The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 89

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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 89

A few days after our conversation, Gong Nari said she had decided on a house to move to.

“I’m going to move out of my ancestral home and live with my younger sibling. I’ve been paying more than half the rent for our two-room place anyway, so if I split it with my sibling, it shouldn’t be much of a burden.”

“Really? That’s such a great decision!”

Seo Inae was more delighted than anyone else, as if it were her own matter.

“Enjoy your freedom! You really won’t regret it. …Oh, when are you moving your stuff out? Do you need help with the move?”

“Thank you all. I think I was able to make this decision because you spoke honestly with me. I’m planning to move next week.”

“On the weekend?”

“No. My sibling suggested we sneak out when our parents aren’t home, so we’re planning to move during a weekday afternoon.”

“That kid’s pretty smart.”

Seo Inae gave a thumbs up in admiration. She said it was an excellent decision, that they should just notify them rather than asking for permission like her own sister, because there would be no end to it otherwise.

Oh, but if it’s just Gong Nari and her sibling moving by themselves, how will they handle the move?

“If you’re moving secretly from your parents, will you be okay without a car?”

“I looked into it and full-service moving is too expensive, so I’m looking for a driver who will just drive the truck while we do the packing and loading ourselves.”

Gong Nari scratched her head at my question.

“Are you taking your bed too?”

“No. Since we’ll have separate rooms after moving, the bed is too much…”

“Then just load it in my car! I’ll drive you there!”

“Move on Tuesday! I’ll help too. I’m confident with packing.”

Why bother calling a truck? I readily offered to provide my car.

Then even Seo Inae stepped forward to help with the move. For Seo Inae to work for free, this is… really quite rare.

“Would it be okay to trouble you that much?”

Gong Nari’s face brightened with color.

She gladly accepted our goodwill, and all three of us resolved to quickly move her belongings on Tuesday afternoon when we were all free.

* * *

On the promised day, Seo Inae and I went to Gong Nari’s house.

“Sorry! My mother took a half-day off in the morning, so we haven’t finished packing yet. We’ll be done quickly, so please wait in the car for a moment!”

The siblings had said to come around 2 PM since they would pre-select the necessary items, but the room was still very messy.

“We came to help with the move, so we should do it together. Hmm? Do you only have delivery boxes?”

“Yes, a friend moved recently and gave us the leftover ones.”

“Use the boxes I brought instead of those. It’s hard to carry without handles.”

Seo Inae had prepared four plastic boxes with wheels and handles that could be used like suitcases.

“Did you buy these specially?”

“No way. I already had them.”

“Why would you have these…?”

“Oh, didn’t you know, Teacher Nari? I run a vending machine business at Jungun High School.”

Gong Nari, who only knew about YouTube and the online shopping mall, gaped in surprise.

Come to think of it, there hadn’t been a chance to mention that part.

“It’s more manageable than I thought. If you ever want to try it, just let me know and I’ll help.”

Rustle rustle rustle!

Even while chatting, Seo Inae’s arms kept moving. She stacked items neatly at an impossibly fast speed.

“You should leave that box out. If you fill it only with books, you won’t be able to carry it, so mix in some clothes appropriately.”

While doing her own work, she even pointed out a box that Gong Nari’s sibling, Gong Maru, had packed in advance.

“It’s fine. I can carry it.”

“Try lifting it.”

“This much is… ugh?”

Gong Maru tried to lift the box confidently, but unfortunately, her prediction was correct.

A post office size 6 box filled only with books would weigh about 40-50 kg, wouldn’t it?

“I’ll move it, so from the next one, pack it like Teacher Inae said!”

Of course, to me it was as light as tissue paper.

I took the box away from Gong Maru, who was about to unpack it again in disappointment, and lifted it easily.

“Huh?!”

“It was definitely incredibly heavy though?”

“I can lift 400 in the big three.”

Of course, that was 400kg measured without using my inner power. If I used all my strength, I could easily lift a car.

Gong Maru, who had just tried to lift the box, gaped, and even Seo Inae and Gong Nari, who knew I was somewhat strong, were greatly surprised.

“Keep packing. I’ll take down the ready stuff and come back.”

I stacked two more boxes of finished items on top of the book box.

“W-wait, Clinic Director! Won’t you get hurt? Let me help…!”

“Come on, why go up and down the stairs multiple times?”

Gong Nari was alarmed and tried to share the load, but I declined. Carrying everything myself was much safer than having other people struggle up and down the stairs.

“Wow, that’s incredibly fast.”

In the time it took me to load items in the car and come back once, Seo Inae had finished packing at super speed.

“Wow… you could do professional moving service.”

“I’ve even worked part-time at a moving company before.”

