The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

I thought my expression might have been a bit cringeworthy, but it was an unnecessary worry.

“Well… I wanted to make a similar scouting offer. The moment you inserted the needle, I felt something fateful, like lightning striking from head to toe.”

Park Seon-yun went even further.

Lightning? Lightniiing?

Um… that’s not something fateful, it’s just the needle touching a nerve. You extended your thoughts that far just because of that?

The one saving grace was that Park Seon-yun was speaking in the past tense. It must have been just his thoughts when he first received acupuncture.

“Sigh. I didn’t have any concrete proposal. I was just lingering out of a desire to do something together. At first, I thought there was a separate chief director at the clinic and you were an employed doctor.”

“I did open my practice at a rather young age.”

It seemed he had briefly considered recruiting me for a research position but gave up on the idea.

“Yes… I thought that if you opened a practice in your 20s, you must be firmly committed to clinical work, so I abandoned the idea of scouting you.”

Park Seon-yun looked dejected, but I nodded with a grin.

He was right.

I enjoyed directly communicating with patients, treating them, and seeing the results. While I don’t disagree that research is extremely important, clinical work suited me much better.

And if I had any interest in research, I would have stayed at the university rather than joining a private company.

“But couldn’t you tell I was the chief director after just a few visits? You showed interest for quite a long time considering that.”

“Ah, yes. I thought even if employment was difficult, we might be able to collaborate. That’s what I’m proposing this time too! For instance, I was thinking we might be able to formulate diet pills like the ones prescribed to Se-sun-Nuna into health functional foods.”

“Ah, I see.”

In the end, my initial guess was correct.

Park Seon-yun might feel wronged, but if you strip away the romantic coating on the outside, this is the gist of it.

When a merchant takes interest in a doctor, it’s always about selling medicine to make money.

Of course, my answer was the same as I had repeated dozens of times in Murim.

“I’ll have to decline if it’s about health functional foods.”

Medicine should remain medicine. Once it leaves the hands of a doctor and is sold as a product, it can no longer be medicine.

“You can make a lot of money while continuing your work at the clinic. Even if you just provide some ideas and research consultation…”

“I appreciate your high regard for me, but that’s an idea you can have because you’re not a Korean medicine doctor.”

I’ve heard that argument many times, but my thoughts haven’t changed.

I shook my head.

“That prescription worked very well for Se-sun. But what if you took it, Seon-yun? It would have almost no effect. Conversely, if someone with a weak constitution like our Yu-hee took it, she’d suffer from headaches, insomnia, and chills. We need to determine the dosage considering weight and constitution.”

“Couldn’t we use a safe dosage for everyone, even if it’s less effective?”

I calmly explained to Park Seon-yun.

“There are so many herbs used in both food and medicine in Korean medicine, and most have minimal side effects, so it’s easy to take them lightly. But there are clearly some herbs among them that can cause serious side effects and become toxic. Ephedra, used in diet pills, is a prime example.”

“Ah, we don’t have to stick to diet pills.”

“Even prescriptions composed of mild herbs like Ssanghwa-tang can cause digestive issues. Of course, the drinks sold in convenience stores now are just flavored, so that won’t happen.”

In fact, if you think about Western medicine, it obviously doesn’t make sense. You can’t sell a small amount of acetaminophen found in Tylenol as a ‘food’ for fatigue recovery just because it’s a small amount.

But Ssanghwa-‘cha’ is sold in cafes and convenience stores. This is despite Ssanghwa-tang being a medicine that can revive someone who has collapsed from extreme physical labor.

Given this reality, I couldn’t entirely blame Park Seon-yun for wanting to extend into the health functional food market for his ignorance.

“Personally, I believe that if something can’t be a poison, it can’t be a medicine either. If you put in such a tiny amount that there’s absolutely no possibility of side effects for anyone, it won’t have any effect. I can’t sell such things for money.”

After hearing my explanation, Park Seon-yun paused to think for a moment.

“…”

But soon he nodded as if he understood.

“…I see. My thinking was shallow. I lacked awareness.”

He probably didn’t expect such a firm rejection, but he grasped the gist of what I said quite well.

“I’m glad I asked. I could have caused a big problem if I had pursued this plan on my own.”

Even if it hadn’t been me, someone in the company would have probably stopped him. There must be a reason why PK hasn’t jumped into the health functional food business until now.

“I’m glad you understood. It’s a shame, we’d like to be able to prescribe medicines made by pharmaceutical companies without having to decoct them ourselves… but it’s not easy under the current system.”

“That’s right. It would be good if we could prescribe them as pharmaceuticals under Korean medicine doctor prescriptions, but that’s impossible too.”

Unlike his casual attitude towards health functional foods, he seemed to know quite a bit about pharmaceuticals.

