Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 281

At Min-sun’s sudden remark, Woo-jin looked bewildered. “A jackpot, you say?” he asked.

Min-sun nodded. “Yes.”

Woo-jin asked again without thinking, “In what way is it a jackpot?”

Woo-jin knew the second blueprint was better than the first. It was designed with more thought for an ‘exhibition.’ But it wasn’t much better. In some ways, it was worse, at least to Woo-jin.

“In what way? I mean how good the blueprint is,” Min-sun replied.

“That’s why I’m asking why,” Woo-jin said.

“Ah,” Min-sun said, nodding. She pointed to the blueprint and explained calmly, “First, I said it was a jackpot because I’m thinking like someone who designs exhibitions.”

Woo-jin listened. Min-sun continued, “From my point of view, designing an exhibition in this hall would be easy. There are almost no problems.”

“Ah…?” Woo-jin responded.

“What I like most is that the blueprint gives me many options,” she added.

“What options?” Woo-jin asked.

“Options for how to use the space,” Min-sun said, tracing the blueprint with her finger. “There are more spaces here than in the first plan you showed me.”

“Because I divided it into smaller parts?” Woo-jin asked.

Min-sun nodded. “Right. There are almost twice as many sections as before.”

Woo-jin didn’t understand and tilted his head. Min-sun explained again, “Too many sections can limit the exhibition planner. If you divide the space like a chessboard, it becomes boring.”

Min-sun pointed to the blueprint again. “But in this design, almost no spaces are the same. Even sections C and D, which look similar, have different ceiling heights. The spaces feel different.”

Woo-jin’s eyes widened slightly. Min-sun was amazing. She was looking at lines on paper, just a floor plan, not even a side view of the building, but she understood the space perfectly. It was like she could see the rooms in her mind. *She could have been an architect,* Woo-jin thought, impressed. *She really gets how spaces feel.* And what she was saying about the design was so interesting, making him think in new ways.

Her perspective was that of a working employee, giving Woo-jin new ideas.

“Different exhibition spaces are attractive to someone like me,” Min-sun said.

“Because you can try different ways to show the space, I guess,” Woo-jin replied.

Min-sun nodded. “Yes, exactly. If an exhibition designer is a chef, the exhibition space is an ingredient.”

“That’s an interesting comparison,” Woo-jin said.

“No matter how good a chef is, they can’t make many dishes with only one ingredient,” Min-sun explained.

It wasn’t just a compliment when she called the design a jackpot. She mostly praised the space itself.

As she finished, Woo-jin asked, “Min-sun, if you were you, would you use this blueprint for the competition?”

Min-sun smiled instead of answering. Then, she asked Woo-jin, “If I said yes, would you use this blueprint, CEO?”

Woo-jin was speechless. “Well, of course……” The answer was obvious. *If I use this, I’ll be eliminated.*

Min-sun kept praising the design, and Woo-jin agreed with most of it. But why did he think he would lose?

While Woo-jin paused, Min-sun spoke again. “CEO, if you can make a blueprint that has all the good things about this one, and that you also like, I think you can win.”

“Good things…?” Woo-jin asked.

“Yes, if you keep the good things about this blueprint and also add the design style from the first one, it would be the best exhibition space,” she said.

Woo-jin’s mind became clearer. Before talking to Min-sun, the design direction was confusing. But now, it was very clear.

*Good space and easy to use. If I make the space useful and easy to move through, and also make it beautiful…*

The second blueprint didn’t appeal to Woo-jin because, even though it was useful, it wasn’t beautiful. He liked the style of the first blueprint more.

*It’s all about the basics of architecture. He needed to make the design beautiful and well-formed, even with limits.*

This was a basic idea in architecture. But Woo-jin hadn’t remembered it because he didn’t understand ‘convention centers’ well enough.

He had studied them, but he couldn’t know everything without experience. Because he didn’t understand the function, he didn’t know what limits to set.

And because he didn’t know what limits were needed, he couldn’t decide on a design direction.

Min-sun could help him with what he didn’t know. She could tell him what was important before he tried to make the design beautiful.

Min-sun, a designer with a lot of experience, could check those things better than anyone else.

As he thought about this, some of his worries about the Golden Print went away. He didn’t understand everything it was showing, but he understood the direction.

*Maybe the Golden Print was also related to this. Maybe it wasn’t giving advice about design or style this time.*

He had misunderstood the Golden Print because he didn’t understand the limits that came from the function of the space.

He thought the Golden Print always showed hints about better design and function. Because of this, he couldn’t understand it when it showed something different.

As he changed his thinking, he saw a new path.

Woo-jin rolled up the second blueprint and showed Min-sun the others. He began to understand the Golden Print more clearly.

The two people stayed in the conference room for four hours, finishing their conversation after work.

“Thank you for your hard work today, Min-sun,” Woo-jin said.

Min-sun smiled and shook her head. “Hard work? It was fun for the first time in a while.”

“Haha, I’m glad to hear that,” Woo-jin replied.

“I was always creating things… but looking at designs like this is also fun,” she said.

Because it was after work, Woo-jin packed his bag in the office. The two went out together, and Min-sun asked in the elevator, “Aren’t you hungry, CEO?”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, I am a bit hungry,” Woo-jin said.

“What are you, a robot? Does someone have to tell you when your fuel is running out?” Min-sun joked.

“Haha. I must have been too distracted today,” Woo-jin replied.

Min-sun giggled and said, “Then, let’s go eat.”

“Pardon?” Woo-jin asked.

“If you don’t have other plans. Let’s have a meal together,” she said.

“I don’t have plans, but…” Woo-jin scratched his head. He wanted to have dinner with Min-sun, but he was surprised by the sudden invitation.

“I’ll pay,” Min-sun offered.

“You will?” Woo-jin asked.

“I made money today. And you paid last time,” she said.

“There’s a local Korean BBQ place near Seoul Forest Station. Do you not like Korean grilled meat?” Min-sun asked.

“No, I like it, but…” Woo-jin responded.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s go,” she said.

The elevator doors opened. Woo-jin watched her walk out and chuckled. *She’s quite interesting.*

Woo-jin had planned to suggest a meal at the next meeting. The closer he was to her, the easier it would be to get results for the project. Plus, he wanted to keep working with her.

“Shall we walk?” Min-sun asked.

“It’s close. If we drive, we won’t find parking,” she added.

Woo-jin happily had dinner with her and shared stories.

“It was fun today,” Woo-jin said.

“Haha, me too. Thanks to you, I got to eat delicious Korean BBQ,” Min-sun replied.

“The next meeting is next Friday, right?” Woo-jin asked.

“Yes. Let’s try to have the design mostly done by then,” Min-sun said.

“Hehe, I’ll look forward to it,” she added.

After Min-sun left, Woo-jin took a warm shower. He organized his thoughts while the water helped him relax.

Woo-jin went to his room and opened his notebook. *I should write down my ideas before I forget them.*

He wanted to sketch the ideas about space that he had during the meeting with Min-sun. *I have to finish the design this month. That’s the only way to stay on schedule.*

Time passed quickly. May was over, and June was almost done. From June, Min-sun came to WJ Tower almost every day.

As the competition neared the end, they had to discuss design details almost every day. With everyone’s hard work, Woo-jin’s Magok Convention Center design was almost finished.

It was a satisfying design, with thoughts for the many uses of the space that he had learned from Min-sun, and the beautiful space that Woo-jin had created.

But with the competition deadline one day away, Woo-jin had one last worry.

Golden Print