Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 297

A moment of silence hung in the air.

Woo-jin briefly met Kyung-wan’s eyes, then wordlessly picked up another piece of meat from the grill and ate it.

Click- Click-

Woo-jin’s expression was indifferent, but Kyung-wan’s was definitely not. Woo-jin offering him a job now was a complete surprise.

‘I thought a day like this might come someday. But…’

Kyung-wan had often thought about working with Woo-jin over the past few years.

He thought they could work together well enough even while Kyung-wan stayed at Chunwoong, where he was getting promoted.

Even if he were to work at WJ Studio, he thought it would be almost ten years from now.

But now, just before his promotion to Senior Managing Director…

He never expected Woo-jin to make such a direct offer. That was why Kyung-wan was in such turmoil.

Click-

Kyung-wan watched Woo-jin silently eat the meat, then slowly opened his mouth.

Kyung-wan put down his chopsticks, his voice a little shaky. “Wait… did you just say… change jobs?”

Woo-jin nodded, taking another bite of meat. “Yes, Sir.” He chewed slowly, not meeting Kyung-wan’s eyes.

Kyung-wan leaned forward. “And if I… if I did change jobs, what exactly would I be doing?” *Manage? What did that even mean at WJ Studio?*

Without missing a beat, Woo-jin looked up, his gaze steady. “You’d run the company with me, Kyung-wan.”

“Run… manage?” Kyung-wan repeated, surprised.

Woo-jin gestured with his chopsticks. “We’re aiming for over 100 billion won in sales this year, remember?”

“So?” Kyung-wan prompted, still trying to understand.

“We need to get ready to go public soon… an IPO,” Woo-jin explained, the words hanging in the smoky air of the restaurant.

“…….”

“I’ve created the system for design, but frankly, the construction part is still lacking.”

“Hmm…”

“I’d like you to grow our construction part. I’ll give you plenty of authority.”

Neither of them bothered to bring up the topic of salary.

The salary would be at least the same as a Chunwoong Senior Managing Director’s. But at this point, the appeal of WJ Studio to Kyung-wan wasn’t the salary.

For Kyung-wan, the best thing about WJ Studio was that it could grow so much faster than any other company.

WJ Studio was less than 20% the size of Chunwoong Construction. But Chunwoong’s growth had stopped.

To grow more, they needed big changes and challenges, but that wasn’t easy.

Woo-jin knew this, so he told Kyung-wan what he wanted to hear most. He would give him plenty of authority.

Something impossible at Chunwoong.

Woo-jin kept talking to Kyung-wan, who was lost in thought.

“As you know, Chunwoong is a company of the Chun family. So… if you’re not a Chun, it’ll be hard to go any further.”

Kyung-wan nodded.

“That’s probably true.”

Even though Chun Jong-geol was more open-minded than others his age, Kyung-wan could probably not get promoted past Senior Managing Director.

Soon, when Chun Jong-geol became chairman, his cousin would be the president of Chunwoong Construction.

And in a few years, Jong-geol’s son would be vice president, just like Chun Jong-geol had become vice president in his 30s.

‘The president’s son isn’t a difficult person, either.’

Kyung-wan could only become vice president in one way: get promoted again in two years.

Otherwise, he could become vice president after Jong-geol’s son became president, but that would be at least 10, maybe 15 years later.

And Kyung-wan probably wouldn’t stay at Chunwoong that long.

Kyung-wan smiled bitterly, and Woo-jin spoke again.

“But aren’t you too young to be happy with just that?”

This was the most important thing Woo-jin wanted to say.

“Hey, it feels weird to hear you call me young.”

“Well, compared to me, you’re an old man…”

“You little…!”

“Anyway, I’m offering this job because I’ve thought about it a lot.”

“I know. You wouldn’t say something like this without thinking.”

“Hehe, you know me well.”

Kyung-wan finished his beer in one gulp.

He felt a little hurt, since he seemed to have already decided to take the offer.

“Damn it.”

Kyung-wan ate the half-burnt meat and stared at Woo-jin again.

Kyung-wan knew Woo-jin better than anyone and had seen WJ Studio grow. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

But he couldn’t accept it right away, since being Senior Managing Director at Chunwoong Construction was also appealing.

So, Kyung-wan spoke again.

“But, Director Seo.”

“Yes?”

“Why now?”

“What do you mean…?”

“Can’t you wait two years?”

“Why?”

“Are you pretending you don’t know? I mean my two years as Senior Managing Director.”

“Hmm.”

“It would look good if I quit after two years and came over.”

“It depends on how you look at it.”

“What?”

“That’s how it looks good from your side.”

“…….”

“Are you trying to have it all? Haha.”

Kyung-wan’s lips jutted out.

He thought it was a good idea, but Woo-jin had rejected it.

