The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

“Really? Thank you so much!”

Surprisingly, Hwang Sang-hoon genuinely and gratefully accepted my offer to sleep at the clinic.

“If I do that, I can just register at a gym and use their shower.”

He was thrilled, saying it would be much cheaper than staying at a jjimjilbang.

‘It was a joke…’

He was so pleased that I couldn’t bring myself to take it back. At this point, telling him it would be uncomfortable would just look like I suddenly changed my mind and was kicking him out.

This guy, isn’t he still a young master? Can he really sleep on that hard bed?

I had some concerns, but then I remembered that I had often slept on wooden beds or bare floors.

“Ah, but if I live at the clinic and work six days a week, I’ll have nowhere to go on the one day off.”

Hwang Sang-hoon, who had been grinning brightly, suddenly said as if he’d just thought of it.

Ah, living at the clinic is a bit much after all, right?

But his next words surpassed my imagination.

“Can I follow you around and observe on that one day?”

“…How could I refuse?”

Haha. Is he asking for training?

So in the end, he was saying he’d be at the company day and night, seven days a week.

“Feel free to come observe as much as you want. It’s good for me too if you learn a lot and do well. Observe as much as you like, and when you feel it’s enough, you don’t have to come.”

“Thanks.”

Oh well, whatever.

If after a few days he finds it unbearable, he’ll probably go to a goshiwon or something. He doesn’t even need an advance. When I opened my clinic, I found out you can get an overdraft account pretty quickly.

And so, I inadvertently ended up providing Hwang Sang-hoon not only with an employment contract but also rent-free accommodation.

◆◇◆◇◆

With all the staff hired, I gathered everyone for introductions.

“This is our new Dr. Hwang Sang-hoon.”

“Hello. This is my first time working locally, so I’m sure I’ll have many shortcomings. Please help me a lot.”

Hwang Sang-hoon, who had spent the night at the clinic and showered early at the gym, bowed politely, showing off his neat appearance.

I was very pleased with his disciplined demeanor.

“Let me introduce the staff. From the left, Seo Inae-nim, our founding contributor, Seol Yu-hee—nim, who has been a great help in our growth, and our new members, Jin Min-jung-nim and Gong Na-ri-nim.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Pleased to meet you!”

Both of the newly hired nursing assistants had no experience.

As Seo In-ae had said, we had quite a few options this time, but she said she could teach them well, so we should hire friendly and energetic people regardless of experience.

So I selected employees based on just two criteria.

The first, of course, was whether they had a nursing assistant certification.

The second was their potential as martial artists.

According to my eyes and qi sense, which had observed countless martial artists, these two were the best among the applicants.

Jin Min-jung was a married woman who had obtained her certification after enrolling her two children in elementary school. She exuded a friendly atmosphere but had an excellent physique.

Gong Na-ri was a 21-year-old Gen Z who had registered at an academy right after graduating high school and had no hospital work experience, but she had a wide variety of part-time job experiences. People who’ve lived such a wandering life tend to pick up martial arts quickly, you know?

“From this week, we’ll have night consultations and be open seven days a week. It’ll be hectic, but let’s do our best!”

I finished the brief introductions, cheering on the adaptation of the three new members.

And then, consultations began immediately.

I had decided to handle all consultations myself for the first week anyway.

And on the staff side, thanks to Seo In-ae specially commanding the treatment room full-time, the system ran without any hitches.

Although Hwang Sang-hoon had assisted professors’ consultations and performed acupuncture and Chuna treatments in the wards during his year as an intern, he had never conducted consultations independently, so we decided to have him go through a short adaptation period before putting him to work.

“I’m sorry for making you work so hard all week.”

Hwang Sang-hoon felt sorry for not being able to contribute to the work right away, but my reason for wanting to work four days a week had nothing to do with physical stamina.

I gladly took charge of all consultations during this handover period, implanting key disease consultation scripts in Hwang Sang-hoon. It wasn’t difficult since I already had manuals I’d created while training Chu Mi-young.

And at the staff’s request, we also had a company dinner on Thursday.

Friday is for partying, and weekends are for resting, they say?

“Do you really want to finish work at 8 PM and have a company dinner at that time?”

“Yes! I have a dream of company dinners! We’ve never had one!”

There was also the option of not having one at all… but Seol Yu-hee was extremely enthusiastic.

Come to think of it, after having the first company dinner to get close to Seo In-ae, I hadn’t arranged any more gatherings.

“Are the new people really okay with this too?”

“Oh my, free alcohol is always welcome!”

“Yes~! I want to get close to the doctors and other staff too!”

“Me too.”

Jin Min-jung, Gong Na-ri, and even Hwang Sang-hoon seemed subtly expectant.

“I’m fine with it too. These kinds of events are necessary once in a while to get along well.”

I thought Seo In-ae would dislike losing time for her part-time jobs, but she said having a company dinner once would be good even for work efficiency.

And she abruptly sent me a link to a Korean beef restaurant.

“Since everyone is saying so, I guess I’ll have to treat you to Korean beef.”

I took out my card.

“Wow~ Doctor, you’re so cool!”

As soon as we arrived at the meat restaurant, Seo In-ae started ordering expensive and delicious cuts like sirloin and ribeye. Following her lead, all the staff excitedly ordered meat and alcohol.

Seol Yu-hee poured cider, while everyone else poured soju, and we raised our glasses.

“Doctor~ Please give us a toast!”

Pretending to give in to the staff’s urging, I stood up.

“Ahem, I’m sincerely glad that we’ve all come together through such good connections.”

