The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 176

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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 176

 

Have you ever dreamed of a movie-like story where you fall in love with someone you meet in a foreign country?

 

Hwangseoyeong had, until her early twenties.

 

At twenty, when she first went on a free trip with friends without her parents, her heart was pounding.

 

Wouldn’t someone fall for me at first sight and strike up a conversation?

 

With such foolish thoughts, she dressed up prettily every day and wandered the streets of foreign countries.

 

But the men she encountered were…

 

Passersby who kindly answered when she asked for directions and went on their way.

 

Other passersby who helped carry her luggage and went on their way.

 

Passersby who made unpleasant catcalls and giggled.

 

Beggars who chased after her asking for money.

 

That was about it.

 

Movies were just movies after all.

 

Just as that young girl’s dreams were beginning to fade.

 

Hwangseoyeong ended up traveling with her most unique friend.

 

Thwack!

 

A flashy action movie with a protagonist who stylishly catches a pickpocket’s arm?

 

If such a thing existed, Hwangseoyeong’s role would be the supporting character or extra who gets pickpocketed and screams ‘Kyaaaah!’

 

But this world wasn’t such a movie either.

 

Hwangseoyeong didn’t even realize she was being used as a decoy, and didn’t even see Hanyewon’s grabbing motion.

 

‘Hey, you tell him!’

 

And the protagonist, claiming she couldn’t speak English, gave Hwangseoyeong a meaningful look.

 

“I’m Roberto, and I work at this gelato shop.”

 

Nevertheless, the reason this day’s incident is remembered so fantastically.

 

It was entirely thanks to Roberto’s good looks.

 

Roberto.

 

So that was his name.

 

‘He’s handsome. Really, really handsome!’

 

She was quite confident in English, but every time she glanced at Roberto’s face, she found herself at a loss for words.

 

“He’s handsome like a movie actor, right?!”

 

“If you’re asking whether he’s handsome or not, he’s definitely on the handsome side. But Western faces are hard to distinguish…”

 

“Aaaaagh~!”

 

Hwangseoyeong and Hanyewon somehow wrapped up the pickpocket incident and returned to the hotel.

 

Hwangseoyeong wanted to make a fuss with her friend, but this friend wasn’t very sympathetic at all.

 

How could she look at that face and say she couldn’t distinguish it?

 

‘Hanyewon has no interest at all! Or!’

 

Or Hwangseoyeong was completely smitten.

 

She soon admitted it.

 

‘It’s both.’

 

Hwangseoyeong had fallen for Roberto at first sight.

 

And she had excellent self-awareness abilities.

 

That man hadn’t fallen for Hwangseoyeong. He would completely forget yesterday’s incident and her face in about three days.

 

Unless Hwangseoyeong went to find him first, they would never meet again in their lifetimes.

 

Hwangseoyeong made up her mind.

 

She would get his social media ID, whether Facebook or Instagram.

 

There had probably been over a hundred women who tried to get his number, but she didn’t care.

 

It was better to be clearly rejected or find out he was different from her imagination.

 

If things stayed like this, wouldn’t she keep thinking about him even after returning to South Korea? About that perfect something covered in her imagination.

 

Then she would keep regretting it. She should have at least tried talking to him once.

 

So the next day she went to the gelato shop alone.

 

But Roberto wasn’t there.

 

It happened to be his day off.

 

‘I guess it’s not fate.’

 

Now she would soon leave Rome, and there would never be another chance, right?

 

Still, it was good that she came. She had done everything she could.

 

Hwangseoyeong ate the gelato she bought from another employee and returned feeling dejected.

 

‘Kyaaaaaaaaaah!’

 

That night, Hwangseoyeong screamed internally.

 

It wasn’t from joy.

 

She had met Roberto, whom she thought she’d never see again, but he was bleeding profusely.

 

‘Uaaaagh!’

 

And what did they say? The mafia boss’s son?

 

The movie genre wasn’t romance or action.

 

I’d like to avoid noir if possible?

 

‘How does she know how to do sutures while running a Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic locally?’

 

And soon the genre changed to a medical drama.

