Real Man

Chapter 143:

Chapter 143

Yoo-hyun was not the type to easily nod his head.

He knew that if he got the spotlight, the efforts of the other team members would be overshadowed.

“No, it was Park’s idea.”

“Anyway, it was practically impossible to apply it in a short time. Unless you had thought of it from the beginning. But you did it.”

“That was thanks to Senior Lee Chanho.”

“Haha, right. There are a lot of talented people there. But I don’t understand why you went to the art club and met Senior Jang Hyemin, and showed her this mockup.”

Kim Sungdeuk’s words made Yoo-hyun’s heart sink.

How did he know that he met Senior Jang Hyemin?

Did he have someone he knew in the art club?

“Ah, that was just a coincidence…”

“Yeah, you just showed it to her by chance.”

“Yes.”

Yoo-hyun answered, but Kim Sungdeuk was not an easy person to deal with.

“Senior Jang Hyemin has a temper, so it was also a coincidence that you suggested the idea at the business unit performance report meeting. Right?”

“Yes, we were very surprised too.”

“Right, we were more surprised. Anyway, it was amazing how things worked out so well. Just like that.”

Kim Sungdeuk kept probing Yoo-hyun, but the answer was always the same.

“I guess I was lucky.”

“Right, you were very, very lucky.”

“Yes.”

“You’re really hard to please.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun smiled faintly, and Kim Sungdeuk shook his head.

He knew that there was no point in digging deeper.

He finally gave up.

“Well, anyway. If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine.”

“What do I have to say?”

“Fine. Anyway, there’s one thing for sure. We’re a solid alliance. Right?”

He chose pragmatism instead.

It was a typical Kim Sungdeuk move.

“Of course.”

“Are you going to the European exhibition this time?”

“Yes, I think so.”

Kim Sungdeuk casually suggested to Yoo-hyun.

“Then let’s have a drink together as allies there.”

“You’re buying, right?”

“Haha, sure. Sure.”

Allies?

It was a win-win situation for Yoo-hyun.

Kim Sungdeuk was a useful person that Yoo-hyun had to approach first.

He was not the type to work in line, nor to play tricks behind the scenes.

He was also very skilled.

He was the kind of person that Yoo-hyun liked, so Yoo-hyun also wanted to get closer to him.

He was sure to be a great help in the future.

That’s how a new connection was made that didn’t exist in the past.

As promised, the group leader gave out the bonus.

Even though the mobile phone business unit bonus and the contest prize money didn’t come out, the team was overflowing with money.

Thanks to that, the team members chose a fairly famous pork belly restaurant in Gangnam as the first place for dinner.

Lee Chanho liked it the most.

“Pork belly is love.”

“Hey, love your girlfriend.”

“I love pork belly more. Come on, let’s go wild today.”

He had brightened up lately, and he kept making and passing around bomb shots.

Even Choi Minhee, who didn’t drink much, let loose and drank today.

The noisy atmosphere continued without a break.

Yoo-hyun felt nostalgic.

The team was like a grain of sand.

They only worked, and didn’t know much about each other.

The team leader didn’t care about the work, and the team members were too busy to see an inch ahead.

None of them did what they wanted.

But it was different now.

Kim Hyunmin shouted happily.

“Hey, Park. Say something.”

“Uh. Uh. Mic test. Come on, everyone. You worked hard. We finally did it. Puhahaha.”

Park Seungwoo, who got up from his seat and stuck a spoon in the bottle and rambled, had a success experience.

This success DNA would be a big force to support their company life in the future. Suddenly, Lee Chanho spoke in a twisted voice with a military tone.

“Order as much pork belly as you want. As much as you want. That’s okay, right, boss?”

“Hey, don’t you feel bad?”

“Feel bad? That’s an insult to pork belly. Right, Chanho?”

“Of course, sir. Pork belly is the best.”

That’s true.

People who have eaten pork belly eat it well.

People who have succeeded also do well.

“Ah, and. Our Yoo-hyun… Huh? Where did he go?”

“He’ll be back. Just drink. Drink.”

Yoo-hyun dodged for a moment, thinking that Park Seungwoo would hug him again.

He couldn’t sit still because of our Yoo-hyun, our Yoo-hyun.

The sound of the crowd behind the sliding door came to his ears.

A faint smile appeared on Yoo-hyun’s lips.

Yoo-hyun, who came out, sat at an empty outdoor table.

The chilly wind of early winter blew away his drunkenness.

How long had it been?

When Yoo-hyun was lost in thought, Choi Minhee came over to him.

She put the soju bottle and glass that she had hidden behind her on the table.

She also brought a small plate with a few pieces of meat.

“What are you doing here? Let’s have a drink.”

“…”

“Come on, let’s drink.”

They say that a late learner is more scary, and she drank fiercely, even though she didn’t usually drink.

Yoo-hyun said with a worried look.

“You seem to be drunk.”

“No, no. What are you talking about. Come on. Cheers.”

She didn’t even touch the chopsticks on the plate with meat, and kept pouring and emptying the glass.

Soon, her face turned red and she said to Yoo-hyun.

“Thank you, Yoo-hyun.”

Again. Again.

After a while of silence.

“No, what did I do?”

“The people in the department are grateful. They all know how hard you worked, even if they don’t seem to.”

“Ha ha, no.”

Slap slap.

Suddenly, a hand flew to his back.

“Yoo-hyun, you’re so mean. Always pretending. Pretending.”

“Ow.”

