Real Man

Chapter 466:

Glug glug.

Yoo-hyun poured more liquor into Park Seung-woo’s empty glass and asked casually.

“You’re not doing this because you’re afraid of being a pathetic senior who can’t take care of his junior, are you?”

“Huh? Did I say that?”

-Yoo-hyun, I wish you would become a pathetic senior who can’t take care of a single junior.

Yoo-hyun recalled his words from the past and chuckled as he nodded.

“Yes. You said that at the bar during the European exhibition.”

“I was talking nonsense back then.”

“It’s the same now.”

Yoo-hyun appreciated his heart, but it was time for him to let go and move forward for himself.

“You’re still a lacking senior?”

“Yes. You’re very lacking. You were so passionate about the PDA project that you broke so many things. And when it came to the color phone…”

Yoo-hyun answered bluntly to the question that wanted to hear a different answer.

As he pointed out his shameful actions sharply, Park Seung-woo’s face turned red.

But he pretended to be calm in front of his junior.

“Right. You’re not wrong at all. I’m still a pathetic senior even if I look at it again.”

“It’s not over yet. You also pushed for the new project in China that was doomed to fail and got a big nosebleed.”

“That was…sigh. You’re right, but it hurts a bit, doesn’t it?”

“Of course it hurts. You said you didn’t want to be a pathetic senior.”

“Well, yeah.”

Yoo-hyun threw a more realistic word at Park Seung-woo, who was mumbling with a flushed face.

“To be honest, you don’t suit LCD.”

“What?”

Yoo-hyun poked at his sore spot one after another, ignoring Park Seung-woo’s surprise.

“You’ve tried a lot of things with your overflowing passion, but not many of them worked out, did they?”

“Yeah.”

“You’ll probably end up doing the same thing even if you go back and use the knowledge you learned from MBA.”

“…”

Park Seung-woo emptied his full glass in one shot, unable to refute his junior’s cold but true words.

Some time passed.

Park Seung-woo, who couldn’t stand it, was about to say something, when Yoo-hyun said what he really wanted to say.

“So, you should go to the Innovation Strategy Office.”

“What?”

“That’s where your endless passion and challenge spirit will be applauded.”

“Why?”

Yoo-hyun didn’t budge at Park Seung-woo’s resistance.

“You’re better suited for a position that looks at things from a higher and farther perspective than making products.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun was sincere, but Park Seung-woo looked bewildered.

He rolled his eyes around as he sat still and asked.

“Why does it sound nice but mean?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know why either.”

“It feels like I lost all my money in gambling and got scolded.”

“You shouldn’t gamble.”

“Right. I shouldn’t…sigh. You’re weirdly nagging me.”

Yoo-hyun smiled and offered his glass to Park Seung-woo, who was shaking his head.

“Shall we have a drink?”

“Yeah. Anyway, it was a good thing, right? Right?”

“Of course. It was a compliment for my respected mentor.”

“Kekeke. Okay. That’s good enough. Come on, let’s have a drink.”

Park Seung-woo’s laughter seemed much lighter than before.

Yoo-hyun and Park Seung-woo’s pleasant drinking session lasted until dawn.

Park Seung-woo, who had a busy schedule at BCG and a flight, eventually collapsed.

And a few hours later.

He woke up from his dead-like sleep and was shocked.

He hastily packed his bags and got on the plane to New York again.

He flew boldly to take care of his junior, but he had a lot of things to do for his graduation.

Yoo-hyun stayed in the US for a while and took care of the things he couldn’t do.

First, he met with Paul Graham and Hyun Jin-gun again and settled the contract issues.

He also interviewed the high-level engineers from Intel and AMD, who were recommended by Paul Graham, with Hyun Jin-gun.

Next, Yoo-hyun stopped by the Airbnb office and vented his frustration with his colleagues.

The drinking session with his like-minded colleagues was very enjoyable.

He also contacted Han Jae-hee, but he got a rejection message.

-Younger brother: I’m busy. And what’s the point of seeing you? Are you going to ask me for a favor again?

