You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 544

You Have Been Defended – Episode 544

It had already been a week since Sung-yoon disappeared without a trace.

He was absent from school for three days straight, and then the vacation started.

The homeroom teacher called the Angel House to ask what was going on with Sung-yoon, and the Angel House responded that Sung-yoon was refusing to go to school.

They even shifted the blame to the homeroom teacher, expressing concern that there might be problems with his relationships with his classmates.

“Where the hell did that little runt hide?”

I thought I would hear from Sung-yoon in some way within a few days, but his rebellion lasted longer than expected.

“I think I’ve searched all the PC cafes [internet cafes] in Seoul…”

The Director said, looking at the whiteboard covered with checkmarks on the map.

From the moment Sung-yoon was assigned the mission, an app was installed on his phone to check his real-time location, but the phone had not been turned on even once since the day he disappeared.

“When is he going to contact us…”

Still, the Director had a reason to believe.

Because news of Sung-yoon was coming in from various places.

[qpyeongepyongOurHouse48pyeong: Where are you;; Why aren’t you coming to school?

Um Sung-yoon: I ran away from home lol I’m so pissed

qpyeongepyongOurHouse48pyeong: Huh? Run away??? Why?

Um Sung-yoon: There’s a reason…

qpyeongepyongOurHouse48pyeong: Where are you now;;

Um Sung-yoon: That’s a secret… I’m just hopping around PC cafes. Are you going to duo [play together in a game]? If not, I’m going to queue separately.

qpyeongepyongOurHouse48pyeong: No, at least I need to know where you are so I can play games with you without worry…

Um Sung-yoon: I’m safe and sound, so stop asking… And don’t tell anyone that you contacted me]

The Director looked at the photo that seemed to be a screenshot of the computer screen.

It was content that a friend who was in the same class as Sung-yoon last year had given him.

He was worried after hearing that Sung-yoon was absent, so he tried talking to him when he logged into the game, and it was a picture of the conversation.

He must have been so worried that he came all the way to the Angel House to show it to him.

This was not the only one.

[Yookyung: Oppa [term for older brother/male friend used by females], why aren’t you looking at KakaoTalk [Korean messaging app] and your phone is turned off…ㅠ Please contact me if you see this….

Sung-yoon: Contact

Yookyung: What what? What do you mean contact?

Sung-yoon: You told me to contact you lol

Yookyung: Huh…? No, are you logged in right now???

Sung-yoon: ㅇㅇ [Korean abbreviation for “yes”]

Yookyung: Where are you!!!!!! Everyone is so worried about you…ㅠ How long has it been since Jungmin disappeared, and now you’ve disappeared too…ㅠ Are you with Jungmin?

Sung-yoon: No, that’s not it

Yookyung: Then where the hell are you?!?! Where are you sleeping right now?

Sung-yoon: PC cafe lol

Yookyung: PC cafe?!?! Then are you at the PC cafe right now? Which PC cafe?!?! Do you have money…?

Sung-yoon: ㅇㅇ I have some saved up

Yookyung: Where are youㅠㅠㅠI’m worried about youㅠㅠㅠ

Sung-yoon: You don’t have to worry, I’m fine

Yookyung: When are you coming backㅠㅠㅠAren’t you coming back?ㅠㅠㅠㅠOppa, did you go to another shelter..?

Sung-yoon: I don’t know, but I won’t go back until I get what I want. Don’t tell anyone that you contacted me either.

Yookyung: Okay…

Sung-yoon: What’s the atmosphere like there now?

Yookyung: Angel House?

Sung-yoon: ㅇㅇ..

Yookyung: They’re in a frenzy looking for you… I think they’re going to report it to the police…

Sung-yoon: Police?ㅋㅋㅋ[Korean abbreviation for laughter] They can’tㅋㅋ Anyway, I got it]

It was the content of a Facebook Messenger conversation received through Yookyung, who was close to Jungmin at the Angel House.

It seemed that he had a conversation with Yookyung once through Facebook Messenger, and there were reports that he had talked to a total of two school friends in the game.

