Real Man

Chapter 169:

Chapter 169

“Did you do well?”

“The atmosphere wasn’t bad. It was just a stage to check the first impression, so I didn’t feel any pressure. The next part was more important.”

“The next part?”

As Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, asked impatiently, Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, crossed his legs leisurely and held up two fingers.

“There was a second round of in-depth talk. In the first round, we wrote down the names of the people we liked, and then we had a five-minute conversation with the ones who matched.”

“So? Who picked you, Park?”

“Of course. I got a lot of votes.”

“Wow, really? So what happened?”

“I said exactly what I prepared. And they seemed to like it, right?”

“What did you say? Tell me.”

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, leaned his face forward.

Soon, the faces of the other part members were all around Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.

Among them was Yoo-hyun’s face.

It was such a lively story that they naturally sympathized with him as they listened.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, waved his hand as if mocking their expectations.

“Hey, I can’t tell you by myself. There’s no one to talk to.”

“Someone to talk to?”

“Yes. I need someone to respond if I want to explain.”

That action made them more impatient.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, gestured to Choi Min-hee, the section chief.

“Choi, why don’t you play the role of the other person?”

“Me?”

“Who else? Me? It would ruin the immersion.”

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, looked up and down at Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager.

She thought it was not a good idea.

She eventually turned her chair and faced Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.

“Is this okay?”

“You have to greet first.”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, who usually found Choi Min-hee, the section chief, the most difficult, showed a strict face as if he were a movie director.

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, reluctantly complied with his words.

“…Hello. I’m Choi Min-hee from Yurim Cosmetics.”

“Choi, you sound a bit stiff, don’t you?”

As soon as Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, tackled her, Choi Min-hee, the section chief, snapped at him.

“Be quiet.”

“Hmm.”

Of course, Choi Min-hee, the section chief’s fierce eyes immediately subdued him.

She took a slow breath and then put her hands on her knees modestly.

Then she smiled and said.

“I’m Choi Min-hee from Yurim Cosmetics. Nice to meet you.”

“Pfft.”

Her voice, which was about two tones higher, made everyone laugh.

Yoo-hyun also laughed as he saw her.

But Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, was serious.

He looked around at the people and said as if he were teaching them.

“First of all, you have to win their favor with a special compliment. Look.”

Then he went straight into action.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Park Seung-woo. You have a V-line jawline, Min-hee?”

“Huh?”

Choi Min-hee, the section chief’s eyes widened at the sudden weird joke.

“It’s the sharpest V I’ve ever seen. Your hand must be cut. Haha.”

“Ugh.”

She was completely disgusted by Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager’s laughter.

The other part members clicked their tongues.

“…”

Yoo-hyun felt like he had been hit in the back of his head with a hammer.

-You have to give a specific and special compliment, not just a compliment. A general compliment is something that everyone does there, so it doesn’t work. It might even look like flattery.

As the saying goes, praise makes even a whale dance, it is the easiest and fastest way to win someone’s favor.

In this kind of group blind date, where the opportunity to speak is limited, praise was essential.

But as he said, he had to give a specific and special compliment.

That way, he could leave a good impression on the other person.

Is that hard?

Yoo-hyun couldn’t understand Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.

He said he knew and answered that he was confident.

Yoo-hyun felt a creepy feeling for a moment.

‘He didn’t do everything like this, did he?’

As expected, the unfortunate prediction never missed.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, said excitedly.

“I’ll tell you my hobby first. I like hiking. Bukhansan is really nice.”

“…”

“It’s hard to climb, but if you have the equipment, you can climb it too, Min-hee. Do you want to go with me later?”

Instead of empathizing with the other person’s story, he tried to lead the conversation, and the result was absurd.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, was just talking to himself.

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, yawned naturally.

And the result of picking out words from the other person’s speech and agreeing with them was even more ridiculous.

He caught the tail of the words that Choi Min-hee, the section chief, sincerely spat out.

“What’s hard? The company is a bit busy except for…”

“Are you very busy?”

“Yes. A little.”

“How much is a little?”

“…What are you saying. What do you want me to do.”

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, finally exploded.

“…”

Yoo-hyun lost his words.

He couldn’t believe that it went well with the nonsense he showed.

The other part members were the same.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, asked incredulously.

“Park, is this real? How can this work when you do it like this?”

“It’s real. I got two hotel meal vouchers.”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, took out the meal vouchers from his wallet as if he was wronged.

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, asked in surprise.

“Why do you have that, Park?”

“Huh? The woman told me to keep it.”

“Hey, did you get the phone number?”

“Yes, of course. I got a few more besides her.”

“Really? You became a couple and got other women’s numbers?”

“Yes. They all got multiple phone numbers.”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, held out his phone and showed the phone numbers he registered yesterday.

There were two more phone numbers besides Lim Hyun-mi, who became his couple.

Lee Chan-ho, who couldn’t stand it, stepped up.

“Then call that number.”

“Hey, I don’t want to contact someone I’m not going to meet.”

“No, just try it once. You can say you pressed it by mistake.”

