Real Man

Translator: MarcTempest

Chapter 56

The awkward silence was broken when the newly opened bottle of alcohol was almost empty.

His face was flushed red.

“I know this is not something I should tell you, since you just joined us.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“Ha.”

Kim Hyun-min, the manager, sighed deeply and hesitated.

He looked confused.

It seemed like he was trying to say something he had never said before.

He was just a new employee who he had met for the first time.

But still, he was in a situation where he was pouring out his heart to him.

It was because of Yoo-hyun.

He had actually tried to get closer to him on purpose.

He swallowed his saliva several times and moved his throat loudly.

Kim Hyun-min, the Manager, opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind.

“My wife was very beautiful.”

“…”

Beautiful, not is beautiful.

At the word in past tense, Yoo-hyun felt a chill run through his body.

Yoo-hyun could not say anything.

Kim Hyun-min, the Manager, started to reveal his secrets one by one.

“My wife passed away seven years ago.”

He did not tell him the reason.

He just spoke with a voice that suppressed his sorrow.

Yoo-hyun listened carefully.

His words without tears made Yoo-hyun’s heart ache.

‘I’m sorry.’

He had always smiled brightly and acted like a fool.

He did not know that he had such pain behind his image.

It must have been a past that he wanted to hide.

That’s why he felt more sorry.

He had touched his wound with the excuse of getting to know him better.

“…That’s why I moved to this group. I had no choice. I couldn’t stand seeing the faces of the people I worked with.”

“…”

He must have remembered his wife’s funeral every time he saw them.

How could he bear it?

Kim Hyun-min, the Manager, continued.

“I’m crazy. When my wife was on her last journey, I was working overtime. I didn’t even go home because I was close to getting promoted.”

“I see.”

“Damn it.”

Yoo-hyun guessed what word was hidden behind that.

Anger at himself, and anger at the company.

“I don’t want to force you. That’s not right. I can’t make another person like me.”

“Yes.”

“You have to make your own decision. If you do what your boss tells you and something goes wrong, how can you handle the resentment?”

“I think I can understand a little bit.”

Yoo-hyun emptied his glass.

He just wanted to drink now, regardless of his purpose or plan.

“Actually…”

Maybe because of the mood, Kim Hyun-min, the Manager, completely broke down his wall and spoke honestly.

The more he listened, the more his prejudice against him crumbled.

Kim Hyun-min, the Manager, wanted to change.

He wanted everyone to have a more comfortable life at work.

He knew that he had to bring out the synergy of his team members for that.

He was not just a bystander who acted like a fool.

He just couldn’t muster up the courage because of the wall of reality.

That was enough.

‘I’ll help you.’

Yoo-hyun listened to Kim Hyun-min, the Manager’s story until the end.

When they came out, they felt the cool air that had cooled down a bit.

“I feel relieved.”

“I enjoyed it too. Oh, and…”

Yoo-hyun raised his index finger and put it on his lips.

Kim Hyun-min, the manager chuckled.

“Huh?”

“I’ll help you.”

He grabbed his arm that was swaying for a moment and put it on his shoulder.

Was it because he heard about his painful past?

Did he feel sympathy for him?

No, it was because Kim Hyun-min as a person had entered Yoo-hyun’s heart.

“Thank you. I can go by myself now.”

“Manager Kim, thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being honest with me.”

Kim Hyun-min, the Manager smiled at Yoo-hyun’s sincere words.

“What. It’s hard to get recognition under me.”

“I feel like it will be different this time. I have a good sense of things.”

“You’re bland. But where do you catch the bus?”

“On the other side. You go ahead.”

Yoo-hyun watched Kim Hyun-min’s bus arrive and turned around.

His chest was hot right now.

There was someone he wanted to see.

It was past 9 pm.

There were lights on in various places in Hanseong Tower.

The 12th floor was no exception.

The elevator door opened, and as he entered the office, the lights that were off turned on one by one.

They were tile-shaped lights that detected the body with sensors and automatically turned on the light.

The distant lights were exactly on the spot where Yoo-hyun had expected.

“Huh? Why are you still here? What are you doing?”

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, who was sitting at his desk, widened his eyes.

Yoo-hyun just smiled.

He didn’t even have to hand over the plastic bag he was holding.

The smell was enough.

“You must be hungry. Why don’t you eat and work?”

“Hey, I’m going home.”

“At dawn?”

“Puhaha, I’m almost done.”

He said no, but Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, had already lifted his butt.

He was already waiting for 11 o’clock to come while he was finishing up.

The company paid for the taxi fare after 11 o’clock.

The overtime pay he got was extra.

Yoo-hyun came at the right time.

Yoo-hyun went to an empty conference room with Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager.

He spread out the newspaper he had brought and laid out the tteokbokki, sundae, and fried food that were in the plastic bag.

“This is from the food cart in front of us. How did you know it’s delicious?”

“I just saw it.”

“…Thank you, man.”

Yoo-hyun just smiled.

‘I’m more thankful.’

