Real Man

The voice of Vice President Shin Kyung-wook came through the phone.

-Your performance at the Wonju factory helped our conversation.

“Did he show interest?”

-Very much. He was surprised to hear that you work with me.

It meant that Chairman Shin Hyun-ho remembered Yoo-hyun’s name.

Yoo-hyun was quite surprised, but he didn’t ask any more.

“I see. Did you bring up the Shinwa Semiconductor story?”

-I definitely hinted at it. He seems to have calmed down a lot about the last acquisition failure.

“Did he have any expectations?”

Yoo-hyun needed to catch Chairman Shin Hyun-ho’s attention now, even for the future.

This was the first reason why Vice President Shin Kyung-wook met Chairman Shin Hyun-ho.

Yoo-hyun nodded and asked about the second reason.

“It must be a bold move. How about the other side?”

-You mean the Russian corruption case?

“Yes. He must have noticed it, right?”

The matter had grown so big that rumors were spreading everywhere.

No matter how much Chairman Shin Hyun-ho had withdrawn from the front line, he couldn’t have missed the signs.

Rather, wouldn’t he watch how Vice President Shin Kyung-wook would act?

What he did here was more important than anything else.

-He did ask me about it. Of course, I didn’t open my mouth until the end.

“You did well. He will appreciate your attitude.”

-It wasn’t a deliberate act to impress him. I just didn’t want to show low-level greed. I don’t want to take his place by doing that.

It was a situation where he could have brought down his opponent with one word.

Resisting that temptation was not an easy thing.

If it were Shin Kyung-soo?

He would have tried to use Chairman Shin Hyun-ho to get rid of Vice President Shin Kyung-wook.

That was the difference between the two men’s caliber.

‘That’s why you’re doomed.’

Yoo-hyun, who finished the call, thought of Shin Kyung-soo, who would be in agony by now.

He would misunderstand Vice President Shin Kyung-wook’s visit and be anxious.

The more impatient he was, the more his judgment would decline.

It was time for the monkey to fall from the tree.

Yoo-hyun smiled as he imagined the interesting situation.

Drrrr.

Then the terrace door opened and Hyun Jin-soo came in.

Yoo-hyun took the coffee he brought and smiled brightly.

“Thank you. I was wondering when you would come.”

“Did you wait long?”

“Not really. I was just curious what kind of coffee you would make.”

“Coffee is all the same.”

Hyun Jin-soo shrugged his shoulders and sat down across from Yoo-hyun.

He looked much more confident and relaxed than before.

Yoo-hyun casually complimented him on his office tour.

“I saw that you upgraded your coffee machine, huh.”

“I spent some money on it while expanding.”

“The interior of the office also looked much cleaner, did you take care of that?”

“Yes. You have a good eye, brother.”

Yoo-hyun praised Hyun Jin-soo again, who had sparkling eyes.

It was not because he was a friend’s brother, but an objective evaluation.

“It’s nice to have a free and neat vibe. You have a better sense of decorating the office than Jin-geon.”

“I was trying to create a working environment for the new engineers who joined us…”

Hyun Jin-soo excitedly told him what he had done as the housekeeper of JK Communication.

JK Communication, which received Paul Graham’s investment, expanded its scale to use the entire second floor office.

It was Hyun Jin-soo’s job to create an environment where they could focus on their work.

He was doing the same role as Jung Hyun-woo of the Future Technology TF.

The results were not bad either, so Yoo-hyun gave him a thumbs up.

“Good. The company is doing well thanks to you.”

“Hey, it’s not that much. But I don’t wander around here like before.”

“You’re not just not wandering, you’ve become the star of Silicon Valley, haven’t you?”

“Haha! It’s all thanks to this iPhone 4 that you gave me.”

Hyun Jin-soo shook the iPhone 4 with the serial number 1 that shone.

He became a celebrity in Silicon Valley with this phone that Yoo-hyun gave him last year.

Yoo-hyun chuckled as he recalled Hyun Jin-soo’s confrontation with the Silicon Valley rascals.

“You just needed an opportunity. You used that opportunity well.”

“You gave me that opportunity, brother. I hope you also give Do-ha a good opportunity.”

“I wish I could. But why doesn’t he come out?”

Yoo-hyun pointed to the inside of the office, and Hyun Jin-soo looked puzzled.

“I don’t know. He’s not someone you can hold on for so long.”

“Do-ha is not the type to chat with strangers either…”

Yoo-hyun also tilted his head.

Just when he wondered when he would come out, the door of the representative’s office opened.

Yoo-hyun faced Hyun Jin-geon and Na Do-ha, who came out after a long conversation.

But their expressions were different from Yoo-hyun’s expectations.

Yoo-hyun asked Hyun Jin-geon, who looked indifferent.

“Did you finish the talk well?”

“As you can see.”

Hyun Jin-geon shrugged his shoulders, and Na Do-ha said something out of the blue.

“Brother, I’m going to stay here for a while.”

“Are you sure? I have to go around for work.”

“Yes. I’m fine. Just leave me alone.”

“You were afraid of being separated from me, weren’t you?”

Na Do-ha, who came to a foreign country for the first time, was scared of being apart from Yoo-hyun.

So Yoo-hyun planned to spend time with Na Do-ha.

But Na Do-ha said the opposite.

“I think I know what to do now. Just watch. I’ll do it for sure.”

“What are you going to do?”

Yoo-hyun’s arm was pulled by Hyun Jin-geon.

