Real Man

Chapter 165:

Chapter 165:

Chapter 165

On the laptop screen, a video that Seol Gitaek had opened was playing.

Yoo-hyun asked to confirm.

“Is this it?”

“Yeah. It’s the full video of the second day taken by the timelapse camera. Take a look.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“I’ll get some beer.”

It was while Seol Gitaek left his seat for a moment.

Yoo-hyun grabbed the mouse and changed the video angle.

He set a rough playback point and increased the playback speed to four times.

Then he quickly scanned the faces of the people passing by.

Yoo-hyun focused his attention on the video.

And finally, he found the scene he wanted at about 74 percent of the video.

On the paused screen, he saw his own side profile.

He turned the video a little more, and saw a woman passing by his side.

He carefully rewound and fast-forwarded the video to see the woman’s face.

She had a short-cut hairstyle, long eyes with slightly drooping ends.

Her figure and height were noticeable even under the office look.

It was Jeong Dahye, the one Yoo-hyun remembered.

It was a long time before he met her, but he couldn’t forget her face.

Yoo-hyun made a blank expression, and Seol Gitaek’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh, is this the person you were looking for?”

“Yes.”

“She’s beautiful. Who is she?”

“Someone I have to meet again.”

“Someone you like?”

Yoo-hyun just smiled instead of answering.

-The person you’re destined to be with is connected by a red thread.

It was exactly what Jeong Dahye had said.

The fate was connected to a place he never expected.

The future was changing, but the connected thread remained the same.

She would return to Korea in the near future.

What would she look like when they met then?

Seol Gitaek handed him a beer, looking at Yoo-hyun who was smiling blankly.

“You silly guy. What are you thinking about that makes you smile like that?”

“Just. I’m happy to be with you.”

“Gross. Come on, let’s drink.”

“Sure. It’s better to drink with a colleague.”

Clang.

The two men’s beer cans clashed.

That night, Yoo-hyun spent a long time in Seol Gitaek’s room.

The taste of drinking with a colleague was quite good.

The next day, from the morning, the atmosphere of the exhibition hall was chaotic.

The D&Tech booth didn’t open at all, and the JS booth also reduced its scale to a minimum display.

For some reason, Lee Kyunghoon’s expression looked very dark.

People murmured at his appearance.

“What’s wrong with Lee Kyunghoon, team leader?”

“Did you see it? His expression was dark.”

“Yeah. Some people from the Ministry of Industry came earlier. They seemed to be having some bad talk.”

“What the hell is going on?”

No one knew the exact information yet.

Except for the two people sitting on the bench.

Oh Eunbi, the reporter, asked Yoo-hyun.

“What do you think will happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems like they were waiting for a long time, since the Ministry of Industry stepped in right away.”

“Yes. They probably knew about it. They’ll be quick to deal with it as much as they prepared.”

“Do you think they’ll be arrested?”

Oh Eunbi muttered to herself.

Yoo-hyun didn’t know the details either.

It was still a cold case, so the crime was weaker than in the past.

But wouldn’t they cut something if they wielded a knife?

Yoo-hyun answered moderately.

“That depends on whether they confess or not. But I don’t think they’ll let it go easily.”

“Of course. You know everything.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m just guessing.”

“Come on, don’t lie.”

Oh Eunbi shook her head.

Behind the two, Park Seungwoo, the assistant, quietly approached.

He was planning to surprise the two who were chatting like siblings.

Then, he heard Oh Eunbi’s voice.

“By the way, you gave me some materials, right? The corruption materials related to Lee Kyunghoon.”

“Ah, yes. What about it?”

‘Lee Kyunghoon?’

Park Seungwoo flinched at Yoo-hyun’s voice that followed.

He turned the corner and hid his body.

He perked up his ears.

The two’s conversation continued.

“Why did you prepare it?”

“Because I knew something was wrong.”

“You did it all by yourself, right? There was a lot of it.”

“Yes. Well, yeah.”

“Why? You had a lot of good seniors in your part, you could have asked for help.”

Park Seungwoo’s eyes wavered for a moment.

He didn’t know exactly what they were talking about, but he knew for sure that his junior had struggled alone.

Then Yoo-hyun opened his mouth again.

“I just didn’t want to bother them while they were working hard.”

“Ho ho. You’re amazing, Yoo-hyun. Um, do you treat your seniors like your juniors?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Well, maybe not, but that’s how it looks to me.”

“…”

The two’s conversation was not heard well after that.

It wasn’t because their voices got smaller, but because Park Seungwoo’s heart was heavy and it was hard to listen.

Then, someone tapped his back.

Before he turned his head, he heard Choi Minhee, the section chief’s voice.

“Park, what are you doing here?”

“Ah, section chief, nothing.”

“Why? Were you eavesdropping on Yoo-hyun’s conversation?”

“No. Of course not. Come on, let’s go.”

Park Seungwoo smiled awkwardly and turned Choi Minhee to the other side.

Choi Minhee changed direction and said.

“I have to go this way.”

“Go around, go around.”

“Why?”

“Just, just.”

Park Seungwoo kept blocking the way he wanted to go.

Choi Minhee looked at him with a puzzled expression.

That afternoon.

When the exhibition was about to end, Yoo-hyun greeted Park Seungwoo, who was passing by the private room.

