Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 290

The Korean branch of LTK Financial Group was buzzing with excitement this morning, a feeling rarely seen in this usually quiet office.

It was a rare day with a special event in a company where the same routine repeated itself every day.

Of course, not all employees were excited about the special event.

For some employees, a special event just meant more work.

“Haa, I can finally see the end.”

“I know, Team Leader.”

“Once this setup is done, there’s nothing more to do, right?”

“Ugh, my back.”

Team Leader Son Yu-jeong from Team 3 sighed heavily as she arranged chairs. She had lost a bet with the other team leaders in the planning department, and this was her punishment.

She and her team members were sweating as they worked in the largest conference room in the building.

A very important event was scheduled to take place in this conference room, which was not usually used.

So, the employees of Planning Team 3 had been sweating for over an hour, tidying up and setting up the dusty conference room.

“But Team Leader, do we really have to go this far? Couldn’t we have just cleaned it roughly?”

“Exactly. Why are they suddenly replacing all the projectors on the tables with new ones?”

Son Yu-jeong let out a long, weary breath. “Because someone very important is coming,” she said.

“Someone important… is coming?”

“I heard two executives from headquarters are coming.”

“Cough.”

“So, everyone, stop complaining and just do it… If we get caught doing something wrong, we’ll be in hell.”

The team members’ faces turned pale.

Executives from headquarters were like bosses of the boss. Two of them visiting was scary news for junior employees.

“Hmm… it was worth doing this much.”

“I agree. It was worth making a fuss about….”

“Alright, there’s only an hour left. Let’s finish up quickly and clean up!”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

With this forced motivation, the team members worked harder to set up the conference room diligently, and as a result, they were able to finish everything 30 minutes later.

“Whew, done!”

“Let’s clean up and get out of here!”

But then, just as they were about to finish setting up the conference room and leave, several team members sat down in the back of the conference room.

“Team Leader, there’s not much time left, so we’re just going to sit here.”

Yu-jeong looked confused. “Huh? Jin-ho, you’re going to… sit?”

“We’ll have to come back in 10 minutes anyway, so I’m just going to sit and rest.”

“Come back? What do you mean?”

Yu-jeong frowned at team member Jin-ho’s words, and Jin-ho continued to speak to her.

“Team Leader, weren’t you going to come back?”

At that question, Yu-jeong retorted with a dumbfounded expression.

“Of course not. I already wasted all my time this morning because of this… Why would I bother coming back to see the event? I have a lot of work to do.”

“Hmm….”

“Are you perhaps mistaken? Attending today’s event isn’t mandatory.”

But despite her words, Jin-ho shrugged and replied.

“Well, I might have to work overtime, but I’m still going to see Seo Woo-jin.”

One of the female employees next to him added.

“Me too, Team Leader. It’s a chance to see Seo Woo-jin’s presentation up close, so I don’t mind working overtime.”

As the two finished speaking, Yu-jeong looked bewildered.

“Huh? What are you talking about? Seo Woo-jin? Are you talking about that designer Seo Woo-jin?”

Jin-ho looked surprised. “Seriously, Team Leader, you didn’t know?”

“Know what?”

“WJ Studio is among the finalists for the Magok Convention Center final judging today.”

“Huh?”

“Of course, I don’t know who the presenter is, but wouldn’t it be Seo Woo-jin himself?”

“……!”

Yu-jeong had been an avid fan of Seo Woo-jin since aired.

She was very surprised by team member Jin-ho’s words.

“How did you know that, Jin-ho?”

“I don’t think you read the official announcement carefully, Team Leader… It’s written there.”

“……!”

“I bet other departments are eager to go too.”

“Yeah. Assistant Manager Kim even asked me to reserve a seat for him….”

Listening to the team members’ stories, Yu-jeong hurriedly opened her smartphone and checked the official announcement again.

Then, she confirmed the name of WJ Studio, which was clearly marked on the list of participating companies, and she couldn’t help but gasp.

“No, you should have reported such important news!”

While Yu-jeong was reeling from the news, miles away, Seo Woo-jin was putting the final touches on his presentation.

For the past week, Woo-jin had put aside all other tasks and focused again on the Magok M-Tec project.

Even though it was just a rough sketch and design, he had to create a new exhibition design assuming it was the ‘Seoul Motor Show,’ so he had no time to do other work.

And during this period, the person who helped Woo-jin the most was, of course, Min-sun.

She practically lived in WJ Tower for the week it took to produce the designs.

Without her help, this project would never have been easy.

‘Phew. Come to think of it, I’ve poured almost half a year into this project.’

The day Woo-jin first heard about the Magok Convention Center project was on the day of the entrance ceremony.

It was only today, more than seven months later, that he was finally giving the final presentation.

Even though it was just a design competition, it had already taken more than half a year.

Of course, it was a valuable and massive project worth investing more time in, but he couldn’t help but feel drained.

“CEO, the inspection is complete, and there don’t seem to be any problems.”

At Min-sun’s words, Woo-jin nodded and expressed his gratitude.

“Thank you so much, Min-sun. I’ve come this far thanks to you.”

“If you really think it’s thanks to me, there’s only one way to repay me.”

Woo-jin looked at Min-sun, confused.

“Hmm?”

With a bright smile, Min-sun handed Woo-jin the USB containing the project documents.

“You absolutely have to win this project in today’s presentation.”

