The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 86

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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 86

“Hey, send it to me too. I’ll post it on TikTok.”

TikTok? Is this really worth that…?

It’s not like it’s some divine flame technique, I just lit a fire with a torch.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sizzle!

Unlike earlier when she was sulking about not wanting treatment, Oji-yeong watched the treatment with great interest.

“Oh, it’s getting hot now. Should I endure it a little longer?”

Oji-yeong pointed to the needle that had caught fire first.

I immediately used forceps to remove that needle.

“No, you spoke up at the right time.”

With this treatment, you don’t leave the needles in for long, but remove them when they start to bend from melting or when the patient complains of heat.

“Give, give me that.”

“No. You’ll burn your hand.”

“Aww.”

“It’s still hot. I’ll give it to you when it cools down.”

Jin Minjeong prevented her son from touching the bent needle.

I repeated the process of lighting the remaining needles and removing them.

“Somehow… it feels refreshing.”

After removing all the needles, Oji-yeong rotated her ankle.

“Hehe, try walking once.”

She nodded and stepped down from the bed, taking a step forward.

“Huh?”

“Can you feel the difference?”

“It doesn’t hurt at all!”

That’s right? Heated fire needle treatment is quite effective indeed.

Oji-yeong stomped her feet on the floor with great amazement.

“Jiyeong!”

Despite Jin Minjeong’s warning, she paid no attention and tried jumping, then attempted to do some dance steps.

“Doctor, isn’t it completely healed? It’s perfectly fine, isn’t it?”

“No. As we promised earlier, rest for exactly 5 days and let’s focus on treatment.”

“…Okay.”

Oji-yeong pouted her lips again, but seemed quite pleased with her much more comfortable ankle condition.

“Thank you, Director. I didn’t even know she was in pain while acting like that. I thought I was paying attention, but really…”

“Haha, she’s not a very young child, and when a twelve-year-old is determined to hide something, it’s naturally hard to notice. You don’t need to feel guilty.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

Oji-yeong ran out to the waiting room with her younger brother. She seemed to want to try dancing right away, but perhaps mindful of her mother’s and my watchful eyes, she didn’t and sat on the sofa instead.

I turned off the clinic lights, and Jin Minjeong returned to the waiting room to restore the clinic TV that her daughter had connected to her phone.

Meanwhile, Oji Hoon wandered around the clinic and then.

“Oh, what’s this?”

He discovered Park Seseun and Hyeon Jumi’s autographs posted next to the water dispenser.

Since they had gone to the trouble of giving them to me, it seemed awkward not to display them, so I had put them up as small decorations.

“Hyeon Jumi came here?”

“Oh, you didn’t know? It was quite noisy for a while.”

“I know about the incident that happened in Daegu…”

“I was the one who treated Jumi. The one who had that big confrontation with the notorious Haneul Clinic was the director of the Daegu branch.”

“Wow.”

Oji-yeong, who had been expressionless and full of complaints until the treatment, brightened up a bit after her ankle was healed.

But upon discovering Hyeon Jumi’s autograph, she became completely flushed with excitement.

Suddenly, respect appeared on her face.

“Does she still come for treatment these days?”

“No. Both of them have recovered, so they don’t come anymore.”

“Ah.”

Though she seemed a bit disappointed, she still couldn’t take her eyes off the autograph.

“When Jiyeong becomes famous later, will you sign next to it too?”

“…I only dance well. My singing is just so-so…”

“You can become famous through dancing. Let’s treat this well and practice enjoyably again. Promise?”

“Yes, promise!”

Oji-yeong left the clinic with her younger brother, both smiling brightly.

“Jihoon, make sure to take your medicine well too! See you next month!”

“Yes! Take care!”

Back in the old days when I had my ankle treated by Director Choi Eunhee, I too had marveled and shaken my ankle just like that child.

I must do ankle treatments at least 10 times a week… somehow it reminded me of the old days.

* * *

Despite what I had said about Hyeon Jumi and Park Seseun not coming anymore since their treatment was finished.

Park Seseun visited the clinic in less than a few days.

“Clinic Director, could I see you for a moment?”

She came looking for me without registering at the front desk.

“It’s been a while! What brings you here? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

“No~ Thanks to you, I’m healthy and slim! I’m maintaining it well too. I came down to Busan for filming this time, so I stopped by to say hello.”

Park Seseun grinned and held out a bunch of paper bags.

“What’s this? I should be the one giving you gifts!”

“It’s just chocolate. I happened to drop by. Did Jumi and I help out a bit?”

“Of course. It helped tremendously. Thanks to you, both the Daegu branch and here are doing great business!”

“I was a bit hurt~. If something like that happens, you should contact me first! Calling Jumi instead?”

“Haha, thank you for caring. Next time I’ll definitely contact you first.”

I exchanged greetings with her while opening the paper bags.

There were 6 bags in total, and they all contained the same thing.

“Chocolate? The same kind that Seon-yun gave me last time?”

“Yes. Same brand. Seon-yun said you had more staff now, so I bought them according to the number! Please share them one by one.”

Are they in the chocolate business or something? Testing the market domestically?

Anyway, it was incredibly delicious, and it wouldn’t be a burden for her financially, so I gladly accepted the gifts.

“I’ve taken up too much of your busy time. Fighting today too!”

Park Seseun just made her presence known and left the clinic.

“Actress, wait a moment!”

Jin Minjeong, who had been hesitating, chased after her and got an autograph.

[Jiyeong fighting~ See you at the broadcasting station! -Park Seseun-]

She seemed very pleased with the gift for her daughter, as the smile never left her face.

And a few hours later.

“Everyone worked hard today. This is chocolate that actress Seseun gave us. Please take them home and share with your families.”

