Real Man

Kang Dong-shik blinked his eyes, his face marked with a clear scar from a knife.

“Are you saying that to me right now?”

“No. But what is that?”

Yoo-hyun tried to change the subject and pointed at the box. The gym manager proudly said,

“I went to the mart and got some flashlights.”

“Why?”

“Well, the electricity is out. We need some light to work out.”

Yoo-hyun chuckled at the sight of the box full of flashlights.

“You should have just paid the electric bill. You can get it back later.”

Park Young-hoon, who was opening another box next to him, also nodded his head, but the manager was adamant.

“This is a matter of pride. Do you think I’m crazy to pay the electric bill again after I already paid it?”

“This must have cost more.”

“Whatever. The electric bill won’t come out while the lights are off, right? That’s good enough.”

“Gee, you’re so optimistic.”

Yoo-hyun bit his tongue.

The manager’s face showed determination.

He understood.

He had been bullied by the landlord so much that he had become bitter.

Yoo-hyun, who had not gone through the process, had nothing to say.

Then, Park Young-hoon, who got up from his seat, clapped his hands and suggested.

“Yoo-hyun is here too. Why don’t we have a dinner together for once?”

“Dinner?”

“Didn’t we agree to treat us to tuna?”

Park Young-hoon said boldly, and the manager flinched and backed away.

“That’s right.”

“Today is the day to keep your promise.”

Everyone, who had always been oppressed by Park Young-hoon, shouted in unison.

“Right on.”

Tuna was expensive, but it was a high-protein food, and it had the advantage of being unlimited.

It was perfect for people who worked out.

They were all happy with the delicious food and drinks.

The manager, who shook off his stress with a drink, sparkled his eyes.

“Jang-woo is in America right now…”

“Is Tae-soo hyung helping Jang-woo?”

The manager nodded his head at Yoo-hyun’s question.

“He suggested it first. He said he wanted to take a break since he’s old.”

“He liked working out though.”

“He has a talent for coaching. Thanks to him, Jang-woo gained a lot of confidence.”

“Yes. He seems like it.”

Jang-woo no longer sounded weak when he called Yoo-hyun.

He had grown into a champion, with dignity.

Yoo-hyun, who recalled the reliable junior, offered a glass to the manager.

“Jang-woo will do well in America, and the building will be fine too.”

“It better be. You should help Young-hoon when you have time. He’s having a hard time.”

“First, pay the electric bill.”

“Geez. You’re getting on my nerves. I got it, so drink up.”

Clang.

The manager clinked his glass and shook his head.

It was after the dinner.

Yoo-hyun was sitting on a bench with Park Young-hoon, under the streetlight.

“Thanks to you, I ate well.”

“Don’t mention it. Just tell me when you’re hungry. The manager has a lot to treat us.”

“Haha. No wonder the manager listens to you.”

“Of course. How much did I earn for him?”

Park Young-hoon was the one who led the overseas match contract and overseas training company contract for the champion Jang-woo.

He also secured the license contract for the back-smashing T-shirt, and was involved in the recent advertising contract.

Now he even cared about the civil lawsuit with the landlord.

It was a snowball effect of a job he started for the absurd reason of handling money.

Yoo-hyun shrugged his shoulders at the sight of Park Young-hoon’s anger.

“Haha. You must have a knack for making money.”

“Well. Your account is pretty hot these days.”

“Never mind the stock market, your futures earnings are pretty good too, right?”

“Your intuition worked well. Europe is picking up, you know.”

“You made the choice. You did well with buying and selling too.”

It was not just a casual remark. Park Young-hoon had a definite sense of investment.

Thanks to him, the bonus account that he used for options had a much higher return than the salary account that he used for US stocks.

On top of that, he added the hefty bonus he received from the group strategy room, and the unit of money changed.

Park Young-hoon seemed to admit that part and said confidently.

“So, are you going to keep being aggressive?”

“Do whatever you want. It’s okay if you lose.”

“Okay. If my VIP customer says so, I have to.”

Park Young-hoon smiled brightly.

Yoo-hyun, instead of worrying about the money that was rolling well, pointed out another part.

“Hyung, just do me one favor.”

“What?”

“Find out how much it would cost to buy our gym building.”

“Why? Are you buying the building?”

Yoo-hyun dodged the question from the surprised Park Young-hoon.

“Just curious.”

“Are you thinking of giving the landlord a hard time?”

Yoo-hyun hid his embarrassed feeling and answered the sharp question.

“Of course not.”

“Don’t even think about it if it’s for investment. There’s no potential here in the outskirts.”

It was a rundown area, but it was still inside Seoul.

The land value around here would surely rise in the near future.

“It’s fine, just find out for me.”

“Fine, fine. I got it.”

“Thank you. You’re really competent as my fund manager.”

“Why do you and the manager sound the same when you use me?”

Park Young-hoon shook his head, and Yoo-hyun said one word.

“I’ll buy you a drink.”

“Deal.”

Park Young-hoon’s face brightened up in an instant.

Yoo-hyun smiled at the simple but helpful friend-like hyung.

As the TF launch ceremony approached, Yoo-hyun’s preparation became more concrete.

The technical data for the launch ceremony was now in place.