 

‘I… I don’t know…’

 

The hemostasis she very occasionally did at the hospital.

 

And the quite frequent dressing changes.

 

I helped with what I could do, but my body moved first and I didn’t even know what I was doing.

 

“I’m alive thanks to you two.”

 

The next morning, Roberto kept thanking Hwangseoyeong.

 

Of course he also spoke to Hanyewon, but since communication with Hwangseoyeong was more comfortable, the two were able to have some small talk time.

 

Was it a family motto to always repay favors?

 

He even gave his contact information, asking to let him know if there was anything he could help with.

 

“Instead of a phone number, could you give me your SNS?”

 

Hwangseoyeong asked impulsively.

 

It was words that came out of her mouth without going through her thoughts.

 

A phone number… wouldn’t it be a bit much to make an international call unless there was really something to repay a favor for?

 

Even this reason came to mind after asking the question first.

 

“No, just because. Rather than repaying favors and stuff, I want to become friends. This is also fate… Oh, that’s too old-fashioned, isn’t it? Sorry. You don’t have to give it. I’ll pass the contact to Hanyewon. I didn’t really do much anyway.”

 

This was a disaster.

 

Just a complete disaster.

 

Who flirts like this these days?

 

Hwangseoyeong felt somewhat dazed and gave up on everything.

 

“Could you lend me your phone for a moment? I’ll log into Instagram.”

 

But Roberto smiled broadly.

 

And he took Hwangseoyeong’s phone and followed his own account.

 

The following and followers were the same.

 

It was a private account with less than twenty people each.

 

“Uh, uh, uh…”

 

And so her short adventure ended, and she returned to daily life.

 

But the traces remained deep in her life, as she could now DM with Roberto when night came.

 

Roberto listened to all her trivial hospital stories.

 

And he also told her about his daily life at the gelato shop.

 

When she was with Hanyewon, it felt like escaping boring daily life and being taken into a movie.

 

This man was the same. She even felt a dangerous charm.

 

[I need to leave Italy]

 

[Why?]

 

Roberto said everything was difficult.

 

He didn’t want to get involved with even the M of Mafia, but there were endlessly many people who owed favors to his father and those who held grudges.

 

Even the guy he believed was his closest friend had been someone who received his father’s favor long ago.

 

He found out that he often reported news about him and felt tremendous betrayal.

 

‘So that’s why he packed the black card and clothes.’

 

Fortunately, considering what Roberto gritted his teeth and hid, no war broke out, but he said he was tired of being anxious about such things happening.

 

[Then do you want to come to South Korea?]

 

[Should I?]

 

This man who wanted to leave for a place beyond his father’s reach.

 

He readily declared he would come to this land he had never been to, where the only people he knew were Hwangseoyeong and Hanyewon.

 

* * *

 

– So now he’s living at our house.

 

“Wait, there’s too much omitted at the end!”

 

When I realized Roberto was in South Korea, I was shocked and called her.

 

Then Hwangseoyeong excitedly explained as if she had been waiting.

 

From when they exchanged contact information to the reason he came to South Korea.

 

– Hehe, it’s a bit awkward to say more than that~ I thought he knew I lived with family, but he seemed a bit flustered!

 

What are you talking about? Does someone stay as a freeloader for a month in a house where you live with family?

 

By my common sense, that’s even stranger… or not? He could be staying as a boarder, I guess?

 

The common sense of the martial arts world and South Korea clashed.

 

Let’s go with the Western style for that.

 

“So, he decided to stay permanently, not just temporarily? In South Korea?”

 

-Yes! He said he really likes it and wants to settle down! He went around to all the famous gelato and ice cream shops in South Korea, you know? He thinks it’ll be competitive!

 

Oh my. Asking when the Italian Doctor was coming was just an excuse.

 

She was planning to brag about getting a boyfriend.

 

Of course, that gelato would probably do very well in South Korea too.

 

“Is he going to open a shop right away? Won’t he get investment?”

 

– You too, really, he came urgently on a tourist visa, how can he open one right away! He has a lot to do like learning the language and getting a long-term visa!

 

Something so ridiculously rushed is saying that?

