Chapter 9

I don't know if Yang Goocheol actually got to eat expensive things. I didn't actually witness it.

However, the dinner joke he tried out just in case was very effective. Through Yang Goocheol's flustered reaction, Jung Woo instinctively knew that his scheme had worked.

Stiff as a board, he looked around and then quietly barked at Jung Woo.

"... You, where did you hear that story from!"

"It's a joke, a joke. It's just a joke, why are you so serious? You look like a thief with a guilty conscience. If someone really saw you, they'd think you were caught stealing something."

"Huh, stealing! What did I steal...!"

"It's a joke, okay? Aren't you being too serious?"

"...... Ah, is that so? It's just a joke? I thought... "

"Huh? Now that I think about it, this is a good opportunity. Since Yang Senior also joked and I joked, it's all in good fun."

"That's right... it's all in good fun... Ha, ha... hahaha."

"Right? Then, this guy, no, no, Seohyun, I'll make sure to correct your rude behavior, so please feel better. Seohyun, can I have a word with you for a moment?"

"... Yes. Senior Yang, I'm sorry."

Jung Woo, feigning anger, took Ji Seohyun and left the office.

Yang Goocheol, staring blankly at their backs, seemed to have turned to stone.

"... This isn't the time."

Then, as if he suddenly remembered something urgent, he left the office as if being chased by something.

With the three people who had been engaged in a psychological battle now gone, peace finally descended upon the software development team's office.

As the tension dissipated, the employees began to murmur.

"Phew- I almost suffocated."

"... Did you see Seohyun just now? When he suddenly sped up and charged in, he was really angry. The force was no joke."

"I was more surprised by Senior I. He didn't back down even against the tough Senior Yang."

"Right. I always thought Senior I was very gentle, but he has a temper."

"I've never seen Senior I act like that before."

"But Yang was really out of line. Bringing up divorce in front of someone who is getting divorced is really rude."

"Honestly, if I were in his shoes, I would have punched him... Huh, huh. Please pretend you didn't hear that."

"But what did Senior I say to Senior Yang at the end that made Senior Yang back down? Did anyone hear it?"

"I didn't hear it either. D... e... g... r... e... e... s... or something like that."

"Does Senior Yang have some weakness that Senior I found out about?"

"Hey. Are you watching too many dramas, sir? In this day and age, who would have such a weakness?"

"Is that so? I'm just curious."

While the software development team was discussing the sudden event, Jung Woo and Ji Seohyun had found their way to the rooftop of the office building.

The cold winter air made his chest feel more open than cold, but Jung Woo's face was stiff.

Clearly angry, Ji Seohyun's expression was not good. As soon as they reached the rooftop, he bowed his head.

"Senior, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have meddled... "

"Do you know what you did wrong, Seohyun?"

"... I think I unnecessarily meddled and caused trouble for you. I'm really... sorry."

"You're wrong."

Jung Woo turned his body. The stiff expression was gone, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Seohyun. I should be the one to thank you."

"... Really?"

"Thank you for stepping in. It felt really reassuring."

"... Ah, I'm glad. I thought you were angry..."

"Why would I be angry? When I was confronted by Senior Yang, it felt really cathartic. You said exactly what I wanted to say... Are you trying to read my mind, Seohyun? Are you reading my thoughts right now?"

"No, I'm not. But what do you mean by 'reading my mind'?"

"I am Maitreya... Don't you know?"

"No, I don't."

"Ha- Generation gap. I'm sorry for making a strange joke."

"... I'm sorry."

"Stop saying sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry."

"Why are you sorry, Senior?"

"Well, Seohyun is now in trouble with Senior Yang. Not just Senior Yang, but some of the old-timers will also look down on you. It's hard to see a subordinate's insubordination in a good light."

"... Ah, it's okay."

"What's okay? Seohyun, you're in big trouble now!"

"Really, it's okay. Anyway, I... "

"What? Why did you stop speaking?"

"It's nothing."

With that, Ji Seohyun smiled.

