Real Man

Chapter 94

Manager Kim Hyun-min added with a pitying tone.

“She looks very strong on the outside, but she’s soft and weak on the inside.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“She must be under a lot of stress. she and Assistant Manager Song  didn’t get along well in the first place.”

“Really?”

Yoo-hyun widened his eyes as Kim Hyun-min slowly spilled the beans.

“Assistant Manager Song  is a bit rude to the female employees. He also said some harsh words to Manager Choi.”

“…”

Suddenly, an old memory that was forgotten by Yoo-hyun faintly came to his mind.

-Why would a woman work so hard? If you’re going to do this, just quit. Don’t act so high and mighty.

The voice was clear.

The man was mocking and pushing Manager Choi Min-hee.

The people around him nodded their heads in agreement with his words.

She had no one on her side.

Yoo-hyun was also just watching from afar.

He was a bystander.

The man who was laughing turned his head.

The moment he met eyes with the man, the thick fog in Yoo-hyun’s memory cleared up.

‘Assistant Manager Song Ho-chan.’

He was the one who sentenced her to death when she was working hard with shackles on.

Crack.

Suddenly, Yoo-hyun’s fist clenched.

Seeing Yoo-hyun’s grim expression, Kim Hyun-min tried to comfort him.

“Just ignore Assistant Manager Song  for now. He’ll be lying low for a while.”

“Will the work be done properly?”

“I’ll take care of that.”

It wasn’t something that could be done by taking care of it.

It meant that it was already related to the higher-ups when Assistant Manager Lee Kyung-hoon came out like that.

Assistant Manager Song Ho-chan would also show his teeth as if nothing had happened.

“…”

“So you just stay still. Got it?”

I can’t do that.

Yoo-hyun swallowed the words that rose to his throat.

Then he barely nodded his head.

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good. Anyway, don’t worry. I won’t put up with it anymore either.”

“Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun reluctantly bowed his head.

It was after Kim Hyun-min returned to his seat.

Yoo-hyun turned his body and looked at Manager Choi Min-hee’s empty seat.

“…”

His gaze stayed there for a long time.

Yoo-hyun’s eyes were not easygoing.

That evening.

On his way home, he received a phone call.

He casually picked up his phone and was surprised.

It was rare for his father to call him first.

“Dad.”

-Are you doing well?

“Yes. Is there something wrong?”

-I just wanted to talk to you. Do you have time?

There was a slight hint of drunkenness in his father’s voice.

Yoo-hyun didn’t bother to ask him about it.

It was enough to have a conversation like this.

“Yes. I’m off work.”

-That’s good.

“…”

-…

To break the awkward silence, Yoo-hyun brought up Han Jae-hee.

“Dad, Jae-hee is talking these days…”

-Really? That’s amazing. She used to be so immature and now she’s helping his brother out.

As expected, his father reacted quickly to his daughter’s story.

“Yes. Her skills have improved a lot. If she does well, her design might be used in Hansung Mobile.”

-You live and learn. Does Jae-hee know that?

“A little bit. She seems to be trying hard because of that.”

-Hehe, good for her. That’s a good thing.

Once he opened the floodgates, the next conversation wasn’t too hard.

“How is mom’s side dish shop these days…”

-I have to go to the mountain soon…

They talked about their mother, then moved on to their hobbies.

He didn’t notice it when they met face to face, but his father had a talkative side when he was drunk.

Maybe it was because he couldn’t see him.

He felt closer to him because of that.

He liked it.

While they were talking, his father brought up his work life.

-How is your company?

“I’m doing well. The seniors are all nice. And the work is going well too.”

-That’s good. I was just curious…

He could tell by the lingering answer that his father had something to say about his son’s work life.

So he decided to take the initiative.

“To be honest, it’s not that easy.”

-Of course. It’s natural. It’s not easy even for this small company, let alone Hansung.

“Are you having a hard time, dad?”

-I’m used to it, but you’re just starting out.

‘I’ve been doing this for 20 years, dad.’

Yoo-hyun didn’t argue.

Instead, he added some gentle words.

“Yes. Please give me some advice as a senior in life.”

-What do I have to say?

“Still.”

His father paused for a moment and opened his mouth.

-…Live as you please. Don’t hold back and live as you want.

“Yes, dad.”

-Don’t worry about anything. You’re successful just by having the people around you.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

-Yes. That’s all you need.

Yoo-hyun added some wit to the serious atmosphere.

“Then, if I get fired, can I go to your company?”

-It won’t be easy here either.

“Then, I’ll have to go to mom’s side dish shop.”

-…It’s doing better than I thought.

Then, an unexpected joke came back from the other side of the phone.

Yoo-hyun barely held back his laughter.

He saw another side of his father that he didn’t know at all.

His father seemed embarrassed and hurried to hang up the phone.

-Well, let’s hang up now.

“Dad.”

-What?

Yoo-hyun called his father.

He thought he heard a faint breath.

Thank you.

I love you.

Those were the words that he couldn’t say out loud.

Yoo-hyun substituted them with different words.

“Let’s have a drink next time I go down.”

-Okay. But keep it a secret from mom.

“Yes. I will.”

Yoo-hyun smiled and nodded.

Then he looked at his disconnected phone for a long time.

Don’t hold back.

Live as you want.

