Chapter 51 – Episode 51
Noeun Park. English name: Park No-Eun.
25 years ago, after graduating from college in Korea with a degree in architecture, he went abroad to study architecture and continued his studies at UCL in the UK and MIT in the US.
After completing his studies at three universities, he came to one conclusion.
‘I have no talent!’
With his wealthy family background and his unique spirit and effort, he succeeded in taking classes at a top university, but the geniuses he saw there were different from him.
The person who is perfect at architectural design is not him. Those guys were different.
There were people who were good at building aesthetically excellent things, and there were people who literally created engineering-efficient buildings.
Among them, Park No-eun did not belong to any side.
However, this conclusion was by no means a negative one.
He decided his next move through this conclusion.
‘Instead, I should start a business’
There is no talent for building aesthetically pleasing buildings.
However, the value of the buildings of geniuses was recognizable.
There is no talent for creating engineering-efficient buildings.
However, we were able to find out which building was efficient and better.
It was an ability that he, who had no talent, acquired through time and effort.
If I hadn’t really been talented in the first place, I wouldn’t have been able to enter those universities or pursue architecture studies.
Anyway, he devoted himself to his business after that.
He opened an architectural office, recruited talented people, and focused on selling those talents.
And this is where his talent came into play.
Numerous architects worked in his office.
Geniuses have designed buildings that are either exquisitely beautiful or insanely efficient, and they all shine in his office.
Park No-eun made the most of it all and earned as much money as possible.
It was a great talent.
It means making as much money as possible by utilizing the talents of others, but not doing anything dirty or suspicious in the process.
That was something that no one could do.
‘Mr. Park! The bonus has increased again this time!’
‘Gourd! I will leave this construction work to your office!’
Park No-eun continued to be active for 25 years, made a lot of money, and there was no one in the industry who did not know his name.
In fact, his fame was not enough compared to his talent, but he did not care much.
He thought that he was too talented and that there were many architects who should become more famous.
Then, 25 years later, he returned to Korea.
It was like a light vacation.
He worked abroad for a long time, raised many people, and developed his business to the top.
At the same time, he could not rest even once, and returned to his hometown only a handful of times.
‘I’m thinking of opening a branch in Korea, hehe.’
So he needed an excuse to rest.
He said so to the company and asked for their understanding that he would be away.
People who worked with him strongly agreed with what he said.
‘Boss, you need to get some rest too.’
Everyone thought so.
Thanks to this, Park No-eun quietly returned to Korea alone, without telling anyone.
And then he really started working from the ground up.
For a workaholic, it’s just enough to be considered rest.
***
“But that’s the problem.”
Mr. Park No-eun, or rather the boss, talked lightly about his past while eating with me.
The more I listen to him, the more he becomes a great person.
Moreover, what this person said even downplayed his own achievements.
Yesterday, I was able to understand this well thanks to researching on the Internet by myself.
“Yes.”
“I was really blind to Korean legal regulations.”
Director Park took off his glasses for a moment, looked at them, and then put them back on.
“It’s been 25 years, but I was so foolish to think that what I learned in the past would still be applicable. It’s so obvious, but…”
“This may be because the speed at which laws change in our country is fast. Unlike other countries, over the past 30 to 40 years, as too many apartments and other buildings have been built, all kinds of regulations have been added.”
“Huh, that’s right. If it were in Europe, about half of this class would have added laws in the same amount of time.”
The owner is laughing and drinking Jjamppong soup.
“Hmm, it’s delicious. Anyway, that’s why it was impossible for me to design it, so that’s it. Do you have an answer now?”
“Yes.”
Everything the president said so far was also an answer to my question.
‘If you have the skills of the boss, wouldn’t you be able to design it yourself even without using me?’
Who would have thought that asking a question like that would have prompted an answer that lasted from morning until lunchtime.
“So I outsourced it, and I guess that kind of nonsense doesn’t come… Meanwhile, I saw your work at a café. It was perfect.”
“Huh… Thank you.”
“No, it’s not just empty words. It’s really okay. I see potential.”
The boss laughs again.
I feel embarrassed to be praised so openly in front of me.
“Anyway, yesterday, I looked at some of the works you did when you were a student…”
The boss said that and looked at the laptop screen.
“Huh? Your work as a student?”
“Yes. Jinho sent it.”
Jinho is the professor’s name.
“It was quite interesting. It was very fun. It’s my personal opinion, but I think I could have made something better if I had studied a little more…”
“Ahaha, thank you. Still, things weren’t right.”
“I see.”
The boss didn’t say anything else.
To say more, he was a person who knew that he could be a nosy person.
“Very fun, mmmm…”
As he said that, the boss began to look more and more like he was falling into his own world.
“Then I will go back to work.”
“Yes, please.”
With those last words, I left the office.
‘This is a temporary office. We’ll move to the right place in a little while.’
