Grad School in Reality and Drama (3)
The day they headed down to KFE, the Korean Fusion Energy Research Institute in Daejeon, for filming.
PD Song Jeong-woo was more tense than usual.
"Why is Professor Lee Se-jong coming along? This is putting so much pressure on me—I don't know if I can even film properly."
Assistant Director Kim Hyun-tae tried to soothe him.
"PD-nim, don't worry too much. The fusion research institute is a government-funded organization, right? They're obviously going to act all high and mighty. They'll nitpick everything during the shoot. Professor's probably coming to shield us from that."
"That's what makes it even more burdensome. Imagine you're the project leader on a business trip to the provinces, and the group chairman suddenly says he'll tag along because he doesn't trust you to handle it alone. Would that feel reassuring?"
"No way. It'd be way more stressful."
The production staff on the chartered bus were riding a mix of anxiety and excitement upon hearing that Lee Se-jong was joining them.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside Jeong Seo-hoon's Mercedes Sprinter van was utterly devoid of any such tension.
"Using the fusion research institute as a filming location means fusion shows up in the drama plot too, huh?"
"Exactly. The writer said a romantic engineering school concept wouldn't be complete without the fusion facilities."
"That's great. What's the latest ratings?"
"Episode 3 broke 29%."
"Oh ho, that high?"
"Professor, you haven't watched it?"
"Too busy to catch everything, but I did see episode one. It was fun. Some historical inaccuracies here and there, but that's dramatic license, right?"
"Yes. It's fiction, not a documentary. Stick to perfect accuracy and it'd be a 320-episode epic docuseries instead of 16."
"Right, right. I get the difference between drama and documentary now. Kind of like papers versus sci-fi novels?"
Jeong Seo-hoon's van was leading the convoy of production buses.
"Should've brought Dr. Jeong along too. Kinda regretting it now."
"Dad's swamped with his own work."
"They might give us some attitude at the institute, but just ignore them. No need to engage. The folks there are always prickly like broody hens, always watching for government cues."
"Got it."
The group soon arrived at the institute.
Song Jeong-woo greeted the welcoming head of the PR cooperation team with a bright smile.
"But isn't the drama hyping up Korea University too much? We'd feel pretty slighted if they trashed us like POSTECH. We're cooperating with the filming and all."
Song Jeong-woo smiled calmly at the barbed opener.
"Ah, it's all fiction. None of the characters, place names, or organizations have any relation to reality."
"Still, viewers will automatically think of Korea University and POSTECH."
"No need for KFE to worry. In the drama, the universities will be portrayed as flowers blooming on a cliff, coveting and competing over KFE's facilities."
"Aigoo, we'll trust you then. Please make our fusion research institute look as cool as possible."
"Of course. The drama's ultimate mission is to show how researchers leading science and engineering live intense, beautiful lives."
"That's what it felt like. Seeing the characters drive luxury cars and live glamorously—even I, who doesn't watch dramas, get what vicarious satisfaction means."
The initially prickly PR head melted like midsummer ice cream, grinning ear to ear amid the five flower-like actresses.
The scheduled shoot was three days, two nights.
KFE promised full cooperation during that time.
Staff bustled setting up lights, cranes, and rails for filming prep.
Actors checked their marks in between, running self-rehearsals to polish their performances.
Occasional institute staff peeked in, snapping photos from afar to share on SNS.
With mostly men at work, the posts were all about the actresses.
There were some on Jeong Seo-hoon and Cha Do-jin, but...
At KFE, they filmed an episode about the conflict between a high-tech research institute in Daejeon—nicknamed "KAIST"—and "Seoul National University."
It centered on the rivalry between the fusion and plasma research teams from both universities.
The PR team stuck around the set, offering reminders or suggestions—mostly about backgrounds, not plot.
"This is our pride and joy, KSTAR. The experimental fusion reactor. Cost 400 billion won to build."
