Chapter 45.2

The Place Where No One Dares To Go (2)

The restaurant owner, appearing curious, asked as she served our food, “What is the name of the person that you’re looking for?”

“His name is Choi Sang-Ho. He’s about the same age as myself.”

The owner of the restaurant shook her head, indicating that nothing sprang to mind. Of course, it would be strange if the owner did remember him just from hearing his name.

“Auntie. Could I possibly display something in your store?” I asked, while pulling out two cheques from my wallet.

“I’d like to put up a flyer at the entrance to your store, looking for anyone who might know Choi Sang-Ho.”

“Of course, that’s fine with me. Would you like me to get you a pen and paper?”

The owner soon returned with a piece of A4 paper and a permanent marker. While I was preparing a simple flyer, Chief Kim slid the side-dishes across the table towards the children.

“For now, why don’t we just eat. Since the young master has put these feelers out, we could be contacted at any time.”

“That’s right. Now that we’ve done all this, something has got to turn up,” Ji-Hye comforted Sang-Beom with a deliberately upbeat tone of voice.

When the children were almost finished eating, my cellphone vibrated. It was a message from the situation room. They had found Sang-Ho’s last recorded location.

“What’s this?”

I looked down at the phone’s screen with a frown on my face. I thought that I’d be getting a simple address, but a map had been sent instead. And on that map was a small dot in the middle of the sea.

Then another text message arrived.

[Detective Go. The results of the location tracking have come out. However the results led to this small island, so I’m afraid that I can’t send you a specific address. According to the administrative records, the island is labelled as Saktam Island.]

So it’s ‘Saktam Island’. For some reason, the name seemed familiar.

I asked the taxi drivers beside me, “Excuse me sirs. By any chance, Do you know anything about Saktam Island?”

“Saktam Island? Is that near Jeju?”

“It seems like I might have heard it from somewhere, but it also kinda feels like I haven’t.”

“I can’t say that I have.”

Since the name seemed familiar to me, I had assumed that they would all recognize it, but unexpectedly no one seemed to know anything about it.

Hmm. And I couldn’t even zoom in on the map with my handphone. Should I just head to the local district office?

“Saktam Island? Hold on a moment. Could you possibly be talking about Sakgui1 Island? Do you have a map I can take a look at?”

“I do, but it’s hard to make out.”

I handed him my cellphone.

Putting on a thick pair of glasses, the taxi driver held the phone up to his nose. Soon he nodded his head as if he had just confirmed something.

“I was right. These coordinates are for Devil Island. Don’t you all recall? The island where it’s said that the people who go there never come back.”

“Ah, that place?”

Expressions of dawning awareness spread across the taxi drivers’ faces.

“Although there are even people living on that island, it unfortunately doesn’t have a very good reputation. Maybe it’s all just because of its name.”

“No way. After my grandmother’s friend visited that island, all contact with her was immediately lost.”

“If it’s your grandmother we’re talking about, isn’t she over a hundred years old? From which era does that story of yours come from?”

The taxi drivers gossipped as they sipped their after-lunch coffees.

The name ‘Sakgui Island’ definitely didn’t have any pleasant connotations. So for administrative purposes, could it have just been labelled Saktam Island instead?

I prompted them to keep talking, “So you’re saying that people do live there?”

“That’s right. However, since it’s such an isolated place, I haven’t heard it mentioned anywhere. Though in the past I think some rumours might have spread about it among the surfing community.”

“But these days, no one pays any attention to such a small island. There are all sorts of easier-to-reach sources of entertainment.”

“Ah, that’s right. Now that I think about it, remember when I went island fishing last week…”

The taxi drivers began chatting about other topics as they lit up the cigarettes I had given them.

With a face filled with dread, Chief Kim crept up beside me. The others seemed to have finished eating, as every bowl except for mine was licked clean.

“Young Master. Could you possibly be thinking of going…”

His expression twisted in fear.

I turned to look at Sang-Beom.

“You’re willing to go there to look for your hyung, right?”

“Of course. We’ve already come this far.”

“Me too. I always wanted to go on a tour of an island.”

When even Ji-Hye stood up, raring to go, Chief Kim stumbled and looked like he was about to collapse. Seeing as he had such a weak body, no wonder he looked scared. I patted him on the shoulder.

“Let’s go, do it for France.”

“You, really…”

Leaving the resentful Chief Kim alone, I picked up my spoon. Although the stew had already cooled down, as expected of a diner, the taste was still amazing.

To Chief Kim, who was standing there frozen, “While I finish eating, you all should go looking for a boat to take us there, okay?”

“…o-okay.”

“Okay!”

They’re youthful constitutions having already finished digesting, the children excitedly pulled Chief Kim along, one on each arm. Sang-Beom’s face was overflowing with the anticipation of being able to meet with his brother soon.

***

Footnote:

1 Sakgui means devil or imp in Korean. You can see why this is an ominous name.