Seeing his lips, Woo-jin spoke again.

“Think about it, Sir.”

“About what?”

“How old is our company?”

“Hmm…?”

Kyung-wan was confused by Woo-jin’s question at first. It seemed to come from nowhere. But then he quickly understood.

“You started it in the summer of 2010? Around then…”

“This year is 2014, right?”

“It’s been four years.”

“Four years. Really, it’s only been a little over three years.”

The company was only four years old.

In those four years, WJ Studio had become the best design and planning company in the industry.

Woo-jin was talking about that, and asking about the value of the two years that Kyung-wan had mentioned.

Not from Kyung-wan’s view as the new Senior Managing Director, but from WJ Studio’s view, a company that had grown so much in just four years.

“So, what do you think our company will be like in two years?”

“…….”

“Do you think I can run WJ Studio alone for the next two years?”

Kyung-wan had to be quiet at Woo-jin’s serious tone.

He couldn’t argue with Woo-jin.

‘I knew it, but… this company is even crazier than I thought.’

Of course, WJ Studio had board members now.

Seok-hyun and Jin-tae were directors, and they had a CFO and CAO.

All four of them were like Senior Managing Directors at Chunwoong Construction.

But Woo-jin was the CEO and COO, the most important jobs in management.

Woo-jin was doing all this work at a company with hundreds of billions of won in sales.

So, Woo-jin was asking Kyung-wan: Would there still be a place for Kyung-wan at WJ Studio in two years?

Kyung-wan already knew the answer, but he silently picked up his glass again.

This time, it was a soju glass.

“Fill my glass.”

“Sure.”

Pour, pour-

The two men filled each other’s glasses, clinked them, and emptied them at the same time.

“Khaa…”

“Hoo!”

Kyung-wan hadn’t answered yet, but Woo-jin didn’t want to say more.

He thought he had said everything he needed to say.

And he shouldn’t ask him to make such a big decision right away.

Of course, Woo-jin already knew the answer.

‘He’s going to come anyway, but he’s just being difficult…’

Woo-jin chuckled as he saw Kyung-wan’s face turn red.

Then, Kyung-wan asked with a sulky face.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s funny.”

“What is?”

“It feels like just yesterday I was getting paid by you at the Suseo Station construction site… Now it looks like I’m going to be paying your salary…” Kyung-wan could almost see the old construction site, the cold air, and the taste of cheap coffee.

Kyung-wan got angry at Woo-jin’s reply.

“Hey, I haven’t decided yet!”

“Who said you did?”

“Ugh… Is this guy getting more and more sly, or what.”

“Hehe. Birds of a feather flock together.”

“What?”

“Why would I be close to you otherwise?”

“Ugh. This guy is really…”

The two men’s glasses clinked again.

And as if they had never talked about Kyung-wan’s job change, the two men laughed and chatted excitedly as usual.

No matter what Kyung-wan decided, their relationship would stay the same.

“Hey, do I have to pay today?”

“Why are you being so cheap?”

“If you’re trying to headhunt me, shouldn’t you buy the meal?”

“If I pay, is the job change confirmed?”

“Damn it. Forget it, forget it. I’ll pay, I’ll pay.”

The two men left the meat restaurant and went to a street stall for a second round, drinking late into the night. The air was noisy and filled with the smell of street food.

It was almost two in the morning when they came out of the bar.

“Sir, are you okay? Should I call you a taxi?”

“Hey, how much did I drink? I’m fine. I’m fine.”

Kyung-wan staggered as he hailed a taxi, then suddenly turned to Woo-jin.

“Hey, Seo Woo-jin.”

“Yes?”

Kyung-wan grinned playfully at Woo-jin.

“But, you. You know this, right?”

“What?”

“If I change jobs, you have to go and negotiate with the CEO?”

Thud-

Woo-jin was dumbfounded as he watched Kyung-wan get into the taxi without waiting for an answer.

“What was he trying to say…”

Then, Woo-jin chuckled.

Kyung-wan was misunderstanding something.

‘Does he think I brought it up without getting permission from CEO Chun?’

In fact, Woo-jin had been talking about this with Jong-geol since the end of last year.

And with some kind of deal, he had already gotten permission to bring Kyung-wan over.

Kyung-wan was valuable at Chunwoong, but he wasn’t impossible to replace.

Since the two companies worked together, Kyung-wan’s job change wasn’t bad for Chunwoong either.

‘Come to think of it, CEO Chun… did he promote that old man on purpose this year?’

Woo-jin thought about Chun Jong-geol, then shook his head and hailed a taxi.

Screech-

“Please go to Seongsu-dong.”

Woo-jin leaned back in the taxi and smiled as he looked at the night.

He was tired from drinking after so long, but he felt good because he had finally talked about something he had been thinking about for a long time.