Real Man

Chapter 470:

As expected, Serena Lian waved her hand dismissively.

-Hey, that money is nothing compared to the orange tree. Don’t worry about it, since you said you didn’t know.

“Thank you. You’ve been a great help.”

-Why don’t you visit sometime? Paul was looking for you.

Yoo-hyun had received a call from Paul Graham.

He had made an excuse about Airbnb and JK Communications, but he seemed to want a new stimulus.

Yoo-hyun told him bluntly.

“You’re bored. Please take care of yourself.”

-I’ve taken care of you for 20 years, it’s time to stop. You don’t care at all.

Yoo-hyun laughed at Serena Lian’s cold words.

He hung up the phone after a pleasant conversation.

Then he closed his eyes quietly.

He didn’t need to calculate to feel that Shin Kyung-soo was closely following him.

At the same time, he was manipulating Son Tae-bum, the group’s chief operating officer and the chairman’s right-hand man, like a puppet from behind.

What was his aim?

Yoo-hyun traced Shin Kyung-soo’s past actions and easily found the answer.

He wanted a bloodless entry to the royal road.

He would achieve the reform without spilling a drop of blood on his hands, and then appear with his elite organization.

‘It’s obvious. To do that, first…’

Yoo-hyun was organizing his thoughts when a message came in.

Beep.

It was a picture and a phone number of a man sent by Serena Lian.

Yoo-hyun lifted one corner of his mouth as he checked the content.

That evening, when Yoo-hyun arrived at his hometown, there was no one at home.

Instead, there was a small table with snacks and a note left on the floor.

-Yoo-hyun, mom and dad went to a meeting, so don’t worry and have fun with your friends.

She had already told him on the phone, but why did she leave this again?

Yoo-hyun chuckled and ate the pink rice cake that his mother had left.

It melted softly in his mouth and tasted very good.

Yoo-hyun left his bag at home and went to the neighborhood pub.

There were already his friends who were drunk.

As soon as Yoo-hyun entered, Kang Joon-ki, who had a flushed face, ran out to him.

“Oh, my benefactor. It must have been cold outside, right? How are you feeling?”

Kang Joon-ki touched his body and asked how he was doing, and Yoo-hyun nodded to Kim Hyun-soo, who was sitting and smiling.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He sold the stocks well after listening to you.”

“What? You said you would never sell the stocks of your company, which would go up ten times more.”

“Hey, that was just a joke. You know I always listen to you well.”

“Really? Did you sell them all?”

“It’s our company’s stock, how can I sell them all? I left one share.”

Kang Joon-ki smiled triumphantly and filled Yoo-hyun’s empty glass.

He had a good reason to be happy, as the semi-electronics stocks that were linked to the theme plummeted after the G20 ended.

They continued to fall even after hitting the lower limit three times in a row.

Yoo-hyun chuckled and lifted his glass.

“You’re lucky.”

“There’s another person like me.”

“Who?”

“The investment master.”

Kang Joon-ki’s question was answered by Yoo-hyun, who nodded to Kim Hyun-soo.

Ha Jun-seok clapped his hands.

“Ah, right. You paid back the borrowed money and got your mother’s surgery done, right?”

Ha Jun-seok didn’t know that the borrowed money was Yoo-hyun’s, but he knew the rough process.

It was an amazing feat to multiply 20 million won by several times in a short period of time.

Kim Hyun-soo, who was listening, waved his hand.

“Hey, I’m out of it.”

“They say the most poisonous ones are those who quit after hitting the jackpot. Hyun-soo, you’re awesome.”

Yoo-hyun acknowledged Kim Hyun-soo for sure.

Kang Joon-ki added a word.

“There’s a more poisonous one.”

“Who?”

“The one who smokes one cigarette a day.”

At Kang Joon-ki’s words, Kim Hyun-soo replied with a bewildered expression.

“How did you know? That I smoke one cigarette a day.”

“Wow. A poisonous one.”

Everyone said in unison, looking at Kim Hyun-soo.

As the glasses piled up, the topic naturally shifted to Ha Jun-seok’s job change.

He had moved to a construction company in Busan with a high salary, but Ha Jun-seok didn’t look very satisfied.

“Why? Is there a problem?”

Yoo-hyun asked the reason, and Ha Jun-seok emptied his glass and answered.

“Just. I miss the people from my old company.”

“You must have been attached to them.”

“I wasn’t that close to them. But I strangely miss them. Maybe I’m not used to the new company yet?”

“It’s natural. You saw them for 12 hours a day for more than three years.”

As he answered, Yoo-hyun drew his colleagues in his head and felt like he knew why he couldn’t spit out his decision easily.

It was because of regret.

He was reluctant to leave the people he had shared happy times with, and face the unpleasant people.

No matter how strong his purpose was, that was not what Yoo-hyun wanted.

“I felt sorry when I left. I was worried if the juniors could do well.”

“Yeah. I’m worried too.”

Yoo-hyun also sympathized with Ha Jun-seok’s words.

Kang Joon-ki looked at them with a dumbfounded expression.

“You guys are kidding. The company runs well without you. Jun-seok, you should call them. They’ve already forgotten you.”

“No, dude. They still call me.”

“Then you should stop caring about useless people, and take care of Jae-hee, who you like… Oops.”

Kang Joon-ki, who was raising his voice, covered his mouth as if he had made a slip of the tongue.

Ha Jun-seok tilted his head in confusion.

“Jae-hee? You mean Yoo-hyun’s sister?”

“Uh, sorry. I said something stupid.”

