Chapter 6: A New Treatment Method
As Baek Donghyuk entered the treatment room, he received the new patient's chart. A man in his mid-50s, Mr. Kim Cheolsu. Several months ago, he had suffered from the aftereffects of a traffic accident, complaining of chronic pain in his neck and shoulders. The chart also noted that he had visited multiple hospitals without any significant improvement. Baek Donghyuk found himself unconsciously tensing up. However, the anticipation of something different was even stronger.
“Hello, I'm Baek Donghyuk, a manual therapist. Which part is the most uncomfortable for you?”
“Please, don't say that. This place feels like a lump of stone. I can't even sleep properly at night, and without painkillers, I can't get through a day. Ah, other hospitals just told me to rest... I'm dying of frustration.”
Mr. Kim pointed alternately at his neck and shoulders with a deeply furrowed brow. His voice was filled with deep despair. Baek Donghyuk carefully examined the area around his neck. At that moment, faint red dots appeared. They were similar to what he had seen from Choi Yunjin, but the color was much lighter and the size smaller. It felt like they were barely glowing from deep within the skin.
This is also... a red dot? It's a bit different from what I saw on Yunjin's body...
Baek Donghyuk cautiously pressed the muscles around the red dot. It was hard and stiff, but he felt a sensation as if the fine flow of Qi was blocked inside. Suddenly, he recalled the force control he had learned from his study session with Choi Yunjin. Not excessive pleasure, but stimulation for pure therapeutic purposes.
“I’ll take a look. It might hurt a little, but I’ll be as gentle as possible.”
Baek Donghyuk sought the patient's permission and placed both hands near the area of the red dot on the back of his neck. Concentrating his consciousness, he sent only the tiniest bit of Qi from his fingertips, slowly beginning to loosen the knotted muscles. Like applying oil to a rusty machine, every time his hands passed, the hardened muscles gradually became more flexible. Instead of directly stimulating the red dot strongly, he focused on rubbing around it to make the Qi flow smooth.
How much time had passed? When Baek Donghyuk removed his hands, Mr. Kim slowly turned his neck. His stiff expression softened a little, and a faint surprise appeared in his eyes.
“Eh... eh? My neck... it moves a little?”
The patient carefully moved his neck and shoulders several times. Without complaining of the extreme pain like before, he looked much lighter. Perhaps because of the coolness felt from the back of his neck, the space between his eyebrows was slightly smoothed out.
“S-Sir...! It's really amazing. It's much more comfortable than before. It feels cool, like the blockage has been cleared a little. It's still uncomfortable, but I think it can really get better if I keep receiving treatment.”
Hopeful caution was in the patient's voice. Other patients and therapists in the treatment room looked over, wondering what was happening.
“Yes, if you manage it steadily, it should definitely improve. Let's wrap up today's session here, and I'll see you again next time.”
“Ah, thank you. Next time, I'll definitely make an appointment with your name.”
After the patient left the treatment room, Baek Donghyuk stared at his hands for a long time. This situation was hard to believe.
The red dots, and the fine control of Qi.
It was unbelievable that it could relieve the patient's pain to this extent. It was a clear therapeutic effect, different from the intense reaction he had felt from Choi Yunjin at first.
Just a short while after Mr. Kim left the treatment room with a satisfied expression, the head of the physical therapy team called Baek Donghyuk. Seeing his stiff expression, Baek Donghyuk unconsciously shrank his shoulders, wondering if he was about to receive another scolding. A few days ago, he still vividly remembered being harshly reprimanded because the patient satisfaction graph was lower than even the intern's.
“Please sit down.”
“...Yes.”
The team's office still had a cold atmosphere, but the documents on his desk were not crossed out with red lines like before. The team leader gestured for Baek Donghyuk to sit and stared at him silently for a moment. Baek Donghyuk became even more tense under that gaze.
“The treatment for Ms. Im Jihyun in the VIP room a few days ago. Since then, there have been no complaints or... well, no complaints of discomfort. Actually, I was a bit worried. You know her personality is quite demanding, right?”
“Y-Yes...”
“Oh, right. Mr. Kim Cheolsu, the patient who just left, came to me directly and praised you so much that I almost drooled.”
“Huh? Mr. Kim Cheolsu?”
Baek Donghyuk replied in surprise. He had thought that even if the patient was satisfied, he wouldn't go to the team leader to talk about it.
“He said that because of his neck and shoulder pain, he suffered for months, but after receiving your treatment today, it was the first time he felt so comfortable. Then he asked how long you've been working, and if you were a specially scouted talented person from another hospital... I was shocked.”
