Real Man

Chapter 167:

Chapter 167

Time flew by as he was wrapping up the gifts.

There were only a few left.

Rustle. Rustle.

Yoo-hyun put the handbag he had taken out next to him in a box and wrapped it with wrapping paper.

It was a gift for his mother.

He had chosen it while thinking of his mother, who always carried an eco-bag.

He was sure his mother would like the small and cute handbag, according to her taste.

He could already picture his mother running around with joy.

The problem was his father’s gift.

There was a bottle of liquor in front of Yoo-hyun.

His father would welcome it with open arms, but his mother would try to stop him.

Even though his father’s liver health had recovered, his mother was adamant.

He might end up in Han Jae-hee’s mouth if he was careless.

“It’s fine as long as he doesn’t get caught, right?”

After a moment of hesitation, Yoo-hyun made the most reasonable decision.

That’s how he finished wrapping all the gifts.

Monday, the day dawned.

Yoo-hyun arrived at the office early in the morning and took care of the cleaning lady first.

“Here, drink this. It’s good for your body.”

“Oh, thank you. You’re always so kind to me.”

“It’s cheap. I saw you had a cold last time.”

“Thank you so much.”

The cleaning lady looked very touched.

She wasn’t the only one who liked it.

Yoo-hyun also handed out gifts to his team members.

“It’s effervescent vitamin. It’s better than taking pills.”

“Thanks.”

Most of them reacted well.

His colleagues liked it too, especially the female staff.

“Yoo-hyun, thank you so much.”

“It’s nothing.”

“No, really. I really wanted this. Thank you.”

He felt embarrassed to give such a trivial gift when they liked it so much.

Effervescent vitamin was hard to get in Korea, and it was several times more expensive than in the local market.

Maybe that’s why the female staff liked it.

‘Should I have bought more?’

He thought.

Yoo-hyun told Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, about this.

“The vitamin was well received.”

“Yeah? Who?”

“Ae-rin, Mi-ran sunbae…”

That’s when Choi Min-hee, the section chief, cut in.

“That’s because Yoo-hyun gave it to them.”

“Well. They were all gloomy when I gave it to them.”

She said firmly, and Park Seung-woo, who was next to her, nodded.

Choi Min-hee winked at Yoo-hyun.

“See?”

“Come on, no way.”

“Of course. Park, tell him.”

Yoo-hyun chuckled as Choi Min-hee pressed on.

Park Seung-woo blinked and asked.

“What?”

“Don’t they act indifferent when you give it to them?”

“Section chief, it’s not that bad…”

“No. It’s true.”

Yoo-hyun laughed off their jokes.

They were always fun people.

But why did Park Seung-woo look so gloomy?

He suddenly remembered the time they drank together in Germany.

He had confided his personal story to him and made a promise.

To talk to each other honestly.

It seemed like it was Yoo-hyun’s turn to listen.

It was when Choi Min-hee was about to say something angrily.

“Anyway. It’s not a joke. They like it because Yoo-hyun gave it to them.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“Annoying. That’s not what I mean…”

He winked at Park Seung-woo, who was talking to him.

‘How about a cup of coffee?’

“Ahem, Yoo-hyun, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Shall we talk over a cup of coffee?”

He got the hint, but his tone was too unnatural.

Choi Min-hee, who had her arm around him, said suspiciously.

“You two seem to be hanging out a lot lately.”

“We’re mentor and mentee. Yoo-hyun still has a lot to learn from me.”

“Right. It’s the other way around.”

“Hey, section chief, enough with the jokes. Hahaha.”

Park Seung-woo laughed awkwardly and dragged Yoo-hyun by the arm.

They had to get out before Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, came.

The outdoor terrace on the 20th floor.

Yoo-hyun held a paper cup filled with coffee and stood side by side with Park Seung-woo.

The Gangnam skyline was spread out in front of them.

It was a perfect place to talk, as there was no one around because of the cold weather.

“What’s up?”

“Hey, actually, I…”

Park Seung-woo whispered secretly, and Yoo-hyun perked up his ears.

“Pfft.”

But the content was so absurd that Yoo-hyun spat out the coffee he was drinking.

“Hey, gross.”

“No, when did you find out?”

“The announcement came out. I need to date someone too.”

Park Seung-woo had looked into the company’s matchmaking program.

Every year, at the end of the year, a famous marriage information company, Juo, organized a group meeting with unmarried women from other companies.

He was determined to go there.

Yoo-hyun glanced at Park Seung-woo.He was sincere, judging by his expression.

He was a good and attractive person, but he lacked social skills.

He looked awkward when dealing with other female employees.

His outdated outfit, his facial expression, and his eye contact were also problematic.

He had more than one or two things to change if he wanted to do it right.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager who had no idea what Yu-hyun was thinking, smiled slyly.

“Hehe, but if you join me, it would be a huge hit, right?”

“Why me?”

“Why? We’re going to a blind date, we should go together.”

“…”

Yu-hyun blinked in disbelief, and Park Seung-woo raised his voice.

“You should look around a bit, not just think about one woman. You have to enjoy life.”

“Didn’t you say you were going?”

“Of course. I’m serious. This kind of opportunity is rare.”

Park Seung-woo shrugged as if it was obvious, and Yu-hyun asked him.

“Assistant manager, are you sure I can go?”

