Real Man

Chapter 638:

But it seemed that Assistant Jang Jun-sik had a different idea.

“Manager.”

“What?”

“I want to go alone this time.”

“Are you afraid that I’ll nag you again?”

Yoo-hyun smiled, but Assistant Jang Jun-sik’s face became even more serious.

“No, sir. You really helped me a lot. But… I want to sort things out myself now.”

“You might have to go back, you know?”

“I’ll try. I think I can learn more from you if I can do this on my own.”

He used to do only what he was told, but now he was taking the initiative.

Yoo-hyun secretly smiled and entrusted his reliable junior.

“Okay. But if you have any trouble, let me know right away.”

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

Assistant Jang Jun-sik stood up briskly, bowed, and turned around.

He felt like he had grown up suddenly.

While Assistant Jang Jun-sik was finding his own way, Assistant Kwon Se-jung’s face became darker day by day.

Yoo-hyun grabbed his colleague who was walking with his shoulders drooped.

“What did you do wrong? Why are you so down?”

“It’s just… Life is not easy.”

“Is it because of Manager Kim Sung-deuk?”

“No. It’s because of my lack of ability.”

Assistant Kwon Se-jung lowered his head in resignation at Yoo-hyun’s question.

He was nowhere near his usual confident self.

“Let’s sit down and talk.”

“What’s the point of listening to my complaints?”

“What do you mean? That’s what good colleagues are for. I’ll listen.”

With a reluctant expression, Assistant Kwon Se-jung sat down and started to ramble.

“While following Manager Kim…”

Assistant Kwon Se-jung’s part with Manager Kim Sung-deuk was about production, quality, and distribution.

It was a wide range and involved a lot of external affairs, so it was hard to organize.

He finished his long speech with a sigh.

“Ugh. How can Manager Kim be so clueless? I feel like I’m going to tear my groin chasing after him.”

“Of course. He’s been digging the same well with his phone for over 10 years.”

“That’s not it. He keeps digging in and asking questions, and it’s driving me crazy.”

Yoo-hyun, who was drinking coffee, barely held back from spitting it out.

It was exactly what he had done to Manager Kim Sung-deuk.

There was no way he knew that, so Assistant Kwon Se-jung asked Yoo-hyun accusingly.

“Hey, what did you learn from the Group Strategy Office that made you work like that?”

“Maybe he was trying to teach me carefully.”

“Are you kidding me? I heard that you told him to be your senior if he didn’t like it. Right?”

“Yes. That’s 100 percent true.”

Ouch.

It felt like everything he had done was coming back to him.

Still, there was a positive side.

Yoo-hyun pointed that out first.

“So, isn’t it helpful to you?”

“Me? Well…”

“Don’t you think Manager Kim has some talent in dealing with parts companies and affiliates?”

Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo had dealt with many organizations, but that was only a small part.

On the other hand, Manager Kim Sung-deuk was someone who had looked at the whole picture from the Group Strategy Office.

Even if his method was a bit rough, it must have been a stimulus for Jeong Hyun-woo.

Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo nodded his head as if he agreed.

“Well, that’s true. He also pays attention to the details.”

“Then learn from him. It will help you.”

“I know, but why did you raise me in a greenhouse?”

Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo, who had been mumbling, suddenly confronted him.

Yoo-hyun was speechless.

“What?”

“Why did you keep telling me that I was good, and made me into this ignorant guy? If you had rolled me a little more, I wouldn’t have been this bad.”

He had always smiled brightly, but now he looked like he was possessed.

Did he catch his personality from hanging out with him?

Meanwhile, Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo was getting scolded all the time.

The answer to this question was given by Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo himself in the break room.

“Don’t even ask. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“Why? What did you do?”

At Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo’s extreme words, Assistant Kwon Se-jung perked up his ears.

Yoo-hyun, who was sitting across from him, was also curious.

“First of all, whenever something happens, he sends me a messenger. And he always gives me an impossible deadline.”

“Wow. Really?”

“If I pull an all-nighter, he adds more. And he writes harsh comments in red, which destroy my self-esteem.”

“Hmm.”

Yoo-hyun, who was drinking coffee, almost spit it out.

It was exactly what Manager Kim Sung-deuk had done to him.

He didn’t know that, so Assistant Kwon Se-jung asked Yoo-hyun.

“Hey, what did you learn from the Group Strategy Office that made you work like that?”

“Maybe he was trying to teach me carefully.”

“Are you kidding me? I heard that you told him to be your senior if he didn’t like it. Right?”

“Yes. That’s 100 percent true.”

Ouch.

It felt like everything he had done was coming back to him.

Still, there was a positive side.

Yoo-hyun pointed that out first.

“So, isn’t it helpful to you?”

“Me? Well…”

“Don’t you think Manager Kim has some talent in dealing with parts companies and affiliates?”

Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo had dealt with many organizations, but that was only a small part.

On the other hand, Manager Kim Sung-deuk was someone who had looked at the whole picture from the Group Strategy Office.

Even if his method was a bit rough, it must have been a stimulus for Jeong Hyun-woo.

Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo nodded his head as if he agreed.

“Well, that’s true. He also pays attention to the details.”

“Then learn from him. It will help you.”

“I know, but why did you raise me in a greenhouse?”

Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo, who had been mumbling, suddenly confronted him.

Yoo-hyun was speechless.

“What?”

“Why did you keep telling me that I was good, and made me into this ignorant guy? If you had rolled me a little more, I wouldn’t have been this bad.”

