Chapter 99: Laboratory One (1)

“Doctor Ryu?” Song Ji-Hyun called.

“Oh, yes.”

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

“It’s nothing,” said Young-Joon as he organized the message windows in front of his eyes.

“Are you going to go back to work?”

“No. I’m going to have dinner and then rest for today.”

Song Ji-Hyun nodded.

“You need to recharge. It was very hard on you even after Lee Yoon-Ah started the treatment. Rest well today.”

“I will. Are you going back to work?”

“No, I’m going to go home after dinner as well.”

“I see.”

After some hesitation, Song Ji-Hyun asked, “If it’s okay, Doctor Ryu, would you like to have dinner with me?”

For her, she had built up a lot of courage to say that. They have had drinks together in the past, but for some reason, it was awkward now. And that went for Young-Joon as well.

‘Rosaline, it bothers me because you said something stupid about Doctor Song’s hormones and stuff.’

—Would you like to be synchronized? Would you like to in more detail? Doctor Song is worse than before. I can hear her heartbeat and it’s no joke.

When Young-Joon stared at her, Song Ji-Hyun avoided his gaze. Her ears were a little red.

“Let’s have dinner together,” he said.

They went together in the car as their houses were in the same direction.

At a restaurant near their houses, they ordered a steak, salad, and wine.

Song Ji-Hyun said, “Honestly, I thought you were a super genius and knew all biological phenomena.”

“Haha, no way.”

“Doctor Ryu, do you know the syphilis treatment called Salvarsan, one of the top ten medicines in scientific history?”

“Yes, it’s a pretty famous drug in organic chemistry.”

“Professor Ehrlich, the person who invented it, failed six hundred times until he reached Salvarsan. He kept changing and changing the compounds, and repeating the experiments to get the structure of Salvarsan.”

“I remember hearing that when I was in undergrad.”

The conversation topic that Song Ji-Hyun chose for a date-like situation was Salvarsan; she was something else as well. She was as much a science nerd as Young-Joon, who lectured Park So-Yeon about how the smell of rain was a material emitted by bacteria when they first met.

Song Ji-Hyun said, “Doctor Ryu, I thought that the most difficult aspect in doing science was that you can’t tell if the research you are doing is going in the right direction. Ehrlich got lucky with Salvarsan; he succeeded in six hundred tries, but you might not even gain anything even if you fail thousands of times.”

“That’s right. Science is like inching forward in a dark room by feeling the ground. It’s really hard that you can’t figure out what the right direction is at all.”

“Right!” Song Ji-Hyun shouted. “It’s just like that metaphor. But it seemed like you knew where everything was and in what direction you had to go.”

“Oh, no. It’s not like I’m a fortune teller or something.”

“But you succeeded in everything you put your hands on. And you always seemed confident that you would succeed,” Song Ji-Hyun said. “There was a time where I imagined something unbelievable. I thought you could figure out successful drugs with a superpower that I didn’t know about.”

—Like Professor Shin Jung-Ju, people nowadays are getting close.

Rosaline sent him a playful message. Young-Joon quickly closed it and focused on his conversation with Song Ji-Hyun.

“But while working with you, I was very inspired by the human side of you that was behind everything.”

“...”

“You were also struggling and afraid that the medicine you developed wouldn’t work. But you pushed for it because you thought it was the right direction, right?”

“Um... Yes, that’s right.”

“Doctor Ryu, apart from our personal relationship, I respect you as a scientist. I just wanted to tell you that. I am so glad that you are here in this world.”

“... Thank you.”

“I would like to work with you in the future as well.”

“I also have a lot to ask you, Doctor Song.”

Song Ji-Hyun smiled like she was satisfied as Young-Joon replied.

“I’m just going to go to the washroom before the food comes.”

Song Ji-Hyun left the table. While she was gone, Young-Joon began a conversation with Rosaline again.

‘I couldn’t ask you before because Doctor Song suddenly called me, but what are you talking about when you say you can survive for thirty minutes outside of my body?’

—It’s exactly like it says. Do you remember the time I first went into your blood?

‘Of course.’

—At the time, my mother cell was on a slide. And your finger was a few centimeters above it. But how was my mother cell able to go into the cut on your finger?

