The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 206

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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 206

15 minutes before the orientation started.

Seol Yuhui arrived at the Korean Medicine Building at just the right time and found the classroom.

Swoosh, she opened the door.

About half the students were already sitting in the classroom, chattering away.

Oh, they’ve already become friends? I should have come earlier!

The gazes of students sitting near the door focused on Seol Yuhui.

“Hello?”

So she greeted them with a smile as usual.

“….”

For a moment, silence fell over the classroom.

‘Huh? Did I do something wrong?’

The students stared intently at Seol Yuhui’s face.

What? What did I mess up?

She had no idea and her mind went blank.

Swoosh.

Just then, someone entered the classroom through the back door.

‘Ah! I unknowingly came in through the front door, so that’s why?’

I drew unnecessary attention!

Seol Yuhui blushed and hurriedly went to sit in the very back row.

“That person… no, that friend is also our classmate?”

“Wow….”

Ugh, how embarrassing!

“You’re a first-year pre-med student, right?”

“Yes, that’s right! I’m Seol Yuhui! Nice to meet you!”

What? Do I really not look like a Korean medicine student?

She answered the male student sitting next to her, but for some reason, normal conversation didn’t flow well with him.

“Welcome, new students!”

Shortly after, the department head Professor appeared and gave a welcoming greeting.

The curriculum introduction, self-introductions, and first-year first-semester course registration proceeded in order.

Seol Yuhui took notes on the curriculum with the intention of not missing anything, and even noted the characteristics of classmates introducing themselves.

It was a habit for getting close to patients.

‘Fortunately, since it’s first-year pre-med first semester, the course load isn’t that heavy!’

Thinking she could definitely attend while working, Seol Yuhui smiled with relief.

“Um… shall we eat lunch…?”

Before she knew it, it was lunchtime.

They turned their desks around to form groups and ate lunch boxes, but for some reason only the table where Seol Yuhui sat was awkwardly quiet.

‘Why? Why is it this quiet? Is it awkward because I’m older?’

On the outside, she wore a smile similar to when working, but inside she was anxiously going crazy.

Was it because of the mistake I made when entering? Or because of my age?

Gasp, could it be because I’m mixed race? Being a quarter shouldn’t be that obvious, right?

According to the Clinic Director, over 10% of Korean medicine students enter at an older age.

But Seol Yuhui, who was 26 years old, was the only student of such an ambiguous age.

There were 4 people in their thirties, and the rest were all between current high school graduates and those who had taken the exam three times, so it was awkward to fit into any group.

‘What should I do!’

Should I become friends with the younger kids?

Is it right to hang out with the older brothers and sisters in their thirties?

She glanced at the table where the latter group was sitting.

“Ah, I graduated from Yeonryo University. You give off Korean University vibes somehow….”

“Oh my, how did you know? I graduated from Korean University with a biology major. But we’re only one year apart, so speak casually.”

“Should I?”

They were gradually gathering together and having conversations about their previous universities.

‘I, I can’t join in!’

And so, without becoming close to anyone, lunchtime ended.

In the afternoon, club introductions continued.

There were so many interesting-looking clubs.

She wanted to do band, orchestra looked cool, and she wanted to try traditional Korean music too….

‘I wanted to learn musical instruments.’

It was an opportunity to gain insight about herself, but she became even more worried about whether joining a club would help her become friends with her classmates.

‘Even though my body became healthy, I… sob, making friends is too difficult. I guess I didn’t realize it because all the teachers at the clinic were so nice to me!’

Although she wasn’t an extroverted personality, she thought she was doing well in social situations.

But what if that wasn’t the case?

I believed I was doing well at work, but what if my colleagues were just being nice when they said that?

Seol Yuhui’s consciousness drifted endlessly into the depths.

While thinking all sorts of thoughts during the introduction of clubs she wasn’t interested in, it was soon time for the after-party.

‘Th-this time for sure…!’

Still, she fidgeted with her fingers as she joined the after-party.

“Yu Hee, you’re going to the after-party too!”

While she was wondering who to talk to, someone approached from behind and put their arm around her shoulder.

“Jimin, you should call her Yu Hee unni!”

“Oh, sorry! You look like a saint from a romance fantasy novel!”

According to the self-introduction from earlier, Yang Jimin. She was 20 years old.

