Real Man

Chapter 473:

At that moment, Jang Junsik, who had gone out for a brief errand, was returning to the company with his two juniors.

As they walked, Jeong Saetbyul asked him.

“Junsik sunbae, will you stay or leave after the division?”

“Of course, Junsik sunbae will stay with us. He’s our pillar, right?”

Yang Yunsu chimed in, as if Jang Junsik had the same thought.

He was about to say that, when he saw a familiar face passing by in front of him.

He had a sudden hunch and quickly said.

“Sorry, I’ll go ahead. See you at the office.”

He ran off without even hearing his juniors’ reply.

“A comic cafe?”

He looked at the building sign with a puzzled expression.

Then, a man followed him into the building.

No matter how he wore a hat, Jang Junsik couldn’t fail to recognize Shin Kyung-wook, the executive director.

And he wasn’t so naive to not know the meaning of their meeting.

Thump thump thump thump.

-If you go to Yeontae-ri with me, I can come back, but you can’t. Junsik, you have to grow up in the meantime. So that we can work together when I come back.

Jang Junsik suppressed his trembling heart and looked at the building entrance.

His clenched fist and his shout echoed in the hallway.

“I’ll do more.”

His bloodshot eyes reflected his feelings.

Yoo-hyun, who was leaning back on the sofa chair of the comic cafe, fiddled with his ear.

“Is someone talking about me?”

Thud.

Shin Kyung-wook, the executive director, put down a book on the table and asked.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“No. Just. Why are you looking at so many?”

“Just pick one. There are a lot of interesting ones.”

Shin Kyung-wook smiled as he tapped on the comic books.

He looked very happy for some reason.

“You seem excited?”

“Haha. I had a fun idea.”

“A fun idea?”

At Yoo-hyun’s question, Shin Kyung-wook straightened his upper body.

“I thought about what you said.”

“What did I say?”

“About going to the group strategy room.”

“Yes. You did.”

Before Yoo-hyun could say anything, Shin Kyung-wook threw out the topic.

It was something that he had no reason to be happy about from his position.

But why was he making such a playful expression now?

Yoo-hyun tilted his head in confusion, and Shin Kyung-wook whispered as if he was telling a secret.

“It won’t be easy in the group strategy room as it is now.”

“I guess so. They already got burned once.”

The price of getting burned was Yoo-hyun’s trip to Yeontae-ri.

In the end, Kwon Sung-hoe, the chief who had led him, disappeared, but the people who had cooperated with him behind the scenes were still there.

Shin Kyung-wook nodded as if he agreed with Yoo-hyun’s thoughts.

“It’s the same now. They know the relationship between you and me, and they’ll doubt it.”

“Yes. They may not know the details, but they’ll definitely know we’re close.”

“They can’t ignore the fact that you’re an important person, since you went to the Apple presentation.”

“That’s true.”

This was also something that Yoo-hyun was worried about.

He planned to make it inevitable for the group strategy room to accept him, but the process itself would not be smooth.

He wondered what he was trying to say by beating around the bush, when Shin Kyung-wook continued.

“So I thought of a way. It’s called camouflage.”

“Camouflage?”

“Right. I’m not good at naming, but you’ll get the idea.”

“What kind of method is it that you have to name it?”

Yoo-hyun chuckled, but Shin Kyung-wook’s expression was very serious.

He glanced around and whispered his thoughts in a low voice.

“What I mean is…”

The longer he explained, the more absurd the content became.

Yoo-hyun, who was listening, was so dumbfounded that he put his hand on his forehead and shrugged his shoulders.

“Wow. What are you talking about?”

“It’s not talking. It’s a plan.”

“No, I mean, why are you fighting with me?”

“It’s not fighting. It’s pretending to fight. If we don’t get along, it makes sense that you wouldn’t choose the innovation strategy room.”

Shin Kyung-wook argued with his own logic, but there were too many flaws.

Yoo-hyun pointed them out calmly.

“You need a reason to believe that.”

“That’s why I thought about it. How about the issue of your promotion to chief?”

“What?”

“If you look at your contribution to the company, you should have been promoted. But it was too fast, so the person who promoted you must have felt pressured.”

As he added the reason, Shin Kyung-wook’s face overlapped with an old memory.

When was it?

He, who was Yoo-hyun’s boss in the past, also mentioned the promotion issue.

Of course, it wasn’t in a positive direction.

-Why am I being pushed aside? I deserve to be promoted. I worked harder and did better than anyone else. You know that, right?

At that time, Yoo-hyun strongly resisted, and that was the decisive factor that separated him from him.

In front of the ironic situation, Yoo-hyun snickered.

“Why, is it weird?”

“No. It’s funny.”

“Funny? This is a bait to get you promoted in the group strategy room. Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone?”

If only that happened, he could get more.

By the way, how did this guy, who seemed to follow the rules, come up with such a trick?

Yoo-hyun glanced at the comic book cover and asked Shin Kyung-wook.

“Executive director, is this from a comic book?”

Then, Shin Kyung-wook shamelessly said, touching the comic books piled on the table.

“Don’t underestimate comic books. It’s not the type of book that matters, but the content. I read them carefully to come up with that idea.”

“I guess I should read martial arts novels more carefully too.”

“Sure, sure. You might catch some inspiration that you missed before.”

“Thank you for the great advice.”

Yoo-hyun smiled and bowed his head.

Thud.

The part-time worker placed a plate of food on the table.

It was the same kimchi fried rice as before, but there was something different.

There were two fried eggs on Yoo-hyun’s rice.

“Oh, thank you.”

