A New Beginning
After signing the divorce papers at the courthouse, Taesik felt a hollow ache in his chest. To soothe his troubled mind, he called up Sangwook, a senior from his university days, and met him at a local pork belly restaurant.
"Senior, over here!"
"What brings you to Seoul? I thought you were swamped finishing up the KF-21 development..."
"I just wanted to grab a drink with you. How did the testing go? You said you were heading down to Daejeon."
"Yeah, we finally finished verifying the mobile processor that links mobile devices with satellite communications. The communication speed was better than expected; the stakeholders were stunned. But seriously, why are you in Seoul? You said you had to work overtime every night to wrap up the AESA Radar project!"
"Haha. I signed the divorce papers with my wife today. Turns out, divorce isn't easy... I thought I just had to file a report, but they told me there's a mandatory cooling-off period."
Sangwook, taken aback by the sudden announcement, poured a glass of soju and handed it to him. "Why the sudden divorce?"
"Well, I buried myself in work every day and neglected my family. It’s just karma. I’m grateful she even stayed with me this long... Forget about me. What’s the plan for the civilian satellites?"
"We’re planning to launch eight satellites sequentially from 2027 to 2035, with a pilot service for 6G mobile communications around 2034. What about the Ministry of National Defense?"
"They’re preparing reconnaissance satellites, but our Defense Research Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute are currently fighting over who gets to lead the project."
"Government agencies always prioritize power struggles over efficiency. When are you moving over to the satellite sector?"
"Once I finish the AESA Radar I’m working on now. I’m slated to be in charge of the target identification and tracking system for the satellites. The rough development is already finished."
"Already...?"
"I used the existing satellite structure, and for the software, I’m using the same one as the AESA Radar. It uses deep learning to identify and track targets, so there isn't much of a difference."
"That’s Taesik for you! I want to work with you on the 6G mobile communication development during the upcoming Korean Satellite Navigation System project..."
"That’ll depend on the power struggle between the ministries. Personally, considering the national budget, I wish the Defense Research Institute and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute would collaborate, but that won't be easy. Still, you’re impressive, Senior. How did you develop the technology to overcome the Doppler effect in low-orbit satellites?"
At Taesik’s question, Sangwook pulled documents from his bag and excitedly explained the Doppler shift compensation technology he had applied. "If we use the mobile processor we developed this time, we can bridge the gap from mobile communication to satellite communication—it’ll be a revolution. With speeds around 10Gbps, you’ll even be able to develop that Urban Air Mobility project you wanted. Developing future transportation was your dream, wasn't it?"
"Haha. Don't go putting ideas into the head of a man who just signed his divorce papers! What kind of money does a poor researcher have to develop future transportation?"
"You could make a fortune just selling the deep learning technology you possess... You should start your own business!"
"What kind of business can a divorcee start? Just drink your soju!"
The two drank until late into the night. After putting Sangwook in a taxi, Taesik reached into his pocket to pull out a cigarette. "Oh. Why do I have Sangwook’s USB? I’ll have to return it to him tomorrow..."
Lighting a cigarette, Taesik exhaled a cloud of smoke, thinking of his wife’s words to clear out his personal belongings by tomorrow, and headed toward his hotel.
Waking up to a blaring alarm and a throbbing headache, Taesik sat up in bed, his ears catching the sound coming from the TV.
"The Republic of Korea fought hard against Turkey but unfortunately lost 2:3. However, reaching the semifinals for the first time in history... I am so proud of our players."
The TV was playing footage of the 2002 World Cup semifinals on a loop, creating a cacophony of noise. Suddenly, blueprints he had never seen before flooded his mind, triggering a sharp migraine.
"Dammit! How long has it been since the World Cup? Why are they still showing 2002 World Cup footage?"
Taesik clutched his head and opened his eyes, only to be stunned by an environment that was both strange and familiar.
"Where am I...?"
He looked around with a bewildered expression, staring at the faded wallpaper and the lonely desk and TV set.
"I was just drinking with Sangwook and went to the hotel..."
What met his eyes was his old studio apartment, the one he had lived in for two years during his master's program. The TV continued to report news related to the World Cup. Taesik grabbed the remote from the bed, turned off the TV, and focused on the blueprints floating in his mind.
"Wait! These are the mobile processor blueprints for Misung Electronics! They look like the data from Sangwook’s USB..."
As time passed, the blueprints settled, and the headache subsided. Able to visualize the schematics just by thinking about them, Taesik carefully examined the details.
"It’s all here—from the first mobile processor Misung Electronics applied to smartphones to the ones currently under development!"
Once the pain faded, Taesik hurriedly dressed and left the studio, heading toward his university. Having lived right next to the campus, he reached the university in Daejeon in five minutes. When he entered the lab where he used to study, everyone welcomed him.
