DASH-Chapter 159

“That’s right. Retaliatory crime.”

Attorney Oh nodded emphatically.

“That person is currently facing charges for breach of trust and embezzlement. He believes that you provided the starting point of the investigation, Mr. Jeong. So, if you assert that his actions were retaliatory because of that, it would be classified as retaliatory assault. With the special price law applied, he would unquestionably be sentenced to over a year in prison. Given the ongoing trials and an audit by MCST, a verdict is unlikely, and he won’t be able to escape.”

As soon as Attorney Oh finished speaking, Manager Yoon applauded. Team Leader Lee also gave Jiheon a reassuring pat on the shoulder, clearly relieved to see everything go well. Both of them must have been quite shocked to see Jiheon in such a mess that they asked him how he was doing several times throughout the weekend via messenger and phone calls.

In particular, Manager Yoon, who had witnessed the vice chairman’s aggressive behavior, was very angry and shared the details of the incident with CEO Kang and Attorney Oh.

“He’s practically a thug. Can’t communicate, no humanity left whatsoever.”

Manager Yoon, sticking his tongue out, prompted CEO Kang to add:

“Not just ‘practically’. He’s indeed a thug. These federation bastards are all like that. Thugs with armbands, acting like they’re invincible. Remove the armbands, and you see their true colors.”

CEO Kang clicked his tongue and then turned to Jiheon.

“Anyway, Mr. Jeong, you did well. Mr. Oh will handle the rest, so don’t worry about it. Whatever agreement they propose, ignore it. Don’t answer the phone; make him communicate only through Mr. Oh.”

“Just so you know, retaliatory crimes lead to imprisonment regardless of any agreements.”

This time, Manager Yoon stood up, applauding Attorney Oh’s statement. Jiheon smiled at Manager Yoon and then turned to Attorney Oh with a question.

“But the civil matters are handled separately, right?”

“Yes, but not by much. Your injury is equivalent to a 3-week disruption. The prison term will probably be around 1 to 1.5 years. It doesn’t even last two years.”

“He’s still going to jail anyway.”

‘It doesn’t matter if it’s a year or a year and a half, as long as it’s not just house arrest. But.......’

“Mr. Oh, I’d like to ask you a question, just in case.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Jiheon asked after a moment of thoughts.

“If I’m pregnant and the other person assaulted me without knowing that fact, would the punishment be aggravated in this case?”

Silence filled the CEO’s office. Everyone, including Attorney Oh, just stared at Jiheon with wide eyes. Team Leader Lee broke the silence.

“Mr. Jeong, you’re pregnant......?”

“Yes.”

Jiheon answered shortly.

“Oh my god. Congratulations.”

Team Leader Lee congratulated Jiheon, patting the back of his hand. Then, as if suddenly coming to his senses, CEO Kang quickly stood up and asked to shake hands.

“Hey, congratulations! Congratulations, Mr. Jeong!”

“Thank you, sir.”

Jiheon stood up, shook hands with CEO Kang, and thanked him. Manager Yoon also stood up hastily, holding out his hand while speechless.

“Hey, what’s going on here? You should’ve told me sooner! Congratulations.”

“I just found out too.”

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Jiheon shook hands with Manager Yoon, then sat down again. He looked at Team Leader Lee next to him and said with a smile on his face.

“Ma’am, I will apply for maternity leave in September. Oh, and we don’t need a baby shower.”

Team Leader Lee laughed, looking dumbfounded.

“We don’t have that kind of thing in our company anyway!”

“Why? What is that? Like an event?”

Team Leader Lee hushed CEO Kang with a simple, “Yes, it’s a good thing, but most people prefer [N O V E L I G H T] bonuses, sir.” She then turned to Jiheon again.

“But are you okay, Mr. Jeong? After such a thing happened....”

“I’ve got a checkup, and everything’s fine, ma’am.”

“Jeez. I bet the baby was still surprised.”

“Yes, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Jiheon said that and glanced at Attorney Oh. Attorney Oh first congratulated Jiheon politely, then spoke carefully.

“First of all, it’s hard to tell the pregnancy from the outside. If the other person is genuinely unaware, there’s no basis for additional punishment under the current law. My apologies for saying this, but... if this causes a miscarriage, you can file for alimony in civil court.”

“No, the baby is fine.”

When Jiheon mentioned nothing like that would happen, Attorney Oh nodded.

