Real Man

Chapter 26:

Chapter 26

It was 8:30 p.m. that day.

Team 6, which Yoo-hyun belonged to, was dancing to the innovation medley in front of their senior instructor.

“Innovation! Han Sung! Innovation! Han Sung! Wow!”

Boom. Boom boom boom boom. Boom. Boom!

“Huff. Huff. Huff.”

They had moved like crazy for six minutes and finally let out their last scream. 

They felt like they had drained all their energy from their bodies.

It was such an intense exercise that even Yoo-hyun, who had good stamina from working out every day, was out of breath.

After six hours of practice and four retries, they finally got the result they wanted.

“Team 6 is the first to pass. Good job.”

They finally got the approval from their senior instructor.

“Wow!”

The team members hugged each other in joy.

“Awesome, awesome. Yay.”

“This is amazing…”

“Oh, oppa. I’m sorry.”

‘It was obvious that she did it on purpose.

Yoo-hyun decided not to say anything more, thinking that it might cause a misunderstanding.

He gently pushed away Jeong Da Bin, who was clinging to him, and looked at Kang Chang Seok.

“Good work.”

“Whatever.”

This guy was still bitter.

“What a petty kid.”

Yoo-hyun just smiled.

The next day, and the day after that, Team 6’s momentum continued.

In the innovation management game where they had to make and sell products with Lego, Oh Min Jae, who was a Lego maniac, showed his skills.

Yoo-hyun helped out from a distance when needed, but he didn’t take the lead.

He rather followed the team’s movements.

He felt amazed by how this could happen.

It was hard to believe that this was all a coincidence.

Yoo-hyun’s change had brought out their potential.

“I didn’t know this before.”

Yoo-hyun recalled his subordinates who worked under him in the past and felt sorry for them.

He had nagged them to do well, but he didn’t wait for them.

He forced them to follow his suggestions.

Because he was always right.

Because he thought that was the fastest way to go.

Now, Yoo-hyun didn’t try hard to do well at all.

He rather tried to stay still.

If he had to compare, in the past, he would run like crazy by himself when he saw a flare, but now he felt like he was running slowly in sync with others like a two-person three-legged race.

When he ran slowly, he saw things that he hadn’t seen before.

He saw the team members’ strengths and what they wanted.

Of course, there were many shortcomings.

But someone else filled in what someone lacked.

Jeong Da Bin’s lack of passion was boosted by Seol Gi Tae.

Jeong Da Bin’s scattered suggestions were neatly organized by Choi Seul Gi.

Oh Min Jae took the initiative to come up with ideas, and Kang Chang Seok reluctantly followed and took care of the back.

When they lost direction, Yoo-hyun helped them a little from behind.

They didn’t feel like a mess of a team anymore.

They felt like they were working together organically.

The attention that used to be only on Yoo-hyun shifted to the whole team, and many things changed.

Under the sunset, Team 6 members were sitting with the yellowish lake of the innovation center as their background.

They all looked happy.

They had finished their assignment faster than anyone else and enjoyed their leisure time.

Oh Min Jae bought canned coffee from the cafeteria and handed it to his team members who were sitting on the bench. 

Then he sat down himself.

“Min Jae oppa, thank you. I’ll drink it well.”

“This is nothing. I can buy this anytime. But what about the others?”

“Yoo-hyun oppa said he had somewhere to go and left first.”

“Chang Seok hyung said he had more personal assignments to do and went in first.”

“That guy is really weird. He should have more ambition.”

“Ambition? That’s just greed.”

Jeong Da Bin corrected Oh Min Jae’s words precisely.

Ambition?

That was not a word that applied to someone like Kang Chang Seok.

Maybe Yoo-hyun, but not him.

As if he knew what Jeong Da Bin was thinking, Seol Gi Tae mentioned Yoo-hyun.

“I heard from Team 5 that day. You know, the day when Da Bin came back after dealing with the senior instructor. It seems like Yoo-hyun met with the senior instructor separately.”

“Oh? Why did he do that? We finished talking well.”

“Hey, no. Didn’t you feel it?”

“What?”

When Jeong Da Bin asked, Seol Gi Tae smiled slyly.

“The senior instructor’s good mood that day?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Honestly, if I were the senior instructor, I would have been pissed off when Chang Seok hyung and you came one after another and argued with me. I would have thought, what kind of team is this? But it wasn’t like that. Yoo-hyun took care of it from behind.”

It seemed like everyone else understood what Seol Gi Tae meant.

“Speaking of Yoo-hyun oppa, I’m really surprised. Today, too, when I was looking for a pen, he brought it right in front of me.”

“Me too. It’s amazing. I was trying to say something, but I couldn’t think of it clearly. But he threw me a hint like a ghost. He didn’t tell me the whole content, but my mouth opened automatically. I was surprised by my own talent.”

Choi Seul Gi agreed with Seol Gi Tae’s words, and Jeong Da Bin also nodded and added.

“When I presented that time, too, Yoo-hyun oppa pointed out the key points. I was the one who said the content, but when I changed the posture and breathing as he told me and changed the order of the presentation, the words came out really easily.”

“It was the same in the innovation management game. It seemed like I did it myself, but whenever I got stuck, Yoo-hyun helped me out. He always appeared at the right moment.”

