MBFT 01

Chapter 01

An emergency meeting at the National Intelligence Service.

“We have confirmed that Kim Hyun-chul is currently hiding on ‘Haesam Island’ off the southern coast.”

The information was that the industrial spy who had leaked a prototype sample of the next-generation solid-state battery, which could mark a major milestone in South Korea’s development, had hidden on a small island off the southern coast.

“Even the people from the main island barely know the name Haesam Island, but somehow he managed to find it and hide there.”

Tae-joo crossed his legs and lightly moved the tip of his foot as he pointed with his chin toward the screen displaying the PPT.

“Are you sure it’s Kim Hyun-chul? His face isn’t clearly visible.”

At Tae-joo’s words, the subordinate moved to the next screen.

Then a picture appeared of Kim Hyun-chul, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, drinking makgeolli with someone who appeared to be a villager while dressed in a sleeveless undershirt and loose traditional pants.

“For a traitor to the country, he sure seems to have great social skills—wait.”

Tae-joo’s eyes, which had been mocking the criminal, suddenly widened beyond recognition.

As if he could not believe what he was seeing, Tae-joo shook his head and stood up.

Then he slowly walked toward the briefing desk.

After gesturing for the subordinate to step away, he tapped the laptop screen.

With each tap, the face of a young woman standing behind Kim Hyun-chul, holding a handful of weeds she had pulled out, became larger on the screen.

She looked so young that, at first glance, she appeared to be nothing more than a college student.

Despite her cute appearance, the girl had an extremely gloomy expression.

“Team… Leader? Do you… know her?”

Tae-joo did not hear the worried voice of the youngest employee.

He was focused only on the woman inside the laptop screen, and his eyes reddened.

Then, with trembling fingers, he slowly traced the outline of the woman’s face on the laptop screen.

“I found you. My little sister….”

It had been twelve years since his youngest sister had been kidnapped.

Haesam Island.

“Hey! Balbali!”

At Sang-hyuk’s call, Hae-som flinched while picking peppers in the vegetable garden.

It was Park Sang-hyuk, the neighbor who had bullied her terribly since she was young.

Like Pavlov’s dog, her body shrank back just from hearing his voice.

“Are your ears plugged? Get over here, you damn mutt!”

Hae-som let out a small sigh and threw the peppers onto the ground.

Then, despite her unwillingness, she obediently walked toward Sang-hyuk, who was sitting on the wooden floor of the main room.

That bastard always comes over and acts like he owns the place whenever Mom is away.

Hae-som frowned in irritation before remembering her mother, who went to the main island once every two or three months and stayed there for several days.

Mom would probably come back around dinner time.

Today was July 11.

Her birthday.

Right. Relax your expression.

Don’t pick a fight with that bastard for no reason.

“Ah, seriously! The moment I have to get up myself, you’d better know you’re getting hit!”

Hae-som, who had been trying to calm herself while thinking about her mother, sighed and walked a little faster.

When she reached the front of the main room, Sang-hyuk pressed a back-scratcher against her stomach and poked her repeatedly as he asked,

“What’s with you? Did you just sigh? And what’s with that disrespectful look in your eyes?”

“No.”

“‘No’ is informal speech. You little—”

“You told me to speak informally before. You said you hated hearing me use honorifics.”

“Are you going crazy because Dog Days are coming? Why are you barking and making such a damn fuss?”

Hae-som forcibly swallowed the suffocating breath rising from her chest.

Endure it.

This, too, shall pass.

How much delicious food and pretty clothes would Mom bring her when she came back?

Endure it. Just endure it.

She made that resolution and silently repeated her own name once again.

Born on July 11.

Yoon Hae-som.

From the moment she had come to this island, she repeated those words several times a day so that she would never forget them.

She also repeated the names of her real parents and their home address.

Unfortunately, she had eventually forgotten the address of the house where she had lived as a child.

The one thing she was fortunate enough to remember was the names of her older brothers, whose real parents had put the words of the national flag, Taegeukgi, into the middle of their names.

‘Tae’-joo, ‘Geuk’-joo, ‘Gi’-joo.

Ha….

But what good did that do?

Aside from their three-syllable names, their faces had become blurry in her memory.

Was she ten years old then?

Or nine?

“Sweetie, shall we go to Mommy’s house?”

It meant that it had been so long since Gyeong-hae, the owner of this house and the woman Hae-som now called ‘Mom,’ had taken her away that it felt like a distant dream.

It was when she turned eighteen, when her mind had matured considerably, that she seriously began thinking that she had to escape this island.

She had become afraid that she could no longer remember the faces of her mother, father, and brothers, so she tried to escape by any means possible.

