“Ugh… This is really frustrating. Nothing is going my way. How did it end up like this?”
Eight years ago, a group of soldiers seized power in the Republic of Korea through a military coup.
At the very peak of those ruthless men was one man.
Current President of the Republic of Korea, Jeon Duwang, was in the Cheongwadae office.
His expression, seated in a luxurious wooden chair, was grim. The death of an S University student on January 14 had destabilized the nation.
Citizens’ resistance to the long-standing military dictatorship was intensifying.
Jeon Duwang asked Director Yong Taegu of the National Security Planning Agency.
“How’s the atmosphere in the country these days?”
“Your Excellency, the mood is quite bad due to the death of that S University student. And because a prosecutor from the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office has been digging around, the Nam-Mae Bokjiwon incident in Busan is about to break out as well… At this rate, it might be difficult to maintain the regime.”
“Ugh… I was planning to transfer power to my friend, but now look at this mess. Busan… That’s the civilian facility forcibly confining vagrants, right? Nam-Mae Bokjiwon or something?”
“Yes. But as you know, the facility is practically cooperating with the government… We rounded up anyone with anti-government tendencies and locked them up there. But on investigation, it seems hundreds of people have died in that facility over the years.”
“…I had no idea that sort of thing was happening. I swear!”
Enraged, Jeon Duwang shouted.
The more facilities there were to detain anti-government figures, the better. That was why they funded and supported such places… But what had happened at this Nam-Mae Bokjiwon was something else. To think so many had died inside…
President Jeon Duwang held back a throbbing headache and spoke.
“For now, just pretend to investigate to calm public sentiment. Tell the Ulsan Police Station to round up some of the facility’s staff. They’re more likely to listen to us than that prosecutor.”
“Are you saying the police should conduct a proper investigation?”
“Of course not! Just make it look good, soothe public opinion… If the anti-government mood grows too much, wrap up the case quickly. Give them a slap on the wrist.”
“Understood.”
-jeobeok
-jeobeok
-jeobeok…
Director Yong Taegu nodded and walked out at the President’s command. After all, he just acted on orders from above.
That’s how you survived in this era where the military held power. Obedience to superiors was the rule.
Yong Taegu, too, was an elite military man. So, even if he felt the president’s orders were unjust, he didn’t object.
Even if he refused, the president would just do as he pleased.
But as he walked down the corridor, Yong Taegu clicked his tongue as he unfolded the NSPO’s investigation report.
“No matter how I look at it, this isn’t something that can be swept under the rug… Over 500 dead in ten years, bodies buried in the hills or sold to hospitals for dissection. Is it really right to handle this human rights violation so lightly? Hoo—”
Letting out a sigh, Director Yong Taegu shook his head, thinking there was nothing he could do.
An age shrouded in darkness.
He was just a careerist military man desperate for advancement. He couldn’t realize justice, nor did he have a reason to. Just a petty man.
Still, the uneasy feeling stuck like a thorn in his throat.
He hurried to get home to see his children, getting into the black sedan.
The NSPO agent at the wheel asked,
“Where to, sir?”
“Take me home to Seongbuk-dong. I want to see my family.”
“Understood.”
-buaaaang…!
Cutting through the deep darkness and leaving Cheongwadae, he pondered.
Would the next regime be run by another military man? It was uncertain.
That’s how much the world of 1987 was turning against the villains.
“That S University student… If only that brat hadn’t died, things wouldn’t have turned out like this. Damn it!”
-tak
Yong Taegu irritably smacked the window, and the agent at the wheel swallowed dryly in tension.
He was comparatively mild-mannered for a military man, but even Yong Taegu had a temper.
He fit his position, wielding power in this era ruled by soldiers.
Ignoring his frightened subordinate, Yong Taegu clicked his tongue and muttered to himself.
