could be in a similar position to Chunwoong in the near future.

‘It wouldn’t be easy if we only looked at the category of construction… but if we bring in the area of architectural design, the story would be different.’

If someone had heard Jong-geol’s thoughts, they would have laughed it off as an excessive leap, but at least Jong-geol thought so.

‘I need to check whether he’s a person who should be made into a definite ally.’

If Woo-jin’s potential and capabilities, which he would confirm in this meeting today, were much larger and more outstanding than Jong-geol had thought, Jong-geol was thinking of investing his infrastructure without holding back.

In his opinion, Chunwoong Construction was a large puddle that had begun to stagnate. And the young energy that WJ Studio had was going to play an excellent catalyst role in bringing new changes to Chunwoong Construction.

‘Conversely, WJ Studio would be able to grow even faster. The larger the company, the more important the role of capital and infrastructure becomes.’

So Jong-geol was very much looking forward to today’s meeting: what this young businessman was thinking, what kind of fresh stories he could hear from him, and how much new stimulation he could give himself.

He was looking forward to all of this.

Jong-geol, who had been sitting in his office thinking about this and that from about thirty minutes before the appointed time, took a sip of warm tea and looked out the window.

Chun Jong-geol’s office offered a panoramic view of Seoul. Sitting here and indulging in reverie was one of Jong-geol’s favorite pastimes.

But as he was closing his eyes, Jong-geol began to hear small footsteps.

Step- Step-

At that, Jong-geol opened his eyes, turned his chair, and sat in front of his desk.

Creak-

And the next moment…

“CEO, I’m here.”

The voice of his cherished subordinate flowed softly into the CEO’s office.