Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 48

So-yeon was on a bus going to meet her friends, north of Seoul.

As the bus went uphill, she looked out the window. Seoul was busy, but here, it felt different. Big mountains, called Bukhansan, rose up on one side. The air felt fresher than in the city center.

Bulgwang-dong was a normal place, not fancy. It had more houses than tall apartment buildings. Even the shops were in small buildings. But behind everything, those mountains were amazing.

So-yeon, arriving in Bulgwang-dong by bus, was admiring the unexpectedly wonderful scenery.

“Wow,” So-yeon thought, breathing deeply. “It’s so much fresher here than downtown.”

The bus stopped with a screech. So-yeon got off at Dokbawi Station and looked around for Exit 1. It was easy – there was only one exit. Good, she thought, no chance of getting lost.

She checked her watch and shook her head. ‘Too early again,’ she mumbled to herself, letting out a little sigh.

Woo-jin and Jayden weren’t there. So-yeon stretched, looking around. Just then, two people walked out of the cafe next to the exit, laughing.

So-yeon stopped stretching. She stared. It *was* Woo-jin! Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Woo-jin?’ she thought, heart suddenly beating fast. But who was with him? A woman she didn’t know.

Without thinking, So-yeon ducked behind a tree. She peeked out. Woo-jin and the woman were talking, holding coffee cups.

Woo-jin didn’t have a girlfriend, did he? She was almost sure he didn’t. But… who was this woman? They weren’t holding hands, not really close, but… Could it be a date? A blind date? The woman was beautiful, really beautiful. Even from here, So-yeon could see it. A strange feeling twisted in So-yeon’s stomach. It felt like… jealousy? But why? She should just go say hello. But she couldn’t move. She just kept watching.

‘Unbelievable,’ So-yeon thought, a little angry now. ‘Woo-jin, you… how did he meet someone like *her*?’

They talked for a few more minutes on the bench. But as So-yeon watched, something felt strange. They didn’t look like a couple on a date. They were talking normally, not laughing and flirting like she imagined dates were.

‘Wait,’ she thought, squinting. ‘That woman… why does she look familiar?’

The woman finished her coffee, smiled at Woo-jin, and said goodbye. She walked to a car parked nearby and got in the driver’s seat. So-yeon quickly looked at the car’s badge. Her eyes widened again. It was an expensive car. ‘Wow,’ she thought, feeling a little sick. ‘Of course she is. Why is life so unfair?’

The good mood So-yeon had on the bus was gone. She felt heavy and sad, even though she didn’t really know why. She turned around and slumped onto a bench under the tree.

“It’s not like I care anyway,” So-yeon mumbled to herself. “Woo-jin can date whoever he wants.”

She kicked a small stone on the ground, then pulled out her phone. Just then, someone tapped her shoulder. “What are you doing here?” a voice asked.

The truth was, Woo-jin’s coffee shop trip with Im Soo-ha was very simple. She was driving him to the meeting and needed coffee to stay awake. She just stopped quickly at the cafe.

They talked about… apartments. Seriously. Woo-jin pointed to a building being built nearby and started talking about how long it would take to finish. Im Soo-ha listened politely, probably just trying to wake up.

Woo-jin knew a lot about buildings, maybe too much. He could talk about construction sites for hours.

Woo-jin frowned. So-yeon was acting strange. ‘Are you feeling okay?’ he asked. ‘You look a bit pale.’

‘I’m fine,’ So-yeon said quickly, not looking at him.

‘Really? You seem upset. Did I do something wrong? Am I late?’ He checked his watch.

‘I said I’m fine!’ So-yeon snapped, then immediately regretted it. ‘Just… just leave me alone for a minute, okay?’

So-yeon took a breath, trying to sound casual. ‘Hey,’ she said, ‘just wondering… who was that woman you were talking to earlier?’

‘Woman?’ Woo-jin looked confused. ‘What woman?’

‘You know,’ So-yeon said, pretending to look around like she didn’t care. ‘The one you were just with, at the cafe.’

Then Woo-jin’s eyes widened. ‘Oh! You mean her? That was… oh, that was just Im Soo-ha.’

‘Im Soo-ha?’ So-yeon repeated, her voice quiet. Suddenly, she knew why the woman looked familiar. And suddenly, her strange feeling made a lot more sense.

So-yeon knew this actress. She had seen her on TV before. That’s why she looked familiar.

“I met her while I was working,” Woo-jin said. “She gave me a ride to the TV station.”

So-yeon felt her face get hot for a moment, hearing this.

But looking at Woo-jin, at his easy smile and how he stood, she knew there was nothing more to it.

‘What’s wrong with me?’ she thought.

But even with the slight embarrassment, So-yeon felt much better.

The worried, tight feeling in her chest went away as soon as she knew the truth.

‘Aish, I knew it! There’s no way Seo Woo-jin, who doesn’t even notice anything, would have a girlfriend…?’

So-yeon looked at Woo-jin as he finished his coffee. She suddenly wanted to reach out and touch his arm.

Or, she almost did.

“Hey, friends! Listen up! I really did leave home an hour ago!”

