Real Man

He looked weak, unlike his usual lively self.

“So what are you doing? You’re the highest-ranking here.”

“By the way, why are you so down, Hyun-woo?”

Deputy Kwon Se-jung answered for him in response to Yoo-hyun’s question.

“He got scolded by Manager Shin Na-kyun earlier.”

“What happened?”

“It wasn’t anything serious, just that Hyun-woo tried to get close to him and got rejected.”

Deputy Jung Hyun-woo was a friendly person who got along well with others.

His sociability had contributed to the successful formation of the future product team with the CTO staff.

“Ha! I’ve met a lot of people, but I’ve never seen anyone who stabs me with every word like a needle.”

“Surprising. I didn’t expect you to back off so easily.”

“He’s impossible to get along with. How can I approach him when he has thorns all over his body?”

‘Was he that bad?’

Yoo-hyun was puzzled, but he could understand it when he recalled the first time he met Manager Shin Na-kyun.

Manager Shin Na-kyun was not someone who could be befriended with just a few friendly words.

Deputy Jang Junsik also agreed with Deputy Jung Hyun-woo.

“He’s always like that. He was no joke when I met him while supporting the exhibition.”

“Oh, right. You were under Yoo-hyun back then. Saetbyul and Yoonsoo were grinding their teeth because of his tyranny.”

“Really?”

Deputy Kwon Se-jung asked with a puzzled expression in response to Yoo-hyun’s question.

“Yeah. I heard it was terrible. But how did you work with him, Yoo-hyun?”

How did he work with him?

He had a lot of grudges against him in the past, so he worked hard to make him suffer.

He didn’t get everything done, but he managed to make him bow his head.

Did he develop some kind of affection for him?

He understood the situation in his head, but he defended him with his mouth.

“Manager Shin is self-centered, but he’s smart. He’s also become much softer lately.”

“This is softer?”

He was definitely softer to Yoo-hyun.

-I won’t be able to greet you for a while. I have to watch out for Manager Hong.

The fact that he came to explain the situation separately showed that.

Even without that, he was much better than before.

At least he didn’t attack him personally by bringing up his family.

“Yeah. A lot.”

“Huh.”

Everyone blinked their eyes at the blunt truth.

The gossip that started with Manager Shin Na-kyun moved on to Manager Hong Seungjae and Team Leader Nadoyeon.

Soon, the conversation also touched on Manager Choi Kyutae and Manager Kim Sungdeok.

They were all people that Yoo-hyun knew well, but it was fun to hear different sides of them from his colleagues.

Naturally, the next topic of the conversation was directed at one person who had not been mentioned yet.

“Yoo-hyun, have you talked to Manager An Jaekyung?”

“No. Why?”

“He came to me after I had a fight with Manager Shin and asked me to have a cup of tea.”

This part was very curious, so Yoo-hyun straightened his posture.

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“Really? What did he say?”

“He mostly listened to my story. I asked him, but he seemed reluctant to talk about himself.”

Deputy Kwon Se-jung followed up on his words.

“I felt the same way. He asked me about my background and the conflict with Manager Shin, and then he just nodded and said he understood. We talked for a while, but I didn’t feel like we were getting closer.”

“To you too?”

“Yes. How should I put it? He keeps a distance? I don’t think he dislikes me, but I’m not sure.”

Deputy Jung Hyun-woo made a puzzled expression in response to Yoo-hyun’s question.

Then, Deputy Jang Junsik said something unexpected.

“I saw Manager An talking to Manager Shin the other day.”

“Manager Shin? He’s not the kind of person who would be considerate of someone older than him, is he?”

Deputy Kwon Se-jung asked in surprise, and Deputy Jang Junsik shook his head.

“I don’t know how it went.”

“What the hell?”

Deputy Kwon Se-jung and the others looked puzzled, but Yoo-hyun was not.

Yoo-hyun thought he knew why Manager An Jaekyung was moving like this.

It was because of his peculiar personality.

‘That’s why he doesn’t come to me.’

Yoo-hyun was thinking for a moment when Deputy Kwon Se-jung suddenly asked him.

“Yoo-hyun, where did he come from?”

“The mobile phone business promotion team.”

“Oh, the place where our former group leader was?”

“Right.”

“But why do I feel like I’ve never seen his face? I’ve seen quite a few people from that team while working on semiconductors and displays.”

“He was probably doing something else.”

Manager An Jaekyung was in charge of a side job, not a major one.

And it wasn’t a very noticeable one.

That was why Executive Director Hong Ilseop was puzzled when Yoo-hyun asked him about him before moving to the organization.

-How do you know Manager An Jaekyung? He’s not the type to show off his work, and he doesn’t have much external interaction.

He had dodged the question at the time, but that meant Manager An Jaekyung was classified as a colorless group.

Deputy Kwon Se-jung also seemed curious about that.

“I see. But how did he come here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Manager Kim Sungdeok was quite famous in the mobile phone business. I heard he had a connection with Manager Choi too.”

“Manager An doesn’t have anything known?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t seem to have any backers either.”

That was true.

Manager An Jaekyung was not an expert in the latest smartphone-related work, nor did he have any backers.

But he had Yoo-hyun behind him.

He couldn’t tell the truth, so he dodged it.

“He came here because he’s capable.”

“I guess. That must be it.”

“Yeah. You’ll find out soon.”

Yoo-hyun gave a meaningful smile.

