Chemistry

3. Old steel(1)

Beep-beep―Tak!

Jeong-woo abruptly turned off the alarm before it could startle him and rubbed his eyes before shaking his head vigorously.

“Darn it. I overslept again.”

It had been his fifth day at KG Chemical, and he felt like his sleep cycle had been disrupted since he started working there. The fact that he had been working overtime until yesterday was also taking its toll.

‘Dr. Moon is so cruel.’

The only consolation was that tomorrow was Saturday.

‘If I can just hold on for today, I can sleep all day tomorrow… Oh, wait. Does Dr. Moon expect us to work on weekends this week too?

He couldn’t bring himself to ask. He raised his head and opened the door.

He had eagerly run up and down the stairs when he was younger, but now he had to hunch over slightly to descend the narrow stairs to the ground floor.

‘Something smells good.’

He turned his head to follow the tempting aroma that stimulated his appetite and saw his mother cooking in the kitchen.

“What are you making?”

“Muguk.” (a Korean soup made with radish and beef)

“With lots of beef in it? Awesome!”

“I’m making it for Chan to eat, not for you. For good luck on the upcoming exams.”

His mother was famous for being generous with meat when cooking at “Jisook Restaurant,” there was no way there wasn’t enough meat in the soup.

“What rank is he aiming for this time?”

Jeong-woo picked up the water bottle on the dining table, about to take a sip, when Hong Ji-sook came up like a gust of wind and slapped his shoulder roughly.

“I told you not to drink straight from the bottle.”

“Ah! I haven’t drunk from it yet.¨

“Don’t drink it!”

She snatched the water bottle away, leaving Jeong-woo with a disappointed expression as he sat down at the dining table.

“You’re so mean. When I was preparing for the college entrance exam, you only gave me plain rice to eat.”

“I fed you plain rice because you were only getting fifth place in your class. And what about you? I spent a lot of money to send you to college, but what are you doing now?”

“Umm… working part-time?”

Jeong-woo responded naturally, and Hong Ji-sook picked up an egg and was about to throw it at him. He quickly raised both hands in surrender.

“I like mine sunny-side up.”

“Go wake up Chan and tell him to come down. He won’t get up even if I call him.”

“Okay.”

Jeong-woo’s mother had a strong habit of taking care of her smart little son who showed potential in his studies since he was young.

Jeong-woo wanted to say that he felt like he had become quite smart in the past few days, but he barely managed to suppress the itching sensation in his mouth.

He opened the door to his younger brother’s room and lightly tapped him with his toes as he lay upside down on the floor.

“Hey, wake up.”

“Umm.”

“If you don’t get up quickly, your hyung will eat all your eggs.”

At this, Jeong-chan lifted his head suddenly.

“Don’t eat them. I’ll spit on your food.”

“Open your eyes and speak.”

The method of waking him up all at once by stimulating his competitive spirit was effective again today. Jeong-chan, who yawned, emerged from under the blanket and asked Jeong-woo.

“Why do you wake up so early these days, hyung?”

“I told you. The part-time job is tough.”

Even if he were one of Jeong-woo’s friends, his brother, with his old-man-like appearance, could be trusted. Maybe because he ate well, their heights were similar.

Jeong-chan, who was wearing sweatpants, asked Jeong-woo.

“You’re still doing it. Is the pay good? Can you buy me a Pentawatch skin box during winter break?”

Jeong-woo, who had thought of the salary he would receive in a month, had a serious expression on his face. Game items cost a lot of money.

“If it goes well, there will be good results. Don’t wear my clothes. Clean my room and the living room thoroughly on the weekend.”

“That’s it? No problem! I promise!”

“Did I raise you to be so gullible?”

The two friendly brothers finished their transaction and entered the kitchen. Hong Ji-sook served rice and soup on the table one by one and spoke to her two sons.

“You know it’s not for free, right?”

“Um, we know. This eldest son will repay everything later….”

“I think I will be in the top five in this exam. Sang-beom and Joon-cheol didn´t do well.”

While Jeong-woo was talking, Jeong-chan interrupted.

“Top five?”

At that, Hong Ji-sook pushed a soup bowl with a different amount and quality of beef at her younger son.

Jeong-woo saw Jeong-chan, who was blowing the soup, with an expression of disbelief.

“Can our family’s fifth-ranked make it? Not behind, but in front?”

“Yeah.”

“Mom, who does he look like? I don’t think he looks like you….”

Jeong-woo closed his mouth as he saw Hong Ji-suk, who was holding the soup spoon tightly. Jeong-chan, who was casually looking at Jeong-woo, said,

“I don’t know, but you look just like Dad. Even the way you go around causing trouble is just like him.”

