Chemistry

14. Weekly Chemistry(3)

《Chaffrin 3-Minute CF 1-4, Confession with Fragrance》

-Action!

Yoon Yi-seol, peeking out from the door of the company library, turned her attention to Jeong-woo, who was searching for materials between the shelves.

Her trembling gaze looking at Jeong-woo was perfectly captured by the camera.

-It’s very emotional now.

While watching, Yoon Yi-seol was surprised to see another woman approaching Jeong-woo and speaking to him confidently.

She, who was about to follow them, checked the smell of the gown she was wearing and was startled.

“I can smell the stew I had for lunch.”

She returned to the lab, grabbed a spray labeled ‘Chaffrin,’ and lightly sprayed it on her clothes.

She sprinted through the hallway and returned to the library.

“Excuse me!”

Yoon Yi-seol stood in front of Jeong-woo, who was reading a book. The wind from the fan gently tousled her hair.

The entire scene was filled with the atmosphere of Chaffrin’s fragrance.

“This is…”

“Yes, that fragrance. Senior made it the day you were coming.”

-And the fragrance that made me fall for you.

As the voice-over line ended, Yoon Yi-seol hurriedly said.

“I like it.”

“Chaffrin? I like that fragrance too.”

“No.”

Yoon Yi-seol sat next to Jeong-woo.

The two gazes intertwined affectionately…

-Cut! Yi-seol, how can your acting be so lovely? Now, let’s have a close-up of the scene where both of you are looking at each other.

‘Phew.’

Jeong-woo, after hearing the words “I like it”, saw his heart rate spike and finally felt relief as it settled down. [139 BPM] It was a close call.

After the makeup staff came to touch up his face and left, the scene of them sitting face to face at the library table began filming.

-Gently, please.

At the director’s request, Jeong-woo felt a sense of crisis approaching. Sitting quietly, making eye contact with someone who likes him felt like a form of torture in some aspects.

-Ready, action!

In the space where nothing was heard except the whirring of the camera, and all the staff held their breath not to disturb the emotions.

-Good, good. Keep looking at each other for another 10 seconds.

Her gaze was intriguing. How could she capture the trembling and poignant emotions so genuinely?

Jeong-woo felt a sense of urgency. Considering that this was only the early stages of filming, there was still a long way to go.

‘Jeong-woo. This is acting. It’s not real. But why does Yi-seol seem so genuine? No, don’t be deceived. She’s a veteran who has shot multiple music videos.’

Amidst countless thoughts, as he tried to calm his heart at that moment.

Suddenly, a hand emerged from under the table and gently covered Jeong-woo’s hand, even going so far as to hold his finger. In Yoon Yi-seol’s gaze, casually looking as if nothing happened, Jeong-woo was caught off guard.

The warmth of the hand. An unexpected physical contact.

His heart surged more than ever.

-Jeong-woo, your expression is perfect now! Ah, you could be an actor.

‘It’s only natural.’

Because this emotion is genuine.

Cut, the sound reached him, and he reflexively checked his heart rate.

[143 BPM]

One more hurdle, and it would be her victory.

《Chaffrin 3-Minute CF 2-3 Fragrance date》

On a sunny spring evening at Yeouido Park.

-Now, we’ll shoot the scene of you two having a natural conversation from a distance. Rolling, action!

Jeong-woo and Yoon Yi-seol sat on a bench, looking at the camera about 30 meters away.

“In scenes like this where there’s no given dialogue, what do you usually talk about?”

“Just casual chatter, or sometimes we play word games when there’s nothing specific to say.”

“I see.”

Yoon Yi-seol glanced briefly at Jeong-woo’s wrist.

“You’re holding up better than I thought.”

Since the surprise attack at the library, Jeong-woo had been demonstrating superhuman patience, keeping his heart rate below 130.

“Now, holding hands is something I’ve gotten used to.”

“Let me see your hand. Let’s check if it’s really become familiar.”

“Just play along with word games. It seems fair that way.”

At Jeong-woo’s stepping back, Yoon Yi-seol burst into laughter.

