Real Man - Chapter 438:

Yoo-hyun chuckled as he watched from afar.

Jeong Da-hye, who was walking beside him, asked him.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m happy to walk with you, Da-hye.”

Yoo-hyun pocketed his phone and shamelessly dodged the question. Jeong Da-hye fumed.

“Please, don’t make me spit on you.”

“I may not know much, but I’m good at spitting.”

“Hmph. Good for you.”

“Of course. It’s the era of specialists in the 21st century. You have to be good at something.”

Yoo-hyun joked with a serious face, not changing his expression.

Jeong Da-hye pretended not to hear him and tapped her ears with her palms.

“Ah ah.”

“Yes. You want an iced americano, right?”

“…”

Yoo-hyun opened the door of the coffee shop and asked. Jeong Da-hye just shut her mouth tightly.

The wrinkles under her chin showed how much patience she had.

They had gotten closer over the past few days, working together.

It was the second floor of a coffee shop across from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

One could feel the softened atmosphere from the two people sitting at a table by the window, chatting.

Jeong Da-hye, who was laughing and talking with Yoo-hyun, suddenly asked.

“Did I say thank you?”

“Why are you saying that when it’s not over yet?”

“Because it’s true that I got your help.”

“You must be dying to say it, but save it for later. I want to hear it after you get a good result.”

Yoo-hyun refused flatly. Jeong Da-hye made a joke that she rarely did.

“You change your mind when you go to the bathroom and when you come out.”

“Don’t worry. I’m good at collecting debts.”

At Yoo-hyun’s easy words, Jeong Da-hye nodded.

“Okay. Do that.”

“You’re not saying anything now. You must have gotten used to it.”

“Ho ho.”

She laughed in a situation where she would have been angry before.

Yoo-hyun sneaked in a question to her.

“I don’t know much about consulting, but can I ask you something?”

Yoo-hyun stopped joking and set the mood. Jeong Da-hye looked suspicious.

“What are you trying to say now?”

“I’m just curious, but is there a chance that your project will fail even after winning the G20 bid?”

“That’s impossible. Not unless I give up first.”

She shook her head. Yoo-hyun asked her more directly.

It was a question he didn’t want to ask, but he had to confirm it to fix it.

“What if something happens because of your parents, or something like that?”

As soon as the word parents came out, Jeong Da-hye snapped.

“No. No matter what anyone says, that won’t happen. Do you think I’ll give up what I’ve been working on for over six months like crazy?”

He remembered his past as he saw her angry face.

-I don’t keep in touch with my parents either. I haven’t seen them in a while.

He didn’t hear the details, but she had some family issues.

He remembered that he didn’t go home for a while even after he got married.

In the awkward atmosphere, Yoo-hyun tried to take another step forward.

But then her phone rang, and she hung up right away with a dark expression.

It seemed like something was going on, but Yoo-hyun couldn’t ask.

He thought it wasn’t the right time and gave up his plan. Instead, he cheered her up.

“Of course you should. You’ll definitely succeed.”

“I will.”

And he asked her a favor.

“Can you promise me one thing?”

“What is it?”

“If anything happens, please tell me anytime.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Still. Just promise me.”

He slyly held out his pinky finger. Jeong Da-hye looked at him incredulously.

“Do we have to do this with our fingers?”

“Yes. This is the global standard gesture for making a promise. You know that, right? To successfully host the G20 summit.”

At Yoo-hyun’s playful words again, her stiff face softened.

She snorted and shook her head as she hooked her finger with his.

“Ugh, you talk too much. Fine?”

“You have to stamp it too.”

Yoo-hyun smiled and held out his thumb.

Click.

Yoo-hyun and Jeong Da-hye’s thumbs touched.

A warm heat was transmitted through their first knuckles.

How long had it been?

It was longer than expected. After the touch, Jeong Da-hye came to her senses and pulled out her finger and coughed.

“Ahem.”

Yoo-hyun smiled softly.

The next day, Jang Jun Sik, Yang Yoon Soo, and Jung Saet Byul took over the preparation of the exhibition.

It was not a problem to turn on the power and display the screen, as it had already been verified once.

The only thing left was to insert the content appropriately while matching the pace with Jeong Da-hye.

“I’ll take a break for a moment.”

The three people came over as Jeong Da-hye, who was checking the panels around the conference room, said.

They were not very shy with each other, as they had been together often.

Jeong Da-hye sat on a bench in the corner and handed out drinks. Jung Saet Byul’s eyes sparkled.

“Team leader, you drink too.”

“Yes. I’m going to drink too.”

Clang.

Jeong Da-hye opened the can of drink and brought it to her mouth.

It was very refreshing to swallow, as she had been talking all day.

Then Jung Saet Byul asked out of the blue.

“Team leader, are you dating our deputy?”

“Pfft. What, what?”

Jeong Da-hye spat out the drink and blinked her eyes.

Yang Yoon Soo joined in and flattered her.

“Team leader, you’re so beautiful and smart. You match well with our deputy.”

“No, no. We’re not like that.”

“…”

Jeong Da-hye was startled and blushed as she got up from her seat.

The awkward atmosphere continued, and Jeong Da-hye casually asked.

“Where is Yoo-hyun?”

“Deputy Yu said he went to do something very important.”

“What? What is it?”

Jeong Da-hye blinked her eyes at Jang Jun Sik’s serious expression.