Then Jayden arrived, talking loudly. He was about ten minutes late.

‘Aish, that unhelpful Brit,’ So-yeon thought, annoyed. She glared at Jayden quickly, so he wouldn’t see, then moved a little closer to Woo-jin.

The gloomy mood from just before was gone, like smoke in the wind.

“Hey, friends. Listen. I really left home an hour ago.”

“And?”

“I didn’t expect the traffic to be this bad. Tongilro? It’s completely hell there. Hell, I tell you.”

Woo-jin knew that Jayden’s words were not a lie. He had also passed through Tongilro in Im Soo-ha’s car and experienced that hellish traffic jam.

But apart from that, he somehow wanted to tease Jayden.

“Lazy and cowardly Jayden. You don’t hesitate to lie.”

“Oh, no! A lie? It’s not true. Jayden is honest.”

“You were playing games late into the night again, weren’t you? I heard it all from Seok-gu.”

“Damn it, it’s all because of Seok-hyun.”

“Why?”

“I was going to keep playing until I won just one game, but I couldn’t win even one.”

“……?”

“Seok-hyun is so bad that our team kept losing.”

“Can I tell that to Seok-gu?”

“Damn it, I should have taken the subway. I shouldn’t have brought the car.”

However, Woo-jin couldn’t tease Jayden for long.

So-yeon, who had approached unnoticed, asked Jayden with a curious expression.

“What kind of car is it? You had a car?”

“It’s not mine. It’s my dad’s car.”

Woo-jin also asked with a curious expression.

“Where did you park the car?”

“There was a spot in the back alley, so I parked there.”

“If it’s your father’s car… isn’t it a nice car? Is it okay to treat it like that?”

“It’s not a very nice car. It’s a car my dad left in Korea.”

“…….”

Woo-jin was briefly curious about what kind of car Jayden’s father had abandoned, but it wasn’t something he particularly wanted to ask about.

And more than anything, he couldn’t delay the field survey any longer.

To complete all the planned schedules for today, they had to move quickly from now on.

“Well, anyway, now that everyone’s here, let’s start the field survey quickly. It’s already past two.”

As Woo-jin finished speaking and started walking ahead, Jayden and So-yeon nodded and followed him.

And they were soon able to reach their destination.

Seun Rehabilitation Hospital stood on a hill so steep it felt like a climb just to reach the entrance. The building was bigger than So-yeon expected, its windows looking out over the city like watchful eyes.

“Wow, this is more than twice the size of the site given for the competition, isn’t it?” So-yeon, who was the first to spot the building, exclaimed softly.

The scale of Seun Rehabilitation Hospital felt much larger than she had seen on the map.

Woo-jin also agreed with So-yeon’s words, nodding in response.

“It probably is. But if you exclude the hospital grounds, it’s more or less similar.”

“Ah, I see.”

Arriving in front of the rehabilitation hospital, Woo-jin walked up the side alley instead of going inside.

The road was uphill again, and Jayden, already out of breath, hurriedly stopped Woo-jin.

“Stupid Woo-jin! The entrance is this way!”

“I know.”

“Then why are you going there?”

“I want to get a bird’s-eye view.”

“Please……! Do we really have to go up the steep hill?”

Jayden grumbled incessantly, but Woo-jin simply walked along the path without a word.

Due to the nature of the building built on the hillside, there would definitely be a high ground where they could overlook the entire building.

Before conducting the internal survey, Woo-jin wanted to see the overall view of the architecture along with the surrounding environment.

‘Given the nature of the rehabilitation center, they must have created a walking trail leading from inside the building to the Bukhansan Dulle Trail.’

A well-made walking path is very important for older patients to get better. Especially here, near the fresh air of the mountainside.

He thought that they would have created an eco-friendly walking trail along the mountain path.

And as Woo-jin expected, a well-maintained walking trail soon revealed itself.

“Indeed.”

A walking trail that extended from the back of the building and connected to Bukhansan in the form of a hiking trail.

Upon discovering it, Woo-jin moved his steps along the path without hesitation.

And after walking for about ten more minutes.

Woo-jin was able to find a high ground that secured the level of satisfactory view he wanted.

“Come on, both of you stop panting and come over here.”

The scenery of the rehabilitation hospital seen from a fairly high altitude was serene and peaceful.

However, Woo-jin was able to discover one unique feature in the architectural structure of this rehabilitation hospital.

‘Wait a minute. There’s a pretty big level difference even within the site, isn’t there?’

In a rehabilitation hospital where elderly patients reside, steep hills or stairs are fatal elements.

Not only when transporting patients to the hospital, but also when wheelchairs are moving around or when elderly people with weak energy are moving. It could be a bigger obstacle than expected.

However, within the site of this rehabilitation hospital, there was clearly a high level difference of more than one floor of the building.

And they were even overcoming it with a fairly clever architectural design.

Without stairs or hills, they overcame the height difference of the steep land very naturally, only with the structure of the building.

Jayden seemed to have had a similar thought to Woo-jin, as he suddenly opened his mouth while looking down at the rehabilitation hospital.

Golden Print