Real Man

Chapter 440:

It was when Yoo-hyun left the break room.

Buzzing.

There was a somewhat noisy sound echoing in the hallway.

Wondering what was going on, he went to the first floor entrance and saw a security guard arguing with a man.

The man in a modernized hanbok shouted angrily.

“I have a nephew here. Let me in right now.”

“I told you, you can’t without permission. Why don’t you just call him yourself?”

“I lost his phone number, that’s why. Just call him for me.”

“Sir, why are you doing this? You can’t. Please leave.”

But Yoo-hyun’s eyes could not be fooled.

It was obvious that the beard was fake and that he was pretending to stoop his back.

Judging by his skin, he looked like he was in his late 40s or early 50s.

It was a bit strange, but Yoo-hyun didn’t think much of it.

There were occasional unwelcome guests like that at Hansung Tower.

They were mostly people who came to sell things, and they deliberately aged themselves.

Nothing was more advantageous than age when it came to tricking someone.

That’s when it happened.

Yoo-hyun saw his wristwatch.

It was a luxury brand watch that Yoo-hyun knew well, and it cost at least 10 million won.

‘What?’

He felt a sense of incongruity and narrowed his eyes.

He also caught a glimpse of a tattoo under his sleeve.

The man in the modernized hanbok yelled loudly.

“Jeong Da-hye. Come down. Your uncle is here.”

As soon as he heard the familiar name, Yoo-hyun’s eyes flashed.

Even if Yoo-hyun had no interest in his wife’s family, he couldn’t forget such a distinctive-looking man.

More importantly, why did he come?

It was clear that he came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a risk to cause trouble in order to drag Da-hye out.

There was a high possibility that money was involved behind it.

Yoo-hyun quickly sorted out his thoughts while the security guard grabbed the man’s waist and pulled him back.

“Get out of here.”

“Hey, why are you doing this? This is trouble. Do you want to see me really cause trouble?”

The man raised his hand as if he had made up his mind.

His gesture looked like he was giving a signal.

Yoo-hyun turned his head quickly to where his hand was pointing.

Sure enough, two men in black suits were walking toward the entrance door.

The two men had fierce expressions and large builds, and they walked with swaggering steps. They exuded an extraordinary aura.

How could Da-hye be involved with a man who had such thugs as his henchmen?

In the worst case scenario, she might end up being humiliated by them.

Yoo-hyun felt uneasy thoughts fill his mind.

“Please leave.”

The security guard snapped and Yoo-hyun rolled up his left sleeve.

The luxury watch he received from Han Jae-hee sparkled under the fluorescent light.

If he came for money, he would surely show interest.

Yoo-hyun reached out and stopped the security guard.

“Mr. Kim, wait a minute.”

“Oh, Mr. Han.”

The security guard recognized Yoo-hyun and lowered his voice right away.

He had been seeing Yoo-hyun for quite a long time as he stayed in the first floor exhibition hall all the time.

He also witnessed firsthand how the prime minister and senior officials treated Yoo-hyun kindly.

That’s why he automatically became respectful when dealing with Yoo-hyun.

Meanwhile, the man in the modernized hanbok quickly assessed Yoo-hyun by his reaction, wristwatch, suit and shoes, and appearance.

Yoo-hyun confirmed his intuition by looking at him rolling his eyes incessantly.

“Are you Mr. Jeong’s guest? I’ll talk to him for a moment.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As Yoo-hyun approached, the man in the modernized hanbok made a quick decision.

He looked young but he had an easygoing attitude that showed he was no ordinary person.

In other words, he smelled like money.

The man in the modernized hanbok raised his hand to open the entrance door and stopped the bodyguards who were coming in.

Yoo-hyun caught all the details and asked him.

“Are you Da-hye’s uncle?”

“That’s right. Who are you?”

“I’m someone who wants to date Da-hye seriously. I have something to discuss with you.”

“Hmm. What is it?”

“I think Da-hye’s parents owe some money and I want to pay it off for them, but they won’t talk about it.”

As Yoo-hyun hinted at it, the man’s eyebrows twitched quickly.

That alone told him that his inference was correct.

The man held back his laughter and said.

“It looks like I met a friend who needs my help.”

“Likewise. It looks like I met the exact benefactor I needed.”

Yoo-hyun also smiled back.

It was not a pretense, but a real ease that only someone who had money could show.

Yoo-hyun led the middle-aged man to a coffee shop across the street from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

He wanted to go further, but he vehemently refused.

Yoo-hyun learned a few things about him while walking.

His name was Jo Hee-deok.

He claimed to be Da-hye’s big uncle and said he paid for her college tuition himself.

Of course, it was a lie.

Da-hye had no uncle and she graduated from college abroad by herself. There was no way she received tuition assistance.

Nevertheless, Yoo-hyun played along with his words and kept probing him.

“That’s amazing. I didn’t even know there was such a benefactor around Da-hye.”

“That’s right. She’s like my own daughter.”

Jo Hee-deok lied without batting an eye.

He tried to give Yoo-hyun a friendly impression and didn’t bring up money himself.

“Then you must be very close.”

He also checked Yoo-hyun’s reaction and made a safety device.

“No. Actually, she tries to hide me. She hates talking about money because she has a very strong pride, as you said.”

