MBFT 02

Chapter 02

Haesom seriously considered knocking Sanghyuk unconscious with a headbutt and running away.

Unaware that she was having such thoughts, Sanghyuk continued spouting nonsense.

“You and I will be living together soon, you know? My mom and dad are already getting ready to welcome their daughter-in-law. You’re an adult now, too, so—”

“What are you talking about! My mom won’t allow it! She said she would never let me marry a man like you.”

“Hey. You’ve been living with your mom all this time, and you still don’t know? Your mom is probably going to die soon. Her face is yellow, and she’s all skin and bones. She doesn’t look healthy at all, whether it’s her liver or something else. And she’s already gone crazy.”

Haesom’s mind went blank.

Gyeongha’s health did not look very good, but Haesom had never thought she had a serious illness. She had always been sickly.

What should I do? What if she really collapses while I’m gone…? No, Yoon Haesom.

Don’t let yourself get soft. 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 mother to die? I’m just waiting for that day. Heh heh. Once that obstacle is gone, we can finally have a proper wedding!”

A thought suddenly crossed Haesom’s mind.

Even if Aunt Gyeongha really considered her a daughter and that was why she refused to let her leave the island—

Why did the village chief, Sanghyuk’s parents, and the others refuse to let her leave the island?

Why had they never mentioned her existence even when the electrical workers or employees from the Marine National Park came to the island?

“…….”

The precious young man of this island, whom everyone adored—

Sanghyuk.

They were keeping her there to make her his wife.

Haesom clenched both fists tightly, holding back the anger rising inside her.

These damn island bastards…!

Whether it was Gyeongha or anyone else, she had to escape.

This was no longer the time to be swayed by the affection she had built up over the years.

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

Suddenly, she missed her mother and father, whose faces she could not even remember anymore, terribly.

And her brothers, too.

“Hey.”

“…….”

“Hey, you stray dog!”

“Ah. Y-yes…. What?”

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

Sanghyuk suddenly lowered his voice.

“You should be careful around that bastard.”

Haesom barely managed to stop herself from pointing at him and saying, You’re the most dangerous bastard around here.

“Phew.”

Swallowing her anger, Haesom thought about the man with the horn-rimmed glasses who had recently arrived on the island.

She had seen him two days ago.

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

“He looks like a bandit, but I heard he used to be a social worker.”

A social worker…?

Haesom swallowed hard.

If he’s a social worker, wouldn’t he care more about human rights?

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

“But I heard he came here to recover because he has cancer. Fuck, what? A cancer patient drinks alcohol? Right? Apparently, he has to go back to the mainland once every three weeks to get chemotherapy.”

……Once every three weeks to the mainland?

“Isn’t that fucking suspicious? What the hell is he really doing here? Did he commit some crime and come here to hide?”

Haesom’s heart began beating 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 good care of yourself and stay faithful. Keep your body and heart clean and get ready to serve your husband. Heh heh.”

Suddenly, Haesom felt nauseous.

“Anyway, big brother is leaving.”

Whether he knew how disgusting Haesom felt or not, Sanghyuk gave her a sly wink.

Then he silently mouthed the words again.

Hu, sband.

That fucking Lee bastard! What the hell is he doing? He’s old enough to know better!

As Sanghyuk turned his back, Haesom raised her middle finger at the back of his head.

“Ah, right. You….”

Sanghyuk suddenly spun around.

The moment his eyes landed on Haesom’s middle finger, silence fell.

“What are you doing?”

Haesom hurriedly scratched the raised middle finger with her other hand.

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

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

Haesom waited until Sanghyuk’s head disappeared behind the wall before quickly changing out of her work clothes.

Then she hurried toward the village chief’s house.

Judging by how crazily Sanghyuk was acting, the marriage they had planned probably wasn’t far away.

She wanted to escape the island as soon as possible.

To do that, she had to find out whether the man with the horn-rimmed glasses was someone who could help her.