"Whoa, 400 billion? Incredible."
"If it's okay, could the drama inflate it to over a trillion...?"
"Don't worry. Script says 1.4 trillion. But aren't lower costs better for government approval?"
"That's reality. In drama, higher numbers would help public perception—make people realize fusion research is pricey."
"...Understood."
Song Jeong-woo, always fretting over budgets, felt a pang of sympathy.
That day's drama shoot wrapped, and actor Jeong Seo-hoon reverted to scientist Jeong Seo-hoon.
The KSTAR operations team, overseeing reactor use, balked at the experiment agenda.
"Spin interference test? Professor, is this for quantum entanglement research?"
"Not entirely wrong."
"No, Professor. This is too much."
The team leader flushed, protesting.
"We thought it was a standard plasma operation test. Quantum entanglement out of nowhere? No approval for that. KSTAR's a plasma fusion device, not a quantum meter."
"Easy now. I contributed to building KSTAR. Slashed royalties on our patents too."
"...True, but we're a government institute. This experiment..."
"Not unrelated. Trying to extend plasma runtime differently. Who knows? My student's idea might prove key to breaking 100 seconds."
With approval granted and Lee Se-jong's authority, they dropped further protests.
But when Jeong Seo-hoon tried linking his laptop to the fusion supercomputer, the leader freaked again.
"What are you doing?"
"My own control sim. Don't worry—passed security check earlier."
"Team leader-nim, it's not our first rodeo. No need to overreact."
"Ugh... Disconnect after and re-scan security."
Even after checking the date-stamped security sticker, the leader grumbled. Jeong Seo-hoon and Lee Se-jong let it slide.
The experimental reactor rumbled to life with a heavy thud.
Jeong Seo-hoon closed his eyes, then opened them, pulling his consciousness down to infinitesimal depths.
'This is a massive camera. A facility to observe the sub-microscopic world.'
The lens authority activated, syncing his vision to the sub-microscopic realm.
-Ah... ni... not even deuterium... hydrogen...? What the...?
A faint protest echoed from the distant macro-world.
Vast particles churned in searing heat.
In the synced view, hydrogen nuclei loomed like hundred-meter spheres right before his eyes.
'Fusion probability: 0.1% to 0.085%.'
Figures calibrated from Rashid's world to Earth's tech level.
Seemed low at first glance.
But sheer volume overwhelmed it.
The hydrogen particles floating by were plentiful enough to yield winners despite the odds.
His pre-programmed laptop initiated crude control.
Nuclei were like 5,000-piece Lego sets.
Hurl them at each other across a field, reassemble into bigger Legos in a flash.
That captured the difficulty and odds.
'If I can mesh the countless protrusions on their nuclear force fields perfectly...'
Without 100-million-degree force, nuclei could blend naturally.
Force fields merge seamlessly sans thermal pressure.
Prove it.
'Just timing—pure probability.'
Ever-shifting bumpy force fields on particles.
Mismatched fields approached.
One misalignment, and repulsion.
But as sub-microscopic domains neared, intangible protrusions clicked perfectly.
Two Legos fused into a larger, heavier one.
Shed pieces lost mass, unleashing vast energy.
-Eh...? What's... this...?
The KSTAR team leader froze stiff checking real-time data.
Far from 100 million degrees.
Yet Jeong Seo-hoon halted heating.
Shock came from impossible heat signatures.
He repeated.
Second run stopped at even lower temp; third lower still.
Impossible heat detected each time.
Not huge amounts.
But for sub-micro reactions, absurd.
When Jeong Seo-hoon finally stopped everything, the leader stammered, pale as a ghost.
"P-Professor. What... was that...?"
Lee Se-jong, equally stunned, turned with a serene smile in that instant.
"Still don't get it?"
"Professor, don't tell me high-temperature fusion..."
"Team leader-nim, you just witnessed a Nobel nomination live. Get that autograph."