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Chapter: 25
It was close to noon.
Kim Soon-mi paused for a moment in front of the glass entrance to Baekmyodang Korean Medicine Clinic.
She had left her café in the care of another employee during lunch break so she could come here.
“She said I should just try three treatments?”
She hesitated, unable to bring herself to go inside.
The pain in her hands had been getting worse, so she couldn’t keep putting off treatment forever.
Just then, through the glass door, she saw Yeon-hee in a white doctor’s coat politely seeing off a patient.
She used to be the neighborhood tomboy, always running around outside.
Now she was the respected director of a Korean medicine clinic.
“But Yeon-hee is still so young…”
Soon-mi shook her head.
Of course, Yeon-hee had always been the top student in medical school. She was a niece anyone would be proud of.
Still, no matter how talented she was, she had only recently obtained her medical license.
And the illness Soon-mi suffered from was degenerative arthritis—a condition even major hospitals had been unable to cure.
“There’s no way hands like mine will get better after only three treatments.”
Still skeptical, she opened the clinic door.
“Aunt! You’re here!”
Yeon-hee greeted her with a bright smile.
Her neatly tied-back hair and clear, gentle eyes…
Sometimes those features resembled her mother so much that they made Soon-mi’s heart ache.
“Come in and lie down on the treatment bed. We’ll get started right away.”
“All right.”
She assumed she would be getting acupuncture in her fingers.
Thinking that, Soon-mi was about to lie down when her eyes widened.
Yeon-hee had brought over something completely unexpected on a medical tray.
“Yeon-hee, what’s this? That’s not an acupuncture needle—it’s a syringe.”
Yeon-hee lightly flicked the syringe with her finger to remove the air bubbles before smiling.
“It’s pharmacopuncture, Aunt.”
“Pharmacopuncture?”
“We extract the active ingredients from herbal medicine and inject them directly into acupuncture points. That way you get both the effects of acupuncture and herbal medicine at the same time.”
“I’ve had acupuncture from your mother plenty of times, but this is my first time seeing something like this.”
“Pharmacopuncture has developed a lot these days. Clinics use this kind of treatment quite often now.”
Seeing Soon-mi stare nervously yet curiously at the syringe, Yeon-hee patiently explained.
“This is Hominis Placenta pharmacopuncture. It’s made from human placenta extract. It helps strengthen the immune system and promotes tissue regeneration, so it’s commonly used for degenerative diseases. Your fingers are especially sensitive, so it may sting a little. Just bear with it for a moment.”
Soon, Yeon-hee’s hands moved with practiced precision.
Every time the needle touched another finger joint, a sharp tingling sensation shot through it like a tiny electric current.
Soon-mi inhaled sharply.
“Ugh…!”
“You’re doing great. Just a little more.”
Yeon-hee’s soothing voice was calm, yet full of confidence.
But something felt strange.
After the pain came an unexpected sense of comfort.
“How should I describe it…? It feels like the medicine is warmly wrapping around my worn-out finger joints.”
Soon-mi glanced at Yeon-hee’s face.
Her focused eyes.
Her composed profile.
The niece she had always thought of as a child suddenly looked more dependable than ever before.
“She’s really grown up…”
She was absentmindedly thinking that when Yeon-hee spoke.
“Aunt, that’s enough for today. Your hand will probably feel heavy and sore for about a day. That’s a perfectly normal reaction, so don’t worry. If it feels hot, apply a cold compress. If it’s only sore, use a warm compress instead. We’ll do the next treatment two days from now.”
Still doubtful, Soon-mi looked down at her hand.
“You want me to come back in two days? Will my hand really get better?”
Yeon-hee smiled warmly.
“I promised you, didn’t I? Just come three times. You’ll definitely feel much better before then.”
Her voice carried absolute confidence.
Soon-mi nodded and got off the treatment bed.
“All right. I’ll trust you. It’s not like I have anything to lose anyway.”
No matter how she looked at it, there was no way three treatments could cure her…
That was what her head told her.
Yet somewhere deep inside her heart, a small spark of hope quietly began to bloom.
Perhaps…
Just perhaps…
The unbearable pain that had tormented her for so long really could disappear.
That day as well, Yang Si-heon returned home late after finishing filming.
The motion-sensor light in the entryway switched on, flooding the room with bright light.
Perhaps because he had spent the entire day beneath studio lighting, even that simple light now made him feel exhausted.
Click.
After getting ready for bed, he opened the refrigerator and took out a pouch of herbal medicine.
Go Yeon-hee had sent it by courier, and his manager had neatly stored it in the fridge.
He carefully warmed it and opened the pouch.
