Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: The Senator's Son
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Two weeks had already passed.
"Haa..."
"Hoo..."
"Mmm..."
Low groans kept escaping without end.
I paced restlessly around the representative's office, deep in thought. Anxiety kept me from sleeping a wink. Jin Seol-hwa, who had always gotten back to me within three days at the latest, had been out of contact for two whole weeks now.
'Did something happen to her?'
The Lou Gehrig's disease clinical trial overseen by the U.S. FDA.
Forty-two subjects.
At least thirty-five of them needed to show results for it to qualify for market release.
If it failed, Selig's entry into Korea would be dead in the water.
The skyrocketing stock price would plummet, and the researchers working hard there would end up on the streets.
Jin Seol-hwa had already guaranteed the new drug's potential at the press conference. Pharmaceutical companies usually saw their market cap multiply several times over when announcing a new drug.
It was the ultimate high-risk, high-reward gamble.
They'd built anticipation for the treatment before revealing the research results and taken the company public on that hype.
Selig couldn't escape it either.
'Entering Korea smoothly requires massive funding. And Olivia pushed this approach. She must have something in mind.'
Was it arrhythmia?
My heart pounded so hard I worried others might hear it. I gnawed at my nails, staring endlessly at my smartphone day after day.
Ring ring!
Then, a phone rang out.
The caller was Im Yun-ah.
"Sir, we have a report from Seol-hwa."
"How did it go? Any good progress?"
If I had the time, I'd hop on the next flight to the States.
I wanted to see those forty-two subjects with my own eyes. But it was impossible. My schedule didn't allow it, and as Starlight's CEO, I had to hold down the fort.
"Well... something unexpected happened."
Thud!
My heart felt like it stopped.
For a moment, my vision blurred, and my whole body froze. My mind went blank, filled only with ragged breaths in my ears. It felt like the world had halted. No, not halted—like it had shattered to pieces. A cold chill crept from my fingertips, enveloping my body, leaving me rooted to the spot for what felt like ages.
"W-what do you mean, unexpected...?"
My pupils trembled before this unbelievable reality. My thoughts wouldn't settle. My throat felt blocked; no words came out, and my heart thrashed like it would burst. My mind was crumbling faster than I could accept what was happening.
"I don't know if this is good or bad."
Im Yun-ah's voice sank low.
She was formerly with USSOCOM.
The woman who had risked her life serving in U.S. Special Operations Command.
Her voice, always cool and composed no matter the time or place, was shaking fiercely now.
"T-tell me the details. What happened that kept Jin Seol-hwa out of touch for two weeks?"
"Sir, please calm down first. This might not be bad for Selig."
"Not bad?"
"I only heard this verbally, so it's not confirmed, but one of the subjects in the FDA trial showed something unusual."
What the hell does that mean?
An anomaly in a subject?
My heart surged from my chest straight to my throat.
"It's... Have you ever heard the name 'Jack Ryan,' sir?"
Of course.
Even a shut-in NEET holed up in their room would know it.
How could I not?
It was a name that dominated TV, radio, and internet news daily.
Jack Ryan.
He was a U.S. Senator.
And not just any senator—he chaired the Armed Services Committee.
He wielded power that could make birds drop from the sky.
To the point where he was directly involved in defense innovations, not just for America but alliances abroad.
The U.S. Forces Korea commander was a close friend; that said it all.
One word from him, and any nation's top leader would come running barefoot.
But why was that name coming up here?
"It seems his son is in Selig's Lou Gehrig's trial."
"!"
"He had three sons; two died in accidents. This one's his last child."
"...Is that true?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Flip the perspective, and this was practically an opportunity.
Saving Jack Ryan's only remaining son would hand us the U.S. political sphere on a platter.
Who was Jack Ryan?
The President's most trusted man, his steadfast advisor and friend.
With his protection, we could expand our business without a care.
"How's the progress?"
Im Yun-ah answered my question.
"It's looking good so far."
"Really?"
"Yes. After taking our new drug, the paralysis in his arms, legs, and facial muscles has started improving bit by bit."
Haa...
Thank heavens for the good news.
Either way, it was undeniable fact that his son was taking Selig's drug.
If anything happened to him, we'd be making a colossal enemy.
