“Ugh…”
Taeho groaned and opened his eyes. His head felt as if it were splitting apart. His temples throbbed, and his mouth was completely dry.
‘How much did I drink?’
The chandelier on the ceiling looked blurry. After closing and opening his eyes a few times, his vision gradually came into focus.
Memories of yesterday surfaced in fragments.
The banquet tables set up in the plaza in front of the village hall.
Hundreds of people.
“Director, please have a drink from me too!”
“This is liquor I brewed myself. You absolutely have to try it!”
He couldn’t refuse when the village elders who had prepared the feast congratulated him. On top of that, the staff of Geumsan Clinic and Geumsan Samcheok Hospital, and even the researchers from Geumsan Research Institute, joined in.
In the end, he had stayed there until past eleven at night, drinking a mixture of soju, makgeolli, and even wine. His last memory was of Gihwan supporting him and putting him into a car.
‘How did I get to the hotel?’
Taeho slowly sat up. His head hurt even more. It was a textbook hangover.
He picked up the bottle of mineral water on the bedside table and gulped it down.
‘What about Amira?’
He turned his head.
Amira was lying on the other side of the bed.
Her long black hair was scattered over the pillow, and one small foot was peeking slightly out from under the blanket.
Taeho looked at her for a moment.
A steady sound of breathing slipped through her slightly parted lips. Perhaps because he was blinded by love, even her sleeping face was incomparably beautiful.
‘She must have been so tired yesterday.’
From the day after the wedding, there had been a long flight, the village welcoming event, and then last night’s banquet. There had been no time to rest. Besides, since drinking alcohol was forbidden for Muslims, Amira probably wasn’t used to such drinking gatherings. Even so, he remembered how Amira had kept smiling until the very end.
Taeho felt sorry toward his new bride.
The smell of alcohol on her husband all night must have been torture, yet she had still slept beside him.
Taeho carefully walked to the bathroom, leaned over the sink, and splashed cold water on his face. His mind cleared a little. When he looked in the mirror, his eyes were bloodshot and his face was swollen.
‘I’m a complete mess.’
As he came out, wiping his face with a towel, Amira was opening her eyes with a frown.
Burdened by guilt, Taeho smiled awkwardly.
“Amira, are you all right?”
“Habibi…”
Amira’s voice was weak. Unlike usual, it had no strength.
“My head hurts so much.”
“It hurts?”
Taeho immediately activated Bio Vision.
Bio Vision!
The moment he closed and opened his eyes, Amira’s body began to appear translucent. Beneath her skin, her blood vessels, muscles, and bones were clearly revealed. Her heart was beating regularly, and he could see her blood circulating throughout her body.
‘Check the pulse first.’
He moved his gaze toward her wrist. The radial artery was pulsing with a bluish glow.
Sixty-eight beats per minute.
Within the normal range.
Taeho’s gaze moved to her head.
Inside her skull, her brain was clearly visible. Cerebrum, cerebellum, brainstem. Every structure was normal. Her cerebral blood vessels were clean as well, with no signs of bleeding or tumors.
‘Thankfully, there’s nothing wrong with her brain. Then…’
He lowered his gaze toward her neck.
The muscles around her cervical spine were glowing red. The trapezius, the suboccipital muscles, the splenius capitis… The muscles at the back of her neck were excessively tense. The muscle fibers had bunched up and looked like small knots, and an inflammatory reaction was occurring in those areas.
It was a typical pattern in which muscle tension obstructed blood flow, causing pain-inducing substances to accumulate and trigger a headache.
‘Whew, it’s a tension headache!’
Taeho was relieved without realizing it.
“Your neck feels stiff, doesn’t it?”
“A little.”
“Any nausea?”
“No. It’s just my head.”
Taeho reached out and touched the back of her neck.
He examined her directly with his fingers while observing through Bio Vision. Wherever his fingertips touched, he could sense the state of her muscles even more clearly.
Between the second and third cervical vertebrae, the upper trapezius was especially stiff.
“It hurts when I press here, right?”
Taeho pressed precisely on that spot.
“Ah! Yes. It hurts!”