But every time, she worried about Gyeong-hae.

Besides, the island where she was trapped was a tiny outlying island far away from the main island.

Even if all the villagers were put together, there were only three households: the village chief and his wife, Sang-hyuk’s family, and an elderly couple in their eighties.

None of them seemed to have any particular connections on the mainland. Except on market days, hardly anyone came and went from the island, making escape difficult.

In the first place, it meant that boats almost never came there.

Very occasionally, employees from the Marine National Park or electrical construction workers came to measure environmental indicators or deal with problems with the electricity supply.

But every time they came, Gyeong-hae locked Hae-som inside the house.

Even on this tiny island, Gyeong-hae was known as a crazy woman, so the villagers never told outsiders about Hae-som’s existence.

That did not mean Hae-som had been kidnapped by Gyeong-hae in some completely inhumane way.

It was only after some time had passed that Hae-som began to feel that she had been kidnapped and brought to this island.

The day she was kidnapped.

On her way home from school, an unfamiliar woman approached her, claiming to be her mother’s friend.

Naturally, Hae-som had been suspicious at first.

But the woman knew her parents’ names and even knew the hospital where both of them worked. She also showed Hae-som photographs of herself with her parents.

At that age, when someone presented such convincing evidence, it was harder not to believe her.

Above all else.

“Auntie has a daughter about your age, too. Would you like to be friends with my daughter?”

“……”

“My daughter is sick and can’t go outside. Would my good girl come with me and play with her?”

Hae-som had been a precious little girl who had grown up knowing nothing but love.

Hearing about a poor, sick child touched her heart.

But after following the woman a long way, there was no child there.

There were only a few pieces of the girl’s clothing and some toys.

As Hae-som fiddled with them, whenever the woman cried loudly, Hae-som would hold her hand.

When the woman thanked her, Hae-som felt sad for her.

That woman, Gyeong-hae, treated her very well.

So well that Hae-som’s pity for her never went away.

Her gaze was so affectionate and gentle that Hae-som almost believed she was truly her mother.

“Daughter. Are you awake?”

At some point, the woman began calling her daughter.

Hae-som thought it was because they had grown close.

But Gyeong-hae truly considered her to be her daughter.

Hae-som was not uncomfortable with Gyeong-hae’s affection, but she missed her mother, father, and brothers.

So whenever she cried and insisted that she wanted to go home, Gyeong-hae would suddenly change her expression and take out a switch.

Hae-som even ran toward the beach without thinking in an attempt to escape, but Gyeong-hae caught her immediately and severely punished her.

And at that time, Hae-som had been too young.

When Gyeong-hae apologized, said she was sorry, and gave her delicious snacks, Hae-som simply forgave her.

That was how Hae-som became accustomed to living on the island for years, where Gyeong-hae’s daughter did not actually exist and Hae-som was ultimately the only person by her side.

As Hae-som grew older, she gradually realized that something was terribly wrong and seriously attempted to escape the island one day.

But Sang-hyuk, who was like an uncle in age, caught her and dragged her back.

“You’re going to be my wife once you become an adult! Where do you think you’re going?”

Gyeong-hae was the one who saved her then.

“If you touch even a single hair on my daughter’s body, I’ll cut your belly open, you bastard! Understand?!”

From that day onward, Gyeong-hae took even greater care of Hae-som and kept her hidden.

“Daughter. Don’t abandon Mom. You’re all Mom has… Sob….”

She also told Hae-som every day that she loved her.

“You only think about yourself! You ungrateful little bitch! Do you think you can live without your mother?”

Of course, there were many times when Gyeong-hae suddenly changed.

And so twelve years passed.

Because she had lived under Gyeong-hae’s brainwashing for so long, Hae-som gradually became numb and helpless about living on the island.

There was no school on the island, and Gyeong-hae would not even send her to the main island, so Hae-som received no education.

Fortunately, there were many miscellaneous books in the attic of the house.

Whenever Gyeong-hae occasionally left the house, Hae-som read those books like her life depended on it.

As she did so, she gradually became able to guess that there was something seriously wrong with Gyeong-hae’s mental state.

The more she realized that, the more she felt uneasy about leaving Gyeong-hae alone on the island.

But her desire to escape grew like madness.

“You little—! Your big brother is talking to you, and you’re thinking about something else?! I swear—!”

A large part of that desire came from this bastard.

Because of this shameless, conscienceless man who had started giving her lecherous looks ever since she turned twenty.

It was truly horrifying.

If she stayed here, she would definitely end up being forced to marry that bastard.

“Learn to appreciate how precious your husband is and start practicing serving him properly, you damn mutt.”

Her husband?

Ah, seriously.

Should I just slam my head into his face?