The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 87

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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 87

Gong Nari’s family situation was more than I had imagined, and even I, who had been through all sorts of hardships, was momentarily flustered.

What should I do?

Should I hug her and say she’s been through a lot? Or should I yell at her to get out of the house right now?

“Oh my, so there was such a story in your family. How difficult it must have been at such a young age…”

“Teacher Nari…!”

Jin Minjeong and Seol Yuhui chose the former.

“Teacher Nari, listen carefully. …Even if it seems like your parents will starve, people don’t die that easily. Once the money is completely cut off, whether it’s coins or donations, they’ll set aside what they need to eat, you know? That’s exactly when you need to come out.”

Seo Inae chose the latter.

“Even my parents used to say everything hurt and wouldn’t work, but as soon as my sister who was sending money cut off contact, they immediately started working.”

Neither was immediately helpful.

As Gong Nari herself said, it wasn’t like she was pouring water into a bottomless jar out of ignorance.

“Haha, thank you all for caring. I feel relieved after talking about it.”

She said she felt relieved, but it seemed like she regretted impulsively confessing her family affairs in front of her workplace colleagues.

“…”

Gong Nari left the Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic as if fleeing.

This time, even Seo Inae couldn’t stop her.

“I was too hasty. She reminded me of my sister from a few years ago, so I got frustrated and…”

Seo Inae instead regretted her remarks, saying she had been too hasty.

“Teacher Inae must have had a hard time too.”

“Not really. I cut ties ruthlessly as soon as I became an adult. Even after I disappeared, my sister suffered alone for a while sending money.”

Seo Inae rambled about her own family affairs.

She had endured all through high school with plans to leave home as soon as she became an adult, but her sister congratulated her on graduating high school and said she would lighten her burden from now on.

She left home that very day, moved into a gosiwon, and even blocked her sister.

It took several more years after that for her sister to come to her senses.

“Those were words I wanted to say to my sister, but I ended up scolding Teacher Nari instead. The situation might be different from mine and my sister’s though.”

“It was sudden, but you weren’t wrong. However, it takes time to accept, and the way it’s conveyed is important too. I’ll talk to Teacher Nari.”

“Yes. I’ll apologize to her separately later too.”

I first calmed down Seo Inae and had all three staff members go home.

Everyone went back to their homes, but I wanted to get some fresh air and take a walk, so I walked around the park a bit.

I had held back my words to avoid being reckless, but I was equally unhelpful.

‘Would it be better to talk about it even if it’s uncomfortable? Or should I just leave it alone?’

Maybe it would be better to let the other staff members comfort her instead of me.

There were clear limits to what I could do as an employer, and I… even being generous, I’m not a friend-like employer.

While I’m in the habit of empathizing with patients, my mindset itself might be more old-fashioned than Seo Inae’s.

I could see swings in the playground in the middle of the park.

My favorite playground equipment from childhood. I sat there and let out a sigh.

“Phew.”

A middle-aged person approached me.

“Oh my~. What kind of worries could a pretty young lady have?”

It was a woman who appeared to be in her late 40s to early 50s.

“Huh? Oh… it’s nothing.”

“Your face is full of worry. Is life very difficult?”

Though she was a complete stranger, the middle-aged woman spoke to me familiarly.

Is she just someone who’s a bit nosy? I should have suppressed my presence beforehand.

“Haha, I suppose so. Even when I do my best, problems beyond my capabilities often arise.”

“Think of me as your mother and talk comfortably. I have a daughter about your age too.”

No. I’m probably the same age as you actually.

“It’s just family problems.”

I mumbled my words while showing that I was somewhat reluctant to have this conversation.

I couldn’t carelessly gossip about someone else’s family affairs, and it wasn’t a situation where I needed advice from a stranger.

“Family problems! That’s really a problem. I once had such worries too~ My husband lost a lot of money in stocks, you know?”

“Oh…”

Nevertheless, she continued to engage me in conversation.

