Real Man

Translator: MarcTempest

Chapter 59

He doubted that she would remember anything even if they talked more, but he couldn’t stop now.

It was important to him.

“Hey, I’m serious.”

“Serious about what? Hehehe.”

“Ugh, really. Listen, I’ll just say it straight.”

“Pffft, what is it?”

Despite her laughter, he spoke earnestly.

“Jae-hee, never date a guy who is four years older than you. Got it?”

“Hehehe. Oh, come on. You’re hilarious, really.”

Han Jae-hee looked at him incredulously and laughed.

But Yoo-hyun was very serious.

His sister’s life was completely ruined because of that bastard.

He also cut off his ties with him because of that damn guy.

‘Damn it. I can’t even remember his name.’

Fortunately, he remembered his surname and age.

He also remembered his smug face.

If he ever met him again?

He would teach him a lesson as an older brother.

Anyway.

‘Even if dirt gets in my eyes, I’ll never let that guy near her.’

Yoo-hyun clenched his teeth as he looked at Han Jae-hee, who was smiling cluelessly.

He didn’t have much time since he only stayed for the weekend.

But he still met his friends.

Someone said that if you have true friends, you have succeeded in life.

With that in mind, Yoo-hyun entered the pub and faced Kim Hyun-soo and Kang Jun-ki.

It had been a long time since they met, but they felt comfortable as if they had met yesterday.

“Jun-ki, congratulations.”

“Ah, it’s not like I got into a big company like you.”

“But still, it’s a good job. You’re in Seoul now. You’ve made it. You were so nervous that you would fail, but look at you with your big head?”

Kim Hyun-soo said as he pushed his glass forward.

“Let’s drink.”

“Oh, so you’re buying?”

“Are you kidding? You’re buying, right?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Yoo-hyun smiled brightly.

Clank.

The sound of glasses clinking, the sound of laughter and chatter were pleasant.

After a few drinks, Kang Jun-ki cautiously expressed his concern.

“Are you sure our company is okay? It looks so small when I actually joined.”

Kang Jun-ki got a job at Semi Electronics, located in Gasan-dong, Seoul.

He complained about it, but Semi Electronics was a fairly large company.

Yoo-hyun knew that well and answered seriously.

“I told you. It’s fine. It’s a solid company.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m so anxious.”

“Just trust me.”

“The boss asked me if I would take some shares instead of salary. He said he would give me some if I agreed to lower my salary. Is that something you ask a new hire?”

Yoo-hyun’s eyes sparkled at Kang Jun-ki’s words.

“Then? What did you say?”

“I said I would think about it. But the seniors told me not to do it. They said our company would never go public. The boss is just full of hot air.”

As he shook his head, Yoo-hyun asked him more questions.

“Tell me more details.”

It turned out that the salary was low but enough to live on.

Plus, he would get some shares that were worthless now.

Then?

“Jun-ki, do you have a lot of debt?”

“No. Why?”

“Just take the shares. If you can lower your salary more, do it and get more shares.”

“Hey, what if we don’t go public? Then those are just pieces of paper. Do you know when we’ll go public?”

Kang Jun-ki waved his hand but Yoo-hyun didn’t back down.

“The performance will be good and you’ll get bonuses too. Just hang in there for two or three years.”

“…”

“If it doesn’t work out then, I’ll feed you and put you to bed or something.”

“Really? Will you do that?”

“Yeah. Really. Do that.”

Kang Jun-ki’s eyes wavered at Yoo-hyun’s firm words.

He didn’t remember seeing Yoo-hyun speak like this much.

“Do you really mean it?”

“Yeah. And when you hit the jackpot later, don’t forget to buy me a drink.”

“What do you mean a drink? If I really hit it big, I’ll take care of you guys, no, your families too.”

“Hyun-soo, write it down. Don’t let him change his words.”

“Okay. Let’s start with what you’ll take care of first.”

Kang Jun-ki still looked doubtful, but Semi Electronics remained strong for the next 20 years.

He didn’t know the exact time, but they even went public.

‘It was around the time I moved to the group strategy office…’

Semi Electronics, which had just become a partner of Hanseong Electronics, made a splendid debut in the KOSDAQ market that year.

Their performance was mediocre, but they were linked to a political theme and their stock price soared more than 10 times in a month.

There were many people who owned related stocks in the LCD division, so he remembered that part clearly.

If Kang Jun-ki had held on until then and kept his promise to get some shares?

He would have made a profit that was incomparable to his salary.

Of course, the choice was up to Kang Jun-ki.

Kim Hyun-soo raised his voice then.

“Okay. I’ve listed everything. I like the part where you buy me a car if you make more than a billion.”

“Hahaha, just a car? I’ll buy you a house too.”

“Stamp it?”

“Sure.”

Kang Jun-ki shouted at Kim Hyun-soo’s serious request.

They had so much fun.

Yoo-hyun chuckled when Kim Hyun-soo said.

“It would have been nice if Jun-seok was here too.”

“Yeah. He must be stuck in Ulsan. Oh, Yoo-hyun, don’t you have to go to Ulsan? You said you have a factory there.”

“Well. I don’t know when I’ll go.”

He remembered that Ha Jun-seok also got a job at a construction company in the past.

He only heard about it from someone else, he didn’t know the details.

But he was in Ulsan?

He didn’t even know that his friend was living in the same city as him.

