ITBF 02

CHAPTER 02

Hae-som seriously considered knocking Sang-hyuk unconscious with a headbutt and running away.

Unaware of what she was thinking, Sang-hyuk continued spouting nonsense.

“Won’t be long before you and I are living together, you know? My mom and dad are already preparing to welcome their daughter-in-law. You’re an adult now, too, so—”

“What are you talking about?! My mom would never allow it! She said she’d never let me marry a man like you.”

“Hey. Haven’t you figured it out after living with your mother all this time? Your mom is probably going to die soon. Her face is all yellow, and she’s practically skin and bones. Something’s obviously wrong with her liver or something. And she’s already lost her mind.”

Hae-som’s head went blank.

Gyeong-hae did look unhealthy, but Hae-som had never thought she had a serious illness. She had always been sickly, after all.

What should I do? What if she really collapses while I’m gone…?

No. Yoon Hae-som.

Don’t let yourself get soft-hearted. If you think like this, you’ll never escape. You’ll end up living here for the rest of your life as that bastard’s wife.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for your old hag to die? I’m just waiting for that day. Heh heh. Once there’s no one getting in the way, we can finally have our wedding properly!”

A thought suddenly crossed Hae-som’s mind.

Even if Aunt Gyeong-hae genuinely considered her a daughter and therefore refused to let her leave the island…

Why did the village chief and Sang-hyuk’s parents also refuse to let her leave the island?

Why had they never told the marine national park employees or electrical workers about her whenever they visited?

“……”

The precious young man of this island whom everyone doted on—

Sang-hyuk.

They wanted to find him a wife.

Hae-som clenched both fists tightly, suppressing the anger boiling inside her.

These damn island bastards…!

Whether it was Gyeong-hae or anyone else, she had to escape.

This was no longer the time to let herself be swayed by the affection and memories she had accumulated over the years.

She could not marry a man like that and spend the rest of her life trapped on this island.

Suddenly, she desperately wanted to see her mother, father, and brothers, whose faces she could no longer even remember clearly.

“Hey.”

“……”

“Hey, Balbali!”

“Ah. Y-yes… What?”

“You’ve seen that guy with the horn-rimmed glasses who moved in next door to the village chief recently, right?”

Sang-hyuk suddenly lowered his voice.

“Be careful around that bastard, okay?”

Hae-som barely managed to restrain herself from pointing at him and saying, You’re the most dangerous bastard around here.

“Phew.”

Swallowing her anger, Hae-som recalled the bespectacled man who had recently arrived on the island.

She had seen him two days ago.

At the village chief’s request, Hae-som had been pulling weeds in the field in front of the house when she saw the unfamiliar man with horn-rimmed glasses drinking and chatting with the village chief and his wife.

“I heard he used to be a social worker, even though he looks like some kind of bandit.”

A social worker…?

Hae-som swallowed nervously.

If he’s a social worker, wouldn’t he be more respectful of human rights?

If he finds out that I was kidnapped to this island and have lived here for more than ten years, wouldn’t he help me?

“But apparently he came here to recuperate because he has cancer. Damn, what the hell? What kind of cancer patient drinks alcohol? Right? Apparently, he has to go to the mainland once every three weeks for chemotherapy or something.”

……The mainland once every three weeks?

“Isn’t that fucking suspicious? What the hell does that bastard actually do? Did he commit some crime and come here to hide?”

Hae-som’s heart began pounding rapidly.

Nothing else mattered.

The important part was that he went to the mainland once every three weeks.

“Anyway, you’re the only young woman on this island, so take care of yourself and keep your chastity intact. Keep yourself clean, body and mind, and get ready to serve your husband. Heh heh.”

Suddenly, Hae-som felt sick to her stomach.

“Anyway, big brother’s leaving.”

Whether he knew how disgusted she felt or not, Sang-hyuk gave her a sly wink and silently mouthed the words once again.

Husband.

That damn bastard! What an idiot. Seriously! And he’s so much older than me!

As he turned his back, Hae-som secretly raised her middle finger at the back of his head.

“Oh, right. You…”

Sang-hyuk suddenly spun around.

The moment his gaze landed on Hae-som’s raised middle finger, silence descended.

“What are you doing?”

Hae-som hurriedly scratched the raised finger with her other hand.

“Ah, I just got bitten by a mosquito.”

“Don’t scratch it. Put some soybean paste on it. Oh, right. Don’t tell your mom I came here. She’ll come over to my house and cause another scene.”

Hae-som waited until his head disappeared behind the wall before hurriedly changing out of her work clothes.

Then she quickly headed toward the village chief’s house.

Judging by how crazy Sang-hyuk was becoming, it seemed the wedding they had planned was approaching.

She wanted to escape the island as soon as possible.

