Real Man

Chapter 67

There was no one on Park Seung-woo’s side here.

“…I will support whatever I can.”

“Keep going.”

“Yes. First, let me tell you about the issues that have arisen so far from the circuit team, which is in charge of the project.”

Lee Jung-hoe, the leader of the circuit team and a senior researcher (equivalent to assistant manager), took over the baton.

“The issue of IC overheating that was raised in the first high-temperature evaluation. If we come up with a cooling solution, the thickness will inevitably increase. This is a problem that occurred because we tried to meet the higher specs than initially planned within the same schedule. This was also reported as a potential problem in the initial report.”

He was not lying.

The direct cause of the problem was that the panel structure had changed at the last minute.

And it was the circuit team’s fault for not designing properly according to the changed structure.

But his aim was at the product planning team, which set the initial specs.

Then, the panel team mentioned the screen flickering and darkness issues.

“I will talk about the panel screen flickering issue. According to our analysis, it was because of the hasty schedule…”

The conclusion was not much different from the circuit team.

The process line was also the same.

They mentioned the problems of decreased production rate and yield per unit time, and ended up blaming the product planning team.

‘You guys set an unreasonable schedule.’

‘It’s because you set an absurd spec from the product planning stage that this mess happened.’

‘We worked hard. You should take responsibility for what you did.’

They did not say it directly, but their words were all alike.

They must have started the project with smiles, but when problems arose, they sneaked away their faults to other departments.

They shielded themselves by saying they were never wrong.

Looking at the current situation, it could be summarized in one word.

Departmental egoism.

He felt like he knew why only the touch part had been reported as a problem so far.

It was because it could be passed on to the contractor’s problem.

If they had to do that part themselves, they would have done it this way too.

“What are you going to do, assistant manager?”

The circuit team leader asked in a low voice, as if growling.

‘Change the spec or schedule now, even if it’s late.’

His eyes seemed to say that.

If there was a problem with meeting the spec at the event, there were two ways to solve it.

Either fix the product to meet the spec, or change the spec itself.

If he was responsible for the product, he should have come up with an improvement plan first.

But the circuit team leader was pushing for the latter.

He wanted to keep the product as it is and force Park Seung-woo to change the spec.

Park Seung-woo did not back down easily either.

“No. But you know that we can’t easily change the spec that has been set.”

“Who said to change the main spec? Just tweak some problematic parts a little bit.”

“That’s…”

“How frustrating. Then do you want to give up like this?”

“…”

It was almost a threat.

The temperature, brightness, and frame frequency that were problematic could be adjusted according to certain conditions.

For example, lower the brightness when the temperature rises, or lower the frequency in some sections to prevent flickering, etc. 

They could use such tricks.

They did not negotiate those things as spec conditions.

But documenting them was another problem.

“That’s why I said it wouldn’t work from the beginning. You guys were the ones who said let’s try it first. You said we had to meet the deadline no matter what and that’s why this mess happened!”

“…”

When the circuit team leader spat out his saliva and yelled, silence flowed in the meeting room.

Yoo Hyun sneered inwardly at his sight.

‘Anyone would think he has nothing to do with it.’

If he was leading a project team, he should have at least shown some responsibility.

He was talking like it was someone else’s business now.

The circuit team leader’s gaze suddenly turned around.

“What do you think, panel team leader? Can you fix your panel?”

“No way. There’s no way to meet the schedule.”

The panel team leader exchanged glances with the circuit team leader and shrugged his shoulders at Park Seung-woo.

Did they really think it would be okay if this product went out like this?

How would they handle it if something went wrong?

They could block it with a hoe now, but they wouldn’t be able to block it with phlegm later.

There was no way they didn’t know that.

The circuit and panel teams were like that because their team leaders were like that, but the process and quality teams should have stopped them.

It was their role to organize and take responsibility for the event.

But no one objected.

That meant that the agreement had already been reached up to their superiors.

What was the reason they were willing to take the risk?

Opinions continued to come and go, and Park Seung-woo’s face grew darker.

At this rate, he would have to write not only the report that the development team had to do, but also the countermeasure report in the product planning team.

The cause of the problem was clearly somewhere else.

But Park Seung-woo was being pressured to take the blame.

If this ended like this, their mistakes would be buried.

Instead, Park Seung-woo would only suffer in the middle and not get any proper results.

Yoo Hyun’s eyes flashed.

‘That won’t do.’

He had to abandon the PDA project as soon as possible, even for that reason.

He had to tie up this problem first.

Yoo Hyun looked at the circuit team leader who was smiling slyly and the panel team leader who was nodding his head leisurely.

Why were they so eager to do that?

Why did they persuade other team members in advance and lead the meeting like that?

What was their reason?

“Well, we’ve had a long meeting. So…”

The circuit team leader was about to wrap up when Yoo Hyun said.

“Assistant Manager Park, you’re going to report this directly to the group leader today, right?”

“Yoo Hyun.”

Park Seung-woo was startled by Yoo Hyun’s words and pointed at the microphone, giving him a hint.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t turn off the microphone.”

“Ahem.”

“Hmm.”

Yoo Hyun did not miss the momentary flustered expressions of the team leaders.

The reason why his words about reporting to the group leader shook their pupils was obvious.

They wanted to hide this problem behind them.

The report they gave to the group leader should not be about the problems that occurred at the event.

It should be about how smoothly the product production was going on.

Definitely.

Why?

Because it was right before Hansung Electronics’ personnel season.

