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Chapter 1: Scientist Ryu Young-Joon (1)

Ryu Young-Joon, the Scientist of A–Gen, a pharmaceutical company, was walking tiredly down the hall. Just then, he got a call from Park So-Yeon, his girlfriend.

—Hey, did you really get disciplinary action from the company? Department transfer and suspension?

Those were her first words to Young-Joon.

“Yeah,” he answered dryly.

—How long is the suspension?

“A month.”

—You’re not quitting, right?

“I would quit right away if I could, but you know my family’s financial situation. If I quit, my parents are going to have to live on the streets.”

—Sigh...

So-Yeon sighed. After some thought, she spoke.

—Let’s take a break to think about this relationship.

“What?”

—Everyone whispers when they see me walk by. They talk about how I’m the girl that’s dating Doctor Ryu, the one who caused a big scene.

“No, wait. I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just trying to protect research ethics. Are you serious?”

—I’m serious.

Young-Joon was at a loss for words. He felt like his head was actually physically ringing from hearing something so unexpected and shocking.

“Seriously, I can’t believe it. How could you... So-Yeon, you know how hard this is for me, right? And you’re leaving me now? Instead of comforting me?”

—I can’t believe it either. We’re dating at work at the same lab, just on different floors and departments. How difficult of a position do you think you’re putting me in by taking on the Lab Director? Did you even think about me when you did that?

“You also know what that director and management did! Does being a scientist mean turning a blind eye to lowly things like that?

—Being part of society means turning a blind eye to lowly things like that.

Park So-Yeon spoke.

“....”

—I think I told you several times, but I’ll tell you one last time. Control your temper... You’re not a kid anymore, you’re not even in your twenties anymore.

“...”

—Sorry, I’ll hang up now. Thanks for everything. Don’t call me anymore.

Beep.

The phone call came to an end. Young-Joon’s hand trembled as he tightly held his phone. He was furious; his head was ringing.

‘Lab Director Kim Hyun-Taek.’

This was all because of that despicable asshole.

“Ahhh!!” Young-Joon screamed. He raised his arm to throw his phone at the wall, but stopped just before he actually threw it. Even now, he was thinking about how much it would cost him to get his phone screen repaired. Young-Joon realized that poor people didn’t have the luxury to get angry easily.

‘Of course.’

He wondered why he had chosen to go up against Kim Hyun-Taek when he knew that well.

‘Getting angry, following your dreams, and keeping your ethics all have a price tag in this shitty world.’

Young-Joon slid down the hallway wall. He buried his face in his knees and sobbed silently.

* * *

A–Gen was an extremely large international pharmaceutical company. They had six labs in the country and four internationally for a total of ten, and they had the rights to countless new drugs. They were a pharma-giant that had business in everything from makeup to healthcare products, new synthetic drugs, over-the-counter drugs, artificial gene synthesis and gene sequencing.

Young-Joon, a twenty-nine-year-old elite doctor, joined the company as the Scientist of the Anticancer Drug Research department. He was basically the assistant manager.

He was pretty successful when he first joined the company; he was good at what he did, had passion, and was also quite smart. He also knew a big network of people due to his education at a prestigious university. His seniors called him for drinks every day and Young-Joon went to all of them and got along. He also started dating Park So-Yeon, the prettiest scientist of the Mobile Diagnostic Device Research Department, who had joined the company around the same time as him.

Young-Joon was a researcher beloved by all.

The incident happened around a year after he started working in the Anticancer Drug Research department.

[It’s a new drug for early liver cancer developed by a venture company, and it seems to be quite effective. It could be competition.]

Young-Joon gave his superiors a report. It was a treatment drug for early liver cancer called Celicure that was being studied. The problem was that A–Gen was also selling Iloa, another drug for early liver cancer treatment. It was obvious that a significant amount of Iloa’s stake in the market would be taken by Cellicure if it was more effective.

“Doctor Ryu!”

