Chapter 56
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Park Sunyoon's Proposal
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Park Sunyoon was the first to notice that he was fully healthy again, as expected.
But Seol Yuhee and Seo Inae, who had been watching him closely at the front desk and in the treatment room, soon realized that he no longer needed any treatment.
The change in his walking posture from the beginning, the feel of the muscle tension when removing the needles. And above all, our conversations. Unlike the early days when he complained about his symptoms, lately he had been too busy glancing around to notice much else.
"He seems really interested in you, Director."
It was an ordinary day when we finished work a bit early. Right at the timing when thoughts of early dismissal started to sharpen. While Seo Inae hurriedly changed out of her clothes, Seol Yuhee opened her mouth with an excited flutter.
"Anyone could see that."
If we'd wrapped up at 59 minutes past the hour, we'd have vanished like the wind, but it was only 51 minutes, so Seo Inae joined in the chit-chat.
"Ehh? If he's interested in anyone, it'd be you, Yuhee."
I had already changed, shut down the computer, and stepped out as I said it.
"Whaaat? No way! Why would a chaebol heir like me?"
Seol Yuhee flailed her hands in horror at my claim.
"You're pretty."
"What are you talking about!"
"She is a beauty."
Seo Inae chimed in, seeming to agree with me.
"Well... you're pretty too, Director Chu, and Actress Park Sesun is, no. If you wanted, you could get introduced to way prettier celebrities through her?"
Seol Yuhee countered, but she was different from just having well-proportioned features.
Of course, Chu Miyoung was beautiful enough to work as an influencer, but Seol Yuhee had that unique aura of someone with strong yin energy.
Somehow eerie, yet making you want to hold her warmly... something like that.
"Eek! Honestly, his eyes are different. Every time Park Sunyoon looks at you, Director, he gets all fidgety like he has something to say! You think so too, right, sunbae?"
Seol Yuhee sought agreement from Seo Inae.
And Seo Inae's response was...
"...Maybe."
Wrong. Seo Inae was already checking the clock. Impossible to tell if she was just giving a perfunctory answer out of disinterest or if she meant it.
"It might not be either of you. Maybe he just enjoys getting needled."
"Who in the world is like that?!"
I offered a third possibility, but Seol Yuhee made a big X with her arms.
"Why not? You love it every time you get it too, Doctor."
"I only ask for it because I can definitely feel my body improving afterward! Back in the day, I'd have collapsed by now on a busy day like today, but I'm still full of energy! If I were healthy, I wouldn't get it!"
Really?
I'd thought she loved it because she always looked so refreshed when I opened her acupoints to help with her breathing exercises.
Turns out she was just enduring it?
"Ijin still comes in occasionally for maintenance even though her knee's been healed for ages."
"Come to think of it, she's suspicious too. Doesn't she like you, Director?"
"Yuhee... even if you're young and full of springtime vibes, no one has that much love to go around."
I shook my head like she was hopeless.
Did it really look that way? Or was she just that lonely? Maybe I should introduce her to someone for staff welfare.
Yeah, once it's clear Park Sunyoon isn't interested in Seol Yuhee, I'll look into it.
"Fine. Next time he comes, I'll ask him directly."
"Huh? Ask who?"
"Park Sunyoon, obviously."
Seol Yuhee blinked in shock.
Her face asked if it was okay to question a patient like that.
"Uh, uh. But what if it's not...?"
"So what? You'd just be the girl with an overactive imagination."
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.
So I decided to trade a moment of awkwardness for clearing up the frustration, but Park Sunyoon didn't show up for nearly a month.
Not only him, but even Kim Jinsang vanished, enough to max out his closeness with Park Sesun.
If he'd come this infrequently from the start, I wouldn't have paid it any mind, thinking his muscles were just stiffening up.
But after acting so suspiciously for a while, and with Park Sunyoon peeking around outside the treatment room again today, I grabbed him without hesitation.
So I straight-up asked what I'd been wondering, and his response was...
"Y-Yes? N-No, really? I came across like that?"
Stammering like that while glaring at his cousin.
"I didn't say anything."
Park Sesun shrugged, of course.
She really hadn't said a word. Technically, she'd laughed so hard she forgot to answer amid a sudden bodily reaction and just went home.
"Then why'd you think that?"
"Anyone would think the same."
Park Sesun's words. So it wasn't just me and my staff overthinking it.
"We three talked about it. I thought Sunyoon had a thing for Yuhee here, and this one thought it was her."
"I vote Director too."
Seo Inae added her two cents, flipping through the chart.
Park Sunyoon looked utterly flustered.
"Neither? Well, I had a third theory. What if he gets pleasure from being pricked by needles...?"
"Pfft... kkh!"
My two staffers shook their heads vehemently that it absolutely wasn't that, faces drained.
Park Sesun, hearing it for the second time, covered her mouth but couldn't hold back the laughter.
"Okay, okay, that was a joke. Relax."
I patted Park Sunyoon's shoulder to reassure him.
He'd been gaping wordlessly until then, and finally sighed in relief.
"If you don't want misunderstandings, just say it straight. If it's not a person, then it's the medicine you're after, right?"
It was understandable to be interested in his cousin's consultation.
But last time, when making medicine for Madam Heo's back pain, he'd pretended to drink water and lingered near the treatment room.
I wasn't even trying to sense it, but my awareness naturally covered the clinic's interior.
"Well..."
Even if I heard it, it wouldn't help a businessman like him. Why?
Under my pressure, Park Sunyoon finally opened up.
"It's not great to say here, and I need to prepare myself mentally."