Oh Min Jae also agreed.

It wasn’t like Yoo-hyun was doing the work himself, but with a few words from him, things went well.

It seemed like he did well himself, but he knew that it was thanks to Yoo-hyun that he could finish the team assignment faster than anyone else and have this leisure time.

He also finished his personal assignment.

“Yoo-hyun oppa is really amazing. Honestly, he seems much more experienced and savvy than Chang Seok oppa.”

“Hey, you have to compare apples to apples. Yoo-hyun is in a different league. He’s like controlling the whole thing. He gives the spotlight to everyone else. That’s why the other teams like him so much.”

“He doesn’t seem to have much ambition either. I’m glad we finished early and we’re united as a team, but I also feel sorry for him.”

As she listened to the other team members’ words, Jeong Da Bin felt like she understood Yoo-hyun a little better.

A person who cares for others without greed.

A spiritual pillar that the team couldn’t do without. 

That was the feeling he gave.

Everyone nodded as if they agreed with her words.

In the afternoon, after the marketing and consulting training was over.

The new employees of Class 2 were writing something on paper in a quiet atmosphere.

-What do you want to be at Hansung in 20 years?

It was a meaningless question for the new employees who didn’t even know what they were doing at the company.

It was almost certain that more than half of the people here would quit in 10 years.

Considering that, it was a really pointless question.

It was ridiculous to ask them to write an answer to such a question. And to write the process as well, it was even more daunting.

Anyway, it was a structure that could only produce formal answers, regardless of the intention.

But this kind of action made someone feel proud of Hansung and reinforce their sense of purpose.

Yoo-hyun was one of those people in the past.

He set his goal to become the president of Han Sung Electronics and planned his life for the next 20 years.

He didn’t know what he was doing, but he vowed to get promoted quickly and become the president.

And his vow became reality 20 years later.

He was exactly what the innovation center wanted to create.

But now it was different.

Thud.

As Yoo-hyun put down his pen, Jeong Da Bin, who was sitting next to him, leaned her head closer.

“Wow, as expected, oppa is the fastest. Let me see.”

“Why are you doing this? It’s embarrassing.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with us? Huh? Hmm, as expected.”

Jeong Da Bin smiled meaningfully and scanned Yoo-hyun’s face.

He felt uncomfortable.

He understood that she was young and informal, but he couldn’t get used to it.

Yoo-hyun covered his face with his hand and asked.

“Why?”

“Everyone else writes about how much money they want to save or what position they want to have, don’t they?”

“They might.”

Yoo-hyun answered sullenly, and Jeong Da Bin tilted her head.

“But you don’t have any of that. You don’t have much ambition for success, do you?”

“Just. It’s fleeting.”

Yoo-hyun’s answer surprised her.

She rolled her eyes and then smiled as if she understood.

“Hmm, really? Well, it’s not bad.”

“…”

“To be someone who can be with others. The process also looks very romantic.”

“Stop talking nonsense and write quickly. Don’t make others wait for no reason.”

“Okay. I’m writing, writing.”

Jeong Da Bin hesitated for a moment and then picked up her pen again.

What changed was the content she was writing.

Well, it wasn’t bad.

She looked at the word CEO faintly left on the eraser dust and Yoo-hyun smiled slightly.

That evening.

After a pleasant dinner time with his team members, Yoo-hyun visited the Hansung Museum next to the training building alone again.

It was a place where new employees could enter as well, but most of them didn’t have time to stop by.

Inside, there were exhibits of Hansung’s past history that he had only seen as educational materials.

He also knew what would be added next.

As he slowly looked around, Yoo-hyun stopped in front of a statue located on the corridor side.

Shin Hyun Ho, the second president of Hansuung Electronics.

He was a genius of management who served as president from 1997 and raised Hansung to the second place in Korea and the top 100 in the world.

He was also the president who recognized Yoo-hyun’s abilities later on.

He remembered learning golf to impress him, who was a golf maniac.

Of course, he didn’t have much connection with him.

Rather than him, it was his eldest son Shin Kyung Wook.

He was the executive in charge who took care of Yoo-hyun when he moved to the group.

He was a promising successor and a strange chaebol person who had a warmer heart than anyone else.

-Han manager, you can’t live in too clean water. You have to be light and relaxed. Give people a chance to come in.

He remembered the many advices he received from him.

He was the first person in Yoo-hyun’s life who could be called a mentor.

He was the only person he could say he respected at work.

He was the one who let go of his hand first.

He died in an unfortunate accident.

He still had a lot of gratitude that he couldn’t tell him.

He wanted to meet him again.

And there was another person he couldn’t forget.

His third son, Shin Kyung Soo.

He was 10 years older than Yoo-hyun and became the president in 2017, surpassing his brother.

He was the one who stimulated Yoo-hyun’s desire for success more than anyone else. 

Yoo-hyun made him the president with his burning ambition.

In the process, he got a lot of blood on his hands.

Kwon Se Joon was included in that.

And many people who worked with him also fell victim to Yoo-hyun’s choice.

Naturally, the morale of his colleagues plummeted.

“Crazy.”

Yoo-hyun let out a long sigh.