The OLED mobile development staff helped him, and the CTO staff sent him piles of data with objections.

The strategic product planning team helped him with the numbers and trends to suggest a direction.

The organizational structure and equipment investment part was handled by Hyun Kyung-young, the senior manager.

Of course, he couldn’t do this alone.

Yoo-hyun called Jeong Hyun-woo, who helped him behind the scenes.

“How did you manage to take care of all the CTO staff when you’re busy?”

-I thought it would help with the organization. I’ll communicate with Hyun senior manager on this part.

Jeong Hyun-woo, who was still in the Ulsan mobile development planning team, said in a tired voice.

He knew he was good at his job from a distance, but he was more than that when he experienced it.

“Thanks to you, the speed is definitely picking up. Thank you.”

-You’re welcome. I have to help you, hyung, who are working hard from afar.

“I’m not working hard.”

-Come on, I can see you’re struggling just by looking at how our business unit is running.

It was understandable that he would think he was struggling, since the mobile business unit was hostile to the future technology TF.

But all kinds of tackles were blocked by Yoo-hyun’s allies.

Yoo-hyun didn’t bother to explain, but said the following.

“I think there’s some misunderstanding, but let’s talk about that later. The organizational transfer issue will be handled after the launch ceremony, as I told you before.”

-Yes. I was worried that the team leader would make a fuss if I moved too hastily.

“Don’t worry. I’ll cut it off cleanly for you.”

-Whatever you say. I’ll just support you from behind.

After exchanging a few more words, Yoo-hyun hung up the phone in a good mood.

Kwon Se-jung, the deputy, asked him curiously as he saw Yoo-hyun smiling.

“What’s making you so happy?”

“No, just. Did you get the email from Kim Hak-il team leader?”

“Yeah. He must be really eager. He’s asking for a pretty aggressive quantity and schedule from Shinwa Semiconductor.”

“He’s trying to break through. It’s a lucky thing for us.”

The only remaining task for the TF launch ceremony was to build the production infrastructure.

It was a job of convincing Shinwa Semiconductor, and Kim Hak-il team leader worked hard for it.

Thanks to him, who took responsibility for the technology transfer and the semiconductor substrate production, the work became much easier.

There was another benefit, apart from the launch ceremony.

“Did you request a tour of the semiconductor factory from Shinwa Semiconductor?”

“I did it through the Future Product Research Center. They seem to want to entrust the semiconductor substrate to the analysis room as well.”

“Really? Even before the negotiation started?”

“It seems like Shinwa Semiconductor requested it.”

Why did Shinwa Semiconductor request the substrate?

It seemed like an intention to speed up the schedule, but there was something suspicious about it.

Yoo-hyun nodded his head for now.

“I see. When is the meeting?”

“This Friday. It’s tight to match the launch ceremony next week.”

“It’s not bad though. Did you attend with all of us?”

“Of course. We have to go together.”

“Okay. Let’s get together. Let’s have a strategy meeting.”

Yoo-hyun gestured, and three people quickly gathered at the table.

It was a great advantage to have an office in an independent space, where they could easily meet.

Yoo-hyun connected his laptop to the TV.

Before showing the screen, he said first.

“I think the preparation for the launch ceremony is almost done. I don’t think there will be much trouble with Shinwa Semiconductor either.”

“But we need some results from this visit to use for the launch ceremony, right?”

“That part will be taken care of by Kim team leader, so don’t worry.”

Yoo-hyun summarized it neatly, and Kwon Se-jung, the deputy, agreed right away.

“Then the most important thing is left.”

“Right. That’s why I called you. Let’s look at the data and talk about it.”

Snap.

Yoo-hyun moved the mouse, and an internet news page appeared on the TV screen.

Kwon Se-jung blinked his eyes at the title.

“This is a recent article, right?”

“Just look at it.”

-Shinwa Semiconductor successfully converted its S8 factory located in Osan into a system semiconductor factory in early 2011, and invested 50 billion won in additional equipment such as thin film process and metal wiring process, enabling precision process. Shinwa Semiconductor increased the scale of its high-value-added system IC foundry business through this…

The article mentioned the S8 factory that Yoo-hyun and the innovation strategy room were focusing on.

Kwon Se-jung, who skimmed through the content, asked.

“It looks like there’s no problem with the S8 factory from the article, right?”

“They’re playing up the value to negotiate.”

“Is it because the negotiation with Micron is coming up?”

“That’s probably it. If that’s the case, Shinwa Semiconductor must be feeling anxious too.”

Kwon Se-jung hit the nail on the head, and Yoo-hyun recited the next content.

“Right. To find the weakness, we need to look at this part.”

Yoo-hyun turned the page and showed the prepared content.

-The supply of substrates from Hansung Technic to Shinwa Semiconductor. The quantity has not increased since the beginning of the year.

“It should have increased normally if the factory was newly established, right?”

“Right. There’s no change in the supply from other suppliers either. And they didn’t hire any extra staff either.”

“It’s suspicious enough to doubt, but it’s too weak to use as evidence.”

“That’s why I made a list of what we need to find the weakness.”

Yoo-hyun showed the page with the items that could confirm the problem with the S8 factory.

-Inventory, shipment, material supply, staff attendance, abnormal equipment, etc.

Below the items, there was a plan.