“My hand hurts more.”

No, how can the hand that hit hurt more?

Yoo-hyun rubbed his stinging back and gave a resentful look.

But Choi Min-hee, the manager, was not in her right mind.

“Thank you. I’m telling you. Thank you. Poo…”

She repeated the same words like a parrot and soon nodded her head.

She didn’t respond even when he tapped her.

She seemed to have lost her mind.

‘What should I do with this person…’

Yoo-hyun sighed as he remembered Choi Min-hee, the manager who used to be cold, aloof, and arrogant.

She seemed to have changed for the better, but something was weird.

A little later.

Choi Min-hee, who had seemed dead, suddenly came to life at the karaoke.

She said her husband would take care of the kids and warned that she would stay up all night.

“Don’t swear at me. You’re the one who’s wrong. You’re the one who’s wrong.”

She shook the eardrums of the people with her almost soulless high-pitched voice.

“Whoo. Whoo.”

“Assarabiya.”

Park Seung-woo, the deputy, shook his waist to the chorus, and Lee Chan-ho rubbed behind him.

Kim Hyun-min, the manager, tied a tie around his head and played a beer bottle as a guitar and did a headbang.

“Poo.”

Kim Young-gil, the deputy, couldn’t help but spit out beer next to him.

Yoo-hyun stuck out his tongue.

These people are crazy.

Yoo-hyun thought in his head, but alcohol clouded his judgment.

At some point, he also tied a tie around his head and shook his body.

He went crazy with the atmosphere.

“Kyahaha.”

Choi Min-hee, the manager, laughed like a madman and filmed the karaoke scene with a video.

It was the moment when a black history was created in Yoo-hyun’s life, who had always been neat.

They stopped by a rice soup restaurant for the third round, saying they had to sober up.

What kind of hangover cure is it to put five bottles of soju in advance?

His head and his hand were moving separately.

Yoo-hyun mixed beer and soju like a robot.

He was so good at it that the rice soup lady, who had become his mother’s friend’s aunt, praised him.

“Wow, Yoo-hyun can do anything.”

“Ha ha, thank you.”

Clang.

One glass, two glasses, alcohol called for more alcohol.

But instead of just drinking, Kim Hyun-min, the manager, hit the table with a spoon and sang.

“Chilgapsan~”

“Hey, manager. What are you doing?”

Was Park Seung-woo, the deputy, the only one who was sane?

He betrayed Yoo-hyun’s faint judgment and jumped up from his seat.

“We have to sing the latest songs.”

Then he shook his thick waist and shouted out loud.

“Bash me bash me bash me~ bounce bounce bounce”

Sir, that song is seven years old, you know?

Slap.

Right when the song ended, the rice soup lady’s backhand smashing exploded.

“These guys are crazy.”

“Ouch. But why do you only hit me?”

“Deputy Park, you’re the loudest. If it weren’t for Yoo-hyun, you guys would have been kicked out.”

“Auntie, I hate you. You only like Yoo-hyun.”

Yoo-hyun rolled his eyes.

Park Seung-woo, the deputy, seemed to have completely lost his mind.

He stuck his butt out and shook his shoulders, acting cute.

The rice soup lady couldn’t stand it either and stuck out her tongue.

She returned to her seat and brought a pork set.

Park Seung-woo, the deputy, brightened up at the sight.

“Hehe, our auntie. You love me too.”

“Deputy Park, this guy is really crazy. Sigh… It’s my daughter’s college entrance exam tomorrow, so I’m giving you this as a service. Eat up, everyone.”

“Thank you.”

“Yoo-hyun, eat a lot.”

The rice soup lady patted Yoo-hyun’s back.

Her eyes were full of affection.

‘Pull yourself together.’

He couldn’t show a more drunken face in front of this person.

When Yoo-hyun shook his head and looked ahead, the glass was already filled with alcohol.

He was sure he mixed it with beer, but why did it look almost transparent?

It felt like the people were standing crooked too.

Park Seung-woo, the deputy, who had gone crazy, shouted.

“Come on, no one backs out. One shot. One shot.”

This guy was really crazy.

It was late, so there were no customers in the restaurant, but if there were, they might have been reported to the police.

Even Lee Chan-ho, who had been running with him, sounded worried.

“Deputy, don’t we have a report tomorrow? And a conference call with the development team.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Isn’t it the college entrance exam tomorrow? It’s a day off at work.”

“Hey, you crazy bastard. Hurry up and drink.”

Clang.

The glasses collided, and everyone drank their shots.

Were these people always this stupid?

He didn’t know what they were thinking.

Of course, Yoo-hyun, who was grumbling to himself, had already emptied his glass.

That day, Yoo-hyun blacked out for the first time in his life.

Beep.

He woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating.

He still had a hangover from the drinking party that lasted until late yesterday.

Yoo-hyun put his hand on his throbbing forehead.

“…”

He blinked his eyes at the strange feeling that enveloped his whole body.

Was it his imagination that the room that should have been dark was slightly bright?

No, was this even his room? How did he get home?

He couldn’t remember anything from yesterday.

Yoo-hyun looked around with a shiver.

Thankfully, it seemed like he had found his way home.

But…

Yoo-hyun picked up his phone with a doubtful mind.

“…”

He gasped when he saw the time on the screen.

He had woken up two hours later than he should have.

He got up from his bed and ran to the bathroom.

He shaved and calculated the time.

He thought he could make it to work by the time he had to.

He finished washing up and quickly got dressed.