The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

[Evidence of Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic’s Defamation of Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic.jpg]

The post simply listed facts, but people easily deduced the entire situation.

└ [Wow… How can they do such a vile thing to a fellow business in the same industry?]

└ [This is too much! We knew there were many viral posts in our cafe, but this level of bashing another clinic is excessive!]

└ [Oh my, they’re accusing Seongsu of forcing Chuna when it’s actually them doing it? I went there when I strained my back and it got worse!]

└ [That’s right. Come to think of it, I received treatment there for a week with no effect, then switched to Seongsu and got better after just two sessions!]

└ [Isn’t that because of the accumulated treatment from before?]

└ [Yeah, sure, Lee Han-sol]

└ [Dr. Lee Han-sol, what are you doing here? No matter how few patients you have, you shouldn’t be doing this in a mom cafe~.]

The reactions were intense.

The post was flooded with negative experiences from Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic, updated by the minute. Whenever someone tried to defend them, they were immediately accused of being Lee Han-sol.

Moreover, people started creating new posts to criticize Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic.

No, for every post praising Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic, there were ten criticizing Haneul.

“We agreed not to go negative!”

Less than three hours after the post went up, Lee Han-sol called Chu Mi-young, but…

“What? What are you talking about? I know nothing about this!”

Chu Mi-young flatly denied any involvement.

How is this negative? It’s just preserving what actually happened.

A few days later.

I received another screenshot from Blue Wind Prince, another gaming acquaintance.

“…It’s spread this far?”

Apparently, the names of Seongsu and Haneul Korean Medicine Clinics were being mentioned even in gaming communities.

Not only did the incident spread faster than I imagined, but the post had much more detail than what Yoon Han-byeol had posted on the local cafe days ago.

Those who more thoroughly investigated the four people’s names and twelve IDs had unearthed everything the couple had written on various local cafes, communities, and NewTube.

In a way, it’s not surprising, but this wasn’t the first time the couple had caused trouble.

Of course, how could they suddenly create something like the Solomon’s seal tea villain?!

As it turns out, there was another Korean medicine clinic in the opposite alley until two years ago, but it closed down after facing similar territorial bullying. Moreover, there were screenshots showing negative mentions of four other nearby Korean medicine clinics.

But the most striking thing was… the YouTube comment insulting Hyun Ju-mi the very next day after she tagged Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic on Instagram.

[The Trail of a Certain Daegu Korean Medicine Clinic Director.jpg(photo)(photo)(photo)]

└ [LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL]

└ [Oh man, they really screwed up this time lololololol]

└ [No matter what, how can a doctor leave hate comments on someone who said they got panic disorder from hate comments? This is truly shocking.]

└└ [IKR lol]

└ [FFS, Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic always preaches about dieting as soon as you walk in lololololololol]

└ [Damn, I’m getting PTSD. Thought it was the chicken place across the street]

└└ [Even chicken places don’t go this far, do they?]

└└└ [Don’t even mention it FFS. They left those comments everywhere – receipt reviews, map apps, delivery apps – I thought I was going crazy]

The word choices in the gaming community were much harsher than the local mom cafe.

[My goodness, do they really engage in such extreme territorial behavior? I never imagined it could be this bad]

[Can’t the association do something to regulate this kind of behavior?]

[They’re bringing shame to all Korean medicine doctors. Which school and class are they from?]

[Is Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic not responding at all? They should at least release a statement.]

[Lololol This person was the model student who would gather everyone for group projects and then secretly hide in the bathroom to study for exams^^ I see you’re still working hard these days]

Even anecdotes from school days were circulating in the Korean medicine doctor community.

Just how far had this post spread?

With the attention from Hyun Ju-mi’s mention, the revelation of their excessive territorial behavior in full detail, and the sympathy from small business owners who had suffered similar damages, it even sparked national outrage.

Receiving criticism from completely unrelated places, the image of the Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic network plummeted to rock bottom in an instant.

◆◇◆◇◆

Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic, Daegu branch.

While the eye of a storm is typically calm, this place was filled with someone’s desperate voice.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a patient yearning for treatment.

