Real Man

Chapter 137:

Chapter 137

Thud.

Yoo-hyun put down his bag and sat down in front of his computer. He checked his personal email.

There was a final image draft sent by his younger brother, Han Jaehee.

The image that he made according to Jang Hyemin’s senior’s request was much cleaner and neater than before.

He also added some images that matched the applications that would be displayed on HMOP.

-No… I’m fine…

He remembered the voice of Han Jaehee, who sounded like he was dying, when they talked on the phone a few days ago.

When he told him to take some medicine, he snapped at him, asking if he had any extra to spare.

Yoo-hyun understood his feelings.

Creative work was not easy.

He gave him more allowance for that reason.

But all he got back was a complaint that he didn’t even have time to spend money.

Scroll.

Yoo-hyun scrolled down the mouse wheel and looked at the email threads that Han Jaehee had sent so far.

The quality of the images got worse as he went back to the previous emails.

It made him realize how much Han Jaehee had improved over time.

Would anyone believe that the first draft and the current draft were made by the same person?

Han Jaehee’s passion had earned him more than just skills.

Jang Hyemin’s senior had already expressed her interest in him.

That meant he would surely get some benefits from it.

Swoosh.

Yoo-hyun got up from his seat and filled his coffee pot with water.

He poured hot honey tea into a cup and sat on a single sofa near the window.

He could see the street lights that brightened the darkness outside, the cars moving at high speed, and the people passing by sporadically.

It was a scene of peaceful everyday life, no different from any other day.

At that moment, a thought came to his mind.

He had already created a crisis himself.

There was no fool who would fall into his own crisis and die.

Opportunity belongs to those who are prepared.

‘It’s time to start.’

Yoo-hyun looked down at the window with a calm expression.

A few days later, Hansung Electronics Sindorim Campus.

On the 11th floor, Jang Hyemin’s senior was in the design center office.

Yeo Hyundeok, the executive director who sat across the table, said with a troubled expression.

“Jang senior, let’s not make a big deal out of this. There are a lot of rumors from the development center.”

“What rumors? Don’t do what you can’t do? But this is possible. You know this is already an existing technology.”

“That’s not it… We haven’t agreed on it.”

“Why are you beating around the bush? Just show them and discuss it at the meeting where everyone is gathered.”

‘The business director will be there.’

Yeo Hyundeok swallowed his anger and smiled.

“Right. Showing them is a very good thing. The higher-ups need to know. But you know, a company is not something that you can do by yourself. There are also positions between organizations.”

“The design trend is already going towards full-touch phones. You know that, right?”

“Yes. It’s just a matter of timing. It’s not familiar to people yet. And it’s expensive.”

“That’s why we’re doing it. Cheaply. Design only has meaning when it’s used by many customers.”

“That’s true. Right. True or false.”

“Then it seems like you understand, so I’ll get up now.”

“…”

Jang Hyemin’s senior got up from her seat and was about to leave when she turned around.

Yeo Hyundeok, who was sighing, looked embarrassed.

“Director.”

“Yes. Tell me.”

“What if we back off and our competitors suddenly come out with it? What will you do then?”

“They would have shown some signs if they were going to do that.”

“What if we don’t know? Can you take responsibility then?”

Yeo Hyundeok blinked at the word responsibility.

Hansung Electronics held you accountable for as much authority as they gave you.

The previous center director was also fired in an instant because his phone design was behind in popularity.

There was no guarantee that he would be any different.

-Jang Hyemin’s senior is someone you should pay special attention to. There’s a rumor that the chairman favors her personally.

Not only from the previous center director, but also from various people’s opinions, it was clear that Jang Hyemin’s senior was a royal family member.

And she was asking him for responsibility now.

‘Do you even know how an ordinary salaryman feels?’

Yeo Hyundeok felt wronged.

If he pushed ahead with this, he would face a lot of resistance from the development center.

He could even be humiliated in front of the business director if he made a mistake.

But he couldn’t just stop Jang Hyemin’s senior’s words because they weren’t wrong either.

It was a difficult situation where he couldn’t do this or that.

He sighed inwardly and finally nodded.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“I was going to do it anyway.”

Jang Hyemin’s senior bowed her head and left without looking back.

At that time, on the 12th floor of Hansung Tower, an empty conference room.

“Okay, then I’ll show you.”

Lee Chanho drew the attention of the part members who gathered in the conference room with his exaggerated gestures.

“Thump thump thump.”

He even banged on the table to raise the anticipation.

Yoo-hyun smiled brightly.

Clack.

Yoo-hyun put a metal bag, called the 007 bag, on the table.

The team members were surprised to see it.

“Oh. What is this? Did you even match the bag?”

“Just watch.”

Instead of answering, he opened the bag like a magician.

Then, seven mockups of different colors were arranged at regular intervals on the shiny red velvet.

There were exclamations from everywhere at the luxurious appearance.

“Wow.”

“Cool, huh?”

“That’s not all.”

Following Lee Chanho’s cue, Yoo-hyun pressed a button on the corner of the bag.

Clank.

