Real Man

Tap. Tap.

As Yoo-hyun walked around looking at the scenery around him, he finally reached the market.

The market was a long alley with various stalls and shops covered by a translucent ceiling.

The signboard of the market was also neatly changed.

He didn’t see the old market that he remembered from his childhood.

“It’s changed a lot.”

His mother ran a side dish shop in this market. He had been worried about it for a long time, but it wasn’t necessary.

The environment wasn’t as bad as he thought.

In the past, he didn’t even try to find out where his mother worked.

No, maybe because his mother didn’t even mention it before, he didn’t mind it anymore.

Of course, he didn’t even know where his mother’s shop was.

He only had memories of going home once or twice a year, staying for a while, and then going back up to Seoul.

Yoo-hyun walked along the alleyway and examined the clothes of the shop workers.

Halfway through his walk, he saw a side dish shop on the left.

There he saw his mother with a red bandana on her head.

His mother was talking to the lady next door with a very bright expression on her face.

Then, a customer came.

“Oh my gosh, it’s delicious. There are people who have never eaten, but there’s no one who ate once and did not come back. Come on, it’s true. Hahaha.”

His mother started talking to the customer and the customer eventually picked up the side dish pack that his mother recommended.

“I bought it because I liked your attitude. I trust you.”

“Oh, of course. Even if I look like this, I’ve never lied before. Okay. Thank you. Enjoy your meal.”

A smile appeared on Yoo-hyun’s lips as he watched from a distance.

His mother had a different air about her.

In his memory, he only remembered his mother drinking tea with dignity.

But his mother worked really well here.

How could that be?

Yoo-hyun was suddenly proud of his mother.

She decided to press on with her shop despite the awkwardness she should have felt.

It was something she would have never done before.

Yoo-hyun came closer and coughed in front of his mother while she received money from the customer and hid it in her waist pouch.

“Hmm. Can I come in too?”

“Yes. All right, sir. Huh? Yoo-hyun-ah, what are you doing here?”

Yoo-hyun softly smiled at his surprised mother.

“Just because. I had some free time, so I stopped by here.”

“Oh, Yeon-hee’s son?” The lady from the donut shop next door asked as she came up next to his mother.

“Of course, he’s my wonderful son. Yoo-hyun-ah, say hello to the lady.”

“Hello, I’m Han Yoo-hyun.”

“Wow, oh, my. How can you be so cool? You have long legs and white skin. You even look like a celebrity.”

“Thank you. Ahjumma is also very beautiful.”

As Yoo-hyun answered with an accommodating smile, he quickly appeared friendlier.

The donut shop lady slapped his mother on the shoulder and made a fuss.

“Aww, you’re just being nice.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Ho-ho.”

Yoo-hyun’s appearance seemed fresh.

As they chatted, the donut shop lady continued to look up and down at Yoo-hyun.

His mother saw that, smiled softly, and smoothed Yoo-hyun’s back.

The touch of his mother felt very comforting.

If he had known that she’d like his visit so much, he would have visited sooner.

Regrets started to creep in again.

Yoo-hyun quickly observed the surroundings and raised the topic at an appropriate time.

“This is…”

“Oh my, you have good eyesight.”

Then, a friendly atmosphere was created as more ladies from the other stores gathered there.

Naturally, his mother and the lady next door were at the center of the conversation and felt good about it.

Yoo-hyun also felt the joy of seeing his mother’s sincere smile.

It was the first time he realized that chatting with people like this is fun.

As the conversation was in full swing, another customer entered the store.

Now was the time to leave.

“Mom, I should get going.”

“Yes, Hyun-ah. Have a good time with your friends.”

“Oh, what a shame. Yoo-hyun, take care of yourself.”

“Yes, ahjumma. The donuts were so delicious. I’ll see you again,” Yoo-hyun greeted them and turned around.