‘Until then, you can work wherever you want. You can do it here, you can go to a café, you can do it at home.’
However, the office was very small and there were no computers in particular.
It didn’t matter since I could work on my laptop anyway… But the office wasn’t a good environment to work in.
However, I couldn’t do it at home.
Working at home with Gahye and Nayu?
Instead of concentrating on work, you will fall into a sex obsession.
For that reason, I left the office and headed to the café.
***
Two months passed like that.
I moved around from (café) to (café), but ended up mainly working at a study café near the office.
It was great to be able to work in a space with unlimited coffee for 4,000 won per day.
Of course, the cost of the study café was also paid by the company(?), So there was no burden.
Gahye’s first semester is over.
After finishing the midterm exam, I was busy studying for the final exam.
Gahye said she would like to receive a scholarship if possible.
So she studied very hard.
Then, when the stress reached its limit, it ate me up.
At that time, the sex she had with Ga-hye was overly passionate. So I had no choice but to head to a nearby motel instead of home.
No matter what, you have to be careful of your surroundings, hmm…
Nayu continued to work her part-time job at the café.
There was little she could do actively until her probation ended.
She had no choice but to work hard at her part-time job.
Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t doing anything.
She worked hard at her part-time job and gained the trust of the boss, and she also started learning how to make coffee.
Nayu told me that she would learn from the boss and get a barista certification.
I was happy to hear those words and nodded at her.
Whatever it is, I’m glad she has something to work on.
Other than that, if she had a hobby, it would be to try all kinds of sex positions.
Although she didn’t eat me out because of her stress like Ga-hye, she also enjoyed sex.
Unlike Ga Hye-rang, she was calm, but she continued to enjoy sex with me every day.
At the same time, I think I tried all kinds of positions.
… I realized that I needed to exercise hard to be able to do all kinds of positions. In the process, I came to an epiphany.
Anyway, it was one day two months later.
I was taking a different route to work than usual.
It was because the office had finally moved from that crappy place to another place.
‘You keep working. I will hire a company to take care of the moving.’
The boss who was trying to help me move the office told me that.
And he said there was no need to go to work for a week.
Thanks to you, today was my first time going to the new office.
‘The address… Is here…’
I walked down an unknown path, relying on the navigation.
After getting off at Seolleung Station, I walked along the road and stopped in front of a large building.
High-rise building near the station.
Anyone could see that it was a luxurious building.
“… Oh, I guess not.”
Could it be that they opened an office in a building like this?
No matter how much money you have.
I entered the building smiling.
And when I saw the floor map next to the elevator, I understood.
[Co-working space Co-Workin – 5F]
Oh, you rented a co-working space.
There is a service that allows you to rent space that can be used as an office by paying monthly rent.
Sharing space with other companies can create unexpected synergy effects, and it is cheaper than renting or buying an office directly, so it is considered an economical method.
In addition, there is no need to take care of basic maintenance, and there are facilities such as coffee and a sleeping room… It is convenient and good in many ways.
Therefore, many venture companies or small companies are actively using these coworking spaces these days.
This is the knowledge I gained while working at my previous company.
I nodded and tried to press the button for the 5th floor in the elevator, but then stopped.
‘It’s the 5th floor, right?’
I opened the message from the boss again.
At the end of the address was written ’15th floor’.
‘Huh?’
Not the 5th floor but the 15th floor?
I first pressed the 15th floor button, and then checked the floor map.
[Architecture Office Noeun Park]
The floor guide indicated that the entire 15th floor was one architectural office.
***
‘Boss, you really opened an office.’
This was not the only thing that was surprising.
After arriving at the office, I entered the password written in the message and entered, and the boss was alone in the large office.
“Hello…”
“Oh, you’re here.”
When the boss saw me, he greeted me warmly and approached me.
“Boss, you’re alone?”
“That’s right. There are no employees yet other than you.”
“Yes?”
But why open an office this big?
“Don’t worry, I’ll start picking from now on. Haha.”
While saying that, the president tapped my shoulder.
“Your seat is over there.”
With those words, the boss pointed to a corner of the office.
There was only an empty desk and a plastic signboard.
And on the plastic signboard and the paper inside it was written the following:
〈 Architectural Design Team 1 Team Leader Lee Jun-seok 〉
“Why are you doing that?”
“No, that’s… I’m… The team leader?”
“That’s right. Is it not enough?”
“No, no, no, there is no way it would be an expense. I was rather surprised that it was too much.”
Hehe, it’s too much. If you’re a contributor to founding the country, you should be treated accordingly.”
The boss said that and tapped my shoulder again.
How should I interpret this?
My head became complicated for no reason.
‘Is this a hint that you will treat me like a dog? Or are people good? No, that can’t be possible. Even if the professor is an acquaintance and a great person… Then why? Do I really have that much talent? No, really? I only received mistreatment at my previous office?’
But that wasn’t the only thing that made my head spin.
