The President's Verdict
Cha Jiyun stepped out of the hotel. The moment she did, a storm of camera flashes erupted around her. Click—click— The area outside the hotel was already packed with reporters.
“What did you think of today’s new drug presentation held by the Samhwa Group?”
One reporter thrust a microphone toward a man. He looked at it, then broke into a sly grin as he took hold of the mic.
“To put it simply, it’s a scam.”
“Excuse me? A scam?”
“During the Samhwa Bio new drug presentation, they revealed a drug structure that clearly cannot be commercialized.”
“...Is that true?”
“Of course. If something like this were commercialized, the side effects would be beyond description.”
“Could you elaborate?”
“To the average person, it might look incredibly appealing. That makes it easy to buy on impulse. But if you dig deeper, there are extremely dangerous side effects. Specifically, if you take this drug and then stop, your blood sugar will spike, and there’s a high chance of damaging pancreatic function. As you know, once the pancreas is damaged, it doesn’t recover. Furthermore…”
He continued speaking fluently. The man was someone sent by the president of Hain Bio.
“If those kinds of side effects occur, it could lead to a real disaster, couldn’t it?”
“Exactly. That’s why this drug must never pass pharmaceutical safety testing. If it somehow did, it would be catastrophic.”
“I see.”
“Yes. Therefore, this drug can never be commerciali—”
His words suddenly cut off. The reporter’s gaze had shifted away from him. The journalist was staring blankly to the side with a dazed expression. The man frowned and turned toward the source of the disturbance. Who the hell was interrupting his interview?
But his scowl quickly melted away. He immediately bowed his head at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
It was President Jeong Byeong-yeol.
“Hey. The president’s here. Start filming.”
“This is guaranteed front-page material.”
A swarm of reporters far larger than the one that had surrounded him earlier surged forward. Click—click— Countless flashes rained down on them.
“Mr. President, what brings you here?” the man asked, swallowing hard.
“Oh—it’s nothing major. I just overheard something interesting in what that gentleman was saying.” President Jeong Byeong-yeol smiled as he spoke.
“Pardon? What exactly…?”
“You made some rather amusing remarks about the side effects of the new drug Atein announced by Samhwa Bio.”
“I believe the side effects of Atein you mentioned were already addressed by Miss Cha Jiyun during the presentation.”
“...Th-that was…” The man stammered.
“And Miss Cha Jiyun answered splendidly. She explained that the side effects occur if you stop the drug after only one or two doses simply because your blood sugar dropped a little.”
“......”
“Yet you conveniently omitted that part and claimed the side effects happen simply from taking and then stopping Atein… How fascinating.”
“......”
The man’s face began turning bright red. President Jeong Byeong-yeol glanced at the name tag hanging from the man’s neck. It clearly read Hain Bio.
“Ah. Could it be that you’re saying these things because you’re from a rival company trying to undermine them?”
“Th-that’s…”
“Well—if that’s not the case, then that’s a relief.”
The president turned his gaze toward the throng of reporters gathered before him.
“Mr. President, what is your opinion?”
“Do you have a different view from the gentleman beside you?”
“Please share your thoughts on today’s presentation.”
Reporters thrust their microphones toward Jeong Byeong-yeol. The president picked up one of them.
Cha Jiyun swallowed nervously. Nearly every reporter stationed outside the hotel had now crowded around the president. His single statement could very well decide the fate of Atein.
“...But what is that car?”
Cha Jiyun noticed a vehicle parked in the hotel lobby. It was a Rolls-Royce Phantom. She pulled out a sheet of paper. It contained the list of today’s attendees along with the makes and license plates of the cars they had arrived in. No matter how many times she checked, that particular car was not on the list.
“...What on earth is that car?”
Cha Jiyun tilted her head in confusion. Then the car’s window smoothly rolled down. A middle-aged man’s face appeared.
The moment their eyes met, Cha Jiyun hurriedly bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
It was none other than Chairman Cha Geon-hee—the current chairman of the Samhwa Group and her father.
“...I didn’t expect Father to come as well.”
Her father had never shown much interest in anything she did. Even when she successfully ran the guild, he had merely received the report in his study. Yet here he was, personally attending her presentation?
He’s finally starting to pay attention to me.
He had visited her older brother’s presentations countless times. But he had never once come to any of hers. The fact that he had come in person now meant he was finally viewing her as an equal competitor to her brother.
Cha Jiyun followed Chairman Cha Geon-hee’s gaze. It was fixed on President Jeong Byeong-yeol.
Everything depends on what the president says.
