The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 117

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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 117

After Kim Taeyun left, I opened the prescription file.

I first filled in the herb names and dosages from the original Hyangseong Pajeok Pills formula, then added what needed to be added and removed what needed to be removed.

Normally, I would just send the file to An Juhui and that would be the end of it.

Just writing in the notes section to make it into pills would prevent any mistakes.

But suddenly curious about how she was doing, I printed out the prescription and went down to the 2nd floor.

“Teacher Juhui, may I come in?”

“Ah? Just a moment!”

Crash bang!

When I knocked out of courtesy, I heard the sound of something collapsing inside.

…What is she doing?

“Come in!”

I had left the management of the herbal medicine preparation room entirely to An Juhui.

The first few times I checked things like cleanliness, but she was someone who was almost obsessively thorough when it came to preparation.

If such a person was secretly doing something worth hiding…

“Oh, it’s nothing special. I was just doing some experiments.”

“Experiments?”

“I was so amazed by how you directly processed the aconite last time. I’ve been experimenting by gradually adjusting the temperature and pressure. Ah! Of course, I bought the experimental aconite with my own money!”

“…If it’s something like that, you don’t need to hide it. Feel free to use your spare time however you want.”

Seo Inae used to run an online shopping mall before, so what’s the big deal about some experiments.

Anyway, An Juhui was perfectly completing all the tasks I assigned her, and increasing her workload was within my discretion.

Under the current system, it wasn’t even structured for her to create additional work for herself, so it would be ridiculous to scold her for doing other things.

“The work will gradually increase anyway. Even if one or two more Korean medicine doctors are added, you should be able to handle it alone, right?”

“Of course! I’m really happy about the increase too. Are you finally leaving the academy? Expanding the first branch?”

“No. We decided to leave there in February, and there are people who want to open a 4th branch.”

“Ah~.”

Whether we’d make a contract remained to be discussed, but I had given them a hint for now.

“This time it’s pills.”

“Yes. Will it be a bit troublesome to make?”

“Not at all! I absolutely love making pills too! Unlike herbal decoctions, pills have their own unique charm!”

An Juhui closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose.

I unconsciously followed suit, but all I could smell were the strong scents of various medicinal herbs.

…Well, if she likes it, that’s fine.

“You still have plenty of time working alone, right? If you need more equipment or personnel, please feel free to let me know.”

“I’ll tell you about equipment right away. As for personnel, there’s plenty, so don’t worry at all.”

For some reason, she shuddered as soon as she heard the word “personnel.”

“Don’t you get lonely working alone?”

“I love it so much. Just me and the medicinal herbs in this space.”

“…”

“Even if prescriptions double, no, triple, I can handle them alone, so please absolutely don’t hire additional pharmacists. I can cover up to 10 branches by myself.”

In An Juhui’s eyes, I could feel a truly sincere determination like never before.

“I’ll make the Hyangseong Pajeok Pills right now and ship them to the patient’s address.”

Yes, she’s found her calling.

* * *

Kim Taeyun gently rolled the prescribed Hyangseong Pajeok Pills in his mouth.

They had a different charm from throat lozenges or powdered medicine bought at the pharmacy.

He fully savored the taste and aroma of the herbal medicine as it slowly dissolved in his mouth and went down his throat.

Honestly, he couldn’t say it tasted good, but thinking that this bitter taste would heal his throat made him feel somewhat excited.

He thoroughly took his medicine while maintaining a vow of silence.

For a whole week, he had no conversations at all, and he only sang once, lightly matching the ensemble.

Then came the performance day, and during rehearsal, he properly made sound for the first time.

“Wandering through the hazy streets~ Not knowing where to go…”

Somehow his voice seemed clearer.

Was it because it had been so long?

The precarious feeling that had developed since his voice started getting hoarse was completely gone, and it felt like he could sing as powerfully as he wanted if he put his mind to it.

But he held back.

For the actual performance.

No, to be precise, for the live performance during the actual show.

