Chemistry - Chapter 118

16. Chemical Intelligence(4)

Dr. Moon, having read through the entire chart, looked at the man on the hospital bed.

“You visited the emergency room yesterday with symptoms like headaches, dizziness, low blood pressure, seizures and so on.”

“Don’t even mention it. My grandmother’s face kept coming and going, I thought I was going to die.”

The man managed a wry smile. Dr. Moon, placing her palm on his forehead, observed his electrocardiogram and asked.

“No fever, and the pulse is stable. Is there any other discomfort?”

“It wasn’t there just a while ago, but it seems to have just appeared.”

Dr. Moon, with a puzzled expression, scrutinized the man once, asking.

“Where? Your skin seems dry, but…”

“Thanks to the pretty doctor, I feel like I might have a heart attack. Oh, my heart.”

A person in pain laughs without any hurry. Dr. Moon, who had been silently observing the man, remarked.

“It seems to be a typical metabolic disorder.”

“What is that?”

“A decrease in the ‘level’ of consciousness.”

At Dr. Moon’s ice-cold response emphasizing a specific word, the man scratched his chin. Then, he made eye contact with Jeong-woo, who was standing at a distance.

“Hmm? Have we met somewhere? Your face looks familiar.”

Jeong-woo was caught in a serious dilemma at this moment, whether to pretend not to recognize or to reveal the truth. Although they had only met for a day, at that time, he felt that the man was not an ordinary person.

‘What a strange connection.’

The decision was quickly made.

“Well, I’m not sure. My memory is not that good…”

As he mumbled, the man just nodded and returned to admiring Dr. Moon’s beauty.

Click.

The door opened, and two men in suits entered. The man at the front passed by Jeong-woo and stood in front of the patient.

“Mr. Nam Gung-gil, I’m Hwang Jin-cheol, a manager at Jongwoong Pharmaceuticals. You’re lying down because of the side effects of our ‘SI-3012R.’”

“Oh, that’s right. It’s a bit complicated.”

“Complicated?”

“Just a moment. It seems like almost everyone who needs to be here has arrived…”

With a slightly perplexed expression, the patient, Nam Gung-gil, pressed the button to call the doctor.

“Dr. Moon.”

Jeong-woo approached Dr. Moon.

“Is it because of ‘AF-12’?”

“I don’t know. His clinical history is unusual. Jongwoong Pharmaceuticals is here, and I think I saw researchers from Jeongmi Pharmaceuticals when they came in earlier.”

Jeong-woo’s gaze shifted to Nam Gung-gil. If the pain he was suffering from was due to the side effects of a specific clinical trial, it meant he didn’t even know what medication he was taking and what was causing the pain.

A little later, doctors and representatives from the pharmaceutical company gathered in the VIP room. A handsome man in his mid-thirties, with a stethoscope around his neck, opened his mouth to address the people.

“I am Endocrinology Specialist Cho Sang-wook. Here is diagnostics medicine specialist Lee Hee-cheol, who came as an advisor.”

After Cho Sang-wook’s introduction, the portly Lee Hee-cheol briefly nodded. Then, standing among the people, he winked at Dr. Moon.

“Do you know him?”

“He was my senior during my internship.”

Jeong-woo couldn’t help but pay attention on Dr. Moon’s senior.

“Was he as strict with his juniors as Dr. Moon… Hmm, how should I put it? …treated his successors?”

“Where do you draw the line for strictness?”

“Well, almost the same as Dr. Moon treated Cho Seong-hwan?”

“Did Seong-hwan say something?”

Afraid that it might cause trouble for Seong-hwan, Jeong-woo felt embarrassed and shook his head. Unexpectedly, Dr. Moon’s response was surprising.

“Hee-cheol took good care of me, worrying more about my well-being than his own work.”

Seeing something warm in her who had always been cold, Jeong-woo was surprised.

Meanwhile, a chart appeared on the wall-mounted monitor. Cho Sang-wook spoke.

“Patient Nam Gung-gil participated in a total of five clinical trials in the past year. Jeongmi Pharmaceuticals, JK Bio, Celltree, Jongwoong Pharmaceuticals, KG Chemical. As the attending physician, I suspect that the patient’s symptoms are related to the clinical trials he participated in.”

The room buzzed with discussions.

Representatives from pharmaceutical companies were either surprised by the fact that one person had participated in so many trials in a short period or worried about whether their company’s drug was causing the issue.

“How desperate must he be to participate in five trials in a year…”

“We’re on the verge of FDA approval, and what’s this chaos? It’s not us. There have been no such side effect cases with our drug.”

“This is ridiculous. We replicated a verified drug, so there shouldn’t be any risk in the first place.”

In the midst of the arguments, Jeong-woo turned his head to Dr. Moon.

