Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: XVE
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Na Gang-in said he wanted to meet Kwon Dong-jin, the president of Yulmyeong Bio.
Lee Jeong-ho, the chief of surgery, was startled.
"The more people who know Doctor Noname's identity, the greater the risk of the secret leaking out, right?"
"Yeah. It's the best."
Na Gang-in told Lee Jeong-ho.
"Pulling in a pharmaceutical company president would make diverting the meds easier."
"If it's just that issue, we can handle it without meeting in person. Of the drugs needed for this surgery, two were already promised by President Kwon himself. I'll handle all the blood myself."
"Just set up the meeting."
Lee Jeong-ho was only trying to dissuade him out of worry for Na Gang-in.
"Understood. President Kwon wanted to meet Doctor Noname anyway."
"To catch the guy who hired the hacker, we need to investigate Yulmyeong Bio. Meeting the president and getting his cooperation is the fastest way."
Na Gang-in told Lee Jeong-ho.
"I'd like to meet today if possible."
"I'll pass that along. But..."
This time, Lee Jeong-ho asked.
"I'm curious since you suddenly want to meet President Kwon Dong-jin. Is there some connection between you two that's motivating this surgery?"
"No. The surgery is solely for Kwon Su-yeon."
He couldn't say it was because Kwon Su-yeon was the developer of the Irmid solar cell.
"I heard that if her current research succeeds, it could reduce fine dust. To let her keep going with that, we have to save her first."
"Pardon? Fine dust?"
Kwon Dong-jin, president of Yulmyeong Bio, had rented out the entire bar where he'd met Lee Jeong-ho last time.
The bar owner had prepared drinks and snacks even before other customers arrived, then left the place. He planned to return tomorrow.
The bar's sign lights were already off. The owner turned off the entrance lights as he left and hung a sign saying they were closed for the night.
Kwon Dong-jin drank some cold water to ease his tension. But his anxiety didn't fade.
He had a shot of liquor too. The best stuff in the place, but it didn't help.
"Should've told him to leave a bottle of soju."
He didn't go fetch soju. This meeting was too important to him today. He couldn't meet a guest reeking of soju.
"Why does Doctor Noname want to meet me? He acted like he wouldn't even show his face, so why the change of heart?"
Lee Jeong-ho had already told him money wasn't the issue.
"I'd rather he just asked for cash. At least my mind would be at ease. Maybe there's a problem with the surgery prep, and that's why he wants to see me..."
The bar door opened.
Kwon Dong-jin whipped his head around. Someone he knew walked in. It was Na Gang-in.
Kwon Dong-jin was flustered.
"Huh? My Su-yeon's friend?"
Na Gang-in gave a slight bow in greeting.
"Yes."
Kwon Dong-jin stood up with an awkward expression.
"Nice to see you. I should've bought you a meal by now, but I've been too busy to get in touch. Thing is, this place isn't taking customers today. Sorry, but how about another spot?"
Lee Jeong-ho followed behind Na Gang-in.
"President Kwon. You're already here."
"Ah. Yes. I was too eager."
Lee Jeong-ho started to introduce Na Gang-in.
"Doctor Noname..."
Kwon Dong-jin raised a hand in panic to stop him.
"Doctor Lee. There are other people here right now, so that talk later..."
"Pardon?"
Kwon Dong-jin told Na Gang-in.
"Next time, let's have a meal together with Su-yeon. I'll reach out through her."
Lee Jeong-ho asked with a puzzled look.
"Huh? President Kwon. Do you already know Doctor Noname?"
Kwon Dong-jin found it burdensome that Lee Jeong-ho was mentioning Doctor Noname.
'I didn't realize Doctor Lee was such a blabbermouth.'
"I don't know him. That's why I'm here to be introduced, right? And I said we'll talk about that later."
"But it seems like you do know him..."
"I said I don't. Why keep bringing it up? How would I know?"
Lee Jeong-ho pointed at Na Gang-in.
"You said you'd buy him a meal next time. With your daughter too."
"Well, that's for this guy... Huh?"
Kwon Dong-jin realized he'd misunderstood something. The bar's sign was off. Na Gang-in entered, and Lee Jeong-ho followed right after.
"No way?"
Lee Jeong-ho said.
"This is Doctor Noname."
"Gasp!"
Kwon Dong-jin had assumed Doctor Noname was a doctor around Lee Jeong-ho's age. Even if younger, at least someone seasoned in the medical field.
He'd never even imagined Kwon Su-yeon's school friend Na Gang-in could be Doctor Noname.
"Ah, no, how... I heard for sure he was a friend from school..."
Na Gang-in said.
"He is a school friend."
"But I heard he wasn't in med school..."
"He's not."
Kwon Dong-jin asked Lee Jeong-ho.
"Doctor Lee. What on earth is going on here?"
"I don't know the full situation either."
Lee Jeong-ho had picked up on one thing.
"Now I get why Doctor Noname agreed to operate on your daughter right away. He said yes the moment we showed him her files."
Kwon Dong-jin was confused.
But he couldn't just keep standing there flustered. What mattered to him wasn't Na Gang-in's identity. It was that Na Gang-in could save his daughter.
"F-First, have a seat over here... I don't even know how to put this..."
"Speak freely. You're Su-yeon's father."
"R-Really?"
Kwon Dong-jin's face brightened as he spoke.
"Sit here. Ha, haha. Who knew our Su-yeon found her own way to survive. Haha. Huh?"
Kwon Dong-jin asked cautiously.
"Did Su-yeon happen to know her friend's identity...?"
"She doesn't. And she shouldn't."
"Right? Makes sense. The fewer who know this secret, the better."
That raised a question.
"Then why insist on meeting me and showing your face...?"
