Real Man

Chapter 251:

It was true that Circuit Team 3 had a lot of work to do and felt a lot of pressure.

It meant that the Pre-Product Team had enough lead to work on their own.

But the situation was not as easy as they thought.

This was not a theory, but a practice.

They could not approach the work with logic alone when people were involved.

As if to prove the difficulty, Jin-mok Lee, the team leader, scratched his head hard.

“Ugh! How can we entrust PCB simulation to the senior engineer?”

“We need the help of an experienced person if we want to get Apple certification later.”

“Yoo-hyun, this is really hard. I’d rather do it myself.”

It was not just him.

Ki-yong Maeng, the senior engineer, had a gloomy face.

“I can’t ask Jo, the manager, to go to the IC meeting with me.”

“Just say it. He should know it too, since it’s on the work list.”

“Yoo-hyun, this is not a simple matter.”

The two most active people were in this state, and the others were not even worth looking at.

Sun-dong Kim, the team leader, did his work well by himself, but that was his own way.

He also needed to adapt to Apple’s work style.

Su-jin Min, the senior engineer, was the same.

She also needed to fill in her gaps through Circuit Team 3.

Yoo-hyun watched them for a while, but he did not see any signs of improvement.

What should he do?

He returned to his seat and fell into thought.

It was certain that the problem would be solved naturally over time.

But Yoo-hyun wanted to shorten that time.

To do that, he needed to think about why this problem occurred in the first place.

Was it because they were outranked?

It seemed so on the surface, but it was not.

The fundamental reason was that they lacked confidence.

The people of Pre-Product Team 1 Part underestimated themselves too much.

They needed a clear opportunity to break this.

Yoo-hyun had this feeling when he heard Jin-mok Lee’s voice.

“Oh? The soccer bracket is out.”

“Where, where?”

“Look here.”

The people of the part gathered around at the same time.

Yoo-hyun also joined the crowd and looked at the monitor screen that Jin-mok Lee pointed at.

The mobile group soccer tournament bracket was posted as an announcement on the company bulletin board.

Wow!

Jin-mok Lee clicked the mouse with a tense expression and the bracket appeared on the screen.

There were a total of 16 teams listed at the bottom of the screen.

It was a tournament bracket, so the teams next to each other were opponents.

Circuit Team 3 VS Pre-Product Team 4

“Wow! Circuit Team 3?”

Jin-mok Lee shouted loudly as he confirmed the bracket.

Then the people of Circuit Team 3 who were behind the partition raised their heads up.

Their eyes alone made them feel intimidated and everyone fell silent.

“…”

In the quiet atmosphere, Yoo-hyun whispered.

“Is Circuit Team 3 good?”

“Awesome!”

As if they had made a promise, they gave the same answer at the same time.

Yoo-hyun smiled slightly.

He had a feeling that it was time for change.

The next morning, early in the morning.

Yoo-hyun, who was running on the park trail, said to Jung-hyun Woo next to him.

“Ha, shall we take a break?”

“Yes, brother. Ha ha ha.”

Jung-hyun Woo, who was soaked in sweat, nodded his head with a desperate expression.

Thud!

Yoo-hyun sat down on a bench and handed water to Jung-hyun Woo.

“Here, drink.”

“Huh, huh! Thank you.”

Jung-hyun Woo gulped down water and gasped for breath for a long time.

Then he asked Yoo-hyun with a frustrated expression.

“Brother, why are you so fit?”

“You’ve improved a lot too.”

“I’m just trying to catch up with you by running like crazy.”

“I’m also running so I don’t lose.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

Yoo-hyun laughed and Jung-hyun Woo shook his head vigorously.

He was confident in his fitness too, but when he ran with Yoo-hyun, he felt a huge gap.

As if he read Jung-hyun Woo’s thoughts, Yoo-hyun said,

“It doesn’t happen at once. If you keep doing it, you’ll be surprised how much you’ve improved.”

“Yes. I trust everything you say.”

“Child.”

Yoo-hyun ruffled Jung-hyun Woo’s hair.

Then Jung-hyun Woo suddenly remembered something and clapped his hands and asked,

“Oh, brother, soccer first game, we’re against Circuit Team 3?”

“That’s right.”

“Are you going too?”

“I have to, because we don’t have enough people.”

“Wow! Really?”

“Yeah. I’m worried because Circuit Team 3 is a strong opponent.”

Jung-hyun Woo, who was half-hearted, said something absurd.

“Hey, how can we lose when we have you?”

“Have you seen me play soccer?”

“I can tell by just looking at you running.”

“Is it the same?”

“There’s no one who would think you can’t do it, right?”

Jung-hyun Woo’s face was full of confidence.

Not only Jung-hyun Woo, but many people thought the same way.

They saw Yoo-hyun’s strong appearance so many times that they did.

Yoo-hyun sighed secretly for this reason.

One might think that it was enough to do well at work in the company, and why soccer was so important.

But it was not the case in Ulsan factory.

Especially this match against Circuit Team 3 had a different weight.

The team leader who came back from the morning meeting summoned the whole team.

Kim Ho-geol, the chief engineer’s serious voice echoed in the middle conference room.

“We have to win this soccer game, no matter what.”

“Huh?”

When the people made a bewildered expression, Kim Ho-geol, the chief engineer, spat out a determined word.

“It’s a special order from the manager. He said he won’t let us go if we lose.”

“Huh…”

“Did the manager have a grudge against Circuit Team 3?”

Jin-mok Lee, the team leader, asked with a dumbfounded expression, and In-wook Jung, the manager, answered instead.