“Hah.”

But if he likes drinking and has already become friendly with the village chief, there’s a high chance he won’t help me escape….

“No. Yoon Haesom.”

Still, I should at least try.

Haesom nervously bit her fingernails as she went to the house of the man with the horn-rimmed glasses.

Coincidentally, the front gate was open.

She opened it and walked inside, placing a hand on the wooden floor of the main hall as she called out to him.

“Excuse me, mister….”

But she stopped speaking when she heard voices coming from the room.

“Fuck. I’m taking a boat to China in three weeks, so tell them to send a private jet or something! I can’t keep wandering around here anymore!”

……What? Is he running away…?

“Do you know how much what I stole is worth? It’s worth—! The country…! Wait.”

A real criminal?

And a major one?

Realizing that something was very wrong, Haesom hurriedly turned around, only to step on some farming tools scattered around the yard.

Clang!

The sound of metal scraping against metal nearly stopped Haesom’s heart.

And then—

BANG!

“…Who are you?”

The man rushed out of the room and grabbed Haesom by the back of her neck.

“Ah! Let go of me!”

“You heard me?”

“I didn’t hear anything! Let me gooo! I’m from the neighborho—”

Gasp!

The man covered Haesom’s mouth and tightly wrapped his other arm around her neck.

“Uuugh! Mmph! L-let me g-go….”

Her struggling was useless.

Heaven must have abandoned me.

“Ghhk!”

Her vision began flickering, and just as she felt like her chest was about to burst—

THUD!

An incredible force struck from behind, and the man suddenly collapsed to the side.

Haesom’s vision, which had been about to go completely dark, became clear again.

Haesom coughed as tears streamed down her face, then turned around.

A tall, handsome, fair-skinned man who looked like a young master from a wealthy family was looking at her.

Tears were streaming down his face.

“Wh-who… are you?”

Why are you crying?

Too shocked to speak properly, Haesom stared blankly at the man while continuing to cough.

No, more importantly… why does he look so familiar?

“Haesom.”

“……!”

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

Since she had arrived on this island, this was the first time anyone had called her by the name she had before she was kidnapped instead of “Stray Dog.”

“……Our youngest. Your brother came too late. I’m sorry.”

A ringing sound filled her ears.

After the high-pitched ringing, the sound of her heart pounding like a drum echoed madly.

“Let’s go home.”

“Uuuugh!”

Just before she was strangled to death by the man with the horn-rimmed glasses—

That was what had happened only five days ago.

Haesom woke up from the dream in tears, sobbing uncontrollably.

BANG!

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

“Haesom!”

“Pretty girl!”

Her brothers opened the bedroom door and rushed inside.

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

They were the three older brothers whose faces had once faded from her memories—

But were now clear again.

Haesom, who had been kidnapped at the age of ten, had reunited with the family she had thought she would never see again after twelve years.

It truly felt unbelievable.

Her brothers comforted the anxious Haesom 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 rare fragments Haesom remembered matched what they told her.

Thanks to that, her confused heart gradually calmed down.

But one question remained in the corner of Haesom’s mind.

Her parents.

If her mother and father had loved her so dearly, why had they not even shown their faces after she returned?

She had asked about it 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.

It did nothing to resolve her doubts.

Haesom was happy that her brothers welcomed her 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 good care of her, she ended up acting spoiled.

“But, brothers….”

All three answered at the same time.

“Hmm?”

Haesom gave an awkward smile and continued.

“I… really miss Mom and Dad. I’m also so curious about how 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’ve returned?”

Taeju and Geukju wore helpless expressions.

Then the youngest brother, Giju, who had bleached hair and was the most flashy and pretty-looking of the three, spoke.

“If we keep hiding it because we’re worried the kid will be shocked, we’re only going to make her miss them more. Let’s just tell her.”

At Giju’s words, Taeju and Geukju groaned heavily before nodding.