He had been on a long business trip to Ulsan before, but he never met him once.

The past Yoo-hyun was that indifferent.

But now it was different.

If he had a chance to go on a business trip, he would definitely meet him once.

He sorted out his thoughts and asked Kim Hyun-soo.

“How are you doing?”

“Me? Well, I’m still working at the car center.”

“That’s cool.”

“What’s cool? I barely make enough to survive.”

Kim Hyun-soo frowned, but Yoo-hyun was serious.

“No, it’s just your mindset.”

“You talk as if you work with me.”

You don’t have to see it to hear it.

In the near future.

Kim Hyun-soo, who worked at a car center, fixed an old man’s car for free because he was in a tight situation.

After the old man died, his son paid off his debt and his good deed spread, making the car center grow bigger.

The story became an article and reached Yoo-hyun’s ears, who was far away.

But it was after his mother had passed away.

-I should have treated her better when she was alive… Now I have money but I can’t do anything for her.

That was what he said when he called him out of the blue one day.

He felt uncomfortable throughout the call because he couldn’t even go to his mother’s funeral.

He should have listened more carefully to his voice then.

Yoo-hyun also realized the meaning of his words after he sent his mother away.

What did he do all that for?

Yoo-hyun changed his expression and asked cautiously.

“Is your mother okay?”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, just wondering if she’s healthy.”

“That’s bland. She’s fine.”

“Hyun-soo.”

Kim Hyun-soo, who was sipping his beer, looked at Yoo-hyun.

He noticed that the atmosphere had changed.

“What?”

“Did you take your parents to a health checkup?”

“No. Not yet. I’ve been busy.”

He had told him last time, he thought he would have done it by now.

This time, he decided to say it more clearly.

“Then you should do it soon. Jun-ki, you too.”

“What are you talking about, all of a sudden?”

“A health checkup. My parents did it too. Don’t you think we should do something for them as their sons?”

“This guy suddenly grew up. You never said anything like this before.”

“Just try it. A colleague of mine took his parents to a checkup and found out they had cancer. It doesn’t take long, just try it.”

His friends, who didn’t care much about their parents’ health, wavered a little at his words.

Yoo-hyun decided to go further.

“And you know, helping each other when we’re in trouble is what friends are for. Right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“If you ever have any difficulties, let me know. Especially when you need money for hospital bills or something like that. Got it?”

“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?”

His friends felt awkward, but Yoo-hyun pushed on consistently.

“It’s a promise.”

“Kid. You’re really weird today. Fine. Let’s drink.”

He didn’t remember exactly how Kim Hyun-soo’s mother passed away.

He only remembered that she was sick and that she didn’t have much time left.

If she was still okay, she might have found out through a checkup.

Kim Hyun-soo’s face overlapped with the middle-aged Kim Hyun-soo who came to the funeral after his mother passed away.

He snapped at him as he looked at him.

“What are you staring at?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re bland.”

Kim Hyun-soo just snickered.

It was Monday morning after he went back to his hometown.

Tap tap tap tap.

Under the dim white light, the office workers couldn’t take their eyes off the monitors.

It was to polish up the team report that they submitted in the morning.

This report would go through the team leader and then to the person in charge.

It was no exaggeration to say that it determined how they would spend their week depending on the result.

Of course, they had to pay extra attention to it.

Especially the members of part 3 felt more pressure.

It was because of Kim Hyun-min, their part leader.

He forwarded the report from below without much review.

That’s why Park Seung-woo, an assistant manager, looked more troubled.

“I’m not sure if I can send it like this.”

“Why?”

“No, just… Nothing.”

Park Seung-woo pretended to be fine in front of Yoo-hyun who asked him, but he wasn’t inside.

He was bothered by the PDA-related issues that happened last week.

They were small enough to be ignored, but he was worried that they might become bigger problems later if he hid them.

And he wondered if it was right to mention the backup plan for the contest now.

There were too many ambiguous things.

‘I feel like I’m going to get scolded…’

It was the part leader’s role to mediate and take responsibility in situations like this.

But Park Seung-woo had no expectations at all.

Wasn’t he the one who showed up just before the report time?

He was nice and gave them autonomy, which was good.

But he wished he could make decisions on these vague issues.

He didn’t want to ask Kim Young-gil, another assistant manager, because he looked too busy.

Yoo-hyun checked the time behind Park Seung-woo, who was anxious.

‘Will he come?’

He saw Kim Hyun-min’s true feelings at the last drinking party.

-I never want to force them. That’s not right. I can’t make them like me.

He wasn’t a boss who avoided responsibility and watched from afar.

He just didn’t want to repeat his past mistakes.

That’s why he passed the burden to his part members so they could make their own decisions.

It looked cowardly, but he understood the situation that forced him to do so.

Maybe it was the first time in 20 years that he understood Kim Hyun-min as a person.

That’s why he trusted him.

He hoped that he would break out of the shell that trapped him and come out.

Of course, he did some work behind the scenes to speed up the process.

It was time to see the results.

Would Kim Hyun-min hide behind again?

Or would he try again to make the part he wanted?

He was curious about his choice.

Kim Hyun-min showed up right then.

“Good morning, sir.”

“Good morning.”

When Yoo-hyun greeted him, Kim Hyun-min raised his hand and greeted him back.

Park Seung-woo, who was finishing his report, greeted him with a surprised expression.