The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 155

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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 155

Tap. Tap-tap. Tap. Tap-tap. Tap.

Today, Lee Jungsub was working overtime diligently as usual.

His profession was developer, in his fourth year.

The work environment wasn’t great.

They say major IT companies operate with developers at the center, but at Lee Jungsub’s workplace, such a thing was unimaginable.

Even when he said that restructuring the program was impossible with the current workforce, none of his superiors would listen.

Tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap…

Lee Jungsub pounded the keyboard with dead eyes.

‘I should have escaped quickly too.’

As soon as this project started, his mentor and team leader from when he first joined quit.

The team leader who was there when he first joined and his fellow new hires had long since changed jobs due to salary dissatisfaction.

Since the company already lacked mid-level employees, he somehow ended up becoming the most senior member.

Of course, Lee Jungsub had earnestly told the CEO that they needed a senior developer.

But all he got back was that they couldn’t recruit such a person.

The CEO just threw him a new hire who knew nothing and told him to train and use them.

– Please take care of this. You’re the only one I can trust.

– Yes, I’ll do my best.

Why did such an answer reflexively come out!

In the end, all his work hours disappeared teaching junior team members and answering their questions.

He could only start on his own assigned work around quitting time.

“I’ll be leaving first…!”

The team members cautiously stood up, watching his expression.

Since there was no one who could help with his work anyway, Lee Jungsub waved his hand with dead eyes.

“Right. Go ahead and quit… I mean, leave work… Ugh!”

“Straighten your shoulders while working! Just watching you makes me frustrated!”

But the CEO smacked Lee Jungsub’s shoulder as he was leaving.

“Ahhhhh!”

He was already suffering from work, so what kind of behavior was this?

He almost burst into tears right then and there.

“Why, why are you like this?”

Seeing the employee writhing in pain as if rolling on the floor, even the shameless CEO was somewhat flustered.

“No, it’s not that. My shoulder has been hurting lately.”

“Oh my, sorry. I interrupted you while you were working.”

“That guy is always like that. He does good work, but he absolutely hates being touched. Tsk.”

The CEO apologized, but the director, who was his cousin, clicked his tongue.

Damn, I really need to leave this company. Damn!

Lee Jungsub didn’t even have the strength to respond and quietly turned his head away.

And he focused on his work again.

Tap. Tap-tap-tap-tap…

If he wanted to leave work even an hour early to meet his girlfriend, working quickly would be the best option.

“Ugh.”

But in the end, he could only finish his work at 10 PM.

If he did this much today, he’d be able to help the team members with their work a bit more tomorrow.

“You worked hard, oppa!”

“You’ve been waiting here this whole time?”

“I went to the traditional Korean medicine clinic and had an iced tea~. I just got here!”

He had told her that work might run even later than expected.

But his girlfriend Kim Hye-yeong had been waiting for him in front of the company until this hour.

Lee Jungsub almost shed tears of emotion.

“You worked hard, oppa.”

She gently stroked Lee Jungsub’s head.

“Sob, thank you.”

Lee Jungsub quietly leaned against his girlfriend and received comfort.

She must have been tired from waiting. It would be better to go inside somewhere quickly. But he wanted to stay like this for just a moment.

However, the words that came out of his girlfriend’s mouth were like a bolt from the blue.

“I asked the teacher about it.”

“Hm? About what?”

“This can be cured with acupuncture and chuna therapy together!”

“So what exactly?”

“What do you mean what? Your turtle neck.”

Lee Jungsub was hunching his shoulders and sticking his neck way out.

He didn’t even feel it was particularly unusual anymore.

He had been like that the entire time he was concentrating on work, and unless he deliberately paid attention to straightening his shoulders and back, he would immediately return to that posture.

“I’m… fine…”

Kim Hye-yeong had been diligently attending the Oriental Medicine Clinic lately.

Lee Jungsub didn’t really understand, but since she was happy saying her raised trapezius muscles were finding balance, he thought it was fortunate.

However, her constant nagging for him to come along was a bit burdensome.

“Don’t be like that, let’s go together. It doesn’t hurt at all, you know? If you get treated and your shoulders straighten up, you’ll really love it.”

“I’m really fine though…”

“Ugh, what’s with this turtle neck on such a cute face! You need to straighten your shoulders to have dignity, right? Right?”

“I don’t need dignity or anything like that…”

As long as no one touched it, it didn’t particularly hurt.

He was already so used to his turtle neck and round shoulders that it didn’t bother him at all.