“Give it a try.”

“Should I go first? Polymer.”

“Oh, freedom?”

“Europium.”

“Pium? Don’t talk about nonexistent words.”

“Atomic number 63. There’s an element named after the European continent.”

“Wow, really?”

Continuing the word game, from ‘man’ to ‘iridium,’ ‘monthly rent’ to ‘cesium,’ ‘Andante’ to ‘technetium,’ when Yoon Yi-seol heard ‘technetium,’ she opened her eyes wide and looked at Jeong-woo.

“Ugh, I’m frustrated. I’m not just losing.”

“These are the only familiar words I have.”

“Curse you, science.”

The camera captured the two of them naturally chatting and exchanging words like a couple in love, creating a pleasant atmosphere.

-Cut! The atmosphere is great!

《Chaffrin 3-Minute CF 2-5 Fragrance memory》

The final scene of the 3-minute story ad.

Jeong-woo faced challenges from the rehearsal onwards.

-After the dialogue, we’ll zoom in. Since Yi-seol’s face may be covered by Jeong-woo’s back, please be careful with the angles when hugging.

“Ah, yes.”

Jeong-woo’s decision, thinking that he only needed to embrace her once, completely clashed with reality as he found himself closely attached to Yoon Yi-seol for the tenth minute for camera tracking.

-Camera 2. Try capturing it with a burst shot. Yi-seol, would you tilt your head to the side?

“Like this?”

The preparations needed for a beautiful scene were somewhat analogous to experimenting with numerous compounds and catalysts for a single successful combination.

“Yi-seol.”

“Yes?”

“I’ve had this question since the first shoot.”

Jeong-woo asked Yoon Yi-seol, who stood there with a constant smile.

“Why are there so many gods of dating in this story ad?”

“I wouldn’t know. I’m not an ad planner.”

“Really?”

Yoon Yi-seol’s cheeky smile appeared. She grabbed Jeong-woo’s left hand, which was casually wrapped around her back, and pulled it forward. Confirming that his heart rate had surpassed 120 after looking at his wristwatch, she said.

“It’s risky. I was going easy on you.”

A sweet compromise. It seemed like she thought she had already won.

“If you’re going easy on me… Just doing that next week is enough, right?”

“Ah, if it’s the same as before, I’ll be at a loss. At least, you have to do this much…”

Yoon Yi-seol puckered her lips towards Jeong-woo. In a split second, his heart rate skyrocketed to 137.

“I didn’t know you were such a mischievous person, Yi-seol.”

“You don’t know who made me like this.”

-Entering the shoot. Standby!

Jeong-woo and Yoon Yi-seol stepped apart.

‘This won’t do.’

His heart rate had already shot up. If they had to hug for real with the dialogue during the shoot, not only would it exceed 140 due to the aftermath of that physical contact, but it might even reach a dangerous 150.

In the midst of his helplessness, the camera started rolling.

-Ready, action!

Under the cherry blossom tree where petals fluttered down, the two started walking side by side. Yoon Yi-seol began her lines.

“Do you remember?”

“What?”

Suddenly, she made a fist. Although this action wasn’t in the continuity, it was within the predicted range.

“The day you shyly confessed, the exciting fragrance.”

Thanks to Chaffrin’s ad line being whispered like lyrics, Jeong-woo suffered a serious heart attack.

With a bright eye smile, she approached even more.

“I like you.”

“Me?”

“No, your fragrance.”

Yoon Yi-seol pretended to smell Jeong-woo’s clothes, even though this was part of the ad scene, not a music video. It was beautiful nonetheless.

Now, the embrace was about to begin.

If things continued like this, her intentions would succeed splendidly.

Amidst his embrace, Jeong-woo hugged Yoon Yi-seol at an angle that showed her face clearly to the camera.

‘Uh-oh, this is bad. Let’s be careful not to exceed 150.’

With a resigned sigh, he blinked for a moment.

Jeong-woo noticed an unusual wave emanating from his wristwatch.

The 2.45GHz microwave wireless frequency spectrum. It was connected to Yoon Yi-seol’s phone in her pocket.