“You saw the manager at the last meeting. That means he’s ready to go to war with 3rd Division.”

“Even so…”

“It’s not even so. If we lose this time, we’ll have to take a one-way ticket to hell.”

“…”

When In-wook Jung confirmed the kill, silence filled the conference room.

Yoo-hyun could not be comfortable either.

He had a lot to do with why the two divisions became so hostile.

The best scenario was victory.

But it was not easy.

He could tell by listening to the whispers around him.

“How can we beat Circuit Team 3? They even have a former player there.”

“Besides, they are the favorites to win.”

“We don’t have enough players, even the team leader has to play. How is that fair?”

“Ha! This is crazy.”

The atmosphere was buzzing for a moment.

Suddenly, Maeng Gi-yong, who was next to him, blurted out something absurd.

“We have Yoo-hyun, don’t we?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Yoo-hyun asked in disbelief, but Jung In-wook, the manager, shrugged it off and nodded.

“Well, you never know with Yoo-hyun.”

Out of nowhere, Lee Jin-mok, another manager, joined in.

“That’s right. If we send Yoo-hyun to the front line, he’ll score a few goals for sure.”

“I told you I’m not good at soccer.”

Yoo-hyun waved his hands, but the answer was the same.

Even Min Su-jin and Kim Seon-dong, senior and junior staff members, chimed in.

“Yoo-hyun, too much modesty is poison.”

“I think we should give Yoo-hyun the ball as much as possible.”

“…”

The situation was so ridiculous that a hollow laugh escaped from Yoo-hyun’s mouth.

These people were all seriously mistaken.

Yoo-hyun’s reputation had been exaggerated too much.

But soccer was a different story.

None of them took Yoo-hyun’s worries seriously, and Maeng Gi-yong said he would come up with a strategy centered on Yoo-hyun.

Jung In-wook agreed, and so did the team leader.

“Yeah. We don’t have time to practice because of work. Let’s do it that way.”

“Let’s give it a try.”

“Even the team leader…”

Yoo-hyun looked dejected as the mood rose around him.

“Good. We have Messi. There’s no way we can lose.”

“I heard Team 3 was scared of Yoo-hyun’s rumor.”

“Yeah. We can win if Yoo-hyun plays.”

Everyone suddenly cheered up.

It was better than looking depressed.

But the deeper Yoo-hyun’s sigh became.

“Sigh.”

Yoo-hyun left work on time that day and met Ha Jun-seok.

But the place was unusual.

It was not his home or a pub, but an outdoor futsal court near his home.

Ha Jun-seok, who was sitting on the ground listening to Yoo-hyun’s story, laughed and clutched his stomach.

“What? They call you Messi? Puhahahaha!”

“Hey, don’t laugh. I’m serious.”

“I know, I know. That’s why you’re wearing soccer shoes now.”

“That’s right.”

Yoo-hyun looked at the soccer shoes that Park Seung-woo had bought for him and answered.

Ha Jun-seok patted Yoo-hyun’s back and got up from his seat.

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you properly.”

“Kid, don’t brag.”

“Brag? What do you mean? I was once called Maradona in our school.”

Ha Jun-seok said with a confident expression, and Yoo-hyun corrected him precisely.

“That’s because you used your hand.”

“Hey! That’s not true.”

“Fine, let’s start already.”

Yoo-hyun smiled at Ha Jun-seok’s angry face and got up from his seat.

He stretched his body for a moment.

Soon after, two people faced each other in an empty futsal court.

The sun was setting, but their expressions were very serious.

They were both sweating from moving around.

Yoo-hyun flashed his eyes and said to Ha Jun-seok.

“Give it to me again.”

“Okay.”

Bang.

The ball kicked by Ha Jun-seok flew low and fast.

Yoo-hyun ran to receive the ball, but it bounced far away as soon as he touched it with his foot.

At the same time, Ha Jun-seok’s nagging came to his ears.

“No, just receive the ball. Don’t kick it somewhere else.”

Yoo-hyun ran to get the ball and passed it to Ha Jun-seok.

“I got it. Kick it again.”

“Here it comes.”

Ha Jun-seok kicked the ball again, and this time too, the ball flew at a low height.

The problem was that it was quite far from Yoo-hyun.

Yoo-hyun sprinted to catch the ball.

Tick.

He barely touched the ball with his foot, but it flew in the wrong direction again.

Ha Jun-seok asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“Why is your foot like that?”

“I don’t know. Why does it bounce like that?”

“Let’s try again.”

It was the same no matter how many times they tried.

Yoo-hyun quickly came to a conclusion.

He had no talent for handling a soccer ball, then or now.

Ha Jun-seok approached him and said.

“This is serious.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Yeah. If you can’t receive the ball, how are you going to attack?”

Ha Jun-seok was right.

If he couldn’t receive the pass well in a one-on-one situation, he had a high chance of failing to attack.

Yoo-hyun didn’t play soccer much, but he knew that much.

“But I can kick the ball well, right?”

“What are you going to do if the ball flies? Your accuracy will drop.”

“You can’t receive the ball, and you can’t kick it well either.”

“Yeah. That’s exactly your situation. You’ll never score a goal no matter how fast you are.”

Ha Jun-seok shook his head as if he had given up on the possibility.

Yoo-hyun thought for a moment and something flashed in his mind.

He asked a meaningful question.

“Does soccer have to be about scoring goals?”

“That’s how you win.”

“But you don’t have to score goals, right?”

“What?”

“Forget it. Let’s go home and have a beer.”

Yoo-hyun turned his back on Ha Jun-seok, who looked bewildered, and walked away.

For some reason, his lips were curled up.

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