ATGRA 75

Jung Pureum, the person whose information was leaked, wasn’t the type to dwell on such problems. He probably wouldn’t even know something like this had happened until I told him.

It didn’t directly harm him, but I couldn’t help but have all sorts of thoughts whenever it seemed like Jung Pureum was suffering a loss because he was involved with me.

“What can you do about something that has already happened.”

When I regretted putting indirect advertising in the drama, Ms. Kim Miyoung calmly patted my back.

Isn’t the difficulty level of life too high? If my life were a game, I would have left a complaint with the operations team for a failed balance patch.

Why do incidents and accidents keep happening? I knew running a clinic wouldn’t be easy from the moment I opened it, but I never expected to go through such hell every time I got involved with a broadcasting station.

“I think this every time, but being a business owner is not easy…”

“Money is always easy to spend and hard to earn.”

“It’s not just the money… It’s because Pureum’s personal information is getting exposed for no reason. This kid really can’t catch a break being involved with me.”

“My, when I see you like this, you have surprisingly low self-esteem, Director.”

“Me?”

I’ve heard people say I have a strong sense of self, but this is the first time I’ve heard that my self-esteem is low.

I stared at Ms. Kim Miyoung with wide eyes.

“I’ve never heard anyone say I have low self-esteem in my life.”

Me, who was always at the top of my class, regardless of elementary, middle, or high school… lacking self-esteem? That’s ridiculous. I never once missed being at the top of my department when I was in traditional medicine school either.

If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that I’ve never doubted the fact that I am an exceptional person. Because my grades, which can be converted into visible numbers, were always high.

“Surprisingly low, surprisingly. When I’m around you, I sometimes feel that. Just look at how you’re always so anxious about causing harm to others.”

“Is Pureum just ‘others’ to me?”

“Hee hee, right. It’s your future spouse’s business, so you can be oversensitive.”

“Don’t tease me. I’m really going to remove the adlay tea bags from the break room.”

“Aw, you just say that, you won’t do it. You like me, so you’d order them by the box, but you wouldn’t be able to remove them.”

“…”

“Anyway, I was just saying you shouldn’t dig yourself into a hole alone again. Pureum’s information getting exposed is a big problem, that’s true. But that doesn’t mean you need to blame yourself, Director. You’re not going to blame yourself for every absurd thing that happens in life, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m not that mentally weak.”

Ms. Kim Miyoung chuckled at my words. Even though she didn’t show it, Ms. Kim Miyoung had a different level of experience. How did she know I liked her?

“I like it better when you act like a crazy person than when you’re down in the dumps, Director.”

My mega best friend who transcends generations…

I shared a warm hug with Ms. Kim Miyoung that only mega best friends can share. Now, Ms. Kim Miyoung felt completely like one of my people.

The balance patch for my life’s difficulty level had failed, but the people around me were all good people. After Baek Wonhee went to jail, only truly good people remained.

As they say, life has its ups and downs, and good people have come into my life, which was famous for having no luck with people. I resolved never to let Ms. Kim Miyoung go. I’ll probably never have another assistant nurse like you in my life…

Our clinic was bustling with people again today.

Business is good, too good. Standing tall amidst the blessings of capitalism, I felt a sense of foreboding.

When Gongjindan sells this well, problems always seem to arise later. It was no use trying to calm my anxious heart by brewing the traditional medicine that completely suppresses heat cycles.

“Minjun TV, please subscribe, like, and set up notifications!”

Because another YouTuber had appeared near the clinic. When <I Want to Know Everything> aired, YouTubers had loitered around our clinic in the same way.

It was useless no matter how many times we told them that filming inside the clinic was prohibited. I had seen them upload a video to YouTube with Ms. Kim Miyoung’s face mosaicked as she was telling them they couldn’t film.

Because I hadn’t shared the formula for Gongjindan with other clinics, the more famous our clinic’s Gongjindan became, the more people who smelled the scent of controversy flocked to us like a swarm of flies.

Our clinic had such an outstanding talent for cyber bad luck that it kept becoming an issue. It was no surprise that the attention-seekers crazy for views envied the cyber bad luck rooted in the clinic.

Hadn’t Kim Mina, the YouTuber with 1 million subscribers, also advised not to feed the YouTubers thirsty for views? People whose eyes are clouded by content creation don’t hesitate to do things that will ruin their own lives.

“Filming is prohibited inside the clinic. It seems like they have something to hide, which is why they’re acting this way…”

However, it was incredibly difficult to completely ignore a YouTuber who was loitering right outside the clinic door with filming equipment.

Because we prohibit filming inside, they set up camp outside the door as if in protest. In a way, you could say they’re more honorable than the broadcasting station bastards who came in disguised as patients without saying a word.

“Should I call the police?”

“What would you report them for?”

“I think we can report them for something like obstruction of business.”

“No, they’ll use it for a YouTube thumbnail. ‘The Story of How I Went to a Traditional Medicine Clinic and Got Arrested by the Police,’ they’ll definitely upload something like that.”