The team leader slid Baek Donghyuk's monthly evaluation report on the desk. There was still a dismal graph drawn on it.
“To be honest, Baek Donghyuk. Last time, I was a bit harsh in my words... but I was also disappointed. But seeing Mr. Kim's reaction today, I wonder if I misjudged you.”
“Ah, that's...”
“The patients' reactions too. If you had done this earlier, I wouldn't have had to scold you. Isn't that right?”
It was a teasing tone, but there was clear encouragement and expectation inside. It was a completely different attitude from the one in the meeting room a few days ago, where he had pushed Baek Donghyuk aside as if denying his existence.
“Please continue like this from now on. I have high expectations for you, Baek Donghyuk.”
“Yes... Understood, Team Leader. I'll work harder.”
Baek Donghyuk answered with a dazed expression. Even when leaving the office, he couldn't quite believe it. He never thought he'd hear such praise from the team leader. His heart was getting more and more excited.
After the interview, Baek Donghyuk entered the break room and put money into the vending machine. A warm canned coffee came out with a clinking sound. This was the first time in a while he felt like he had some leisure. Just as he was about to take the canned coffee, he caught a glimpse of Choi Yunjin passing through the hallway beyond the window.
Baek Donghyuk pushed one more bill into the vending machine and was about to turn around with two warm canned coffees when the door to the break room opened with a click, and Choi Yunjin entered. When their eyes met face to face, all the smile disappeared from her face.
“Yunjin-ah, coffee...”
“I-I suddenly have an urgent matter... I'll drink it later!”
Choi Yunjin hurriedly replied in a voice close to a scream and rushed out of the break room without looking back, as if she had seen a ghost.
Baek Donghyuk placed the remaining canned coffee on the windowsill. Should he call it a completely normal reaction? But he couldn't continue to maintain an awkward relationship.
As closing time approached, Baek Donghyuk waited for Choi Yunjin in a corner of the hospital lobby. Soon, her figure appeared coming out with her colleagues. After taking a deep breath, he approached her.
“Yunjin-ah, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Choi Yunjin flinched but nodded her head, pretending to be calm. She gestured for her colleagues to go first and followed Baek Donghyuk to a quiet bench behind the hospital. After sitting down, a long awkward silence passed.
“Oppa... I think I was too careless.”
“We just loosened the knotted muscles together. Why is that a problem?”
“Anyway, I think it's better to stop the study session. I don't think I can learn your technique, Oppa.”
“Wait, listen to me. Today, I heard the team leader praise me for the first time. I think it's all thanks to you, Yunjin. A therapist, not even a doctor, went to the treatment room team leader to say that some treatment was to his liking?”
Thanks to the conversation method learned from the study session, a smile briefly appeared on Choi Yunjin's face before disappearing. It seemed she was psychologically confused, as her expression management wasn't working. Unconsciously, Baek Donghyuk's gaze lowered, stopping at Choi Yunjin's chest.
“That's fortunate...”
“And my treatment method... still isn't quite satisfactory. Looking at theory books these days, I'm researching to incorporate my own way into the existing treatment methods to find more effective ones.”
“Ah, I should also try to imitate Oppa and work harder.”
Choi Yunjin seemed to be trying to wrap up the conversation and leave the place. Her heart was in a hurry, but she didn't know what to say. Suddenly, she witnessed Choi Yunjin grabbing her wrist and twisting it back and forth.
“Ah, you also have a lot of patients these days, so your wrist and shoulders hurt, right? I don't think you have to learn the technique to help with work. The therapist's body needs to be healthy first for efficiency to increase, right?”
“Y-Yes, but...”
Yunjin bit her lip. She thought that if she said to stop the study session, he would be disappointed or stop paying attention to her. Instead, it was a new proposal.
The incident from last time was nothing but a shock itself. Every time Baek Donghyuk's hands touched her, it felt like her whole body was melting. It wasn't just simple treatment or muscle relaxation. It was... clearly pleasure.
Because I made too strange a sound... he might have thought I was seducing him. So... so, he touched even my chest...
Her face flushed. It was too embarrassing that a workplace colleague she hadn't properly conversed with for years during treatment had let out lewd moans.
If I make another mistake this time... even thinking about it makes me ashamed...
It was realistically hard to bluntly refuse. Recently, her wrists had been tingling more and more, and her shoulders had been knotted a lot. It was at the limit to ask colleagues for help. Above all, except for that strange... feeling, Baek Donghyuk's treatment effect was excellent. Choi Yunjin, after gauging the atmosphere, cautiously nodded her head.