The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 319
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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 319
I ended up coming to Riyadh after all.
I thought I’d come here several more times in my life, but I never expected to step foot on this desert land so soon.
And with the honorable title of national team doctor, no less.
National team doctor!
I was already serving as the team doctor for Busan BUK women’s professional basketball team, but… this was on a completely different level.
There are more professional teams in South Korea by sport than you’d think, and each doesn’t just have one team doctor.
They would send dispatches when taking turns for games, or players would come to the clinic when they had injuries.
In contrast, the medical staff dispatched to the Olympics includes around 10 people total – doctors, dentists, Korean medicine doctors, physical therapists, and nurses. Among them, usually about 1 Korean medicine doctor is included, or sometimes none at all.
And typically that 1 person would be an executive from the Korean Medicine Association, Korean Medical Association, or Sports Korean Medicine Association.
I wasn’t doing that kind of work, nor did I have connections with the Korea Sports Council.
Moreover, by the time I received the contact, most national team members for various sports had already been selected and started training at Jincheon Athletes’ Village.
This meant there was already a resident clinic director at the Korean medicine clinic in the athletes’ village.
So how did I end up joining?
‘…There were too many requests for one person to handle.’
Even if they recruited a team doctor for one sport, once they entered the athletes’ village medical center, all South Korean national team members could receive treatment outside of their sport’s competition hours.
So Kim Ijin went to receive knee care from the Korean medicine doctor who had been recruited from another sport and was residing there.
During the training period, one thing led to another…
I couldn’t know exactly what happened.
Did she become friends with athletes from other sports and boast about her treatment results?
Or did she show extraordinary athletic ability during training?
– Ah, thank you so much for coming so readily. We received simultaneous requests for Korean medicine treatment from archery, taekwondo, judo, wrestling, weightlifting, badminton, basketball, and swimming… It was an unprecedented staffing crisis.
Right before the Olympics, an official from Jincheon Athletes’ Village welcomed me like this.
Athletes from each national team came for examinations and treatment with very bright, sparkling eyes.
Since I joined at the last minute in South Korea, there wasn’t much to do.
Since it was right before the Olympics, everyone was being extremely careful about injuries and taking care of their bodies, so management-level acupuncture, cupping, and chuna therapy were sufficient.
If injuries occurred, it would probably be during the Olympic competitions, right?
I’d need to help them recover without affecting their next competitions and without lasting aftereffects.
After finishing the short schedule at Jincheon Athletes’ Village, I arrived in Riyadh with the basketball national team.
“Wow, the facilities are really nice. Jincheon was no joke either, but this is something else.”
“As expected, Saudi Arabia is definitely different.”
Lee Sora and Myeong Seonju said.
Lee Sora, who was BUK’s captain, also served as captain of the national team, and Myeong Seonju had also made it onto the women’s basketball national team along with Kim Ijin.
Not just us, but all the other athletes also gaped at the sight of the athletes’ village.
Even I, who had been to Saudi Arabia once before and had even entered the royal palace, was no exception.
Saudi Arabia had built a massive athletes’ village on the outskirts of Riyadh that could accommodate thousands of people, and the rows of newly constructed buildings created quite a spectacular sight.
“This entire building is our country’s exclusive area?”
“Isn’t that how it usually is?”
“Ah, this is your first time? At the last Olympics, it was two floors. One floor was wider than this though.”
We were assigned an entire building as the exclusive area for the South Korean delegation.
It was a space where not only athletes but also essential staff like coaches, trainers, and team doctors all lived together.
“It’s really sparkling.”
“Doctor, haven’t you been here before?”
“I visited places like historical sites and museums. This is my first time here.”
Of course department stores would be sparkling, but building an athletes’ village like this was a different matter entirely, wasn’t it?
…PK Industries built this building and became a sponsor.
Park Seon-yun felt like a child following around asking to do business, and Choi Gwi-jae felt like a grandmother scolding young people while waving her cane.
But seeing the logo embedded here made me newly realize what a tremendous conglomerate it was.
“I see. Are you going to the villa?”
Kim Ijin nodded and stared intently at me.
“Yes, yes. I’ll just stop by briefly to look around and come right back.”
“The director said it would be okay for you to commute.”
“No way. There’s security to consider, and if I do that, it’ll hurt morale for no reason.”
I planned to unpack here first and then visit the villa.
The Olympic Stadium was located right near where the athletes’ village was situated, and the upscale residential area where I had purchased the villa was also very close.
I didn’t know exactly why Seo Inae had recommended that villa, but it seemed to be related to the athletes’ village being built there.
‘The Jamsil Olympic Athletes’ Village in our country is pretty good too…’
Anyway, it was closer than expected, so when I asked if commuting would be okay, the answer came back that in principle, I had to stay in the athletes’ village during official national team schedules.
Since the villa was nearby and the Saudi royal family would help with management, they offered an exception allowing commuting with security team escort, but I declined this part.
Why bother?
I could just spend a few days of personal time before and after the official schedule.
Since local adaptation training would start right away tomorrow, I had arranged to meet other acquaintances at the villa today.
“Have a safe trip.”