Amira grimaced.
Taeho smiled and said,
“You don’t have to worry. It’s a tension headache.”
“Tension?”
“It’s a headache that happens when the muscles in your neck and shoulders tense up because of stress or overwork.”
Taeho gently massaged the back of Amira’s neck as he spoke.
“You’ve been too tired these past few days. The wedding, the long-distance flight, yesterday’s welcoming event. Your body hasn’t been able to relax. The muscles at the back of your neck contracted too much, so your blood circulation isn’t good, and that’s why your head hurts.”
Taeho kissed her on the forehead and got up. He took a pill bottle out of the bag he carried with him and took out two white tablets.
“It’s acetaminophen. Take this and sleep a little more.”
Like an obedient child, Amira meekly took the medicine and put it in her mouth. When Taeho handed her a glass of water, she drank and swallowed the pills.
Taeho carefully lifted her head and adjusted the position of her pillow.
“This height is about right for the pillow. It puts less strain on your cervical spine.”
When Taeho looked after her so attentively, Amira smiled as if happy.
“I’m so glad my habibi is a doctor. …But are you going somewhere today?”
“I have a meeting at the research institute. You should sleep deeply, Amira. I’ll come back this evening and massage the back of your neck some more.”
As Taeho stood up, Amira held his hand.
“Don’t overdo it either, habibi.”
“Don’t worry.”
Taeho patted Amira’s hand and rose. He took a dress shirt and trousers out of the wardrobe and put them on. Looking in the mirror, his face was still swollen, but there was nothing he could do about it.
‘I’ve been away too long.’
While he had been in the UAE, he had completely let go of his work in Korea. Geumsan Clinic was being run by Vice Director Park Suhyeok, and Geumsan Samcheok Hospital by Vice Director Kim Byeongjo, the former hospital director.
He had received regular reports, but he needed to go and check in person.
Especially at Geumsan Research Institute.
Taeho tied his necktie and checked his watch.
8:10 a.m.
The research institute was twenty minutes away by car. He could arrive by nine.
When he looked at the bed, Amira had fallen deeply asleep again. Her breathing sounded comfortable.
Taeho quietly left the room.
***
“Director!”
A familiar voice came from the far end of the corridor.
When Taeho turned his head, a blonde woman was walking toward him with a bright smile.
“Sophie!”
Sophie Leclerc. Sophie, who had been a pharmacist and pharmaceutical researcher at Brest University Hospital in France, had officially joined Geumsan Research Institute.
“Congratulations on your marriage!”
Sophie opened both arms as if to hug him, then hesitated, perhaps conscious of Korean culture. Instead, she politely held out her hand.
“Ah, should I call you the princess’s husband now?”
When Sophie spoke with a hint of teasing, Taeho laughed cheerfully and shook her hand.
“Just call me Director. Sophie, how’s life in Korea? Are you adjusting well?”
“It’s better than I expected!”
Sophie’s eyes sparkled.
“The food is spicy but delicious, and the people are kind. Most of all, the research environment here is excellent.”
“And there’s Gihwan too?”
“I came because the research environment is good! Kiuwan is…”
“Hahaha. You’d better choose your words carefully. So Gihwan won’t feel hurt if he hears you.”
“Hears what?”
Gihwan’s voice came from behind them.
When the two turned around at the same time, Gihwan approached with a bright smile. He was holding two paper cups.
“Sophie! I bought coffee.”
“Thank you, Kiuwan. It’s a soy latte, right?”
“That’s right. You always drink that, Sophie.”
“How did you know?”
“Well, that’s…”
Taeho smiled as he watched the two of them flirt.
“Then let’s go to the conference room.”
When Taeho opened the conference room door, the key personnel of the institute had already gathered.
Everyone stood up and clapped.
“Director! Congratulations!”
“Congratulations on your marriage!”
“Director, the princess was truly beautiful!”
“I envy you, sincerely!”
Taeho smiled shyly and waved.
“Thank you, everyone. We have a lot to do today, so let’s begin the meeting.”
Everyone took their seats.
