Chapter 47
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: PK BioLogics Director?
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I couldn't help but be shocked when I saw the business card.
Though biotech wasn't their main focus, PK Group was a massive corporation that anyone in Korea would recognize.
From the fact that he had a driver and a reporter in tow, I'd already guessed he was some rich kid from a wealthy family, but this was beyond my expectations.
For a guy in his early thirties to hold a director position, he had to be the chairman's son or something. He was a real heavyweight.
'He got better at the clinic, so why invite me for a meal?'
Of course, it was rare for a professional doctor-patient relationship at a hospital to turn into something personal.
Hmm. In modern Korea, the richest people I knew were probably my classmates whose parents owned dozens of clinics, but back in the martial world, I'd tangled quite a bit with influential merchant guild leaders.
If they tried to keep in touch after treatment with excessive praise?
From experience, most wanted me as their personal physician—a scouting offer. Occasionally, there were proposals to mass-produce the amazing medicine I'd used to treat them and sell it.
Oh, there was one special exception. An eccentric old man, waiting only to die while his kids fought over the inheritance, who declared he wouldn't give them a dime and wanted to leave his entire fortune to me.
'But he's not seriously going to pitch a business deal just for fixing a minor back injury.'
Then again, it might've just been a casual remark.
There were folks who sent New Year's gifts every year out of faint hope, without any real agenda.
Maybe this guy was just adding me to his contact list on the off chance? In those cases, dinner plans never actually happened.
Having made my judgment, I lightly brushed off Park Seonyoon's dinner invitation.
"Please contact me during clinic hours when you need to."
I handed him a business card from the desk.
It only listed my name, clinic hours, and the clinic's phone number.
A way of saying I was generally free outside treatment times.
"When I need to... Got it."
But Park Seonyoon looked a bit flustered as he took it. He gave an awkward smile and tucked it into his wallet.
"Make sure to take your medicine properly, and come back for treatment tomorrow. You're in a desk job, right? Sitting for long periods strains you, so stand up and stretch now and then."
"Yes. Thank you."
"Thank you, Director!"
Park Seonyoon quickly composed himself and bowed politely.
Kim Jinsang, beside him, bent at a full ninety degrees.
"Where's this young master from?"
As soon as they left, Seo In-ae, who'd been listening from the treatment room, scampered over to peek at the card.
Seol Yu-hee was inwardly curious too, her eyes sparkling brightly.
"PK."
I flipped the card to show them and answered curtly.
"Gasp."
"Whoa! That's insane! His name was Park Seonyoon, right?"
Seol Yu-hee immediately searched his name online. For a group like PK, finding the family tree wouldn't be hard.
"That startled me."
"But Director, you didn't seem surprised at all."
Did I? Honestly, Kim Jinsang being the chauffeur for a chaebol heir shocked me more than the chaebol showing up.
"Wow... Do chaebols or celebrities come to Korean medicine clinics often?"
"No. First time today."
"Wow, wow."
After digging online, Seol Yu-hee confirmed Park Seonyoon was the youngest of the chairman of PK Construction's three sons and one daughter—the core of the group.
Sure enough, direct lineage. Unless they showed exceptional talent, even the Tang Family only placed direct descendants up to branch leaders.
To me, actually meeting the Heavenly Demon was way more impressive than any merchant's son, but I didn't rain on their excitement.
Beep beep beep beep beep.
Oh no.
I'd given them plenty of time, but the alarm signaling the end of moxibustion treatment in the room went off.
"Alright~ Back to work."
With patients still waiting, chit-chat would have to wait.
Seo In-ae, Seol Yu-hee, and I scattered to our tasks.
Even after hitting an unintended brick wall, Park Seonyoon diligently showed up at the clinic every day.
I'd told him to come daily, but I hadn't expected such compliance.
Unlike martial world commoners who generally followed the physician's advice—excluding martial artists—modern people always had "work" as an excuse to delay treatment.
Unless it was life-threatening, a minor back injury got ignored: "It'll heal on its own," they'd procrastinate until the pain worsened, then finally drag themselves to the clinic. That was the average office worker.
Yet the director of PK BioLogics, who should be busier than most, showed up sharp at 7 a.m. every morning for treatment.
On top of that, despite my saying it wasn't necessary, he even brought small gifts. Probably prepared by his secretary or driver, but it was unnecessary courtesy.
Why fill the break room instead of buying that meal he offered?
If he wanted to build a personal connection, he could've called outside clinic hours using the card I'd given him...
'Wait, the card doesn't have my cell phone number.'
I belatedly realized why he'd been flustered that first day.
Had he missed a chance for a free meal at a fancy restaurant?
Either way, I'd turned down whatever vague proposal he had, so no big loss.
"Um, Director. If you're free tonight, could I treat you to dinner?"
Then, out of nowhere, came a dinner request from an unexpected person.
Jeong In-seong.
His skin had improved so much he'd been dating his girlfriend daily and barely showing up for treatment. What brought this on?
"What's up?"
"I wanted to say thanks and consult about something."
"If it's health-related, better to do it at the clinic."
