Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 58

Having said goodbye to Bruno, the three friends went straight to a barbecue restaurant. Soyeon really wanted to eat Korean beef that day, and Woojin and Jayden were also hungry for some tasty meat.

“Woojin, you’re paying with the company card, right?” Jayden asked.

Woojin looked surprised. “Jayden, where did you learn about the ‘company card’?”

“Seokhyun told me,” Jayden said. “He said your company card is like a magic wand.”

“Seokgoo… Oh man,” Woojin mumbled.

Soyeon looked at Woojin, who seemed annoyed. “Do you mean a corporate card?” she asked Jayden.

“That’s right! It’s the card that will pay for our Korean beef today!” Jayden exclaimed.

“In simple words, it’s Woojin’s company money,” Soyeon explained.

“You mean WJ Studio’s money?” Jayden asked.

“Exactly! It means you can use it as much as you want,” Soyeon said.

Woojin sighed. “Jayden, it’s *my* company! Why are you acting like you own it?”

Jayden just grinned, not bothered at all.

“Because I *am* important to WJ Studio!” Jayden declared.

Woojin raised an eyebrow. “Important how?”

Jayden puffed out his chest. “Number three! First, Woojin. Second, Seokhyun. And then, me!”

Soyeon laughed. “Since when are you ‘number three’?”

“From the beginning!” Jayden declared. “I’m like… the Chief Fun Officer of WJ Studio!” He winked.

Woojin shook his head, smiling a little despite himself. “You’re unbelievable, Jayden.”

Even though they spent some money, Woojin felt good at the end of the day.

Treating his two hardworking friends to Korean beef wasn’t so bad. WJ Studio was making over 50 million each month, so the cost of the meal wasn’t even a blip on the company’s radar.

“Okay, see you next week!” Woojin said.

Soyeon asked, “Woojin, aren’t you coming to school tomorrow?”

“We all have Fridays off, right? No school tomorrow, yeah?” Woojin replied.

“Jayden, do you want to get punched?” Soyeon joked.

After eating their fill of Korean beef and saying goodbye, the three friends went home as the day ended.

Woojin got home, took a quick shower, and sat down at his computer, feeling excited.

He had one last thing to do: check the results of the SPDC contest on the website.

“Okay, it should be out by now, right? Let’s take a look…”

Woojin started typing SPDC into the search bar, but he stopped when his phone buzzed.

It was a message from Jayden, who was very excited.

[Woojin! We did it! We won the grand prize! We are the Wiiiiiiiiiiiner!]

While Woojin enjoyed his evening, trouble was brewing elsewhere.

[The Seoul Public Design Contest (SPDC), hosted by the Seoul Design Foundation, has seen the biggest surprise in its history.]

[The people who caused this surprise are Mr. Seo and two other students from the Spatial Design Department at K University…]

[It is said that in the SPDC, a first-year student has never won an award higher than the Excellence Award.]

[However, in this 10th SPDC contest, they won the grand prize because everyone on the judging panel agreed…]

Kim Jinmyung was reading the article online and slammed his desk as hard as he could.

His face turned red, and he breathed heavily, clenching his fists after hitting the desk.

He hit the desk so hard that his nameplate, which read ‘Kim Jinmyung, Managing Director of Myungsung Construction,’ moved to the side.

But Kim Jinmyung didn’t notice. He picked up the phone on his desk.

He shouted into the phone, “Secretary Yoon! Get Secretary Yoon in here!”

Kim Jinmyung was known as a good boss in the company.

Even though he looked a bit stern, he always came to work with a smile. People said he was good at taking care of his employees.

But sometimes, he would shout like this, and when he did, everyone in the company knew there would be trouble.

He didn’t get angry easily, but when he did, he didn’t care about anything.

‘What are these morons doing? How are they doing their jobs?’ he thought.

Yoon Youngwoon knew Kim Jinmyung well, so he rushed to the office.

He quickly walked into the office. “Sir, you called?”

Kim Jinmyung started yelling. “What on earth are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” Yoon Youngwoon asked.

“How can such garbage results come out of your work?” Kim Jinmyung shouted.

“…”

“Is Myungsung Construction a small corner store? How can a design that you approved be beaten by a design from a first-year student? Does that make sense?”

Yoon Youngwoon had rushed to the office without knowing why, but he quickly realized why Kim Jinmyung was angry.

He had actually expected this situation.

‘I didn’t know the director would find out so soon…’

Just the evening before, Yoon Youngwoon had received a phone call.

[Uncle, can you talk?]

[Oh, yes. Gitae. I was going to call you anyway… How did your presentation go today?]

[Well, Uncle….]

Yoon Youngwoon was friends with Kim Gitae, Kim Jinmyung’s son.

Yoon Youngwoon and Kim Jinmyung were more than just boss and employee. Kim Jinmyung had been Yoon Youngwoon’s mentor since college.

