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Chapter: 05
My room on the second floor of Baekmyodang.
By the window was a built-in bench where someone could sit comfortably.
It was a little space my mother had made with her own hands when I was a child.
‘I used to envy those scenes in foreign movies where the main character sat by the window reading a book or simply gazing outside, so Mom made this place for me.’
It was my favorite spot in all of Baekmyodang.
At the same time, it was also the place that reminded me of my mother the most, making it painful to sit there.
Even so, whenever something weighed on my mind, I always came here.
Looking down at the garden from this window somehow made my worries slowly melt away.
“…”
Today was no different.
That night, after returning from treating Chairman Baekho Group, I sat on the window bench, sipping a warm mug of cocoa.
Moonlight blanketed the garden, and the lush green leaves of early summer rustled softly in the breeze.
“Hmm… let’s see.”
Setting the mug down, I picked up my phone instead.
Then I typed “Lunar Jung Rabit” into WeTube’s search bar.
‘The rabbit divine beast who’s going to become my patient tomorrow.’
Just then, light footsteps approached.
Hop.
Alfred lightly leaped onto my lap.
[Yeonhee. What are you doing?]
“This person… no, this divine beast is coming to our clinic tomorrow. I’m trying to learn a little about her beforehand. I seriously know nothing about idols.”
While stroking Alfred’s back with one hand, I scrolled through the screen with the other.
One video after another featuring Rabit appeared.
She was petite, pale-skinned, and slender.
Yet her cheeks were adorably plump with a rosy pink tint.
‘According to her profile she’s in her early twenties… but if she wore a school uniform, anyone would believe she was still a student.’
She also had sparkling eyes and long eyelashes.
If Baek Eunho resembled a tiger, Jung Rabit truly looked like an adorable little rabbit.
In some of the videos, a fluffy little tail or a pair of upright rabbit ears would suddenly appear.
Apparently ordinary people never noticed, and even the members standing beside her didn’t seem surprised at all.
“But when exactly do their tails and ears show up?”
I tilted my head.
Alfred flicked his tail slightly before answering.
[Normally, divine beasts conceal themselves in human form. But if they wish, they can reveal parts of their true appearance. Strong emotions or physical exhaustion can also cause their real form to slip through.]
“Oh…”
I nodded before glancing down at Alfred.
“By the way, Alfred… are you a cat-clan divine beast too? If you turned into a human, wouldn’t you become some grumpy old man?”
Ugh.
Just imagining it made me strangely sad.
My adorable Grandpa Kitty!
The moment my hand stopped petting him and I frowned, Alfred’s eyes widened in wounded disbelief.
[Y-You brat…! I am not one of the cat clan! I am a spiritual beast among animals! My kind has served the cat clan for generations! My true form is not this insignificant little cat, but a majestic giant worthy of awe!]
“Yeah, yeah~ I can’t wait to see it.”
At least that meant I wasn’t petting some old grandpa right now.
Phew.
Feeling reassured, I continued petting Alfred while tapping on one of the most-viewed videos.
“Jung Rabit Almost Failed to Make the Debut Lineup?!”
On the talk show, Rabit smiled shyly as she spoke.
— I thought I wasn’t talented enough, so one rainy day I actually ran away from the company because I wanted to quit. They caught me and dragged me back in the end. Hehe.
— Really? You? But you’re Lunar’s main dancer and one of the group’s most popular members! So how did you overcome that?
— I figured the only answer was hard work. I dieted even more, practiced even longer…
I clicked my tongue.
“My goodness. There are so many delicious foods in the world, and she survives on nothing but greens… Idols really live even more like rabbits than actual rabbits.”
As Rabit laughed shyly, everyone around her praised her for being a practice fanatic.
She seemed humble and innocent.
She was completely different from the flashy, outgoing idol image I’d imagined.
“But what exactly is she sick with?”
[Didn’t the tiger clan’s future head tell you?]
“The future head? Oh… you mean Baek Eunho. Nope. He said it was a test and refused to tell me.”
Remembering that arrogant face, I wrinkled my nose.
“Seriously, his personality is awful, isn’t it? He acts like he’s the king of beasts or something… Well, I guess he really is a tiger.”
Still grumbling, I looked back at my phone.
The next video was a fancam from one of her performances.
With her cute, lovable face, she danced with explosive power on stage.
She bent her waist sharply before rising smoothly with incredible core strength, every movement from her fingertips to her toes overflowing with energy.
“Wow… At this rate she’s going to destroy all her joints.”
[Do not worry. Agility and speed are the rabbit clan’s greatest strengths. That is why they have produced dancers for generations.]
“Even so… that’s way beyond what a human body should be able to do.”
As I kept watching, I eventually stumbled across one of her vlogs.
She and her fellow members were attending a movie premiere.
When the ending credits rolled and everyone stood up to leave, Rabit alone bent over slightly and hesitated for a moment.
— Rabit! Hurry!
— Ah, okay!
She quickly straightened herself and hurried after them.
My eyes immediately lit up.
“…Huh? I think… I know what’s wrong with Jung Rabit.”
[Hmm? You think her back hurts?]
“No. Her back isn’t the real problem. I’ll have to examine her in person to be sure, though.”
Alfred sounded impressed.
[To deduce that from only this… remarkable. Then again, your mother was an exceptional purifier as well as a traditional physician.]
At that instant…
It felt as though someone had poured freezing water over my head.
A chill spread through my heart.
I hugged my knees and muttered coldly,
“So what? In the end, Mom still left me behind all alone.”
[Yeonhee…]
Alfred called my name softly.