“Let him be. He’ll do fine on his own.”

“Is he really okay?”

“Of course. Do-ha is much more amazing than you think.”

“More amazing?”

Yoo-hyun had already explained Na Do-ha’s genius to Hyun Jin-geon several times.

He knew how talented Na Do-ha was, as Yoo-hyun had told him.

But why did he say that?

Yoo-hyun felt puzzled by Hyun Jin-geon’s confident expression.

That night, Yoo-hyun sat at the dining table of Hyun Jin-geon’s house, facing his precious friend.

He asked Hyun Jin-geon, who had just sat down.

“Where’s Do-ha?”

“He was listening to Jin-soo’s stories about Silicon Valley and fell asleep a while ago.”

“Kid. He didn’t sleep on the flight because it was his first time.”

“He must be tired. But he still held on to his laptop.”

“He’s a bit weird.”

Yoo-hyun filled Hyun Jin-geon’s glass and said.

“Where’s Do-ha?”

“He was listening to Jin-soo’s stories about Silicon Valley and fell asleep a while ago.”

“Kid. He didn’t sleep on the flight because it was his first time.”

“He must be tired. But he still held on to his laptop.”

“He’s a bit weird.”

Yoo-hyun filled Hyun Jin-geon’s glass and said.

“He’s a smart guy. He has a vast knowledge in one direction that I can hardly approach. He also has a lot of experience.”

“But he doesn’t know that. He always denies it when I praise him.”

“That’s because of you.”

Yoo-hyun’s eyes widened at the sudden remark.

“What?”

“He wants to show you a better performance, but he can’t, so he acts like that.”

“He’s doing well enough. I got a lot of help from him.”

“That’s not enough. He’s secretly ambitious, you know.”

Did Yoo-hyun’s care for Na Do-ha actually burden him?

He would have normally shrugged it off, thinking that time would solve it, but he felt worried after sharing his feelings.

“Then what should I do?”

“Just leave him to me. For a while, if possible. And it would be better if you don’t clash with him.”

“He’s quite timid.”

“He can’t grow if he’s timid. I want to help him spread his wings.”

“I get that. But how are you going to do that?”

“Wait and see. I’ll let you know when it’s decided. Come on, have a drink.”

Hyun Jin-geon smiled mysteriously and offered his glass.

“I’m curious.”

Yoo-hyun accepted it with a bewildered expression.

He had a lot of conversations with Hyun Jin-geon that day, but he never heard the answer he was curious about.

The next day, Yoo-hyun was resting at his arranged accommodation when he received a phone call from Hyun Jin-geon.

“Instagram?”

-Yeah. Do-ha has a strength in software and his goal is to build a mobile service. I thought it would be good for him to learn from a related business.

“That’s true, but are they okay with it?”

-Kevin owes me a favor. He gladly agreed.

Yoo-hyun recalled the time he met the Instagram CEO here last year.

He was a genius CEO who made his company worth 100 billion dollars (about 120 trillion won) with a photo-sharing service in seven years. He had to bow to Hyun Jin-geon.

“This is so unexpected…”

-They’re a bit sloppy, but they’re a hot company these days. They only have four employees, so Do-ha can learn from the bottom up.

“That’s not what I meant.”

-Then what?

“Instagram is great. But I think you’re pushing yourself too hard.”

Na Do-ha’s stay was at most 10 days.

No matter how talented Na Do-ha was, he couldn’t help the company in just 10 days.

In other words, the Instagram CEO was giving him a favor for Hyun Jin-geon’s sake.

Yoo-hyun’s concern was dismissed by Hyun Jin-geon.

-What’s with that disappointing tone? He’s your brother, so he’s mine too.

“…”

Yoo-hyun blinked his eyes and replied a beat late.

“What? It feels like you’re repeating what I said last year.”

-You helped Jin-soo, so I want to help more. Just accept it.

“This is something. Fine. I’ll leave it to you.”

Hyun Jin-geon’s strong pressure made Yoo-hyun nod reluctantly.

It was a confusing situation, but why did his lips keep curling up?

Yoo-hyun looked at the turned-off phone screen and muttered.

“It’s coming back like this.”

Then, the phone rang again and this time it was Jeong Da-hye’s number.

He answered the phone and heard another surprising news from her.

“You’re coming to San Francisco?”

-I thought you always came to me. This time, I’ll go to you.

“…”

Was he getting back what he gave?

Yoo-hyun was speechless at the sudden change.

Jeong Da-hye thought he was reacting negatively and said in a somewhat anxious voice.

-Is it bad that I moved up the schedule? Should I delay it?

“No way. I just thought you missed me a lot.”

-Of course not. I just wanted to see San Francisco again.

Jeong Da-hye denied it, but Yoo-hyun found even this reaction cute.

He teased her with a smile.

“I’ll take your word for it. But I’ll prepare well for your visit.”

-You don’t have to prepare anything. Just do your work. You have something important to do.

She didn’t spit out the words that he expected, but rather cared for him.

This was also unexpected.

“I’m so grateful, what should I do?”

-If you’re grateful, finish it well and tell me. I’m curious too.

“Okay. I’ll do that. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Yoo-hyun answered seriously, and Jeong Da-hye hesitated.

-Oh, and…

“Yes? Do you have something to say?”

-No. I’ll tell you when I get there. See you in San Francisco.

Jeong Da-hye hung up the phone in a hurry.