But he stalled again.
Do you know how many months we've known each other? I was floored.
"I'll book a restaurant and text you. Give me your number."
But this time, he seemed serious.
Unlike his flustered state moments ago, he reverted to a proper businessman expression and tone.
He pulled my business card from his bag. It was crumpled, like the one I'd given him at the desk on his first visit.
'No way he couldn't contact me because the phone number wasn't on it, right?'
I glanced at Seol Yuhee, and she was pumping her fists, mouthing "Fighting!"
Her once-pale face was now flushed red.
Anyway, my two hypotheses were both wrong.
I worried how long this "mental preparation" would take, but luckily, a text came that very evening.
It was a wall of text that kept scrolling forever, but the gist was:
Sorry for the rudeness.
I meant to tell you at first, but gave up since there was no chance.
But I kept lingering because I couldn't let it go.
No bad intentions at all.
Sorry for acting suspiciously anyway.
And I'm swamped this month, so come to that fine dining place Sunday at 8 PM.
Everything but the last part was empty platitudes.
Hmm, he'll tell me what he wanted to say when I go.
Was the month of no-shows really just busyness?
[Yes. See you then.]
My reply was concise.
And we met Sunday at 8 PM.
Fine dining turned out to be fancy course cuisine.
The interior was even more stylish than the place where I'd eaten at Jeong Inseong's mother's, and I was shown right to a private room upon arrival.
"Hi~."
Unlike my casual work outfit, Park Sunyoon was sharply dressed in a suit like our first meeting.
Probably came straight from his busy work, but he looked like someone asking me out on a date, just like my joke.
"Hello."
More at ease in this space he knew well, unlike his hesitant patient demeanor.
Was his title director? Department head? I didn't remember exactly, but it was high up. Even if a parachute hire, the position shapes the man, so he pulled off the look convincingly.
"Noona sends her regards too."
We'd seen her three days ago. What?
Along with the aperitif came lengthy food explanations, and we exchanged small talk for a bit.
But we both knew what we really wanted to discuss, so we got to the point soon enough.
"I'm truly sorry. I talked to Noona, and I must've seemed like a weirdo. You must've been really uncomfortable."
Apology already received via that long text.
It was odd, but not unpleasant. Unlike the stalker following Chu Miyoung around with shifty eyes, Park Sunyoon was a different breed.
"No need to apologize. You seemed like you had something to say but kept hesitating, so I was just curious."
"Exactly. You saw through it all along."
Park Sunyoon nodded lightly.
"So, what is this 'something you wanted to say'?"
"...It's this."
For a moment, Park Sunyoon's eyes flashed.
And he grabbed my hand firmly.
"How about partnering with our company on a business? I'll support you fully!"
"Business?"
Business talk after all? Within expected range.
I sighed. My answer was ready.
Just say I have no products to offer and decline...
"PK Bio doesn't make up a big part of PK Group, but it's the affiliate Grandpa cares about most. I can do more than you think."
But he didn't give me a chance to speak and kept going.
Aside from acupuncture, he always seemed calm and neat, so I'd expected a logical pitch, but his voice was agitated— the opposite.
"Have you read our grandpa's autobiography by any chance?"
"No."
I answered sharply as soon as the mic was passed.
Wonder if Seo Inae has?
PK was a top-ten Korean conglomerate, but I had no hobby of reading chaebol memoirs.
The one and only autobiography I'd read in life—'that person's'—I'd burned in a trance.
"R-Right. Then I'll keep it simple!"
"Okay."
Just listen to his prepared presentation.
I leaned back in my chair leisurely.
"Our grandpa came up from the countryside, did construction labor, and got seriously ill. A medical practitioner helped him then."
Park Sunyoon closed his eyes, immersed in the tale.
Medical practitioner? How far back does this go? A word I hadn't heard in decades.
Memories from pre-med medical history class bubbled up.
During Japanese occupation, to eliminate Korean oriental doctors, they downgraded them to practitioners, shut schools, excluded from public medicine. Vanished after independence with the oriental doctor system.
"He took the medicine and recovered completely?"
"Yes. Later, after huge business success, he found the man and asked what medicine had cured him."
"Hm, was it Ssanghwa-tang by any chance?"
"How did you know?!"
Park Sunyoon's eyes widened.
I'd guessed, and nailed it.
"Not an injury from labor, but illness, so Ssanghwa-tang fits perfectly."
"Impressive as always."
Any oriental doctor would prescribe Ssanghwa-tang there. Some might do Shipjeon Daubo-tang or Ssanggeum-tang, but the principle was double-tonifying qi and blood.
"Back to the story: Grandpa essentially handed him PK Bio, and he succeeded in mass-selling fatigue remedies like Ssanghwa-tang, digestives, hangover cures as popular products. Still steady sellers today."
"A capable businessman too."
"Yes."
Hm? Something...
Park Sunyoon's eyes were off.
They'd been gleaming, but this was more.
Is this the madness of clear eyes?
"Grandpa called him his lifesaver and soulmate."
"Ah, okay..."
Park Sunyoon's voice deepened.
Soulmate? Way too much. Did I seem uninterested, so he skipped parts?
"Lots of crises growing the company, but Grandpa repeated that practitioner's story endlessly. Other relatives got sick of it, but I loved hearing it! Maybe why I joined bio division."
Not 'maybe'—that's exactly it.
No need to read the autobiography; I got what Park Sunyoon wanted.
"Surprisingly romantic side. So... you want me to be your practitioner?"
This guy, a romantic nutcase?
Seemed he'd snapped the rational restraint.