The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

“Wow~! It’s been so long!”

Hwang Seoyoung threw her arms around me as I peeked into the wedding hall.

“Haha, it’s only been a few months since we last met~”

“I know. Technically it hasn’t been that long, but why does the atmosphere feel so different?”

It seems like just yesterday we were enjoying our last supper… so much has happened.

“Is this the aura of a clinic owner?”

“Whoa~ A 26-year-old doctor!”

Other classmates attending the wedding approached us.

Except for Hwang Seoyoung and me, they were all friends who had been in the orchestra club with today’s bride, Lee Yujin sunbae.

‘Hmm, after all that talk about showing off, not a single one from Jo Haneul’s group is here?’

Classmates who had been indifferent during our school days now showered me with flattery and questions.

“How is it? Is your clinic doing well? Don’t patients and staff look down on you for being young?”

“I haven’t really felt anything like that.”

“Oh, was that just an urban legend?”

“Well, that’s because Yeowon has charisma. If we opened a clinic, we’d be crushed immediately.”

“Right. She just exudes professionalism even when standing still.”

For a newly graduated Korean medicine doctor, the typical path is to undergo training or work as an assistant director at another clinic to save money and gain experience before opening one’s own.

Since I was the first among my peers to take the plunge into opening a clinic, everyone seemed highly interested.

“As expected of our valedictorian. You’ve set the standard for our class.”

“Seoyoung, you were the one who tried hardest to dissuade her.”

“Ahaha, I’m so glad I was wrong. How on earth did you succeed in that location?”

“It’s just the beginning, not really a success. Things just worked out somehow once I started.”

“Wow, a wise saying from Doctor Han Yeowon. ‘Just do it.’ You’ve reached enlightenment.”

Oh my, how embarrassing.

But even if they asked for my secret, I had nothing else to tell them. It wasn’t a misjudgment that the location was bad, and saying something cliché like “move patients emotionally” would only invite jeers.

“Well, if you meditate in an empty clinic, you naturally attain the Way. It feels like aging ten years each day.”

“Ahahahaha!”

You think I’m joking? Though I’ve somewhat found my footing now, the dizzying feeling of seeing just one patient a day…

It’s indescribable unless you’ve experienced it.

“Let’s go see Yujin unni.”

I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment as we headed to the bridal waiting room.

“Sunbae, it’s been a while!”

“Oh my, Yeowon. I can’t believe you came all this way~ Thank you so much~!”

We exchanged typical greetings, congratulating her on the wedding and me on opening my clinic.

I didn’t remember much, but this was a common occurrence in the life of a doctor. The other person greets me as if I were their lifesaver, but for me, countless such encounters pass by with each journey I take.

Let’s see. I’ve given the most important wedding gift, and I have the meal ticket in hand.

Have I completed all the essential steps of a K-wedding before the main ceremony? I came prepared after reading various wedding horror stories. I even bought a new dress in a dark green color.

The main ceremony should start soon, and then I’ll sit quietly, take pictures, have a meal while exchanging more greetings, and that’ll be the end of the wedding.

“The front rows are filling up, should we go in and take our seats?”

One of my classmates spoke up. So that’s why we were all loitering outside. They didn’t want to sit in the front row, even though we’re not students anymore?

“Let’s do that.”

“Look, that spot I had my eye on is still empty!”

As I was about to follow that friend in, Hwang Seoyoung looked towards the elevators.

“Is someone still not here?”

“Ah, I came together with Sanghun oppa in his car. But he said he’d come after parking, and he’s taking too long.”

Sanghun oppa? Hwang Sanghun? Come to think of it, wasn’t he the orchestra club president?

Lee Yujin sunbae is in her final year as a resident, so she’s also a workplace colleague of intern Hwang Sanghun.

I had forgotten, but of course he’d come. I didn’t expect to see him again.

“Try calling him.”

Hwang Seoyoung was already taking out her phone.

She tried calling several times, but couldn’t get through.

“He’s not answering. Did something happen?”

“Maybe he went for a smoke and lost his phone?”

“Sanghun oppa doesn’t smoke…”

“Let’s go down and look. We still have some time before the ceremony starts.”

“Oh, you’ll come with me?”

Hwang Seoyoung visibly brightened when I suggested it.

“If you were bored going down alone, you should have said so. Jihun, sorry, but could you watch our seats?”

