NOVEL NEXT Chapter 80
“Our child has done nothing wrong.”
As soon as the face-to-face meeting for settlement began, I had to admit the first words spoken by the legal representative were correct.
Children are the mirrors of their parents.
Expecting common sense from the parents of a juvenile who committed the crime of false terrorism threats was a mistake from the start.
Given this, there was no choice but to change the entire plan I had made before coming here.
While contemplating this, I glanced to the side, and the lawyer nodded at me.
Even without words, it felt like our minds were in sync.
After confirming each other’s thoughts in this way, I addressed the legal representatives sitting opposite.
“First, before delving into the main discussion, let me briefly introduce ourselves. I am Jihojin of Enson GT, the victim in this case. And this person over here is…”
I trailed off, and the lawyer turned to the legal representatives and bowed in greeting.
“I am Lawyer Kim Hajin from the Enson GT Legal Team. I’ll be serving as the mediator for this meeting.”
The reactions of the legal representatives sitting opposite varied.
First, the man who appeared to be the suspect’s father was examining our business cards with a dark expression.
Conversely, the woman who seemed to be the suspect’s mother remained defiant.
“Let me briefly explain the outline of the case…”
“We don’t need any explanation. I already heard everything from my own lawyer.”
“Excuse me?”
“Our child is still a minor, and from what I heard from the child, the situation isn’t that serious. Isn’t the big corporation being too pushy?”
“…”
I instantly understood why this woman was so confident from the earlier story.
The lawyer also seemed to share the same thoughts as me and sighed.
The husband sitting beside her was restless but ultimately failed to stop his wife.
“In fact, the main purpose of this meeting isn’t for settlement but to give you some advice. Even if this goes all the way to trial, the punishment won’t be severe. Wouldn’t it be better to settle? While our company may not be wealthy, we can compensate for the damages that have occurred during the suspension.”
After saying her piece, the woman folded her arms and stared at us, as if daring us to say something.
Ignoring her, I asked seriously, “Before we proceed, may I inquire about what your son told you?”
“That brat? Well, he said he played a small prank but it escalated unexpectedly. This resulted in the game festival being stopped. It was something like that.”
“…Your son seems to have only told you the parts that benefit him.”
“What? What do you mean?!”
The woman, having realized I was slightly mocking her, became agitated.
But I ignored her reaction and continued.
“Firstly, your son’s act goes far beyond ‘a small prank’; it was a clear crime.”
“Even so, is it right to call it a crime when a minor pressed a few keys on a keyboard?”
“That pressing of the keys resulted in a terrorism threat. A terrorism threat.”
“Terrorism threat? According to the lawyer I know, it doesn’t qualify as a terrorism threat if it didn’t materialize.”
“That point will be addressed by our side.”
Seeing the situation required an explanation of the law, the lawyer intervened.
The lawyer then began elaborately explaining the criminal charges against the woman’s son, and the reasons why those charges were applicable.
Initially, the woman listened with disbelief, but she gradually began to realize the situation, her expression darkening.
The man beside her, who was presumably the husband, looked as pale as a corpse.
“Therefore, even considering the fact that the suspect is a minor, charges of coercion, obstruction of official duties, and business disruption are applicable.”
“I can understand the coercion and business disruption part, but obstruction of official duties…”
“On the contrary, that’s the one that’s most clear-cut. Consider the police SWAT team and fire department personnel who responded to the terrorism threat from your son.”
Realizing the gravity of their and their son’s situation, the woman fell silent as the lawyer handed the ball to me.
This is just the criminal aspect; the civil part will be the real challenge, but if they’re reacting this way already, it’s interesting…
“Dear, how about we apologize and try to settle this properly? Eh?”
The husband, who seemed the most sensible, quietly suggested to his wife.
But the woman looked at her husband with disdain and instead asked me,
“If we do reach a settlement, would the charges be dropped?”
