Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 268

Woojin stared out of his office window at the city below. The morning was cold, and the buildings looked grey in the pale light. He knew that in this world, money talked, even when it came to justice. It wasn’t always about bribes or secret deals. Sometimes, it was simpler than that. To get a fair fight in court, you needed good lawyers. And good lawyers cost a lot.

Especially when important things were at stake, you needed even more money to protect them. Some people hired so many lawyers that they overwhelmed their opponents with a huge number of lawsuits.

If you didn’t have enough money to fight back, you could only suffer. One or two lawyers wouldn’t even be able to read all the complaints properly.

Woojin knew he was in a better position than the Architects Association. Public opinion was completely on his side, and as the head of a company with over 100 billion in annual sales, he could definitely outspend them.

Are you thinking about settling?

Woojin answered his legal advisor directly,

Of course not.

Understood.

Woojin then asked,

What will happen if we push it to the end?

The lawyer smiled slightly and replied,

Don’t worry. We can get them a few years in prison, at least.

Woojin smiled back, satisfied with the answer.

Looks like you won’t be retiring anytime soon. Haha.

Woojin, having prepared everything in advance, pushed forward relentlessly, not giving the association any chance to recover.

He made sure the already publicized situation got even more attention and used every legal means possible.

In particular, the video that was circulating online again, reaching millions of views, was the presentation video from the ‘Seongsu District Integrated Design Competition’ held in Seoul.

Woojin’s impressive presentation video was a stark contrast to the hesitant presentation by Leeho Design Office.

Woojin had even obtained testimonies from participating representatives stating that ‘Leeho Design Office’ was a company supported by the association.

As this was also reported and uploaded online, public opinion quickly turned in Woojin’s favor.

It only took about half a day for the situation to change completely.

The comments that had mocked Woojin’s immorality were now denouncing the corruption of the Architects Association.

Wow… So the nerdy presenter who was criticized back then was a member of the Architects Association?

Chilling. How many public buildings have they been involved in with such skills?

Ha… With such trash running rampant, the level of public building design is all like that.

Leeho Design Office, do they even have an architectural design license? Our school undergraduates would do better than this.

Of course, Leeho Design Office also had some complaints. In reality, they were more skilled than they appeared in that presentation.

But Woojin didn’t care about their complaints. If he had participated in the competition without knowing anything, he would have been a victim too.

By the way, I watched this video for the first time, and Seo Woojin is really amazing.

True. Honestly, is there an architect with this much skill in Korea right now?

I also watched the video for the first time, and it’s really impressive.

The old guys in the association must have been unhappy because a young guy was rising so fast.

That’s exactly right. Seems like that’s the case.

Lol, where did all the people who were cursing Seo Woojin go? They said he was ruined because he was obsessed with money.

They must all be embarrassed.

So, how will this end?

Once public opinion started to pour out like a flood, it was nearly impossible to stop it.

When the Architects Association was manipulating public opinion, they didn’t have any real proof that Woojin was corrupt.

This time, Woojin’s counterattack was backed by his innocence and clear evidence of the Architects Association’s corruption.

In this situation, even the powerful authority and connections of Association President Joo Yeol were useless. No matter how corrupt the powerful people were, they had to pay attention to what the public thought.

The moment they sided with the Architects Association, the angry public would turn against them.

You can’t hide the truth from everyone.

Exactly three days after Woojin began his counterattack, the telephone in his office rang loudly. He had come to work early that morning.

Click-

Woojin, who was drinking his morning coffee, answered the phone calmly.

Yes, Chief. What’s the matter?

Ah, Mr. Woojin. That’s….

Yes?

There’s a call from the Architects Association.

To whom? To me?

Yes. It’s Kwon Joo-yeol, the president of the Architects Association….

Woojin was surprised and chuckled in disbelief. He never expected them to call him, no matter how urgent the situation was.

Are they going to beg on their knees?

Woojin didn’t want to hear anything from Kwon Joo-yeol anyway. There would be no settlement in this lawsuit, no matter what he said. But he was curious about what Kwon Joo-yeol was going to say.

Shall I cut him off?

Connect him.

You don’t have to go that far….

I’m just curious.

Pardon?

What nonsense he’s going to say.

Ah, understood.

As Woojin finished speaking, the transmission sound rang again.

Yes, I’ve switched over. This is Seo Woojin.

A rough voice began to be heard from the receiver.

It’s me. Association President Kwon Joo-yeol.

Hearing the president’s first words, Woojin felt even more surprised.

