Chapter 24: The First Author (2)
Gil Hyung-Joon was about to press the phone number for the Life Creation Department, but his finger wandered in front of his phone screen. He had memorized all the department phone numbers in Lab Six, but it was a little difficult to remember their number since he had only called that garbage department a few times.
He asked his assistant, “What was the number for the Life Creation Department?”
“437...”
“Oh, wait.”
‘Let’s think about this.’
This bastard Young-Joon was one of the hottest celebrities within the entire A-Gen lab right now, and most of all, Nicholas embraced him as if he were his own. Nicholas liked Young-Joon so much that it looked like he wanted to adopt him.
After the seminar, CTO Nicholas Kim had a company dinner with only the lab directors, and he had complimented Young-Joon so much that his lips almost fell off.
“But how did a scientist as talented as him go to the Life Creation Department? Did he apply to go?” Nicholas asked.
“He had some conflict with me. I had a talk with HR and transferred him there,” Kim Hyun-Taek answered.
“That’s unfortunate. To have trouble with you out of all people... What happened?” Nicholas asked.
“Well, there were just some things that we didn’t agree on work-wise. He was talented, but also arrogant, so he didn’t get along with others that well. I was going to fire him, but I didn’t think he would make something like that.”
“Hm.”
Nicholas took a sip of his drink. After some thought, he said, “Director Gil Hyung-Joon, I assume you are going to leave them be for a year since they got the Award for Exceptional Performance?”
Gil Hyung-Joon really hated that he had to do that, but he had no other choice.
“Yes, of course.”
“Director. I really want to observe Doctor Ryu for a long time. Please try to go easy on them and look after them no matter what happens. Science is completed by one genius putting the last piece in a puzzle that ninety-nine gifted scientists put together.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The whole world will laugh at us if we lose a genius like that. Hold onto him and keep him at the company at all costs unless he swears at your face or something.”
Kim Hyun-Taek, whom Young-Joon already swore at, flinched.
“Alright,” Gil Hyung-Joon replied.
Nicholas smiled with excitement.
In the seven years they had Nicholas on as the CTO, they had never seen him this happy. A world-famous scientist like Nicholas Kim was swooning over Young-Joon right now.
Gil Hyung-Joon put down his phone. He thought it wouldn’t be right for him to break his promise right on Monday morning after getting a request like that during his Friday company dinner. So, Gil Hyung-Joon read through the patent again.
‘Fuck. Still, this isn’t right.’
It was more ridiculous the more Gil Hyung-Joon thought about it. He could kill him or let it pass. He thought about it for a while until a good idea popped into his head. He could get someone else to do it if he couldn’t handle it himself. Someone who could keep Nicholas in check and an executive who had power in another way.
As Gil Hyung-Joon signed off on Young-Joon’s document, he wrote down Ji Kwang-Man for the next approval.
“Take this to management.” Gil Hyung-Joon said as he gave the assistant the papers.
Ji Kwang-Man was the division manager of management at A-Gen headquarters. The management division was where patent-related documents were finalized anyway. Usually, they were taken care of by employees lower than executive managers, but Young-Joon could put the division manager’s name down since it was important. He felt like this patent was worthy of a division manager’s approval since it was a patent for a technology that held tremendous value.
‘Ji Kwang-Man.’
“Hehehe...”
Gil Hyung-Joon couldn’t help but chuckle thinking about how he was going to berate Young-Joon.
Ji Kwang-Man was called the Mad Hound at the headquarters. He was huge, including his head, and he also looked vicious, making him look like a gangster. But his personality was respectable enough that he could be treated as the gang boss.
One time, Illsung Hospital only prescribed a certain drug after getting a rebate from Roche Korea. When Ji Kwang-Man found out, he reported this to the Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission. Of course, this was the appropriate response.
But he didn’t stop there. Chart your course back to the origins of this substance at n0v^lbin
He hired a bunch of actors and sent them to Illsung Hospital. They caused a scene in the lobby in front of the administration desk and exposed the hospital and their rebates. They screamed about simple and provocative stories, such as how their kid died from the hospital taking bribes and using worse drugs, in front of the patients. It was extremely impactful. Ji Kwang-Man even had reporters waiting there so that they could report that. It ended up making the front page of the morning news.
From the next day, Illsung Hospital began prescribing A-Gen products. The funny part about it was that for the product in question, Roche’s product was actually a little bit better than A-Gen’s. However, the image of the rebate that was put on Roche made their product look worse, and A-Gen gained rebound profits. For a while, even other university hospitals used more of A-Gen’s products compared to Roche’s.
That was the kind of person Ji Kwang-Man was. The government was slow, and it took a long time to sort things out legally. If Ji Kwang-Man took this path and Illsung Hospital received punishment, what kind of gains would there be for A-Gen?
‘Take the surest, largest, and fastest way when taking profit.’
This was Ji Kwang-Man’s philosophy.
