Real Man

Translator: MarcTempest

Chapter 55

Did he like alcohol?

It was unlikely that Yoo-hyun, who was meticulous about himself, would enjoy drinking.

He didn’t smoke for the same reason.

But he couldn’t refuse to attend drinking parties as a Korean office worker.

At least for Yoo-hyun, who was striving for success, it was a necessary course.

Many deals were made at drinking parties, and new connections were formed.

Yoo-hyun paid attention to the slightest changes in his counterparts’ expressions, and tried to remember their words.

Now, in front of him, Kim Hyun Min, the manager, was sitting.

The situation was similar, but the purpose was completely different.

It was not to please his boss, nor to extract information, nor to show off his abilities.

He just wanted to know his honest thoughts.

Did he really want to work properly with his team members?

If not, he had to change his plan.

Kim Hyun Min, who was unaware of his intentions, picked up a bottle of alcohol.

“Have a drink.”

“Thank you. I’ll offer you one too.”

“Haha, sure. How did you find this place?”

“I heard from a colleague. They said the skewers here are really good.”

The place Yoo-hyun chose was a pub in the back alley behind Hanseong Tower, about two blocks away.

He didn’t come here for the taste.

If that was the case, he would have gone to a rice soup restaurant instead.

The real reason he chose this place?

It had partitions and a quiet atmosphere.

The red-toned lights and the wooden tables and chairs reduced the pressure.

The warm sake on top of them made the distance between the people sitting across from each other closer without much effort.

The most important thing was that the price was cheap, so it didn’t hurt his wallet either.

Kim Hyun Min, who was munching on skewers, said.

“It’s delicious.”

“Please buy us more often.”

“Hahaha, sure. Sure. This is enough.”

“I’ll always look at the time.”

Yoo-hyun inserted appropriate responses while observing Kim Hyun Min’s expression.

He had to let Kim Hyun Min lead the conversation.

Everyone had a desire to have someone listen to their stories.

As expected, the stories slowly came out.

“The company? Does the company take responsibility for my life? Everyone gets fired when they get old. I don’t know why they’re so attached to it.”

“That might be true.”

This was where Kim Hyun Min’s opinion became clear.

He emphasized his personal life more than the company.

He was the one who would let them take a vacation whenever they wanted without asking why, even when they were busy.

“Don’t be mistaken. You won’t die without the company. The company will die without hard-working people like you.”

“Do I work hard?”

“No? Park Daeri praised you a lot.”

“He’s just being nice.”

“Haha, whatever. It’s good to work hard.”

“I’ll try my best.”

As Yoo-hyun answered, Kim Hyun Min gulped down a drink.

Then he shook his empty glass and said in a rather serious voice.

“It’s good, but it’s better not to be blindly loyal to the company.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. You never know when you’ll be thrown away. No matter how well the company does, what’s the use? If you get fired for being incompetent, it’s all useless. Right?”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong.

Not all of those who were sacrificed by the company were incompetent.

They were just unlucky victims who had to be sacrificed due to external circumstances.

It was the company’s fault that they gave them such a choice.

The sense of deprivation of those who had invested everything in the company in that situation was indescribable.

What if they had prepared something else?

Wouldn’t it have reduced the chances of them going bankrupt because of the company?

Maybe what Kim Hyun Min said was more realistic for most office workers.

They drank and talked about this and that.

“I’m telling you…”

“I see…”

It wasn’t just mindless drinking.

He put quite some effort into it, so the distance between them was noticeably closer than before.

Usually at this point, they would spill their personal stories as well.

But Kim Hyun Min didn’t do that.

He avoided talking about his personal life as much as possible.

It was a stark contrast to Jo Chan Young, the director who would recite his college life even after just one cup of coffee.

‘It’s not easy.’

He seemed to hide his inner thoughts quite well despite his casual appearance.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t tell how high the wall Kim Hyun Min had built was.

Yoo-hyun wondered.

How could he make him reveal the stories he had hidden deep inside?

The end of the conversation that flowed superficially was already starting to show.

The side dishes were almost gone, and so was the alcohol.

It meant that there wasn’t much time left.

Yoo-hyun recalled the meetings he had with high-ranking foreign buyers in the past.

He had to quickly get close to them without even knowing their faces in order to achieve results.

He had to use a method that would arouse their curiosity and draw out their inner thoughts.

What method did he use back then?

Yoo-hyun handed Kim Hyun Min a napkin as he saw him reach out to the table.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks.”

Kim Hyun Min looked surprised and then nodded his head.

It wasn’t the first time Yoo-hyun showed his sense.

He never missed a glass of alcohol, and he never ran out of food.

It meant that he was attentive to his surroundings.

From Kim Hyun Min’s perspective, he was an amazing subordinate.

‘Who would think he’s a new employee?’

He didn’t look nervous or shaky.

He felt like he was facing an old friend he hadn’t seen in a long time.

