The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 29

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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 29

The day after attending the wedding, Sunday evening.

‘How unusual to finish early.’

Hwang Sanghun, who had finished his weekend duty, completed his work faster than usual. Perhaps because he had slept well thanks to the medicine Hanyewon had prescribed, his mind was working exceptionally quickly.

From the tasks left behind by his colleague from the previous shift to his own work, and even preparing for Monday’s conference, he finished everything and left work refreshed.

‘…Ha.’

But the moment he opened the front door and checked his phone, Hwang Sanghun’s mood plummeted.

[Sanghun, are you having a good weekend? Thanks to your help last time, the conference ended well. The thing is….]

There was another message from the professor dumping more menial tasks on him.

Should he read it or not?

Just as Hwang Sanghun closed his eyes tightly and tapped the message.

[I heard from Seoyoung. She said you collapsed.]

Another message that had just arrived opened instead.

‘Father?’

It was his father, who never contacted him except for family events. He had never heard him express worry before, but perhaps the news of his collapse had concerned him.

Hwang Sanghun began choosing words to reply that he was fine.

[How can you neglect your health like this from your twenties? I was running marathons at that age. It would have been good if you had continued exercising with your brother.]

[Physical strength is important in Oriental Rehabilitation Medicine, so get your act together and conduct yourself properly. It’s fortunate you collapsed on a holiday, but there’s nothing good about being marked as physically weak in front of professors and colleagues.]

But before he could even type a reply, reproachful messages arrived one after another.

The professor’s contact about menial tasks was merely annoying, but his father’s words made him feel disgusted.

‘Exercising with my brother, what ancient history is that.’

It was from his early twenties. He had passed a local Oriental medicine university on his first attempt and wanted to enroll, but his grandfather and father urged him to retake the exam, hoping he would graduate from Korean University and become a professor.

And his retake scores were even lower than his first attempt.

To the depressed Hwang Sanghun, his brother said all of this happened because he lacked grit. And throughout his third year of studying, he dragged him out for morning runs.

He barely got into the university his grandfather and father wanted, and stopped once he moved out to live alone, but they were still talking about it.

[You must attend Grandparents’ wedding anniversary next month, so prepare for it. Grandfather has very high expectations for you.]

After seeing the last message, Hwang Sanghun clutched his throbbing head.

Everything felt too overwhelming.

‘No, there’s no need to get annoyed.’

The problem was having the ridiculous expectation that they would worry about him in the first place. His grandfather and father always wanted to force Hwang Sanghun into the mold they desired, and that would never change.

‘Calm down, and take some Gyogamdan.’

– Grandfather, uncle, and even Jihun hyung are all control freaks. If you keep listening to that nonsense, you won’t live to see your natural lifespan!

Those were the words of his cousin who became his peer thanks to retaking the exam for three years.

– Even when they act like they have everything and show off, what can they actually do? Just don’t listen and live however you want~.

Everything she said was right. Even if he strayed from the path they wanted or cut ties with them, nothing would happen.

Wasn’t it the same when he ended his reluctant long relationship with Cho Haneul?

After hearing Hanyewon’s story the day before, Hwang Sanghun had already made his decision.

– I took over a clinic that already had a spare examination room, considering I’d need an associate director from the start!

Should he follow his father’s words? Could he defy them? Should he continue his residency? Should he just look for a job?

While he was stuck with pointless thoughts, she had already succeeded in opening her practice and was discussing expansion.

During their school days, they competed with similar grades, but now they stood in completely different positions.

The sincerity and confidence in treatment she showed when prescribing medicine out of concern for him, someone she could have just ignored, would surely be conveyed to patients too, and she had the skills to back it up.

How could she not succeed?

‘She must have prepared thoroughly.’

She had said it. That she would hire him as associate director even if he came tomorrow.

‘She might not have the capacity to hire an associate director right now… but it should be fine if I say I won’t take money.’

Of course, quitting mid-way right now would cause trouble for his intern colleagues, but taking about a year off after completing his internship should be fine.

There might not be a position to return to at Korean University, but if he decided to go to any provincial university, wouldn’t there be places that would accept him? If he felt confident about opening his own practice, he wouldn’t even need to return to the hospital.

Thinking about going down to Busan made all his burdens feel light.

[Too busy to go.]

His grandparents’ wedding anniversary? What grandson in the world keeps track of such things?

Hwang Sanghun sent just six characters to his father.

[Sorry, but I’m too busy with work so it will be difficult.]

He also flatly refused the professor’s request to dump more menial tasks on him.

In truth, he didn’t need to go to great lengths to please anyone.

‘Phew.’

His mind became peaceful in an instant. The tightness in his chest that had felt completely blocked was released.

Hwang Sanghun switched his phone to airplane mode, set only one alarm, and lay down on his bed.

He fell asleep peacefully just like that. Useless thoughts no longer came to him.

The map Hanyewon drew for me, the path she showed me.

Everything was crystal clear.

* * *

‘Ah, that was fun! I’m really glad I went up there, whether it was for a wedding or whatever!’

The holiday in Seoul flew by like the wind. I had so much fun playing with Hwangseoyeong that I lost track of time, and before I knew it, the weekend was gone. I took the early Monday morning flight and returned to the clinic just in time for opening hours.

As soon as I returned, I had something to discuss with Seo Inae.

Her workload was tight, and the number of patients kept increasing, so shouldn’t we hire more staff?

“You must be really tired going back and forth between the desk and treatment room, right?”