Those words from his father gave Yoo-hyun strength.

Yoo-hyun tried not to hide his feelings.

He was angry.

He was annoyed that Manager Choi Min-hee had to suffer because of Assistant Manager Song Ho-chan.

This was not a matter of ignoring or not ignoring.

That feeling lasted until he reached Number One Gym.

Bang. Bang. Bang!

“Ugh. Hey! Take it easy.”

Park Young-hoon, who was taking Yoo-hyun’s punches on the ring, groaned.

“Huff. Huff. Why? You told me to speed up.”

“Haa, haa. I didn’t know you would do this much. You brute.”

“Let’s take a break.”

Thud.

Yoo-hyun sat down in the corner of the ring and took off his headgear and gloves.

His hair was soaked with sweat.

Seeing him, Park Young-hoon stuck out his tongue and sat down next to him.

Yoo-hyun usually exercised moderately.

He could tell that he was holding back his strength even when he was matching and moving.

But today’s Yoo-hyun was different.

His punches had real power in them.

They were so fast that he couldn’t follow them with his eyes, even though they were the same movements as they had agreed on.

‘He’s not trying to exercise properly.’

Park Young-hoon asked Yoo-hyun without saying anything.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just had some annoying things at work.”

Yoo-hyun answered honestly and Park Young-hoon asked with surprise.

“What’s going on? You never say things like that.”

“Why? Is it weird?”

“No. I thought you didn’t have any complaints.”

“Well, it’s just that this kind of situation never happened before.”

Yoo-hyun’s words made Park Young-hoon more curious.

“Wow, what happened?”

“Just. If you ask me what it is…”

Yoo-hyun briefly summarized what happened today.

The story of being stabbed in the back by another team, the situation where he had no choice but to be wronged, etc.

Park Young-hoon seemed to sympathize with him enough.

“I know how you feel. I think about kicking my team leader’s thigh every day.”

“Anyway, that’s why I guess I put some more effort into it.”

“Does it work if you put more effort into it?”

“Well, my condition is not bad either.”

Park Young-hoon glanced at Yoo-hyun.

After exchanging a few words, Yoo-hyun’s expression had softened a lot.

He had something to say anyway, so he thought it would be better to let it go at this point.

It wasn’t something that Yoo-hyun would like very much.

“Yoo-hyun, you have a friend, right?”

“Hyeon-su?”

Is it about investing?

Yoo-hyun’s ears perked up at the mention of his friend.

“Yeah, that friend…”

Park Young-hoon scratched his head and tried to continue when he heard a noise from below the ring.

The gym owner and the seniors were surrounding someone.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know? Is it the new guy who came in?”

“It doesn’t look like a good situation?”

It was obvious that the atmosphere was not good.

The gym owner’s face was flushed and the seniors were trying to stop each other from stepping forward.

The stranger who was visible between them smirked with his mouth curled up.

Then the gym owner and the man looked at the ring at the same time.

Yoo-hyun caught the gym owner’s eye and raised his hand.

“Yoo-hyun!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take care of the newbie. You have to do the test as the youngest one here.”

“What?”

Yoo-hyun blinked his eyes in disbelief as people started to push him forward.

“You also took the test when you first came in. Do you know how hard I had to work then?”

“…”

It was Oh Jung-wook’s voice, who had faced Yoo-hyun for the first time.

Back then, Oh Jung-wook had been too proud and only threw empty punches at Yoo-hyun.

Even Kim Tae-su, who was now a pro, smiled and nodded at him.

“Yoo-hyun, just do the test for him.”

“Me?”

Then Park Young-hoon looked around.

He had never done this kind of test before.

Kim Tae-su reassured him.

“You can do it if Yoo-hyun fails. You’re a senior here, right?”

“Ah… Yes! Haha. Of course, I can’t go first as a senior. I understand.”

As expected, Park Young-hoon’s expression brightened up.

But Yoo-hyun shook his head.

“Can’t someone else do it?”

“Why? Can’t you do it?”

It wasn’t just because he had sweated enough.

His head was too complicated to face someone seriously.

It was then.

He heard the man’s voice from below the ring again.

“Hey, give me someone stronger than that kid. I don’t want to send him to the hospital for nothing.”

“He’s not a kid, he’s a company employee.”

The gym owner corrected the man’s words.

The man shook his head incredulously.

“Ha… Crazy. A company employee?”

“He’s been working out for about three months, right? Jung-wook, right?”

“I think it’s been four or five months?”

“That’s right. How about our youngest one?”

The gym owner raised his right eyebrow and asked.

It was as if he was deliberately provoking him.

Yoo-hyun glanced at him and saw the man pounding his chest.

He looked like he was in good shape.

“Ha, really. This is not a joke. Don’t you know me? I’m Kang Dong-shik. Kang Dong-shik.”

“Yeah. I know, so stop talking and take the test. That’s how I’ll decide whether to debut you as a pro or not.”

“Then give me someone decent to fight with.”

“If you’re not confident, just say so.”

At the gym owner’s words, Kang Dong-shik snorted and shook the ring rope.

Then he glared at Yoo-hyun.

“Hey? Are you okay? You might die if you get hit by my punch.”

“Just stop it.”

He didn’t care about such provocations.

He wasn’t a kid to get involved in such petty emotional fights.