Chemistry

1. Once in a blue moon(1)

AN General Hospital Main Building

The young man got out of the taxi, his eyes were full of tension. At the entrance of the hospital, he took out his phone and carefully checked the text message he had received that morning:

[KG Chemical Dietary Supplement Phase 1 Clinical Trial: December 9-10, 2-day trial, 4th floor Pharmacy Support Center]

With a deep breath, the young man threw his shoulders back and confidently walked through the door.

Just 3 seconds, that’s all it took.

As he passed through the automatic doors, his pupils shrank slightly. The smell of the hospital’s disinfectant made him feel even more nervous than he already was.

‘Hey, Han Jeong-woo. Don’t be nervous. It’s just a simple task of taking nutritional supplements and earning some money.’

The receptionist who met him in the lobby gave him a look as if asking if there was anything uncomfortable. Jeong-woo gave a faint smile, indicating that he was okay, and quickly walked through the corridor to the elevator.

While waiting for the elevator, he looked at himself in the shiny door with a silvery sheen.

He was a tall young man in his mid-twenties, with a muscular build and a relatively tall stature. His eyes were mostly brown.

Today he was participating in a clinical trial recruitment that he had stumbled upon while browsing job sites. The problem was the additional conditions listed below:

[Have experienced a coma for more than a week.]

[Suffer from both insomnia and excessive sleep disorder, alternatingly.]

[Sometimes I feel like someone who I can’t see is talking to me.]

[There are many things that feel like I’ve already experienced them even though I haven’t.]

There were several unusual conditions, and even one of them matched, which made it even more chilling.

“It’s not like they’re selecting people with mental illness. But still, I…”

Who would have thought that having experienced being hospitalized after a traffic accident would be helpful in this way?

Ding dong.

As I got on the elevator that arrived, there was a man who came running and shouted, “Wait a minute!”.

Junwoo, who naturally glanced at him, was slightly surprised. The man was of similar build and looked somewhat pale, fitting the external conditions of the recruitment notice. The man asked Junwoo.

“Are you going to the clinical trial?”

“Yes? Oh, yes.”

“Phew, thank goodness. This is the right place.”

The man, who had put his hands in his armpits and shrank his body because of the cold, glanced at Junwoo. Then he asked, “Is it your first time?”

“Yes?”

“Newcomers usually get nervous. Clinical trial. It’s a scary word, to be honest. I don’t even know what strangers might do to my body.”

“That’s true.”

The man said it as if there was nothing new.

“I went to test high blood pressure medicine once, and they gave me a laxative first and then told me to run on a treadmill all day, saying they had to check my blood pressure changes under extreme conditions.”

“Ugh, that sounds terrible.”

“Well, that’s for medicine. When I was testing an erection enhancement drug, they would play porn and tell me to masturbate all the time…”

“Masturbate?!”

“They asked me if I wanted them to use a syringe to extract the semen or if I wanted to do it myself. But then they said something like, ‘just ask the nurse to help you,’ and I got corrected right away.”

“……!”

“Anyway, there are all sorts of strange things when you wander around clinical trials. But it pays pretty well.”

He seemed like a specialist in clinical trials. I’m not sure if he was trying to calm me down or make me more anxious.

Ding dong.

At that moment, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. As soon as I stepped out into the corridor, I saw about six other participants standing there.

‘There are a lot of people who are as nervous as I am.’

I found a spot and waited for the clinical trial that would take place shortly. Soon, a voice called out my name. I entered the room and found myself in a space that looked like a scientific laboratory filled with various medical equipment. Many people dressed in white gowns caught my attention. A woman approached me.

“I am Dr. Moon Chae-eun, a senior researcher at KG Chemicals. Please call me Dr. Moon,” she said in a clear voice that matched her neat, tightly tied hair.

“Follow me,” she gestured, leading me to where the test would be conducted.

On the table, there was a vial labeled ‘AF-12’ and a syringe with a needle. I was momentarily confused.

“Am I supposed to take this orally? It’s a dietary supplement, right?”

Dr. Moon replied coldly, “The administration method was stated in the consent form you signed, wasn’t it?”

A stack of papers with dense text flashed through my mind. Though I read through them carefully, I couldn’t remember the technical terms.

Dr. Moon, noticing my surprise, continued speaking in a business-like tone, apparently having encountered many participants like me before.

“Each applicant has a different testing method. To properly confirm their body’s ability to tolerate it, we need to diversify the administration methods. Cream, patch, pill, aerosol, suppository…”

“Suppository?”

Injection was very favorable.