“I see. Still, when you submit a petition, it’s better to emphasize that this incident led to a risk of miscarriage or that you were greatly shocked. Do you have any records of seeing a doctor at the obstetrics and gynecology department?”

“Yes. It’s not stated in the medical certificate, but I had unidentified bleeding shortly after the accident, and I’ve received a note saying I needed to rest for a week or two.”

As soon as Jiheon finished, the three people, except Attorney Oh, exclaimed, “What?!” simultaneously.

“But you’re working now?”

“Are you crazy? Go home.”

Jiheon spoke solemnly to his concerned superiors.

“No, sirs. I already took two weeks off at the beginning of the year. I have to work.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. You’ll be in big trouble.”

“Yeah, just finish work this morning and then go home.”

“Why wait? Just go home right after we’re done here.”

As soon as CEO Kang gave the green light, Jiheon responded promptly.

“Alright, then I will shamelessly do so.”

There was no reason to decline the provided vacation, especially since it qualified as an industrial accident.

“If they advise you to rest for a week or two, just take the time off until next week. And there’s an event in the middle, right? Just attend that. If you think you can’t do it, pass it on to someone else.”

“Oh, I’ll be there.”

The event scheduled for next week was the awards ceremony hosted by MCST. Given its host, many figures from KSC would attend, making it the perfect place to discuss this matter.

“And Mr. Oh, I’m sorry, but there’s something I’d like to ask you. I’d prefer not to announce my pregnancy to anyone for the time being.”

Jiheon addressed Attorney Oh, making a subtle request to everyone in the CEO’s office. Manager Yoon, curious, asked, “Why? Is there a reason to hide it?” before Attorney Oh inquired.

“I just don’t like the noise. Once it’s announced, there will be a lot of gossip, and what good will come of it? There are ridiculous malicious comments and increasing cases of harassment against celebrities these days, but I don’t want athlete Kwon Jaekyoung to see that.”

“Does Kwon Jaekyoung really care about that? Doesn’t he ignore such things?”

“Well, that’s true. He doesn’t pay attention to such matters... but he does get a bit concerned when his family or those around him are involved.”

Jiheon indirectly conveyed, ‘Whenever people talk about me, his eyes will light up and he will search about me.’ Even with just that statement, everyone understood and nodded, saying, “Right.”

“Well, there’s no rush to announce it. Even when people have good news, there are always those who come forward with negative comments.”

“Yes. That’s why. People will find out naturally over time, so I want to keep it under wraps as much as possible until then.”

When Jiheon suggested keeping it a secret at least until the second selection round, Attorney Oh inquired:

“When is the second selection round?”

“First week of April, sir.”

“Exactly a month later.”

Checking his calendar on his cell phone, Attorney Oh replied:

“I understand. I’ll proceed with the work, taking into consideration all the things you mentioned, Mr. Jeong.”

“Thank you.”

Jiheon bowed his head and expressed gratitude to Attorney Oh.

“But why the second selection round?”

Team Leader Lee questioned the reason behind setting that deadline.

“Even if I want to keep it a secret after that, it will be obvious anyway. I won’t be able to hide it.”

After saying that, Jiheon paused for a moment. After considering what to say, he gave up and spoke honestly.

“To be honest, it’s because I’m worried that Kavva will target me. I wonder what kind of trick they’ll pull during the second selection round.”

Perhaps they didn’t anticipate the mention of Kavva at this moment, but the people in the CEO’s office simultaneously asked in response.

“Kavva?”

“Yes. I honestly suspect Kavva regarding the case with the vice chairman.”

Based on the information Jiheon had heard from Jaekyoung, he explained the circumstances that led him to suspect Kavva.

“But it’s all just speculation and circumstances. I have no evidence to offer.”

“What if we find out who gave the vice chairman the pass?”

“I’m sure it’s not someone connected to Kavva. Kavva wouldn’t do something so obvious, and the vice chairman has so many connections in that area that it wouldn’t be surprising if he got the pass from someone else.”

“But still, if it really was Kavva, they wouldn’t do something that would get them caught right away.”

“Yes. So I’m just going to ask and move on. Attacking without evidence and relying only on circumstances might lead to false accusations, and we might end up giving the vice chairman a lighter punishment. I just want to ensure the details are clear. If it’s a retaliatory crime, he’ll definitely be sentenced to prison. If he doesn’t want to go to jail, he’ll confess first, or he’ll take the blame and go to jail on his own.”

