Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 304

Woo-jin’s year-long trip was very good for him. It helped him see the world in new ways. It also helped him learn how to be a better businessman.

Of course, seeing different spaces and buildings around the world was priceless for him. That was his main goal.

In one year, Woo-jin filled over a hundred pages of his notebook with drawings of buildings.

And among these, he had ten drawings that he really wanted to use for real projects before he died.

“I left to chase a dream, but it feels like I came back with even more dreams. Haha,” he said to himself, thinking about the amazing buildings he had seen, the way light fell on ancient walls, and the bold shapes of modern towers. He wanted to bring that beauty to his own projects.

Woo-jin was back, and WJ Studio would never be the same. He was filled with energy, and from the day he returned to work, WJ Studio started to do even better.

The company had been busy even when Woo-jin was away, working on different projects.

But when the light in the CEO’s office turned on again after a year, it felt like WJ Studio woke up. The office was buzzing with energy. Phones were ringing, and people were talking excitedly in the hallways.

The first thing Woo-jin did was hire many more people for WJ Studio’s design team.

“Team Leader, how many people did the design team hire this year?” Woo-jin asked.

“We hired seven people in total, CEO,” the Team Leader replied.

“Okay… Let’s announce another opening in October,” Woo-jin said.

“Is it a rolling recruitment?”

“Yes, it is.”

“How many people are you thinking of hiring?” the Team Leader asked.

“I want to create two more teams,” Woo-jin said.

“What?” The Team Leader was surprised.

“I want to set up two more teams by dividing the current design team members. Please make a plan for this and give it to me,” Woo-jin explained.

“Well, that would need at least twenty more people, CEO. Even if we take people from other teams, if we create two more teams…”

“We are not taking people from other teams because the new teams don’t have enough people,” Woo-jin clarified.

“Yes? What do you mean?” the Team Leader asked, confused.

“Choose talented people from the current teams and make them team leaders. Also, find about four Principal Designers who can lead,” Woo-jin said.

“Are you saying we should hire everyone else?”

“New people are fine, and experienced people are also good. You should be ready to hire at least thirty people this time,” Woo-jin stated.

“I will make the plan, CEO,” the Team Leader responded.

When a company hires more people, it means they are investing in bigger growth.

More employees mean more costs, so companies only hire when they are sure they can increase their work.

So, hiring thirty people at once was a big deal for WJ Studio, which had already grown quite a bit. But Woo-jin was confident they could handle it.

“What kind of project did you plan while you were away that you need two more design teams?” one employee asked.

“I know, right? I heard things would change a lot when the CEO came back, and it’s true,” another replied.

“Ooh…! I’m excited!”

“About what?”

“It’s my turn to get promoted next year, right?”

“Huh?”

“If I do well on this project, I might become a team leader in the new team, right?”

“Oh, that’s right. Eun Soo-hyun has a good chance, doesn’t she?”

“This is not the time for this. I’m going to work!”

“Eun Soo-hyun is excited,” someone joked.

“Haha, I guess Section Chief Eun wants to stop working under your team leader?”

“Tch. I’ve been pushing her too hard. Hahaha.”

The news about hiring new people was enough to make the company feel alive again. New people joining always brings energy to a group.

But the big hiring event was just the start. Woo-jin began to announce even bigger plans.

The announcements included:

– ‘JK Financial Group Korea Branch’ New Office Building in Yeouido – a sleek tower of glass and steel.

– ‘AT Complex Mall’ Project in Madrid, Spain – a sprawling space filled with light and life, like a Spanish plaza.

– ‘Jewoon Orient Residence (Tentative Name)’ Project in Yeongdo-gu, Busan.

(Some projects were left out.)

Whenever a new project started, a notice was put on WJ Studio’s website so everyone could see it.

Sharing information was important for the different departments to talk and work together. People could also move to different teams to help with projects.

But this was the first time since the company started that so many projects were announced at once.

Usually, there were only about two projects. If one was big, the other was small and simple.