Kim Hyun Min looked at Yoo-hyun, who was listening to his story with ease, with a new appreciation.

Yoo-hyun raised both hands over the table and caught his eye.

“Manager, do you know?”

“Huh? Know what?”

“If you hold up both hands and look at your face, you can read your mind.”

“Hey, that’s nonsense. How can you read your mind?”

Kim Hyun Min chuckled, but Yoo-hyun didn’t back down.

“Do you want to try?”

“…Okay.”

Kim Hyun Min, who had a suspicious expression, eventually nodded his head.

Yoo-hyun drew Kim Hyun Min’s curious gaze to his hands and drew a square in the air.

“There’s a screen between you and me right now.”

“Hmm.”

“Please think of a basic shape on that screen.”

“Which one?”

“Like a square. But don’t think of a square.”

“I thought of one.”

“Good. Remember the shape you thought of.”

“Okay.”

Kim Hyun Min was already in curiosity heaven.

Yoo-hyun continued to draw a round shape with his hand and said.

“Now think of another shape and surround the shape you thought of with it.”

“I did it.”

“Good. Then I’ll try to guess it now.”

Yoo-hyun looked straight into Kim Hyun Min’s eyes.

It was a bit overwhelming, but it became a natural process due to a series of events.

The increasing pulse, the frequent blinking, the deepening wrinkles around the eyes were clearly visible.

After a brief silence, Yoo-hyun spoke as if making a careful decision.

“A triangle inside a circle. Right?”

“No? It’s a star inside a circle.”

He pretended not to know.

He couldn’t hide his pupils dilating for a moment.

“Really? I think it’s right. Your subconscious is telling me that.”

“…Yeah. How did you do that?”

Kim Hyunmin, the manager, looked quite surprised.

But he didn’t know.

Yoo-hyun forced his choice with his hand and eye, and blocked any other thoughts with his rapid breathing.

This was the end of the preliminary work to attract his curiosity.

The important thing was from now on.

“It’s not important how I did it, but what it means.”

“What it means…”

“The shape of the surrounding figure tells you about your personality. You chose a neat round circle, right?”

“Yeah.”

Yoo-hyun calmly explained to Kim Hyunmin, who looked startled.

“It means your personality is round. You get along well with others and have a lot of tolerance.”

“I’m a bit round. Hehe.”

It was a possible answer because he created a plausible situation with any words he could attach.

Yoo-hyun’s intention was to avoid suspicion and read his inner thoughts.

He had to go one step further.

“Especially, the circle that surrounds the three vertices shows your hidden desire. It’s a pattern that people who dream of a bigger future often say.”

“Really?”

“Do you have anything you want to do at the company?”

“Anything I want to do? I told you. I don’t have any attachment to the company. But how can there be so much meaning in one circle? Is this really true?”

At Kim Hyunmin’s words, Yoo-hyun shrugged lightly.

It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not.

It just has to look plausible to Kim Hyunmin.

Fortunately, he was still on the board that Yoo-hyun had set up.

‘He wavered for a moment.’

His breathing was disrupted when he talked about his hidden desire.

He clearly showed that he had something he wanted to do rather than being satisfied with his current life.

What was stopping him?

Yoo-hyun looked into Kim Hyunmin’s eyes and moved on.

“And the triangle inside means that your work, personal life, and family are in harmony.”

“Hehe, that’s good.”

He smiled bitterly, but couldn’t hide it.

This was the point.

Yoo-hyun leaned forward and got closer to him.

“The three vertices touching the circle represent marital relationship, parenting, and retirement preparation. The center of them is marital relationship. You two seem to have met well.”

“…”

Kim Hyunmin was more shaken than when he talked about the company.

Did it mean that he was not satisfied with his marriage?

There was a rumor that Kim Hyunmin was having an affair at the company?

“Your wife must be satisfied with your marriage too.”

At that moment, Kim Hyunmin’s pupils shook violently.

It was a more intense reaction than when he threw some bait.

Yoo-hyun was surprised by it.

“…Stop it.”

“Hey. Hey, give me another bottle of alcohol here.”

Yoo-hyun quickly moved his body and called out to the passing waiter.

It was because of Kim Hyunmin’s gesture of lifting an empty bottle.

He seemed thirsty for alcohol.

Yoo-hyun knew he had touched something wrong.

He didn’t ask personal questions for this reason.

If there was something painful, it would be a big mistake.

“I’m sorry, manager.”

“No. Sorry for what? It was fun.”

The alcohol came out, and Yoo-hyun poured it into an empty glass.

Kim Hyunmin drank quietly without saying anything.

He had a cold and heavy atmosphere around him unlike usual.

After some time passed, Kim Hyunmin opened his mouth quietly.

“Haha, sorry. I guess I’m drunk.”

“…”

He smiled with his mouth but had sad eyes.

What happened?

Yoo-hyun silently offered him more alcohol.