What could it be? He didn't look ill. He hadn't even checked in at reception today—just showed up out of the blue.
"It's not health-related..."
Then what? Relationship advice?
This guy seemed way better at it than me, a near-lifelong bachelor.
"It's about career paths."
"Oh?"
That was unexpected.
And not a field I was confident in. Even when I tutored, I avoided high school seniors and never counseled on careers.
"Sure, whatever. If I can help..."
"Thank you for indulging my bothersome request. When's good for you? Mom wants to meet you too—would that be okay?"
No real reason to refuse.
I was the only Korean medicine doctor he knew, after all.
Jeong In-seong coordinated with me and booked a restaurant for Friday evening.
Jeong In-seong was a good student.
He had slightly better comprehension and memory than average, and he didn't hate sitting and studying for long stretches. His relationship with his mom wasn't bad, so no teenage rebellion either.
I didn't get why his mom was so thrilled he studied well, but he was the model student who just did as told.
"In-seong was aiming for engineering, right? Looking at last year's admissions, mechanical, electrical, and liberal arts are borderline; the rest are safe or average."
In short, no specific university or department in mind.
If anything, the highest-ranked school he could get into with a major that led to good jobs?
"I don't really want to do engineering."
"Really? Your college entrance scores beat your mock exams by a lot. You could go pre-med—think about it."
So he'd only started pondering his future after the exams ended.
'Pre-med? Korean medicine, dentistry, acupuncture, pharmacy?'
After counseling with his homeroom teacher, he sank into thought.
He'd always seen it as a distant tale. During that final-month sprint before the exam, his brain had felt unusually sharp, but to this extent?
'Could I live like the director if I became a Korean medicine doctor?'
He imagined himself in a white coat, sitting in the treatment room.
"You've got this and that wrong with you. I'll fix you up!" Needling coolly, prescribing meds... Sounded great?
He was confident in dealing with people, stamina, and studying hard, so it fit his aptitude.
He could treat people suffering like his grandma or himself—super rewarding.
"Juyeon, what do you think if I go to Korean medicine school?"
"That'd be awesome! Learn pulse diagnosis and tell me what's wrong with me!"
His girlfriend nodded eagerly.
Perfect timing—his grandma's birthday, so his dad was in Busan with the family.
Jeong In-seong casually broached it at the family gathering.
"Dad, I've actually got a college I want to go to now."
"What? Suddenly?"
His mom, who'd bragged to everyone about him going to Korea University, asked in surprise.
"Where?"
"Korean medicine school. Turns out Korea U is the only one worth applying to. If I put all my top three choices as Korean medicine, one should stick."
"You wanna be a Korean medicine doctor? You, In-seong?"
"Yeah, Grandma. What do you think?"
"I love it! Then this granny gets free tonics for life!"
"Haha, of course."
"Dad supports whatever you wanna do."
Grandma and Dad didn't dissuade him, as expected. Dad himself had spent his life happily doing work that didn't pay well— no way he'd interfere with his son's path.
"You...!"
Mom glared at Dad, who averted his eyes and turned away. The only family member who might object was her.
"Would you like me to go to Korea U, Mom?"
She pondered silently.
If he'd said pure arts like Dad, she might've flipped the table, but this wasn't something to outright oppose.
"If you really want to, I won't stop you... but you've never mentioned it before."
"Yeah. I just started thinking about it now."
"If it weren't for the acne treatment, you wouldn't have considered it at all. Isn't this too sudden?"
"Maybe it's fate? Right when I needed to decide, this interest popped up."
"I thought the same when I first met your dad. Figured I'd be the wife of an artist who'd go down in history!"
Dad, speechless, hung his head; Grandma cackled.
Was it? Too impulsive? All he knew about Korean medicine doctors came from two clinics.
"If you could be like that director who treated you, what worry would there be? He seems to know everything and makes great money. But clinics are super competitive these days."
"Same with companies. I'll just study hard."
Dad suddenly asked as he listened.
"Can you make it just studying school stuff? Don't you need secret techniques passed down three generations since Joseon?"
That reminded him of the previous clinic.
The meds at Haneul Clinic had no effect... and few patients? Not all succeed, huh.
"Nah, I don't think so? He talked about berberine alkaloids during consultation."
"Ah... But when I went in for treatment, he did mention qi."
"Hmm..."
The three fell into contemplation. Until recently, they'd imagined Korean medicine clinics as mystical. Suddenly deciding on it as a career raised many doubts.
"Why all the worry? Ask yer director if ye'd be good at it! If school won't cut it, he'll take ya as apprentice! We can beg!"
Then Grandma offered a plausible solution.
"Uh, Grandma, apprentice is a bit..."
"Good idea. Ask the director how much he makes running his own place. Honey, ask your friend Chan-jin about big-company engineers' salaries."
"No, Mom, that's rude."
"What's rude? Before applications, we can ask that much!"
But no way. Imagining Grandma or Mom barging into the treatment room with those questions made him dizzy.
He'd never get treated at Seongsu Clinic again.
"I'll ask him myself. Treat him to dinner and sound him out."