"Hey, Taesik! You drank so much because Korea lost the semifinals yesterday, but you look fine..."
Sangwook, who was in his doctoral program, greeted him. "Senior. Didn't we drink at the pork belly place yesterday?"
"Huh? We ate army stew yesterday... Are you still hungover? Haha. I told you to drink less. You lost your mind because you drank too much yesterday."
As he sat at his familiar desk under Sangwook’s nagging, his friends approached him with questions.
"Taesik! You have to catch a flight to the U.S. this week. Are you all packed?"
"The U.S....?"
"You said you registered for MIT for the next semester...?"
Taesik, who had indeed gone to MIT for his doctorate right after his master's, realized he was just before his departure. He turned on his computer to verify what was happening.
"Today is June 30, 2002!"
Hearing Taesik mutter to himself, Sangwook smacked the back of his head. "Are you not going to prepare for your study abroad because you drank yesterday? You said you were going to the bank to exchange currency today, right? The kids said they’d help you pack up your studio tomorrow, so go get ready!"
Kicked out of the lab, Taesik sat on a bench outside the building to collect his thoughts.
"I think I’ve regressed... and those useless blueprints in my head seem to be mobile processors for smartphones..."
After sitting in deep thought for a long time, Taesik felt the hot sun and headed to the bank. Seeing the sign for a securities firm on the second floor, he pondered whether he could invest with the money he had.
"Damn it... I never touched stocks in my past life, so this is useless even after regressing. I only know that Misung Electronics stock goes up, but I don't know when or by how much. It would have been nice if someone had given me lottery numbers when I regressed..."
After finishing his currency exchange, he returned to the lab. It was empty, as everyone else must have gone to class. Taesik decided to bring the blueprints in his head to reality and turned on the computer.
Working through the design software for a long time, Taesik wrote down the blueprints and programs for the AESA Radar and the deep learning program for target identification/tracking before he could forget them. To save time, he only drafted the core components and circuits. When he tried to run the program to write the deep learning code, he let out a curse.
"Dammit! There’s no deep learning framework! I have to write it from scratch... this is total manual labor!"
Trying to pull up a verified deep learning algorithm, Taesik realized the company he knew didn't exist on the internet yet, so he decided to write the most basic framework from the ground up.
As he hammered away at the keyboard, he turned his head at the sound of someone entering the lab.
"Taesik! You’re leaving for the U.S. this week, and you’re still in the lab? I knew you’d be, so I bought some gimbap."
Sangwook shook a black plastic bag, walked over to Taesik, and laid out the gimbap, handing him a pair of chopsticks. Taesik, hungry, popped a piece into his mouth and asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"Senior, will you stay at the school after getting your doctorate? Or will you get a job?"
"I have to get a job, obviously. Making things is more fun than teaching students. I’m thinking about going to the Misung Electronics research lab."
"Semiconductors? Or mobile phones?"
"Mobile phones, of course. My thesis topic is on mobile processor interfaces... What am I going to do when you go to the U.S. and I get lonely?"
"Senior! This semester is almost over! You’ll have to get a job in six months... what are you worried about? Start preparing for your job search!"
"Alright, alright. Aren't you going to watch the World Cup final today? Everyone is meeting at the pub..."
"I have work to do. I need to finish what I started."
After Sangwook left to watch the final, Taesik decided that in this life, he wouldn't be tied down to an organization. He began looking for ways to make money to pursue his dream of the Urban Air Mobility business. Sighing as he looked at his 5 million won and his plane ticket, Taesik hammered away at the keyboard again. He thought about the F-22 Raptor aircraft being developed in the U.S. in 2002 and considered selling the technical data.
"If I had regressed to before the IMF crisis, I could have made money investing in foreign currency or stocks... why now?"
Grumbling, Taesik wrote down the data and programs from his memory. He sent a brief AESA introduction package he had designed to American companies that might be interested, along with a note expressing his desire to sell, before leaving the lab with his laptop.
The next day, his lab colleagues and juniors flocked to his studio. As they picked through the things he didn't need, they wished him well in the U.S. Finally, Sangwook handed him an envelope.
"Taesik! It’s not much, but buy something good to eat when you get to the U.S. I didn't put much in."
Sangwook looked embarrassed as he handed over the envelope.
"Senior! You don't have much money either."
"I’m a doctoral student, so I have a decent amount from the professor. Besides, you can do part-time jobs in Korea, but it won't be easy to find one in a strange place like the U.S. You should come to Misung Electronics after you finish your doctorate, too. I’ll go ahead and secure a spot for you."
Taesik thanked him, promising to pay him back if things went well in the U.S. After clearing out his studio, he received his deposit back from the landlady, exchanged it for dollars, and headed to the airport with his luggage.