Chapter 91
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: A Genuine Smile
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"What's up with your face? Got a bruise or something?"
"Say that again."
"What?"
"I've been waiting so long for this!"
"I've been waiting so long?"
Chae Seong-gye parroted his daughter's words, utterly baffled.
"Your mouth corner just went straight up! Your cheeks are moving!"
Chae Rira got all excited, pointing out the change in pronunciation when she said "i".
But Chae Seong-gye couldn't really feel it himself.
"Look at this."
Frustrated, his daughter picked up the phone she'd dropped, turned on the camera, and switched it to selfie mode.
"The phone's fine."
"It's not the phone that's the problem!"
Still, he couldn't tell much.
"Ah, it's really different here. Should've taken a picture earlier!"
"It can't have improved that much in one go."
Even as he said it, Chae Seong-gye tried pronouncing "ni" a few more times.
His daughter kept insisting it was moving, and sure enough, his mouth corner seemed to lift a bit more.
"Haha, the effect will show gradually as it soaks in. No rushing—let's keep up the steady treatment."
"Ahh! Sorry for the noise!"
"No worries. Take care going home!"
Chae Rira had made such a fuss that even the clinic director peeked out into the hallway from the treatment room.
Chae Seong-gye kept tilting his head in confusion, but Chae Rira was convinced her dad's face had changed.
To her sharp eyes, his cheeks had definitely shifted.
"Dad, your eyes look a bit more open today!"
"Do they?"
From the day of treatment onward, Chae Rira inspected her father's face every day.
"The wrinkles on both sides look even now."
"...Can't you get rid of them completely?"
At first, he thought his daughter was exaggerating, but after two weeks, he could feel the difference himself when opening his eyes wide or lifting his mouth corners.
"You can open your mouth wide without it skewing to one side, right?"
"Yeah! That's what I've been saying!"
A month after starting treatment.
"Ah~."
"Ee!"
"Oh~."
In the busy morning rush, Chae Rira flung open the bathroom door to grab her forgotten phone—and caught her dad staring in the mirror, mouthing the vowels.
"Whoa, sorry!"
Chae Rira slammed the door shut in surprise.
"Ahem, it's fine. Come in. I already finished brushing."
As soon as she closed it, she remembered the phone again. Thankfully, her dad—embarrassed but quick—opened the door right away.
He must've paused mid-brush to check his face.
"Wow."
But Chae Rira forgot to take the phone he offered, just staring at his face.
"What? Something on my face?"
Chae Seong-gye checked the mirror, thinking maybe toothpaste, but that wasn't what she saw.
"Wow, Dad, you look so handsome when you smile like that!"
"Hm?"
"Look here! Smile again!"
Chae Seong-gye never smiled, no matter the situation.
Serious face when his daughter won the national championships and he was thrilled.
Stern face when she scratched his beloved car by accident and he was sad.
Grave face when a long-prepared project went up in smoke and he was angry.
Now, he'd smiled just because he'd been caught practicing in the mirror while brushing.
"Like this?"
And when he did, the facial asymmetry had mostly resolved.
"Can't you tell?"
This time, even Chae Seong-gye couldn't pretend he didn't notice.
"Haha."
To his own eyes, his face matched up over 80% when he smiled brightly.
"Perfect! Smile like that from now on—even at the office!"
'Hahaha.'
'Heh.'
'Hehehe.'
'Mmm~!'
On the subway to work, Chae Seong-gye grinned nonstop at his selfie-mode phone.
"...What's up with that old guy?"
"Don't stare."
Only after drawing weird looks from strangers did he realize he'd overdone it, totally absorbed in his face.
Scratching his head as he entered the office, Chae Seong-gye...
"Good morning, everyone! Have a great day!"
...tried greeting them brightly for once, smiling wide as his daughter suggested.
"Oh, good morning, Section Chief."
"Good morning..."
The team looked incredibly awkward.
Hm, maybe too out of character.
Back to work. That's what the office is for.
"...Deputy, why's Section Chief Chae in such a good mood? I took Friday off, did something happen...?"
"Nothing. First time I've seen him smile since I started."
"He looks all warm and friendly when he smiles."
"Yeah, thought he was some cold northern duke."
"Less chatting, finish up quick and submit reports while he's happy."
Yeah, you all get to work too.
He couldn't help overhearing their whispers by the pantry, but it didn't bother him.
Actually, he rarely got mad at his subordinates—not just today. Executives were another story!
A bit unfair, but whatever. It was fine.
'No one said the smile looks weird.'
