Real Man

Team leader Jeong In-wook asked Yoo-hyun, who was smiling brightly.

“What are you so happy about?”

“I’m happy to see you, team leader.”

Yoo-hyun answered with a good-natured tone, and then whispered after looking around.

“Are you going to vent your frustration properly today, the one you couldn’t last time?”

“Of course. I’ll be there by dinner time.”

“Good. I’ll send my wife away and join you. Let’s have a drink then.”

Team leader Jeong In-wook raised his thumb and gathered the people one by one.

It was understandable to be unhappy about having a dinner party on the weekend, but everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

Yoo-hyun was also prepared for it, so it was no problem at all.

It was perfect timing to attend after having dinner with Hyun-kyung Yeong, the person in charge, and Jeong Hyun-woo.

Team leader Jeong In-wook asked Yoo-hyun, who was reviewing the schedule, with excitement.

“Okay. Everyone is coming. Are you staying up all night? You know, right?”

“Did your sister-in-law give you permission?”

“It’s okay. Just sell the person in charge.”

Team leader Jeong In-wook pointed his chin at Kim Ho-geol, the executive director, who was sitting there.

He had greeted him earlier, but he didn’t have much conversation.

Yoo-hyun was about to move his seat to talk to Kim Ho-geol, the executive director, when it happened.

Ring. Ring.

Yoo-hyun got a call from Park Young-hoon, so he asked for a moment.

“Team leader, I’ll take this call and come back.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be arranging the place with the kids.”

Team leader Jeong In-wook’s face was full of excitement.

What was he so happy about?

Yoo-hyun chuckled and moved to the corner of the restaurant to answer the phone.

“You must have some good news since you called me on the weekend?”

-There are a few things. Shall I start with the gym building?

“Did you check it out?”

-Of course I did. It’s a favor for a VIP customer. The debt on the building right now…

Park Young-hoon explained the details of the three-story building quite thoroughly.

Yoo-hyun, who was listening, asked.

“That’s a lot of debt for the price they’re asking, isn’t it?”

-Yeah. And yet they’re trying to kick us out. It’s ironic. It looks like the second floor is gone too.

“There must be a reason for that. I think I have an idea.”

-What is it?

“Let’s talk about it when we meet.”

He had a guess, but it was hard to confirm it over the phone.

Yoo-hyun summarized the situation, and Park Young-hoon told him more good news.

-Yeah. Oh, and your bonus account, it hit the jackpot.

“Gift?”

-Yeah. The option expired at the right time and the profit was considerable.

“Is it your luck or your skill, bro?”

-Say it’s both. Anyway, I have something I want to say to you.

“What is it?”

-Well…

Just as Park Young-hoon was about to continue, it happened.

Ring.

Yoo-hyun instinctively looked at the screen and stopped him.

“Bro, hold on a second.”

-Why?

Yoo-hyun listened to Park Young-hoon’s words and looked closely at the message sent by Shin Nak-kyun, the assistant manager.

-The transfer of the Narutal Power project is completed in the first phase. I have to work on the Shinwa Semiconductor related work, so I don’t think I can contact you for a while.

Yoo-hyun blinked his eyes and gave a hollow laugh.

“Why is Shinwa Semiconductor coming out here?”

-Shinwa Semiconductor?

“It’s nothing.”

Yoo-hyun answered Park Young-hoon and pondered the situation.

What the hell was Shinwa Semiconductor related work?

‘The only person who would give such a work order to the strategy manager is…’

Then he suddenly remembered a man’s name and said in a hurry.

“Damn! Bro, let’s talk later.”

-No, I have to say…

Click.

Yoo-hyun hung up the phone and quickly went back to his seat to pack his stuff.

Team leader Jeong In-wook, who saw him, was puzzled.

“What, are you leaving?”

“Yes. I’ll vent my frustration later. I have an urgent matter.”

“No, I booked a really nice place…”

“I’ll see you next time.”

Yoo-hyun said goodbye to the people, including team leader Jeong In-wook, and quickly moved his feet.

Tap tap tap.

He was in a hurry.

Yoo-hyun moved to the parking lot outside the building and called Shin Nak-kyun, the assistant manager.

He hadn’t heard his voice for a long time because he only exchanged messages, but he skipped the greetings.

“What do you mean by Shinwa Semiconductor?”

-I didn’t get the exact instructions either. They just said to keep some staff ready.

“Who did?”

-Lee Jun-il, the section chief.

Lee Jun-il, the section chief, was the type who never left any spare staff alone.

Saying to keep them ready meant that work was about to drop soon.

Yoo-hyun thought for a moment and hesitated, and Shin Nak-kyun, the assistant manager, asked curiously.

-Is there a problem?

“No, just. I was wondering what you were doing.”

-Thanks to you, I’m getting recognized for my performance and doing well.

“Good. That’s good. Oh, and the reason I called you today…”

Yoo-hyun hadn’t finished his sentence when Shin Nak-kyun, the assistant manager, answered.

After Yoo-hyun found out who Lee Jun-il, the section chief, was, he asked Shin Nak-kyun, the assistant manager, to do him a favor, and it came back to him.

-I’ll keep it a secret so you don’t get in trouble. I still haven’t uploaded the data we made together to the team shared folder.

“Thank you.”

-Don’t mention it.

Yoo-hyun hung up the phone after Shin Nak-kyun, the assistant manager’s short greeting.

This time, Shin Nak-kyun, the assistant manager, did a great job.

He had time to prepare because he found out before the work exploded.

‘Thank you.’

