The Same Spot
Gyeong-woo stared at the man standing before the open door.
"Did you tell this patient not to take the medicine I prescribed?"
A white gown.
A youthful, fresh-faced impression.
And an expression of pure, unadulterated rage.
'Ah, the public health doctor from Baejae-ri.'
"So what if I did?"
"By whose authority are you telling a patient to stop taking medicine prescribed by another doctor?"
He seemed to be under some kind of misunderstanding. If he had approached with a slightly less agitated demeanor to ask why the prescription had been changed, Gyeong-woo would have been willing to explain, but...
'I feel for the little chick, but I’m not the type to back down from a fight that walks right up to my doorstep.'
Gyeong-woo crossed his arms and retorted.
"I told her not to take it because that medicine won't work."
"You don't even know why I prescribed it in the first place—"
"What makes you think I don't know?"
"Because I’ve been watching Grandma Kim Geum-rye for over half a year! I’ve monitored her physical condition and the progression of her illness for a long time, and I prescribed it after discovering dangerous signs. It’s not something you can grasp just by taking a quick look while passing by—"
"Isn't that arrogance? Assuming that because you didn't see it at first glance, no one else could either. You’ve only just received your license; surely you don't think everything you know is the sum total of the world?"
Gong Chayoung’s face turned beet red.
"Are you looking down on me because I’m a public health doctor?"
What was most frustrating was that, before he knew it, the village head of Yongdeok-ri peeking from behind him, the nursing assistant from this clinic, and even Grandma Kim Geum-rye—whose wrist he was still holding—were all watching him with expressions of pity.
'Do you think seniority is the only measure of skill? Depending on how you slice up your time, the amount of experience you gain can be worlds apart!'
Gong Chayoung had graduated at the top of his class from Gyeong-hyun University. Furthermore, having set his sights on clinical practice early on, he had sought permission from local clinics every vacation to observe, and he had practiced what he learned without rest. The directors of the clinics he visited had already recognized his potential, even offering him positions as an associate doctor as soon as he graduated.
Looking at this doctor, who appeared to be in his mid-thirties and likely opened a clinic in this remote countryside because no one else would hire him, the quality of their experience must be vastly different...!
"I graduated at the top of my class at Gyeong-hyun University. I’ve studied as much as anyone, and I’m telling you, this prescription was made after six months of close observation of this patient!"
'Gyeong-hyun University...?'
At those words, the smile on Gyeong-woo’s lips grew even more crooked.
'His passion for the patient is commendable, but he’s still a frog in a well. Since he’s a junior alumnus, I can’t just leave him be as a senior.'
"Then go ahead and treat this grandmother. Show me you’ve really studied as much as you claim. If I see that you’re better than me, I’ll admit my prescription was wrong."
Gong Chayoung shot back.
"Fine, let’s do that! As long as you don't intentionally try to belittle me."
He regretted saying it the moment the words left his mouth.
'Sigh... why did I let myself get dragged into this.'
Standing in front of Grandma Kim Geum-rye, who was lying on the treatment bed, Gong Chayoung let out a sigh. It wasn't that he lacked confidence, but he was frustrated that he had come to argue, only for the tables to turn and find himself being the one tested.
Moreover,
"Director, you haven't had lunch yet, right? I brought some pork bone stew from the senior center."
For some reason, spectators were gathering. In truth, Village Head Park Chunsik had secretly sent a text to his wife saying there was a good show to watch, and she had arrived at the clinic with several seniors from the center, using the excuse of delivering lunch.
"What’s going on here?"
"You know, this is what the kids these days call a 'clash of the titans,' right?"
"What’s that? Is it some kind of idiom?"
As Park Chunsik seized the opportunity to show off the knowledge he’d accumulated from YouTube, Gong Chayoung’s face burned even hotter.
'Sigh... I shouldn't have done this. Should I have just told him my diagnosis and prescription?'
He had intended to do that at first. But because Gyeong-woo kept poking at him, asking how he could be so sure he didn't know, he hadn't wanted to say anything more. He had expected that if he mentioned he was a top graduate of Gyeong-hyun University and that the prescription was based on six months of observation, the other doctor would get nervous and ask if there was something he had missed...
'Since it’s come to this, I have no choice but to show him my skills.'
He only regretted it because it was a bit embarrassing, but Chayoung was confident in his abilities.
He asked Grandma Geum-rye, who was lying down.
"Grandma, where does it hurt the most today?"
"My fingers won't bend."
Rigidity and tremors in both hands. These were classic symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Gong Chayoung began to loosen the muscles between her fingers one by one.
'MPS, huh...'