“I know you’re tired, but you’ll actually feel less fatigued after going, really. If mornings are hard, let’s go together and make it a date.”

How could she suggest having a date at an Oriental Medicine Clinic? This time Kim Hye-yeong was being unreasonable.

He couldn’t bring himself to say he didn’t like it, couldn’t do it, or was scared to his girlfriend, so his lips trembled.

Squeeze.

Moreover, Kim Hye-yeong even pinched his trapezius muscle.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh…!”

Why, why is this happening? What kind of day is today?

The CEO and Director had picked on him, and now even his girlfriend!

Lee Jungsub screamed from the unexpected torture.

Squeeze.

His neck was pressed too. Pain three times worse than his shoulder struck him.

“Ugh, ugh!”

“If you don’t come with me, I’ll massage you like this every time we meet.”

“No, don’t!”

“So let’s just go together once. Please, okay?”

A request following torture.

Lee Jungsub was weak against this kind of thing.

“…Just this once.”

He answered reflexively.

And crossed the threshold of the Oriental Medicine Clinic filled with fear.

An Oriental Medicine Clinic! How could such a place exist?

Going there on purpose to get stabbed with needles and drink bitter medicine – does that make sense? Isn’t that torture from hell?

He couldn’t even imagine how painful it would be.

His legs trembled as he wanted to run away even now, but his girlfriend was firmly holding his arm.

With her thumb positioned where even a little pressure would make him scream.

* * *

A somewhat timid-looking man entered the examination room, flinching his shoulders.

“Hello.”

Since he was with Kim Hye-yeong, I easily figured out his identity.

She said it wouldn’t be easy to bring him, but how did she convince him in less than a week?

After exchanging brief greetings, I confirmed his purpose for visiting.

“You want turtle neck correction, right? And there’s no pain?”

“Yes.”

“He says it’s fine when left alone, but I don’t think that’s right. He makes such a fuss when I barely touch him – how is that possible?”

Lee Jungsub and Kim Hye-yeong answered simultaneously.

Lee Jungsub looked at his girlfriend with great indignation.

‘He dislikes being touched.’

Kim Hye-yeong also had tight shoulder muscles, but she liked receiving massages and wanted them loosened.

Liking to be touched – this is called “preferring pressure.” In such cases, you gently press, warm it up, and loosen it with acupuncture.

But the opposite, “rejecting pressure,” is different.

“Let me take a look.”

“Ugh.”

I grasped Lee Jungsub’s shoulder and examined the muscle fibers.

If there’s no major problem, the difference between preferring and rejecting pressure becomes an indicator for distinguishing between deficiency and excess syndromes.

But in this case…

“It’s not simply painful from being tight.”

“What? Then what is it?”

“Your skin is thin, you’re skinny with no fat, and you barely have any muscle.”

“…”

“In that state, even your trapezius muscle is sagging, so there’s nothing to support your back. That’s why just touching it stimulates the nerves.”

“…I see.”

“It’s a slightly different type of turtle neck from Kim Hye-yeong’s. Actually, this sagging is more common than tense trapezius muscles. Lee Jungsub, yours has sagged quite a bit – no, a lot.”

Turtle neck refers to an excessive C-curve in the cervical spine, so shoulder displacement can appear in different directions.

Kim Hye-yeong’s developed because she lifted and tensed her shoulders, but cases like Lee Jungsub’s – where they sag inward with severe round shoulders – were much more common.

“So do I need to build up my shoulders like I’m building back muscles?”

“Could it work with just exercise without acupuncture?”

Lee Jungsub seemed to think he’d found an excuse to avoid acupuncture, but not a chance.

“Ideally, we loosen the shortened front of the body with acupuncture and do muscle exercises for the sagging back.”

“Both… both of them…”

“As I told Hye-yeong before, you need to get some acupuncture here.”

I pointed to the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the side of his neck and the pectoralis minor muscle on his upper chest.

These were the muscles most prone to shortening in this kind of rounded shoulder posture.

Now, he’s going to say he doesn’t want to do it, right?

I mentally prepared myself.

I was ready to persuade him that I’d treat him quickly with the minimum number of needles, and calmly explain how much more comfortable his daily life would be once his shoulders were straightened.

“I understand.”

But contrary to my expectations, Lee Jungsub nodded calmly.

“Oh?”

I was a little surprised.

“Really? You’re going to do the treatment together?”

Kim Hye-yeong was ten times more surprised.

Does this mean I won’t need to use my secret techniques for persuading patients who hate acupuncture – the ultimate 100 methods?

