A New Beginning
Before heading to the shower, Eunbyul told him to save Min Suyeon’s number. "015-9322-6202. Did you save it?"
"Yeah. I'll give it a try."
"What about tomorrow... you should go see her."
"Maybe I will."
He didn't know if she’d throw a fit about him meeting someone on the weekend, but he had to strike while the iron was hot. After washing up, he lay down on the bed. One by one, Jia opened the bedroom door and lay down on his right, followed by Eunbyul, who slipped in wearing her bathrobe.
"I'm so glad tomorrow is the weekend..."
"..."
"..."
"Why, why are you staring at me?"
Exhausted, he tucked his phone under his pillow and muttered to himself, thinking about catching some sleep, but the two women immediately turned their heads to stare at him.
"Are you just going to sleep?"
"I already washed up, Senior."
"No, you already did it earlier."
"...You did it earlier?"
Ah, for fuck's sake...
"...That's just how it happened."
"Is 'that's how it happened' supposed to be the end of it? Master, what is this..."
"Why? Isn't it okay to do it?"
"No, why are you talking like that—"
"Tell me how far you went, Suhyun."
Seriously, give me a break.
"No, I just did some foreplay. One of the staff members messed up, and she cleaned it up, so—!"
"How far."
"Wait. Seo Jia, why do I have to explain this to you?"
He thought he’d been too nice to them. That’s why they were climbing all over him. He needed to teach them a lesson...
"Mmm, I only belong to you, Master..."
"...."
"...."
"Senior, she's the bigger vixen. These days, anyway."
Stuck between the two women and facing the prospect of not getting any sleep, he said, "...Ten minutes. That's it."
"Sounds good."
"Okay."
He decided it would be easier to handle them one by one, so he chose Jia first. It was up to him what he did to her during that time, but he had to stick to the time limit. In exchange for that, they had promised not to whine or cling to him for more without his permission.
"Ah... that feels good, press a little harder there..."
"Like this."
"Just... put your hand inside, too..."
"..."
Eunbyul, though she was next in line, turned her head away and closed her eyes, clearly jealous. But with the sound of Jia’s moans and the wet, squelching noises growing louder, it was impossible for her not to pay attention.
"Ha... seriously, when does this end?"
There was still time left. It felt like time was moving slower than it did ten minutes before clocking out of work.
"Hut♡ To, tomorrow, just do it to me too♡"
"...."
"Master, answer me! Answerrr♡"
"Fine. I'll do it tomorrow. At night. After Eunbyul leaves."
"...I'm not leaving."
"Haa... a little more, do it more, put two fingers in♡"
It seemed Eunbyul had been timing them. As soon as the ten minutes were up, he pulled his hand out of Jia’s panties—
"Ten minutes are up. We're done."
"....So annoying... haa..."
"Go wash up. I'm going to..."
"It's my choice where I do it."
After waking up, he washed up again and, while having a simple cup of coffee, read the paper Min Suyeon had written on his laptop. Then, he picked up his phone.
"Yeah, Hyung. Are you free to talk?"
"Ugh... what is it...?"
"If you want to keep sleeping, go ahead. This is about work."
"No, no... ugh... our... great Executive Director Han Suhyun..."
"Sigh..."
After the rustling of the blankets died down, he heard, "Yeah. I'm up. What's the matter?"
"I just sent you a link on KakaoTalk. Check out that paper."
"Okay. ...A Study on the Applicability of Vegetable Oils from Seaweed, etc., as a Domestic Gasoline Alternative Fuel...?"
"Yes. And one more."
The next link was to an online academic journal site titled, [A Study on the Effect of Octane Rating Differences in Alternative Gasoline on Internal Combustion Engine Performance, Min Suyeon, Seoul National University]. Strangely enough,
"Wait, neither of these are degree theses?"
"One is an academic paper, the other is a research report."
Usually, in Korea, if the issuing institution is a university, it’s a degree thesis. It’s the kind of paper that’s submitted for graduation after rotting in a professor’s lab for two to four years—the kind of papers that are a dime a dozen. But these papers were written out of individual, voluntary curiosity, without anyone forcing her.
Therefore, these weren't papers approved by a thesis advisor saying, 'We need to let student Min Suyeon graduate this time,' but papers released after rigorous, sharp review by the advisor and other relevant professors. It was hard enough to produce one, yet she had two similar ones. Naturally, it caught Jeonghyun's eye.
