Chapter 8
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: The Tinnitus Patient
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"Sorry, could you speak a bit louder?"
Instead of shouting, I picked up the hearing aid still lying on the street and handed it to the middle-aged man.
He dusted it off, slipped it into his ear, and let out a long sigh of relief, patting his chest for a good while.
"Thank you, young lady. Whew... What did you say just now? Goodness, my hearing isn't that bad, but I got so rattled from the shock."
Come to think of it, the patient from my assignment had mild hearing loss too. Luckily, with the hearing aid, conversation wasn't much of a problem. Modern tech really is a lifesaver.
Just then, I spotted a café not far away. I pointed toward it.
"No need to thank me. You must have been pretty shaken by that car. Let's head inside for a quick rest."
"The hospital's right nearby anyway..."
"Your legs are still trembling. Take a break first. My treat—I'll get you a cup of tea."
The middle-aged man bowed his head and checked his legs, flinching in surprise. He hadn't even realized how much they were shaking.
I led him into the café.
"Two chamomiles, please."
I ordered a calming tea and headed to a quiet table in the back. No other customers around, but it felt right for talking.
"Ahh, my heart's still pounding like crazy. If you hadn't been there, I'd be in real trouble."
"Too many maniacs on the roads these days. Pedestrians can only be careful."
"You're right about that. Haha... Guess this old man's got some guardian angel looking out for him."
He kept blinking rapidly, shaking his head in disbelief at what had just happened.
"Feeling a bit calmer now?"
"Yeah, much better. Man... Of all things, nearly getting hit by a car. I almost went out the same way as my wife."
"Oh, your wife passed in an accident too...?"
"Haha! Don't look at me with pity. It's been eleven years already, and I've been doing just fine on my own."
The middle-aged man cut me off with a hearty laugh, but I noticed his eyelids and lips still quivering.
Wait—eleven years?
I started to reach for his hand but paused.
Eleven years widowed, plus hearing loss. It all clicked perfectly with the patient profile I'd just written up for my assignment.
"Sir, do you get tinnitus by any chance?"
He was fiddling with his left ear, so the question felt natural enough.
"Ah, spot on. You've got sharp eyes, young lady."
"That's how I spotted you from afar."
"Haha, makes sense."
"Has it been over ten years for that too?"
"Pretty much. It's only gotten this bad in the last year or so."
He squeezed his eyes shut, as if it were ringing right then.
"Worse during the day than at night?"
"Nah, it's worst right before bed. During work, I forget about it—maybe a faint ring now and then if I notice. But the second I lie down? Beeeeeep~ Can't sleep without booze to drown it out."
"I see."
"At first, it sounded just like birds chirping. I even thought my late wife was trying to talk to me—no thought of getting it treated. Sigh... My own damn fault for being ignorant. Way later, chatting with my class rep, he chewed me out and sent me straight to the hospital."
"You let it go untreated until it worsened."
"All my fault. Boozed it up too much. Docs still nag me to quit, but at this point, I couldn't even if I wanted to."
He downed the chamomile like a shot of soju. Mentioning his wife brought a sheen of tears to his eyes.
Instead of words, I quietly slid him a napkin.
So it is a real patient.
The symptoms were too detailed for a made-up case. From the context, he seemed like an actual inpatient at our university hospital.
From the chart alone, I'd pictured a rough construction worker who loved his drinks. Meeting the real man felt worlds apart.
"May I ask your name?"
"Huh? Jeong Gwangsu. Whoa, I didn't even ask my savior's name! What's yours? Korea University? What major?"
"Han Yeowon. I'm in the Korean Medicine program at Korea University."
Jeong Gwangsu.
Putting a name to him made the tinnitus case from my assignment feel like a real person now.
"A future Korean medicine doc? Thought you were some athlete!"
Jeong Gwangsu's eyes widened. Guess pulling him back had looked a bit too forceful.
"Haha, I did some sports as a kid."
I scratched my head with a vague deflection.
"What are the odds? I'm an inpatient at Korea University Korean Medicine Hospital, but I've never seen you around."
"Aw, I'm still just a student."
"Students trail after professors all the time."
"Probably underclassmen. Third-year clinicals start hospital rotations."
"Ah, got it. No wonder you nailed the tinnitus right away!"
Jeong Gwangsu clapped in surprise.
"Any improvement with the treatments?"
I asked about his progress—something I'd been dying to know. From Professor Lee Minseok's assignment details, it didn't seem like much headway.
"Nah... They say it's chronic, takes a long time."
As expected, he shook his head.
For the assignment, I'd suggested points for relieving neck and shoulder muscle tension and nerve compression, plus a few extras known for tinnitus.
But it didn't feel like the right answer. If that worked, would he have bounced between ENT, neurosurgery, two Korean clinics, and ended up admitted here?
Unless he'd started treatment right away, after eleven years with all sorts of complications tangled up, basic needling wouldn't cut it.
