Chapter 129
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Lying Like a Pig
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"Lying there like a pig again?"
That was her first memory in life—her father's vicious words.
"Honey! Heejun's still awa...!"
That casual remark lodged deep in young Shin Heejun's mind.
"Do you know what time it is? Still not asleep?"
"I'm waiting up to see you! Come home earlier. Who were you with tonight...?"
"Ugh, how could I want to come home when you're all bloated and fat?!"
Her mom and dad got along terribly.
Her mother had once tried to hide it, but soon Dad was spewing harsh words not just at her, but at the kids too.
"You stuffing your face like that to get fat like your mom?"
She'd just woken up in the night by chance.
Shin Heejun had only gone for water and spotted the jelly in the fridge. She'd taken just one bite.
"...Sorry."
Her heart plummeted.
Dad eventually cheated and left home.
Mom decided on divorce.
Even as an adult, Shin Heejun couldn't forget that day's feelings.
Shin Heejun's mom raised the siblings by running a seolleongtang restaurant.
"Whoa~ Your appetite is insane!"
First year of middle school. She'd brought a friend she'd gotten close with to Mom's place and heard that.
"Did I eat too fast or something?"
How had she eaten? Was it that gross?
"Wow, a pig eating pig bone soup like a pig!"
"No wonder it reeked like pig in here!"
The nickname stuck because she was the seolleongtang girl.
Every time she heard that word, Shin Heejun flinched and trembled.
A new wound had opened beside the dagger her father had plunged into her chest as a child.
After that, dozens more daggers pierced her, and people's careless words left big and small scars.
"You're really 48kg? At 48kg, you shouldn't have any belly fat, right?"
Words from her first trash boyfriend.
Shin Heejun broke up with him immediately. No point putting up with idiocy like her mom—the end was obvious.
She quickly met someone else.
This one seemed pretty decent.
"Babe~ It's our 100-day anniversary today, so let's get spaghetti and steak!"
"I'm dieting, so pasta's a no..."
"Then I'll eat, and you can have a salad?"
"But there's dressing. It's hard for me with food in front of me... Let's just walk in the park."
"No, eat something special today! How intense is this diet? You're skin and bones already!"
"Sorry, I just can't control my appetite."
"Let's just break up!"
But her cursed gluttony sickened him too, and she ruined it all again.
"Whoa, you're so skinny! Can I grab your wrist?"
She kept meeting weird guys through dating apps.
Rude comments pissed her off, but hearing "skinny" as a first impression made her happy.
"How do you get skinnier every time I see you?"
Friends gave similar compliments.
"Skinny? You're just hiding it. I've got plenty of fat."
"Heejun barely eats~ But force yourself to eat something~ We're worried about your health~."
Sometimes, like that, tempting hands tried to turn her back into a pig.
She was finally tolerable, but now they thought she was fat too?
"Ugh!"
After meeting such friends and pretending she didn't gain weight by eating cake,
Shin Heejun always vomited it all up.
Shouldn't have eaten it.
No, but it looked so good. And it tasted amazing.
She couldn't resist.
'Did I really puke it all up?'
No snacks this week except that cake. Why wasn't the flab going away?
Were those times she didn't puke the problem?
Detox juice? Would that flush out the toxins?
Shin Heejun blew her part-time earnings on every "diet" product.
Sitting in a chair and seeing her belly fold was horrifying.
Undressing for a shower and glimpsing fat thighs in the mirror drove her mad.
Then one day.
"Ta-da~ Do I look different?"
"What? How'd your face get half the size?"
"Hehehe, lost 10kg!"
The friend who'd nagged her to eat more had slimmed down.
She'd thought constant gorging would keep her a pig forever, but 10kg gone just like that?
"How? Fasting? Exercise?"
"Not full fasting~! Told Mom I wanted to lose weight, and she took me to this super famous Korean medicine clinic in Gangnam. They prescribed meds and set me up with PT! The meds killed my cravings completely. So I ate half my usual while exercising, and it dropped fast!"
"Where is it?"
"Heejun, you're already skinny~."
"Not for diet stuff. I need to consult on something else."
"Yeah, you need to boost your appetite!"
She got the name from her friend, searched it—super famous place.
How had she not known?
Shin Heejun took a bus to Seoul.
"Going from 70kg to 60kg is nothing like 44kg to 34kg. The latter's dangerous. Dieting at your current weight is..."
"Not to 34kg. I'll lose to 40kg and maintain."
"Still too much. You have no fat to lose."
"Look at this belly and thigh fat! All fat, and you say nowhere to lose?!"
"Please wait a moment."
The initially reluctant doctor looked troubled, then stepped out.
Soon returned with a sheet of paper.
"We'll start mild to test for side effects, ramp up gradually over about three months..."
"Can't afford that long. Make it the strongest!"
"Got it. If insomnia or heart palpitations occur, halve the dose."