Oh, you naive kid. You don't even realize the situation you're in, yet you can smile so brightly.

Jung Woo shook his head.

"Being clueless can be a good thing sometimes. You don't have to stress. Anyway, Seohyun, I'm on your side. If you have any troubles, talk to me. I'll definitely repay this favor someday."

"... You're on my side?"

"Ah, now that I think about it, it does sound a bit strange. It feels like I should say something like 'I! Ji! Cross!' from a shonen manga. It's so cringeworthy, isn't it?"

"Hehe... I! Ji! Cross... Hahaha!"

"Hey? Seohyun laughed. Even robots can laugh."

"I'm not a robot, though."

"Acting like a robot... That's rare. Anyway, I'm really grateful today. Let's have a meal together sometime."

"Are you buying?"

"No, I'm not. Now... it's a bit awkward to buy meals for people."

It's not that Jung Woo doesn't have money.

It's just... after the divorce, he can't easily open up to women.

That's what he meant, but Ji Seohyun took it literally.

"Ah... I heard about it. I'm sorry. I heard you lost all your money in gambling. I feel bad for asking you to buy a meal."

"That's a misunderstanding. I don't gamble, really."

"Okay, I understand. But I'll buy the meal."

"You don't believe me at all, do you? I have money too."

"Sure, I'll say that. Anyway, it's already lunchtime. We should go down."

"Wait, Seohyun, where are you going? Listen to me first. I'm not that bad, you know? Seohyun, Seohyun, Seohyun!"

Jung Woo hurriedly followed Ji Seohyun, who was already going down, and started to explain.

But perhaps due to the cold wind, Ji Seohyun, with his cheeks slightly flushed, remained silent.

Thump, thump, thump—

As if he couldn't hear Jung Woo's voice.

It seemed it would take quite some time to clear up this misunderstanding.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that moment, in the empty emergency staircase of the office building, Yang Goocheol was anxiously waiting for someone.

Then, with a creak, the emergency staircase door opened, and a well-dressed man in his 30s walked down.

The man, Sung Jae-min, the head of the Strategy and Planning Division at Sungun Innovation, with his well-suited pompadour hairstyle, approached with a strangely distorted handsome face and growled.

"Mr. Yang Goocheol, I told you not to contact me during work hours. Do you find it funny to ignore people?"

"S-Sir, I'm sorry! It was an urgent matter... Ow!"

Yang Goocheol, who was begging for forgiveness, screamed. Sung Jae-min had kicked his shin hard.

"Stop whining. Be quiet. Unless you want to gather a crowd."

"Ugh... I'm sorry."

"Alright, tell me what the urgent matter is."

Yang Goocheol, clutching his aching shin and groaning, finally spoke.

"It seems... it's been discovered..."

"Discovered? By whom?"

"By a senior in the same team, Lee Jung Woo... He's a bit of a troublemaker."

"Lee Jung Woo?"

"Ah? Do you know him, sir?"

"... It doesn't matter. Just continue with what you were saying."

"It's... He suddenly asked me if I've been hanging around with DaeHan Chemicals lately... It felt suspicious, so I reported it."

Yang Goocheol explained with a tense expression.

But Sung Jae-min looked incredulous.

"Ha... Mr. Yang Goocheol, are you scared just because of that?"

"... What do you mean...?"

"He didn't even tell you what we're doing. It could have been a coincidence that DaeHan Chemicals was mentioned. Isn't that right?"

"Um... "

"Anyway, I understand. You said it was Lee Jung Woo, right? If there's any chance, I'll look into it."

"... Thank you."

"By the way, how much progress have you made?"

"... I'm searching the servers and looking hard, but I haven't found the core yet. It seems the data is stored on an independent external server, and I don't know how to access it, so it's taking time..."

"Still? Ha... Try harder. It's been a while since we talked, and you're still at the same point. I'm getting disappointed."

"... I'll do better! Please believe in me!"

"Don't just talk. Show results. You have a lot of ambition and take a lot of money, but you don't show results, results!"