‘Moving in the air...?’

—That’s exactly right. I can float in the air. It’s a property I originally had, but I couldn’t do that in the meantime as I would die if I left your body. But I can withstand thirty minutes now.

‘Do you want to try it?’

Right after he told Rosaline... “Ack!”

In shock, Young-Joon shouted and almost fell off his chair. It was because a figure of a nine-year-old girl suddenly appeared out of thin air. She turned her face to glance at him with a playful face and lively eyes. Her face was...

“Sae-Yi?”

—My cell that is floating through the air probably looks like this to you. I look the same as your youngest sister, right?

“Shit... What kind of joke is this?”

—I did not control this. This is because my mother cell fused with your trauma. Your limbic system is creating an illusion.

“...”

—Don’t worry. I won’t be visible to other people, and they won’t be able to hear my voice either. They won’t be able to see me without a microscope because the size of my body is only micrometers wide in diameter. I’m like a ghost that only you can see.

“But why is your hair red?”

—The hair follicle cells where hair grows is one of the places with the fastest cell division in the human body. Maybe it’s because of that, but my hair resembles the characteristics of my mother cell more than the trauma tissue.

“Hm.”

—I won’t come outside if you don’t like that I am borrowing your youngest sister’s appearance.

“No, it’s okay.”

—-That’s a relief. To be honey, I was quite looking forward to leaving your body and traveling the world myself.

“...”

Rosaline hopped down from the table as light as a feather and stood on the ground.

—I wanted to experience the world with my own body. I am very excited.

With her hands behind her back, she leaned back and turned to look at Young-Joon. Her face really looked like Ryu Sae-Yi before getting cancer, healthy and full of dreams.

—Can I go?

“Uh... Yeah.”

Young-Joon allowed her to go in a hesitant voice.

—Thank you!

Rosaline ran through the restaurant quickly.

“Don’t go too far!” Young-Joon shouted, not realizing the fact he just said that.

—Don’t worry! I can send you a message as well.

Rosaline was already out in the hall.

—And it’s okay since my mother cell is in your head.

With that message, there were no more. Rosaline was like an excited young child who was visiting the amusement park for the first time.

“...”

Young-Joon was kind of worried. He felt like he had become a dad even though he wasn’t married.

Young-Joon took a sip of wine and waited for Rosaline and Song Ji-Hyun.

Ring!

A message popped up with a notification sound.

[Rosaline is exploring the outside space. You can use the mother cell’s fitness and Rosaline’s senses can be shared with you.]

[Share Rosaline’s senses. Fitness consumption rate: 0.8/second.]

‘Share senses?’

The fitness consumption rate was pretty steep, but he was so curious about how it would feel.

Young-Joon pressed the button.

Click.

The view that Rosaline was seeing showed up in his head. It was Song Ji-Hyun’s pale, lean calf and thigh as she was standing up.

“Eek!”

Young-Joon’s shoulders flinched in surprise.

It was in the women’s washroom. Rosaline, whose viewpoint was quite low compared to Song Ji-Hyun, was right at her leg, she did not feel anything at all. However, that was normal because it was impossible to see a cell with the naked human eye.

Rosaline sent him a message.

—I am going to observe Song Ji-Hyun more closely. This woman played a big part in rescuing me from the trauma.

Rosaline climbed up to the sink and stared at Song Ji-Hyun’s face very closely. She was looking in the mirror and fixing her makeup. She reapplied her lipstick and tidied her hair. Then, she made a few expressions.

“Ahem, hm.”

She cleared her throat.

“It’s really good.”

She smiled into the mirror.

“Hm... Maybe this doesn’t seem genuine? If we’re in the middle of eating...”

Song Ji-Hyun puffed her cheeks with air and pretended to chew.

“It’s so good!” she said in a bright voice as she looked into the mirror. “Doctor Ryu, thank you for recommending such a good restaurant.” Song Ji-Hyun tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled towards the mirror.

—...

Rosaline froze.

—Ryu Young-Joon, what is Doctor Song doing right now? Rosaline asked like she was shocked. Young-Joon had his eyes shut at the table like he saw something that he shouldn’t have.

