Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 63

Woo-jin had a careful plan.

He didn’t just want to beat Kim Ki-tae.

If that was all, he wouldn’t have pretended to be so clueless from the start.

Woo-jin wanted to appear as just an innocent freshman who was wrongly accused.

He wanted to keep Park Joon-min and Kim Ki-tae from knowing that he was the one who reported Ki-tae to the SPDC (Seoul City Design Foundation) for cheating. The SPDC is the organization that oversees design work in Seoul.

Making fun of Kim Ki-tae openly would be fun, but it would become a messy fight.

If Ki-tae found out that Woo-jin had sent the report, he would use his family’s company, Myungsung Construction, to try to hurt Woo-jin in any way he could.

Woo-jin wasn’t afraid of a fight, but he didn’t want to get dirty.

Woo-jin wanted to see Kim Ki-tae struggle and fail without knowing who was attacking him.

So, Woo-jin looked genuinely innocent and hurt, looking back and forth between Kim Ki-tae and Park Joon-min.

“That can’t be right. There must be some mistake, sunbae,” Woo-jin said. In Korea, ‘sunbae’ is a term younger students use to address older students with respect.

Kim Ki-tae laughed, a harsh, unpleasant sound.

“Mistake? That’s a joke.”

But Woo-jin didn’t stop there.

“If it’s not a mistake, then what is it? I’m innocent. You said you have proof?”

Kim Ki-tae looked surprised and spoke again.

“Wow, you’re unbelievable. How can you lie like that when the truth will come out soon?”

“Soon?” Woo-jin asked.

“Yes. The Seoul Design Foundation will call soon. The professor contacted the SPDC before you got here.”

“What kind of call?”

“We sent them proof that you cheated. The professor, as our school’s advisor, asked to hear the results.”

Park Joon-min watched them talk without saying anything.

But he felt that something was wrong.

‘Why does Ki-tae seem so upset?’ he wondered.

When Ki-tae first told Joon-min about the freshman cheating, he didn’t act like this.

Ki-tae had congratulated the freshman for winning, but he seemed sorry about it.

But now, Ki-tae was acting completely different.

He wasn’t just angry at Woo-jin; he seemed desperate.

And there was something else.

As Woo-jin acted more and more confident, Joon-min began to feel uneasy.

It wasn’t just bragging; Woo-jin seemed too calm.

Joon-min had never seen the “proof” that Ki-tae talked about, so he felt even more uneasy.

Even Ki-tae, who had seen the proof, was starting to panic.

‘The proof my uncle gave me can’t be wrong. What does this crazy guy believe in?’

Woo-jin saw that Ki-tae was confused and wanted to tease him more.

“Professor,” Woo-jin said.

Joon-min looked a little flustered.

“Yes?”

“When do you think the SPDC will call?”

Woo-jin even moved his chair closer, smiling innocently.

“Both sunbae and the professor seem to have a big misunderstanding… I’ll feel better once we clear it up and I can leave.”

Ki-tae’s mouth hung open, and Joon-min looked surprised.

Now, Joon-min was starting to wonder who was telling the truth.

“Y-yes. The call should come soon. They said they would call within 30 minutes.”

The class Woo-jin was waiting for had already started five minutes ago, but he didn’t care.

Professor Park Joon-min, who was with him now, taught “Basic Drafting,” Woo-jin’s Monday class.

Woo-jin turned to Ki-tae, who was speechless, and said slyly.

“Sunbae, do you have some time?”

“What?”

“Please wait a little longer. I’ll feel better once we clear up your misunderstanding completely.”

“……”

“Now that I think about it, sunbae, you came in second in this contest, right? If you thought I cheated, you must have felt bad. ”

Ki-tae couldn’t speak. He clenched his fist under the desk, trembling.

He was so angry that he wanted to punch Woo-jin, but he couldn’t in front of the professor.

The angrier Ki-tae got, the more excited Woo-jin became.

“Well, if my award is canceled, you’ll get the grand prize, so you might have been hoping for that… But that’s too bad. Because, like I said, this is just a misunderstanding.”

“Hey, Seo Woo-jin……!”

Woo-jin kept teasing Ki-tae in a calm voice, and Ki-tae finally exploded.

He wasn’t a patient person.

But just as Ki-tae exploded, Professor Park Joon-min’s phone rang.

Ki-tae had to stop himself from standing up.

This one phone call would bury the trash-like freshman.

Ki-tae thought so.

Park Joon-min glanced at Woo-jin and Ki-tae, took out his phone, and answered it.

Joon-min was now interested in what was happening.

He put the call on speakerphone and placed it on the table.

Woo-jin and Ki-tae stared at the phone.

The voice of the SPDC official echoed in the professor’s office.

[This is Woo In-seok from the Seoul City Design Foundation. Is this Professor Park Joon-min’s phone?]

“Yes, it is.”

Someone swallowed loudly. Woo-jin thought it was Ki-tae.

[Thank you for waiting. We finished the investigation this morning.]

“Yes, sir.”

[We had another similar case, so we waited to call you about both at the same time. I’m sorry for the delay.]

Joon-min and Ki-tae’s eyes widened.

Woo-jin was the only one who understood what the official was saying.

“A similar case… What do you mean? I don’t understand…”

The Design Foundation official answered Joon-min’s question.

[You asked about Seo Woo-jin, the student who won the grand prize, right?]

“Yes?”

Kim Ki-tae stared at his phone, his throat tight.

Finally, the moment he had been waiting for had arrived.

The very moment he could see the other person’s confidence completely break.

‘If the person in charge confirms it themselves, there’s no way he can deny it anymore, no matter how shameless he is.’

But the next moment.

Kim Ki-tae had to doubt his ears.