'Then all business in the U.S. goes down the drain.'
Jin Seol-hwa would face trial.
Maybe even real prison time.
Jack Ryan could pull that off easily.
'Should I start believing in superstitions?'
The sky was clearer and bluer than ever today.
I hoped for news as good as that sky.
Both Jin Seol-hwa and I had to grasp at straws to survive.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A group emerged from a long hallway.
The one issuing orders to the white-coated medical staff was, surprisingly, a woman.
None other than Selig's CEO, Jin Seol-hwa, who was spearheading this Lou Gehrig's trial.
Reading the heavy atmosphere, she led the group, slowly reviewing the report in her hand.
"How's the progress?"
"Not bad. No unusual symptoms in the subject's status."
"We have to stake everything on this trial, no matter what."
With that, she let out a deep sigh in front of the VIP room where top medical staff stayed around the clock.
Inside was the son of a man who wielded immense power even in America, the land of the free.
"You've arrived?"
A white-haired elderly man.
Dressed in a black suit, clutching a cane in one hand, he welcomed Jin Seol-hwa warmly into the room.
The old man's identity: Jack Ryan.
U.S. Senator and chairman responsible for overhauling the entire U.S. military's defense.
Jin Seol-hwa nodded to the medical staff following her, and they rushed to the patient's bedside.
While they examined him, Jack Ryan watched silently.
The man who had terrified the world on TV, declaring no deals with terrorists, now looked like a frail old man.
His last child being ill must have worn him down body and soul.
"Progress is good. The motor functions in his arms, legs, and face—where paralysis had set in—are gradually returning. If no other signs appear, daily life should be possible."
Selig's Lou Gehrig's treatment.
They hadn't fully grasped the disease's progression mechanism yet, so 100% cure was impossible. Still, reversing the paralysis as if time had rewound would greatly extend the patient's life, or so they believed.
"Thank you."
A calm, quiet tone.
Jack Ryan sat by the window, his white hair faintly draped, shoulders hunched.
The traces of time couldn't be hidden.
Deep wrinkles and faint sadness in his eyes.
"Matthew dreamed of being a baseball player."
"......"
His son's name was Matthew.
Jin Seol-hwa listened silently to his story.
"As a kid, he loved playing catch. On days I came home, he wouldn't sleep—always clutching his glove and ball."
"......"
"When I heard my only remaining son, who played every day with his peers, had a rare disease unknown almost worldwide, it felt like the sky was falling."
She knew the feeling all too well.
How panicked she'd been learning her only sibling, her little sister, had leukemia.
To treat her sister's illness.
To secure steady income, she'd enlisted in the U.S. military, traversing countless battlefields.
In the PMC, she tangled with damn mercenaries in life-or-death scraps in Africa day after day.
A moment's lapse.
Thinking of bullets whizzing past her ear still made her shudder with rage.
To make big money, she'd set up a paper company in the Philippines and profited from Selig. But leukemia was no joke; her sister's condition worsened daily.
In that hardship, the man she now served loyally with all her heart, 'Kim Do-jun,' had extended a helping hand.
For him, she'd die without regret right now.
Jin Seol-hwa grasped the grieving old man's hand. Now that the trial was underway, the guardian's unwavering resolve was more crucial than anything.
"My little sister had leukemia too."
"!"
A sharp intake of breath.
Jack Ryan's eyes fixed solely on her.
"It felt like the world collapsed. She was my only family left, that precious soul wandering death's door."
"......"
"I wanted to die. I thrashed about trying anything, but nothing improved."
"......"
"I believe Selig exists for people who've lost hope. There are countless rare diseases yet to be understood—we can't even count them on fingers."
"Do you truly believe it can be a company for the poor?"
Jack Ryan, who garnered overwhelming support from Black and white alike in racist America. Rumors even swirled he'd be the next President.
Was he moved by her sincerity?
His gaze toward Jin Seol-hwa had softened—that much was certain.
"Jack Ryan, nothing in this world is perfect. Doesn't someone say that? 100% is theoretically impossible."
"......"
"But there's one thing I firmly believe."
"What is that?"
To his question, Jin Seol-hwa answered without hesitation.
"There's no 100% in this world, but 99% certainly exists. And that Selig will create that 99%."