You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 468

You Have Been Defended – Episode 469

#469

Kim Mi-ja’s family ushered her inside the house.

Her father held onto Kim Mi-ja’s hand tightly as they crossed the threshold. She noticed he seemed to favor one leg slightly as he walked.

Kim Mi-ja cautiously asked, noticing this,

“Dad, is your leg… bothering you?”

“My leg? Ah, it’s nothing. Really, it’s nothing at all.”

“He fell a few years ago and it’s been a little uncomfortable since,” her eldest brother interjected, despite their father waving his hand dismissively.

Kim Mi-ja looked up, surprised.

“You fell? How?”

“Well… it was while putting up banners, looking for you.”

“You fool! Why are you saying such useless things now? Mi-ja, I’m fine. Really. It’s nothing,” her father said, lifting his leg and shaking it lightly.

But in doing so, he lost his balance and almost fell.

If Jung-hyuk hadn’t quickly caught him, he would have fallen again.

“Father, be careful!”

“I’m telling you, I’m fine. Mi-ja, don’t worry about it. I’m really okay.”

“Dad fell while putting up banners looking for me…?”

Her father quickly denied his eldest son’s words, but it was too late; Kim Mi-ja had already heard.

She stared at her father with a bewildered expression.

But her father shook his head vigorously, holding her hands tightly.

“No. I just accidentally fell. It wasn’t while putting up banners, I just tripped over a stone while walking… Don’t worry. Why are you saying such nonsense!”

I could guess why the eldest son had brought it up.

He wasn’t being insensitive; he knew that Kim Mi-ja believed she had been abandoned, so he mentioned it on purpose.

To emphasize the efforts her family had made to find her.

“Our Mi-ja, let’s get a good look at you. Let Mom see how much our daughter has grown.”

After moving to the wooden floor of the main room, Kim Mi-ja took off her heels and stepped up. Her mother cautiously reached out to her.

As her mother hesitated, wondering if she could touch her face, Kim Mi-ja took her mother’s wrinkled hand and placed it against her cheek.

Her mother stroked her cheek as if handling a precious jewel that might break if touched.

“Oh my, oh my… my baby… Oh, my baby. I imagined meeting my Mi-ja so many times, and now… now, before I die, I get to see Mi-ja’s face, even touch her… How can this be? Oh… Thank you, Buddha. Thank you, Buddha.”

Her mother didn’t even seem to have time to wipe away the falling tears.

She didn’t want to let go of Kim Mi-ja’s face, which she held in both hands.

Kim Mi-ja placed her hand on the back of her mother’s hand and sobbed.

“Mom, I’m sorry…”

“What are you sorry for? Why are you sorry? It’s all Mom and Dad’s fault. If Mom and Dad had kept a proper eye on our puppy, this wouldn’t have happened. Mom and Dad were so distracted that they didn’t even notice their daughter disappearing… Our daughter must have suffered so much without her mom and dad. That little thing… How much she must have suffered…”

“I didn’t suffer at all.”

“Don’t say you didn’t… A mother knows. Our Mi-ja must have had a hard time… Oh, my baby. My poor baby…”

“I’m telling you, I didn’t suffer. Gil-doo said I look thirty. I’m forty-six. How could I look like that if I suffered? And look at my clothes. Touch them. They look expensive, right? Oppa [older brother], look. You know, right? These are all designer brands. If I had suffered, how could I wear things like this?”

At Kim Mi-ja’s words, her second eldest brother fiddled with the sleeve of the coat she was wearing.

Then he said to their mother,

“Mom, Mi-ja’s clothes are good. I couldn’t even buy this if I gave you all my salary. It seems Mi-ja has been living well!”

Her second eldest brother’s expression wasn’t great either, but he forced a smile and replied.

“Really…? Is that so?”

“Of course.”

“But… I heard you got married. Why didn’t your son-in-law come with you? Why did you come alone?”

Her mother looked around, asking.

Kim Mi-ja smiled bitterly.

Oda Satoshi was the kind of man who would be furious if he knew Kim Mi-ja had met her parents and wouldn’t even let her go outside.

He even took away her passport, knowing she hated Korea, so it was obvious.

But Kim Mi-ja didn’t seem to want to tell her family about the life she had lived yet.

“He’s busy, so he couldn’t come with me. I’ll introduce you later.”

“The lawyers said you live in Japan. Does that mean your husband is Japanese?”

“Yes.”

“What does he do? Is he good to you? Do you have children?”

“He’s a member of the National Assembly [Japan’s legislature]. He’s very good to me. We don’t have children, but I don’t want them either, so it’s okay.”

“Oh my, a member of the National Assembly?”

“Yes. I’m living very well. Really, I’m fine. Mom and Dad, what’s with this house? Why haven’t you moved and are still living like this?”

“How can we move? We didn’t know when our Mi-ja would return.”

I had already shown Kim Mi-ja evidence that her family had been desperately looking for her.

She left room for doubt because she didn’t want to admit that everything she had believed for decades was not true.

But seeing it in person like this, she would have no choice but to believe it.

The sight of her parents, who had aged so much compared to their age, their expressions and actions that they could not have shown if they had really abandoned Kim Mi-ja, all of it showed how much they had longed for the day they would meet Kim Mi-ja again.

The video didn’t capture everything.

Her mother’s remorse and longing for Kim Mi-ja.

That’s why I brought her here, saying she needed to meet them at least once.

Because there are things in this world that cannot be conveyed unless you see them for yourself.

“But Mi-ja, how did you end up leaving Baekgeum Island? What happened? If it was a kidnapping, there would have been people demanding money from us, but there was no contact… I still don’t understand what happened.”

“…I don’t really know either. I was just playing on the beach when someone suddenly came and said Mom was looking for me and told me to go with them.”

“What? And then?”

“I don’t remember much after that… When I opened my eyes, I was on a ship to Japan.”

“A ship to Japan?! How is that possible?”

“When I said I wanted to go back… they said Mom and Dad sold me…”