But in October 2015, WJ Studio’s website showed three big projects with design costs of almost 10 billion won each. No one knew how they got so many projects.

“Did the CEO really go on a trip?” one employee wondered.

“Didn’t he just spend a year selling things?” another asked.

“Two of the projects are overseas!” someone pointed out.

“Wow, what’s the Madrid project? Why is it so big?”

“Wow, the HR team said they were going to hire 30 people. I thought that was too many… But now I see it’s not enough.”

“I don’t think two design teams will be enough…”

Because of all this, WJ Tower was never quiet. From morning till night, WJ Tower was a hive of activity. The click of keyboards, the murmur of meetings, and the excited chatter of colleagues filled the air. But all the employees looked happy.

The employees at WJ Studio felt like they belonged there. Seeing the company grow like this made them even more excited to work.

Among all the busy employees, the business division was the busiest.

“Manager,” Woo-jin called.

“Yes, CEO,” the manager replied.

“Please get ready to sell all the land we bought in Munjeong-dong,” Woo-jin instructed.

“Hmm… Is it too early?” the manager asked.

“Why?”

“There are rumors that a legal center will be built there, and the price is still going up,” the manager explained.

“It’s okay. It’s already five times higher than what we paid, right?” Woo-jin said.

“Yes, but…”

“We bought it very cheap and we are selling it for a good profit now,” Woo-jin stated.

“You need to invest the money somewhere.”

“We don’t need that much money right now, but we’ll need a lot next year,” Woo-jin explained.

“Then I’ll get ready to sell it whenever you want, and I’ll watch the market,” the manager said.

“Do that.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ah, and… Please get ready to sell all the property in Icheon City too,” Woo-jin added.

“Yes, CEO. I will.”

Kyung-wan watched Woo-jin and couldn’t help but feel surprised.

‘I was worried about this guy…,’ he thought.

Seeing Woo-jin doing so well as soon as he came back, Kyung-wan felt silly for worrying that he might not be motivated after a year off.

Late in the evening, after most of the employees had left, Kyung-wan was still in the CEO’s office, talking about work. He asked without thinking,

“Tell me honestly.”

Kyung-wan looked up as Woo-jin walked in, a stack of papers in his hand. “You’re back,” he said, a hint of tiredness in his voice. “So, what’s all this?”

Woo-jin grinned, dropping the papers on Kyung-wan’s desk with a soft thud. “Business ideas, Director! Turns out, my ‘world trip’ was more productive than you thought.”

Kyung-wan raised an eyebrow. “Productive? You mean you spent the whole year working?”

“Hey!” Woo-jin protested, feigning hurt. “I had fun too! Lots of fun. But… ideas happened.”

Kyung-wan sighed, picking up the top paper and glancing at it. “Ideas? Woo-jin, our sales team works all year and doesn’t bring in this many projects.”

Woo-jin chuckled. “Maybe I’m just more… talented?”

Kyung-wan rolled his eyes. “Unbelievable,” he muttered. “Just… unbelievable.”

Woo-jin laughed again. “Come on, Director, admit it. You’re impressed.”

“Just get to work,” Kyung-wan said, but a small smile played on his lips.

When multiple projects need to be carried out at the same time, scheduling and solid business plans are very important.

If you’re too greedy and things get messed up, it can be worse than not doing anything at all.

So, it was Kyung-wan’s job, as the project manager, to organize all the new projects Woo-jin had suddenly brought in.

This was why Kyung-wan was still in the director’s office long after everyone else had left for the day.

“Which project do you think will take the longest, Director?”

“Probably the residence we’re working on with Je-un, right?”

“Hmm. I guess so.”

“I was really surprised when I saw the plan for that one.”

“Surprised? Why?”

“I never thought the Je-un Group would build such an unusual building.”

Woo-jin chuckled.

“A fancy apartment building with a car elevator and indoor parking… It might be smaller than the JK headquarters, but it will be much harder to design.”