Dr. Moon took out a blood pressure monitor from the medical equipment on the cart and placed it on the table.

“I’ll start with the basic test. We need to figure out if the side effects are due to other conditions.”

“If it’s a side effect…?”

For a moment, there was a look on Dr. Moon’s face that seemed to say, “This doesn’t mean we’re going to waste a million won.”

After that, it was a familiar sight to Junwoo as well.

Checking blood pressure and electrocardiogram, measuring external size such as height and weight, were not much different from the physical examination he had in school.

30 minutes later.

“Current time is 16:05. We will start administering the ‘AF-12’ diluted solution to the subject Han Junwoo.”

Dr. Moon took the syringe to Junwoo’s arm. Junwoo witnessed 0.1mg of liquid disappearing rapidly from the syringe with a slight sting.

“Done.”

“Already?”

Perhaps because the amount of administered solution was small, it was easier than getting a flu shot.

“Please wait in room 407. You need to observe your body’s reaction for 12 hours, so please refrain from any movements that may strain your body.”

Junwoo nodded with an alcohol swab on his arm as he left the room. A man who was a specialist in clinical trials approached Junwoo and pretended to know him.

“How is it inside?”

“Nothing special.”

“Is that so?”

Junwoo flinched as he saw a new, pointed pill-shaped “AF-12” being set up on the table. It looked like it could fit into a hole somewhere.

“…Fighting.”

In room 407, several other subjects who had received medication before Junwoo were sitting comfortably.

After exchanging a brief eye contact, I lay down on the empty bed.

‘It’s nothing special.’

Despite the freezing experience of being admitted to the hospital, it felt like nothing had happened at all.

It was almost shameful to leave after spending such peaceful time and earning one million won.

A while later, a man entered while Jeong-woo was enjoying his free time. He stumbled as if he had something stuck between his legs, making him look quite uncomfortable.

“Hey~ Mr. Han Jeong-woo!”

He sat on the next bed as if it was his own and started talking to Jeong-woo.

“Isn’t Doctor Moon a joke?”

“Yes, she’s quite tough, almost scary.”

“Oh, but isn’t she beautiful? I thought my ointment was melting in my arms when she applied it to me~”

Watching the man act as if he was applying ointment to his arm, Jeong-woo could only scratch his head.

He knew everything, but he wouldn’t say a word.

As he silently nodded his head, the man suddenly switched to chatter mode.

“It’s Doctor Moon, you know. I asked the nurse, and she said she’s a current doctor. She’s pretty and smart. I have to apply for KG Chemical’s clinical trials from now on. Do you know if I can get her number?”

“Do you really find this kind of job attractive?”

“Ha, you’re making fun of me. It’s more practical than just seeing you, Jeong-woo. Still, with such a goddess, I have to apply for KG Chemical’s clinical trials no matter what, don’t you think?”

If he had also been a specialist in clinical trials like that man, he might have been able to enjoy the test with a beauty like Doctor Moon.

‘Maybe I should try to get closer to her, or else I might wither away.’

People started to gradually fall asleep in the hospital room.

After eating the makeshift hospital dinner that was lukewarm and bland, time passed quickly and it was already night.

During this time, a researcher wearing a lab coat with KG Chemical’s logo on it came in and checked everyone’s blood pressure quickly.

‘Hmm?’

Jeong-woo, who was fiddling with his phone, raised his head. Suddenly, the room felt dead silent as if someone had squeezed the air out of it.

Not only the man next to him, but also the other participants who were in the middle of talking all closed their eyes.

Looking at the clock, it was 10 PM. It was time to sleep.

Jeong-woo thought that he would also soon be overcome with drowsiness and rested his head on the pillow.

‘Alright, since they said to rest until tomorrow.’

Despite closing his eyes, sleep did not come easily.

It was 11 PM, then 12 AM. Even at 1 AM, he was still wide awake.

‘…This is strange. Is it because I’m in a different bed?’

He was not only bored, but also hungry. On top of that, he was worried about how this hospital room could be so quiet, to the point of eerie silence. How could not a single person snore or make any noise at all?

‘Sigh.’

While fiddling with his phone again, the door of the hospital room suddenly opened.

Thunk.

Was it because the inside was too quiet? Without even realizing it, Jeong-woo held his phone to his chest and held his breath. If he didn’t follow the instructions to rest like everyone else, he would lose his part-time job and that would be disastrous.

Two men in white coats opened the door and entered.

“Keep quiet.”

“Isn’t this almost a coma state?”

