Real Man

It was already dark when Yoo-hyun arrived home.

Clank.

As he opened the door, he saw Han Jae Hee sitting in the living room.

She had come in without saying anything, but he decided not to make a fuss about it.

Yoo-hyun put down his bag and approached his younger sister.

“What’s going on?”

“Just like the text I sent you. Mom is coming. And she’s coming tomorrow.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“She said she missed Unni and wanted to see her. I almost got caught in a surprise attack too.”

Yoo-hyun had not received any contact from his mother about her visit either.

Yoo-hyun asked.

“How did you know she was coming?”

“She kept calling and asking me this and that. What Oppa was doing and all. So I probed her a bit.”

“Did you tell her about your return to Hansung?”

“Are you kidding me? If I did, Mom’s expectations would be too much to handle. I didn’t say anything about Oppa.”

“That’s a relief at least.”

If his mother found out that he had briefly set foot in Hansung, she would surely be overjoyed and hope for his son’s employment.

Yoo-hyun felt a bit relieved and Han Jae Hee smirked.

“Oppa, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“Mom is coming out of the blue, don’t you know? Women hate it when their mother-in-law shows up unexpectedly.”

“She’s not my mother-in-law.”

“Whatever. Oppa, you know Mom’s style. She’ll definitely grab Unni and say all kinds of weird things. Do you think Unni can handle that without being prepared?”

‘You’re not easy either, Jae Hee!’

Yoo-hyun suppressed the words that rose to his throat and pondered over the situation.

Han Jae Hee’s words were somewhat exaggerated, but they had a point.

It wouldn’t be very pleasant to meet his girlfriend’s mother without being ready.

What was it like in the past?

Yoo-hyun had almost cut off his relationship with his family, so his mother and Jeong Da-hye had hardly any chance to meet.

When they met at unavoidable events, they were very awkward.

After some deliberation, Yoo-hyun came up with an answer.

“First of all, I think we should postpone Mom’s visit.”

“Yeah. Just tell her you have work. We can pick a date later and go somewhere nice.”

“Okay. Let’s try that.”

Yoo-hyun nodded and picked up his phone.

Just as he was about to dial the number, his mother called him.

A bitter laugh escaped from Yoo-hyun’s mouth.

“Did she install a CCTV or something? What the hell?”

“Oppa, get a grip and answer. You have to beat her to it.”

Han Jae Hee calmly instructed him, ignoring his panic.

Yoo-hyun nodded and switched to speaker mode before answering the phone.

His mother cut to the chase.

-You heard from Jae Hee, right? I’m going up there tomorrow.

“Yes, Mom. I have something to say about that…”

Before Yoo-hyun could finish his prepared speech, his mother beat him to it.

-Don’t get me wrong, but I’m going to see the kimbap shop owner. I promised to explain the new side dishes that I revamped.

“Me too, kimbap?”

-Yes. The owner said he would see me tomorrow afternoon. With the consultant who helped with the store.

His mother seemed to know his trick and nailed down the schedule.

She was going to meet a major customer who accounted for a large portion of her sales. He couldn’t tell her not to come.

As he was wondering what to say, Han Jae Hee intervened.

“Mom, stop making lame excuses.”

-What do you mean, excuses? Why would I bother to squeeze in some time to go up there if not?

“You’re twisting your words again. I know you’re coming to see Da-hye Unni.”

-Don’t be silly. I’m not going to see our daughter-in-law. I don’t want to be that kind of meddling mother-in-law.

Yoo-hyun chuckled.

“Mom, when did she become your daughter-in-law?”

-Just listen to what I’m saying and don’t misunderstand.

“…”

Somehow, his sister and mother talked alike.

His mother added more.

-Since I’m going anyway, I might as well check out the place where my son works. It’s above the kimbap shop, right?

“That’s right.”

-Don’t expect a coincidental encounter and don’t misunderstand. I’m busy, so I can only have dinner with you and go back.

His mother seemed to know that Jeong Da-hye worked at Double Y.

Yoo-hyun covered the speaker with his hand and growled.

“Did you tell her?”

Nod nod.

“Ugh! You traitor.”

He sighed and said to his mother.

“Okay, I got it. See you tomorrow then.”

-Okay. Don’t feel pressured, I’m just dropping by.

It was a situation where he had to feel pressured.

He hung up the phone and looked at Han Jae Hee.

He wondered why she was making such a fuss, but the culprit was his loose-lipped sister.

If his mother didn’t know that Jeong Da-hye worked in the same building as the kimbap shop, she wouldn’t have rushed like this.

As Yoo-hyun was about to say something, his embarrassed sister confessed.

“I only told her that Unni was going to work tomorrow.”

“Hey, that’s everything.”

“I’ll reap what I sow. That’s all there is to it.”

“What are you planning to do?”

It was no use crying over spilled milk.

When Yoo-hyun asked for a solution, Han Jae Hee said firmly.

“First of all, you can’t tell Unni anything right now.”

“It’ll be too late tomorrow.”

“It’s already too late. It’s almost time for Unni to sleep. If you tell her that your mother is coming tomorrow, do you think she’ll be happy?”

“Stop talking nonsense and tell me what you’re thinking.”

At Yoo-hyun’s words, Han Jae Hee straightened her posture.

Then, a ridiculous plan came out of her mouth.

“Let’s skip work with Unni tomorrow. That’ll do it.”

“Hey, I have a meeting with a client tomorrow.”

“What meeting? Weren’t you just goofing off at Double Y?”

