The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 116

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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 116

Kim Taeyun was the vocalist of the indie band ‘Melon Soda Horizon’.

While they weren’t hugely successful, they had enough recognition among those who knew them to make a decent living from music alone.

His band performed at least once a week.

They had regular weekly performances at one live club, and rarely refused when other venues called them.

Besides that, all members gathered 2-3 times a week for about two hours of practice sessions, and he occasionally did solo busking. Of course, individual practice whenever he had time was a given.

“Ah~ Ahh~ Ahhh~~~!”

One day, while warming up his voice as usual, Kim Taeyun realized his voice had become hoarse.

“…!”

He rushed to the otorhinolaryngology clinic.

He had gotten a bit carried away during last week’s performance due to the good response, but for this to happen so suddenly?

With a performance just two days away, he needed quick treatment.

“There’s slight inflammation in your larynx.”

“…?!”

“It’s not severe. This can happen temporarily when you catch a cold or talk too much. I’ll give you three days’ worth of medication, and if you’re still uncomfortable after taking it, come back once more.”

“Isn’t there a way to heal faster? I have a performance in two days.”

The doctor seemed a bit troubled by the request for faster treatment.

“…Well. There’s nothing we can do but wait for the inflammation to subside. Drink plenty of water, and avoid anything that could cause irritation like alcohol, cigarettes, and spicy food.”

“I understand.”

He naturally didn’t drink or smoke. While he’d never had problems before, avoiding things that could strain his voice was basic.

He gulped down water and apologetically notified the band that he’d have to skip practice until the performance.

“It’s back!”

His voice returned the very next day.

It seemed it hadn’t been that serious of a problem to begin with.

Still, to be safe, he rested one more day and successfully performed.

“…What should I do.”

But after the performance ended, his throat condition felt strange again.

It didn’t hurt, but when he listened to himself singing in the practice room, his voice sounded slightly different.

“It looks fine. There’s still some swelling, but it should heal if you rest for a day or two.”

The doctor said it was fine.

He prescribed three days’ worth of medication to take if he was worried, but didn’t seem to take his symptoms seriously.

But Kim Taeyun couldn’t feel at ease.

He searched the internet thoroughly.

‘Honey water, bellflower juice, pear juice.’

He ordered things that were supposedly good for the throat by the box.

As a precaution, he decided to minimize his talking as much as possible.

“Taeyun, would it be okay to practice today?”

When he suggested having a group practice, every single member came to the practice room.

Since Kim Taeyun was both the voice and face of ‘Melon Soda Horizon’, everyone was worried about his throat condition.

[The doctor says it’s fine. But just in case, I’m going to avoid talking except when singing from today on.]

When he showed them the text on his phone, the members nodded.

“Ah, do that. We need to protect our vocalist’s voice.”

“He needs to get better quickly, but it’s worrying.”

It was a bit inconvenient, but what could they do when their vocalist said he’d be careful with his voice?

The members naturally understood and tried to accommodate Kim Taeyun as much as possible.

But as Kim Taeyun maintained this strange communication method even during practice.

[Jaegyeong, the tempo’s a bit fast.]

“Huh? Got it.”

The members soon realized something.

Their patience wasn’t as great as they’d thought.

Writing and showing text on his phone between practice sessions wasted a lot of time and was frustrating.

[Bass is standing out too much. Let’s be a bit more careful.]

Having to wait a long time to see what he was trying to say, only for it to be criticism, was even more annoying.

No, of course he could say those things!

He could write it too.

If someone who truly couldn’t speak was communicating through writing, all the members would naturally wait for them.

…But Kim Taeyun had been singing perfectly fine just moments before.

“Hey, just say it out loud!”

“Your voice sounds perfectly fine when we hear you!”

But Kim Taeyun was stubborn.

[I need to save my voice by avoiding unnecessary talking.]

“Damn it…!”

“I knew he was crazy, but damn…”

Sorry. Please understand.

There’s no choice if I want my throat to heal quickly.

Kim Taeyun ignored his members’ anger and stuck to his principles.

‘What else can I do? Even doing this, I’m still resting.’

Despite his vow of silence, Kim Taeyun continued to feel that his throat wasn’t the same as before.

In the past, he could sing all day and be fine, but now after just one performance, his voice would be strange for a day or two.

He had completely stopped busking, and even on rehearsal days when he didn’t practice individually, it was the same.

‘Oh?’

While wandering YouTube looking for other solutions and worrying.

He discovered a video of a YouTuber he liked swallowing powder.

Originally someone who broadcast in a loud, shouting style, he was taking Ryukakusan because it made his throat hoarse.

‘Is it herbal medicine powder?’

Looking at the comments, there were testimonials saying the effects were quite good.

Where do you get this?

Through searching, he easily found a way to directly order the candy from Japan.

Kim Taeyun immediately placed an order, and before long the Ryukakusan arrived.

“Wow! This works great after eating it!”

“How many weeks has it been since we heard Taeyun speak?”

After eating the candy following a performance, the foreign sensation in his throat immediately improved.

The tone of his voice was also fine, with no irritating points when speaking.

“Is that crazy behavior finally over?”

Kim Taeyun nodded his head enthusiastically.

He thought everything was fine with that.

…But some time later.

After performing three times a week, his voice began to crack again.

This time even the candy was useless.

“Hey, now that the busy period is over, rest for a week. We’ll practice among ourselves, so just listen from there.”

Kang Jaekyung, the drummer, recommended that Kim Taeyun even stop singing.

Since they’d been practicing continuously anyway, let’s prioritize performances for now.

“…! …!”

But I want to sing even when it’s not a performance?!

He started writing something in his sketchbook, but the members left him and began their ensemble.

