Real Man

Chapter 64

Park Seung-woo, an assistant manager, came up to the 20th floor outdoor terrace with a paper cup in his hand.

“Did you say you’d buy me a drink? Is this a 200-won vending machine coffee?”

“I’ll save up some money and buy you a proper coffee at the end of the year.”

“Puhaha, you’re really funny, kid.”

Yoo-hyun answered with a good-natured smile, and Park Seung-woo finally burst into laughter.

He felt like his face was getting some color back.

That’s when Park Seung-woo’s complaints began.

“Ah, it’s really no joke. What’s so frustrating is…”

“You must be getting gray hair.”

It wasn’t something he should expect from a new employee.

He must have been so frustrated to say that.

“Phew, I feel a bit better after talking.”

“It’s thanks to me listening well.”

“Haha, look at this guy. He’s getting closer and trying to climb up.”

Park Seung-woo stuck out his tongue and pointed his finger at Yoo-hyun.

He didn’t look annoyed at all.

Rather, he looked at Yoo-hyun with a playful expression.

Yoo-hyun shrugged his shoulders instead of answering, and Park Seung-woo smiled meaningfully.

“No, it won’t work. You have to prepare to go to Ulsan next week.”

“I wanted to go anyway because of the seminar preparation.”

“Oh, you seem to take it lightly. But when you go there, you’ll see how hard the company life is. Aren’t you scared?”

Scared?

There was no reason for him to be.

‘Why would I be? I’ve been here for 20 years.’

Yoo-hyun smiled and said,

“You’ll buy me something delicious when we go there, right?”

“Puhahaha, you’re really funny. Yeah. I know a great tripe restaurant.”

“You’ll have to pay if it’s not good.”

“Puhaha.”

“My fist will hurt.”

Park Seung-woo laughed loudly at Yoo-hyun’s witty reply.

The two of them were closer than anyone who had met just over a month ago.

“In that sense, do you want to go out for lunch today?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I have a prior appointment today.”

“Oh, a girl?”

Park Seung-woo made a mischievous smile, and Yoo-hyun immediately shook his head.

“No. A colleague.”

Lunchtime.

Yoo-hyun had a meal outside with Min Jeong-hyuk and Kwon Se-jung.

They had a lot of stories to share at the last colleague meeting, so they were quite close.

On their way back, Kwon Se-jung sighed and said,

“Ah, I’m dying. I still haven’t decided on a seminar topic. How about you, Yoo-hyun?”

“I’m just going to do the project that my mentor is doing.”

“Ah, that’s good. That way you can get some help, right?”

“Yeah, sure.”

It wasn’t because he wanted to get some help that he chose the PDA project that Park Seung-woo was doing as his seminar topic.

Yoo-hyun had a reason why he had to do this topic.

“But isn’t that a topic that other seniors know too well?”

“I agree with Se-jung. If you don’t know enough, you’ll get grilled for sure.”

“I’ll have to prepare well then.”

“Be careful. You might collapse from overwork.”

“I’ll win if it comes to stamina.”

Min Jeong-hyuk glanced at Yoo-hyun and sighed.

“I wish the seminar was over soon. Our team already made a bet on how many times I’ll pass.”

“Me too. My mentor doesn’t care but keeps scaring me every day.”

As the two of them worried, the OJT seminar was not easy.

It was conducted for the entire team members, and they received direct evaluations from them.

They had already gone through the process and were doing related work, so they couldn’t lie in front of them.

They had to work hard and barely pass.

If they didn’t pass?

They wouldn’t be recognized as proper team members, let alone repeat the same process until they passed.

They couldn’t help but be nervous about it.

“Yoo-hyun, is there any way?”

“Try this once.”

“What is it? Tell me quickly.”

“Me too, me too.”

“It’s nothing. When you prepare for the seminar…”

As they walked and talked, they were already in front of Hansung Tower.

At the same time.

There was someone who had been standing in the same spot since morning and sweating profusely in front of Hansung Tower.

He was trying to find someone from Hansung Electronics who had a connection with him for sales.

The people he usually contacted didn’t answer the phone for some reason.

He came to find them in person, but he had been wasting his time for hours.

Even the person he had once treated passed by him with an excuse that he was busy.

It’s sad to be a salesperson in a small company.

Then he saw a familiar man in front of his eyes.

He was a junior from college, but what was his name…

“Ah, Han Yoo-hyun!”

He must have just become a new employee by now.

He wouldn’t be helpful for sales, but he wanted to chat with his old junior.

He called out to Yoo-hyun, who was about to enter the lobby.

“Yoo-hyun!”

When he turned his head, he saw a strange face waving at him.

An awkward suit, a sweaty shirt, a thick document bag.

He didn’t look like someone who worked for Hansung Group by his outfit.

“Who are you?”

“It’s me. Lim Han-seop. Inhyun University Business Administration 99.”

He seemed to have heard the name before, but he didn’t remember the face.

It was 20 years ago, and he didn’t care about his juniors and seniors at school anyway.

Still, Yoo-hyun greeted him first.

“Hello, senior.”

“Yeah. Nice to see you. Are you going to work?”

“Yes. Just a moment.”

The reason for the outsiders in front of Hansung Tower was obvious.

He could tell by their anxious and desperate expressions.

He didn’t remember his senior very well, but he wanted to hear his story anyway.

Yoo-hyun asked his colleagues for permission first.

“You go ahead. I’ll talk for a while and go.”

“Okay. Thanks for the talk today.”

Yoo-hyun sent Min Jeong-hyuk and Kwon Se-jung away and approached Lim Han-seop.

He looked tired from standing outside for a long time.

His face was full of exhaustion.

