Real Man

Yoo-hyun tried to stimulate the curiosity of Manager An Jae Kyung to hear his thoughts.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about how to resolve the team conflict.”

“What is it?”

“First, we create an enemy outside.”

“An enemy? Can you be more specific?”

As Yoo-hyun’s first idea came out of his mouth, Manager An Jae Kyung leaned forward.

His expression showed that he was quite intrigued.

Yoo-hyun went a step further as he wished.

“Since Il Sung and Apple are too far away, we make a visible enemy. Preferably, someone at the level of our supervisor.”

“If our supervisor plays the villain, wouldn’t we have no time to fight each other?”

“Create an enemy to enhance the internal cohesion?”

“Yes. That’s exactly it.”

“That’s a good idea, but is it possible? We need the upper management to move.”

This was why Manager An Jae Kyung did not easily suggest a solution.

Most of the methods he thought of involved moving the executives or the organization, which required the power and political skills of influential people.

This stemmed from his tendency to pursue stability, which was common to most people.

It was easy to hear his method from here.

All Yoo-hyun had to do was to show that he had enough power, as he did in the past.

But Yoo-hyun chose a different approach.

“Then how about we assume that it’s possible? Think of it as a hypothetical situation.”

“A hypothetical situation?”

“Yes. Imagine it’s a virtual reality game. I’m very curious because I love this kind of conversation.”

“Oh, you said you were sensitive to discord…”

Manager An Jae Kyung muttered softly and then continued.

“Then making our supervisor an enemy is not enough.”

“Why is that?”

“If we make our supervisor an enemy, it might have a short-term effect of uniting us, but it will have a negative impact on our goal achievement in the long run.”

“Is it because of Team Leader Na Do Yeon?”

“You know. Team Leader Na is the type who pushes back when pushed, but he’s not a cool person. He holds a grudge, so the hostility with the supervisor will surely increase.”

Manager An Jae Kyung noticed that Yoo-hyun had grasped the part that he had learned later.

He didn’t know it because he had the information like Lee Joon Il, the deputy director.

He was far from having the observational skills like Yoo-hyun.

If anything, he was like Shin Nyeong Soo, who had a good intuition.

He had an instinctive insight into people.

Yoo-hyun suddenly became very curious about how he would harmonize the team.

“So, what method do you have?”

“Um, I’ll tell you as a hypothetical situation.”

“Okay. Go ahead. I’m very interested.”

“Our supervisor needs to be more human to Team Leader Na. It would be nice to owe him a debt or open a secret to build trust.”

This was also the part that Yoo-hyun had learned later.

Team Leader Na Do Yeon was the type who always paid back his debts.

“I see. But wouldn’t there be a problem with the internal cohesion?”

“At the same time, our supervisor needs to play a bit of a villain. It would be better to introduce a rival and make them compete.”

“A rival?”

“Yes. For example, we involve the Home Appliance Strategy Team. How we do it is…”

Manager An Jae Kyung was immersed in the conversation before he knew it.

He spouted out several ideas that were similar to what he had told Yoo-hyun in the past.

They were all things that this team needed right now.

On a large scale, it was about the team, and on a small scale, it was about the individual conflicts.

If the team leader, who was open-minded, heard this story, he would have applauded and liked it.

‘He’s still the same.’

Yoo-hyun looked at Manager An Jae Kyung, who had been his right-hand man in the past, with a warm smile.

He was able to run forward without looking back thanks to his existence.

But Yoo-hyun took his presence for granted, like air.

He realized how precious he was after he lost him.

He would not repeat the same mistake again.

Yoo-hyun made a silent vow.

It was then.

Manager An Jae Kyung, who had been talking for a long time, coughed.

“Ahem! I think I got too excited.”

“No, it was very impressive. Especially the part where you said that Manager Shin Nak Kyun likes to build narrow fences.”

“Oh, yes. Manager Shin Nak Kyun is the type who clearly divides the sides. This tendency usually makes people ally with their internal enemies to block their external enemies when they have multiple enemies.”

“That’s something we should dig into.”

“It won’t be easy. As I said, we need to use another team.”

“Isn’t there a way to do that?”

As Yoo-hyun said casually, Manager An Jae Kyung blinked.

He was not sure if this was a hypothetical conversation or a real one.

He asked him abruptly.

“Then what about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m curious about how you evaluate me.”

At Yoo-hyun’s question, Manager An Jae Kyung paused for a moment.

He had something to say, but he seemed to be beating around the bush.

“To be honest, I don’t know. You feel like a mist.”

“That’s an abstract expression.”

“I have no other words to say.”

Manager An Jae Kyung smiled awkwardly.

He returned to his seat after a long time.

He didn’t expect to have such a long conversation with someone.

What was more surprising was that there was nothing that bothered him.

It felt like the other person matched everything he wanted perfectly.

That’s why he was more puzzled.

‘Yoo-hyun, the manager…’

He was not lying when he said he felt like a mist.

He heard from Deputy Manager Choi Kyu Tae and Deputy Manager Kim Sung Deuk that his career was amazing.

He had the charisma to suppress the commotion on the first day, and the presence that even the team leader was aware of.

Yet he didn’t show it on the surface.

He just watched everything quietly from a distance.

As if he was sure that everything would be fine in time.

He even felt like he had deliberately gathered these people.

Maybe he had never been praised so highly before, and maybe it was him who had lifted him up.

