The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 217

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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 217

Of course, since I hadn’t directly met the head instructor of the nearby Taichi Dojang, I was being cautious.

But the movements Kim Jaegyu had shown me once before.

And seeing the gradual changes appearing in his energy flow, I thought it was a decent place.

“Moving slowly was frustrating at first, but now it feels natural.”

Fortunately, Kim Jinsang adapted well too.

His pulse, which had been irregularly erratic, and his rough breathing had noticeably stabilized.

‘What kind of person is he? Is this a characteristic of tai chi itself?’

I suddenly became curious about the instructor.

It could be the efficacy of the forms themselves… but I had also tried following the movements from videos, and it wasn’t something that would produce such immediate effects.

“Thank you for the other day.”

Park Seon-yun also visited once after the three-way meeting. Again, bringing chocolate in person.

I had sent her away that day saying no consultation fee was needed since it wasn’t an examination, but that seemed to have bothered her quite a bit.

It wasn’t the Swiss chocolate she usually brought, but Dubai chocolate, I think? Our staff really loved it.

“Thanks to you, Doctor, the driver is becoming more and more gentle.”

The update on Kim Jinsang that Park Seon-yun shared was similar to what I had observed.

Maybe it was because there hadn’t been any external stimulation yet, but so far he had been getting along well without raising his voice.

It was fortunate in many ways.

And so my frustration completely disappeared.

One day when I was focused on work.

“Doctor! Could you spare us some time?!”

Yang Jimin and Seol Yuhui came to request a meeting.

What’s this, are they resigning? Is An Juhui being too bothersome after all?

…Actually, except for a very few, all our staff have been long-term employees, so I don’t know why I think of resignation first.

“Of course. Come in.”

I first brought the two into the examination room.

Both were employees who produced excellent results despite juggling their studies.

“How’s the work going?”

“I’m learning so much. The pharmacist is truly erudite. She knows everything, and even knows details about things not written in textbooks!”

An Juhui is a bit unique indeed. Even I find it fascinating.

“I’m also always learning a lot from you, Doctor.”

Seol Yuhui also smiled.

“How’s school? No weird professors?”

“Haha…”

I don’t know if it’s a characteristic unique to Korean medicine colleges, or if other colleges are the same, but there was always at least one weird professor’s class per grade.

Whether there was someone who came to mind at their school too, both laughed awkwardly.

“But it’s fun. Classes, friends, clubs – everything.”

“Ah, you joined clubs? What are you doing?”

“I play the haegeum, and I also joined a volunteer service club.”

“I ended up taking on class president, so I thought I’d be too busy with part-time work to join clubs… but Yu Hee recommended it, so I ended up joining just the volunteer service club together!”

Volunteer service is good. It doesn’t take any time except for the days you go to do activities.

Still, it was unexpected. I thought Yang Jimin would join various clubs.

“I see. But Yu Hee, haegeum is a traditional Korean instrument, right? Like this?”

I moved my arms as if playing a cello.

It looks similar to an erhu, probably? Though the tone was quite different.

“Yes. I joined the traditional Korean music club. But since I don’t know how to play any instruments… when I asked the seniors if I could participate while learning, they recommended the haegeum.”

Hmm… it does suit her well though.

Didn’t they give her the hardest one? It won’t be easy.

“Actually, I wanted to do orchestra and band too, but they all perform during festival season, so they said practice time would be insufficient. The haegeum seemed the coolest, so I joined that one!”

“I see.”

“And, I.”

“Yes.”

“Traditional music aside… the reason I asked for time is actually because of the volunteer service club.”

Ah, so that’s why she brought up the club topic.

I was lacking in perception, so the introduction was long.

Yang Jimin brought up the main point as if she had been waiting.

“We’re going on a group volunteer service activity this time. But according to the seniors, a huge number of patients come. The ones doing acupuncture treatment directly are the professors, graduated seniors, and senior fourth-year students, but…”

“You’re short on personnel?”

Since I had also joined a medical volunteer club during my school days, I quickly understood the request.

Our school also used to ask professors and call seniors to increase the number of Korean medicine doctors who could see patients, even by one more.

Since we went to neighborhoods without Korean medicine clinics or medical clinics to do volunteer work, countless elderly people would flock there.

Most patients came wanting acupuncture treatment for back pain, but there were also quite a few patients who came to consult about all their aches and pains, taking this opportunity.

Having been to such places as a patient rather than a student, I understand what mindset that is.

“Yes. It’s not like there’s absolutely no one, but our president is also a fan of yours like me, Doctor. When we said we work at Seongsuhaneui Clinic, she asked if we could possibly make a request just once… The graduate seniors often bring directors from other schools too!”

I nodded.

“When is it?”

“The Sunday after next!”

It was a request to participate in volunteer activities.

Actually, my alma mater contacts me occasionally too… but they always hold events on Saturdays when I work, and it’s too far away, so I couldn’t go.

It wouldn’t be bad to participate once in the nearby area.

“That’s good since it’s my day off. I’ll go.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

“Thank you for accepting our difficult request!”

I could do volunteer work for a day, meet young friends, and boost my staff’s morale!

There was nothing bad about it.

I readily accepted their proposal.

* * *

As soon as Director Han Yewon accepted the proposal, Seol Yuhui and Yang Jimin spread the news.

“Wow, she really said she’d come?”

“Thank you both so much! I was wondering if we should visit her once…!”

“Senior, could we also watch the treatments from the side?”