I naturally decided to go with her. We left our bags with our classmate and took the elevator.

“Why does this parking lot go down to B6?”

“It was so scary coming up earlier. I feel much better going with you.”

Hwang Seoyoung protested with a pout that it wasn’t just boredom. Apparently, she had gone down to B1 with him earlier but couldn’t find a spot, so he went down alone. The parking lot was indeed a bit dark for a modern building.

Since we didn’t know where Hwang Sanghun had parked, we had to check each floor starting from B2.

Though the brightness didn’t seem to differ, for some reason the yin energy grew denser as we descended.

Unlike the luxurious wedding hall above ground, this gloomy basement had an atmosphere where it felt like an incident could occur at any moment.

“Surely nothing has happened…”

Hwang Seoyoung’s words dwindled, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. She hugged my arm, her shoulders trembling. There’s no need to actually say “Did he do away with someone?”, right?

There were a few empty spaces on B5 as well, but Hwang Sanghun’s car wasn’t there.

Something feels very off.

An assassin with a grudge against Hwangje Korean Medicine Hospital? Or a robber targeting high-end hotel guests?

Imagining all sorts of scenarios, we finally reached the last floor.

B6 was pitch dark. Unlike the upper floors, the lights were completely off.

The automatic doors opened in that darkness.

Suddenly, the lights blazed on, and we found Hwang Sanghun.

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

There were only three cars parked on the lowest level.

Hwang Sanghun was collapsed next to one of them.

“W-w-what do we do?”

Hwang Seoyoung was so startled by the scene, which looked like he had been attacked, that she covered her mouth with both hands.

I was different from her. How many times had I seen people collapsed and bleeding in Murim? Too many to count. I rushed over in one breath to check Hwang Sanghun’s condition.

No visible external injuries, and his heartbeat and breathing were fine. His hands were a bit cold, but still within the normal range of human body temperature.

“Calm down. His heart’s beating.”

I called the panicking Hwang Seoyoung over and had her check his carotid pulse.

“Y-you’re right? Then…”

“It seems he’s fainted.”

His life isn’t in danger. Though I pretended to be calm, I was greatly relieved by that fact too.

“His pulse feels like he’s just sleeping, but we don’t know how long he’s been unconscious… Hey!”

“Whoa!”

“Oppa! Hwang Sanghun-ssi! Wake up!”

I shouted loudly into Hwang Sanghun’s ear while patting his shoulder.

“Is it okay to wake him like that?”

Why wouldn’t it be?

Now that we know his life isn’t in danger, the next step is to determine whether it’s a serious situation with brain damage or if he’s just temporarily lost consciousness.

While shouting, I grabbed Hwang Sanghun’s hand and sent a surge of qi through it.

“…Huh?”

Fortunately, Hwang Sanghun’s cheek twitched, and he soon opened his eyes.

“…Yeowon…?”

“Yes, it’s Han Yeowon. Now, can you see my fingers? How many?”

“Two. What on earth… Why am I here?”

Though he spoke like an amnesiac patient, he correctly stated the number of fingers.

He looked around in confusion, trying to get up.

“Ah, I came to the wedding hall. Did I fall asleep in the car?”

“Stay lying down just in case. Don’t lift your head!”

He asked Hwang Seoyoung in a gentle voice, but before she could answer, I pushed Hwang Sanghun’s forehead back down.

Though bewildered, he followed my instructions.

“You weren’t hit from behind, were you?”

“That couldn’t have happened. I remember dropping off Seoyoung and… parking for sure. I must have fallen asleep in the car because I was so tired. Did you come looking for me because I didn’t come up?”

“You weren’t lying in the car, but on the floor! We thought you were dead!”

Having accepted that Hwang Sanghun was completely fine, Hwang Seoyoung slapped her cousin’s arm. He took the hit but still seemed unable to grasp the situation.

“Didn’t you two lay me down?”

“How could we have the strength to do that!”

“Is there any pain anywhere now? Even if it was just fainting, you could have hit your head when you fell.”

Hwang Sanghun felt around his head and body while still lying down.

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you have any history of claustrophobia or panic attacks?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then maybe it was hypoglycemic shock or vasovagal syncope.”

Hwang Seoyoung gasped at the word “panic,” but Hwang Sanghun denied it outright.

“I think I just fell asleep. I’ve been really tired from work lately. …I’m sorry for causing a commotion. You both must have been very surprised.”