“She has such a strong pride. She even hates the fact that I have a lot of money.”

“Oh, no. That’s not good.”

They both had something they wanted, so the conversation flowed smoothly.

Yoo-hyun also gradually figured him out in the meantime.

By the time they arrived at the coffee shop, he had firmly concluded that he was a loan shark and a scammer.

Yoo-hyun opened the door and led him to the stairs.

“Sir, it’s better to go to the second floor.”

“No, no. It’s hard to climb the stairs when you’re old. Let’s just sit here.”

As expected, he didn’t want to get away from the entrance.

He seemed to be sure that Da-hye was inside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.

Just by looking at the bodyguards standing outside, he could tell that fact.

“Here’s your coffee.”

“Thank you.”

Yoo-hyun took the coffee from the counter and deliberately delayed time by adding syrup.

He quickly sorted out his thoughts in the meantime.

Soon, Da-hye would come out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building to see off the attendees after finishing the meeting.

What if she met Jo Hee-deok in that place where senior officials were crowded?

That was absolutely unacceptable.

He had to tie up this guy’s feet so that such a thing wouldn’t happen in the first place.

Yoo-hyun sent a message with the worst situation in mind.

He was someone who kept his promises like a knife, who was nearby, and who had power.

As soon as the transmission was completed, he turned on the phone recording function and put it in his pocket.

Swoosh.

Then he picked up the coffee with a casual expression.

At that moment.

Director Jeong Woo-hyuk, who was sitting in the multipurpose conference room on the third floor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, smiled as he held his phone.

Deputy Director Shin Kwang-se, who was next to him, whispered.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m being ordered by a mere assistant now.”

“Did you get a call from Mr. Han?”

Director Jeong Woo-hyuk nodded at Deputy Director Shin Kwang-se’s question.

“What can I do? I made a promise, so I have to buy him a cup of coffee at least.”

“Then I’ll go with you. I wanted to talk to him about the Hansung support project that I told you last time.”

“That’s fine. We can go right after the meeting.”

“Okay.”

Director Jeong Woo-hyuk looked at his watch and said, and Deputy Director Shin Kwang-se nodded.

Due to time constraints, Yoo-hyun went straight to the point.

Thud.

He put down the coffee on the table and asked right away.

“Sir, how much do Da-hye’s parents owe?”

“Heh. You look like a young friend, but you’re too impatient. You should at least take a sip of coffee.”

Jo Hee-deok tried to distance himself from Yoo-hyun as if he was testing him, but Yoo-hyun had no intention of giving up the initiative.

“Patience is not something you say, but something you show with money.”

“Well, that’s not wrong. But it’s not a small amount.”

“How much is it?”

Yoo-hyun asked again and Jo Hee-deok quickly held up two fingers.

He made a grimace at Yoo-hyun and groaned.

“I want to pay it off for them, but my investment business is not doing well either. 200 million won is not a small amount of money, is it?”

“Huh? Not 2 billion won, but only 200 million won?”

“Cough. What?”

Jo Hee-deok was so surprised that he coughed.

Yoo-hyun sighed with relief and smiled.

“Ha. I was worried for nothing. I thought I had to stretch out my parents’ hands for 2 billion won.”

For a moment, Jo Hee-deok’s eyebrows twitched.

He felt like he had hooked a big fish and added another finger.

“Haha. That’s right. The principal is 200 million won and with interest, it’s about 300 million won.”

“Hey, 200 million or 300 million are both peanuts. I can deposit that right now.”

Yoo-hyun leaned back on his chair and waved his hand casually.

That simple gesture made Jo Hee-deok straighten up his posture.

He swallowed his saliva and started his work right away.

“You’re quite interesting. Hahaha.”

“Don’t say that. What’s money? Da-hye hates money like a knife.”

“Heh. She doesn’t know anything because she’s young.”

Our Da-hye?

He really had some nerve.

Yoo-hyun wanted to spit on his face but he held back.

Instead, he pretended not to know and asked him what he wanted.

“Then what should I do?”

“The first thing is to pay off the debt. Of course, it would be better not to let her know because of her personality. And…”

Jo Hee-deok reinterpreted Yoo-hyun’s words and added another scenario.

In the end, it meant that he wanted Da-hye to pay him money directly.

Then he would take care of everything for her, he boasted.

Yoo-hyun, who had been responding positively to set the mood, suddenly hit the brakes.

“I see. But what’s the point if she doesn’t know? It’s still money, even if it’s peanuts. She should know.”

“That’s true. You should get something for spending money. How about this?”

He came up with another scenario, trying to rip off Yoo-hyun’s money.

He had clearly seen him scamming several people with the same method.

Yoo-hyun recorded it and occasionally added some worried words.

“What if the police find out?”

“There’s no way. I clean up the mess. If something goes wrong, I’ll take responsibility. And…”

He also made sure to have a way out.

It was a perfect line to put at the end of the recording file.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“What?”

Yoo-hyun smiled at Jo Hee-deok, who was shocked, and said.

“I don’t want to pass the responsibility to you, sir. We’re on the same team, aren’t we?”

“You’re a funny guy. Hahaha.”

Jo Hee-deok shrugged his shoulders and laughed heartily.

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