The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

“Ah, that’s the article!”

Hyun Ju-mi exclaimed, looking at my monitor.

Clicking on it confirmed that the author was indeed Park Young-gil, as expected.

“……”

There wasn’t much new content, so I could skim through it quickly while scrolling.

It was a story about how he felt the limitations of modern medicine due to his mother’s illness, then met me and found salvation.

‘…Was he that moved?’

Enough to write a contributed article?

My face flushed at the abundant praise evident even at a glance.

Of course, in the comments, people presumed to be doctors were hurling insults.

And those presumed to be Korean medicine doctors were high on the greatness of herbal medicine.

No wonder my blog views have been increasing lately; it was because of Park Young-gil.

I felt a bit sorry for only scolding him about contacting me by phone.

Well, that aside.

“It’s not a one-to-one match of which herbs are good for which symptoms. If panic disorder could be cured that easily, why would doctors be needed?”

“Ahaha, that’s true!”

For now, I had to deal with Hyun Ju-mi in front of me.

I lightly admonished her for arbitrarily brewing and drinking Chijasi-tang.

As for others who might try to follow the article… other Korean medicine doctors were busy giving advice in the comments, so it should be fine to leave it be.

“Since you’ve come all the way to Busan, I’ll do my best to treat you. From now on, please don’t take medicine arbitrarily and follow instructions well.”

“Okay! Thank you!”

The important thing was to thoroughly treat the patient who came to see me.

I turned off the internet, opened the chart, and began the consultation.

“How long has it been since you were diagnosed with panic disorder?”

“Two months!”

“Did you go to psychiatry right after the first breathlessness symptom appeared?”

“It was probably after the second time. The first attack was about two weeks before that? I brushed it off then, but the second time it happened in front of my mother, you know? She made a fuss, telling me to go to the hospital immediately.”

“And you were fine after taking medicine?”

“I still had occasional attacks, but they would subside quickly after taking the medicine. I was fine except for the moments of the attacks. My usual state only worsened after taking the diet pills.”

I quickly jotted down the information.

Symptoms appeared two and a half months ago, started taking panic disorder medication two months ago, and worsened a week ago after taking diet pills.

“What’s the nature of your symptoms? Is it just shortness of breath?”

“Suddenly I can’t breathe and my heart starts pounding! It’s like a feeling of, ‘Am I going to die~?’ My vision sways and I lose balance, but if I sit down and take some deep breaths, it gets better!”

Hyun Ju-mi explained her symptoms with a bright smile.

“And you had no similar symptoms before two and a half months ago?”

“No, none at all. I have a bright personality, so I don’t really get stressed. I don’t know why this happened this time!”

She pouted and poked her cheek with her finger.

It was a gesture indicating she really didn’t know, but it was an action ingrained with aegyo.

“Even if it’s not shortness of breath, have you had any symptoms like headaches, dizziness, insomnia, indigestion, or diarrhea when you feel unwell?”

“I always have indigestion. And I get headaches when I’m a bit tired!”

“Let’s have you lie down here.”

I had Hyun Ju-mi lie on the bed and held her wrist.

I checked her condition while simultaneously performing pulse and abdominal diagnosis.

As expected, her pulse was very unstable, and her abdomen was seriously hard. Of course, not from muscle development, but from severe induration.

“Your digestive system isn’t moving at all? You’re not having indigestion right now, are you?”

“Ah, I’m always a bit bloated! I get indigestion often too!”

“About how often?”

“Indigestion? About… five times a week?”

This is driving me crazy.

To say she was fine because of her bright personality with this body condition.

“I’m going to palpate the middle of your chest.”

I pressed the Tanzhong acupoint located on the sternum between the nipples.

“Ow!”

Hyun Ju-mi screamed.

“Why, why does it hurt so much? You pressed hard, right?”

“I barely touched it.”

I lightly pressed her arm. It was really just a touch.

“I’ll feel it once more.”

Touching more carefully, I felt something like a thick pencil along the Ren meridian.

“Ugh, ah! This, this isn’t good, is it?”

“It’s both a treatment point and a diagnostic point for fire illness. Your condition is very, extremely severe.”

“I have fire illness?!”

Hyun Ju-mi shook her head, saying it was nonsense.

I sat her up and firmly pressed her trapezius muscle.

“Aaaagh!”

“Your physical tension is also extremely high.”

“Ugh, ah…”

“In this state, you’ll probably have constipation, and you’ll hardly sweat. Are your appetite and sleep really okay?”

“Well… Since I always manage my weight, isn’t it good to have no appetite? I do have constipation! And I don’t sweat. Wow, how did you know?”

Hyun Ju-mi was still smiling brightly, amazed.

Where should I start explaining?

I returned to the desk and pulled out a tongue depressor.

“Ju-mi.”

“Yes~”

“You think you don’t get stressed, but in reality, that’s not the case.”

“Eh…?”

How could a person exist who doesn’t get stressed and is just bright all the time?

“You’re denying it as if nothing happened, and avoiding it by saying it’s no big deal. By doing that, difficult emotions might not consciously surface.”

“Yes.”

“But they all remain in your subconscious. What you’ve been avoiding and ignoring has piled up and manifested as physical symptoms. The tension here, the indigestion, the headaches, the shortness of breath.”