Seo Inae nodded proudly.

“I’ll handle the rest too.”

“No! I absolutely have to hear this!”

Since everyone was hugging one box tightly, I only had to move the remaining items.

Less than 30 minutes after arriving, everything was organized so quickly that the messy room became completely empty.

“Alright~ Let’s head to the new home~.”

Gong Nari and Gong Maru’s new home was about a 30-minute drive from this neighborhood.

Gongnari and Gongmaru’s new house is about a 30-minute drive from this neighborhood.

It was between our oriental medicine clinic and Gongmaru’s university, but a bit closer to the university side. I guess there’s more food options there and the rent is cheaper?

It was definitely a clean two-room apartment that looked much more newly built than the house I used to live in.

“Right? It’s spacious, close to the station, everything’s good!”

After carrying the luggage upstairs?

Getting jjajangmyeon after helping with a move has been an established custom since ancient times.

“Cheers to Teacher Nari’s enjoyable independent life!”

Seo Inae raised her cola glass and shouted for a toast.

“Cheers! Clinic Director, Teacher Inae! Thank you so much. Thanks to you both, I’m able to live on my own like this!”

Seo In-ae raised her glass of cola and shouted a toast.

“Cheers! Director, Teacher In-ae! Thank you so much. Thanks to both of you, I’m able to live out here like this!”

“Thank you for convincing my sister.”

“Yes!”

“Thank you for the meal!”

* * *

A few days later, there was exactly one phone call to the clinic from Gong Nari’s mother.

“Let’s eat!”

A few days later, Gong Nari’s mother called the oriental medicine clinic just once.

Did he check the business card I gave him when we ran into each other the other day? If he already knew where I worked, he might have looked me up.

She had been so kind before, but her transformed appearance was truly extraordinary.

“I’ll handle this, please give me the phone.”

– Hey, you crazy bitch! How dare you abandon your parents and run off on your own? You think I’m going to let you live comfortably by yourself?

But the more we did so, the tighter Gong Nari gripped the receiver.

“I should have blocked the number beforehand, I’m sorry.”

– You fucking %＃$!^!＃&!＊&!(＊＠&$!

“….”

Click. Clack.

“I should have blocked it in advance. I’m sorry.”

“What kind of disruption is this during work hours. I told you I’d come visit in about 3 years.”

But after hesitating, she soon opened her mouth.

Tap. Tap tap.

Gongnari’s teeth chattered. She was frozen by her mother’s sudden outburst of profanity.

Hearing my voice through the phone, Gong Nari’s mother raised her voice even louder.

What kind of false accusation is this when I was right there during the move.

But she, who had been hesitating, soon opened her mouth to speak.

Calmly, one letter at a time, clearly and distinctly.

– Is the director there? This bastard secretly ran away and took all the valuables with him! Fire him!

Of course, if he were the type of person who would understand just by being told, things wouldn’t have gotten this far in the first place.

Whether she could hear my voice through the phone or not, Gongnari’s mother raised her voice even louder.

I was right there when they moved, so what kind of false accusation is this?

This person also seemed to be deeply shocked by his children’s secret disappearance.

As expected, she’s not someone you can reason with.

“Just come here right now.”

Protecting employees is also the boss’s role.

“I’m going to smash everything to pieces, personal info and all. You think I can’t do it?”

– Where did you learn to use that kind of tongue, making threats….

Phew.

As expected, there’s no reasoning with this person.

“Just come over now.”

Protecting employees is also part of a boss’s role.

I forcibly grabbed the phone and said.

– Ah…? Director?

“Let’s meet and talk. I’ll make sure you won’t regret it.”

– ….

Click.

Then the phone hung up.

“Did she hang up?”

“Seems like it. Do you think she’ll come?”

What? How anticlimactic.

“Wow, Clinic Director, you were really scary just now.”

But Seo Inae, who had been listening from the side, gave a thumbs up.

“Scary?”

“For a moment there was a chill… no, killing intent.”

Hm? What did I do?

I was just going to meet her and give her some good advice.

I’m not the type of person who unleashes killing intent on innocent people. Even if some killing intent did slip out slightly, completely unintentionally, could it really have been transmitted over the phone?

She probably just quieted down because she’s the type who only raises her voice at her own child whom she can push around.

“Thank you, Clinic Director. I’m sorry.”

Gong Nari had spoken bravely and well, not backing down even against her mother’s curses, but once the phone hung up, she started tearing up.

“Not at all. You really did well.”

“Just keep doing it like that from now on. If she contacts us again next time, I’ll handle it.”

When Seo Inae and I patted her shoulders saying she did well, Gong Nari burst into tears she had been holding back and hugged us.