They gossiped about why he was smiling, not how.
Thinking back to his early days at the company actually tugged at his heart.
His mentor flinching every time he smiled had scarred him for decades.
And one nasty superior had joked the company should get disability hire subsidies.
"Section Chief, something good happen? Your daughter plays basketball, right? Made starter?"
"My girl's always been a starter. Captain of the team that won nationals last year, runner-up this year. Graduating soon."
"Ah, uh. Got it!"
Such questions didn't bother him at all.
His stiff reply had scared them, though.
"That daughter introduced me to a great clinic. Been getting moxibustion there—my facial asymmetry's improved a lot."
"Really? That facial paralysis aftermath, right?"
The asker's gaze felt a tad intrusive, but instead of covering his mouth, Chae Seong-gye smiled softly.
Just like he'd practiced on the subway.
"Don't stare too close. They said the smiling expression improved with treatment, so I'm practicing. Not great?"
Ears perked, the team members' mouths dropped open one by one.
"No, it's great!"
"The office feels brighter with your smile, sir!"
...Tone down the flattery.
"Eh, even knowing it's bootlicking, not bad."
Chae Seong-gye grinned, bemused by their reactions.
"You took good care of Rira's dad. Thank you so much."
Kim Ijin bowed politely.
How'd she get so poised in just a few months?
"I'm grateful you recommended it. Your dad's still in treatment—not a quick fix."
Pro team training must be brutal.
She'd graduated high school with nationals glory and joined a pro basketball team.
Thought she'd go to college, but pro was better, apparently.
Elite path either way—congrats were in order.
"How've you been, Ijin?"
"Same as always."
I always remarked it felt like ages whenever Kim Ijin visited.
Her Busan team made visits rarer than during school.
"Brought a friend today. The #5 from Hwayeong High, right?"
"You remember me?"
While Kim Ijin and I caught up, the stoic Myeong Seon-ju looked shocked.
"Of course. Myeong Seon-ju, right?"
Surprised? Not many 180cm+ women outside basketball courts.
Even Heavenly Demon was tall but under 180.
"Ooh, as expected of the director—great memory!"
"Don't get cheeky."
All I did was compliment, but why snap at her friend? Glaring won't help.
"So, what brings Myeong Seon-ju here today?"
I cut to the chase and asked her directly.
Desk usually did intake, but the chart just said "consult"—no proper answers.
"Rira told me to come."
"From Ulsan to here? Must be really bothering you."
"I'm in Busan now. Same team as her~."
"...Only picked two, and I end up with her."
Ah, that explained coming together.
Didn't seem close, but now it clicked.
Rivals on the same team—straight out of a sports manga.
Rira's dad came on Kim Ijin's rec.
Kim Ijin's teammate on Rira's.
Somehow poetic.
"Got it. Where's it hurting? Sports injury?"
Anyway, where's the pain?
More bluntly...
"Hm, no real pain. No injuries."
Even stranger answer.
"Pardon?"
Kim Ijin glared at Myeong Seon-ju, then explained herself.
"She got really nervous last summer."
"What happened last summer?"
"National team trials. Not that she had the chops anyway."
"Ahh... Yeah, that'd tense anyone up."
Trying to shake off performance anxiety?
"How exactly? Just a bit of fluttering? Cold sweats, vision going white?"
I saw that need often.
Patients wanting calming pills before exams or big events.
"Heart started pounding hard and fast outta nowhere, vision shook like this. Lost balance, collapsed briefly. Sat five minutes, felt okay... but they benched me. Tch."
But Myeong Seon-ju's symptoms were more complex.
"Fainted? Lost consciousness?"
"Vision blanked for a sec, but no blackout."
"Wow, must've been scary. Hit your head falling?"
Not something to brush off as "no pain."
Now Rira's fussing and Kim Ijin dragging her made sense.
"She caught me."
Myeong Seon-ju grimaced, pointing at Kim Ijin.
"Couldn't let you faceplant."
Kim Ijin smirked.
I ignored them and continued the consult.
"Any shortness of breath, panic, numbness, anxiety during or after?"
Heart racing to near-faint—rule out panic disorder first.
"Nope. Just what I said."
"Indoor gym? Not super hot?"
"Yes. Before tip-off, so no heatstroke."
"No dizziness?"
"No."
Panic out. Heatstroke out. Vertigo out.
Differential narrowing.
"Nothing since trials last summer?"
"Once more, recently."
"Big winter tourney?"
"Not at all. Nothing tense. Was hanging with Rira, just suddenly wobbled."
...Still, needed more details.