"......"

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

"No, I'm sorry."

"At least have some shame. Learn from this and don't waste my time with trivial matters, okay?"

"Y-Yes..."

With a bowed head, Yang Goocheol watched as Sung Jae-min left the emergency staircase.

Once he was gone, Yang Goocheol bit his lip.

"Damn... Do you think I'm not trying to find it...! I'm trying really hard...!"

The project that could make or break Sungun Innovation, the data for the 'Micrographene Cathode Material' technology.

* * *

Perhaps due to the friction during lunchtime, the atmosphere in the software development team's office that day was tense, like a thin layer of ice.

Of course, Yang Goocheol, who had something to hide, treated Jung Woo as if he were invisible, so no further trouble arose.

"But what did you say to make Senior Yang freeze like that?"

"Hmm... There's something. You don't need to know."

"I'm curious."

Ji Seohyun took a careful sip of beer.

After all the work was done and on their way home, Jung Woo and Seohyun stopped by a pub for a quick beer.

Jung Woo insisted on buying a meal to thank Seohyun for his help, but since neither of them had much appetite, they decided to have a simple beer.

Jung Woo, biting into a piece of chicken, felt apologetic.

"It's delicious. But you didn't have to buy it. I actually benefited from your help, so there's no need to thank me. It's all in good fun, right?"

"That's what we talked about earlier. I'm not doing this to repay you; it's just a casual drink between colleagues, so don't feel obligated."

"Ugh... I feel like I'm receiving charity. I'm really not that bad, you know? I'm just trying to clear up the misunderstanding."

"You said you gamble. Is that not true?"

"I don't know where that strange rumor came from, but it's not true. I just dabble in coins a bit."

"Coins?"

Ji Seohyun's eyes widened.

"Are you talking about Bitcoin?"

"Yeah. Do you know about it? Ah, I guess it would be strange for a developer not to know about Bitcoin."

"I know a bit. In college, I even tried creating a cryptocurrency using open-source technology."

"You created a coin?"

Jung Woo was surprised. The story of Bitcoin, which he had only heard about in passing during college.

Back then, the idea of trading a few thousand Bitcoin for a pizza was laughed off as "Who would trade such a small piece of data for a pizza?" He never bothered to learn about Bitcoin or even tried mining.

But now, the tables have turned. It's an era where even hundreds of pizzas can't buy a single Bitcoin.

It was surprising to hear that Ji Seohyun had not only tried mining but had even created a coin.

"What kind of coin did you create?"

"I was interested in blockchain technology, one of the core aspects of Bitcoin. I wanted to maximize the transmission speed, so I created an altcoin. I didn't achieve the desired speed, but I managed to complete it. However, when I tried to distribute it, I ran into problems."

"What kind of problems?"

"The transaction fees for the Bitcoin network were quite high."

There are several ways to distribute a coin. One is through P2P, direct transactions between people, and the other is using the blockchain network of an existing coin.

For example, using the Bitcoin network to distribute a new cryptocurrency to Bitcoin holders at a specific time and date, known as an airdrop.

However, the downside of this method is that you have to pay a fee to use the network.

"The Bitcoin transaction fees were quite high."

"Given that it was only 2-3 years ago when you were in college, Bitcoin was already quite expensive. It was around 200,000 won per coin, right?"

"We were college students with limited funds. So we tried mining Bitcoin to cover the costs."

"You tried mining too?"

"Yes. But it took a lot of time, and my ASUS laptop had its limits. I ran the mining program, but it took too long and eventually fizzled out."

"That's a shame."

"Still, I managed to mine a decent amount of Bitcoin."

"Really? You mined Bitcoin?"

"Yes. I still have it running on my home PC."

This was the first time he heard about it, even before the regression. Ji Seohyun was mining Bitcoin.

Feeling a bit dazed, he asked.

"Hey, how much do you have?"

"The last time I checked, I had about 100 coins."

"... What? 100 coins?!"

Oh.