“Assistant Manager, could it be…”
“Well, since it seems everyone’s here to see Professor Lee Jaehyun, shall we go in together?”
Yunhyun smiled and shrugged his shoulders. He approached the guards first to verify his identity.
With guards stationed at Jaehyun’s lab and Yunhyun visiting the lab at this late hour, Suhwan naturally understood the reason. Jaehyun had decided to accept investment from Hwamyeong.
‘Finally…’
Relief washed over Suhwan, and he exhaled deeply. Now he had one less thing to worry about. If they could develop the new drug this way, HS would be able to distribute the medicine with Hwamyeong’s help. Hwalyeon would surely find a way to clear HS’s false accusations too.
Everything was going smoothly. However, while Suhwan smiled with a bright face, Seunghyun’s expression grew darker. Unaware, Suhwan pulled Seunghyun’s hand.
“Let’s go too.”
“…Okay.”
“…?”
Urging the somewhat hesitant Seunghyun, they entered the lab. Jaehyun, whose dark circles extended down to his cheeks, frowned deeply as soon as he saw Seunghyun.
“I called you ages ago and you’re only coming now?”
“Well…”
As Seunghyun hemmed and hawed, Jaehyun urged him again. Reluctantly, Seunghyun went into an inner room of the lab to put on a lab coat. Jaehyun’s disapproving gaze followed Seunghyun’s back before turning to Suhwan and Yunhyun.
“And you are?”
“Ah.”
Suhwan quickly introduced Yunhyun to Jaehyun. Although he was just tagging along with Seunghyun today, he thought it would be better if he, being acquainted with both, introduced the two who were meeting for the first time.
“Professor, this is Assistant Manager Cha Yunhyun from Hwamyeong.”
“From Hwamyeong? Ah, I see.”
Jaehyun nodded as if figuring something out while looking at Yunhyun standing before him. Yunhyun, with a kind smile, bowed to Jaehyun.
“Hello, Professor. I’m Cha Yunhyun.”
“Ah… nice to meet you.”
Jaehyun bowed slightly as he received the business card Yunhyun handed him. After casually looking at the card, Jaehyun tilted his head.
“Let’s talk in my office for a moment.”
“Ah, yes.”
“And…”
Jaehyun looked at the dumbfounded Suhwan with troubled eyes. He wondered if it would be okay to leave him alone.
No, he’s not a child—why am I thinking this? Astonished by his own thoughts, Jaehyun shook his head and said to Suhwan:
“Seunghyun will be out soon, so make yourself comfortable.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Jaehyun frowned as he looked at Suhwan for a moment, then turned his head. Though he had warned Suhwan not to address him casually at their first meeting, now that Suhwan was diligently calling him “Professor,” he felt strangely uncomfortable. With a frown, he left with Yunhyun.
Suhwan stared blankly as Jaehyun and Yunhyun disappeared, then shifted his gaze. The lab he visited for the first time had many fascinating things. Where Jaehyun had been, a large machine was operating with a whirring sound. As he was staring at the machine with curious eyes, Seunghyun emerged from the room and approached him.
“Where’s hyung?”
“Oh, the professor and the assistant manager…”
“…?”
Good heavens. Suhwan hesitated mid-answer and then stared with a dumbfounded expression at Seunghyun wearing a white lab coat. Why does it suit him so well? I must be crazy.
With skin whiter than snow, Seunghyun looked incredibly good in the lab coat. Though the beautiful Seunghyun would look good in anything, the lab coat was especially flattering. Seunghyun examined the dazed Suhwan with a puzzled face.
“Hyung? What’s wrong?”
“Ah… nothing.”
He couldn’t possibly admit that he was speechless because he was captivated by his lover’s beauty. Instead, Suhwan smiled shyly and said in a small voice:
“The lab coat suits you well.”
“This?”
It was just a shabby practice uniform that students wore during lab sessions. He had changed into it because he didn’t want to get anything on the clothes Suhwan had bought him. But seeing how Suhwan liked it, he thought it was a good decision to wear it.
