# 1

Real Man 1

A middle-aged man and woman sat face to face at a luxurious table in between.

The atmosphere was quite serious at first sight.

Steak and empty glass sat on the table like empty gestures.

Ttoleuleuleu.

When the wine was half full, the woman’s brows frowned.

It means she wants him to stop pouring.

When the man stopped, the woman’s eyes immediately turned downward.

Tadag. Tadadag.

She was making repeated rhythms with her index and middle fingers.

It’s his wife’s habit that comes out before she says something important.

Her honest feelings?

He wanted to avoid any topic right at this moment.

The moment the woman’s eyelids lifted and her neck moved, the man raised his glass and forced a smile.

“You’re here to congratulate me, right?”

“……”

Tak.

What he heard was a dull sound, not a toast.

At the same time, the back of the woman’s hand was placed on the table.

For the first time, he saw that there was no ring on her left ring finger.

The man bit his lower lip.

“The moment you take that hand off, you can’t go back.”

“I’ve already made up my mind.”

As the woman let go of her hand, the ring on the table glistened with the light.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mr. Han Yoo Hyun, did you ever have a family? Aren’t you the kind of person who always thinks about your own success?”

Yoo-hyun’s eyebrows furrowed at her words.

But it’s not the time to get angry.

He repeatedly agonized over trying to regain his coolness.

Jiing. Jiing.

Just in time, Yoo-hyun’s cell phone on the table rang.

At first glance, it was a caller who he couldn’t help but answer.

With the palm of his left hand facing his wife, Yoo Hyun held up his mobile phone with his right hand.

“Yes, Mr. Chairman. This is Han Yoo Hyun. Yes. Yes.”

Geuleung.

At that moment, his wife jumped out of her seat.

Before he knew it, only her cold smile remained.

He had to stop her.

But the person on the other end of the line could not be ignored.

“No, sir. It’s possible. Yes, Chairman.”

Ttogakttogak.

His wife walked away without looking back.

When Yoo Hyun got up after hanging up the phone, his wife had already disappeared.

“Damn it.”

The after-taste of the wine that he drank alone was exceptionally bitter.

The next day.

Yoo Hyun closed his eyes with his back leaning on the soft seat.

The gentle sound of classical music calmed his mind.

It was so comfortable that he couldn’t even hear the wheels rolling.

Thanks to that, it was nice to quietly picture his daily routine in his head.

Kkiik.

The car soon arrived in front of Hansung Tower.

The security guard, who was waiting, ran quickly with a very nervous face and carefully opened the door.

“Hello, President.”

“Yes. Good morning.”

When Yoo Hyun got off the seat with a light smile, people following him lined up to see where he had landed.

The large front door of a tall building opened, and a row of people bowed towards Yoo Hyun.

Yoo Hyun, with a light smile, walked slowly.

He heard a woman’s voice behind him.

“President, you have a meeting with the research institute Soonyun, the executives, and a meal with the chairman for today.”

Yoo Hyun, who nodded toward the female secretary, walked in the lobby.

The moment he became the president, his responsibility and work increased.

The position of president of Hansung Electronics, a super-class company, is that heavy.

It was then.

Geuleung.

The front door opened, and a man with a haggard face approached Yoo Hyun.

Then the guards jumped forward reflexively.

“Get out of the way.”

“I have something to say to the President.”

“He’s not someone you can just  meet. Get out of the way. Hey, get him out of here.”

“A few minutes will do.”

Despite the tense situation, the man’s voice was aloof.

It was the moment Yoo Hyun glanced at the man while they were talking.

He opened his mouth quickly because he looked familiar.

“Please stop it.”

“…….”

At Yoo Hyun’s word, the air around him stopped as if it had frozen.

“Senior  Kim Young Gil, what’s the matter?”

“Am I still your senior?”

“If you don’t mind, shall we talk somewhere else? It’s possible for a while.”

Yoo Hyun pointed into the company with one hand as if he didn’t mind the sarcastic remark.

Then Kim Young Gil shook his head.

“No, I can say it here.Do you remember the name Kwon Sejoong?”

“Sejoong? What’s wrong with him?”

Kwon Sejoong was Yoo Hyun’s motive for joining the company, and he worked with Kim Young Gil when he was the manager.

There’s no way he can’t remember.

At that time, Kim Young Gil’s voice sounded like thunder.

“Kwon Sejoong is dead.”

“What?”

Yoo Hyun was greatly surprised, but Kim Young Gil calmly continued his words.

“He already went to another world. You probably won’t care, but I think it would be polite for you to stop by once.”

“What do you mean, Senior?”

Yoo Hyun urgently approached and asked.

However, Kim Young Gil, who held between his eyebrows with his thumb and index finger, raised his head and sighed.

“Hu! This is what I came to say. Please understand that Sejoong took a step he didn’t want to come because of you.”

“……”

Yoo Hyun had no choice but to look at the back of Kim Young Gil, who turned around after leaving the final words.

His eyes full of resentment were on his mind.

Yoo Hyun, who finished his day’s schedule with complicated feelings, entered a funeral hall located outside of Seoul.

It was a difficult place to come to, but he had to come.

The mortuary was not very crowded.

Yoo Hyun, who greeted the deceased first, showed courtesy in front of the chief mourners.

He saw a young son and wife crying in front of his eyes.

Yoo Hyun, who barely finished bowing back, took a heavy step.

