Page 41 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 1-4
Damian made a bow for a person on the same social level as himself and then held out his hand. She bowed back and shook with him, briefly, her hand small and barely curled as if she’d never learned how to do a Western handshake. She probably hadn’t.
She gestured at the table and sat down, smoothing her skirt as Damian took a seat. “You’re American? Like Gigi?”
“From Chicago, yes.” Damian set his briefcase down between his feet. “Gigi says you might be able to help me resolve some issues quietly.
“What kind of issues?”
“Tax issues. My boss owns a lot of property, and we have to file taxes in different ways depending on how those properties make money. Right now, I have three different official ID numbers filed for one of the performers that came through. They don’t match. I need to resolve who these numbers are assigned to and come back with proof.”
Julie frowned and glanced toward Gigi. “Why not contact the office?”
“Well, I have, but I’m getting ignored, and I need to resolve this before filing season starts on the first of the year, so I reached out to Gigi, here, to see who I should talk to. I think maybe I have the wrong contact info. I was here anyway and was hoping to get this resolved. We’d love to invite 5N back, of course. Their last tour was lucrative, but I can’t do that if we don’t have the paperwork filed properly.”
“You’re talking about…taxes?” Julie’s voice spiraled up. “I don’t do taxes. I don’t understand taxes. I just pay them.” Her hands clutched around her purse.
Gigi dropped into the third chair, three drinks in her hands, all of them covered in whipped cream. She pushed one toward Julie and the second to Damian. “I hire someone to do my taxes. Try getting paid from five or more countries each year in different currencies.”
Julie shuddered. “I just do travel documents and flights and other stuff like that. That’s hard enough.”
Damian chuckled. “It’s complicated. I agree. That’s why I have several specialized degrees. I’ll make it very simple. The easiest way to resolve my tax filing problem would just to be able to sit down and look over the Korean passports and visas for 5N and Shockwave. Then I could have definitive proof of which numbers belong to whom. Five minutes, I’d be done.”
Julie glanced between Damian and Gigi. “I just don’t know why you’re asking me?”
“Because the office is officially closed right now, and I want this to get resolved so the next tour can go into negotiations.”
Gigi knocked her knuckles on the table. “Like I said, Damian’s tried the official channels. I don’t know why BBB3 is giving him the runaround.”
Julie dropped her eyes. “I mean, there’s money problems.”
“What kind of money problems?”
Julie blushed. “That’s private. I’m not supposed to be talking about it. Just…” She sighed, fingers fluttering over the outside of her drink, “I think I might need a new job. I don’t think…” She let out a long sigh and glanced around. They were alone in the middle of the café since most of the patrons had opted for booths along the edges with better views. She leaned forward. “Gigi, Jun’s missing. And Bak…Bak says if he doesn’t come back I have to find a new job. The whole office will.”
She blinked hard, forcing back tears. “That would go for you too, Gigi. I’m worried. I mean, I like Jun, and I hope he’s okay, but…if I don’t have a job next month, I can’t renew my lease…” She looked away, pulling her emotions in around her and stuffing them down. She turned back, shoulders tight. “I’m sorry, but I think you should find another contract.”
Gigi put her hand over Julie’s. “How do you know this? I saw Jun just a few days ago.”
“Bak’s been…making me work overtime.” Her cheeks flushed. “He says I did poorly last quarter and I have to make up for it. And I’m trying, honest, but…I think he’s just mad. I think… I’ve never done poorly in a job before. Anyway, I went in yesterday…”
“Yesterday was a holiday, an official holiday,” Gigi sputtered.
Julie shrugged and went on. “I was working late on backlog things, paperwork, etcetera. Bak’s office has a lot of stuff that wasn’t filed properly. It takes me forever to find things. Nothing’s where it’s supposed to be. So, I stayed late, like really late, because I knew he was going to yell at me again, trying to find some contracts, and this alarm went off, and it scared me. I crawled under a desk, just in case. And then Bak ran in yelling at some people.” She paused, glancing around again and then back at Gigi. “You can’t tell anyone. I’m really scared.”
Gigi patted her hand.
Julie swallowed and went on. “I haven’t even told my family. Bak was really angry, shouting at people on the phone to find Jun. And then he called someone and said, “He ran. I pushed, and he ran.”
“And then….”
Julie straightened her shoulders. “Gigi, do you have your passport?”
Gigi frowned. “Of course, I do. I don’t let anyone keep it. That’s my ticket home.”
“Well, Bak told this man ‘Don’t worry. I got all his stuff, his ID, his passport, his bank cards, even his phone. The kid can’t get anywhere.”
Gigi went very still.
Damian waited. Neither woman seemed inclined to speak for a long time.
