Real Man

Chapter 42

Yoo-hyun remembered the cause and effect of the condensed records clearly.

“That’s right. That’s how it was.”

He nodded as he looked over the data.

He had figured out what he needed to fix from now on.

Did Park Seung Woo know?

How his data, which he simply gave out of curiosity, would come back to him.

Yoo-hyun quickly summarized the contents and moved to the rest area to meet his colleagues.

Actually, today was an important day.

When he arrived, his colleague Kwon Se Jung, who had come earlier, was sighing deeply.

Did something else happen that he didn’t remember?

Yoo-hyun asked cautiously.

“What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”

“You’re here? No. It’s nothing.”

“Tell me. I’ll listen.”

“Well…”

Maybe because he had built a strong trust relationship with Yoo-hyun, Kwon Se Jung honestly spilled his troubles.

The friction with a certain boss, the work environment that was different from his expectations, the team atmosphere that forced him to work overtime were the problems.

It was a common complaint that any new employee would have experienced at least once.

It was not something he should be saying after only a week of working at the company.

If it were before, he would have cursed him inwardly for being spoiled.

He would have said that he should be grateful for working at a big company that paid him more than others and endure it.

But now he knew.

He knew that what seemed like nothing could be a big deal for someone, enough to make them give up on the company.

He had dismissed it as a personal choice, but looking back, it was almost like the company had turned its back on him.

And Yoo-hyun was one of the people who forced him to make that choice.

As Yoo-hyun was thinking of what to say to him, Kwon Se Jung said.

“Actually, I don’t think it’s that serious.”

“Then what?”

“It’s not like working at a company is a drama. But do you know what the real problem is? I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here.”

“How would you know what to do as a new employee? You’ll learn as you go.”

Yoo-hyun gave him sincere advice, but Kwon Se Jung answered with a troubled expression.

“I know. I know, but… It doesn’t seem like a problem with a clear answer.”

“…”

He could tell what kind of trouble it was by his expression.

Yoo-hyun decided to listen quietly for now.

“When I was in school, all I had to do was follow the instructions. The goal of the exam was clear too. I thought working at a company would be like that.”

“But it’s not?”

“Yeah. My senior told me to do it myself. He didn’t give me anything. And when I asked him what to do, he asked me if I knew what I was doing.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me to think about it before asking. But how can I think without anything? Really…”

The rest of the story was as expected.

He became more aware of his surroundings, tense all day, and made mistakes for no reason.

Since he had no work, sitting still felt like sitting on needles.

That vicious cycle made Kwon Se Jung’s chest feel suffocated.

It was not only Kwon Se Jung’s trouble.

It was only possible in dramas for new employees who had received spoon-fed education all their lives to do what the company wanted them to do on their own.

They all fell and bumped and broke and grew little by little.

Some were slower and some were faster.

Eventually, they would naturally do it as if nothing had happened.

Just like a baby learning to walk for the first time.

There was no realistic advice that Yoo-hyun could give him right now.

Whatever he said would sound like a cliché self-help book.

In this case?

Honesty was the answer.

“Me too.”

“You too? Why? You’re doing great.”

“What do you mean great? I’m just pretending. I’m very conscious too.”

“Really…?”

Kwon Se Jung looked at him doubtfully, but it was true.

If he could score how much he cared about his surroundings, Yoo-hyun would have been several times higher than Kwon Se Jung.

Of course, the difference was that he was doing it with ease.

Anyway, Yoo-hyun wanted to convey a sense of empathy to Kwon Se Jung.

He respected Yoo-hyun so much that he didn’t believe him.

That’s when Min Jeong Hyuk showed up.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“No, it’s okay. Sit down.”

“Okay. Sigh…”

Why is he like this?

“What’s wrong?”

“Well…”

When Yoo-hyun asked, Min Jeong Hyuk sighed deeply and poured out his woes.

It was exactly the same as what Kwon Se Jung had said, except for the vocabulary and order.

Even the part about being frustrated by not having any work.

He even added a spoonful of envy.

“I envy you guys.”

“…”

“Marketing and product planning must not be like this.”

It was not something he should say while belonging to the most powerful sales team.

He didn’t know its value yet, so he could say that.

Yoo-hyun looked at Kwon Se Jung first, who had lost his words.

Then he slowly looked at Min Jeong Hyuk, who still had a frustrated expression.

The two had a strange chemistry.

Yoo-hyun chuckled and said.

“Hyung and Se Jung, you must have a deep connection.”

“Why? But Se Jung, what’s wrong with you? Why do you look so gloomy?”

“No, I was just worrying about something useless.”

Kwon Se Jung seemed to have realized something through the mirror of Min Jeong Hyuk.

It was a big help to know that everyone had the same troubles.

That’s why they say colleagues, colleagues.

It didn’t match his regretful expression, but it was true.

Min Jeong Hyuk patted Kwon Se Jung’s shoulder and said.

“That’s right, Se Jung. Don’t worry about me. I’m not even on the list of worries.”

“You’re exactly the same.”

Kwon Se Jung replied, but Min Jeong Hyuk dismissed it as a joke.

“It’s okay. I just said it to get some comfort. Don’t mind me. It’ll all work out in time, right?”

Then he quickly changed the subject.

“Oh, Yoo-hyun. You haven’t had your interview yet, right?”

“Yes. I’m going in soon.”

“Be careful. I almost got into trouble for saying something wrong.”