Yoo-hyun didn’t even reply and went to the Sprint Company website to check on Jeong Da-hye’s whereabouts.

He thought about visiting her in Texas, but she was working on a very important project, so he didn’t contact her.

Yoo-hyun promised to see her next time and returned to Korea.

After a long flight time, he took a short break and went back to work.

He had left secretly and there was a lot of things to explain for the gap.

But even Shin Won-woo, the executive director, was surprised by his story, let alone his team members.

The Innovation Strategy Office made up a plausible excuse for him.

Choi Min-hee, the team leader, greeted Yoo-hyun with a warm welcome and asked first.

“They said you helped with the negotiation with the communication chip company?”

“Something like that.”

“No, that’s too much. Why did they send someone who works on LCD to such a place?”

“The president of that company had some connection with me. He said it was a secret matter and asked me not to tell anyone.”

Yoo-hyun calmly explained as he had agreed.

He had a connection with Hyun Jin-gun, and the fact that JK Communication’s chip was installed on Google’s reference phone was still confidential, so he didn’t feel that guilty.

Choi Min-hee nodded as if she understood.

“I heard that Shin Won-woo, the executive director, asked for the director’s permission. It must have been a very important matter.”

“I didn’t do much. I just listened to them in the middle.”

“That’s more than enough. You worked hard.”

Choi Min-hee patted Yoo-hyun’s shoulder when Kim Hyun-min, the director, appeared and scolded him.

“Bullshit. You did something else, didn’t you? Tell me the truth.”

“Director, stop it. Why are you doing this to someone who worked hard and came back?”

Yoo-hyun pushed Choi Min-hee, who was trying to stop him, behind him and opened his bag.

Kim Hyun-min’s eyes widened.

“No, this guy has too many secrets…huh. You really bought liquor.”

“Yes. It’s a special 30-year-old.”

As soon as Yoo-hyun’s words fell, it happened.

“Good job, kid. I’m on your side no matter what you do. You know that, right?”

Wham.

Kim Hyun-min, the director, who had been sulking, opened his arms and hugged Yoo-hyun, while Choi Min-hee, the team leader, clicked her tongue in disdain.

“What are you doing, acting like a child?”

Regardless, Kim Hyun-min was overjoyed.

There was a gap of more than a month, but the TF was well managed without Yoo-hyun’s intervention.

They were so busy that they didn’t have time or leisure to fight with each other.

Rather, they helped each other and tried to finish one more thing faster.

The result of their joint efforts was announced today as the third quarter performance.

A small gift was delivered to the excited 13th floor office.

Rattle.

Jung Saet-byul brought a cart full of rice cakes.

“Here, the rice cakes you’ve been waiting for. Have some rice cakes, rice cakes.”

“Saet-byul, thank you.”

Yoo-hyun raised his hand to greet her, and Jung Saet-byul winked and showed him a rice cake.

“Director, this is a special rice cake with pink letters. Isn’t it pretty?”

“Hey, that’s not enough for Director Han.”

Then, Yang Yoon-soo, who was next to her, took the rice cake from Jung Saet-byul.

He cleared his throat and placed a large rice cake on both palms.

“Ahem. You have made a great contribution to the achievement of 6 trillion won in sales in the third quarter of the LCD business division, so I would like to express my respect for you with this rice cake and…”

“Yoon-soo, that’s enough.”

Yoo-hyun couldn’t stand it and cut him off, wondering how far he would go.

As if he expected that, Yang Yoon-soo bowed politely and handed him the rice cake.

“Yes. I understand. Director, please eat this and be healthy.”

“Oh, my. Thank you for caring about my health.”

Yoo-hyun bowed his head and received the rice cake with ‘6 trillion won in sales’ engraved on it.

Kwon Se-jung, the deputy director, was next in line, waiting for Yang Yoon-soo’s flattery with an expectant expression.

“Do you have a line for me too?”

“Of course. Aren’t you the father of retina premium marketing?”

Yang Yoon-soo shrugged his shoulders and sent him a confident look.