“Then let’s go to the treatment room right away. I’ll loosen your muscles with heat therapy, do some physical therapy, then apply the needles.”

I quickly helped Lee Jungsub up before he could change his mind.

“….”

And then I noticed.

Lee Jungsub’s legs were trembling as he got up from the chair.

Um.

You can walk, right?

Would it be awkward to ask that?

His hand was also trembling as he turned the door handle.

His walking posture was also somewhat jerky. No, creaky might be a more appropriate description.

“Actually, let’s skip the physical therapy for now and go straight to the acupuncture.”

“What?!”

When I changed my words, Lee Jungsub looked horrified like someone whose 100,000 won fine had just been changed to a death sentence.

“The acupuncture will be over quickly. It won’t hurt at all, but it’ll be hard if you’re trembling throughout the physical therapy.”

I took him to the treatment room without further discussion.

It was a decision made out of consideration for the fearful Lee Jungsub.

“Would you like to close your eyes? It might be scarier if you’re watching the needle.”

“No! This is better!”

Since treating the side of his neck and upper chest was the priority, I had him lie down on his back.

It would have been better if he could lie face down so he couldn’t see, but unfortunately the treatment position was awkward.

“I’ll count to three and then it’ll go in with a little poke. It really doesn’t hurt. It’s just like being poked with a ballpoint pen.”

I really emphasized to Lee Jungsub that it wouldn’t hurt that much.

I even took out a needle guide that I don’t usually use.

I can insert needles quickly without it, but it would hurt less if I could pierce the skin even 0.00001 seconds faster.

“One~ Two~.”

Actually, when counting like this, many people would insert the needle on two or four.

The idea was to stab when the patient relaxed thinking “oh, that wasn’t so bad” after counting to three.

But I actually do it on three.

I couldn’t forget the betrayed look in a child’s eyes when I had done that trick before.

And I was confident I could make it truly painless.

And today, I would see eyes even more pitiful than that child’s.

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

Lee Jungsub screamed on two.

…Even though I hadn’t even inserted the needle yet.

“…I’m sorry.”

Looking at me standing there flustered with the needle in hand, he swallowed his tears.

He seemed very embarrassed.

‘He’s trying to endure it, but his mind and body seem to be working separately.’

I comforted Lee Jungsub, telling him it was okay.

“You were just a little startled. Let’s try again. I’ll do it on three, so there’s no need to be scared beforehand.”

I gently tapped Lee Jungsub’s pectoralis minor with my hand.

It’s really not much different from this.

“Yes, I’ll try to endure it. I’ll close my eyes.”

Right? Closing your eyes is better after all, isn’t it?

He nodded very resolutely and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Then here I go. One, two, thr…”

“Aaarrrghhh!”

“Three.”

Once again he screamed on two and fell backward.

I checked to make sure he wasn’t foaming at the mouth, but fortunately he wasn’t.

He was just very scared.

Mmm. A lot… a lot of things.

If he rationally understood the necessity of treatment, then coaxing, soothing, and persuading would be useless anyway.

I pulled out my last resort.

Poke.

Whether he screamed or not, I had decided to just proceed with the treatment.

“Uh, oh, uh.”

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“Uh…?”

And while he was flustered.

Toktoktoktoktoktoktoktoktoktoktoktoktok.

“…Huh?”

In the next second, I had inserted 14 needles.

Rather than inserted, “scattered” might be a more appropriate expression?

“Uh, huh?”

Lee Jungsub blinked his eyes at the needles that had instantly appeared in his neck and shoulders.

“What just… I had my eyes open?”

“You must have seen wrong because you were too tense. It’s all done, so stay like this for 20 minutes. If you feel dizzy at all, tell me right away.”

Needle fainting rarely occurs in young people, but since he had been so drained from trembling in fear, you never know.

Having finished the treatment, I immediately opened the curtain to the next table where Kim Hye-yeong was.

“Uhhhhhhh…”

She was covering her face with both hands, feeling embarrassed on his behalf.

“How pitiful!”

Having a complete stranger comfort him like that only increased her sense of shame.

Fortunately, since it was early Saturday morning, there weren’t too many patients.

But that one patient happened to be Grandmother Heo Sunnam.

“You can get a bit startled when you get acupuncture for the first time! I was like that too, child!”

In her own way, it was sincere comfort for the young person.

“Oh, really? Grandmother, how old were you when…”

“Was it when I was 4?”

“…”

“I was a bit slow to mature.”

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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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