Real Man

Chapter 80

That’s when Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, interrupted.

“Isn’t it the product planning team’s role to make such a product for the customer?”

He repeated the exact same words that Yoo-hyun had said to him a while ago, without changing a single syllable.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, smiled slyly as he met Yoo-hyun’s eyes.

He had definitely changed.

In the past, Park Seung-woo was not like this.

He was not the kind of person who would say such things in front of people, with such confidence.

Yoo-hyun gave him a thumbs up under the table.

He snorted and shrugged his shoulders.

On the other hand, the others looked at Park Seung-woo with disbelief.

Kim Hyun-min, the manager, said with a click of his tongue.

“Are you filming a company drama right now?”

“No. Isn’t it true? If we come up with a brilliant concept and a super cheap panel, customers will buy it, right?”

“Do you think you can do that in the contest?”

“Of course. Of course! I can’t do it alone. I need your help.”

Park Seung-woo blurted out some nonsense and bowed his head deeply.

Just explain it better.

Yoo-hyun bit his tongue.

Well, it was brave of him to say that much while he was drunk.

In this situation where the atmosphere could get awkward, Yoo-hyun enthusiastically accepted his words.

“There are many experts in our part. If we work together, I think we can create a great result.”

“…”

There was a brief silence.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, looked at them one by one and chuckled.

“Now that I see it, the mentor and the mentee are the same kind of people.”

He shook his head as if he was speechless, but he couldn’t hide his pleased expression.

He knew very well that the biggest problem of the part was that the projects were too fragmented.

Since he had decided to do well, he wanted to find a way to gather the part members somehow.

He turned his gaze.

“What do you think, Manager Choi?”

“I need more work. I have to negotiate with Hyunil Automobile soon. There’s no way I can help.”

She had too much work to do.

There was no reason to care about a contest that didn’t guarantee any results.

That was the same for the other employees.

Yoo-hyun knew that too.

It was his job to fix that from now on.

Whooing.

Park Seung-woo, who was drunk, leaned back on the park bench and sighed.

“Ah, the wind is so cool and nice.”

“I agree.”

Yoo-hyun, who was sitting next to him, felt the same way.

Maybe because it was late at night, the wind blowing was especially cool.

The other part members had finished their dinner and went home.

Only two of them sat on the bench and looked at the sky while feeling the wind.

Jiing.

Then Park Seung-woo’s phone received a message.

He checked the content and laughed out loud.

“Haha, I got a text from my boss.”

“What did he say?”

“He just said to have a good time. It’s amazing. He’s not the kind of person who says that.”

“That’s good.”

Park Seung-woo looked at Yoo-hyun with a bright face.

It was his mentee’s advice to take a picture with Jo Chan-young, the executive director, who gave him an incentive for dinner and send it to him.

He hated it at first, but after doing it, he received a friendly text from Jo Chan-young.

“Thank you.”

“What for? I didn’t do anything.”

“Kid. You always say that.”

“Should I say something else this time?”

Yoo-hyun smiled and retorted.

Park Seung-woo looked at him cautiously and asked.

“Are you really okay? Following me to prepare for the contest.”

“Why? Don’t you have confidence?”

“No. It’s not always good to have confidence.”

“What if it’s not good? You still get paid anyway.”

Yoo-hyun said something absurd and Park Seung-woo laughed heartily.

“What? Hahaha. That’s right. That’s right.”

“Of course.”

Park Seung-woo laughed and got up from his seat.

“Let’s go. We have to start a new day tomorrow.”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Yoo-hyun looked at Park Seung-woo’s back as he walked ahead of him.

-I’m going to quit my job. I’m sorry. I’m supposed to be your senior but I can’t show you a good side.

He remembered the image of Park Seung-woo, who was staggering while drunk in the past.

His back looked very small then.

It still wobbled now.

Then Park Seung-woo turned around.

“What are you doing? Hurry up.”

In front of Yoo-hyun, there was Park Seung-woo, who looked bigger than anyone else.

He didn’t see the defeated look that he had in the past anymore.

“Coming.”

Yoo-hyun smiled happily.

…

The next day, the same routine started as always.

That didn’t mean that the work was always the same.

-Color phone

On Park Seung-woo’s monitor, there was a large text and a rectangular box with a phone shape.

He had already decided on the reasons why he needed a budget full-touch phone, the expected sales volume, the price reduction plan, and the detailed concept.

The only thing that held him back was the schedule.

“There’s not enough time…”

Park Seung-woo muttered to himself.

Budget meant cheap.

He thought that the best way to differentiate himself was to make a full-touch panel very cheaply.

To do that, he needed to standardize the production line first.

It was the most suitable way to use the same line as the existing one in terms of production schedule and efficiency.

The problem was the schedule.

To use the common line as a backup for HPDA3 panel, the development had to be completed by March next year at the latest.

Within that time, he had to reduce the prices of various components such as liquid crystal, film, IC, power, etc. of the panel innovatively.

Of course, he also had to secure productivity.

Yoo-hyun also thought carefully next to him.

‘It’s not easy.’

If it was just about coming up with an idea, Park Seung-woo could do it by himself.

But this was not an idea contest, but a productization contest.

To rank high, he needed very detailed and specific schedules and implementation plans.

