Real Man

Chapter 97

He ran into Assistant Manager Song Ho-chan who was at the center of the group.

“You look good, Cha-am.”

“Hello.”

Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo bowed his head at the clearly sarcastic tone.

Yoo-hyun also followed suit and greeted him.

There was no reason to confront him when he had a discerning eye.

“Anyway, those guys from the product planning team, tsk tsk.”

“…”

He clicked his tongue and walked past them.

Only then did Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo who had raised his head, speak.

“Do you avoid him because you’re afraid of shit? Or because it’s dirty?”

“That’s right.”

Does he look scared?

Yoo-hyun didn’t bother to reveal his true feelings.

“That’s why you should avoid those guys for now. You can pay them back later when you have some power. Got it?”

“Yes. I think I’ve heard it ten times already.”

“You have to hear it ten more times. Write it down in your notebook.”

Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo had a determined expression on his face.

He wasn’t just talking big.

Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo was working hard to prepare for the contest.

It was to help Yoo-hyun, who had been marked by Song Ho-chan, the deputy manager, if he succeeded.

Yoo-hyun also knew his intentions and didn’t argue with him.

“Yes. I understand.”

“Good. That’s why you’re my mentee.”

Assistant Manager Park Seung-woo smiled brightly.

Yoo-hyun also smiled along and repeated his plan to get rid of Song Ho-chan in his mind.

Of course, it wasn’t his own plan.

Manager Choi Min-hee, was also involved in it.

It also meant that it was based on the success of this project.

It wasn’t an easy task.

But unlike the past when he only aimed for favorable positions, this time he was ready to face him head-on.

Like when he faced Kang Dong-sik at the gym.

…

A few days later.

Executive Director Jo Chan-young, recalled what Song Ho-chan, the deputy manager, had reported to him a while ago as he walked.

-To supply LCD components to Hyun-il Automobiles, we have to do navigation as well, but that’s impossible.

It was literally impossible.

They couldn’t make a nonexistent navigation system overnight.

There was no organization that could make navigation systems in Hansung Electronics.

“It’s bitter.”

He couldn’t do anything even after receiving such an absurd rejection.

The group leader even told him to just let it go. What could he do here?

‘But I’ll get a failing grade for this evaluation.’

He shook his head and passed by the product planning team. 

Executive Director Jo Chan-young’s eyes caught Choi Min-hee, the Manager.

She was focused on her work with a tense expression on her face.

He knew what she was doing.

“Tsk tsk.”

Executive Director Jo Chan-young shook his head.

Manager Choi Min-hee was making a fuss about finding a navigation company.

The assistant manager sitting behind her was in a mess because of the contest.

He wanted to appreciate their spirit of challenging the impossible, but he couldn’t understand why they were pushing so hard for something that wouldn’t work.

Neither of them were like that before.

‘Is it because of that guy?’

Jo Chan-young looked at Yoo-hyun who was talking to Manager Choi Min-hee

The common factor between the two changed people was Yoo-hyun.

“Hoo…”

He had all kinds of thoughts because things weren’t going well.

He sighed and moved on.

At that moment.

Manager Choi Min-hee was anxious.

She had received another refusal from one of the companies she had called.

-Manager Choi, that’s impossible for our company. The schedule is ridiculous too.

It was one of the navigation companies that had supplied Hansung Electronics LCD panels.

She had already called all the others.

She would have gotten an answer if she had a meeting with them, but they didn’t even agree to that easily.

It made sense if she thought about it from their perspective.

What if Hansung Electronics put Hyun-il Automobiles’ logo on their phones?

And what if they asked them to put Hyun-il Automobiles’ software in them?

Hansung Electronics wouldn’t agree to that either.

It was the same thing here.

They were already selling their products successfully, so they wouldn’t easily say yes.

The schedule was too absurd, and there was no big profit in terms of price either.

Even Choi Min-hee thought it was too much to ask.

She knew it was impossible.

But she still wanted to do it.

She knew it was greed, but if she failed this time, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to get up again.

It wasn’t just her problem.

There was a development team that had suffered a lot to cope with all kinds of demands and didn’t get any results.

How could she face them in the future!

The only consolation was that Yoo-hyun was helping her even though it wasn’t his job.

That alone made her feel more secure.

Choi Min-hee gave Yoo-hyun a list of navigation companies with a slight hope.

“Yoo-hyun, can you check this for me?”

“Yes, Manager.”

She didn’t expect much from him.

There was only so much he could do with his little experience.

No matter how good his sense was, talking on the phone had its limits.

Why did she entrust him with it?

To be honest, she was desperate.

But 5 minutes later.

Something unbelievable happened.

“Manager, when should we schedule the meeting?”

“What?”

“They said they want to have a meeting when I told them our conditions.”

“…”

A miracle had happened.

5 minutes ago.

Yoo-hyun looked at the list of companies that Choi Min-hee had given him and thought.

Iroad, Navitime, Korea Mappy.

These were the three largest companies in the domestic market. Their phone numbers were listed.

Yoo-hyun had to arrange a meeting with one of them.

Easy?

Of course not.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t something that Hansung Electronics LCD business division could do.

It wasn’t about buying liquid crystal materials or circuit components. It was about navigation products.

On top of that, the schedule was unreasonable and the conditions were difficult.

Even the sales team of Hyun-il Automobiles would have a hard time doing this.

