The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

I was released after a brief witness interview.

The stalker ranted, pointing at me, saying I had paralyzed his body, but who would believe in acupoint techniques? It was much easier to understand that he was simply too shocked.

Chu Mi-young said she would hire a lawyer and proceed with a proper lawsuit. Now that they had caught him in the act, there was nothing to hold her back.

If the stalker counter-sued for assault, things could get complicated, but she beamed, saying she’d gladly pay the fine.

“It’s already late.”

By the time the investigation was over, it was quite late.

Since neither of us had consultations the next day, Sunday, Chu Mi-young invited me to her home.

It was the new downtown apartment complex I had driven her to a few days ago, to the underground parking lot.

Her home was as impeccably decorated as her clinic.

“Thank you so much, Doctor. Honestly, I didn’t think it would really work… Now I can sleep soundly.”

Chu Mi-young said as she poured black tea into an expensive tea set.

“It’s nothing, just what anyone would do.”

“Just what anyone would do… Who else would go this far for a complete stranger?”

She expressed excessive gratitude, saying it was unbelievable, but I hadn’t really risked anything.

Does the strong need a reason to help the weak? That’s what chivalry is about.

“Complete stranger? I thought we were friends now.”

I grinned as I said this. Come on, are we strangers? Well, technically we are.

But originally, doctors! Jump into battlefields to save dying strangers!

And heroes! Train in martial arts their whole lives to sacrifice themselves for a crying child asking for help!

…Yes, I’ve always been fond of such romanticism.

Why else would I have fallen for martial arts novels?

“Friends…”

Though it wasn’t difficult, and in a sense I had done it for fun, Chu Mi-young’s eyes welled up with tears, deeply moved.

My, what a tearful young lady.

“I’m, I’m trash! The recording at your clinic last time. It wasn’t because of that stalker bastard. I did have bad intentions. But you…!”

So it was like that after all? This too didn’t matter much. It was more or less what I had suspected.

“I know. It’s okay.”

There’s no need to blame yourself for something like that all this time.

Recordings that include one’s own voice aren’t illegal anyway, and I didn’t suffer any real harm.

Unlike when I playfully brushed back my hair earlier, I properly stroked Chu Mi-young’s hair with comforting intent.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

“Waaah!”

Finally, she burst into tears like a child.

Tensing up because of the stalker, then cursing angrily, and now crying from being moved. It had been a day of intense emotional ups and downs.

I tore off some tissues and handed them to her.

I also searched for and brewed a calming herbal tea instead of the caffeinated black tea. I’ll have to drink all the black tea myself.

“Doctor~ You’re so cool.”

Chu Mi-young said as she sipped the new tea I had brewed.

“I am pretty cool.”

I nodded without further modesty.

At this, Chu Mi-young stopped crying as if she had been waiting for it and smiled brightly.

“Where did you learn martial arts?”

And so began the barrage of questions.

“Hmm… From a martial arts master dreaming of seclusion.”

Thinking I was joking, Chu Mi-young pouted her lips.

“Tch, then what about chuna? Is that how they teach at Korea University? Or from an academic society?”

Of course I learned it at school too, but it was over 20 years ago, so my memory was hazy.

What I use now is the hand technique I learned from my master at the Medical Pavilion.

“That’s a trade secret.”

Since I couldn’t reveal the source, deflecting vaguely was the best option.

“Oh… Of course. I asked an inappropriate question.”

It wasn’t particularly unpleasant, as she hadn’t begged me to teach her, and it wasn’t exactly a secret technique worth hiding.

“Hehe, even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to do it right away anyway.”

But teaching it isn’t an easy task either.

Nevermind martial arts, even chuna techniques, though they may look simple, require considerable experience to properly master. Even for cervical correction, I only got the hang of it after cracking about a thousand patients’ necks.

Though I might be a bit more talented at teaching than my master, it’s not like I can implant the skills via AI, right?

“……”

Chu Mi-young bowed her head, deeply contemplating something.

“Why are you agonizing so much? It’s okay. You can ask.”

“……”

Then suddenly, she lifted her head and grasped my hands.

“Doctor, couldn’t you teach me chuna and prescriptions?”

“I just said it’s not easy…”

“I’m not asking for it for free! I’m not trying to steal techniques while having opened a practice right nearby. I’ll relocate as soon as my commercial lease expires!”

Huh?

Chu Mi-young came out with a truly unexpected proposal.

To go that far to learn… Well, it’s true, but did she realize the value after just one chuna treatment?

“There’s no need to go that far. I refused because it would take quite a long time to teach properly.”

I waved my hand.

Actually, if she followed me around like the disciples at the Medical Pavilion, it would be fine, but since Chu Mi-young has her own practice, she’d have to make time on weekends or late at night, wouldn’t she?

Putting aside my own inconvenience, in my experience, hardly anyone learned properly that way.

If you’re going to do it, you should become a proper inner disciple, what good would weekly lectures do? Undoubtedly, they’d start coming once a week, then make various excuses to decrease frequency, and eventually fizzle out.

Then it’s just a waste of time. It would be much better to spend that time playing games.

“I really want to learn it properly, no matter how long it takes.”

But Chu Mi-young didn’t back down easily.

She suddenly knelt and pleaded with me.

Oh, how am I supposed to refuse this…

“I was planning to pay the penalty and leave the Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic network soon anyway. If you teach me, I’ll give you 10% of my monthly revenue after I relocate!”

Huh?

“…10% of revenue?”

Not even net profit?

“Ah… Is that too little? Then 15%?”

Chu Mi-young rolled her eyes slightly and increased the percentage.

No, the number isn’t the issue right now!

“You’ll pay tuition based on revenue? Until when?”