“Ah, it won’t be that relaxed. It’s really incredibly busy.”

When they went to the club room the next day, they had become heroes.

The president and seniors of the medical volunteer club were very pleased, and their classmates also showed interest.

Especially the president was worried about whether they should visit separately to pay respects, and whether it would be taking up her time.

“Our director places acupuncture incredibly fast, so it might be a little less busy this time.”

“Haha, thank you so much for bringing her.”

Seol Yuhui said this, but the president and seniors didn’t seem to have much expectation.

Every time they went volunteering, there were really many patients. It wasn’t a number where one person working a little faster would create much breathing room.

The president praised Seol Yuhui highly and then began the briefing.

“Only graduated seniors and fourth-year seniors will see patients, so you just need to pay attention to hygiene and assist the professors and directors without causing them any inconvenience.”

“Yes!”

Since it wasn’t usually a club for socializing, there were many unfamiliar faces.

The president told them to find him if any problems arose, and explained how things would work on the day for first-time participating freshmen.

Hmm, registration, patient guidance, and needle removal.

It wasn’t much different from what Seol Yuhui usually did at the oriental medicine clinic.

“If you want to learn something while you’re there, it would be good to memorize at least the terminology.”

To make it easier to understand what the professors said during treatment, they also distributed medical terminology books and summaries of commonly used acupuncture points.

“This is why you told me to join the volunteer club!”

Yang Jimin was very happy as she received the book.

“But Yu Hee unnie already knows all this, right?”

“I can review, and participating in volunteer work feels good.”

Seol Yuhui was purely happy.

She vaguely remembered the consolation performances by volunteer groups she had seen at the hospital during her long stay.

They had shared food and performed… she had been grateful, amazed, and envious.

But now she was in a position to help, so how could she not be happy?

“Yu Hee, wait a moment.”

After all the students left, the president called only Seol Yuhui aside.

“What is it?”

“Well, I…”

The president scratched his head as he chose his words.

“What kind of food does Doctor Han like?”

“…”

Although the other seniors had also made requests, the club president seemed to respect the director as much as Yang Jimin did.

“Aren’t we all eating the same lunch boxes anyway?”

“Still, if there’s a menu she likes, we might as well go with that vendor…”

Even so, trying to match the group lunch boxes to our director’s food preferences!

“She eats everything well.”

When Seol Yuhui looked incredulous, the president nodded embarrassedly.

“Phew, thanks. Hey.”

“Not at all. The director readily accepted.”

“Still, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have dared to ask. We need to prepare well. Since she’s coming all this way, it would be troublesome if any strange unexpected situations arose.”

The president clenched both hands tightly, burning with motivation.

“Since we’re here anyway, could I mention a few things?”

Seol Yuhui helped him refine the workflow a bit.

It was difficult to speak up with so many seniors around, but she had secretly wanted to give advice.

“Ah, please do!”

* * *

A few days later. The day of volunteer activities.

The president had made many preparations to prevent unexpected situations, but.

Nevertheless, despite all that, quite naturally, unexpected situations arose.

“Wait, why are there so many people?”

“It looks like twice as many as last year?”

Treatment was scheduled to start at 9 o’clock. The professors and seniors had agreed to arrive accordingly, but the students had arrived early, before even 8 o’clock.

There was a lot to do – arranging desks and beds, laying out blankets, and so on.

But the waiting room was already packed with patients who had arrived from 6 o’clock.

“Oh my, you’ll have to run around without even time to observe.”

Up to this point, it was manageable.

We could somehow organize things and handle the registration.

“What do you mean it can’t be done?!”

But soon someone’s angry shouting could be heard.

An elderly woman was causing a commotion.

“Please calm down, ma’am!”

A staff member from the community welfare center that had provided the facility was trying hard to calm her down, but he couldn’t control the grandmother at all.

“What’s the matter? Is there a problem with registration?”

The president quickly approached to assess the situation.

“Well…”

“I have all the important ingredients with me, don’t I? You just need to add some deer antler and brew it for me! It’s not that difficult!”

When the students came over, the grandmother pushed the staff member aside and spoke directly to the president.

“You want us to brew medicine for you?”

“It’s what you people do all the time anyway!”

First of all, Korean medicine doctors rarely brew medicine directly themselves.

Moreover, they were students.

“Ma’am, we can only provide herbal medicine using the insurance-covered preparations we brought from the hospital. Using personally brought medicinal herbs is impossible.”

Besides, who would take responsibility if problems arose from brewing medicine with herbs of unknown origin?

Not to mention deer antler!

“It’s not that difficult!”

“Ma’am…!”

The president tried hard to persuade the grandmother.

But when logic didn’t work at all, she was at a loss and struggled helplessly.

Though the president was a senior student, she was around Seol Yuhui’s age.

Being still a student, she seemed unfamiliar with how to deal with unreasonable people.

“Wait…”

I was about to step forward to help Seol Yuhui.

“I’m a Korean medicine doctor. Please speak to me.”

Director Han Yewon, who had arrived without anyone noticing, placed her hand on Seol Yuhui’s shoulder.

“Ah!”

She had said she would come a little early to help, but I didn’t expect her to arrive this quickly.

When Doctor Han intervened, the grandmother changed her target and appealed to her intensely.

“Yes, listen to me. I bought precious fermented soybeans and boiled them to drink, you see? But maybe because I just boiled them in a pot, there’s no effect at all, and it doesn’t taste like herbal medicine. Please add some deer antler and other things and brew it properly for me.”

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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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