Chapter 57

Headaches are generally pain that occurs when there is a problem with the upper dantian.

And problems with the upper dantian often stem from the neck…

Most neck problems can be traced back to the shoulders.

Head, neck, and shoulders.

These three parts are very closely connected both physically and in terms of meridians.

‘Hmm.’

Therefore, Kang Taehan started acupressure from Jo Chanhyeok’s shoulders.

First, he loosens the shoulder muscles, and then the neck muscles.

This creates space in the meridians that connect to the upper dantian, promoting smooth blood circulation and instantly enhancing the effectiveness of the massage.

The last time I met Jo Chanhyeok, I couldn’t spend much time, and it was in the middle of the street, so I just had to slightly open the breathing holes in the neck’s meridians, but now I don’t have to worry about that.

“Ugh, Kk-huuu!”

But if you ask if that’s a good thing, at least Jo Chanhyeok right now could say ‘no’ in a firm voice.

He knows this is a massage.

The teacher is not stabbing him with an awl or pounding him with a mortar, but simply pressing his shoulder firmly with his thumb.

He knew that fact well, but that was just a rational explanation.

Both of his shoulders were writhing, screaming in pain that seemed to reach his bones.

‘Ah, something… something like inspiration seems to be coming.’

His mind gradually turning white.

Meanwhile, perhaps because he’s not called the National Actor for nothing, thoughts about acting flit through his mind.

If he uses this feeling as the simsang of acting in pain, wouldn’t his acting become more vivid…?

“Keuk!”

That thought was fleeting, as the moment Kang Taehan’s acupressure pressed a new spot, Jo Chanhyeok couldn’t even continue his thoughts and bent his back.

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes!”

“It’s bound to hurt a bit since it’s so knotted up.”

Maybe he’ll ease up on the pressure a little?

Jo Chanhyeok replied as if he had been waiting, but Kang Taehan only answered in an indifferent voice.

And then he gave an unexpected answer.

“Then I’ll help you so you don’t move.”

While Kang Taehan continued to apply acupressure with his thumb, he moved his middle finger to lightly press the acupoint located on the inner shoulder.

Then, the strength and tension that had been tightly packed in Jo Chanhyeok’s upper body slowly loosened.

But that didn’t mean the pain disappeared.

It just made it easier for him to receive the massage!

Unable to move his body, Jo Chanhyeok’s facial muscles are now twitching greatly as a counter-reaction.

‘Are the muscles pretty much sorted out?’

After massaging from the shoulders to the nape of the neck, Kang Taehan placed his hand on the Shenshu acupoint located in the middle of the back and sent a tiny amount of Qi to the upper dantian to check its condition.

Then, nodding slightly, he placed his hands on the back of the neck and lower back, and pulled both sides lightly as if straightening a bent wire.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

“Ugh.”

The clear sound of music played by bones.

Compared to just now, there was no pain and it was only refreshing, but because the sound resonated louder than expected, a short scream escaped from Jo Chanhyeok’s mouth.

However, this was just the process of paving the way.

Before his short scream could even end, Kang Taehan’s two hands went down to his lower back, and his thumbs climbed up his spine, mercilessly pressing on the acupoints.

“Oh… Ohhh!”

It felt like someone was squeezing his spine from the bottom up, like a yogurt tube.

At the same time, something like an electric shock ran up his spine, finally reaching his head and spreading throughout his body, stimulating him.

An explosion of senses, literally.

He had the intense impression that all the nerves in his body were awakening at the same time.

He felt like he could easily create two or three performance arts pieces with the sensations he was experiencing right now.

‘The feeling has to hit him hard.’

Kang Taehan smiled at Jo Chanhyeok’s reaction.

The turbid Qi that had filled his body, even affecting the major acupoints of the spine, was being expelled, so he would be experiencing his senses becoming about twice as strong and sensitive.

It’s like the feeling of your body waking up again, to exaggerate a little.

Of course, it wasn’t that his senses were actually becoming twice as sensitive, but simply returning to the state of an ordinary person.

On the outside, he looked very healthy and well-maintained, but… inside, his senses were so dulled that he wasn’t in good shape.

That’s why he felt so much better even though he just had his neck loosened.

“Teacher, how can this…”

As the stimulation that circulated throughout his body subsided, Jo Chanhyeok slightly raised his upper body and wiggled his fingers with a look of wonder, moving his arms around.

It felt as if the fatigue that had accumulated for over a decade had been washed away.

A genuinely joyful smile, not for acting, appeared on his face.

“It’s truly amazing. I knew you were extraordinary, but even so, I never imagined it would be to this extent…”

He never thought his body could feel so light.

Of course, Kang Taehan had only returned his body, which had been steeped in turbid Qi, to its normal state, but for Jo Chanhyeok, it felt like he had undergone some kind of physical enhancement.

“Are you satisfied with the massage?”

“Yes! To be honest, I thought it was too painful at first, but now my whole body feels refreshed and light. I feel like I want to run around the neighborhood right now.”

His words were not an exaggeration.

He was confident that he could run around non-stop like a seven-year-old who had eaten a whole bar of chocolate.

“I’m glad. But you have to finish the massage before you go.”

Meanwhile, Kang Taehan casually walked behind him.

And he grabbed Jo Chanhyeok’s head, placing his thumb on the back of his neck.

