Real Man

Chapter 85

The list of reserved conference rooms in Hansung Tower scrolled by every 10 seconds.

He waited for a few rounds, but the meeting he was looking for did not appear.

And finally.

The first agenda that started at 9 a.m. showed the item he was waiting for.

-Progress report on the next-generation phone, Conference Room E, Reserved by: Kang Chang-seok

Yoo-hyun smiled when he saw the familiar name.

“Here we meet again.”

His face was full of joy.

Sometimes he had lucky days.

Today was one of those days for Yoo-hyun.

Finding the meeting he had been waiting for was a pleasant thing, but even more so, the organizer of the meeting was his colleague from the same entrance year.

They were also in the same team during the new employee training.

They were not very close, but they were much better than strangers.

Yoo-hyun hurriedly moved his feet and wandered around the conference room.

He chose a spot where everyone passing by could see him.

As expected, it didn’t take long for a familiar voice to be heard.

“Yoo-hyun!”

“Chang-seok hyung.”

“Uh…”

Kang Chang-seok, who raised his hand, was about to greet him warmly, but hesitated.

He remembered the things that had happened with Yoo-hyun during the new employee training.

As if he knew Kang Chang-seok’s complicated feelings, Yoo-hyun approached him first and greeted him warmly.

“Long time no see. Are you here on a business trip?”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah. How have you been?”

“I’m doing okay. It’s not easy. How about you?”

“Ah… Yeah. Me too.”

“You must have something very important to do since you came to Hansung Tower for your business trip.”

Yoo-hyun teased him and Kang Chang-seok quickly asked him.

“Huh? What about you?”

“I’m here for a product meeting.”

“Oh, already? You’re amazing.”

Kang Chang-seok’s mood melted slightly at Yoo-hyun’s compliment.

“Haha, amazing? I’m just here to do a simple presentation.”

“Is it about the phone you’re making? Wow.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Haha, it’s nothing.”

Kang Chang-seok scratched his head awkwardly and laughed.

In fact, the presentation was nothing much.

He just delivered the data requested by the phone business division’s product planning team and answered their questions.

He already knew enough, but Yoo-hyun asked him anyway.

“Can I ask you what it is?”

“Well. What I’m working on is…”

Kang Chang-seok excitedly told him his story.

“You’re doing something really interesting. You’re in charge of the advanced technology side.”

“It’s just a concept similar to PDA that I’m trying out. It’s not really a future technology, it’s more like a mishmash of various things.”

“Hey, that’s amazing.”

Yoo-hyun stuck out his thumb and Kang Chang-seok felt proud and said.

“You’ll get to do something good soon too.”

“I hope so. Your story is so interesting.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. Really.”

“Haha, this is nothing.”

Yoo-hyun followed Kang Chang-seok and smiled faintly.

It felt like everything was going according to plan.

He only had to ask what he was curious about and he got answers right away.

“Hyung, can I ask you a few more questions? It’s so interesting.”

“What are you curious about?”

“Phone is much more complex than LCD panel. How do you manage your schedule?”

“Oh, that? It’s nothing. How I do it is…”

Thanks to that, he went a long way in one go.

He could see at a glance what he had to do next with Kang Chang-seok’s explanation.

Yoo-hyun showered him with praise with that feeling.

“That’s awesome.”

“Awesome? That’s just medicine. There’s more than that…”

It was a wish come true for Yoo-hyun, even if it was deafening to him.

He was very grateful to him for telling him everything without even asking.

What Kang Chang-seok was doing was making phone boards.

He was in charge of advanced technology and preparing for the next-generation product rather than the current one.

This meant that his team had a high chance of being involved in the next-generation model that won the contest.

It was the same last year and the year before that.

Yoo-hyun had already taken the first round of the contest for granted.

To pass the second round and the final, he had to match not only the panel but also the phone schedule.

In fact, it was impossible for a component company to adjust the schedule of the finished product of the customer company.

No matter how hard Yoo-hyun tried, he couldn’t do that.

What Yoo-hyun could do was to match the release date of the color phone that he would submit to the contest as much as possible according to the progress of the phone business division.

For this, he needed the schedule of the next-generation phone product, and Kang Chang-seok gave him a hint.

He didn’t know everything, but he could figure out enough about the internal situation with just a few words.

Kang Chang-seok finished his long explanation and took a breath.

“…Is that enough?”

“Yes. You’re doing a really hard job.”

“It’s nothing.”

He smiled lightly and glanced at his watch.

It had been 30 minutes since the meeting time, but the other party had not arrived yet.

He could have contacted them first, but he didn’t seem to have the courage to do so.

He looked like a tough opponent.

Who was he that he was so nervous about?

Yoo-hyun was about to ask when it happened.

Kang Chang-seok bowed his waist stiffly as if he saw someone.

“Hello. I’m Kang Chang-seok.”

“Sorry, sorry. Did you wait long?”

“No, sir.”

Yoo-hyun slowly got up and checked the other person.

He saw thick eyebrows and glasses without frames that highlighted his sharp eyes.

It was not a familiar face, but a face he knew for sure.

Kim Sung-deok, Manager of the phone business division’s product planning team.

The moment he saw his face, Yoo-hyun clenched his fist tightly.

It seemed like today was a really lucky day.

“Hello.”

“Ah, this kid is…”

“This kid is…”

Timing is everything in greeting.

Yoo-hyun popped up and bowed his head, and Kang Chang-seok, who was startled, tried to introduce Yoo-hyun.

