Real Man

Chapter 43

Yoo-hyun sensed the liking in the eyes of Jo Chan-young, the executive director, and proceeded to assess the situation.

He mirrored his habit of wrinkling his nose, his slightly tilted body to the left, and his folded hands on the table.

He slowly followed his breathing as if being drawn in, and even matched his blinking.

Doing this much would make anyone unconsciously empathize with the other person’s emotions, even if they had some guard up.

It was not a big deal to open the door of Jo Chan-young’s heart, who had liked him from the start.

Jo Chan-young’s face relaxed as he enjoyed the conversation with Yoo-hyun.

Before long, he began to talk about his past hardships.

“Haha, when I was young…”

“That must have been tough.”

“Oh boy…”

It was his life story that Yoo-hyun had heard so many times that he still remembered some parts of it.

Yoo-hyun gave positive reactions and picked up on his speech patterns.

He often ended his sentences with ~looked like this.

This showed that he was clearly a visual person.

People tend to be attracted to those who speak with the same senses. This was already proven academically.

“You are really amazing. I admire you.”

“Hehe, do you think so?”

Jo Chan-young chuckled at Yoo-hyun’s response.

Listening attentively was not a big deal.

He just had to empathize more and think from the other person’s perspective.

He naturally guided the conversation in a direction that allowed him to vent his inner desires.

And now was the time.

Yoo-hyun turned his gaze to the wall and opened his mouth.

“Did you really paint that on the wall?”

“Huh?”

Jo Chan-young was slightly surprised by Yoo-hyun’s use of professional terms.

“It looks very classical. I tried to learn it too, but using oil paints was really hard.”

“Oh, you paint too?”

“A little bit.”

“Hehehe, I knew you had a good sense. Actually, when I was in college, I was in an art club…”

As expected, he started to talk about his college days.

His legs that were out of the table moved towards Yoo-hyun, and his upper body leaned forward until his butt barely touched the chair.

The quick eyebrow movements that showed in his laughter proved that he had a strong liking for Yoo-hyun.

This was enough to set up for tomorrow.

Yoo-hyun went straight ahead without hesitation.

“Did you have someone you wanted to be like in the company?”

Jo Chan-young touched his watch and nodded his head.

He didn’t seem to think much about it.

He probably thought he was the best in the world, but he wouldn’t say that here.

“Well, yes. The group leader. We worked in the same part.”

“Someone like a mentor to you.”

“Well, something like that.”

“That’s cool.”

He could have just said yes, but hesitating meant he didn’t really mean it.

It didn’t matter if he really thought of the group leader as a mentor or not.

What mattered was the question he would get back from this one.

Since he had been mirroring him thoroughly, he could predict what he would say without missing a word.

“Hehe, what about you?”

“I really want to be like my mentor.”

He answered quickly without hesitation, giving him confidence.

His serious eyes added sincerity to the words of a new employee who had just joined.

“Who is your mentor? If you are in part 3…”

“It’s Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.”

“Oh, Park Seung-woo.”

Jo Chan-young’s eyebrows narrowed slightly.

His mouth curled up on one side as if saying ‘that can’t be’.

But Yoo-hyun was not someone who would falter at that point.

“He always wondered how to do better on the project he was working on.”

“Hmm.”

He heard an annoyed cough sound.

Yoo-hyun didn’t care and continued.

“He didn’t eat lunch and kept communicating with the team leader and part leader. It was impressive.”

“Unexpected.”

“Sometimes he worked passionately for half a day without getting up from his seat. It was so impressive that I wanted to be like him.”

He spoke quickly without avoiding eye contact, giving him trustworthiness.

And with specific compliments added, his expression changed subtly.

“Really?”

“Yes. And he had a lot of pride in the PDA project he was working on. He said several times that he wanted to make it a success.”

“I thought he hated doing it…”

He let him say such things to himself.

He had to make him doubt that maybe he was wrong, maybe he didn’t see the whole picture.

That was Yoo-hyun’s job right now.

“He looked very confident in what he was doing. I haven’t met many people, but those who act like that always succeed.”

It might seem arrogant, but he had to appear confident.

There is a term called confirmation bias.

People only accept what matches their own thoughts.

If Park Seung-woo had an image of being unwilling and incompetent, no matter how well he did, only that part would stand out.

What Yoo-hyun wanted to do was to plant a contrary image in his mind.

If he went through a series of processes, he would realize that he had misunderstood him.

That he was trying hard.

If he had such thoughts, even a little bit, he would surely see Park Seung-woo’s strengths.

What was Jo Chan-young feeling right now?

Yoo-hyun watched his expression change every moment and moved the topic at the right time.

“About what you said earlier…”

“Hehe, yes. That was…”

The atmosphere became light again, and laughter came back.

He was talkative and hot-tempered, but as far as Yoo-hyun remembered, he was not a villain with a rotten heart.

He was just one of the typical bosses you could see in any company.

Even such a boss could say these words if you opened his heart.

As expected, Jo Chan-young’s face brightened up a lot.

“Hahaha, I finally met a new employee I like. You said your name was Han Yu-hyun, right? We should have a drink and talk more.”

“I look forward to having a good time with you, sir.”

“Kekkek, I like your cheerfulness. A man should be like that.”

“Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun maintained his manners until the end.

Jo Chan-young laughed heartily, but felt curious.

