Chapter 143
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: Jo-yun's Struggles
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Kang Jo-yun looked up at me with his eyes all puffy and red from crying.
Hmm, I hadn't expected him to react this strongly.
"Shall we go to the consultation room and talk it over slowly?"
This didn't seem like something we could just chat about briefly in the treatment room.
He nodded right away, so I helped him up and led him back to the consultation room.
It was right outside the door, but in that short time, tears were already streaming down to his chin.
"It hurts a lot, doesn't it? And it's been really tough."
He nodded at my question.
"Is your mom not letting you rest?"
He nodded again.
"Still, since the doctor insisted you need to rest, it should be okay for a while now. She can't possibly force you if it means you won't be able to do archery anymore."
"Looks like you've been overusing it as usual."
"Yes! Even when it's not competition season, she drags me to the academy saying I need to practice more the less I do it... It makes me so mad. If she wants to do that, she should do it herself!"
"Your mom's in the wrong here. Rest is essential even for results—I'll make sure to tell her that next time we meet."
I'd seen plenty like this among martial artists.
They thought pushing their bodies to the breaking point was true training, believing enlightenment came from it.
Of course, the result was often torn ligaments, leaving them bedridden and banned from training for a while.
But Jo-yun's expression was strange.
His face twisted even more at the words "even for results."
"Could it be... you don't want to do archery at all?"
I asked, just in case.
Was his mom forcing him into it?
"It's just so...!"
He opened his mouth as if that's exactly what he wanted to say.
"..."
But when I actually asked, he hesitated.
"Right now, you hate it, right? Because it hurts?"
"Yes. If Mom tells me to train tomorrow, I'll just die. Well, she wouldn't want me unable to use my arm, so she probably won't."
"Once you're all better, Jo-yun, you'll want to get back to archery right away?"
"...I don't know. I do want more rest, but I'm worried my skills will rust."
That put me a little at ease.
He didn't seem to utterly despise archery and only do it because his mom forced him.
His desperate expression as he grabbed me had me worried about abuse, after all.
"Yeah. Right now, it's not that you never want to do archery again. I really hated it back then, but now... it's just... something I do. I don't have anything else I can do."
Kang Jo-yun let out a sigh, sounding faintly resigned.
He kept fidgeting with his lips, like he had a lot he wanted to say.
Judging from his mom's personality earlier during the exam, she probably hadn't listened to any of this.
Was this turning into career counseling now?
I glanced at the chart; luckily, no patients waiting.
Since I was covering for Hwang Sang-hun, there were no patients scheduled for my day, and those who knew it was his day weren't coming.
I tossed the chart aside and asked calmly.
"You've been doing archery since you were little, huh?"
"Yes."
"Then you must be really good at it."
Kang Jo-yun grinned broadly.
"I was back then. Started in kindergarten, right when I could hold a pencil, so in elementary school, I was the best wherever I went."
"Impressive."
"Nah. I was just a frog in a well. I could hit everything without practice, so I didn't get why I had to work hard—I even threw tantrums and faked being sick... It wasn't until middle school that I realized I wasn't that great."
"I see."
"I really hated it then."
Archery?
Practicing?
Or having friends who were better?
"But now I practice super hard! No more faking sick! I do everything they tell me! But Mom always says I'm too chubby and lacking effort... That if she were in middle school, she'd shoot arrows all day."
Kang Jo-yun vented his resentment toward his mom.
His feelings for her and for archery were all tangled up, boiling over.
It was understandable. At an age full of worries, with a guardian being so pushy.
As an adult, it's easy to think we'd do this or that differently if we could go back... but hindsight is 20/20.
That's why we regret not living that way.
Parents want to pass on their hard-earned lessons out of love, but parents and children are different people.
The world at fourteen for a parent isn't the same as for their child.
"Sorry. I just fought with Mom again before coming here."
"It's fine. I've got time today—vent all you want about what you can't tell her."
I couldn't badmouth her to her son, but I could help him sort out his emotions a bit.
"From what I hear, it doesn't sound like you truly hate archery. Is it that you hate her forcing you?"
"Uh..."
"That happens. Kids hate studying when parents nag, 'Why aren't you studying?'"
"...Yeah, that's part of it. And I hate how much practice there is. Really, way too much. Up at dawn to shoot, skip classes to shoot, shoot after meals, and after dinner when other kids rest, off to the academy again."
"Wow, intense."
"But no one gets how I feel. Friends say, 'At least you're good at it.' Mom and coach just go on about how blessed talent is!"
I nodded quietly.
"But I'm not even that good. Since Mom started me early, I'm better than kids who began in upper elementary. I was even youth representative in elementary. But in middle school, kids who started later are shining, and I failed U-16 nationals... Mom's neurotic, pushing like crazy, and I just don't want to do it anymore."
Kang Jo-yun poured it all out like a dam breaking.
He started with short answers to my questions, but he had so much pent up with no one to listen.