When he turned his gaze forward, he saw a similar ashen residue filling the entire sky.

The fact that only one type of wavelength was clearly distinguished meant another possibility for Jeong-woo.

‘No way.’

He gathered stardust in his left hand. Adding energy from the watch’s battery, he threw the stardust into the frequency emanating from Yoon Yi-seol’s pocket.

Thud, the connection between Yoon Yi-seol’s phone and the waves was severed.

‘Whoa.’

In the meantime, Yoon Yi-seol, who was tightly embraced, felt her body temperature clearly, and Jeong-woo’s heart thumped wildly.

Yoon Yi-seol quietly pressed her ear against Jeong-woo’s chest, smiling with the look of victory.

-Cut! That was great!

“It’s unbelievable.”

“What’s wrong?”

Yoon Yi-seol, sitting in the back seat of the van, wore an expression of disbelief as she checked her phone records.

Looking at the graph that showed her heart rate didn’t exceed 130 during the final embrace scene, she was at a loss for words.

“Look at this. The readings are strange.”

She extended her phone towards Jeong-woo in the adjacent seat. Jeong-woo pretended to examine it closely and replied.

“I practiced for 10 minutes before that, so maybe that’s why.”

“Lies. I heard your heart pounding loudly. It was so intense that even I was surprised.”

“Machines don’t lie.”

While Jeong-woo dismissed it with a nonchalant tone, he was secretly astonished. At the moment when the actual readings would undoubtedly have exceeded 150, no information was recorded due to the blocking of data heading towards that phone.

Since the smartwatch itself didn’t store the readings, it unintentionally became a perfect alibi.

Although it stung a bit, he had no intention of refusing this absurd bet at the time.

‘Hmm, I almost ended up dating… Wait? This isn’t what’s important.’

He hadn’t considered issues like side effects of the medicine or uncertain futures.

Jeong-woo was shocked as if he had received a blow to the back of his head. Yoon Yi-seol’s spell was truly excellent at paralyzing rational thought.

“This shouldn’t happen. I even cleared a whole day next week forcibly…”

Seeing Yoon Yi-seol murmur with a teary expression made Jeong-woo’s heart soften.

“When will you take a break?”

“It’s okay. I don’t like sympathy.”

“Well, if you were going to make a checklist, I was planning to do it together. Since returning from Goseong, my sleep cycle has been a bit unstable.”

Yoon Yi-seol, who had been sulking, snapped her head up.

“Monday, Wednesday, Friday.”

“…I thought you only managed one day off?”

“Ah, ah. Can you hear me?”

Jeong-woo extended his phone forward, facing the screen directly. Reflected in the camera were his own face and the rapidly scrolling chat messages below.

[It’s Han Jeong-woo.] [Surprise streaming!!] [Hey, where are you? Broadcasting station?] [Jeong-woo, I enjoyed the video!] [Hey, this guy. Were you always this handsome?]

…

With dozens of sentences passing by without pause, it was challenging to keep up, let alone read them properly. Jeong-woo started with the prepared comments.

“It’s past 10 PM, and over two thousand people have gathered. Thank you all. I’m here at the Chaffrin ad filming set in Paju. I turned on the broadcast during a short break.”

[Congratulations on trending #1~ I searched you right away.]

“I was surprised too, and I searched dozens of times.”

To a casual chat comment, Jeong-woo smiled and replied. Soon, a reaction like [kukuku] followed.

[The thing you dropped from a helicopter in Goseong. Is that a military bomb?]

“My friend also misunderstood. It’s just a chemical reaction. Some of the chemicals are instantly completely burned to create water, and then a catalyst is added to use it as a coolant. It’s a loud reaction due to the uneven condensation of heat…”

[So, it’s like a bomb.] [Explaining it is so sexy. Jeong-woo oppa~♡] [What’s a catalyst?]

Since most people either didn’t understand or didn’t care, Jeong-woo summarized briefly.

“Not a bomb but a flame retardant.”

As the chat speed became familiar, Jeong-woo continued the conversation without hesitation.