“Why?”

“He asked me what I was doing, so I just told him what I saw.”

“And then?”

“He kept asking me questions… How am I supposed to answer? But his eyes looked like he was testing me.”

Kwon Se Jung, who had an interview yesterday, also chimed in.

“I said I had no complaints, but he kept telling me to talk more. I foolishly brought up the overtime issue and got nothing out of it.”

“Really?”

“Yoo-hyun, you should stay quiet as much as possible. If you say something, he’ll catch you by the tail.”

He understood perfectly.

Jo Chan Young, the director of mobile sales marketing, was the type to dig deep into things.

The best answer would be to just listen to him, but he couldn’t do that this time.

He had something he had to do for Park Seung Woo’s sake.

This interview was a preliminary step for that.

Finally, it was time for his interview with Jo Chan Young.

“Yoo-hyun, you’re here?”

“Hello.”

Lee Ae Rin, the secretary in charge, greeted Yoo-hyun more warmly than before.

She showed her overflowing affection with her eyes that stared at him intently.

It was a behavior that he had never seen before.

“I made you iced coffee. Is that okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun gave a perfunctory answer, but Lee Ae Rin smiled brightly and led him in.

Knock knock.

“Sir, the new employee Han Yoo-hyun is here.”

“Tell him to come in.”

He heard Jo Chan Young’s voice.

Yoo-hyun bowed slightly to Lee Ae Rin and sat down at the table.

He knew that a guest had just left, but Jo Chan Young was reading a newspaper.

It was a kind of show-off that represented his personality.

Yoo-hyun scanned the surrounding information for a short time, such as the contents of the newspaper he was reading, the watch he was wearing, the new shoes he bought, the painting on the wall, etc.

The more information he gathered, the more vividly he remembered his past.

Jo Chan Young.

The core of the mobile sales marketing department on the 12th floor, and the person who had all the choices.

He was also the person he had to make an ally of in order to fix things.

At first, he planned to get closer to him slowly over time, but he changed his mind.

He decided to help him right away for Park Seung Woo’s report that was imminent.

Direct help was impossible in terms of time and rank.

Then he had to use a roundabout way.

Today’s interview was a prelude for that.

Thud.

Jo Chan Young put down the newspaper and looked at Yoo-hyun with his big eyes that popped out.

It was the same look that Min Jeong Hyuk said he felt like he was being tested.

Kwon Se Jung also said it was hard and scary, but no.

Yoo-hyun felt more comfortable with senior executives like Jo Chan Young than with his colleagues.

Of course, his position changed from being treated to being adjusted, but his mind was relaxed.

Because it was simpler and easier to predict.

Jo Chan Young looked at the coffee on the table and opened his mouth.

“It’s rare for this secretary to bring coffee herself. You’re lucky.”

“Yes. Thanks to her, I’m having a good coffee.”

“Haha, what kind of coffee do you think it is?”

It was Jo Chan Young’s typical way of speaking to catch him by the tail.

If he said he didn’t know here, he would ask why he said it was good coffee.

That’s when his words would start to get tangled up.

The best answer would be to just reduce his words.

But Yoo-hyun’s goal was not simply to get through the interview smoothly.

He deliberately provoked a question for the same reason.

“It smells strong and a bit sour, so I think it’s Kenyan beans.”

“Kenyan? Is that good?”

As expected, he took the bait.

As someone who loved coffee enough to have a coffee machine in his office that wasn’t used much at that time, he showed a curious reaction.

There was nothing more effective than arousing curiosity in getting closer to people.

Yoo-hyun took a short breath and spoke confidently.

“As far as I know, it seems like she used Kenya AA beans, which are quite good beans.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, I have a capsule that tastes similar to Kenya AA.”

“But don’t you think this coffee has a deeper flavor?”

“Now that I taste it, it does.”

Yoo-hyun continued his words while watching Jo Chan Young’s expression change subtly.

“I think it’s because there are a lot of bubbles on top. It seems like the beans were roasted not long ago.”

“Does that make a difference?”

“I heard that it means that she roasted them herself, not buying them from a specialty store.”

“Oh… Now that you say that, the flavor does seem richer.”

“Yes, I think she put a lot of effort into taking care of you, sir.”

Jo Chan Young showed a satisfied expression at the words that she took care of him.

On the other hand, Yoo-hyun smiled inwardly.

‘I should thank Lee Ae Rin.’

He used the information he learned from her appropriately.

He might not know, but he had created an image of being professional.

It might seem ridiculous that his eyes would change with just one coffee, but people are that simple.

Thanks to that, his conversation with Jo Chan Young became much closer.

“Let’s see your entrance score… You’re first?”

“I was lucky.”

“Haha, it’s not just luck.”

“You’re too kind.”

Yoo-hyun pretended to be humble.

He briefly rolled his eyes to the upper right and blinked.

He was implying that he was recalling something in his head.

He touched his watch and nodded his head, which was his habit when he was worried.

“So that’s why Park Doo Sik said that?”

“Can I ask what he said?”

“Haha, no. No. It’s just a mutter. Anyway, you’re a good talent.”

The fact that Park Doo Sik, the manager of the personnel team, came up meant that he had set up his background well.

What could a new employee have to offer?

Yoo-hyun had a bit of a lack of academic background, but being first in the training center was not something anyone could do.

Plus, with the words from the personnel team, he could have enough halo effect.