Chapter 291: An Ordinary Scientist (5)

Young-Joon boarded a plane to Tokyo with Nobuhiro and Professor Kakeguni.

‘Don’t cause any trouble while I’m gone.’

Young-Joon was sending messages to Rosaline.

—Okay.

‘Are my parents home?’

—Yes.

‘Don’t tease them, okay?’

—I’m not going to tease anyone.

‘Are you hungry?’

—We ate together before you left. And I can control hunger.

‘Right.’

—You don’t have to worry about me like I’m a little kid. Have a safe trip.

‘Well, true, but now that you’re a person, I’m getting a little anxious. Send me a message if anything happens.’

—Yes.

‘If you’re bored, ask Ryu Ji-Won to play with you. She wants to get to know you.’

Rosaline suddenly turned her head and glanced at Ryu Ji-Won, who was sitting beside her. Ryu Ji-Won, who was on her phone, was startled.

“Oh, um, why? Do you need something?” Ryu Ji-Won asked.

It was always nerve wracking for her to talk to Rosaline.

‘Maybe it’ll get better once I get to know her more?’

“I want to go outside,” Rosaline said.

“You want to go? Outside?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go. Wait, let me change and make some eyebrows and lips.”

“Make some eyebrows and lips?”

For a moment, Rosaline imagined the process of creating hair root tissue from epithelial cells, but that’s not what happened. Instead, Ryu Ji-Won went into her room, changed, put on some simple makeup, and came out.

She took Rosaline’s hand and walked outside. It was a little chilly.

“Are you cold?” Ryu Ji-Won asked, closing Rosaline’s coat.

“No, I’m fine.”

Rosaline held Ryu Ji-Won’s hand tightly as she walked outside.

“You seem a little less energetic today. Is something wrong?” Ryu Ji-Won asked.

“I seem less energetic?”

“Is it because Young-Joon went to Japan?”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“...”

“You just seem a little sad,” Ryu Ji-Won said.

“Sad...”

Rosaline became lost in thought as she tried to figure out what that felt like. She had adjusted her levels of dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin to match the average for a healthy nine-year-old human. It wasn’t depression. What did it feel like to be sad without having depression?

“You know, feeling weary and down, and craving sweets,” Ryu Ji-Won said as she saw Rosaline’s troubled expression.

“I want something sweet,” Rosaline replied.

“Do you want to get some hot chocolate over there?”

Ryu Ji-Won pointed to the cafe at the intersection in front of Jungyoon University.

“Sure.”

Ryu Ji-Won actually had another motive to go to that cafe. It was because her boyfriend, Yang Dong-Wook, was working part-time at the counter.

“There aren’t any customers.”

“Right? How great is this?”

Yang Dong-Wook smiled playfully.

“Who’s this?” he asked Ryu Ji-Won.

“My niece.”

“You had a niece?”

“Yeah. Say hi. Her name is ROsaline.”

“Hi!”

Yang Dong-Wook peeked his head over the counter and greeted Rosaline.

“Hello.”

Ryu Ji-Won took a look at the menu, then ordered.

“One hot mocha, one hot chocolate, and um... Rosaline, do you want cake?”

“Yeah, the carrot cheesecake,” Rosaline said, pointing at the cake in the display.

“And that, too.”

Ryu Ji-Won took out the card that Young-Joon gave her from her wallet.

‘It’s for his daughter, so I can probably use his card, right?’

After they paid and sat down to wait, Yang Dong-Wook showed up with their drinks and cake. He sat down and began to chat with Ryu Ji-Won.

In the meantime, Rosaline drank her hot chocolate and thought about Young-Joon. Although she had the body of a nine-year-old child, Rosaline was born less than two years ago. Even though she could understand all the principles of the universe at the atomic level and had all the knowledge, this emotion was mysterious. This would be scientifically most similar to separation anxiety, but Rosaline couldn’t imagine herself in that state, as her body was in perfect control.

From the moment she was born, Rosaline spent every moment with Young-Joon. Except for a few hours during the trial in the Netherlands, they were never apart. Perhaps that was why this distance felt so significant to her.

‘Calm down.’

Rosaline drank her hot chocolate and soothed herself. She could send him messages, and if Young-Joon allowed, she could use some fitness and share his vision.

But she wanted to wait; she had to get used to this body.

“Huh?”

Rosaline suddenly stood up. Then, she stared out the window.

“What’s wrong?”

Ryu Ji-Won, who was chatting with Yang Dong-Wook for a while, turned to look at Rosaline.

“Doctor Song!” Rosaline said, pointing to the other side of the street.

The owner of the historic Onnuri Pharmacy at the intersection of Jungyoon University was an elderly woman, who was also Song Ji-Hyun’s aunt. Before leaving for Japan, Song Ji-Hyun had stopped by the pharmacy to pick up a few essentials.

On her way out, she spotted Rosaline running out of a cafe across the street.

“Oh!” Song Ji-Hyun exclaimed in surprise.

Ryu Ji-Won and Yang Dong-Wook came running out of the cafe at the same time after her. There were no cars on the street in front of Jungyoon University, as it was a car-free street on the weekends, but the two of them were a little panicked when Rosaline ran out excitedly by herself.

And Rosaline, who was overjoyed to see someone she knew, suddenly collapsed as she ran to Song Ji-Hyun. She completely blacked out, as if she had been knocked out with an anesthetic.

*

—Hm.

Rosaline sent a message.

Young-Joon, who had arrived in Tokyo and gone through immigration, sent a message as he left the airport.

‘Did something happen?’

—I didn’t know either, but we have a problem.

‘What problem?’

—I guess it wasn’t enough for me to structure my body like this. Can you stop for a moment and take five steps back the way you came?