“Ah…”

As I set a serious tone, Hyun Ju-mi’s eyes wavered.

At first, she tried to deny it, but as she fiddled with the spot I had pointed out as the fire illness diagnostic point, she nodded.

No matter how you look at it, being in this much pain was problematic. Moreover, panic symptoms had actually appeared.

Her constantly smiling expression stiffened slightly.

“How could it not be hard? Seeing people in the world who are obsessed with tearing apart my appearance and personality.”

“Haha, it’s because I’m a celebrity. It’s natural to have anti-fans.”

Hyun Ju-mi forced a smile, but it was different from her picture-perfect smile just moments ago.

“Why is that natural? It’s normal to get angry when you’re insulted, to want to ask how great those keyboard warriors are, to want to beat them up thoroughly.”

“Ahaha.”

“Or it might be a natural reaction to feel intimidated while being angry? Feeling wronged about why they hate you so much, sometimes getting sad, wondering if you can do well? Worrying about the future too.”

“……”

“How can you be calm when you suddenly can’t breathe? It’s natural to be scared.”

“Ah.”

“That’s not strange at all.”

Hyun Ju-mi blinked a few times.

Her picture-perfect features trembled and crumbled.

Finally, a single tear streamed down Hyun Ju-mi’s face.

“Sniff…”

But she didn’t burst into tears.

She quickly opened her eyes wide and turned her head diagonally.

Was it a habit from acting? Or did she not want to show an unsightly appearance?

“If you suddenly accept your emotions, it might be harder than before.”

I didn’t force her to express her emotions immediately. Instead, I handed her a tissue and patted her shoulder.

“Take slow, deep breaths.”

“…Okay, phew…”

Hyun Ju-mi stabilized her breathing as I instructed.

Her crying had already stopped, and the rising pain gradually subsided.

“Are you feeling a bit better now?”

“Yes. Sigh, I’m sorry. I surprised you by suddenly crying, didn’t I?”

She soon smiled again.

What would I have to be surprised about? Hyun Ju-mi, who suddenly faced her emotions, must have been much more surprised.

“You’re right, Doctor. I didn’t realize it myself, but it seems you saw right through me. I… I guess I was actually having a hard time.”

I nodded.

You’ve been through a lot, you’ve endured well, I offered a few words of comfort.

Even at those cliché words, her shoulders occasionally shook.

“Your body is overloaded to the extent that your mind has turned away. Imagine a computer running too many games, no, programs that it can’t handle.”

“It must be on the verge of crashing, right?”

“That’s right. In fact, it’s been sending signals constantly, but you’ve been ignoring them, and now even breathing has become difficult.”

“Haha… I messed up, didn’t I?”

It was different from earlier when she was forcibly raising her tension.

Understanding my analogy, Hyun Ju-mi calmly acknowledged her mistake.

“We’ll treat you in a way that calms down the overload, that is, the sympathetic nervous system overexcitation. We’re going to cool down your tense body.”

“Ah, I see.”

“But we can’t run a new program on top of this, can we? You need to practice dealing with emotions separately.”

“Practice dealing with emotions?”

“Psychological therapy. Proper defense mechanisms for dealing with stress need to be established to release the additional load on your body.”

“Ah.”

Hyun Ju-mi’s eyes widened.

She said she had been recommended psychological therapy before.

“Mom mentioned it a few times, and the agency has been offering to introduce me to someone for years. I kept saying I was fine… If I had been careful from then, would I have not ended up like this?”

“Maybe not.”

“Oh dear, I was so foolish.”

Hyun Ju-mi scratched her head, blaming herself.

“Accepting your emotions as they are doesn’t mean drowning in regret. You just need to do what you can from now on.”

“You’re right. I should look into counseling as soon as I get back to Seoul.”

I had obtained all the information needed for herbal prescription and convinced her of the need for psychological therapy.

Thinking the consultation was over, Hyun Ju-mi tried to get up.

“Wait.”

“Oh, is there more?”

Of course.

Medicine and counseling are important, but don’t I have an equally powerful weapon?

“We need to do acupuncture. After acupuncture and bloodletting around the chest area, your current discomfort should ease to some extent. You’ll sleep deeply tonight too.”

If I focus a little, I can clearly sense the tangled energy.

It would resolve with medicine too, but there was no reason to delay what could be solved immediately.

“I’ll do acupuncture first.”

I informed the reception desk that we’d change the order with physical therapy, then had her lie on the bed.

Usually, I would have loosened shoulder muscles with physical therapy first, but today was an exception.

“Will I feel better right away after acupuncture?”

Hyun Ju-mi asked, her eyes shining.

“The immediate discomfort should improve.”

“Wow, I heard from Se-sun-unni that you’re incredibly skilled at acupuncture!”

From Park Se-sun? What could have elicited such a dramatic response from a diet patient… Ah, I see. Constipation.

I nodded.

“Is this your first time getting acupuncture?”

“Yes!”

And confidently picking up the needle.

I performed oblique insertion at Tanzhong, the area where energy was hopelessly tangled.

Whoosh!

The cool energy carried by the needle pierced through Hyun Ju-mi’s chest.