Ghosts of Eternity

The Grand Ballroom of the Shilla Hotel’s Yeongbingwan was already filled with the men and women who moved politics and capital. The official pretext was a National Strategic Industry Forum. Light from the massive chandelier struck the crystal glasses and scattered across the ballroom entrance as Seohan stepped inside.

As he moved through the crowd, he noticed Baek Seoyun crossing the lobby toward the ballroom. Their gazes met in midair.

Seohan offered a slight nod. Seoyun gave him a faint smile and approached naturally.

“Chief Baek. Good timing. There is something I wanted your opinion on. Shall we head in?”

Seohan and Seoyun walked side by side deeper into the ballroom.

Although it had the appearance of an elegant social gathering, the atmosphere around the circular table deep inside the ballroom was entirely different.

Hyunjin Jeong, Uihyeon Jeong, and Taemin Gu.

A heavy silence dominated the space between the three men. But the silence was not what stood out most. Their faces were. On the faces of Hyunjin Jeong and Uihyeon Jeong, both nearing sixty, fatigue was strangely absent, and their skin looked unnaturally taut. The same went for Taemin Gu, who was in his late forties.

Taemin Gu set his glass down on the table without a sound and stared at Hyunjin Jeong.

“Vice Chairman Jeong.”

“Hmm? What is it, Chairman Gu?”

“About ‘Lysis,’ which S-Beauty launched this time. Where did the core substance come from?”

Hyunjin Jeong maintained a relaxed composure, lightly adjusting the pocket square of his suit.

“That’s a distribution brand our Se-ah put a lot of effort into. I hear the response around Gangnam is quite hot.”

“The technical barrier is far too high to view it simply as the result of brand planning capability.”

Taemin Gu’s tone dropped a notch further. He didn’t stop speaking even as he observed the demeanor of Uihyeon Jeong of H Motors, who was quietly tilting his glass beside him. The issue wasn’t Lysis's sales volume itself. It was the fact that MK had been excluded from the very first instance where Lee Seohan's substance was turned into a mainstream commercial product—that was what grated on Taemin Gu’s nerves. He felt the center of the alliance shifting toward S Group.

“Let’s credit the distribution strategy and marketing to S Group’s capabilities. But the core material, AEC-101—isn’t that clearly Dr. Lee Seohan’s research achievement?”

Hyunjin Jeong’s gaze froze for the briefest moment. Uihyeon Jeong set his glass down with a slightly heavier motion. Taemin Gu leaned his upper body forward a fraction.

“If Dr. Lee’s involvement is true, then this discussion changes entirely. Aren't we all in the same boat? And yet, S Group intends to take such an exclusive business opportunity alone?”

Taemin Gu’s gaze sank heavily.

“Gentlemen, that violates the basic fairness of this market. If we had linked MK’s global distribution network or our company’s bio-production facilities, the scale of the business itself would have been entirely different.”

Hyunjin Jeong swallowed a dry scoff.

“Chairman Gu, do you think Dr. Lee is someone favorable to equity splits? We also paid a substantial opportunity cost to secure the distribution rights. Have you not dealt with that vicious bastard yourself to still make such naive remarks?”

“It is precisely because I have dealt with him that I say this.”

Taemin Gu countered firmly.

“Dr. Lee is not a man to be swayed by justification or emotion. He reacts strictly to pragmatic infrastructure and verified metrics.”

He looked back and forth between the two men.

“The price for us bearing the risks behind the scenes isn’t just a single bottle of nasal spray delivered every month, is it? If S Group is the only one pocketing the real benefits every time a mainstream business like this is generated, MK's justification for maintaining this dangerous alliance weakens.”

Uihyeon Jeong, who had been listening in silence, set his glass down.

“Chairman Gu has a point.”

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Uihyeon Jeong’s voice carried an uncompromised weight.

“Vice Chairman Jeong, you monopolized this case excessively. Are we not equally sharing the research advisory fees and the legal shield provided to Dr. Lee’s side?”

Hyunjin Jeong’s brow furrowed. As the pressure from the two men leaned to one side, Hyunjin Jeong emptied his glass in silence.

At that moment, the atmosphere at the entrance of the ballroom shifted minutely.

Lee Seohan entered with Baek Seoyun at his side. Seoyun, dressed in a cream silk shirt and neat slacks, and Seohan, walking in without much expression. As the two entered, several gazes inside the ballroom quietly shifted direction.

Taemin Gu slowly approached the two. It was an opportunity to break Hyunjin Jeong’s unilateral move and set a new board.

“Seeing you together with Chief Baek, the dignity of this ballroom rises to another level.”

Taemin Gu smiled, naturally blocking Seohan’s path. Seohan scanned Taemin Gu with indifferent eyes.

“You flatter us, Chairman Gu. It has been a while.”

“Haha, it’s a pleasure to see such a busy man even in a place like this, which is why I said it. It could also be read as a sign that Aether Bio is now genuinely stepping into rhythm with the institutional sphere. As expected, Dr. Lee, your eye for reading the board is peerless.”

