You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 463

You Have Been Defended – Episode 464

#464

I didn’t feel any symptoms until I arrived at Baekgeum Island.

I had a slight headache, but it had been going on since the seizure in the car, so I just took a painkiller.

The problem was Kang Min-jae.

He was suffering from severe seasickness.

“How much longer…”

He clung to the railing, slumped over, and asked.

Tae-shik looked around and pointed to the island in front, saying,

“I think it’s there. We’re almost there.”

“Ah, I’m really going to die.”

Kang Min-jae rushed to the boarding position to be the first off the boat.

Tae-shik shrugged and slowly walked towards him, asking me,

“Are you really okay, Attorney?”

“How many times do I have to say it?”

“Is it rude to ask why you have those seizures?”

Tae-shik scratched his cheek.

Tae-shik is my bodyguard and is always with me during my active hours, so he can witness my seizures at any time.

It would be good to answer him.

“It’s a seizure caused by PTSD.”

“What’s PTSD?”

“Post-traumatic… No. Think of it as someone who had a bad experience reliving the fear of that time [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder].”

“Kang said it was because you saw the sea. Then…”

Tae-shik looked gloomy.

He seemed to think that I had developed this condition because of the kidnapping incident in this life, and he seemed to feel guilty because he had left to get a taser in the early morning, which led to the incident.

Seeing that the seizure was triggered by seeing the sea, it seems that it was indeed exacerbated by that incident, but the origin of the disease is from my previous life.

It has nothing to do with Tae-shik.

“No, it’s not like that. You know, I was going to the hospital even before that happened.”

“But still…”

“Don’t worry too much. If something like this happens to me again, don’t get excited and shout, just do what Kang did today. And help me breathe with a plastic or paper bag. I’ll usually take care of it myself, but I might throw the bag away like I did today.”

“Plastic and paper bag. I understand. I’ll always keep them in the car.”

“And Kang said that I’ll be fine in about 20 minutes. Generally, symptoms can last up to an hour, so watch me and decide whether to take me to the hospital or not. Anyway, I haven’t had many seizures so far. This is the fourth time, I think. So don’t be too scared.”

“Who’s scared… Who said they were scared! I’m just worried you’ll stop breathing.”

“Then that’s fine. Oh, I might faint. If I don’t wake up, take me to the hospital.”

After learning about my illness, I read related books indiscriminately.

Most of them were about how to live with a helpful mindset, so there wasn’t much to gain, but I learned specifically what symptoms others experience.

So far, the symptoms I’ve experienced haven’t been that severe among seizures, but today I think I even had depersonalization.

I couldn’t recognize Kang Min-jae, and I felt unfamiliar with myself.

Well, it’s natural that the symptoms get worse as the situation becomes more urgent.

I’m meeting the doctor tomorrow, so I’ll talk about the symptoms and have a conversation.

People who have frequent seizures check how long their seizures last and repeat, ‘I’m like this. If a seizure comes, I just have to endure this much. I won’t die.’ I think I have that standard now too.

“Oh, I think we’ve arrived.”

With the sound of the boat docking, people began to flock.

The first one to jump out as soon as the door opened was none other than Kang Min-jae.

“Ah, I thought I was going to die.”

Kang Min-jae, sitting at a convenience store parasol and drinking an ion drink, said, collapsing on the table.

“I should buy some motion sickness medicine when I leave.”

“You might forget, so go in and buy it as soon as you find a pharmacy.”

“Yes… But you don’t know where Kim Mi-ja’s house is, do you? Which way should we go?”

Kang Min-jae looked around.

“I’ve never heard where her house is. Shouldn’t we go to the police station first?”

“Is there a police station in a place like this?”

“There should be at least a branch office.”

Tae-shik started searching on his phone to see if there was a police station on Baekgeum Island.

The island isn’t small, so there were two search results.

One is a branch office run by the military, and the other is a police station run by Mupyeong Police Station.

It would be better to go to the police station.

“They say you can’t load a car on the boat. And there doesn’t seem to be a rental car here. What do people ride around in?”

“You can take a taxi.”

It wasn’t long after the boat arrived, so there were many taxis waiting around.

“Hello.”

Kang Min-jae greeted cheerfully as he got into the taxi.

Then the driver checked us in the rearview mirror and asked with a kind smile.

“Are you here to play? You don’t look like you’re here to play, judging by your clothes.”

“We’re here on business. Please take us to Baekgeum Police Station.”

“You’re here on business? No, what kind of business brings you to such a tiny island?”

The driver seemed to have many questions.

Since there was someone else to answer the driver’s questions, I looked out the window and tried to figure out which side of the island was the west.

“Ah, we’re looking for someone. I thought we might find some clues if we ask at the police station…”

“Someone? Who are you looking for? I’ve lived here for 45 years. I know most people, so ask me.”