“This little punk.”

When stories about his bad father who left the house came up, Jeong-woo didn’t know what to say. It was true that he was a vendor of fish-shaped bread.

Although he didn’t become a delinquent like his father, he enjoyed imitating him until he barely came to his senses in his senior year of high school, compared to which his younger brother was a model student who enjoyed studying. He was the darling of the house.

Still, with Hong Ji-sook’s second-best affection as she served him half-fried egg on his rice bowl, Jeong-woo chuckled and ate his meal.

‘Just wait a month and you’ll be surprised.’

Jeong-woo carefully checked his appearance in the mirror by the entrance and adjusted his clothes. One suit wasn’t enough, so he had almost used up all the money he earned from clinical trials to hastily order a new suit and several dress shirts two days ago.

“I’ll be back!”

Jeong-woo pushed the front door energetically as he passed through the yard.

As soon as it opened, the noisy sound of the latch ringing startled the neighbor who was walking on the street, and he turned his head.

“Jeong-woo, what’s wrong with that door? Every time your mom goes to the market in the morning, it feels like a ghost is coming out.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll oil it up this weekend.”

While Jeong-woo carefully closed the door, the neighbor looked him up and down and asked.

“You look sharp. Are you going for an interview?”

“It’s a part-time job. It’s gotten cold, so I even got a stylish scarf to go with my suit. How does it look? Is it a good match?”

The neighbor nodded as if it wasn’t too bad, and Jeong-woo smiled with satisfaction.

“That’s good. You have a good eye.”

He may be retired and living quietly now, but a few years ago, the neighbor was a company employee. At that time, Jeong-woo didn’t know how great it was to work for a company long enough to retire.

“By the way, I’m going to treat you to meat at next month’s gathering, so look forward to it.”

“Really?”

“You can’t always mooch off of others. I’ll buy the soju, too.”

“Yay, that’s great!”

Jeong-woo shook his hand and walked down the hill.

‘If I can make it through the next four weeks, no, three weeks, I’ll get my first paycheck.’

Trying to fit in like a corporate employee, Jeong-woo’s financial situation wasn’t great yet.

As he headed to the subway station, he imagined what he would do next month. A new tablet, luxury sunglasses, and expensive watches came in and out of his mind.

‘Oh well. I should start paying off the loans piled up in the house first.’

He had no idea what he might face in the research lab tomorrow. If he didn’t plan his expenses carefully, short-term happiness might turn into long-term sadness.

‘Still, I can buy a gift or two…’

Jeong-woo chuckled, imagining his mother and younger sibling’s surprised faces when they saw the new coat he bought. He knew that he would soon be able to walk with more confidence in this neighborhood.

Thump thump.

Jeong-woo held onto the subway handle and dozed off, only to wake up startled. He had briefly visited dreamland, intoxicated by the warm air blowing from the heater.

‘Where am I?’

He roughly estimated that he had passed Yongsan Station. Luckily, he regained consciousness just before the transfer station.

He checked his clothes that were crumpled and torn by the crowd, feeling relieved. But then he noticed the subway’s speed was slowly decreasing.

‘Huh? This isn’t a stopping place?’

-Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the inconvenience. Due to a part of the upper structure of the Hangang Railway Bridge falling off and blocking the rails, we are now slowing down.

The passengers groaned at the announcement from the train conductor.

-We would like to clarify that the structure is a rainwater collector and is unrelated to the condition of the bridge. It will take about five minutes to remove the structure from the rails. Thank you for your understanding. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience…

Jeong-woo was surprised and looked towards the front of the subway, but he could not see the bridge.

‘Off all things.’

Seeing the train passing by quickly towards Uijeongbu, he thought it wasn’t a big problem. However, waiting for too long was unbearable.

He spent five minutes surfing the web on his phone.

With a ding, the train started moving again, and the anxious passengers quickly regained their composure.

The train passed over the Han River Bridge slower than usual, perhaps as a precaution for potential accidents.

Jeong-woo looked out the window to see where the structure had fallen.

‘A rainwater collector falling…’

Was it because he had been paying close attention to it? The phenomenon that had not been visible for the past few days suddenly came to Jeong-woo’s attention.

As he looked closely at the metallic structure on the top of the Hangang Railroad Bridge, his vision was greatly magnified as if he were using a microscope.

As the surface of the painted structure approached the size of a movie screen, the ground of the smooth, greenish-yellow-coated iron surrounded by a smooth film appeared before Jeong-woo’s eyes.

