Real Man

Chapter 25

The tense atmosphere that Kang Chang-seok had created was gone.

What a turn of events.

If Han Yoo-hyun had been in charge from the start, there would have been no interference from Kang Chang-seok or initiative from Jung Da-bin.

Yoo-hyun would have led everything.

But now, the team members moved voluntarily.

And they did it for Yoo-hyun’s personal sake.

This was something that Yoo-hyun had never experienced before.

He felt good.

He smiled brightly.

His chest was light.

This feeling?

It was wonderful.

That’s when the instructor came in.

“Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun whispered to Jung Da-bin and looked straight ahead.

Jung Da-bin, who secretly watched him, had a red face.

There was an awkward atmosphere in the team throughout the lecture.

But the team members’ eyes were brighter than ever.

On the other hand, the instructor’s eyes were not very friendly towards Team 6.

It couldn’t be helped.

Yoo-hyun had owed his team members a favor, one way or another.

And from the instructor’s perspective, who had gone through the whole process, it seemed like a situation that could be bad for the team.

“I have to fix this.”

Kwon Se-jung also went out for a while yesterday, which could be a problem.

Even if he had permission from the process manager, if the instructor’s mood was sour, the team could suffer.

He had to somehow win back the instructor’s heart.

‘How should I do it?’

It was better to finish this kind of thing quickly.

The problem was that he had no bond with the instructor, and he had even accumulated resentment.

He had roughly grasped his habits and personality by listening to his lectures, but that alone was not enough to create a bond in a short time.

Yoo-hyun followed the instructor out of the room.

It was break time for other classes too, so the hallway was crowded with people.

The instructor, Kim Jung-hyun, a senior researcher in R&D, was on the phone at a corner seat in the lobby next to the classroom.

“Yes. Yes. No, sir. I clearly wrote an email. If we don’t pass the product quality this time, I’m really dead to the team leader. Yes. Yes. I understand. I’ll finish the training well and go. Yes.”

The tone of voice he raised when he hung up, the small sigh he let out afterwards, and his posture of constantly fiddling with his shirt buttons showed his accumulated stress.

He only heard a short conversation, but Yoo-hyun could draw a rough picture of his situation in his head based on his position and work.

Yoo-hyun took an espresso from the coffee machine in the lobby and sat down opposite him with a small paper cup.

“Sir, please have this.”

“Ah, thank you.”

No one would feel bad about a small favor, even if he didn’t spend any money on it.

Especially if it matched his taste.

“Huh? How did you know I like espresso?”

“People who have pale skin tones and no double eyelids tend to like espresso statistically. Me too.”

“Really? That’s nonsense.”

“Haha, believe it or not.”

It was a ridiculous nonsense, but the truth wasn’t important.

He just wanted to have a relaxed conversation with him who couldn’t calm down his anger right away.

He seemed to take it as a joke too, as he chuckled and brought the paper cup to his mouth.

Yoo-hyun also lifted his left hand on the table and drank coffee in the same posture as him.

He even mimicked his expression of wrinkling his forehead slightly at the bitter taste when he put down the paper cup.

Mirroring one’s behavior is a very effective way of expressing empathy.

It can give enough positive feelings to the other person by itself.

What if he could go beyond mimicking his behavior and also match his voice tone and pitch, his breathing when he speaks, and even his blinking speed?

Mirroring at that level could synchronize with the other person’s subconscious mind.

He would naturally be able to influence the other person’s movements.

Swoosh.

When Yoo-hyun loosened his crossed legs, Kim Jung-hyun also did the same thing as him

If their chests were open and their legs were facing each other, then they were in a basic state of conversation

It was important to plant a strong sense of affinity here

Preferably on something that he was struggling with

He started with a question

“Sir, I have a question.”

“What is it?”

“How is working in R&D?”

“Why? You’re not in development, are you?”

There was no doubt in his question, as some rapport had been formed.

Yoo-hyun casually dropped a remark, as if he had heard it somewhere, after confirming the positive atmosphere.

“It looks amazing, but in reality, you’re swayed by product planning, constantly tackled by quality control, and pushed by the team leader. I heard it really makes you lose your hair. I wondered if that was true.”

He didn’t forget to look at Kim Jung-hyun’s nose as he spoke.

The face reveals one’s feelings clearly.

Yoo-hyun could tell from Kim Jung-hyun’s changing expression that he had hit the mark.

He snorted and agreed with Yoo-hyun’s words.

It must have been what he was thinking just a while ago, so he didn’t feel any discomfort in saying it.

“Ha… It’s crazy. Especially quality control. They can’t even talk. They keep repeating the same thing they asked for. There are some good points, but… How do you know that?”

“A senior from my college works in the LCD business unit, in the circuit department. He said he was so envious of being a researcher, but he stuck out his tongue and told me that story. It makes more sense when I hear your story.”

“Ah. The LCD business unit must be really tough. They have a lot of quantity too. You must be doing similar work if you’re in the circuit department.”

Something like that.

He gave him something to empathize with and threw him a question.

He nodded his head in a natural posture and helped the conversation flow smoothly.

Kim Jung-hyun opened up about his difficulties.

He also subtly implied that it was his role as a senior, which made him lower his guard even more.

“But you’re amazing. You really handle products that are sold all over the world. Your family must be proud of you.”

“That’s true. That’s the biggest merit of joining Hansung Electronics.”

He must have been a recognized talent to come to the new employee training.

There was no better medicine for him than pride.

“You’re awesome. I’m glad I joined Hansung Electronics when I see you.”

