Real Man

Chapter 82

He knew the style of Song Ho-chan, the leader of the mobile group, better than anyone else.

He could be kicked out mercilessly if he made even a slight mistake here.

“Who interfered with it?”

“It’s… a new employee from the product planning team. His name is Han Yoo-hyun.”

“Isn’t he the one who transferred the Hyunil Automobile project to the product planning team? How did he do that?”

“I heard he answered the phone by mistake…”

“He answered the phone by mistake? Damn it, this is the third time I hear about that damn new employee. Do you think this is a coincidence?”

The Hyunil Automobile project, the PDA meeting, and now this exhibition.

Every time, something unexpected happened.

He didn’t think that the product planning team, which was nothing special, had changed because of a new employee.

But Song Ho-chan couldn’t shake off his uncomfortable feeling.

“Keep an eye on him. I have a feeling he’ll cause more trouble in the future.”

“Yes. I understand.”

At the same time, in the same place.

Two women sitting at a table across from an empty table were listening to their conversation with their ears perked up.

They were Jo Mi-ran, an employee from the marketing team, and Lee Ae-rin, her assistant.

“Unni, are they talking about Yoo-hyun? What are they saying?”

“Well…”

She couldn’t tell exactly what they were saying, but it was clear that Yoo-hyun was being mentioned in a negative way.

And the speaker was none other than Song Ho-chan, one of the three devils of the mobile group.

Lee Ae-rin relaxed her tense expression and called Jo Mi-ran.

“Mi-ran.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“Do you want to have dinner with Hyemi from the sales team tonight? I know a nice place.”

“Hoho, anywhere is fine if you recommend it.”

Jo Mi-ran smiled brightly, and Lee Ae-rin followed suit.

Her fist under the table was clenched tightly.

‘How can I tell him?’

…

Yoo-hyun was wondering how to introduce Semi Electronics to Lee Chan-ho.

He could have narrowed down Lee Chan-ho’s choices by introducing someone he knew.

But what Yoo-hyun wanted was not for Semi Electronics to succeed.

He wanted Lee Chan-ho to make the right choice and ultimately prepare well for the competition.

As he was thinking about it, a phone call came in.

It was from his hometown friend and Semi Electronics new employee Kang Jun-ki.

Yoo-hyun smiled and answered the phone.

“Hey, Jun-ki.”

-Kid. You answered right away. You must not be busy.

“Of course I have to answer when you call.”

-Thanks. You said you’d see me once, but you don’t have time.

A light conversation went back and forth pleasantly.

But Kang Jun-ki’s voice wasn’t very cheerful.

“What’s wrong?”

-It’s nothing… Actually…

Kang Jun-ki calmly told him what was on his mind.

It wasn’t about the difficulties of being a new employee or living in a strange city like Seoul.

It was about his best friend Kim Hyun-soo.

-Hyun-soo asked me about investing. He seems to have a lot of money to invest.

“Really? Did you ask him why?”

-Well. He said he was curious because everyone around him was investing in stocks or something. But what do I know? You’d know better than me.

“Tell him to call me.”

Yoo-hyun heard Kang Jun-ki’s awkward voice.

-I don’t think he’d be comfortable with that.

“Why?”

-Just… From his perspective, it might be like that. You’re obviously very busy and he might feel like he’s bothering you. I’m easygoing as you know. Haha.

“Okay. I’ll try to talk to him.”

Yoo-hyun’s expression was filled with anxiety as he hung up the phone.

He couldn’t get rid of the thought that something might be wrong.

Kim Hyun-soo had been mature and reliable since he was young.

He always acted like a leader among his friends.

He was investing?

Yoo-hyun immediately searched for Kim Hyun-soo in his phone contacts.

Then he moved to the corridor next to his office and pressed the call button.

After several rings, Kim Hyun-soo’s voice came through.

His voice was hoarse, as if he was very tired.

-Hey, Yoo-hyun. What’s up?

“I just heard you were looking into investing.”

-Ah… You heard it from Jun-ki.

“Yeah. You should have asked me too.”

He tried not to show it, but he felt hurt.

He knew Kim Hyun-soo wouldn’t ask for help first.

That’s why he always told him to let him know if he needed anything.

-Sorry. I was… too busy.

“Sorry for what.”

-…Sorry.

Now was not the time to argue over something like that.

The important thing was why Kim Hyun-soo needed money.

If he asked directly, he might hide it more, so Yoo-hyun was careful.

He talked about investing while paying attention to the background noise on the other side of the phone.

He hoped to get some clues that could help him figure out what was going on.

“Tell me more.”

-…I heard that you can make money if you invest in stocks or something. I don’t know much about that stuff.

“I see. I don’t know much either, but I know someone who’s an expert.”

-Really? Then can you connect me to that person? I can trust them if you know them.

Yoo-hyun felt uneasy when he heard Kim Hyun-soo’s voice speed up.

What the hell happened to make him so impatient?

Yoo-hyun had also been in a tough situation when he had debts at home.

He didn’t tell his friends because he was ashamed and didn’t want to be pitied.

He didn’t know what it was, but he understood how he felt.

Then Yoo-hyun heard a noise in his ear.

-Rrrrrrrr.

The sound of something being dragged along the hallway.

-Beep beep beep beep beep.

A repetitive high-pitched sound.

-Hurry up and call the doctor. The patient’s condition is bad.