“Well… If things don’t go as planned, couldn’t we just crush them with tanks? If ten, twenty thousand people die, the student movement will lose steam. Everything will go as His Excellency wishes. Everything…”
Even at his best, he was nothing but a collaborator of this regime. His way of thinking was no different from those who held power before.
But whether things would go as he wished was another story. The world would not submit so easily to the military anymore.
Compared to ten years ago, the spirit of democratization had grown astonishingly strong. Not just students, but ordinary citizens too… They no longer accepted military rule.
If tanks massacred citizens, a million, two million protesters would march on Cheongwadae and cut off Jeon Duwang’s head.
Director Yong Taegu was well aware of that. With so much information at his fingertips, it made him feel even more suffocated.
The problem was, even if tanks were deployed, the people wouldn’t be as easy to crush as before.
Feeling foul, Yong Taegu changed his mind and spoke to the agent.
“On the way, let’s stop by S University and pick up my third daughter.”
“Ah! You mean your third daughter? The one who’s supposed to be very smart… What was her department again? S University is so big, it’s hard to find…”
“Medical school. Med school.”
“Wow! She must be very smart. That’s really admirable, sir. You truly have an amazing daughter.”
“Of course! Not just smart, she’s beautiful too. See for yourself when she gets in the car. Tell me if I’m wrong… But if you try to get close to her behind my back, you’ll never be found. Understand?”
-gulp..
Given the suspicious times, it was hard to take as just a joke. To the agent, truly nervous, Yong Taegu laughed.
“Kehaha! Just kidding. Relax. If you two like each other, I wouldn’t object. So just grip the wheel and don’t be so tense. Whoa! There’s a truck coming from the other side?!”
-kiiieeeek…!!
The agent, too tense, nearly collided with a five-ton truck. Swerving to the shoulder, he bowed his head in apology to Yong Taegu, whose power was nearly that of a grim reaper.
“S-sorry, sir. My mistake… Please spare me!”
“Idiot. With nerves like that, what makes you think you can be an NSPO agent? Just quit!”
Annoyed, Yong Taegu ordered him to drive again.
Sitting in the luxury sedan speeding smoothly down the road, he thought of the pretty daughter he’d soon see.
His third daughter, attending S University Medical School, was so precious he could hardly bear to be apart from her.
Thinking of his beautiful, talented daughter, Yong Taegu smiled.
“She said she has plastic surgery class today, right? Wants to be like Professor Lee Yoona, the only female professor in the department. I wonder what class she’s taking right now… I’m really curious.”
*****
Meanwhile, Professor Lee Yoona, teaching the second-year plastic surgery class at S University’s medical school, was furious.
‘Cheolsu, you..! How dare you ignore me? I’m so pretty, yet you can’t stay awake during my lecture?’
Why was she dressed so provocatively for her lecture? Partly to attract the male students’ attention and boost her self-esteem as a woman, but mostly to help students focus in class.
According to famous American statistician Gil Lippert, when a woman wears revealing clothing, men’s concentration increases. There was much debate about whether the paper was true or not, but Lee Yoona knew how to use her looks.
But Kim Cheolsu, who’d entered med school late after his military service, and who’d fast-tracked multiple years with outstanding grades.
And with a handsome face, no less—her pride was deeply wounded by the fact that he had dozed off during her class.
“You!! Why did you fall asleep in my class? If you don’t answer properly, I’ll hit you again.”
She swung her stick at Kim Cheolsu, intending to strike him again.
But this time, it didn’t work.
Kim Cheolsu, with quick reflexes, dodged the stick.
He spoke curtly, as if annoyed.
“You can’t just go around hitting people like that these days, Professor. It’s senseless. Ah, right, it’s still 1987, isn’t it? So even med school is full of violence these days. To think I went through all this to become a surgeon… What an emotional moment.”
Why did his earnest expression look like he was joking?
The students around him nodded at his words.
-Kikik… Yeah, my mom says it’s too much that colleges still have corporal punishment. I bet adults don’t even know it’s still a thing.