A few days later, a man named Yoon Bo-Hyun, an assistant manager from the management department, came down and called for Young-Joon.

“Doctor, could you purchase a small amount of that drug and perform a comparative experiment between our drug and theirs?”

“Of course.”

A scientist did not avoid comparing their own product to a competitive product. Young-Joon contacted the venture company himself and acquired thirty milligrams of the new drug for academic purposes. An experiment on live cells showed that the new drug was much more effective.

[Cellicure, the competitive product, is performing better than Iloa. Please see attached data for more details.]

~

About four months after sending that report in, Young-Joon heard surprising news.

“Doctor Ryu, did you hear? Our management bought Cellicure.”

He was shocked when he heard the news from Kim Hyun-Seok, the Senior Scientist.

“What?!”

“It’s like I said. They bought it for ten billion won.’

“That drug is only in phase one of clinical trials though?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, we’re going to be the ones who develop it from phase two to production, right?”

Young-Joon’s face lit up. Kim Hyun-Seok smiled.

In an elevated voice, Young-Joon exclaimed, “Wow. What’s gotten into our management? Buying something as good as that.”

“Is Cellicure really better than ours?”

“That was the result of phase one. Iloa had side effects like rashes on patients and had problems like the treatment being needed to be administered for a long time to work, right? Cellicure had none of that.”

“Wow, really?”

Kim Hyun-Seok patted Young-Joon on the shoulder as he chuckled.

“I’m here.” Lead Scientist Hyun Mi-Ju came into the lab. Young-Joon bolted up from his seat.

“Lead Hyun! Did you hear? Our company bought Cellicure!”

“Oh, really?” Hyun Mi-Ju smiled brightly.

“Yes! Let’s finish it when we get it and put it on the market.”

“Ahaha, sure. The venture company might be a little disappointed since they’re losing the experience of developing a new drug, but it’s good to hear that we bought a good drug.”

“That’s right. It’s better for patients as well. I am confident I can get the clinical trials done properly. And our production pipeline is better, too!”

Click.

“Good morning, everyone.”

Scientist Park Yeon-Seo walked in.

“Scientist Park! Did you hear?” Young-Joon shouted as he ran out.

“He’s going to be like that all day.” Hyun Mi-Ju chuckled as she spoke to Kim Hyun-Seok.

“It’s the energy and passion of a young scientist. Well, I like it.” Kim Hyun-Seok smiled.

That evening, Young-Joon visited a columbarium near Seoul. There was a small silver vase of remains in slot 274.

[Ryu Sae-Yi]

Behind the vase was a small name plate and a picture of a girl who looked to be around nine years old. Young-Joon stared at the photo.

“Hey, Sae-Yi. Your older brother is here,” Young-Joon spoke calmly.

“Did you know? I can have your revenge soon. Amazing, right? Look how great your older brother is~”

Young-Joon grinned.

“A venture company made a good drug. Our company bought it and I’m going to finish it.”

Young-Joon stroked the vase.

Young-Joon was the firstborn son and quite a bit older than his two siblings; he was ten years older than Ji-Won, who had just gone to university, and fourteen years older than Sae-Yi. Sae-Yi, the sister born when he was in middle school, felt more like his daughter than sister. In fact, he had basically raised her... Until she died of pediatric liver cancer, a very rare case, seven years ago.

“I’ll make sure that no one dies of cancer, at least liver cancer.”

Scientific advancements were always good; if advancements in science came with problems, those problems didn’t go past things like hair loss that accompanied chemotherapy. Sometimes, it just meant that they brought already-existing problems to the surface. The only kind of wrong science was the kind that stopped advancing.

‘Science should always be advancing.’

Not advancing did not mean stagnation, but regress. It meant that the world did nothing while it lost kind, hopeful children like Ryu Sae-Yi.

* * *

It had been three weeks. The study hadn’t happened yet.

[I would like to begin phase two of the clinical trial of Cellicure, the drug purchased for ten billion won. A detailed schedule of experiments is as follows: ...]

