Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 33

Woojin frowned slightly. Soyeon was acting strangely today.

‘That role-playing was weird to start with…’ he thought. ‘Why is she being like this all of a sudden?’

If he just thought about the role-playing itself, it was normal. It was the kind of playful talk he knew from Soyeon.

But it was her strong feelings about his story that felt odd. Her empathy seemed too much.

“Really?” Soyeon asked, her eyes wide and serious. “That really happened to you?”

She nodded slowly. “Wow,” she said softly. “Your mother must have worked so hard.”

“Just kicked out?” Soyeon frowned, her voice getting louder. “That’s terrible! I’m getting angry just hearing about it!”

Soyeon reacted as if Woojin had told her a story of great sadness and pain.

But Woojin had just described his childhood simply, in plain words.

His family had been in debt because of his father. His mother had worked very hard to pay it back, all by herself.

Their small restaurant, selling sujebi and kalguksu, was the only thing that kept them going.

It was not a happy story, not like most people’s childhoods.

When Woojin was younger, in his twenties, he thought he was very unlucky. He thought few people had it as bad as him.

Even now, telling the story made Woojin feel a little sad. But Soyeon’s strong empathy made his own feelings fade away.

It felt strange. It was like she was feeling sadder about his past than he was himself.

In any case, Woojin’s story had come to an end.

“Anyway, that’s my story.”

And Soyeon began to burn with even greater enthusiasm.

“Alright, great. Let’s quickly decide on a sujebi and kalguksu restaurant concept to gift your mother.”

Woojin was slightly hesitant at Soyeon’s suggestion to carry this story directly into the concept, but…

“Are you sure this is really okay?”

Soyeon didn’t seem to care at all.

“Of course. With this kind of story, we can definitely infuse a genuine design.”

“Now that things have turned out this way, how about we listen to your story too, Soyeon?”

“That’s for later. Today, your story is enough.”

“…”

Soyeon began sketching ideas with a more serious expression than Woojin had ever seen.

So, Woojin, feeling a little embarrassed, started working with her.

‘Well, it’s a little embarrassing, but…’

Soyeon scribbled lines on the yellow paper and spoke again.

“The spatial arrangement is a problem for later.”

“Since the most important thing today is to get this concept approved by the professor, let’s think about how to incorporate the story into the idea sketch.”

Soyeon, reciting lines that Woojin would normally say, began to lead the project entirely.

Woojin had a rough idea of when this change in her had started.

‘It seems to have started when I began talking about my childhood…’

Woojin shook his head at Soyeon’s admirable empathy and began planning the concept with her, following her lead.

But once the work began, Woojin quickly became immersed in the project as well.

It was only natural.

Although he was a little taken aback at first, it would have been strange not to become absorbed in a project that contained his own story.

And so, about thirty minutes passed…

“The client setting is unique. Or, should I say, ordinary.”

“I wanted to capture a more realistic and emotional story in the client.”

Professor Go Seung-hoon nodded, a small smile on his face. “Good,” he said. “Using real emotion in design is powerful. I’m interested to see what you come up with. Carry on.”

With Professor Go Seung-hoon’s satisfied evaluation, the two were finally able to get the project approved.

“Alright. The next step is to start with the plan design, right?”

Seeing Soyeon’s enthusiasm even after receiving approval, Woojin sighed and said,

“Class is over for today, Han.”

“Oh, already?”

“Let’s go grab some cup rice. I’m hungry.”

“S…sure, let’s do that?”

Woojin quickly left the lecture hall with Soyeon, who seemed to have some lingering regrets.

Although he had been immersed in the project itself, he felt a strange mix of emotions as class was ending.

‘Come to think of it, this might be the first time I’ve ever talked about my childhood to anyone…’

Even in his past life, Woojin had never revealed his painful past to anyone.

Woojin was the type to believe that confiding in someone wouldn’t necessarily make things better.

But somehow, he ended up sharing his past with someone he hadn’t expected, and it came back to him as a strange mix of sadness and something else… maybe relief?

He realized that some pain still lingered in a wound he thought had completely healed.

He also realized that confiding in someone like this wasn’t so bad after all.

‘This is quite perplexing.’

As he walked towards the school’s main building, Woojin glanced sideways at Soyeon.

She seemed to have become a slightly more special friend to him today.

Later that day, Woojin had other things on his mind, like finding people to help him with his growing business.

The job posting Woojin had put up on the internet was very simple.

[Looking for someone with good manual dexterity who loves and enjoys model making.]

[The starting base salary is 24 million won, but the annual salary will be renegotiated based on work performance after a two-month probationary period.]

[We are willing to pay more than double the annual salary if you have the skills.]

Unlike other companies, he didn’t list detailed requirements for the ideal candidate or a specific resume format.

The resume format was free, and the only thing he favored was a self-made portfolio.

But because the conditions Woojin offered were so unconventional, a considerable number of resumes flooded into Woojin’s email.

“Seokhyun, what about this person, and this person?”

“They seem qualified enough to call in for an interview.”

“What about this guy?”

“I’m not sure about his manual dexterity, but he doesn’t seem to have a particular attachment to model making.”