“Wait a minute.”

Young-Joon ran in the opposite direction, leaving Kakeguni and Nobuhiro behind.

‘What’s going on? What happened?’

Young-Joon sent Rosaline a message anxiously.

*

“Rosaline!”

Ryu Ji-Won grabbed her and shook her.

Song Ji-Hyun quickly turned Rosaline upright and placed her in a supine position. She checked Rosaline’s pulse and turned on her phone flashlight to check the light reflex in Rosaline’s eyes.

“Ha!”

Rosaline suddenly got up. The distance between her and Young-Joon was now within her tolerance threshold. She could feel her fitness being supplied. She caught her breath and checked her physical condition. Nothing was wrong.

“...”

Rosaline had used her cells to form a body, but she could not be independent yet. She didn’t know this either. Originally, her cells could not survive outside of Young-Joon”s body where the main body colony existed. This same principle applied to Rosaline, who was a complex of eight trillion cells in the form of Ryu Sae-Yi.

The cells that sent her fitness in Israel or Nicaragua could survive alone, as they were in the nerves of a person infected with the polyomavirus. But not this body. Rosaline thought she’d be fine since she had been okay for over a month, but it wasn’t

‘The fitness cut off for a moment.’

When Young-Joon, who the main colony was inside, moved away, the eighty trillion cells began to die.

“We have to go to Japan,” Rosaline said.

“What?”

Ryu Ji-Won’s eyes widened, confused.

*

—It is difficult for me to maintain this body if you are far away from me.

Rosaline sent Young-Joon a message.

‘No way... How are you feeling? Are you okay? What happened?’

—Think of it like bluetooth. I was dead for around 40 seconds biologically, but I’ve recovered now.

‘Why was it okay in the Netherlands?’

—The hotel and the courtroom was only thirty minutes by car, whereas this is across the East Sea.

‘...’

This was trouble. Young-Joon couldn’t believe this was happening. If he went up to Fukushima, he could lose connection with Rosaline, but he couldn’t go back to Korea.

‘Do I have to bring Rosaline to Japan?’

As Young-Joon was taking some time to think, his phone rang. It was Ryu Ji-Won.

“Hello?”

—Young-Joon? Rosaline just collapsed...

Ryu Ji-Won seemed quite surprised and frightened, but she tried to remain calm.

—Does she have some sort of condition? She’s awake now, but should I take her to the hospital?

“No. Can you actually bring her to Japan?”

—Bring her to Japan? All of a sudden?

“She seems to have some separation anxiety, so I need to take care...”

—But she just collapsed... How can you ask her to... Uh, wait a minute...

There was some static, and then the voice changed.

—Doctor Ryu? It’s Song Ji-Hyun on the phone.

“Oh? Doctor Song, what are you doing there...”

—I ran into them in front of Jungyoon University. Did you just ask her to bring Rosaline to Japan?

“... Yes.”

—I’ll take her. I have to do some business in Japan, so I’m looking for a flight urgently.

“... Then, could I ask you to bring her?”

—Yes. But...”

“Yes?”

—Never mind. I’ll take her.

*

“Doctor Ryu, we’re going to Fukushima, noy Fukuoka...” Kakeguni said, a little confused.

“I know. I’m going to Fukuoka to get my daughter,” Young-Joon said.

“Your daughter?”

“Yes. She’s coming to Fukuoka.”

Fukuoka was the closest Japanese city to Korea. Young-Joon asked Song Ji-Hyun to come there. Young-Joon wanted to make sure that Rosaline would be safe on the way from Seoul to Incheon Airport, in case they disconnected again. It would be a huge problem if Rosaline collapsed again while boarding, so Young-Joon wanted to be as close to Korea as possible.

Young-Joon went back the same way he came out of the Tokyo airport and got back on a plane.

*

A few days later, Song Ji-Hyun took Rosaline on a flight to Fukuoka. Rosaline seemed a bit excited at the thought of going to see Young-Joon, but fortunately, she didn’t cause any commotion.

Song Ji-Hyun ordered snacks and drinks and gave them to Rosaline. On the outside, Rosaline was just a pretty, cute-looking nine-year-old... But something was still off.

When Rosaline lost consciousness, Song Ji-Hyun checked her pulse and pupillary reflex, but neither was detected—her pupils had lost their light reflex, and there was no heartbeat. This meant that the brainstem had shut down.

But just as they were about to call 119 and give her CPR, Rosaline woke up, completely fine and healthy. How was this possible? What was this kid?

“Whoa!” Rosaline exclaimed as she ate a potato chip. “It’s so crunchy and delicious.”

She held one out to Song Ji-Hyun.

“Do you want one, Doctor Song?”

“No, I’m okay,” Song Ji-Hyun declined with a smile.

She began thinking again. That wasn’t the only strange thing. Since Rosaline was healthy now and Song Ji-Hyun was going to go to Japan anyways, they could have just gone to Tokyo, as both Young-Joon and her were planning to drive up to Fukushima from there. But it was strange that he asked them to come to Fukuoka, which was a long way away.

In the end, Song Ji-Hyun sent her Cellijenner colleagues on a direct flight to Tokyo, while she took a flight with a layover in Fukuoka. The reason she did this was because she was curious about Rosaline.

‘In exchange for taking Rosaline with me, tell me about her.’

Song Ji-Hyun was about to say it, but she stopped herself.

‘If he’s not telling me, there’s probably a reason why.’

Song Ji-Hyun patted Rosaline’s head.

*

Young-Joon, who was waiting for Song Ji-Hyun and Rosaline at the airport in Fukuoka, received an email. It was from his secretary’s office. It was breaking news regarding a huge incident in the United States.

[Alphonse Lofair dead.]