Seeming quite apologetic, Hwang Sanghun turned his face away from where I was crouching. Judging by the color returning to his face, he seemed fine now at least.

“What on earth are they making you do at the university hospital?”

“Haha. That’s just how it is for interns, you know.”

“I’m an intern too, you know!”

It had been about 5 minutes since he regained consciousness. I checked my watch and said to them.

“We should probably head up soon, but oppa, why don’t you lie down in the car? We’ll explain the situation.”

“No, I’m completely fine now. I should properly congratulate my sunbae.”

There are no serious signs, so it should be okay.

As soon as I nodded, Hwang Sanghun sprang up.

“Whoa.”

As a bonus, he stumbled and lost his footing in the process of getting up.

I immediately grabbed Hwang Sanghun’s arm.

“Thanks.”

After looking like a crime victim, Hwang Sanghun turned his head away again, seemingly embarrassed about something.

That guilty expression somehow reminded me… Right, it was like a patient who secretly drank alcohol after I had barely saved them from a perforated stomach.

But Hwang Sanghun hadn’t been stabbed.

I had only shouted to wake him up and wasn’t his attending physician.

I had no obligation or right to forcibly keep him at absolute rest, even if it meant knocking him out again.

If he says he’s fine, I have to believe him.

Hwang Sanghun walked normally up to the wedding hall.

◆◇◆◇◆

Inevitably, I couldn’t help but keep an eye on the person who had just collapsed earlier. Throughout the main ceremony, I was so conscious of Hwang Sanghun that I couldn’t focus on the wedding at all.

Before I knew it, the ceremony had ended, and I found myself at the buffet.

Since one table was large enough for all our classmates to sit together, I took the seat next to Hwang Sanghun.

“Oppa, it’s insomnia, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

I asked directly what I had been wondering all along.

He stared at his plate with sunken eyes, barely lifting his heavy eyelids as if lifting a thousand-pound weight, and gave an answer that hardly qualified as one.

“I’ve been told I’ve aged since opening my clinic, but oppa, you look much worse.”

“Hey, we said she has a certain aura! Who said she aged!”

Hwang Seoyoung protested, but I waited for Hwang Sanghun’s answer.

“…I guess, with the schedule, I can’t sleep properly.”

“Seoyoung and even today’s bride did their internship at the same hospital, but your dark circles have reached a whole new level.”

“Huh?”

He hurriedly covered under his eyes, but it was too late. I lowered my voice and asked seriously.

“It’s at a pathological level, isn’t it?”

“Actually… yeah.”

The nearly dead corpse scratched his head.

This is really pricking my conscience to just leave it be. At this rate, he’ll quickly use up the energy I infused when waking him earlier and turn back into a zombie.

‘I want to prescribe something, but is it awkward between fellow Korean medicine doctors?’

But Hwang Sanghun and I weren’t in a master-disciple relationship. It’s taboo to hurt another doctor’s pride in a situation where they haven’t asked.

But fainting from insomnia and sleep deprivation? Shouldn’t I treat him to prevent potential accidents from drowsy driving? I was at a loss for how to bring it up.

Oh well, it’s his loss if he refuses!

“How can a Korean medicine doctor neglect their body like this? We’re all trying to make a living, but you need to eat properly and get proper sleep!”

I flicked Hwang Sanghun’s forehead while exaggerating a bit. I planned to ride that momentum to advise him on various medicines he should take.

“Haha”

Thinking it was just ordinary nagging, Hwang Sanghun laughed with a gentle smile.

But in that moment, a spark flashed before his eyes.

“…?”

It was similar to when he got up in the parking lot earlier.

Hwang Sanghun swayed while sitting.

Then he collapsed sideways.

Huh?

“…Sanghun oppa?”

I hurriedly cradled his head.

Hwang Seoyoung shook Hwang Sanghun’s shoulder.

Hello? Hwang Sanghun-ssi?

Come on, let’s pull ourselves together. I only put a tiny, very tiny bit of force into it.

I had no intention of making him faint again, you know?

“I-I didn’t hit him that hard?! Stop joking around and get up.”

What is this situation?

Hwang Sanghun, of all people, wouldn’t have prepared some kind of physical gag.

But there’s no way he actually fainted from my forehead flick in front of all these people, right?

Ah, it can’t be, right?