“But when I prayed with sincere faith, asking God to please make him stop trading stocks, God listened to me!”

“…What?”

Was this proselytizing?

“You don’t need to tell me about it~. But come to our church tomorrow and pour your heart out before God. Your heart will feel at ease, and if you truly believe things will get better, your family will change too.”

“Oh, yes.”

So it was proselytizing, hmm.

I got up from my seat without engaging in any more conversation.

I wasn’t going to convert anyway, so we were just wasting each other’s time.

“Hurry and meet God to find peace! If you just believe, everything will go according to your will!”

Nevertheless, the middle-aged woman kept following me.

“I have an appointment. Maybe next time.”

“At least take this! It doesn’t have to be tomorrow! Whenever the moment comes that God’s voice reaches you…!”

She even ran to catch up with my quick pace and handed me missionary materials.

It was the moment I completely exited the park and stood in front of the crosswalk.

“Phew.”

Should I just accept this? I thought as I turned my head.

“Oh.”

At that moment, I made eye contact with Gong Nari coming out of the convenience store.

Seeing the beer in her hands, it seemed she too had been walking in the park when the thought of alcohol struck her.

“Teacher Nari?”

I called her name.

It would be ridiculous to pretend not to know her when we clearly saw each other, and I also somewhat hoped the middle-aged woman would leave.

But Gong Nari’s face hardened coldly.

“Mom, what are you doing here?”

Mom…?

Was she trying to get me away after noticing I’d been caught by a cult member?

If that was the case, she could have just called me Clinic Director, right?

“Oh my? Nari, weren’t you supposed to be at the gym at this time?”

But the answer came from the middle-aged woman behind me.

“…What kind of day is today, really.”

Gong Nari let out a deep sigh.

“Do you know this young lady?”

“She’s the director of the Oriental Medicine Clinic where I work.”

“Oh my!”

She reluctantly introduced me and the middle-aged woman.

The middle-aged woman made a fuss while looking very embarrassed.

“I was being nosy without knowing! Nice to meet you, I’m Nari’s mom! How did we all end up meeting like this?”

“I’m Han Yewon, director of Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic.”

I took out a business card from my bag and handed it to her.

Then the middle-aged woman pressed something like the church pamphlet from earlier into my hands. So I ended up receiving this after all.

“Mom, don’t do this on the street and hurry home.”

“What about you?”

I quickly spoke on behalf of Gong Nari, who was hesitating to answer.

“The appointment I mentioned earlier was with Teacher Nari. I’ll see you another time when there’s an opportunity.”

“Oh my~ I see!”

“I won’t keep her out too late, so don’t worry.”

“No, no! The director’s business comes first! Take your time coming home~ Mom will go first~.”

The middle-aged woman… no, Gong Nari’s mother waved at her daughter and quickly disappeared.

Gong Nari watched her departing figure while clenching her fists tightly.

“Were you planning to drink alone in the park? Let’s drink together.”

For now, Gong Nari didn’t seem to want to go home either. If she had, she would have gone home with her mother.

“Yes.”

Indeed, she didn’t refuse. She even waited quietly in front of the door while I went into the convenience store to buy my share of beer.

We sat on a park bench and drank the canned beer we each chose.

“If you met in this park… I guess my mom targeted you for evangelism? Haha. As you saw, it’s not even a normal religious group but a cult.”

Gong Nari scratched her head as she spoke.

She didn’t seem to particularly dislike running into me by chance.

“Actually, Teacher In Ae was right about everything. Don’t you think I’m foolish too, Director?”

“I don’t think that.”

I had simply been sparing with my words.

Because I wasn’t confident this was a problem I could solve for her.

If someone’s body was sick, I’d do my best to treat them, and if it were the martial arts world, I’d at least try (physical) therapy by beating them up.

But family members falling into cryptocurrency and religious cults?

There’s no acupuncture or herbal medicine that treats gambling addiction and religious fanatics. Even Western medicine would only lower impulsiveness caused by mania, right? As far as I know, once changes occur in the brain, there’s no answer.

