Golden Print [EN]: Chapter 86

Kim Ki-sung was a famous architect. He studied architecture in England at a top school after going to S University. He won big awards for his designs around the world. People knew him well, especially after a TV show showed the amazing penthouse he designed. Even though he was an architect, many people thought of him as an ‘interior designer’ because of that penthouse. This is why the TV show, , wanted him so much.

Woo-jin thought, ‘Kim Ki-sung is a really talented designer.’ Woo-jin really respected Kim Ki-sung. He even looked up to him in the past and loved his designs. So, being on the same TV show as him made Woo-jin feel good, like he was getting somewhere. But, even though he felt this way, Woo-jin did not want to be less impressive than Kim Ki-sung on .

Woo-jin thought, ‘My background might not be as good as Kim Ki-sung’s yet, but good design is not just about backgrounds.’ If you could measure design skill like a score, Woo-jin knew he would score lower than Kim Ki-sung right now. Kim Ki-sung was a famous designer from a top school, and Woo-jin was still new. But Woo-jin had things Kim Ki-sung did not. Woo-jin knew what interior designs would be popular in the future, from his past experience. He was also very good at working on real building sites. He was sure he was better than anyone at the practical work. Kim Ki-sung probably didn’t have much experience actually building things, because he had always been on a high-level path. Woo-jin was sure he could beat Ki-sung in this area.

The TV show, , made by PD Gong, was not just about showing off pretty designs. PD Gong said loudly, ‘Okay, Jae-yeop, your card is ‘Electronic Brain’! And Doo-young, your card is ‘Initial Sound Quiz’!’ She sounded very excited. The people on the show looked confused. They didn’t understand what these missions would be just from the names ‘Electronic Brain’ and ‘Initial Sound Quiz’. ‘Initial Sound Quiz’ sounded a little bit like a game, but ‘Electronic Brain’ made no sense at all. Woo-jin was just as confused as everyone else.

Im Soo-ha asked loudly, ‘What is this, PD? Initial Sound Quiz? Electronic Brain?’ Everyone looked at PD Gong. Instead of answering right away, PD Gong gave each team papers with the mission details. Then, she started to explain clearly. ‘The Initial Sound Quiz is easy. You guess the answer from the first sounds of the word. The team that guesses right most often wins a prize.’ ‘There’s no risk at all! Easy, right?’ she said. The paper said: **[Initial Sound Quiz]** **[Guess the name of the interior material from the first sounds. The first team to guess right gets half the price of the material paid by us.]** **[The team with the most correct answers wins.]** **[The winning team gets 1 million won extra for their design budget, on top of the money they already have.]** **\*If your team wins the ‘Initial Sound Quiz’, you get 1 million won extra.** **\*We will pay up to 500,000 won for materials per team.** The people on the show read the paper and nodded. PD Gong kept talking.

And ‘Electronic Brain’! This mission is a little riskier than the ‘Initial Sound Quiz’. But you can win much more!’ PD Gong opened her arms wide and smiled big at everyone. ‘Get materials that cost *exactly* 1,999,900 won! If you do, we will pay for *all* the materials!’ The paper said: **[Electronic Brain]** **[Each team chooses the materials they need and brings them in the time given.]** **[If the total cost is EXACTLY 1,999,900 won, we pay for everything.]** **[If you get close (95% to 100% of the target), we pay for half. If you get a bit less close (80% to 95%), we pay for one-fourth.]** **[If you go over the target or get less than 80%, you pay for everything yourself.]** **[The team that gets closest to 1,999,900 won, without going over, wins.]** **[The winning team gets 1 million won extra for their design budget.]** **\*If your team wins ‘Electronic Brain’, you get 1 million won extra.** Woo-jin was reading the paper and spoke to PD Gong first.

Woo-jin, still looking at the paper, asked PD Gong, ‘The risk means we have to pay for everything ourselves if we mess up, right?’ PD Gong nodded. ‘Yes! Exactly. So, it’s risky to just buy things you don’t need just to reach the price.’ Then, Park Doo-young asked PD Gong, ‘If we really get *exactly* that price, you pay for everything?’ PD Gong nodded again and said, ‘Yes, of course! But I don’t think that will ever happen!’ The paper had a lot of details, but the mission was actually easy to understand. Everyone understood it, and they all got very excited.

Wow, amazing! I knew 5 million won wasn’t all we could get!’ Jae-yeop said. ‘Woo-jin, we *have* to win this! You know that, right?’ Woo-jin nodded to Jae-yeop and patted his shoulder. He thought, *If we win everything, we can get so much extra money! It’s way more than our 5 million won budget!* This extra money meant they could buy much better materials. Woo-jin got even more excited than everyone else. As soon as he saw the amount, Woo-jin already started making a plan in his head.