"The guy who stole the laptop at the school event and chased Su-yeon."
Kwon Dong-jin slammed his fist on the table.
"That bastard's going to rot in jail, I swear."
"The police already uncovered his other crimes. He's a pro thief. Does contract thefts often too, and he's pretty well-known in that circle."
"Is that so? Guys like that deserve to eat prison rice forever."
"But the laptop he originally targeted wasn't the event one. It was Su-yeon's."
"Huh?"
"Someone told him to steal her laptop while she was presenting that day."
"I had it with me then."
"We know. So it failed, and he stole the identical event laptop instead. Planned to slip it out during the performance and put it back before the presentation restarted, but Su-yeon caught him and it all went wrong."
"If he was gonna put it back, why steal it at all?"
"Police think whoever hired him wanted to plant hacking code in it."
Kwon Dong-jin grew angry.
"Stealing our Su-yeon's research? What a scum!"
"No. From what I see, they were after something from Yulmyeong Bio."
"Huh? Our company?"
The Irmid solar cell research would be buried for the next 30 years if Kwon Su-yeon died. If that was the target, it wouldn't stay buried.
If someone knew its value, it might explain why Na Gang-in was here. But the odds of that being the enemy's goal were slim.
So he suspected they were targeting Yulmyeong Bio, where Kwon Dong-jin was president.
Na Gang-in didn't explain all that. He needed to make him understand another way.
"This hacking attempt wasn't the first. The hacker wanted some info he couldn't breach Yulmyeong Bio's firewall for, or maybe he did but couldn't find it."
"I don't follow? My daughter's not even an employee. Why hack her laptop?"
"Your phone or laptop at home connects to the same router as Su-yeon's, right? He'd infiltrate through that."
"Ah..."
Na Gang-in asked seriously.
"So I'm asking: Is your company researching anything special? Something beyond standard replacement drugs."
"Well..."
Kwon Dong-jin hesitated, glanced around. Everyone in this bar was in the same boat now.
Kwon Dong-jin spoke up.
"We have a project commissioned by the Ministry of National Defense."
"What would a pharma company do with the Defense Ministry?"
"A few years back, a new chemical weapon called XVE gas was developed abroad. Exposure robs combat ability in one minute, death in ten. Existing antidotes delay death a bit, but without prompt hospital transport, it's still fatal."
"You don't mean...?"
"We're developing a portable antidote treatment for that chemical weapon."
Na Gang-in tilted his head.
"So it's not a weapon itself."
"Right. Not a weapon—a treatment."
"Any progress?"
"Animal tests worked, but no chance for human trials yet. Long way to go."
"Hmm..."
It was subtle. He couldn't be sure the hacker was after that.
Na Gang-in whispered.
"Ji-in. Know anything about XVE gas?"
"How to make the antidote?"
"Figured as much. There is an antidote, right?"
"Then this antidote research will succeed eventually. Or maybe it's already done."
Na Gang-in asked Kwon Dong-jin.
"Nothing else special in development?"
Kwon Dong-jin shook his head.
"Lots in progress, but only that antidote qualifies as special."
Then he had to approach it differently.
"I want to check if Yulmyeong Bio has been hacked."
"Our security system's top-notch. No reports of breaches."
"No breach doesn't mean no attempts."
"Well, those are routine..."
"I want to investigate who tried hacking."
That wasn't too hard for Kwon Dong-jin.
"Got it. I'll tell the IT department to look into it..."
"I want to do it myself."
"Huh?"
"I need to check directly."
Kwon Dong-jin asked, flustered.
"You can do that too?"
"Yes."
Lee Jeong-ho was surprised too.
"Huh? How do you know how to do that?"
"I dabble in a bit of everything."
The most important thing for Kwon Dong-jin was saving his daughter. Other stuff mattered less.
'If it's just a quick check, I can allow it.'
"Alright. I'll handle all the procedures."
"Sooner the better. Gotta catch the hacker before he bolts."
Compared to all the illegal stuff for Kwon Su-yeon's surgery, this was nothing. Kwon Dong-jin said.
"Tomorrow then. How about coming to the office around 2 p.m.?"
"Sounds good."
The next day, Na Gang-in visited Yulmyeong Bio. Next to the head office building was the Yulmyeong Bio Seoul Research Lab.
Na Gang-in entered the first-floor lobby of the head office.
An employee at the lobby desk asked.
"How may I help you?"
"I have an appointment with the president."
"May I have your name...?"
"Na Gang-in."
The employee stood up.
"You're early. I'll escort you."
"No need. Just tell me where to go."
"Pardon? Ah, yes."
The employee handed him a visitor card.
"This gets you through the 12th-floor door."
Na Gang-in took the card and rode the elevator to the 12th floor.
Right as he stepped out, he saw a sturdy security door. The other way had restrooms and a break room.
Na Gang-in walked to the door. To enter, he needed the security card or someone to open from inside.
"Ji-in. Can you crack this?"
"If there was a fingerprint scanner?"
"Low-level?"
"No such thing here, so without the card key, no entry. Door security's solid for now."
Na Gang-in swiped the visitor card and entered.
An employee near the entrance looked up, spotted the unfamiliar face, and asked.
"How may I help you?"
"Appointment with the president."
"Ah! We heard you were coming. This way."
The employee guided Na Gang-in toward the president's office and left.
Na Gang-in said.
"Even stealing someone's security card, you'd still catch eyes from staff."
As he walked toward the president's office, he asked.
"CCTV status?"
"That's why the guy went for hacking the president's family's laptop instead of direct infiltration."
A secretary worked at a desk near the president's office. She guided Na Gang-in inside.
Na Gang-in entered the president's office and was slightly surprised.
"Huh?"
Kwon Su-yeon was sitting on the sofa in the president's office.