Beautiful Campus (2)
In the drama, the 'Seoul National University Graduate School of Engineering' was thrown into massive uproar at the news that the latest experimental equipment—designated a strategic export-restricted item by the US—was coming in.
"Is that really true? The US approved the export of the TDX-3?"
"They wouldn't even blink when the UK or Israel begged for it? And they gave it to us?"
"What the hell is going on?"
It was such big news that even the eyes of the exhausted grad students, worn down by lab life, sparkled for a moment. Professors weren't the only ones buzzing.
"Those POSTECH and Daejeon Tech guys must be rolling around clutching their stomachs in jealousy."
"The president really pulled off something huge this time."
"What did I do? This is all thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs running around nonstop."
The TDX-3 had flipped the entire engineering college upside down—even undergrads struggling to protect their GPAs and prep for job hunts were gossiping about it.
"Is it true that one piece of equipment costs over a trillion won?"
"Even the exact price is classified. Experts estimate manufacturing costs alone at over 1.7 trillion up to more than 2 trillion won."
"Whoa, just manufacturing costs like that... what the hell?"
Professors Kim Jeong-ae (Yoo Jeong-ah) and Cha Yeong-woo (Cha Do-jin) had pushed relentlessly for the TDX-3's introduction since its development at Dewey Merd Electrons Co., lobbying not just the university but the government too.
They were happier than anyone.
"Professor Kim, you worked so hard."
"What did I do? It's all because you met with all those government folks and convinced them."
"By the way, why are those POSTECH slackers acting like they deserve the TDX-3?"
"They've got two particle accelerators, so they think they're ahead."
"Seoul National University needs a proper large-scale particle accelerator of our own."
The arrival of the new equipment wasn't just shaking up Seoul National University—it had every engineering college in Korea in a frenzy. It was a national event.
And finally, the day the TDX-3 arrived.
Everyone from Kim Jeong-ae and Cha Yeong-woo's labs poured outside to witness the historic moment.
"How many trailers is that?"
"First time I've seen police escorting a single piece of lab equipment."
"With manufacturing costs in the trillions, of course they're treating it like royalty."
"Huh? What's that car?"
A vehicle pulled ahead, passing the trailers loaded with disassembled modules.
It was a Rolls-Royce Phantom, boasting a body and presence worlds apart from ordinary sedans.
Hwang Geon-wook (Jeong Seo-hoon) stepped out, his eyes briefly meeting those of Yoo Jeong-ah standing far off—but they both looked away indifferently.
"Um... that's the new Professor Hwang Geon-wook, right?"
"From the dean's office?"
"I'll show you the way!"
Han Yu-ra (Han Seo-hee) walking side-by-side with Hwang Geon-wook across campus looked like a fashion magazine page ripped out and pasted into reality—radiating pure glamour.
"Why'd you quit?"
"Didn't fit the level, better offer came in, toxic environment. Pick one."
"The... second one?"
"Wrong."
"Th-then the third?"
"That too."
The brief pauses in their snappy exchange had the audience holding their breath in silence.
"All three."
Small sighs escaped throughout the theater.
Rumors spread through the Department of Electrical Engineering about the young US-returned professor who arrived for his first day in a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
"Professor Hwang Geon-wook's personal lab is confirmed, but he'll be in Professor Kim Jeong-ae's lab temporarily."
"Working under her?"
"Nah, just borrowing the facilities."
Kim Jeong-ae and Hwang Geon-wook's first meeting wasn't pleasant.
She soured on him instantly at his attitude of barging into her lab and using the equipment without so much as asking permission.
"I get it's temporary. But this is my lab. Obviously, you need my approval for practical use."
"That's not what I heard from the dean."
Kim Jeong-ae couldn't warm to this cold, AI-like man.
It irked her that her own grad students treated him with more caution and deference than her.
The audience in the theater marveled inwardly.
Yoo Jeong-ah's emotionless acting is razor-sharp. You can totally see she hates undergrads. Pure method acting.
The acting controversy must've been haters mad she's too pretty.
"So I should've waited in line, booked a slot, and used it that way?"
"Yes! That's the rule here! Anywhere you go, probably!"
Kim Jeong-ae's resolve not to back down crumbled at his next words.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't pull this off so the US would approve the TDX-3 export. I guaranteed it."
The sharp early tension between Yoo Jeong-ah and Jeong Seo-hoon left viewers wondering, Can those two ever actually get along?
Hwang Geon-wook never smiled at anyone.
It wasn't forced blankness—it was natural, like he'd never known what a smile was.
"Professor Cha, did you see the news? Check the portal breaking news right now if not!"
"What happened?"
"Fire at POSTECH's particle accelerator lab!"
The mid-drama incident shifted tension from person-to-person to person-vs-event.
"The fire took out the linear accelerator's main header module. It'll be scrap metal for at least 2-3 years."
A polite request from POSTECH.
"Please let us use the TDX-3 temporarily."
"You want to use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken? Someone else's ox-cleaver at that?"
"Hasn't Seoul National used our lab facilities plenty?"
The fierce debate between POSTECH's middle-aged professor and Cha Do-jin was merciless, yet delighted viewers' eyes and ears.
POSTECH had ample justification, and the government leaned toward long-term leasing mediation.
Feeling the urgency, Kim Jeong-ae sought out Hwang Geon-wook, whom she'd consistently shunned.
"POSTECH definitely started that fire on purpose. How does only the main header module burn completely?"
"You think they schemed to steal the TDX-3?"