“You’ve lived here for 45 years? Were you born and raised here?”

“I haven’t been on Baekgeum Island all the time. I went out to Mupyeong to work for a few years when I was about twenty, but I thought there was nothing to do, so I came back.”

I wasn’t listening carefully to the driver’s words, but the word 45 years caught my ear.

Kim Mi-ja is 46 years old.

He seems to be about the same age as Kim Mi-ja, so he might know her.

“Driver.”

When I opened my mouth, the driver checked my face again in the rearview mirror.

“How old are you?”

“I’m not that old. I’m only forty-five. You can call it my age.”

“Do you happen to know someone named Kim Mi-ja? She’s forty-six years old, and I have a picture here.”

I opened Kim Mi-ja’s personal information saved on my phone and handed it to him.

The driver took my phone and parked the car on the side of the road for a while, then started checking it in detail.

And soon after, he exclaimed.

“Oh my!”

“Do you know her?”

“Isn’t that Mi-ja noona [term of endearment for an older sister or female friend], Mi-ja noona! No, why are you looking for Mi-ja noona?”

“We have personal reasons. Perhaps Kim Mi-ja’s family… Ah, her family must have moved. Can we find someone who is in contact with her family?”

“No, who said Mi-ja noona’s family moved?”

“Yes?”

“Mi-ja noona’s family still lives here. They can’t even move because they’re waiting for Mi-ja noona to come back. What are you talking about?”

Waiting for Kim Mi-ja to come back?

Why?

They sold Kim Mi-ja.

“…Are Kim Mi-ja’s family looking for Kim Mi-ja?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Their only daughter disappeared overnight, of course they’re looking for her. Oh my, I can’t believe it. Mi-ja noona’s father doesn’t even catch fish and wanders around looking for Mi-ja noona for years…”

[Truth]

When the driver started talking, I thought Kim Mi-ja was misunderstanding something.

When Kim Mi-ja said that her family had sold her, the truth was determined.

That means it’s true that Kim Mi-ja knows that.

“Those guys must have lied to Kim Mi-ja.”

Kang Min-jae said, grinding his teeth.

That must have been the case.

They must have said that to make Kim Mi-ja miss her family and not break free from their control.

“Driver. Can I film what you’re saying?”

“Film? Why?”

“…We know Kim Mi-ja.”

“What? You know Mi-ja noona?”

“Kim Mi-ja thinks her family abandoned her. We need to clear up Kim Mi-ja’s misunderstanding. Is it okay to film?”

“Oh my… What is going on, really. If that’s the case, you have to film. Hurry up!”

Kang Min-jae started filming, and I adjusted the screen so that the current date and time were displayed on my phone and brought it into the angle.

I was worried that if we told her the truth, Kim Mi-ja would think we made up the story to prevent her suicide.

And I also showed the ticket with the time we departed for Baekgeum Island.

This was to prove that we couldn’t have colluded with the taxi driver because we hadn’t been on Baekgeum Island for long.

“Please tell us from the beginning that Kim Mi-ja’s family is looking for Kim Mi-ja.”

The driver repeated what he had said earlier.

And when that part was over, he started to tell us the story he was going to tell us.

“He must have traveled all over the country. Even now, when he drinks, he goes to the village chief and asks him to find Mi-ja noona. I don’t know how much of a fuss he makes. The whole neighborhood wakes up in the middle of the night to stop him. I can’t believe it, really.”

“Can you also tell us what Kim Mi-ja’s family did to find Kim Mi-ja?”

“He registered her as a missing person… Ah, I heard that they put up banners in Mupyeong every season. But so much time has passed… At first, they waited for 연락 [contact], but now it seems like they’re just doing it out of habit. They go out to Mupyeong to check if the banners are damaged, and if they are, they make new ones and put them up again…”

“What about the other family members?”

“Mi-ja noona has two older brothers, one is a teacher in Mupyeong, and the other lives in Seoul…”

“Are they still looking for Kim Mi-ja?”

“What is it, they can put up a missing person ad banner on an internet site? I only heard that they applied for that and did this and that… I don’t know that well either. This is not the place to do this. Shouldn’t we go to Mi-ja noona’s house first?”

Before even hearing our answer, the driver started making a phone call somewhere.

“Mom, it’s me. No, I have a customer who says they know Mi-ja noona. Mi-ja noona. Mi─ja noona. Hey, you know Mi-ja noona. Yeah. Right! That Mi-ja noona. I’m going to take the customer to Mi-ja noona’s house now, so please call Mi-ja noona’s house. Yeah, I’ll be there soon. Yeah. Okay.”

As soon as the driver hung up, he grabbed the gear and said.

“I’m going straight to Mi-ja noona’s house now, so we don’t have to go to the police station, right?”