He had always smiled brightly, but now he looked like he was possessed.

Did he catch his personality from hanging out with him?

Yoo-hyun hid his astonishment and comforted his junior and colleague.

“No, man. You did well.”

“Yeah. You were the best at management among us.”

Assistant Kwon Se-jung also chimed in, but it was useless.

“I don’t believe it anymore. I know I’m at the bottom, so I’ll start from there.”

“…”

He could see the determination in Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo’s eyes, which were burning with passion.

He didn’t look bad trying to rise up every time he was stepped on, but it was still awkward.

Yoo-hyun and Assistant Kwon Se-jung shrugged their shoulders as if they had made a promise.

Apart from Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo’s will, they were curious about Manager Shin Nak-kyun’s intention.

Now that the faction issue was somewhat settled, Yoo-hyun looked for Manager Shin Nak-kyun.

Despite being busy, he followed Yoo-hyun without a word.

Yoo-hyun reached the outdoor terrace on the 20th floor and handed Manager Shin Nak-kyun a vending machine coffee.

“Why? Don’t you like this?”

“No. Well, not really.”

“I like looking down from here while drinking vending machine coffee. Well, it’s not as high as the Group Strategy Office, so the view is not as good, but it’s more free here, right?”

“Is it?”

Manager Shin Nak-kyun, who stood next to the railing, answered with a bland expression.

Somehow, the conversation with him was always awkward.

Yoo-hyun coughed and got to the point.

“Ahem. How is it working with Assistant Jeong?”

“Well, he’s still a novice. He’s slow and dull.”

“So that’s why you’re rolling him?”

“I don’t have any ill feelings towards him.”

“Then?”

“I’m just using the fastest method I know, that’s all.”

He meant the method that Yoo-hyun had used to roll Manager Shin Nak-kyun.

Just by hearing that, it was clear that he had copied Yoo-hyun.

Yoo-hyun slyly asked his intention.

“Why? Do you want to raise him?”

“He’s a bit behind, but he’s good at dealing with people.”

“Are you complimenting him?”

“He follows me well even though he’s angry. Just like me in the past.”

“…”

He felt sorry for some reason, even though he had suffered much more in the past.

Whoo.

The wind blew and filled the brief awkwardness.

Yoo-hyun took a sip of coffee and resumed the interrupted conversation.

“This might be a strange question to ask now, but why did you come to the Innovation Strategy Office?”

“Didn’t you tell me to come?”

“You said you wouldn’t come. You didn’t seem to think highly of the smartphone’s chances of success.”

He had wanted Manager Shin Nak-kyun to join him.

But it wasn’t an easy decision for Manager Shin Nak-kyun, who had a high-performance orientation, to move to a lower-level organization, especially one with a slim chance of success in the smartphone sector.

That’s why he was surprised.

Manager Shin Nak-kyun also mentioned that.

“That’s still the case. No matter how hard we try, a company can’t change overnight.”

“Then why did you come?”

“Do you really not know why?”

“I have to hear it.”

Seeing Yoo-hyun’s puzzled face, Manager Shin Nak-kyun recalled what Team Leader Na Do-yeon had said.

He had told him when Yoo-hyun left the Group Strategy Office.

-Manager Han said to take care of you first. It didn’t seem like it, but you two must have gotten close.

He didn’t know if they had gotten close or not.

More than that, he just wanted to work with him.

He wanted to experience that amazing feat of making the impossible possible again.

That’s why he chose the Innovation Strategy Office and moved without hesitation.

Contrary to his inner thoughts, Manager Shin Nak-kyun drew a line bluntly.

“I came because you said you would promote me, and I wanted to see if I could achieve something from nothing. I can’t leave the future of Hansung to the fools.”

“That’s good then.”

“Yes. So, please work harder and help me out. And stop worrying about your useless junior.”

He gave a curt answer and turned around without a word.

But he must have finished his coffee, because he was holding the paper cup upside down.

He glanced back for a moment and then moved on.

“He’s so grumpy.”

Yoo-hyun smiled at Manager Shin Nak-kyun’s back.

He felt like he knew his true feelings behind his hard shell.

The phone strategy team was busy moving due to the division of labor following the ‘test’ and ‘challenge’.

They were so busy that they had less time for arguing or clashing.

Even within the team, they started to cooperate a little bit.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

It was awkward and slow at first, but they gradually created synergy and increased their speed.

As the sorted out contents piled up, it was time.

Team Leader Na Do-yeon sent an email announcing the report.

-I will receive reports on the progress of the work. The order is…

The report was done in the order of the teams announced before.

First, Manager Hong Seung-jae and Manager Choi Gyu-tae sat at the table in front of the team leader.

Their part was marketing, planning, and production strategy, which was about the overall direction.

They displayed the report content on the TV connected and took turns presenting their areas.

“Starting with unifying the scattered naming, we reorganized the brand and…”

“The important thing is to make it applicable in the global market as well…”

After the presentation, they clarified the overall outline through questions and answers.

The consolidation was done by Manager An Jae-kyung.

All the report contents from now on would be merged into his final summary.

Next was Manager Kim Sung-deuk and Assistant Kwon Se-jung’s turn.

They shared a wide range of information on production, distribution, and quality in this place.

Then, Manager Shin Nak-kyun and Assistant Jeong Hyun-woo joined.

They reported in detail on the research on parts suppliers and affiliates.