A saint? Does she like martial arts novels like the Clinic Director?

The female student next to her was Lee Subin, 21 years old. They seemed to already know each other.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you ever since I saw you come in! Unni, you’re so pretty!”

“Uh, huh?”

“Are you mixed race by any chance? I’m sorry if this question is rude!”

“Ah, that’s right. Russian side. And you can speak casually to me.”

Yang Jimin gave off the scent of a capital E. She somehow felt similar to Gong Nari.

No, she’s 1.5 times more energetic. …If I follow this friend, I might be able to make friends!

Seol Yuhui naturally stuck to her and succeeded in forming a four-person table.

“Wowwww! Amazing! You studied while working as a nursing assistant at an oriental medicine clinic?”

Even though she told her to speak casually, it didn’t seem to happen right away. She mixed honorifics while asking many questions.

Bright, sparkling eyes that brought to mind a duck emoticon.

Thanks to Yang Jimin cheering and clapping for even trivial things, she was able to talk with the other friends too.

“It’s thanks to the Clinic Director’s consideration.”

“Still! It’s really cool!”

Is it because she just graduated from high school?

Just having work experience seemed impressive to her.

“That’s amazing. I barely squeezed in after grinding away for 2 years at a prep academy.”

The name of this student who ended up sitting with them was Jin Doyul, 22 years old.

He kept making self-deprecating jokes and it was awkward not knowing how to respond.

Anyway, Seol Yuhui succeeded in getting the phone numbers of the three students sitting at the same table.

And soon, alcohol came out.

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

They constantly made toasts.

“Guys, aren’t you drinking too much?”

“It’s fine~. Unni, cheers too!”

“If not now, when else would we drink!”

Ugh! This must have been how the Clinic Director felt during the last company dinner!

It was so nerve-wracking, but she couldn’t stop her classmates who were running like a broken runaway train.

“Blearghhhh”

Sure enough, less than an hour after they started drinking, people began collapsing one after another.

Yang Jimin was one of them.

“I, I… believed for 20 years that I could drink well.”

Surprisingly, she said this was the first time in her life she had put alcohol to her lips.

This is crazy, really.

Is this the spirit of a twenty-year-old? Will I be able to become friends with her?

“Try taking some hangover relief pills.”

Seol Yuhui handed over the pills she had generously received from the Clinic Director not long ago.

“It’s called Daegeum-eumja. The composition is exactly the same as Pyeongwi-san, but it has a lot of dried tangerine peel to help reverse the rising qi.”

“Wow.”

“I’m still not good at acupuncture though.”

She also gave acupressure to pressure points like Gansu, Bisu, and Wisu that she had learned by watching over shoulders.

“Ugh, urgh!”

Every time she pressed firmly on her back, Yang Jimin reacted intensely and trembled with her hands.

“Yang Jimin revival!”

Fortunately, it was effective.

The immediate effect appeared as soon as she took the medicine, and she came back to life in less than 30 minutes.

“Now just drink water.”

“Got it! But this is totally effective, right? I want to give some to my father too! Where did you buy this?”

“The Clinic Director at the oriental medicine clinic where I work gave it to me.”

“May I ask which oriental medicine clinic it is?”

“It’s called Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic.”

After giving treatment that wasn’t really treatment, Yang Jimin became much more comfortable.

So she answered various questions again.

“Daaaaaaaaaaaamn!”

Yang Jimin was so shocked that Seol Yuhui got even more startled and almost fell off her chair.

“Oh, sorry. But still, amazing! Busan, right? The main branch? Director Han Yewon?”

“Huh? You know our director?”

“Of course I do!”

As soon as Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic was mentioned, Yang Jimin’s eyes sparkled twice as bright.

Yang Jimin had been a fan of Hyeon Jumi since middle school, so she said she found out after seeing posts on Instagram.

Though it had become quite famous recently due to Melon Soda Horizon, she said she had been secretly dreaming of joining even before that.

“Oh, I’ve heard of Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic too.”

Jin Doyul also said he had heard of Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic, though he didn’t know the director’s name.

He said his father, who was a Korean medicine doctor, told him not to work under him after graduation but to go learn at a place like that.

“Could, could, could you let me meet the director just once…?”

Yang Jimin asked with sparkling eyes.