Why is he still so stiff?

Even if it was hard for him to bow down to someone so much younger and less important, he should at least be polite when he was in such a desperate situation. But instead of being angry, Woojin was just dumbfounded.

Woojin chuckled and spoke casually,

Yes?

Woojin spoke calmly into the phone. “So, what does the Architects Association want from me?”

His calm voice seemed to surprise Juryeol. The phone line went silent for a moment. Woojin leaned back in his chair, watching the city lights outside his office window.

Then, Juryeol’s voice came back, tight with anger. “You can’t really be asking that, can you?”

“I’m calling to find out what you want from the Association.”

“What I want?”

“Continuing this lawsuit won’t help either of us, right?”

“Help…”

“You’ve won. So, let’s end this long fight.”

Anger flashed through Woojin, but it was fleeting. His voice turned even colder.

“A deal is only struck when both sides gain something, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“What can the Association offer me?”

“What!?”

Woojin paused at Juryeol’s confused question. “Does the Association have more skill than I do? More vision? Or even more money?”

“You… you little…!” Juryeol was about to curse, but Woojin didn’t stop.

“The fact that you’re a senior in this industry is embarrassing to me.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“If you still don’t understand what you’ve done wrong, maybe you should think about it while eating prison food.”

Juryeol was speechless at Woojin’s calm words. All he could manage were desperate cries.

“You, Seo Woojin, are you really going to take this to the end?”

“Where exactly am I going to the end?”

“You won’t practice architecture in Korea anymore? Are you blinded by your fame?”

“It’s not me who won’t be able to practice architecture in Korea, but you.”

“I have nothing more to say, so I’ll end this call.”

Click-

Even after Woojin hung up, the phone rang again. But Woojin told his secretary to block the Association’s number.

He thought, ‘He still doesn’t realize that he was the prey, not the hunter.’

Woojin settled back into his chair, slowly sipping his coffee.

“Heh heh.”

After his return to the past, Woojin thought not only he had changed, but the world as well. The world had seemed so absurd and dark in his previous life. But after living a new life, it was filled with dreams and hope.

However, now he could see clearly.

‘The world hasn’t changed.’

It wasn’t that the world had changed, but that Woojin’s view had. The absurd world hadn’t been filled with dreams and ideals; it was simply that he now had the power to protect those dreams and ideals.

Creak-

Woojin, who had been looking out the window, turned his chair back to his desk. His eyes stopped on the calendar in the corner of his desk.

“Hmm… is today finally the broadcast day?” Woojin checked the date, a sheepish look on his face.

Today, Wednesday, was the day the episode Woojin appeared in was airing. He was glad he had changed public opinion before the episode aired, but he still wasn’t used to being in a TV show.

‘Still… it all worked out perfectly, so the promotion will be great.’

Woojin leaned back, thinking. If he was right, Woojin’s surprise appearance in tomorrow would bring the incident and Woojin’s journey back into the spotlight.

He began to think about how to make the most of this chance.

Then, as if he had an idea, Woojin made a phone call.

Beep- beep beep-

The head of the secretary’s office answered. “Chief, can you talk?”

“Yes, CEO. What is it?”

“Ah, it’s not much, but I have some land I bought under my name, right?”

“Land… Ah, you mean Icheon?”

“Yes. The land I bought near the film set.”

“Yes, I know. But why?”

Woojin paused. “Some of that land has been rezoned as part of the housing site, right?”

“Yes, it has.”

“I’m going to donate all the money from that land to the local community.”

“Yes? Donate?” The head of the secretary’s office was surprised.

Woojin had bought a lot of land, and only some of it would be paid for. Still, it was hard to believe he would donate over a billion won to the local community.

Woojin smiled at the secretary’s reaction. “I’m making a donation, but I want everyone to know about it.”

“You mean…”

“I want the marketing team to make sure everyone in the country knows about my good deeds.”

“Ah…!”

Even for Woojin, a billion won was a lot of money. Sales of over a hundred billion won were the company’s money, not Woojin’s.

But Woojin was thinking bigger. Even though he was donating a billion won, he thought the value he would gain from it would be much greater.

Since Woojin’s actions were already a big topic, the effect would be huge.

“I’ll talk to the marketing team and make a plan.”

“Don’t take too long. The press release should be out by tomorrow.”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll move fast.”

As everything was set, Woojin felt relieved.

‘Okay. I’ve done enough.’

Woojin finished work and left the office on time for the first time in a while, going home.

As evening came, Woojin sat in front of the TV.