“This is a special request from a regular customer. Enjoy your meal.”

The part-time worker smiled and handed him a coffee after receiving Yoo-hyun’s gratitude.

Yoo-hyun chuckled at the unexpected hospitality, and Shin Kyung-wook, the executive director, poked his side.

“How is it? I kept my promise, right?”

“Haha. Yes, you did.”

Shin Kyung-wook said to Yoo-hyun, who was smiling.

There was sincerity in his casual tone.

“Don’t let your heart fall apart just because you’re away. I hope you don’t forget that I’m on your side, no matter what decision you make.”

“I feel the same way. I’ll be back soon.”

“Good. Your seat will always be empty. Oh, are you going on a picnic soon?”

Shin Kyung-wook clapped his hands with a pleased smile.

“Yes. I’m planning to have fun since I postponed it.”

“Of course you should. You might have some drunken stories to tell.”

“I’ll just tell them then.”

“Okay. Then let’s execute the plan after that.”

Shin Kyung-wook grinned and clenched his fist.

“Haha. Sounds good.”

Yoo-hyun, who was shaking his shoulders, scooped up a spoonful of kimchi fried rice.

It was just one more egg, but it felt delicious to his stomach.

At the end of the year, when the first snow fell, the Innovative Product TF went on a picnic.

It was a chance to relieve the last stress with good people, so Yoo-hyun put some effort into it.

He prepared an environment where people could gather like last time, and he brought in some funds so that they could choose without worrying about money.

Thanks to that, the picnic preparation staff quickly produced results despite the busy work.

Various activities were offered according to the changed season, and among them, there was one that caught Yoo-hyun’s eye.

It was paragliding.

Yoo-hyun, who had unpacked his luggage at the accommodation, went up to the famous mountain field with an excited heart.

Whooosh.

As soon as he got out of the car, a gust of wind blew from behind.

It was quite high, so he could see the scenery below the mountain clearly.

He received a brief training from the paragliding company staff.

After that, Yoo-hyun, who was slightly nervous, put on the heavy equipment and stood at the edge of the field.

In front of him, he could see the back of Lee Chan Ho, the deputy who flew confidently first.

“Aaah.”

He heard a faint scream as he watched him fade away.

He felt a thrill and a strange pleasure at the same time.

Kwon Se-jung, the deputy who was wearing the equipment next to him, asked with an anxious look.

“Is this really safe?”

“What’s the matter? There’s someone behind you. It’ll be fine.”

“Ha. Did I come here for nothing? I should have stayed at the accommodation with Joon-sik.”

Yoo-hyun tilted his head when he heard Jang Joon-sik’s name.

“Joon-sik missed this kind of occasion? Why?”

“I don’t know. He looked a bit depressed.”

Come to think of it, Yoo-hyun hadn’t talked to Jang Joon-sik for a few days.

He felt like he was avoiding him.

What the hell was going on? He wondered, when the staff behind him asked.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

Yoo-hyun nodded his head, and the staff attached the canopy, which was the parachute, to the device attached to both sides of Yoo-hyun’s shoulders.

After finishing the maintenance, the staff behind Yoo-hyun, who was sticking close to him, gave a signal.

“Okay, one, two, three.”

Dadadadak.

Yoo-hyun ran as he had practiced.

As he ran in an uncomfortable posture, he felt a heavy feeling as the parachute was pulled behind him.

When he thought this was it, the staff who was running next to him and helping him shouted.

“Run.”

Yoo-hyun stepped on the air with the signal.

At the same time, the parachute opened and Yoo-hyun’s body floated lightly.

“Wow. Wow.”

Just like Jeong Da-hye did on the Namsan cable car, a cool exclamation came out of Yoo-hyun’s mouth.

The view of the Yangpyeong sky that spread out in front of his eyes was really beautiful like a picture.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t close his mouth and looked around.

It was then.

The staff behind him asked.

“Nice, right?”

“Yes. It’s really nice.”

Yoo-hyun answered in a loud voice.

It was a strong sense of liberation that he had never felt before in his life.

At this moment, he had no memories of the past, no worries about the future.

He only felt that he was flying in the sky.

Click.

The staff took a picture of Yoo-hyun’s bright smile with a camera connected to the device.

Yoo-hyun promised to take a picture with Jeong Da-hye someday and shouted with all his heart.

“I’m flying in the sky.”

The exhilarating liberation lasted for quite a long time.

Yoo-hyun, who cleared his head, enjoyed the event with a good mood.

He ate the piled up food and chatted with others, and divided into groups of five to play games.

The prizes were so great that the enthusiasm for the game was also amazing.

Of course, it didn’t go well just because he enjoyed it.

Yoo-hyun, who suffered a defeat in foot volleyball and kickball, patted the shoulder of Ha Moo-gon, the manager of the IT team, who was disappointed.

“Manager, don’t worry. We have the next one.”

“Deputy Han… We were wrong.”

Ha Moo-gon, who was about to scold Yoo-hyun’s dance, shook his head after recalling the back-smashing.

The other members of the group also looked gloomy.

It was understandable, since the score of group B was marked as the last place on the big scoreboard in front of the accommodation.

But the reversal happened after that.

Yoo-hyun, who moved to the lakeside, grabbed a fishing rod.

He wore a straw hat and looked like a fisherman.

Whip.

He lifted the fishing rod and the people who gathered around exclaimed.

“Wow. Deputy Han caught another one.”

“How many is that?”

“How does he catch them without bait?”

As the people’s eyes were focused on Yoo-hyun, Yoon Byung-kwan, the director of the TV team, who was sitting next to him, flashed his eyes.