“If the cause is our drug, is there a possibility I could suffer like him?”

The likelihood of that happening is slim. If there were side effects, Jeong-woo would have experienced them first since he took the original drug.

As Dr. Moon finished her response, Lee Hee-cheol, who had been examining the chart, stepped forward in front of the officials.

“For an accurate diagnosis, I ask for your cooperation. Dizziness, abdominal spasms, low blood pressure. If your company’s drug under development includes these symptoms as side effects, please raise your hand.”

No one raised their hand. The room fell into a static silence, filled only with the opposing gazes of those who denied any involvement.

Lee Hee-cheol cleared his throat and surveyed the people.

“Aren’t you here? Aren’t you experts who know more about your company’s drugs than anyone else?”

Due to the nature of clinical trials where drugs are referred to by code names during the development stage, without individuals revealing the ingredients or effects, there was no way to confirm anything here.

Lee Hee-cheol’s gaze, suspicious of each company, stopped at Dr. Moon. His eyes seemed to ask, ‘Do you know the cause?’ In response, Dr. Moon bit her lip, tilted her chin, and remained silent.

“It’s not us!”

“Where in the world can you find a drug without side effects? It’s suspicious.”

“What? Are you saying our stocks are dropping?”

For a moment, the room fell silent, and then there was another argument between the companies.

Jeong-woo, having no reason to intervene, quietly observed the situation.

‘The probability that our drug is causing the side effects is low, but…’

The patient’s pain was forgotten, and the room continued to echo with statements of responsibility avoidance. Nevertheless, due to a sense of camaraderie from supporting the same clinical trial, Jeong-woo empathized with Nam Gung-gil’s potential disappointment and cast a discreet glance at him. And then, he swallowed his sigh.

Nam Gung-gil didn’t hesitate to direct his frustration towards Dr. Moon, regardless of the ongoing disputes between the companies.

‘Phew. It’s a relief she’s not pretending to know.’

People seem to have different standards for thoughts and actions.

Zi-iing.

A text message arrived, and upon checking, it was from Song Boyeong.

[I’m here at the pharmacy center with Manager Lim. When are we having lunch?]

Come to think of it, it was almost noon. However, there was no end in sight for this situation.

“Please calm down!”

Hee-cheol, who couldn’t stand the noisy crowd, shouted.

“All you do is bicker, but do you realize that this will become a shared responsibility?”

“Who says? Shouldn’t the doctor figure out the cause?”

“You should cooperate.”

The debate continued.

‘I’m hungry.’

Since it seemed like it wouldn’t end without some consensus, Jeong-woo’s gaze turned towards the officials.

‘Wait….’

Upon closer inspection, just like when he was examining the project at the pharmaceutical bio center, the molecular world of the drug came to his mind intuitively.

“Dr. Moon.”

“Yes?”

“If a drug from one company causes almost all the side effects listed on that chart, what happens?”

“It’s a reasonable question. It would likely be the cause.”

Jeong-woo glanced briefly at the representative from Jongwoong Pharmaceutical. It seemed necessary to take a step forward to organize the situation.

“Can I say something on behalf of KG Chemical?”

“Are you sure?”

In response to Dr. Moon’s inquiry, Jeong-woo smirked.

“Of course. Even though I create sleeping princesses it’s not the only thing I’m good at.”

Revealing the use of his special ability, Dr. Moon nodded without saying a word.

“Hey, Dr. Lee Hee-cheol.”

KG Chemical, which had not expressed any opinions among the five companies, finally spoke up, bringing a brief lull. Jeong-woo took advantage of the silence to ask Lee Hee-cheol.

“If there is a drug that inhibits the reabsorption of sodium and chloride in the kidney, such as furosemide or ethacrynic acid, could it cause all these side effects?”

“Isn’t that a diuretic?”

“Yes?”

“The patient’s symptoms match those side effects. It seems to resemble low sodium and low potassium levels due to metabolic disorders.”

The two representatives from Jongwoong Pharmaceutical flinched upon hearing the term diuretic. After contemplating, Lee Hee-cheol looked at Dr. Moon. Dr. Moon intervened on Jeong-woo’s opinion.

“If the kidneys were damaged by a diuretic, we could consider it as a possibility.”

Lee Hee-cheol asked Cho Sang-wook.

“What do you think?”

“I think it makes sense. Instead of wasting time like this, let’s conduct a detailed diagnosis and confirm.”

With the official directive from the attending physician, the companies quickly started talking.

“Our drug is not a diuretic.”

“Same here!”

“Not ours either.”

Jongwoong Pharmaceutical’s response came a beat later.

“Well, we…”

Due to their too easy reaction, the officials from other companies snickered.

“So that was the issue.”

“Looks like we caught a big fish.”

