I Became the Oriental Doctor for Divine Beasts - Chapter 21

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

I had become a herbal physician to Divine Beings.
#21
Thump-thump-thump—.
I felt my heart pounding loudly in my chest.
Was it because I’d secretly pocketed the letter that Yang Si-heon had crumpled and thrown away?
Or was it the strange expression on his face just now?
“…….”
I took a deep breath and fidgeted with my Myoansuk Necklace.
It was a habit that surfaced whenever I felt anxious or unsettled.
I crossed through the Restaurant where soft jazz was playing and approached the table where Yang Si-heon sat.
A soft whisper—.
Si-heon’s eyes shifted toward me as he sensed my presence.
He was sitting at the table where I’d left my handbag earlier.
His short-sleeved knit top and the burnt-amber hair swept back neatly caught my eye.
“You must be Ko Yeon-hee?”
It was a refined, gentle smile.
Hard to believe this was the same man who’d just thrown a letter into the trash.
I approached him, keeping my composure as best I could.
“Hello. I didn’t expect my patient today would be you, Yang Si-heon.”
“Ah, I suppose Chairman Baek didn’t mention it.”
“He wanted to surprise you, I think.”
He smiled lightly, then turned his gaze to my handbag on the opposite chair.
“But… did you just arrive?”
My spine went rigid.
Was he asking because he’d noticed I’d been in the garden?
Though that’s what I thought, I answered calmly and sat down.
“I just needed to use the restroom.”
“Ah, I see. Have you looked at the menu?”
A small sigh escaped me.
Fortunately, he simply handed me the menu without saying anything more.
As I swallowed a sip of ice water, my racing heart began to settle.
After selecting a dish and placing my order, I refocused on the actual purpose of this meeting.
“So what kind of problem brings you to seek treatment?”
“Insomnia.”
Si-heon’s voice as he answered was low and monotone.
Yet the content was anything but ordinary.
“These days I can barely sleep one or two hours a night, and that’s on the good days.”
“One or two hours a night?”
I looked up in shock.
“Good heavens. You’ll collapse at this rate.”
He gave a short laugh.
“Ha ha……. I suppose it helps that I’m a Divine Being.”
Understanding the gravity of the situation, I pulled my chair closer to the table.
“How long has this been going on?”
“It’s been a long time. When I was a child actor, I did fine, but ever since becoming an adult, I’ve needed sleeping pills constantly.”
Right, that’s true.
Yang Si-heon was a former child actor, and his father, Director Yang Byung-geun, was an active and celebrated filmmaker even now.
The commercials and videos featuring young Si-heon had become a sensation, and through them, Director Yang Byung-geun had achieved his current renown.
‘So Director Yang Byung-geun was a Divine Being too?’
It was surprising, but that wasn’t the problem right now.
“If you’re in your early thirties… that’s more than ten years, then?”
“Yes. I take Zolpidem medication. At first, half a tablet was enough, but gradually I had to increase the dose… and when I try to stop, the insomnia rebounds worse than before.”
“If you’ve been taking Zolpidem for so long, you must have experienced some serious side effects?”
As I asked more seriously, Si-heon’s face darkened and he bit his lip slightly.
“Yes. There are days when my memory becomes hazy, and sometimes I move around while asleep like Sleepwalking. That’s why I stopped the medication recently, but since then, I can’t sleep at all.”
I took a moment to collect my thoughts and organize the diagnostic criteria for insomnia in my mind.
When symptoms persist for more than three months, it’s considered chronic.
In herbal medicine, the causes of insomnia are classified in several ways.
The heart and gallbladder may be weak, leading to easy startle and anxiety; Yin blood may be deficient due to chronic fatigue; aging may play a role; Emotional Stagnation may accumulate; there may be digestive disorders, and so on.
“Do you think there was something that triggered your inability to sleep? Stress, perhaps?”
He lowered his gaze for a moment, then gave a light laugh.
“I don’t think anything’s particularly wrong with me, but there’s certainly stress. Truth is, I was just enduring it when Chairman Baek insisted I get treatment for the sake of all Divine Beings.”
For the sake of Divine Beings……?
As I tried to make sense of those words, Si-heon’s eyelid trembled slightly.
I didn’t miss that small twitch.
“How’s your lifestyle? Do you eat regularly?”
“My schedule isn’t very regular. Filming hours are all over the place. And I skip meals often.”
He smiled gently, but that smile looked as precarious as thin, fragile glass.
