Page 20 of Damian & Jun, Episodes 1-4 (The Residency Boys #6)

“I have to think of all the children, Mr. Sathers. This kind of spectacle, this kind of debacle, it already creates unrest. You are questioning the head of those charged with safeguarding society. The children of this country need to trust their guardians. They need that faith. They need to trust their leaders.”

“If this is what the head of the police does, then the children of this country should lose that faith.”

Mr. Su shook his head. “That faith keeps all of us safe.”

“Not Junseo. Not the others like him.”

“The greater number, Mr. Sathers. They rest more safely at night. They trust the officers they see on the street. We are not a country of violence, unlike yours, Mr. Sathers. We respect our leaders and officers. This is a principal thread in the fabric of our society. It is not something I can lightly burn.”

“So Jun is the sacrifice. Jun and how many others these monsters have already plundered beneath your nose, to maintain this lie that the greater number is safe.”

“You are a well-educated, well-traveled man, Mr. Sathers. An American. You know what happens to a society that no longer believes in their enforcers and leaders. It happens with paper cuts, one tiny slice at a time. Most of the time, they can be healed. But a story like this is bigger than a single paper cut. It is many cuts. A gash even.”

“You place the lie above the truth.”

“It’s not a lie to most. It’s enough truth that it works. You are a lawyer, son. You know the black and the white and the gray.”

The small muscles in Damian’s body quivered beneath the fine wool of his suit. His hand balled up in a fist.

“Then I will find another way.”

Mr. Su raised his eyes. “Let this play out, Mr. Sathers. Mr. Gang… I think Mr. Gang will be returned. I–I do not believe this…situation…will last.And he will be grateful for your discretion in the future. He is a public figure. Some things should not be spread about. Whatever has happened to him, he will not want it to be spread about.”

“Do you say that for him, Mr. Su, or for society?”

“For my country and for Mr. Gang. I know you love this country, Mr. Sathers. It is rare that I have met a foreigner so capable of respecting us. You are an honored guest I have been proud to call a friend. Let this be…one more lesson.”

“Jun is my person.”

“Then don’t shame him by making a scene. Go home. Wait. Tell his friends to stop making fools of themselves. They are only making trouble for him.”

“I don’t think you understand me when I say Jun is my person, Professor. I’m not a guest in his life. I’m not an acquaintance. There is little that I will not do for him. He will not be asked to bear the pain of his leaders’ avarice.”

Mr. Su stiffened. “Perhaps you do not understand the meaning of family, Mr. Sathers. We only survive together because we sacrifice for each other.”

Damian all but bit his tongue. You think I don’t understand. I most assuredly do.

“Our definitions of family are vastly different, then,” he said aloud.

“Perhaps, then, there is more distance between us than I had thought,” said Mr. Su. “I had thought we understood each other, that we valued the same things. I’m disappointed, Mr. Sathers.”

Damian lifted his chin. “In my definition of family, Mr. Su, we don’t sacrifice the weak and the young for the pride of the old.”

Blood flushed Mr. Su’s cheeks. “If you follow this path, my son, then you will never be welcomed in my home again. I will not know you.”

Actual tears burned the edge of Damian's vision: “Then we are enemies, my old friend. Jun is my person.”

Mr. Su swallowed, tears also welling in his own eyes. He reached for his cane and gripped it convulsively. “You are so willing to burn this all down for one man. Be the man of reason I know you can be. Jun will survive. You will survive. Don’t throw away what you’ve built.”

“You may be content that a life has not ended, but that’s not how human trafficking works anywhere.”

Mr. Su flinched. “You have no… Jun will be free to go. Once he has…finished.”

“Rape.” Damian let the word hang in the room, using the worst, ugliest form that he had. “Once he has been raped.”

Mr. Su sighed, his head hanging down. His hands were shaking. “You judge me, Mr. Sathers. You act as if I do not know what I am allowing. It is a sacrifice. I have never lied to you. Many make difficult choices. You survive. And society is stronger for it.”

A tear ran down Damian’s cheek, hot with rage and disappointment. “What kind of society?”

Mr. Su refused to answer, refused to look at his face.

Damian closed his eyes, tears running down both cheeks. “I love this society, Professor. It’s my second home. I’ve given her years of my life. I intend to give her years more. I’ve been an ambassador and advocate. I’ve plotted paths of success for her.”