“Oh, no. Don’t say that.”

He added some flattering compliments, and Kim Jung-hyun’s lips curled up.

Who would hate being praised?

No one.

Kim Jung-hyun didn’t notice, but the distance between the two people who faced each other had become much closer.

Yoo-hyun put down his paper cup on the table.

His eyes naturally moved to Yoo-hyun’s hand when he did that.

He lowered his head slightly.

“Sir, I’m sorry.”

“Why? If it’s about going out yesterday, it’s okay. You got permission for it.”

“I still feel like I burdened you.”

He didn’t need to say anything more specific.

Sometimes, a heavy apology is more effective than any excuse.

If he didn’t let it go here, he had some excuses prepared for saving face.

Something like he couldn’t refuse because Choi Kang-won, the director, told him to go first.

But it didn’t seem necessary.

Kim Jung-hyun’s upper body was still leaning forward as he looked at Yoo-hyun.

He said to Yoo-hyun,

“Don’t be sorry. But thank you for telling me. I was a little worried, you know.”

He’s a good person.

The posture was done.

“I’ll do my best not to be a burden to you and the team members.”

“Hey, you don’t have to do that. Just do it casually, casually. You have to make a lot of memories during the new employee training.”

“Then I’ll do my best to make great memories with the team members.”

“Hahaha, don’t try too hard. You did well on the presentation yesterday.”

Kim Jung-hyun laughed with a good mood for the first time in a while.

The stress from the phone call had subsided and he felt like his headache had gone away too.

He even felt a sense of accomplishment for doing his role as a senior well.

Yoo-hyun smiled in the same posture as him while looking at him.

It wasn’t Yoo-hyun’s intention, but Team 6 was completely different from the day before, as he had promised to the instructor.

They were very challenging whenever the instructor asked them questions during the lecture.

“Correct! Innovation and challenge!”

“Yes. I’ll give you three stickers for Team 6.”

They raised their hands proactively to make the lecture smooth, and whenever they threw team assignments, they poured out ideas and participated without hesitation.

Thanks to that, there were hardly any signs of tension in the class atmosphere.

It was natural that their actions caught the instructor’s eye.

There was one more thing.

“Innovation clap!”

“Clap clap clap Hansung! Clap clap clap Innovation! Wow!”

They clapped hard at the start of the class to do better.

The more they did that, the more stickers with the number 6 on the wall increased.

The team with the most stickers at the end would get a higher score for the team.

Considering that, the team that was last yesterday had risen to the third highest score.

It was nothing, but achievement was like a drug that boosted people’s power.

They tried harder and did better.

The team atmosphere improved without saying.

They naturally became more comfortable with each other.

Education Building 3rd floor lobby.

A medley of 18 songs from the 2000s was playing, and Yoo-hyun was sitting and watching the dance of five people.

Following Jung Da-bin, who had taken the lead role in the innovative product proposal, Choi Seul-gi was the leader for the innovative medley.

She had seemed introverted, but before long she was stepping forward with an impressive presence.

It was something that would never have been known if she had been left alone.

It made sense when she said that she used to be a dance major.

Tick.

Choi Seul-gi turned off the music and asked Yoo-hyun.

“Yoo-hyun oppa, who do you think made a mistake here?”

“Well, Min-jae’s arm movement is half a beat slow. Don’t try to listen and do it, just memorize the pattern. It won’t work if you just do it casually. You have to do it perfectly to get first place. Let’s cheer up!”

“Wow, our one and only assistant. You’re amazing. How do you have better sense than me, who majored in dance?”

“I’m just good at memorizing.”

The songs had changed, but the movements hadn’t changed in 20 years.

Of course, he wasn’t still memorizing them.

He was just good at seeing and following along, thanks to his sharp eyesight. Yoo-hyun was a bit faster than the others.

And Choi Seul-gi quickly caught on to that and made Yoo-hyun act as a coach.

It felt strange for Yoo-hyun to be on the receiving end of instructions, when he was always the one giving them.

“You’re amazing, really. Then let’s trust our assistant and go for the innovative medley again. Five six seven eight.”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Stop, stop. Chang-seok oppa, you’re too clumsy. Are you really going to do it like this?”

Choi Seul-gi went hard on Kang Chang-seok, who flinched.

“What did I do?”

“Do you want me to show you the video?”

“…”

She even shut him up completely.

The girls of team 6 were scary.

Yoo-hyun recalled his rookie training days when he had led the team.

-Come on, let’s try it one more time. Semi-ssi, your arm movement is always half a beat slow. Dong-hyuk-ssi, you keep looking sideways every time you do it. Memorize it completely. It won’t work if you just do it casually. You have to do it perfectly to get first place. Let’s cheer up!

He had grilled his teammates sensitively and tried hard to do well.

Yoo-hyun was the most diligent one, and he also pinpointed their weaknesses accurately, so the teammates had no choice but to follow him.

There was no laughter like now.

He had kept their titles as well.

He thought he was respecting them, but maybe he did it because it was easier to order them around that way.

There was a wall between them, and even though they won first place in the end, they didn’t contact each other afterwards.

“Hahaha.”

“Hohoho.”

But now it was different.

Except for Kang Chang-seok being intimidated, everything else was perfect.

There was a bright energy in the team.

Yoo-hyun didn’t have to step up, as the teammates came up with ideas and tried hard on their own.

They seemed to be putting in half as much effort as before, but the team was doing well.

“I guess I was the problem.”

Yoo-hyun thought that to himself.