It was not a drinking party, but when did he have such a pleasant conversation?

Was it because he was a new employee?

He felt so familiar and friendly, like a son. 

He wanted to teach him something more.

“Now don’t forget that spirit. A new employee should have guts. You have to ask and challenge if you don’t know. Even if it’s me. Got it?”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Ha ha, good, good. Well then,”

Yoo-hyun shook the hand of Jo Chan Young, the executive director, and met his gaze head-on.

In the past, he had only tried to please him to get a high evaluation, but now it was different.

He wanted to try to correct what was wrong.

Of course, it wasn’t about him.

He had to change his team members.

To do that, he had to move the person in charge who was at the center of power.

The upper stream had to be clear for the lower stream to be clear.

Jo Chan Young, who had no idea of Yoo-hyun’s true intentions, just smiled happily.

-Thank you for your hard work today.♩ ♪ ♬

The message and song that announced the end of the working hours came on.

It was a meaningless notification, but there was no need to stay longer when there was nothing to do.

As Yoo-hyun was getting ready to leave, he heard the voice of Kim Hyun Min, the part leader.

“Park, are you still not done?”

How could he be done already?

Park Seung Woo had been scolded twice by the team leader and was revising his report again.

“Yes. I’m working hard on it.”

“Hey, the team leader said he had something at home and left early. There’s a new guy here too. Let’s just go have a drink. Okay?”

Kim Hyun Min, the part leader, provoked Park Seung Woo who was doing well.

It didn’t matter if he got scolded this way or that way.

He might as well just get scolded without working.

Yoo-hyun also wanted to have a drink with the part people he hadn’t seen for a long time.

But not today.

Jo Chan Young would judge Park Seung Woo’s passion by whether he stayed after work or not.

The seed he had planted could go to waste.

Yoo-hyun spoke before Park Seung Woo could make up his mind.

“Kim, I have something at home today and I have to go early. Can we postpone it?”

Kim Hyun Min was the kind of person who would accept this kind of excuse.

He didn’t like staying at work himself.

“Really? Sure, sure. Then what should we do today?”

He hoped he would give up, but his eyes were still on Park Seung Woo, and Park Seung Woo hesitated again.

He looked like he really wanted to just leave work as it was.

That wouldn’t do.

Yoo-hyun asked Park Seung Woo as if he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, Park. How do you get English conversation coaching?”

“What are you talking about out of the blue? That’s only for executives.”

“I heard him say he was getting coaching today when I had a meeting with him.”

It wasn’t a lie.

He had heard it directly from him when they were talking about this and that earlier.

Due to the nature of his job that required a lot of foreign languages, he offered English, Japanese, and Chinese conversation classes in the morning, lunchtime, and evening for those who applied.

Among them, the executives received one-on-one coaching in their executive offices.

In other words, he wouldn’t go home right away today but finish his conversation first.

He hoped he would get it by now.

Fortunately, Park Seung Woo seemed to give up his hesitation and sighed.

“Ah…… He’s staying late today. Sigh……. Kim, I don’t think I can do it. Yoo-hyun, you go ahead.”

“Well, can’t help it. Let’s drink tomorrow.”

“Yes. Have a good night.”

‘Phew.’

Yoo-hyun let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn’t a big deal if he stayed late or not today, but he wished he would be considerate.

Maybe?

Jo Chan Young might see Park Seung Woo working alone in the part on his way out and smile with satisfaction.

Maybe the seed Yoo-hyun planted would sprout a little bit more.

“Park, you’re really working hard. I’ll go ahead.”

Yoo-hyun said goodbye to Park Seung Woo who had resisted temptation once and left.

That evening.

Park Seung Woo was sitting in front of his monitor with a sullen face.

It wasn’t a particularly busy day, so it was after the other team members had left early.

“I should have just left. I should have just had a drink.”

He would get scolded again even if he fixed it like this.

He might as well get scolded without working.

His eyes kept wandering to the phone on his desk.

He wanted to call the part leader right now.

He was seriously contemplating when he felt someone behind him.

Park Seung Woo turned his head.

There was Jo Chan Young standing there.

He was startled and jumped up.

“D-director.”

“Sit down, sit down.”

“Huh? Oh……”

“What are you worrying about? Why don’t you go home?”

“I have a lot to improve.”

Park Seung Woo scratched his head and answered.

He probably said it because he was really insecure, but modesty was poison in the company.

It was better to act a little arrogant and bluff.

When the result is bad, people say ‘as expected’ to someone who has a bad image.

But when someone who has a good image produces a bad result, they feel more human.

It’s like finding a faulty stitch on a luxury bag and feeling like it’s handmade.

The reason why Park Seung Woo didn’t catch Jo Chan Young’s eye in the first place was because he couldn’t dress himself up like Shin Chan Yong.

But not today.

Jo Chan Young’s eyes were different from before.

His humble appearance seemed to show that he was working harder without being tainted by anything.

He was honest, diligent, and didn’t play tricks.

Now Jo Chan Young saw the strengths of Park Seung Woo that he hadn’t seen before.

The passionate image of Park Seung Woo that Yoo-hyun had planted in his heart was taking root.

Of course, Jo Chan Young said something gentle.

“Don’t push yourself too hard. Okay?”

“Ah, no.”

“Alright. Good work.”

“Yes! Have a good night!”

Jo Chan Young smiled and patted Park Seung Woo’s back.