After walking a few steps, he heard the voice of the donut shop lady from behind him, “Yeon-hee’s son is really… really, so… so cool. Oh my, I’m just envious. ”

“Hey, don’t exaggerate like that.”

“But it’s true.”

Why is it that Yoo-hyun could imagine his mother’s smiling face even though he didn’t look back?

At that thought, a deep smile appeared on his lips.

There was still some time left before his appointment.

Yoo-hyun’s next destination was his father’s factory on the outskirts of their hometown.

He thought the factory had been ruined, but apparently, through his father’s efforts, they were reviving it.

It seemed that this too would not go well in the end, considering Yoo-hyun didn’t remember this detail in his memories.

As he arrived at the factory site, he saw a pile of red bricks on one side.

Suddenly, an old memory that was buried in his mind popped up.

The red bricks made in the factory were Yoo-hyun’s toys before.

He would stack them one by one to create a structure taller than him.

Yoo-hyun’s father never scolded him for doing that.

Instead, his father would wear work clothes and build things together.

The other workers also played along with Yoo-hyun.

It was a very good memory.

As a child, Yoo-hyun was very proud of his father.

His dream before was to become like his father.

As he was looking at the factory from a distance, he saw his father come out.

Next to his father was a young-looking man that pulled his father’s arm.

“Sir, we don’t have time. We have to go quickly.”

“Okay! Hey. Don’t worry, being impatient doesn’t work.”

“Ah, it’s because it’s an important order.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

His father followed the young man into the blue truck and sat on the passenger seat.

In Yoo-hyun’s memory, after the house was taken away, his father always looked like a loser.

His father was wary of Yoo-hyun and always had his head down at home.

After a few confrontations, they had no more conversations with each other.

They did not see each other at all after his mother passed away.

He couldn’t see that air around his father now.

The luxury car he remembered as a child may have turned into a blue truck, but his father’s generous smile remained the same.

Yoo-hyun looked at the sky for a moment.

Perhaps it was he himself who made his father so weak.

Wouldn’t it have changed if he listened to his father’s words and believed in him a little more?

He tightened his lips at the sudden thought.

Whoosh.

The car moved away from where Yoo-hyun was.

He wanted to say hello to his father, but the opportunity had passed and would be postponed until next time.

Nevertheless, Yoo-hyun’s expression showed no signs of disappointment.

“There will be another chance.”

Yoo-hyun turned away with a light heart.

On the way to the promised pub, he came by an elementary school.

It was a four-story building made of red bricks from his father’s factory and there was a round playground in front of it.

It was just as he remembered it.

This was where he met those classmates in 6th grade that became his friends all the way through to high school.

Kim Hyun-su, Kang Jun-ki, and Ha Jun-seok.

In fact, he thought he would remain with these three until he died.

‘But I was the one who stopped contacting you guys first.’

He didn’t avoid them on purpose.

He was just busy studying for a job, and when he entered the company, he became busy with work.

He couldn’t attend gatherings often due to one excuse or another, and it went on like that until they just naturally grew apart.

It wasn’t easy to meet again because they were all living different lives already.

In particular, he remembered when he couldn’t go to the funeral of Kim Hyun-su’s mother and when he couldn’t attend Kang Joon-ki’s wedding.

He made an excuse that he was busy working overtime on a business trip, but in hindsight, he could have gone.

In the end, it was probably not because of the company, but because of his own greed.

While thinking about these things, he finally arrived at the pub.

The signboard was familiar, perhaps because he stopped by here quite a lot after graduating from high school.

Creak.

As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a crowded interior.

‘Where are they? I heard they got here first…’

It was at that time that someone called Yoo-hyun, who was stuck looking around.

“Hey, Han Yoo-hyun. What are you doing there?”

“Huh? Oh. I was just thinking for a second.”

“I thought you forgot our faces because you haven’t seen us for a long time.”

“No way.”

Yoo-hyun smiled ruefully and sat down.

There were three people sitting at the table.

However, the image and face that came to his mind did not match at all.

