Chapter 159
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Suspicion at Seongsu Clinic
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Shin Yeojin ultimately tagged along to Seongsu Clinic.
She was terribly worried that her respected team leader Lee Joongseop might have gotten swept up in some strange religious group.
Fortunately, it wasn't hard to get her to join the clinic visit.
"I'm heading out now, so anyone who really wants to go can ride with me."
"Is that okay? My shoulder's killing me."
"My head's pounding too. Think acupuncture will help?"
"My back's the issue..."
The entire development team opted to go together.
Lee Joongseop was taking the lead for the first time, and everyone had some ache or pain anyway.
It wasn't life-threatening, and until now, they'd just wanted to crash in bed after work rather than seek treatment.
Aaah—the brilliant touch of our director,
Shin Yeojin doubted her own ears.
Those shining moments,
Your healing feels like a miracle.
According to the floor guide in the elevator, floors 2 through 4 were all Seongsu Clinic.
And soon, the doors opened on the third floor, where Lee Joongseop had pressed the button.
...A man with his shirt off was sitting on the stairs, strumming a guitar.
Aaah—the brilliant touch of our director,
Those shining moments,
Your healing feels like a miracle.
The man drove home the fact that she hadn't misheard.
She swallowed hard.
"A ch-chant?"
And immediately regretted it.
Gasp, she shouldn't have said it out loud!
Maybe she should've just played dumb and pretended to be in on it?
She got scared all of a sudden.
A choir would've been surprising enough, but this man's presence was even more overwhelming.
"Ahaha, that's a misunderstanding."
The director, who'd overheard Shin Yeojin, laughed and waved it off.
He was wearing a gown with "Director Han Yeowon" embroidered on the chest, so he must be the head director she'd heard about.
Unlike the shirtless guy cradling a guitar, the director looked perfectly ordinary.
"He just finished treatment and started improvising a song."
"My apologies."
Following the director's explanation, a handsome man jumped out.
He bowed ninety degrees once to Shin Yeojin and once to Director Han Yeowon.
"We're an indie band called Melon Soda Horizon. I'm Kang Jaekyung, on drums, and that guy's on keys and composition. He's got some quirky traits. Inspiration hit him mid-treatment, and he insisted on recording it right then, which led to this. But I swear! He's not an exhibitionist by any means."
"Ah, okay..."
It didn't convince her at all, but snapping at him about it would probably get them kicked out.
Shin Yeojin nodded vigorously while rolling her eyes.
"Put your clothes on, hurry up!"
The guy named Kang Jaekyung urged the half-naked man like a madman.
The long-haired one sneaked over to block him too.
He'd given his name, and he had that musician vibe, so the band story didn't seem like a lie.
'Are those guys believers too?'
The formerly naked man sprang up and took his clothes.
"Got it! Recording's done!"
She glimpsed cupping marks on his back, so he must've had treatment... but it was still confusing.
"We'll be off now. Thank you so much."
"Sure. Tae Yoon already settled up, so feel free to go."
The three men hopped into the elevator Shin Yeojin and the team had arrived in and vanished in a flash.
"I'll play the finished song for you~."
"Stay still!"
Even as they scratched at the door, a staff member opened it and guided them.
"First time here? Are you with Lee Joongseop's group?"
"Yes. We'll all register."
They'd encountered something odd right at the entrance, and finally stepped inside.
Seongsu Clinic.
'From here on, I really need to keep my wits about me!'
The staff asked them calmly.
"Seeing Director Han one by one for initial consults will take quite a while. Would it be okay to split up with the other directors?"
"No problem."
"If you want to see Director Han, you can wait a bit~."
Three team members said it was fine.
Thinking of it as a normal clinic, their stiff shoulders or backs didn't matter who treated them.
"I want to see Director Han Yeowon!"
Shin Yeojin insisted on the head director.
The others might be a front for a normal clinic. Better to go straight to the cult leader!
"Got it~. You three, register on the fourth floor, and you two, come in. Lee Joongseop, right into the treatment room. What's the patient's name?"
"Shin Yeojin."
Wait, splitting up?
Ignoring her dismay, the three team members headed upstairs without a second thought.
"Fun group."
"Too bad we missed the full song."
"Whoa, they're on search. TV singers, huh?"
"Should've gotten autographs?"
Autographs, while entering the tiger's den...!
They went up, and team leader Lee Joongseop was shown to a treatment room.
"Shin Yeojin, you're registered. We'll see you right away."
Just like that, she was left alone with Han Yeowon.
Shin Yeojin quickly scanned the treatment room.
The wall had a Korean medicine license from the Minister of Health and Welfare, bookshelves packed with medical texts like any other clinic.
Ultrasound machine, chiropractic bed—on the surface, it screamed Korean medicine clinic.
'Good, no Bible or anything... Meditation Breathing Method?'
Except for that one suspicious file.
Handwritten title on the binder only doubled the suspicion.
Meditation was great, but wasn't it often abused by cults?
"What seems to be the problem?"
Director Han Yeowon asked.
"Oh, well."
Her jaw had dropped at the meditation file, and words failed her for a moment.
"My neck and shoulders are stiff..."
"Your voice sounds hoarse too. Did you have a bad cold recently?"
She trailed off with her prepared symptoms, but Han Yeowon suddenly prophesied.
'No, calm down. Anyone could guess that from her voice. Coworkers said the cold lingered.'
If they called trivial stuff prophecy, that's when to really watch out.
"Yes, I had the flu for two weeks last month. My voice hasn't fully recovered even after nearly a month."
Shin Yeojin answered steadily.
