Chapter 37
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Back in Full Condition!
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"I'm back in full condition~!"
Rira waved her right arm at her teammates, announcing her complete recovery.
'I told her to be careful!'
I'd been watching from the front row of the stands just in case, and I freaked out. But she patted her teammates' shoulders, boosting their morale.
"You sure you can jump right back in?"
"Yep. I met the Divine Physician."
The second half kicked off immediately.
Maybe because the coach had given them all sorts of warnings, the ball didn't come to Rira as often as it had in the first quarter.
But was it a morale thing? The vibe had completely flipped from the second quarter.
"Hey, hey!"
"Pass!"
"Not the captain! Back!"
Just moments ago, I'd thought the rest of the students' skills were outmatched by the other team, but watching closely, it wasn't quite that bad.
Even averaging out the combat power without Rira and Kim Ijin, they didn't seem too far behind.
Taat!
It was a bit nerve-wracking when Rira, who'd been passing mostly with her left arm, caught the ball with her right.
Thankfully, her ligament held up just fine.
The third quarter went smoothly.
The fourth was Kim Ijin's miracle show, reclaiming her pace. Her overwhelming skill made it hard to believe they'd ever been pushed back, even for a moment.
Tang! Taang! Tang! Tang!
Kim Ijin shook off three markers clinging to her and charged straight to the basket.
And then, shwoong—.
"Woooaaah!"
With a jump that made you wonder if it was even allowed, Kim Ijin shoved the ball into the hoop.
Five seconds left.
The opponent's #5 grabbed the rebound.
'Gonna steal Buzzer Beater? Still, the score's already...'
Even in a game where victory was decided, both sides gave it their all until the end.
Rira charged without hesitation toward the opponent who was 10cm taller and had collided with her just dozens of minutes ago, badly injuring her.
Taat!
The moment opponent #5 flinched her shoulder, Rira stole the ball and flung it toward the hoop.
"Waaak! Three-pointer!"
"Rira! Rira!"
"Chungwoon High is the best~! Long live Kim Ijin~!"
"I love you, Ijin sunbae! Marry me!"
Cheers erupted from all sides as the game ended. The entire Chungwoon High team, including the benchwarmers, rushed out, hugging and celebrating.
"Heh heh heh. As expected of Ijin sunbae!"
"...No. It was thanks to Rira. Sorry for pushing too hard."
"It's always an honor to play on the same team as you, sunbae!"
Kim Ijin's teammates patted each other's shoulders, consoling one another.
"Ha... We weren't even in the same league."
"Is Kim Ijin even human? She was good last year too, but what kind of speed and jumping power is that?"
"You did great. It's okay. Good job."
Unlike her resigned teammates, #5—who'd burned with competitive fire against Kim Ijin until the very end—thumped her chest.
Aw, that kid did well too. Too bad games have winners and losers~.
Still, win or lose, I was a little envious of them capping off their high school days with such passionate sports.
My high school had self-study sessions crammed into regular PE time, after all.
'Maybe I should've entered a martial tournament... Nah, no way.'
Beep— Beeeep—!
After the post-game bows.
Kim Ijin, who'd played a full 40 minutes with almost no subs, plopped down on the bench.
"Teacher!"
"Huh?"
Rira couldn't have much stamina left either, but she came running straight to me.
What? In youth dramas, the protagonists hype each other up. Why me?
"Thank you so much!"
Her sudden move drew stares from the players chugging water on the bench, and even the first- and second-years in the stands.
"Thanks to you fixing my arm right up, I played great! It's all because of you, Teacher!"
The cheering squad, who'd been showering Kim Ijin with adoration, started murmuring.
"Who's that? Fixed her arm?"
"Apparently Rira dislocated her elbow when she fell earlier. This Korean medicine doctor fixed it at halftime..."
"Eek!"
"Whoa, thank you!"
Suddenly, someone started clapping.
"No, I just..."
Clap clap clap clap clap!
Students who had no idea what happened got swept up in the mood and joined in.
Why is this happening!
The only ones I'd treated were Rira and Coach Kang Cheolgyu, but drunk on victory fever, they just wanted to cheer about something.
"Stop, stop...!"
I waved my hands, but the cheers only grew louder.
No, radial head dislocation is one of the easiest to reduce!
The first time I heard "Divine Physician," I'd saved a patient who'd suffered fatal wounds and been poisoned with deadly toxin. Getting that praise for just popping an arm back in was way too much.
"Like I said, come Monday, and, uh, Ijin asked me to do it. Thank the captain too. And that student over there looks like she has something to say."
Too flustered, I stumbled over my words uncharacteristically.
Thankfully, Rira bowed her head slightly and turned away, and the kids' attention shifted. People started leaving the stands.
"Thank you for letting me play in the second half. Coach, Director, Captain."
"No way next time."
"Good work."
The coach and director headed straight to the locker room, while Kim Ijin passed the ball to Rira.
"We won this one entirely thanks to you."
Yeah, that's right. Now that's more like it.
I left them to finish filming their youth drama and slipped into the crowd.
"Rira."
While the other school's team had mostly left, opponent #5, who had something to say, stood there blankly and called out.
She'd actually tried to talk right after bows, but Rira had dashed to me first.
"What?"
Hm, so they were kinda close?
"Uh... Sorry. Glad you seem okay."
Or not?
Unable to hold back my curiosity, I turned to look. Unlike her beaming smile at me, Rira's face was ice-cold.