“Still. We can’t just leave them like that.”

“Ignoring them is the answer. Those kinds of kids… no matter what you do, they’ll process it negatively and upload it.”

Ms. Kim Miyoung is right. If it really comes down to it, I’ll have to step up and settle things. But, the best-case scenario was for those guys to give up and leave on their own. If we consistently show no reaction, those kinds of attention-seekers get tired easily.

Because of the YouTuber, only the real patients were suffering. Seeing Lee Seolwoo, who had come for acupuncture on his wrist, moonwalk his way back, it seemed we were about to lose some regulars for a while again.

It hasn’t been long since we brought back the regulars who left home with an event text message sent from the web, and now this mess again. For better or for worse, the number of patients visiting out of curiosity about Gongjindan had increased exponentially, so sales were on a steady rise.

On that note, I also gave raises to Ms. Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon, whose workloads had increased. I was just grateful that they didn’t complain once despite having so much work. At the dramatic pay raise, Nam Jungyoon pledged his loyalty, saying, ‘I will follow you until you close down the business.’ I think it will be okay to work the deputy director even harder from now on.

“All you Mindoongies have seen B-A-T, right? The original version of the nutritional ampoule that makes you an alpha from that show is said to be the Gongjindan from this very clinic.”

What’s a Mindoongi… Is he calling the subscribers of Minjun TV ‘Mindoongi’ right now? My hands trembled at the tastes and senses of people these days. I should have known when <The Beta-Turned-Alpha is Too Much!> became a success.

Technically, since he was filming outside the clinic building, it was difficult to kick him out with any reason. Do you avoid poop because you’re scared of it? No, you avoid it because it’s dirty. If you try to stop kids like that, they’ll just get excited and run wild.

Still, since he was causing such a ruckus right in front of the clinic, I couldn’t just leave him be. To chase Minjun TV far away, I took out a broom.

Our clinic values cleanliness, so we don’t use this kind of straw broom for cleaning, but I recently bought one for the purpose of chasing people away. As expected, a broom is the best for chasing people away. It’s a weapon with a tradition of its own.

I gripped the broom tightly in my right hand and took a deep breath. It was an unfortunate situation, but since all the YouTubers were holding cameras, I couldn’t appear aggressive. Because I don’t know how they’ll edit the video.

Even if I politely ask them to leave, it would be no trouble for them to make a person look crazy with creative editing and splicing of the conversation. So, I had to look like a harmless director (holding a broom) as much as possible.

“What are you doing here?”

However, before I could step in, Jung Pureum, who was making his regular appearance at the clinic, spotted the YouTuber first.

“It’s someone different today. Sir, you can’t film here personally without permission.”

“What, are you affiliated with the clinic?”

“Even if I’m not, I think I can say this much. Doing this in front of the door is obstruction of business. A few days ago, someone with a camera also came and caused a commotion by filming.”

“…”

“Would you please leave? I’m also a visitor to this clinic, and I can’t enter if you’re standing here like this.”

Wow, he speaks well.

I put the straw broom back. It seemed there was no need for me to step in.

“Getting picky about everything.”

As soon as he turned off the camera, Minjun TV’s attitude completely changed, and he started swearing. What an audacious case of the pot calling the kettle black.

As I was about to grab the straw broom again and chase after him, Ms. Kim Miyoung held me back, telling me to calm down. Calm down, my foot! Even if I end up looking malicious on YouTube, I’ll make that Minjun TV’s head bald.

“Sir, did you just swear?”

“Who are you to keep calling me sir when we’ve just met?”

“I can’t just call you ‘hey’.”

Jung Pureum didn’t get flustered once and calmly led the conversation. No matter how I looked at it, Minjun TV seemed intimidated by Jung Pureum. The height difference between the two seemed to be at least 10 centimeters.

As if he hadn’t been camping out in front of the clinic door all along, the YouTuber soon packed up his filming equipment and hastily left.

Anyway, big, alpha men have it so easy in this world. At times like this, I was really envious of Jung Pureum’s physical condition. To think that Jung Pureum speaking kindly is more threatening than me threatening with a broom.

“Hyung, I’m here.”

Jung Pureum, who had easily driven away the uninvited guest, strode into the clinic. I simply raised a hand in greeting.

“Those YouTubers, are you really just going to let them be?”

“No? I’m in the middle of gathering evidence. Once I have it all, I’m going to file a lawsuit first.”

“For kids who camp out like that, I think it’s better to just chase them away…”

“You shouldn’t feed those kinds of kids.”

Despite my cynical response, Jung Pureum looked dubious.

“I’ll come about an hour or two earlier from now on. Just until people like that stop coming.”

“What about training?”

“I can just go an hour earlier in the morning.”

He’s the type to come even if I tell him there’s no need, so I just nodded my head. I learned my lesson at the swimming pool, so I shouldn’t say no again here.