Real Man - Chapter 446:

Yoo-hyun approached Philip Siller, the marketing manager, and reached out his hand.

“Philip, give me the iPhone 4.”

“…”

He had become quite close with Yoo-hyun after the retina panel negotiation, but he couldn’t help but hesitate now.

It was because Steve Jobs hated the idea of the iPhone 4 being leaked so much that he would cause a scene.

As Philip Siller looked around, a deep voice rang out.

“Philip, just give it to him.”

“Yes. Okay.”

Philip Siller quickly answered and took out the iPhone 4 from his jacket pocket.

It seemed that he had done a lot of testing, as there were traces of fingerprints on the metal frame where the antenna was drawn.

Yoo-hyun turned his body towards Steve Jobs and held the iPhone in his right hand.

His index finger was touching the antenna part.

“As long as you don’t hold it like this and make a call, there won’t be any problem. Left-handed people might have some trouble though, since their palms will touch it.”

“You didn’t come here to say something like that, did you?”

Steve Jobs asked sharply, and the Apple executives swallowed their saliva.

Even then, Yoo-hyun was relaxed.

He never rushed and unfolded his logic step by step, like tapping a stone bridge.

“Of course not. The bottom line is that the customer’s hand should not touch the antenna line.”

“So?”

“They need some protective equipment, since they can’t avoid holding it in their hand.”

“If you’re going to say something stupid like selling bumper cases, stop. I think I’ll get very angry if you do.”

Steve Jobs said, and Philip Siller’s face turned red.

That was the method he had suggested a while ago, and Steve Jobs had been furious when he heard it.

Yoo-hyun chuckled inwardly as he faced the ironic scene.

What if they had provided bumper cases at that time?

At least they wouldn’t have been humiliated enough to hold a press conference.

But even if Yoo-hyun told him this, Steve Jobs wouldn’t have accepted it.

Steve Jobs was a person who pursued perfection that much.

Yoo-hyun pinpointed that part.

“Of course not. How can you leave a flaw on the perfect iPhone? And what’s the point of putting a case on this beautiful iPhone? Besides, if you take it off and make a call, it’s all for nothing.”

As if he saw through everything, Steve Jobs raised his eyebrows at Yoo-hyun’s words.

He understood the core problem and pointed out the drawbacks of the improvement plan in one breath.

Now he wanted to hear the answer right away, rather than how he found out.

Steve Jobs’s voice softened a bit.

“Stop beating around the bush and get to the point.”

“Yes. I’ll show you the solution now.”

Thinking that it was time, Yoo-hyun answered without hesitation.

Carefully.

He turned around and took something out of his pants pocket.

Then he fiddled with the iPhone.

His mysterious action aroused curiosity.

Steve Jobs, the king of the world, leaned his head forward.

The Apple executives also came closer.

But they couldn’t see what he was doing, since Yoo-hyun held the iPhone close to his body.

‘What the hell is he trying to do?’

They could only raise question marks in their heads.

After about a minute?

Yoo-hyun turned his body quickly, and the people were startled and stepped back.

Cough.

Steve Jobs coughed and asked.

“Hmm, hmm. Are you done already?”

“Yes. It’s done.”

“Done?”

Steve Jobs looked at the iPhone in Yoo-hyun’s hand with a dumbfounded expression.

He couldn’t see any difference.

Yoo-hyun smiled and handed the iPhone to Steve Jobs.

“Check it yourself.”

“What’s different… huh?”

Steve Jobs’s eyes widened as he held the iPhone.

It was because of the sticker attached to the antenna surface.

The silver sticker, which matched the metal surface, had the Apple logo on it.

Grit.

Steve Jobs clenched his teeth for a moment.

“Are you trying to make a dent on the perfect iPhone with this?”

“It’s not bad if you stick it neatly. And I’m sure Jonathan will make it much cooler than this.”

“Don’t play with words. How is this different from a bumper case?”

Steve Jobs glared at him with a stiff voice.

It was just eye contact, but he felt a strong pressure that squeezed his heart.

Yoo-hyun hid his nervousness and looked into his eyes and answered.

“It’s different. You can take off a bumper case, but you can’t peel off a sticker.”

It was such a ridiculous thing to say that Tim Cook couldn’t help but intervene.

“Why can’t you peel it off? Wouldn’t it be worse if you peel it off once, since you have to repair it?”

“Tim.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

Tim Cook backed off at Steve Jobs’s call.

The fierce eyes turned to Yoo-hyun again.

“You must have thought about that before you said it, right?”

“Of course. You can’t peel off the sticker.”

“You can’t peel it off?”

“The improved products won’t have stickers on them.”

“What?”

Steve Jobs narrowed his eyes at Yoo-hyun’s confident answer.

What was the relationship between the improved products not having stickers and not being able to peel off the stickers?

Not only Steve Jobs, but also the others looked puzzled.

Then, Philip Siller’s eyes widened.