‘Wow, this is dizzying while moving.’

It was like the motion sickness he had experienced when he tried virtual reality video on his phone. While feeling nauseous, Jeong-woo examined the chemical information in the enlarged world.

The dark green film, which was attached to the ground like oil, turned out to be paint.

Due to the coating function of the paint that bounced off droplets of water, no compound that scratched the ground of the iron was visible.

Clunk clunk.

The small world that Jeongwoo was looking at also started to shake as the subway gradually began to accelerate.

He looked at the part where the large bolt was hammered in and saw it being shaken violently, then he saw it being further enlarged.

‘You free electrons, causing trouble even over there?’

He could now see the dust speck that seemed like a neighborhood friend.

Those things that were eagerly moving back and forth between the bolt and the iron frame, gradually eating away at the surrounding ground, were indeed the crazy guys in this area.

Fortunately, the free electrons were only the size of a handful of sand compared to the bolt, which was the size of a 63-story building.

Even if they caused chaos for decades, it would be difficult to scratch the surface of the bolt. It was like digging in a mountain, but the mountain would not disappear right away.

‘I don’t think we have to worry too much.’

Jeongwoo, who was turning his gaze, blinked and looked at the opposite window, then flinched. The surface of the bolt there was considerably worn and rough.

‘That’s quite dangerous, isn’t it?’

If that structure falls, the train heading to Uijeongbu will come to a stop. The probability of that happening may be low, but if there is a problem when he’s going home, he’ll have to wait again. He might have to wait longer at night.

Jeong-woo glanced at the ‘Seoul Metro Customer Center’ phone number attached to the subway entrance.

‘Um.’

After much consideration, he picked up his phone.

The signal went through, and an automatic response voice came out. After following the guidance and pressing the button to connect with other counselors, a signal to wait came out. It seemed that there were many complaints from customers because the subway was delayed.

-Seoul Metro Counselor Kim Hojeong here.

Eventually, the call was connected.

“It’s nothing. I’m passing through the Han River Bridge, and there seems to be a crack in the upper structure of the top.”

-Yes, a crack… Yes?

“The bolt is severely corroded due to the large potential difference between the iron frame and the metal. The rain gutter may fall off again, so I think you should check it out.”

-Can you tell me the exact location, sir?

“It was the southern end of the Han River Bridge. It’s above the subway heading to Uijeongbu.”

Jeongwoo revealed the exact location he remembered in detail. When the counselor asked for his information, he gave his name as well.

-Thank you, Mr. Han Jeong-woo.

“Don’t mention it.”

-By the way, can you explain the cause once again?

“Well, you see, electrons move from weakly conductive metals to strongly conductive ones…”

Even after explaining it again, it was clear that he didn’t understand. The counselor was probably just as surprised as anyone else. After all, he was probably the first person to call and report a dangerous situation due to rust on a specific structure on the bridge. It’s a relief that it wasn’t a prank call.

‘At least I did what I could.’

Anyway, satisfied that he had fulfilled his civic duty, Jeong-woo got off at the transfer station.

Friday morning at KG Chemical Research Institute.

The door of Research Lab 1 opened and Research Supervisor Oh Seung-ju walked in.

“Pay attention for a moment.”

The ten or so researchers sitting in their seats turned their heads.

“The Electronic Materials Center needs two senior researchers. There are vacancies due to the year-end vacation. Jeong Hee and Yoon Jae will go. Just work hard until the weekend.”

The two senior researchers got up from their seats.

“That’s what Team Leader Park Gil-soo said. The Metal Center is still recruiting new project researchers, so they are asking for support from Research Lab 1…”

The researchers who had no relevant schedules lost interest and began to focus on their own work.

Song Boyeong, who was sitting on a chair near the entrance, smiled as she opened her bag, thinking that she could spend the day reading papers.

“Bo-young.”

“Uh-huh.”

But she had to get up immediately at Oh Seung-ju’s call.

“You participated in the ‘Quasi-crystal coating’ research in the summer, right? The one that was commissioned by Korea Railroad Corporation.”

“Yes, senior.”

“They are looking for that researcher at City Hall right now. They say there’s a seminar on corrosion-related issues.”

“Me? What about Team Leader Park?”

“He’s busy with the new project. Oh, and when you meet Kim, the head of the railway construction, please give him my regards.”

Anyway, Song Boyeong had to move right away, so she closed her bag and put it on her shoulder.

“Take a few new recruits with you. It will show them how to work outside.”

“Should I do that?”

Song Boyeong’s eyes sparkled at Oh Seung-ju’s instruction.