You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 444

#Episode 445

If she was 17 or 18, that means it was about 5 or 6 years ago.

The remarriage of Oda Satoshi, which can be found on the internet, was 5 years ago.

At that time, she was already married to Oda Satoshi, about to get married, or at least dating.

Although I don’t know if it can be expressed with the elegant word ‘dating’.

At the very least, she would have had a similar relationship to the one Go Sang-jun had with Kim Hwa-young, promising to divorce his wife and remarry her, giving her hope.

Anyway, at that time, Kim Mi-ja would have been around 40 years old.

It’s too old to be sexually exploited to random high-ranking Japanese officials in that ‘fairy garden’ under Woo-shin’s control.

At that time, she should have been somewhat free, so why was she in that ‘fairy garden’?

What does it mean that Kim Mi-ja was there?

[Ms. Lee Ga-yeon, is it okay to talk now?]

[Ah, yes. Should I install the app?]

Ah, the messenger doesn’t have a call function yet.

But it seems like this conversation needs to be recorded, so it would be better to use an international call rather than a call using the app.

[No. I’ll call you.]

I turned off the messenger, found Lee Ga-yeon’s phone number, and made an international call.

Soon after, I was connected to Lee Ga-yeon.

“This is Cha Joo-han.”

─Yes, lawyer.

“Are you with the people you live with now?”

─Ah, yes.

“Then, can you turn it on speakerphone? If anyone else has any testimonies, I can hear them right away.”

─Yes, of course. I switched it.

“Is Lee Ga-yeon the only one who has seen Oda Tomiko there?”

─No. I saw her too.

Another voice chimed in.

─I think I saw her once in passing, too.

Another voice joined in.

Lee Ga-yeon said that there were a total of six people living together, so about half of them saw Kim Mi-ja.

That means Kim Mi-ja frequented the ‘fairy garden’ quite often.

But why?

At that time, Kim Mi-ja would have been in a deep relationship with Oda Satoshi, and unless Oda Satoshi had a perverted taste for sharing his wife with other men, there would be no reason for her to frequent that place.

Even if she told Lee Ga-yeon to run away, it can be read as meaning that she was also tormented by her past of being forced into sexual exploitation by Woo-shin, so why would she frequent such a place?

There is only one answer.

“Haven’t you ever thought that Oda Tomiko is running that ‘fairy garden’?”

─Ah, I think I saw Oda Tomiko giving instructions to the employees there. She might be the boss.

Another woman who said she saw Oda Tomiko said.

I knew it.

Lee Ga-yeon said that sexual exploitation mainly took place in that ‘fairy garden’.

In the recording that Choi Jong-hyun and Jo Bong-joon brought when they first met and interviewed her in Japan, Lee Ga-yeon said that she was 13 years old when she first met high-ranking Japanese officials.

And in the messages exchanged today, she said that sexual exploitation had been taking place in that ‘fairy garden’ from the time she was first dragged there until just before she ran away.

That means that the ‘fairy garden’ existed at least 4 years before then, that is, around the time Kim Mi-ja was 36 years old.

I’m not sure when Kim Mi-ja started running the place, but if she took over the management of their pandemonium-like ‘fairy garden’, it means she was trusted by both Woo-shin and Woo-shin’s clients.

Naturally, it suggests that Oda Satoshi is also an important partner in Woo-shin’s organ trafficking and sexual exploitation business.

“Was it a big issue in Japan when Oda Tomiko remarried Oda Satoshi?”

─I think I heard that Oda Satoshi married a Korean woman. We didn’t watch the news often, and we weren’t interested in current affairs, especially when politicians came out, it made us sick. So, I saw the face of Oda Satoshi’s remarriage partner for the first time today when the lawyer sent it to me.

“If you, who have no interest in that at all, heard that he was marrying a Korean woman, it’s safe to say that it was a big topic.”

─I guess so. I searched a bit while talking to the lawyer, and I saw that the president changed in Korea last year. So, there were many articles in Japan predicting how Korea-Japan relations would turn out. But since Oda Satoshi is a key figure in the political world, there were also articles saying that he would play a bridging role.

“I see.”

─Do you happen to know that I told Reporter Choi that there are people who live as mistresses?

“Yes.”

─When Oda Tomiko told me to run away before… I thought that person was also someone who was dragged here like us. Because she was speaking Korean… and she had a very pitiful expression.

“Yes.”

─But seeing her as Oda Satoshi’s wife, Oda Tomiko seems like that kind of person too. A person who used to be a mistress. And then got married.

“I think so too. Ah, did Oda Tomiko say anything else while telling you to run away?”

Lee Ga-yeon seemed to be contemplating for a moment, humming ‘hmm…’ and then answered.

─She said she was sorry she couldn’t help.

“Sorry she couldn’t help?”

─Yes. I took it as she was sorry that she told me to run away, but she didn’t think she could provide a route to escape.

“So, did Lee Ga-yeon get the impression that Oda Tomiko felt more of a sense of kinship with Lee Ga-yeon’s side rather than being on the same side as them?”

─Yes. That person… I thought she must have her own circumstances. In fact, I have never resented the people who flatter those old men and act as mistresses, or the employees there…

“Why is that?”

─People who act as mistresses do that to survive. Somehow… At least if you become a mistress, you only have to deal with that man. And you can be guaranteed material wealth and some freedom. If you can’t escape anyway, it might be better to live like that. …It’s funny, right?

