Real Man

Chapter 45

People don’t change overnight.

It was not the time to spend all the remaining money or have some leisure at work just because it was the end of the year.

It was almost impossible to have a cultural dinner this time.

Other team leaders might not know, but Team Leader Oh Jae-hwan, who acted like he was afraid of Director Jo Chan-young’s eyes, was even more so.

He was a talkative and alcohol-loving team leader who didn’t want to try anything new in this unfavorable situation.

Especially not a dinner that exceeded the budget.

He preferred places that were close, cheap, and good for drinking.

Places where he could go straight to karaoke after finishing.

It was exactly his taste.

He could tell by looking at the places where they had team dinners so far.

Of course, he couldn’t say it openly.

He wanted to look like a trendy team leader to the young people.

That’s why he gave Han Yoo-hyun, the new employee, a carte blanche to choose the place.

From Kim Young-gil’s perspective, it might be absurd if it turned out to be a pork belly restaurant.

But it was better than going back to work on the documents and ending up going to a pork belly restaurant anyway.

The product planning team was busy regardless of the pork belly restaurant incident.

Deputy Park Seung-woo was in the final stage of preparing his last report, and the team was also working hard.

They had to communicate constantly with the sales and marketing teams, manage the development department, and keep track of the schedule.

They also had to prepare for the upcoming exhibition and have meetings with the vendors.

They didn’t have much work to do on their own, but they were busy during work hours. 

That was the reality of the product planning team.

Ring ring ring.

The landline phone on the desk rang again.

Someone had to answer the phone ringing from an empty seat.

Everyone was busy, so Yoo-hyun picked up the receiver and pressed the asterisk button twice to transfer it.

“This is Han Yoo-hyun from Mobile Product Planning Team.”

-Please connect me to Deputy Choi Min-hee.

“She’s not at her seat right now. Where should I tell her you’re calling from?”

He said he was from Hyunil Automobile Interior Product Planning Team. 

He didn’t back down even after hearing the standard answer that the person in charge was away for a moment.

-No, we have to change the product design and the LCD panel size as well. I’m sorry for changing it suddenly, but we can’t use yours if you don’t respond to this.

“Yes. I’ll let her know.”

-It’s not just letting her know. You have to give us an answer quickly. We’re getting contacted by Ilseong Electronics all the time.

Was it his personality?

He kept talking unnecessarily just because Yoo-hyun was in the same part as him.

He seemed to want to emphasize how important it was.

Yoo-hyun easily understood what was going on since he already knew Deputy Choi Min-hee’s work.

Hyunil Automobile wanted to change the panel specifications of their own navigation system that they developed internally.

The problem was that it was a non-standard product.

Navigation systems were mostly made by small and medium-sized companies.

But it was hard to get touch panels from China, so they had no choice but to use panels from Hanseong or Ilseong Electronics.

There were so many companies competing for them.

Hanseong tried to secure as much margin as possible by selling products of the same specifications.

The customers had to fit their products to the parts themselves.

In other words, they were Eul who acted like Gap. (Eul: subordinate party in a contract; Gap: dominant party in a contract)

But things changed when Hyunil Automobile, a large company, became their customer group.

They had to accommodate them somehow.

But they couldn’t match the price with a non-standard product that didn’t sell well and had poor quality.

Besides, they had to persuade the development department for that process, let alone get permission from the sales team.

It was a strange structure where Deputy Choi Min-hee had to take responsibility for what the sales team had done in the first place.

And she also had to convince the person in charge, which was not easy either.

It was a project that she suddenly took over after two people quit. 

She also had to deal with this kind of project while being mindful of the sales team. It couldn’t be pleasant for her.

There was another big problem.

It was rare for a woman to be promoted early to deputy level in LCD business unit where female ratio was low.

It meant that she had worked hard and desired success.

But after getting married and taking a long maternity leave, things changed.

She was left out of the major projects and moved to the third part, where she had to do the leftovers of others.

That was the situation she was in now.

But she was still a skilled person.

She managed to produce results in this bad environment.

Just when she was about to get some recognition for her achievements, she ended up quitting because of problems at home.

-I’ll pass on everything I’ve built up to you, Yoo-hyun. I hope you succeed as much as you want.

She wasn’t that close to Yoo-hyun, but she was very considerate of him on her way out.

He didn’t know why at the time, but Deputy Choi Min-hee seemed to see Yoo-hyun as her past self.

He didn’t think it was a big deal, but he received a lot from her.

She had already opened up the foreign car companies, so Yoo-hyun could easily get results without much effort.

Would he have been able to do that if he were in the same position?

He didn’t appreciate it at the time, but it was a question that remained in his mind afterwards.

That’s why he wanted to see Deputy Choi Min-hee again.

As he thought, he heard the other person’s voice.

-Can you hear me? Hello?

“Yes. Of course.”

Yoo-hyun responded appropriately and organized his thoughts.

He wanted to help Deputy Choi Min-hee, who he knew better than anyone else what she was going through.

Was there no way to get rid of the unnecessary processes and let her work proactively?

Then he heard Director Jo Chan-young’s voice in his ear.

He was walking around and monitoring the team again, and he was talking to the team leader in the hallway.

Yoo-hyun chuckled for a moment.

At the same time, a simple and stupid idea that he could do as a new employee came to his mind.

The voice of the customer continued to flow through the phone.

-…I’m sorry for complaining. I’m in a frustrating situation too.”

“I understand.”

-Anyway, please send us the revised plan as soon as possible. If not, we’ll send an email to your person in charge ourselves.

He was a talkative person who was very helpful.

Yoo-hyun glanced at Director Jo Chan-young’s eyes.

