Real Man

Chapter 792

He didn’t ask any more questions, sensing that he was hiding something, and handed him a glass.

Clang.

There was nothing more comfortable than sharing old memories with a friend.

Yoo-hyun, who had a drink, changed the topic to the past.

“Jun-ki, do you remember the stationery store in Sannae?”

“Of course, I do. We used to go there a lot when we were in elementary school, or rather, national school.”

“The grandma there is still alive. She asked about you, too.”

“Really? That’s amazing. We were so...”

He stopped talking and went back to the old days with him.

The conversation that started in elementary school continued through middle school, high school, and to the company.

Looking back, he was always with this guy, except for college.

“Hahaha.”

They had a lot of memories to laugh and talk about.

As they talked about this and that, the bottle of liquor was empty.

They drank a lot in a short time.

Soon, Kang Jun-ki opened another bottle and filled Yoo-hyun’s glass.

Chorror.

“Yoo-hyun.”

“What?”

He lifted his head at the calling voice, and Kang Jun-ki’s face was red.

He seemed to be drunk already, maybe because he drank too fast.

Yoo-hyun was about to say something more, but he waited, seeing his friend’s serious eyes.

Kang Jun-ki paused for a moment and said.

“You were good at studying when you were young.”

“I was.”

“You were the best among us. But you know, I wasn’t jealous of that. You were worse than me at soccer.”

Yoo-hyun was dumbfounded by the sudden attack.

“Why are you bringing up soccer all of a sudden?”

“Development was also that kind of development.”

“Hey, it wasn’t that bad.”

“Anyway, that’s how I remember it. And you were popular, right? You got a lot of letters from girls.”

He said he was good at studying, he was popular.

These were not the words that Kang Jun-ki, who had the most pride, would say.

He must have been really drunk.

“This guy is totally drunk.”

“I’m a little tipsy. Haha. But you know, I wasn’t jealous of you then either.”

He was laughing, but he suddenly lowered his voice, and Yoo-hyun stopped and hesitated.

“Why would you be jealous?”

“Right. It’s funny to be jealous among friends. But you know, do you remember the Sky PC room?”

“I do. We went there a lot after school in high school.”

“Right. We really went all out. Then, I was really envious of you.”

“Huh? Why all of a sudden?”

Yoo-hyun blinked his eyes and recalled the old memory.

They went there with four people and played games as a team, but there was nothing to be envious of.

Kang Jun-ki pushed an absurd memory that he had forgotten.

“You were the only one who got into the Zeus guild.”

“Zeus? It was just a local game club.”

“Anyway. When the PC room guys offered you a scout, I was jealous. I guess I thought I was better than you.”

“You should have said something. You would have been accepted for sure.”

Yoo-hyun didn’t have any special reason to join the game club.

He just played games with the guys who ran the PC room and accepted their offer to join the club.

He didn’t know any better at the time, and he quit soon after, using studying as an excuse.

“Men have pride, you know. Hehe. Anyway, I avoided you then. You didn’t know, did you?”

“Not at all.”

“Of course you didn’t. I’m good at hiding it.”

“...”

Yoo-hyun didn’t know.

He couldn’t even imagine that Kang Jun-ki, who was always cheerful and bright, had such thoughts.

He was blank for a moment, and his eyes met with Kang Jun-ki, who emptied his glass.

He smiled slyly and called Yoo-hyun with a twisted voice.

“Han Yoo-hyun. My reliable and cool friend Han Yoo-hyun.”

“Say what you want to say.”

“Right. I have to. I wanted to say this, so I asked you to come.”

What was he going to say?

Chorror.

As Yoo-hyun filled his glass, he spilled his heart.

“I wasn’t jealous of you going to Hansung? I wasn’t envious of you having a lot of pretty female employees. I just thought it was a place like that.”

“I know.”

“I wasn’t jealous when you became a manager so quickly. I think I would have felt the same even if you became an executive or a president there.”

“I know that, too. You’re that kind of guy.”

It wasn’t just a formal answer.

When Kang Jun-ki came to the Wonju factory to help his friend, he was surprised by Yoo-hyun, who even the executives were careful of, but he didn’t envy him.

He rather tried to learn more from him by following the excellent Jo Gi-jeong.

Yoo-hyun thought Kang Jun-ki was a born engineer.

He said.

“Yeah, I wasn’t jealous of you going to a good place and doing well. But you started a new business from the bottom this time.”

“River?”

“Yeah. That... I was really jealous of that. I don’t know, I thought I could do better than you at something new.”

“...”

Yoo-hyun was speechless at his friend’s unexpected sincerity.

Kang Jun-ki gave him the most advice in the early days of River, and he even took time to help River by doing reviews.

He didn’t log in for a while, but before that, he answered every question from other people.

He didn’t notice that he had such feelings at all.

He followed Kang Jun-ki and emptied his glass, and asked.

“Jun-ki, did you want to start a business?”

“Yeah. But it didn’t work out. I could do StarCraft like you, but I couldn’t do this.”

“Why. You’re good at it.”

“Skill is. I thought so at the company. But when I went out to society, I was a person who didn’t have any experience from the beginning. Did I have a good education, did I leave a good company. Well, these are all excuses.”

You need connections and money to start a business.

It wasn’t easy for him to stand up from the ground with nothing.

Yoo-hyun felt sorry for that.

“Tell me.”

“What if I do? Are you going to lend me money? Don’t bother. It’s not because I don’t have money.”

“Then what?”

Yoo-hyun asked, and Kang Jun-ki sighed and waved his hand.

“No. Ugh... Anyway, I was so amused by myself for being jealous of you.”