‘Was Hyun-su always that thin?’

The Kim Hyun-su that he remembered was different from the one he saw now.

It was the same for Kang Joon-ki and Ha Jun-seok.

Their faces were very different from the past.

If he hadn’t seen the pictures he took with his friends when he was young, he wouldn’t have recognized them.

So they were all really young.

He really felt like he went back to 20 years ago.

It’s definitely different from when he talked to them over the phone.

Was it possible that he was mistaken? Even he thought like that.

“What are you thinking about? You’re not going to tell us you’re going to study again, right?”

“Of course not. Give me a drink.”

Yoo-hyun’s glass was then filled with beer.

“Come on, let’s toast!”

Clink.

He kept drinking without pausing.

Whenever the glass was filled up, it was quickly emptied.

The old music he hadn’t heard in a long time and the youthful appearance of the friends he hadn’t seen in a long time, all lifted Yoo-hyun’s heart.

The thought that this gathering would be awkward all disappeared as if it vanished into thin air.

It was a pity that his mental age did not match.

When alcohol went down their system, it was the best time to reminisce on the old times.

Yoo-hyun liked and enjoyed the stories told by his friends.

“That was really awesome. I remembered it too. Jun-seok’s tteokbokki came out of his nose. How many years ago was that? Gosh.”

“It’s only been two years.”

“Oh? That’s right. That’s right. It felt like it’s been 20 years. Now, let’s have a toast and drink up.”

His heart was pounding.

Hahaha

The froth from the beer that rose to his nose made him gasp.

He only drank high-quality liquor, but this beer seemed so delicious now.

He must have been waiting for a long time to drink without any worries.

Suddenly, he remembered that lonely past… or was it the future… when he was drinking alone.

In fact, there were many opportunities to drink like this at work.

However, for Yoo-hyun, who was blindly chasing after success, unnecessary drinking was just meaningless.

Instead of chatting and getting to know people, Yoo-hyun chose to work.

Without knowing that the goal at the top of Hansung would be short-lived, he just climbed and climbed.

After getting frustrated with his thoughts, Yoo-hyun gulped down a whole glass.

Alcohol certainly had the power to ease the mind.

“Why is it so delicious?”

“Wow. Yoo-hyun, why are you so happy? Did you get a job?”

“No. I’m still looking.”

Maybe it’s because they were all getting ready to go into society, so the topic of conversation immediately moved to employment.

“Hyun-ah, where are you going?”

“He must be going somewhere good because he studied well. Aren’t you going to Ilsung or Hansung?”

In the eyes of his friends, Yoo-hyun, who went to study far away, must have looked amazing.

He knew they misunderstood.

“Hey, don’t you think I can go to a foreign company?”

“Sure.”

It would have been difficult if it were Yoo-hyun in the past, but it’s different now.

Weren’t there any foreign companies?

To be honest, with Yoo-hyun’s skills now, he could enter any company even if his academic background didn’t fit in well.

His English was great, so it was possible to join world-class companies such as Guugle and Macrosoft. 

(T/N: We’re not trying to advertise existing companies in a fictional story.)

No, he could even start a company.

He had a lot of experience, and he knew well what trends were promising in the future.

He was also aware of policy changes to some extent, so it could be fun to set up his own venture company and raise it well.

If he didn’t want to work, he didn’t have to.

Of course, it would take time because there wasn’t a lot of money right now, but he could always make money through investments.

Nevertheless.

A decision had already been made in Yoo-hyun’s mind.

Hansung.

The biggest reason was to correct his past mistakes.

But it wasn’t just for that.

‘Because it was fun.’

In retrospect, it was really fun.

It was fulfilling to see himself growing day by day.

In addition, it was really good that the result of his work was recognized in the world through a big company called Hansung.

The pleasure of being one step ahead of a competitor propelled Yoo-hyun’s driving force like a drug.

But he knew better than anyone that the end would not be good.