Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 74

Around 2010, many cafes looked like old European buildings inside. They were fancy and tried to feel like places from Europe’s past, from the Middle Ages to more recent times. Café Fresco – the name sounded fresh and modern, like the taste of good coffee.

In these kinds of fancy, old-style cafes, you would never see a ceiling with pipes and wires showing. People thought European style was about perfect details and careful work.

So, this exposed ceiling design was new and confusing for Kang Seok-jung. To him, it looked more like something not finished than a real design. He thought it looked messy.

But Woo-jin knew this kind of ceiling was not simple to do well. Woo-jin started to explain his ideas to Seok-jung.

Woo-jin asked, “Mr. Kang, have you ever seen what’s *inside* a ceiling, if you took it apart?”

“No! Of course not,” Kang Seok-jung replied, surprised. His eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Why are you asking?”

Woo-jin explained, “A real exposed ceiling, without any work done to it, is just a mess. Wires, pipes for water, lights – all tangled up. It’s like looking inside a computer with all the wires all over the place. But *my* exposed ceiling is different. The wires are still there, but they are neatly put inside metal tubes. The water pipes are shaped to look interesting. Even the beams, the parts that hold up the ceiling, are showing, but they are painted and clean. So, it looks raw and unfinished, but it’s actually carefully designed to look that way.”

“So,” Kang Seok-jung said, “if I understand, this ceiling is actually *more* work than a normal ceiling?”

“That’s right,” Woo-jin nodded.

“But why do all this extra work?” Kang Seok-jung asked.

“Because it looks amazing,” Woo-jin said simply.

Kang Seok-jung was silent for a moment.

Woo-jin continued, “It might be hard to see in the drawings, but it will really fit the ‘coffee factory’ idea. It will feel old and cool.”

Woo-jin was sure this design would be a hit. He knew Kang Seok-jung might be unsure because he was used to old-style cafes. But Woo-jin remembered that in the early 2010s, those old styles were starting to become less popular. People were getting tired of the fancy, old look. New styles were becoming trendy – simple, modern designs and vintage looks. Woo-jin wanted to create a design that felt fresh and clean. He believed Café Fresco could become the most popular café design in the country. That was his goal.

Kang Seok-jung listened carefully, then suddenly laughed loudly. “Haha! This is something else!”

“What is it?” Woo-jin asked, a little worried.

“No, no,” Kang Seok-jung chuckled. “It’s just… you sound so sure of yourself, Mr. Seo! You make it sound like this design will be truly *amazing*.”

“And?” Woo-jin prompted.

“Well,” Kang Seok-jung admitted, “I still don’t completely get this exposed ceiling idea in my head.” He thought, *If this was 2015, I would understand right away.* By then, everyone would love this design. It was modern and cool, even for the future. Exposed ceilings would be everywhere. But even though it was a bit strange to him now, Woo-jin was so confident, Kang Seok-jung was starting to believe him. Woo-jin really thought this design was perfect for Café Fresco.

Woo-jin leaned forward slightly. “But don’t you feel *something*?”

“What do you mean?” Kang Seok-jung asked.

“That this design makes Café Fresco feel really special, really different?”

Kang Seok-jung paused, thinking.

“So, please, trust me on this, Mr. Kang,” Woo-jin said.

“Hmm,” Kang Seok-jung considered. “If you’re so sure, Mr. Seo…”

Woo-jin smiled. “I’m talking so big, if it turns out badly, I’ll be too embarrassed to show my face! Haha.”

If any other designer had suggested this, Kang Seok-jung would have said no, or at least thought about it for a long time. But Woo-jin had impressed him from the start. He trusted Woo-jin’s ideas. So, Kang Seok-jung decided quickly.

“Okay, Mr. Seo, I trust you,” he said, and signed the contract.

“Thank you for your trust,” Woo-jin replied.

“You said it will take about three weeks to build, right?” Kang Seok-jung asked.

“Yes. I’ll have it ready for you to open by the third week of August,” Woo-jin confirmed.

“That’s perfect,” Kang Seok-jung said.

After signing, Kang Seok-jung read through the plan again carefully. Woo-jin then added, “Oh, Mr. Kang, one more thing.”

“Yes?” Kang Seok-jung looked up.

“In the plan I gave you, the drawings for the first and second floors need a small change before we start building.”

“Change?” Kang Seok-jung looked a little worried, his face turning slightly red.

