Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 52

The Seoul Public Design Competition (SPDC) finals were today, and the Department of Design at K University was buzzing with excitement.

This year, K University had the most finalists, making the campus very busy.

Everyone had to pack their models early and go to Yongsan, a district in Seoul, where the Seoul Design Foundation building was located.

Most students didn’t have their own studios like Woojin, so they usually worked on their contest entries in the school studio or department lab.

Clang!

A bus chartered by the school arrived in front of the design building, and the side trunk door opened.

The waiting students carefully packed their models into the trunk, one by one.

“Eleven teams from our university made it to the finals this year?”

“Yes, Professor. I believe it’s the highest number ever,” the assistant professor replied.

“Really?”

“It’s the first time we’ve had a double-digit number of teams in the finals.”

A total of 36 teams are selected for the SPDC finals.

Therefore, 11 teams was a figure close to 30% of the total number of successful entries, and the fact that this number came from one school was encouraging enough.

“How many teams did we have last year?”

“Six teams.”

“Almost double.”

Professor Yoon Chi-hyung, head of the Department of Spatial Design, smiled with satisfaction.

He had only been appointed head of the department this year, so this would also be noted as one of his achievements.

Professor Yoon Chi-hyung watched the students get on the bus. He looked out the window and took a sip of his coffee. It was on the table beside him.

The rich aroma of the coffee filled Professor Yoon’s office. It was a dark, strong smell that woke him up and made him feel good.

“Actually, the strong performance of the freshmen played a big part in the high number of finalists this year.”

At the assistant professor’s words, Yoon Chi-hyung’s eyes twinkled.

“Really?”

“Out of the eleven teams that made it to the finals, three are freshmen. Four are seniors, three are juniors… That’s more than the sophomores, who only have one team. It’s the first time this has happened.”

“Oho…?”

“Considering that we didn’t have a single team make it to the finals last year and the year before… It’s a surprisingly special event.”

Yoon Chi-hyung’s mood soared. *Freshmen doing this well? This is fantastic for my department, and for me,* he thought, a smile spreading across his face.

If the freshmen in the year he was appointed were so talented, it would definitely help his career in the long term.

The term of the head of the department at K University was three years. These outstanding freshmen would enhance the name of K University and his achievements during those three years.

“Among the freshman teams, is there any work that could be considered for an award of excellence or higher?”

At Yoon Chi-hyung’s words, the assistant professor pondered for a moment before nodding.

“I took a quick look, and it seems like one of the teams that Professor Park Joon-min is mentoring might have a chance.”

“Oh…! Really?”

“It’s the team led by Ryu Sun-bin, the student who entered at the top of the class this year. The quality is really good. It was better than some of the mediocre junior teams.”

“Hee hee, I’m looking forward to it. What about the other two teams?”

“One team seems to have barely made it to the finals, and I’m not sure about the other team.”

“Not sure…?”

“It seems they’re not working at school but outside. I haven’t seen their work, so I don’t have a good sense of it.”

Professor Yoon Chi-hyung stroked his chin and muttered.

“Hmm… Well, even if only one team receives an award of excellence or higher, it’s still an excellent result for freshmen.”

The thirty-six teams that advance to the finals are virtually guaranteed to win at least an ‘honorable mention.’

Half of them, eighteen teams, are guaranteed to win a ‘special selection’ award, and half of those, nine teams, are eligible to receive an ‘award of excellence’ or higher.

Among them, three teams receive the ‘grand prize,’ and one team receives the grand prize.

‘I hope about three teams make it into the award of excellence range. It would be even better if one team won the grand prize.’

Yoon Chi-hyung, thinking of his friend Park Myung-chul, a professor at S University, wore a pleasant smile.

Because the number of finalists this year surpassed S University’s for the first time in a while. He felt that he could tease his friend a little when they met at the next gathering.

As long as the grand prize winner doesn’t come from S University.

“Is my schedule clear this afternoon?”

“Yes, Professor.”

“I should go to Yongsan in time for the final judging.”

“Are you planning to attend in person?”

Yoon Chi-hyung nodded.

“Yes. I have to see my darlings receive their awards. Haha.”

Only the nine teams that will receive an award of excellence or higher will be on the final judging.

If none of the K University students are among them, it will be a waste of time, but Yoon Chi-hyung was confident that would not happen.

The head of the Department of Spatial Design at K University’s office was filled with warmth today.

Kim Ki-tae, who had visited a beauty salon in the morning to look his best, was driving to Yongsan in his car.

Other students were sweating and moving their models from the school, but Ki-tae didn’t need to do that.

All he had prepared was a small USB containing the panel design files and presentation PPT.

The model was said to be delivered directly from the company to Yongsan, so he could move leisurely with his junior teammates.

Ki-tae was on a team with two female juniors from the same junior year, and they were also riding in Ki-tae’s car to Yongsan.

“Senior, we’re sorry for making you suffer because of us from the morning…”

“Sorry? I’m just giving you a ride on the way.”

“You did almost all of the model work, Senior. It feels like the two of us didn’t do much…”

“Ah, no, no. What do you mean you didn’t do anything? Yejin, you did all the image correction, and Yumin made almost all of the panels, right? That’s good enough. So don’t say that.”

Ki-tae’s teammates, Kim Yejin and Lee Yumin, were from the same junior year, but they were two school years behind.

And even though he said this, Ki-tae thought that he had done more than 90% of this project.

That was also the truth.