“Ooh, you were fired and couldn’t get a job so you’re leaving in such a vain way.”

“Hansung is too much. They just took out the sweets and threw the rest away. If that’s the case, shouldn’t they make it possible for them to go somewhere else?”

“Exactly. The higher -ups are the problem. The man who decided that at that time……”

“Hey! Shh!”

The hum of people in the hallway was extinguished as soon as Yoo Hyun appeared.

Yoo Hyun, who had stopped for a while, left the people behind and started walking.

There was a situation that he could see without looking.

Yoo Hyun, who is quick to notice that people think that Kwon Sejoong’s suicide and the massive reduction of Hansung Group were directly related.

“I’m the one who made that choice.”

The company needed to gain some profit.

If left as it is, it could damage the entire group due to financial difficulties.

Someone had to take the gun, and Yoo Hyun, who was the group’s chief strategy officer at the time, posted the agenda.

It was believed at the time that it was an inevitable choice for the company’s survival.

“Somebody had to do it.”

Yoo Hyun tried to convince himself.

After saying his condolences, he slowly moved to his seat.

At that moment, familiar faces came into Yoo Hyun’s view.

They are people who worked with Yoo Hyun in the past.

Of course, not anymore.

Rather than gladness, an apologetic feeling passed in his heart.

He knew that he won’t hear anything good if they met face-to-face.

He wanted to avoid their seats if he could.

However, Yoo Hyun’s footsteps led to the guest room where they were located.

As Yoo Hyun entered, a surprised man soon corrected his posture and said.

Like Kim Young Gil, he also had a cynical voice.

“Oh my, what brings Boss Han all the way over here?”

“I came late, Senior.”

“You brat! What right do you have to say that?”

“Stop, stop. Where do you think we are? President Han, I can speak comfortably since this isn’t the company, right?”

“Yes. Of course.”

Yoo Hyun nodded.

They were the members who were together in the past, and considering them as Hansung jockey, they were all seniors.

Yoo Hyun’s position is higher than anyone else now, but only within the company.

Now that they are not related to Hansung, there was no need to respect them.

A senior holds a bottle of liquor.

“Come here, have a drink.”

“I’ll just talk to you.”

“You punk, you still have no humanity.”

Those who were already drunk started whining in front of Yoo Hyun.

“Hey, honestly, you didn’t run away alone because you were handsome. You could have done well if you did it together.”

He also blamed Yoo Hyun, who abandoned the sinking team and moved to another team.

Yoo Hyun, you were wrong then. If I go somewhere else, I’ll live well alone. Why are you hitting us in the back?”

He also blamed the situation, recalling that Yoo Hyun was in trouble due to a project he had worked on in other teams.

“Do you even know what we’re in for your teasing of the pen? Have you thought about someone who lost his job overnight when he got older?”

“…….”

Yoo Hyun remained silent.

It was also the massive layoffs that were most resentful.

He did not say harsh words directly because he faced his face, but his eyes were full of resentment.

For Yoo Hyun, there was a lot of excuse, but he did not.

It was because it was a clear fact that Yoo Hyun, who was running forward, suffered damage.

Listening to the endless stories, he understood why Kwon Sejoong had no choice but to make an extreme choice.

It was a very difficult position.

Still, Yoo Hyun persisted firmly.

Yoo Hyun, who stayed in the mortuary for such a long time, finally caught a portrait of Kwon Sejoong.

– You know what your choice will do now? A lot of innocent people will be accused of being incompetent.

The righteous eyes that blocked Yoo Hyun remained intact in the picture.

Kwon Sejoong, who thought he was a friend, motive, and rival for a while, passed away like that.

Yoo Hyun asked quietly to his smiling face.

‘Am I wrong?’

It was a horse that could no longer be reached.

After a while.

Yoo Hyun, who left his body in the back seat of the car after paying his respects, was deep in thought.

The car was changed to be bigger and more comfortable, and the annual salary increased several times.

It was the result of reaching the highest position to climb.

However, the gap in the mind is still not filled.

Rather, guilt occupied a corner of the mind that was always empty.

“Hoo…….”

Yoo Hyun, who sighed for a long time, slowly turned her eyes away.

He leaned his back on a soft sheet and looked at the night view of Seoul passing by.

Along the Han River, there was a street lamp light that stretched so long that the end could not be seen.

It’s like Yoo Hyun’s life, who just ran forward.

Each light contained what had been thrown away for success.

“Did you live a proper life?”

Now it spits out the question that it has been covering up.

The answer may have been known for a long time.

He knew it but turned a blind eye to it.

He moved on as an excuse that he had no choice but to succeed.

“Do you regret it, Han Yoo Hyun?”

When asked by himself, Yoo Hyun answered by slowly blinking his eyelids.

It was a word that could not be easily uttered to anyone.

It was frustrating.

He wished that he had someone to open up with at times like this, but he didn’t.

-Do you think you’d be really happy if you pushed them all away? The world doesn’t live alone.

The bitter words of the only boss he admired flashed in his head.

He pushed him away and refused because he was young, but now he thinks he understands the meaning of the word.

The view now seen at the top was not a wonderful spectacle.

There is no brilliant sunlight, no sparkling sea, no swaying clouds.

Rather, it feels like even the small light that was chasing has disappeared.

It is dark.

He was at a loss.

It was empty.

Is it because of my bitter heart?

Yoo Hyun, who has not been drinking since some time ago, desperately wanted to drink at this moment.