“I always feel like I’m seeing a scene of a mass suicide when I enter the hospital at this stage. It’s eerie.”

The conversation between them was unsettling.

“Anyway, it’s another failure this time, right?”

“Yeah. Dr. Moon will be disappointed again.”

“Isn’t it just a bad medicine? We’re not doing anything and getting paid, so it’s not so bad for us.”

“Out of ten thousand drugs that are developed, only one might succeed.”

stomach growling

Jeong-woo’s hunger signal interrupted their conversation.

“Huh? Did you hear that?”

“Which side?”

Jeong-woo, who caught the attention of the conversation, raised his hand as if he couldn’t help it.

“Excuse me.”

As soon as he stood up, the two who had entered were surprised.

“Can I go down to the convenience store and have some cup ramen? I’m hungry and can’t sleep.”

Smiling coolly and patting his stomach, the two men’s faces turned blue and they rushed out.

“Why are they so scared?”

What was even more terrifying was that the two men had run out with such a loud noise, but the other participants in the hospital room did not react at all.

Jeong-woo, who was shivering, approached the clinical specialist on the next bed.

“Hey.”

The man who was deep in sleep didn’t seem to have any intention of waking up even after his shoulder was lightly shaken.

A sudden sense of anxiety arose.

Clinical trials that pay unusually high amounts of money. Illegal procedures. Side effects. Stealing organs from comatose patients to sell them….

All sorts of thoughts were passing through his mind at that moment.

He heard the sound of several deer running down the hallway. Then, two men who had run ahead and the pretty researcher he had met earlier in the day entered the room.

“Doctor Moon?”

“You’re really awake now.”

Doctor Moon stopped in front of Jeong-woo and looked him up and down before swallowing her saliva. She then turned to the men who came with her and said,

“You two can go back now. Thank you for your hard work.”

The men bowed their heads and left with their mouths tightly shut.

Doctor Moon approached Jeong-woo, trying to keep a calm expression on her face.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Why aren’t these people waking up?”

“They took a sleep-inducing drug.”

“What about me?”

Jeong-woo gave her a questioning look. Doctor Moon calmly opened her mouth.

“One of the protein cells that make up ‘AF-12’ is a powerful sleep inducer, and the other contains a compound infused with specific knowledge information.”

“I’m not sure I understand…”

“The reason for this dual structure is to target people like you. However, I didn’t expect to find a sample that actually responds so quickly. It was predicted that only one out of ten thousand people would react this way, given that there were only participants who couldn’t even reach this area for three months. I apologize for the lack of a smooth response.”

Jeong-woo was taken aback by the unexpected excuse.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Moon. My major is in humanities.”

“You didn’t even take it as an elective course?”

“…Should I have?”

Dr. Moon nodded immediately, showing an attitude of explaining it so that it can be easily understood with common sense.

Jeong-woo suddenly became annoyed at such a reaction.

“Thinking back now, I really regret not taking a pharmacy-related course as a business major student.”

“It’s molecular biology.”

“That’s what I meant!”

As Jeong-woo muttered under his breath, Dr. Moon suddenly opened her hands, as if feeling awkward.

“‘AF-12’ is structured with two molecules facing each other like a mirror. This is called chirality or optical isomerism.”

She flicked her fingers as if reflecting each other in a mirror.

“The principle is simple. Even if your hands look similar, your left glove won’t fit on your right hand. These people have been affected by a sleep-inducing substance, but for Han Jeong-woo, it’s a knowledge-information component that’s at work.”

The explanation continued in Korean, leaving the listener confused.

“Do you know about chirality?”

“I don’t know about chirality, but I feel like talking nonsense.”

“…”

As the conversation continued without any clear direction, Jeong-woo’s headache began to worsen. “So why did you put all these people to sleep and keep me awake?”

“Well, only Han Jeong-woo himself would know better. Can’t you think of anything?”

“This woman is real!”

Dr. Moon maintained an indifferent attitude despite Jeong-woo’s serious tone.

“Why are you doing this to people? It’s one thing if the sleep-inducing substance was in the injection I received. But optically active compounds? Knowledge information embedded in molecules? Does that make sense? Recording information on a molecular level requires technology that involves genetic engineering and genome projects in biology. Moreover, it’s impossible to understand the genetic encryption of knowledge without a base sequence analyzer in your head.”

“It’s usually impossible.”

“That’s right, impossible. Genetic encryption translates RNA into amino acid sequences. Without a complex molecular recognition process where transport RNA attaches to amino acids, it’s…”

Jeong-woo paused.

“Why am I saying this kind of stuff?”