Chemistry

15. Old Steel – Great Line(3)

The next day.

Jeong-woo roughly unpacked his belongings in the Total Care Team’s lodgings and collapsed onto the bed. Perhaps due to pondering late into the night, his head felt somewhat heavy from the morning.

-This is an official matter now. Please stop creating a sleeping beauty until we find a solution.

Dr. Moon’s warning was already apparent. It had reached this point because of Jeong-woo’s indecisiveness and lukewarm attitude.

However, subtly or explicitly expressing her feelings, because of Yoon Yi-seol, Jeong-woo kept forgetting what the current situation was.

The desire neither to hurt nor to be hurt. Was this simply a thought born from a narrow mind?

“Ugh, why is this so difficult.”

Zing.

While tearing at his hair on the bed, Jeong-woo received a text from Team Leader Joo Hana.

[There’s a drone exercise, so come to this address by 9 AM.]

‘Drone?’

Walking into the parking lot, Jeong-woo’s expression was somewhat excited.

A total of 800 miles. To explore the section covering 1,280 kilometers, like walking across the Han River Bridge, it would probably take at least a year. One of the ways the Total Care Team chose to supplement that was through aerial reconnaissance for video analysis.

Catching deteriorated parts quickly with a real-time transmitted screen would be the most crucial key to gauging the success or failure of this task. Jeong-woo was fully aware of this, as there was a five-thousand-dollar deposit riding on his shoulders.

‘Where is she?’

Turning his head, he spotted a van with the Yujin Chemicals logo. It seemed that Shin Seong-beom from the Mechanical Team was taking a black case out of the trunk.

“Director Shin, good morning.”

“Oh, Jeong-woo.”

“I’ll help.”

They both lifted the case and placed it on the ground.

“Where’s Team Leader Joo?”

“She’s in the warehouse office.”

“Why didn’t she come?”

“We can handle it to some extent. The team leader instructed me to help you with the practice.”

Jeong-woo’s eyes widened.

“Do I operate this too?”

“Since you’ll be in charge of the ground pipeline, it’s better for you to get familiar with it. It has AI correction, so the operation isn’t too difficult.”

“I see.”

Inside the open case, a solid drone body weighing 6.95 kg was revealed. Seong-beom took the drone out into an empty area and smoothly attached the propellers.

“It looks expensive.”

“This is used for bridge inspection domestically. The one currently in Alaska is a special model for the polar region.”

The size of the main body, labeled ‘X900,’ was about 1 meter. Jeong-woo’s fantasy about flying remote-controlled airplanes flickered.

“Sir, are you flying a plane?”

“Wow, look at that huge thing.”

Two little kids riding scooters approached the X900, which looked like a transforming robot, and started watching with amazed expressions.

“Stay a few steps back; the wind is strong.”

As Seong-beom warned them, the kids stepped back, marveling at the sight.

“Jeong-woo, this is the controller.”

Jeong-woo received the controller with a touch screen and was bewildered by the unfamiliar buttons.

“It’s my first time with a drone.”

“Set waypoints on the linked map, and when you press this button, it’ll automatically fly. The controller displays the video, but the connected monitor allows for more detailed confirmation.”

Listening to the explanation about analyzing the altitude and position of ground objects precisely with dual GNSS, Jeong-woo set a nearby section and pressed the button.

Buzzzz—

The four propellers rotated heavily as the drone lifted slightly. The landing gear folded, and the drone slowly rose into the air. Jeong-woo was amazed by the drone’s magnificence.

“Wow.”

Instinctively, Jeong-woo pushed the left stick upward. The sight of the drone rapidly soaring to an altitude of 50 meters delighted the kids who cheered while looking at the sky.

“It’s flying!”

The drone leisurely roamed around the parking lot, following the predetermined path. Due to its stable movement, there was no need for additional manipulation.

“Sir, can it shoot missiles?”

“Shoot them fast!”

The kids gathered around Jeong-woo, bombarding him with various questions and requests, envy written all over their faces.

Jeong-woo, not accustomed to the somewhat shaky controls with even a slight touch of the stick, shook his head.

“Sorry, I’m a novice at drones.”

“Aw.”

Seeing the disappointed expressions of the kids, Jeong-woo forced a bitter smile.

“It’s fun, but it’ll take a while to get used to it.”

For a while, he absentmindedly stared at the sky, trying to familiarize himself with manual control. The kids soon lost interest and rode their scooters, disappearing into the distance.

“The connected screen looks like this.”

Seong-beom placed a laptop on top of the case.

Jeong-woo’s attention, which had been focused on piloting while looking at the sky, returned to the monitor.

“We installed a 16x zoom optical camera. You can control the direction and zoom with this switch.”

