Real Man

Chapter 52:

Translator: MarcTempest

Chapter 52

He couldn’t back down now, not after coming this far.

The thug pushed his companions back and clenched his teeth.

“You don’t think I’ll let you go if you just endure, do you? I have to pay you back for that day.”

“Ah, shut up. You talk too much.”

Yoo-hyun taunted him and watched his expression.

It was hilarious to see him flustered by such a simple remark.

“What, what did you say?”

“Hey, are you going to fight with your mouth? Just hit me already.”

“Y-you!”

The thugs didn’t intend to hit him hard, they just wanted to scare him a bit.

But when they were provoked, they couldn’t hold back their fists.

Thud.

His thick fist landed squarely on Yoo-hyun’s face.

But something was wrong.

He clearly hit his face, but he felt nothing in his fist.

At that moment, Yoo-hyun, who had been touching his cheek with both hands, spoke.

“See, you hit me first, right? There’s a CCTV over there in the garbage dump. It’s watching us. I have enough evidence. You know what I mean?”

It was not something that a person who had been hit would say.

His appearance was creepy and the thug stuttered.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“No, just… You’re done for. You messed with the wrong person.”

“…”

“H-hey, what do we do? Shouldn’t we call Hyun Chul hyung?”

“What do you mean, what do we do? J-just beat him up!”

Yoo-hyun smirked and looked at the men who were rushing at him.

He had been taking punches from a pro every day in the gym.

He could see the movements of those punches, but these slow fists looked like slow motion to him.

It wasn’t that they had any sense, they just swung their hands in the air.

He didn’t even need to use his fists.

He dodged the flying fists and tripped them with his feet.

Crash.

“Ugh.”

One of them fell to the ground.

He avoided the others who tried to grab him and pulled their collars with his outstretched hand.

Bang.

“Kugh.”

He smashed their heads together.

It wasn’t just that he saw the movements in front of him.

He could also predict their next actions.

It was the result of training with the pros in the gym.

“Ouch.”

Thump thump.

They didn’t even touch Yoo-hyun, but they kept rolling and falling and bumping into each other.

But Yoo-hyun looked rather relaxed.

He felt an overwhelming power that he had never experienced before, making this situation seem like a scene from a game.

“Huff, huff.”

The thug who had been leading the others was completely fed up with Yoo-hyun’s ghost-like movements.

You bastard!

He gasped for breath and tried to reach out again.

But he lost his direction and his eyes were shaking.

He felt a strong fear.

He sensed the difference in power that he couldn’t overcome.

He had thought he was good at fighting, but he was totally humiliated.

And that was when three of them attacked him together.

On top of that, his relaxed attitude and condescending gaze showed an insurmountable level difference.

He remembered what Han Min Ji had said to him.

-Oppa, that guy looks dangerous. I think it’s better not to mess with him.

He had snorted at her words, but he felt a chill as he looked at his smiling lips.

He looked like an ordinary office worker on the outside.

But there was no way such a force could come from a mere office worker.

‘Could it be…’

The thug suddenly remembered a scene from a movie.

It was a gangster movie about inheriting an organization by working at a company.

Whatever the reason was, he realized that he had touched someone he shouldn’t have touched.

His instinct screamed at him loud and clear.

The thug tried to get out of the situation somehow and said politely.

“N-no.”

“No sir.”

When one of them bowed his head, the rest followed suit automatically.

Yoo-hyun didn’t miss the changing expressions of the thugs.

Their faces showed anxiety, nervousness, worry, and fear.

There were some people who were very expressive on their faces, and these thugs were like that.

They were so psychologically broken that they were even more obvious.

They reacted to every little movement of Yoo-hyun, and their posture became very courteous.

At this point, anything he said would work on them.

Yoo-hyun was about to go harder on them.

Woo woo woo.

The sound of a police car was heard.

“Over here!”

He saw Kim Eun Young at the end of the alley, and the other team members as well.

They were so worried that they had called the police.

But the scene they saw was very different from what they expected.

Yoo-hyun was fine, but the thugs were covered in dirt and sweat.

They weren’t even in a fighting stance.

Yoo-hyun hurried to clean up the situation, but their eyes were already wide open.

Oh no.

He seemed to have caused a deep misunderstanding.

The next day.

Hansung Tower, 10th floor, women’s restroom.

There, many female employees were listening to Lee Ae Rin, the secretary in charge of mobile sales marketing.

“Did you hear? The new guy who joined the product planning team, Yoo-hyun, is something else…”

The topic was what happened at the mobile product planning team’s dinner yesterday.

It involved the infamous Assistant Manager Go Jae Yoon, who had a bad reputation among the female employees, so Lee Ae Rin’s voice was low, but people perked up their ears.

“Really? But how did he fight against five people and win?”

“It’s true. Right, Eun Young?”

“Yes, it’s true. Everyone saw it. There was this huge guy with a tattoo on his arm, and when Yoo-hyun kicked his leg, he spun twice in the air.”

