Chapter 31. Justification
Mandam Hoejip restaurant.
The room had already been reserved, and Division 7 sat around a floor table.
Geonshin swept his eyes over the variety of side dishes that were already set out.
Since his regression, the foods he’d eaten the most were ramyeon and the pork cutlet at Gwangseong University’s student cafeteria.
They called it a regression, but he’d been so busy dealing with the things right in front of him that he hadn’t had the bandwidth to look anywhere else.
Aside from the one company dinner they’d had during the presentation for the Korea Institute of Science and Technology bridge construction project, it was almost to the point that he hadn’t eaten anything you could really call a proper meal.
He was just starting to feel a little worn down from the repeated routine of sleeping at school after the semester started, then shuttling back and forth to the company.
If he was going to eat himself to death, it had to be today.
‘It’s not like I’m paying for it.’
Anyway, as Geonshin was smacking his lips like that, Director Yoo-uk sat with a bottle of soju in front of him, watching Team Leader Mo’s mood.
Even if it was Team Leader Mo, he wouldn’t openly show dislike in front of the president… but the real problem was President Kang.
He was notorious for throwing a tantrum and flying off the handle if people didn’t match his pace at drinking gatherings. It was already common knowledge within Yeongjo Architecture.
And once alcohol started going in, he drank slowly at his leisure, and no matter how many bottles you cleared away, it never ended. The biggest problem was that he always looked for someone to drink one on one with him.
Whether he enjoyed watching the other person get plastered, or whether he hated the idea of being the first to go down more than death itself, either way, rumors spread openly among the people who’d drank with him that he tormented whoever shared a table with him.
Even someone like Director Yoo-uk, who treated it as work and endured through sheer grit, found it hard, so what about everyone else.
‘Mo Seungjin, that guy won’t even accept a single shot. Ha… and there’s no way I can tell Soomin to drink with him one on one, so then…’
After glancing at Geonshin, Director Yoo-uk just let out a hollow laugh and shook his head. Regardless of his ridiculous work ability, how could he possibly sit a part-time temp next to the president and make him drink one on one. It was something you’d never seen or heard of.
Rattle. Bang!
The sound of the door opening came. The way it slammed open with a bang, like it didn’t matter whether there were people inside or not, seemed to show President Kang’s personality perfectly. When he saw Division 7 sitting together nicely, the corner of his mouth lifted.
It was a leisurely smile, like, even though they were just a slop-bucket division, since they’d brought back a job, he had to treat them accordingly.
“Man. How long has it been since I had a company dinner with Division 7.”
“Alright, take a drink each.”
President Kang poured everyone in Division 7 a shot of soju. Team Leader Mo accepted too, reluctantly. He didn’t want to ruin the barely won chance they’d clawed back through this project’s win.
“Alright! Raise your glasses, everyone, you worked hard today. You probably didn’t even get to sleep, bringing in a hard project. Good work!”
Clink!
“Good work.”
The sound of glasses knocking together rang out briskly. After tossing it back in one go, a long exclamation poured out of Director Yoo-uk’s mouth.
“Kah! This is why I live. This is why I live.”
At the same time, the door opened and sashimi came in. The woman owner, who was close with President Kang, came in carrying the platter herself.
In truth, there wasn’t a restaurant owner near the company who didn’t know President Kang. He swiped the corporate card for ridiculous amounts every time, so what restaurant would dislike him.
“I heard President Kang has good news today, so I prepared a good one. Please eat a lot.”
As she set down the large plate, Director Yoo-uk rubbed his eyes again and again.
“T-This is… don’t tell me it’s dageumbari?” *(perch, a type of fish)
At Director Yoo-uk’s words, Assistant Manager Soomin also flinched and stared hard at the fish. Some fish with a huge head, even its gills still panting as if it were breathing, was showing off a presence that screamed freshness itself.
“Director, is that the dageumbari you only ever hear about? Wow.”
“Yeah. Look at this pretty color and that shimmering oil. Even at market price, this would be 70,000 to 80,000 won per kilogram.”
“Huh? Not just one fish, but 70,000 to 80,000 won per kilogram? Wow. Then how much is one slice of this?”
