The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

Jeon Yong-jun was a trainer who had opened his own gym in his early thirties, relatively young.

He had been very interested in bodybuilding since his student days, and after becoming an adult, he seriously pursued a career as a bodybuilder and trainer.

Finally, after ten years of saving and taking out loans, he opened a small gym.

“Sigh… Another empty day?”

One Sunday evening, he sighed as he sat at the counter of the deserted gym.

To save on labor costs, he had to man the counter himself for most of the business hours.

There were a few members who had followed him from his previous workplace for personal training, but it was barely enough to avoid a deficit.

When he was employed at other gyms, he used to complain about the high commission fees. And he thought the owner was making a lot of money… but after doing it himself, the cost of buying equipment and maintaining the gym was beyond imagination.

Ding-a-ling~

Just then, someone opened the gym door and entered.

They didn’t swipe a card, so it wasn’t an existing member.

“Hello!”

Jeon Yong-jun jumped up to greet the new customer.

Seeing that it was a robust young man, the chances of him wanting personal training were very low; he was probably here for a gym membership.

“Hello. I’m here to sign up for a membership. Is it correct that a one-month pass is 80,000 won?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As expected, his purpose was a gym membership. Moreover, he was a customer who had searched for the lowest price for a one-month pass.

People who sign up for one month usually fall into one of two categories.

First, those who have never exercised before and doubt, “Will I really do this for a year?” or those who want to try out various gyms.

Second, those who love working out but are on a business trip and need a place to exercise for less than a month.

At his previous job in a large gym, they would push for at least a three-month commitment and treat one-month passes as a nuisance, but Jeon Yong-jun welcomed even this.

“Gym clothes and locker rental are 5,000 won each. Would you like them?”

“Just the locker, please.”

“Alright~”

When Jeon Yong-jun handed over the membership contract, the man immediately filled in his information.

Member Hwang Sang-hoon, I see.

The member paid with a credit card, then exercised for about 15 minutes before heading to the shower room.

‘Huh?’

When he came out of the shower in less than 10 minutes, his appearance had completely changed.

With his disheveled hair combed back, his distinctive features suddenly stood out.

He came to the gym the next day too.

This time he used the equipment for about 30 minutes, but… it was definitely not the form of someone who had exercised before.

‘Come on, you won’t get any exercise if you set the leg press to just 10kg!’

He couldn’t resist giving advice and was about to approach.

“Excuse me… is anyone available?”

But right on cue, a PT consultation came in.

The priority was clearly this.

By the time he finished the consultation and returned, member Hwang Sang-hoon had already gone to the shower room.

‘Is he just coming to shower?’

He showed up the next day too.

As if to prove yesterday’s hypothesis, this time he went straight to the shower room.

‘Hmm… there’s nothing wrong with it, but…’

And the next day.

This time he picked up dumbbells instead of using machines.

Pink 1kg dumbbells.

‘Argh!’

Those were meant for female members who had never exercised before.

Plus, his form was completely wrong. He seemed to be watching YouTube, but he was the epitome of a beginner, absorbed in the video and not looking at the mirror at all.

Finally, Jeon Yong-jun spoke up.

“Member! If you exercise with your shoulders hunched like that, you’ll get shoulder impingement syndrome~”

“Ah… I see.”

“Straighten your back like this, and push out your chest. Your shoulders need to be open too! This is a back exercise, not an arm exercise~!”

“Thank you.”

“Let me help you with your form a bit!”

Jeon Yong-jun subtly switched out the dumbbells while correcting his posture.

As he did so, his hand touched the member’s back, which was surprisingly smooth.

“Is this your first time working out?”

“Pretty much. The last time I exercised was running when I was twenty.”

“Aha! Then it’s understandable that you’re having difficulties. I’ll teach you!”

A complete newbie to weight training? Jeon Yong-jun unconsciously licked his lips.

“It’s okay…”

“Don’t worry, I’m not pressuring you to get PT! When I have free time, I usually teach other members as much as I can!”

Jeon Yong-jun said enthusiastically.

In truth, if he was going to do this, it would have been better to charge more as a coach-style gym, but he simply couldn’t hold back his advice.

“Ah… then please, I’d appreciate it.”

Only then did member Hwang Sang-hoon relax and entrust himself to Jeon Yong-jun.

“I’ll definitely build up your strength!”