“Busted. Jongwoong Pharmaceutical, focusing only on antibiotics and immunology, are you now aiming to enter the cardiovascular disease market?”

Facing the censure from the people, Manager Hwang Jin-cheol of Jongwoong Pharmaceutical sighed deeply. He glanced at Nam Gung-gil with a pitiful look, hoping that the confirmation of diuretic side effects wouldn’t be revealed.

“If it weren’t for KG Chemical, I would have made a fool of myself.”

“Thank goodness. Thank you.”

Appreciative remarks from other companies flew towards Jeong-woo, who found the culprit. It wasn’t a bad thing, but the somewhat uncomfortable compliments continued, and Jeong-woo nodded his head modestly.

“We’ll reconvene at 1:30PM to announce the results.”

As people were leaving the VIP room after the diagnosis.

“I just remembered!”

Nam Gung-gil suddenly looked at Jeong-woo with a bright expression.

“You’re Han Jeong-woo!”

The specialist in clinical trials finally recalled. Jeong-woo couldn’t help but pretend not to know, but he was rendered speechless by Nam Gung-gil’s words.

“We took the drug together. What was it? Ah! Erectile dysfunction enhancer. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“…”

The JK Bio representatives, who had come to convey gratitude, were taken aback by this statement. With a scrutinizing look at his firm lower body at such a young age, Jeong-woo’s face turned hot.

“It was a health supplement called ‘AF-12.’”

“I see. Since it sounds awkward to say it’s an erectile dysfunction enhancer, you just added that. Even though I may look like this, I’m an expert in clinical trials. I even remember the idle chatter by the bedside.”

“Please, just sleep. It’s not like that.”

Nam Gung-gil chuckled and lowered his voice as if understanding.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s say it’s not. I get it.”

“Well, um…”

“Okay, okay. I understand.”

Jeong-woo continued to deny, but there didn’t seem to be a clear way to correct the distorted memory of the other person.

Nam Gung-gil, in his neat suit with a white gown overlaid, looked at Jeong-woo’s appearance and name tag and was surprised.

“Now that I think about it, you were a researcher at KG Chemical. No, why did someone doing well like you participate in a clinical trial for an erectile dysfunction enhancer?”

“I had my reasons.”

“Patient Nam Gung-gil, we’re moving.”

Nurses and staff approached and pushed Nam Gung-gil’s bed. Nam Gung-gil waved his hand, leaving a message to see him later.

Jeong-woo sighed as he looked at the closing door.

“Anyway, he’s a busy person. Dr. Moon, I was going to have lunch…”

Turning his head, Jeong-woo paused. Dr. Moon, whom he had never seen laugh, seemed desperately holding back her laughter.

“Are you kidding me? Instead of clearing up the misunderstanding, you’re just making it worse.”

“Misunderstanding? What are you talking about?”

Dr. Moon, pretending nothing happened, burst into laughter and casually walked out of the VIP room.

“Wow…”

1 PM.

After satisfying his appetite at the hospital cafeteria, Jeong-woo walked down the corridor. Song Boyeong, who had been patting her stomach and making a satisfied expression, asked.

“Have you decided on which project to join?”

“Not yet.”

“When Jeong-woo went up earlier, everyone pretended not to care, but there was a subtle hope that he would join their team. Right, Director Lim?”

Following behind, Lim Kwang-soo nodded.

Upon Song Boyeong’s words, Jeong-woo thought of the four team leaders, all former doctors. Honestly, no matter which project he joined, it didn’t seem like the work would be too challenging.

“Since it doesn’t matter much, should I go in the direction that senior find interesting? You’ve been working hard as a support for a while.”

“Oh, really? What’s with this uneasy consideration?”

“Oh? If you don’t like it, forget it. It won’t take much time.”

“I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”

Surprised by the unexpected suggestion, Song Boyeong raised her hand to her cheek, starting a happy contemplation.

“How about Team 1? They’re said to have the best protein structural analysis technology in the country. No, maybe checking the gene vector cultivation technology of Team 3 might be better. No, no. Team 4 deals with the most critical synthesis technology in polymers.”

Jeongwoo chuckled at Song Boyoung’s amusing indecision, but as she even began to pout, his phone rang. It was a call from Dr. Moon, who had left early after finishing her meal.

-Jeong-woo.

“Yes, I’m about to go up to the 15th floor. I’m in front of the elevator.”

-Not there, come to the ICU.

“The ICU?”

-The patient, Nam Gung-gil, has shown a new symptom he didn’t have before. If it’s a drug interaction, diuretics may not be the only cause.

“In that case…”

-There’s a very low probability but ‘AF-12’ is also in the list of potential side effects.

Sudden news. Jeong-woo lowered his phone in surprise.