Page 43 of Damian & Jun: Episodes 5-8
Damian switched to work mode. “We can challenge the contract’s legality. That’s if he even produces one. And we’re still pursuing legal charges against him for kidnapping and trafficking. Yun and his team are working on the case—at some point they’ll need to interview you—but the most he can sue for is damages or lost income. The court fees and lawyer costs would be worth more than the lawsuit would recover, considering the cost of a single meal.”
Jun sighed and rubbed his face. “You know what I really want to do right now after reading that?”
Collin leaned forward to see his face. “What?”
“Go right back out there and find some place to sing because fuck him.”
Collin laughed and shook his head. “You should sing that Pat Benatar song.”
“What song?” Jun asked.
“The one where she’s telling some guy he probably thinks the song is about him. If you google fuck you songs, you could get a whole list.”
Jun’s eyes glittered. “I don’t have enough of those songs in my set lists. Didn’t Carly Simon sing that one?”
Collin shrugged. “I don’t know music like you.”
The three of them went back to their respective projects. Damian drafted the demand letter and sent it to Yun for a read. Yun or anyone in his office could have done it, , but it felt good to get his hands into it and write the words himself.
They were all glued to their work until Émeric interrupted with food. Grilled sandwiches on rye. It smelled divine. Damian moved his laptop to the side to take his plate. Richard handed it to him. He blinked. How had he missed Richard coming into the room? He must have been really deep.
Collin wiggled in place where he was sitting next to Jun on the floor, eyes on Richard. “Am I in trouble?”
Richard raised an eyebrow and pointed to a full bottle of water in front of Collin.
A beautiful blush spread over Collin’s face. He grabbed the water bottle and drank.
Jun thanked Émeric for lunch and met Damian’s eyes. “How’s things going, legally? Did you send the letter?”
“Yun sent it over. Mi Hi’s been keeping an eye on reactions to the video. It’s largely positive.”
Jun held up his phone. “Su-jin says our fans loved it. And Mi Hi says if you don’t advise against it that I should give another performance somewhere in a while.”
Damian shrugged. He wasn’t sure what to advise just yet. “Your fans are putting pressure on the police. They want to know how you got hurt. About thirty minutes ago, Yun got a message saying you need to come in for an interview with the police.”
Jun tensed. “No. I made that mistake once.”
“I know. And so does Yun. Mi Hi caught footage of Bak and the uniformed officers dragging you away. We haven’t released it to the public, but Yun and I are discussing how to use that as leverage for why you won’t be coming in. It’s a delay tactic at best. The more your fans demand answers, the more they’ll probably double down on standard procedure and then blame you for not cooperating. The police need a story to release to the public. And they need a story you’re going to agree with. If they can’t get that, they’ll make you out to be in the wrong.”
“So right now, I’m a threat.”
“Yes.” Damian checked himself for any feeling about that. He felt flat, businesslike, maybe a tad eager for a fight. If the police wanted to go toe-to-toe with him, they could. He had Jun in the US, and he didn’t mind circumventing the legal system to make the legal system do its job.
Jun played with a pencil between his fingers, staring at Damian’s face. “What will they do if I don’t comply?”
“At the very worst, they could put a warrant out for your arrest, even seek assistance from the US to return you. There are a lot of steps between this and that, unless they break the law again. There’s always the possibility of you seeking asylum here. I’m sorting those options out.”
“You’re saying never go back to Korea, but staying here, as in becoming a US citizen again? Do they even let you back like that?”
Damian forgot about his food. “Again? What do you mean, again?”
Richard and Émeric stopped speaking to each other and turned toward Jun. Collin lowered his water bottle from where’d been slowly catching up on his intake.
Jun reached for the pouch around his neck. “My father got rid of my US citizenship, but my mother was proud of it. I was born here.” He pulled out the bits of paper and laid them out. “This is all I could save when he was tearing up my identity. Would they really let me have it back?”
“Jun.” Damian could barely speak. There was a low roar in his ears. He leaned over the table, gently touching the worn scraps of paper. It was there, plain to see. Born in Seattle to Ma LùQí. Damian swallowed and tried again. “Jun, unless you renounced citizenship yourself as an adult, you never lost it. You’re a dual citizen.”
There were so many implications. South Korea didn’t allow dual citizenship. But the US did, so the US would honor it while South Korea would not recognize it. Jun was going to have to choose. If it ever came out…taxes. Taxes were going to be a fucking bitch because Jun had been doing business in the US during his tours and making money abroad, but unless Bak was playing a deeper game than Damian suspected, then Jun hadn’t been paying US taxes. The backlog would be over a decade, depending on what jobs Jun had worked.