"Oh dear, that's serious. Fever's gone, and throat pain cleared up?"
"Yes, throat's fine now."
"Let me take a look."
She pressed down her tongue with a wooden stick and peered inside.
Just checking her throat?
"Inflammation's all gone. Any dry cough left?"
"Gasp, yes. Not bad, but every two or three hours."
"Mouth dry a lot?"
"Yes."
"Sleep okay?"
"Not terrible, but I wake up parched."
Hard to lie about these.
Shin Yeojin answered truthfully, wondering why these questions.
Not a background check, and it didn't stray far from standard consults...
"Your cold damaged a lot of body fluids. Think of it as an issue in hydration distribution. Basically, dryness."
"Ah, okay."
"Meds would help, but..."
Oh, selling meds?
She tensed up again.
"If it's not too bad, decoctions are pricey. I'll prescribe simple Maekmun Candy instead—try it."
"How much?"
"Ten pieces for nine thousand won. Three times a day, no more than seven even if you want."
Candy? Maekmun?
Like herbal throat lozenges?
"What's in it?"
If it was holy water, she'd bolt.
She steeled herself, but...
"Variation on Sasam Maekmundong Tang. Ingredients on the package."
"Oh... Got it. Thank you."
Not expensive, listed ingredients—she could snap a pic for her uncle.
"Got sidetracked. Your voice looks rough. How long have the stiff neck and shoulders been bothering you?"
"Oh, not too bad. Neck was the real issue, like you said."
She'd assumed it'd resolve on its own, but talking a lot made it scratchy sometimes.
"Yeah. Unlike the others, you've managed it some. How'd you treat it?"
Shin Yeojin jumped again.
She'd actually had shoulder treatment at another clinic last week.
"Acupuncture elsewhere. Coworker suggested here today..."
"I see. Most painful here?"
"Ugh, yes."
The director pinpointed her sore spot like a ghost.
Finding it was similar to other clinics—actually, more thorough than average.
"Steam pack and physio first in the treatment room, then acupuncture."
The steam pack was utterly normal.
Physio was like her uncle's old clinic or last week's—no difference.
"Hic."
Finally, acupuncture time.
"Hiccups too?"
"No, just nervous..."
"Seemed like it. I'll make it painless—relax."
Han Yeowon gently kneaded her shoulders.
Normal so far... kinder than normal, even.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Several needles went into her neck and shoulders.
"All done. Whoa, don't move like that!"
She'd instinctively turned to check—perfectly placed, cool relief.
Fast, but just fast. No dart-throwing ten-at-once magic like Lee Joongseop described.
"Sorry."
What? Really what?
"Cupping next. Marks okay?"
Cupping was normal too.
Clusters like the band guy's back bloomed on her shoulders.
Refreshing.
Honestly, better than last week—burden lifted clean off.
"Director prescribed Maekmun Candy~."
Total under twenty thousand including candy.
Shoulders loose post-acupuncture, her tension finally eased.
'Just a regular clinic after all?'
Where'd the misunderstanding start?
Team leader exaggerating unlike his usual self?
That chant was just a quirky guy...?
"Whoa, feels great. Shin, you finished first. Others not out yet—head up?"
Shin Yeojin went up to the fourth floor with Lee Joongseop.
Main desk up here, way nicer waiting room.
Celebrity autographs, partnership photos with hospitals.
Even team doctor for Busan's pro basketball squad?
"She's famous, huh?"
Just then, coworkers emerged from another director.
"Super thorough here. Like setting down weights I'd been holding."
"Same. Should've come sooner."
...Sigh.
All her steam went out.
Team leader's fault for the hype!
Total overreaction.
Should've relaxed and enjoyed it.
"Me too."
Couldn't voice the cult suspicion, so she just nodded.
That evening, Shin Yeojin called her uncle and detailed the day's events.
Misunderstood a new clinic, got impressed treatment, even saw a guy composing a chant.
- Ah, Seongsu Clinic? Part of that new network popping up. They do fun stuff.
"You knew?"
- Yeah. Brief controversy over quirks, but died down. I see it positively.
He sent a messenger vid: "Seongsu Murim Clinic Updates."
...Heavenly Demon? Demon Cult leader?
Super iffy all around?
- Not huge yet, but they built their own external decoction room. That's why the candy form—selling it too? Try it and tell me if it works.
Uncle laughed it off as amusing, curious about the candy.
Three days later.
No change day one. Tasty enough to suck one at work.
Day two, same mindless munching.
'Six max? Seven?'
Day three, box empty.
"Your voice is back?"
Right after the tenth, her throat cleared.
"N-No way?"
Due soon-ish, but couldn't deny the candy.
Amazed, she reported to uncle.
- Dry cough gone too?
"Yep. Completely healed!"
- Yeojin, say it's not fully better, buy three packs and send.
"You need some?"
- Not sure if non-network spots can order. Test and chat.
Obliging uncle, atoning for dumb suspicion.
Shin Yeojin returned to Seongsu Clinic—solo this time.
Smooth escort to treatment: steam, physio.
"Ma! Ain't no disease our director can't cure! Block where she says, eat what she prescribes, and whoosh—healed! Look at my back, straightened right up! Raises cripples, grows hair...!"
Today's room oddly rowdy.
Seemed a grandma persuading her friend to get treated.
"Heo Soon-nam, appreciate it, but hair loss ain't easy. Spinal stenosis and paralysis are different."
"You know what I mean!"
"Fixed my snapped knee, junior's dislocated arm too."
"Even you, Ijin? Don't say it like reattachments! Ligaments and dislocations!"
...Yeah, place is a bit weird.