“Forget it. I should get some sleep.”
I climbed off the window bench, turned off the light, threw myself onto the bed, and pulled the blanket over my head.
For some reason, the moonlight outside felt colder than ever tonight.
The following morning.
Jung Rabit sat in the back seat of the van driven by her manager, quietly watching the scenery outside.
The vehicle had already left the outskirts of Seoul and was winding its way along the foothills of Bukhansan.
Today’s destination was the traditional Korean medicine clinic Baek Eunho had recommended.
“What was it called again…? Baekmyodang Clinic?”
Her manager, still holding the steering wheel, tilted her head with a puzzled frown.
“I don’t get why Executive Director Baek recommended somewhere this remote. I looked up the director’s credentials, and they’re nothing special. It looks like she opened her own clinic immediately after graduating from Korean medicine school.”
“Really?”
“She doesn’t even have any employees. She runs the whole place by herself. There aren’t many reviews either… It’s literally just a tiny neighborhood clinic. Why should we trust a place like that?”
Rabit smiled awkwardly and shrugged.
“Still… Executive Director Baek recommended it so strongly. Let’s just give it a try, unni.”
The girl group Lunar belonged to Baekho Entertainment.
On the surface, it was simply an entertainment agency.
In reality, it was one of the subsidiaries operated by the tiger clan.
And Jung Rabit herself was also a rabbit-clan divine beast living among humans.
‘The clinic’s director is actually half-human, half-cat… a descendant of the cat clan’s purifier lineage. But I can never tell my human manager that.’
Watching apartment buildings give way to mountain scenery outside the window, Rabit silently gathered her resolve.
Just then, her manager carefully glanced at her.
“Rabit… you’ve had this condition for a long time, right? And it’s basically an occupational injury. Didn’t all those famous doctors tell you it wouldn’t heal until you retired from being an idol?”
Rabit nodded.
“Yeah… they did. But she’s a traditional Korean medicine doctor. Maybe she’ll tell me something different from the physicians.”
“But we’ve already tried Korean medicine too. Remember that famous clinic in Gangnam? That ridiculously expensive… what was it called? Ohhui Korean Medicine Hospital? You went there for months, and it didn’t help at all. Even the chief director and his daughter treated you personally.”
Rabit bit her lip.
“…That’s true. It didn’t really improve.”
Because of that, she wasn’t expecting much this time either.
The thought briefly crossed her mind that someone from the cat-clan purifier lineage might achieve different results…
But she quickly shook her head.
‘I’m not suffering from corrupted energy. This is just an occupational injury. Even a purifier probably can’t do anything about it.’
At best, she’d probably hear the same advice every other doctor had given her—
That she needed to stop practicing.
Before long, the van climbed a winding mountain road.
Old hanok houses lined the roadside, while the dazzling early summer sunlight reflected brightly off the tiled rooftops.
Looking out the window with bittersweet eyes, Rabit quietly murmured,
“I really… shouldn’t expect too much.”
Just as she tried to reassure herself, the manager stopped the van.
“I think this is it. The gate says ‘Baekmyodang Korean Medicine Clinic.'”
Taking a deep breath, Rabit stepped out of the vehicle.
Without much expectation, she slowly looked over Baekmyodang.
Ding—
The small bell hanging above the clinic door chimed brightly as idol Jung Rabit and the woman who appeared to be her manager stepped inside.
“Welcome. You must be Ms. Jung Rabit.”
I immediately led them into the examination room.
Seeing Rabit in person, she was even smaller than she appeared on screen.
Her fair skin, rosy cheeks, and large round eyes…
‘Wow. She really does look exactly like a rabbit. She’s adorable!’
Despite her cute appearance, however, her expression remained polite yet detached.
Her manager also swept a cold glance around the room before folding her arms indifferently.
Even without saying it outright, it was obvious neither of them had the slightest expectation of me.
‘Hmm. That’s going to be a problem.’
When meeting a patient for the first time, a doctor needed to establish confidence.
Only then would patients faithfully follow the treatment plan.
Pretending not to notice their skepticism, I greeted them with a warm smile.
“I heard from Executive Director Baek Eunho. He said you’ve been struggling with a chronic condition.”
“Yes. I’ve spent years visiting every hospital imaginable. I’ve even sought out many famous specialists. Honestly, I wasn’t planning to come here today either.”
“But since Executive Director Baek recommended it so strongly…”
The manager casually flicked her fingernails as her voice trailed off.
Rabit lightly shrugged as well.
“Well… Director Go Yeonhee, you don’t have to feel pressured. My condition won’t improve until I retire anyway…”
I calmly interrupted her.
“Your knees hurt, don’t they?”
“…!”
In an instant, both Rabit and her manager’s eyes widened.
“W-Wait… I haven’t even told you anything yet. H-How did you…?”
The detached look in Rabit’s eyes rapidly changed into confusion…
Then astonishment.
Boing!
At the same time, a pair of rabbit ears popped out on top of her head.
Pfft.
So cute.
I barely managed to suppress my laughter.
Leaning back in my chair with my arms crossed, I continued calmly,
“When you dance, your knees lose strength, don’t they? Climbing stairs makes them ache, so you have to stop for a moment. And whenever you kneel and stand back up, it feels like your knee joints are rattling.”
Rabit’s face instantly turned bright red.
“H-How… how do you know all that…?”
Her manager stared at me in disbelief.
“Did someone tell you beforehand?”
I grinned and slowly shook my head.
“No.”
“I can tell just by looking.”
“And I already know exactly how to fix it.”