Gyeong-woo watched the treatment closely. MPS (Myofascial Pain Syndrome) was an acupuncture technique gaining popularity among young oriental medicine students, targeting muscle trigger points rather than traditional acupoints.
"Oh, that young doctor knows how to place needles, too."
"Maybe I should have gone to the public health center, too? The previous doctor was so insincere."
Gong Chayoung had been assigned to Baejae-ri six months ago. However, since Gyeong-woo’s clinic had opened in Yongdeok-ri ten months ago, the villagers had no reason to go to the new public health center for acupuncture. Only Village Head Park Chunsik had become familiar with him through official business.
"Grandma, try bending your hands."
"Uh-huh..."
MPS involves removing the needle immediately after stimulating the trigger point. When Gong Chayoung asked her to, Grandma Geum-rye clenched both her hands.
"Oh my...!"
"Before, they were so stiff I could only bend them halfway, but now I can bend them even more!"
Gong Chayoung puffed out his chest.
'But the more important treatment is yet to come. Once he sees this, he’ll realize his mistake. Unless he’s completely forgotten everything because he stopped studying.'
While the Parkinson’s symptoms were what bothered the patient more, what concerned him more as a doctor was the risk of a stroke. 'If she has an underlying condition and a stroke is added on top, the daily life she manages now will become impossible.'
He carefully located the acupoints and began the needling. The crown of the head. The back of the neck. The elbow crease. Between the thumb and index finger. The upper and lower shins. And between the big toe and the second toe.
But even until he placed the needle in the final acupoint, Gyeong-woo showed no sign of having realized what he was intending. 'Don't tell me... did he even forget the seven points for stroke treatment?'
However, after he finished the needling, Grandma Geum-rye opened her mouth.
"It’s like you two planned it, placing the needles in the exact same spots."
'What...?'
Gong Chayoung turned around in surprise. He couldn't read a single thing from the expressionless face of the director, who was still standing with his arms crossed, staring at the needles he had placed.
'Wait!'
What he had said earlier.
-What makes you think I don't know?
Did he... really know?
But he had clearly told her to take his medicine, not the one he had given her, the very first day they met. How could he have known that from the start...?
The other man remained silent. Feeling anxious, Gong Chayoung decided to ask first.
"By any chance... did you know this grandmother had premonitory symptoms of a stroke?"
"I did."
"...May I ask how you discovered it?"
If he had discovered it through some supernatural power granted by the Gamshin-tongmaek-rok, Gyeong-woo wouldn't have had much to say, but this was a stage that any doctor with rich clinical experience and careful observation could have detected.
"She collapsed that morning."
"She lost consciousness?!"
"Not that. She just said she fell."
"Falling is also a symptom of Parkinson’s—"
"I felt a 'rough pulse' (sap-maek), so I asked her how she fell. She said she fell because the strength went out of only one side of her body. If it were due to Parkinson’s, it would have been bilateral."
Sap-maek. A pulse that serves as an indicator of blood stasis in the 28 pulse types, feeling rough like sand rather than smooth. It was a difficult pulse to distinguish, and he hadn't been able to feel it himself...
"...Did you suspect it just from the sap-maek?"
"Of course not. Since she’s a Parkinson’s patient in that age group, I took a medical history with the risk of a stroke as a basic premise."
At those words, Gong Chayoung finally realized how arrogant he had been.
'Did I just assume that directors seeing chronic pain in neighborhood clinics wouldn't think with this kind of academic rigor...'
His face flushed. He endured the shame and asked.
"Then the herbal medicine you gave her..."
"Hwalhyeol-tongrak-tang. The chief herb is Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza)."
He didn't know the exact prescription, but he knew what it was just by hearing the name. It was medicine used to prevent a stroke.
"......"
"Banha-baekchul-cheonma-tang wasn't bad either. Among insurance-covered herbal medicines, that was probably the only prescription that could promote blood circulation toward the brain."
"Yes."
"But the grandmother’s condition wasn't at a level that could be controlled by insurance medicine. In cases like this, Danshen must be included."
"Danshen..."
It was the very medicinal herb that Gyeong-woo had painstakingly infused with his energy just a few days ago. Grandma Geum-rye had improved significantly after taking the Hwalhyeol-tongrak-tang containing it and undergoing intensive acupuncture treatment for several days.
Gyeong-woo looked at his completely deflated junior. In truth, although he had accepted the fight because it was brought to him, he actually found Gong Chayoung quite commendable.
'I, too, had a time when I got chewed out by a professor after rushing in to ask why they were treating a patient that way.'