—Ryu Young-Joon, this is the most incomprehensible situation that I have ever heard and seen. Is Doctor Song chewing air? I don’t think she has any mental illness...

‘No... It’s not that. Stop looking at her and come out. I feel like I’m committing a sin.’

Young-Joon’s face was flushed. He hastily stopped sharing senses as he felt like he shouldn’t see any more.

* * *

Park So-Yeon completed thirteen types of the animal disease diagnostic kit. The rest were going as planned as well. Young-Joon was all over the place with the clinical trial of the pediatric liver cancer patient. She was motivated pretty hard after hearing that he was focused on experiments day and night. It was because she felt like she knew how he felt.

‘I really hope it goes well.’

Park So-Yeon, who knew about Young-Joon’s trauma, prayed for that little girl whenever she thought of her. She hoped the clinical trial patient would be cured and that he would overcome his pain. And on one side, she focused on what Young-Joon had assigned her, as she wanted to welcome Young-Joon, who was busy with the clinical trial, with huge results when he returned. As such, Park So-Yeon worked as hard on experiments as Young-Joon, and the results until now were quite successful.

‘Hoof-and-mouth disease, AI, bluetongue disease, sheeppox, rabies, anaplasmosis, duck virus hepatitis, chicken mycoplasmosis, Akabane virus, Marek’s disease, infectious bursal disease, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome.’

Single diagnostic kits for thirteen diseases.

‘He’ll like it, right?’

Park So-Yeon organized the diagnostic kit samples in the cold room and left the lab. It was already nine o’clock at night. Time flew by when she was working nowadays. Then, her eyes widened when she unlocked her phone.

[A-Bio’s Cellicure clinical trial succeeds again. Their victory continues.]

[Confirmed that liver cancer and bone metastasis have all been destroyed.]

[The spotlight is on Cellicure, a miraculous liver cancer cure.]

[A-Bio finds commercialization potential in chimeric immunotherapy, a third-generation anticancer treatment.]

Park So-Yeon clicked on additional articles.

[Two genius scientists saved the life of a nine-year-old girl.]

[Song Ji-Hyun of Celligener, the new talented scientist who will follow Ryu Young-Joon and lead science in Korea.]

[What impact did the Ryu Young-Joon Syndrome have on young scientists in Korea? Focusing on Song Ji-Hyun, the influence on young scientists...]

Park So-Yeon stopped scrolling for a second. She read the articles one by one. Foreign media was also covering this news like it was really big. On the homepage of the New York Times and Le Monde, an article about the clinical trial was on the front page, and an interview that was linked as a special edition was written beneath it.

[Miracles can be produced in the laboratory.]

[Interview of CEO Ryu Young-Joon, who placed a conquer flag in pediatric liver cancer.]

[Interview of Song Ji-Hyun, the partner of humanity’s greatest genius.]

On the main screen, there was a picture of Young-Joon and Song Ji-Hyun sitting beside each other. They were smiling in a friendly way.

Park So-Yeon read Young-Joon’s interview first.

—The key developers of Cellicure are Doctor Song Ji-Hyun and her colleagues at Celligener. We bought this drug, which was in a clinical trial conducted by A-Gen, and ended up developing it together. All the credit should go to Doctor Song Ji-Hyun and Celligener.

Young-Joon gave up all the applause for Song Ji-Hyun in that humble interview. Song Ji-Hyun was worthy of it as Cellicure was something she achieved at Celligener from start to finish without Young-Joon’s help. Honestly, the real genius might be Song Ji-Hyun if Rosaline wasn’t there.

And in Song Ji-Hyun’s interview, she thanked Young-Joon.

—I got a lot of hints as I watched Doctor Ryu’s research. I also thought of the exosome coating technology thanks to him. Celligener received a lot of help from Doctor Ryu in the past, and he is a huge inspiration to me. I wouldn’t have been able to do the clinical trial this well if it wasn’t for him.

𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

How they were flattering and respecting each other after a huge success looked very heartwarming. Song Ji-Hyun had made headlines before because of her beauty, but this time, she was rising to stardom at once as the focus was put on her skills as a scientist.