To do that, she needed to determine whether the bespectacled man could help her.

“Ha…”

But if he liked drinking and had already become friendly with the village chief, there was a good chance he wouldn’t help her escape…

No. Yoon Hae-som.

At least try.

Chewing nervously on her fingernails, Hae-som went to the house of the man with the horn-rimmed glasses.

Coincidentally, the front gate was open.

She simply pushed it open and walked inside, placing a hand on the wooden veranda as she called out to him.

“Excuse me, sir…”

But she stopped when she heard a voice coming from inside the room.

“Fuck. I’m going to cross over to China by boat in three weeks, so tell them to send a private plane or something! It’s getting too hard to move around here!”

……What?

Is he planning to escape?

“Do you even know how much what I stole is worth? It belongs to the country…! Wait a second.”

A real criminal?

And a serious one?

Realizing that something was terribly wrong, Hae-som hurriedly turned around, only to step on the farming tools scattered across the yard.

Clang!

The metallic scraping sound nearly stopped her heart.

And then—

BANG!

“…Who are you?”

The man came rushing out of the room and grabbed Hae-som roughly by the back of her neck.

“Ah! Let me go!”

“You heard me?”

“I didn’t hear anything! Let me gooo! Someone in the neigh—mmph!”

The man clamped a hand over Hae-som’s mouth and wrapped his other arm tightly around her neck.

“Mmmph! Nngh! P-please let me…”

Her struggles were useless.

The heavens must have abandoned me.

“Hk—!”

Just as her vision began to flicker and her chest felt as though it would burst—

THUD!

An incredible force struck from behind, and the man collapsed sideways.

Hae-som’s vision, which had been fading into darkness, gradually became clear again.

Still coughing and crying uncontrollably, Hae-som turned around.

A tall, handsome, fair-skinned man who looked every bit like a young master was standing there, tears streaming down his face as he stared at her.

“Wh-who… are…”

Why are you crying?

Too bewildered to get the words out properly, Hae-som continued coughing as she stared blankly at him.

No, before that…

Why does he look so familiar?

“Hae-som.”

“……!”

At the man’s sorrowful call, the hair all over Hae-som’s body stood on end.

Ever since she had come to this island, this was the first time someone had called her by the name she had been given before her kidnapping instead of “Balbali.”

“……My baby sister. Your big brother came too late. I’m sorry.”

A ringing sound filled her ears.

Behind the high-pitched ringing, her heartbeat pounded wildly, as loud as a drum.

“Let’s go home.”

“Huuuu…!”

It was the moment Hae-som woke up sobbing from a dream about something that had happened only five days ago—

the moment she had nearly been strangled to death by the bespectacled man.

BANG!

“Little sis! Did you have a nightmare?!”

“Hae-som!”

“Pretty girl!”

Her brothers burst into the room after throwing open the door.

They were tall, handsome men with warm, pleasant features.

They were the three biological brothers whose faces had once faded from Hae-som’s memories—

but were now clear once again.

Hae-som, who had been kidnapped at the age of ten, had reunited after twelve years with the family she had once believed she would never see again.

It was truly unbelievable.

Her brothers patted the anxious Hae-som gently and repeatedly told her their parents’ names, their own occupations and ages, and how precious she had always been as their youngest sister.

During the process, some of the things they told her matched the rare fragments of memories she still retained.

Thanks to that, her confused heart gradually began to settle.

But there was still one question lingering in a corner of Hae-som’s mind.

Her parents.

If they really loved and cherished her so much, why hadn’t they even shown their faces now that she had returned?

She had asked about it just yesterday, too.

“Mom and Dad went abroad for a little while. They’ll come see you as soon as they return. Just wait a little longer.”

That was the only answer she had received—one that did nothing to resolve her doubts.

Hae-som was happy that her brothers welcomed her so warmly and took such good care of her, but she missed her parents terribly.

So although she felt sorry for her brothers, who were taking such meticulous care of her, she allowed herself to act spoiled.

“But, brothers…”

All three answered simultaneously.

“Hmm?”

Hae-som gave them an awkward smile before continuing.

“I… really miss Mom and Dad. I’m also so curious about how much they’ve changed. Now that I’m home, I vaguely remembered how Dad used to take me to the toy store every time he had a day off. Did they… go abroad and still haven’t come back? …Do they know that I’m back?”

Tae-joo and Geuk-joo looked at each other with troubled expressions.

Then Gi-joo, the youngest brother, who had bleached hair and the most flamboyant and pretty appearance of the three, spoke up.

“If we keep avoiding telling her because we’re afraid she’ll be shocked, we’ll only make her longing worse. Let’s just tell her.”

At Gi-joo’s words, Tae-joo and Geuk-joo groaned softly before nodding.