Sung-yoon seemed to firmly believe that his friends would keep the secret if he told them not to tell, but unfortunately, his friends did not keep their mouths shut.

Through this, they were able to grasp Sung-yoon’s whereabouts a little more specifically.

He seemed to spend most of his time at PC cafes, and when he felt unbearably sleepy, he went to jjimjilbangs [Korean bathhouses].

Considering that the allowance given to Sung-yoon was not that large, it was obvious that he would not be able to last long with such a lifestyle.

“Sung-yoon thinks he’s sitting on top of my head.”

The Director let out a hollow laugh.

It was commendable that he hadn’t been caught yet, but the childlike, unique belief in the people around him ruined his plan.

He’s just a flea jumping around.

Even so, they couldn’t just wait until Sung-yoon tried to negotiate.

The Director turned on the internal phone and had Yookyung brought in.

“Yookyung-ah.”

Yookyung, who came into the Director’s office with a worried face, hesitantly approached the desk where the Director was sitting.

“The teacher has a favor to ask.”

“…What is it?”

“Sung-yoon still doesn’t know that Yookyung told the teacher about Sung-yoon, right?”

“Yes….”

“Then will you send Sung-yoon a message?”

“…What should I send?”

“I wish you could tell him that we’ll give him whatever he wants, so let’s meet just once.”

“But, wouldn’t Sung-yoon Oppa notice? That I told the Director that I contacted Oppa….”

“Then just have the teachers gather all the children and say, ‘If there are any friends who can contact Sung-yoon, please tell him.’ The teachers won’t ask who it is, so just tell Sung-yoon to tell him. Then Sung-yoon won’t suspect it either.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“The teacher is so worried about Sung-yoon. I hope he comes back soon. I wish he would tell the teacher what’s making him so upset….”

The Director sighed deeply.

Then Yookyung quickly took out her cell phone and turned on Facebook Messenger.

[Yookyung: Oppa… The teachers were telling anyone who could contact Oppa to tell him… They said they’ll give you whatever you want, so let’s just meet once…ㅠ I was wondering if I should tell Oppa, but I thought Oppa should know… Are you really not coming back?]

After waiting for 5 minutes after sending the message, Sung-yoon was still not logged in.

Is he not at the PC cafe right now?

The Director stared at Yookyung’s cell phone, which had no notifications, and then raised her head as if she was done.

“Yookyung-ah, take a break for now. Will you tell the teacher when you get a call? It doesn’t matter what time it is, so if the teacher isn’t at the Angel House, call….”

It was then.

Yookyung’s cell phone screen lit up, and a message notification appeared.

Sure enough, it was a Facebook Messenger notification.

A reply had arrived from Sung-yoon.

[Sung-yoon: ㅋㅋYou must be sweating bullets…ㅋㅋ I contacted the Angel House’s representative email. Thanks for telling me, I was able to figure out the atmosphere thanks to you]

Yookyung immediately showed the message content to the Director.

Then the Director smiled and said to Yookyung.

“Thank you, Yookyung. It seems like Sung-yoon is misunderstanding something……. I don’t know what’s going on, but the teacher will somehow bring Sung-yoon back.”

She stroked Yookyung’s head and took out a Choco Pie from the drawer and handed it to her.

Yookyung bowed her head and went out of the Director’s office.

And as soon as the door closed, the Director accessed the Angel House’s representative email account.

[Subject: Requirements.

Come to the cafe right in front of Exit 12 of Gangnam Station at 6 PM on July 26th with Jungmin.

My requirements are

1. Let me talk to Jungmin alone for 10 minutes there.

2. Go to the hospital for a checkup as soon as you leave the cafe.

3. Find a studio apartment within a week and send me out. (Anyway, the teachers will take care of the documents. You can do it without me, and if you need me, can’t you just set a date and do it?)

4. Give me the living expenses as promised.

If even one condition is not met, I will contact the police immediately, and if no one is at the meeting place at 6 PM on the 26th, I will go to the police station.

