Chapter 5
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Fourteen Meridians
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The sites where needles or moxa are applied are called acupoints.
Among them, the acupoints along the fourteen meridians—the Twelve Principal Meridians, the Conception Vessel piercing the body's front, and the Governing Vessel running along the back—are known as the standard meridian points.
They're set at exactly 365 to match the days in a year, so it's not an overwhelming number.
[You memorized all of them?]
Hwang Seoyeong, who had been typing away on her phone, snapped her head up to stare at me.
[Didn't we learn all that in second-year meridians and acupoints class?]
[Sure, but I forgot it right after the exam.]
Was that how it went? Now that I thought about it, we'd forced the terms into our heads just for the test. Without a setup to practice and internalize them, what else could we do?
[I remember most of it. Just need to review once.]
In my case, I'd stuck needles in them countless times and exchanged notes with physicians across the martial world.
[Wow, you're so annoying.]
The truth was... with just a bit of focus, I could feel where the qi pooled.
While scholars argued endlessly over whether acupoints or meridians came first—and modern medicine dismissed them outright anyway—with training in circulating qi and regulating breath, sensing them had been easy even as a beginner.
[If you forgot, cram it now. You need it before the national exam.]
[I'll cram a week before the exam.]
Whatever.
I snapped my phone shut and pulled out my book.
No point delaying—no better time to confirm every acupoint.
There were slight variances, after all, between the spots where qi flowed strongest on the inner forearm and modern definitions like 'between the Palmaris Longus Tendon and Flexor Carpi Radialis Tendon, two cun above the palmar wrist crease' for Neiguan acupoint.
As I dove into the book, Hwang Seoyeong—who'd been about to type more—left me alone.
Instead, she rummaged through the stacks and dug out a fantasy novel from somewhere.
"Hey, wanna grab coffee?"
Less than an hour later, she tapped my shoulder and whispered.
I'd barely covered half, so I shook my head.
"What for dinner?"
"Dunno. I'll decide at six. Whatever you crave, that's it."
"Uwaaaah!"
"Shh."
Couldn't afford the interruption. Back to the book.
Four hours crawled by.
Enough for a solid first memorization run. I looked up.
'Body's stiff, need a drink before round two.'
But there was Hwang Seoyeong, setting aside her fantasy novel to crack open a wuxia comic?
"That's boring. Read Romance of the Three Kingdoms instead."
"What? Were you watching me?"
She startled and shot back.
"Just now. Library, shh. Was about to stand."
"How do you sit that still? You human?"
"Core training. Three one-hour horse stance sets daily for a hundred days—you could sit all day."
Hwang Seoyeong's face twisted into something uncanny.
"This book mention that? You read it?"
"Most wuxia from high school. Forgot which, but I practiced it."
Her eyes flickered, torn between belief and doubt.
"Let's go. Prepped for the acupuncture exam."
I smirked and rose. I could skip meals to study, but no way I'd let my waiting friend starve.
Three days later, Friday.
The class we'd awaited with confidence finally arrived.
"Hello. I'm Lee Minseok, handling acupuncture and moxibustion for the second-semester clinical special lecture."
But a curveball.
The unfamiliar professor introduced himself with a name not on the schedule.
"Hey, hyung!"
And Jo Haneul shot up, waving wildly.
"Long time, Haneul."
"Whoa, prof at our school now? No warning!"
"Professor Kim Seongcheol took sudden paternity leave."
Lee Minseok stated it flatly, but the bombshell had students buzzing.
"Huh? Professor Kim?"
"His wife just had their youngest daughter."
Rare sight: middle-aged male prof on paternity. Whispers of shock rippled to neighbors.
"Professor Kim Seongcheol on leave? Isn't he sixties? Even allowed...?"
"Nothing says he can't."
"Not that... sorry."
"Nah, hair loss ages him—late forties!"
"No way!"
I pieced it together fast. Kim Seongcheol—the guy reusing the same exam yearly, same points—had filed leave. Now a total newbie part-timer ran the show.