“What’s so funny?”

“It’s funny. You’re such a great friend. A successful friend. I can’t even praise you or protect you, let alone being envious of you and suffering in silence.”

“...”

It was the first time his friend of over 20 years revealed his true feelings.

Seeing the weak side of his prideful friend, the alcohol tasted more bitter than usual.

‘Poor kid. He must have had a hard time.’

Yoo-hyun sighed inwardly, and Kang Jun-ki smiled wryly with a glass in his hand.

“I’m sorry, my friend.”

“Have a drink.”

“Yeah. Let’s drink. I feel more thirsty after spilling everything. Haha.”

Clang.

He said he felt relieved, but his expression didn’t look so.

He pretended to be fine, but Yoo-hyun could feel that he was hurting inside.

Kang Jun-ki, who was drinking heavily, soon collapsed on the floor.

As Yoo-hyun approached him, he turned his body and muttered in his sleep.

“Mm. Dude, I’m so happy for you. You’re doing great... How do you manage to do so well?”

“Yeah, yeah. Just go to sleep.”

Yoo-hyun patted Kang Jun-ki’s shoulder and covered him with a blanket.

Yoo-hyun, who was staring at Kang Jun-ki, got up from his seat and headed to the desk.

A hastily written business plan caught his eye.

He could tell how much he cared by the traces of revision.

“Hardware business is not easy.”

Yoo-hyun murmured and took out a notebook from the bookshelf.

Swoosh.

It was full of various efforts that Kang Jun-ki had made over time.

Yoo-hyun finally understood why Kang Jun-ki was struggling.

Business requires initial capital.

Especially for hardware business, since it involves a lot of money, you need to persuade investors or institutions to invest in your project.

But is that easy?

No way.

Kang Jun-ki couldn’t even go back to his hometown during the Lunar New Year holiday because he was preparing for a meeting with an investment company.

But that was also canceled.

He was too reserved to complain to anyone.

‘No wonder he was thirsty.’

He was suffering in silence, but Kang Jun-ki kept apologizing to Yoo-hyun.

His honest feeling?

He wanted to secretly give him some investment money.

He believed that he would do well if he could get a chance.

But before that, the frustrating reality kept bothering him.

-In Korea, there is no second chance for a failed startup. They just look at them with prejudice.

As Seowon Tech’s CEO Lee Seunghyuk said, it was very rare for a failed company to rise again in the Korean venture ecosystem.

It was hard for Kang Jun-ki to even start.

Unless he had a solid capital like Yoo-hyun, it wouldn’t be easy to survive.

It was not without reason that people said Korean ventures were doomed.

Was this right?

Regardless of right or wrong, he kept feeling that this was not someone else’s problem.

In the big picture, River was also part of the Korean venture ecosystem.

It meant that it was hard for River to thrive alone.

As he thought this far, he remembered someone who had made a deep impression on him in the past.

It was Hyun Jingun, the IT genius.

-In the current Korean venture ecosystem, there is no way for an outstanding company to emerge. Even if they do, they won’t last long. Fundamental improvement is needed.

Hyun Jingun left JK Communications, which was doing well, without hesitation.

He returned from the US with great success and devoted himself to saving the Korean venture ecosystem.

Everyone thought it was impossible.

But he did what even the politicians couldn’t do in a few years.

When Yoo-hyun was busy with internal politics at Hansung, he changed the country.

Yoo-hyun thought he was amazing, but he was also curious.

Why did he bother to save the venture industry?

He didn’t have much influence in Korea.

He still couldn’t solve this mystery.

When he went outside, the sky was dark.

Thud.

Yoo-hyun sat on the bench and brought up Hyun Jingun’s name on his phone.

He wanted to hear his friend’s voice after a long time.

When the call was connected, Yoo-hyun called his name.

“Jingun.”

-Why do you sound like that? Did you drink?

“How did you know? Can a genius tell that from afar?”

Yoo-hyun was surprised by his tongue-tied voice, and Hyun Jingun was incredulous.

-You’re crazy. Why?

“Just. I have something to say because of the alcohol.”

-What is it?

“About the Korean venture ecosystem.”

Hyun Jingun burst into laughter at the unexpected word.

-Hahaha! Why are you talking about that after drinking?

“Dude, I’m serious.”

-Okay. I get it. Tell me. I’ll answer you seriously too.

Hyun Jingun changed his attitude quickly, sensing that something was wrong.

He said he would answer if he asked.

But he couldn’t get the answer he was curious about.

Yoo-hyun asked a different question instead.

“What if you started a business in Korea?”

-Korea? Hmm... Yoo-hyun, do you remember when I got the investment in the beginning?

“I remember. Your senior tried to scam you, right?”

-Yeah. If it wasn’t for you, I would have been screwed. Korea is a place where even my trusted college senior exploited me. I can’t say for sure, but it must have been hard.

The investment company that Hyun Jingun’s senior belonged to was quite well-known in Korea.

They were a black angel investor who sucked the blood of startups.

Hyun Jingun was shocked by the fact.

If it wasn’t for Yoo-hyun?

Hyun Jingun, who had a good education, a career at Ilsung Electronics, and a core patent, would have been hit hard.

Yoo-hyun nodded as he recalled what had happened.

“That must have been.”

-It’s not easy to do venture in Korea. That’s why I’m so glad I listened to you and went to Silicon Valley.

“In what way?”

-Here, anyone can survive if they have the skills. Even if they fail, they always have a chance to get up. That culture is established here.

Airbnb, Instagram, JK Communications.

Yoo-hyun looked back at the companies that he had seen grow from the bottom.