The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10

I revealed just a bit, a very small bit of my aura.

Though I may not be an absolute master, I had seen and heard quite a bit while following my master around.

They say even a dog at a village school can recite poetry after three years, so I should at least be able to emit something like an aura.

I had already arrived late after wandering around in circles, and dealing with Cho Haneul on top of that was bothersome. I thought if I gave off an appropriately unapproachable atmosphere, he would leave.

‘Why is he freezing up to that extent?’

He doesn’t look the type, so is his spirit weak? Contrary to my expectations, Cho Haneul couldn’t approach me or leave, just standing frozen for a long while.

“Uh, um.”

And even when I tried to talk to him, his condition wasn’t very good.

Snap!

I flicked my fingers in front of Cho Haneul’s eyes.

“Are you under hypnosis or something? Snap out of it.”

“Hmm, ahem!”

Only then did he come to his senses and run his hand through his hair.

I took Cho Haneul and went outside the reading room.

“You were so confident just a few days ago, but you’ve decided to change your mind? To study diligently from now on?”

“I’m always diligent.”

“A diligent person wouldn’t have yesterday… never mind.”

I started to say something but swallowed my words. But Cho Haneul wasn’t completely oblivious. He realized I was about to mention Professor Lee Minseok’s class and his face turned red.

“I can learn all that stuff anyway just by looking at it for a few hours before the exam!”

“I’m sure you can. Who’s saying otherwise?”

I shrugged my shoulders. I was well aware that Cho Haneul’s memorization skills were far superior to mine. Even from overhearing conversations in the classroom, this guy who knew nothing until three days before an exam would know everything the professor emphasized by the day of the test.

No matter how much he got past exam questions from seniors and how well Hwang Sanghun organized class notes for him, he couldn’t have digested everything in such a short time without being naturally smart.

“Why are you studying so persistently?”

“Hmm.”

I couldn’t very well answer that if I didn’t do this much, my graduation and national exam success would really be in danger.

To become an excellent doctor? No. Just a few days ago, I had babbled with my own mouth that I realized real studying wasn’t found in books.

“Actually, I’m curious too. Whether I study or not, what business is it of yours? Why do you dislike me so much?”

I asked a fundamental question.

“Who says I dislike you…”

“Don’t dodge the question. There must be some reason you act like this toward me. Even if it’s something like you don’t like how I look, or I have no manners.”

“…”

Cho Haneul just glared with bloodshot eyes, taking his time. Why hadn’t I asked this until now?

‘It’s not like I don’t have some idea.’

At first, I think I was scared of hearing negative things about myself. At some point, disliking each other had become too natural.

“It’s ridiculous watching some kid with nothing act like they’re on the same level just because we go to the same school, burning with competitive spirit.”

“Ah…?”

But Cho Haneul’s answer was beyond what I had imagined.

“Do you think you’ll become something if you work that hard and get first place? Even if you get into a hospital, they won’t teach you anything profitable.”

“Well, that’s true. Who does residency for the money?”

“Then what, are you hoping for a professor position? If so, you should have been chasing after professors’ coattails instead of studying.”

Cho Haneul forced his lips into a smile. His eyes looking down at me with crossed arms were truly condescending.

If it were the old me… no, even back then, I don’t think I would have been hurt by such words and cried at home.

“Seeing you desperately clinging to something impossible, I felt sorry for you and just wanted to let you know your place early on. But you keep stubbornly trying to fight back, so really, the bigger your greed, the harder it is on you.”

“My place.”

“You probably won’t make it anyway, but even if someone like you became a professor, nothing would change.”

I was trying to listen seriously, but I couldn’t help but chuckle.

My goodness, he disliked me simply because I tried to compete with him?

‘And here I thought I had been too annoying during group projects in pre-med!’

I thought there would be something I had done wrong, or some misunderstanding. During the time when I desperately needed scholarships and obsessed over A+s, I thought I might have made mistakes due to lack of mental composure.

“That’s interesting. If Haneul’s mother had known her place, you wouldn’t have even been able to come to oriental medicine school.”

“…What?”

“I personally respect Director Choi Eunhee, so I looked up all her interview articles and TV appearances.”

“You looked up my mother’s interviews?”

“Director Choi Eunhee said she refused her parents’ suggestion to get married after only graduating middle school, ran away to Seoul, worked at a factory, and later studied to become an oriental medicine doctor. Oh, is that a made-up story?”

“That’s…”

It probably wasn’t. Choi Eunhee, the chief director of Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic Network, was someone who, contrary to Cho Haneul, was very proud of her self-made success.

“You’re 31 this year, right? Since you’re 6 years older than me, did you take the exam 4 times after military service? Do you think you would have received that much support if Director Choi Eunhee hadn’t been so successful?”

“Are you bringing my mother into this now?”