He’d even bought a sketchbook because they said phone text was too small!

[I want to sing.]

This is really too much. Only they get to enjoy making music.

“What’s going to happen from resting one week?”

[I want to sing…!]

No one understood his feelings.

After the ensemble ended, Kim Taeyun played the MR in the practice room and moved his mouth silently.

“I thought you were a ghost!”

While chewing Ryukakusan candy, Kim Taeyun searched for something more he could do.

…Originally Ryukakusan should be taken as powder?

Then he paused at one sentence.

Where do you get the powder? Do I have to order this directly too…?

Searching more, an article titled ‘Ryukakusan vs Hyangseongpajeokwan’ caught his eye.

Hyangseongpajeokwan !

Medicine that breaks through blocked flutes to make sound ?

Even the name was so cool.

Learning more about this medicine, it was quite famous for the story of a famous singer who had vocal cord nodules and regained their voice with Hyangseongpajeokwan.

‘Why didn’t I know about this until now?’

Kim Taeyun was very excited.

He wanted to take this medicine right away.

Wouldn’t his vaguely blocked throat clear up refreshingly and return his clear voice?

Kim Taeyun immediately searched for the singer’s story and blogs advertising Hyangseongpajeokwan.

The place where the singer was directly treated seemed to be in Seoul, but there were quite a few oriental medicine clinics in Busan that had posted similar articles on their blogs.

But at the first oriental medicine clinic, and at the second oriental medicine clinic too.

He couldn’t get the type of prescription he wanted.

And now the third one.

Kim Taeyun found an oriental medicine clinic that said various forms of preparation were possible.

* * *

I waited for Kim Taeyun to write in his sketchbook.

For vocal cord nodule treatment, Hyangseongpajeokwan would probably be better. Though occasionally Gamgiltang might be a more suitable prescription.

[I went to the otorhinolaryngology clinic twice, but didn’t hear anything about vocal cord nodules. They just said it was slightly swollen and gave me 3-day doses of anti-inflammatory medicine, but my voice gets hoarse with just a little strain.]

Ah, it’s not a major problem.

Since he’s a vocalist, it seemed he wanted to take preventive care by protecting his voice a lot.

“Fortunately, it hasn’t progressed much. Let me take a look at your throat condition.”

I picked up a stick to examine his throat.

Buying an otorhinolaryngology examination table would be a bit much, right?

Just by opening his mouth with the stick and turning on a flashlight, I could see the condition to some extent.

Just as the opinion he heard from another hospital, it was slightly swollen.

…With this degree, it seems like he should be able to speak normally?

He must be protecting his voice a lot, an incredible amount.

“There’s no major problem, but as you mentioned, I can see some swelling and congestion. If you repeatedly strain it severely like shouting, it could bleed, but right now it’s fine.”

“…!”

Kim Taeyun wrote something else in his sketchbook.

[It could bleed? From the throat?]

“If it gets severe, yes. If fibrin deposits in this state and hardens into nodular form, it becomes vocal cord nodules.”

“…!”

“If we rate throat condition from 0 to 10, and 9 or 10 would be vocal cord nodules requiring surgery, right now you’re at about 2.5. There’s no nodular formation at all, just swelling.”

[But I’m worried it might gradually get worse.]

“I understand. You came at a really good time before it got severe. If you continue to use it excessively, the condition could worsen, but if you reduce usage like now while continuing treatment, you can easily maintain it between 0-1 while continuing to sing.”

I tried to reassure Kim Taeyun, but he was still anxious.

Even though he had already heard from the otorhinolaryngology clinic that it was fine, his condition wasn’t good.

The number 2.5 seemed scary enough for him.

“You might still be worried, but you’ll feel the effects immediately once you take the medicine.”

I said confidently.

I had prescribed it quite often, and before my body was strengthened through training at the Tang Family, I had taken it several times myself.

Perhaps because I tend to talk a lot during consultations, I used to get hoarse quite frequently.

“I’ll ask you a few more things, so please write them in your sketchbook.”

Kim Taeyun nodded.

“Roughly when it started hurting, whether you’ve had coughing or phlegm, and how it is currently.”

[It’s been a little over a month. Coughing only comes when my throat is very dry, and there’s some phlegm and foreign body sensation. Right now it’s okay.]

“Do you have any headaches or heartburn?”

[No.]

It wasn’t a prescription that required pattern differentiation.

I had visually confirmed the condition and asked about necessary physical symptoms.

I decided on the prescription right away.

“I’ll prescribe pills based on Hyangseongpajeok-hwan, increasing forsythia and platycodon, and adding apricot kernel. Forsythia reduces inflammation and swelling, and platycodon has strong effects in eliminating phlegm and reducing pain. You can consider that most of the medicinal ingredients in Ryukakusan are included.”

[Ah! I understand. Hyangseongpajeok-hwan is indeed good!]

“Yes, it also contains medicinal ingredients like cnidium and mint that improve blood circulation, so the congestion will clear up too. There are several ingredients that act on the digestive system included, but I’ll reduce those.”

I briefly explained about the medicine.

Kim Taeyun, who had done some research before coming, immediately understood my explanation.

“Your professional spirit is admirable even though this must be troublesome. Take the pills three times a day, and for now, minimize talking as much as you have been. Next time I’ll check your condition and tell you it’s fine once the congestion clears.”

[Yes!]

“Good luck with your silent practice.”

I had just given him routine encouragement, but somehow Kim Taeyun looked very happy.

He earnestly wrote something else in his sketchbook.

Thinking it was just a thank you, I waited patiently.

[I will absolutely not speak from now on]

…Did I give too much caution to someone who was already being careful?

There’s no need to go that far.

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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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