“Huuuuung. Thank you all!”

Fortunately, whether she had at least some conscience, or whether she really had good intuition and felt the killing intent in my voice.

Gong Nari’s mother never contacted the clinic again.

Ah… I really wanted to persuade her nicely and move her heart. What a shame.

“Huh?”

As if responding to that regret, some time later I encountered Gong Nari’s mother once again in the park.

I had to pass through here to go to the mart, and it seemed this person often did missionary work here.

“Not that way. Should we head home for today?”

So I was about to approach her.

As soon as Gong Nari’s mother made eye contact with me, she linked arms with her companions and began marching in the opposite direction.

Hmm.

She disappeared so quickly that I couldn’t get a good look, but judging from the aura I sensed, she didn’t seem to have gotten much weaker.

At least it seems she’s eating and living.

As expected, even when people talk about dying, they still manage to fill their own stomachs.

* * *

Gong Nari quickly adapted to her new home, and even though her commute became slightly longer, her face grew brighter day by day.

Using her independence as an opportunity, she opened her heart more to the other staff members, and it seemed she sometimes met up with them on holidays to hang out.

Gradually, the out-of-town patients who had temporarily flooded in because of Hyeon Jumi and Park Seseun also left, and the clinic found stability.

“Hey there, hello Clinic Director~! It’s gotten really bustling, hasn’t it?”

Chaerira, who was visiting Seongsoo Oriental Medicine Clinic for the first time in over a year, looked around the waiting room.

It had actually decreased somewhat, but compared to when Chaerira came for treatment… it really was quite crowded.

“Wow, Chaerira. It’s been a while. How have you been?”

While I’m grateful to everyone who trusts and visits me, I was especially happy to see patients I got to know in the early days of opening.

Chaerira wasn’t one of the very earliest regulars, but as Kim Ijin’s junior, she was in a similar category.

“Has your arm been okay since then? Lee Jin said you’ve been doing well with sports.”

“Of course! Thanks to you, Clinic Director, it healed up cleanly and I’m flying around out there!”

Chaerira swung her arm around vigorously to show it was perfectly fine.

As she said, today’s patient wasn’t Chaerira.

“Lee Jin visited our school recently, you know? Since she was at school, I invited her to come visit our house too. So somehow she ended up meeting my father, and when I kept saying let’s try going to the clinic~ let’s go~ he wouldn’t even pretend to listen! But as soon as Lee Jin suggested he might want to try treatment, he came like this!”

Chaerira pointed with both hands to introduce the middle-aged man sitting stiffly beside her.

Unlike Chaerira who was smiling brightly and cheerfully, the man’s face showed no expression at all.

His features were distinct with clear shadows, but since his face didn’t move at all, he felt more like a mannequin or statue than a person.

They don’t look alike at all. This person is?

“He’s my father!”

The name on the chart was Chae Seongye, age 58.

The main symptom from the preliminary examination at the front desk was facial paralysis.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Chae Seongye. Welcome. When did the facial paralysis symptoms first appear?”

I nodded slightly to Chae Seongye and asked when the illness began.

While this is true for all diseases, peripheral facial paralysis especially depends on how long it’s been present. In the first 3-4 weeks there’s often no change or it even gets worse, then mysteriously over 70% of cases recover after a month.

“It’s been a long time.”

The right side of Chae Seongye’s face showed no movement as he spoke.

His left lip did move. But compared to how normal people speak, the movement was very minimal and felt expressionless.

“Please give me a rough timeframe. More than 1 month? More than 1 year? More than 5 years?”

“It’s been about 30 years.”

…What?

“Hmm, were you very fatigued or under mental stress at that time?”

I was a little, no, actually quite flustered.

It was far too long ago.

The onset trigger was a routine question I asked facial paralysis patients, but would they even remember something from so long ago?

“Yes. I failed the civil service exam.”

“…”

Oh, that must have been.

Quite a shock… I imagine.

“I went to Incheon Seashore in my grief. I cried until sunrise, wondering how I should live my life from then on. That’s when I caught the wind and ended up like this.”

“I see. How did you treat it at the time?”

“I was too distraught to do anything then, and about 3 years later I tried acupuncture for a few months, but it had no effect.”

The treatment window had been missed too.

“Let me have you move your mouth. Ah, ee, oh.”

“Ah, ee, oh.”

Fortunately, at least the facial muscles were still moving.

Though both sides were very unbalanced.

‘Oh.’

I let out a sigh of relief.

If it had completely lost nerve control and stiffened, there would be nothing I could do, but in this state there were options available.

However, it would be difficult to call this within the realm of facial paralysis treatment.

It would practically be cosmetic surgery.

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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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