“Senior, do you want to go inside and talk?”

“Huh? Really?”

Lim Han-seop brightened up immediately.

It wasn’t easy for an outsider to enter Hansung Tower.

If he tried hard enough, he could get in, but he would soon be caught by the security guards.

But if he knew someone who worked there, he could easily enter the customer meeting room on the first floor lobby.

Inside the customer meeting room.

Yoo-hyun handed Lim Han-seop a vending machine coffee that he had personally picked out.

Lim Han-seop smiled faintly and said,

“I should have bought it…”

“No. I’m your junior.”

“Still…”

Lim Han-seop looked uncomfortable.

He kept looking around and checking on Yoo-hyun.

Yoo-hyun already knew the answer.

‘It’s because of the name Hansung.’

He hadn’t heard it yet, but Lim Han-seop must have wanted to capture Hansung as a customer at all costs.

Not only that, but most companies wanted to work with big companies like Hansung.

It made money and career.

That’s why Lim Han-seop showed a desperate look even to his unfamiliar junior.

Yoo-hyun faced Lim Han-seop with a smile.

If it had been in the past, he would have ignored him even if he knew him.

But he didn’t want to do that now.

He wanted to at least listen to him.

If this was fate, then it was fate.

Im Han-seop seemed to want to show his friendship with Yoo-hyun, as he brought up stories from their school life.

Most of them were vague, but there were some parts that he vaguely remembered.

“Do you remember when we were in the same group for the business class presentation? I made the materials for you, and you did the presentation. The others didn’t help at all.”

“Oh…”

“It was so satisfying when you removed their names from the group at the last presentation. Hahaha.”

Then he remembered Im Han-seop.

He was the only one who helped Yoo-hyun in the group project that had six members.

If it wasn’t for him, he wouldn’t have gotten first place.

“Oh, I remember. Thank you for that.”

“It was nothing. You did everything. Haha.”

As Yoo-hyun agreed with him, Im Han-seop seemed to relax and talk more comfortably.

He naturally moved on to talk about his work life, which showed that he wasn’t slacking off in his social life either.

Yoo-hyun looked at the business card he gave him.

-Im Han-seop, Sales Team, Semi Electronics.

“Semi Electronics?”

“Yeah. Do you know it? It’s a small company, but it’s pretty good in the electronic component field. They’re also making systems these days.”

“Yes. I know.”

He knew very well.

His friend Kang Jun-ki had just got a job there a few days ago.

A few years later, they became a partner company of Hanseong Electronics, and grew quite big.

They even went public on KOSDAQ.

Ziing.

Then, Yoo-hyun’s phone rang.

It was a message from Park Seung-woo, asking him to book a meeting room.

Im Han-seop quickly opened his mouth.

“Ah, I should go. I took too long.”

“No, not at all. We haven’t even talked properly yet.”

“Well…”

“Can I hear more? Maybe there’s something I can help you with later.”

“Oh! That, that would be nice.”

Im Han-seop hesitated, but nodded vigorously at Yoo-hyun’s words.

He felt sorry for asking his junior for a favor, but he was grateful that he offered to talk first.

He looked at Im Han-seop and asked him.

“What time are you staying until today?”

“Today? I was planning to stay until evening.”

“Do you want to have dinner with me then? I know a place that makes good rice soup.”

“Of course, that’s fine. Just call me anytime. I’ll wait.”

“Okay. See you later.”

It wasn’t out of pity that he said that.

He was someone he couldn’t take care of in school, so he wanted to help him if he could.

Besides, it was where Kang Jun-ki worked, so maybe he could help his friend as well if he did well there.

‘It’s not a hard thing to do.’

Yoo-hyun smiled brightly at Im Han-seop, who was smiling back, and went back to his office.

And that evening.

Yoo-hyun met Im Han-seop at the rice soup restaurant as promised.

He must have been tired from running around all day, but his smile was warm and pleasant.

He saw a glimpse of Park Seung-woo in his face.

Yoo-hyun ate his rice and listened to his explanation carefully.

“This is what…”

As he laid out the product portfolio, Im Han-seop felt a strange feeling.

Talking in front of Yoo-hyun made him strangely fluent in his speech.

He even felt like he was doing something very important.

He realized later that it was because Yoo-hyun was listening attentively to him.

He reacted to every word he said, and even threw him topics that could lead to his next words naturally.

It wasn’t something that would help him as a new employee, but he cared for him as if it was his own business.

‘I thought he was selfish…’

Yoo-hyun seemed to be the type who only cared about his own grades in school.

He didn’t interact with other seniors or juniors, and seemed to only focus on getting a job.

But maybe he had misunderstood Yoo-hyun all along.

Im Han-seop opened his mouth with that feeling in mind.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing. Just a moment.”

He drank his warm soup with a shot of alcohol, and loosened his tie and stuffed it into his bag.

Then he smiled sheepishly at Yoo-hyun.

He wanted to tell him something sincere, not about the product.

“I feel suffocated sometimes.”

“It can be awkward.”

“Actually, I haven’t been wearing suits for long. I moved to sales earlier this year.”

“Is that so?”

Im Han-seop said he had been working in development for the first two years after joining Semi Electronics.

It wasn’t an easy thing for a humanities major who had never handled electronic components properly.

“They said I couldn’t do sales or marketing without knowing the basics. You know how it is. Small companies have blurry boundaries.”

“That’s what they say.”

But he adapted by learning programming and other things he didn’t know, for the sake of looking further ahead.

“It definitely helped. I got a good position in the company. But when I actually tried to do sales, I felt lost.”

“In what way?”

Semi Electronics was a company that started as a component material company.