Woo-jin quickly waved his hand. “It’s not a big change! After looking at the place again today, I saw a few things we need to think about, like how the ground is not perfectly flat in some areas.” What Woo-jin really wanted to do was use the idea he had from Golden Print in this design. This change was actually a big deal for him, the designer. But for Kang Seok-jung, it would be so small he probably wouldn’t even notice it in the drawings. Only someone who really understood buildings would see the difference.

So, Woo-jin explained simply, “The main design and the price will stay the same. We just need to adjust the height of a few things slightly. Don’t worry.”

Kang Seok-jung nodded, trusting him.

After they finished signing the contracts, Woojin brought up one more thing to Seokjung.

“Mr. CEO, there’s one last thing I’d like to ask,” Woojin said.

“Permission for…?” Seokjung asked.

“How about we let a TV station film the cafe being built?”

“Pardon…?”

Seokjung looked even more surprised than before. It was a completely unexpected suggestion.

However, as Woojin explained how the footage would be used, Seokjung’s surprise turned into a smile.

“Ah…! Maybe I should be thanking you, Mr. Seo!” Seokjung exclaimed.

He realized that Woojin’s idea would greatly benefit the Cafe Fresco brand.

“I knew you’d like it,” Woojin replied.

“If the broadcast turns out well and helps promote the brand, I’ll provide additional incentives for the construction,” Seokjung offered.

“Ah, no. There’s no need for that,” Woojin said.

Seokjung knew that even securing a broadcast appearance would further enhance Woojin’s reputation as a designer.

‘I’m really looking forward to seeing how the design turns out,’ Seokjung thought.

Seokjung no longer had any doubts about Woojin’s design and became even more excited. Woojin and Seokjung’s meeting ended with both of them smiling.

Hyejin visited the school campus after a very long time.

She hadn’t been near the school since the end of the final exams, but today she had to go to the department office.

“Ugh, it’s so hot. The design department building must have the air conditioning blasting even during vacation, right?” she thought.

She was at the department office because of her grades.

Because of Woojin, she started dating someone in the middle of the semester and had ruined her final exams.

As a result, her grades were so bad that she might get in trouble for bad grades, so she had to come to school during vacation.

She needed to ask the assistant for understanding and then call the professors who had given her an F to beg for forgiveness.

“Please… I just need to change one major subject to a D-. Please, save me, professors…” she thought.

Hyejin’s GPA was very low, even though she attended all the classes. But she didn’t care too much about her grades right now.

She believed that a carefree life was a privilege for first-year students. She knew she could retake classes later to improve them.

Hyejin just wanted to avoid getting in trouble for bad grades.

Creak.

Hyejin opened the door to the design building, which was empty because of the vacation. Feeling nervous, she waited for the elevator to go up to the department office.

But in that elevator, Hyejin saw someone she didn’t expect.

“Hey, Hyejin!”

“What, Jayden? Why are you at school during vacation?” she asked.

“My passion doesn’t cool down just because it’s vacation,” Jayden replied.

“Are you going to talk nonsense?”

“You’re always with your boyfriend! It might be hard for you to believe, but I came to school today to borrow a book from Professor Jo Woonchan.”

“Want to get hit, Jayden?”

“Oh! You’re always with your boyfriend! That’s perfect for you.”

Hyejin thought Jayden was lying, but he really was there to borrow a book from Professor Jo Woonchan.

Actually, Jayden was doing a favor for Woojin.

‘Woojin is really bad. He should do his own work,’ Jayden thought.

Anyway, the two classmates chatted as they went up in the elevator.

But when they arrived on the 4th floor, they were both surprised.

There were more people in the hallway than during the semester, even though they thought it would be quiet.

They went to see what was happening and were even more surprised.

“Wow! Is it filming?” Hyejin asked.

“What? Did a TV station come to film, Jayden?”

They were surprised to see lots of TV cameras and equipment in the design department’s lobby.

They saw cameras with the KBC TV logo all over the place.

Of course, there were celebrities, which was why people were gathered there.

“Hey, Jayden! You’re tall, so take some pictures. Who is it? Who came?” Hyejin asked, excitedly.

But Jayden wasn’t even listening. He was even more excited than Hyejin.

“Crazy! That’s Yoon Jaeyeop over there! And Yuria is there too!” Jayden exclaimed.

Jayden knew Korean celebrities well.

“What is it? What kind of show is it?” Hyejin asked.

“Is it a variety show since Yoon Jaeyeop is on it?”

Jayden and Hyejin were stuck in the crowd. They were so excited about the filming that they forgot why they came to school. They stood there, watching everything.

The filming had just started, and they were curious about what the show would be since it was in the space design department.

They were getting more and more excited.

And then, the filming started for a TV show called…