Instead, the lawyer shook their head and replied,
“Unfortunately, as none of these three charges are crimes requiring consent from the victim, even if we settle, completely escaping punishment would be difficult.”
At the lawyer’s confirmation, the expressions of the couple darkened again.
By this point, I thought they’d at least apologize, but the woman’s next words shattered my expectations.
“In that case, it seems impossible to reach a settlement. The conversation was based on the assumption that charges would be dropped upon settlement, so if that’s not the case, there’s no need…”
“Yes, whatever suits you. Shall we move on to the damages discussion then?”
“Huh? Damages? Since the settlement failed, it ends with punishment, right?”
“The settlement was regarding the criminal trial for your child. Damages, on the other hand, are due to the civil lawsuit we are filing for the false terrorism threat.”
After hearing my words, the woman’s expression soured.
Probably, the thought of the financial penalty doubling due to the civil lawsuit was causing her stomach ache.
“Ah, wasn’t that the situation… By the way, did you calculate an estimate for the compensation?”
“I have it here.”
Before coming here, I prepared an estimate, which I then handed over to the woman.
Looking forward to her reaction.
And just as expected, her reaction upon seeing the estimate was dramatic.
“What?! A hundred million won for a mere game event? That’s outrageous!”
“Well, allow me to explain.”
“No, I won’t listen to that. This is just an estimate from your company, right? We’ll get our own estimate elsewhere, and then we can talk…”
Interrupting the woman, who had raised her voice in excitement, I asked seriously,
“If you don’t trust the estimate provided by the organizing party, whose word would you trust?”
“To that…”
Realizing her argument was flawed, the woman chose to remain silent instead of answering.
“Let me clarify step by step. First, due to the terrorism threat from your son, the halted event for the first 3-hour session resulted in ticket revenue losses amounting to 150 million won.”
“Where exactly did you come up with that benchmark?!”
“One ticket costs 15,000 won. For the 3-hour session, 10,000 tickets were sold out, leading to refunds totaling 150 million won.”
“…”
“Secondly, the total amount including hiring specialized security personnel and other related costs for increased security measures like metal detectors — the detailed amounts are listed on the estimate, so I kindly ask you to double-check.”
Only now did the woman seem to realize how serious the trouble her son had caused was, flipping through the estimate frantically.
Her husband, sitting beside her, sighed repeatedly.
Finally, having realized there was no way out, the woman began pleading with me humbly.
“Well, our child is still a minor, so isn’t there any way this could be… mitigated?”
To the pleading, I shook my head and replied sharply,
“Showing leniency because the culprit is a minor could lead to a second or third case like your son’s. Thus, we cannot accommodate that position.”
“But surely, you could reduce the amount a little? We’d go bankrupt if we had to pay all of this!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Then you can forget about it! There’s no way we can afford this amount with our means!”
“Dear, calm down…”
“How could you tell me to calm down? With your measly salary, how do you plan to cover this compensation? Huh?”
“Let’s move out of our apartment and rent it out as a way to manage—”
“Don’t joke around! It’s because of the kid’s fault that we’re in this mess, why should we sell our retirement home? We won’t sell it! If you want, you take the kid and go!”
“Hey, what’s the deal with ‘kid’ all of a sudden?”
As the couple bickered back and forth, they soon began raising their voices and arguing.
When the shouting started in the meeting room, police intervened and asked them to quiet down.
Even after they were told to be silent, the couple still grumbled, harboring resentment.
Seeing this, I no longer felt it was worthwhile to stay, so I stood up.
“Then, assuming there is no intention to settle the criminal and civil cases, we will take our leave.”
As a final tease, I bowed politely, and the expressions of the couple sitting opposite turned blank.
“Oh yes, from this point onward, this matter will be handled by our company’s legal team, so if you have any questions or matters to discuss, please contact the number listed on the lawyer’s business card. Thank you.”
With that, I concluded and promptly exited the meeting room with the lawyer.
I could faintly hear a heavy sigh behind me,
But well,
That wasn’t my problem anymore, was it?