Real Man

Chapter 699

He understood her feelings, but he didn’t think Park Won-young’s choice was wrong.

She was a person who had her own clear perspective, regardless of anything else.

-I don’t want to live a life of regret anymore. That’s why I want to be by your side before it’s too late. I have to be of some help to you.

She was brave enough to decide her own life at a young age.

Yoo-hyun recalled her determined expression and spoke confidently.

“Don’t worry. Won-young is not a weak girl.”

“True. She’s better than me.”

Park Won-seok smiled as if he agreed.

Yoo-hyun settled his life in Seoul and came back to his hometown.

He hadn’t seen his parents often because of his work, so he planned to stay for a while.

He wanted to help if he could.

Just like he did for Jeong Da-hye.

The one he cared about the most after coming back was his mother.

His mother’s side dish store had expanded to the whole first floor of the building and had five employees to work with.

The sales were growing every day, so his mother was very busy.

Even so, she took care of her regular customers personally.

She also stopped by Kim Hyun-soo’s car center from time to time and filled up the side dishes.

Yoo-hyun wanted to help his mother, but she was annoyed by him.

“Yoo-hyun, I’m not so tired that I need your help. You’re not even helpful when you’re here.”

“Why? You know I’m good at packing the delivery boxes. If that doesn’t work, I can be your driver.”

“Don’t do that, and look for another job.”

“I’ll take my time. I have some savings.”

“Still. A man should have a job. You must.”

His mother had a very firm expression.

He had explained several times, but she still seemed to be bothered by him quitting Hansung.

It wasn’t because Yoo-hyun couldn’t make money.

She was worried that her son might lose his confidence in other places.

He knew her feelings well, so he couldn’t argue with her.

Yoo-hyun nodded vaguely and looked elsewhere.

Kim Hyun-soo’s car center had also grown a lot.

He bought the vacant lot and expanded the workshop, and added two more employees.

There were some competitors, but he had more customers.

It was thanks to the trust he had built over the years.

His work was busier than ever.

He couldn’t even take care of Yoo-hyun who stopped by for a moment.

“Yoo-hyun, I’m sorry. I’m so busy. Just wait a little. I’ll finish soon.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll see you after work. Do your thing.”

That’s why Yoo-hyun didn’t have much to do during the weekdays.

He told Jeong Da-hye about his situation.

She was staying in New York and sorting out her thoughts.

Her lively emoticons showed that her mood had lightened up.

-Da-hye: Then you can just relax. Isn’t that your specialty, Yoo-hyun?

-You’re right, but it’s not easy.

-Da-hye: Why? Is there a problem?

Every time his mother saw him rolling around the house, she brought up the topic of finding a job.

He couldn’t tell her the truth, so he made an excuse.

-No, it’s just that it feels awkward to rest at home.

He replied and went out to the living room.

There was a lot of rice and side dishes on the table for Yoo-hyun.

He said he would prepare his own meal, but his mother put a lot of effort into it.

“Geez. I told you I can eat anything, but you do this again.”

A sigh came out of Yoo-hyun’s mouth.

He felt guilty that his busy mother had to do this for him.

Whirring.

His mother’s hair dryer sound came from the bedroom.

She was getting ready to start her day.

Yoo-hyun sat on the chair at the table, feeling awkward.

As he was about to pick up the spoon, his phone screen flashed.

There was a message from Jang Joon-sik, the assistant manager.

-Regarding the last mock-up leak to the competitor, I followed your advice and the result was published as an article. I’m sending you the link. Thank you for your guidance.

What was there to thank?

All Yoo-hyun said was to use the crisis as an opportunity.

It was the same method that Jang Joon-sik had used before.

Ding-dong.

He pressed the call button and his father’s voice came out of the car speaker.

-Yoo-hyun, are you almost there?

“Yes, I’m here.”

-I think I’ll be late. Go ahead and wait inside.

“Okay, take your time.”

He hung up with his father and parked his car in a corner of the vacant lot in front of the factory.

He got out of the car and walked across the wide lot towards the factory.

The factory building was made of red bricks, as befitting a brick factory.

The wall was impressively full of traces of time.

The sign on the top of the entrance was the same.

-Yoo Jae Brick

The font and logo looked old-fashioned at a glance.

It had been with the factory for 25 years, so it made sense.

It was nice to have something old, but it was time to change it.

‘I should ask Jae Hee to design a new one.’

He made up his mind and glanced inside the factory.

Ching-ching.

The machines were running and making bricks.

The bricks were stacked in bundles of five.

A lot of the work that the employees used to do by hand had been automated.

But it still felt busy, probably because there weren’t enough staff.

“Forklift, over here!”

“Hurry up and move!”

He passed by the factory quietly, not to disturb the work.

Next to the factory was the break room building that had been remodeled.

Inside the spacious area, there were a break room, a convenience facility for the employees, and an office.

He entered and went to the office at the end of the hallway.

Clack.

He turned on the light and the interior looked bright.

Unlike the neat exterior, the inside was full of old items.

Especially the black sofa in the center was so old that it remained in his childhood memories.

It had been in the old break room, and it seemed that he had replaced the sofa in the expanded break room with a new one.

A sigh came out of his mouth.

“Geez. You should decorate it a little.”

The office’s quality was also part of the customer service.

He wished he had decorated it well since he made it new, but his father cared more about his employees than himself.

He didn’t think his father would change his mind easily even if he said something.

‘I guess I’ll have to give him a gift.’

He cleared his thoughts lightly and looked at the frame on the wall.

It was slightly tilted and it had a picture of his young father and the employees 25 years ago.

Swoosh.

He adjusted the frame’s level and looked at the pictures next to it.

There were pictures taken by year, and he saw the employees who were still there.

They were the ones who had endured with him when the factory was shaky 10 years ago.

They had always been with his father.

Their history was vividly shown in the pictures.

He thought it was amazing, but he also felt sorry.

It was good that the employees worked for a long time, but there were too few new people.

There were no young employees at all.

He looked around the room and sat on the sofa.

There was a brick with a faint red hue on the sofa table.

He picked up the brick and tapped it with his fist.

Thud.

There was hardly any sound, and he felt a solid and heavy sensation.

It meant that it absorbed shock well and had high strength.

There were no eco-friendly products with this quality of bricks, so the market response was quite good.

Despite the high price, the demand was increasing every year.

It was what his father had said from time to time when he was drunk.

If he kept growing like this, wouldn’t he be able to achieve his father’s dream someday?

-Yoo-hyun, I’m going to build a very big brick factory on this wide lot. And I’m going to make this company, named after you and Jae Hee, the best in the country.

He was reminiscing about the memories he had with his father here when he was young.