"I'd do the same in their shoes!"
"......"
Flustered by her slip, Kim Jeong-ae squeezed her eyes shut then open.
"Start one fire, act bold, and snag a strategic experimental device the US won't export anywhere? Who wouldn't covet it?"
"So you think it was arson."
"Intentional or not, we can't just hand over what we fought so hard for."
"We?"
Hwang Geon-wook's one expression resembling a smile: a sneer.
Irresistibly charming to some, but not to her.
"Let's check it once. Arson or spontaneous."
The rift between the two universities deepened over the new equipment.
A government bigwig meddled, spouting clueless nonsense that had viewers flipping out.
If Hwang Geon-wook's villainy at Seoul National was still ambiguous...
POSTECH was a clear villain in viewers' eyes.
The Ministry of Science and ICT even sent an official document urging Seoul National to make a 'generous concession.'
"Ownership of the TDX-3 remains with Seoul National University. But attach it to POSTECH's linear accelerator so it can function fully."
"Then we'd have to trek all the way to POSTECH every time we want to use our own gear."
"Better than freezing one accelerator for years. Think of the national science infrastructure."
The president, unable to withstand the pressure, finally approved the TDX-3's transport. Grad students and even undergrads rose in protest.
Sit-ins clogged the president's and dean's offices. POSTECH reps, accompanied by ministry officials for disassembly, were blocked by a student scrum.
The uproar hit the news.
Hwang Geon-wook sped down the highway to POSTECH with Cha Yeong-woo and Kim Jeong-ae.
"Nice car."
"Thank you."
Cha Yeong-woo's attempt to break the ice earned only a mechanical reply and an awkward smile.
"But Professor Kim, you really think POSTECH staged it? Feels off to me..."
"Don't they have professors like us? They'd gladly torch it for the TDX-3. Who'd suspect self-sabotage?"
"I get you'd do it if you were there, but spare me. Not that extreme."
They arrived at the accelerator lab, verified IDs, and accessed the charred module.
The lab staff weren't particularly guarded toward them.
"See, Professor Kim? If they started it, they wouldn't leave it out like this so casually."
"You gonna drag everyone into a risky stunt? Just a small committed group."
"You'd do it, right Professor Kim? I'll remember that."
Hwang Geon-wook's eyes sharpened as he inspected the burnt equipment closely.
A directorial flourish visible only to viewers.
He soon wrapped up the formal inspection indifferently and suggested heading back to Seoul.
"Find anything?"
"No hard evidence of arson."
"But circumstantial?"
"I'd need all entry logs, ejection records, and CCTV within a 10km radius for the last three weeks."
"That means calling in the police."
"I'll handle it."
Cha Yeong-woo and Kim Jeong-ae again sensed Hwang Geon-wook was no ordinary man.
He'd stood out from the start, driving a near-billion-won car without a chauffeur.
Meanwhile, Seoul National's TDX-3 guardians were losing steam.
The sit-in team was forcibly removed, and the new equipment fell into outsiders' hands for disassembly.
Dozens of trailers began exiting campus under police escort.
But at the main gate, they were blocked by the Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Lead professor Park Joo-ho, a mild-mannered middle-aged man, protested politely.
"The president and government already approved. This obstruction is unacceptable."
"How deep was Professor Park Joo-ho's involvement?"
"Involvement? What involvement?"
"You truly had no idea. Or you're a skilled liar."
"Hey, Professor Hwang."
"Regrettable, but I don't particularly care which."
Hwang Geon-wook pointed to the trailer vertically blocking the lane behind the Phantom.
"Here's your chance to avoid embarrassment. Restore it to original condition."
"Professor Hwang?"
Park Joo-ho's phone buzzed wildly then.
He checked the caller and answered quickly.
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
Rage and anxiety laced the voice, leaving Park Joo-ho dumbfounded.
Hwang Geon-wook maintained his sneer-like blankness as he declared,
"Not skilled at lying, then."
At that moment, the trailer's side lifted like a butterfly door, revealing its cargo. Park Joo-ho's jaw dropped.
It was the main header module, supposedly burned.
"Found it tucked away in some nameless warehouse. Return mine, take this."
Shame bowed Park Joo-ho's head.
The screen shifted: Seoul National engineering professors joyfully watched the TDX-3 reassembly.
Hwang Geon-wook stood with hands in lab coat pockets, observing. Kim Jeong-ae approached quietly, standing beside him without meeting eyes, her voice still guarded.
"How'd you know?"
"Model numbering."
"Numbering?"
"It was an obsolete model number. Only one answer: self-sabotage from the start."
"Ah..."
Suppressing the urge to ask how he knew that, Kim Jeong-ae let out a wry chuckle.
"This is gonna blow up big. Wonder how many will lose jobs and go to jail?"
"Won't be as big as you think."
"Huh?"
"Not a conspiracy of frontline researchers or a few professors. They'll just cut off disposable tails and cover what they can."
Hwang Geon-wook's final mutter didn't reach her.
"Like always, as before."
The TDX-3 returned safely before exiting the gates. Professors, grads, and undergrads rejoiced at safeguarding their school's asset.
The next day.
"Professor Hwang! This is too much! My schedule two months out is totally wiped!"
"My lineup got messed up due to attempted theft. Starting from scratch."
"Professor Hwang! Argh, seriously!"
Against Kim Jeong-ae's indignant scream, Hwang Geon-wook's eyes fixed on the distant sky like glaring at the heavens, ending the episode.