“Really?”

“It’s important to pick someone who can enjoy this work, not just someone who’s good at it right away.”

Seokhyun, despite being busy preparing for midterms, was working with Woojin in the studio to review the resumes.

He had even carved out time from his studies to come to the studio to help pick people to work with.

Seokhyun was very enthusiastic now.

He now realized that the scale of Woojin’s business was larger than he had imagined.

Perhaps he had found a potential in WJ Studio that was worth more than just a hobby’s worth of effort and time.

“We only need to pick three people from the resumes. Actually, that’s even a bit much.”

“Are you sure you can bring in the two people you mentioned?”

At Woojin’s question, Seokhyun nodded and replied.

“One has already confirmed, and I think the other one is almost on board.”

The people Seokhyun was bringing in were online friends from the same plastic model community as him.

Of course, they weren’t just acquaintances online.

Seokhyun wasn’t naive enough to suggest sending job offers to people he had never even met in person.

“I can guarantee that both of them are skilled. I’ve worked with them several times.”

Woojin asked directly.

“Compared to you?”

“Um…”

It was a question that could have been awkward to answer, but Seokhyun thought about it seriously.

He knew very well how important the people they were hiring would be in the future.

“One is a little less skilled than me, and the other is about as good as I am.”

“Oho.”

“Both of them are new to architectural models, so they might be a bit clumsy at first, but they love model making so much that I think they’ll adapt quickly.”

Woojin nodded at Seokhyun’s explanation.

He had already experienced how quickly a similar case like Seokhyun had adapted and how well he had performed.

“For a while, I’ll only be bringing in architectural model work, but once the infrastructure is in place, I’ll start other things too.”

Seokhyun’s eyes sparkled at Woojin’s unexpected words.

“For example?”

Woojin, sensing Seokhyun’s eagerness, chuckled and replied.

“The market for product models and car models wouldn’t be small either…”

“And?”

“It’ll take a lot of time, but if the scale gets even bigger from there, I’m thinking of expanding into the production of large pavilions.”

Seokhyun’s expression turned slightly puzzled at the word ‘pavilion’.

He had a vague idea of what product or car models were, but he had no idea what a pavilion was.

The word itself was very unfamiliar to him.

“Pavilion? What’s that?”

“Think of it as a sculpture.”

“A sculpture…?”

Large corporations’ new office buildings or large commercial facilities…

Buildings in commercial districts often decorate their front or surrounding areas, or even the lobby inside the building, with massive sculptures.

And in Woojin’s experience, the scale of this market was an unexpectedly rich goldmine.

‘Because the scale is so large, you can charge whatever you want if you design it well.’

The unit price itself was expensive, but the reason Woojin called it a goldmine was because of the lack of supply compared to the demand.

The size was typically 3 to 5 meters, and in the case of really large-scale projects, sculptures approaching 10 meters were installed.

This was because there weren’t many companies in the market that could do this work with proper quality.

‘Come to think of it, there were companies that put up really big chunks of metal and pocketed hundreds of millions of won.’

Of course, as he had told Seokhyun, this was a project that he could only attempt after some time.

Until he had equipment that could self-sufficiently handle most of the processes within the studio, it was a market that Woojin couldn’t even dream of entering.

Seokhyun, who had been listening to Woojin’s explanation, widened his eyes and asked back.

“How do you know all this stuff?”

“I’m an architecture design student, you know.”

“You’re a really amazing guy the more I see you. I think you must have met at least an alien while you were in the military.”

“…”

Anyway, Woojin and Seokhyun briefly wrapped up the story about pavilions and returned to the main topic of hiring.

And after narrowing down the list to about five people to interview, they discussed plans for how to manage the additional employees.

“You’ll have to direct the model part from now on, Seokgoo.”

“Me…?”

“It’s obvious, but I’ll be running around and bringing in the work.”

“That’s a relief.”

“But I might not have time to actively help with model making like I did last time.”

Woojin said he would be stepping away from the work, but Seokhyun looked confident.

“Don’t worry. I’ve learned almost everything I can from you.”

“Well, if we’re just talking about work skills, you’re better than me.”

Woojin was pleased with Seokhyun’s confidence.

He had always trusted his model-making skills more than anyone else, but he had been half-doubtful until last month whether he would actively participate in the business like this.

‘I should visit a few major construction companies around next week. New employees will need time to adjust… Bringing in too much work from the start would be detrimental.’

Woojin’s gaze turned to the corners of the workshop, which were wide and empty.

Important spaces that were currently empty but would soon be filled with various equipment.

‘Once I finish the work with Chunwoong and receive the remaining payment, I should start buying the equipment one by one with that money.’

Woojin smiled with satisfaction as he watched WJ Studio grow steadily as planned.

And what made Woojin’s mood even more pleasant after finishing the meeting with Seokhyun was a text message from Jintae that arrived just in time.

[Woojin. Come out to the place we went last time. I’m buying today.]

Woojin knew Jintae well.

If he thought he would reject his offer, he wouldn’t have even brought up the idea of meeting.

Sensing that Jintae had made up his mind, Woojin began to further specify his schedule for May.