• Umyeong University Korean Medicine graduate
• Acupuncture and Moxibustion specialist
His PPT profile showed Umyeong University roots—where Jo Haneul's dad was a prof. Thick as thieves, clearly.
"Intro over. Syllabus time."
PPT advanced. Chatter died instantly.
"You'll hit clinics in six months. Few ready. Rather than Kim's notes, practical focus."
"Awesome!"
Jo Haneul boomed.
Rare eager beaver—prime disciple material.
"Haneul, up front."
Most would rather not.
"Yes, sir."
Jo Haneul bounded forward at the call, up to the podium. Faced the class.
Squeeze.
Professor clamped his shoulder hard.
"Argh!"
He yelped.
"Stiff as rock. Hungover yesterday?"
"Gasp, how'd you know?"
Chummy banter flowed into lecture.
"Neck back fully. Now forward bend."
Professor directed cervical extension, flexion, left-right rotations, lateroflexions on Jo Haneul.
"When's the pain?"
"Forward, right turn."
Jo Haneul clutched his right neck.
"Where treat?"
Sneaky ambush question. Prof trademark.
"Uh..."
Dozens averted eyes—crammers' classic fearing the spotlight.
"Not tough."
But Jo Haneul couldn't dodge.
"Uh, here? Pain spot."
He pointed where it hurt turning. Technically not wrong.
"Acupoint or muscle."
"Trapezius?"
Not the hoped-for answer.
Lee Minseok scowled deep.
"Trapezius gets needled baseline for any neck-shoulder ache, but not the prime culprit here."
Paused. Jo Haneul just blinked.
"Classic in patients griping of neck stiffness or poor rotation at clinic. Muscle twisting from C1-4 transverse processes to inner scapula."
Sigh, hint dropped. Near-spoiler. Eye-droppers now caught on, mouthing at Jo Haneul.
"Uh... ah."
Hwang Sanghun tried hardest, but impossibly, Jo Haneul blanked. Pleading eyes at prof only iced his face harder.
"Rhomboid."
I piped up, done watching the stall.
Better someone say it than drag on.
"Correct."
Lee Minseok nodded.
"Your dad drilled your brilliance in my ear—how miss this?"
"Ha, ha... slipped."
Jo Haneul scratched his head, flustered. No side-eye for me even.
What gives? Figured teacher's kid gets favoritism. Grudge against mentor instead?
I cocked my head, observing.
"Seat. Answerer?"
"Han Yeowon."
"Ah, Yeowon. Haneul as patient—treatment?"
Spotlight shifted. Follow-up expected; rattled off smooth.
"Needle Wind Pool and Crooked Wall near rhomboid origin and insertion, plus Shoulder Outer Shu and Shoulder Middle Shu to loosen it. Check tender spots, treat Trapezius, Sternocleidomastoid, Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus too."
Didn't obsess points for muscle work usually, but yesterday's review smoothed it.
"Good. Teaching plan?"
"Might pop once, but prep for no—advise 2-3 visits. Oh, 45-degree tilt pull-forward stretch too."
Demoed pressing Hwang Seoyeong's neck beside me.
This it? More diagnostics?
"Excellent. Actual study pays off."
Lee Minseok approved.
"All must nail this. Graduation knocking—can't miss neck-stiff patient's muscle? Just Ashi points? Why six years anatomy and acupoints?"
Day-one tirade, boomer vibes from youth. Heads ducked, eyes fled.
"Not solo Yeowon knew—others too shy, I'll assume."
Most clocked post-hint? Probably...
"Format holds: common clinic cases. I present, you prescribe. No perfect script, but I'll unpack mine."
Wow.
Fresh-hire young gun, no tenure track, ambush Qs galore.
Pure thrill ride ahead.
"Homework. Repetitive heavy lifts tore young guy's partial rotator cuff. Summarize treatment—like Yeowon's teaching."
Seen hordes: stone-hoisting martial artists.
"Class tomorrow. Midnight deadline."
Prof out, peers groaned agony.
I dove in, pumped.