Real Man

Chapter 46

What Yoo-hyun did was simple.

He told the decision-maker the truth without going through the chain of command.

It was possible because he was a clueless newbie.

Sometimes, unnecessary processes hold people back.

What could be done quickly by talking together becomes complicated when it goes through documents. 

They end up nitpicking over small numbers.

In fact, they waste time trying to assign blame to each other.

Of course, it took a lot of skill to convey accurately and make a quick decision.

Choi Minhee, the senior manager who was watching quietly, finally opened her mouth.

“Yoo-hyun, what the hell happened?”

“Well…”

Yoo-hyun answered Choi Minhee’s question like a naive newcomer.

After hearing everything, Choi Minhee let out a laugh and sent Yoo-hyun away.

It was true that he made a big deal, but it was also resolved well and it was a rookie’s mistake, so there was nothing to say.

Then the phone rang.

“Yes. This is Choi Minhee. Oh, yes…”

-I’m sorry, senior manager. Actually…

Choi Minhee listened to the story for a while and then burst into laughter.

The assistant manager of the interior product planning team of Hyunil Automobiles, who had been pushing her around so recklessly, apologized to her.

He even said he was sorry for making a big fuss with his unnecessary words.

Choi Minhee muttered as she looked at Yoo-hyun’s back.

“How can this be resolved so easily?”

Meanwhile, Kim Younggil, the assistant manager, carefully printed out the report he had made all morning and took it to the team leader’s seat.

“You want me to read all this? Why don’t you use the screen?”

“Yes. I understand.”

You should have told me earlier.

Last time, when he tried to present with his laptop, he scolded him for making a report out of a dinner party. 

But this time, his attitude changed completely.

It happened so often that Kim Younggil hurried to the next step.

He turned on the TV screen on the team meeting table with his prepared laptop.

“The first place for this dinner party is…”

As he flipped through the materials one by one, Kim Younggil read them while looking at the screen.

He did it to avoid mistakes.

But in this case, it would be better to check the expressions of the people who were listening to the report.

If he saw him frowning when the musical story came up, or sticking out his tongue when the bowling story came up, he should have skipped it quickly.

Kim Younggil lacked that.

“Is that all?”

“No? No, there’s one more.”

“Show me.”

As soon as a pork belly restaurant appeared on the screen, a small smile appeared on Oh Jaehwan’s lips.

He pretended not to care and asked.

“Isn’t pork belly too plain? The team members might not like it unless it’s beef.”

“This place is better than beef.”

“Come on. It’s a dinner party that happens once a month. We should go somewhere nice.”

“Yes. I think so too.”

Of course you do.

Who would like a pork belly restaurant?

He said the musical might be too late, so bowling was most likely.

Then he had to make a course to eat at the Japanese restaurant next to it.

Kim Younggil thought he had already got an answer.

“Why did you bring this up if you think so?”

“Well… The new employee said he wanted to eat it.”

“Really? Hahaha. Then we have to go.”

“Yes?”

Kim Younggil was confused by Oh Jaehwan’s firm stance.

“Let’s go to the pork belly restaurant.”

“…”

He was so adamant that Kim Younggil had nothing to say.

Didn’t he say last time that grilling meat was annoying and pork belly smelled bad?

While he was confused, Oh Jaehwan said more words.

“You did well. Keep these materials for later. We might have to go one by one.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“Good job.”

“I’ll share them with the team members after organizing them.”

Oh Jaehwan waved his hand and Kim Younggil finally got up from his seat.

“…”

He tried harder this time to avoid making troublesome materials again.

It wasn’t his actual work, but it was something that the team leader cared about sensitively, so he put more effort than last time.

But what?

A pork belly restaurant right in front of him?

Kim Younggil was dumbfounded.

Yoo-hyun knew the result just by looking at Kim Younggil’s eyes when he came back.

Kim Younggil grumbled that it went as he wanted.

“It’s better to follow the new employee’s preference.”

“Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun shrugged it off.

Kim Younggil looked frustrated, but he still saved time.

If he hadn’t, he would have wasted the whole day making the materials again.

Did Kim Younggil know that?

“By the way, what should we do after eating pork belly?”

“I don’t know.”

“Should we go see a movie? We can’t watch movies at work.”

He was a bit clueless when it came to things other than work.

He had to take care of Park Seungwoo’s case quickly and help Kim Younggil show his full potential.

Tap tap tap.

As he walked down the corridor, Yoo-hyun turned his head at the sound of typing.

On the monitor screen, the text was written and erased repeatedly.

The man looked very anxious.

“Haah…”

He let out a deep sigh of despair as he wrapped his head with both hands.

But soon he opened his eyes wide and started making the report again.

You might wonder what’s so hard about making a report while looking at the monitor.

But it’s different for the person involved.

To prove the numbers in the report, he also refers to various papers, patents, articles, and even runs on the site.

Sometimes it takes months to get a few pages of data.

That’s the daily life of the office workers in Hansung Tower.

They are not the ones who make it, but the ones who predict and sell the products that will be made.

They have to start and end the story with documents without having anything in their hands.