Manager An Jaekyung.

He had a strange obsession with human relationships.

He was always on edge whenever there was a slight discord in his surroundings.

Even now, as he sat at his office desk, he felt a sharp pain in his temples.

“It’s clear that the failure of the smartphone business is due to the flawed strategy of the innovation strategy room. You have to admit it.”

It was because of the voice that came from behind him.

The reaction of the other party was obvious when he said something like this.

‘He’ll fight back again.’

Sure enough, a sharp voice came back.

“What do you mean, admit it? Please stop living in the past glory and thinking you can do everything.”

“What? You have no decent plan, but you think you can do anything with your pride?”

It was a childish argument.

Why did they waste time on such a pointless conflict?

There was a simple way to solve it, but he didn’t understand why they were tearing each other apart without knowing it.

He wanted to step in right away, but that was only if there was someone who would accept him.

There was no one like that, so there was no reason to get involved and get hurt.

‘But still…’

He couldn’t help but be annoyed.

“Huh.”

Manager An Jaekyung turned his head with a rough breath.

He saw a man’s face.

The only man he couldn’t figure out in this organization.

It was Manager Han Yoo-hyun.

Meanwhile, Yoo-hyun watched Manager An Jaekyung from afar.

He was still stressed by the discord around him.

His emotion was clearly conveyed by his expression of frowning and holding his forehead.

By the look on his face, he seemed to have reached the limit of holding back.

-Manager, I have a way to solve the discord within the organization, but can you please listen to me once?

‘He had the same expression when he came to me in the past.’

Yoo-hyun met Manager An Jaekyung for the first time in the mobile phone business strategy team.

At that time, Yoo-hyun, who belonged to the group strategy room, was temporarily assigned to save the failing mobile phone.

The strategy team was in a mess just like now.

Yoo-hyun met Manager An Jaekyung when he was about to leave.

Everything changed.

Thanks to his support, Yoo-hyun quickly took over the organization.

When he gathered the strength of the people, he was able to correct the wrong things one by one.

He was able to spread his wings with the help of Hyun Jingeon, who was the representative of JK Communication, because he had laid the foundation early.

Thanks to this whole process, Yoo-hyun turned a situation that was almost a demotion into a perfect opportunity.

It was then that he was able to stand side by side with Lee Jun-il, Gerard Kim, and others.

Grr.

Yoo-hyun broke his thoughts and got up from his seat.

Manager An Jaekyung, who made eye contact with him, looked stunned.

Why are you so surprised?

Yoo-hyun smiled and approached him.

“Manager An, how about a cup of tea?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Sure.”

Manager An Jaekyung blinked his eyes.

Yoo-hyun faced Manager An Jaekyung in the rest area of the product strategy department.

This place, which was made by taking a corner of the office, was quite spacious.

It was decorated like a cafe, and there were partitions, so it was good to talk quietly.

On the table was a tea that Manager An Jaekyung had brewed himself.

Yoo-hyun picked up the teacup and savored the scent.

“I like the lavender scent. Did you make it yourself?”

“How did you know?”

“I like lavender tea too. But it seems to have more depth than what I drank.”

“I grew the lavender myself, so it might be a little different.”

The basis of conversation is to create empathy.

When Yoo-hyun connected with the keyword lavender, Manager An Jaekyung’s expression, which was wary, relaxed a bit.

Yoo-hyun didn’t stop there and touched on his concern.

“You grew it yourself? No wonder. My head was hurting, but it feels like the headache is gone after drinking this.”

“Why is your head hurting?”

“There’s so much noise in the team these days. It’s frustrating to watch.”

“That’s true. But you don’t seem to care, Manager.”

Manager An Jaekyung expressed sympathy, but he was suspicious.

Yoo-hyun had been quiet since the clash with Manager Hong Seungjae on the first day.

Yoo-hyun made an excuse.

“Why don’t I care? I’m just trying to keep my distance.”

“Oh, so you’re not taking sides with either one.”

“Yes. I get a headache whenever I see discord.”

“Really? You too, Manager?”

He hit the empathy point right, and Manager An Jaekyung’s eyes widened.

He was still the same as his old personality.

Yoo-hyun added more.

“I don’t understand. There’s nothing to gain from fighting.”

“I know. It’s really stupid.”

“Right. I want to change it, but it’s not the atmosphere to be solved by me intervening.”

“The emotional gap is deep. It’s not a problem that can be solved by just stopping them.”

“Is that so? Is there a way?”

“That is… I don’t know. How would I know?”

When Manager An Jaekyung tried to back off, Yoo-hyun made a proposal that he would oppose.

He gave the wrong answer to hear the desired answer.

“It would be nice if the team leader stepped in, but he’s too busy.”

“No. He can’t do it right now.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, no. It was just a mutter.”

Manager An Jaekyung waved his hand in a flustered manner and brought the teacup to his mouth.

He had the answer inside, but he was very cautious.

He had a precedent of getting hurt by stepping in, so it was understandable.

-Manager An? I don’t know him well because he’s from another team, but he’s not the type who likes to mingle with people. He seemed to be more like that after having a conflict with his team leader.

Manager Kim Sungdeok didn’t think highly of Manager An Jaekyung either.

He was quiet and silent, and he didn’t like to mingle with people.

That was how people saw Manager An Jaekyung.

But that was because they didn’t know his true nature.

He was a person who could lead this game better than anyone else if he could only relieve his frustration.