At that moment, in a VIP meeting room on the 15th floor of Hansung Tower.

Two men were facing each other in a meeting room where no one could see inside from outside.

They were Shin Chan-yong, a senior manager, and Lee Kyung-hoon, a director of the sales team.

“Really? executive director Jo mentioned a backup plan for HPDA3 during the interview?”

“Yes. I just thought about it, but it seems like the manager has it in mind.”

“Tsk, tsk, the manager is swayed by useless words. What do you think, Mr. Shin?”

Mr. Shin Chanyong glanced at Mr. Lee Kyunghoon’s face.

He knew Mr. Lee Kyunghoon’s personality well. 

He never did a project that wouldn’t work.

He also gave the credit to Mr. Cho Chanyoung for the PDA project, even though he brought it.

And now he wants to take this project?

Mr. Shin Chanyong wanted to follow Mr. Lee Kyunghoon, who was a sure ally of Donga Line, rather than Mr. Cho Chanyoung, who was an outsider.

Mr. Cho Chanyoung would be pushed out and he would be the next manager.

“I’m trying to keep my distance as you told me, sir.”

“Good. I won’t stop you if you really want to do it. But the situation there is not good right now. There are too many issues that are not reported.”

“Is that so?”

Mr. Lee Kyunghoon was someone.

He was following the line of the mobile group leader.

He had access to a lot of information from the many lines connected below him.

It was incomparable to Mr. Jo Chanyoung.

He got the gist of it from Mr. Lee Kyunghoon’s words.

The panel had a lot of problems that made it hard to pass the development event.

It was not just a touch issue as they knew.

“Who are Mr. Kang and Mr. Park? They are full of ambition to become managers and they never admit their mistakes. Then what? In the end, product planning has to clean up their mess.”

“Mr. Park already went down to Ulsan.”

“Hahaha, he must have brought back a lot of work. Mr. Jo will nag him a lot. It’s a project that still needs a lot of time to mature.”

He was right.

If he said he would do Channel Phone 2 as a backup now, there was a high chance that Mr. Park Seungwoo’s work would be his share.

He was not a fool to make that choice knowing that.

“I should never touch it then.”

“Mr. Shin, there is no such thing as never. If you think it’s ready later, you should take it.”

‘That won’t happen.’

Mr. Shin Chanyong didn’t hear the last murmur of Mr. Lee Kyunghoon and nodded his head as if he understood.

There was never a time when they failed, even if they delayed the schedule.

The history of LCD division was built like that until now.

This time was no different.

After going through a hard process in the middle, they would eventually come out to the world.

Then he could take what was done and get the results without any effort.

The process didn’t matter as long as the outcome was good.

He smiled at the corner of his mouth and Mr. Lee Kyunghoon asked him.

“So, is that all you have to say?”

“No, sir. Here, this.”

Mr. Shin Chanyong took out a small box from his pocket and handed it to Mr. Lee Kyunghoon.

The box had a clear logo of a luxury brand on it.

Mr. Lee Kyunghoon’s smile appeared on his lips.

“I got one for your wife who might like it.”

“What are you doing? Hahaha.”

It was a luxury brand among luxury brands.

Even the smallest wallet cost over a million won.

Mr. Shin Chanyong felt bitter inside, but he thought it was worth it for his future investment.

As long as he could secure Mr. Lee Kyunghoon’s line.

“I trust you, sir.”

“Good. Do your best, Mr. Shin. I’ll be watching you.”

That’s how he played hard to get?

He always did this.

He pretended to offer him Donga Line, but when he approached him, he pulled back.

As if this was not enough for him.

‘Make him say he will pull me in someday.’

Mr. Shin Chanyong hid his feelings and smiled.

Then he got up from his seat and bowed 90 degrees to him.

“Thank you very much. I’ll do my best!”

30 minutes before work ended.

He had to finish the meeting before the end-of-work music played.

Yoo-hyun straightened his posture and spoke into the microphone.

“Then I’ll summarize the contents of today’s meeting.”

He clicked the mouse button and the screen showed the opinions of each team that came out today.

The opinion of the panel team leader who said there was no way, and the opinion of the circuit team leader who said to change the specs, were summarized and written.

There was no alternative from other teams for this issue.

The person in charge of all issues was Mr. Park Seungwoo.

The development team leader sighed at that.

“Ha, this is…”

He thought it was too conscienceless even for himself.

“Please let me know if there is anything wrong. This is a report for the group leader, so it would be a problem if the team’s opinion is wrong.”

“…”

There was a big difference between what they said at the meeting and what went out as an official document.

If this was reported to the group leader as it was?

It would show that they were trying to shift the blame.

It would also have a negative impact on the upcoming personnel changes.

Mr. Park Seungwoo was also flustered.

He turned off the microphone and asked Yoo-hyun in a low voice.

“Why did you summarize it like this?”

“You told me to write down anything that was added, so I reflected it.”

“But still, this is…”

While Mr. Park Seungwoo hesitated, the panel team leader said in a heavy voice.

“This seems to have some misunderstandings?”

“I’m sorry. I may have misunderstood and not written some parts correctly. Please tell me and I’ll correct it right away.”

“Hmm.”

Yoo-hyun smoothed it out a bit, but there was nothing wrong with what he said.

They were all words that came out of their mouths.

They pushed him to do it and he wrote that he would do it properly.

Of course, it was also a plan that Yoo-hyun made to make them eat shit.