Chapter 50
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: A Delicate Diagnosis
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One day before Myeong Junsik visited the clinic.
"Section Chief, are you feeling unwell?"
A subordinate sitting next to him at the office spoke up as he worked diligently.
He was clutching his lower abdomen due to pain in a part he couldn't mention aloud.
It wasn't agony bad enough to kill him, but bending at the waist made it a bit better, so he was twisting his body awkwardly. That must have worried those around him.
"I'm fine. It's just... my daughter begged me to have some mala tang yesterday, so I guess I got a stomachache."
The coworker who asked was someone he was comfortable with, but there were plenty of female employees he wasn't close to sitting right behind him. He couldn't bring himself to name the actual spot of pain, so he made up an excuse.
No, actually, it wasn't about gender or familiarity. It was just a body part that could easily lead to misunderstandings with anyone, right?
Even his own wife had freaked out when he mentioned his testicles hurt.
"Your daughter's in high school, and here you are, what the hell are you doing?"
Recalling his wife's tearful shouting still made his eyes well up.
At first, he hadn't even understood why she was so angry. He'd thought something like, If my wife were hurting, I'd be worried.
"What are you talking about? What would I even do? It just started hurting out of nowhere..."
"Oh god, my fate! How could you do this? How could you? Have I ever made you feel neglected? I've lived only for you and our daughter. Have I ever been stingy even once? How did you end up with that kind of disease...? Who have you been messing around with?"
"Absolutely not!"
His wife had suspected—no, was convinced of—infidelity and an STD.
Good lord. For over twenty years since their youngest daughter was born, he hadn't even had sex with his own wife much.
Even into his forties, he'd occasionally masturbate, but now it didn't even get hard anymore, so he didn't bother. What kind of suspicion was this for a man like him? It was the most unjust thing in his life.
He'd barely managed to calm his wife, who was talking about lawyers and going back to her parents' house, and convinced her to let him go to a urologist.
No way did I catch something from a public bath and get an STD, right? he'd worried excessively, but luckily, the tests came back clean.
"Misunderstandings like this happen sometimes, leading to awkward incidents, but even without an STD, there are many possible causes for testicular pain. No STD pathogens were detected, so rest easy."
"Ah..."
The urologist comforted Myeong Junsik and helped soothe his wife.
He felt greatly relieved.
"Ultrasound shows no major issues, and inflammation levels aren't too high. It looks like epididymitis. The meds should clear it up. Don't worry too much."
Myeong Junsik took the prescribed medication diligently.
After two weeks, the pain subsided.
He thought he was completely in the clear. He figured it was just a minor hiccup, as the doctor said.
But not long after, the pain returned.
At the worst possible time, no less.
"Urgh... Those bastards! After all I've done for the company! Guess the project runs just fine without me!"
"Tell me about it. What are we supposed to do without you, Section Chief...?"
His closest colleague at work—the one who'd mentored him when he first joined—had been reassigned to a factory down south.
As the two drowned their sorrow and anger in soju at a street food stall, that spot started hurting like a ghost had grabbed it.
He couldn't focus on the comfort; the pain was driving him mad.
"Ugh... Section Chief... urgh..."
Tears welled up. No, Myeong Junsik was outright sobbing.
"To think you'd care about me this much..."
He was thinking he might need to go to a big hospital right away.
But the next day, it was fine again.
Was it just stress?
Of course he felt bad about what happened to his close colleague, but as a perennial section chief himself, he was terrified about his own future and had been under extreme stress.
Is it okay now? Or not...? Myeong Junsik spent the entire day obsessing over that area.
Situations that stressed him out as badly as that one were rare, but whenever it got a little cold, or something annoying happened at work or home, the pain would start up again.
Medicine didn't help anymore.
It never reached the tear-inducing agony again, but an uncomfortable sensation like abdominal cramps would pop up whenever he urgently needed the bathroom.
In his desperate attempts to ease the pain somehow, he'd finally been found out even at the office.
"Does Section Chief Myeong's daughter like mala tang too? My girls keep begging to go for hotpot. I'm worried about their stomachs."
"Haha... Yeah, where do they even come up with that stuff."
"Why? Mala tang's delicious~. Don't you two like spicy food?"
"It's not that we hate it; at our age, our digestion just can't handle it anymore."
On top of everything, he'd picked a bad excuse.
It was lunchtime, so the employees started chatting about mala tang. Myeong Junsik, who had no energy for conversation, tried to stand up. He'd say he was going to the bathroom.
"If you get stomachaches often, Section Chief, you should try Seongsu Clinic upstairs!"
"A Korean medicine clinic?"
But just as he was about to rise, a coworker from behind brought up the clinic.
"Yeah! Last time I overate at a company dinner, they fixed it right up. And my dad's had irritable bowel syndrome for 40 years; their prescription almost cured him."
"Oh..."
Come to think of it, he'd gone to Korean medicine clinics often in the past. Sitting at a desk all day as an office worker often gave him back pain. He'd given up on treatment at some point just to get by, but acupuncture definitely helped ease it.
