Chapter 229: Rosaline (4)
“Wait, so you’re saying that the reason you split with the pathogen that infected Kim Hyun-Taek was because of the hepatitis medication I was taking at the time?” Young-Joon asked.
—I’m talking about a possibility. Even I don’t know what happened then.
Young-Joon thought for a moment.
“You’ve grown a lot since then, right? If we go back to Kim Hyun-Taek, do you think we’ll be able to learn more about the pathogen?”
—Maybe.
Young-Joon paused, then said, “Now that I think of it... Rosaline, you once told me that Kim Hyun-Taek was so badly damaged that there was no way to recover him, right?”
—Yes.
“Do you think it’s possible now?”
—Hm.
Rosaline frowned slightly.
—I’ll have to see.
Click.
Young-Joon opened the door and walked out.
“Huh?”
Ryu Ji-Won, who was hugging Yang Dong-Wook, pulled away in surprise.
“I-I thought you were sleeping.”
“I have something to do. I’ll be back soon.”
Young-Joon put on his jacket and ran out the front door.
*
“What did you just say?” Park Dong-Hyun asked in disbelief.
All the other members of the Life Creation Department looked baffled.
“Maybe we can bring Director Kim Hyun-Taek back to life?” Song Ji-Hyun asked.
Cellijenner regularly visited Lab Seven to conduct follow-up research after the development of the running microdust reduction device. Today, Song Ji-Hyun suddenly requested a meeting with the members of the Life Creation Department and made this outrageous statement.
“I’ve seen the reports on the artificial organs you’ve transplanted into the Chinese officials: heart, liver, lungs, pancreas, and the small intestine. You’ve made a lot of progress, right?”
“... So you’re suggesting we put them in Kim Hyun-Taek’s body and try to save him?” Bae Sun-Mi asked.
“Doctor Song, the human body is not a doll...” Koh Soon-Yeol said, bewildered.
“No, I’m not saying this as a joke,” Song Ji-Hyun said, blushing.
“But why do you want to save Kim Hyun-Taek?” Cheon Ji-Myung asked. “I thought you really hated him, Doctor Song. He’s the one who destroyed Cellicure.”
“I don’t like him,” Song Ji-Hyun said, frowning. “He’s certainly guilty of many things: developing an anthrax bioweapon and deliberately destroying Cellicure. But it should be the law that punishes Director Kim Hyun-Taek, not some unknown pathogen.”
“...”
“I believe that only humans have the right to punish human wrongdoing. Some people believe that Kim Hyun-Taek has been punished by God, but a scientist shouldn’t accept a punishment like that. Kim Hyun-Taek is bedridden because he contracted an unknown disease, and we have an obligation to explore it and try to cure him.”
“But Doctor Song, realistically, it’s too difficult. Kim Hyun-Taek is brain-dead,” Cheon Ji-Myung said.
“That’s right.”
“It’s a bit difficult to revive a brain-dead person whose brain stem is dead, even with artificial organs.”
Park Dong-Hyun scratched his head.
“That’s right. We can get it to the preclinical stage, but it won’t be a clinical trial when it comes to Kim Hyun-Taek.”
“What?” Park Dong-Hyun asked, frowning.
“Legally, clinical trials are for living people, but a brain-dead person is not a living person under current law. It’s been over six months already, so the doctors must have declared him dead.”
“... No, then...”
“This is illegal research. This project can only be started after completely changing the law,”
“This is crazy...”
“This is why people haven’t been able to do clinical trials on brain-dead patients for a long time. Companies like BioCork in Philadelphia have jumped into this challenging field a few times, but it didn’t go well. Most of the clinical research on brain death has been focused on restoring consciousness in brain-dead people.”
“If Doctor Song’s idea works, it would really shock the world. It’s literally bringing the dead back to life, right?” Bae Sun-Mi said.
Song Ji-Hyun nodded.
In a sense, this could be equivalent to conquering cancer. A recovery from an extreme condition that had previously been declared as death: all five people knew what that meant.
“How many brain-dead people in South Korea are still on life support?” Park Dong-Hyun asked Song Ji-Hyun.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who’s been alive for more than six months other than Kim Hyun-Taek, and that’s why we want to do it on Kim Hyun-Taek.”
“By the way, why is Kim Hyun-Taek still on a respirator? Don’t people usually hold a funeral after doctors declare someone dead?” Park Dong-Hyun asked.
“I think his family is against it,” Song Ji-Hyun said.
“They’re against it?”
“They think Doctor Ryu will save him.”
“...”
Park Dong-Hyun scratched his head.
“Those people... Wasn’t that before artificial organs and stuff? But they just trusted our CEO and waited for him? They kept him on life support for half a year? No matter how good our CEO is, it’s not like he’s God... Besides, how could they be so shameless when they know about their relationship...”
“It’s not like that. Director Kim Hyun-Taek’s family are good people,” Song Ji-Hyun said.
“You’ve met them?”
“Yes. When the Cellicure incident was revealed, Director Kim’s wife came to our office and apologized, saying her husband had caused trouble.”
“I can’t believe it. Director Kim has a wife like that?” Park Dong-Hyun said in shock.
“I know Kim Hyun-Taek did a lot of bad things, but he must have been a family man at home.”
*
Young-Joon arrived at the intensive care unit at Yonsei University Hospital. After requesting to see Kim Hyun-Taek at the reception desk, a nurse escorted him to his room.
“Oh, Doctor Ryu, please convince his wife when you go inside... I can’t stand seeing her in pain. We need to let him go,” the nurse said to Young-Joon.
Click.
Then, the nurse opened the door.
“Hello.”
The nurse greeted Kim Hyun-Taek’s wife.
“M-Mr. Ryu?”
Kim Hyun-Taek’s wife looked at Young-Joon in surprise. But Young-Joon was looking past her at Kim Hyun-Taek, who was lying in bed behind her.
[Synchronization Mode Activated: Brain Death]
A message window popped.