Taeho took out his cell phone and made a call. It was 7 a.m. Korean time.
He heard Hayul’s nanny’s voice.
-Hello?
“This is Director Kang. Is Hayul there?”
-Oh, Director! One moment, please. Hayul is having breakfast. Hayul! It’s Uncle Taeho calling!
From the other end of the line came the light patter of footsteps running over. Soon, Hayul’s voice came through.
-Bear Uncle!
The moment he heard Hayul’s voice, his chest tightened.
A soft, warm, regretful, and slightly sad feeling.
He wanted to stroke her plump little cheeks and fine hair. It was a longing that couldn’t be expressed simply by saying he missed her.
“Have you been doing well, Hayul?”
“Yes!”
“What did you do?”
“Um, um. Hayul drew a picture. I drew Bear Uncle and Owl Uncle. Teacher said I drew it well!”
“Really? Hayul drew a picture of us.”
“Hayul drew a picture?”
For Gihwan, who was craning his neck beside him to listen, Taeho switched to speakerphone.
“Hayul, Owl Uncle is here too. Do you want to talk to him?”
“Yes! Owl Uncle!”
At the sound of Hayul’s delighted voice, Gihwan’s face brightened for an instant.
“Hayul. It’s Owl Uncle. Uncle misses our Hayul so, so much.”
Perhaps Gihwan was feeling the same thing as Taeho, because his voice was already beginning to tremble.
“When are you coming?”
“Well, right now your uncles are doing something important, so I think we need to stay a little longer.”
“A little longer?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Don’t you miss Hayul?”
With a choked expression, Gihwan shook his head frantically.
“No. No, Hayul. Owl Uncle misses Hayul so, so much. I think about Hayul every day. I think about Hayul before I fall asleep at night, and I think about Hayul when I wake up in the morning. Uncle is so sad without Hayul.”
“……”
Taeho calmly stepped in.
“Hayul, Bear Uncle will explain. We have to finish a bit more work here before we go.”
“Okay.”
Her voice sounded a little dejected.
“But we’re solving it step by step. It’ll be over soon.”
Gihwan said, almost in tears.
“Hayul, once this work is finished, we’ll come back right away. Uncle really misses our Hayul so, so much. I want to see the picture Hayul made, and I want to see Hayul smile too.”
“Yes, Hayul misses Bear Uncle and Owl Uncle too.”
“Mm……”
Gihwan’s throat closed up. Taeho quickly spoke.
“Hayul, we’re doing our very best so we can finish our work and come back quickly. You can wait just a little longer, right?”
“Yes! Hayul can wait. Please make all the sick people not hurt anymore.”
“Okay. Thank you for understanding, Hayul.”
As Taeho was about to end the call, Gihwan quickly cut in.
“Hayul. Uncle loves Hayul very much.”
“Hayul loves Bear Uncle and Owl Uncle lots and lots too!”
After hanging up, Gihwan sniffled and said,
“I’m sorry, Director. Just hearing Hayul’s voice makes me like this.”
“That’s only natural. I feel the same.”
“I think I’ve changed a lot because of Hayul. I didn’t know I’d miss her this much just because we’ve been apart for a few days.”
Taeho nodded and said,
“Let’s finish this quickly. Hayul is waiting.”
“Yes! Everything is ready. I hope we can get on a plane to Korea tomorrow.”
Gihwan pressed his lips tightly together.
***
The main auditorium of the WHO headquarters in Geneva.
The seats for representatives from 193 countries, arranged in a semicircle, were filled without a single gap, and the flags of each nation stood in orderly rows. On the front wall, the WHO emblem—a snake-entwined staff and the shape of the earth—caught the eye.
“Ladies and gentlemen……”
The voices of simultaneous interpreters flowed through the representatives’ earphones. It was being translated at once into seventeen languages, including Chinese, Russian, Arabic, and Spanish.
Above the main auditorium, in the press section, cameras from major broadcasters around the world—CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, NHK, and others—were lined up in rows. Red LIVE lights blinked all at once.
At the very front of the VIP seats.
Richard Wilson, CEO of Global Pharmaco, sat in a perfectly pressed navy suit. In his late sixties, deep furrows were etched between his brows.
To either side of him sat David Logan, the CSO (Chief Scientific Officer), Legal Director Sarah Collins, and five executives in a row. All of their expressions were rigid.
Logan, the CSO, whispered into Chairman Wilson’s ear.
“It’s not too late yet. We can still stop the meeting.”
“The whole world is already watching. If we back down now, it will only make us look more suspicious.”
Chairman Wilson muttered, shaking his head.
In front of the podium.
Taeho wore a black suit with a deep navy tie. He looked more composed than usual. His gaze was sharper than ever.
Huge LED screens had been installed on both sides of the podium, and twelve cameras mounted on the ceiling were filming him from multiple angles.
WHO Director-General Tedros took the microphone.
“We will now convene this emergency assembly. We will hear a special presentation from Dr. Kang Taeho, Special Adviser to the WHO.”
When Taeho stepped up to the podium, the main auditorium was engulfed in a suffocating silence. In a space where more than two thousand people were seated, even the sound of a pencil dropping could have been heard.
Taeho slowly brought his mouth close to the microphone.
“Honored ladies and gentlemen……”
His voice echoed throughout the auditorium. The simultaneous interpreters swiftly began translating.
“All of you must wish to know the truth behind the mass infection incident that occurred at the International Marine Biotechnology Conference in Brest, France. Today, I intend to reveal the shocking truth behind that mass infection incident.”
Taeho paused for a moment and looked straight at Chairman Wilson in the VIP section.