There wasn’t a single patient in the treatment room, and at the front desk, a reporter demanding an interview was facing off with an employee who wanted him to leave.

“Is Dr. Lee Han-sol not here? Could you spare just 5 minutes for an interview? I promise I won’t write anything negative!”

“I’m sorry, but he’s busy with consultations.”

“It will really only take a moment…”

“I’m sorry, but please leave!”

Forced to listen to this from the consultation room, Lee Han-sol felt his mental strength draining by the second.

How on earth did things end up like this?

His wrongdoings weren’t even that significant.

After all, wasn’t it Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic that rudely opened a branch right next door first?

Seeing how all the Chuna patients had moved there, they must have been badmouthing his clinic too.

So he just gave a warning and did the same thing online, that’s all.

‘Am I really getting this much hate? What did I do so wrong!’

As soon as netizens found something to latch onto, they viciously tore into him.

He felt extremely wronged.

Even on the Korean medicine doctor community he frequently visited, he was being criticized for leaving hate comments on Hyun Ju-mi as a medical professional, when all he said was that he couldn’t stand the sight of her. It wasn’t even enough to warrant a lawsuit.

Local cafe promotions? He might have gone a bit overboard compared to others, but was it really enough to warrant this level of personal information exposure?

He had only made a few mistakes, but his patient numbers had dropped to less than 1/10.

Patients who frequently use the internet must have all read that post, and even elderly patients who weren’t as familiar seemed to have heard rumors from somewhere.

‘It’s over. It’s completely over!’

He had already recklessly ordered Gyeongokgo, pain relief patches, and frying pans for the event.

He had planned to cover the costs with the revenue after driving out Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic… but at this rate, there was no hope of winning.

No, even without the bet, it would be impossible to maintain the clinic with the current number of patients.

‘How, how can I find a way to recover…!’

As he was racking his brain for a solution, pulling at his hair…

“Dr. Lee Han-sol, are you at the clinic now?”

He received a call from Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic’s PR director.

“Ah, yes! I’m here!”

Hearing the stern male voice, Lee Han-sol’s eyes lit up.

That’s right, this wasn’t just his problem anymore, but an issue for the entire Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic.

Come to think of it, of course there would be some gesture from the PR department.

“Are you perhaps proceeding with a lawsuit? I’ll cooperate fully!”

“A lawsuit, well…”

But the director’s response was ambiguous.

He hesitated without saying yes or no, then brought up something unexpected.

“First, you should talk with the CEO. Dr. Choi Eunhee will arrive in Daegu soon.”

As soon as he finished speaking, someone entered the clinic.

Although he couldn’t see who it was from inside the consultation room, he instinctively felt a chill run down his spine.

“Dr. Choi Eunhee came in person?”

Lee Han-sol jumped up and opened the consultation room door.

◆◇◆◇◆

The agreed-upon month flew by in the blink of an eye as we were swamped with patients.

As soon as lunchtime hit on the 1st, I barged into Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic with Chu Mi-young. There was no other suitable time to meet Lee Han-sol.

“Oh, you must be Dr. Han Yeowon and Dr. Chu Mi-young? Would an interview be possible? Are you planning to sue Lee Han-sol for writing malicious defamatory posts…”

As we entered Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic, a reporter was lingering around.

Chu Mi-young’s face was often shown on Instagram, and Se-sun Park had posted a photo with me, so he seemed to recognize us both.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t comment on the details.”

I sent the reporter away.

To be honest, even the fact that two clinics were competing over revenue wasn’t exactly noble behavior to be broadcasting.

“I… I understand.”

The reporter, seemingly intimidated by my demeanor, quietly retreated.

When we went inside the clinic, Lee Han-sol and his two Deputy Directors were standing in front of their respective consultation room doors.

‘Why does that guy look so scared?’

Although his actions before and after the bet were quite petty, he had initially come to Chu Mi-young directly and acted rudely. He shouldn’t be this weak-willed.

Step.

He flinched every time I took a step closer.

“Dr. Lee Han-sol.”

“…Who?”