Following the explanation, Jeong-woo zoomed in on the drainage pipe under the bridge.

‘Oh, this should make verification easy enough.’

Jeong-woo quickly examined the surface of the pipe on the monitor through the molecular view.

“The paint has been applied for over a year. This part looks like it could corrode severely within a month, and the connection socket here has been corroded for a while.”

Watching the monitor together, Seong-beom raised his eyebrows.

“Huh? This socket? Oh, we passed it.”

As the screen shifted to the adjacent pipe, Seong-beom scratched his head.

“Haha, I’m not sure. Wait, let me rewind it.”

The recording screen went back ten seconds.

“Here and here.”

Jeong-woo pointed out the discovered areas one by one. Seong-beom, who was watching the monitor with him, shook his head in surprise.

“It’s indeed suspicious regarding the corrosion risk. I should send this video to the Incheon city side. Huh, you noticed in just a few seconds. I can now understand why Team Leader Joo was so insistent.”

“Can you teach me how to adjust the flight speed?”

“Push the pitch all the way forward. If you think it’s moving faster than expected, lower the sensitivity setting.”

Listening to the explanation to familiarize himself with manual control, Jeong-woo focused on the controller. Suddenly, the scenery of the street on the monitor caught his eye.

Under the spring sunlight, people enjoying walks and jogs on the morning bicycle path were captured by the drone’s camera. Due to the warm weather, everyone was dressed in light attire.

‘Aerial shots are nothing special, but they turn out like artwork… Oh?’

On the other side of the bicycle path, a familiar foreign woman was seen riding a longboard.

Her lightweight attire made her stand out even in the crowd.

In the screen, Kaya waved at the drone.

Wearing an action cam on her left wrist and wireless headphones on her head, Kaya passed through the bicycle path with the aura of a model showcasing the two products. The kids on scooters, who had passed her, also showed surprised expressions with wide-open mouths.

“This young lady is a YouTube star.”

Seong-beom pointed at Kaya on the monitor.

“They say she gets a lot of views with just one video. She mentioned doing a personal shoot in Alaska this time.”

“Really?”

Despite the mention of a famous figure posting extreme sports activities on video-sharing sites, Jeong-woo wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, he also managed a channel with nearly 150,000 subscribers.

As the test flight concluded, the drone descended and arrived at the parking lot.

At the same time, Kaya also turned her board towards the parking lot and entered.

“Hi guys.”

With a stylish turn, the longboard came to a halt with a clunk.

In response to Kaya’s greeting, Seong-beom, pointing towards her on the monitor, had a somewhat absent-minded expression. Even Jeong-woo, who was putting down the controller, had to inwardly sigh at her sensual figure that had come so close.

‘No, Jeong-woo. She’s just a girl. She’s underage.’

With her headset lowered around her neck, Kaya turned her gaze toward Jeong-woo.

『Is that X900 yours?』

『Uh… yes.』

Jeong-woo, hearing a faint melody from Kaya’s headset as she approached, raised his eyebrows. It was a Korean song, specifically Yoon Yi-seol’s latest release.

Memories of the background and confession behind this song came to mind, and while shaking his head, Jeong-woo was slightly amused. Yet, when Kaya spoke, he paid attention.

『The rotation looked very unstable, especially the ‘ROLL’ axis.』

『It’s my first time trying it today.』

『No wonder. That model can simulate if you connect it to an app, so practice diligently.』

Kaya seemed very familiar with drone filming like this. Jeong-woo, recalling Seong-beom’s words, asked her.

『Kaya, were you working on a video for your YouTube channel with the action cam?』

『I shoot it whenever I have a chance. The editor polishes it up.』

At the mention of a separate editor, Jeong-woo sneakily asked.

『How many subscribers does your channel have?』

『Well, about three million?』

‘What?’

Jeong-woo fell silent at Kaya’s response, who possessed a vastly different number of subscribers. He thought he should avoid mentioning “Channel Chemistry” as much as possible in front of her.

“Oh, Jeong-woo.”

Seong-beom turned his head towards Jeong-woo and flicked his fingers.

“Don’t you also have a YouTube channel…”

“Uh, shall we have our second practice?”

The cold adaptation training session began at 1 PM.

『Just like yesterday, use every method available to endure.』

Wolf shouted as he looked around at the people standing in the middle of the refrigerated warehouse.

『30 minutes. Start!』

The warehouse door closed, and the industrial fan started operating.

Having experienced it once before, everyone swiftly began putting on their clothes. However, screams erupted from various places as they hadn’t fully adapted to the cold.

Kaya glanced at Jeong-woo.

Today, she took out the survival kit from the bag. The tool explanation was done, and it was judged that there was a need for cold resistance training. Naturally, she expected that the miraculous results of last time wouldn’t be repeated, so she anticipated the contemplative expression on his face.

