Real Man

Chapter 176:

Chapter 176

Yoo-hyun was about to speak again.

Ring.

Kim Hyunsoo’s phone, which was placed on the table, rang.

At the same time, the screen lit up.

Behind the message, there was a picture of Kim Hyunsoo and a woman leaning their heads together in a friendly manner.

Yoo-hyun asked him as he checked the text message.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Of course. I need one. Christmas is coming soon.”

“Oh, congratulations. I’m really happy for you.”

Yoo-hyun grabbed his hand, and Kim Hyunsoo looked at him with a strange eye.

“Why? Did you think I would be alone forever?”

“No. Of course not.”

-Women are nothing. They’re useless, man. You should be good to your father. He must be lonely.

He remembered what he had said at his mother’s funeral.

At that time, Yoo-hyun was not mature enough to accept other people’s advice.

He had achieved a decent success at work, but he did not know the value of family even after sending his mother away.

More than that.

Kim Hyunsoo, who was in his middle age, was single.

He had heard from people around him that he had never dated a woman since he was young.

It was understandable.

If his mother had died of a serious illness this time, and he had been struggling with debt.

Then would he have had the mind to meet a woman?

Maybe the future that Yoo-hyun changed gave him another chance.

I think I paid off some of the debt, my friend.

That thought made Yoo-hyun smile brightly.

Kim Hyunsoo asked him with a curious look as he saw him.

“Hey, you’re so happy that it’s weird. Am I not good enough?”

“No way. How could that be? It’s just that there are a lot of people who are worried about women problems in our company.”

“Really? What are they worried about? You work for a successful company.”

Kim Hyunsoo said, and Yoo-hyun smiled faintly as he thought of Park Seungwoo, the assistant manager.

“That’s what I’m saying. But there are quite a few.”

“Really? Are they lacking something?”

“Hehe. You’re not talking about me, are you?”

“A little.”

Puff.

Yoo-hyun spat out the coffee he was drinking.

It was an unexpected attack.

Yoo-hyun said angrily.

“Hey, wait a minute. I’ll show you soon.”

“Bring her anytime. I’ll buy you dinner.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Kim Hyunsoo nodded his head and lifted his paper cup.

Yoo-hyun also lifted his paper cup and clinked it.

Tick.

The little coffee left swayed.

Whether it was expensive liquor or a paper cup in their hands.

Whether they had billions or a single bill.

Regardless of that, the two friends who could look at each other as they were smiled.

There was definitely a good point to taking a vacation.

The seats were spacious when they took the bus on a weekday, not on a weekend.

The road was also quiet.

Yoo-hyun got on the bus with a good mood.

It was not a long schedule, but he felt like he had received a lot and was going back.

Especially, the conversation with his father remained in his heart.

He was thinking of his father as he looked out the window when the phone rang.

It was his father’s call.

“Yes, father. What’s up?”

-Yoo-hyun, didn’t I tell you I was fine?

“Yes? What do you mean by that?

-Hansung Construction. You did it, didn’t you?

As his father asked him with a puzzled voice, Yoo-hyun’s eyebrows narrowed.

He didn’t know what was going on, but it seemed like there was a problem.

“Hansung Construction? Why? What’s wrong?”

-No, no.

“Father.”

-It’s a good thing. So don’t worry.

Click.

He looked at the disconnected phone and thought.

There was no good thing related to Hansung Construction.

As far as he had seen, the contact was not even properly in progress.

At best, he had only received a call from the person in charge.

His father was not the kind of person who would call his son for something like that.

Yoo-hyun hurriedly called the number he had saved a while ago.

It was Ahn Sehoon, the manager who worked at his father’s company.

“Uncle, it’s me, Yoo-hyun.”

-Oh, Yoo-hyun. I was going to call you.

“Why?”

-Thank you. Thanks to you, we got the contract from Hansung Construction.

“What? Contract? I…”

He was about to continue when he heard a ridiculous word from the other side of the phone.

-Kim Younggil, the assistant manager? He said you asked him to do it.

“…”

-Anyway, that’s what the person in charge said. He said he was already interested in our product because of the good evaluation, but there was a place that was pushing from above. But he said he had to do it right away because he received such an important request.

“I see.”

-Yeah. Thank you. The work went well thanks to you. Now I can breathe a little easier.

Ahn Sehoon’s words made Yoo-hyun smile unknowingly.

“That’s good.”

-Come down and have a drink with me. The boss looks very happy too.

“Yes, uncle. I’ll do that.”

Yoo-hyun was blank for a moment after hanging up the phone.

Things were going too far beyond his expectations.

Yoo-hyun picked up his phone without hesitation.

He had a mixed feeling of wanting to check and being grateful.

The phone was ringing.

Click.

The call was cut off.

A text message came right after.

-Let’s talk in person unless it’s a matter of life and death.

Yoo-hyun replied right away.

He wrote and erased several times before sending a concise reply.

-Thank you, sir.

-What do you mean, thank you? I should thank you. Come up and have dinner with me.

-Yes, sir. I’ll see you soon. Have a good day.

-You too, have a good day.