For this, he had to consult with various related departments that were involved in the production process and coordinate the schedule and production methods with them.

Not to mention, he also had to pay attention to the overall appearance and concept of the phone as well as the panel.

Park Seung-woo, the manager, couldn’t do it alone.

Yoo-hyun’s help was also limited.

They needed more people to work on the field.

‘How do I do this?’

There was only one way.

He had to make the part-timers join them.

And to do that?

“I’ll have to use some tricks.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

Yoo-hyun muttered and Park Seung-woo asked.

“No, nothing. I was just wondering if I could help you with anything.”

“You just think about the mockup. Oh, it must be hard for you.”

“Why?”

Yoo-hyun asked and Park Seung-woo answered with a dark face.

“It’s more complicated than you think.”

“I see.”

“Ah, wait a minute. Let me finish this and I’ll send you the list of vendors and the development guidelines.”

Mockup.

Yoo-hyun had modified the mockup for Channel Phone 2 demo before, but it was just a minor tweak on something that was already done.

But making a new mockup was a completely different story.

He had to meet with vendors and coordinate the schedule,

discuss the development concept and make drawings,

make the mockup based on the drawings and fit it into the panel,

make a controller that can display images on the panel,

and also think about what images to display and so on.

As Park Seung-woo said, it was a lot of work.

Especially since this time it was not a simple LCD panel mockup.

They had to make a mockup that looked like a real phone.

Of course, it was more advanced than the usual LCD business unit mockups.

Yoo-hyun noticed that and moved.

“No, don’t worry about it. You have your own work to do. I’ll try to find out myself. I think Chan-ho senior knows about it.”

“Oh, Chan-ho was in charge of the last product mockup, right?”

“Yes.”

Park Seung-woo’s eyes sparkled at Yoo-hyun’s answer.

“Good. He might be better than me. Don’t push yourself too hard. Just think of it as learning. It’s not something a newbie can handle by himself.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Yoo-hyun nodded and turned his head to look at Lee Chan-ho.

He remembered what he had said at the last drinking party when he was drunk.

-You’re lucky. You have a good mentor… and your work is appreciated… Poo…

It was the moment when his suppressed feelings leaked out.

He was embarrassed even in his drunken state and soon got up from his seat.

There was nothing Yoo-hyun could do for him in that situation.

Lee Chan-ho had never led a project proactively.

He always supported someone else’s project from behind.

What he mainly did was making mockups.

What Yoo-hyun noticed was that he had never failed to make mockups on time.

He must have paid a lot of attention between the development team and the vendors.

But since it was not his main task, he didn’t get recognition from his team.

He probably didn’t even know if he was doing well or not.

He needed his help this time.

Yoo-hyun got up from his seat and went to Lee Chan-ho’s side.

He was talking on the phone with a tense expression.

“Yes, yes. No, no. Yes. I understand.”

He seemed to have some trouble with his work.

What he was doing now was preparing for the European electronics exhibition that started last year.

Usually, when there is an exhibition, the mobile business unit shows off their finished products with Hanseong Electronics’ name on them.

But this time, LCD business unit’s new panels were also displayed.

They even made a separate booth for their display.

That meant they had more things to prepare than usual.

“…Yes. I’ll send it right away. Yes.”

Lee Chan-ho hung up the phone and looked at Yoo-hyun who was staring at him.

“What do you want?”

“No, nothing. I’ll ask you later.”

“Okay. I’m kind of busy right now. I have to prepare for a meeting.”

LCD business unit’s European exhibition response plan

If he only had to deal with the mobile group’s display, he wouldn’t be so pressed for time.

Apparently, he was collecting data from TV and IT groups as well.

Usually, the person who organizes the meeting is responsible for collecting all the data.

But why was he holding that?

He had never been to an overseas exhibition before.

How could he organize a meeting where people from other groups also attend?

And he was only a two-year employee.

The reason was obvious.

He was taken advantage of.

A little later.

Lee Chan-ho ran out with his laptop in his hand.

He was so busy that he didn’t even take his laptop adapter.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy director, who was passing by, asked.

“Why is he so busy?”

“I think he’s going to attend an exhibition meeting. But director, is it right for him to organize data for the whole business unit?”

“No. Why? That’s supposed to be done by the sales team.”

Kim Hyun-min asked incredulously.

As expected, he was doing someone else’s work and his boss didn’t even know.

That’s why he didn’t get any recognition even though he worked hard.

Lee Chan-ho was good at everything, but he lacked one thing: reporting skills.

He couldn’t communicate his work properly, so he couldn’t get any recognition.

He just did the work that was dumped on him, which could be seen as having a good sense of responsibility, but it was actually a lack of skill.

The problems that accumulated inside would eventually explode.

Yoo-hyun boldly stepped in.

“Actually…”

“What? Bring him here right now.”

Kim Hyun-min’s eyes were filled with anger.

He wasn’t happy that someone from another department was using his subordinate.

He went to Oh Jae-hwan, the team leader, with a smirk.

A few minutes later, he came back and said.

“The team leader was angry too. Hurry up.”

Yoo-hyun felt a sense of satisfaction inside.

“I’ll go.”

“Go quickly.”

Kim Hyun-min’s voice was cold.