Lee Ga-yeon laughed self-deprecatingly.

Unless they achieve excellent academic results and return to Korea as Woo-shin scholarship students, they lose their freedom with their passports taken away or become targets for organ trafficking.

As she said, in that situation, it might be better to catch the eye of a ‘customer’ and enjoy some leeway, even if it’s disgusting.

It’s unfortunate, but that’s why I didn’t want to agree, but I couldn’t help but think that it would be better.

─And the employees there were nice to us. Of course, they didn’t talk to us, and they didn’t answer even if we spoke to them… If we were abandoned in a miserable state, or if we upset someone and got hit and kicked out of the room… they treated us carefully. So, I didn’t resent them.

“Do you think that’s Oda Tomiko’s management policy for running the ‘fairy garden’?”

─Well, I don’t know that far. In fact, there’s no end to resentment, so at first, I resented those employees too. I resented them for working in a place like this when there are so many things to do in the world, and for not actively helping us escape. But as I got older, I thought that those people must have their own circumstances. What’s disgusting is Woo-shin. And those old men.

A moment of silence flowed.

When I didn’t say anything, Lee Ga-yeon smiled awkwardly and said.

─I was too emotional, right? I’m sorry. I think I made the lawyer uncomfortable with unnecessary stories.

“No. You can feel free to tell me anything honestly.”

─Yes…

“I have one more question.”

─Go ahead.

“I’m asking because I don’t know what the lives of those who were sent there by Woo-shin are like. According to the information we obtained, Oda Tomiko obtained not only a bachelor’s degree but also a master’s and doctoral degree from a university in Korea for about 10 years. Do you think that’s possible?”

─In Korea?

“Yes.”

─Hmm… I don’t know Oda Tomiko well, so I can’t say for sure, but if Oda Tomiko caught Oda Satoshi’s eye and acted as a mistress from a young age, Oda Satoshi could have been Oda Tomiko’s patron [a wealthy person who provides financial support]. But the old men who come here would never have willingly sent her to Korea. Not even for 10 years.

“Why do you think so?”

─Everyone who goes in and out of that ‘fairy garden’ and engages in sexual exploitation has their passports taken away. But going to Korea means that the patron told Woo-shin to return the passport, or made a fake passport.

“That’s right.”

─And if they let her go to university in Korea for 10 years, it would have cost a lot of money for living expenses and everything else. Wouldn’t that be a pure love story? But the humans here are all crazy about sex. Even though he can’t go back and forth to Korea often because he’s a politician, it doesn’t make sense to send her to live alone in Korea for 10 years. And above all, even if he loves her passionately, then why does Oda Satoshi go in and out of that ‘fairy garden’ when he has someone he loves so much?

“That’s true.”

─And it doesn’t make sense for him to let the woman he loves run this kind of ‘fairy garden’, logically. He knows how the woman he loves came to be here. Then he would know that it’s a bad memory for her, so why would he want her to be involved in such a place?

“That’s right.”

─Yes. I don’t think it makes sense. Isn’t it a forged academic record?

“I’m also looking into that with more weight.”

─We’ll look for information too. We’ve lived here for a long time, so it might be more accurate to find information locally.

“Thank you.”

─You’re welcome.

I got some good information from the call with Lee Ga-yeon.

Kim Mi-ja may be running the ‘fairy garden’, which is the base of sexual exploitation.

Although it was a few years ago, listening to Lee Ga-yeon, Kim Mi-ja seems to deeply sympathize with people who came from Korea in the same situation as her.

Marrying Oda Satoshi may have been a choice to survive.

The same goes for forging academic records.

Considering Oda Satoshi’s social status, he may have wanted to plausibly package his remarriage partner, who is from an elite family.

Of course, it’s not just a simple packaging, but seeing her working as a professor, I have to think that Kim Mi-ja is also cooperating…

* * *

Two days later, a message arrived from Yoon Se-yeon.

[There is no such person among the graduates of Youngjin Women’s University. Neither Kim Mi-ja nor Oda Tomiko. Just in case, I looked into it further, but they said that there are no Japanese people who have obtained all bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in fine arts from Youngjin Women’s University, and I also checked with photos in case they used a pseudonym with Korean citizenship, but there is no one.]

As expected, the academic record is forged.

[Thank you for confirming.]

After sending the reply, I fell into thought for a moment.

Since I found out about Kim Mi-ja, I thought that Kim Mi-ja was one of the keys to catching the evidence of Woo-shin’s prostitution and organ trafficking.

Of course, Okashima Hospital, Shingaku University Hospital, and Lim Hyun-il are also the keys, but in order to use those keys, in-depth additional investigation is needed.

I’m not even sure about the direction of the additional investigation.

Isn’t this a situation where I have to dig around and hope to find a clue?

But in the case of Kim Mi-ja, if we can bring her to our side, many things will be resolved.

Of course, I don’t think she, who is married to Oda Satoshi and living the life of the upper class in Japan, would want to jump into this muddy water…

Still, didn’t I get a hold of a weakness to pressure Kim Mi-ja, which is forging her academic record?

Even if I can’t bring her to our side, I need to at least make contact.

Judging from Kim Mi-ja’s remarks to Lee Ga-yeon, Kim Mi-ja is highly likely to feel guilt and self-loathing for being married to Oda Satoshi and running the ‘fairy garden’.

If I stimulate this part, I might be able to gain some income when I contact her.