Then, different character backgrounds appeared on each of the seven mockups.

It was a ‘show’ that was possible because he had pre-wired the metal bag underneath.

It was just a show of nothing much, but the reaction was different.

“Wow, this is amazing!”

“Is this really a budget model? How does it look so good?”

“Hey… this is like a real phone. It’s way better than ours.”

They had no choice but to be impressed.

This was the first time in the history of the LCD business unit that they had made a mock-up with such care and attention to detail.

The mock-up was not just a simple prototype. The software, UI/UX, and design captured the essence of a future smartphone.

Although the hardware specifications were lacking and the performance was not smooth, it was enough to give a sense of being ahead of its time.

It was almost unbelievable that the mock-up made by the LCD business unit looked better than the actual phones on the market.

Kim Hyun-min, the assistant manager who was playing with the mock-up, asked sarcastically.

“Hey, Chan-ho. Are you so mad that you couldn’t go to the exhibition that you made this with spite?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then what?”

From Lee Chan-ho’s perspective, who was preparing for the European exhibition, it was natural to feel disappointed that he couldn’t attend.

Lee Chan-ho’s eyes sparkled.

“Well, I want to make our contest successful and take this to next year’s exhibition.”

“That’s right. That’s a great attitude. Let’s make it happen and go together. Hahaha.”

“Sounds good.”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, shook his hand and Lee Chan-ho replied with a bright smile.

-You’re lucky. You have a good mentor… and your work is recognized… Pfft…

For a moment, his happy expression overlapped with the image of him staggering drunk a few days ago.

Yoo-hyun knew.

He knew how hard he had worked to overcome his difficult times and to smile like he did now.

He had been checking the schedule constantly while making this mock-up.

He even showed passion in finding a metal processing company for the exterior.

He also handled all the problems that arose and dealt with the whining suppliers himself.

Thanks to him, this mock-up was born.

He deserved to enjoy this moment of joy.

Yoo-hyun caught Lee Chan-ho’s eye and gave him a thumbs up.

“Good job.”

“Thanks.”

He replied with a double thumbs up.

Kim Hyun-min, the assistant manager, clicked his tongue.

“You guys are having fun.”

After playing with the mock-up for a while, Kim Young-gil, the asssistant manager, asked.

“But did you have to prepare this much? I get that it’s a mock-up, but I don’t think you had to make a separate bag for it.”

“Hey, assistant manager. It’s cool, right? I like it.”

“No, Kim assistant manager is not wrong. They said they would give the mock-up to the judges in advance for the second round of the contest. Then there’s no need to open the bag separately.”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, was happy as ever, but Choi Min-hee, the manager, asked coldly.

It was a reasonable question.

There was no need to bother so much for just a contest presentation.

They were already busy enough and they had to take more time out of their schedule.

Lee Chan-ho looked at Yoo-hyun as if he didn’t expect such a question.

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, turned her words around as if she felt awkward.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Yoo-hyun. I learned a lot too. Honestly, I was amazed by it.”

“Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun said and Choi Min-hee, the section chief, pointed out her doubt.

“But why did you rush the schedule like this? You seemed to be working really hard these days.”

“I had something in mind.”

Yoo-hyun answered with a meaningful look on his face.

Why did he prepare such a detailed mock-up and hurry up?

Everyone’s eyes were on Yoo-hyun.

A few hours later.

Yoo-hyun sat in front of his computer and checked his email.

-[Share] Mobile Business Unit 3Q Performance Report Additional Proposal Idea ‘Color Phone’.

It finally began.

The intended event passed through countless stakeholders and unfolded before his eyes.

A small grain that no one cared about rolled around and turned into a threatening snowball.

It was time to reap the rewards of his long preparation.

Yoo-hyun felt a rare excitement.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Then Park Seung-woo, who had just checked his email, asked Yoo-hyun in surprise.

“Yoo-hyun, you got it too. The email from senior Jang Hye-min.”

“Yes.”

“What is this? What does it mean?”

It was natural for him to feel confused. He had never attended the performance report meeting of the mobile business unit. He had only heard that it was a tense atmosphere. What did it have to do with sharing their contest idea?

Yoo-hyun’s eyes twinkled.

“Well, I want to shake things up a bit.”

“What do you mean?”

He soon found out.

A huge snowball fell from the clear sky and hit them hard.

A massive earthquake that shook the board had already begun.

“It’s going to be noisy for a while.”

There was nothing more fun than watching all kinds of scenes unfold in a sudden crisis.

If he had to compare it to something, maybe it was like watching a fire or a fight?

Yoo-hyun smiled triumphantly.

He was ready for a big fight.

A newbie?

He was curious about the expressions of the executives who had offended him.

The email sent by senior Jang Hye-min turned the LCD business unit mobile group upside down.

At first they didn’t even know what was going on, but soon they realized that a huge bomb had dropped on them.

People reacted differently in this situation.

Some people moved quickly, while others were lost and panicked.

Lee Kyung-hoon, the department head, was one of those who reacted quickly.

He moved like an ant colony sensing an earthquake. He had a good sense of things.