The Electric Honeymoon
The ID Group’s private jet for the world tour descended with elegant precision onto the runway at Jeju International Airport. The security team disembarked first, followed immediately by the newlyweds Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany, dressed in such polished, coordinated elegance that their honeymoon status was unmistakable. Kim Dae-seok and the rest of the entourage came last. Once everyone was safely on the ground, the jet refueled at Jeju International Airport and lifted off once more. Yoo Jae-won’s parents and the wedding guests remained aboard; the aircraft would return to Seoul to drop them all off in a single trip.
“This way.”
Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany waved until the jet disappeared into the sky, then followed Kim Dae-seok’s guidance out of the terminal. Somehow the press had caught wind of their arrival yet again; the arrivals hall was packed with reporters. Fortunately, the situation never spiraled into chaos. Immigration officials expedited the group’s entry as a courtesy, while the advance security team had already cleared a pristine photo line. The entire process took no longer than sipping a cool drink.
The moment Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany stepped out of the terminal, a storm of camera flashes erupted.
“Chairman! Look over here too!”
“Why did you choose Jeju Island for your honeymoon?”
“Are there any specific places on the island you’re eager to visit?”
The reporters’ questions flew in every direction, as wild as their flashing cameras. Nevertheless, Yoo Jae-won paused and answered with calm composure.
“Jeju Island, along with Mount Kumgang, possesses tremendous potential to become a world-class tourist destination. Koreans have long overlooked it because of outdated stereotypes from the 1980s, but its true value will soon be recognized by people from around the globe.”
After delivering the polished, formal response, Yoo Jae-won glanced at Tiffany. She picked up the thread effortlessly.
“Jae-won told me Jeju is full of mystical places, so I’ve been looking forward to this trip. We’re going to see the Goblin Road, Seongsan Ilchulbong, Bijarim, and Gotjawal Forest. We can’t miss WOW Wonderland, either. Oh—and I’m especially excited about Hallasan!”
The reporters’ eyes widened in astonishment. None of them had expected such fluent, natural Korean from Tiffany. To Yoo Jae-won and those close to him, however, it was no surprise. She had always been brilliant, and ever since they began dating she had steadily studied the language. Thanks to that dedication, her Korean had improved dramatically. She could now speak, listen, and even write with greater fluency and precision than many native Korean-Americans.
Her polished Korean earned warm reactions from the press. The public had always held a favorable image of Tiffany. Ever since ID Group announced their marriage, articles about her background had appeared regularly. The revelation that she spoke Korean so well only increased public interest. Moreover, her words weren’t aimed solely at Koreans. In the 21st century, people had grown accustomed to experiencing celebrities’ lives indirectly through social media. Tiffany used TokTok as naturally as any digital native, and her follower count already surpassed that of most Hollywood stars. Today’s scenes would soon spread across the world through her feed.
After the brief interview, the couple and their party moved toward the exit. Several vehicles had been waiting for some time: high-mobility SUVs for the security detail, luxury sedans for the staff, and one strikingly unusual wedding car. Every vehicle was foreign-made. During Jeon Myeong-heon’s lifetime, Yoo Jae-won’s official cars in Korea had all been from Mirae Motors. Now those were being replaced with imported models.
The cars waiting at Jeju International Airport bore the three-pointed star of Mercedes-Benz, the pride of Germany. From SUVs to sedans, every vehicle was a Benz—not because money was no object and they had simply chosen the most expensive option, but because of a strategic partnership. ID Technology and Mercedes-Benz practiced mutual support. The German automaker had been the first to adopt ID Technology’s ultrasonic sensors in production vehicles.
Those ultrasonic sensors had originally been acquired for drone use, but they proved even more suitable for automobiles. They maximized vehicle safety through automatic control in situations where human reaction was too slow—detecting distances between cars or sudden obstacles, for example. Beyond the sensors, cooperation with Mercedes-Benz extended to many areas: integrating multiple sensor inputs for driving systems, combining internet connectivity with vehicles, and more. Similar proposals had been made to Mirae Motors, but there had been no response.
It seemed Jeon Jae-geun, chairman of Mirae Motor Group, had taken it personally that Yoo Jae-won had supported his brother Jeon Jae-gu during the succession struggle. Applying personal feelings to corporate management was hardly ideal, but it appeared Jeon Jae-geun would need considerable time to realize that.
Standing out brilliantly among the partner Mercedes vehicles was the wedding car—an absolute one-of-a-kind sight found nowhere else in the world. It was a two-seater convertible that looked like a supercar from a future decade. The ribbons and floral decorations draped across the hood, side mirrors, and rear spoiler marked it as a wedding vehicle, yet even those festive touches could not hide its refined, sophisticated design.
“It’s gorgeous. It looks like a racing machine!”
Even Tiffany, the daughter of a gas-station owner with a keen eye for cars, exclaimed in delight the moment she saw it. At the same time, she pulled out her T-Touch Phone and snapped a photo of the waiting vehicle.
“As expected, Madam has impeccable taste!”
Bolt, president of Lightning Bolt, breathed a visible sigh of relief at her reaction. The wedding car was the company’s latest electric vehicle. More than five years had passed since Lightning Bolt established itself on Jeju Island, and the company had grown enormously. Over a hundred master’s and doctoral-level talents now worked in research and development alone.
Their mission was to create a genuine automobile powered exclusively by electricity. It was an exceptionally difficult challenge, yet Lightning Bolt had pursued it with unwavering dedication. The result was the supercar-style electric vehicle now parked before Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany.
