Chemistry

3. Old steel(2)

“Oh, who’s that person?”

“Is it a new recruit, Joongyeon?”

Seated on a resting chair in the hallway, tapping away at his laptop keyboard, Jeong-woo smiled and exchanged nods with passing researchers from other departments who gave him odd looks.

‘Don’t mind them, just keep walking.’

He occupied one outlet next to a vending machine and continued working on his old laptop. It was embarrassing, but it was better than just sitting idly in the new employee office. During the day, he couldn’t even use Dr. Cheon’s research lab.

Jeong-woo glanced towards the end of the hallway where the new employee office was located. No senior researcher who had come to summon the new employees was around in the morning.

‘I have nothing to do, so I have this much free time.’

He focused again and continued working. From Monday night to yesterday, Jeong-woo had been organizing the data necessary for Dr. Cheon’s research during his free time.

Following Dr. Cheon’s instructions, he planned to start with research that could quickly gain recognition. The planning evaluation for next week would be the starting point.

Tap tap tap.

As he was writing his presentation draft, someone’s head suddenly popped up behind him.

“What are you doing?”

Jeong-woo was startled. The round eyes of his self-proclaimed rival, Song Boyeong, which he had almost never met during his commute on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, were looking at him just an arm’s length away.

“Oh, composite material? Are you aiming for the Basic Material Center project?”

Song Boyeong closely scrutinized the data on Jeong-woo’s laptop screen. He moved back slightly, feeling her white cheek was too close, and replied.

“I’m still considering it.”

“How about giving my opinion as last year’s first place?”

Her large eyes without double eyelids were still overflowing with vitality.

“I’ll gladly take it if it’s free.”

“Let’s just pretend that was never said.”

Jeong-woo’s cheek smoothly touched hers as she sent him a warm smile. Looking at her sending him a gentle smile, Jeong-woo couldn’t help but feel his heart racing instinctively.

‘Pull yourself together. That smile is not a friendly one, it’s a sly one.’

Reminding himself that he would become very annoyed if he was carried away by Song Boyeong’s enthusiasm, Jeong-woo closed his laptop.

“Did you come to have coffee from the vending machine?”

“No, thank you.”

Jeong-woo gave a questioning look, wondering what was going on. Song Boyeong, who was hopping forward, smiled and said,

“I’m grabbing my luggage because I have somewhere to go.”

“Where to?”

“A good place.”

“Just for seniors?”

Song Boyeong’s expression looked as if she was about to shout out the answer. I thought that maybe, as the youngest researcher in Lab 1, she might have a hands-on role.

‘I wonder how could I slip by unnoticed.’

Jeong-woo pulled out the laptop cord next to the vending machine and put it in his bag. Song Boyeong, who had been watching silently, opened her mouth as if disappointed.

“Do they still discriminate against parachute hires? Should I say something?”

“Please don’t misunderstand. I just left because the public office because it was uncomfortable.”

“Ugh. I feel like I have to say something.”

Song Boyeong walked towards the public office.

“It’s okay, really!”

Jeong-woo put his bag on his shoulder and quickly followed. After all, the problem of being left behind had to be solved by oneself for a neat solution.

“Senior…”

“Juniors!”

Before he could stop her, Song Boyeong shouted inside towards the corridor.

“I’m being sent to a seminar event at the City Hall and I’m looking for someone to go with me. Does anyone want to come?”

‘What?’

Jeong-woo realized he had been fooled and stood still.

‘Don’t interfere. This senior’s pace is not in the realm of normal.’

Even with Song Boyeong’s call, the public office was quiet. Everyone seemed to be watching out of the corner of their eyes, as no one had been specifically called.

“It seems like everyone is busy.”

Those who were busy with their planning and evaluation preparations were in front of them. It was understandable that they didn’t want to do any assistant work until next week.

Sensing the mood, Song Boyeong spoke up loudly as she passed by.

“I was going to share the know-how of last year’s top planning evaluation on the way, but I guess it’s not needed.”

The new hires all nodded their heads at her words.

“But you still don’t know. Alright, first come, first serve! One, two….”