Okay, we’ll start with the Initial Sound Quiz first!’ PD Gong announced. ‘Right now?’ someone asked, surprised. ‘What? No time to even think?’ another person complained. PD Gong smiled in a sneaky way and shook her head at their complaints. ‘You all have amazing experts on your teams, right?’ ‘Well, yes, but…’ someone said. ‘And you know it’s boring if you get everything right on a TV show, don’t you?’ PD Gong said, laughing a little. ‘Aargh! You’re so mean!’ someone shouted. ‘That’s too much!’ another person agreed. And just like that, the first mission of began!

Kim Ki-sung always had fun filming . Being on a TV show was new and interesting for him. Seeing famous celebrities up close was also surprisingly fun. The celebrities were good at TV shows. They talked a lot and made things happen, so filming was easy for Ki-sung. As the expert, he just had to share interesting facts that normal people would like. He felt like he was helping the show run smoothly. And he could also become more famous as a designer, so Ki-sung was very happy to be on the show. Today was even more interesting than usual. *Hmm, we’re filming with the other team today?* Ki-sung thought. Meeting the ‘Jae-yeop’ team for the first time was interesting. Jae-yeop and Ria were very famous. Even Ki-sung, who didn’t care much about celebrities, knew them. The other expert on the other team also caught his attention a little. *Seo Woo-jin, right? I heard he’s a student from K University?* Ki-sung was interested because Woo-jin was from K University and had won the SPDC award. Anyone in the architecture world in Korea knew about those things. *He’s a student. So young. Too bad he’s not from S University like me…* But Ki-sung’s interest stopped there. He was happy to meet a talented young designer, but he didn’t think Woo-jin, just a student, would be anything really special. *He might not know much yet because he’s still a student… but he’s good-looking and has a story. Good choice for the show.* Interesting people and these new ‘missions’ made Ki-sung feel even happier than usual. He smiled and started filming, feeling relaxed.

The missions didn’t seem hard at all. Kim Ki-sung had worked in the design world for over twenty years. He knew so much about building materials that he could name them all without even thinking. *Matching the exact price might be tricky…* he thought. If the other expert was as good as him, he might be a little worried about looking bad. But the young guy on the other team, who looked kind of cute, was just a student, right? Students don’t have real work experience, or if they do, it’s not much. Actually, Ki-sung was more worried about making the quiz *too* easy. If he answered everything right and his team won too easily, the show wouldn’t be fun. *The show producers must have a plan. I’ll just take it easy,* he decided. But then, the ‘Initial Sound Quiz’ started.

After a few questions. ‘Okay, question number two! Guess from these first sounds…’ [ㅇㄹㅇㅋㅎㅍ] ‘Woo-jin!’ someone shouted. ‘Wait, how do you know it already?’ someone else asked, surprised. ‘Araucano plywood. Right?’ Woo-jin said confidently. ‘Y-yes! That’s right!’ PD Gong said, shocked. Kim Ki-sung suddenly felt like something was wrong. *W-what is going on? Do they teach students to memorize material names in school now?* Kim Ki-sung felt a chill go down his back. He knew the answers to the last two questions Woo-jin got right. But they didn’t come to his mind as fast as they did for Woo-jin. *Maybe I’m getting old,* he thought, *My brain is not as quick anymore.* *No, I have to get the next one right!* Winning the mission was important, but Kim Ki-sung really didn’t want to look bad in front of this young guy. Then, the next question appeared.

‘This question is… !’ [ㅇㄹㅌㅁㄷ] ‘Ki-sung!’ Kim Ki-sung almost jumped and shouted in a loud, rough voice. He quickly raised his hand, but then felt a little silly. ‘Yes! Ki-sung! Finally!’ Doo-young cheered loudly, but Ki-sung didn’t even hear him. He was only thinking about the sounds ‘ㅇㄹㅌㅁㄷ’. ‘U…rethane molding! Right?’ he said, almost out of breath. ‘Correct! Yes! You got it! Now it’s 2 to 1!’ PD Gong announced. Kim Ki-sung, who finally got one right, made fists with both hands without even thinking. He was now completely into the game because it was so tense. PD Gong was watching Kim Ki-sung’s change in attitude and smiled, very happy. *Good! Kim Ki-sung is getting into it now… Today’s filming is going great!* she thought. But even then, she didn’t know what would happen in about 30 minutes. Soon, she would also be feeling the same cold sweat as Kim Ki-sung.