"Oh, Mom did archery too. Started in high school, never made nationals, always telling me to be grateful she got me started early."
He sighed deeply.
"But the other day when we fought, she asks what else I can do besides archery. Isn't that ridiculous? I'm scared I can't do anything else. Who made me only do archery?!"
Suddenly his arm throbbed; he clutched the sore spot.
"What if this doesn't heal right? Even if you fix this biceps tendinitis perfectly, I could reinjure it anytime. Or maybe I'm just not good enough for nationals. I sat in on classes during this break and didn't understand a thing."
"You've missed school for so long; of course."
"...Ah, I'm overthinking. I just need to work harder. It's probably lack of effort, like Mom and coach say. Or is mentality a talent too? I wish Mom hadn't mistaken my mediocre talent."
Even kids born into martial clans have these doubts sometimes.
Some late-bloomers charge ahead blindly, obsessed with the sword.
Most hit walls, though.
They think they're heavenly prodigies of the world's top clan as kids, but seeing the wider world reveals their averageness, leading to despair.
Some push on anyway, others leave the clan for different paths.
...I'd seen one who went to a temple for the past life, failed, and wandered.
"Let's correct a few things."
The worries and choices were ultimately his.
"It's not mediocre talent. What place did you get in youth nationals?"
"12th."
"12th in our country means... worldwide..."
"Top 20, probably."
No, it wasn't.
"Ah, that was just U-16. Mix in U-19 and adults, it's different!"
"Your frame hasn't fully grown; can't compare. Good is good. Not every athlete with a pushy parent like yours started early—don't downplay it. And all that practice volume from starting young? That's your ability too."
"Ah..."
"Whether to thank or resent it is up to you, but don't doubt your objectively proven skill."
He nodded.
I pointed out a few more things.
"And blaming your pain on faking? That's clearly your mom's mistake. Don't think enduring pain is a virtue."
"I never would. Mom was wrong there."
Good, agreement there.
"You might grow to like what you were good at, or hate what you liked. Good grades feel great, but practice sucks—or love archery but hate Mom, or vice versa. Emotions just happen. Nothing wrong—separate them."
"Yes... Thank you."
"Nothing else you want to do right now?"
"No."
He nodded, a bit embarrassed.
Not strange at all. Having a passion is unusual; middle schoolers' futures are usually vague.
Jo-yun pondering what he could do showed maturity.
"Think about it during this break. No chances to before."
"Even if I want something else now..."
"Honestly, I'd suggest sticking with archery till the end before switching."
"Ah, yeah."
"If you hate it to death, quit. What if you can't move?"
"Ah..."
"I know it's not that bad. Take it slow. No rush in two weeks. Career worries last a lifetime. Your mom probably worries what to do after raising you."
His eyes flickered uncertainly.
Wondering if that was true.
"And finally!"
I clapped to snap him out of it.
"Your arm will heal perfectly—no worries. This tendinitis won't force you out."
"Ah, yes!"
"Alright, let's treat it."
His tears had stopped before I knew it.
I laid him on his side like before and injected herbal acupuncture into the biceps long head.
"Bearable?"
"Yes. Less than drawing the bow."
"Good."
I needled the biceps, triceps, rotator cuff—everything supporting the shoulder.
Qi spread through his firm muscles.
I only treated arm and shoulder, but his knotted emotions seemed to loosen too.
"Jo-yun, how's the treatment? Arm okay?"
As we emerged after acupuncture, his mom asked worriedly.
"Oh my god, you cried? Was the needling that bad? Should we try another hospital?"
Kang Jo-yun yelled in exasperation.
"As if I'd cry from needles? I cried because of you making me upset!"
"What? I'm worried about you!"
"If you'd worried from the start when I said it hurt, I wouldn't be!"
How could a doctor who saw me briefly understand my heart better than Mom, who'd lived with me forever?
Was Mom really just worried about my arm keeping me from archery?
His calmed heart surged again.
'Damn, what else can I do then.'
Kang Jo-yun shook his head, shaking off the anger.
Mom was just wrong.
And like the doctor said, if he truly hated it to death, Mom couldn't stop him.
"He said the acupuncture worked great—with proper rest, it'll heal fine."
Only as they got home and he stepped out of the car did he speak.
These days full of fights and silences, she replied casually.
"Really? Good. Daily treatments, then?"
"Yeah. Lifting's already better."
He raised his arm high.
Somehow one session eased it; the stabbing pain was now 1/10.
"Great! I felt some real power there. Got his card and schedule. Definitely stick with that doctor..."
"But from now on, I'll think about what to do with a healed arm."
He left his delighted mom and went to his room.
"What?"
Then he pulled a math textbook from the shelf—one he hadn't opened since middle school started.
"..."
30 minutes later.
Kang Jo-yun thought.
'Yeah, studying's not it either?'
Having the textbook at home felt like the first mistake.