[There will be no problem with Seo Woo-jin’s award result.]

“Oh, is that really true?”

[There was naturally no problem with the design or the plan, and regarding the architectural model submitted as evidence, it has been confirmed that it is his own work.]

“……!”

The SPDC official was saying something ridiculous that Ki-tae had never even considered.

‘What on earth is he talking about?’

Ki-tae was stunned. His mind stopped for a moment because of a situation he had never even imagined.

But his shock didn’t end there.

Because the biggest surprise from Woo-jin was still coming.

“Thank you for confirming, sir.”

[Ah, you’re welcome. I’m just doing what I should as a screening manager.]

“I’ve been feeling uneasy since this morning, but thanks to you, I can rest easy.”

Joon-min, speaking in a pleasant voice, glanced subtly at Woo-jin.

His eyes held a considerable amount of apology for his suspicion, and even more admiration.

‘To give suspicion rather than praise or encouragement to a freshman who won the SPDC grand prize on his own…’

Joon-min was planning to talk to Woo-jin more after the call ended.

Apology aside, he was extremely curious about how he was able to create a work of such quality.

However, as the official’s voice began to flow out of the speakerphone again, Joon-min couldn’t continue thinking about Woo-jin.

[But what should we do about this, Professor.]

“Yes?”

[The review result for Woo-jin’s student was fortunately resolved positively, but another problem has arisen.]

“What problem are you talking about?”

[Among the students who received the Excellence Award, there is a third-year student from K University, isn’t there?]

“Yes, there is.”

[It seems that the student’s Excellence Award will be canceled.]

“Y-yes……?”

The atmosphere in Professor Park Joon-min’s office became very tense at the official’s statement.

The third-year student the official was talking about was Kim Ki-tae, who was in the same place.

This was several times more shocking than the phone call about Woo-jin.

Kim Ki-tae, who had been frozen for several minutes, now had a completely bewildered expression.

Park Joon-min, who was not fully aware of the situation, even stuttered.

“W-what are you talking about? Ki-tae’s Excellence Award being canceled.”

But the official’s voice was not about to consider Ki-tae’s shock.

Shocking stories continued to pour out of the speakerphone.

[Actually, we received two complaints, Professor.]

“Yes?”

[Both seem to be from anonymous informants, so I think it’s the same person… Just like Woo-jin’s student, we received a report about Kim Ki-tae’s student as well.]

“……!”

Joon-min was just listening, and the official continued.

[Unlike the result that Woo-jin’s student’s work had no problems, as I mentioned, Kim Ki-tae’s student’s work was confirmed to be cheating.]

[First of all, all the architectural models were made by a company called Samil A&C, and the detailed design was helped by Myungsung Construction.]

[The evidence is so clear that this is a definite disqualification, Professor. I’m sorry.]

Park Joon-min couldn’t say anything in this unbelievable situation.

Clearly, it was Kim Ki-tae who first reported this ‘complaint’ to him.

But Kim Ki-tae was actually the one who cheated, and he had committed such a fatal act of cheating that he would be completely disqualified.

As a supervising professor, he couldn’t even begin to grasp how to accept this situation.

However, compared to Kim Ki-tae, who had heard all of this right next to him, Park Joon-min’s shock was nothing.

Ki-tae, who had just heard the judge’s voice, felt a delusion that his eyes were turning pitch black.

‘What? I’m cheating? What the hell are you talking about?’

Ki-tae had never even thought about his own wrongdoing in the first place.

To him, getting help from Myungsung Construction felt as natural as breathing.

Myungsung Construction was like his advantage, his special help, and that special help was also Ki-tae’s own ability.

But cheating?

Something was wrong.

‘Which bastard is it? Is it S University’s doing? Or W University? Who the hell is it……!’

Ki-tae, filled with anger, glared at Seo Woo-jin, who was sitting across from him for a moment.

He wondered if the anonymous informant was this freshman, but that was too much of a leap.

Woo-jin had not had any particular conflict with him until this morning.

Of course, regardless of who sent the complaint, he hated Seo Woo-jin too.

Crunch!

What filled Ki-tae’s head was anger at first.

But as reason slowly returned, what gradually eroded that anger was a tingling fear.

The fear of losing everything he had built up in this school so far.

‘Something’s wrong! Evidence! There’s no way there could be such a thing!’

If his Excellence Award was disqualified as the screening officer said, it would be a matter of time before the rumor spread within the department.

It didn’t seem like Woo-jin, who had heard this right in front of him, would keep his mouth shut.

Anyway, there would be students who would check the list of winners finally posted on the SPDC website again.

If that happened, the president of the student council, Kim Ki-tae, who was someone younger students looked up to and were jealous of, would no longer exist.

Everyone who knew this fact would probably start pointing fingers at Ki-tae.

‘I, I need to get out of here first. I need to call my uncle first…….’

Kim Ki-tae, terrified, even staggered as he got up from his seat.

Professor Park Joon-min had turned off the speakerphone and moved to another room to finish the call with the person in charge.

If it wasn’t now, there would be no chance to safely leave this professor’s office, avoiding Professor Park’s questioning.

Anger followed by fear.

Then came the escape from reality.

But Woo-jin wasn’t going to let him escape from the professor’s office.

“Senior. So that’s what it was?”

“……?”

“Since you did it, you thought I wouldn’t be any different, right?”

Woo-jin laughed at Kim Ki-tae.

Even from the perspective of ‘unfair freshman Seo Woo-jin,’ whom he was playing, this was a situation where he could be angry enough.

Contempt followed by ridicule.

Woo-jin blatantly despised Ki-tae and threw out the words he hated to hear the most.

“Senior, I’m disappointed.”