Gil Hyung-Joon put his feet up on his desk with a smile on his face. Young-Joon, A-Gen’s famous scientist with intermittent explosive disorder who cursed at Kim Hyun-Taek, against Ji Kwang-Man, the Mad Hound of Management. They were incomparable in terms of their rank in the company, but Young-Joon was a rising star that Nicholas embraced.
What if—although it wouldn’t happen—Nicholas accepted this insane patent application? If Nicholas supported him that much, this could become a battle between Nicholas and Ji Kwang-Man.
“... Sigh, this isn’t going to be easy. This is just a completely personal question, but why did you put the one percent for the headquarters and the labs? Surely, you didn’t seriously consider the company’s sake when you wrote this insane patent application.”
“I did genuinely consider the company’s sake. I got help from the headquarters’ patent team in developing the technology and writing the application, and I used Lab Six’s facilities too. To be honest, I thought it was like a 0.3 percent contribution, but I was easy on you. Consider it on the house.”
“Are you going to fight the company or something?”
“To be honest, I don’t even understand why I have to fight. It was my idea, my results from experimentation, and the scientists at our department found the data to prove it. Didn’t I give the company a lot more than it actually deserves?”
“Management is hitting the roof over this right now. If this doesn’t get taken care of here with me, you’ll be summoned to the headquarters. And you must put Lab Director Gil Hyung-Joon’s name on it.”
“The first time I saw his face after transferring here was at the seminar. And do you think he would have allowed me to do this experiment if I told him that I was working on induced pluripotent stem cells before meeting him? No, he would have stopped me. He has no share.”
“... You have a unique way of thinking.”
“Including them because they are your superiors or supervisors. Putting them as the first author even though they didn’t do anything just because they oversaw the project. I cannot allow those kinds of things. This is correct according to research ethics.”
“You’re not going to listen even if I keep talking, are you?” Yoon Bo-Hyun asked.
“Of course not,” Young-Joon replied.
“Then you will be summoned to the management headquarters.”
“Alright. I’ll finish up the experiment I was doing and head there right away. Please make an appointment for me.”
As Young-Joon was about to get up, Yoon Bo-Hyun frowned.
“Doctor Ryu, sit.”
“Do you have more to say?”
“Thanks to you, the Life Creation Department is finally starting to have a better image. But are you going to piss off the superiors again like this?”
“... Manager Yoon.”
“Yes.”
“Do you think I’d be in this department if I was scared of that?”
“Hm...”
“Please tell that to the superiors and let the patent pass as is. That’s the best decision.”
“Why don’t you just come with me? Finish up your experiment and come back,” Yoon Bo-Hyun said with a smirk on his face.
A-Gen Headquarters was in Yeoksam. The headquarters did not have a lab; they only took care of the business aspect. Departments like the management division and the finance division were all there. Low-ranking scientists didn’t really have any reason to go visit the headquarters.
However, at four o’clock in the afternoon, Young-Joon was there. The atmosphere in the building was tense.
As Young-Joon went into the division manager’s office, Yoon Bo-Hyun, who returned without any results, began chatting with Executive Manager Lee Hyun-Woo.
“I failed. He’s a complete lunatic.”
“But our manager is also very...” Lee Hyun-Woo said in a worried voice.
“Well yes, but our manager is predictable since he only works for profit. But Young-Joon... He kind of feels like a lunatic who has strong beliefs. He is devout to research ethics. From what I can tell, I bet he bows at Kant’s grave three times before going to bed.
* * *
Ji Kwang-Man gave Young-Joon a bottle of cold water.
“I heard that Yoon Bo-Hyun was unsuccessful in persuading you,” Ji Kwang-Man said.
“Yes.”
“What is it that you want, Doctor Ryu?”
“It’s to get this patent application finished.”
“No,” Ji Kwang-Man said as he shook his head. “I’m asking what you want to do in the future after getting this patent approved.”
“I will further develop iPSCs and create a good drug.”
Ji Kwang-Man just silently stared at Young-Joon. Ji Kwang-Man’s face was twice the size of Park So-Yeon’s. His protruding eyes had an overwhelming weight to them.
“This is a direct defiance of orders, and you’re interfering with management. What are you going to do if I refuse?” Ji Kwang-Man asked.
“Then I will give up patenting the current item, quit, and then go to the US. I will file the patent there again, and I will go to Pfizer with that same condition.”
“...Do you think that will work? That patent is ours, according to regulations regarding employee inventions. What will you do if we sue you?”
“It’s going to be hard to prove that part. My job responsibilities are about life creation, not stem cells. And actually, A-Gen’s facilities had a trivial effect. This is worth having a legal dispute over.”
“...”
“Since Pfizer is money-mad too, they are going to protect me to take the patent worth hundreds of trillions of dollars. If so, you will be making this an international battle. It doesn’t matter if I don’t win; A-Gen would lose a tremendous amount of time,” Young-Joon said. He added, “And in the meantime, I will finish the follow-up research with these stem cells at Pfizer and finish treating nerve damage in clinical trials. A-Gen would lose priority in this entire field.”
1. GS25 is a famous convenience store chain in Korea. ?