It was then.

Kim Hyun-min, the director, who was stretching his neck from behind, looked at him incredulously.

“You guys are playing around.”

“Huh. Director.”

Yang Yoon-soo stepped aside and Kim Hyun-min grabbed the rice cakes himself.

“What’s the big deal about rice cakes? Why are you talking so much? Here, Kwon Deputy Director, take the rice cake for 500 billion won in operating profit.”

“Thank you.”

“Jun-sik, take the rice cake for the world’s number one achievement. You worked hard.”

“Thank you, Director.”

Jang Jun-sik, who got up from his seat, looked grateful, and Kim Hyun-min gestured for him to sit down.

“Sit down. It’s not my rice cake, so you don’t have to get up.”

“Still, it’s the result of our hard work. I’m satisfied.”

“You worked hard and did well, so you should get something better, not rice cakes. Rice cakes, what are rice cakes. This damn company.”

Kim Hyun-min grumbled and Yoo-hyun said out of the blue.

“Then, you can give us something better, Director.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes. That’s what a leader should do. Right?”

Yoo-hyun winked and Jung Saet-byul, who was quick to say what she thought, followed suit.

“Yes. Let’s go eat lobster that we couldn’t eat last time.”

“Lobster?”

“As expected, the leader of the innovative product TF that feeds the company. Thank you for your decisive decision to save the country.”

Yang Yoon-soo spat out a pearl-like flattery and Kim Hyun-min was dumbfounded.

“That’s a nice thing to say, but the decisive decision to save the country is a bit…”

“Then, I’ll make a reservation.”

Jang Jun-sik, who took his words as a positive sign, made a quick decision.

The three-hit combo that came in was so powerful that even Kim Hyun-min, who had a lot of experience, couldn’t withstand it.

“Fine. Let’s go, let’s go. Just the exhibition members for now.”

“Yay. Lobster dinner today.”

Jung Saet-byul, who didn’t even hear Kim Hyun-min’s words, clenched her fist and shouted.

At the same time, the people behind the partitions also turned pale.

“Oh? Another dinner?”

“From beef to lobster. The director is really generous.”

“Even if the team budget is low, the director’s balance is overflowing. You’re the best.”

“…”

Kim Hyun-min, who lost his words, looked at Yoo-hyun, the culprit of this whole situation, with a resentful look.

Yoo-hyun approached him with a smile and whispered.

“If you’re short of money, you can use it in advance. You’ll get a bonus soon.”

“Thanks for deciding how to use my bonus, you bastard.”

Kim Hyun-min reached out his arm and Yoo-hyun dodged it smoothly and incited him.

“Come on, let’s applaud the director’s decisive decision to save the country.”

Clap clap clap clap clap.

A sudden applause broke out in the office.

The atmosphere of the 13th floor of Hansung Tower was very lively.

The atmosphere of the 35th floor executive-only conference room was extremely tense.

Shin Hyun-ho, the chairman, who had returned from treatment in the US, scanned the people with an angry expression.

“How dare you do such a shameful thing while I was away?”

“It wasn’t us, it was Elliot…”

Yoon Joo-tak, the executive director, answered cautiously.

Shin Hyun-ho’s old friend and the chief operating officer of Hansung Group, Son Tae-bum, the vice president, who had never raised his voice, yelled.

“Is this the time for Yoon Executive Director to blame others? Is that all you can say as the head of the Group Strategy Office? If you did something, take responsibility. Responsibility.”

“But, it wasn’t me…”

Son Tae-bum pushed Yoon Joo-tak aside and spoke to Shin Hyun-ho bluntly.

“Chairman, I’m sorry to cause you trouble. I’ll take care of it myself.”

“You?”

“Yes. I think this happened because I trusted and left them too much. I’ll use my last to fix Hansung.”

Shin Hyun-ho looked at his longtime friend for a long time and opened his mouth.

“This should never happen again.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Son Tae-bum’s voice, full of determination, signaled a drastic change in the political landscape within the group.