"Have you been to Seongsu Clinic too, Assistant Cha? I went for wrist pain, and it was better right after acupuncture!"
"That good? Should I get some tonic herbs for my mom?"
"Ooh, Vice Section Chief's such a good son~."
"Guess I'll take her this weekend."
The young employees' talk perked up his neighbor's ears too.
Maybe they can treat this mystery testicular pain? Even just reducing it a bit would be great. He wasn't expecting miracles, but a consultation couldn't hurt.
Going on the weekend might mean running into Assistant Cha. Plus, even after STDs were ruled out, his wife's suspicions weren't 100% gone, so he didn't want to go out needlessly on his day off.
So Myeong Junsik headed to Seongsu Clinic early the next morning, before work.
There was no mention of a young female doctor!
He'd already felt pretty embarrassed getting examined by a middle-aged male urologist.
But a female doctor? And another person standing right behind her?
He barely managed to name the painful spot. It was mortifying.
Should I just leave now? There are plenty of clinics with male doctors.
They said this one was good, but...
Imagining dropping his pants in front of two doctors made cold sweat pour down.
"I see. It must have been hard to even talk about it. Good call deciding on treatment."
"Yes..."
"We'll take good care of you. How long has it been?"
We're doomed.
Myeong Junsik squeezed his eyes shut. With the conversation this far along, he didn't have the guts to say, "I can't do it, sorry," and bolt.
"It's been almost three months since it first hurt."
He answered in a panic.
"That's quite a while. No trauma, right? Have you seen any other doctors in the meantime?"
"Yes. No injuries at all. The urologist tested for STDs and said definitely not."
"Any other tests or treatments?"
His face burned. The doctor wasn't asking about STDs specifically, but he'd look guilty as charged.
"Ah... Urine test, blood test, ultrasound. Inflammation wasn't high, but they said it could be orchitis? Epididymitis? It got better at first with meds, but now it comes and goes even with them."
Fortunately or not, the doctor's face showed no emotion. She asked a few more questions mechanically, with a faint smile, seemingly sparing his feelings.
"Does it look like the veins are bulging out, or can you feel them?"
"Not really. It looks exactly the same on the outside as before."
"Not varicocele then. No injury means no rupture. If it were torsion, you couldn't walk in like this... Lie face down over there."
I have to show it after all.
Myeong Junsik shuffled to the bed like he was being led to slaughter.
She was the doctor, and he was just the patient, but his hands shook as he reached for his waistband.
"Hup."
He'd finally steeled himself.
"No need to take your pants off."
Salvation in one sentence.
"Ah, really?"
Relief bloomed on Myeong Junsik's face and in his voice.
"Yes. It's probably not the testicle itself. Just take off your shoes, get on, and lie face down comfortably."
Not the testicles? So no need to show it?
He blinked and did as told, lying prone.
Soon, the doctor's hands touched his lower back.
"I'll press on your spine. Just palpating the waist, so don't worry. Tell me if it hurts."
Pressing the back was fine anytime.
Myeong Junsik nodded.
"Yes. Got it... Keuk!"
But the pain when she pressed was beyond imagination. And just pressing the back sent a sharp tingle straight to his testicles?
"Uh, that spot just now!"
"Stinging or tingling?"
"Yes!"
"As expected, nerves compressed from the lower back."
"Ah?"
She pressed from the spine to the surrounding muscles. Some spots felt refreshing, others excruciating.
"Ugh, that hurts!"
"Yes. Your quadratus lumborum is really tense too... Your back's been bothering you for a while, hasn't it?"
"A long time. Over ten years."
"You should have treated this properly. The back issue's referring pain down to the testicles."
The back was the culprit?
"Doesn't everyone's back hurt at this age?"
"Sure, but if you ignore it, it only gets worse. You need to manage it. Both low back pain and testicular pain flare up from sitting too long or cold, right?"
"Yes. It hurts especially when I'm sitting at my desk."
"Prolonged same posture stiffens muscles and compresses nerves. You know where the spinal cord is?"
"Inside the spine?"
"Right. Spinal nerves branch out from here to the whole body. But a stiff back pinches them midway. Discs can compress nerves too, but this doesn't look typical."
"Ah..."
A vague memory of a human anatomy diagram surfaced. His legs sometimes went numb with the back pain, so it made sense.
"We need to treat the back, of course. If you're okay with it, needling the sensitive groin area too will help. No need to needle the testicles directly, so relax."
"Ah... Whew, good."
Myeong Junsik sighed in relief at the treatment explanation. He'd figured as much, but if it meant needles there, he'd have run.
"Acupuncture like that, and if it's really uncomfortable now, we can do some manipulation to open up the back too."
"Ah, yes. Like pressing to release it, like just now?"
"That's part of it. For you, we need muscle tension relief, plus pelvic and spinal adjustments."
Even the few diagnostic presses had already felt a bit better.
A little harder pressure and realigning the pelvis should make it even more comfortable, right?
"Yes. My posture's bad anyway, so please take care of it."
Myeong Junsik nodded eagerly.
"...Ah?"
And in the very next moment.
He regretted his decision.