It ran on 100 percent electric motors, and its performance rivaled that of any supercar. Accelerating from zero to 100 kilometers per hour took a mere 3.6 seconds—an impressive demonstration of the instant maximum torque electric motors could deliver. Despite producing such immense power, the car was almost eerily silent, requiring specially tuned speakers to generate an artificial engine note. Without audible sound, drivers often felt uneasy and pedestrians failed to notice the approaching vehicle, leading to accidents. The system had therefore been added for safety. Creating a pleasant, convincing engine sound had been an additional engineering task.
At the same time, Yoo Jae-won had demanded a design that leaped far ahead of its time. An electric car, he insisted, should look as though it had emerged from the future. Only then could it become an object of desire, completely different from conventional automobiles. Thanks to the simplified drivetrain of batteries and motors, the vehicle could adopt a radically new form. This futuristic shape also helped mask the inherent weaknesses of electric cars.
“This is the LV-F1,” President Bolt began, standing proudly beside the wedding car. His face glowed with satisfaction. When he had left his job as a Boeing engineer to build electric bicycles as a hobby, he had never imagined he would one day create something this magnificent. Everything had changed after Yoo Jae-won discovered him.
After successfully mass-producing carbon-frame electric bicycles, Lightning Bolt had exploded in Silicon Valley. It no longer seemed strange to see the valley’s innovators—people who researched countless possibilities and world-changing breakthroughs—commuting on electric bikes. The LV-F1 embodied President Bolt’s personal ambitions. The futuristic elegance Yoo Jae-won had requested was also Bolt’s own long-held dream. To achieve it, not a single flaw could remain. With unlimited budget and time invested, the LV-F1 now stood complete before them.
The only regret was that its official unveiling had originally been scheduled not for Yoo Jae-won’s wedding but for the Geneva Motor Show—the first major international auto show of the new millennium. In the end, only a prototype could be displayed in Geneva. Fortunately, its radical design and fully electric powertrain had caused a sensation. Today marked the public debut of the first fully functional model—as the couple’s wedding car.
The effect was more than sufficient. The media presence covering Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany’s arrival in Korea already rivaled that of a major pop star’s concert. Even after the brief terminal interview, reporters continued to follow, now photographing President Bolt and the LV-F1.
“A single battery swap provides 200 kilometers of range. We’ve installed fifty swap stations across Jeju Island, so feel free to enjoy the car’s full performance without worry.”
President Bolt deliberately emphasized the word “swap” rather than “charge.” The reason was simple: current battery technology still required nearly an hour to fully recharge even with high-output chargers. Compared to conventional cars that could be refueled in minutes, charging time remained electric vehicles’ greatest weakness. To solve this, Bolt had designed a battery-swap system.
Before the T-Touch Phone, many mobile phones had used removable batteries. Lightning Bolt had adopted the same philosophy: rather than suffer long charging times, the entire depleted battery pack would be exchanged for a fully charged one. When the battery ran low after spirited driving, the driver simply visited a swap station and replaced the pack. The only drawback was that each battery weighed over 100 kilograms. Therefore, drivers could not perform the swap themselves. Instead, trained technicians at specialized stations equipped with professional tools handled the exchange while also providing vehicle inspection and other complimentary services.
The service was currently free during the pilot phase. Once Lightning Bolt vehicles entered full commercialization, a modest fee would be charged for each swap.
“We’ve already received orders for three units from private customers!”
The encouraging news continued. The LV-F1 had received official sales approval limited to Jeju Island. It had passed rigorous safety testing with excellent results, and its batteries had undergone even stricter evaluation. Lightning Bolt was not the only company developing electric vehicles. If unstable battery technology caused serious accidents, it could create lasting negative perceptions. For that reason, the Korean government had collaborated on demanding test protocols. While the standards were high enough that even Lightning Bolt’s cars had faced challenges, the company had actively cooperated because the rigorous testing served as a valuable technological barrier.
“Three units?”
Although the LV-F1 was a landmark electric vehicle, it was still a transitional product. Its price easily exceeded hundreds of thousands of dollars, yet three had already sold. Yoo Jae-won grew curious about the buyers, but lingering in front of the airport would inconvenience everyone. He decided to hear the details later.
“Simply drive it as you would an automatic,” President Bolt finished.
Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany climbed into the car. Tiffany took the driver’s seat while Yoo Jae-won sat beside her. He had instinctively headed for the driver’s side, but when she asked, “Do you have a license?” he could only shake his head. Come to think of it, he had never once attempted to obtain a driver’s license after his regression. In contrast, Tiffany confidently produced her international license. Thus, the LV-F1’s driver’s seat became hers.
After a brief moment of cheerful commotion, the couple departed the airport and set off toward their first destination: WOW Wonderland.
Jeju Island’s greatest landmark was undoubtedly Hallasan. What came second? A few years ago opinions had varied, but that had changed. WOW Wonderland, located in Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo-si, on the western side of Korea’s tallest mountain, had become the island’s second iconic attraction.
Spanning one million square meters, the park featured attractions themed around the four races of Warcraft—Human, Night Elf, Orc, and Undead. There was also a StarCraft-themed pavilion and a dedicated Doom experience from ID Software. Construction was underway on yet another expansion: a Harry Potter zone. The film adaptation was already in production through Warner Bros., targeting a 2001 release, but WOW Wonderland was building its themed area even earlier. The scale was impressive, recreating not only Hogwarts but also Diagon Alley. While author Rowling herself expressed doubts about the movie’s potential success, Yoo Jae-won—certain of its triumph—had invested boldly.
After an exhilarating drive, they arrived at WOW Wonderland exactly as he had imagined it. The park bustled with visitors, filled everywhere with music and laughter. After unpacking at their lodging, Yoo Jae-won and Tiffany officially began their honeymoon by stepping into the park. Walking hand in hand, they looked exactly as they had during their very first date at Disneyland long ago.