But rushing in was only possible if one had confidence and passion. At his age, possessing the insight to detect premonitory symptoms of a stroke and taking the best possible measures, along with the sense of responsibility to visit the patient and check her condition even when he wasn't being paid for it—these were not things one saw every day.
"There are a few relevant papers; shall I send them to you?"
"Ah... yes, thank you!"
"Then leave your contact information later."
Gyeong-woo approached the grandmother and said, "For a public health doctor, your diagnosis and treatment weren't bad, but your acupuncture is..."
Gyeong-woo’s sharp gaze was directed at the needles Gong Chayoung had placed. Chayoung’s heart sank.
"Why, what’s wrong with the needles..."
Gyeong-woo silently sanitized his hands. He grabbed the needle stuck in the Baihui point at the center of the crown, pulled it back slightly, adjusted the angle, and pushed it back in.
*Swoosh.*
And then, he performed the rotation technique.
"Oh, Director, your needles are tingling today, too."
He pulled out the needle placed in the Fengchi point entirely and picked up a new one. In Gyeong-woo’s fluid movements—supporting the neck with his left hand and inserting the needle with his right—Gong Chayoung felt the deep scent of a master.
'Why is someone like that in a countryside like this...'
He could feel it just by watching. The tension that made even him hold his breath when Gyeong-woo focused his maximum concentration while staring at the acupoint just before inserting the needle. The sensation of 'the right answer' felt when the needle found its place as if it were being sucked in. And the patient’s immediate reaction told him the vast difference in their levels.
In that way, Gyeong-woo adjusted some of the needles and replaced others entirely.
"My eyes have cleared up again today."
Seeing Grandma Geum-rye looking as happy as a young girl, he bowed his head.
'Who am I to... how much do I really know...'
What weighed on Gong Chayoung’s heart was not a sense of defeat. If Gyeong-woo was right, it meant that his own treatment could not have stopped a stroke attack... If that teacher hadn't intervened, Grandma Geum-rye might never have been able to smile like that again. He couldn't lift his head due to that guilt.
Gyeong-woo glanced at him. 'He’s really quite something...'
He was a kid with potential. He had only crushed his spirit to teach him not to be arrogant; in fact, his acupuncture hadn't been bad at all. It was just that Gyeong-woo’s own standards were too high.
Gyeong-woo finally inserted needles into the Laogong and Yanglingquan points.
"Oh my..."
The grandmother let out a soft groan. But immediately after,
"Try clenching your hand."
Now, she could clench her fist completely.
"...!"
Seeing that, Gong Chayoung was shocked once again, and the Yongdeok-ri residents watching from behind burst into exclamations of "Ohhh-!"
And 15 minutes later.
"The Director is a great doctor, but you’re very good too, Teacher."
"That’s right. Even in Baejae-ri, there are many people who say there’s no need to go to town after you arrived~"
For some reason, there were boiled chestnuts in one of Gong Chayoung’s pockets and candy in the other! Having recovered some of the mentality that had been shredded by the doting of the grandfathers and grandmothers, he stood up abruptly when he saw Gyeong-woo coming back in.
Gyeong-woo, who had checked the grandmother’s condition one more time, said,
"Since you’ve improved quite a bit, it would be better if you came to the clinic if possible. The treatment environment here is better than at home."
Miyoung chimed in from the side.
"But if it’s Parkinson’s, you won't be able to drive, so will you be able to come alone?"
"That teacher will bring you."
Gyeong-woo pointed at Gong Chayoung. "Right?"
"Ah... yes!"
Chayoung realized that was his way of saying he would overlook his rudeness, so he stood up and answered.
A short while later, in the Director’s office. Chayoung knocked politely this time and entered.
"I was very rude today."
"Yes. Give me your contact info so I can send those papers."
"Ah, Teacher, would you mind if I contacted you first if I have your number?"
He asked, shamelessness aside, as Gyeong-woo’s acupuncture technique shimmered before his eyes. "I... if there’s something I don't know about a patient, may I ask you...?"
Would he think he was too brazen? He... probably would, of course. After acting like such a jerk earlier, to have the nerve to ask for such a favor! But it was too precious an opportunity to let pass. If he allowed it, it would be a chance to become a better clinician.
"Hmm, sure, go ahead."
"Th-thank you so much!!"
Chayoung, who had entered the number Gyeong-woo called out into his phone, asked for his name to save it.
"By any chance, may I ask your name..."
"It’s Hyun Gyeong-woo."
Hyun... Gyeong... woo.
As he typed it, Chayoung felt a sudden sense of vertigo.
'Wait, Hyun Gyeong-woo...?'
"By any chance... are you the senior Hyun Gyeong-woo from the class of '10 at Gyeong-hyun University?"