“…Yes?”

“We should take care of your migraine too, shouldn’t we?”

It wasn’t over yet.

Jo Chanhyeok glanced at his watch, and indeed, there were about 6 minutes left.

But why?

An uneasy premonition flashed through his mind.

A premonition that this would be the most painful time.

‘…Huh?’

Jo Chanhyeok tried to turn his head to see Kang Taehan’s face.

But his head wouldn’t turn, as if it were fixed.

It was strange, even though he didn’t seem to be holding it that tightly.

“This time, it’ll probably hurt quite a bit.”

At Kang Taehan’s words, Jo Chanhyeok recalled his previous memory.

Earlier, while pressing on his shoulders, Kang Taehan had said, ‘It’s bound to hurt a bit since it’s so knotted up.’

If ‘a bit’ hurt that much, how much would ‘quite a bit’ hurt?

The moment that thought reached him.

“Aaaargh!”

Before he could even imagine the extent of the pain, Jo Chanhyeok experienced it firsthand with his head.

With his head fixed, all four fingers except his pinky were pressing on different acupoints.

Jo Chanhyeok was able to vividly realize what the common expression ‘my head is splitting’ actually felt like.

⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢⟢

“…Hooo.”

Waking up, Jo Chanhyeok blinked his eyes in a daze, slowly sat up on the bed, and let out a deep breath.

…Clear.

Clear-headed was the first thought that came to Jo Chanhyeok’s mind when he woke up.

Literally, his mind was as clear as a bright, cloudless sky.

And it wasn’t just his mind that was clear.

Jo Chanhyeok got up from his seat and moved his body as if stretching.

His entire body moved lightly and smoothly, to the point where he couldn’t believe it was his own.

And it wasn’t just his body.

His stomach, which had always been bloated, felt comfortable.

He wasn’t sure if this was the right expression, but it felt as if all the waste that had been stuck in every part of his body had been completely drained away.

“It’s like I’ve gone back to when I was much younger.”

To be more precise, it felt like he had returned to his vibrant and energetic self before his body had suffered all sorts of problems due to overwork.

A body plagued by all sorts of aftereffects and constantly exhausted.

It felt like he had traded that body for his old one, not just healed it.

But of course, such a thing was impossible.

It was just that his body had been in such bad shape that the effects of the massage felt so dramatic.

Jo Chanhyeok looked around his body with a still bewildered expression, and then burst into laughter.

‘I knew the teacher was extraordinary.’

A person who could calm a seizure-like migraine and panic disorder on the street in less than a minute, without any equipment or medication.

It was already an unbelievable situation, so he had come here with high expectations, but even so, the effect was beyond his expectations.

“Are you awake?”

At that moment, the closed door opened and an orange light illuminated the dark room.

Jo Chanhyeok shielded the light with his hand and looked towards the door, where Kang Taehan was standing.

“Have some tea when you come to your senses.”

Kang Taehan smiled and placed the tray he was carrying on a small table next to him.

There was a cup of warm tea and a couple of biscuits to go with it.

“What kind of tea is it?”

The wafting aroma was quite intriguing.

A sweet yet bitter scent.

Jo Chanhyeok picked up the teacup from the tray and asked casually.

“It’s arrowroot tea, made with a syrup I made myself.”

“Ah… So this scent is arrowroot.”

After hearing the answer, Jo Chanhyeok carefully took a sip of the tea.

Perhaps because his body was relaxed from the massage, he could feel the warmth and moisture permeating directly into his body.

‘…This is good.’

A clear mind free from any distracting thoughts, and a body full of vitality yet calm and comfortable.

With a cup of warm and delicious tea to accompany it, it was truly a comfortable feeling.

The most relaxing rest he had experienced this year, so to speak.

It was a strange feeling that this small room, with just a massage bed and a small table, was more comfortable than when he had spent a considerable amount of money to go to a luxury resort.

“…Thank you, Teacher.”

And all of this was thanks to Kang Taehan.

Even the reason he met him was because of Kang Taehan’s kindness to him.

“I just kept my promise.”

“…I still want to repay you somehow.”

With those words, Jo Chanhyeok picked up the long wallet he had placed on the table.

He had thought about it for a moment, but right now, the only way he could repay him was financially.

“Then, please give me your autograph instead.”

However, before Jo Chanhyeok could open his wallet, Kang Taehan spoke first.

As if he had prepared it beforehand, he was holding a marker and a piece of autograph paper in his hand.

When he had casually mentioned that he had met Jo Chanhyeok with his father at home a while ago, his father had reacted rather strongly.

He had been a fan since he saw him in a drama a long time ago, or something like that.

He had asked him to get an autograph if he ever had the chance to meet him.

“An autograph?”

Jo Chanhyeok involuntarily asked back at Kang Taehan’s words.

The impression Jo Chanhyeok had of Kang Taehan was almost unrealistically mystical, but it was because of the familiar request he often heard from people around him.

“My father asked me to get one after I told him about you.”

“Ah, I see.”

And even the reason was full of humanity.

Jo Chanhyeok nodded with a smile at Kang Taehan’s words.

“I can do that much for you. What’s your father’s name?”

“Kang, and then the characters for ‘lake’ and ‘year’.”

Jo Chanhyeok immediately opened the marker and started signing.

Soon, a carefully and beautifully written autograph was placed on the table.