Taeho walked to the front of the conference room and turned on the screen. He picked up the remote and displayed the first slide.
“I have an important announcement for all of you today.”
The senior researchers and the new researchers all looked at Taeho.
Taeho moved to the next slide.
The conference room instantly fell silent.
Someone could be heard swallowing.
Gihwan was the first to speak.
“Um, Director… Is that five billion… dollars?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Taeho answered calmly.
“It is an investment we received from the UAE royal family. Funding for the future of Geumsan Research Institute.”
“My God…”
Dr. Park Sehui covered her gaping mouth.
Dr. Lee Dongjin took off his glasses, looked again, and asked,
“Director, five billion dollars is… several times the total investment in all bio ventures in our country, isn’t it?”
“To be exact, it’s 4.2 times. I calculated it.”
Taeho smiled.
The next few slides passed.
“Wait a moment.”
Dr. Jeong Minsu raised his hand.
“A supercomputer center? Ten thousand GPUs? That’s on the level of Big Tech companies like Google or Meta.”
“That’s right. We need to reach that level as well.”
“But…”
Dr. Jeong Minsu looked troubled.
“The power consumption alone will be enormous. With the cooling system, a dedicated building, and maintenance personnel, the annual operating cost alone will be tens of billions of won.”
“That is why an investment of this scale is necessary.”
Taeho spoke calmly and moved to the next slide.
“…BSL-4?”
Dr. Park Sehui asked with a look of shock.
“Director, there are fewer than fifty BSL-4 facilities in the entire world. Just getting construction approval takes years. And it requires a tremendous number of operating personnel.”
“I know.”
Taeho answered composedly.
“The permits can be expedited through diplomatic channels by the Amira Medical Foundation. As for personnel, we will scout from overseas while simultaneously training people internally.”
“But, Director…”
Dr. Lee Dongjin carefully cut in.
“Building just one BSL-4 laboratory costs two hundred million dollars. Three of them would be six hundred million dollars. And the annual operating costs alone will be several billion won each.”
“That’s correct.”
Taeho nodded and moved to the next slide.
Sophie blurted out something in French in surprise, then switched to English.
“Oh là là! An annual production of one billion doses? Th-that’s on the level of Pfizer or Moderna!”
“It has to be.”
Taeho spoke firmly.
“From now on, we must become a global bio company.”
“But…”
Even Gihwan spoke in a trembling voice.
“Realistically, operating production facilities on that scale would require thousands of employees. And even if we make vaccines, if we have nowhere to sell them, they’ll just pile up as inventory.”
“We do have places to sell them.”
Taeho continued flipping through the slides.
At last, when the slides ended, the conference room was as silent as death.
Everyone was staring blankly at the screen.
The one who broke the silence was Dr. Jeong Minsu, his voice trembling.
“Director, this… this is not a normal plan.”
“I agree.”
Dr. Lee Dongjin nodded.
“Expanding to an organization of fifteen hundred people? Three BSL-4 facilities? Annual production of one billion doses? This is on the level of Samsung Biologics or SK Bioscience.”
“Director.”
Dr. Park Sehui tapped on her laptop.
“I did a quick calculation. If we proceed according to this plan, total expenditures over three years will be about 2.5 trillion won. Including the initial five-billion-dollar investment. But the revenue we can generate over those three years, even under the most optimistic assumptions, will only be around five hundred billion won.”
“Then that’s a deficit of two trillion won.”
Dr. Jeong Minsu muttered.
“The company will go bankrupt.”
Sophie also cautiously raised her hand.
“Director, I don’t understand either. Even in Paris, I’ve never seen an investment on this scale. The Pasteur Institute was built over the course of a hundred years…”
The conference room stirred.
People exchanged glances. Everyone was thinking the same thing.
‘Has the Director lost his mind?’
‘Did something change after he got married?’
‘Did receiving five billion dollars all at once make him lose his judgment?’
Taeho felt their gazes.
Doubt, concern, and fear.
Taeho slowly opened his mouth.
“I fully understand your concerns. I know how reckless this plan looks. But I have a plan. What I can tell you for certain right now is that we don’t have much time.”