“Assistant, where are you going?”

“Huh? Oh, just.”

“Do you want to go together? Are you okay?”

“No. I have some places to stop by.”

He knew he had nowhere special to go, but Park Seungwoo avoided Yoo-hyun.

His expression was still dark.

Yoo-hyun knew roughly why.

-Did Park hear Yoo-hyun and Oh Eunbi’s conversation earlier? Did he make a mistake?

It was the answer he heard when he asked Choi Minhee, the section chief, because Park Seungwoo’s expression was not good.

He didn’t have a serious conversation with Oh Eunbi.

It was fine for anyone to hear.

But there was a remark that bothered him.

He might have felt hurt if he had heard that he did it all by himself without his senior’s help.

He was someone who cared for his junior more than anyone else.

What should he do?

He was lost in thought for a moment.

That was when Ichano came over with a fuss.

“Yoo-hyun, did you hear the news?”

“What is it?”

“Lee Kyunghoon, well…”

Before Ichano could finish his sentence, he saw Lee Kyunghoon being dragged out from one side of the hallway.

He was being pulled by two men in suits who held his arms.

Around him, there were employees from the Ministry of Industry and agents from the National Intelligence Service who had changed their clothes.

Lee Kyunghoon shouted as if he was screaming.

“No, I’m telling you. I have nothing to do with it.”

“We’ll see when we get there.”

“Where are you taking me? I told you everything already.”

“It’s the decision we made after hearing you.”

The man’s voice was firm and decisive.

People swarmed around the unusual scene.

Buzzing.

Lee Kyunghoon’s voice echoed throughout the large hall.

“I don’t know anything about it.”

He said that and disappeared.

The employees of Hansung Electronics LCD division who saw his back clicked their tongues.

“JS is a Chinese BDE company, right?”

“D&Tech is in cahoots with them, right? So did this team leader bring China in?”

“I checked with the HR team and it’s true that China has already poached some of their staff.”

“Crazy. How could they do that behind our backs?”

“But who did the digging?”

“They must have investigated from behind.”

Rumors began to spread through the mouths of the people.

Yoo-hyun sat on the bench and ignored the buzz.

Was it because everything went according to the plan?

He thought he would feel relieved, but he felt rather calm.

Then Park Seungwoo, who sat next to him, offered him a can of coffee.

It was the coffee he drank once in a while.

He was surprised and looked up at Park Seungwoo.

His face looked complicated.

“Assistant.”

“Just. I wanted to drink some cool coffee. Do you like it?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll drink it well.”

“You always take care of me like this.”

He felt the bone in Park Seungwoo’s words, but Yoo-hyun pretended not to know.

“What did I do?”

“…”

Park Seungwoo quietly drank his can of coffee.

Yoo-hyun didn’t say anything either.

After a moment of silence, Park Seungwoo opened his mouth.

“It was because of that, wasn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“…I heard it by chance. You talking to Oh, the reporter.”

“I see.”

“Tell me if you know, why do you suffer alone? I can help you too.”

He felt his concern for his junior.

His eyes asked why he carried all the burden by himself.

Yoo-hyun shook his head.

“It’s not like that.”

“You say that again. Wasn’t it because of that you came back late last night?”

“That’s really not it.”

“Then what?”

Yoo-hyun shook his head more vigorously and was speechless for a moment at Park Seungwoo’s question.

It really wasn’t, but it was a bit awkward to say.

“That’s… because I have someone to look for.”

“Who can you look for here?”

Yoo-hyun hesitated for a moment and looked at Park Seungwoo.

He didn’t avoid Yoo-hyun’s gaze.

Yoo-hyun took the initiative.

“Assistant, do you want to have a drink?”

“Will you tell me now?”

“Yes. That’s one thing.”

“Anything else?”

“And I have a problem with a woman.”

He just wanted to talk to him.

It was a story he hadn’t told anyone yet.

Then Park Seungwoo smiled faintly.

“Just the two of us?”

“Deal.”

Yoo-hyun shouted loudly.

That night, inside a bar near the hotel.

Live jazz music filled the place, and Yoo-hyun had a lot of conversations with Park Seungwoo.

“Actually…”

He didn’t spill everything.

He briefly summarized the story of Lee Kyunghoon.

He also added a little bit of the story of meeting the woman he liked.

But after talking for a while, he felt a little lighter in his chest.

Park Seungwoo questioned him about Jeong Dahye.

“But if you like her, why don’t you think of meeting her?”

“Just. It’s not time yet.”

“Really? Do you have something to worry about? In my case…”

It wasn’t a good advice to get from Park Seungwoo, who hadn’t met a woman yet.

But Yoo-hyun listened to his senior’s words.

He was making some light chatter when he got to the point.

It was the part where Yoo-hyun investigated Lee Kyunghoon by himself.

He drank his alcohol and said seriously.

“Yoo-hyun, you should have told me. I might have been able to help you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No. I’m sorry for being a bad senior.”

“It’s not like that.”

What if Yoo-hyun had asked for help?

He would have helped him for sure.

Maybe he could have saved some time investigating other companies.

But he had a reason not to do that.

Yoo-hyun wanted to solve it by himself.

He thought it would make him feel better.