Real Man

Chapter 164:

Chapter 164

At that moment, Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, asked Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager.

“Should we call Senior Jang Hye-min too?”

“Of course. She’s the hero of the color phone project.”

“What about Yoo-hyun’s younger sister?”

“Sure. I met her at the exhibition hall and we agreed to hang out sometime. It worked out well.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun just listened blankly, and Choi Min-hee, the section chief, asked him.

“Yoo-hyun, you’re lucky. Your sister is coming too.”

“I guess so…”

These people had no idea what it was like to drink with Han Jae-hee.

Yoo-hyun felt a moment of dread.

They all gathered at a club-style pub.

In the space where delicious beer, loud music, and dance were combined, Han Jae-hee’s presence shone.

“Come on, let’s go out and shake it.”

“What? Again?”

“Come on, hurry up. If you don’t come out, you have to drink all the alcohol here in one shot.”

Everyone burst into laughter at Han Jae-hee’s remark.

“Hahaha. Yoo-hyun’s sister really knows how to have fun.”

“Deputy Manager Kim? You’re the lucky one.”

“One shot. One shot. One shot.”

Thanks to her, they had a night of frenzy.

For Han Jae-hee, it would have been better if she had blacked out.

She would never be able to show her face if she remembered what she did.

The next morning.

Han Jae-hee greeted Yoo-hyun with a bright smile.

“Brother, good morning.”

“Do you remember what happened yesterday?”

“Yeah. Of course. Why?”

“…”

‘You’re amazing.’

Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.

Yoo-hyun gave her a standing ovation instead of an answer.

It was a sincere applause.

The morning in Germany was chilly.

In contrast to the weather, the internet news was very hot.

The news that was supposed to come out a year later had exploded back in time.

<The stolen exhibition TV of Ilseong Electronics, found at a rest stop in Germany.>

-Is there a gate at that rest stop? How did that get there?

-The TV is still intact. But why don’t they exhibit it?

-They’re under police request. How can they exhibit it?

-Did Ilseong lie? It seems fishy.

-Then it’s not Hanseong’s doing?

-Yeah, probably.

The reaction was different from the past because the timing of the news had changed.

Back then, there was no demand for exhibition, and Hanseong’s name was not mentioned.

What if they brought that incident that ruined everything a year earlier?

Wouldn’t it create a completely different outcome?

‘I’ll find out when I check.’

Yoo-hyun, who made up his mind, called Oh Eun-bi, the reporter.

Inside a cafe near the exhibition hall.

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, looked at Yoo-hyun, who was sitting across from her, with a curious eyebrow.

“Why did you ask me to come here? Is it a date?”

“No way.”

“Then why? You’re not the kind of person who just asks me to have a cup of tea.”

“What kind of person am I?”

When Yoo-hyun asked, Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, answered with an exaggerated expression.

“Very, very busy person?”

“Do I look like that?”

“Yes. Why do you go to so many places? I’m curious about your secret, but I don’t want to hear it because it seems too complicated.”

Yoo-hyun smiled faintly instead of answering.

He had worked hard to catch Lee Kyung-hoon, the director.

He had wasted a lot of his pleasant journey with good people by worrying about useless people.

It was a waste of time, but he couldn’t help it.

He had to finish what he started.

“Reporter, I have something to ask you.”

“Me? From you?”

“There’s something weird, no matter how I think about it.”

Yoo-hyun handed her a file folder he had prepared on the table.

It had the subsidiaries that JS had invested in.

He had visited some of the nearby places himself, and checked the others by phone.

He had already checked the domestic IT specialist company before he came to the exhibition hall.

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, glanced at it and asked with a puzzled look.

“What is this?”

“Take a look.”

“Hmm… JS was a pretty big company. They invested in the world.”

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, muttered to herself as she looked at Yoo-hyun’s data.

Yoo-hyun added his specific intention.

“It’s only been like this for about a year.”

“Really? They’re not just diversifying their business, but investing aggressively.”

“Very aggressively.”

“Yeah. They must have a lot of money.”

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, tilted her head.

She had a reporter’s intuition that something smelled fishy.

How could a company that used to supply cosmetics and small-scale liquid crystal materials invest in such diverse places?

It would make sense if JS was an investment company, but it wasn’t.

Yoo-hyun turned a page and said.

“Look at this too.”

“This is…”

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, frowned and examined the contents.

It showed the relationship between China’s BDE and JS.

“JS is a subsidiary of BDE.”

“What? Why is a Chinese competitor in Hanseong… Oh, no way?”

“That’s right. It’s already started.”

“No, how is that possible?”

“Yes. It’s happening right now.”

Yoo-hyun answered with a confident expression.

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, widened her eyes in disbelief.

Yoo-hyun nodded calmly.

That’s when it happened.

A woman’s voice came out from behind the partition.

“Boss, it’s confirmed that the head of JS is that Chinese.”

“…”

They would have ignored it if it was another time, but it was Korean and JS was mentioned.

Yoo-hyun and Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, stopped talking and perked up their ears.