His vow of silence continued even during the performance.

[Hello everyone? This is Melon Soda Horizon.]

When Kim Taeyun held up a sketchbook, the fans who came to see him every week were startled.

“What? Why a sketchbook? What kind of event is this?”

“Gasp, don’t tell me…!”

People who casually came to the live club or came to see other bands besides Melon Soda Horizon responded appropriately, but Kim Taeyun’s fans’ faces turned seriously stiff.

Drummer Kang Jaekyung was the first to grasp the situation.

“Everyone! Don’t worry, this isn’t Taeyun’s confession event!”

“Ah~!”

Kim Taeyun immediately lifted up his sketchbook.

[My throat isn’t well, so I prepared a sketchbook instead of speaking.]

A reaction burst out from the audience stands.

“Ah, what! You scared me!”

“I thought you were proposing!”

“Wait, Taeyun’s throat isn’t well right now…!”

“Does that mean you can’t perform today?”

Kim Taeyun’s head shot up.

A proposal? He never imagined they would misunderstand like that.

He immediately picked up a marker pen and wrote on a blank page.

[I only love music when it comes to you all.]

“Ack!”

“Taeyun~ At times like this, just say you love us!”

“Wait, so are you not singing today?”

As soon as a fan’s voice asking about the performance popped out, Kim Taeyun’s sketchbook flipped to the next page.

[But I’ll give you the best singing. I didn’t say a single word for a whole week for today.]

“Really?”

“We thought he was going crazy.”

Kang Jaekyung let out a deep sigh, and the other members also testified to Kim Taeyun’s eccentric behavior.

And the performance started right away.

With the leader unable to speak, there was no reason to drag out the talking time.

I wander through cloudy streets-

Not knowing where I should go

When Kim Taeyun’s voice flowed out, the commotion in the audience instantly subsided.

His crystal-clear tone had always been his specialty, but today it was exceptionally refreshing.

It’s okay- there’s still hope

I’ll be able to find the light-

He had rested from practice for a whole week for today, but he was also anxious because of that.

But it felt good.

The song he had wanted to sing so badly.

Should I belt it out? Or shouldn’t I?

These thoughts disappeared at some point.

He felt a sense of unity becoming one with the melody and immersed himself in the song.

Finding my own path-

Until my voice echoes throughout-!

He let out a shout.

His voice stretched out more refreshingly than ever before.

Like a flute blocked with dirt had suddenly cleared, Kim Taeyun’s voice overwhelmed the live club.

“Wow…!”

Both Melon Soda Horizon’s fans and regular customers who had been sipping drinks gaped their mouths wide open.

Those who had been listening in a daze belatedly let out cheers.

“Waaaah~!”

“Today’s the best~!”

Encore requests that rang out as soon as the song ended.

“Encore! Encore! Encore!”

Cheers that seemed to shake the club.

The crazy exhilaration of his voice rising through all of that.

Kim Taeyun delivered a more perfect live performance than ever before.

“Wow, Taeyun was really amazing today.”

“Going overboard and getting hoarse was worth it, man.”

Even the members who had been frustrated by Kim Taeyun’s eccentric behavior erased their anger along with the musical catharsis they felt today.

“Let’s have a company dinner!”

“What should we eat?”

“I found a delicious dakgalbi place!”

As the members were leaving the club like that.

“Wait a moment! You’re Melon Soda Horizon, right?”

A neatly dressed man suddenly stopped them.

Who is this? He doesn’t seem like a fan.

“I’m Manager Shin Yeonho working as A&R at Cheongrong Entertainment!”

“Huh?”

“Today’s songs and concept were so good. If you’re interested in singing on a bigger stage, I’d be grateful if you could contact me once.”

An A&R (Artist and Repertoire) who came to scout new artists.

He left his business card along with a request to definitely contact him once, then disappeared.

“Crazy, is this real?”

“Cheongrong actually comes to scout directly like this…?”