Her father had only just begun to show interest in her. But it was a fragile attention that could vanish at any moment. If the president said the new drug was unimpressive, the chairman’s interest would disappear in an instant.
Cha Jiyun bit her lip anxiously as she watched the president. He was opening his mouth to speak.
“To be honest, I didn’t think very highly of Samhwa Bio.”
“Could you explain that in more detail?”
To Cha Jiyun, it sounded like a bolt from the blue. Her expression began to twist. Even her father was now paying close attention to President Jeong Byeong-yeol’s words.
“I’ve always viewed the octopus-like expansion of conglomerates’ subsidiaries quite negatively. I dislike the way they jump into industries simply because there’s money to be made.”
“...”
“Because entering a field without any real expertise, simply riding on the name of a large corporation, ultimately harms the public. This is especially true in the bio sector, which directly affects people’s health.”
“...So what you’re saying is…?”
“Yes, that’s correct. I used to feel the same way about Samhwa Bio. More than anything, I questioned whether it was appropriate for a seventeen-year-old girl like Miss Cha Jiyun to sit in the president’s seat.”
“So are you saying this new drug is nothing more than another case of a conglomerate jumping into the bio field simply because there’s profit to be made?”
The reporters grinned as they spoke. They had just been handed a story that would let them tear into a major corporation. It was the kind of article that always guaranteed a certain level of views—the so-called “view-count cheat key.”
“Didn’t you notice anything strange about what I said?” President Jeong Byeong-yeol chuckled.
“...Pardon? What do you mean?”
“I said I used to think that way. I spoke in the past tense. I never said anything about the present.”
“Does that mean your opinion has changed?”
The reporters fired questions at him one after another.
“......”
Jeong Byeong-yeol simply smiled without answering at first. Then he spoke.
“It hasn’t just changed—it’s done a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.”
“......”
Every reporter in front of him stared at him with blank expressions.
“Although Miss Cha Jiyun is only seventeen, she is more than qualified to hold the position of president at a bio company. I realized that after watching today’s presentation.”
“......”
“Furthermore, the new drug unveiled at today’s presentation is revolutionary. If commercialized, it will greatly contribute to improving the health of the entire nation.”
“Is that true?”
“Mr. President, are you being serious?”
“Please explain in more detail.”
The reporters bombarded him with questions.
“Yes. I was quite impressed with the new drug announced by Samhwa Bio.”
President Jeong Byeong-yeol was known for always putting the people first. There was no value he placed above the welfare of the citizens.
“I will do everything in my power to simplify the procedures required for this drug’s commercialization so that it can reach the market as quickly as possible.”
The reporters began murmuring among themselves.
“Dude, if President Jeong Byeong-yeol—who always puts the citizens first—is saying this much, it must be the real deal, right?”
“Yeah. He could tank his approval rating with a statement like this. The fact that he’s going this far means he must be absolutely confident about this new drug.”
The president smiled warmly as he continued.
“Does that answer your questions?”
“Yes… it certainly does. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
Despite their words, the reporters wore sour expressions. They had just lost the chance to publish the kind of “view-count cheat key” article that bashed conglomerates.
“Then I’ll be taking my leave now.”
President Jeong Byeong-yeol climbed into his official vehicle with his daughter, Jeong Hanna.
“...”
Cha Jiyun silently watched the Rolls-Royce Phantom parked in the distance. Inside, Chairman Cha Geon-hee was smiling with satisfaction. Soon the Phantom’s engine purred to life, and it departed from the hotel.
This time, the swarm of reporters approached Cha Jiyun.
“What was the key to developing this new drug?”
“The president gave it such high praise. Were you hiding advanced bio technology all this time?”
“...That’s…”
Cha Jiyun looked around. Nam Doyun—the person most responsible for today’s successful presentation—was nowhere to be seen. In her heart, she wanted to drag him out right now and announce that every part of this success belonged to him. The fact that she had been able to deliver her presentation without freezing up, and that they had managed to complete the event despite the attack by those monstrous creatures, was all thanks to him.
But I can’t mention his name.
He must not stand out. He wouldn’t want to draw attention by being mentioned in a place like this.
‘Principal’ — Let’s have a talk. Come to the principal’s office as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.
I slipped out through the hotel’s back door. The front entrance was swarming with far too many reporters, and I didn’t want to deal with it. I also had no desire to get my face plastered everywhere.
That aside, why hasn’t the principal contacted me? After she stopped that incident, she seemed to be in a hurry and left immediately, only saying we would talk later.
Beep—
A notification sounded on my phone.