Real Man

Vroom.

Yoo-hyun sat in the back seat of the taxi after parting with Lee Chan Ho.

Lee Chan Ho had insisted on giving him two ten-thousand-won bills and hailing a taxi for him.

Why did he have to pay for the taxi fare as if he was doing him a favor?

As Yoo-hyun fiddled with the bills, he heard the radio news in his ears.

-Han Sung Display has achieved its highest performance in the third quarter, breaking its record for the highest stock price once again. Thanks to the successful listing and stock price increase of Han Sung Display, which was spun off from Han Sung Electronics, the Han Sung owner family is estimated to have gained at least 100 billion won in valuation profit…

The driver, who was listening, uttered a word.

“Geez, the employees are working overtime and suffering like this, but the money is all eaten by the bosses. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I know how you feel. I used to work for Han Sung too, you know.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. I’m a taxi driver now, but that’s the truth. Anyway, nothing has changed since then.”

“What hasn’t changed?”

Yoo-hyun asked out of curiosity, but the answer he got was beyond his expectation.

“Look. The company is making so much money, but does it go back to the employees?”

“They do get bonuses.”

“Pfft. Only 10 million won. Tsk tsk. The executives of Han Sung Display got an average of over 1 billion won in bonuses this time. Is that normal?”

100 billion, 1 billion, and 10 million.

The share that fell when Han Sung Display did well was so different.

Of course, there had to be a difference between those who had stakes and those who didn’t, between the leaders who decided the direction and the employees.

But was it right to have such a gap?

Yoo-hyun answered from the perspective of an employee, not a leader.

“That’s true.”

“It’s all the same in Korea. Capitalist market and bullshit.”

“Well…”

“At least they should treat them well if they worked hard. This is what, the politics is rotten from the top. Even next year’s election…”

Yoo-hyun had no chance to interrupt as the driver spat out his words in an excited voice.

When politics came into the picture, Yoo-hyun had nothing more to say.

Yoo-hyun let the driver’s words slip by and sank into his thoughts.

Trudge trudge.

Yoo-hyun’s thoughts continued as he got off the taxi and walked home.

The words that Kim Ho Sung and Lee Chan Ho had said flashed through his mind.

-To be honest, I envy your subordinates. You guys do what you want and get results.

-There are many people who can’t get opportunities no matter how hard they try. That’s how companies are.

Yoo-hyun could have provided alternatives for those who missed the opportunities.

He could have brought Kim Ho Sung to the Future Technology TF and let him show his skills, or helped Lee Chan Ho with his contest preparation and boosted him up.

They were both people who could produce much better results if given a chance.

But was that enough?

Crackle crackle.

Helping one or two people wouldn’t solve this problem.

There would be countless people who couldn’t show their abilities because they couldn’t get opportunities in other parts that Yoo-hyun missed.

This was a problem of the company system that couldn’t even provide fair opportunities.

The problem was that this wasn’t the end.

The ridiculous titles created resentment between the ranks, and the success of one side caused harm to the other.

With this binary thinking, the company couldn’t sustain its growth.

The funny thing was, the direction of the fruits that were obtained by struggling from the bottom.

They spun off the company to correct the mistakes of the past and grew it, but the juice was sucked by someone else.

The employees who worked all night didn’t even get the compensation they deserved.

Was this a problem that would be solved by acquiring Shin Hwa Semiconductor?

Would it be fixed if they gained the core competitiveness and stood tall in the world?

“No way.”

Yoo-hyun smirked and had to admit it.

His eyes had been on the growth of the company’s appearance, that is, upward.

He had been saying that he wanted to live well together, but he hadn’t seen the bottom where the employees were.

It wasn’t because the employees were bad that he had this thought.

Growing only the appearance was no different from building a sandcastle.

At least, he had to align the starting line of the employees and make them compete healthily, and give them proper rewards.

That was the only way for the company to sustain its growth, as Yoo-hyun knew from his long experience.

Plus, he had realized something else while living his life.

He had to change from now on.

That was the only way to make this whole process meaningful.

Clutch.

Yoo-hyun clenched his fist and made up his mind.

‘My eyes are not upward, but downward.’

He planned to correct the wrong things first for the remaining period.

The next day, Yoo-hyun called his colleagues from the Future Technology TF.

He told them what he had thought to the people he trusted the most.

“I met Kim Ho Sung yesterday and talked to him, and I felt…”

His sense of the problem that he felt was clearly revealed in the rather long conversation.

Kwon Se-jung, who was listening with his ears perked up, nodded.

“You’re right, Yoo-hyun. The company is a bit unfair. Only the ones who get the money get it.”

“That’s not enough. Think about it. How much did we make for the company with the semiconductor display this time?”

“At least 100 billion won. Han Sung Electronics offered the lowest price, and even if you subtract the factory investment cost, that’s how much profit you get.”

Jang Jun Sik, the number cruncher, answered right away, and Jung Hyun-woo was shocked.

“Wow! That makes me feel like we didn’t get much for our reward.”

“We were lucky to get it, but there was nothing for the other staff.”

“Yeah, they probably got less…”

Since the pie of the reward was fixed, it was a structure where one side got it and the other side couldn’t.

While Jung Hyun-woo was thinking, Kwon Se-jung cut in.

“Okay. I get that it’s unfair. So? What are you going to do?”

“What do you mean? We have to fix it.”

“Yoo-hyun, think about it. Do you think the upper people will give up their share?”