From that day on, whenever Hwang Sang-hoon appeared, Jeon Yong-jun would rush over to make him exercise.

Recommending weights appropriate for his self-underestimated muscles and correcting his form, the member began to discover the joy of exercise day by day.

“You should never use your wrists. Use your chest muscles… ugh.”

But while demonstrating the bench press, a sharp pain shot through his wrist.

“Are you okay?”

“Of course!”

“Your wrist doesn’t seem to be in good condition. How long has it been like this?”

And he had just been talking about not using the wrists!

Though it didn’t save face, he frankly revealed the circumstances of his injury.

“Haha! You caught me. Two months ago, I tried to catch a weight plate that a member dropped, and it twisted my wrist. It’s been lingering for a while.”

“You can’t leave it like that when you need to exercise. Come get it treated.”

“Pardon? Come where?”

Hwang Sang-hoon finally revealed that he was a Korean medicine doctor working at Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic.

“Ah, I see!”

In truth, his wrist had been hurting all along, but it wasn’t too severe, and with only one part-time worker, it had been awkward to find time, so he had kept neglecting it.

But he had been a bit anxious all along.

He tried not to use his wrist much when exercising, but it was impossible to avoid putting any strain on it, right?

Just then, someone he had become quite friendly with noticed, and he decided it was time to get treatment.

“I’ll come right away!”

But the next day, Jeon Yong-jun couldn’t find a moment to go to the clinic.

How could he leave the gym when he only had one part-time worker?

He finally visited Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic on Monday.

◆◇◆◇◆

Hwang Sang-hoon had been tense all day.

No matter how strong-hearted one might be, it’s impossible to be at ease on the first day of consultations, and he didn’t consider himself to have particularly good mental fortitude.

Although he had followed and observed Han Yeowon for a week, he didn’t feel confident he could perform as brilliantly as she did.

“Don’t worry~ Every doctor has their own style. You can do charismatic consultations like Professor Yang Ju-young, or be kind like Professor Park Hye-won. It’s enough if you can make patients come back until they finish treatment!”

He had no such thing as charisma. Kindness was his best option.

Hwang Sang-hoon practiced smiling in the gym mirror, then smiled as kindly as he could while looking into the patient’s eyes.

So far, all the patients’ symptoms were in the manual Han Yeowon had given him, and their questions didn’t stray from that range, so it was fine.

Then Jeon Yong-jun arrived.

He thought Han Yeowon would treat him since he said he’d come right away last week, but he showed up today and specifically requested him.

‘He said it was a wrist sprain. It’s okay. Even though it’s been two months, it’s nothing special.’

Han Yeowon’s eyes sparkled, pleased that he had brought in a new patient.

But Hwang Sang-hoon’s heart was pounding.

Thinking of him as an acquaintance made it more burdensome. What if he couldn’t treat him well and rumors spread, given how sociable he was?

“You said you twisted it once two months ago, right? How have you been treating it since then?”

“I went to an orthopedic clinic once! They said there was nothing wrong with the bone, and I took medication for about two weeks, which helped somewhat. It’s fine usually, but when I increase the weight or when it feels a bit unstable, I get a tingling sensation when it twists like this.”

“So you haven’t tried any injections or acupuncture treatments?”

“No.”

He checked the range of motion and pressure points, just as he had with previous patients.

“It’s an injury to the ligament at the pisiform attachment of the flexor carpi ulnaris. When it twisted, the ligament stretched, and if it hasn’t healed until now, there’s a high possibility of a tear. The anti-inflammatory medication reduced the inflammation, but it’s still unstable because it hasn’t fully recovered.”

“I see.”

If he were at the hospital, he would have used an ultrasound to check the extent of the tear, but it was frustrating not having the equipment.

Anyway, the immediate treatment wouldn’t change much.

Hwang Sang-hoon confidently set up a treatment plan as Han Yeowon had taught him.

“Try to avoid exercises that put strain on your wrist and repeat acupuncture treatments. Given that you’re experiencing tingling nerve symptoms, you need thorough treatment. I think acupuncture alone will be sufficient for improvement, but if you want to recover faster, I recommend bee venom acupuncture.”

“Let’s go with that. I need to get better quickly.”

Jeon Yong-jun readily agreed to the bee venom acupuncture treatment. After sending him to the treatment room, Hwang Sang-hoon stroked his pounding chest.