“Yes. If anything happens, contact me right away! Not just Lee Jin, but any other athlete too!”
“Yes.”
I informed the basketball team’s coach that I was going out and headed to the villa.
‘It feels strange going around alone.’
Since it wasn’t too far, I walked there, and thinking about it, I had never leisurely walked alone through the streets of Riyadh like this.
Last time, didn’t interpreters and other people keep following me around?
After walking a bit, I soon came upon a luxury residential area.
These were houses where you could tell that care had been put into cultivating each and every garden.
‘This place is nice too. Are those trees something you can only see in the desert?’
When I arrived at the location that matched exactly with the address on the map app.
“Wow.”
Cream-colored marble exterior walls. The entire building had an unusual form with soft curves.
The blue water of the swimming pool reflecting the dazzling desert sunlight… and even magnificent palm trees.
“This is crazy.”
It was exactly like a house from a painting.
I had been impressed by the glittering athletes’ village, but the villa shone with splendor by making full use of its exotic charm.
“Oh, Director. You’ve arrived.”
“You got here first? Please go inside.”
“How can I do that when the homeowner hasn’t come yet?”
Park Seon-yun, who had been sitting parked in front of the villa, greeted me.
Park Seon-yun, Faisal, and even Hasha were all supposed to meet here today.
Park Seon-yun came to have fun, but Faisal is incredibly busy so he’ll probably just say hello and leave.
I could also watch other games on days when there are no basketball games, so I’d spend time with others, but it seems I won’t have that much time.
“It must have been hard waiting in the car. Let’s go inside quickly.”
I first entered the villa with Park Seon-yun, who had arrived earlier.
“Each area has a theme? Is this one the ocean? This side is desert and starlight? Wow, it’s not like a villa but like a palace.”
Of course, my jaw had been dropped for a while already.
Park Seon-yun also acted amazed and gave compliments.
“Hey, you don’t need to exaggerate. A director like you must have many places like this.”
“No… I don’t have any.”
“What?”
“I don’t have a villa. Even what my parents own isn’t this nice… You’ve probably seen it, but even grandmother’s ancestral home hasn’t been redecorated in a long time, so it’s not to this extent.”
I couldn’t verify the former, but the latter was true.
I had nothing to say and closed my mouth.
We sat at the table in a slightly awkward state.
Fortunately, some noisy people arrived before long.
“Doctor! It would have been nice if we could have scheduled this more leisurely!”
“Thank you for the invitation. It was difficult to make even this much time. Though I shouldn’t say this in front of someone busier than me. But really, the villa is truly, truly amazing. You’ve maintained it so well too.”
“Hahaha! You’re my benefactor who got rid of my headaches, so I should do at least this much. If you became my personal physician, I’d give you ten houses like this…!”
“What a joke. I’m grateful just for the words.”
When Faisal says it, it doesn’t seem like a joke, which is scary.
Fortunately, it seemed like he was just saying it, as Faisal shrugged his shoulders.
“Come visit more often. Isn’t it a waste? If you’re going to visit this infrequently, should I look into short-term rental demand for you?”
“I’d be grateful if you did.”
Ah. I was actually planning to do that anyway. Since he brought it up first, I felt much more at ease.
I actually thought I had come back incredibly quickly, but Faisal was even disappointed.
“My older brother’s scalp that I asked you about last time has completely healed. He became a devotee of the Director just like me.”
Is it okay for a Saudi prince to say such things?
“The best, right? I also experienced a new world after getting my back treated.”
“Ah! Director Park, you’ve also received treatment before?”
“Of course. Both I and my grandmother got up immediately after receiving treatment.”
“My goodness!”
Park Seon-yun really is a businesswoman through and through.
To describe ordinary lumbar sprain and adductor strain like that – what a talent.
“Is everything alright at the Royal Hospital?”
“Yes. The doctor you recommended is doing very well. After the last incident, it became well-known among the general public too.”
Faisal briefly informed me about the treatment progress of patients he had consulted with me about, along with the situation at the Royal Hospital.
“But by any chance, is Hasha…”
And I was about to ask about the princess who was supposed to come with us.
– ♪~
“She’s here. I left separately since I was in the middle of work.”
The rule that tigers appear when you mention them seemed to work overseas too.
Since I had informed the caretaker of the visit in advance, I could hear someone coming straight in.
But somehow the footsteps sounded louder than what you’d expect from Hasha.
“Director Han Yewon! How long has it been?”
Someone I hadn’t even expected to see today suddenly stuck their face in.
“Sasha…?”
The others had seen each other’s faces when they visited Saudi Arabia last time, but wasn’t pop star Sasha Rian from a completely different network?
So today, I hadn’t invited her and had only made plans to watch a flag football game together in the middle.
“How did you come in together with the Princess?”
“Surprise!”
It wasn’t like they met in front, so they really came together?
I had told Sasha about Hasha.
And I had also told Hasha about Sasha… though she had flatly refused to appear in the music video, right?
I didn’t particularly arrange for them to meet either…?
When, where, and how did they become close?
“Thanks to the Clinic Director, we became best friends.”
Sasha gave a thumbs up.
Hasha shyly covered one side of her face.
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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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