 

Didn’t he just arrive and after wandering around for a few days, think about business and even marriage?

 

From what I heard, he planned to learn basic language and get familiar with the culture while working part-time jobs in South Korea.

 

Well, the romance business is progressing smoothly.

 

‘…But is this really okay?’

 

Even if Roberto himself hadn’t committed any crimes, he was still a mafia boss’s son.

 

Last time, he was deeply involved enough to get stabbed on the street, so would everything really be cut off just because he came to Korea?

 

Let’s think of it roughly like the Sichuan Dang Family.

 

A direct descendant who refused to inherit the martial arts abandoned all rights and duties and left for foreign lands.

 

Living with the woman who saved his life, saying he wouldn’t get involved with the martial arts world….

 

They probably wouldn’t cause any harm.

 

At most, they’d send someone occasionally to check if he’s doing well.

 

‘But what about hostile forces?’

 

The Sichuan Dang Family spreads at least 10 times more grudges than favors.

 

What’s the possibility that a martial artist holding a grudge against the family would chase him to foreign lands for revenge?

 

If they were someone who knew the ways of the martial world, regardless of righteous or evil, they wouldn’t touch civilians, but if everyone followed that, the phrase ‘ways of the martial world’ wouldn’t exist in the first place.

 

‘I’m worried.’

 

I could easily imagine scenes of someone deliberately seeking out civilians to attempt assassination or kidnapping.

 

There had been someone who held a grudge against Master and threatened me before.

 

“I’ll be going up to Seoul soon, so let’s meet up together.”

 

I was definitely concerned.

 

While I couldn’t solve crimes happening in distant countries, it was a different matter if they could touch my friend.

 

Had Roberto thought that far ahead when he came to Seoul?

 

Maybe he had, but looking at his track record of getting stabbed in the back alleys of Rome, it didn’t seem like he could protect himself.

 

‘I should at least check if there’s any surveillance following him.’

 

I quickly checked my schedule in my head.

 

Even if overseas travel would be difficult for a while, Seoul was always possible as a day trip or a 2-day, 1-night stay.

 

– That’s so great~ Help me look for a place to open a shop, building owner!

 

Even if she wasn’t opening it right away, that would be good.

 

Safety is the most important thing after all.

 

Somewhere with good security, and if someone tried to snipe from a neighboring building, it should be in a blind spot… no, that’s going too far.

 

I made plans to meet with Hwangseoyeong the very next weekend.

 

The three of us ended up meeting at an ice cream shop in Seoul.

 

* * *

 

“Ugh….”

 

While it wasn’t to the extent of Hwangseoyeong making a fuss, from my memory, Roberto had quite a neat face.

 

But today, when I actually met him, his appearance was much more pale than I remembered.

 

“Did he eat something wrong?”

 

I asked Hwangseoyeong.

 

Last time the interpreter had stomach problems while living in Italy, and now this friend is like this after coming to Korea.

 

Are the foods of the two countries really that incompatible with each other?

 

Even if it’s hard to eat only Korean food for three meals in Italy, finding Italian food in Korea should be very easy, right?

 

“…Sigh, he ate fire noodles yesterday and ended up like this. I told him I can’t eat them well either, but he insisted on finishing them all because they were delicious.”

 

“Oh my. Did he take any medicine?”

 

“I gave him one Bulhwan-geum pill this morning, but his condition still doesn’t seem good.”

 

Will he even be able to walk around like this?

 

No matter how I look at it, he’s a patient.

 

“Why don’t you give him some acupuncture? Isn’t there somewhere he can lie down?”

 

“I’m fine. I feel much better after taking the medicine.”

 

Roberto said he was fine, but looking at his face, it seemed like he’d be clutching his stomach and rolling around in exactly 30 minutes.

 

Moreover, he was raising his spoon, saying he’d eat ice cream in that condition.

 

If he was scared of getting acupuncture, I was about to warn him not to eat that at least.

 

‘…!’

 

But instead of saying that, I naturally turned my body to check the counter.

 

“I’ll go buy a milk tea too.”

 

The presence of someone who had just entered the ice cream shop felt suspicious.

—————
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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