Three people became five, and a simple fall became a double aerial spin.

But what did that matter?

The important thing was that they had witnessed an amazing scene.

Of course, they only saw the last part.

As Kim Eun Young, the witness, added more details with big gestures, the atmosphere heated up more, and the story became accepted as fact after passing through some mouths.

“Wow, he doesn’t look that strong though?”

“I know, right? He just looked pretty and neat.”

“But he’s really fast, you know. He ran all the way from far away to catch a cleaning lady who was falling.”

“Really? That’s awesome. But what about Assistant Manager Go? Did he just run away?”

“Yes. He suddenly took a vacation this week. He must have felt ashamed.”

“Wow, Eun Young, you’re lucky. Hahaha.”

The story of a new employee’s mysterious deeds in a clear-cut situation of good and evil was enough to arouse curiosity.

And they hated Assistant Manager Go Jae Yoon’s misdeeds, so the conversation got even hotter.

There was someone who was looking for a chance to join the conversation.

It was Jin Sun Mi from the PR team, who had joined the company with Yoo-hyun.

Then, Lee Ae Rin looked at Jin Sun Mi as if she remembered something.

“Oh, Sun Mi knows well. Didn’t you go to the training center with Yoo-hyun? And you said he was first there too.”

“Ah…”

“Come on, tell us.”

In front of the seniors who were all paying attention, Jin Sun Mi felt like she had to say something.

She remembered a scene that she had glimpsed and brought it out of her memory.

“I heard a rumor that Yoo-hyun saved someone who fell from a mountain.”

“A mountain? Someone fell from a mountain?”

“Yes. They were doing an innovation march and he caught someone who fell from a cliff and saved them.”

“Wow.”

“And also…”

“There’s more?”

Jin Sun Mi nodded her head vigorously and said.

“Yes. And I heard someone say that they heard from the training center staff that he’s really good at golf too.”

“Golf? A newbie?”

The unexpected word made the atmosphere more focused again.

That’s how the rumors about Yoo-hyun grew like snowballs.

It’s natural for seniors to want to reduce their burden by giving orders to newbies who don’t have much to do.

They usually pass on things that are not really work-related, but rather annoying things that they can do and are doing themselves.

Things like this:

-Yoo-hyun, can you book the meeting room for me?

-Yoo-hyun, can you take this card and buy some paper cups and coffee?

-Yoo-hyun, can you research some supporting data and email me?

-Yoo-hyun, Yoo-hyun, Yoo-hyun.

Like this.

At first, Yoo-hyun was also one of those targets.

But strangely enough, there weren’t many people who bossed him around anymore.

He did his best to fit in with them, but they seemed to think of him as difficult.

It wasn’t because he had done anything special or impressive at work.

He didn’t act arrogant either.

Yoo-hyun was very respectful to his seniors.

Then why?

It was because of what happened at the dinner yesterday.

No one had seen it directly, but the rumor that he had subdued some thugs spread quickly.

The rumor grew out of control and became a heroic tale that even reached Yoo-hyun’s ears.

People look at others with an imprinted image.

Someone who does well at work will continue to look like that, and someone who is rude will always look rude.

It’s not easy to change an established perception.

That’s how important reputation is.

But what about this time?

He had an image of being brave and strong, and also caring and warm.

He had gained a positive reputation that he had worked hard for years to build in an instant.

Of course, Assistant Manager Shin Chan Yong’s face was full of displeasure whenever he saw Yoo-hyun.

But he had no choice.

Even Assistant Manager Go Jae Yoon, who had a bad temper, lowered his tail in front of Yoo-hyun.

Yoo-hyun was lost in thought for a moment.

Park Young Hoon, who was sitting across from him, lifted his beer glass and asked.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Just some nonsense.”

“Cheers.”

Gulp.

His throat felt cool as he drank.

The beer tasted different after sweating.

His whole body felt refreshed.

“Ah, this is killing me. Don’t you think so, Yoo-hyun?”

“It’s even better because you’re paying for it.”

Yoo-hyun smiled and Park Young Hoon sighed and shook his head.

“Ah, I’m an idiot for betting with you.”

“You can do it again.”

Yoo-hyun’s words made Park Young Hoon frown.

“Forget it. And are you possessed by an exercise demon or something?”

“No, why?”

“Then why are you improving so fast?”

Yoo-hyun gave a clichéd answer to Park Young Hoon’s question.

“I’m just working hard.”

“Why are you working so hard? Are you going to compete or something?”

“No? Are you crazy? Why would I go to such a thing and hurt myself? I just do it because it’s fun.”

He was absolutely sincere.

He had lived a life without any personal hobbies.

Lately, he had been leaving work early on purpose and going to the gym.

It was an exercise to train himself, not to show off to anyone.

He could forget his worries and focus when he sweated and worked out.

His skills also improved at a fast pace.