The dark shadows beneath his eyes added to that impression.
Was his insomnia really just from stress and fatigue?
I slowly reached out my hand.
“Let me take your pulse.”
The pulse beneath my fingertips felt taut like a bowstring. And somewhat rapid.
Taut and rapid—a Wiry-Rapid Pulse.
Such a pulse indicated either overwork that had depleted Yin, causing internal heat to rise, or stress and emotional tension that had obstructed the circulation of Qi and blood.
‘The real question is what exactly that stress is about.’
I withdrew my hand and spoke.
“It seems your mind and body haven’t been able to rest properly due to stress.”
“Then how should I be treated?”
Even when people experience the same stress, their reactions differ.
For those who are depleted and worn out, we use medicines that provide Blood Tonification and calm; for those whose Qi is blocked, we use medicines that release the obstruction.
To judge accurately, I needed to understand Si-heon’s inner feelings in more detail.
After a moment of thought, I deferred my answer.
“Herbal Medicine treatment would be the main course, and acupuncture alongside it would be even better. But I think I need to observe more before deciding which herbal medicine to prescribe.”
“I see. Let’s have dinner then.”
Throughout the meal, Si-heon was polite but maintained a careful distance.
His answers to my questions came back like they were from a textbook.
‘This man is hiding his true feelings.’
I set down my wine glass, feeling frustrated.
During treatment, I should be able to see a patient’s Spiritual Qi flow with Spirit Vision, but I felt nothing from Si-heon.
Which meant I hadn’t yet truly understood him.
‘It seems I’ve met quite a formidable opponent today.’
I swallowed a sigh no one else could hear.
Despite the excellent food in front of me, my mouth felt dry, and I couldn’t taste anything properly.
* * *
After dinner ended, Yang Si-heon stood first.
“Let me drive you home. It’s late.”
“Ah…….”
I was about to refuse when I blinked.
Suddenly it occurred to me that this might also be an opportunity.
‘Perhaps the clue to his treatment will emerge naturally as we talk.’
In the end, I got into the passenger seat of his car.
The car was quiet except for soft classical music flowing through it, and the city lights streamed past the windows.
“Do you live alone, Yeon-hee?”
Then came an abrupt question, and I turned to look at him.
“No, I have Myol-sin. That’s Alfred.”
“Ah. So you keep a cat.”
He laughed briefly.
“I had a dog when I was younger. Now… I don’t have the time.”
The conversation continued after that, but it felt somehow distant.
Instead of the perfect smile I always saw in commercials.
Now there was a dark shadow draped across his profile that I couldn’t quite name.
Even the piano melody seemed strangely melancholic.
“Your work seems very difficult these days.”
When the car stopped at a red light at a certain intersection.
I finally ventured to speak first, cautiously.
“Difficult?”
He murmured, and there seemed to be a hint of mockery in it.
“Work isn’t hard if you treat it as just work. It’s when you mix in emotion and try to find meaning that it becomes painful.”
For a moment, words failed me.
He spoke those words as naturally as if stating the obvious.
I could feel instinctively that his insomnia wasn’t a simple illness.
Screech—.
Soon after, the car came to a stop in front of Baek Myodang.
Streetlight spilled through the window, and beneath the dark sky, leaves rustled gently.
“Si-heon. Your inability to sleep might not be a physical problem.”
Before getting out of the car, I made a decision and opened my mouth.
“Emotions don’t disappear just because you suppress them. Aren’t there moments in your work when your heart truly resonates? When fans love what you do, those fulfilling moments—why not look for those?”
He said nothing for a long time.
His gaze, which had been fixed beyond the car window, slowly turned toward me.
“Fulfillment in work, you say…….”
He laughed softly.
“I don’t need that. It’s all fake anyway.”
Those words were as cold as ice.
Fake, he said……!
Overwhelmed by emotion, I unconsciously reached into my pocket. What lay inside was the letter he had discarded.
“What about this then? Is this also fake?”
As I pulled out the letter, his eyes suddenly flashed sharp and bright.
“Where did you—.”
In an instant, his hand reached toward me.
I instinctively pulled my arm back, but the letter had already slipped from my grasp.
It was then.
“Ugh!”
With a sharp cry, Si-heon winced.
Looking closely, red blood was seeping from the tips of his fingers.
“Yang Si-heon!”
I gasped and quickly grabbed his hand.
Blood spread in a circle from the edge of the letter he was holding.

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