-Honestly, this is a bad old habit that needs to change. And isn’t Professor Lee Yoona especially strict with punishments? Maybe she’s worried people will underestimate her because she’s a woman?
-Yeah, true. But regardless, I wish someone would smack Kim Cheolsu around a bit.
-I agree. Seriously, he acts too arrogant. If you started college late, you should keep your head down. What’s with all that early promotion?
-But I guess the professors can’t help it… He’s top of the class.
-Top? What do you mean?
-Dummy. He means valedictorian. He had the highest scores at entrance and in every exam since.
-Wow… Damn, that’s nuts. Is he even human?
-Exactly… That’s why people call him a mad dog. He’s not a man, he’s a beast!
The whispers in the room were not friendly toward Kim Cheolsu. There was much jealousy and envy toward the talented.
Most were rich kids and quite immature.
But Professor Lee Yoona, for now, calmed her anger and glared at Kim Cheolsu.
“Fine. Since you got hit once, I’ll stop for today. But let me ask you this. Why did you sleep during my lecture on the causes of cleft lip? Was my lesson really that boring? Or did you already know all the material?”
Kim Cheolsu was irritated by Lee Yoona’s hysterics. Honestly, he couldn’t remember falling asleep during class just now.
He’d just dozed off in a car heading to Gwangju in 2001 and woke up to being hit in 1987.
There, the female professor had written ‘cleft lip’ on the blackboard and was picking a fight… It was hard to see her favorably.
Come on, if someone is asleep, just wake them up. Even for back then, corporal punishment was outdated.
So Kim Cheolsu replied bluntly.
“Honestly, it’s just a repeat of stuff we’ve already learned, so of course I got sleepy.”
“Wha-what?! Are you crazy? This is my first time teaching this topic today! What are you talking about?”
-woongseong woongseong…
-What’s up with Kim Cheolsu today? He’s not usually the type to mouth off to a professor.
-Yeah, he’s obsessed with grades, but he’s acting weird today.
Ignoring the murmurs, Kim Cheolsu continued.
“I don’t want to drag this out. Anyway, if you ask me a question, you’ll see if I know the material or not, right? Please don’t resort to ignorant beatings.”
“I-ignorant?! Fine. If you can’t answer my question, you get an F for the semester! Is that okay?”
“Sure. Ask whatever you’d like.”
Honestly, Kim Cheolsu wasn’t totally confident. It had been a long time since he’d studied this subject. But he’d reviewed recently and figured he’d manage.
The beautiful Professor Lee Yoona blew air out her nose angrily.
“If you’re ready, good. I’ll ask about the process of fetal lip development. Lips usually form between the 4th and 7th weeks of pregnancy. What I want to know is… through the changes of exactly ‘which’ cells do lips form?”
Her question was a very difficult one. Put simply, it was about the process by which a round mass of cells gradually takes human shape, and how the ‘lips’ form along the way.
Like sculpting clay, the process of forming human lips is very complex and not easy to explain.
She was asking about a difficult advanced topic they’d never learned, so it was only natural that Kim Cheolsu was taken aback.
“……”
He didn’t answer for a long time, and the female professor looked pleased. She thought she had won.
“See? You don’t know, do you? Okay, then for this semester, your grade is an F…”
-Kikik. Why’d he show off and end up with an F? Idiot, isn’t he?
-Seriously, what a moron. He’s not going to be top of the class this semester.
-Dumb fool!
The atmosphere was almost gleeful at the fall of a genius.
Meanwhile, Kim Cheolsu finally opened his mouth, unimpressed.
“That’s too easy. I didn’t expect such a simple question from you, Professor. During the third week of fetal development, the frontal process of the neural plate, which formed from the neural plate, rises upward and first forms the nasal placode. Then, from the upper part of the first pharyngeal arch, the maxillary process divides and grows independently. That should be enough… Shall I stop here? Or should I continue?”
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