“Look at this.”

Yoo-hyun held up his phone and showed him the chat window of With.

-Schedule Bot: Meeting with Mirinae Securities executives. Hanbit Tower 12th floor. Tomorrow at 2 p.m.

He had postponed his commute to Hansung Tower since he had planned this in advance.

Han Jae Hee glanced at it and said casually.

“Then we can go there together.”

“That’s not Da-hye’s job. And even if we go together, what are we going to do after the meeting? Send her off somewhere alone?”

Yoo-hyun pointed out the flaw in his logic, and Han Jae Hee crossed his arms and pondered.

“Well, that’s true. In the afternoon, mom will surely be at the kimbap place…”

“Is that all?”

“No. Then let’s do this. I have something to discuss with WithH UX anyway, so I’ll use that…”

Yoo-hyun perked up his ears at his sister’s serious voice.

The next day, Yoo-hyun arrived at work and looked at Jeong Da-hye, who was sitting next to him.

She looked very relaxed as she sipped her coffee.

And she had every reason to be. While Yoo-hyun was away, she had accomplished a lot here.

The basic messenger ‘With’, the corporate messenger ‘WithH’, the mobile securities platform ‘Milky’.

She had set the direction for these three projects and devised marketing strategies according to the product launch schedule.

She had consulted the staff to create synergy by utilizing their strengths.

The results were coming in one after another.

Jeong Da-hye noticed Yoo-hyun’s gaze and opened her mouth first.

“What? Having trouble adjusting after a long time?”

“No. I was just wondering what you were doing.”

“Checking my email, what else.”

Click.

Yoo-hyun teased her as she clicked her mouse.

“Did you get any contact from Hansung? I heard there’s a lot of talk because of the beta version of WithH.”

“I just got a meeting request today.”

“Oh, really? Then we should meet them.”

WithH was scheduled to be pre-installed on the next-generation Hansung smartphone.

Since Hansung had a lot of influence on it, there were many requirements.

A meeting was needed for a mid-term review, and Han Jae Hee had aimed for that.

But Jeong Da-hye’s words turned the tables.

“There’s no need to meet. I’ve already finished developing and applying the parts that Hansung requested to change.”

“You finished it? Without any mid-term review?”

“Yes. It was faster than I thought.”

“How did you do it?”

“You know, the developers here are a bit weird. Silent lost a bet to the director and made it overnight.”

Yoo-hyun could imagine the situation without seeing it.

He regained his composure and asked for confirmation.

“What about the design changes? Even if the software development is done, you need to get confirmation for the UX changes, right?”

“That too, Silver Star made it for each case.”

“Each case?”

“Yes. He sent me several versions, so I’ll get a reply soon.”

As soon as Jeong Da-hye finished speaking, Yoo-hyun’s phone rang.

Ziing.

On the screen, there was a message from Han Jae Hee.

-Bro, Double Y already sent me the UX change summary. They did it so well that I can’t find any fault. Do we really need a meeting?

“…”

“What? Is there a problem?”

“No. But don’t you think it would be better to exchange opinions once we meet? Since we got a meeting request anyway.”

“It’s okay. We agreed to have a meeting after Hansung’s internal review.”

He asked just in case, but as expected, he got rejected.

Yoo-hyun didn’t give up and made another suggestion.

“Then why don’t you take a break since you worked hard?”

“Why? I’m happy to be working with you after a long time. Don’t you want me to join your scene?”

“No. That’s not what I meant.”

Yoo-hyun had nothing more to say.

What should he do?

He was walking around the office, worrying, when Na Do-ha approached him with a friendly face and said loudly.

“Hyung! I heard from grandma that your mother is coming… Huff huff!”

Yoo-hyun quickly covered his mouth and put his index finger on his lips.

“Shh! Do Ha, lower your voice.”

“Why? Is this a secret?”

“Mom said she wanted to come quietly. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

Yoo-hyun lowered his hand, and Na Do-ha whispered to him.

“Are you trying to keep Alice from meeting her?”

“Huh?”

“You’re hiding your office romance from your mother, right? I know everything.”

What does he know?

Yoo-hyun hid his absurdity and dodged the question.

“That’s not it, just don’t say anything.”

“Okay. Hyung, then should I go to a meeting with Alice to scout for a new client? We need a follow-up for WithH anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I told you before. Young-hoon hyung knows the president of the company he wants to meet, so he agreed to connect us.”

“That’s a brilliant idea. It’s a must for Double Y’s sake.”

Na Do-ha was not a genius for nothing.

In front of an unexpected opportunity, Yoo-hyun smiled brightly.

He went straight to the president’s office and explained the situation honestly.

Park Young-hoon burst into laughter after hearing the story.

“Puhahaha! Oh, man, that’s hilarious.”

“Stop laughing.”

“How can I not laugh? The great Han Yoo-hyun is worried about such a thing?”

“Then what should I do? It’s already too late.”

“Just tell her now. Da-hye is not someone who can’t understand that.”

“Women’s hearts are different.”

-Don’t you know that women hate it when their mother-in-law suddenly shows up?

It wasn’t just because of Han Jae Hee’s words that Yoo-hyun was like this.

Jeong Da-hye had spent a long time in the US.

He had recently contacted her mother through his father, but they had not interacted yet.

She had lived alone abroad since she was young, so she didn’t seem to be used to dealing with adults.

How would she face his very proactive mother in this situation?

There was a lot of room for mistakes.

He wanted to introduce her in the best way possible, since the first impression was important.