“Oh, come on, we have work to do…”

As Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, urged him, Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, finally pressed the call button.

The conference room was quiet as if they wanted to hear even a small voice.

And soon, a voice came from the receiver.

-This number does not exist. Please call again.

“…”

No one could open their mouths at that sound.

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, quietly licked her tongue and shook her head.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, who was embarrassed, immediately pressed the number below.

“I’ll try another number.”

-This number does not exist…

But the result was no different.

Thud.

Silence hung over the conference room.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, let out a hollow laugh in the awkward silence.

“Hahaha.”

“Well, at least one of them connected, right?”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, stammered as he was flustered, and Choi Min-hee, the section chief, asked.

“Really? Did it connect?”

“Yes. Look. There’s a text message, too.”

It was a reply saying that she did well to Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager’s question of how it went.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, pointed out.

“What about the after? You had the meeting on Saturday, so you must have met on Sunday.”

“Oh, she said she had work on Sunday.”

“Then when are you going to meet again? Today?”

“She works late on weekdays… Yurim Cosmetics must be tough.”

That couldn’t be true.

Yurim Cosmetics was a company that always ranked among the top in terms of being a good place to work.

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, couldn’t help but close her eyes.

Instead, Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager, asked.

“That could happen. Then you’ll meet on the weekend, right?”

“She said she had to go to her hometown on the weekend.”

“…”

No one could open their mouths at Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager’s words.

If it were someone else, they would have just ignored him.

But the 3rd part was different, as they were close to each other.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, patted Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager’s back first.

Choi Min-hee, the section chief, Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, and Lee Chan-ho cheered him up in turn.

“Cheer up.”

“There are plenty of women.”

“Life is long. It’s the age of a hundred.”

“Assistant manager, you can do it.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun couldn’t open his mouth.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, was annoyed by the constant pitiful looks.

Then he turned the arrow to Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager.

“Why are you all doing this to me? Kim, you don’t have a girlfriend either, do you?”

“Me?”

“Yes, assistant manager. Aren’t we comrades?”

Thud.

Then Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager, casually put his phone on the table.

His expression was surprisingly calm.

He even showed a slight confidence by lifting the corners of his mouth.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, picked up his phone without thinking.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Check it out.”

As he pressed the button, the dim screen lit up.

At the same time, a gasp came out of Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager’s mouth.

“Huh? Wow.”

Thump thump.

He was so surprised that he fell back on his chair.

“What is it?”

“What’s wrong with you?”

At that moment, people gathered around to see the phone screen.

They didn’t care about Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, who fell.

They all had a stunned look on their faces.

“Blonde?”

“Could it be…”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, also came closer in surprise.

On the screen, there was a picture of a blonde white woman and Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager, with their arms linked.

It was even the phone background.

Everyone’s eyes were on Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager.

“Haha. It just happened that way.”

“What? How, how did you do it?”

“Thanks to Yoo-hyun.”

As Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager, nodded, Yoo-hyun blinked his eyes.

He didn’t remember introducing him to a white woman.

“Yoo-hyun introduced me to an English teacher.”

“I know. James.”

“Yes. He introduced me to this woman. It just happened that we’ve been… Hehe.”

As Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager, agreed, Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager, explained the details.

Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager’s eyes turned to Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.

“I see. Then only Park…”

“Park, I’m sorry.”

Kim Young-gil, the assistant manager, scratched his head.

Then everyone looked at Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, with a pitying look.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, backed away and denied reality.

Yoo-hyun stepped up, thinking that Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager’s mind would go crazy.

“It won’t be…”

“Assistant manager, let’s get some fresh air for a while.”

“Okay, fine.”

Yoo-hyun lifted Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, up and said to Kim Hyun-min, the deputy manager.

“Deputy manager, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Okay. Yoo-hyun, you take care of him.”

“Yes.”

He wasn’t saying that because he was worried about Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager.

Their interest was already elsewhere.

Buzzing.

A bright atmosphere was created behind them.

“Kim, show me again.”

“That’s really amazing.”

“…”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, walked out without a word.

His footsteps were moving slowly, and his back looked lonely.

He was quiet until he got off the elevator.

He took out a cigarette when he got to the smoking area on the first floor.

Yoo-hyun asked him as he lit the cigarette.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m okay. Why? Do you think I’m down?”

“No. Of course not.”

“Right. Hyun-mi was fine. She was a nice person.”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, tried to smile.

He still thought that he and Lim Hyun-mi, who became his couple, were doing well.

Yoo-hyun thought the failure rate was about 99 percent.

In other words, it meant that there was a 1 percent chance.

One percent was a much higher possibility than the LCD business unit winning the phone business unit contest.

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, was the one who did it.

Yoo-hyun hoped for it.

But that hope couldn’t last any longer.

It was because of the message that came soon after.

Beep.

“Look. The message just came.”

“Really?”

Park Seung-woo, the assistant manager, who was holding his phone, shared the screen with Yoo-hyun as soon as he saw the name Lim Hyun-mi.