Real Man

Chapter 81

At that moment.

Lee Chan-ho was frantically connecting his laptop to the projector in the conference room.

The email only said to attend the meeting, so he didn’t even know he had to bring his laptop.

-If the youngest doesn’t take care of it, who will? I have to make the materials and bring the laptop too?

That’s what Byun Jin-woo, a senior manager of the sales team, said on the phone in the morning.

At first, he thought he only had to bring his laptop.

But what was this?

Somehow, he ended up presenting the materials that the sales team had asked him to compile.

And it seemed like they were pushing him to be the person in charge.

Byun Jin-woo, who had a friendly smile on his face, sat next to him and said.

“This is a good opportunity to impress the people from other groups. I’ll help you if you need it.”

“What? Yes.”

“You can’t be left out in this kind of situation. You have to show confidence in what you can do. You know what I mean?”

“Yes. I understand.”

Soon, people from the TV, IT business unit marketing, and sales teams came in one by one.

There were also staff from the general affairs team who supported the exhibition and staff from the future product research center who were in charge of development.

If it was just a matter of displaying products, the product planning team could handle it with the development team.

But this case was different.

It was an official home appliance exhibition held in Berlin.

It was a place where they met with countless customers, so sales and marketing had to be done together.

And not only LCD panels, but also OLED panels that were being developed by the future product research center were demonstrated to show off their future technology.

There were many panels that Lee Chan-ho didn’t even know about being displayed at the same time.

Could he really handle this meeting properly?

A question popped up in his head.

It was Yoo-hyun’s turn to step up.

Before the meeting started, Yoo-hyun hurried over to Lee Chan-ho and whispered in his ear.

“The team leader told you to come back right away.”

“What?”

“He was very angry. He asked why you were doing other department’s work.”

Lee Chan-ho was startled.

“Really?”

“He said you have to come with me within five minutes.”

Yoo-hyun looked serious, making Lee Chan-ho more nervous.

Meanwhile, Byun Jin-woo, who was chatting with other people, revealed his intentions blatantly.

“This time, our youngest will be in charge. Please help him a lot. Haha.”

“Of course. We’re in the same business unit.”

“Are you sure? It’s a lot of work.”

The opinions of other team members came in one after another.

They didn’t seem to care much since it wasn’t their work.

But there were some people who were worried.

However, Byun Jin-woo looked unfazed.

-Well done. It was our group’s turn to be in charge, right? Don’t bother yourself with annoying chores like being a person in charge. Just pass it on to another team.

The part leader even praised him for his good idea.

It was natural.

Preparing for an exhibition was no joke.

It was hard enough to take care of their own group, let alone the whole business unit.

He was indeed the person in charge of the European exhibition, but he had no reason to buy such trouble.

There were plenty of people who could work.

He just had to make them work and enjoy the sweet fruits himself.

Yoo-hyun helped Lee Chan-ho by adding a weight on his side by bringing in the team leader.

He responded to the opponent who pushed him with his rank with the same rank.

Now the choice was up to Lee Chan-ho.

Then, Byun Jin-woo poked Lee Chan-ho’s side sharply.

“What are you doing? Start presenting already.”

“…”

“Don’t you see people waiting? This is how you get recognized by the people in your business unit. This kind of opportunity is rare.”

Lee Chan-ho hesitated and said to Byun Jin-woo.

“I’m sorry. The team leader told me to come right away.”

“What are you talking about? Why now?”

“I have to go. I’m sorry.”

“Just put your name on it as a person in charge. I’ll cover everything else for you.”

Yoo-hyun snickered inwardly as he listened quietly.

‘He’s lying.’

Once your name is on as a person in charge, it’s hard to change it later.

Changing it later would be a burden for even the team leaders.

Then it would not be a matter of person to person, but a matter of team to team.

Lee Chan-ho hesitated and wasted time, and eventually someone spoke up.

“Just let Senior Byun do it. He looks like he wants to do it anyway. Why are you pushing him so hard?”

“No, that’s not it. We agreed to do it this way…”

“Let’s hurry up. We’re all busy people.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll just talk to him for a moment.”

Byun Jin-woo smiled awkwardly and growled at Lee Chan-ho in a low voice.

“Are you really not going to listen to me?”

“I’m sorry. The team leader…”

“The team leader what? This is a group matter. And do you think the team leader will last longer than me?”

“I’m sorry.”

Lee Chan-ho bowed his head as if he was a sinner.

No, he didn’t do anything wrong, so why was he bowing his head?

And to someone who wasn’t even on the same team.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t stand it anymore and stepped in.

He put his phone to his ear and said.

There was no one on the other end of the conversation, of course.

“Yes, sir. I was just about to take Senior Chan-ho back. Yes. I understand.”

“…”

Byun Jin-woo had nothing to say because he heard the voice clearly.

He couldn’t hold him back when the team leader called him.

He eventually gave up and waved his hand.

“Fine, fine. Why would I bother with a kid like you? Sigh…”

“I’m sorry. I’ll go then.”