Seeing the name of the famous entertainment company printed on the business card, they couldn’t help but feel excited.

“When should we contact them so we don’t look too eager?”

“Is this really the time to be worrying about that?!”

Even while the members were going back and forth discussing the business card, Kim Taeyun absolutely refused to open his mouth.

[This guy knows what’s up.]

But his tightly closed lips were also twitching to the right.

* * *

[I think I’m all better, but please check if it’s okay for me to speak now.]

I thought this person might really not say a single word.

“You really haven’t had any conversations at all until now…?”

My suspicion was confirmed.

Kim Taeyun nodded his head.

“Let’s have you open your mouth.”

Just like last time, I pressed down his tongue with a stick and examined his throat.

The swelling and congestion had subsided sufficiently.

“It’s gotten much better. Visually, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to call it completely healed. Would you like to try speaking?”

“…It feels awkward trying to speak all of a sudden.”

Come to think of it, this was the second time seeing his face, but the first time hearing his voice.

Maybe because he’s a singer, there’s definitely resonance to it?

“There’s no hoarseness at all. This is right after a performance, right?”

“Yes. This time I performed without strain, and there was no foreign sensation afterward either.”

“That’s good enough. I think we can discontinue the medication.”

“Ah…”

A troubled low voice.

“If you’d like to continue taking it for maintenance, I can lower the dosage to something you can take long-term, removing the anti-inflammatory herbs.”

I immediately grasped Kim Taeyun’s needs.

At those words, he smiled brightly.

“Would that be okay? After taking Hyangseongpajeok-hwan, my voice actually came out better than before, so I was reluctant to stop.”

“Of course. I’ll re-prescribe it considering your constitution, something you can take all year round.”

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I finished this performance beautifully, and a good opportunity came up too.”

After hesitating for a moment, he opened up about receiving a business card from a famous entertainment agency.

I wondered why he looked so happy today, and it turns out something like that happened.

“What did I do? It must be thanks to your outstanding talent, Taeyun.”

“…If it weren’t for you, Director, I would have been anxious and ruined everything. I’m really grateful.”

Anyway, hearing good news made me feel good too.

“Next time when you have time, please come see one of our performances.”

“Sure. I’ll go before you become too famous and I can’t easily see you anymore. Fighting!”

* * *

I promised to go see them sometime soon, but this week was impossible.

I had a prior engagement.

Last year, when Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic briefly became famous due to the commotion in Daegu, posts asking how to join the network often appeared on oriental medicine practitioner communities.

But this was the first time someone directly inquired about membership.

Since they said they would come to Busan, I reserved a cafe meeting room.

“Hello!”

“Wow, Director Han Yewon! I’m a fan!”

Two people entered right on time for our appointment.

But usually… wouldn’t the appropriate greeting in this situation be “Are you Director Han Yewon?” or “Nice to meet you”?

What’s this about being a fan? I’m not even a celebrity.

At least the woman greeted me normally, but the man made a strange fuss.

“…What kind of fan?”

“Ah, I saw the Mancheonhwau video!”

“What?”

I was momentarily flustered.

Mancheonhwau video? Where would such a thing exist?

“Don’t tell me… YouTube…?”

But I soon remembered.

Right. There was something like that.

I had buried it in my memory and completely forgotten about it.

That was so long ago!

“That’s a marketing strategy we wouldn’t dare even think of. It was shocking.”

The man spoke very seriously.

“Of all the oriental medicine doctor videos I’ve seen on YouTube, that was the most impressive. We want to do something like that too!”

The woman… I thought she was at least normal when she greeted me.

As expected, married couples are birds of a feather.

What, what exactly do they want to do?

I had naturally assumed that if they weren’t acquaintances of one of the branch directors, they must have learned about me from the incident in Daegu.

But reality was completely different.

These two people who wanted to open a couple’s oriental medicine clinic on Jeju Island.

They were fixated on the mistake I had made the first and last time I ever drank alcohol.

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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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