Of course, Kim Sung-deok reacted first.

“Who was it? I know him from somewhere…”

“I met you at the Channel Phone 2 meeting where Laura Parker attended.”

“Oh, the one who did the demo? Oh, right. Right.”

Kang Chang-seok looked bewildered for a moment.

Kim Sung-deok, the Manager, was one of the best people in the phone business division’s product planning team.

Even within the same phone business division, his influence was enough to sway the development direction.

How did he know a new employee from the LCD business division, which was nothing more than a component supplier?

What was more surprising was that Kim Sung-deok treated Yoo-hyun with a cheerful expression.

“Hahaha, I was going to contact you again. You did a great job back then.”

“It’s because you’re so excellent, Manager.”

“What are you talking about? If it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t have been easy to change Laura Parker’s mind.”

“No way. It was all thanks to Assistant Manager Park.”

The conversation between them was very friendly.

They even looked very close.

The sharp eyes of Kim Sung-deok, who had always seemed fierce, softened a lot.

“Wow, you’re really humble. But what are you doing here? Do you know Chang-seok?”

“Yes, we’re colleagues from the same entrance year. I was curious about the next-generation phone he’s working on and listening to his story.”

“Really? Do you want to listen together? Is that okay with you, Chang-seok?”

“Yes? Oh, yes. Of course.”

Kang Chang-seok, who had been listening blankly, nodded reflexively at Kim Sung-deok’s question.

Somehow Yoo-hyun ended up joining the meeting.

Kang Chang-seok quickly connected his laptop to the TV and did the presentation he had prepared.

“The next-generation phone that our team is working on is…”

He was so nervous that he didn’t even remember what he said.

He had heard from his seniors that Kim Sung-deok’s criticism was very sharp.

He was sure to be crushed.

But the atmosphere flowed strangely.

Yoo-hyun joined in with a glance and supported him.

“The product roadmap is good. If you’re going to go with full-touch phones eventually, it might be good to lead the market with low-end models first.”

“Low-end full-touch phones… That sounds good, but touch panels are so expensive that they can be low-end?”

Kim Sung-deok tilted his head.

Of course, it was not a harsh reaction.

A free discussion followed instead of criticism when it should have come out.

And Yoo-hyun was leading the conversation.

“Actually, our team came up with an idea. We found out that the panel price drops by more than half.”

“Really?”

“We also heard that phones can actually become cheaper if they get rid of unnecessary buttons.”

“If you focus on the price, that might be true. Hmm, do you have any specific plans yet?”

Kim Sung-deok showed curiosity that he didn’t show during the presentation.

He seemed to be hooked by Yoo-hyun’s words.

Kang Chang-seok stared at him blankly.

Yoo-hyun threw out another answer as if he had been waiting for it.

“We’re preparing for the phone business division’s contest this time.”

“You mean the contest that our team is hosting?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Let me see. It sounds good from what I hear. What do you think, Chang-seok?”

It was then.

Kim Sung-deok’s question suddenly hit Kang Chang-seok.

His head felt blank.

He had to say something.

But he couldn’t think of anything.

What should he do?

In this desperate situation, Yoo-hyun casually said something.

“Chang-seok hyung had an idea during the new employee training. It was the first place idea, and I think it would be good to connect it with this one.”

He winked at him with one eye.

Idea?

He suddenly remembered the team idea that he had opposed during the new employee training.

“Oh, you had such a talent? What was it?”

“It’s an idea to differentiate by putting character-shaped cases on monitors.”

Kang Chang-seok quickly answered Kim Sung-deok’s question.

“Really? It sounds familiar.”

“…”

Kang Chang-seok swallowed his saliva.

He saw Yoo-hyun nodding his head in his sight.

It felt like he could keep talking.

He felt a pull and opened his mouth.

“I think it would be nice to apply it to phones as well.”

“How?”

“We make our full-touch devices as light and slim as possible and then put cases on the edges like this…”

He was about to continue talking as if he was possessed.

Kim Sung-deok, who had been listening quietly, raised his lips.

“You had some thoughts.”

“Yes?”

“What you said just now is much better than the report you gave earlier. If you’re in the advanced technology team, you shouldn’t just do what your boss tells you, but have your own ideas.”

“Oh…”

While Kang Chang-seok was stammering, Kim Sung-deok wrapped it up.

“Anyway, give it a try. I liked your report today.”

“Th, thank you.”

Kang Chang-seok bowed his head quickly.

He thought he would be crushed, but he ended up getting praised.

He couldn’t help but feel good.

After Kim Sung-deok left, Yoo-hyun greeted Kang Chang-seok, who was sitting down and blinking his eyes blankly.

“Hyung, you were so cool today. Well, I’ll be going then.”

“Huh? Oh, Yoo-hyun.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you so much today.”

Thank you.

Kang Chang-seok didn’t know, but Yoo-hyun got two benefits from an hour of investment.

First.

The information about the advanced technology project that Kang Chang-seok was working on.

If the plan of his next-generation product team went as planned, they were already preparing a platform based on full-touch phones.

If they changed the board they were developing well, color phones could also be easily commercialized.

If he incorporated this part into the contest proposal, he could be prepared enough for the schedule tackle that would come out in the second round presentation.

Second.

The fact that he told Kim Sung-deok about the contest.

They say that arms bend inward, and if the results are similar, people tend to favor what they are familiar with.

As long as he belonged to the contest judging department, his influence was bound to have some effect.

At least there would be no reason to exclude the LCD business division’s idea.

This was enough to be a great achievement.