Yoon Youngwoon had been helping Gitae at the company since he was young. He felt a strong loyalty to Kim Jinmyung.

So, Yoon Youngwoon cared about Kim Gitae like a nephew, even though they weren’t related.

[So, you think something is fishy?]

[Yes, Uncle. I’m sure that a first-year student couldn’t have done that.]

[Hmm… Well, it is strange that your work was beaten by a first-year student.]

[I’ll try to find out more at the school.]

[Okay, Gitae. If you find anything, the grand prize will be canceled. SPDC is serious.]

Gitae had said that he didn’t win the grand prize at SPDC.

Gitae thought the reason wasn’t his own fault, and Youngwoon agreed.

Youngwoon knew Gitae’s work for the SPDC very well.

‘Even though Gitae is sometimes immature, he’s smart.’

Gitae had said that there was something suspicious about the first-year student who won the grand prize.

It seemed like they had secretly hired a talented design company.

If that was true, the grand prize would go to Gitae, who was the next in line.

Gitae and Youngwoon had agreed to keep the SPDC results a secret for now.

They knew that Kim Jinmyung would be furious if he found out about the contest results.

[Let’s not tell your father for now.]

[Okay, Uncle. If Father finds out… I’ll be in big trouble.]

[Are you the only one in trouble? I’ll be in trouble too, you rascal.]

[Seriously, this is all because of those garbage first-year students….]

Youngwoon and Gitae thought that Kim Jinmyung wouldn’t find out about the SPDC for a while.

The managing director of Myungsung Construction was too busy to look up the results of a small contest.

So, they thought he wouldn’t find out if Youngwoon didn’t tell him.

But they were wrong.

Kim Jinmyung happened to see an article on a website.

The title had the letters SPDC in it, which caught his eye.

“Now, you need to explain everything so I can understand what’s going on,” Kim Jinmyung said.

“…”

“You’re not going to tell me that there’s nothing wrong with this garbage article, are you?”

Kim Jinmyung’s voice became cold again.

Yoon Youngwoon didn’t seem surprised, which meant he already knew about this.

Yoon Youngwoon wasn’t the type to avoid problems.

“I apologize for not telling you sooner, Director,” Yoon Youngwoon said.

“Hmm,” Kim Jinmyung replied.

“As you said, there was a slight problem with the contest results, so I was looking into it,” Yoon Youngwoon explained.

“A slight problem…?” Kim Jinmyung asked.

Yoon Youngwoon continued calmly. “I’ve found evidence that the first-year students who won the grand prize may have cheated.”

“Cheated?” Kim Jinmyung asked.

“I’ll give you a full report after I’ve confirmed everything,” Yoon Youngwoon said.

“…”

“If that’s true, the grand prize will be given to someone else,” Yoon Youngwoon added.

Kim Jinmyung leaned back in his chair, stroked his chin, and looked at Yoon Youngwoon.

“If we get rid of them, does Gitae win the grand prize?” he asked.

“That’s right, Director,” Yoon Youngwoon replied.

“Then I’ll wait a little longer,” Kim Jinmyung said.

“Thank you,” Yoon Youngwoon said.

“Don’t make me repeat myself. Handle this properly,” Kim Jinmyung warned.

“Of course,” Yoon Youngwoon replied.

Yoon Youngwoon felt that Kim Jinmyung’s anger had calmed down a bit, and he sighed quietly.

‘Hoo.’

Kim Jinmyung was less angry because Yoon Youngwoon had said he had found ‘evidence.’

Youngwoon wasn’t the type to say that without being sure.

So, Kim Jinmyung knew that Youngwoon had some real clues.

Youngwoon had already found some clues.

‘I need to move faster. The grand prize winner needs to be changed before the construction company’s bidding is announced,’ he thought.

The winner of the SPDC gets the chance to build their design as a real building.

After the winner is chosen, the detailed design drawings are made with help from the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s design office.

Then, a bidding announcement is sent to construction companies.

If Kim Gitae’s work becomes the grand prize winner before the announcement, everything will be fine.

Even though Kim Jinmyung was easily angered, he wasn’t unreasonable.

But if the first-year students’ design was still on the bidding announcement…

Kim Jinmyung would explode.

“To be honest, if Myungsung wasn’t involved, I wouldn’t care if Gitae messed up. Do you understand?” Kim Jinmyung said.

“I understand,” Yoon Youngwoon replied.

“Then get out,” Kim Jinmyung said.

“Yes, Director,” Yoon Youngwoon said.

Yoon Youngwoon left the office, went back to his desk, and made a phone call.

“Yes, Byeongtae. Did you check on the Clio Model House project? WJ Studio… The location is near K University… Okay, I understand. I’m getting an idea,” he said.

He hung up the phone, put on his coat, and quickly left the office.