Kang Joon-ki took a posture of apology, and Yoo-hyun and Kim Hyun-soo looked at the two’s conversation with curiosity.

Ha Jun-seok, who belatedly understood the meaning, shrugged his shoulders.

“Ha ha. Why do you like that kid?”

“Huh? You don’t like Jae-hee?”

“No way. Why would you think that?”

“Don’t you remember? When I said Jae-hee had a nice chest, you got really angry.”

Kang Jun-ki reminded Ha Jun-seok, who seemed to recall something and clapped his hands.

“Oh. That was because of something that happened.”

“What was it?”

“When I was drinking with my friends, Jae-hee came. I said she had a nice chest and got beaten up. What happened was…”

As Ha Jun-seok explained the situation where he was drunk and passed out, everyone laughed and held their stomachs.

“Pu ha ha. Really?”

“Don’t say anything. I was drinking with you and blacked out too.”

“Wow. She beat you? That kid? Yoo-hyun, is that possible?”

Kang Jun-ki looked incredulous and Yoo-hyun answered with certainty.

“Yeah. I think even if all four of us fought her, we wouldn’t win.”

“Really?”

“Jae-hee is coming to Korea next month, so I’ll let you fight her then.”

“Bring it on. I’ll show you the power of a senior in life.”

Kang Jun-ki flashed his eyes and gulped down the full glass of alcohol.

It was the most foolish thing in the world to brag about drinking a lot.

That day, Kang Jun-ki ran alone and passed out in less than an hour at the first round.

Thud.

Ha Jun-seok looked at the guy who passed out at the pub and snorted.

“Did he pass out on purpose to avoid paying?”

“Don’t worry. I took his wallet in advance, just in case.”

Yoo-hyun put the wallet on the table and Kim Hyun-soo and Ha Jun-seok gave him a thumbs up at the same time.

That day, as promised, Kang Jun-ki paid for the first, second, and third rounds and even the karaoke.

Of course, he didn’t wake up even while singing loudly.

The next day, Yoo-hyun woke up from his sleep and cured his hangover with his mother’s signature bean sprout soup.

After washing lightly, he headed to his mother’s side dish shop with a fresh mind.

He thought he would help his busy mother as much as he could.

As he walked in the chilly early winter wind, he arrived at the market before he knew it.

He pushed through the crowded people and wandered around the market, and suddenly remembered the past.

It was a memory of the tyranny of the merchant president and the landlord, which almost ruined his mother’s dream of expanding and moving to a large mart.

Was the situation better now?

He thought so as he reached his mother’s shop.

There were people gathered in front of the shop, and there seemed to be a commotion inside.

He quickly approached and heard a rough male voice.

“If you expanded your shop, you have to pay extra merchant fees. We paid for the fire alarm installation, plumbing, and disinfection.”

“President, that’s from the national support. And does 2 million won make sense?”

Yoo-hyun stretched his head to see who was speaking after the woman’s voice.

The woman who was confronting the man was named Ahn So-ra, a regular employee of his mother’s shop.

“Are you really going to do this? Your shop is doing well, why are you stingy about paying that? If you earn, you have to spit out as much as you earn.”

Yoo-hyun sneered at the man who was spouting nonsense.

He did the same thing last time, and the new merchant president was also messing around with the national support money.

He decided to deal with it cleanly this time and was about to move.

Tap tap tap.

His mother ran from the opposite side with quick steps.

Before Yoo-hyun could step in, his mother hit the merchant president hard.

“What are you doing?”

“Boss, you’re here. When you expanded your shop, we paid for the construction support…”

“Enough, give me the support money.”

“Why should I give you the support money when you expanded? Are you crazy?”

“Are you talking nonsense? Do you have dementia?”

His mother blinked her eyes and pushed the man roughly.

When the word dementia came out, the man looked flustered and blinked his eyes.

“What?”

“Don’t you remember? When I was going to move to a large mart earlier this year, you promised to give me the support money if I stayed. Didn’t you?”

“No, that’s nonsense. Do you have any evidence?”

As soon as the man’s words fell, his mother sharply retorted.

Yoo-hyun didn’t even have a chance to intervene.

“So-ra, go inside and get the documents and recorder from my second drawer.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Uh. No, this is…”

“Here’s the stamp and the recording. Give me the money quickly. If you don’t, I’ll report you to the police.”

His mother shook the opponent with meticulousness and then pressured him strongly.

He was so fierce that Yoo-hyun clenched his fist while watching.

“Ah. Really. I’ll see you later.”

“You’ll see what? You won’t have any chance in the next merchant president election.”

The merchant president left with his tail between his legs, and the people who were gathered applauded.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap clap.

“Yeon-hee, you’re amazing.”

“I hated that guy, you did well.”

“How are you so thorough?”

His mother looked around her colleagues and said firmly.

“Let’s all work together from now on and not be fooled by such poor tricks.”

“Right.”

The people who heard it also clenched their fists and shouted in unison.

It was as if his mother had become the leader of this place.

‘I guess I don’t need to help her.’

Yoo-hyun chuckled and approached his mother.

His mother, who had completely shaken off her weak past, met Yoo-hyun’s eyes.

“Oh. Yoo-hyun.”

“Mom, you were amazing.”

Yoo-hyun gave her a thumbs up and his mother smiled and teased him.

“Do you have anyone who bothers you at work? Just tell me. I’ll teach them a lesson.”

“Ha ha. Aren’t you being bullied too, dad?”

“…”

His father, who was sitting at the table in front of the food cart, lifted his glass without denying it.