Real Man-Chapter 818

A few days later.

Yoo-hyun finished his schedule in Japan and entered Tokyo International Airport.

He was sitting on a chair at the boarding gate, looking at the plane outside the window, when an announcement rang.

-Boarding for flight CX521 to France will begin shortly.

He was about to get up from his seat when his mother called him.

“Hello, mom. What’s up?”

-Nothing much. I just called because I was worried about you.

“I’m doing fine, mom. I eat well and exercise regularly.”

Yoo-hyun answered cheerfully, but his mother cut him off.

-Not you. Da-hye.

“Uh… What about Da-hye?”

-You haven’t seen her for a while, have you? They say out of sight, out of mind. What if you’re not the same as before?

“That’s not true. We talk on the phone every day, what are you talking about?”

His mother was too worried about Da-hye, whom he cherished so much.

-Don’t just talk, but when you meet her, stick to her side and take good care of her. Like Jae-hee.

“Jae-hee?”

-Yeah. She’s either working or dating in America, spending all her time with Jang-woo.

Jang-woo’s match schedule was confirmed for early next year.

Jae-hee was supporting him diligently as he sweated in the training camp in Las Vegas.

She even made him champion kimbap every time, which she learned in Korea.

Jang-woo seemed to appreciate it and didn’t look bad.

“She’s also working hard at her company.”

-Really? I heard she won some award a while ago.

“It’s called IDEA, a pretty famous award in America.”

Yoo-hyun also learned about it from the head of the American branch, Willy Thompson.

-Cindy Han collaborated with Silicon Valley companies and created a promotional page for Reverb that got a lot of positive feedback. It’s been a great help for expanding our business.

‘I made it for fun…’

It was a lucky break, but it was a good job.

His mother expressed her feelings for his sister.

-Jae-hee is amazing. She can roll with the punches.

“Haha! Aren’t you being too honest?”

-It’s just between us, you know. Anyway, I’m glad you guys are doing well, but I’m suffering because of your father.

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

-Well, you’re doing well at your company and getting a lot of interview requests, right? That’s why he’s been so tense lately…

His mother poured out her pent-up stories.

Her affectionate heart hidden in her tantrum was very touching.

He wanted to hear more of her gentle voice, but he had to go soon.

“Mom, I’ll see you soon.”

-Okay. Bring me some good news when you come back. At this rate, Jae-hee will get married before you.

“That can’t happen. Even cold water has its order.”

-That’s why I’m telling you to work harder. Please. Please.

His mother hung up the phone with a pleading smile.

He looked at the turned-off phone screen and suddenly thought of Da-hye.

‘Come to think of it, we’ve been apart for a long time.’

If he returned to Korea as planned, his meeting with her would be postponed again.

He wanted to see her as soon as possible.

Of course, she could finish it on her own, but he wanted to be by her side and help her.

He had enough of being away from her for a long time.

He got up from his seat and was about to send her a message with his longing heart.

Beep.

His phone rang and a messenger window popped up.

-Da-hye: Hurry up. I miss you. (Heart)

“Me too.”

Yoo-hyun smiled softly.

Whoosh.

The plane that took off from Tokyo arrived in Paris, France in half a day.

He got off the plane and felt the cool weather of Paris in November.

Da-hye was waving her hand in front of him as he passed through the gate.

“Yoo-hyun, over here, over here.”

Her long hair flowed over her beige coat.

The navy sweater she wore inside made her pale face stand out more.

He only saw her face among the crowded people.

Thump thump.

He approached her with a happy heart and opened his arms, and she hugged him tightly.

“Da-hye, I missed you.”

“You worked hard, really.”

Pat pat.

His jet lag disappeared with her warm touch on his back.

He felt rewarded for his efforts in Japan.

He got in Da-hye’s car and went to a pasta place in the 11th district of Paris.

She didn’t make the mistake of going to a dangerous area to find a hidden gem of the local cuisine like before.

She ordered in a flash as soon as she entered.

He asked her excitedly.

“Have you been here before?”

“No. But I really wanted to come here with you.”

“Why are you so confident?”

He remembered her complaining about choosing a restaurant based on local reviews and failing, but she looked so cute holding a fork with a confident face.

“It’s a rising place on Reverb reviews. It must be delicious.”

“They expanded the food reviews to Europe, right?”

“Yes. There are quite a few posts coming up. Especially, there are a lot of reviews for this place.”

Would it be okay?

Food reviews were quite successful in Korea, but he couldn’t easily imagine that they would work in France, where they had a strong pride in their food.

But his worries were short-lived, as Da-hye was very excited after tasting the pasta.

“See? I was right.”

“Yeah. It’s good.”

“The shrimp is so fresh. The sauce is rich, and the noodles are chewy. Manbok would have agreed if he came here.”

Da-hye’s voice was lively when he heard it.

He heard a sound of taking a picture from the next table.

Snap.

“Why are you taking pictures of the food instead of eating?”