"Oh?"
"Our clinic fully discloses side effects. You must agree we bear no responsibility for issues arising, no refunds or exchanges."
It was a waiver.
No medical liability for listed side effects, no returns.
"Sure~ I'll sign! Thanks!"
Shin Heejun signed happily and got the meds.
They really killed her food cravings.
Cake in front? Just astringent and numb in her mouth.
Amazing! Should've gotten help sooner!
Minor side effect? Trouble sleeping.
Phone consult said overdose, cut back—she ignored it.
Staying awake burned more basal metabolism, right? Only issue: raging hunger when evening dose wore off.
Ah, no.
Just a little, then puke right away.
"Heejun, please... You look awful."
"What's awful? I've never been healthier."
"Heejun!"
Of course, Mom caught her like that.
"Do you know how much these cost?!"
Next day, back from work—the meds were all trashed.
"Heejun, I looked up that clinic. Tons of complaints. Let's go somewhere else with Mom. Okay? I'll get you new ones. You lose weight sleeping."
She exploded in anger.
But no money for another Seoul trip.
Wanted to storm out, but nowhere to go.
Shin Heejun had to follow Mom to a new clinic.
"So, by your own assessment, excessive appetite, good digestion. Poor sleep—didn't sleep great even without meds, but now only 2-3 hours after taking them."
"Yes. Bit constipated, so if possible, make it flush everything out down there too."
Eating mouse-tail portions—'course she'd be constipated.
Kept mom and daughter from fighting in the exam room, did the interview first. But nothing was normal.
"Losing more weight here won't burn reserves—it'll damage essential components. Muscle mass is already critical, anemia too. At this rate, organ failure's just a matter of time."
"Right? Pulse is bad too?"
Per Mom's request, I took her pulse.
Obviously bad... way beyond.
"Not a matter of time—it's already there. True Organ Pulse."
"What's that?"
How to explain? True Organ Pulse showed the true qi of the five viscera severely exposed, stomach qi that protects it severed—a gravely serious pulse.
"Pulse-wise, you're no different from someone about to die, Miss Shin Heejun."
"..."
"Not exaggerating for shock value. You'll never see thirty at this rate."
"...So no diet meds?"
Shin Heejun's eyes rolled back.
No way. Obviously not.
Suppressing appetite here was like stabbing a dying person to finish them off.
"You're malnourished. Forget dieting— we need to boost appetite—"
"Who cares about medical standards? I want aesthetic weight!"
Already below that.
"What's your ideal body like?"
"This. Like her."
This state screamed distorted perception.
The foreign woman on her phone was slim, but with healthy color.
"You're skinnier than her. Crop top shows barely any ribs sticking out."
"...? No belly fat."
"You don't have any either."
"I can grab it?!"
She grabbed my hand to prove it, but it was just skin and bone.
"This is 'none.' No subcutaneous fat means no organ protection. To avoid protruding from the side, don't strip to skin—build abs to hold it. See."
I lifted my shirt, showed my abs.
No expectation it'd fix her view, but it had some effect.
Her eyes shook with confusion.
Straight talk time.
"Stop dieting now. Eat nutritious food. I'll prescribe restorative tonic meds—"
"Don't need it."
"You can't judge what your body needs now. Healthy or not, fat or thin."
"With this obvious fat? You saying I'm crazy?"
"Pathological state. Proper meals and sleep will restore brain function for judgment. Anorexia damages neural networks."
"Not anorexia—I choose to puke!"
Impossible to convince her now.
"You can think that. Obsession with body and food isn't your fault. My words sound absurd, unfair. But the way out isn't diet meds—it's proper eating and sleep."
If logical, she'd see numbers don't mean overweight.
"Miss Shin, no sleep like this—you'll collapse in a week."
Two hours a day sustained? No chance.
Let alone no food?
"..."
I clearly warned of the severity.
"Go home, think it over. Here's three days' worth first. Hold it, take when you want real sleep, come back."
Gave her time.
Shin Heejun, raging moments ago, froze.
Pupils shaking since earlier, teeth chattering.
"I'm fine..."
She hesitated, then shut her mouth, stood, and left the room.
Leaving her poor mother anxiously eyeing the door and me.
"D-Doctor, that thirty thing..."
"Dead serious. Old days, she'd be dead in six months. Bit more, and constant collapses, ER visits. IV nutrition to survive, but..."
Anorexia kills via malnutrition or suicide.
No immediate signs, so I held back.
"I was harsh, so you support emotionally. If she asks if she's thin, say yes."
"I-It’s all my fault. Family environment..."
Mom wiped tears, spilled family history.
"Starts mental, but fix body first—cognition recovers. Wait. She'll respond."
"...Yes. Please, take good care."
No appetite, no will to treat.
Complex mental-physical case, tough.
But there's a path.
Shin Heejun showed clear potential for change.
I can treat her.