I Became the Oriental Doctor for Divine Beasts - Chapter 124

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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A physician for Divine Beasts
#124
Not long after I offered my advice, Yoo Chae-young from Lunar arrived at Baek Myodang with Jeong Ra-bit.
“Go Yeon-hee!”
Ra-bit broke into a wide smile first, waving her hand.
“I brought Chae-young with me.”
“Good, you’re welcome.”
I led the two of them into the treatment room.
I examined Chae-young’s injured ankle first, gently rotating it and checking the degree of swelling.
“It’s improved quite a bit. Still, the ligament hasn’t fully recovered yet, so I’d recommend a few more acupuncture sessions.”
“Understood.”
Chae-young lay down on the bed without resistance.
I placed needles at acupuncture points around her ankle and began the retention technique, leaving them in place for a set period.
Then I glanced at Ra-bit.
“Ra-bit, would you mind waiting outside for a moment?”
Ra-bit caught on immediately and nodded.
“Oh, of course!”
The door closed quietly, leaving only Chae-young and me in the treatment room.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence stretched between us for a moment.
Chae-young was the first to speak.
“I can’t even remember when it started.”
With the needles in, she lay staring at the ceiling, her voice slow and careful.
“At first the urine had a strong smell and there was a burning sensation below, so I went to an obstetrics clinic. They said it was cystitis. I took medicine and felt better quickly, so I thought it was just temporary.”
Chae-young laughed bitterly.
“But… that wasn’t the end.”
That was only the beginning.
“A few weeks later it came back. Burning during urination, the smell got worse, needing the bathroom constantly, and sometimes my lower belly would feel heavy and uncomfortable.”
She exhaled a long sigh.
“Each time I’d go to the hospital, take medicine, feel a little better, and then it would flare up again, and again…….”
This pattern had been repeating for a long time.
Her voice carried the weight of exhaustion.
“At first I thought one round of treatment would fix it. But when it kept coming back… eventually I could just feel it. I’d think, ‘Here we go again.’ It was so exasperating.”
She bit her lip slightly.
“I didn’t want to keep going to the hospital either. As a female idol, if someone saw me going in and out of an obstetrics clinic, what would they think? I was terrified someone might take a photo and some strange story would come out.”
So she began looking for other solutions instead of the hospital.
I asked quietly.
“What did you do instead of going to the hospital?”
“I tried folk remedies I found online, took probiotics… I just endured it.”
Chae-young fell silent for a moment, then laughed weakly.
“But even when I’d think I was getting better, it never fully went away. So now… it feels like I’m half-resigned to it, just compromising and getting by.”
I listened to her story without interruption.
“Some days are manageable, but on bad days the bathroom urges are overwhelming. There were plenty of times I’d have to slip away during variety show shoots.”
Then suddenly her face flushed.
After hesitating for a long while, her voice came out very small.
“Director Go. And this… you absolutely have to keep this secret, right?”
“Of course.”
I smiled and nodded.
“Protecting a patient’s confidentiality is the most basic duty of a physician.”
Only then did Chae-young cautiously open up.
“It’s so embarrassing, but sometimes on stage when I suddenly need the bathroom desperately, if I push my voice up to the high notes… sometimes a little urine leaks. On those days it would happen.”
As she said this, Chae-young covered her face with both hands.
“So on days like that… I’d deliberately sing the high notes a bit lower. If I don’t push my voice up properly, I use less force…”
“I see.”
“The fans probably thought I was just having an off day with my condition.”
Then all the pieces fell into place in my mind.
The recent footage where Chae-young had been unusually unfocused during shoots, and how she’d step away mid-session.
The videos where she’d sung the high notes lower than usual.
And the reason she’d been so reluctant to let me take her pulse all the way through.
‘She was afraid that if I took her pulse, I’d discover the cystitis.’
I spoke to Chae-young softly.
“Chae-young, cystitis is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. It’s actually quite common in women.”
“Really……?”
“Women have much shorter urethras than men, so bacteria enter easily.”
I continued explaining.
“And if you drink too little water and hold your bladder for long periods, bacteria don’t get flushed out properly, which makes recurrence much more likely. Caffeine is also a major bladder irritant.”
Chae-young lay still, listening blankly, then gradually nodded.
“Now that you mention it… we travel so much that it’s often hard to use the bathroom. So we drink very little water on purpose. But because we get drowsy, we’ve been drinking several cups of coffee a day instead.”
I let out a soft laugh.
“You’ve been doing almost everything in reverse. For recurrent cystitis, that’s the worst possible lifestyle.”
“Oh no.”
Chae-young’s shoulders slumped.
“So what should I do now? I can’t change my job. Going to the clinic for medicine every time it flares up is impossible when it recurs this often…. Honestly, I’m exhausted.”
I carefully wrapped my hand around hers.
“That’s exactly where I can help. Let’s treat this together from now on.”
Tears welled up quickly in Chae-young’s large eyes.
“Do you think it can really get better?”
“Yes. It’s a chronic condition, so the repetition must have worn you down. But it can definitely improve.”
I nodded without hesitation and added in a gentle voice.
“So this time, don’t bear it alone.”
Relief washed over Yoo Chae-young’s face, and at the same time her lips trembled slightly as she held back overwhelming emotion.
* * *
After removing all the needles from Yoo Chae-young’s ankle,
I brought her back to the consultation room and we sat across from each other.
This time it was time for a proper consultation not about the ankle, but about the chronic cystitis.
“Your ankle should be fine if you’re careful for just a few more days.”
“It really healed quickly thanks to you, Director.”
Chae-young straightened her posture and nodded.
Ra-bit had gone outside to play with Alfred, leaving just the two of us in the consultation room.
I began a thorough case history.
“Chae-young, I’d like to ask a few more things. Do people often tell you that your hands and feet are cold? Especially your feet—do you wear socks even in summer because they get cold?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Chae-young looked at me with surprise.
I continued.
“And you don’t sleep deeply, do you?”
“No. I wake up often in the early morning.”
“You’re usually very fatigued, and you tire easily with just a little exertion?”
“…That’s true too.”
The picture was coming together.
I nodded and continued.
“How’s your digestion? Do you often feel bloated or is your appetite inconsistent?”
“Yes. And I get an upset stomach easily if I eat cold foods.”
“You have some menstrual cramps too?”
By this point, Chae-young was staring at me blankly.
“Wait, Director. How do you know all of this?”
I smiled and placed my fingers on her wrist.
“When I took your pulse last time, there was an ailment I suspected. Let me take your pulse again.”
After a moment, I removed my hand from her wrist.
“Hmm. Your pulse is deep and thin, with a slightly rapid quality.”
Chae-young blinked, clearly unfamiliar with the terms.
“What does that mean?”
“A deep, thin pulse means the pulse is submerged and weak. Simply put, your body lacks vital energy.”
“Ah, I see.”
“A rapid pulse means there’s residual heat-dampness in your body. Think of heat-dampness as inflammation.”
I made notes on scrap paper while continuing my explanation.
“You currently have recurrent cystitis. But in Korean medicine, we believe that even the same disease has different causes from person to person. The treatment varies depending on the underlying cause.”
“Different causes even though it’s the same recurrent cystitis?”
I smiled at Chae-young’s question.
“Exactly. For instance, cystitis can develop in someone whose body has excess heat, or someone in whom dampness accumulates and causes recurrence, or someone whose body itself is weak and keeps relapsing.”
Then I reached my conclusion.
“In Korean medicine, you appear to have what we call a Deficiency Syndrome rooted in Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency, with old heat-dampness lingering in your lower burner.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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