As the marketing manager, he was an expert in advertising.

“Could it be a limited edition?”

Yoo-hyun smiled and answered.

“Yes. This sticker will be a premium that only the first customers who lined up to buy it can enjoy.”

“…”

Suddenly, Steve Jobs’s head flashed.

He handed the iPhone he was holding to Philip Siller.

“Philip, check it out.”

“Yes. Okay.”

Philip Siller quickly came over and took the iPhone.

Yoo-hyun’s suggestion was not perfect.

It would increase the labor cost to put stickers on every product that was released.

And no matter how good the stickers were, they were not as neat as the metal surface.

Still, Yoo-hyun was sure that Steve Jobs would adopt this idea.

He could tell from Steve Jobs’s muttering.

“A limited edition, huh? They would even want to put stickers that didn’t exist.”

He was a person who wanted a perfect launch effect as much as mechanical perfection.

That was why he put so much effort into the presentation.

A moment later.

Philip Siller, who had been testing the call quality by changing his hand position, said.

“Steve, there is no problem with the antenna reception.”

“Of course not, since your fingers are not touching it.”

Steve Jobs nodded, and Jonathan Ive added a word.

“It would be nice to give it a hologram effect and engrave a small serial number.”

Without giving Yoo-hyun a chance to intervene, Steve Jobs gave his order.

“Right. We need to make it special. Start right away.”

“Yes. Okay.”

Jonathan Ive bowed his head and moved immediately.

Sam Fester, who had been through hell because of the faulty hardware design, followed him.

He ran with all his might.

Steve Jobs summed up the situation in one word and took a step.

Thud.

There was a young Asian man who had suddenly appeared and performed a mysterious magic.

It was a situation that even the CEOs he wanted would feel pressured, but the man’s expression was relaxed.

How could he do that?

Steve Jobs’s sharp eyes softened at the fresh stimulus.

But Yoo-hyun didn’t let his guard down.

Rather, he focused more at the last gate.

“What do you want?”

He had imagined this question countless times, but he didn’t get excited.

He answered calmly, as he had practiced.

“I don’t want anything.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes. But I have a suggestion for Apple. Oh, and it will also help the presentation.”

As soon as he heard the answer, Steve Jobs’s mouth curled up.

He offered a one-person sofa seat to the guest for the first time.

“Sit down. I’m curious about your story.”

“It will definitely help.”

Yoo-hyun sat down and smiled.

The world was changing at an unprecedented speed, as the internet became possible in the palm of the hand.

The starting point of all this was the iPhone, which was released three years ago.

And the time for another change had come.

It was time to introduce the iPhone 4 to the world, following the iPhone 3, which had recorded a revolutionary hit.

The anticipation was explosive, and the Apple craze was blowing in the global IT industry.

Even in Korea, where the iPhone had no connection, there were news related to it every day.

While the world was buzzing, Yoo-hyun also moved busily.

He went back and forth between the Airbnb office and the Apple headquarters, and kept in touch with the company.

It was to prepare for the presentation and the aftermath.

It was the day before the presentation.

Yoo-hyun was at the San Francisco airport, talking to Kim Hyun-min, the manager.

Kim Hyun-min’s loud voice came through the phone.

-I got it. I’m doing everything you told me to do, so just tell me quickly.

“What?”

-You know, how did you persuade Steve Jobs?

“I’ll tell you later. It’s no fun if I tell you now.”

Kim Hyun-min’s voice faded at Yoo-hyun’s joke.

-Are you kidding? Do you know how hard I was in front of the vice president because of that?

Yoo-hyun snorted at the complaining Kim Hyun-min.

“Hey, you got over it, right?”

-No, but still…

“Oh? People are coming out of the gate. I’ll call you later.”

-Hey, is a deputy more important than me?

Kim Hyun-min asked as Yoo-hyun corrected him.

“He’s a manager now. He got promoted, remember?”

-Is that a promotion, when he just accumulated years of service while goofing off at school?

“You’re saying you miss him, but you’re pretending. I’ll have fun and come back.”

-You’re making me so mad right now…

Yoo-hyun hung up the phone and raised his hand.

“Manager Park.”

At his voice, a man who came out of the gate looked around.

He saw him and raised both hands and waved them, jumping up and down.

“Oh? Yoo-hyun. Manager Kim.”

People looked at him, but he didn’t seem embarrassed at all.

Kim Young-gil, who was next to Yoo-hyun, shook his head.

“Park Seung-woo, that guy is still the same even after drinking American water.”

“But he lost a lot of weight, right?”

Yoo-hyun shrugged his shoulders and opened his arms.

Park Seung-woo, who had gone from a big bear to a deer, ran over and hugged Yoo-hyun.

Wham.

“I missed you, my mentee.”

“Me too, mentor.”

Yoo-hyun smiled brightly in front of the old acquaintance he hadn’t seen for a long time.