Song Boyeong counted with intensity and the six new hires jumped up and rushed forward. After a physical struggle, Bae Ki-tae emerged victorious and raised his hand.

“I’m first place!”

“Okay, the rest are eliminated.”

Bae Ki-tae let out a cry of triumph and danced for his fellow colleagues.

“Senior, can’t we have one more person?”

“Only up to third place!”

Watching the chaotic scene in the new hires’ office, Jeong-woo’s face turned pale.

Song Boyeong, who caught his eye, smiled and said, “Lucky parachute, huh? Not just anyone can attend this seminar.”

“Can I give this opportunity to the new hires seniors?”

He threw out the offer, but Song Boyeong firmly shook her head.

“It’s too late. I already reported that we’re going together.”

Jeong-woo felt like he was drowning in his decision to not interfere. He stood next to her, determined to just go with the flow.

Bae Ki-tae, who was excitedly leaving, came to a stop when he met Jeong-woo’s eyes.

“Are you going too, Jeong-woo?”

“That’s right.”

Song Boyeong shouted “Let’s go!” and led the way out. Bae Ki-tae followed without saying a word, and Jeong-woo followed with a passive attitude.

‘Am I so tired because I didn’t get enough sleep? Please don’t let this day feel too long.’

Jeong-woo lowered his head and silently hoped for the day to go smoothly.

Three people walked out onto the road in front of the twin buildings with the KG Chemical logo on the exterior wall.

Song Boyeong looked at her phone and said, “I called a taxi. It’ll be here in three minutes.”

While waiting for the call taxi, Bae Ki-tae cautiously approached Jeong-woo with a curious look on his face.

“Mr. Jeong, I didn’t see you this morning…”

“I was near the break room.”

“I thought you were with Team Leader Jeong’s project.”

“Team 4 Leader? I didn’t even see his face after the weekly meeting.”

Jeong-woo shook his head as he recalled the face of Jeong Sang-sik, who had seemed irritated.

“It’s strange. Seong-hwan said your name was on the list for Team 4.”

“Really?”

“The sample of the seasoning we changed that day was adopted. Didn’t you hear the news?”

Jeong-woo made a blank expression, as he heard about it for the first time. Song Boyeong, on the other hand, became surprised and interjected.

“KG Food approved it? Really?”

She looked at Jeong-woo. “How come?”

“I don’t really know… well, somehow it got approved. We changed it properly, so…”

Jeong-woo showed an indifferent attitude, and Song Boyeong scolded him with a frustrated face.

“Wow, look at your overflowing confidence.”

“It’s not confidence…”

“You don’t know how strict the Food Department is, do you? To fix a team project that was rejected by the client with the effort of just one person, that’s really impressive…”

Song Boyeong unintentionally complimented Jeong-woo, and then looked embarrassed for a moment.

She spoke to Jeong-woo with a look that said, ‘This isn’t right.’

“…It was the decisiveness of Team 4’s leader. The bold passion that tackled a failed research project again with the Food and Drug Administration. That was truly remarkable.”

Whether it was praise or flattery was unclear.

“That’s right. This isn’t how it should be. Bae Ki-tae, come here.”

Song Boyeong, feeling stung by her forced compliments, hurriedly changed the subject.

“I’ll tell you the tips for planning evaluation as promised. Mr. Overconfident ‘Parachute,’ you probably won’t need it.”

Song Boyeong, whose eyes were filled with competitive ambition, moved away with Bae Ki-tae.

‘Come to think of it, they were ranked first last year and we’re this year’s top.’

It felt like being challenged by the next generation of the research lab’s aces, unintentionally causing a sense of pressure. But Jeong-woo had no desire to compete.

A bad feeling crept over him.

‘No, we’re going to City Hall. What could possibly go wrong?’

A yellow taxi stopped on a one-way street and parked on one side.

“Air purification task, is it?”

“From the beginning, our goal was to set public interest above profitability, and that’s what made us different. Seoul has an incredibly dense population. Yellow dust, fine dust, aerosol particles… Thank you, driver.”

Even after getting out of the car, Song Boyeong and Bae Gitae continued to talk about last year’s planning evaluation. Jeong-woo quietly followed behind them, listening to their conversation.