“Do you like it? Would you like to try it on too?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Why not?”
“Why? I’m just an outsider.”
Suhwan firmly declined, thinking it wouldn’t suit him anyway. Then he noticed a large cage placed on one side of the lab. Suhwan’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Huh? You keep animals in the lab?”
“Animals?”
Seunghyun approached with a puzzled face, then responded with an “Ah,” in a flat tone. What Suhwan had seen was a cage containing laboratory mice.
“Those are mice used for experiments. This experiment has passed the stage where they’re needed, so they’re probably for undergraduate practice.”
“I see.”
Suhwan looked at the mice with bitter eyes. The mice, confined in transparent cages, were unaware of their fate, eating food or pacing around. Using them for experiments meant that all these mice could be killed. Even while understanding it was unavoidable, Suhwan couldn’t shake off the thought of how cruel it seemed.
“If they don’t die after the experiment is over, do they stay here…”
“Then they’ll be disposed of.”
“Dis-disposed?”
“Yes.”
At Seunghyun’s decisive words, Suhwan’s eyes widened in surprise. But unlike the surprised Suhwan, Seunghyun remained completely calm. His expression showed he couldn’t understand why Suhwan was shocked.
Mice were the most commonly used animals in experiments. They were small, easy to handle, and above all, their genetic information was almost identical to humans, so they were used in most animal experiments. There was no need for compassion. It was just a natural part of the process.
Of course, there were occasionally students in freshman experiments who didn’t read the room. They would complain about feeling sorry for the lab mice, which Seunghyun found simply pathetic. If killing tens of thousands of mice could save even one person, he would naturally sacrifice the mice without hesitation. That was the obvious mindset of a researcher.
“That seems… pitiful.”
But seeing Suhwan looking at the lab mice with moist eyes full of sympathy, what he had considered natural suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable. Because of this, Seunghyun stammered out words he wouldn’t normally say:
“But these days, animal protection laws have expanded, so we don’t handle mice carelessly like in the past. We only bring in exactly the number needed for experiments, and we use anesthesia if they’re in pain…”
“I see.”
Feeling like he had become some great villain, Seunghyun kept checking Suhwan’s reaction. He was afraid Suhwan might view him negatively.
It’s just mice, after all. But right now, the mice receiving Suhwan’s sympathy seemed more important than anything. He had repeatedly told himself that the values he pursued as a researcher were most important, but he couldn’t understand why he was feeling this way.
He shouldn’t have come along. He worried that he had brought Suhwan to such a place and shocked him unnecessarily. Just as he was thinking perhaps he should send him back, their eyes met.
“Ah, sorry. Am I preventing you from doing your experiment?”
Afraid he might be disturbing Seunghyun, Suhwan quickly asked. Seunghyun, who had been standing with a bewildered expression, shook his head.
“No, it’s fine. We have to wait for the centrifuge to finish anyway…”
And before he could finish his sentence, a ding sound was heard from the large machine. Seunghyun’s face contorted slightly.
“Just wait a bit. It won’t take long.”
“Mmm.”
After watching Seunghyun walk toward the machine with a frown, Suhwan turned his head. At first, he felt amazed by the unfamiliar laboratory, but now he wondered if it was okay for him to be there. Fortunately, it was evening and there were no students around. Only a few researchers remained at this hour.
In the original story, Jaehyun’s lab was never crowded. Most students and researchers avoided it because of the HS incident. It was certainly a nationwide issue, so it couldn’t be helped…
Anyway, that’s why Seunghyun ended up helping with the new drug development. Although impossible in reality, as befitting the protagonist of a novel, the talented Seunghyun quickly helped Jaehyun develop the new drug. Suhwan was witnessing this historic moment in real-time, but somehow it was different from what he had imagined.
He thought a place filled with elites would feel more sophisticated and unapproachable. But looking around, it just felt like a normal place where people lived. Suhwan thought to himself as he looked at the half-eaten bag of potato chips on the break room table.
***
“The chairman seems quite quick to take action.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