“Woohoo!”

“We’re busy now, but… we’re going to get even busier. We’ll obviously become the overwhelmingly number one Korean medicine clinic in this neighborhood. I hope you’ll all keep up your strength until the day we spread our network branches across the country. To that day!”

I grandly expressed my aspirations as I led the toast.

“Cheers!”

“Cheers~!”

The two new hires naturally thought I was joking and smiled innocently.

Seol Yu-hee clapped her hands, saying it would definitely be possible.

And Seo In-ae, who knew I was serious, toasted with determination. She knows she’ll be compensated accordingly.

“…Cheers.”

Hwang Sang-hoon, who raised his glass a beat late, seemed somewhat moved. I was very pleased to see his enthusiasm to work hard.

Eat a lot and gain strength! Our sla… I mean, our associate director has a lot of work to do!

“How was it? Were there any difficulties?”

I took a moment to listen to the staff’s concerns while grilling the meat.

“I’m still adjusting, but I don’t think there are any. Seo In-ae-nim has been helping a lot!”

“If you have any difficulties, feel free to talk to me or In-ae. And keep in mind that if you have any pain or physical exhaustion, all treatments including tonics are free for employees.”

“That’s right. After taking the doctor’s tonic, I can work late and still feel perfectly fine.”

“Yeah! I used to be quite sickly, but since working here, I feel like I’ve been reborn, hehe.”

Seo In-ae and Seol Yu-hee, who had already tried the tonics I prescribed, praised them.

“Flattery won’t get you anything~”

“But it’s true! I thought I couldn’t work anywhere. I’m really so grateful! To think we’re even having a company dinner…”

“Alright, let’s toast once more to Yu-hee’s health. Cheers~!”

“Cheers!”

While Hwang Sang-hoon and Seo In-ae restrained themselves for the next day, Jin Min-jung and Gong Na-ri showed off considerable drinking capacity. I matched their pace, downing drinks freely.

“The atmosphere at the clinic seems really good. I was worried about finding a job at my age, but I’m glad I came to such a nice place.”

“Me too. It’s an honor to start my first job here!”

“Hehe, our doctor is the best. The incentives are good too… I’m going to make this my lifelong workplace.”

“…Lifelong workplace? In-ae, wasn’t your goal to achieve financial freedom through multiple jobs and then quit?”

“Huh? Who said that? I just like earning as much money as possible.”

I see.

I hope you earn a lot, a lot.

Eat heartily.

“But Doctor, are you alright? Aren’t you drinking too much?”

“I’m fine~!”

Seo In-ae, the only one at this gathering who had seen me drunk before, tried to dissuade me at some point, but that was just because I had deliberately been drinking to lower my guard and got careless.

There’s no problem this time since I’m drying up the alcohol with my inner force to avoid making a spectacle in front of the new employees.

And so, the company dinner ended quite late.

Hwang Sang-hoon, who had been quietly sipping his drink as the only man present, said with a flushed face as he returned to the clinic:

“Thanks for inviting me. It feels like this is what living as a person should be like.”

I was glad he liked our clinic, at any rate.

◆◇◆◇◆

Exactly one week after changing to a seven-day system.

Hwang Sang-hoon started consultations right away in the newly set up associate director’s office.

“Just act like I’m not here and be comfortable. It’s natural to be nervous when someone’s observing, so don’t worry about making mistakes! It doesn’t matter much if you make mistakes~”

I stood in the corner of the consultation room with my hands clasped, just as Chu Mi-young and Hwang Sang-hoon had done for the past week.

It was to observe Hwang Sang-hoon’s consultations and provide feedback.

For now, I assigned him patients who had the lowest treatment difficulty and would finish within 2-3 visits regardless of who conducted the consultation.

“Hello. I’ve had a stiff neck since waking up yesterday, and it hasn’t improved even today, so I came in.”

“You’ve come to the right place. Let’s check your range of motion first.”

“Ugh… when I turn to the right like this, the opposite side feels stiff.”

“Does it hurt when I press here?”

“Oh, yes.”

“It’s a trapezius muscle issue. Don’t worry, it should get better quickly once we loosen the muscle. Do these stretches as well, and if it persists, come back tomorrow for another session.”

Oh, he’s doing well.

Even though it’s his first time dealing with patients and his superior is watching, Hwang Sang-hoon handled the consultation very smoothly.

“I twisted my ankle two weeks ago, and it’s not healing… Oh my, the doctor is so handsome.”

“Thank you. I’ll take special care in treating you.”

He handled the elderly patient’s banter well too.

“Elbow ligaments take time to heal, so you’ll need consistent treatment.”

“I’ll do that. Which days do you work, Doctor?”

From the first day, there were patients who wanted to schedule their visits according to his work days.

At this rate, a fan club of elderly patients isn’t just a dream, is it?

“Doctor, we have one more new patient. They’ve had wrist pain for two months. They’re a trainer, so they use it a lot.”

“Ah, I’ll see that patient.”

“They specifically requested Dr. Hwang.”

“Pardon?”

I had been thinking that everything else was fine, his skills were good.

But how could he have a specific request when he’s only been in Busan for a week and just started consultations today?

At the very least, shouldn’t it be a patient who saw Hwang Sang-hoon today and liked him, bringing an acquaintance tomorrow?

“Ah… I think it’s the trainer from the gym I registered at for showers. I go there every day, and since I’m not good at exercising, we’ve become close as they teach me bit by bit.”

Wow.

To even bring in a referred patient.

Hiring Hwang Sang-hoon was indeed an excellent choice.