However, Jeong-woo was sitting on the warehouse floor with a nonchalant expression. Perplexed, Kaya focused her gaze on him, and her expression changed.

He was crumpling the clothes given to wear under the insulation suit in his hands.

『What, what are you doing?』

In response to Kaya’s question, Jeong-woo pointed to one side of the ceiling.

『There’s an infrared light here.』

『What?』

『The fabric of these inner clothes uses a heating material that amplifies infrared. By mixing it with the capsaicin component in bear spray and continuously storing the friction heat… Oh, wait a moment.』

From the innerwear he had been fiddling with for a long time, a pungent scent of peppers wafted, making Kaya wrinkle her nose.

“Team Leader!”

Today as well, Jeong-woo draped a fiber bundle around Joo Hana, who was wearing layered thermal suits.

“Oh? It’s warm.”

“Take it off and press it against your back tightly if you start feeling cold.”

Seated again, Jeong-woo resumed speaking.

『Where were we? Anyway, although the smell might be a bit strong, this is a heat storage material called ‘Tempil.’』

『What is that…?』

Kaya lost her words.

Assistant Manager Min, from the maintenance team, ran to Jeong-woo’s side.

“Please me too… just spraying bear spray is enough?”

“It’s not something you should blindly imitate. I’ll handle the combination, so you just apply it yourself.”

Wi Ji-seong, who had been trembling, approached Jeong-woo like lightning.

“Mr. Han Jeong-woo”

“You too, sir? If you need it the inner set is insufficient, take it out of your bag.”

The refrigerated warehouse was instantly covered in the heated enthusiasm of those working to create heat-retaining innerwear and the sharp fragrance of bear spray.

Kaya, with a bewildered expression, turned her head towards Wolf. After shrugging his shoulders, Wolf pronounced the word ‘asians’ and smiled.

Second training session.

『Bear spray is confiscated.』

“Hey, Kaya. Where does it say you can do that!”

“You set up two industrial fans. How do you expect us to endure!”

In response to people’s complaints, Kaya responded calmly.

『After all, it’s a liquid that cannot be brought on board an aircraft. You’ll have to buy it locally.』

After the ruthless measure, the door of the refrigerated warehouse closed.

Wooong!

At the moment when two fans spewed icy winds, Jeong-woo raised his hand confidently.

『Instructor Wolf. I have this inside my bag. Can I use it now? It looks expensive.』

Holding a mountain-sized hand warmer, Jeong-woo looked apologetic. Wolf chuckled in response.

『It doesn’t matter, but that’s something you put in your sleeping bag to use while sleeping. It’s effective when there’s enough heat.』

『Then let me see how long it lasts at minus 30 degrees celsius.』

The sound was strange, but Kaya didn’t notice the hint.

『Engage!』

Minus 30 degrees celsius.

In an environment with a strong wind, people’s expressions turned as if they were about to die.

『Stick together!』

As the training reached the point where they had to endure by gathering in a circular formation to block the wind, Kaya finally wore a satisfied smile.

In the extreme conditions where the only support was each other’s warmth, this time she thought it was a proper endurance training.

Jeong-woo, shaking a hand warmer in his hand, dropped it in the middle of the group.

“Huh? What kind of warmth is this?”

Shivering, Shin Seong-beom lifted his lowered head. Then, he discovered his colleagues looking around with the same surprised expression.

“Don’t be surprised. Finnish hand warmers are effective, but the forced reaction only lasts for five minutes.”

Kaya looked at the hand warmer emitting heat incomparable to the tin can and then turned her gaze to Jeong-woo.

With the warmth brought by the five minutes he created, they easily endured the remaining 20 minutes.

Third training session.

『Engage!』

Taking out flashbangs and glow sticks from his bag, Jeong-woo tore their surfaces with a pocket knife and laid them on the ground.

“Jeong-woo, what is that…?”

“If you combine this explosive, it will generate heat even in the cold.”

The expression on Kaya’s face, looking at Jeong-woo, gradually turned into astonishment.

Fourth.

Sharpening the handle of a folding shovel with a pocket knife, creating metal dust, Jeong-woo, observed closely by Kaya, asked.

『What are you doing, Mr. Han?』

『If you mix only salt here, it becomes a natural hand warmer. Interesting, right? And easy.』

『Ah, I see.』

Thud!

Jeong-woo stood alone outside the tightly closed door of the refrigerated warehouse.

All he had done was follow Wolf’s instructions to survive by doing whatever he could, but Kaya had angrily kicked him out.

Four days later.

A long line of people carrying sizable bags filed into the Incheon Airport gate.