Yoo-hyun expressed his gratitude in his heart and got into the car and started the engine.

Vroom.

During the short time when the engine sound echoed, Yoo-hyun finished his calculations.

There was only one fact that all the circumstances pointed to.

Lee Jun-il, the section chief, had found out about the acquisition of Shinwa Semiconductor!

Not only that, but he was trying to stop it somehow.

The fact that he created a new task for the strategy manager was enough to tell.

How would Lee Jun-il come out?

Yoo-hyun, who had drawn the answer in his head, briefly summarized the backup plan he had prepared and sent it to the main members of the Innovation Strategy Office by email.

-I request an urgent meeting. I sent you the details by email.

Then he sent a short group message and drove the car right away.

Vroom.

Yoo-hyun was still communicating with people while driving.

Among them was Park Doo-sik, the deputy manager who was at the forefront of the acquisition.

-Is what you said true?

“Yes, deputy manager. Our strategy has leaked for sure.”

Yoo-hyun emphasized again to Park Doo-sik, the deputy manager, who asked for confirmation.

But Park Doo-sik, the deputy manager, still seemed incredulous.

-That can’t be. We hid it as much as we could.

“There could be additional information networks. They could have traced the data that was uploaded to the system.”

-No, we prepared so much…

He understood the effort, but the reality was the reality.

Yoo-hyun cut off his mumbling and got to the point.

“Deputy manager, we don’t have time. Are you gathering?”

-Yeah. The vice president is coming too. The place is the seminar room at Baekje Hotel.

“I’ll go there right away. Please check the backup plan I sent you, and check the media side too.”

-The media?

“If it’s Lee Jun-il, the section chief, there’s a possibility that he’ll use the media.”

Lee Jun-il, the section chief, was the kind of person who would cut off the sprout before it grew.

This time was no different.

-Why?

“He probably wants to leak the internal information to prevent the acquisition from starting.”

-What? Oh, okay. I’ll check it out right away.

Park Doo-sik, the deputy manager, who understood Yoo-hyun’s words at once, moved.

Two hours later.

Yoo-hyun still hadn’t left Gyeongsangbuk-do.

The navigation’s estimated arrival time kept increasing because it was the weekend.

“Ah! This is frustrating.”

He needed to switch to the backup plan as soon as possible, considering Lee Jun-il’s style.

But the backup plan that Yoo-hyun proposed was not an easy direction, even for the bold Shin Kyung-wook, the vice president.

It didn’t just focus on the acquisition of Shinwa Semiconductor, but also dealt with a wide and unfamiliar range of work.

There were many parts that were not decided, so it was hard to estimate the outcome.

He had a lot to say about that, but now was not the time to argue.

Yoo-hyun emphasized the urgency again.

“If not now, later will be useless. It’s already late even if we start now.”

-I know, the situation is not good.

“Then why are you hesitating?”

-We can’t rush into a situation where we haven’t calculated anything.

Yoo-hyun drew a line coldly as Shin Kyung-wook, the vice president, remained negative.

“You have to bear that part, vice president.”

-What do you mean?

“Didn’t you say you trust me and support me fully? Then you should be prepared to take that much risk.”

-Are you saying I’m not prepared?

“If you were, you would have moved by now.”

Yoo-hyun trusted and respected Shin Kyung-wook, the vice president, more than anyone else.

But even so, he pushed him hard, knowing that there might be misunderstandings.

Ring.

Then the phone rang and the screen flashed.

Yoo-hyun checked the text message from reporter Oh Eun-bi on the congested road.

-I tried to use my journalist network to check what you asked for. To sum it up, there will be an article with the nuance that Hansung Group is acquiring Shinwa Semiconductor. If you’re curious…

It was quite a long text, but the information he wanted came in at a glance.

The fact that it would be in the article showed him the remaining time of the time bomb.

Tick tock.

The countdown had started a long time ago.

“…”

Yoo-hyun, who lost his words for a moment, picked up the phone and pressed the call button.

The other person was Shin Kyung-wook, the vice president, and he couldn’t delay it any longer.

Ding dong.

After the call connection sound rang a few times.

Shin Kyung-wook’s voice came out of the car speaker.

-What are you so curious about that you call me? We’re taking care of it.

His unusually grumpy voice showed that he was in a sensitive state.

Nevertheless, Yoo-hyun did not back down and said firmly.

“I called because I wanted to confirm something.”

-Tell me.

Yoo-hyun asked Shin Kyung-wook, who lowered his voice a bit.

“Did you check the media side?”

-I did.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Park Doo-sik, the deputy manager, or Park Seung-woo, the manager, wouldn’t have stopped him in the middle.

It was clear that Shin Kyung-wook didn’t tell Yoo-hyun.

Yoo-hyun asked for the reason, and Shin Kyung-wook answered bluntly.

-It’s not something that you can do while driving. It’s not like it’s going to work if you say it urgently.

“That’s very kind of you, vice president, but it’s a matter of time.”

-I know, we’re not ready for it.

“Then why are you hesitating?”

-We can’t rush into a situation where we haven’t calculated anything.

Yoo-hyun drew a line coldly as Shin Kyung-wook, the vice president, remained negative.

“You have to bear that part, vice president.”

-What do you mean?

“Didn’t you say you trust me and support me fully? Then you should be prepared to take that much risk.”

-Are you saying I’m not prepared?

“If you were, you would have moved by now.”

Yoo-hyun trusted and respected Shin Kyung-wook, the vice president, more than anyone else.

But even so, he pushed him hard, knowing that there might be misunderstandings.