Real Man

The person on the other end of the line was Yun Junwoo, the production management team leader of the Wonju factory.

Yoo-hyun had met him when he visited the strike site as a member of the group strategy office.

As soon as the call was connected, Yoo-hyun spoke right away.

“Team leader Yun, I have a favor to ask you.”

-Sure. What is it?

Yoo-hyun’s voice sounded serious, so Yun Junwoo did not ask for the reason and responded immediately.

Yoo-hyun gave him the information he needed to make a quick decision.

“I need to use an executive car urgently. The destination is Dongsung Hospital. The target is Jang Junsik, an assistant manager of the innovation strategy office. I will send a separate document to the factory manager.”

-How soon do you need it ready?

-Got it. I will send a driver right away.

If it was an executive car operated by the production management team, it would be ready in no time.

With a driver attached, Jang Junsik, who had been up all night and exhausted, would be able to move safely.

After finishing the calculation in his head, Yoo-hyun asked for one more thing.

“Also, please let me know the progress of the Hansung Electronics smartphone mold equipment setup. Focus on the problems.”

-I understand. I will prepare the car first and then send you the information.

“Thank you.”

-You’re welcome. I have to help you anyway. I will take action right away.

The phone was hung up with Yun Junwoo’s spirited voice.

Yoo-hyun immediately called another place.

It was to make sure that there was no procedural problem with Jang Junsik leaving his seat.

He also prepared a backup plan to fill the gap left by Jang Junsik.

He had to ask for a favor out of the blue, but that was not important right now.

Yoo-hyun hoped that his junior would find some peace of mind.

And the next day.

He heard the news of Jang Junsik’s father’s death.

Yoo-hyun checked the message and prepared to pay his respects without looking back.

He put on a black suit and headed to the funeral hall where his beloved junior was staying.

Vroom.

He drove with a heavy heart and arrived at his destination.

The funeral hall was a two-story building, low in height but quite large in scale.

Yoo-hyun entered the entrance and followed the guide to the basement.

Thud thud.

The sound of his shoes, which he had not worn for a long time, echoed in the dark corridor.

As he went down the stairs, a strong scent of incense tickled his nose.

Soon, a calm-looking mortuary came into his sight.

-The late Jang Geunhyuk

Yoo-hyun confirmed the name of the deceased and wrote his name in the guest book, then entered inside.

He saw Jang Junsik, his mother, and his sister standing in the place of the chief mourner.

Jang Junsik, whose eyes were bloodshot with sorrow, uttered a trembling voice.

“Te, team leader.”

Bow.

Yoo-hyun bowed to his beloved junior and his family, then looked at the portrait.

There was a face of a man wearing a police hat.

He had no double eyelids, thick eyebrows, and a generally robust impression, very similar to Jang Junsik.

-My father was a police officer. He lived his life without ever violating the principles. Some people called him stubborn, but I respect him for that.

Yoo-hyun recalled the words that Jang Junsik had uttered every time he got drunk, and lit the incense.

He shook it to put out the fire, and smoke rose above the portrait.

‘May he rest in peace.’

Yoo-hyun bowed deeply in his heart and bowed twice to the portrait.

Then he bowed to the chief mourner as well.

He could not think of any words of comfort to say to his junior who had suffered a great loss.

He got up from his seat and bowed his head, and Jang Junsik, who had a somber expression, introduced Yoo-hyun.

“Mother, this is team leader Han Yoo-hyun.”

“Oh, the benefactor you mentioned?”

“Yes. That’s right. He is my mentor.”

Jang Junsik’s mother approached Yoo-hyun and grabbed his hand.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. You are such a grateful person.”

“No, I didn’t do anything.”

Yoo-hyun shook his head, and then his sister chimed in.

“What do you mean you didn’t do anything? If it wasn’t for team leader Han, Junsik wouldn’t have adapted to the company. My father, who was in bed, was so grateful for that.”

“My son enjoyed listening to Junsik’s work life. He said he really wanted to see the smartphone that Junsik made this time…”

“…”

Yoo-hyun lost his words at his mother’s continued words.

He remembered what Jang Junsik had said a while ago.

-I will do as you said, team leader. I want to make a great product that can change the world and show it to you.

‘He wanted to show it to his father.’

Yoo-hyun felt like he finally understood why his junior was so obsessed with his work.

He wished he could have been by his side, but he was sorry that he couldn’t.

Jang Junsik, who was looking at him, had his eyes reddened in an instant.

“Team leader, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye to my father. Thank you… Thank you so much.”

Soon after, his mother and sister also expressed their gratitude to Yoo-hyun.

“Thank you for taking good care of my son.”

“Thank you for being nice to my brother, really.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun could not make any reply and silently bowed his head.

He felt the sorrow and gratitude of the bereaved family at the same time, and his heart ached.

There were visitors in the reception room next to the mortuary.

Yoo-hyun passed by the people who were sitting sparsely and approached Kwon Se-jung, who had arrived earlier.

He looked very heavy.

“Se-jung, when did you get here?”

“We got here not long ago.”

“Hyung, sit down. The meal will be ready soon.”

Before the words of Jung Hyun-woo, who was sitting across from him, were finished, the reception helper came over and handed him a meal.