“Is that, well, a bit much? Should I go as a patient? Don’t you catch colds?”

Even after asking, Yang Jimin twisted her body, worried she might be a bother.

Even this friend who was a capital E had similar aspects to Seol Yuhui, creating a slight sense of inner intimacy.

“Our director would gladly meet you, right? I’ll ask once first.”

Somehow, not only Yang Jimin but Jin Doyul and Lee Subin also seemed secretly expectant.

‘Gasp, what if she refuses?’

Only then did Seol Yuhui’s timid nature kick in.

Normally it would be fine, but right now when Director Hwang Sanghun wasn’t there, things were very busy.

Wouldn’t this be an impolite request?

* * *

When Seol Yuhui came back from orientation and carefully requested a consultation, I wondered what was going on.

“They’re Yu Hee’s friends, so please come anytime!”

It wasn’t a difficult request at all.

Rather, I was pleased.

To make such a request when the first semester of freshman year hadn’t even started yet, she seemed to have made friends who were really full of enthusiasm.

If it were one person at a time, observing treatment would be possible, but three people would be too much of a crowd and might make patients a bit uncomfortable.

“Thank you!”

But listening to the story, it seemed the students wanted to meet me more.

‘I’m not even a celebrity, so what’s so interesting about seeing that attending physician?’

I didn’t quite understand, but I gladly accepted.

I made an appointment for them to come around closing time.

‘But what should I talk about?’

For treatment observation, I just had to show treatment, and when Lee Ahreum requested an interview, she brought a questionnaire.

But these were students who had just entered pre-med.

A few days later, on the promised day.

‘I can’t reuse the Cheongsol PPT, tsk.’

I was wondering if I should bring out that sealed thing, but fortunately there was a very lively friend among the group.

“Director! I wanted to meet you! It’s an honor!”

Not a celebrity fan but my fan?

Where did this young friend learn such flattery skills?

As I answered various questions from the student named Yang Jimin, there was hardly a break in conversation.

“Wow, I see. Yes, yes, I’ll work hard on basic biology and chemistry first!”

Whether underclassmen all think similarly, the questions didn’t stray far from those at past lectures.

Yang Jimin nodded earnestly and took notes even at obvious remarks.

Her eyes sparkled to a degree that was a little, no, very burdensome.

“So this is how Yu Hee works!”

Since there were no patients, I let them tour the clinic comfortably.

“Since you’re here, let’s take a look at the decoction room too.”

It had definitely been an ordinary decoction room at first, but somehow it was gradually evolving to look like a mad scientist’s research lab.

Since I spared no support for An Juhui, more and more things kept appearing.

“Oh, are you hiring?”

While looking around the decoction room, Yang Jimin discovered a memo on An Juhui’s desk.

If you could call something a memo that had ‘HIRING!’ written in large letters filling an entire A4 sheet.

‘She said she’d hire directly, but I guess she still hasn’t done it.’

Recently, the part-timer who had been helping An Juhui with packaging had quit, so we needed to hire someone new.

When hiring the first part-timer, she kept refusing until I found someone for her.

She said she would post a job listing herself since I was too busy these days, but it seemed she had been putting it off, busy with research and decoctions.

The workload really isn’t something one person can handle, honestly.

“Are you looking for a nursing assistant? You need a license for that… right?”

Yang Jimin asked.

“No. It’s just a part-time job helping with cleaning and packaging in the herbal medicine preparation room.”

Since she had always been a friend who asked many questions, I answered without much thought.

“I’m applying!”

Yang Jimin raised one hand high and declared her employment aspirations.

Hm? This shouldn’t be something to think about.

Cleaning and packaging really were most of the work.

While Seol Yuhui, who works at the oriental medicine clinic, would at least observe treatments here and there, part-timers hired like this spend almost all their time in the decoction room.

Of course, there wouldn’t be absolutely nothing to learn here either…

“It would be tough going back and forth to school. How about coming to observe treatments separately next time?”

I explained the job duties in detail and made a different suggestion.

But her eyes didn’t lose their spark at all.

“Whatever work you give me, I’ll work like a dog!”

I quite liked young people who were this enthusiastic and passionate about learning while working.

However, this position wasn’t something I could decide on my own.

If I brought this friend over, An Juhui might faint.

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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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