"You in ENT-Derm? Or Acupuncture ward?"
"Entee-what?"
"Who's your attending professor?"
"Who was it? My class rep raved about Professor Kim Seongcheol as a miracle worker, but they switched docs on me recently."
Jeong Gwangsu grumbled a bit.
"To Professor Lee Minseok?"
"Yeah, that sounds right. Felt too young, though."
He nodded.
Sure enough, Professor Lee Minseok's patient—the one who'd assigned us the case. He talked a big game in class like he could cure anything, but clearly hadn't won the patient's trust.
Not that surprising. Before my own reputation kicked in, I'd gotten plenty of skeptical looks for being young and a woman.
People still preferred older docs for their "experience," modern day or not.
"Must be brilliant to make professor so young. He's the one I respect most."
"Oh yeah? You his student too?"
"Yep."
I nodded. Building trust in the doctor is key to treatment, so I laid it on thick for Professor Lee.
"Doesn't even check the pulse before needling..."
Jeong Gwangsu muttered.
So that's why he didn't like the charismatic professor.
Sigh, Koreans secretly love a good pulse reading.
Fine for disc or stenosis back pain patients—they don't care about pulses.
But for mystery cases like Jeong Gwangsu's, reading the pulse and explaining it would've helped.
"If it's okay, mind if I take a look?"
"I'd be grateful!"
Jeong Gwangsu beamed and stuck out his wrist eagerly.
He'd been itching for a pulse diagnosis.
I placed my index, middle, and ring fingers on his wrist and closed my eyes quietly.
"......"
I grasped the pulse in under ten seconds but dragged it out over a minute for effect.
His racing pulse from the near-miss had steadied, revealing a wiry pulse—like the taut string of a gayageum.
"Weak beats, tense and taut overall."
"Qi deficiency?"
Jeong Gwangsu's eyes lit up.
"Yes. Overall low energy, and what's there is stagnant. Liver qi stagnation—easy terms, long-term stress buildup. Blocks flow, leads to all sorts of issues: depression, anxiety, random pains."
He nodded along vigorously to my explanation.
"Mind if I check your shoulder muscles?"
"Go ahead."
I gently squeezed his trapezius.
"Ugh."
Still rock-hard, even after days of Professor Lee's needles.
I checked the sternocleidomastoid and rhomboids next.
"Ow! ...Feels okay? Last time that prof pressed, it hurt like hell."
"Professor loosened up your neck muscles well."
"Yeah, needles around the ears, neck, and limbs."
Hard for his age, but subjectively better. A body worn from decades of manual labor wouldn't soften in weeks.
I thoroughly checked his jaw, neck, and shoulders—no severe tenderness.
"Let me check your chest too."
Finally, I lightly pressed Danzhong at the center of his chest, between the nipples.
"Aaack!"
Jeong Gwangsu yelped loud enough to draw stares if others were around, then clapped a hand over his mouth in shock.
Danzhong, the sunken point between the breasts, is key for fire syndrome diagnosis and treatment—where stress qi knots up.
"Stress must be brutal."
"This hurts from stress?"
"Yes. Chest feels tight sometimes, right?"
"Yeah... Even without eating much, feels clogged. Always like this, so I never thought it was an issue."
He thumped his chest.
"Hospital nags about meals, water, bowels... Talking it out, I realized I was fine when young."
"Too busy to care for yourself."
"Yep. After she passed, no appetite. Now admitted to get better, but feels like I'm dying. ...Too late?"
"Not at all."
I shook my head firmly.
Long-blocked qi had wrecked digestion and fluid metabolism everywhere.
But reversible. He still had self-healing power left.
"Good treatment and lifestyle changes can turn it around. Your wife would want that too."
Jeong Gwangsu, who winced at every wife mention, teared up again.
"...Didn't wanna burden my rescuer, but honestly, until moments ago, I wondered if getting hit was better. Guess she read my heart and sent you—no, the doctor."
I gently took his hand.
"Overheard despite myself. You've been through hell."
The café owner, who'd been listening, brought over another tea.
"Take your time. No other customers—relax."
"Thank you truly. Double blessings today."
He blew his nose on the napkin stack and bowed to the owner, sheepish about his outburst but not upset.
Jeong Gwangsu pressed a hand to his chest, steadying his breath. A good cry might help, but pride as a middle-aged man made it tough.
"Stick with Professor Lee's treatment—you'll see progress. Press here on your chest now and then, breathe easy."
"Got it."
"No needles, so I'll do some acupressure."
He yielded willingly.
I pressed Danzhong, sensing the tangled qi clearly.
Just unknot the stagnation, and he'll start improving.
No miracle single needle from me, and drawing attention was risky.
Airplane luck aside, Jo Haneul's warning held water.
I rubbed his chest with student-level advice.
Infusing just a hint of qi, to loosen it slowly.