Lee Chan-ho apologized and left his seat.

Lee Chan-ho, who returned to his seat, still had a doubtful feeling.

‘What the hell happened?’

He asked Yoo-hyun again if the team leader really said that, but the answer was the same.

Was it true?

He tried to ask the team leader, but he wasn’t at his seat.

It was absurd.

Lee Chan-ho was lost in thought for a while.

A little later.

Kim Hyun-min, the manager, called Lee Chan-ho and scolded him.

“Hey, you should have told me in advance.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not asking you to apologize, I’m telling you not to write nonsense. You should have reported it if you were unsure.”

“Well…”

Lee Chan-ho had a lot to say.

It was partly Kim Hyun-min’s fault that he couldn’t report it.

He always told him to do it on his own, but how could he make a judgment?

Kim Hyun-min seemed to feel guilty as well and snapped at him.

“Hey, I’m asking for a report now. Just do it.”

“Yes. I understand.”

It was happening right behind him, so Yoo-hyun heard it.

Yoo-hyun asked Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.

“Is Chan-ho senior free now?”

“Maybe he is?”

“I heard the mockup was really hard. It would be nice if he could help us.”

“Right? I think so too.”

Park Seung-woo nodded with a responsible face and got up from his seat.

Then he walked briskly toward Kim Hyun-min and poked his side.

“What? Why? Do you want me to assign Chan-ho to you?”

“Yes. There’s no one with more mockup experience than him.”

Good job.

He should praise him like that when he gave him work.

That way, the worker would feel motivated.

“Are you just saying that?”

“Hey, if the contest goes well, we’ll share the prize.”

“Oh, really?”

If there was a proper reward added to that, there was nothing to complain about.

Who would refuse a reward even if the chance was low?

It was like feeling good when a friend who bought a lottery ticket said ‘I’ll give you half if I win’.

Especially if he could get recognition in the process, it would be perfect.

He hadn’t even started yet, but Lee Chan-ho’s eyes sparkled.

Kim Hyun-min asked him.

“Chan-ho, do you have more preparations for the exhibition?”

“If we only do ours, we’re done.”

“What do you want to do? Do you want to try the contest?”

“I don’t know.”

He was hesitant to take on the work suddenly.

Well, whatever. He should step up at times like this.

Yoo-hyun, who had approached from behind, pushed Park Seung-woo slightly.

It was to push him forward.

At the same time, as if they had planned it, his mouth opened.

“I thought about giving it to Yoo-hyun, but it’s not an easy task. Chan-ho, please help me out. It will be rewarding as much as it is difficult.”

“…”

“I think you can do well too. I saw your data and you prepared well. What do you think?”

“…I’ll try.”

When Kim Hyun-min asked again, Lee Chan-ho finally nodded.

From his perspective, who wanted to do challenging and leading work, this was more meaningful than preparing for the exhibition.

As soon as the words fell, Park Seung-woo smiled brightly and grabbed Lee Chan-ho’s hand tightly.

“As expected! I trust you, Chan-ho.”

Kim Hyun-min asked with a tongue click.

“Then what about Yoo-hyun?”

“He has something else to do in his own way.”

“What is it?”

“There’s something like that. I’ll show you later.”

Park Seung-woo smiled at Yoo-hyun with his eyes.

Yoo-hyun returned to his seat and recalled Park Seung-woo’s words.

-You look into the internal design a bit. No one here knows anything about it, so even if you do a little bit, there won’t be anyone who knows better than you.

What he asked Yoo-hyun to do was the phone screen design.

The color phone concept had to match the icons and wallpapers with the phone color to create harmony.

That was his conclusion after seeing Yoo-hyun’s Channel Phone 2 demo.

It was true that Yoo-hyun inspired him, but Park Seung-woo accepted it.

Yoo-hyun gladly agreed to his request.

But before that, he was worried about the mockup that Lee Chan-ho was doing.

After all, the mockup and the internal design were inseparable.

It wasn’t enough to just show an image, it had to be a mockup that could implement a realistic UX (user experience).

No matter how experienced Lee Chan-ho was in making mockups for LCD panels, he couldn’t think of running a phone as well.

He needed a way to broaden his perspective.

Yoo-hyun had an idea in mind.

‘Semi Electronics.’

It was a place he had considered since he met his senior from school, Lim Han-seop.

It was also where his hometown friend, Kang Jun-ki, joined as a new employee.

It was a company that had the technology to make phones as well as MP3 and PMP.

If they made a mockup there, it would be different.

They could produce a result that was more than just a simple screen operation made by the existing LCD division.

At that moment.

There were two men talking in a corner of the rest area.

The face of one man, who had been flushed with anger, gradually calmed down, as if a storm had already passed.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault, Byun. It’s because the sales team’s tail is so weak.”

“No, no. I have to…”

“Oh, the team leader got involved too. It’s not easy to let go. You take responsibility for this exhibition. Don’t let the other part members interfere.”

“Yes. I understand.”

He spoke softly, but Byun Jin-woo, team leader, felt creepy.