Chapter 223:

Words : 1386 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 223: Chapter 223 The change in Kim Ho-geol’s attitude was evident in the way he ran the team. “Min, don’t worry about the Circuit 4 team. Just keep doing what you were doing.” “Yes, sir.” He pushed his work forward with confidence and checked it thoroughly. He also sent emails to his team members to instruct them on their tasks. -Please send me your updated schedules after reviewing the shared project timeline. I will manage the schedule myself. As he trimmed the branches, his true nature began to show. His clear instructions sped up the team’s work. Of course, there were some people who suffered in the process, but it was definitely better than before. There was someone who didn’t like the changed atmosphere. It was Hong Hyuk-soo, the leader of Part 2. He deliberately called Yoo-hyun through Yun Gi-chun. “Yoo-hyun, I... Mr. Hong Hyuk-soo is looking for you.” “Really? Thank you.” Yoo-hyun nodded to Yun Gi-chun, who looked nervous, and headed to Hong Hyuk-soo. Hong Hyuk-soo spoke with a mask on his face. “Do you like drinking, Yoo-hyun?” “Yes. I’m not a heavy drinker, but I can hold my liquor.” “Really? How about having a drink with me tonight? I have something to tell you.” He still had the habit of asking for a drink out of the blue. Yoo-hyun smiled faintly as he recalled his past experience with him. -You pay for the drinks first, Yoo-hyun. I’ll pay you back later. He made his naive junior spend a lot of money and acted like a fool. He wasn’t the only one who suffered from him. Yet, he cunningly held onto people’s weaknesses and shook up the whole team. He was intoxicated by his petty power. Yoo-hyun shook his head at him. “I’m sorry, but I have plans with my colleagues tonight.” “Huh. Just your colleagues?” “They are very important to me. And I made this promise in advance, so please understand.” “You’ll regret missing this opportunity.” “Let’s make another appointment next time. I’ll introduce you to a nice place.” “...” Hong Hyuk-soo clenched his pen as Yoo-hyun smiled brightly. His sharp eyes under his thin eyebrows twitched. He looked more attractive than ever. Yoo-hyun bowed slightly and returned to his seat. He didn’t lie just to avoid drinking with him. He really had plans with his colleagues. As soon as the clock-out music sounded, Yoo-hyun got up from his seat. A few moments later. Yoo-hyun arrived at a pig’s feet restaurant in Ulsan city center. It wasn’t far from where he had drinks with Maeng Gi-yong a while ago. As he opened the door and entered, a familiar voice greeted him. He looked up and saw Jung Hyun-woo waving and running towards him. “Hyung. Here, here.” “Don’t make such a fuss.” “Hey, I’m just happy to see you.” “We see each other every morning.” “But it’s different at night.” Yoo-hyun said incredulously, and Jung Hyun-woo grinned and winked at him. Yoo-hyun shook his head and followed Jung Hyun-woo inside. There were four other colleagues who had arrived earlier at the table. They all had one thing in common: they were in the same class during the LCD business unit training. Maybe that’s why they didn’t feel awkward at all even though they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. As Yoo-hyun sat down, Yeojin-ho from the panel analysis team chuckled and said: “It’s an honor to have a celebrity visit this humble place.” “What celebrity are you talking about?” “Hey, don’t you know? You’re the talk of the town these days. Right, Tae-kyung?” Yeojin-ho passed the ball to Im Tae-kyung from Circuit 3 team, who nodded his head. “Yeah. Your rumor is all over our department lately.” “What rumor?” “They say you’ve even taken down the Circuit 4 team leader?” “You don’t really believe that, do you?” Yoo-hyun pretended not to know, and Im Tae-kyung widened his eyes. Then he waved his hands exaggeratedly and explained: “No, listen. I had a meeting with Circuit 4 team the other day. And they said...” “Really?” “Yeah. There’s a nuclear bomb dropped on Circuit 4 right now. It’s chaos.” “That’s ridiculous.” Yoo-hyun laughed at Im Tae-kyung’s words. He heard all kinds of nonsense from unexpected places. “And about the factory site...” “The business director?” “Yeah. Turns out he intervened in the middle of it.” Yoo-hyun pretended not to know and asked, and Go Seong-je answered. He knew a lot of information about the factory because he was in the electrical equipment team. Yeojin-ho said in surprise. “Wow. So that’s why he’s taking off his clothes.” “Yes. He’s taking responsibility.” “Tsk tsk. That’s unfortunate.” Yeojin-ho clicked his tongue at Go Seong-je’s answer. Yoo-hyun thought about it as he listened to their conversation. This business director corruption case was something that wasn’t exposed because it was tied to the corruption committed by Lee Kyung-hoon in the past. For some reason, it was revealed quickly. It was because of the future that Yoo-hyun had changed. Of course, there were things that didn’t change. As he moved an empty bottle under the table, Jung Hyun-woo suddenly said as if he remembered something. “Oh, our team is planning a soccer tournament this time.” “Really? Then let us join too.” “Of course. The panel analysis team is in the same group, right?” Yeojin-ho said and Jung Hyun-woo nodded his head. Then Go Seong-je next to him asked: “Wow. What about our team?” “The electrical equipment team is not in the group, so I think you’ll be left out.” “That’s a shame.” Jung Hyun-woo answered and Go Seong-je sighed. Then Im Tae-kyung asked Yoo-hyun: “Yoo-hyun, are you good at soccer?” “Me? I’ve never tried it, so I don’t know.” “You look like you’d be good at it?” Yeojin-ho said bluntly and everyone nodded their heads. At the same time, they spat out various words. “Yeah. You have good athletic skills.” “Yeah. Didn’t you say you play golf well?” “I’m really looking forward to it.” “I don’t think so...” Yoo-hyun muttered to himself and lifted his glass. “Come on, cheers.” “Good.” Everyone agreed and clinked their glasses again. That night, they talked until late. The Ulsan colleagues had a lot of things bottled up inside them. What was an easy way to tell the team atmosphere? The answer was in the words they uttered. The next day. When Yoo-hyun arrived at work, he could feel the changed atmosphere right away. It was when he entered a bathroom stall. He heard a phone conversation from the next stall. It was Yun Gi-chun’s voice. “Yes, yes. I uploaded a new panel plan. We really don’t have time this time. It’s urgent.” He was trying hard to meet the deadline. He never saw him do that before. That wasn’t all. As he drank water at the water cooler, Yoo-hyun heard the people from Part 2 talking. They were also talking about work. “Did you check the LTPS device information we received from the Future Product Research Center?” “Yes. I got the numbers and ran the simulation.” “Let me know if it doesn’t work. We don’t want to waste time.” “I’ll check it right away.” He could feel the urgency in their voices. It was a very different atmosphere from two weeks ago. Back then, they didn’t talk about work, but mostly complained. Even when they talked about work, they didn’t talk about the success of the project, but the reasons why it was bound to fail. But not anymore. Whatever the reason, they started working. Then, the color of the Advanced Product Team began to show. Yoo-hyun saw it in his eyes. As he was thinking about it, he returned to his seat. Lee Jin-mok, who was passing by, handed him a can of coffee. That was also something that never happened before. “Here.” “Thank you. But why?” “You know, I owe you one from the warehouse.” Lee Jin-mok scratched his head awkwardly as he said that.

Chapter 223:

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