A decisive female voice was heard.

‘A hospital?’

It wasn’t hard to guess where he was.

But Yoo-hyun pretended not to know.

“Let’s talk while we see each other. I’m going to my hometown today anyway.”

-Huh?

“Don’t tell me you’re busy. If you’re busy, I’ll go to your car center.”

-That’s… I’m somewhere else right now.

“Where are you?”

Yoo-hyun asked impatiently.

Which hospital was it?

Why did he suddenly need money because of a hospital?

Did he close his car center?

-Seoul.

As expected.

Yoo-hyun answered cheerfully.

“Oh, that’s close. Shall we meet right now?”

-Huh? Aren’t you at work?

“No, I’m on vacation. Just tell me when you’re free. I’ll be there right away.”

He couldn’t give him time to think at a time like this.

Yoo-hyun managed to set a meeting time by taking advantage of Kim Hyun-soo’s hesitation.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the phone screen with his name on it after hanging up.

He wasn’t sure, but there was a high chance that Kim Hyun-soo’s mother was sick.

In the past, Yoo-hyun didn’t even go to his best friend’s mother’s funeral because he was busy.

On the other hand, Kim Hyun-soo stayed at the funeral hall for three days for his selfish friend’s mother who he hadn’t seen in a long time.

He owed him a lot.

And now it was his turn to pay him back.

Park Seung-woo, his mentor, asked him what was wrong when he returned to his seat.

“What’s wrong?”

“Assistant Manager Park, what would you do if your friend asked you for help?”

“Huh? Of course I’d help him.”

“What if he needed money?”

“Money? If he’s a close friend, I’d lend him as much as I can.”

Yoo-hyun asked again.

“They say you can lose a friend over money. You might worry that he won’t pay you back.”

“That’s why you have to think of it as a gift, not a loan. As much as you can afford. Isn’t that worth it for a close friend? Anyway, that’s what I think.”

“Yes. You’re right.”

In the past, Yoo-hyun cared more about success and money than his friends.

He also kept his distance from them for the same reason.

But Park Seung-woo was different.

After thinking for a moment, Yoo-hyun made up his mind.

“Assistant Manager Park, I’ll take a vacation today.”

“Now? Did you tell the team leader?”

“No. Not yet.”

“He’s a bit picky. Do you want me to tell him?”

Yoo-hyun politely declined.

“No. It’s my business.”

Yoo-hyun reported to Kim Hyun-min, the leader of the mobile group.

He agreed without asking any questions.

He was very flexible in this regard.

That’s when Oh Jae-hwan, the team leader, came back to his seat.

Screech.

He pulled his chair roughly and sighed deeply.

“Puhoo…”

He looked dark, as if he had been scolded by Jo Chan-young, the director.

The team members knew better than to bother him at this time.

It wasn’t the right timing.

But he couldn’t postpone it either.

Yoo-hyun approached the team leader’s seat and said,

“Team leader.”

“Oh, can you wait a bit if it’s not urgent? Let me smoke one cigarette.”

“I’m sorry. It’s urgent.”

Yoo-hyun’s words made the team leader frown.

He snapped back with a sharp voice.

“What is it?”

“I’d like to take a vacation today.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“Haha, is this a joke? You know you have to tell me a week in advance if you want to take a vacation, right? Let me ask you why. What’s going on?”

If he said he had to meet a friend, he would have to explain more.

He could lie, but he didn’t want to do that.

“I’m sorry. It’s personal. I got confirmation from Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo, my mentor, and I also told the leader of the mobile group.”

“That doesn’t matter. You don’t seem to know this since you’re new here, but there’s a procedure in this company. A procedure.”

Bullshit. 

There was no such procedure.

He expected it, but Oh Jae-hwan was too stubborn.

There was no choice but to use the method he didn’t want to use.

As Yoo-hyun was about to open his mouth,

“Hey, team leader. There’s no procedure for taking a vacation. You just take it when you need it.”

“Hey, LeaderKim! You keep doing this and the team members will lose their sense of discipline.”

“What are you talking about? Discipline over something like this? Hahaha.”

“This is not funny.”

Kim Hyun-min gestured to Yoo-hyun with his hand.

‘Go, go quickly.’

He also winked at him.

Even though he thought he wouldn’t look good to the team leader, he couldn’t help feeling pressured.

But he couldn’t refuse when he had set up the situation for him.

‘Thank you.’

Yoo-hyun bowed his head.

“Then I’ll be back.”

The people looked at Yoo-hyun with wide eyes as he left.

He felt the stares of misunderstanding from everywhere.

They must think he had no manners.

They might even curse him for bringing up the past incident.

He didn’t care.

He wouldn’t have done this in the past.

But now it was different.

He wasn’t afraid of the team leader’s low evaluation, nor did he fear the others’ eyes.

He was just looking for his rightful right in a rightful matter.

Yoo-hyun walked out more confidently than anyone else.

“Damn…”

Meanwhile, Kim Hyun-soo bit his lower lip after hanging up the phone.

He ended up agreeing to meet Yoo-hyun.

“Mom, I’ll go wash up.”

“Okay. Wash up and eat well. I’m fine.”

His mother, who was lying on the bed, waved her hand for him to go.

Kim Hyun-soo asked his younger brother to take care of their mother and went outside.

He washed and shaved in the makeshift shower room, but he was still exhausted.