At the forefront of those dressed as if it were midsummer, despite the chilly weather that was not suitable for short sleeves, was Yoon Jaegil, the only one wearing a suit.

“Everyone, you’ve worked hard during the training. We’ll be departing in three hours, so brace yourselves. ‘Wolf, please keep our team members safe.’”

Yoon Jaegil’s words, wishing for the safe return of the Total Care Team, were met with a nod and a smile from Wolf, revealing his healthy, tan skin.

“Jeong-woo.”

In the midst of people moving toward the airline counter for check-in, Yoon Jaegil called Jeong-woo to stand beside him.

“It’s going to be a challenging journey.”

“I’m prepared for it.”

“Not only the environment but also severe opposition from the officials of the company managing the pipeline. If the moment of decision comes, boldly take action. Team Leader Joo Hana will also actively follow your opinions.”

Yoon Jaegil firmly grasped Jeong-woo’s hand and shook it.

“The success or failure of this mission depends solely on Han Jeong-woo.”

“I’ll do my best.”

-Ladies and gentlemen, hello. This is Korean Air flight KE010 bound for Seattle.

As the in-flight announcement echoed, Wolf fastened his seatbelt and turned to look at Kaya. Watching Kaya adjusting her action cam on her wrist, Wolf clicked his tongue.

『You’re filming again?』

『Do you know that I make much more profit from this channel than from the academy sponsorships?』

『Kaya.』

Wolf sighed briefly and spoke.

『I warned you about bringing the logic of capital into the survival field. Eventually, to get one more thumbs up, you’ll have to find more provocative places. I’ve seen many survival experts ruin themselves like that.』

『Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. Fortunately, my popularity has more to do that I look like my mother than extreme wilderness exploration.』

Seeing Kaya smiling, Wolf momentarily wore a proud fatherly smile. The lens of the action cam she was filming with pointed towards a young man loading luggage onto a shelf near the entrance.

『Now, what about that guy, Dad?』

『Why? He’s been training properly since Wednesday.』

『Did you hear about him disassembling a smoke grenade to make a portable heater?』

『Haha. That was really funny. He’s an amusing friend.』

As Wolf and the young man’s eyes met, the young man lowered his head and exchanged a nod. Accepting it, Wolf continued.

『Mr. Yoon, the employer, says this young man made significant contributions at disaster sites in Korea.』

『Disaster sites? He’s just a company employee.』

『I don’t know. Oh, by the way, I heard there are videos of him on YouTube.』

A request to turn off mobile phones was announced, and Kaya, without being able to search for them, pressed the end button.

Seated, just before turning off his phone, Jeong-woo noticed a blinking message. It was from Yoon Yi-seol. Jeong-woo hesitated about opening it, but realized it would shake him if he did.

‘See you in a month.’

Perhaps during this time of contemplation, he might find the best answer.

As the in-flight announcement ended, the plane began to move.

Via Seattle, they were en route to Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, and from there to the town of Deadhorse, where the first oil pipeline base was located.

The grand journey had begun.

「Mile 0」 – Minus 26 degrees Celsius, Prudhoe Bay

The bulging mountains and sunken valleys were all filled with snow. In the distance, the vast black sea of Prudhoe Bay, meeting the clear sky at the end, was captivating enough to catch everyone’s gaze.

Inside the 18-seater small plane, which was crossing over the mountain range with a cheerful engine sound, Jeong-woo couldn’t help but marvel at the Alaskan landscape.

-We will soon arrive at Deadhorse airport.

Along with the pilot’s voice, the plane’s altitude gradually decreased. The petroleum base of Prudhoe Bay, with its bustling oil trucks, came into Jeong-woo’s view.

‘It’s like an industrial complex in the middle of the Arctic.’

The plane, with a rough descent, landed on the runway.

To commemorate this historic moment of stepping into the Arctic town for the first time, Jeong-woo, bracing himself, opened his mouth.

“Hello, Alaska…!”

However, as soon as the door opened, a fierce wind rushed in, and his teeth clashed sweetly, leaving him speechless.

“Oof, what the heck!”

“The cold is no joke.”

Rising from his seat amidst the screams of the people, Wolf, checking the wrist thermometer, asked.

『Minus 26 degrees. What should we do?』

Only then, amidst the people who were putting on their winter clothes while looking for their bags, Jeong-woo, too, awkwardly put on his clothes. Wearing a hat and tightening his coat collar, he got off the plane.

Whoo-!

The first greeting that Alaska extended to the group was an enormous cold that felt like it could freeze one’s lungs.

Jeong-woo, huddling his body, lost his words in the biting wind, as if saying, “Welcome, it’s the first time in a weather like this, isn’t it?”

‘We have to stay here at least three weeks, right?’

The road ahead went black.