From now on, no matter how much you squeeze the Angel House kids, I won’t answer, and I won’t read any replies to this email, so keep your promise. Then I’ll see you at the cafe on the 26th.]

The Director, who had been quietly checking the email content until the sound of footsteps faded away, let out a hollow laugh as soon as she was sure that Yookyung had left the administrative office.

And that laughter soon turned into a burst of laughter.

“How dare you act like this to an adult? You uneducated bastard….”

It seems like he really thinks he’s something.

I told him to soothe the kid, but Kim Youngji must have treated him like a spoiled brat.

Otherwise, how could he act so recklessly?

No matter how young and ignorant he is, how dare he demand a deal like this?

It seems like he hasn’t properly grasped the situation he’s in.

“Ms. Kim Youngji. Come to my office.”

As soon as the Director put down the internal phone, Kim Youngji came into the Director’s office.

She also seemed to have already read Sung-yoon’s email that had arrived in the representative email account.

Kim Youngji said as soon as she made eye contact.

“I checked the email’s originating IP, and it looks like he’s near Gangnam Station.”

“Does it show the specific location?”

“No, it only shows roughly where it is. I’ve requested the specific location now.”

“Search the area first.”

Seeing him keep mentioning the police, it seems like the best Sung-yoon could think of was the police, but even if Sung-yoon brings the police alone, nothing will change.

How much has Wooshin planted in the police so far?

Even if Sung-yoon appears at the cafe with the police, if we notify the higher-ups in advance, we can quietly handle it under the surface.

In the early days of coaxing and appeasing Sung-yoon, even such noise was unlikely to be tolerated by the higher-ups, so I tried to prevent it as much as possible.

If we can stop it by appeasing him, that’s the best.

But now he has crossed the line.

Since he has completely deviated from the situation where we could end it well, we have no choice but to mobilize all the means we can.

Does he really think that we’ve been pampering him so far because we’re afraid of him?

Sung-yoon probably didn’t know that his childish actions would bring about these results, but if he can learn from this opportunity, wouldn’t that be true education?

“If we go around the PC cafes and jjimjilbangs [Korean bathhouses] in that area, we should be able to find him. He doesn’t have money, so he can’t even go to cafes. That little runt, he knows that GPS can be tracked when the phone is turned off, but he didn’t know that the IP address can be checked by email?”

There is also a way to contact him at the cafe as Sung-yoon requested and then catch him, but it seems like he still doesn’t know how scary the world is, so I wanted to find him even if it took some effort.

“While you’re there, go to that cafe he mentioned. We need to see if there are any places to run besides the entrance. Check the bathrooms too. If there are windows, he might be able to run away. If there are more places to escape, we need to have people sit there in advance.”

Even if we don’t find him today, we can meet him that day and catch him, so we need some kind of plan.

Think about how to catch Sung-yoon without attracting people’s attention.

Oh, that guy might be trying to trick us with his tricks, so we need to think about various possibilities and block them in advance.

The Director turned her chair and looked out the window.

Thinking about Sung-yoon made her laugh.

His efforts are commendable, but I’ve been dealing with kids for a day or two, and no matter how much he uses his head, it’s all the same.

“Judging by the way he talks, it doesn’t seem like he’s getting help from the police or college students, right?”

Kim Youngji carefully asked, watching the Director’s expression.

“If that were the case, he wouldn’t have contacted his friends while playing games. Besides, he wouldn’t have known that the email’s originating IP address was coming out. And if he had decided to get help from the police or Cha Juhan’s spies, he would have given up the money we were going to give him and decided to save Son Jungmin only.”

“That’s right.”

“Then there wouldn’t have been any talk about a deposit and living expenses in the requirements. If there are many requirements, the probability that we won’t accept it increases, but if there was someone helping him, would he not have known that? Wouldn’t he have wanted to reduce the requirements as much as possible to increase the possibility that we would agree to the negotiation? This bastard still can’t let go of his greed for that money.”

“I think so too, but I think it’s better to prepare anyway.”

“Of course. We have to prepare for all possibilities. Whether it’s the police, college students, or even Cha Juhan involved, all of them.”