With just a few pages of reports, they have to convince not only their bosses, but also the development, production, quality managers, and even the customers who will buy the product.

Last year, the LCD business division made 10 trillion won in sales.

Judging by the content of the report that the employee was writing, he was in charge of Nokia sales.

That means he was handling a project worth hundreds of billions of won.

The company could be shaken by a single mistake.

Just think about what would happen if the next-generation Nokia phone was delayed because of the LCD panel.

He would have to pay an astronomical amount of compensation, not to mention lose the most important trust of his customers.

The person responsible might not pay for it, but the damage would affect the whole company.

It was not just the owner or the president who had a problem, but the managers on the site who suffered.

But that employee was lucky.

He was in charge of an important project, a project that had sales guaranteed, so he was sure to get some leeway for minor mistakes and full recognition for his results.

What about others?

The weight of the project surpassed the work ability and diligence.

No matter how hard they worked, it was hard to get excellent results from a project that didn’t sell.

There was something more important than that.

It was what role they played, or what team they belonged to.

In mobile sales marketing, the sales team was the top, as they directly clashed with customers and sold products.

Similarly, the marketing team was also good, as they increased sales by holding promotional events for customers.

The most neglected one was the product planning team.

They had to plan products according to the sales team’s demands, and persuade the development team to meet the schedule when the sales team brought orders.

They only suffered by finishing the work between customers and sites, sales and marketing teams.

They tried hard, but others took their results.

It was a strange structure where other teams that were more directly related to sales took them away.

That was what Yoo-hyun, who had come with a fantasy about product planning, was most disappointed about.

To him, Min Jeonghyuk, his colleague from the sales team, was an object of envy.

He thought he joined a powerful team, got a good project, and got good results without much effort.

That’s why his words, which he used to say as a greeting, sounded sarcastic to him.

-The panel you planned was good. The customers liked it.

He wanted to catch up with him.

Not because he was his colleague, but because he couldn’t stand someone who was doing better than him.

He pushed down his team and monopolized the results.

He only looked ahead and didn’t see his colleagues around him.

He made a choice that he shouldn’t have made because of his momentary greed.

It was something he shouldn’t have done.

When he arrived at the temporary table on the outskirts of the 12th floor, Min Jeonghyuk, who had been waiting, raised his hand.

When Yoo-hyun sat down, Min Jeonghyuk handed him a can of coffee and said,

“Thanks for sending me the data last time.”

“It’s nothing. It’s not a big deal.”

“No. You know. My mentor doesn’t give me any data at all. I might have died of thirst if you hadn’t sent it to me.”

“It’s just a different style.”

Yoo-hyun brushed it off lightly, but Min Jeonghyuk was different.

“No. I’m so jealous of your mentor.”

“…”

He wasn’t trying to tease him.

He let out a sincere sigh mixed with his expression.

Why didn’t he know then?

What others envied was what he had.

The people in part 3, including his mentor Park Seungwoo.

They were all too good for Yoo-hyun.

Min Jeonghyuk, who had been complaining about this and that, cautiously opened his mouth.

“Can I ask you a favor? Is it okay?”

“Anything.”

“Well…”

“Just tell me.”

What did he want to ask that made him hesitate so much?

His tone was much more careful than when he was training as a new employee.

It seemed like he had a hard time in his team.

Then Min Jeonghyuk asked an unexpected question.

“Do you know about the PDA project you’re doing in product planning?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Can I know the exact schedule? Actually, my mentor seems very sensitive about it.”

In other words, he wanted to know what his mentor was frustrated about because he didn’t know anything himself and it bothered him so much.

He must have known that Yoo-hyun’s part was in charge of the PDA project if he saw the data.

He understood his intention, but it wasn’t easy enough to explain it long and make him understand.

Yoo-hyun scratched only the itchy part for him at his eye level.

“Well…”

“Aha… I get it now. If the schedule is delayed, it will have a huge impact on the company.”

Min Jeonghyuk’s face brightened as Yoo-hyun added more words.

“Yes. That’s why my manager seems to be quite sensitive.”

“I see. No wonder our team leader is going to the report tomorrow.”

“Yes? Is it Lee Kyunghoon, the director?”

“Yeah.”

Hmm.

Yoo-hyun’s brow furrowed slightly.

He was the real power of mobile sales marketing and the official second in command.

He had connections with the group leader, so even Jo Chan-young, the senior manager, couldn’t mess with him. He looked down on the product planning team.

He was also a person that Yoo-hyun could never forget.

He manipulated Shin Chanyong, the senior manager, and took away the juice from the product planning team and part 3.

He didn’t care about anyone else but himself.

While he was thinking, Min Jeonghyuk’s voice was heard.

“Thank you so much today.”

“It’s nothing.”

Yoo-hyun ended the conversation with Min Jeonghyuk with a light greeting.

He didn’t just help him.

He got important information through him.

He knew why Lee Kyunghoon wanted to join the meeting.

If Yoo-hyun guessed right, Park Seungwoo would have more trouble at this report.

He couldn’t stand to see him being played by Lee Kyunghoon, who was not anyone else.

Then what?

Yoo-hyun’s eyes sparkled.