A gentle fragrance of medicinal herbs drifted into the air.
“Will drinking this really do anything…?”
He muttered to himself skeptically.
He poured the medicine into a mug and took a sip.
After the initial bitterness faded, an unexpectedly smooth sweetness spread across his tongue.
Step… step…
Carrying the mug, Si-heon walked into his bedroom.
After finishing the herbal medicine, he leaned against the headboard and stared at the ceiling.
The note inside the package had instructed him to take his zolpidem thirty minutes later.
Until then, all he could do was wait.
“…”
He wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight either.
Ever since developing insomnia, every night had become a living hell.
The ticking of the clock scraped endlessly against his ears.
After tossing and turning ten times, he would check the clock again, only to find that not even thirty minutes had passed.
The despair that brought was almost unbearable.
“Everyone I know is probably asleep by now.”
Whenever that thought crossed his mind, he felt as though he were the only person left awake in the entire world.
Eventually, he would give up trying to sleep and simply stare blankly at the ceiling until the faint light of dawn spread across the wallpaper.
Only then would he sigh, walk into the bathroom, and splash cold water on his face.
The exhaustion from the night never disappeared.
And the morning sun always felt like an enemy.
It was the same routine, over and over again.
“Tonight will probably be no different.”
He slowly exhaled and closed his eyes.
…However.
Thirty minutes later…
Si-heon never took the sleeping pill.
“Yang Si-heon! Did you not understand today’s commercial concept? It’s supposed to be a happy child running around with a bright smile!”
The powerful studio lights stabbed painfully into his eyes.
The filming set was hot and suffocating.
His father, still young at the time, sprang to his feet from the director’s chair on one side of the stage and shouted.
The script in his hand slammed onto the floor, pages scattering everywhere.
“This is your last chance! If you mess it up again, I’m replacing you! There are plenty of kids lining up who’d gladly take your place!”
His father’s stern gaze bore into him.
A trembling young voice escaped Si-heon’s lips.
“I-I’m… sorry… But I really can’t do it today…”
Without realizing it, tears had begun welling up in his eyes.
Just then, his mother hurried over.
Her eyes shone with obsessive determination.
“Honey, it can’t be anyone else but our Si-heon! I’ll coach him again.”
She grabbed his shoulders roughly.
“Si-heon, don’t cry! If you can’t smile right now, you’ll only inconvenience everyone working here! If you want to become an actor, you have to endure this much!”
His father shouted as well.
“Yang Si-heon! Do you think you’re here to play? This is work! If you want to cry, do it when you get home! Right now, you smile. Didn’t I tell you? In front of the camera, you always smile!”
Both of them glared mercilessly at their son.
The young Si-heon flinched beneath their gaze, his small shoulders trembling.
Their eyes pressed down on him like blades.
His father waved toward the camera crew.
“Turn the lights back on! We’re doing another take!”
The stage lights blazed to life once more.
The scorching light pierced the child’s eyes.
The camera lens pointed at Si-heon.
To him, it looked as dark and terrifying as the barrel of a cannon.
Clench.
Looking into the lens, Si-heon tightly clenched his tiny fist and forced the corners of his mouth upward.
It was a clumsy, painful smile—
like a wound being torn open.
That day…
Was the day his beloved dog, Choco, died.
…
…
Bright light pierced his eyelids.
Morning sunlight slipped through the window.
“…Ah.”
Yang Si-heon slowly opened his eyes.
His mind felt clear.
Taking a surprised breath, he instinctively touched his cheek.
His fingertips found dampness.
They were tear stains.
“…”
He stared blankly at his palm.
The dream from the night still lingered like an afterimage.
Slowly, he turned his head toward the mug resting on the bedside table.
Yeon-hee’s carefully handwritten note that had come with the package came to mind.
“I sincerely hope you can sleep peacefully tonight.”
Just as she had wished…
Si-heon had slept soundly.
It had been so long since he had awakened feeling this refreshed that he couldn’t even remember the last time.
For a moment, all he could do was blink in astonishment.
Then, a smile slowly spread across his lips.
Si-heon leaned back against his pillow once more.
A quiet warmth was spreading gently somewhere deep inside his heart.
The morning after receiving treatment from Go Yeon-hee.
Kim Soon-mi sat up in bed.
As usual, she reached toward the cup of water on her bedside table.
“Oh, right.”
The moment she absentmindedly picked up the cup, she instinctively winced.
Her finger joints were supposed to throb with pain.
But then—
“…Huh?”
Kim Soon-mi’s eyes grew wide.
The full weight of the ceramic cup rested on her finger joints.
Yet…
The pain she had expected never came.