"Too bad? That I came back right away."
Rira stuck out her tongue, teasing #5.
They were close... right?
"She was worried. She apologized, and you're—!"
"Ha, if sunbae hadn't fouled so much, we'd have tripled your score? Still got smoked by Ijin sunbae, though."
She clenched her fist, but it was true, so #5 couldn't retort and just fumed.
Whoa~ Brings back memories.
I never competed myself, but I got invited to lots of tournaments to treat injuries from real swords.
When rival heavyweights like Huashan or Zhongnan clashed, the mind games were no joke.
"Good game. As captains go, you were better than me."
Unlike Rira's casual remark, Kim Ijin sincerely praised #5.
"Ugh."
Wouldn't that sting even more?
Meanwhile.
Jeong Inseong and Min Juyeon, who had split off from the third-year group sitting with Han Yeowon to watch, were the only two left for the second half.
She'd moved seats alone, saying they might need to sit up front just in case.
"...They won."
Min Juyeon said.
She'd been chanting cheers wildly during the game, but now that it was over, things felt a bit awkward.
"Yeah. Ijin's awesome."
"Hm."
Min Juyeon stared blatantly at Jeong Inseong's face.
"Huh? Why're you looking like that? Something on my face?"
Jeong Inseong flinched and brushed his bangs, but nothing was there.
The acne that used to hurt when touched had mostly cleared, leaving only smooth forehead.
"Pull your hair back. Ditch the glasses after graduation."
"Uh, uh?"
Min Juyeon personally swept back Jeong Inseong's hair and tidied it.
Looking closely, his cheeks and jaw still had some, but his forehead was unbelievably clear.
With a mask, no one would notice. A couple more months of treatment, and even that would vanish.
Her folliculitis had disappeared without a trace after just a few days of ointment.
He looks pretty decent up close.
No, maybe the best-looking in our class?
"A little sprucing up, and you'd be handsome."
"Huh?"
"Wanna go shopping after CSATs? I'll pick out clothes for you."
"...!"
The class president who wore glasses, shaggy hair hiding his eyes like a total nerd—dressed nicely, he'd be quite the sight.
And what's with that weird plaid shirt? Not even in engineering school yet.
"Th-then after CSATs..."
"Let's hang out."
Min Juyeon slyly took Jeong Inseong's hand.
And Jeong Inseong felt heat rising to his face for the first time in ages since treatment started.
And on the other side.
At the same time, at the Busan branch of Haneul Clinic—open even on weekends—a staff member was calling a patient.
On the advice of Kwon Woojin, the chief director of Haneul Clinic's Cheonan branch, where Chu Miyoung had once been deputy director.
- No patients? You have plenty of first-timers. The ones not coming back means something about your consultations made them uncomfortable, Director Chu.
- I was really polite...
- If you don't get it, call them and ask directly.
- Happy calls to patients?
- You're about to go under, and you can't even do that?
Happy calls were typically outbound calls from businesses for customer management.
But hospitals and clinics—especially not insurance companies—rarely did them. And even then, they had staff do it, not the doctors themselves.
The Cheonan branch had so many diet patients they even had dedicated staff for meal plans, calling no-shows. But if she assigned new tasks to her staff here, they'd quit for sure.
Chu Miyoung had no choice but to call herself.
"Hello, Haneul Clinic. Are you the guardian of patient Jeong Inseong?"
- Yes, that's me.
"We're just checking since it's past your appointment time and you haven't come in..."
- We're not going.
She flinched.
Chu Miyoung, who'd never faced such icy rejection firsthand, shrank and gritted her teeth.
Other patients had at least softened it with "We're better now" or "Too busy," not this blunt.
"If it's not too much trouble, may I ask why?"
She took a deep breath. She wanted to hang up and run, but Director Kwon had told her to get answers from people like this.
- Your meds did nothing. Seongsu Clinic fixed it almost completely in a month. No refund needed. We're not coming.
Oh right, this was the one who'd demanded a refund.
A complainer who'd thrown a fit after a month and a half, but got better right away at another clinic?
"Ah... We're sorry. Have a good day."
Having gotten her answer, Chu Miyoung hung up like she was fleeing.
Back then, she'd suggested continuing treatment. Even without a refund, they'd gone elsewhere?
And sharper words than the complaint her staff had handled before.
"What trash talk are they spreading?"
That other clinic must've badmouthed them after poaching the patient.
Chu Miyoung calmed her pounding heart and opened a search.
Seongsu Clinic? She'd vaguely heard when they opened.
An old grandpa running it so casually—come or not, whatever. No threat.
Wait, did the director change?
"Fancier interior and aggressive marketing than me?"
Is that why patients are dropping more lately?
Handing out umbrellas or frying pans as opening gifts? Biting her nails, Chu Miyoung searched for Seongsu Clinic.
"Huh? This tucked away?"
But the location was way farther from the station than Haneul Clinic.
Portal search results? Just the official blog and a few mom cafe comments.
No real presence. The blog only had hours and a short profile.
[Chief Director: Han Yeowon
Korea University Korean Medicine Top Graduate.]
Director did change... But a fresh grad this year? Not the vibe she expected.
Chu Miyoung's face twisted.
"Ha! Just a kid? No experience whatsoever—how good could her treatments be!"
What nonsense did she spout to steal patients? Time to hear it with my own ears.