After the day’s work ended, I distributed the paper bags to the staff one by one.

“Wow, thank you, Clinic Director!”

“Oh my, she gave us this much? I wanted to eat more because it was delicious, but I couldn’t buy it because it was expensive.”

“…It’s expensive?”

“Yes. This small one was 200,000 won, and this is 48 pieces, so it must be even more expensive, right?”

At Seol Yuhui’s words, the staff’s smiles grew twice as wide.

“Ooh.”

“Oh my, it was that good? The kids will love it when I bring it home.”

While Hwang Sanghun and Jin Minjeong were genuinely amazed, Seo Inae’s eyes were sparkling suspiciously.

…Is she planning to resell it?

Well, that’s her business.

I unwrapped the packaging right there and ate a piece of chocolate.

I don’t know if it was worth the expensive price, but the sweet taste that melted in my mouth completely relieved the day’s fatigue.

* * *

But a few days later.

“Huh? Who didn’t take this?”

Just before leaving work, I was about to drink some water when I found a box of chocolate in the clinic’s break room refrigerator.

At first I thought Seo Inae was planning to make a deal during lunch break, but looking closely, two pieces had been eaten.

Then I thought of Hwang Sanghun. After all, he had no one to share it with at home anyway.

It happened to be a day when Hwang Sanghun wasn’t here, so should I tell him to ask tomorrow?

Since I was preparing to leave work, all four staff members came into the break room together to see what I was talking about.

“Oh, that’s mine!”

And someone I didn’t expect raised her hand.

It was Gong Nari.

“Huh? Did you forget? Or did you leave it there on purpose?”

“Why don’t you eat it with your family? My parents loved it too!”

By Korean age, Seo Inae was now 25, Seol Yuhui was 23, and Gong Nari was 21.

From what I remembered, only Seo Inae lived independently, while Seol Yuhui and Gong Nari lived with their parents. Plus, I think Gong Nari said she had a younger sibling too?

“Oh my, I’m sorry. Is it taking up too much space in the refrigerator?”

“No~ It’s fine, but I was just asking in case you forgot.”

I wasn’t necessarily expecting an answer, but Gong Nari scratched her head and then opened her mouth.

“When I took home a little bit that you gave us last time, my mom took it all away from me. She made such a fuss asking if I was eating good stuff all by myself… I thought it would be better to keep it out of sight.”

She seemed to be talking about the chocolate that Park Seon-yun had brought a little of before. We mostly shared it at the clinic, and only took one or two pieces home? And her mom actually took that away from her.

“If she liked it that much, why didn’t you just buy her more?”

“Right. I understand it’s expensive to buy, but hiding what you already have is also a bit…”

Seol Yuhui and Jin Minjeong tilted their heads after hearing Gong Nari’s story.

“Well.”

Gong Nari smiled awkwardly, but at the same time, Seo Inae’s face twisted with displeasure.

‘…She must not have noticed because her family is harmonious.’

In Ae and I guessed that Gong Nari’s family situation wasn’t ordinary.

If it had been something simple like begging for just one bite, or accidentally eating something she had saved, there would be no reason to hide it while speaking like that.

“There are some family circumstances, haha. If my mother was like Teacher Minjeong, I would have bought ten boxes for her.”

“Ah… I’m sorry. Everyone has their own circumstances, but I spoke too carelessly.”

“I’m sorry too!”

At Gong Nari’s words, Jin Minjeong and Seol Yuhui, who finally realized their mistake, immediately apologized.

Meanwhile, Gong Nari’s face had changed back to its usual bright, smiling expression.

“Does your mother give you a hard time?”

However, Seo Inae, whose face had hardened even more, placed her hand on Gong Nari’s shoulder and asked.

“Oh, no. Mom has never had good things to eat either~ I understand!”

Actually, there’s nothing to understand about that. If you want to try snacks that your family brought, you should ask for permission first.

Sure enough, Seo Inae guessed the implication in Gong Nari’s words.

“I know very well that it definitely wasn’t just about one chocolate. My parents are also a bit, you know, like that.”

When Gong Nari hesitated to answer, Seo Inae even offered straightforward advice.

“I won’t ask about the details. I don’t usually like being nosy about such things anyway. …But if possible, just move out and live on your own. It’s better not to see them than to go crazy fighting and arguing.”

As she said herself, if it were the usual her, she would have left work immediately after confirming that the chocolate wasn’t hers, without even joining the conversation.

But perhaps because there was something she could relate to, she seemed genuinely concerned.

“I want to do that, but I don’t have money.”

Gong Nari, who had been hesitating, finally spoke up.

“My income is being used for my family’s living expenses one way or another. I actually know this isn’t right either… Ah, did I bring up too heavy a topic?”

“I was the one who brought it up. If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

“That’s not it. I actually wanted to open up about it at least once. You’re all good people, and the closer we became, the more it bothered me that I was hiding this.”

I, who was hiding an even bigger secret, quietly waited for her words.

I don’t think close relationships necessarily require sharing all secrets, but if Gong Nari wanted to, opening up about her family situation wouldn’t hurt anyone here.

Indeed, Jin Minjeong and Seol Yuhui were also looking at Gong Nari with very serious expressions.

“Please speak comfortably. …Do you give your entire salary to your parents? Last month’s incentive must have been quite substantial.”

“Ugh, traumatic. Don’t tell me both your parents don’t work?”

At mine and Seo Inae’s words, Gong Nari smiled slightly.

“Both of them do work. I don’t give them everything either… But all the money father earns goes into cryptocurrency, and mother gives it all to a religious organization, so if I don’t pay the rent and buy groceries, our family of four would starve on the streets.”

And then she dropped an even more shocking statement.

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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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