Their gazes met in midair.
“The virus that emerged in Brest was not a virus that could have arisen in nature. I have concluded that the virus came from Global Pharmaco’s laboratory.”
In that instant, the auditorium began to stir.
Cameras zoomed in on Global Pharmaco’s VIP seats. Chairman Wilson’s face was captured vividly on screens all over the world.
CSO Logan leaned slightly toward Chairman Wilson and whispered.
“There’s still no evidence.”
“I know.”
Chairman Wilson lifted the corners of his mouth as if amused.
Taeho took the microphone again.
“I understand your shocked reaction. However, this is not speculation, but scientific fact.”
When he operated the console beside the podium, complex scientific data began to appear on the large screens on both sides.
“One moment.”
A cold voice cut across the auditorium.
Chairman Richard Wilson slowly stood up. His movements were restrained, yet they radiated intimidation all on their own.
As Wilson rose, the atmosphere in the auditorium changed in an instant. The eyes of the representatives of 193 nations focused on him at once.
He looked straight at Taeho and opened his mouth.
“Dr. Kang. Do you know exactly what it is you are doing right now?”
Wilson’s eyes were cold and sharp, like a beast of prey targeting its quarry.
“Global Pharmaco is a company responsible for the lives of four billion people around the world. If the essential medicines we supply are cut off, hundreds of thousands will die every day. What you are doing now is an irresponsible gamble that takes the lives of those four billion people hostage.”
Wilson looked at his wristwatch as he spoke. It was a Rolex Daytona.
“Even at this very moment, our company’s stock price is plummeting. Three hundred billion dollars in market capitalization is evaporating. Who will take responsibility for that damage?”
He slowly looked around the auditorium and continued.
“Is there a single country among you that does not do business with our company? Without us, can your country’s medical system function?”
The American representative wore an uncomfortable expression.
The British representative also averted his gaze.
The German representative lowered his head altogether.
A cold smile brushed across the corners of Wilson’s mouth.
“Is it the mission of the WHO to endanger the global medical supply chain with unverified claims?”
The French representative took the microphone.
“Chairman Wilson has a point. Without Global Pharmaco, it would be difficult to maintain the current medical system.”
“Dr. Kang’s intentions may be good, but an accusation made in this manner could throw the entire medical community into chaos.”
The Japanese representative also nodded.
As the atmosphere began to tilt, Chairman Wilson looked at Taeho again and spoke. This time, even a trace of pity was mixed into his voice.
“Dr. Kang, you are an outstanding physician. But you do not seem to understand what it is you are up against. For seventy years, we have saved human lives. We eradicated polio, treated tuberculosis, and saved millions from cancer.”
Chairman Wilson looked around with complete composure.
Among the representatives of each country, was there anyone who had not at least once been treated to a meal by him?
“Are you trying to bury us with a baseless conspiracy theory? Is that the right thing to do as a doctor?”
Several national representatives were nodding vigorously.
Chairman Wilson delivered the final blow.
“Dr. Kang. What will you do if your claim is wrong? The collapsed trust, the destroyed medical system, and the countless patients who will die. Can you take responsibility for all of that?”
His gaze pierced through Taeho.
He was asking whether Taeho could bear it.
Most of the national representatives seated there looked at Kang Taeho and shook their heads. He might be young and promising, but he had made the wrong choice. And because of that wrong choice, he would never again stand out on the international stage. They regarded all of this as the result of Kang Taeho’s recklessness.
Chairman Wilson sat down with a smile on his lips, as if certain of victory.
The American representative said in a loud voice,
“An attack on Global Pharmaco may be a political conspiracy intended to damage the American pharmaceutical industry!”
“Or it may be a ploy to maintain the hegemony of the Western pharmaceutical industry!”
The Chinese representative shot back.
The Indian representative stood and raised his voice.
“Developing countries have always been test subjects for Western pharmaceutical companies. This incident must be viewed in that context as well!”
The representative of the African Union joined in.
“That’s right! For decades, we have been used in Western clinical trials for new drugs!”
The main auditorium had now turned into complete chaos. The interests and political positions of each country became entangled, forming a complicated structure of confrontation.
The reporters in the press section grew even more excited.
A CNN reporter spoke toward the camera.
“The WHO assembly is now descending into chaos. With the strong backlash from Global Pharmaco’s CEO and the clash of opinions among national representatives……”
The BBC reporter also continued an urgent broadcast.
Representatives from various countries were arguing fiercely in different languages.
Director-General Tedros pounded the gavel and shouted.
“Order! Please come to order!”
But the uproar only grew louder.
Amid it all, Taeho stood quietly at the podium. He stood at the center of the storm, yet was as calm as the eye of a typhoon.
Chairman Wilson shouted with ease.
“Present your evidence! Dr. Kang. A claim without evidence is nothing but defamation.”
Legal Director Sarah Collins stood and added,
“We will immediately file a defamation suit with the International Court of Arbitration!”
Director-General Tedros struck the gavel even harder.
“Order! Let us hear Dr. Kang Taeho’s statement!”
Gradually, the auditorium quieted. All eyes focused on Taeho again.
Taeho looked straight at Chairman Wilson and spoke calmly.
“You asked for evidence, did you not? Then I will prove it with science.”
Taeho began operating the control panel beside the podium.
“Right here, while the entire world is watching.”
New images began to appear on the large screens on both sides. They were complex genetic sequence analysis displays.
The face of CSO Logan, seated beside Chairman Wilson, turned pale.
“That can’t be……”
He muttered, clutching his head with both hands. He was the very person who had designed and drafted the patent for that virus.