And I’m not morally upright regarding this issue either.

Far from working to eradicate pseudo-religions for the people, I’ve been building friendship with Cheonma, the head of such a group, and receiving benefits.

“This is a bit heavy to talk about, but may I tell you?”

But at least listening to her story was something I could do.

I could do that much for her.

“Of course.”

* * *

Ever since Gong Nari was young, her father had loved stocks.

Some days, her father would come home from work in an extremely good mood and order chicken, jjajangmyeon, and pizza all at once – those were days when his stocks had risen significantly.

On the other hand, some days you could feel his anger from the moment he pressed the door code. Her mother would advise not to approach father when he was giving off such gloomy energy – those were days when he had lost money on stocks.

Gong Nari thought that’s just how fathers were supposed to be. It wasn’t until she became a middle schooler that she learned other families’ fathers didn’t do day trading so frequently, and even if they did invest in stocks, they didn’t take out their frustrations on their families over the results.

“Ah, I’m telling you I’ll multiply it by 5 times and bring it back!”

“Think about how many times you’ve actually brought back the principal after saying that.”

“What are you talking about? I bought that refrigerator and TV with money I made from stocks!”

“When you’ve lost tens of millions of won!”

Around that time, her mother’s wish was for father to quit stocks.

At first, mother had agreed to father investing part of their assets, but she had come to realize that with father’s skills, multiplying money would be forever impossible.

So she first asked her husband to quit stocks.

But naturally, it wasn’t accepted.

Then what was the second option? Separating the couple’s finances? Or divorce counseling?

Unfortunately, it was neither.

“Master, if I make this offering, my husband will really quit stocks this time, right?”

Mother began praying everywhere, begging for father to please quit stocks.

And it really was ‘everywhere.’

She didn’t even know where mother went first. Sometimes she must have met shamans because the house would be covered with talismans, and other times it was noisy with ritual ceremonies. Sometimes she attended regular church, and while she called on ‘God,’ she also seemed to believe in some other religion. She would go to temples and perform 108 bows daily, and other times she would hold ancestral rites.

“If you have that kind of money, give it to me to average down my losses. This one’s really going to work!”

“You’re talking about averaging down! Please just quit biotech stocks at least!”

“What do you know? Not all biotech stocks are scams. If you do it right, this is exactly what can hit it big! Can’t you see Giyeong’s head pattern in this chart? This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity. This one can go 10 times, no, 20 times higher!”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to know either. Stop talking nonsense!”

Gong Nari didn’t think at all that the stock her father had invested all his money in would increase 10-fold.

Mother also sincerely hoped that father would just quit stocks. Meanwhile, she continued bringing money to unknown religious organizations.

But unbelievably.

“D-does this make sense?”

“See! What did I tell you? It’s really going up!”

That biotech stock really did rise 10-fold.

“You prevented me from selling the house, so I could only put in 50 million won! If I had sold the house and put in 200 million more, my life would have changed!”

“Oh my… I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t know anything. This is really wonderful!”

Father bragged loudly around the house for a while.

Because even after that, the stock kept rising.

Gong Nari’s parents gradually cashed it out to change furniture and buy a car.

Even during that time, the stock’s soaring flight didn’t stop.

“…Let’s buy more even now.”

“With what money?”

“We’ll sell the house and live in a rental for just a month or two. We’ll put it in here briefly, then take it out and move to a bigger house.”

“…Alright! Let’s do as you say!”

And as soon as they sold their house and moved.

“T-this is impossible!”

That stock hit the daily limit down for several consecutive days.

Embezzlement? Manipulation? A scam from the beginning? Gong Nari didn’t understand the stories that TV kept talking about for several days straight.

“Aaaaaahhh!”

Every time that company’s name was mentioned, father would scream in agony.

And finally, he quit stocks.

The god that mother had believed in so much had granted her wish.

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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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