It was a rather famous incident in the Korean medicine community, where some arthritis medications composed of Korean herbal medicines were designated as prescription drugs after their efficacy was verified through research and development.

As a result, Western medicine doctors who might not even know the ingredients were Korean herbal medicines gained the authority to prescribe these drugs, and the Korean medicine doctors who consulted on the research became traitors to the industry.

“Under the current system, the best we could do with formulating Korean medicines would be pre-made herbal medicines like those made in some external herbal pharmacies. I don’t think it’s profitable enough for a large pharmaceutical company to tackle.”

“Yes…”

External herbal pharmacies refer to companies that decoct medicines outside of Korean medicine clinics.

I operate with an in-house decoction method where I prepare medicines directly in the clinic, but there’s also a system where they receive orders from multiple clinics, decoct the medicines, and send them by courier to minimize cumbersome management.

Such places prepare popular prescription medicines like Gongjindan and Gyeongokgo in advance to make them easily available for sale at Korean medicine clinics.

As the conversation reached this point, Park Seon-yun’s face fell slightly.

He had thought about ways to collaborate in his own way, but things weren’t going as he had hoped.

“So, I was thinking…”

Clap!

I clapped my hands in front of Park Seon-yun’s face to refocus his attention.

“Not now, but quite a bit later. When I’ve grown the demand tremendously, could you supply it?”

“You, Doctor?”

“Yes. I’m still muddling through now, but I’m planning to grow my network. Maybe I’ll even build a hospital? If we create a nationwide distribution structure through Korean medicine clinics and conduct large-scale marketing, couldn’t we find something to do?”

“Ah…?”

Park Seon-yun looked very surprised.

The scouting offer was thwarted before he could even ask.

The health functional food research collaboration was firmly rejected.

He thought I had no intention of doing anything together, but now I was proposing something new from my side.

‘If I was going to chase him away, I would have done it earlier.’

The truth is, I had something I wanted from Park Seon-yun too. It wasn’t urgent, and I didn’t need to show any desperation, but I had been waiting to casually bring it up if he had suggested a meal at first.

“Haha, without me even having to rack my brains, you were envisioning a much bigger business. To think I considered scouting someone with such grand aspirations, it was a completely presumptuous idea.”

Park Seon-yun burst into self-deprecating laughter.

We’re all just trying to make money, is there really a need to talk about presumption?

“In that sense, I have one favor to ask.”

Of course, I didn’t mean to do what I just mentioned right away. I had only just opened one network branch, how much could I sell of products made by a large corporation?

There was a stage to go through before that.

“From me? But you said it couldn’t be commercialized yet…”

“It’s something you can do personally, rather than at the company level.”

Park Seon-yun tilted his head with wide eyes. He looked quite surprised.

This was surprising too. You’d think he’d receive so many requests that he’d be wary, but…

“Let’s hear it first.”

Even so, he didn’t readily promise to listen.

Hmph, is the romantic fool side the disguise? Anyway, he was an unpredictable person.

I immediately stated my business.

“About the Korean herbal medicine ingredients in the digestive aids and hangover cures you mentioned earlier. You source them from China, right?”

“Of course, why?”

Modern Koreans tend to dislike anything Chinese unconditionally, but there are some medicinal herbs that are rated higher than domestic ones, and many that aren’t produced domestically at all.

Realistically, it’s nearly impossible to prepare Korean herbal medicines without using any Chinese ingredients.

And there are many misunderstandings about the low quality of Chinese medicinal herbs.

While incidents are occasionally reported, basically, the herbs distributed as medicinal ingredients in Korea meet safety standards after going through Food and Drug Administration certification.

But I wanted to go a step further.

I wanted to use the best among them.

Of course, to do that, I’d need to judge the quality myself… I could confidently say that my eyes, nose, and mouth were more capable than running component analyses with machines.

After all, I learned under a master who had tasted all ten thousand poisons and thousand medicines, didn’t I?

Though I hadn’t tasted the poisons myself.

“Next time, could you introduce me to those Chinese wholesalers? Of course, I don’t mean meeting them in person, just a phone call would suffice.”

“That’s certainly not a difficult request. But why that…”

“This isn’t for right away either, but I’m thinking of operating my own external herbal pharmacy once the network grows a bit.”

And the reason for going through Park Seon-yun was, of course, because of Chinese ‘guanxi’.

It’s a culture that causes various problems both then and now, but it’s not my country, so it’s not my business.

If A introduces someone to B with one phone call, B treats that person on par with A.

It meant I could start from a much better position than if I had to open the channels myself.

Park Seon-yun calculated something in his head for a moment, then:

“If it’s something like that, I’d be more than happy to help. It’s an honor to be able to assist you.”

He agreed readily.

Great!