“I hope this interlude has not ruined all of that for you, Mr. Sathers.”

“Only because I do not believe you speak for all.” Damian pulled out his phone. “I believe in the children more than you.”

“What are you doing?” Mr. Su started forward, cane striking the floor.

Damian hit send on the voice file. “You seem to think that society relies on stable structures to survive. I know better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Society survives when it can grow, when it prunes that which needs to be cut and evolves that which needs to change. It’s only as strong as its weakest link. It’s time you stop treating its most vulnerable link as its strongest.”

“I do not understand you.”

“Tell me, this, Professor, and it barely matters which fucking country I visit or where I live: why are the strong men, the leaders, the ones who must be indulged in their every fantasy and desire? Why do the children, the silent, the dependent have to absorb the pain of those fantasies? Why do they have to wake in the morning and go on as if nothing happened in the dark the night before? And yet this is called stability, this is called respect. This is what you expect from Jun.”

Mr. Su looked away again.

More tears ran down Damian’s face. He didn’t bother to wipe them off his jaw.

“Could you stand there, old friend , and tell Jun his fate, tell it to his face? Could you tell him bend over, Jun, and take it. Good boy, now dry your tears and get back out there under the stage lights—don’t let them see the blood.

Tell him he belongs to his fans by day and his jailers by night. ”

Damian’s voice contorted into something ugly he barely recognized.

“Could you tell him, without double entendre, that he has no agency? That he must submit to their touch, that he must choke on their excitement. Could you tell him: ‘Smile, Jun, the camera wants more. Good boy, Now get back on your knees and suck. And don’t forget to honor your elders. They’re looking out for you. ”

Mr. Su grabbed the wall. “Get out! Get out.” He sagged down the wall onto a stool, his hand against his heart. “You don’t understand.”

“Then STOP it.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“It would upset everything. There are bigger players here.”

Damian stalked closer, his monster just beneath his skin. He leaned over his mentor. “Is it your life? I could almost forgive you if they were holding your child hostage. What do they have on you?”

Mr. Su turned his face away. “It’s not how things are done.”

“Times change.” Damian slammed his hand against the wall above Mr. Su’s head. “I’m not naive. Every word we’ve said is recorded. Saved. Find Jun, or my friends will release it. Every man, woman, and child in the world will have the chance to hear.”

Mr. Su shuddered. “I can have you arrested.”

“You could shoot me and melt my phone. It won’t stop my words or yours. They’re immortal now. You’re worried about your network and relationships, about society. You should be thinking about mine.”

“What?” Mr. Su straightened, eyes wide with fear. “What are you planning, Damian?”

“I’ll release every text message Jun sent me, proving he was abused right in front of the world.

Every missed date because his boss trapped him or took his keys.

I’ll release him telling me in his own voice how he had to escape because he was being trafficked.

I’ll draw the lines so even a child can understand what that means combined with the footage of this morning's press conference. I’ll spell it out loud and clear and then… ”

Damian paused. “And then if that doesn’t work,I’ll draw a line for every single joint venture and contract I control with every business and conglomerate that makes their home in this city, international or otherwise.

I’ll make them choose a side, publicly. By tomorrow, Jun’s fans will be burning merchandise in the streets.

The day after, parents will be reconsidering where they want their children to work.

Every officer on the street and every judge will be accosted by terrified citizens. ”

“You’ll ruin his reputation. He’ll be shamed.”

“I can fix his reputation. I don’t know if I can fix what your friends are doing to him right now.”

“Your boss will lose billions.”

A terrible laugh ripped out of Damian’s throat. “You’re talking about Richard Reevesworth, the man who was nothing more than a building contractor when I met him, the man who walked into a hostage situation willing to die rather than choose between his husband and his boy.”

Mr. Su paled.

Damian leaned forward, pressing his hands against the top of one of the many ornate tables.

“I don’t need to be a hero, Professor. I won’t break the law.

All I need to do is keep speaking. I’m a wolf wrapped in the law of two countries.

And I don’t need this one to be standing when I’m done, not if this is what this place stands for. ”

“Don’t…” Mr. Su’s chest rose up and down as if he were going to pass out. “Don’t… You’re insane.”