“Well, continuously… right? Like joining a franchise, and you could advise me when I have questions during consultations…”

Now this changes things.

She’ll pay 10% of her revenue for as long as she’s in practice? That’s…

‘A sweet deal.’

I said it wasn’t for free, but I thought she’d offer a few million won at most.

I was going to refuse because it would be hard to impart that much value in a short time.

‘But if she’s really prepared to pay the price.’

There’s nothing I can’t teach.

If she learns properly, it would benefit the numerous patients she meets as a Korean medicine doctor, and it would be great for me too.

Isn’t this the network format I’ve been secretly dreaming of? She’s willing to pay franchise fees just for teaching prescriptions and chuna techniques, when I don’t even know how to manage operations yet.

‘Automatic hunting, so sweet…!’

But.

“How much is the penalty fee? Are you sure it’s okay?”

“It’s fine!”

“I’ll consider it positively, so let’s sit comfortably and talk.”

“Yes!”

I was also a bit concerned about her suddenly leaving. Wouldn’t it be okay to start after her contract period ends there? I’ll be receiving franchise fees for quite a long time anyway.

Chu Mi-young straightened her knees and sat comfortably on the sofa again.

“I’ve been considering leaving anyway. My current monthly revenue is 30 million won, but expenses including franchise fees, advertising costs, labor costs, rent, and various other things add up to 35 million won. In other words, I’m losing 5 million won a month. At this rate, it’s better to pay the 20 million won penalty and quit.”

…Excuse me?

This person keeps surprising me.

“What are you doing that costs 35 million won a month in expenses? I understand your labor costs would be much higher than mine, with multiple nursing assistants and even an aesthetician…”

“Well, first the rent is 3 million won.”

…More than triple mine?

Well, it was quite spacious. The waiting room was incredibly luxurious.

And right in front of the station, compared to a 10-minute uphill walk from there… It is quite large. 10 minutes at my pace might be longer for average people.

‘I really did operate at low cost. I didn’t even run a deficit when I had so few patients!’

Chu Mi-young continued.

“As you mentioned, labor costs exceed 10 million won, Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic franchise fee is 10% of total revenue, an additional 5% to the Cheonan branch where I was deputy director before, and if I want to add advertising beyond the central ads, that’s more costs… Oh, it’s over 5 million, right? I also have to pay interest on the loan I took out for the deposit and premium, and there are ongoing costs like herb prices and product purchases…”

Wait, wait!

“I understand the Haneul franchise fee, but the Cheonan branch?”

“Yes. Since I learned from the director there, and they connected me with Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic. Actually, I heard that even 15% isn’t considered expensive for franchise fees. It’s taken from the head office’s share.”

It makes sense if you put it that way.

But in common terms, it’s a multi-level marketing scheme.

“…They take all that money, and how did the Cheonan branch teach you? Come to think of it, I wanted to ask. Why did you use Sibmi Paedok-tang for patient Jung In-sung?”

“That was Sibmi Paedok-tang?”

“I really wondered, but you didn’t know?”

“It was like acne prescription 1, 2, 3…”

“……”

“Ah, they may hide the secret formulas, but they taught things like internal and external advertising, customer service, and such well.”

By customer service, she means what Seo In-ae told me about. You know, hiring people in 14-hour shifts?

“Hah…”

I gaped, feeling overwhelmed by Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic’s exploitation.

Isn’t this almost being scammed?

From what I’ve researched, there are many networks that operate much more reasonably. These guys must be especially bizarre in their management, right?

“Alright. I’m confident I can do much better than that. If you don’t give up halfway, I’ll take responsibility and teach you everything.”

At first, I thought losing all the money spent on penalty fees and premiums might be too burdensome, but after hearing the details, abandoning the sunk costs seemed wiser.

And this time, Chu Mi-young has found the right person.

“Let’s start with weekend classes for now. Consult with a lawyer about the penalty fees, contract termination, and transfer issues, and if you have time before relocating, it would be good to observe at our clinic.”

“…!”

Chu Mi-young’s face lit up as she clasped her hands. When I gave a definite answer that I would accept her proposal, she beamed with joy, her eyes sparkling.

“Thank you, Doctor! No, Director? Master? I’ll call you Master!”

“…Just call me whatever you’re comfortable with. And I’m not saying you have to relocate immediately.”

“Yes! Anyway, since Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic chose this location too, I think there was a condition that I’d have to close the business to terminate the contract! I’ll sort it out as soon as possible! I look forward to working with you!”

I extended my right hand to shake on it.

From now on, she and I would be in a master-disciple relationship as well as business partners.

Grasp.

Chu Mi-young’s eyes blazed as she grasped my hand.

A strong will to learn properly and succeed no matter what.

I too burned with ambition, along with a deep sense of responsibility.

I must create a network that benefits me, the branch directors, and all the patients they’ll meet, in a different way from those thugs who hide prescriptions and take advantage of people.

Today was the turning point.

We sealed the contract in our hearts before any documents.

To celebrate the birth of Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic’s second branch, Chu Mi-young brought out her most expensive wine.

“It seems I have much to learn in many ways. Besides prescriptions, how did you train your staff for one person at the desk to handle so many patients?”

The first question from my disciple in this relaxed atmosphere.

Seo In-ae?

…She just happened naturally.

“We had overlapping goals. Well, I was lucky. And it’s reaching its limits. I should hire a new employee soon too.”

Didn’t I decide to hire additional staff when it became clear Seo In-ae couldn’t handle it alone when we exceeded 40 patients a day more than 3 times?

I haven’t mentioned it, but we’ve been over 40 patients almost every day for a week now.

I need to find someone as soon as possible.