It could be burdensome since it meant vouching for me, but he looked extremely pleased instead.

“Thank you so much. You introduced me to your cousin sister, and you’re granting my request too. I’m sorry I couldn’t accommodate what you wanted.”

“Not at all! I made an inappropriate proposal, but you explained things well instead. Thanks to you, my perspective has broadened.”

Is he pleased about establishing even a small connection? I’m not sure why he thinks so highly of me. It’s not like I cured him of an incurable disease after he had been to various places.

Knock knock.

As soon as our conversation died down, there was a knock from outside.

Ah, come to think of it, the main course hadn’t arrived yet. They must have been waiting discreetly, sensing that some business talk was going on.

“Wow, the taste of this steak, wow, wow…”

“I’m glad it’s to your liking.”

The portion was ridiculously small so I didn’t hear the explanation at all, but it was a steak that wouldn’t have been a waste even if they called it heavenly.

I ate the main course, expressing my admiration countless times.

“This is a completely different dish from any steak I’ve had before.”

Afterwards, we conversed in a more cordial atmosphere. When I told him about the misunderstandings I had, he felt quite wronged.

“That’s absurd! I was just startled every time a hand touched my back, how is that enjoying it?”

“I’m sorry. I just wondered, you know.”

The misunderstanding about Seol Yu-hee was also cleanly resolved.

“I have absolutely no personal feelings towards the desk staff. I didn’t even know her name! She looks at least ten years younger than me, how much of a scumbag did you think I was?”

“You just never told us your business.”

“Given my position, I had a lot to consider. You drew a line too, Doctor. …That’s why I wanted to find a way even more.”

Park Seon-yun trailed off slightly.

“So this is how it turned out. Please be sure to let me know when you open your external herbal pharmacy. Of course I’ll connect you with herb merchants, and I’d even like to invest if possible. Not through the company, but personally within my means.”

“Haha, I’ll be in touch. Well, shall we get going? I’ll take care of the bill.”

The meal ended with a sense of regret despite our full stomachs. I said as I picked up the bill.

“I’ve already taken care of it when making the reservation. Of course I should pay.”

“What? Then let me at least send you the money by bank transfer. I rejected all your proposals and only made my own request.”

“It’s fine. It was an honor to meet you today, and I learned a lot in various ways.”

I wanted to at least pay for the meal since I got everything I wanted… but Park Seon-yun adamantly refused.

Oh well, I give up. I should let him do as he pleases if he wants to pay so badly.

“Thank you for the meal. I appreciate you bringing me to such a nice place.”

◆◇◆◇◆

After finishing the payment, they left the restaurant. Park Seon-yun took the elevator down to the first floor with Han Yeowon.

Of course, he had used valet parking, so he was heading to the parking lot.

But Han Yeowon turned her body in the opposite direction.

“Doctor, didn’t you bring your car?”

“Ah, no. I keep saying I should buy one, but I haven’t yet. I walked, no, I took public transportation.”

“I see! Which direction is your home? I’ll give you a ride.”

Park Seon-yun immediately offered to drive Han Yeowon home.

He couldn’t have imagined she wouldn’t have a car. She seemed like she’d be an excellent driver too.

If he had known this, he would have offered to pick her up at the clinic or her home!

“It’s okay. I like walking in the evening breeze.”

“Won’t you be cold?”

“I don’t really feel the cold or heat.”

But this time too, she flatly refused. Just like all the business proposals he had made.

“…I understand. Please be careful on your way.”

“You get home safely too, Seon-yun.”

Park Seon-yun let her go without making any fuss.

Whatever he said, he didn’t feel like he could sway Han Yeowon anyway.

Watching Han Yeowon’s retreating figure as she walked leisurely wearing just a thin cardigan even in midwinter, Park Seon-yun was reminded of his grandfather and the uisaeng from decades ago.

“…She’s really cool, I tell you.”

Was this how his grandfather felt?

It seemed like he could do anything with that person.

But it appeared that what could be done was outside of his choice.

Was it because of the regret of not being able to visit the clinic during his business trip? Park Seon-yun stood there for a long time until Han Yeowon’s silhouette disappeared.

◆◇◆◇◆

Even if I had actually paid for the fine dining meal with Park Seon-yun, it wouldn’t have been a burden at all.

That’s because I’m earning quite a lot of money these days.

“Doctor, insert needles in beds 1, 2, and 3 in order, do Chuna for 1 minute, and then have one medication consultation. You have 15 minutes until the consultation appointment, so please do it quickly.”

“…Yes.”

In return, I was extremely busy.

If I just closed my mouth and inserted needles, I could see 100, no, 300 patients a day.

But I had reached a limit in conducting consultations with normal conversation.

‘Now I really need to hire an associate director.’

I need to revamp the system before it’s too late.

I made my decision.