“Of course not. That’s why we have to change it more.”

Breaking and moving on was Yoo-hyun’s style.

Kwon Se-jung knew that, but this time it was completely different.

“Fine. Let’s say that. What about the other problems you mentioned?”

“Fair opportunities?”

“Yeah. That, and the fair evaluation problem, the promotion problem, the title problem, etc. Are you going to change all that?”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

Kwon Se-jung was worried, but Yoo-hyun nodded without hesitation.

And as soon as he heard Yoo-hyun’s answer, Jang Jun Sik laid out his plan as if it was obvious.

“I heard from Manager Park that we have about five months left until the Shin Hwa Semiconductor acquisition. I think we have some free time since our TF doesn’t have much work to do.”

“Jun Sik, this is not an easy problem. How are we going to change the whole company system?”

Kwon Se-jung objected, and this time Jung Hyun-woo chimed in.

Unlike Jang Jun Sik, who showed a lot of determination, he had an innocent expression.

“Can’t we just think of it as a rehearsal before we go to the Innovation Strategy Office?”

“Innovation Strategy Office?”

“Yes. You said that’s the control tower. We’ll have to do this kind of thing there. Wouldn’t it be better to do it in advance to get used to it?”

The Innovation Strategy Office was the control tower that integrated the three companies of Han Sung Electronics, Han Sung Display, and Han Sung Technic.

Their main task was to devise strategies to maximize the synergy of the affiliates when making products such as mobile phones and appliances.

It also included special tasks such as acquiring Shin Hwa Semiconductor.

Kwon Se-jung was about to explain this part to Jung Hyun-woo, who blinked his eyes innocently.

“No. That’s not the role of the Innovation Strategy Office…”

“Hyun-woo is right. This is something the control tower should do.”

Yoo-hyun suddenly backed up Jung Hyun-woo, and Kwon Se-jung was dumbfounded.

“What? You’re not trying to change the Innovation Strategy Office, are you?”

“Yes. They haven’t done their job properly so far, so I have to let them do it from now on.”

“Geez…”

Changing the Innovation Strategy Office meant reorganizing the existing group structure.

Kwon Se-jung couldn’t close his mouth in surprise, and Yoo-hyun said to him.

“Se-jung, I know what you’re worried about. I also know that I can’t change it all at once.”

“But?”

“But this is the right direction. I think we have to at least try.”

Kwon Se-jung wanted to ask why we had to do that, but he held back.

It was because he couldn’t think of any organization that could do this.

Instead, he pointed out his concern.

“Sigh! Fine, fine. Then you know that there might be side effects if you touch the wrong thing, right?”

“You’ve already thought that far.”

“Of course. If we’re going to do it, we have to do it right.”

Kwon Se-jung, who had a good sense, made Yoo-hyun smile.

Then he looked around his colleagues, who had bright eyes, and opened his mouth.

“Right. That’s why I have something for you guys to do. It’s…”

At the same time, the last task of the Future Technology TF began.

As Kwon Se-jung had feared, this task required touching the company system.

Since it could have more side effects if done wrong, they needed to identify the problems accurately.

To do this, Yoo-hyun didn’t sit down and analyze the reports, but went to the field.

The alumni meeting that he hadn’t attended for a long time was the field.

Clang.

As Yoo-hyun entered the pub, Seo Chang-woo from the HR team greeted him.

“Manager Han, welcome, welcome, over here.”

“Hyung, don’t call me that. But why did you come so early?”

“Haha! It’s been a long time, you know. I was curious about you.”

Seo Chang-woo, who had a pleasant expression, laughed heartily.

He was the same as when they met frequently three years ago.

Yoo-hyun joked with him.

“Then you should have contacted me.”

“Well. I was a bit hesitant. You went to the Group Strategy Office and it was harder to contact you.”

“I didn’t contact you either, so let’s just forget about the past.”

“You’re saying nonsense. Oh, but where’s Se-jung? And Hyun-woo isn’t here either?”

As Seo Chang-woo laughed at Yoo-hyun’s joke, he asked suddenly.

Clang.

“Oppa!”

The door opened and Jin Sun Mi from the PR team raised her hand cheerfully.

Soon after, Yoon Jae Il from the General Affairs team and Byun Jae Seung, who had moved from the Global HRD team to the Education team, followed.

Including Yoo-hyun, there were five people at one table.

He thought Min Jung-hyuk from the Mobile Sales team would also come, but he declined to attend for personal reasons.

He had a feeling what he was thinking, so Yoo-hyun didn’t bother to call him and promised to see him next time.

But there was one person he was curious about at this point.

Yoo-hyun asked his friends, who were chatting happily.

“Does anyone know what happened to Hyun Joon?”

“He’s preparing for the civil service exam. But I don’t know how he did.”

“I see. He should lie down where he can…”

He heard the news of Gong Hyun Joon’s resignation from the TV Sales team belatedly and regretted it.

He would have given him some advice if he had been there, but now he was in a position where he couldn’t.

Then, Yoon Jae Il said a word.

“Yoo-hyun, he wouldn’t have listened to you anyway.”

“Why?”

“It’s because of you…”

Yoon Jae Il opened his mouth to say something, but Seo Chang-woo stopped him.

“Jae Il, stop.”

“Ah, I didn’t mean to. My mouth is a mess.”

“What?”

“No, nothing.”

Yoon Jae Il waved his hand at Yoo-hyun’s question.