It was the first time she felt that the three of them were weird.

At that moment.

Yoo-hyun was looking around the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The promotional video for the G20 bid was playing on the TV set up in the second floor corridor.

He could see the history of Korea’s growth and the current prestige of Korea at a glance, just by watching the video for a moment.

The production and planning were decent enough.

Of course, it wasn’t because of this video alone that Korea made it to the final candidate for the G20.

Jeong Da-hye had made countless efforts in the midst of prejudice to make the result.

Now it was time for her efforts to bear fruit.

Could she give up easily?

Yoo-hyun shook his head as he saw Shin Kwang Se, a section chief, passing by in the distance.

“She endured under that kind of person. There’s no way she would.”

It was the same even if she had some problems with her family.

She was not someone who would give up, but someone who would fail and try again.

Thud.

Yoo-hyun sat on a bench in the corridor and sorted out his thoughts.

There were many assumptions in his head, but the answer was not easy to come by.

That night.

Jeong Da-hye, who had a presentation in front of the judges the next day, went to the international conference room on the third floor.

It was her habit to do a rehearsal at the same place the night before whenever she had an important presentation.

Click.

The bright lights turned on in the dark conference room.

It felt more silent than other conference rooms, maybe because it was a large space.

Jeong Da-hye maintained her concentration as if she was standing in front of a real presentation hall and walked towards the podium.

She turned on her laptop and was about to change the position of the stand microphone on the podium when she saw something.

“Huh?”

She blinked her eyes at the unfamiliar bottle next to the microphone.

It was ginger tea that still had some warmth left in it.

Jeong Da-hye picked up a small note under the bottle.

-Don’t strain your throat too much. Take it easy. Fighting.

It was a cute and round handwriting that didn’t match.

There was no name written on it, but she thought she knew who left this for her right away.

She felt a flash in her head as she felt the warmth left in the bottle. She went to the window and leaned out her head.

Swoosh.

As expected, she saw a man walking out of the building.

How did he know and prepare this in advance?

He was a mysterious and amazing man who was hard to read.

“I’ll drink it well.”

She smiled as she watched Yoo-hyun disappear into the darkness.

Meanwhile.

Yoo-hyun turned around and glanced at the conference room on the third floor where the lights were on.

He saw her silhouette drinking ginger tea through the window frame.

“Da-hye, you can do it. Even if you don’t, I’ll make it happen for you.”

Yoo-hyun’s will was embedded in his calm words.

The next morning, a short article was published on the bottom of the first page of Our Daily News.

As stated in the article, the G20 bid evaluation committee visited Korea.

They visited Korea after reviewing France, which was also a final candidate. They planned to announce the result soon after this evaluation ended.

Many people moved quickly as they faced their last hurdle.

The G20 preparation committee took charge, and the prime minister personally guided them.

After having lunch at Cheong Wa Dae, they stopped by at the building of Ministry of Foreign Affairs where they had a meeting.

The prime minister’s visit was not planned. It was decided just yesterday.

“Oh my. He’s really coming.”

Jung Saet Byul, who was standing in front of TV in a neat outfit, exclaimed in surprise.

Yoo-hyun approached her and calmed her down.

“Saet Byul, we’re not the main characters today. So let’s be calm. Okay?”

“Yes. I’m good at keeping my mouth shut. I haven’t told anyone about your relationship with team leader Jung yet.”

What are you talking about?

Yoo-hyun was dumbfounded, but he couldn’t say anything in this situation.

He just patted her shoulder and changed the topic for now.

“Let’s talk about that later.”

“Yes. Deputy Yu. I have a lot of dating experience. I can help you.”

“…”

Yoo-hyun lost his words in front of Jung Saet Byul, who blinked her eyes innocently.

A moment later.

The evaluation committee, composed of former finance ministers from the United States, Canada, Britain, and Germany, entered the exhibition hall on the first floor.

The prime minister of Korea was with them, and Jeong Da-hye was in charge of the presentation.

There was no need to signal each other, as they had practiced countless times.

Yoo-hyun gestured to Jang Jun Sik, who was watching through a hole behind the wall. He moved.

Bang.

The video wall, which was widely arranged diagonally on the ceiling, turned on and caught everyone’s attention.

A huge drum was displayed on the giant panel on the right side of the entrance.

Yang Yoon Soo turned on the speaker and the sound of the drum matched the video perfectly.

Boom boom boom.

As soon as the evaluation committee entered their designated position, Yoo-hyun nodded and Jung Saet Byul pressed the wireless mouse.

At the same time, all the panels in the exhibition hall started to move according to the planned scenario.

The traditional mask dance video stretched out on the thin bezel panels that lined both walls.

On different inch panels, including the flexible OLED on the circular stand, Korea’s development history by year was shown one by one.

On the ultra-slim panel and transparent panel in the middle, Korea’s presence in the global financial market was introduced.

The videos and traditional instruments that spread all over harmonized exquisitely.

There were sounds of admiration from everywhere at the dazzling display show that could not be seen anywhere else in the world.

“Wow.”

The game was practically over with this alone.

Jeong Da-hye emphasized Korea’s prestige to match the level of the judges, as if to finish them off.

“Korea is leading the future with its advanced IT capabilities. This place is a glimpse of the future that we have created. Through this, you can see Korea’s footsteps…”

The explanation flowed like water.