During a break between patients, I grabbed Seo Inae and asked.

“Huh? I’m fine. Did I make some mistake that caused a complaint?”

She was earnestly pondering something while placing a vending machine beverage order on the computer, but turned around in surprise to look at me.

“Not at all. You’ve always been perfect. But usually when things increase this much, we’d talk about hiring one more person, and it’s hard for you to take vacation days too.”

“Ah. If that’s the reason, I think it’s still too early.”

And she flatly rejected my proposal.

“Isn’t it hard on you?”

“There are still some ups and downs by date, so I don’t think it’s appropriate to increase fixed expenses yet. I’d recommend additional hiring when the average number of patients exceeds 25 per day over three months, or when we exceed 40 patients in a single day more than three times and I can’t handle it alone.”

“Oh…?”

Of course, adding one person’s salary would be a burden. Just looking at the numbers, it would be better if she could hold out to maximum capacity, but… is that okay from the employee’s perspective?

“If it increases just this month and then decreases next month, we’d have to consider downsizing. I’d rather work a little harder and continue working with you, Director.”

“No way, I wouldn’t downsize just because it drops a little.”

If I hire someone, I should naturally take responsibility as much as possible! Besides, even if I had to consider downsizing due to months of losses, there’s no way I’d fire Seo Inae.

Where would I find such a hardworking employee?

“You absolutely should!”

But Seo Inae spoke firmly. Unlike me, who had big goals but managed the business haphazardly, she was really sharp as a knife.

“Cost reduction is so important! Increasing sales isn’t everything. Right now, Haneul Clinic below us uses staff for only 14 hours a week to avoid paying weekly holiday allowances. You should learn from that.”

“No, that’s not something to learn from.”

“Your strategy of giving generous base salaries and really good incentives is nice too. But it’s too idealistic. It’s because it’s me that I work hard – today’s twentysomethings are so MZ! If you’re going to do this, you need to be prepared to cut people immediately when things don’t work out.”

Oh, is that so?

Still, she was in an employee position at our clinic, but her business mindset was American-level.

It felt strange for two people in their twenties to be talking about MZ generation.

“Alright. I’ll think more about additional hiring. But you have to tell me right away if it gets too hard.”

“Of course.”

I brought up the topic only to get thoroughly scolded by my employee.

Hmm, isn’t she overworking? When I visited hospitals before, there were at least 2 nursing assistants even with fewer patients. Even before I took over, when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, they used 2 people.

It had been over 20 years since I last visited another hospital, so my memory was hazy.

‘Oh, come to think of it, Haneul Clinic was right nearby, wasn’t it?’

If I went down the mountain… no, the hill, there was Haneul Clinic Busan branch right in front of the station. Patients kept complaining about why the clinic was built on a mountain, so even I started calling it a mountain.

They use staff for 14 hours a week there? Using nursing assistants like that would cause more harm than good, so maybe they’re talking about skincare specialists.

Long ago in high school, I had visited the Gangnam main branch because I wanted to see Director Choi Eunhee in person, but I was suddenly curious about how other franchise branches were operating.

‘Should I go spy on them?’

I learned later from Senior Student and Hwangseoyeong that people usually spy before opening their practice. Since clinic directors’ faces are often published on websites, they send family or friends.

Since I had boasted about growing the clinic, it would be interesting to go benchmarking, even if a bit late. Anyway, I hadn’t posted photos on my blog, so I wouldn’t get caught if I went myself.

While seeing patients, I spent all the free time browsing Haneul Clinic’s website and blog.

There were photos of quite handsome male and female oriental medicine doctors, suggesting professional touch, and the interior design reeked of money.

As Seo Inae told me, when I searched for terms like ‘Busan diet oriental medicine clinic,’ it naturally appeared on the first page.

“Good, let’s go!”

While I started early in the morning, Haneul Clinic’s operating hours were a bit longer. If I went quickly, I could see it today.

“Do you have sunglasses by any chance?”

“I do, but…?”

“Lend them to me for just one day. I’ll return them right away tomorrow.”

For spying, I should do a little disguise, right?

I remembered the sunglasses Seo Inae often wore when going out during lunch break.

Ever since Kim Ijin recognized Seo Inae, she had been using sunglasses or masks whenever going to school.

“Yes.”

“Oh, are they expensive?”

“Not really.”

Hmm, I thought they’d be thousand-won ones from Daiso. They’re really functional indeed.

Seo Inae looked at me with slightly suspicious eyes, but I finished preparing to leave work.

With this much, even if I post my face on the blog later, they won’t remember, right?

So I finished preparing early and even turned off all the clinic lights.

…A patient came 5 minutes before closing time.

“My shoulder and arm hurt like hell.”

“I’m sorry. Registration closes 30 minutes before the end of consultation hours, so please come early tomorrow morning.”

“I said it hurts like hell! I can’t sleep and you’re telling me to just go?”

“If you had come just a little earlier…”

“I made it within the time! I came straight here as soon as I finished work!”

Moreover, he even yelled loudly at Seo Inae when she said that reception had closed.

“Please let him in. Since you came late, physical therapy won’t be possible, but I’ll quickly give you acupuncture and help calm it down.”

I couldn’t turn away someone who said they felt like dying, so I accepted the patient. Seo Inae gave me a look that said not to go over business hours as she quickly processed the reception.

“I’m Kim Jinsang.”

Tsk, even his name sounds unpleasant.

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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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