When Jiheon mentioned that the latter option wasn’t a bad idea from his perspective, as Kavva hadn’t instructed the vice chairman to attack him, and ultimately it was the vice chairman who had gone crazy and punched him, Attorney Oh quickly agreed, saying, “That’s my opinion too.”

In fact, it might be because dealing with the vice chairman alone was less exhausting than dealing with a large company like Kavva. But anyway.

“I mean, is it really true that Kavva would stoop to this level?”

Manager Yoon muttered in disbelief.

“No matter how many shady things Kavva has done, they’ve never resorted to thuggery like this. I’ve heard they manipulate situations, using cunning tactics to avoid the law and tarnishing people’s reputations.”

“I guess Kwon Jaekyoung must’ve pushed them over the edge.”

CEO Kang tapped the sofa’s armrest, speaking with frustration.

“Anyway, what those bullies do is all the same. If verbal threats don’t work, they resort to punches. If punches don’t work, they kick, and so on. They’ve already exhausted too many options, so how can they justify resorting to something like that?”

CEO Kang cursed, muttering, “Those bastards, pathetic pieces of shit...”, one after another, adopting a more thug-like demeanor than other thugs. He then raised his head and looked at Jiheon.

“Alright. Mr. Oh will handle the rest, so you can head home now, Mr. Jeong. Go home, take a good rest, and come back to work once the bruises on your face clear up.”

When Jiheon got home, Jaekyoung was on the sofa, folding laundry. But it was all his own clothes—the rule Jiheon had set when Jaekyoung moved in. They each had to wash, hang, and organize their own laundry. Even though he was just organizing the clothes he wore during the selection round in Gimcheon, it looked funny and cute, like a diligent unemployed husband with nothing to do.

“Hyung, why did you come so early?”

Jaekyoung’s eyes widened seeing Jiheon home before lunch. Then, he suddenly threw away the jersey in his hand and jumped up. He didn’t say anything, but his expression was already tense. It seemed like he was worried Jiheon came home early because of bad news.

“Mr. Kang told me to go home. I’ll tell you in advance, I didn’t leave early. I just got a vacation.”

“Oh.”

Jaekyoung’s face immediately brightened at the mention of vacation. That was because Jaekyoung was also on vacation this week. Since the selection round was also some kind of competition, a vacation was given to give the overworked muscles time to regenerate, and then he would begin preparations for the second selection round starting next week.

“Hyung, how long is your vacation?”

“Well, I guess I can go to work next Monday, but I’ll decide based on the circumstances.”

Jiheon went straight to the bathroom without bothering to take off his coat. After washing his hands, he glanced at himself in the mirror and removed the big compress from his face. The swelling had mostly gone down, but the bruising was still visible. Even though it was still pretty dark, it looked like two weeks wouldn’t be enough for it to vanish completely.

‘I guess I should keep using the compress for a bit longer.’

As he turned his head around in front of the mirror, checking from different angles, he suddenly heard Jaekyoung’s voice behind him.

“You look handsome, hyung, even without looking at it.”

When he turned around, Jaekyoung was there, holding onto the bathroom door frame. Jiheon smiled and came out of the bathroom. He gave Jaekyoung a light kiss, then took off his coat and headed to his room. After hanging up the coat and jacket in the closet, Jaekyoung hugged him from behind and planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Hey, it’s still daytime.”

Jaekyoung hugged Jiheon even tighter, who didn’t resist but simply smiled.

“You started it, hyung.”

“It’s just a greeting for being back home.”

“I’m doing my greeting too.”

Jaekyoung playfully nuzzled Jiheon’s neck, spewing nonsense. Jiheon held onto the large hand that naturally moved to his chest and whispered quietly.

“No.”

“Oh, right.”

Jaekyoung muttered, as if he had forgotten. Jiheon smiled, kissed the back of his hand, then turned around and embraced Jaekyoung’s neck.

“You don’t have any other plans for the whole week, right?”

“Should I?”

Jaekyoung said that and attempted another kiss. Jiheon skillfully dodged and grinned as he watched Jaekyoung frown. Before Jaekyoung could say anything, Jiheon took the lead and kissed him first. With a light peck on the lips, without intertwining their tongues, he said:

“Do you wanna come to my house the day after tomorrow?”