He had narrowed the distance with him through a meeting, so he expected him to react.

Yoo-hyun raised his voice and answered.

“What? Our person in charge?”

Director Jo Chan-young turned his head in surprise at the sudden noise.

The team leader who was with him was confused, but he was already interested in the call.

-What? What do you mean…

The bewildered voice of the customer came from the other side of the phone.

Deputy Choi Min-hee had a headache.

She had nothing to do properly, nothing to achieve, but she was extremely busy.

She was so sick of hearing the phone ring during her vacation that she turned her phone off completely.

And now.

She was sitting in the lounge on the 10th floor with several female employees in front of her.

Deputy Choi Min-hee drank coffee and chatted with her close juniors for a change.

There were Kim Eun-young, who was from the same part as her, and Lee Ae-rin, who was her secretary.

Lee Ae-rin spoke with saliva flying.

“Really, boss? You should have seen it. A cleaning lady tripped and fell right in front of us, and Yoo-hyun jumped out and caught her.”

“Come on, that’s too far-fetched. How could he react so fast?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. And you know what?”

“What?”

“Yesterday, Yoo-hyun had a meeting with Jo, the manager. And guess what, after the meeting, Jo was laughing so hard. I’ve never seen that stingy guy like that before.”

Kim Eunyoung, an employee, said that.

“Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember something. Last time, Yoo-hyun was paired up with Go Jaeyoon, the deputy manager.”

“Ugh. That trash must have given Yoo-hyun a hard time again?”

As soon as Go Jaeyoon’s name came up, Lee Aerin showed a strong reaction.

He was known as a psycho in the whole department.

“Yeah. He tried to. I was watching from across the room, feeling nervous. But then, Yoo-hyun suddenly shouted at him and said he was wrong.”

“What? Why? What did Yoo-hyun do wrong?”

Kim Eunyoung shook her head at Lee Aerin’s surprised expression.

“Of course he didn’t do anything wrong. But do you know what’s funny?”

“What? What is it?”

“Just then, the director happened to pass by and caught them.”

“Oh my! The nosy director must have interfered again?”

“Right. Thanks to him, the team leader got scolded by the director, and Go Jaeyoon got a good earful from the team leader. Well, that was nice.”

“Hahaha, that serves them right.”

Kim Eunyoung and Lee Aerin clapped their hands like seals and enjoyed themselves.

Choi Minhee, a senior manager who was listening to their conversation, asked.

“Is he a bit clueless?”

“He might be because he’s new. Anyway, he’s a bit of a special person.”

“No, not a bit of a special person. A very special person.”

Lee Aerin corrected Kim Eunyoung’s words.

Choi Minhee was puzzled.

He didn’t look that special when she greeted him this morning.

He just had a charming smile.

“Please take good care of him since you’re in the same part.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

“There’s no one like him in our department. Hoho.”

What kind of man was Han Yoo-hyun who even changed Lee Aerin’s mind who was harsh on men?

Choi Minhee became curious.

She finished her simple tea time and went up to the 12th floor.

But the atmosphere was not good.

In front of her seat were the team leader and the director with serious faces.

And between them was Han Yoo-hyun who had heard enough to make his ears bleed.

“Oh. You’re here. Choi senior manager, come here.”

“Yes, team leader.”

Choi Minhee approached Oh Jaehwan, the team leader who called her with a serious expression.

The one who opened his mouth was Jo Chanyoung, the deputy director with a subtle expression.

“You have to redo the panel for Hyunil Automobiles?”

“Yes? Oh, yes. That’s because the client suddenly contacted us…”

How did he know about something that hadn’t even been reported yet?

She couldn’t speak well because she was flustered.

She could guess what would happen next without seeing it.

The director would be furious and ask what the department had been doing until this point, and then he would tell her to make the materials.

She would do it if she could, but it wasn’t that easy.

She had to persuade the sales team and the development team and work hard until they agreed.

She felt dizzy thinking about making meaningless materials.

Choi Minhee looked at Yoo-hyun who was standing politely between the team leader and the director.

Was it a rookie mistake?

The most likely possibility was that he found out after receiving a phone call.

Choi Minhee bit her lower lip and waited for the director’s roar.

But what came back was an unexpected answer.

“It’s an important project. Go to the site and make it yourself by clashing with them. If it’s a project you have to do, you have to do it even if you have to change it.”

“Director.”

Jo Chanyoung cut off Choi Minhee’s words.

“Oh, I heard about it briefly. Just make a one-page report explaining the situation and send it to me. I’ll talk to the sales team and the development team.”

“…”

Choi Minhee was silent at Jo Chanyoung’s next order.

Of course, it was in a gentle tone.

“Choi senior manager, don’t worry about anything else and just focus on the new planning. You know what I mean?”

“Yes?”

“Show me your confident side. You’ve rested enough, it’s time to go back to your old self.”

What?

Choi Minhee blinked her eyes and looked at Jo Chanyoung who suddenly became a benevolent adult.

It felt like the director’s persuasion work that would take at least a week was done in a few minutes.

She thanked him first.

“Thank you.”

“Yeah. And Oh team leader, take good care of him too.”

“Yes, director.”

As Oh Jaehwan, the team leader, went to see Jo Chanyoung off, Choi Minhee turned her eyes.

Her eyes were on Yoo-hyun’s face.

What the hell happened?

At her questioning gaze, Yoo-hyun answered with a slight smile instead of words.

‘Please do your best.’

She didn’t know how it went in the past, but she believed that Choi Minhee would do well.

She had contributed to the contract with the world’s leading automobile industry.

She had the ability to do this much if there were no external obstacles.

She believed that.