Was that okay?

He cautiously turned his head to check on Han Yeowon.

“You did well!”

Only after hearing those words did he let out a sigh of relief.

“Good diagnosis, and perfect recommendation of the non-covered treatment. It would have been even better if you had specified how many times a week he should come!”

“Ah, I’ll keep that in mind next time.”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing. Fighting!”

Hwang Sang-hoon took a moment to calm down before entering the treatment room.

Jeon Yong-jun was still receiving physical therapy, but he wanted to observe Han Yeowon’s treatment a bit more.

Her speed in inserting needles was always awe-inspiring, no matter how many times he saw it.

“It’s been a week since you came~ How have you been?”

“It’s still about the same. I couldn’t come because I was on a business trip last week.”

“Ah~ It should get better after a few more sessions. Is there any discomfort? Just lie down for a moment.”

Her words were very gentle and relaxed.

But separately from that, her hands were inserting needles at a speed that was barely visible.

In the time it took to exchange two lines of dialogue, she had inserted over 30 needles and finished the treatment.

‘So this is how she sees over 50 patients a day…’

At first, he wondered how she had managed without an associate director until now, but at her fastest, she treated one person per minute.

‘Whew.’

In contrast, Hwang Sang-hoon was painfully slow.

He had done acupuncture as an intern at the hospital, but he didn’t have much experience.

Basically, at university hospitals, professors handle outpatients, and for inpatients, professors in the morning and residents in the afternoon. As an intern rotating through all departments, he only did acupuncture when the residents were busy, and it wasn’t until September when departments were assigned and he became an in-resident that he got his own patients.

Even then, he wasn’t assigned many patients, so he had never tried to insert needles quickly.

“It’s okay to take 20 minutes and go slowly. I was like that at first too. Fighting!”

Han Yeowon said that, but he was still nervous.

“Jeon Yong-jun-nim, I’m coming in.”

He disinfected his hands and wiped Jeon Yong-jun’s wrist with an alcohol swab.

‘Ah, the bee venom test!’

As Hwang Sang-hoon was about to pick up the bee venom, he suddenly realized he had forgotten to do the allergy test. He should have done the allergy test right after finishing the consultation to use bee venom.

“Dr. Han did the bee venom test for you. He said he’d do physical therapy up to your shoulders, so he undressed, but he only wants acupuncture on his wrist.”

“Ah… thank you.”

Seo In-ae spoke, as if sensing his dilemma.

She even added an explanation about Jeon Yong-jun having undressed, which he hadn’t even been aware of.

“How is it?”

“The female doctor came earlier and did the test. It only hurt a bit when it went in, but it’s fine now.”

Fortunately, there was no acute allergic reaction.

Hwang Sang-hoon opened the cap of the bee venom syringe and placed it on Jeon Yong-jun’s wrist.

“I’m going to insert it now.”

“Okay, okay.”

After palpating the ligament he had identified during the consultation, he injected the solution.

“Is it alright?”

“Ooh… it stings.”

Was that dialect? Anyway, it didn’t feel like it had hit a nerve or blood vessel.

He then took out needles and treated the painful area.

He inserted needles along the muscle fibers, including the ashi points that were painful when pressed and inflamed.

Slowly, he inserted 10 needles, and as he reached for the tray to open another pack…

‘Gasp!’

He was startled to see Han Yeowon, who had suddenly approached and was handing him opened needles.

‘When did she get here?’

He thought she was treating other patients, but he hadn’t sensed her presence at all.

‘…Ah!’

Being needlessly conscious of Han Yeowon’s presence beside him, he even made a mistake.

The needles he had gathered in one hand touched the wrong place.

Fortunately, the patient didn’t notice at all, but Hwang Sang-hoon’s heart was racing.

Swish.

He turned his head to check Han Yeowon’s reaction.

‘Huh?’

But Han Yeowon’s gaze was fixed elsewhere.

She seemed not to have noticed his mistake at all.

‘…Does she like well-built men?’

She was seriously observing Jeon Yong-jun’s bare chest.

“Please let me know if you feel any discomfort.”

“Thank you for the treatment, doctor!”

Hwang Sang-hoon roughly pulled the curtain closed for no reason.

It was fortunate that his mistake wasn’t noticed, but somehow he felt displeased.