Young-Joon had sent in a report multiple times, but he received no response.

“Why are they not experimenting with the new drug they spent so much money on?”

When Young-Joon’s frustration was at its limit, Lab Director Kim Hyun-Taek called him.

“Doctor Ryu, why are you so obsessed with that new drug for liver cancer?” Hyun-Taek asked Young-Joon in the director’s office.

“Pardon? Well, it’s because it’s a better drug.”

“In what ways is it a better drug?”

“It has a higher clinical cure rate, right? It also has less side effects...”

“Then, it’s a worse drug in a way, no?”

“....”

Young-Joon was at a loss for words. It was cheaper to produce and more effective; it had no side effects and had a shorter treatment duration.

‘How can it be worse?’

As Young-Joon looked at him in confusion, Hyun-Taek smiled.

“Let me tell you. It takes two years for complete recovery with that drug. Iloa, our drug, takes five.”

“I... am not sure that I follow. What’s the problem?”

“A patient has to take either the Iloa or the new drug. Which do you think would be better for our company’s sales?”

“....”

Young-Joon’s face went pale and froze like a corpse. That was the first time he realized that words could cut open his skull and shake his brain. He felt like everything that he believed in was being destroyed.

“Fr... From the beginning...”

Hyun-Taek said it for Young-Joon as he stuttered.

“We bought it because of that reason from the beginning. So, stop getting distracted and do what you’ve been told to do. And forget about that drug.”

“....”

Young-Joon gulped. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but nothing came out. He bit his lips.

“Do... Do other people know?” Young-Joon asked.

“Of course. Do you think there would be another person as foolish and rigid as you at our company? It seems like no one told you because they didn’t want to rain on your parade, but look. Doctor Ryu.”

Taking off his glasses, Kim Hyun-Taek moved closer to Young-Joon.

“Science takes money.”

“....”

“Your salary takes money, and it takes money to buy the reagents you use in experiments. Do you understand? This isn’t a university; it’s a company that works for profit.”

Young-Joon’s shoulders trembled.

‘He’s fake.’

This person was not a scientist.

‘Everyone knew? Kim Hyun-Seok, Hyun Mi-Ju, and Park Yeon-Seo... All of them?’

Principal Scientist Kim Joo-Yeon, Lead Hwang Chan-Mi, Lead Park Shi-Joon, and dozens of scientists under the seniors in the Anticancer Drug Research department knew about it, but no one raised a problem. Scientists who were developing anticancer drugs had gotten rid of one and turned a blind eye. Everyone was fake.

“You... frauds...”

Young-Joon murmured.

“What?”

Young-Joon felt like betrayal pumped in his veins and up to his cerebrum every time his heart beat. He felt like vomiting from the disgust and anger; he felt his hands tremble from the unjustness and despicable behavior. His seniors whom he had respected and followed, and A–Gen, the best pharmaceutical company in the world, were all fake. The science they did at this company was no different from politics. And what did the venture company do? They would’ve fought for over ten years to get that one drug on the market. They trusted A–Gen and sold it to them!

The materialistic ploy for money by these greedy businessmen had gotten rid of a more advanced drug.

‘They made science regress.’

The thing that enraged Young-Joon, who had first reported about the new drug and started this, the most was that he had taken part in this as well.

“Hey, Doctor Ryu?”

Kim Hyun-Taek waved his hand in front of Young-Joon as he stared into space.

Crash!

Then, Young-Joon slammed his fist on Hyun-Taek’s desk.

“Director... You are a fucking asshole.”

Young-Joon blurted out the anger that he swallowed back several times. Tears fell from his eyes.

“Don’t ever call yourself a scientist.”

Young-Joon opened the door with trembling hands and left the office. Several people from his department glanced at Young-Joon, then turned back to look at their monitors. Young-Joon walked out of the office with heavy footsteps.

Four days after that incident, Young-Joon was handed a month of suspension and departmental transfer.