“The Chinese is changing the company’s direction while eating the company.”

“I felt that way too.”

“It’s not right to break the promise even if they change the company policy like that.”

“Then what do we do?”

“I’ve contacted another place and set a date. But I’ll get compensation from JS for breaking the promise.”

“Oh…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll bite the bullet and get it done.”

“Thank you.”

The noise mixed with the voice, but it wasn’t hard to understand the content.

They already knew that the head of JS was Chinese.

Only the LCD company people didn’t know.

Yoo-hyun, who was listening to the story, opened his mouth.

“That’s right.”

“…We have to stop them. But isn’t it too early? There’s no evidence.”

“The brain drain has already started.”

“What?”

“They’re probably scattered among JS’s subsidiaries. Of course, they only have the name, but they’re actually working for BDE.”

“…”

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, blinked her eyes.

This would surely come back to bite Hanseong Electronics.

They had made a contract with such a company and promised full support.

It was their fault that they couldn’t stop the brain drain.

So she asked.

“What about Hanseong Electronics? Won’t they be affected?”

“I’m not the owner. I’m just a new employee.”

“Oh.”

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, looked embarrassed and Yoo-hyun spoke again.

“And we have to cut off the rotten parts as soon as possible.”

“Do you have any idea where they are?”

“They probably took a lot of money behind the scenes. There must be someone who invested in JS knowing their true identity.”

Yoo-hyun gave a specific answer to the reporter’s question.

The more she knew, the faster it would be sorted out.

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, who was listening, said what she guessed.

“Could it be Director Lee Kyung-hoon, whom you interviewed yesterday?”

“Maybe.”

“What? But he’s your respected boss…”

“It’s a pity, but if that’s the truth, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, felt a chill.

Yoo-hyun was smiling at the corner of his mouth when he answered.

She had a feeling that he intended this.

She came to her senses and asked.

“Then what should I do?”

“Do you know Director Jung Woo-hyuk from the Ministry of Industry?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Please deliver this data to him. He’ll probably sort out the facts for you.”

“And then?”

Yoo-hyun revealed his tempting plan to the reporter who nodded and asked.

“If it looks like a good article, I can write it. Isn’t that your job, reporter Oh Eun-bi?”

“Is that so?”

“Shall we get up then?”

Yoo-hyun got up first.

At that moment, Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, quickly grabbed the file folder on the table.

She was about to get up, but she had to stop.

Yoo-hyun, who had passed by the table behind the partition, stopped.

He was staring at one place.

‘Why is he doing that at an empty table?’

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, wondered, and Yoo-hyun picked up a napkin on the table.

There was a scribble of an X over the JS logo on it.

Below it, a signature that was left as a joke caught Yoo-hyun’s eye.

A Chinese character ‘다(多)’ made into a half-heart sign.

A cupid arrow pierced diagonally on it.

It was Jeong Da-hye’s signature.

“…”

Yoo-hyun’s head was spinning.

He was right.

The woman he saw yesterday was definitely Jeong Da-hye.

Why didn’t he recognize her voice?

No, how could he run into her in Germany?

“Yoo-hyun, what’s wrong?”

“Yes. Something important came up. Reporter, I’ll go ahead.”

He left the words and moved.

He wanted to check something.

“Yoo-hyun.”

Oh Eun-bi, the reporter’s voice echoed behind him.

He ran down and looked around.

There was a large park in front of the exhibition hall, and he saw many people passing by.

But there was no sign of Jeong Da-hye anywhere.

“Jeong Da-hye.”

He shouted in a loud voice, but there was no answer.

She disappeared like smoke.

“…”

He sat on a bench with a hollow feeling and looked at the sky.

He just felt the emotion he had forgotten when he saw her.

He wanted to know if the bond was still connected in this strange land.

He wanted to see her face and make sure it was really Jeong Da-hye.

At that moment, a word struck Yoo-hyun’s head.

Timelapse.

There was a timelapse camera installed in front of Hanseong Electronics booth.

There must have been Jeong Da-hye’s image on it.

That night.

Yoo-hyun went to his colleague Seol Ki-tae’s room.

He was looking at his laptop when he got a call from Oh Eun-bi, the reporter.

-I delivered it to Director Jung Woo-hyuk. Was it as you said? He seemed to know something.

“You did well. Just do me a favor.”

-Where are you, Yoo-hyun? I need to see your face. I have some questions.

“It’s late now, maybe next time.”

Yoo-hyun dodged a bit, but Oh Eun-bi, the reporter, was persistent as a professional.

-Then how about a drink later?

“No, not that. See you tomorrow. I think you’ll have something to contact me first.”

-See you tomorrow then.

“Yes. Have a good night.”

Yoo-hyun hung up the phone and Seol Ki-tae next to him asked.

“Is that the reporter?”

“Yeah. Did you see her too?”

“You said hello to her when you passed by last time. Wow, Yoo-hyun, you’re amazing.”

“What is?”

“No, you get a call from a reporter at night. Are you…”

“Absolutely not.”

Yoo-hyun cut off Seol Ki-tae’s words.