“Nah, that can’t be.”

Manager An Jae Kyung shook his head.

He had been under a lot of stress lately, and he kept having silly thoughts.

Yoo-hyun was not unaware of the method that Manager An Jae Kyung had mentioned.

He had learned from his advice for a long time, and his experience was ingrained in his skills.

Yet there were a few things that surprised Yoo-hyun among the methods that Manager An Jae Kyung suggested.

The younger Manager An Jae Kyung he had met in the past was naive, but also innovative.

Yoo-hyun passed this method on to Deputy Director Yeo Tae-sik.

“Deputy Director, Manager An…”

“That’s good. I got it.”

He promised to support him fully, and he followed Yoo-hyun’s words.

While Deputy Director Yeo Tae-sik was moving behind the scenes.

The Mobile Phone Strategy Team was in a state of division, and each individual was organizing their work.

It was before the main work, but they had a lot to do.

It took quite a lot of time to analyze the handover data from the previous team members, and to establish the contact line with the managers of each subsidiary and component supplier.

In the meantime, the news that kept breaking put pressure on Han Sung Group.

It seemed like a plain title, but it was an attack on Vice President Shin Kyeong Wook.

The work led by Gerard Kim became more meticulous.

This meant that Shin Nyeong Soo’s return was approaching.

To prepare for this, the Infrastructure Strategy Team went into a state of emergency.

They had no choice but to be busy.

This was why Deputy Manager Park Seung Woo resented Yoo-hyun every time he saw him.

He put aside his pity for a moment, and a news that caught Yoo-hyun’s eye came in.

Yoo-hyun looked at the news relayed on his laptop.

As a familiar face appeared, the announcer’s voice came through his earphones.

-Lee Jang-woo, the champion who challenged the UFC lightweight division for the first time in Korea, has returned to Korea today after a successful career of two wins and two losses. Lee Jang-woo will stay in Korea until his next match…

He felt nostalgic as he watched Lee Jang-woo receive the camera baptism at the airport.

“Kid, you’ve grown up so well.”

He used to be shy in front of the camera and couldn’t even look at it, but now he casually posed.

His speech and gestures during the interview were also very natural.

It felt different from his appearance in the match videos that he had watched countless times.

He used to sound young even when they talked on the phone, but he didn’t show that either.

When did he grow up so much?

It had been a year since Lee Jang-woo had gone abroad to make money, starting from Japan.

He hadn’t seen him for that long, so it was natural that he had changed.

He wanted to see him right away, but Yoo-hyun postponed it for now.

He must have a lot of people to meet since he came back after a long time.

He could meet him later.

‘I wonder if the kimbap shop is back to normal by then?’

Na Do Kimbap, which opened a while ago, was still not settled.

It had few visitors because it was far from the food district.

Of course, he had the cooking skills, so he had nothing to worry about.

He was only concerned about the weight gain of the gym members who ate kimbap every day.

He chuckled and closed the news window.

It was then.

Jiing.

The phone on his desk rang and a welcome message came in.

-Senior, I’m in Korea. I’m going to the gym next week, can I see you then?

There was nothing to worry about.

“Of course I have to go if the champion asks me.”

He nodded and wrote a reply, then pressed the send button.

Swoosh.

At that moment, Deputy Kwon Se-jung stuck his head in.

“What are you so happy about that you’re talking to yourself?”

“No, nothing. Why?”

“I don’t have anything to see you, but the supervisor is looking for you.”

“Why are you telling me that?”

“I guess he saw me passing by, I don’t know. Anyway, go see him.”

Deputy Kwon Se-jung said only what he had to say and left.

It was a situation where the number two of the Innovation Strategy Team was looking for a manager.

It would have been strange to anyone else, but it seemed natural to Deputy Kwon Se-jung.

That’s how close Yoo-hyun and Deputy Director Yeo Tae-sik were.

That was something that most of the people here didn’t know well.

Yoo-hyun, who had a rivalry with Deputy Director Yeo Tae-sik, heard the rough situation from him.

Deputy Director Yeo Tae-sik had met with Team Leader Na Do Yeon and then took care of the follow-up.

“I told Team Leader Na the behind story of the Innovation Strategy Team.”

“The successor selection battle that will start soon?”

“Yeah. I also told him that everything depends on the success of the mobile phone business.”

The current media play by Gerard Kim, the return of Shin Nyeong Soo, and the countermeasures of the Innovation Strategy Team, he shared the internal core decision-making issues.

Anyone else would have been amazed by the scale of it.

But Team Leader Na Do Yeon was an information hub within the Group Strategy Team.

She already knew the rough situation.

For her, this secret sharing was a big trust.

“What was his reaction?”

“Well, I thought he would be burdened, but he was stronger than I thought.”

“He’s the type who bounces back when pressured.”

“Yeah. He was quite impressive when he said he would do whatever it takes.”

She was not the type to back down from impossible tasks.

Nor did she blindly push forward.

That was proven by her track record of succeeding in every project she had done.

Yoo-hyun confirmed the part he wanted and touched on another part.

“By the way, how did you connect with the Home Appliance Strategy Team?”

“Oh, you mean making the two teams compete?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I didn’t have to do much about that.”

Yoo-hyun was a bit surprised at Deputy Director Yeo Tae-sik’s words.

“Really? Why?”

“They didn’t seem to get along very well in the first place.”

Did they have bad blood?

Yoo-hyun tilted his head.