“This is Chief Baek Seoyun of GSI. We are jointly discussing future regulatory strategies and institutional reviews,” Seohan introduced Seoyun.

However, to Hyunjin Jeong, Uihyeon Jeong, and Taemin Gu, those words sounded like something far more than simple consultation.

The eldest daughter of a prestigious family who understood the language of politics and bureaucracy better than anyone—Baek Seoyun. The fact that she was officially standing by Aether Bio’s side was a heavy warning to the magnates who had been applying pressure relying solely on capital.

Seoyun lightly raised her glass and offered a nod.

“Pleasure to meet you, Vice Chairman Jeong, and the two Chairmen. I have been watching with interest as Aether Bio’s achievements begin entering the institutional sphere.”

Her voice was calm yet solid. An authority of a different kind from the language of capital used by the chaebols permeated her tone. Taemin Gu stared into Seoyun’s eyes. A strange sense of pressure washed over him, as if his calculations were being analyzed in real-time under her gaze.

He lowered his voice slightly and spoke to Seohan.

“Dr. Lee, MK possesses a global cold chain and unrivaled logistics infrastructure. When it comes to pioneering overseas markets, we hold a definitive advantage over S Group. Even if we concede this Lysis matter to Vice Chairman Jeong’s channel...”

Taking a brief breath, he brought up the core issue.

“Wouldn't it be rational to place MK as the priority for future European market distribution?”

Seohan stared blankly at the bubbles rising vertically inside his glass. Inside his head, the administrative risks and cost variances resulting from supply chain diversification were being instantly calibrated.

“Dr. Lee, in terms of logistics hub efficiency, MK is certainly ahead,” Uihyeon Jeong chimed in. His intention to check Hyunjin Jeong’s unilateral move was blatant.

Taemin Gu drove the wedge in.

“The same goes from a risk diversification perspective. Relying solely on a single group's infrastructure for the explosive demand of Lysis invites inefficiency. Optimization of a system stems from cooperation.”

It was a thoroughly business-minded persuasion. However, Seohan did not miss the minute fissure hidden behind the proposal. Hyunjin Jeong was watching only Seohan’s lips, unable to hide his anxiety.

Seohan set his glass down soundlessly onto the tray of a passing waiter.

“Diversifying the supply chain at this stage would only create an unnecessary administrative burden.”

Seohan’s dry voice cut the conversation short.

“Unless a problem arises, we will temporarily unify Lysis’s distribution through S Group’s single channel.”

With that declaration, the tension washed away from Hyunjin Jeong’s shoulders. He downed his drink, hiding his relief. On the other hand, Taemin Gu hardened his lips.

Seohan turned his gaze toward Taemin Gu and added dryly, “However, the Ghost side is different.”

Seohan continued briefly.

“In the clinical development stage, country-specific logistics, storage, and hospital networks must be reviewed separately. MK’s infrastructure may be more suitable for that side. If necessary, we can discuss it separately.”

In that instant, the light in Taemin Gu’s eyes shifted.

To Taemin Gu, Ghost was not just a functional substance. Fatigue, cognition, desire, resilience—the names hung on the boundary of things humans lose one by one with age. The moment it came out alongside the words 'clinical development,' something like Lysis wasn't even a subject for comparison.

Seohan had merely made a pragmatic judgment, but Taemin Gu accepted it as a massive invitation. MK's overseas logistics network, cold storage systems, hospital networks, and lists of partner companies in various countries began to rapidly rearrange themselves in his head.

Hyunjin Jeong, who had been listening to the conversation from the side, showed a wavering gaze.

“Dr. Lee, that is an item of an entirely different weight class compared to Lysis!”

Hyunjin Jeong’s fingertips stiffened minutely. He wanted to intervene right away and demand a stake, but caught between Seohan’s dry silence and Taemin Gu’s momentum, he could not speak further.

Baek Seoyun observed the entire dynamic of greed with a detached gaze. She turned her head toward Seohan.

“Quite interesting proposals are being exchanged. However, regarding the substance called ‘Ghost,’ I too have not received a detailed report.”

Without avoiding Seoyun’s gaze, Seohan replied dryly to Taemin Gu.

“It is a matter that requires institutional review, including whether a regulatory sandbox applies. Chief Baek, I needed your counsel on this part regardless. I would like to discuss it with you somewhere more private.”

At Seohan’s proposal, Baek Seoyun nodded.

“If that is the case, we should refine the phrasing before anything becomes public. Let’s move.”

The two walked out past the center of the ballroom. It was merely a change of location. Yet, to the people left behind, their departing figures already looked like the entrance to the next board. At least, it looked that way to Taemin Gu. Lee Seohan looked like a man who knew how to wield capital, and with Baek Seoyun—who could move the language of the institutional sphere—by his side, he seemed to be elevating the board to the next level.

Lysis was a product.

But Ghost was the board.

If S Group took the first product, MK was now standing at the entrance of the next board.

Only then did Taemin Gu bring the glass to his lips.

The chilled champagne slid down his throat.

Strangely, something inside him burned even hotter.