Real Man

Jeong Da-hye’s voice, which was somewhat excited, also calmed down.

“I was very happy when you said you were coming to the United States.”

“Me too.”

“I guess I missed you.”

At her sincere words, Yoo-hyun’s mouth curled up.

“I missed you too. That’s why I was going to Texas.”

“I prefer San Francisco. I wanted to meet you here, where I have memories with you.”

Jeong Da-hye and Yoo-hyun met in San Francisco when there was an Apple product review, which was already three years ago.

It was a short meeting, but there were many impressive things that were memorable.

“I think we had a little fight then?”

“That’s right. I felt so weird about you then.”

“Why?”

“You looked too reckless. Sometimes you looked ridiculously calm.”

Yoo-hyun at that time had a quarrel with a foreigner who ridiculed Jeong Da-hye, and risked his life to get back her handbag that was stolen by a pickpocket.

It was an action he took to avoid regret, but he remembered that Jeong Da-hye was very embarrassed by his appearance.

“I was a bit rough.”

As Yoo-hyun answered obediently, Jeong Da-hye added a word.

“Yes. I always acted according to plan, but you were different. You seemed like a completely different kind of person.”

-I am the same kind of person as the manager. I think I have to finish the work within the schedule once I start it. I will prove my skills as much as you gave me the opportunity.

Jeong Da-hye said that Yoo-hyun was the same kind in the past, and now she said that he was a different kind.

Yoo-hyun’s change turned the existing relationship upside down.

In front of the changed situation, Yoo-hyun made an excuse instead.

“I can understand that. Not everyone is the same.”

“I didn’t think it was different, I thought it was wrong. I thought it was all coincidence when I saw you succeed.”

“I was lucky. My colleagues helped me a lot.”

“It’s also about your colleagues. Even though it was not enough to be greedy for the immediate results, I didn’t understand how you cared for your colleagues.”

“I see.”

“But maybe I was wrong.”

Jeong Da-hye had this thought for quite a long time.

She looked back at what she was doing, reflecting on Yoo-hyun’s footsteps.

Every time she struggled to survive, every time she was greedy for results, every time she crushed her colleagues in the competition, she thought of Yoo-hyun.

What would he do?

At some point, she thought that Yoo-hyun’s choices might be right.

To be precise, it was since she became a manager.

“Why? You’re doing well.”

“Steve Jobs said that earlier, right? Are you doing what you really want?”

“Yes. He did.”

“I thought I was doing what I really wanted. I thought I would achieve my dream if I became a manager and took on a big project.”

“But?”

“But, it wasn’t. The place to go is still high, and there are many restrictions. I had to ignore the people who were harmed for my goal, and I closed my eyes to the negatives.”

“That’s inevitable to succeed.”

As Yoo-hyun said, Jeong Da-hye lived for success, and also got closer to it.

But ironically, success was not something that could be obtained by struggling.

The success she gained was like a collapsing sand castle.

Jeong Da-hye spat out the conclusion she had been thinking about for a long time.

“So, I thought. What do I really want to do?”

“What is it?”

“I want to try something different. Like you, I want to live in harmony. Of course, I also have a desire to be recognized.”

Jeong Da-hye’s mouth flowed out the life view that Yoo-hyun had when he started living again.

They were looking at the same place without knowing it.

“Ah.”

Jeong Da-hye smiled faintly as she saw Yoo-hyun lose his mind for a moment.

“It’s funny to be greedy for both, right?”

“No. Not at all.”

As Yoo-hyun waved his hand, Jeong Da-hye took a breath.

She looked into Yoo-hyun’s eyes and carefully took out the determination she had hidden.

“So, I’m thinking of going to Korea after the project is over.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I want to start fresh. And if possible… I want to be with you.”

“…”

Was it because it was too unexpected?

Yoo-hyun’s mouth did not close as he was speechless.

Yoo-hyun, who came to his senses, quickly answered.

“I want to be with you too.”

“You didn’t hold me back before.”

“That’s because I didn’t want to be a stumbling block for your dream.”

Jeong Da-hye smiled as she saw Yoo-hyun trying to justify himself.

“I never thought of you as a stumbling block. But now that I look back, you’re a stepping stone.”

“Did I help you?”

“Yes. Thanks to you, I found my real dream.”

Whooong.

Between the blowing wind, the two’s affectionate eyes came and went.

It was getting late at night.

The next day, Yoo-hyun sent Jeong Da-hye away at San Francisco Airport.

He promised the next in Korea, which he didn’t know when it would be, so Yoo-hyun’s footsteps were light as he turned around.

Yoo-hyun came out of the airport and got into the car right away.

It was the 11th day since he arrived in San Francisco.

He had a place to go now.

It was Instagram where Na Do-ha was.

Instagram was located in a three-story building at 1601 California Street.

To be precise, the entire second floor was JK Communications, and Instagram used a corner block on the third floor as an office.

As he approached his destination, he connected with Hyun Jin-gun.

-Did you contact Do-ha?

“Not yet. You told me not to.”

-Yeah. Don’t contact him and go meet him in person. I wanted to go with you, but I’m out at the test company right now and I don’t have time.

Yoo-hyun knew that Hyun Jin-gun had gone on a business trip.

He also refused the guy’s offer to change his business trip schedule.

“It’s just picking him up, what’s there to go with? Just go to Instagram, right?”