“You’re the one who talked about knowing one’s place. Your mother did it, so why can’t I?”

“Ha, haha! You’re much more stupid than I thought?”

“Please say I have big dreams.”

I smiled brightly. Actually, right now I’m only thinking about enjoying life while living comfortably, but I’ve already accumulated more wealth than his mother.

“You’re saying this because you haven’t seen her directly. My mom is a genius. A money-crazed ghost.”

“Looking at her investment in a son like you, that doesn’t seem to be the case?”

“Hey!”

Cho Haneul shouted angrily. Did I say something wrong?

Seeing how he specifically made his eldest son study to inherit the oriental medicine clinic, he seems quite affectionate.

“Ah, forget it. Whether I’ll be more successful than Director Choi Eunhee or not, you can see at our class reunion in 20 years. Whether I’ll beat Cho Haneul this semester or not—there are only a few months left.”

“Fine, let’s see you try.”

Cho Haneul glared at me with blazing eyes.

Hmm… did I provoke him too much?

“If there’s nothing more to talk about, I’ll be going now. Make sure to apologize properly after you lose!”

I don’t care! Whether he trembles with rage or not.

If Cho Haneul studies hard trying to beat me, it’ll be good for the patients he’ll meet anyway.

I’m going to win anyway.

* * *

School, library, and dormitory.

About two weeks passed as I repeated the peaceful daily routine of going back and forth between the same places.

This morning’s class was regulations, and there was nothing scheduled for the afternoon.

“Yeowon, Professor Lee Minseok wants you to come see him for a moment!”

As I was leaving the classroom to go to the library as usual, the senior student stopped me.

“Yes? Should I go upstairs?”

I asked, pointing my finger upward.

Did he want me to come to the professor’s office upstairs?

“He wants you to come to the hospital.”

The senior student showed me her phone as she spoke. It seemed Professor Lee Minseok didn’t have classes at school today.

“Just Yeowon? Do you know why?”

“If there’s business, the professor would come himself.”

I hadn’t said anything, but Hwang Sanghun and Hwangseoyeong, the cousins, each added their comments from the side. Seoyeong was one thing, but what business was it of Hwang Sanghun’s?

“I don’t know why. He just said to come now.”

Not only I, but Hwang Sanghun and Hwangseoyeong also checked the senior student’s phone. The text message only contained exactly what she had just said.

“I’ll find out when I go, I guess.”

I said casually.

“I’ll come with you.”

But suddenly Hwang Sanghun spoke up as if he would follow along.

“Why would Sanghun oppa?”

“Oh, I have a question to ask the professor.”

“Can’t you do it during the next class?”

I asked without much thought, but Hwang Sanghun couldn’t answer and just moved his lips.

“Hey, hey, hey! What question? Let’s go drink instead.”

Cho Haneul suddenly grabbed Hwang Sanghun and dragged him away. Kim Minggyu and Lee Cheoljen also stuck to them, whispering about something. I could probably hear if I opened my qi sense, but I wasn’t curious at all.

“I’ll go and come back.”

Even Hwangseoyeong looked at me suspiciously, but I shook them off and went to the hospital alone.

‘Why are they acting like that.’

Since they haven’t spoken to me even once since I gave them the exam files last time, it’s probably not that they suddenly want to become friends with me.

Hwang Sanghun, like Cho Haneul, probably wants to become a professor and is applying to the hospital, right?

‘Is he trying to keep me in check because he thinks I’m getting close to the professor? Or is he also trying to get close without going through Cho Haneul?’

I came up with several hypotheses, but with that personality, it would probably be worse than not meeting separately. Though the old me was even more rigid than Hwang Sanghun.

“Hello, Professor?”

Now that I’ve gained experience, I’ve become quite smooth.

I entered the examination room and greeted him politely.

“You came quickly.”

“What’s the matter?”

Contrary to my expectation that he had called me without much thought, Professor Lee Minseok’s face was very serious.

The professor gestured toward the computer, so I went inside the desk and approached his side.

“Patient Jeong Gwangsu, you’ve met him, right?”

Huh? What was this about?

The class related to that case was already done several days ago. He picked another student for the excellent assignment and didn’t give any particular comments on my assignment, so I thought he didn’t like it?

“Yes. Actually, I happened to meet him on the street last time.”

Since there was nothing to hide, I answered truthfully.

“Did that patient consult about his condition? How much do you know?”

“I ended up helping him when he almost got hit by a car. I heard about his family situation while briefly calming him down. I don’t know much more about his condition than what’s written in the chart.”

Professor Lee Minseok frowned. Tap, tap tap. He typed on the keyboard and flipped through the chart. Then he brought up Jeong Gwangsu’s daily hospitalization records.