The helper’s blue apron had a large Hansung logo on it.

Yoo-hyun sat down and said.

“You worked hard to prepare this.”

“What’s there to work hard for? The company is supporting everything.”

“Still. If you didn’t take care of it, it wouldn’t have been ready so quickly.”

“Don’t say that. It’s obvious.”

Kwon Se-jung, who put his hand down, soon had a bitter expression on his face.

“Jun-sik should have told me if his father was sick.”

“Was he very ill?”

“I think he had been battling the disease for a long time. Jun-sik seemed to have become numb to the situation.”

“I see.”

Yoo-hyun nodded, recalling the face of his junior colleague who tried to smile.

As it was past the working hours, people started to come in one by one.

Among them were Park Seung-woo, the section chief, and Park Doo-sik, the deputy manager.

Park Seung-woo, who had finished paying his respects, sat down next to Yoo-hyun with his mouth tightly shut.

Yoo-hyun asked him, seeing his heavy expression.

“Aren’t you busy? You’re in the final stage of acquiring Shinwa Semiconductor, right?”

“Is that important? The mentee of my mentee is having a hard time.”

“That’s true.”

“Sigh! What is this? I wanted to see him together after work, but…”

Park Seung-woo had been too busy to even look at Yoo-hyun’s face, who had returned after a long time.

Park Doo-sik, who was leading the battlefield, was needless to say.

Nevertheless, they ran all the way to comfort their junior colleague who had been in trouble.

They were not the only ones.

Soon after, Kim Hyun-min, the executive director, Choi Min-hee, the team leader, and the former Innovative Product TF members came in one after another.

Despite the recent OLED panel issue, which was very sensitive, most of the people who had a connection with Jang Jun-sik, the assistant manager, attended.

Yoo-hyun got up from his seat and greeted them.

“Director Kim, long time no see.”

“I finally see your face. You came well.”

“Of course I had to come. Thank you for coming all this way.”

“Thank you? I have to take care of my child. Let’s eat and talk first.”

“Yes, director.”

Starting with Kim Hyun-min, the executive director, Yoo-hyun exchanged glances with his old colleagues.

Next, Na Do-yeon, the team leader, and the members of the Mobile Strategy Team came to pay their respects.

In a situation where the smartphone launch was imminent, Na Do-yeon put her work aside and took care of her team members.

It was something that she could never have imagined in the past.

Yoo-hyun bowed his head to her, who entered the reception room.

Nod.

Na Do-yeon greeted him with her eyes and sat down in an empty seat.

Somehow, her expression looked very bitter.

-The setup of the Hansung smartphone mold equipment is delayed due to the recent mass resignation of the main workers in the factory. The equipment company is also slow to respond because they have no experience in mass production. And…

Yoo-hyun recalled what he had heard from Yun Jun-woo, the section chief, yesterday.

It was the same as what Han Jae-hee had mentioned at the drinking party a while ago.

There was a problem at the Hansung Precision Wonju factory, and Jang Jun-sik, the person in charge, was carrying all the burden alone.

Why didn’t he respond sooner?

Na Do-yeon looked like she regretted it.

It was the first time he saw her weak side.

Buzzing.

Before he knew it, the spacious reception room was filled with visitors.

More than half of them were Hansung employees that Yoo-hyun knew.

They were all very busy people, but they came down a long way to comfort their colleague.

This was not an easy thing to do.

In front of the scene that he could not see in the past, Yoo-hyun felt a lump in his throat.

He felt anew that he had been with good people.

As Yoo-hyun was looking around his colleagues, Jang Jun-sik came out.

He was wearing a suit and greeted the visitors as the host.

He approached Yoo-hyun’s table.

He looked very exhausted, but he opened his mouth with a calm expression.

“Section chief, is the food okay?”

“Yeah. Did you eat?”

“Yes. I did. Section chief, thank you again for your care.”

“Don’t say that. And, you did well.”

“I didn’t do anything. And I owe you a lot because of my shortcomings. I’m really sorry.”

Jang Jun-sik was still worried about the company’s work.

And he blamed himself for everything.

Yoo-hyun wanted to lighten the load of his responsible junior colleague.

“Don’t worry. It will be fine. And soon, you will have a great result in your hand that you can brag to your father.”

“But the problem in the factory is not that easy…”

“No. You can trust me, Jun-sik. I’ll make it happen. Okay?”

Yoo-hyun made a firm expression, and Jang Jun-sik lowered his head.

“Yes, section chief. Yes… Sniff.”

Pat pat.

‘Stupid guy. Just say you’re having a hard time.’

Yoo-hyun patted his back, who was wiping his tears.

His body felt very thin, as if he was showing the hard time he had been through.

Yoo-hyun was sharing his heart with Jang Jun-sik.

A man who ran into the reception room shouted to his friends who were already sitting there.

“Did you hear? The crown prince of Hansung came to pay his respects.”

“The crown prince of Hansung? You mean the vice president who often appears on TV?”

“Yeah. I saw him clearly in the parking lot. He was definitely different.”

“Wow! He always bragged about his son’s big achievements, and he deserved it.”

“That’s right. He must have done something really amazing. Oh? He’s here!”

Murmuring.

Yoo-hyun followed the people’s eyes and looked at the hallway.