“Dr. Cheon, who saw the dust collector filter I proposed, exclaimed, ‘Good posture. It’s the size of the particles that makes the difference.’ It was truly moving that he recognized the essence of my research at once.”

“Excuse me for asking, but if you’re talking about Dr. Cheon…”

“Oh, the new employee won’t know him well since he joined through a public recruitment in the fall. Dr. Shin Yoon-seok is also a legendary figure who has gone into retirement. “

As Song Boyeong was talking like this, she glanced at Jeong-woo. Jeong-woo smiled and gestured for them to continue their conversation.

Turning her head with a hum, Song Boyeong continued to tell Bae Gitae about the story from a year ago.

Jeong-woo thought it would be more positive to just let them chat instead of struggling, so he looked for the city hall and turned his gaze to it.

The 15-story building near Deoksu Palace.

This place, where the ancient stone walls and the modern elegance of the tall building were well harmonized, was the annex of the city hall called “Seoul Metropolitan Government Seosomun Building.”

As he entered the city hall, he immediately saw seminar information.

[Facility Planning and Public Structure Improvement and Repair Seminar / 2nd Floor Conference Room]

It was a seminar on an unfamiliar topic hosted by an unfamiliar department.

‘Making it to a regular position within a year of being a senior and through open recruitment isn’t really that impressive, is it?’

Anyway, Jeong-woo became curious about what a deep discussion about public facility management could be.

“We’re here. Let’s go up.”

After boasting about their connection with Dr. Cheon Seung-guk, which they called “transferring knowledge,” the conversation ended, and Song Boyeong stepped forward.

On the second floor, there were civil servants receiving visitors.

“We’re from KG Chemical.”

Song Boyeong approached and revealed her affiliation. When the civil servant at the city hall saw her face, he looked puzzled and asked, “Are you the person in charge?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

Perhaps because she looked too young, the civil servant seemed unimpressed.

“You look like a student…”

Whether it was due to age or seniority, the civil servant’s gaze fell on Bae Ki-tae, who was standing behind them.

Bae Ki-tae cleared his throat, and Jeong-woo laughed at how amusing it was.

Song Boyeong pulled out her ID card and handed it to the civil servant. “Team leader Park Gil-soo couldn’t make it. I’m the second-ranked researcher for the preliminary coating project with the railway company.”

“I see…”

“I don’t wear much makeup, so I often get misunderstood. Thank you for understanding that I’m young.”

She bowed her head slightly. The civil servant seemed a little taken aback by her blunt tone, which was the opposite of the delicate atmosphere emanating from her slender figure.

“KG Chemical is in twelfth place.”

The civil servant handed her a temporary name tag and couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Song Boyeong took a seat at the large square table in the conference room. She looked back at Jeong-woo and Bae Ki-tae after receiving her name tag from the civil servant.

“You can sit comfortably at the back.”

Jeong-woo sat on a folding chair and asked Song Boyeong, “What is the railway construction project about?”

“We conducted research last summer. We were looking for a coating that could withstand extreme corrosion environments. We applied it over paint.”

“An anti-corrosion agent?”

“Yes. It’s a coating that can be used on railway tracks and bridge structures. Of course, the railway company was very satisfied with the results.”

Song Boyeong drew a ‘V’ with her finger and turned her head.

As Song Boyeong searched for materials and prepared for the seminar, she didn’t look as young as she did before. Jeong-woo had to doubt her once before he could feel the aura of a brilliant researcher.

‘She’s serious when she needs to be.’

As Jeong-woo watched Song Boyeong quietly, she turned around to put her bag down and their eyes met.

“What?”

He couldn’t answer that she suddenly seemed intellectual, so Jeong-woo coughed. Song Boyeong understood and smiled.

“Unfortunately, Dr. Cheon was not there at the time, so I didn’t receive any other compliments. But don’t ignore it. The center director was satisfied, and it was a project that I contributed enough to make it successful.”

This woman is always linked to Dr. Cheon. Jeong-woo had to swallow a bitter smile because he was admiring her to some extent instead of ignoring her.