A young woman with braided hair tilted her head, and her peer who was taking pictures with her phone explained.

“There’s a hot site called Reverb these days, and I’m going to post a review there.”

“Reverb?”

“It’s a Korean app, where people always take a photo before they eat. They have a warm heart that wants to share the good things.”

“That’s cool. I should do that too.”

‘A warm heart…’

He exaggerated a bit, but he felt proud and amazed when he heard the stories about Reverb on the spot.

The start of the change was his experience of failing to choose a restaurant with a wrong review on his previous European trip.

Reverb, which was born that way, soon melted into the lives of Europeans beyond Korea.

Clang.

The two people who met each other smiled and had a happy meal.

Yoo-hyun, who came out of the restaurant, could feel the influence of Reverb on the streets.

In the clothing store, the products with high ratings from Reverb reviews were displayed in a visible place, and in the electronics store, the displayed monitors attracted attention by showing the ratings of Reverb’s IT products.

-You can never forget the taste of risotto once you eat it! Highly recommended!

There were also some stores that used Reverb reviews as a signboard to promote themselves.

Yoo-hyun was impressed by the sight of the reviews of various categories breaking the boundary between online and offline.

‘It’s faster than I thought.’

Reverb spread faster than Yoo-hyun’s expectation.

At this rate, the initial goal of establishing a base in the European market was almost achieved.

But why was Jeong Da-hye still in Europe?

Squeeze.

Jeong Da-hye, who was holding his hand, said.

“I have a contract that I led that hasn’t been settled yet.”

“You mean the clothing mall contract you mentioned before?”

“Yes. The result will come out next week.”

“Then it’s almost over. I didn’t have to come.”

Yoo-hyun tried to tease her, and Jeong Da-hye hugged his arm and stuck to him.

They could feel each other’s heartbeat through their elbows.

“Why don’t you need me?”

“Do you have anything else?”

“Of course. There’s a place I really want to go with you.”

Yoo-hyun’s mouth curled up at Jeong Da-hye’s cute answer.

The place Jeong Da-hye wanted to go with Yoo-hyun was Sweden.

She regretted not being able to go to Northern Europe on her last European trip.

So Yoo-hyun naturally thought it was a date for the two of them.

When he received a couple scarf as a gift, he was excited and thrilled to go to the chilly Sweden.

He held her hand tightly and boarded the plane to Sweden, and she hid the destination as a secret, which was so cute and lovely.

He was full of anticipation until he stood in front of a large building in Stockholm.

But what is this?

“Was IKEA the place we were going?”

“Yes. We have a meeting here.”

“A meeting…”

“This is the IKEA headquarters. It has a different vibe, right?”

“…”

She pointed to the yellow letters on the blue warehouse-shaped building and smiled brightly.

Different indeed.

It was no different from the Korean IKEA 1st store that opened recently.

But why would they have a meeting here?

Northern Europe was a region where Reverb had not yet entered.

It was up to the remaining people to expand the territory.

Jeong Da-hye didn’t have to go out of her way.

She poked Yoo-hyun’s side, who looked a bit disappointed.

“Why? Yoo-hyun, you were interested in IKEA, weren’t you?”

“That’s different. I never dreamed of coming here to work.”

“You can work like you’re traveling. You’ve come this far, so just enjoy it.”

“Well, whatever…”

I thought there would be a special event or something.

Yoo-hyun couldn’t say what he wanted to say and mumbled, and Jeong Da-hye pulled his arm with a smile.

“Come on, let’s go in.”

She looked very excited.

The IKEA headquarters was full of furniture with unique designs.

As the starting point of the world’s largest furniture store, they decorated the showroom so that they could see the 70-year history at a glance.

Trudge trudge.

Yoo-hyun walked along the outer corridor of the second floor and looked around the open showrooms.

He saw a familiar face among the people who were talking on one side.

“Huh? Isn’t that our European branch employee?”

Jeong Da-hye explained the situation to Yoo-hyun, who was surprised.

“That’s right. The people we met are the ones in charge here.”

“What? You’ve already made enough progress to talk to the workers?”

“IKEA contacted us a while ago. So we met a few times.”

“IKEA first?”

“Well, our Reverb home reviews match the IKEA showroom concept. And the reaction of the store that opened in Korea recently was very good.”

“And…”

After hearing the explanation, Yoo-hyun understood what was going on.

The news headline he saw a while ago flashed in his mind.

As Jeong Da-hye said, the IKEA Korea 1st store opened with great success a while ago.

The cheap and practical furniture and the DIY craze that Reverb built up resulted in an unprecedented record of the highest monthly sales among IKEA stores worldwide.

IKEA was popular in Korea even in the past that Yoo-hyun experienced, but it was a hotter response than that.

Was that why?

The representative of the IKEA holding company located in the Netherlands was interested in Reverb, and the IKEA Sweden headquarters branch manager requested a direct visit.

‘No wonder.’

Jeong Da-hye’s footsteps to the branch manager’s office were too natural.

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