“He was originally a patient with quite a few problems. He would secretly bring alcohol into his hospital room, and would sneak out of the hospital without permission for outings. He also refused herbal medicine prescriptions.”

“Ah.”

Was he that bad? He only seemed like an ordinary, timid middle-aged man to me.

“But the week before last, he suddenly said he would take the medicine. So I prescribed it for him.”

“That’s good.”

“For the first 2-3 days after starting the medication, his progress was very good.”

Professor Lee Minseok continued speaking while hovering his mouse cursor over the hospitalization records.

“But from the fourth day, side effects appeared. Constipation wasn’t a big deal so I let it slide, but his digestion actually got worse and he developed heat sensations in his upper body.”

“Ah…?”

Did side effects occur from the prescription I recommended?

“What prescription did you use? Jeonggi Cheonhyang-tang? Tongmyeong Igi-tang?”

“The student wrote that in their assignment.”

As most modern Oriental medicine clinics do, if a month-long prescription was needed, I had answered that I would prescribe Tongmyeong Igi-tang to lower liver-gallbladder fire while tonifying the kidneys, comprehensively treating various symptoms including the chief complaint of tinnitus.

In the martial arts world, we usually brewed medicine for 3-4 days at a time, and if such prescribing was possible for a hospitalized patient, I wrote that I would first give Jeonggi Cheonhyang-tang for about 3 days to release stagnant qi, observe the response, then use prescriptions that clear heart heat, and finally tonify weakness once the severe tinnitus that prevented sleep subsided.

“I prescribed Bojung Ikgi-tang combined with Yukmi Jihwang-tang first.”

“Oh, wasn’t the stagnation too severe to use tonifying medicine from the start? He screamed the moment I touched his Danjoong acupoint.”

Professor Lee Minseok squinted his eyes after hearing my words.

‘He didn’t do what I told him to do.’

Well, this was just the opinion of a mere student, not Hanyewon with her embarrassing title.

This was a school, not a medical hall, and he wasn’t my disciple, so there was no reason for him to prescribe according to my instructions.

‘Bojung Ikgi-tang and Yukmi are really good tonifying medicines though…’

The medicine Professor Lee Minseok prescribed to Jeong Gwangsu was herbal medicine that was almost synonymous with tonics.

Most people become deficient as they age. Whatever the symptoms, if you first tonify the spleen-stomach with Bojung Ikgi-tang, they eat well, their stamina improves, and they generally feel better than before. For elderly patients with poor appetite, it could be considered medicine that would guarantee at least 70 points. I used to brew it in advance and give it to elderly patients when they came.

‘Still, you need to distinguish between deficiency and excess.’

Though it’s a safe medicine, it can sometimes cause side effects when given to people with good physique and excessive heat.

In Jeong Gwangsu’s case, he didn’t look excess at all on the surface and was quite elderly, so it seemed like a misjudgment was made.

Still, the fire signs were quite clear… Tsk, he tried to play it too safe.

“The first three days were very effective. But when I increased the dosage, side effects occurred afterward.”

Professor Lee Minseok said.

Finally, I thought I understood what had happened.

‘He thought it was the right prescription and even increased the dosage! But it wasn’t the medicine that made him better.’

I had released Jeong Gwangsu’s Danjoong acupoint and let some qi flow while pressing his acupoints. That effect was maintained over several days and he accepted the medicine too. Since he didn’t know I had treated him separately, he had no choice but to misunderstand it as the medicine’s effect.

“So what did you do?”

“I suspected he had been drinking. I wondered if his temporary improvement was thanks to briefly abstaining from alcohol.”

I opened my mouth in dismay. Surely he didn’t scold him?

I had worked so hard to coax and persuade him to have the will to be treated!

“That’s possible. Did he say he drank?”

“No. He absolutely denied it and mentioned student Hanyewon.”

“Ah…?”

“I changed the medicine to Jeonggi Cheonhyang-tang, thinking of it as being deceived.”

Oh, at least he didn’t make the worst choice. I asked back out of curiosity.

“Was it okay?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen effects appear in just one day like this. All the things I was confused about whether they were side effects or not completely disappeared, and he said his tinnitus decreased a little too.”

“That must be psychological? Tinnitus that’s progressed to hearing loss couldn’t improve all at once.”

“That’s probably right. But he did sleep without alcohol.”

“…That’s good.”

I brushed my chest and smiled brightly.

Hearing about Jeong Gwangsu like this truly put my mind at ease.

Even I wasn’t 100% confident in my prescription. Since he wasn’t my patient, I couldn’t know if the prescription would be given as intended.

Though it took a few detours, I was really relieved that it had great effects.

“Who gave you advice?”

But unlike me who was simply happy about the patient’s improvement, Professor Lee Minseok crossed his arms and stared at me.

“If you didn’t receive advice, just say so. Was it entirely your own thinking?”

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