“That was supposed to be built in 2013, but it got delayed.”

“What?”

Woo-jin chuckled again. “There’s a story there.”

While talking to Kyung-wan, Woo-jin remembered something from years ago.

He remembered meeting Colton Taylor in England in 2011.

Their conversation suddenly came back to him.

[We’re building apartments for people who love cars.]

[Like a fancy view of the river or ocean, with an apartment where you can show off a supercar in the living room?]

[Exactly. That’s it. If I get rich, I want to build an apartment like that overlooking the Han River. Maybe I’ll hire WJ Studio. Haha.]

It wasn’t the Han River, but he was able to build that dream building with a beautiful ocean view in Busan, just like they had talked about.

‘It took four years instead of two. I never thought I’d actually get to build what we joked about.’

Woo-jin chuckled, remembering Colton Taylor’s excited face as he talked about his dream house.

Colton had called Woo-jin yesterday, saying he would definitely buy one of the apartments.

Maybe Seok-hyun, their car-crazy colleague, would want to buy one too, even if he had to work extra hard to afford it.

‘I wonder if Seok-hyun has seen the project yet? If he had, he would have called me right away.’

Thinking of his friends made Woo-jin smile.

But his thoughts were cut short.

He had too many things to discuss with Kyung-wan to get lost in happy thoughts.

“Why are you spacing out?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. Let’s get back to work.”

So, they talked about the project again and finished up after 11 p.m.

When they got up to leave, all the offices were dark except for the director’s.

“I’m counting on you, Director.”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

The two of them left the office together and went down to the first floor.

Woo-jin lived close to WJ Tower, but Kyung-wan usually drove to work. Today, he hadn’t brought his car.

“Director.”

“What?”

“Can we finish all the current projects by next year?”

“Seriously? Do you even need to ask…”

“We’re hiring more people too. We have to finish by the second half of next year, no matter what.”

Kyung-wan narrowed his eyes at Woo-jin’s words as they walked out of the building.

“Second half of next year? What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean? I mean, we need to finish the projects quickly so we have more time…”

“You rascal. You’re planning something, aren’t you…”

Woo-jin smiled at Kyung-wan.

“You’re very perceptive, Director.”

“What is it? What are you plotting?”

As they walked toward the back gate of WJ Tower, they saw the Seoul Forest promenade.

Woo-jin bought a beer for each of them from the convenience store. They sat on a bench, and Woo-jin began to speak.

“I was going to tell you later, but you’ll say I betrayed you. So, I’ll tell you now.”

“Hey, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

Kyung-wan was worried about what Woo-jin was going to say. Woo-jin paused before continuing.

“Director, have you seen the article about SH Corporation building the biggest business center in Seoul on a prime piece of land in Samsung-dong?”

“Of course, I know about that. SH Corporation almost went bankrupt last year because of it.”

“The project was canceled once, right?”

“Right.”

“They’ll probably give up after the lawsuit is over.”

“They have no choice. I know one of the directors there, and he’s very frustrated.”

Then, Woo-jin casually dropped a bombshell.

“I’m going to try to get the design rights for that next year.”

“What…?”

“If we ask for the design rights in exchange for some of the developer’s shares, we should be able to get them without too much trouble, right? We’re not a small company anymore.”

“Hey, that project costs over a trillion won. Are we really going to do that?”

“The Seongsu Strategic Redevelopment project also cost over a trillion won, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“I’ll tell you more when I have a better idea of what’s going on.”

Kyung-wan was shocked that there was even more to be surprised about.

Woo-jin was already looking at the moon in the night sky.

‘The tallest and most beautiful building in Seoul… This is the perfect project for that.’

Old memories came to Woo-jin’s mind for the first time in a long time.

The super-tall building, which was finally finished after 2020 and was over 500 meters high.

The skyscraper in Samsung-dong, which had many problems in his past life and was even called an eyesore, would be reborn in Woo-jin’s hands.

Woo-jin was determined to make it happen.