“Why? You’re old enough.”

“That’s not what I mean, I mean, can I really go with you?”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

“How about I dress up nicely and stand right next to you?”

“…”

Park Seung-woo felt a chill at Yu-hyun’s repeated question.

He imagined the young and handsome Yu-hyun standing there.

What if he, Park Seung-woo, stood next to Yu-hyun?

He would be treated like a squid, that was obvious.

Park Seung-woo waved his hand hastily.

“No, no. I’d better go alone.”

“I think so too.”

“Haha. Yeah. It’s better than you going.”

Yu-hyun agreed with that.

But he was uneasy about sending Park Seung-woo alone.

He was not a bad person.

He had potential if he polished a few things.

Yu-hyun hoped that his senior, whom he liked, would do well.

He made up his mind and called Park Seung-woo.

“Then come here for a moment. I have an idea.”

“Really?”

Park Seung-woo fluttered his ears and approached Yu-hyun.

He looked very excited.

Yu-hyun coached Park Seung-woo sincerely, and Park Seung-woo nodded his head repeatedly.

“First, when you meet the other person, how to start…”

“Wow, that’s good.”

“Yes. And presence is important…”

Yu-hyun had negotiated with countless people, even though he had never seen a blind date.

As long as the other person was human, Yu-hyun’s advice would work.

Park Seung-woo exclaimed after listening to Yu-hyun’s story for quite a long time.

“Wow… that’s good?”

“Of course. It’s certain.”

“But how can I look like your advice? They all work for good companies, so business cards won’t work.”

“Of course. What I mean is, to make a good first impression, you should pay attention to your appearance, your tone of voice, and your posture…”

Yu-hyun answered sincerely.

He raised the level of his answer, thinking that Park Seung-woo understood enough.

He was in the middle of his passionate speech.

Park Seung-woo muttered to himself.

“The award for the contest hasn’t come out yet.”

“What do you mean?”

A question mark popped up in Yu-hyun’s head.

The award for the contest suddenly popped up.

Then Park Seung-woo clapped his hands and said.

“Oh, by the way, did our interview article come out in the newspaper?”

“Why?”

“Our Daily is pretty famous, right? I can just show them the interview article.”

“During a blind date?”

“Yeah. Wow… doesn’t it look awesome?”

Ugh.

Yu-hyun put his hand on his forehead.

He felt like he had to start over from the beginning.

A few days passed.

Yu-hyun’s mother, Kim Yeon-hee, looked especially grim today.

She bit her lower lip hard, as if she was holding back her frustration.

Lee Kyung-ran, who ran a donut shop next to Kim Yeon-hee’s side dish shop, asked.

“Yeon-hee, what’s wrong? You look unhappy.”

“Not unhappy. Just, you know, whatever.”

Kim Yeon-hee covered her mouth and answered.

She casually put a newspaper on her lap after a moment of hesitation.

Lee Kyung-ran asked curiously.

“What’s that newspaper?”

“I found it on my way.”

“Let me see.”

Rumble.

Lee Kyung-ran pulled her chair close and opened the newspaper in front of Kim Yeon-hee.

“Let’s see…”

Kim Yeon-hee swallowed her saliva and watched Lee Kyung-ran’s expression.

Lee Kyung-ran’s finger stopped at one place as she scanned the newspaper.

It was an interview section, filled with a full-page feature.

It wasn’t because of the dense text or the colorful pictures.

It wasn’t because of the name Hansung Electronics.

“Is this… Yu-hyun?”

“Huh? What?”

Lee Kyung-ran’s eyes widened at Kim Yeon-hee’s reaction.

“Right? Yeon-hee’s son Yu-hyun. The handsome guy who came here last time, right?”

“Huh. Why is he here?”

Lee Kyung-ran slapped Kim Yeon-hee’s shoulder lightly.

“What? Yeon-hee, you should be very happy about this.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Look. He looks like a solo model in this picture below. Wow… he looks really cool when I look at him like this.”

“Nah, that’s not that much.”

“No, no. People, come here.”

Lee Kyung-ran stood up and called the other shop owners around.

People gathered one by one.

Lee Kyung-ran showed them the newspaper as if it was her own business.

“Look, this newspaper has Yeon-hee’s son…”

“Where, where?”

The response from the surroundings was hot.

“Oh, my. Oh, my. He came here last time.”

“Wow. Yeon-hee’s son really made it to the newspaper?”

“He must have developed something amazing.”

“I’m so jealous.”

Kim Yeon-hee’s chest felt hot at the too hot reaction.

But what can I do? It was so good.

“No, it’s not that.”

Still, Kim Yeon-hee bit her lower lip hard and waved her hand.

She bit so hard that blood came out.

Her smile, which seemed to have tears in it, looked very happy.

A break room set up in a brick factory.

There, Yu-hyun’s father, Han Seung-won, was on the phone.

“Yeah. I got it.”

All the answers started with ‘yeah’, and the employees who were watching him looked incredulous.

But Han Seung-won, the president, answered bluntly.

-Dad, you like Valentine’s Day, right?

“Yeah. Right.”

-Let’s drink together when I go down. I’ll hide it well and go.

“Yeah. Let’s see when you come down.”

-Yes. Dad, be careful on your way home.

“Yeah. Go home.”

It was after the call ended.