Watching Soomin make a fuss over the dageumbari, the owner woman laughed softly.
“You only prepare a fish like this ahead of time on days when a regular like President Kang comes, like today. On other days, you can’t even get a look at it. Hohohoho!”
Then President Kang, pleased by the special treatment, guzzled down soju on his own and shouted cheerfully,
“You brought in a project worth that much, and you think some dageumbari is the problem. Hahahaha!”
But Geonshin studied President Kang’s laughter closely. And something occurred to Geonshin, an important fact he would have missed if he hadn’t done this competition.
Inside the Gwangseong University competition design folder that Geonshin had checked using the status window folder coupon. There had been two projects among the four buildings outside the campus, and in one of them, he had discovered something unexpected.
The 2007 Gwangseong University International Education Center competition design.
Back then, the method used to win it was turnkey. It was around the time turnkey was starting, little by little, beginning with public institutions. And the top dog that won the bid was Kiyeong Construction.
A top-tier construction company that was always in the domestic top 3 by contracting rank, and a construction arm that was also a pillar of the Kiyeong Group.
The problem was that the person responsible for bidding that International Education Center project at Kiyeong Construction back then was Kang Inseong.
President Kang Inseong, who was supposed to be Yeongjo Architecture’s president. Yet in 2007, out of nowhere, he took a position as a director at Kiyeong Construction. What could that fact possibly mean?
‘Kang Inseong left Yeongjo for Kiyeong Construction, and at the same time, Yeongjo Architecture’s collapse started from then.’
As proof, in Geonshin’s folder, Yeongjo Architecture’s projects became few enough to count on one hand starting in 2007, and by the 2010s, they couldn’t be found at all anymore.
Yeongjo Architecture, which had always boasted steady sales up through 2006, had gone into a complete vertical freefall starting in 2007.
Before his regression, Geonshin had worked at companies that ran decently, but he’d also endured to the end at companies that were going under, more times than he could count. And every time, what he felt was that a company that was going under always had a reason, and there were always warning signs.
But the Yeongjo Architecture he was looking at after regressing had nothing like warning signs. Their financial foundation was solid, and the company was full of talented people. It couldn’t be better.
Since it wasn’t his business before his regression, he’d just assumed there must’ve been some incident or accident… but now that he was seeing it, this wasn’t normal.
It was hard to imagine something like this happening unless someone intentionally set out to ruin it.
In the end, the sense that some intention, some incident that would flip the company’s fate… that kind of momentum was coming, took root in Geonshin’s mind.
And by the circumstances, the most suspicious person among them was…
President Kang Inseong, the man sitting in front of Geonshin right now, drinking and laughing. In 2007, he definitely wasn’t here.
At that moment, Team Leader Mo spoke.
“President?”
“Hm?”
All eyes gathered on Team Leader Mo, who was speaking for the first time today. President Kang also wore a face that said, “What’s with that guy?”
But Team Leader Mo wasn’t someone who attended drinking gatherings unless he absolutely had to. There was a clear reason he’d come all the way here.
“Do you remember the promise you made before?”
“A promise? You mean the research facility and dormitory? It doesn’t look like the client plans to proceed with that yet, but if they issue it later, of course I’ll hand it to Division 7. Don’t worry about that.”
“Not that… Geonshin. I mean the qualification for the part-time temp’s entry exam.”
“…!”
At Team Leader Mo’s words, the people sitting there were startled and flinched. Come to think of it, Team Leader Mo asking for Geonshin’s entry exam eligibility was something the others had no way of knowing. They hadn’t been there at the time.
A warm feeling bloomed in Geonshin’s chest. Not only because those words hadn’t been empty talk, but because he could sense Team Leader Mo’s good intentions, that he remembered it and wanted a firm answer.
Before his regression, Geonshin had only known bosses who were too busy trying to survive themselves. There weren’t many people who looked after those beneath them. Maybe the harsh architecture environment pushed that kind of individualism even more. But in his second life, he felt again that he was with people who taught him the meaning of a team.