-Yeah. I told Kevin, so he’ll take care of you when you go.

“Why do you take care of me? I’m the one who should express my gratitude?”

Yoo-hyun was very grateful to the company that gave Nadoha a chance to gain experience for 10 days. He had come to pick him up on his last day of work.

But then, Hyun Jin-geon Gun said something strange to Yoo-hyun.

-He seems to have something to say to you. And… never mind.

“What are you talking about?”

-It’s your choice. Go and see for yourself. If you’re in doubt, contact me.

Choice?

Before he could ask more, Yoo-hyun’s car arrived at the building.

Yoo-hyun got out of the car and opened the trunk to take out a box of drinks.

It was a modest gift of appreciation.

Yoo-hyun carried the box of drinks and went up to the third floor of the building.

He followed the sign and walked a fair distance along the right corridor before he could see the Instagram office.

There was a large logo with a camera drawn on the glass wall, blocking the view inside.

But from the area that was visible, he could guess what it was like inside.

Squeak.

Yoo-hyun pushed the slightly open door and entered.

The interior was as cramped as he expected.

It was about the size of the Future Technology TF’s office, with no separate meeting room and a simple structure.

There were only a few desks scattered around.

In that place, he heard a frantic voice.

It was the voice of Kevin Systrom, who was tall even when sitting.

“Damn! The server key got hacked again! We need to restore the backup data quickly. Or we’ll have to shut down the service!”

“I’m contacting AWS (Amazon Web Services) and uploading the recovery request. No, wait. We have Doha, right?”

The bespectacled man who was facing him jumped up from his seat.

He grabbed his laptop and quickly approached the corner.

Yoo-hyun’s gaze also reached there.

There was Nadoha, who looked like he had stayed up for several nights.

The bespectacled man showed the laptop screen to Nadoha and said.

“Doha, can you recover this? We don’t have much time. We need to upload it right away.”

Using a translation app, Nadoha checked the content that appeared on his phone and then drew a circle with his finger.

“Okay.”

Then he started typing on the keyboard quickly.

Tatatatatak.

In the chaotic situation that resembled a war zone, Nadoha’s keyboard sound echoed.

‘I thought he was just a nuisance.’

Yoo-hyun looked at him incredulously.

None of the four men in the room noticed Yoo-hyun.

That’s how urgent the situation was.

Yoo-hyun decided not to announce his presence, but just watched quietly.

After a while, Kevin Systrom clapped his hands.

“Good! Phew. I finally feel relieved.”

He stretched his body and then noticed Yoo-hyun for the first time. He jumped up.

“Are you… Steve?”

“Yes. I came to pick up Doha. And to say thank you.”

Yoo-hyun put the box of drinks that he had placed on the floor on the table.

He felt like a parent who had visited his son’s school.

That’s when Nadoha, who realized Yoo-hyun’s presence belatedly, shouted.

“Bro!”

“Doha, how have you been?”

Yoo-hyun waved his hand, and Nadoha came over quickly.

Kevin Systrom looked at Nadoha and Yoo-hyun alternately and raised his index finger with a displeased expression.

“I’m sorry, but can I borrow Mr. Doha for a little longer? Just an hour.”

The last working hour for Nadoha that Kevin Systrom had agreed with Hyun Jin-geon Gun was 12 noon.

It was a schedule that he had made considering the total working hours for 10 days.

Yoo-hyun was about to open his mouth, but Nadoha spoke first.

“Bro, I’ll just do a little more and go. There’s a big security issue here.”

“Are you okay? You look terrible.”

“I’m fine. Kevin, I’m okay.”

Nadoha accepted Yoo-hyun’s question as a positive answer and immediately sent a sign of consent.

His face was pale, but his eyes were sharper than before.

When a problem occurred in a startup that lacked manpower, they had no choice but to go on a rampage.

Yoo-hyun, who had experienced Airbnb, knew that it was not someone else’s problem.

Instead of just watching, Yoo-hyun also helped them out by buying sandwiches for lunch.

“Wow! Thank you.”

Kevin Systrom was very grateful for the trivial thing.

The other employees were the same.

They all worked hard to resolve the emergency situation as soon as possible.

Yoo-hyun watched the situation over their shoulders and figured out the rough problem.

Instagram was growing rapidly, surpassing 5 million subscribers.

Along with the faster-than-expected growth, the traffic surged.

There was a problem with expanding the server suddenly, and on top of that, hacking attempts were added.

The server security manager happened to be on vacation today.

That seemed to be the reason why Nadoha was put in.

But was this sustainable?

Four people were not enough.

They needed to boldly increase their manpower pool.

And what they needed for that was to attract investment.

Just like Airbnb and JK Communications did.

As he thought about this and that, Yoo-hyun helped them with their work.

It was almost evening when Nadoha’s work was finally over.

Kevin Systrom, who met Yoo-hyun in the third floor lounge, apologized.

“I’m sorry. I went over the promised time and it got too late.”

“No. It’s what Doha wanted.”

Yoo-hyun answered in English and looked at Nadoha next to him.

Whether it was because the voice recognition of the translation app didn’t work well or not, Nadoha blinked his eyes blankly.

Then Kevin Systrom handed him an envelope.

“Here’s $1,200 for 10 days of work. I added $200 more for the extra work on the last day.”

“Thank you.”

Nadoha took the envelope and looked happy.

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