‘They know they didn’t do anything. Fortunately, they know.’

Yejin and Yumin weren’t bad at their skills, but they were no match for Ki-tae, who had the infrastructure of Myungsung Construction behind him.

So almost all the work had to flow around Ki-tae, and because of that, the two female students were, in colloquial terms, getting a free ride.

But Ki-tae wasn’t at all upset about it.

Ki-tae was the one who had proposed the team project to them in the first place, knowing that this would happen.

Yejin and Yumin were actually trying to do something, even if it was just to make an effort.

‘Now, all that’s left is to use his connections during the final judging? If I get the grand prize thanks to me, Yumin will have no choice but to look at me differently.’

In fact, Ki-tae had a purpose from the beginning when he recruited the two juniors as teammates.

Yumin, who had been the most beautiful of the freshmen since the class of 2008 were freshmen.

Ki-tae wanted to win her heart.

Somehow, Yejin, who was close to her, also joined the team, but it didn’t really matter.

It wouldn’t be a disadvantage to have one more team member anyway, and it would be even better for his image-making.

Screeeech-

After parking in the basement of the Design Foundation building and receiving the delivered model, Kim Ki-tae went up to the 3rd floor, where the judging hall was located, with a leisurely expression with his juniors.

‘I’ve practiced the presentation enough. My father said he’d help a little bit… If I don’t get the grand prize here, Kim Ki-tae should give up.’

The first judging of the finals hadn’t even started yet, but Ki-tae was almost certain.

He didn’t know exactly what kind of help his father was giving, but he could easily guess that it would make his grand prize win certain.

The position of managing director of Myungsung Construction had that much power in this field.

“Okay, juniors. Let’s get some drinks and relax.”

“Yes, Senior.”

“We’re more worried about the senior who’s presenting.”

“Haha, I told you I practiced a lot? I don’t know about the grand prize, but we have to get at least the grand prize.”

Kim Ki-tae was saying things he didn’t mean, without changing his expression.

But right then.

Ki-tae’s eyebrows twitched slightly without him realizing it when he spotted a team that had come up to the 3rd floor earlier and was submitting their model.

“……!”

The model that the SPDC official was receiving had a crazy level of quality, even at a glance.

‘What is it? Are they from S University?’

The word ‘alertness’ came to Kim Ki-tae’s mind for the first time, who had been sneering inwardly when he saw the works of other teams in the department.

Not only the quality of the model but also the sensuously designed exterior form.

It was a work that was by no means inferior to his own.

‘Where did that work come from? Did they secretly commission it from an overseas design company and bring it here?’

Kim Ki-tae stared at the model. *This is incredible,* he thought, his confidence suddenly shaking. *Where did this come from? It can’t be a student’s work.* He completely forgot that his own amazing model was also thanks to outside help.

But the next moment, something even more unexpected began to unfold before his eyes.

“Wow, aren’t they freshmen?”

“That’s right! That’s Woojin, who sat at our table at the junior orientation back then, right?”

“Wow! The model quality is amazing!”

Yejin and Yumin, who were next to him, recognized the student who was submitting the model and ran to him.

‘What? A freshman in our department?’

Kim Ki-tae, who had been standing there with a blank expression for a moment, soon began to feel anger from deep inside.

The quality of the model in front of him was at a level that he couldn’t possibly think a freshman could have made.

So he was convinced that they had borrowed the hands of an overseas design company and worked in an illegal way.

The reason he didn’t think it was a domestic company was simple.

Among the domestic model companies that Ki-tae knew, there was no place that could produce that level of quality.

Besides, one of the team members was a tall foreigner.

This was, in Ki-tae’s view, an undeniable fact.

“Ah! Senior, hello. I guess you came to submit to the SPDC finals too?”

“We decided to drop the honorifics since we’re the same age, Woojin.”

“Ah, did we?”

“Junior, do you remember me? I’m Yumin, who sat at the same table during the orientation.”

“Of course I remember. I’m not that bad at remembering things.”

“You’re still using honorifics, Woojin. We’re all the same age, so we all decided to drop the honorifics back then.”

“Hey. I think Woojin is lying about not being bad at remembering things?”

Seeing his teammates Yejin and Yumin treating the freshman Woojin so kindly.

Ki-tae began to feel even more heat inside.

‘What are those airheads doing over there?’

So Ki-tae began to control his mind with all his might.

He wanted to turn everything upside down, but if he did, his image as the president of the student council, which he had worked so hard to build up, would collapse.

‘Let’s calm down. The results aren’t out yet… I can crush a freshman in the presentation. I can’t outsource the presentation.’

Ki-tae, gritting his teeth, slowly approached Woojin and managed to put on a facial expression as he held out his hand to him.

It was a freshman he was seeing for the first time today, but somehow he didn’t like his impression from the start.

“Nice to meet you, junior. I’m Kim Ki-tae, the president of the student council.”

Woojin, who shook Kim Ki-tae’s hand, smiled and replied pleasantly.

“Ah, I remember seeing you at the orientation. I’m Seo Woojin from the class of 2010.”

Woojin and Ki-tae’s eyes briefly met in the air.

At that moment, the two were thinking different things inside.

‘Learning only bad things from freshman year… I’m going to drop you no matter what.’

‘Kim Ki-tae, I knew this guy would make it to the finals. I’m going to crush him properly today.’

The hands of the two people holding each other were gradually getting stronger, but no one here noticed it.