On the other hand, looking at President Kang’s expression, it was obvious he’d forgotten what he’d promised back then. He must not have expected Division 7 to win the competition design even by a speck.
“Ah! Of course I remember.”
Team Leader Mo’s mouth curved into a faint smile of relief.
“But there’s a problem.”
“Yes?”
“Well, sure, let’s say I pass him through document screening. And let’s say the second round is a personal interview, so we can manage that too. What are you going to do about the third round, the practical skills test.”
“The third round practical skills test?”
Yeongjo Architecture’s three-stage hiring exam.
Out of the huge pile of applications, most are cut at the document stage, and then around 100 people do the second round personal interview.
A few directors, including the executives, sit in a row and listen for seven minutes to the applicant’s personal project presentation.
But even then, not many applicants fill the full seven minutes. Only 30 people who fill the full seven minutes move on to the last third-round practical test. It was common for applicants studying abroad to fail to fill the seven minutes and go back home.
And the hardest part was, of course, the third-round practical test. It was a training camp that ran one night and two days. The test was split into an individual mission and a team mission. With a topic given on the spot, they had to sketch using paper and materials they’d prepared themselves.
Extreme creativity had to be demonstrated, and they had to be good at improvisation, presenting their ideas immediately without preparation. Also, architecture was ultimately collaboration built by a team, and team work that tested leadership and camaraderie couldn’t possibly be easy either.
Rumor had it fights sometimes broke out, but when you gather a bunch of confident hotshots and make them compete, wouldn’t it be stranger if nothing happened.
“Right. In the third-round practical test, everyone gathers and takes the exam together. What do you think the other applicants will think about this guy, not me?”
“Why would that… ah.”
Team Leader Mo had meant to jab at President Kang, who always had a long tongue, but listening to it, it wasn’t wrong. And if he imagined himself taking the entry exam alongside Geonshin without knowing who Geonshin was…
“Among the applicants who make it to the end, if they think a technical college student who normally wouldn’t even be eligible to apply is taking the exam with them, won’t that be a problem? And if we suddenly change the rules starting this time and say we’ll accept technical college students, won’t there be talk?
People will say mighty Yeongjo Architecture changed the rules just to slip in one part-time temp they got attached to. And it’d be one thing if it ended there, but what would this guy look like? People will say he must be a parachute hire sent down from above, or he paid under the table, or he’s got connections, and that’s why he got that far, and he wouldn’t have a word to say back.”
He’d started running his mouth to lay down the groundwork for refusing, but President Kang could feel himself being persuaded by his own words. And really, it wasn’t wrong. Even if Team Leader Mo was an eyesore to him, this wasn’t something he was saying just because he hated him. It was a problem that could actually happen.
“So if you bring me a justification that everyone can accept, I’ll take responsibility and make it so he can take the third exam. How about it. Then even the applicants taking the test with him can accept it, right?”
“A justification?”
“Yeah. A justification that the final 30 can accept. Some kind of result that even they would struggle to pull off.”
At that, Geonshin swallowed a laugh to himself as if he’d been waiting for it.
‘So you’re going to make me do something ridiculous again, like the Gwangseong University case.’
But Geonshin forced down the corner of his mouth that had lifted and pretended to listen obediently to President Kang Inseong.
Because no matter what he made him do… he had no doubt.
No doubt that he wouldn’t be able to do it.
When his goal was the Pritzker Prize, was he really going to whine because some small pebble snagged his foot?
Even so, President Kang looked like he was troubled, wondering what he should demand. What kind of achievement could one individual accomplish, not a division, team, or department? Since work in this field was mostly big, heavy things, he didn’t seem to have anything come to mind right away.
Geonshin decided to help him out once. In truth, he did need a justification others would 인정 if he wanted to enter cleanly. More than anything, there was a goal Geonshin had wanted to challenge once this season came around.
That very thing he’d never even dared to dream of before his regression.
“The Grand Prize at the National Exhibition of Korean Architecture. Wouldn’t that be enough?”
Clean silence.
At Geonshin’s bold answer, everyone in the room was shocked. Even President Kang.
The National Exhibition of Korean Architecture, and the Grand Prize on top of that.
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