Yoo-hyun looked down at the short text that arrived last.

Thump.

The bus shook as it hit a speed bump.

Maybe that was why Yoo-hyun’s heart fluttered.

He felt this emotion would last for a while.

The next day,

His face was full of worries as he stood in front of the sink.

It was because of the call he had with Jang Hyemin, his senior, a little while ago.

She asked him again about the San Francisco business trip, and Yoo-hyun refused, of course.

And he tried to refuse until the end.

Until he heard what she said next.

-It’s not just a place to display designs. There are also a lot of influential people there, so it would be good for you to expand your network.

-Thank you for your concern, but I’m not going.

-Sigh. Kyungwook oppa is coming too…

-What? What did you say?

-Oh, no. Nothing. I just have someone to meet there, and I was talking to myself.

There was only one person she could call Kyungwook oppa.

Shin Kyungwook, the director.

He was Yoo-hyun’s former boss and the eldest son of the chairman.

He gave him the most and left him the most painful scar.

He still felt the grief he felt when he died.

It was the past that Yoo-hyun wanted to fix.

But why was he attending the San Francisco design fair?

The third generation of Hansung Group was still in the stage of being secluded, so he was more curious.

“What’s in San Francisco…”

Yoo-hyun muttered as he looked at the mirror.

Shin Kyungwook’s advice flashed through his mind.

-The more complicated the matter, the more you should deal with what’s in front of you first.

Yeah. Maybe he was thinking too complicated.

He could worry about it after he checked it properly.

Yoo-hyun nodded his head as if he had made up his mind.

That night.

After finishing his workout and returning home, Yoo-hyun sat down in front of the computer.

Click.

As he clicked the mouse button, a web page popped up on the monitor screen.

It was a page that started with the title ‘2007 San Francisco Design Conference Section’.

There were lists of participating companies and speakers for each section by schedule.

“Apple is coming.”

Yoo-hyun murmured as he looked at a section.

He might not have cared much if it was just the name of Apple.

It was a bit unusual for Apple to present in other places, but it was possible considering the scale.

But he couldn’t just pass by when he saw the name of the speaker.

John Norman.

If Jonathan Ive was the heart of Apple’s design, he was the blood vessel that connected the blood to different fields.

He was a protégé of Jonathan Ive, who emphasized UX (user experience) design based on a deep understanding of software.

There were very few people who knew this fact.

He had just graduated from college, and he didn’t show his face in the media much.

In the future, his recognition would rise, but not now.

Yoo-hyun recalled the call he had with Jang Hyemin earlier.

-I got a call this morning that someone important is coming. Can you tell me who it is?

-I can’t tell you right now. Anyway, someone high up from the US branch is coming. He’s hard to meet, so it’ll be helpful for you too.

-Thank you for your concern. But why is he coming?

-I don’t know either. He’s not the kind of person who tells me why. I think it might be because of Apple. He’s very interested in Apple.

She clearly said that Shin Kyungwook was coming.

And that he was coming because of Apple.

It was a plausible story.

It wasn’t like him to just come and see the designs.

It was more reasonable to say that he came to see Apple.

But it was a bit of a stretch to conclude that.

It was unlikely that Shin Kyungwook would find John Norman at this point.

And more importantly, he was not very active in Apple’s business when he was the mobile group leader.

Rather, he maintained a contrary position on the surface, and wanted to focus on Hansung Electronics rather than Apple.

The success of the iPhone 4 panel was because Yoo-hyun’s advance product team had the related technology when he was dispatched.

And the choice was made by Apple.

There was not much intervention from the top.

What if Shin Kyungwook had deliberately hidden the cards?

A possibility flashed through Yoo-hyun’s mind.

“Could it be?”

There were many unseen forces that checked Shin Kyungwook, who had fallen like a parachute.

The center was an organization that included Han Kyunghoe (a meeting for the Korean economy), high-ranking executives of Hansung Group, and major figures in the political and business circles.

Han Golmo (Korea University golf meeting) was just a subordinate organization of Han Kyunghoe.

That’s how great Han Kyunghoe’s power was.

The king makers who initiated it did not get along with Shin Kyungwook, who was the eldest son but from a previous wife.

And Shin Kyungwook, who was the head of the investigation team, had cut off the necks of many Han Kyunghoe members.

He could guess how the conflict between Shin Kyungwook and Han Kyunghoe was at that time without experiencing it.

Could he have pushed Apple aggressively in that situation?

No, he couldn’t.

He began to see the events that he couldn’t see as a rookie.

He remembered what Shin Kyungwook said when he was the mobile group leader.

-The LCD division should get out of electronics. That’s how they can grow.

He meant that if they couldn’t maintain their independence under Hansung Electronics, they would be eliminated from the competition.

It was true.

Now, the mobile division was the main customer, but in two years, the mobile division would not be able to catch up with Apple.

TV, monitor were the same.

As the market grew, as the LCD business grew, the focus had to be on the world.

The LCD division missed that time, and eventually left Hansung Electronics with a massive layoff.

Yoo-hyun, who was in charge of this at the group strategy office, was the one who led it.

It was one of the things he regretted the most.