[Mom says keeping batteries in the refrigerator makes them last longer. Is that a superstition?]

“Not a superstition, but all batteries slowly lose their charge over time. However, don’t put things like a mobile phone battery in it. Nickel-metal hydride, zinc-carbon, or alkaline-manganese batteries are better stored at low temperatures.”

[Post-its don’t get sticky like glue on your hands, but why do they keep sticking?]

“It’s because the pressure-sensitive polymer microcapsules are much larger than the adhesive in glue. This is a patented product of that company, and I’ll refrain from commenting on the more detailed principles.”

Those who asked about chemical curiosity were the most numerous.

[Do you have a girlfriend? When was your first kiss? What’s your ideal type?]

“Secret.”

[Chicken breast or thigh? Seasoned or fried? Black bean noodles or spicy seafood noodle soup?]

“teo3461-nim, do you like your mom’s cooking or dad’s?”

Then came those who asked about personal preferences.

[Dance for us!]

“If I do that, I’ll lose a thousand subscribers.”

[Can you set off fireworks again like you did at Yoon Yi-seol’s performance?]

“You’ll have yo go to a show to see that. My friend Soo-chan, who appeared as the snow removal captain, is in charge of that now.”

Those who just ordered anything came next.

A communication broadcast, which seemed to last for an unknown amount of time, continued for about 30 minutes.

“Mr. Jeong-woo, we’ll start shooting in 5 minutes.”

Jeong-woo turned his head at the staff’s voice.

“I probably should go now. We need to film the scene where the product is used. Since I’ll be broadcasting occasionally in the future, please continue to love the channel Chemistry.”

Finishing the prepared closing statement, he waved his hand on the screen. Chat messages like [See you again!] and [Good luck with the CF!] continued to scroll.

A communication broadcast tried as an experiment.

Jeong-woo couldn’t help but nod at Shin Ki-joon’s words that it wouldn’t be as difficult as he thought.

The next day.

“Director, there’s an unexpected visitor waiting in the lobby.”

Songu pressed the button in response to the secretary’s call and asked.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Yoon Jaegil.”

Pushing up the glasses hanging on the tip of his nose, Songu grinned. It was an unexpected visitor on a Friday morning.

“Let him in, and bring the documents I’m currently printing.”

A little later.

A man in his mid-forties, dressed in a sophisticated suit, entered the director’s office.

“Long time no see, Director Songu. It’s been since last year’s Industrial Research Institute conference, hasn’t it?”

“It seems so. Would you like some coffee?”

“Thank you.”

As Yoon Jaegil sat on the sofa, he immediately brought up the matter.

“The proposal I gave you last time. I know you’re still reviewing it, but we need to send the confirmed list to TAPS as soon as possible. If you have additional conditions, we’ll do our best to accommodate them.”

“Total care for the Song Yu-gwan project, you’re preparing for a significant challenge.”

“You’re exaggerating. Director, I earnestly request your assistance in having the necessary talents for this challenge.”

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

Yoon Jaegil strongly wished for Han Jeong-woo to join the bidding competition for Yujin Chemical’s project, aiming for the largest metal facility in the northern hemisphere located in Alaska.

“I know Director Yoon has some great ideas, but…”

The conversation paused due to the secretary who brought the coffee. Songu observed Yoon Jaegil and then spoke.

“It’s going to be a month-long assignment, this is not only my decision but also the decision of Researcher Han Jeong-woo. Assuming that Researcher Han Jeong-woo approves, I am likely to accept these conditions and allow the assignment.”

A document was exchanged on the table. Yoon Jaegil read the document and chuckled.

“It gives me chills to think you’ve been considering this.”

“So, what do you think?”

“We should do it.”

Yoon Jaegil, who gave a firm answer, extended his hand.

“One month with Han Jeong-woo. Yujin Chemical will secure it at any cost, even if we have to make a deal.”

Code: AF-5

Case: Radio Wave Blocking

Research: By resonating free electrons tuned to a specific frequency range, the transmission capacity is nullified, blocking the reception of radio waves.