But Yoo-hyun didn’t hesitate and picked up one of the cards.

Navitime.

The only company that would survive here for the next ten years was Navitime.

When smartphones became popular, the navigation companies faced a low season.

On top of that, most of the car manufacturers started using their own navigation systems.

The companies that supplied the devices closed down one by one.

Navitime was the one that found a way out by developing smartphone apps, owning their own maps, collaborating with manufacturers, and developing black boxes.

They were more likely to be proactive as a company that survived by pursuing change.

Yoo-hyun aimed for that.

The phone rang and the other party answered.

-Hello. This is Jo Han-jin, the assistant manager of the sales team at Navitime.

“Hello. This is Han Yu-hyun, an employee of Hansung Electronics LCD business division.”

-What can I do for you?

“The reason I called you is…”

Yoo-hyun focused on the voice coming through the receiver and told him his purpose.

-Oh, is it about the thing that Manager Choi told me about a while ago?

“Yes. The conditions have changed a bit. I thought Navitime might be interested, so I took the liberty of calling you.”

-Ah, but what can I do? Even if it’s a good deal, our supply plan is already full.

Jo Han-jin politely declined.

He probably gave him that much consideration because he was from a large company.

“Yes. I understand. But I’d like to meet you and talk to you. If you give me a good time, we’ll come and see you.”

-That’s a bit difficult. We’re very busy. I’m sorry.

He expected it, but the wall was higher than he thought.

Of course, he didn’t intend to give up here.

He could go and persuade them in person.

Or he could use some tricks to lure them in.

In the end, the door would open if he knocked on it.

He was about to hang up politely when he heard Jo Han-jin’s voice softly from the other side.

-Hansung Electronics? What’s your name? Did you say Han Yu-hyun?

He seemed to be talking to someone else.

Yoo-hyun waited for him to finish.

Then he heard an unexpected answer.

-Yes? Meet them?

‘What?’

Meet them out of nowhere?

Yoo-hyun was puzzled at that moment.

Then Jo Han-jin’s voice came clearly again.

-You said your name was Han Yu-hyun, right?

“Yes, assistant manager.”

-Could you tell me more about your conditions?

“Yes. Our conditions are…”

The atmosphere had changed for some reason.

Yoo-hyun didn’t hide anything and told him honestly.

After listening to everything, Jo Han-jin sighed and answered.

-It seems like we don’t have much time. Can you meet tomorrow?

“Yes. Of course.”

Yoo-hyun hung up the phone with a bewildered feeling.

What happened?

The conversation went in a completely unexpected direction.

This wasn’t in Yoo-hyun’s scenario.

Navitime was the only one he managed to schedule a meeting with out of the other two companies.

Yoo-hyun decided to focus on the meeting with Navitime for now.

…

The next day.

He was on his way to Navitime’s headquarters in Gasan-dong, Seoul.

Manager Choi Min-hee who sat next to him on the subway, muttered to herself.

“We can supply exclusively for Hyun-il Automobiles’ next model, secure a stable supply of products…”

It was technically a deal between Hyun-il Automobiles and Navitime.

Hansung Electronics had nothing to offer Navitime except for LCD panels for development testing at best.

But Choi Min-hee contacted Hyun-il Automobiles directly to save them some trouble.

She tried to secure as much as she could for Navitime.

Hyun-il Automobiles, who were skeptical at first, agreed after Choi Min-hee’s repeated requests.

They eventually sent their requirements in a document.

After getting off the subway, Choi Min-hee walked around with an anxious expression and asked the same question again.

“Yoo-hyun, are you sure Navitime didn’t say anything else?”

“Should I call them again?”

“No. We’re going to meet them soon anyway. Well, this is hard.”

‘You can be confident.’

He didn’t say it out loud, but Yoo-hyun really thought so.

Choi Min-hee’s preparation was not lacking at all.

The rest had to be dealt with on the spot.

While Choi Min-hee was worrying, Yoo-hyun closed his eyes and concentrated.

He remembered countless meeting scenes from the past.

He had met many kinds of people.

Of course, there were some meetings that were not easy.

This was one of them.

No, this meeting was quite difficult in terms of difficulty.

He had no background, company, or product to rely on.

So what?

If that was the case, he wouldn’t have started it.

Yoo-hyun had never failed in the past.

It was the same now.

He was determined to make a result with his gums if he had no teeth.

Navitime’s president’s office.

“President! This is really not right.”

“What did I say? Just do it.”

“There’s no reason for us to match Hyun-il Automobiles. We barely have enough supply as it is.”

“So it’s impossible?”

“I’m going crazy.”

Assistant Manager Lee Jong-hoon shook his head at Jung Yeon-sik, the president’s words.

He knew he couldn’t persuade him when he pushed like a bulldozer.

“Anyway, they’re important guests, so prepare thoroughly.”

“Sigh…”

“Huh? Did your head get thicker after becoming a deputy manager?”

“No, no. I got it.”

He didn’t know how many times he had heard that.

It didn’t matter if they were Hansung Electronics, but weren’t we the ones in charge?

If it didn’t work, they could just change the LCD panel.

But he didn’t understand why he was so stubborn.

‘Who the hell is Han Yu-hyun?’

According to Jo Han-jin, the situation changed as soon as he heard the name Han Yu-hyun.

Jung Yeon-sik’s eyes changed.

He started asking questions and now this happened.