Woo-jin scratched the back of his head, feeling the weight of Min-sun’s sincere words. He knew how much this project meant.

No one wanted to win this project more than Woo-jin.

If they failed, he wouldn’t be able to face the many people who had worked hard together until now.

“Ha, haha. Aren’t you putting too much pressure on me?”

Min-sun often surprised Woo-jin with what she said.

“I think you do better the more pressure you get, sir.”

“……”

“You can do it, right?”

Min-sun’s last question was very direct. Woo-jin felt like he had no choice but to agree. He chuckled and nodded.

“Yes. I have to do it.”

Woo-jin had come to work early and finished the final work with the design team. He carefully organized the files, put them in his bag, and prepared to leave. His heart beat a little faster as he put the USB in his bag. He knew how much this presentation meant.

Now, Woo-jin was headed to Gangnam.

The Korean branch of LTK Financial Group was located on Teheran-ro in Gangnam, and today’s presentation was scheduled to take place in the conference room of that building.

Ding—

The people who boarded the elevator with Woo-jin were Jin-tae and Min-sun.

Woo-jin tilted his head and asked Min-sun, “Min-sun, aren’t you pressing the first floor?”

“Why the first floor?”

“Weren’t you going home?”

At Woo-jin’s question, Min-sun wiggled her finger and replied, “Of course not. I have to follow you to the presentation.”

“……?”

“When else would I get to see your presentation live, sir?” Min-sun clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Do you really need to watch?”

“I worked hard, don’t I deserve that much?”

“Of course you deserve it….”

“Let’s go quickly. Seeing your presentation is something I’ve been looking forward to,” Min-sun said, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

“T-that much?”

In the end, Woo-jin, with Min-sun in tow, headed straight for the LTK building in Gangnam.

As Woo-jin’s car arrived at the LTK building, Jacob, who had arrived earlier, was entering the conference room with his team members.

Lucas, the chief designer of ALuna, was visiting Korea for the first time.

Among his acquaintances who had experienced numerous projects in global workplaces, there were several Korean designers as well.

But somehow, he had never had the opportunity to participate in a Korean project yet.

So, when the proposal for the Magok M-tec project came to ALuna, Lucas was the one who wanted to take on the project more than anyone else.

He believed that he needed to continuously have diverse experiences in order for his inspiration to grow.

Therefore, the large-scale MICE complex project in Korea, a country he had never experienced before, felt very appealing to him.

However, ALuna, which already had too many projects in progress at the time, was ultimately unable to participate directly as the main designer.

So, the person who ended up overseeing the directing and review outsourcing for this project was Lucas.

“Thank you so much for coming all the way here, Mr. Lucas.”

“Haha, you’re welcome. Of course, I, who am in charge of the overall project, should come and review it myself.”

Lucas was a designer from England and also an outstanding architect.

He had even been awarded a knighthood by the British Royal Family for his recognition of promoting national prestige in the field of architecture.

The LTK executives were very happy Lucas came to Korea. It showed how important this project was to ALuna.

The truth was, there was another reason why Lucas came to Korea in person.

‘I’m really looking forward to today. What kind of presentation will I be able to see….’

The biggest reason why Lucas put aside his busy schedule and flew all the way to Korea was actually his anticipation for a pure design presentation. Lucas loved seeing new ideas and creative designs. He hoped today’s presentations would be truly inspiring.

Several months ago.

Lucas, who was reviewing the designs submitted for this Magok Convention Center competition, was quite shocked.

Because it was such a huge project, the designs submitted for the competition all had outstanding quality.

Among them, he discovered a work that stood out by far.

A groundbreaking and beautiful design and plan based on a perfect understanding of the architecture of a convention center.

[Krooh, it was Black Tales’ design after all. It’s not surprising that Black Tales would come up with a work of this caliber.]

Lucas, who reviewed it, thought that the outcome of the competition was practically already decided.

[Well, I still have to review all the remaining designs. But it’s unlikely that a more wonderful work than this will come out.]

But what shocked Lucas the most was when he unfolded the last design.

It was the work of WJ Studio, the only Korean company among the architectural firms that bid for the competition.

[Hmm, their business is in Korea, I see…. Did they include a local company just to fill the quota?]

The design, which he started reviewing without much expectation, quickly made Lucas’s eyes widen…

[Crazy. There was an architectural design company like this in Korea?]

When he finished all the reviews, he couldn’t help but fall into a state of panic.

Even compared to Black Tales’ design, which he thought was close to perfect, WJ Studio’s design was attractive and excellent enough.

[How am I supposed to choose this?]

So, Lucas and the ALuna project team spent days racking their brains.

They needed to decide which design would look best with the other buildings in the MICE complex.

But after a long period of deliberation, they couldn’t come to a conclusion, so they chose today’s final presentation competition.

Lucas leaned forward in his seat, his eyes bright with excitement. He couldn’t wait to see what these designers had created.

‘It’s not even easy to imagine. What kind of experience will I have today?’

The conference room where the presentation would be held.

Lucas, who was sitting in the very front seat, began to wait for the presentation with a thrilled heart.

The presentation venue, which was set up on a larger and more splendid scale than he had expected, was further heightening his expectations.

After a while, feeling thirsty, Lucas picked up a can of coffee that was on the table.

Pop-

At that moment.

Thud- thud-

The first presenter participating in today’s competition began to walk onto the platform.

Golden Print