“I’m Han Yeowon, the chief director of Seongsu Korean Medicine Clinic’s Busan branch.”

“…Ah.”

Upon my introduction, he finally snapped to attention.

Putting on an expression that said ‘I’m laughing at you’.

“Well, well. We’ve been working right next to each other and haven’t even greeted properly.”

He was offering a handshake. I grasped his hand without much thought.

But then, as if he was trying to engage in a show of strength, he suddenly squeezed my hand tightly.

To resort to a display of physical strength when backed into a corner.

For someone like me who could break his hand bones if I wanted to, it was simply pathetic.

Of course, I had many ways to beat him besides strength, and I had already done so.

I just briefly squeezed his hand with the same intensity, then let go.

“It’s been a month, so I came to check. We need to see who won based on last month’s revenue, right?”

I handed him the monthly settlement statement I had printed in advance.

“Or should we log into the chart and show you? Let’s check your side first.”

Even considering that Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic’s revenue had only recently plummeted, we must have easily tripled their score.

We really, really had that many patients.

It was a figure that seemed impossible for a clinic-level establishment.

“Hah…”

As expected, Lee Han-sol couldn’t bring himself to reveal his revenue.

“Can you say you won fairly using such underhanded methods? I can’t accept this!”

Underhanded methods, he says. Who used such things? Surely not the exposé? That was his own doing.

The celebrity was certainly a deus ex machina, but… so what?

Blame your lack of preparation for not having an ace up your sleeve.

“Is this about skill? Well, instead of wasting time writing strange posts and giving out medicine through lotteries, you should have built better connections.”

I smirked while fiddling with the large roulette wheel placed in a corner of the clinic.

I could also see frying pans stacked behind the desk.

Tsk tsk, looks like they’ll be stuck with all that inventory.

“How can a network’s chief director see patients directly and bring patients from other branches? Besides, Dr. Chu Mi-young originally came from Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic, right? How can you act so righteous after poaching her and opening a clinic right next to ours, which goes against business ethics!”

What is he saying now?

“Dr. Lee Han-sol, you’re being pathetic. You readily accepted, no, even counter-proposed the bet when you thought you’d win, and now that the results are out, you’re trying to back out?”

Chu Mi-young, who had been standing behind me, stepped forward.

“How dare you talk about business ethics? Just follow the law! Do you want to take this all the way to court for business interference? If you’re jealous of our director, why don’t you summon Dr. Choi Eunhee too!”

She was very confident, with me behind her.

She was absolutely right.

To talk about business ethics after summoning the Solomon’s seal tea villain is too much.

My coming here is like saying, if you’re upset, call your boss too. If Dr. Choi Eunhee were here, it might have been worth a try…

“Were you looking for me?”

Just then, the clinic door opened.

It wasn’t a patient. It wasn’t the reporter from earlier.

“Gulp.”

It was really Choi Eunhee.

…They say even tigers come when you speak of them, but I guess she’s no gentleman either?

Lee Han-sol was so surprised by her appearance that he snapped to attention.

The two Deputy Directors, who had remained silent during Lee Han-sol and my argument, also awkwardly put their hands together and bowed.

Those guys, should I feel sorry for them for having the wrong chief director? They must be at least in their mid-20s, but judging by how they participated in defaming another clinic, perhaps they lack proper judgment.

“Hah… Hello.”

Seemingly overwhelmed by her imposing presence, Chu Mi-young reflexively bowed as soon as she saw Choi Eunhee.

She seemed to recognize her, having run a Haneul Korean Medicine Clinic branch before. Although she had managed to terminate the contract without meeting face-to-face, it must have been awkward to see her again like this.

“Hello, Director. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

I greeted Choi Eunhee with a bright smile.

Unlike Lee Han-sol who had caused trouble, or Chu Mi-young who was uncomfortable due to the contract termination, I had nothing to be concerned about.

“Oh my, it’s Han Yeowon. Haneul’s classmate.”

Choi Eunhee, whose facial muscles hadn’t moved until now, smiled widely at me.

I felt a slight twinge in my stomach.

‘I never thought I’d meet her like this.’