19 years ago.

If he had to choose one of the most memorable scenes, Yoo-hyun would choose this scene without hesitation.

Of course, the positions were reversed.

Back then, Yoo-hyun was working overtime and Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, showed up unexpectedly.

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, was not very meticulous, so he didn’t even bring a newspaper.

He didn’t even bring wooden chopsticks.

In the end, they had to eat with coffee spoons from the pantry.

He realized later that it was a very special thing.

Why did Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, take care of him so much?

-Why? You’re my junior. You should do the same for your junior later.

That was his answer to Yoo-hyun on the day he left.

He couldn’t keep his promise in the end.

He didn’t even have enough peace of mind to do that for his junior.

Click.

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, was smiling all the time.

“The more I see you, the more sense you have. How did you know I like sweet honey tea?”

“I don’t know. It just caught my eye.”

“Puhaha, okay. I’ll drink it well.”

Yoo-hyun quietly looked at Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager who was drinking his drink coolly.

His messy hair and loosened tie showed his traces of worry.

He was suffering because of something he didn’t have to do if he hadn’t touched it in the first place.

A thought crossed his mind.

‘Am I pushing too hard for my way?’

Yoo-hyun had felt something when he saw Kim Hyun-min, the manager, today.

He asked him what he felt.

“Isn’t it hard to prepare the backup plan?”

“It’s hard. But this is better. At least this feels like my work.”

“What about before?”

“I just did what I was told. I had no time to think for myself because they kept rushing me with tight deadlines.”

Yoo-hyun quietly said a word at Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager’s words.

“You might not even use it after all the trouble.”

“So what? At least this is something I did from scratch.”

As expected, he had a positive attitude.

But that was not enough.

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, had to give up the PDA project to survive.

It meant giving up a year’s worth of work to someone else.

The more important thing was that the performance evaluation was right around the corner.

He couldn’t easily handle such a risk.

Could he force him to choose at the crossroads that he would soon face?

“Manager Kim said they are both too difficult.”

“What is?”

“If Channel Phone becomes the backup plan, the performance will go to them.”

“So what?”

“What?”

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, casually opened his mouth at Yoo-hyun’s surprise.

“I have some sense. I know it’s hard to get a good evaluation this way.”

“Assistant Manager.”

“This project is already a mess. I know it sounds bad coming from the person in charge, but I don’t think PDA will do well either.”

“…”

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, pointed out the future accurately.

Yoo-hyun was silent while he finished his story.

“I’d rather have Channel Phone 2 as a backup sooner. Then I can go all in on the low-cost full-touch phone.”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“Honestly, it’s hard. I don’t think Shin Chan-yong, the section chief, will accept it. But I still want to try.”

Yoo-hyun relaxed as he heard Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager’s words.

He knew they had exactly the same thoughts.

Yeah, let’s not think too hard.

Everyone who joins a company wants to leave their mark.

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, had enough ability to do that, but he just missed his chance.

He just needed to help him with that.

Yoo-hyun put down his burden and ate the remaining food while chatting with Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager.

“Assistant Manager…”

“That’s because…”

It was just a conversation where they laughed and talked without any special purpose.

It felt like family.

If he had an older brother, wouldn’t it feel like this?

A really nice older brother.

Then Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager, asked him a question as if he had sensed something.

“Oh, it’s payday soon. What are you going to do with your first paycheck?”

“I have to buy a gift for my parents.”

“What about me?”

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager pointed at himself with his index finger jokingly.

He was just saying that he should treat him with his first paycheck.

“I already gave you.”

“Where?”

“Here.”

Yoo-hyun pointed at the remaining tteokbokki and Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager chuckled.

“You’re trying to get away with this?”

“Should I have bought chicken?”

Park Seung-woo, the Assistant Manager quickly matched Yoo-hyun’s tone.

“No. This is much better. Thank you.”

“Please buy something better when you get paid.”

“Chicken?”

“That sounds good.”

“Puhahaha.”

The laughter of the two lasted for a while.

There is an end if there is a beginning.

That’s how work is.

They were doing different projects, but they had to run for their own goals.

The method was the same, only the degree was different.

They listed what they had to do between the start and end and did them one by one.

Sounds easy?

This is really it.

They just had to set and follow their goals according to their schedule.

The intensity of work was not important as long as they could do that.

The problem was how to set up the schedule.

Most office workers struggled with scheduling.

They couldn’t know unless they experienced it.

So they vaguely followed the way they had done before.

The reason for setting the schedule this way was not ‘Can I do this work?’ or ‘What is the surrounding environment?’ but ‘This is how we did it before’.

The schedule set in this way was reduced by the boss.

They hesitated to answer when they asked ‘Why can’t you do it faster?’ because they couldn’t make an accurate judgment of their current situation.

In the end, they had no choice but to accept the unreasonable schedule without any evidence.

This problem was more pronounced in the rapidly changing IT field.

Especially for companies that did not produce products for customers, but supplied parts to customers.

It was harder to keep up with the changes.