"Who is Min Suyeon?"
"She's from the same department, two years my junior... she's currently working at DW Chemical."
"She's an impressive person. But why this?"
He told him he needed to bring this person on board, and Jeonghyun listened as he explained why. Even though he had just woken up, he immediately understood the depth of passion required for what could be a life's work, and he started firing off questions.
"You're right. There were a lot of things we had to sacrifice for fuel efficiency. I was worried about that, too."
"Yes. She said seaweed vegetable oil, hydrocarbons, and methanol were important, and among those, alkanes?"
"Alkenes. She must have been talking about those."
"That's right."
"Hmm..."
He could hear the sound of the mouse scrolling over the phone, and he kept his mouth shut, waiting for Jeonghyun to speak.
"Yeah. We can do the other two... but the problem is the alkenes. If we follow this method, we have to synthesize the alkenes ourselves and add them in,"
"Yes."
"We need to research how to obtain those hydrocarbons, and we need to know the right mixing ratio. And we have to see if the hydrocarbons we get are stable, or if they'll explode after being pumped into a car... we have to check those things."
"Hmm... that's why she said it's a race against time. We need capital, too."
Reading the paper, Jeonghyun didn't think she was wrong, but he gave a bitter smile, thinking it was too far removed from their current situation to be realistic.
"It's all good. It's good, but..."
"..."
"And if we make alkenes that way... this isn't just about gasoline. If this is cheaper than crude oil, it could be used for asphalt, Bunker C oil, maybe even LPG... it's all good. It's good, but it's difficult..."
"That's true."
"Can I meet this person?"
"I'll break the ice first, and then I'll tell you."
"Okay. Got it."
Jeonghyun invited him to the group chat, posted the links he’d sent, and told the others to look for any additional research reports or books related to the topic. Even though it was morning, it was striking how quickly everyone responded, as if their passion was immense.
"What are you doing?"
"I shared that paper from yesterday with the GPL people."
"Ah, would you like some coffee?"
"I have some. It's okay."
Jia came out stretching, and Eunbyul followed, eyes closed, sitting down heavily next to him as if she’d memorized the layout of the house, leaning her body against him and dozing off.
"You didn't have to wake up right now."
"Still... you told me to wake up at this time..."
"Who did?"
"Jia Unni..."
It seemed she’d taught her something strange. He told Jia, who asked if she should prepare breakfast, that it was fine, and said he was going to visit the hospital first.
-
"Uh, are you okay?"
"Ah..."
It was a relief that she’d regained consciousness earlier than expected. He’d heard she’d screamed when she first woke up because the shock was immense, but she seemed calmer now, sitting up with the hospital bed tilted.
"Daughter, who is this?"
"Ah... he's... someone from our company... um... just a senior I know."
"Ah."
"Hello."
The accident wasn't his fault, so there was no blame directed at him. Just the look of parents worried about their daughter.
"The company is covering all the hospital bills and we've handled the parking situation. You know that, right?"
"Yes... Minsu called and told me."
"Good. Is there anything uncomfortable?"
"Well, I'm just worried about the scarring..."
"That's why—why did you pour that in and drive?"
"...I really wanted to succeed."
Yeah. He couldn't say he didn't understand that feeling, but it was still dangerous.
"I heard you even fueled the 26th-generation model."
"...."
"It came out in the investigation. They said there was potassium stuck inside the fuel tank. That must be why it exploded."
"Ah... then since the 27th one doesn't have potassium, it might be okay..."
"...Is now really the time to be thinking about that?"
After that, he told her he would be bringing a new person into the department. He explained Min Suyeon well to Ayeong, who asked what kind of person she was.
"Hmm... it seems like a good combination, but we'll have to experiment to know for sure..."
"Are you asking me to buy you a car?"
"..."
"Just use the reserve fund or something..."
Still, it was a relief that she was healthy. She was an important person who had been with him since their club days, so even if she wrecked dozens of cars, it would be a relief as long as she was healthy. After telling her not to worry too much about other concerns, he put the box of drinks he’d brought into the refrigerator and left.
"Next is..."
One thing solved. Now, the next thing to do was—
"...Who is this?"
"Min Suyeon? This is Han Suhyun. Let's meet! Do you have time?"
"....?"
"Hello?"
"Why did you call?"
"Well, it's a nice day, let's have a conversation!"